Zabbix NGINX PostgreSQL + Grafana

Simplified Docker Compose configuration for running Zabbix monitoring system with Grafana dashboards

• Official Zabbix Dockerfiles
• Zabbix plugin for Grafana dashboard

For those who are used to using zabbix to collect metrics, but want to start drawing dashboards more beautifully

Example simple docker-compose service

Current versions:

• Zabbix Server: 7.4
• PostgreSQL: 18-alpine
• Grafana: 13.2

Image tags live in .env and float within a major version. Run docker compose pull before docker compose up -d to actually pick up patch releases — a floating tag that is already cached locally is reused as-is. PostgreSQL 18 requires Zabbix 7.4.4 or newer.

Quick Start

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/akmalovaa/zabbix-docker.git
cd zabbix-docker

2. Configure Environment (Optional)

Review and modify the .env file if needed:

cp .env .env.local  # Optional: create local copy
nano .env           # Edit configuration

3. Start Services

docker compose up -d

⏱️ First launch takes 1-2 minutes while PostgreSQL initializes and Zabbix server starts.

4. Verify Installation

Check if all services are running:

docker compose ps

Configuration

Environment Variables

Key variables in .env file:

Variable	Default	Description
POSTGRES_USER	zabbix	PostgreSQL username
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	zabbix	PostgreSQL password
POSTGRES_DB	zabbix	Database name
GRAFANA_USER	admin	Grafana admin username (becomes GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER)
GRAFANA_SECRET	12345	Grafana admin password (becomes GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD)
ZABBIX_API_USER	Admin	Zabbix account the Grafana datasource logs in with
ZABBIX_API_PASSWORD	zabbix	Password for that account
TZ	Asia/Yekaterinburg	Timezone for all services

⚠️ Security Note: Change default passwords in production!

Services & Ports

Service	Internal Port	External Port	URL
Zabbix Frontend	8080	8080	YOUR_HOST:8080
Grafana	3000	3000	YOUR_HOST:3000
Zabbix Agent	10050	10050	(used internally)
Zabbix Server	10051	10051	(used internally)
PostgreSQL	5432	5432	Published on the host - drop the mapping in compose.yaml to keep it internal
zabbix-init	-	-	One-shot, exits after configuring the agent interface

Usage

Zabbix Web Interface

URL: localhost:8080

Default Credentials:

• Username: Admin
• Password: zabbix

Zabbix Agent Connection

Nothing to do - the zabbix-init one-shot service handles this on docker compose up -d.

The bundled Zabbix server host ships from the schema import with a hardcoded 127.0.0.1 agent interface, which inside Docker points at the server container's own loopback instead of the agent. Every agent item then fails with Cannot establish TCP connection to [[127.0.0.1]:10050]. On startup zabbix-init calls the Zabbix API and repoints that interface at the DNS name zabbix-agent. It is idempotent, so it is a no-op on every subsequent start.

The Zabbix server caches host configuration, so metrics start arriving within a minute. To avoid the wait:

docker compose exec zabbix-server zabbix_server -R config_cache_reload

Doing it by hand instead

1. Navigate to Data collection → Hosts
2. Click on Zabbix server host
3. Go to Interfaces tab
4. Change Connect to from IP to DNS
5. Set DNS name to zabbix-agent
6. Update the host

Grafana Dashboard

URL: localhost:3000

Default Credentials:

• Username: admin
• Password: 12345

💡 Anonymous access is enabled by default (see grafana/grafana.ini)

Test Zabbix Data Source

1. Go to Connections → Data sources
2. Select Zabbix data source
3. Click Test button
4. Should show "Data source is working"

Troubleshooting

Check Service Logs

# All services
docker compose logs --tail=10 -f

# Specific service
docker compose logs -f zabbix-server
docker compose logs -f postgres

Common Issues

1. Zabbix Server Won't Start

# Check database connection
docker compose logs zabbix-server

# Restart services in order
docker compose restart postgres
sleep 30
docker compose restart zabbix-server

2. Can't Access Web Interface

# Check if ports are available
netstat -tulpn | grep -E ':(8080|3000|10051|10050)'

# Check container status
docker compose ps

3. Grafana Data Source Connection Failed

# Verify Zabbix API is accessible
curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api_jsonrpc.php \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"apiinfo.version","id":1}'

Performance Tuning

For better performance with large datasets:

# Add to zabbix-server environment in compose.yaml
ZBX_CACHESIZE: "128M"
ZBX_CACHEUPDATEFREQUENCY: "60"
ZBX_STARTDBSYNCERS: "4"

Security Considerations

Production Deployment Checklist

• Change default passwords in .env
• Use strong database passwords
• Restrict access to ports (use firewall/security groups)
• Enable HTTPS for Zabbix frontend
• Configure proper backup strategy

References

• Official Zabbix Docker Images
• Zabbix Plugin for Grafana
• Zabbix Documentation
• Grafana Documentation