Introduction to Zabbix host monitoring on OpenWrt

A short guide to getting started with network host monitoring using Zabbix server, frontend and agent on OpenWrt, for advanced users

The resulting system

An Zabbix server and frontend system running on OpenWrt which also hosts the backend PostgreSQL database.
The system also monitors itself using Zabbix Agent.
Secured using TLS and X.509 certificates.
Data is stored on a block device mounted on /srv

A sufficiently powerful system for the number of hosts you wish to monitor.
1. A home router is unlikely to do the job.
2. You need storage that can be written frequently as there are many metrics which gathered, often.
3. In addition the metrics are stored in a PostgreSQL database (which, in this guide runs on the same machine as the Zabbix server and frontend).
4. You needs lots of storage for the data. You could easily use 200GB over time.
Hosts (workstations and/or servers) and/or network devices to monitor.
A workstation which can use the OpenWrt ImageBuilder to generate the images to be used on the OpenWrt Zabbix system. For example, a modern Linux system, or a Windows system with WSL2 installed and working.
A workstation capable of SSH to, and browsing, the Zabbix server.