The Zabbix Team announced the release of Zabbix 7.0, marking a major update to its robust monitoring suite. For those unfamiliar, Zabbix offers a scalable, enterprise-class open-source solution for monitoring networks, servers, virtual machines, and cloud services, ensuring real-time data management and security.
Now, something very important related to the new release – to adapt to the evolving tech landscape while preserving its open-source ethos, Zabbix 7.0 is transitioning to the AGPLv3 license from GPLv2.
AGPLv3 differs notably in requiring users to share software modifications if those modifications are used over a network. This change aims to better protect copyright and ensure contributions remain free and open source, aligning with Zabbix’s values of openness and copyright protection.
Key Updates in Zabbix 7.0
Zabbix 7.0 introduces a wide range of new features and enhancements aimed at improving usability, performance, and flexibility. Here are the most important of them:
Improved Usability and Interface Enhancements:
- Introducing a time period selector for the Item history widget simplifies data analysis over customizable time frames.
- Replacing the Plain text widget with an upgraded Item history widget provides a more dynamic user experience in data presentation.
- New widgets like the Host and Item navigator enhance navigation efficiency across monitoring dashboards.
Expanded Monitoring Capabilities:
- Enhanced browser monitoring features include a new browser item and browser poller process, setting the stage for future expansions in web monitoring.
- The software now supports additional HTTP response codes (202, 203, and 204), facilitating better integration with web services.
- Enhancements in proxy load balancing and high-availability configurations improve the robustness of monitoring in distributed environments.
Template and API Extensions:
- New AWS, Azure, and GCP templates enhance cloud monitoring capabilities, reflecting Zabbix’s commitment to staying current with cloud advancements.
- Updated API features support more complex configurations and integrations, ensuring Zabbix can adapt to diverse IT environments.
- Removing deprecated features and enhancements in the plugin architecture streamline performance and customization.
Security and Compliance Upgrades:
- The introduction of multi-factor authentication for the Zabbix UI bolsters security measures.
- Updates to supported database versions, including MariaDB and MySQL, ensure compatibility with the latest technology standards.
- The transition to exclusively using AGPL-3.0 licensing for the software reinforces Zabbix’s commitment to open-source standards.
Performance Improvements:
- Significant backend optimizations include faster action executions and extended support for macros and template conditions.
- Improvements in network discovery, including asynchronous SNMP polling, enhance the efficiency and accuracy of network monitoring.
In addition to the above changes, Zabbix 7.0 has fixed over 400 bugs in this version. The release announcement provides a detailed look. The monitoring system is available for free download from the project website.
