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• Once clients are installed or configured to be accessible to and by the Zabbix server (monitor.rice.edu), the process of identifying, classifying and utilizing data for monitoring, trending and notification can begin. 
• Begin by answering the following questions
  1. What do I need to know from the server or service(s) that will help me manage the service delivery?
     1. Do I need to track scalability?
     2. Do I want to be able to diagnose problems in the service delivery?
     3. What characterizes the service hardware and software requirements (disk space/performance, CPU cycles, Networking, memory)?
     4. How should the service or server be classified with regards to support (critical, business day only support, non-critical service)?
     5. When and how do I want to be notified if there is a problem?
     6. What should constitute a problem?
     7. Will baseline service data need to be gathered and if so, what data?

• Determine if there is a way to get the data you need from the Zabbix agent, SNMP, IPMI or custom checks and implement.  Process status checks generally provide a fixed vocabulary of choices represented by integer values while performance data is generally real numbers from 0 to a defined maximum.
• Configure Zabbix to poll or trap data required to monitor, trend or send alerts.
• Define the trigger thresholds that will satisfy your needs based on an initial guess, trend data to date or other means.
• Create actions that fulfill your notification requirements - set notifications to just yourself while in the initial stages.
• Test the notifications, graphs and track over time for tuning
• Rinse and repeat as necessary.
• Define the IT Service monitoring that you would like and include maintenance windows and KPI.  Some additional A/V pairs may need to be added for KPI.  Status checks that are used for monitoring are good for KPI.

Example 1:  SNMP Printer Ink and Fuser polling

1. Defined Request:  I want to get an email when the toner level or the fuser needs replacement on an HP printer.
2. Identify the printer make and model :  HP Laserjet 4000 series
3. Use the web or telnet interface on the printer to configure it for SNMP
   1.  On a 4250, you can use the web interface under Networking Tab, Network Settings, SNMP
   2. Use telnet alternatively to set HP printer snmp settings Telnet <IP/Hostname> 
      1. snmp-config 1
      2. default-get-cmnty 1
      3. (to enable trap sending) auth-trap 1
      4. trap-dest 10.129.92.52 (IP of zabbix server)
4. Download the vendors MIB or a close proximity from MIB Depot and evaluate
   1.  http://mibdepot.com
   2. Click the Search Option
   3. Choose Vendors on the left hand panel
   4. Locate and Select HP
   5. Search the web page for "Laserjet"
   6. Find the closest match  "Laserjet Series 4200-MIB" and note the SNMP version is V1.
   7. Browse the MIB looking for consumables such as INK and  FUSER information.  Fusers in HP Mibs are called maintenance kits for some models and Ink is sometimes called Toner or Impression so knowing the lingo helps.
   8. Identify the oid for a catagory such as Consumable-status-info  1.3.6.1.4.1.11.2.3.9.4.2.1.4.1.10.5.1.1 and note the tree structure (how the oid numbering is aligned and what other values are close to this one)
   9. Test the oid against the printer  snmpwalk -v1 -cpublic -Of <ip of printer/hostname> 1.3.6.1.4.1.11.2.3.9.4.2.1.4.1.10.5.1.1 to see what is returned
      1. .iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprises.11.2.3.9.4.2.1.4.1.10.5.1.1.1.0 = INTEGER: 6083
         .iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprises.11.2.3.9.4.2.1.4.1.10.5.1.1.2.0 = INTEGER: 128978
      2. Per the information on this OID at Mib Depot, the values indicate the number of pages that remain until the supply is depleted.  The first number should be the Toner, the second is the fuser.
      3. This may be able to be confirmed from the web interface on the printer depending on the make, model and firmware on the printer.
5. Move to Zabbix to start work on a Template
   1. First check to see if an existing Template has been set up by someone else.  If it exists, clone it for your use, if not create a new template and send a note to the list so that others will know it is there.
   2. An existing HP Printer Template exists so we will use Full Clone to make a copy for our use.
   3. Create a new snmp v1 item based on the OID identified in 4.i.i  above and set the polling interval for once per day or 86,400 seconds.  For testing set this number low 60 seconds.
   4. Create 2 new triggers based on the OID to set an event threshold of < 100 pages for an action.
   5. Create a new action or adjust an existing action to send an alert when the threshold logic is true.
   6. Associate the template to a host that you wish to monitor
   7. Test the trigger by setting the comparison value to a one greater than the current value from 4.i.i (6083) for Toner and validate that a page or email has been sent and that a status change is identified in the item.
   8. If all the test work out, go back and set you polling interval in the template and the test value in the trigger to your permenant values.