Zabbix: monitoring HSRP on Cisco devices

Posted on 14 May 2012 by Pier Carlo Chiodi

On the basis of my previous post Cisco HSRP monitoring using SNMP I decided to extend the Zabbix lightweight dynamic template for SNMP routers by adding a new template, which uses part of the configuration already seen in order to monitor Cisco HSRP status. Here it is: Template_Cisco_HSRPGroup.

What we need is to have a trigger fired when a device changes its HSRP state on the LAN side; with the right configuration it may help to understand when something goes wrong on the WAN side.

As seen on the Cisco HSRP monitoring using SNMP post we need two parameters: SNMP interface ID and HSRP group. We already have the first, because each monitored host has the macro used by the Template_Lightweight_Dynamic_SNMPv2_Router: {$LAN_IF_IDX}. We just have to add a new macro to the host, {$HSRP_GROUP}, where we’ll put the HSRP group number used in the router’s configuration, and use it in the new template’s items:

Description: HSRP Group {$HSRP_GROUP} state
SNMP OID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.106.1.2.1.1.15.{$LAN_IF_IDX}.{$HSRP_GROUP}
SNMP community: public
Key: cHsrpGrpStandbyState

Description: HSRP Group {$HSRP_GROUP} active IP
SNMP OID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.106.1.2.1.1.13.{$LAN_IF_IDX}.{$HSRP_GROUP}
SNMP community: public
Key: cHsrpGrpActiveRouter

Description: HSRP Group {$HSRP_GROUP} standby IP
SNMP OID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.106.1.2.1.1.14.{$LAN_IF_IDX}.{$HSRP_GROUP}
SNMP community: public
Key: cHsrpGrpStandbyRouter

At this point we add 3 more macros to tell Zabbix which values we expect to find for the HSRP group state, active IP and standby IP: {$HSRP_GROUP_EXPECTED_STATE}, {$HSRP_GROUP_EXPECTED_ACTIVE_IP} and {$HSRP_GROUP_EXPECTED_STANDBY_IP}.

Here are the host macros used by Template_Lightweight_Dynamic_SNMPv2_Router and by the new Template_Cisco_HSRPGroup:

Simple triggers will notice unexpected behaviour:

Name: Unexpected HSRP group state
Expression: {Template_Cisco_HSRPGroup:cHsrpGrpStandbyState.last(0)}#{$HSRP_GROUP_EXPECTED_STATE}
Severity: High

Name: Unexpected HSRP active router
Expression: {Template_Cisco_HSRPGroup:cHsrpGrpActiveRouter.str("{$HSRP_GROUP_EXPECTED_ACTIVE_IP}")}=0
Severity: High

...

Here you can find the XML Template: Template_Cisco_HSRPGroup.zip

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Pier Carlo Chiodi

Italian, born in 1980, I started working in the IT/telecommunications industry in the late '90s; I'm now a system and network engineer with a deep knowledge of the global Internet and its core architectures, and a strong focus on network automation.

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