Zabbix - ICMP Simple Check - Ping item must have target or host interface specified

calendar Jun 19, 2023 · 1 min read  ·
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When monitoring a host in Zabbix using the "ICMP Ping" template, you may experience the error "ping item must have target or host interface specified" if you create the host without defining an interface (ie. SNMP, agent, etc).

A quick Google search brings you to this Zabbix bug tracker entry:
https://support.zabbix.com/browse/ZBX-22105

The summary is that this is a bug and this was supposed to be fixed in 6.4.1. This isn't actually the case as with a brand new install (package based) it was happening out of the box with 6.4.3.

Solution:

  • Go to Data Collection > Templates
  • Locate the "ICMP Ping" template and click on Items
  • There are three items: ICMP response time, ICMP ping and ICMP loss - append the following to the end of each key: [{HOST.HOST}]

The keys should look like this:

1icmppingsec[{HOST.HOST}]
2icmpping[{HOST.HOST}]
3icmppingloss[{HOST.HOST}]
Reconfigured template items.
Reconfigured template items.

  • Create your host like shown below. Note that the "Host name" field is what populates the [{HOST.HOST}] macro and that there is no interface defined.
    Zabbix new host dialog.
    Zabbix new host dialog.

With this change your hosts should no longer have an error using the ICMP Ping template.