Zabbix template for monitoring APT package updates.

This template uses -s simulation option when invoking apt-get, so no root access is needed for Zabbix user during polling.

Notes

However, root access is required for updating APT repositories. Since Zabbix runs under a dedicated user, it can be done either by using sudo in agent configuration script below, using a dedicated crontab entry to invoke apt-get update periodically or use APT::Periodic functionality bundled inside the APT system itself. Support for the APT::Periodic is included in this setup.

Since APT::Periodic is executed via already existing APT maintenace script located in cron.daily, the minimum period of updating repositories is once a day. If shorter period is required, a spearate cron.hourly script is needed instead.

Installation

1. Copy apt.conf.d/02periodic script to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d directory to configure daily automatic package repository updates using APT::Periodic.
2. Copy zabbix_agentd.d/apt.conf to the Zabbix agent's configuration directory (usually located in /etc/zabbix).
3. Import templates/apt-updates.xml to Zabbix frontend.
4. Change "Timeout" value to something higher in the zabbix agent configuration