monitoring | Tom's Notes

Another one of more or less useful “projects” that got my attention was enabling Zabbix (while monitoring everything else) to also keep track of my Internet speed. There are sources on the Internet that tell you how (easy it is) to do it, but I was not that lucky – had issues trying to set it up. 🤷‍♂️🙂

What I’m using:
– Zabbix 7 (installed on Ubuntu 24.04)
(https://www.zabbix.com/download?os_distribution=ubuntu)
– Speedtest CLI by Ookla
(https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli)
– some scripts

So, Zabbix is installed and working, no big surprise there.

Next thing we need to install is Speedtest CLI by Ookla – it’s a simple installation… sort of.
Installing it directly on Zabbix server.

(copy/paste from Ookla’s site – https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli):

## If migrating from prior bintray install instructions please first...
# sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/speedtest.list
# sudo apt update
# sudo apt remove speedtest
## Other non-official binaries will conflict with Speedtest CLI
# Example how to remove using apt-get
# sudo apt remove speedtest-cli
sudo apt install curl
curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/ookla/speedtest-cli/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt install speedtest

## If migrating from prior bintray install instructions please first...

# sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/speedtest.list

# sudo apt update

# sudo apt remove speedtest

## Other non-official binaries will conflict with Speedtest CLI

# Example how to remove using apt-get

# sudo apt remove speedtest-cli

sudo apt install curl

curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/ookla/speedtest-cli/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

sudo apt install speedtest

This usually works, but didn’t work for me. 🙂

E: The repository 'https://packagecloud.io/ookla/speedtest-cli/ubuntu noble Release' does not have a Release file.

1	E: The repository 'https://packagecloud.io/ookla/speedtest-cli/ubuntu noble Release' does not have a Release file.

Something cannot be found… hmmm… maybe if we look for “jammy Release”? 🤔

sudo sed -i 's/noble/jammy/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ookla_speedtest-cli.list
sudo apt update

1 2	sudo sed -i 's/noble/jammy/g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ookla_speedtest-cli.list sudo apt update

That (= changing “noble” to “jammy” in the sources list file) fixed it! Yaay! And now we can install speedtest:

sudo apt install -y speedtest

1	sudo apt install -y speedtest

If all goes well, we can check the version:

speedtest --version
# Speedtest by Ookla 1.2.0.84 (ea6b6773cf) Linux/x86_64-linux-musl 6.8.0-85-generic x86_64
# The official command line client for testing the speed and performance of your internet connection.

speedtest --version

# Speedtest by Ookla 1.2.0.84 (ea6b6773cf) Linux/x86_64-linux-musl 6.8.0-85-generic x86_64

# The official command line client for testing the speed and performance of your internet connection.

And we can test it couple of times manually, to see if it’s working:

sudo speedtest --accept-license --accept-gdpr --format=json-pretty
# {
#     "type": "result",
#     "timestamp": "2025-10-10T13:41:42Z",
#     "ping": {
#         "jitter": 0.165,
#         "latency": 9.937,
#         "low": 9.787,
#         "high": 10.120
#     },
#     "download": {
#         "bandwidth": 6384715,
#         "bytes": 74974592,
#         "elapsed": 11900,
#         "latency": {
#             "iqm": 88.716,
#             "low": 15.697,
#             "high": 539.705,
#             "jitter": 22.146
#         }
#     },
#     "upload": {
#         "bandwidth": 3615276,
#         "bytes": 14101120,
#         "elapsed": 3900,
#         "latency": {
#             "iqm": 19.483,
#             "low": 13.968,
#             "high": 264.839,
#             "jitter": 7.657
#         }
#     },
#     "packetLoss": 0,
#     "isp": "ISP",
#     "interface": {
#         "internalIp": "INTERNAL_IP",
#         "name": "eth0",
#         "macAddr": "MAC_ADDRESS",
#         "isVpn": false,
#         "externalIp": "EXTERNAL_IP"
#     },
#     "server": {
#         "id": 52611,
#         "host": "ookla.akton.hr",
#         "port": 8080,
#         "name": "Akton d.o.o.",
#         "location": "Zagreb",
#         "country": "Croatia",
#         "ip": "81.17.228.30"
#     },
#     "result": {
#         "id": "RESULT_ID",
#         "url": "https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/RESULT_ID",
#         "persisted": true
#     }
# }

sudo speedtest --accept-license --accept-gdpr --format=json-pretty

# {

# "type": "result",

# "timestamp": "2025-10-10T13:41:42Z",

# "ping": {

# "jitter": 0.165,

# "latency": 9.937,

# "low": 9.787,

# "high": 10.120

# },

# "download": {

# "bandwidth": 6384715,

# "bytes": 74974592,

# "elapsed": 11900,

# "latency": {

# "iqm": 88.716,

# "low": 15.697,

# "high": 539.705,

# "jitter": 22.146

# }

# },

# "upload": {

# "bandwidth": 3615276,

# "bytes": 14101120,

# "elapsed": 3900,

# "latency": {

# "iqm": 19.483,

# "low": 13.968,

# "high": 264.839,

# "jitter": 7.657

# }

# },

# "packetLoss": 0,

# "isp": "ISP",

# "interface": {

# "internalIp": "INTERNAL_IP",

# "name": "eth0",

# "macAddr": "MAC_ADDRESS",

# "isVpn": false,

# "externalIp": "EXTERNAL_IP"

# },

# "server": {

# "id": 52611,

# "host": "ookla.akton.hr",

# "port": 8080,

# "name": "Akton d.o.o.",

# "location": "Zagreb",

# "country": "Croatia",

# "ip": "81.17.228.30"

# },

# "result": {

# "id": "RESULT_ID",

# "url": "https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/RESULT_ID",

# "persisted": true

# }

Cool! This works! 🙂
Now the tough part – how can I make Zabbix pick it up?!

Let’s just say that the “normal and direct way” didn’t work that well (Speedtest tool was probably hitting timeouts on the Zabbix side, and had issues in delivering results to Zabbix – seen the timeout errors).

So, another solution was necessary – to work around the timeout errors, I’m actually running the Speedtest tool, store/cache data temporarily, and then Zabbix picks it up when it’s in the mood to do so. As I’m doing measurements every 15 minutes or so, there is plenty of time to pick the numbers up and not run into timeouts.

Solution is (relatively) simple:

– script that runs and stores/caches measurements (speedtest-cache.sh)
– systemd service and timer that run the script in 15-minute intervals (zabbix-speedtest.service, zabbix-speedtest.timer)
– script that reads measurements from the Zabbix side (speedtest-read.sh)
– Zabbix items representing measured values (template-speedtest-cache.xml)
– widget/graph that shows data in Zabbix

And here it is:
/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts/speedtest-cache.sh:

#!/bin/bash

SPEEDTEST_BIN="/usr/bin/speedtest"
CACHE_DIR="/var/lib/zabbix/speedtest"
CACHE_FILE="$CACHE_DIR/latest.json"

export HOME="/var/lib/zabbix"

mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"

/usr/bin/timeout 90 "$SPEEDTEST_BIN" --accept-license --accept-gdpr -f json > "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" 2>/dev/null

if [ -s "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" ]; then
    mv "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" "$CACHE_FILE"
fi

#!/bin/bash

SPEEDTEST_BIN="/usr/bin/speedtest"

CACHE_DIR="/var/lib/zabbix/speedtest"

CACHE_FILE="$CACHE_DIR/latest.json"

export HOME="/var/lib/zabbix"

mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"

/usr/bin/timeout 90 "$SPEEDTEST_BIN" --accept-license --accept-gdpr -f json > "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" 2>/dev/null

if [ -s "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" ]; then

mv "$CACHE_FILE.tmp" "$CACHE_FILE"

/etc/systemd/system/zabbix-speedtest.service:

[Unit]
Description=Zabbix Speedtest Cache Updater
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=zabbix
Group=zabbix
ExecStart=/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts/speedtest-cache.sh
Nice=10
ProtectSystem=full
ProtectHome=yes
NoNewPrivileges=yes

[Unit]

Description=Zabbix Speedtest Cache Updater

After=network-online.target

[Service]

User=zabbix

Group=zabbix

ExecStart=/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts/speedtest-cache.sh

Nice=10

ProtectSystem=full

ProtectHome=yes

NoNewPrivileges=yes

/etc/systemd/system/zabbix-speedtest.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Run Speedtest for Zabbix every 15 minutes

[Timer]
OnBootSec=2min
OnUnitActiveSec=15min
AccuracySec=30s
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

[Unit]

Description=Run Speedtest for Zabbix every 15 minutes

[Timer]

OnBootSec=2min

OnUnitActiveSec=15min

AccuracySec=30s

Persistent=true

[Install]

WantedBy=timers.target

/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts/speedtest-read.sh:

#!/bin/bash

CACHE_FILE="/var/lib/zabbix/speedtest/latest.json"

if [ -s "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then
    cat "$CACHE_FILE"
else
    echo '{"error": "no_data"}'
fi

#!/bin/bash

CACHE_FILE="/var/lib/zabbix/speedtest/latest.json"

if [ -s "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then

cat "$CACHE_FILE"

else

echo '{"error": "no_data"}'

(manually imported) template-speedtest-cache.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<zabbix_export>
  <version>7.0</version>
  <templates>
    <template>
      <uuid>deaa5b087f2547c1bf8e589bbebfc5b4</uuid>
      <template>Template Speedtest Ookla JSON</template>
      <name>Template Speedtest Ookla JSON</name>

      <groups>
        <group>
          <name>Templates</name>
        </group>
      </groups>

      <items>
        <!-- MASTER ITEM: JSON (cached) -->
        <item>
          <uuid>24b5d9052df444de9b015376d2c22bda</uuid>
          <name>Internet Speedtest JSON (cached)</name>
          <type>EXTERNAL</type>
          <key>speedtest-read.sh</key>
          <delay>60</delay>
          <history>7d</history>
          <trends>0</trends>
          <value_type>TEXT</value_type>
          <description>Raw JSON output from cached Ookla Speedtest results updated by systemd timer.</description>
        </item>

        <!-- DEPENDENT ITEM: DOWNLOAD -->
        <item>
          <uuid>1c0c5db38bbd4b579a19d59446a3d939</uuid>
          <name>Speedtest Download Mbps</name>
          <type>DEPENDENT</type>
          <key>speedtest.download</key>
          <master_item>
            <key>speedtest-read.sh</key>
          </master_item>
          <value_type>FLOAT</value_type>
          <units>Mbps</units>
          <preprocessing>
            <step>
              <type>JSONPATH</type>
              <parameters>
                <parameter>$["download"]["bandwidth"]</parameter>
              </parameters>
            </step>
            <step>
              <type>MULTIPLIER</type>
              <parameters>
                <parameter>0.000008</parameter>
              </parameters>
            </step>
          </preprocessing>
        </item>

        <!-- DEPENDENT ITEM: UPLOAD -->
        <item>
          <uuid>64cfd5a304b74cb19a027a9c72b9eae0</uuid>
          <name>Speedtest Upload Mbps</name>
          <type>DEPENDENT</type>
          <key>speedtest.upload</key>
          <master_item>
            <key>speedtest-read.sh</key>
          </master_item>
          <value_type>FLOAT</value_type>
          <units>Mbps</units>
          <preprocessing>
            <step>
              <type>JSONPATH</type>
              <parameters>
                <parameter>$["upload"]["bandwidth"]</parameter>
              </parameters>
            </step>
            <step>
              <type>MULTIPLIER</type>
              <parameters>
                <parameter>0.000008</parameter>
              </parameters>
            </step>
          </preprocessing>
        </item>

        <!-- DEPENDENT ITEM: PING -->
        <item>
          <uuid>8b3145983e2e47a38e6282f4df537456</uuid>
          <name>Speedtest Ping ms</name>
          <type>DEPENDENT</type>
          <key>speedtest.ping</key>
          <master_item>
            <key>speedtest-read.sh</key>
          </master_item>
          <value_type>FLOAT</value_type>
          <units>ms</units>
          <preprocessing>
            <step>
              <type>JSONPATH</type>
              <parameters>
                <parameter>$["ping"]["latency"]</parameter>
              </parameters>
            </step>
          </preprocessing>
        </item>

      </items>
    </template>
  </templates>
</zabbix_export>

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<zabbix_export>

<uuid>deaa5b087f2547c1bf8e589bbebfc5b4</uuid>

<template>Template Speedtest Ookla JSON</template>

<name>Template Speedtest Ookla JSON</name>

<group>

<name>Templates</name>

</group>

</groups>

<items>

<item>

<name>Internet Speedtest JSON (cached)</name>

<type>EXTERNAL</type>

<key>speedtest-read.sh</key>

<value_type>TEXT</value_type>

<description>Raw JSON output from cached Ookla Speedtest results updated by systemd timer.</description>

</item>

<item>

<name>Speedtest Download Mbps</name>

<type>DEPENDENT</type>

<key>speedtest.download</key>

<master_item>

<key>speedtest-read.sh</key>

</master_item>

<value_type>FLOAT</value_type>

<step>

<type>JSONPATH</type>

<parameter>$["download"]["bandwidth"]</parameter>

</parameters>

</step>

<step>

<type>MULTIPLIER</type>

</parameters>

</step>

</preprocessing>

</item>

<item>

<name>Speedtest Upload Mbps</name>

<type>DEPENDENT</type>

<key>speedtest.upload</key>

<master_item>

<key>speedtest-read.sh</key>

</master_item>

<value_type>FLOAT</value_type>

<step>

<type>JSONPATH</type>

<parameter>$["upload"]["bandwidth"]</parameter>

</parameters>

</step>

<step>

<type>MULTIPLIER</type>

</parameters>

</step>

</preprocessing>

</item>

<item>

<name>Speedtest Ping ms</name>

<type>DEPENDENT</type>

<key>speedtest.ping</key>

<master_item>

<key>speedtest-read.sh</key>

</master_item>

<value_type>FLOAT</value_type>

<step>

<type>JSONPATH</type>

<parameter>$["ping"]["latency"]</parameter>

</parameters>

</step>

</preprocessing>

</item>

</items>

</template>

</templates>

</zabbix_export>

Added all the scripts, timers and services, fixed all the permissions, checked that I have data, and now my Internet Speed Monitor widget looks like this (it’s not much, but hey! 🙂):

Cheers!

P.S. I’m not a Zabbix expert, and I’m not responsible if this “solution” causes you any troubles!

P.P.S. Don’t just copy everything from the Internet! It’s full of bad people (and code)! 😉

Tom's Notes

Tag Archives: monitoring

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