Zabbix 8.0 Alpha1 Is Here: A First Look at the Future of Monitoring

Good morning, everyone! Dimitri Bellini here, back with another episode on Quadrata, my channel dedicated to the world of open source and IT. This week, we're diving into something I know many of you have been eagerly anticipating: the first alpha release of Zabbix 8.0!

This is a major Long-Term Support (LTS) release, and the roadmap is packed with exciting features that promise to reshape how we approach monitoring and observability. So, let's explore what's new, what's coming, and what you can already get your hands on.

The Vision for Zabbix 8.0: A Focus on Observability

Before we get into the specifics of the alpha, it's worth looking at the grand vision for Zabbix 8.0. The development is heavily focused on expanding into the realm of full-fledged observability. This means more than just collecting metrics; it's about gaining deeper insights into our systems.

Key areas of development include:


What's New in the First Alpha Release?

While the full vision will unfold over the coming months, the first alpha already delivers some fantastic quality-of-life improvements and new functionalities. Here are the highlights that stood out to me.

Finally! Inherited Tags in Latest Data

This is a big one. For a long time, the "Latest Data" page has been a source of frustration because it didn't inherit tags from templates. If you've been in the Zabbix world for a while, you know that since the removal of "Applications," filtering data for a specific component, like MySQL, became a bit of a chore. The community has been vocal about this, and I'm thrilled to say Zabbix has listened. Now, tags from your templates are visible directly in the Latest Data view, making it incredibly easy to filter and segregate items from the OS versus a specific application.

Streamlined SAML Authentication

For anyone working in an enterprise environment, managing SAML certificates could be a bit "rustic." You had to manually place certificate files into the server's file system. Zabbix 8.0 introduces a much more professional solution: you can now upload and manage SAML certificates directly through the web interface under Administration -> Authentication. This is a small but significant change that simplifies setup, reduces errors, and makes the whole process much cleaner.

New and Improved Templates

Zabbix continues to deliver excellent out-of-the-box templates. This release brings new additions for networking gear from Aruba, Cisco, StormShield, and Vyatta. Furthermore, the Proxmox template has received a much-needed overhaul. With the recent shifts in the virtualization landscape (looking at you, VMware), many are turning to Proxmox, and it's great to see Zabbix providing a more modern, robust template for it. There are also improvements to the MySQL template, specifically around replication monitoring, and native monitoring support for Ceph storage, which is heavily used in Proxmox environments.

A Fresh Coat of Paint: New Font and UI Tweaks

Zabbix has moved on from the trusty Arial font to a new, more refined typeface. While the difference is subtle, it gives the interface a slightly more modern and elegant feel. You might not notice it at first glance, but it's part of a continuous effort to improve the user experience.

New Visualization Power: The Scatterplot Widget

Version 8.0 introduces a brand-new dashboard widget: the scatterplot. This might not be for every use case, but it's incredibly powerful for visualizing the relationship between two different metrics across multiple hosts. For example, you could plot the signal-to-noise ratio for dozens of access points, allowing you to instantly identify outliers and potential issues. It's a fantastic tool for spotting correlations and anomalies that would be lost in a standard time-series graph.

Under the Hood Improvements

There are also some important changes that improve stability and performance, particularly in large-scale environments:


What's Next? Alpha 2 and the Road to Release

The journey to Zabbix 8.0 LTS, expected around mid-2026, is just beginning. Work is already underway for Alpha 2, which is slated to introduce the JSON item type and the ClickHouse backend support—foundational pieces for the observability features we discussed. These additions will be critical for handling streaming data from OpenTelemetry and other sources, truly pushing Zabbix into the next era of monitoring.

I am incredibly excited to see these features develop and to test how they transform our ability to monitor complex, application-centric environments.

What Are You Most Excited About?

That's a wrap for my first look at Zabbix 8.0 Alpha! From my perspective, the moves toward observability and better event correlation are the most exciting developments. But I want to hear from you!

What features are you most looking forward to? Is it the OpenTelemetry integration, the advanced event correlation, or perhaps the network topology improvements? Let me know in the comments below!

And if you're not already part of our community, I invite you to join the conversation.



Thanks for tuning in. A big greeting from me, Dimitri, and I'll see you next week. Bye everyone!