Zabbix-6.2.3, Ubuntu-22.04, fping-5.1

Hello

If different versions of the fping works differently with -i0 option - this questions should be re-addressed to the upstream developer of the fping product.

We are using fping version which is installed in the system and rely on the functionality of the fping version.

Also in our environment we can not reproduce the issue with RHEL8 or RHEL9 and fping supplied by RHEL.

Regards,
Edgar

Thank you for your attention to this problem.  I apologize if I was not clear.

This is NOT an fping version issue (or an fping issue at all).  I see the exactly the same effect whether running ubuntu-18.04/fping-4.0 or ubuntu-22.04/fping-5.1: when run with the i0 option the ping response times are 4-5 times longer than without it.  This is, I believe, due to the responses of the upstream routers when presented with multiple icmp packets sent closely together (as happens with i0).  The difference is apparent in Zabbix because Zabbix-3.4 calls fping without the i0 option and Zabbix-6.2 calls it with the i0 option.  That you can't reproduce it there is likely due to network hardware, upstream network traffic load and topology differences.{}

Below are sample results from running the two different versions of fping used by the two different versions of Zabbix I have here with ip address obfuscated for privacy.  The ip addresses are roughly in order of network hops from me with my router being 1.1.1.1.  The ip address I have been concentrating on  is 2.2.2.2 (one hop upstream from my router and marked bold below ).  I do not know if the address order is relevant but it doesn't matter because Zabbix seems to call fping with the addresses in a different arbitrary order on each update.   Also, I have run these fping tests multiple times; the results below are typical, not one-offs.  The longer response times with i0 are clearly visible.

I hope this clarifies why (at least some) Zabbix users need some control over the i option Zabbix uses with fping.

fping-4.0 (used by Zabbix-3.4 on Ubuntu-18.04 box) without and with i0
$ fping -qc3 5.5.5.5  3.3.3.3  7.7.7.7  4.4.4.4  1.1.1.1  6.6.6.6  2.2.2.2
5.5.5.5 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 16.0/17.0/18.8
3.3.3.3 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 8.91/9.85/10.9
7.7.7.7 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 41.2/41.7/42.3
4.4.4.4 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 9.59/9.98/10.4
1.1.1.1 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 0.47/0.63/0.71
6.6.6.6 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 15.2/17.2/19.2
2.2.2.2 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 3.15/5.09/8.64 

$ fping -i0 -qc3  5.5.5.5  3.3.3.3  7.7.7.7  4.4.4.4  1.1.1.1  6.6.6.6  2.2.2.2
5.5.5.5 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 17.2/21.1/25.7
3.3.3.3 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 11.8/21.7/31.8
7.7.7.7 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 51.5/58.6/71.2
4.4.4.4 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 20.3/28.0/38.5
1.1.1.1 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 0.83/0.87/0.92
6.6.6.6 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 25.6/32.9/46.1
2.2.2.2 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 10.6/17.5/31.3

fping-5.0 (used by Zabbix-6.2 on Ubuntu-22.04 box) without and with i0
$ fping -qc3 5.5.5.5  3.3.3.3  7.7.7.7  4.4.4.4  1.1.1.1  6.6.6.6  2.2.2.2
5.5.5.5 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 20.4/25.0/33.6
3.3.3.3 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 13.9/17.4/22.7
7.7.7.7 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 43.3/48.2/51.8
4.4.4.4 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 15.8/20.0/22.8
1.1.1.1 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 0.341/0.370/0.405
6.6.6.6 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 17.3/20.1/23.4
2.2.2.2 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 3.99/7.66/11.5

$ fping -i0 -qc3 5.5.5.5  3.3.3.3  7.7.7.7  4.4.4.4  1.1.1.1  6.6.6.6  2.2.2.2
5.5.5.5 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 20.4/22.4/24.8
3.3.3.3 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 17.0/19.9/23.0
7.7.7.7 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 58.5/67.5/73.1
4.4.4.4 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 26.8/41.6/56.6
1.1.1.1 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 0.546/0.585/0.609
6.6.6.6 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 34.6/60.9/90.5
2.2.2.2 : xmt/rcv/%loss = 3/3/0%, min/avg/max = 16.6/38.4/71.3

 I see the exactly the same effect whether running ubuntu-18.04/fping-4.0 or ubuntu-22.04/fping-5.1: when run with the i0 option the ping response times are 4-5 times longer than without it. 

Moving to the ZBXNEXT queue: add ability to set custom fping interval manually for icmp checks.

I'm having the same problem too.
I hope it can be improved quickly.

Actually icmpping often fails by fping -i0 option in zabbix.

Hello. Do you have a resolution to this behavior? I have the same problem. Thanks!

Don't know if this will help anyone but as a workaround until Zabbix can fix this, I wrote a simple program (I used C but I'm sure the same thing could be done with a bash script or any other language) that strips out or replaces any -i option in the arguments it receives, and then calls the system fping with the adjusted arguments.  In the zabbix_server.conf file, FpingLocation is set to point to my program rather than the system fping.