Dynamic Values

For the Hostgroup, Tag and ZabbixHostInventory objects, values can be dynamically assigned using Jinja2 templates. Static values are, of course, also possible.

Usage

When creating a Hostgroup, Tag, or a ZabbixHostInventory, you can specify a value, which may be a Jinja2 template. Specifying a template alone does not have any immediate effect; it is the context in which the object is assigned that determines how the Jinja2 template is rendered.

For example, if a Hostgroup is given the value:

{{ object.site.name }}

and is applied to a Device, it will render as the device's Site Name. Here, object refers to the entity to which the assignment is made. This distinction is important: if a Hostgroup is assigned to a DeviceType, then the DeviceType becomes the object—even if the Hostgroup is later inherited by a Device.

Therefore, using the following template:

{{ object.site.name }}

on a DeviceType does not make sense, because a DeviceType does not have a Site attribute.

Context

Rendering a value is always performed within a context, which provides access to various values. While the object reference has already been explained, there are additional context variables available. These values can be used in the Jinja2 template, by referring to it.

{{ object.site.name }} (via {{ tag }})

would be perfectly valid.

Tag

Tags are rendered within a context that includes the following information:

Key	Value	Explanation
object	assigned_object	Refers to the assigned object; this could be a DeviceType, Device, VirtualMachine, etc.
tag	zabbixtag.tag	Contains the Zabbix Tag value that this assignment refers to
value	zabbixtag.value	The value of the Zabbix Tag (typically the Jinja2 template)
name	zabbixtag.name	The name of the Zabbix Tag
description	zabbixtag.description	The description of the Zabbix Tag

Hostgroup

Just like tags, hostgroups are rendered in a context:

Key	Value	Explanation
object	assigned_object	Refers to the assigned object; this could be a DeviceType, Device, VirtualMachine, etc.
value	zabbixhostgroup.value	The value of the Zabbix Hostgroup (typically the Jinja2 template)
name	zabbixhostgroup.name	The name of the Zabbix Hostgroup

Host Inventory

Each field on a ZabbixHostInventory record is rendered individually. The context is simpler than for tags and hostgroups:

Key	Value	Explanation
object	assigned_object	The Device, VDC, or VirtualMachine this inventory belongs to

Because ZabbixHostInventory is assigned directly to a Device, VDC, or VM (never to a DeviceType or other inheritance-chain object), object always refers to the host itself. This means device attributes like object.site.name, object.rack.name, or object.primary_ip are always available and always resolve to the correct host.

Note that each field has a maximum character length enforced at render time, values that exceed the limit are silently truncated. The inventory_mode field controls how Zabbix treats the inventory: - Manual (the default) means Zabbix only updates inventory via the API, which is how nbxSync writes it. - Automatic would cause Zabbix to overwrite inventory fields from item values, which conflicts with nbxSync's writes and should generally be avoided.

Note

The inventory_mode field determines how Zabbix handles the inventory data. - Manual (default) means only nbxSync writes to inventory. - Automatic causes Zabbix to overwrite inventory from item values (this conflicts with nbxSync's writes and is not recommended). - Disabled turns off inventory entirely for the host.