In most organizations, printing is an essential but often invisible service. When it works, nobody notices. When it fails, productivity stalls. That’s why monitoring your print environment is just as important as monitoring servers, databases, or network devices.
At Opensource ICT Solutions, we specialize in turning complex systems into observable services. One recent example is our integration of PaperCut NG with Zabbix. This allows IT teams to track the health of their print infrastructure in real-time — everything from server resources to individual printers and devices.
Why monitoring PaperCut matters
PaperCut NG does much more than queue print jobs. It enforces quotas, integrates with authentication systems, and manages fleets of devices. If the database runs out of connections, the disk fills up, or the license expires, users feel the impact instantly.
By integrating PaperCut with Zabbix, we make these risks visible long before they become business problems. The result is:
- Proactive detection of printer errors, low toner, or license issues.
- Capacity planning through trend analysis of disk usage, memory, and DB connections.
- Unified visibility — PaperCut health checks appear right alongside servers, networks, and applications in Zabbix dashboards.
How the integration works
The magic happens through the PaperCut System Health API and Zabbix’s flexible data collection methods.
HTTP agent items
Zabbix fetches raw JSON data directly from PaperCut using an HTTP agent item, such as:
This single call provides a full snapshot of server health.
Dependent items + JSONPATH
Instead of hammering the API with multiple requests, we extract the needed fields using dependent items with JSONPATH preprocessing.
For example:
This design means one request can populate dozens of metrics, keeping monitoring both efficient and lightweight.
Calculated items
Some values aren’t directly available from PaperCut. In those cases, we create calculated items inside Zabbix.
For example, the percentage of active DB connections is derived as:
This allows us to set intelligent triggers like “DB connections > 90%” without requiring PaperCut to calculate it for us.
Low-level discovery (LLD) for devices and printers
Perhaps the most powerful part of this integration is automatic discovery.
- Printer LLD → Queries /api/health/printers and creates items and triggers per printer. If a printer goes into Paper Jam or No Toner, Zabbix knows immediately.
- Device LLD → Queries /api/health/devices and builds items dynamically for each discovered device, tracking states like OK, WARNING, or ERROR.
This ensures that new printers and devices are monitored automatically — no manual configuration required!
Why this matters
Bringing all of this together, the integration turns PaperCut NG into a fully observable service inside Zabbix.
- Efficiency → One API call, dozens of metrics.
- Scalability → Automatic discovery of printers and devices.
- Robustness → Alerts and dashboards for licenses, resources, and print queues.
For IT teams, this means fewer surprises, faster troubleshooting, and more confidence in a service that often goes unnoticed until it fails.
Our expertise
This PaperCut integration is just one example of how we at Opensource ICT Solutions help organizations unlock the full potential of Zabbix. We don’t just install monitoring – we design intelligent, scalable integrations that make hidden systems visible. Whether it’s print management, databases, custom applications, or network devices, we know how to extend Zabbix to fit your environment and give you the insights that matter most.
Feel free to download our template and documentation for free from our GitHub: https://github.com/OpensourceICTSolutions/ZabbixPapercutNG
Want to make your business-critical systems truly observable? Let’s talk about how we can tailor Zabbix to your needs: [email protected]
