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diff --git a/backends/WALKTHROUGH.md b/backends/WALKTHROUGH.md index 19f4ac0e1..c6461db46 100644 --- a/backends/WALKTHROUGH.md +++ b/backends/WALKTHROUGH.md @@ -2,123 +2,102 @@ ## Intro -In this article I will walk you through the basics of getting Netdata, -Prometheus and Grafana all working together and monitoring your application -servers. This article will be using docker on your local workstation. We will be -working with docker in an ad-hoc way, launching containers that run ‘/bin/bash’ -and attaching a TTY to them. I use docker here in a purely academic fashion and -do not condone running Netdata in a container. I pick this method so individuals -without cloud accounts or access to VMs can try this out and for it’s speed of -deployment. +In this article I will walk you through the basics of getting Netdata, Prometheus and Grafana all working together and +monitoring your application servers. This article will be using docker on your local workstation. We will be working +with docker in an ad-hoc way, launching containers that run ‘/bin/bash’ and attaching a TTY to them. I use docker here +in a purely academic fashion and do not condone running Netdata in a container. I pick this method so individuals +without cloud accounts or access to VMs can try this out and for it’s speed of deployment. ## Why Netdata, Prometheus, and Grafana -Some time ago I was introduced to Netdata by a coworker. We were attempting to -troubleshoot python code which seemed to be bottlenecked. I was instantly -impressed by the amount of metrics Netdata exposes to you. I quickly added -Netdata to my set of go-to tools when troubleshooting systems performance. - -Some time ago, even later, I was introduced to Prometheus. Prometheus is a -monitoring application which flips the normal architecture around and polls -rest endpoints for its metrics. This architectural change greatly simplifies -and decreases the time necessary to begin monitoring your applications. -Compared to current monitoring solutions the time spent on designing the -infrastructure is greatly reduced. Running a single Prometheus server per -application becomes feasible with the help of Grafana. - -Grafana has been the go to graphing tool for… some time now. It’s awesome, -anyone that has used it knows it’s awesome. We can point Grafana at Prometheus -and use Prometheus as a data source. This allows a pretty simple overall -monitoring architecture: Install Netdata on your application servers, point -Prometheus at Netdata, and then point Grafana at Prometheus. - -I’m omitting an important ingredient in this stack in order to keep this tutorial -simple and that is service discovery. My personal preference is to use Consul. -Prometheus can plug into consul and automatically begin to scrape new hosts that -register a Netdata client with Consul. - -At the end of this tutorial you will understand how each technology fits -together to create a modern monitoring stack. This stack will offer you -visibility into your application and systems performance. +Some time ago I was introduced to Netdata by a coworker. We were attempting to troubleshoot python code which seemed to +be bottlenecked. I was instantly impressed by the amount of metrics Netdata exposes to you. I quickly added Netdata to +my set of go-to tools when troubleshooting systems performance. + +Some time ago, even later, I was introduced to Prometheus. Prometheus is a monitoring application which flips the normal +architecture around and polls rest endpoints for its metrics. This architectural change greatly simplifies and decreases +the time necessary to begin monitoring your applications. Compared to current monitoring solutions the time spent on +designing the infrastructure is greatly reduced. Running a single Prometheus server per application becomes feasible +with the help of Grafana. + +Grafana has been the go to graphing tool for… some time now. It’s awesome, anyone that has used it knows it’s awesome. +We can point Grafana at Prometheus and use Prometheus as a data source. This allows a pretty simple overall monitoring +architecture: Install Netdata on your application servers, point Prometheus at Netdata, and then point Grafana at +Prometheus. + +I’m omitting an important ingredient in this stack in order to keep this tutorial simple and that is service discovery. +My personal preference is to use Consul. Prometheus can plug into consul and automatically begin to scrape new hosts +that register a Netdata client with Consul. + +At the end of this tutorial you will understand how each technology fits together to create a modern monitoring stack. +This stack will offer you visibility into your application and systems performance. ## Getting Started - Netdata -To begin let’s create our container which we will install Netdata on. We need -to run a container, forward the necessary port that Netdata listens on, and -attach a tty so we can interact with the bash shell on the container. But -before we do this we want name resolution between the two containers to work. -In order to accomplish this we will create a user-defined network and attach -both containers to this network. The first command we should run is: +To begin let’s create our container which we will install Netdata on. We need to run a container, forward the necessary +port that Netdata listens on, and attach a tty so we can interact with the bash shell on the container. But before we do +this we want name resolution between the two containers to work. In order to accomplish this we will create a +user-defined network and attach both containers to this network. The first command we should run is: ```sh docker network create --driver bridge netdata-tutorial ``` -With this user-defined network created we can now launch our container we will -install Netdata on and point it to this network. +With this user-defined network created we can now launch our container we will install Netdata on and point it to this +network. ```sh docker run -it --name netdata --hostname netdata --network=netdata-tutorial -p 19999:19999 centos:latest '/bin/bash' ``` -This command creates an interactive tty session (-it), gives the container both -a name in relation to the docker daemon and a hostname (this is so you know what -container is which when working in the shells and docker maps hostname -resolution to this container), forwards the local port 19999 to the container’s -port 19999 (-p 19999:19999), sets the command to run (/bin/bash) and then -chooses the base container images (centos:latest). After running this you should -be sitting inside the shell of the container. +This command creates an interactive tty session (-it), gives the container both a name in relation to the docker daemon +and a hostname (this is so you know what container is which when working in the shells and docker maps hostname +resolution to this container), forwards the local port 19999 to the container’s port 19999 (-p 19999:19999), sets the +command to run (/bin/bash) and then chooses the base container images (centos:latest). After running this you should be +sitting inside the shell of the container. -After we have entered the shell we can install Netdata. This process could not -be easier. If you take a look at [this link](../packaging/installer/#installation), the Netdata devs give us -several one-liners to install Netdata. I have not had any issues with these one -liners and their bootstrapping scripts so far (If you guys run into anything do -share). Run the following command in your container. +After we have entered the shell we can install Netdata. This process could not be easier. If you take a look at [this +link](../packaging/installer/#installation), the Netdata devs give us several one-liners to install Netdata. I have not +had any issues with these one liners and their bootstrapping scripts so far (If you guys run into anything do share). +Run the following command in your container. ```sh bash <(curl -Ss https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh) --dont-wait ``` -After the install completes you should be able to hit the Netdata dashboard at -<http://localhost:19999/> (replace localhost if you’re doing this on a VM or have -the docker container hosted on a machine not on your local system). If this is -your first time using Netdata I suggest you take a look around. The amount of -time I’ve spent digging through /proc and calculating my own metrics has been -greatly reduced by this tool. Take it all in. +After the install completes you should be able to hit the Netdata dashboard at <http://localhost:19999/> (replace +localhost if you’re doing this on a VM or have the docker container hosted on a machine not on your local system). If +this is your first time using Netdata I suggest you take a look around. The amount of time I’ve spent digging through +/proc and calculating my own metrics has been greatly reduced by this tool. Take it all in. Next I want to draw your attention to a particular endpoint. Navigate to -<http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes> In your -browser. This is the endpoint which publishes all the metrics in a format which -Prometheus understands. Let’s take a look at one of these metrics. -`netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu",family="cpu",dimension="system"} -0.0831255 1501271696000` This metric is representing several things which I will -go in more details in the section on prometheus. For now understand that this -metric: `netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average` has several labels: [chart, -family, dimension]. This corresponds with the first cpu chart you see on the -Netdata dashboard. +<http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes> In your browser. This is the endpoint which +publishes all the metrics in a format which Prometheus understands. Let’s take a look at one of these metrics. +`netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu",family="cpu",dimension="system"} 0.0831255 1501271696000` This +metric is representing several things which I will go in more details in the section on prometheus. For now understand +that this metric: `netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average` has several labels: (chart, family, dimension). This +corresponds with the first cpu chart you see on the Netdata dashboard.  -This CHART is called ‘system.cpu’, The FAMILY is cpu, and the DIMENSION we are -observing is “system”. You can begin to draw links between the charts in Netdata -to the prometheus metrics format in this manner. +This CHART is called ‘system.cpu’, The FAMILY is cpu, and the DIMENSION we are observing is “system”. You can begin to +draw links between the charts in Netdata to the prometheus metrics format in this manner. ## Prometheus -We will be installing prometheus in a container for purpose of demonstration. -While prometheus does have an official container I would like to walk through -the install process and setup on a fresh container. This will allow anyone +We will be installing prometheus in a container for purpose of demonstration. While prometheus does have an official +container I would like to walk through the install process and setup on a fresh container. This will allow anyone reading to migrate this tutorial to a VM or Server of any sort. -Let’s start another container in the same fashion as we did the Netdata -container. +Let’s start another container in the same fashion as we did the Netdata container. ```sh docker run -it --name prometheus --hostname prometheus --network=netdata-tutorial -p 9090:9090 centos:latest '/bin/bash' ``` -This should drop you into a shell once again. Once there quickly install your favorite editor as we will be editing files later in this tutorial. +This should drop you into a shell once again. Once there quickly install your favorite editor as we will be editing +files later in this tutorial. ```sh yum install vim -y @@ -139,39 +118,33 @@ mkdir /opt/prometheus sudo tar -xvf /tmp/prometheus-*linux-amd64.tar.gz -C /opt/prometheus --strip=1 ``` -This should get prometheus installed into the container. Let’s test that we can run prometheus and connect to it’s web interface. +This should get prometheus installed into the container. Let’s test that we can run prometheus and connect to it’s web +interface. ```sh /opt/prometheus/prometheus ``` -Now attempt to go to <http://localhost:9090/>. You should be presented with the -prometheus homepage. This is a good point to talk about Prometheus’s data model -which can be viewed here: <https://prometheus.io/docs/concepts/data_model/> As -explained we have two key elements in Prometheus metrics. We have the ‘metric’ -and its ‘labels’. Labels allow for granularity between metrics. Let’s use our -previous example to further explain. +Now attempt to go to <http://localhost:9090/>. You should be presented with the prometheus homepage. This is a good +point to talk about Prometheus’s data model which can be viewed here: <https://prometheus.io/docs/concepts/data_model/> +As explained we have two key elements in Prometheus metrics. We have the ‘metric’ and its ‘labels’. Labels allow for +granularity between metrics. Let’s use our previous example to further explain. -``` +```conf netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu",family="cpu",dimension="system"} 0.0831255 1501271696000 ``` -Here our metric is -‘netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average’ and our labels are ‘chart’, ‘family’, -and ‘dimension. The last two values constitute the actual metric value for the -metric type (gauge, counter, etc…). We can begin graphing system metrics with -this information, but first we need to hook up Prometheus to poll Netdata stats. - -Let’s move our attention to Prometheus’s configuration. Prometheus gets it -config from the file located (in our example) at -`/opt/prometheus/prometheus.yml`. I won’t spend an extensive amount of time -going over the configuration values documented here: -<https://prometheus.io/docs/operating/configuration/>. We will be adding a new -“job” under the “scrape_configs”. Let’s make the “scrape_configs” section look -like this (we can use the dns name Netdata due to the custom user-defined -network we created in docker beforehand). - -```yml +Here our metric is ‘netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average’ and our labels are ‘chart’, ‘family’, and ‘dimension. The +last two values constitute the actual metric value for the metric type (gauge, counter, etc…). We can begin graphing +system metrics with this information, but first we need to hook up Prometheus to poll Netdata stats. + +Let’s move our attention to Prometheus’s configuration. Prometheus gets it config from the file located (in our example) +at `/opt/prometheus/prometheus.yml`. I won’t spend an extensive amount of time going over the configuration values +documented here: <https://prometheus.io/docs/operating/configuration/>. We will be adding a new“job” under the +“scrape_configs”. Let’s make the “scrape_configs” section look like this (we can use the dns name Netdata due to the +custom user-defined network we created in docker beforehand). + +```yaml scrape_configs: # The job name is added as a label `job=<job_name>` to any timeseries scraped from this config. - job_name: 'prometheus' @@ -192,84 +165,66 @@ scrape_configs: - targets: ['netdata:19999'] ``` -Let’s start prometheus once again by running `/opt/prometheus/prometheus`. If we - -now navigate to prometheus at ‘<http://localhost:9090/targets’> we should see our - -target being successfully scraped. If we now go back to the Prometheus’s -homepage and begin to type ‘netdata\_’ Prometheus should auto complete metrics -it is now scraping. +Let’s start prometheus once again by running `/opt/prometheus/prometheus`. If we now navigate to prometheus at +‘<http://localhost:9090/targets’> we should see our target being successfully scraped. If we now go back to the +Prometheus’s homepage and begin to type ‘netdata\_’ Prometheus should auto complete metrics it is now scraping.  -Let’s now start exploring how we can graph some metrics. Back in our NetData -container lets get the CPU spinning with a pointless busy loop. On the shell do -the following: +Let’s now start exploring how we can graph some metrics. Back in our NetData container lets get the CPU spinning with a +pointless busy loop. On the shell do the following: -``` +```sh [root@netdata /]# while true; do echo "HOT HOT HOT CPU"; done ``` -Our NetData cpu graph should be showing some activity. Let’s represent this in -Prometheus. In order to do this let’s keep our metrics page open for reference: -<http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes> We are -setting out to graph the data in the CPU chart so let’s search for “system.cpu” -in the metrics page above. We come across a section of metrics with the first -comments `# COMMENT homogeneous chart "system.cpu", context "system.cpu", family -"cpu", units "percentage"` Followed by the metrics. This is a good start now let -us drill down to the specific metric we would like to graph. +Our NetData cpu graph should be showing some activity. Let’s represent this in Prometheus. In order to do this let’s +keep our metrics page open for reference: <http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes> We are +setting out to graph the data in the CPU chart so let’s search for “system.cpu”in the metrics page above. We come across +a section of metrics with the first comments `# COMMENT homogeneous chart "system.cpu", context "system.cpu", family +"cpu", units "percentage"` Followed by the metrics. This is a good start now let us drill down to the specific metric we +would like to graph. -``` +```conf # COMMENT netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average: dimension "system", value is percentage, gauge, dt 1501275951 to 1501275951 inclusive netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu",family="cpu",dimension="system"} 0.0000000 1501275951000 ``` -Here we learn that the metric name we care about is -‘netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average’ so throw this into Prometheus and see -what we get. We should see something similar to this (I shut off my busy loop) +Here we learn that the metric name we care about is‘netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average’ so throw this into Prometheus +and see what we get. We should see something similar to this (I shut off my busy loop)  -This is a good step toward what we want. Also make note that Prometheus will tag -on an ‘instance’ label for us which corresponds to our statically defined job in -the configuration file. This allows us to tailor our queries to specific -instances. Now we need to isolate the dimension we want in our query. To do this -let us refine the query slightly. Let’s query the dimension also. Place this -into our query text box. -`netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{dimension="system"}` We now wind up with -the following graph. +This is a good step toward what we want. Also make note that Prometheus will tag on an ‘instance’ label for us which +corresponds to our statically defined job in the configuration file. This allows us to tailor our queries to specific +instances. Now we need to isolate the dimension we want in our query. To do this let us refine the query slightly. Let’s +query the dimension also. Place this into our query text box. +`netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{dimension="system"}` We now wind up with the following graph.  -Awesome, this is exactly what we wanted. If you haven’t caught on yet we can -emulate entire charts from NetData by using the `chart` dimension. If you’d like -you can combine the ‘chart’ and ‘instance’ dimension to create per-instance -charts. Let’s give this a try: -`netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu", instance="netdata:19999"}` - -This is the basics of using Prometheus to query NetData. I’d advise everyone at -this point to read [this page](../backends/prometheus/#using-netdata-with-prometheus). -The key point here is that NetData can export metrics from its internal DB or -can send metrics “as-collected” by specifying the ‘source=as-collected’ url -parameter like so. -<http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes&types=yes&source=as-collected> -If you choose to use this method you will need to use Prometheus's set of -functions here: <https://prometheus.io/docs/querying/functions/> to obtain useful -metrics as you are now dealing with raw counters from the system. For example -you will have to use the `irate()` function over a counter to get that metric's -rate per second. If your graphing needs are met by using the metrics returned by -NetData's internal database (not specifying any source= url parameter) then use -that. If you find limitations then consider re-writing your queries using the -raw data and using Prometheus functions to get the desired chart. +Awesome, this is exactly what we wanted. If you haven’t caught on yet we can emulate entire charts from NetData by using +the `chart` dimension. If you’d like you can combine the ‘chart’ and ‘instance’ dimension to create per-instance charts. +Let’s give this a try: `netdata_system_cpu_percentage_average{chart="system.cpu", instance="netdata:19999"}` + +This is the basics of using Prometheus to query NetData. I’d advise everyone at this point to read [this +page](../backends/prometheus/#using-netdata-with-prometheus). The key point here is that NetData can export metrics from +its internal DB or can send metrics “as-collected” by specifying the ‘source=as-collected’ url parameter like so. +<http://localhost:19999/api/v1/allmetrics?format=prometheus&help=yes&types=yes&source=as-collected> If you choose to use +this method you will need to use Prometheus's set of functions here: <https://prometheus.io/docs/querying/functions/> to +obtain useful metrics as you are now dealing with raw counters from the system. For example you will have to use the +`irate()` function over a counter to get that metric's rate per second. If your graphing needs are met by using the +metrics returned by NetData's internal database (not specifying any source= url parameter) then use that. If you find +limitations then consider re-writing your queries using the raw data and using Prometheus functions to get the desired +chart. ## Grafana -Finally we make it to grafana. This is the easiest part in my opinion. This time -we will actually run the official grafana docker container as all configuration -we need to do is done via the GUI. Let’s run the following command: +Finally we make it to grafana. This is the easiest part in my opinion. This time we will actually run the official +grafana docker container as all configuration we need to do is done via the GUI. Let’s run the following command: -``` +```sh docker run -i -p 3000:3000 --network=netdata-tutorial grafana/grafana ``` @@ -277,26 +232,22 @@ This will get grafana running at ‘<http://localhost:3000/’> Let’s go there login using the credentials Admin:Admin. -The first thing we want to do is click ‘Add data source’. Let’s make it look -like the following screenshot +The first thing we want to do is click ‘Add data source’. Let’s make it look like the following screenshot  -With this completed let’s graph! Create a new Dashboard by clicking on the top -left Grafana Icon and create a new graph in that dashboard. Fill in the query -like we did above and save. +With this completed let’s graph! Create a new Dashboard by clicking on the top left Grafana Icon and create a new graph +in that dashboard. Fill in the query like we did above and save.  ## Conclusion -There you have it, a complete systems monitoring stack which is very easy to -deploy. From here I would begin to understand how Prometheus and a service -discovery mechanism such as Consul can play together nicely. My current prod -deployments automatically register Netdata services into Consul and Prometheus -automatically begins to scrape them. Once achieved you do not have to think -about the monitoring system until Prometheus cannot keep up with your scale. -Once this happens there are options presented in the Prometheus documentation -for solving this. Hope this was helpful, happy monitoring. +There you have it, a complete systems monitoring stack which is very easy to deploy. From here I would begin to +understand how Prometheus and a service discovery mechanism such as Consul can play together nicely. My current prod +deployments automatically register Netdata services into Consul and Prometheus automatically begins to scrape them. Once +achieved you do not have to think about the monitoring system until Prometheus cannot keep up with your scale. Once this +happens there are options presented in the Prometheus documentation for solving this. Hope this was helpful, happy +monitoring. [](<>) |