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Docker

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: docker

Overview

This collector monitors Docker containers state, health status and more.

It connects to the Docker instance via a TCP or UNIX socket and executes the following commands:

This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.

Requires netdata user to be in the docker group.

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

It discovers instances running on localhost by attempting to connect to a known Docker UNIX socket: /var/run/docker.sock.

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

Performance Impact

Enabling collect_container_size may result in high CPU usage depending on the version of Docker Engine.

Metrics

Metrics grouped by scope.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.

Per Docker instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

MetricDimensionsUnit
docker.containers_staterunning, paused, stoppedcontainers
docker.containers_health_statushealthy, unhealthy, not_running_unhealthy, starting, no_healthcheckcontainers
docker.imagesactive, danglingimages
docker.images_sizesizebytes

Per container

Metrics related to containers. Each container provides its own set of the following metrics.

Labels:

LabelDescription
container_nameThe container's name
imageThe image name the container uses

Metrics:

MetricDimensionsUnit
docker.container_staterunning, paused, exited, created, restarting, removing, deadstate
docker.container_health_statushealthy, unhealthy, not_running_unhealthy, starting, no_healthcheckstatus
docker.container_writeable_layer_sizewriteable_layersize

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Alert nameOn metricDescription
docker_container_unhealthy docker.container_health_status${label:container_name} docker container health status is unhealthy

Setup

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

File

The configuration file name for this integration is go.d/docker.conf.

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/docker.conf

Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.

Config options
NameDescriptionDefaultRequired
update_everyData collection frequency.1no
autodetection_retryRecheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled.0no
addressDocker daemon's listening address. When using a TCP socket, the format is: tcp://[ip]:[port]unix:///var/run/docker.sockyes
timeoutRequest timeout in seconds.2no
collect_container_sizeWhether to collect container writable layer size.nono

Examples

Basic

An example configuration.

jobs:
- name: local
address: 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock'

Multi-instance

Note: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Collecting metrics from local and remote instances.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
address: 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock'

- name: remote
address: 'tcp://203.0.113.10:2375'

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Important: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the docker collector, run the go.d.plugin with the debug option enabled. The output should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.

  • Navigate to the plugins.d directory, usually at /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/. If that's not the case on your system, open netdata.conf and look for the plugins setting under [directories].

    cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
  • Switch to the netdata user.

    sudo -u netdata -s
  • Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:

    ./go.d.plugin -d -m docker

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the docker collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

  • Run the command specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
  • Examine the output for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues. These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep docker

System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at /var/log/netdata/collector.log, and use grep to filter for collector's name:

grep docker /var/log/netdata/collector.log

Note: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the latest entries for troubleshooting current issues.

Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named "netdata" (replace if different), use this command:

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep docker

Do you have any feedback for this page? If so, you can open a new issue on our netdata/learn repository.