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DNS query

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: dns_query

Overview

This module monitors DNS query round-trip time (RTT).

This collector is supported on all platforms.

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

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

This integration doesn't support auto-detection.

Limits

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

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

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 server

These metrics refer to the DNS server.

Labels:

LabelDescription
serverDNS server address.
networkNetwork protocol name (tcp, udp, tcp-tls).
record_typeDNS record type (e.g. A, AAAA, CNAME).

Metrics:

MetricDimensionsUnit
dns_query.query_statussuccess, network_error, dns_errorstatus
dns_query.query_timequery_timeseconds

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Alert nameOn metricDescription
dns_query_query_status dns_query.query_statusDNS request type ${label:record_type} to server ${label:server} is unsuccessful

Setup

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

File

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

Options

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

All options
NameDescriptionDefaultRequired
update_everyData collection frequency.1no
autodetection_retryRecheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled.0no
domainsDomain or subdomains to query. The collector will choose a random domain from the list on every iteration.yes
serversServers to query.yes
portDNS server port.53no
networkNetwork protocol name. Available options: udp, tcp, tcp-tls.udpno
record_typesQuery record type. Available options: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, TXT, SOA, SPF, TXT, SRV.Ano
timeoutQuery read timeout.2no

Examples

Basic

An example configuration.

Config
jobs:
- name: job1
record_types:
- A
- AAAA
domains:
- google.com
- github.com
- reddit.com
servers:
- 8.8.8.8
- 8.8.4.4

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 dns_query 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 dns_query

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the dns_query 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 dns_query

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 dns_query /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 dns_query

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