Server monitoring is as important as the content of your server. It allows you to have all the necessary information about its resources in a single view and informs you if they are going to run out before an unpleasant phone call from your boss.
In this article, I will show you how to set up monitoring of your Rancher infrastructure using the TIG Stack (Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana). If you think that you do not have time for server monitoring, you are wrong.
In less then 15 minutes we will have a working dashboard showing how much disk space a mobile or web app consumes, its memory usage, network traffic, and Docker container metrics and even a simple alert for high memory usage.
This tutorial assumes that you have basic knowledge of Docker and Rancher.
What we need:
- Telegraf – for collecting, processing, aggregating and writing metrics
- InfluxDB – for storing data
- Grafana – for visualization of metrics and creating alerts
How to set up Rancher server monitoring? – Tutorial
#1 Create a new stack on Rancher
Step 1
Create a docker-compose.yml file:
[cc lang=”javascript”]
version: ‘2’
volumes:
influxdb:
driver: local
grafana:
driver: local
services:
influxdb:
image: influxdb
volumes:
– /home/docker/monitoring/influxdb/data:/var/lib/influxdb
– /home/docker/monitoring/influxdb/config/:/etc/influxdb/
ports:
# The API for InfluxDB is served on port 8086
– “8086:8086”
– “8082:8082”
# UDP Port
– “8089:8089”
grafana:
image: grafana/grafana #4.4.2
environment:
– GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-clock-panel,grafana-worldmap-panel,grafana-piechart-panel
– GF_SMTP_ENABLED=true
– GF_SMTP_HOST=
– GF_SMTP_USER=
– GF_SMTP_PASSWORD=
– GF_SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS=
– GF_SMTP_FROM_NAME=
links:
– influxdb:influxdb
ports:
– “3000:3000”
volumes:
– /home/docker/monitoring/grafana/data:/var/lib/grafana
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All the necessary volumes are defined on top of docker-compose.yml. We stick to the convention that all volumes should be stored inside the /home/docker/ directory so change them if you have a different convention. If you do not have SMTP configured, remove all GF_SMTP_* environment variables from the grafana container.
Step 2
Add new stack in Rancher and upload the docker-compose.yml file
#2 Update Grafana
Your Grafana container probably has some errors. View logs from the container and you will most likely find an issue with permissions. To solve it do the following:
Step 1
Enter the Grafana container and make a directory grafana/data
Step 2
Change the owner of this directory
[cc lang=”javascript”]
chown 472:472 -R data
[/cc]
Step 3
Restart the grafana container
We will come back to Grafana later on.
#3 Set up InfluxDB
Step 1
Create a influxdb.conf file:
[cc lang=”javascript”]
reporting-disabled = true
bind-address = “:8088”
[meta]
dir = “/var/lib/influxdb/meta”
retention-autocreate = true
logging-enabled = true
[data]
dir = “/var/lib/influxdb/data”
wal-dir = “/var/lib/influxdb/wal”
query-log-enabled = true
cache-max-memory-size = 1073741824
cache-snapshot-memory-size = 26214400
cache-snapshot-write-cold-duration = “10m0s”
compact-full-write-cold-duration = “4h0m0s”
max-series-per-database = 1000000
max-values-per-tag = 100000
index-version = “tsi1”
trace-logging-enabled = false
[coordinator]
write-timeout = “10s”
max-concurrent-queries = 0
query-timeout = “0s”
log-queries-after = “0s”
max-select-point = 0
max-select-series = 0
max-select-buckets = 0
[retention]
enabled = true
check-interval = “30m0s”
[shard-precreation]
enabled = true
check-interval = “10m0s”
advance-period = “30m0s”
[monitor]
store-enabled = true
store-database = “_internal”
store-interval = “10s”
[subscriber]
enabled = true
http-timeout = “30s”
insecure-skip-verify = false
ca-certs = “”
write-concurrency = 40
write-buffer-size = 1000
[http]
enabled = true
flux-enabled = true
bind-address = “:8086”
auth-enabled = false
log-enabled = true
write-tracing = false
pprof-enabled = true
https-enabled = false
https-certificate = “/etc/ssl/influxdb.pem”
https-private-key = “”
max-row-limit = 0
max-connection-limit = 0
shared-secret = “”
realm = “InfluxDB”
unix-socket-enabled = false
bind-socket = “/var/run/influxdb.sock”
[[graphite]]
enabled = false
bind-address = “:2003”
database = “graphite”
retention-policy = “”
protocol = “tcp”
batch-size = 5000
batch-pending = 10
batch-timeout = “1s”
consistency-level = “one”
separator = “.”
udp-read-buffer = 0
[[collectd]]
enabled = false
bind-address = “:25826”
database = “collectd”
retention-policy = “”
batch-size = 5000
batch-pending = 10
batch-timeout = “10s”
read-buffer = 0
typesdb = “/usr/share/collectd/types.db”
security-level = “none”
auth-file = “/etc/collectd/auth_file”
[[opentsdb]]
enabled = false
bind-address = “:4242”
database = “opentsdb”
retention-policy = “”
consistency-level = “one”
tls-enabled = false
certificate = “/etc/ssl/influxdb.pem”
batch-size = 1000
batch-pending = 5
batch-timeout = “1s”
log-point-errors = true
[[udp]]
enabled = true
bind-address = “:8089”
database = “udp”
retention-policy = “”
batch-size = 5000
batch-pending = 10
read-buffer = 0
batch-timeout = “1s”
precision = “”
[continuous_queries]
log-enabled = true
enabled = true
run-interval = “1s”
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Step 2
Enter the InfluxDB container
Step 3
Copy the configuration file to /var/lib/influxdb/influxdb.conf
Step 4
Restart the influx container
Step 5
Enter the container again
Step 6
Type influx to start using the influx CLI
Step 7
Add a new user
[cc lang=”javascript”]
CREATE USER
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Step 8
Type exit to exit the CLI
Step 9
Open influxdb.config again and change auth-enabled to true in the [http] section
[cc lang=”javascript”]
[http]
…
auth-enabled = true
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Step 10
Exit and restart the influx container
Next time you would like to use influx CLI you will have to specify the username and password
[cc lang=”javascript”]
influx -username INFLUXDB_USERNAME -password INFLUXDB_PASSWORD
[/cc]
Now your InfluxDB is ready to collect server monitoring data.
#4 Install Telegraf
Step 1
Install Telegraf on your server. For Ubuntu you can use following commands:
[cc lang=”javascript”]
curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdb.key | sudo apt-key add –
source /etc/lsb-release
echo “deb https://repos.influxdata.com/${DISTRIB_ID,,} ${DISTRIB_CODENAME} stable” | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdb.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install telegraf
[/cc]
To read more about installation, read the Telegraf installation guide
Step 2
Create a telegraf.conf file:
[cc lang=”javascript”]
[agent]
interval = “5s”
round_interval = true
metric_batch_size = 1000
## Telegraf will cache metric_buffer_limit metrics for each output, and will
## flush this buffer on a successful write.
metric_buffer_limit = 10000
## Collection jitter is used to jitter the collection by a random amount.
## Each plugin will sleep for a random time within jitter before collecting.
## This can be used to avoid many plugins querying things like sysfs at the
## same time, which can have a measurable effect on the system.
collection_jitter = “0s”
## Default flushing interval for all outputs. You shouldn’t set this below
## interval. Maximum flush_interval will be flush_interval + flush_jitter
flush_interval = “5s”
## Jitter the flush interval by a random amount. This is primarily to avoid
## large write spikes for users running a large number of telegraf instances.
## ie, a jitter of 5s and interval 10s means flushes will happen every 10-15s
flush_jitter = “0s”
precision = “”
## Run telegraf in debug mode
debug = false
## Run telegraf in quiet mode
quiet = false
logfile = “”
## Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
hostname = “”
omit_hostname = false
###############################################################################
# OUTPUTS #
###############################################################################
[[outputs.influxdb]]
urls = [“http://localhost:8086”]
database = “
username = “
password = “
retention_policy = “”
write_consistency = “any”
timeout = “5s”
###############################################################################
# INPUTS #
###############################################################################
# Read metrics about cpu usage
[[inputs.cpu]]
# Whether to report per-cpu stats or not
percpu = true
# Whether to report total system CPU stats or not
totalcpu = true
# Comment this line if you want the raw CPU time metrics
fielddrop = [“time_*”]
# Read metrics about disk usage by mount point
[[inputs.disk]]
# By default, telegraf gather stats for all mountpoints.
# Setting mountpoints will restrict the stats to the specified mountpoints.
mount_points=[“/”, “/host”]
# Ignore some mountpoints by filesystem type. For example (dev)tmpfs (usually
# present on /run, /var/run, /dev/shm or /dev).
ignore_fs = [“tmpfs”, “devtmpfs”]
# Read metrics about disk IO by a device
[[inputs.diskio]]
# By default, telegraf will gather stats for all devices including
# disk partitions.
# Setting devices will restrict the stats to the specified devices.
# devices = [“sda”, “sdb”]
# Uncomment the following line if you do not need disk serial numbers.
# skip_serial_number = true
# Read metrics about memory usage
[[inputs.mem]]
# Read metrics about swap memory usage
[[inputs.swap]]
# Read metrics about system load & uptime
[[inputs.system]]
# collects network bond
[[inputs.bond]]
# total number of processes and groups them by status (zombie, sleeping, running, etc.)
[[inputs.processes]]
# Gather metrics about network interfaces
[[inputs.net]]
## By default, telegraf gathers stats from any up interface (excluding loopback)
## Setting interfaces will tell it to gather these explicit interfaces,
## regardless of status. When specifying an interface, glob-style
## patterns are also supported.
##
interfaces = [“eth*”, “en*”, “enp0s[0-1]”, “lo”]
##
## On linux systems telegraf also collects protocol stats.
## Setting ignore_protocol_stats to true will skip reporting of protocol metrics.
##
# ignore_protocol_stats = false
##
# Get kernel statistics from /proc/stat
[[inputs.kernel]]
[[inputs.netstat]]
#[[inputs.interrupts]]
###############################################################################
# SERVICE INPUTS #
###############################################################################
[[inputs.docker]]
## Docker Endpoint
## To use TCP, set endpoint = “tcp://[ip]:[port]”
## To use environment variables (ie, docker-machine), set endpoint = “ENV”
endpoint = “unix:///var/run/docker.sock”
## Containers to include and exclude. Collect all if empty. Globs accepted.
container_name_include = []
container_name_exclude = []
timeout = “5s”
## Whether to report for each container per-device blkio (8:0, 8:1…) and
## network (eth0, eth1, …) stats or not
perdevice = true
## Whether to report for each container total blkio and network stats or not
total = false
## Which environment variables should we use as a tag
# tag_env = [“JAVA_HOME”, “HEAP_SIZE”]
## Optional TLS Config
# tls_ca = “/etc/telegraf/ca.pem”
# tls_cert = “/etc/telegraf/cert.pem”
# tls_key = “/etc/telegraf/key.pem”
## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
# insecure_skip_verify = false
[[inputs.influxdb]]
urls = [“http://localhost:8086/debug/vars”]
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Step 3
Make sure that you entered correct urls, username and password to your InfluxDB in the [[outputs.influxdb]] section
Step 4
Upload telegraf.conf to your server. In my case, the config file is stored in /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf
Step 5
Start the Telegraf service, on Ubuntu you can start it via sudo service telegraf start
Step 6
Add the Telegraf agent to the Docker group to get information for dockers.
[cc lang=”javascript”]
sudo usermod -aG docker telegraf
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#5 Update Grafana again
Step 1
Open grafana, it’s on port 3000 by default
- Default login: admin
- Default password: admin
Step 2
Add a datasource:
- Open http://GRAFANA_ADDRESS:3000/datasources
- Select influxdb
- Set the url to influxdb – http://<INFLUXDB_ADDRESS>:8086
- In InfluxDB Details type
- Database: <INFLUXDB_DATABASENAME>
- User: <INFLUXDB_USERNAME>
- Password: <INFLUXDB_PASSWORD>
- Save and Test
Step 3
Import dashboard:
- Open http://localhost:3000/dashboard/import
- Enter 928 in Grafana Dashboard field
- Load
You can pick one of those grafana dashboards. 2738 is quite good for Rancher.
Step 4
Add a notification channel for your server monitoring:
E-mail:
- Open Alert => Notification Channels
- Name: monitoring
- Type: Email
- Add Email Addresses
- Save and test
Slack or Mattermost by using a webhook:
- Name: slack
- Type: slack
- Url: <SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL>
- Save and test. You can find more information about Slack Webhooks here.
Step 5
Add a sample alert for low disk space:
- Add a new dashboard
- Pick Graph
- Click on Panel title => Edit
- On the bottom panel Graph => Metrics
- In Data Source pick InfluxDB
- Or click the hamburger button next to the query builder and select Toggle Edit Mode
- Pass a query SELECT mean(“used_percent”) FROM “mem” WHERE (“host” = <YOUR_SERVER_NAME>) AND $timeFilter GROUP BY time($__interval) fill(none)
- Switch to the Axes tab
- Type 0 to Y-min and 100 to Y-Max
- Switch to the Alert tab
- Create new alert
- Type 80 to IS ABOVE
- Select notification channels
- Save the dashboard by clicking on the disk icon from the top bar
Now you will be informed when memory usage is above 80% for more than 5 minutes. Was it so hard to set up a full working server monitoring system for your Rancher? Now you are ready to install multiple Telegraf instances on your dev or test servers and see everything in a single Grafana.
Final word
TIG Stack is a combination of really great tools for server monitoring that can save you a lot of time, problems and effort. Combined with the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana) it gives you a nice set of tools for both visualizing metrics and analyzing log messages. You can continue further by adding a load balancer instead of exposing ports.
A working project can be downloaded from GitHub.
If you liked this tutorial and would like to see other tutorials published on our blog, check one of our latest pieces – “How to Perform CSS Regression Testing With Selenium and Hermione.js“.