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Systemd Units

Systemd Units

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: systemdunits

Overview

This collector monitors the state of Systemd units and unit files.

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.

Setup

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

File

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

Options

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

Name Description Default Required
update_every Data collection frequency. 1 no
autodetection_retry Recheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled. 0 no
timeout System bus requests timeout. 1 no
include Systemd units selector. *.service no
skip_transient If set, skip data collection for systemd transient units. false no
collect_unit_files If set to true, collect the state of installed unit files. Enabling this may increase system overhead. false no
collect_unit_files_every Interval for querying systemd about unit files and their enablement state, measured in seconds. Data is cached for this interval to reduce system overhead. 300 no
include_unit_files Systemd unit files selector. *.service no
include

Systemd units matching the selector will be monitored.

includes:
  - pattern1
  - pattern2
include_unit_files

Systemd unit files matching the selector will be monitored.

includes:
  - pattern1
  - pattern2

Examples

Service units

Collect state of all service type units.

jobs:
  - name: service
    include:
      - '*.service'
One specific unit

Collect state of one specific unit.

jobs:
  - name: my-specific-service
    include:
      - 'my-specific.service'
All unit types

Collect state of all units.

jobs:
  - name: my-specific-service-unit
    include:
      - '*'
Multi-instance

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

Collect state of all service and socket type units.

jobs:
  - name: service
    include:
      - '*.service'

  - name: socket
    include:
      - '*.socket'

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 unit

These metrics refer to the systemd unit.

Labels:

Label Description
unit_name systemd unit name

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
systemd.service_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.socket_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.target_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.path_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.device_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.mount_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.automount_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.swap_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.timer_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.scope_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state
systemd.slice_unit_state active, inactive, activating, deactivating, failed state

Per unit file

These metrics refer to the systemd unit file.

Labels:

Label Description
unit_file_name systemd unit file name
unit_file_type systemd unit file type

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
systemd.unit_file_state enabled, enabled-runtime, linked, linked-runtime, alias, masked, masked-runtime, static, disabled, indirect, generated, transient, bad state

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Alert name On metric Description
systemd_service_unit_failed_state systemd.service_unit_state systemd service unit in the failed state
systemd_socket_unit_failed_state systemd.socket_unit_state systemd socket unit in the failed state
systemd_target_unit_failed_state systemd.target_unit_state systemd target unit in the failed state
systemd_path_unit_failed_state systemd.path_unit_state systemd path unit in the failed state
systemd_device_unit_failed_state systemd.device_unit_state systemd device unit in the failed state
systemd_mount_unit_failed_state systemd.mount_unit_state systemd mount unit in the failed state
systemd_automount_unit_failed_state systemd.automount_unit_state systemd automount unit in the failed state
systemd_swap_unit_failed_state systemd.swap_unit_state systemd swap unit in the failed state
systemd_scope_unit_failed_state systemd.scope_unit_state systemd scope unit in the failed state
systemd_slice_unit_failed_state systemd.slice_unit_state systemd slice unit in the failed state
systemd_timer_unit_failed_state systemd.timer_unit_state systemd timer unit in the failed state

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

To troubleshoot issues with the systemdunits 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 systemdunits

Getting Logs

If you’re encountering problems with the systemdunits 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 systemdunits

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 systemdunits /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 systemdunits

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