node-exporter Installation Guide

node-exporter is a free and open-source Prometheus exporter for hardware and OS metrics. Node Exporter exposes hardware and kernel-related metrics for *NIX systems, essential for system monitoring with Prometheus

Monitoring🟡 intermediate7 min⏱️ 15-30 minutes
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node-exporter is a free and open-source Prometheus exporter for hardware and OS metrics. Node Exporter exposes hardware and kernel-related metrics for *NIX systems, essential for system monitoring with Prometheus

1. Prerequisites

  • Hardware Requirements:
  • CPU: 1 core minimum
  • RAM: 128MB minimum
  • Storage: 50MB for installation
  • Network: HTTP for metrics endpoint
  • Operating System:
  • Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)
  • macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)
  • Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10
  • FreeBSD: 11.0+
  • Network Requirements:
  • Port 9100 (default node-exporter port)
  • None
  • Dependencies:
  • See official documentation for specific requirements
  • System Access: root or sudo privileges required

    • 2. Supported Operating Systems

    This guide supports installation on:

  • RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)
  • Debian 11/12
  • Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS
  • Arch Linux (rolling release)
  • Alpine Linux 3.18+
  • openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+
  • macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)
  • FreeBSD 13+
  • Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

    • 3. Installation

    RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

    bash 
    # Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install node-exporter
sudo dnf install -y prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now node_exporter

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9100/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    Debian/Ubuntu

    bash 
    # Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install node-exporter
sudo apt install -y prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now node_exporter

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 9100

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    Arch Linux

    bash 
    # Install node-exporter
sudo pacman -S prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now node_exporter

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    Alpine Linux

    bash 
    # Install node-exporter
apk add --no-cache prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable and start service
rc-update add node_exporter default
rc-service node_exporter start

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    openSUSE/SLES

    bash 
    # Install node-exporter
sudo zypper install -y prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now node_exporter

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9100/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    macOS

    bash 
    # Using Homebrew
brew install prometheus-node-exporter

# Start service
brew services start prometheus-node-exporter

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    FreeBSD

    bash 
    # Using pkg
pkg install prometheus-node-exporter

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'node_exporter_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service node_exporter start

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    Windows

    bash 
    # Using Chocolatey
choco install prometheus-node-exporter

# Or using Scoop
scoop install prometheus-node-exporter

# Verify installation
node_exporter --version

    Initial Configuration

    Basic Configuration

    bash 
    # Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/prometheus-node-exporter

# Set up basic configuration
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
node_exporter --version

    5. Service Management

    systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

    bash 
    # Enable service
sudo systemctl enable node_exporter

# Start service
sudo systemctl start node_exporter

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop node_exporter

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart node_exporter

# Check status
sudo systemctl status node_exporter

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u node_exporter -f

    OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

    bash 
    # Enable service
rc-update add node_exporter default

# Start service
rc-service node_exporter start

# Stop service
rc-service node_exporter stop

# Restart service
rc-service node_exporter restart

# Check status
rc-service node_exporter status

    rc.d (FreeBSD)

    bash 
    # Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'node_exporter_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service node_exporter start

# Stop service
service node_exporter stop

# Restart service
service node_exporter restart

# Check status
service node_exporter status

    launchd (macOS)

    bash 
    # Using Homebrew services
brew services start prometheus-node-exporter
brew services stop prometheus-node-exporter
brew services restart prometheus-node-exporter

# Check status
brew services list | grep prometheus-node-exporter

    Windows Service Manager

    powershell 
    # Start service
net start node_exporter

# Stop service
net stop node_exporter

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service node_exporter
Stop-Service node_exporter
Restart-Service node_exporter

# Check status
Get-Service node_exporter

    Advanced Configuration

    See the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

    Reverse Proxy Setup

    nginx Configuration

    nginx 
    upstream prometheus-node-exporter_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:9100;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name prometheus-node-exporter.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name prometheus-node-exporter.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/prometheus-node-exporter.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/prometheus-node-exporter.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://prometheus-node-exporter_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

    Apache Configuration

    apache 
    <VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName prometheus-node-exporter.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://prometheus-node-exporter.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName prometheus-node-exporter.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/prometheus-node-exporter.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/prometheus-node-exporter.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:9100/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:9100/
</VirtualHost>

    HAProxy Configuration

    haproxy 
    frontend prometheus-node-exporter_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/prometheus-node-exporter.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend prometheus-node-exporter_backend

backend prometheus-node-exporter_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server prometheus-node-exporter1 127.0.0.1:9100 check

    Security Configuration

    Basic Security Setup

    bash 
    # Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R prometheus-node-exporter:prometheus-node-exporter /etc/prometheus-node-exporter
sudo chmod 750 /etc/prometheus-node-exporter

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9100/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

    Database Setup

    See official documentation for database configuration requirements.

    Performance Optimization

    System Tuning

    bash 
    # Basic system tuning
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

    Monitoring

    Basic Monitoring

    bash 
    # Check service status
sudo systemctl status node_exporter

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u node_exporter -f

# Monitor resource usage
top -p $(pgrep prometheus-node-exporter)

    9. Backup and Restore

    Backup Script

    bash 
    #!/bin/bash
# Basic backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/prometheus-node-exporter"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/prometheus-node-exporter-backup-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/prometheus-node-exporter /var/lib/prometheus-node-exporter

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/prometheus-node-exporter-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

    Restore Procedure

    bash 
    # Stop service
sudo systemctl stop node_exporter

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf /backup/prometheus-node-exporter/prometheus-node-exporter-backup-*.tar.gz -C /

# Start service
sudo systemctl start node_exporter

    6. Troubleshooting

    Common Issues

    1. Service won't start:

    bash 
    # Check logs
sudo journalctl -u node_exporter -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/prometheus-node-exporter/prometheus-node-exporter.log

# Check configuration
node_exporter --version

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/prometheus-node-exporter

    2. Connection issues:

    bash 
    # Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 9100

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 9100

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

    3. Performance issues:

    bash 
    # Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep prometheus-node-exporter)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep prometheus-node-exporter)

# Check connections
ss -an | grep 9100

    Integration Examples

    Docker Compose Example

    yaml 
    version: '3.8'
services:
  prometheus-node-exporter:
    image: prometheus-node-exporter:latest
    ports:
      - "9100:9100"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/prometheus-node-exporter
      - ./data:/var/lib/prometheus-node-exporter
    restart: unless-stopped

    Maintenance

    Update Procedures

    bash 
    # RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update prometheus-node-exporter

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade prometheus-node-exporter

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu prometheus-node-exporter

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade prometheus-node-exporter

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update prometheus-node-exporter

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade prometheus-node-exporter

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/prometheus-node-exporter-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/prometheus-node-exporter

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart node_exporter

    Regular Maintenance

    bash 
    # Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/prometheus-node-exporter

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/prometheus-node-exporter -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/prometheus-node-exporter

    Additional Resources

  • Official Documentation: https://docs.prometheus-node-exporter.org/
  • GitHub Repository: https://github.com/prometheus-node-exporter/prometheus-node-exporter
  • Community Forum: https://forum.prometheus-node-exporter.org/
  • Best Practices Guide: https://docs.prometheus-node-exporter.org/best-practices

    • ---

    Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

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