Docker icon

Docker

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.

Setup

You can configure the docker collector in two ways:

Method Best for How to
UI Fast setup without editing files Go to Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs, search for docker, then click + to add a job.
File If you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible) Edit go.d/docker.conf and add a job.

:::important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

:::

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

Options

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

Group Option Description Default Required
Collection update_every Data collection interval (seconds). 1 no
autodetection_retry Autodetection retry interval (seconds). Set 0 to disable. 0 no
Target address Docker daemon address. For TCP sockets: tcp://IP:PORT. unix:///var/run/docker.sock yes
timeout Request timeout (seconds). 2 no
Filters container_selector Container selector. Defines which containers to monitor. Uses simple patterns. * no
Metrics Selection collect_container_size Collect container writable layer size metrics. no no
Virtual Node vnode Associates this data collection job with a Virtual Node. no

via UI

Configure the docker collector from the Netdata web interface:

  1. Go to Nodes.
  2. Select the node where you want the docker data-collection job to run and click the :gear: (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
  3. The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
  4. In the Search box, type docker (or scroll the list) to locate the docker collector.
  5. Click the + next to the docker collector to add a new job.
  6. Fill in the job fields, then click Test to verify the configuration and Submit to save.
    • Test runs the job with the provided settings and shows whether data can be collected.
    • If it fails, an error message appears with details (for example, connection refused, timeout, or command execution errors), so you can adjust and retest.

via File

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

The file format is YAML. Generally, the structure is:

update_every: 1
autodetection_retry: 0
jobs:
  - name: some_name1
  - name: some_name2

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
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.

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

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

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:

Metric Dimensions Unit
docker.containers_state running, paused, stopped containers
docker.containers_health_status healthy, unhealthy, not_running_unhealthy, starting, no_healthcheck containers
docker.images active, dangling images
docker.images_size size bytes

Per container

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

Labels:

Label Description
container_name The container’s name
image The image name the container uses

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
docker.container_state running, paused, exited, created, restarting, removing, dead state
docker.container_health_status healthy, unhealthy, not_running_unhealthy, starting, no_healthcheck status
docker.container_writeable_layer_size writeable_layer size

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Alert name On metric Description
docker_container_unhealthy docker.container_health_status ${label:container_name} docker container health status is unhealthy

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

    To debug a specific job:

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

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

The observability platform companies need to succeed

Sign up for free

Want a personalised demo of Netdata for your use case?

Book a Demo