Netdata Logging

This document describes how Netdata generates its own logs, not how Netdata manages and queries logs databases.

Log sources

Netdata supports the following log sources:

1. daemon, logs generated by Netdata daemon.
2. collector, logs generated by Netdata collectors, including internal and external ones.
3. access, API requests received by Netdata
4. health, all alert transitions and notifications

Log outputs

For each log source, Netdata supports the following output methods:

• off, to disable this log source
• journal, to send the logs to systemd-journal.
• syslog, to send the logs to syslog.
• system, to send the output to stderr or stdout depending on the log source.
• stdout, to write the logs to Netdata's stdout.
• stderr, to write the logs to Netdata's stderr.
• filename, to send the logs to a file.

For daemon and collector the default is journal when systemd-journal is available. To decide if systemd-journal is available, Netdata checks:

1. stderr is connected to systemd-journald
2. /run/systemd/journal/socket exists
3. /host/run/systemd/journal/socket exists (/host is configurable in containers)

If any of the above is detected, Netdata will select journal for daemon and collector sources.

All other sources default to a file.

Log formats

Format	Description
journal	journald-specific log format. Automatically selected when logging to systemd-journal.
logfmt	logs data as a series of key/value pairs. The default when logging to any output other than journal.
json	logs data in JSON format.

Log levels

Each time Netdata logs, it assigns a priority to the log. It can be one of this (in order of importance):

Level	Description
emergency	a fatal condition, Netdata will most likely exit immediately after.
alert	a very important issue that may affect how Netdata operates.
critical	a very important issue the user should know which, Netdata thinks it can survive.
error	an error condition indicating that Netdata is trying to do something, but it fails.
warning	something unexpected has happened that may or may not affect the operation of Netdata.
notice	something that does not affect the operation of Netdata, but the user should notice.
info	the default log level about information the user should know.
debug	these are more verbose logs that can be ignored.

Logs Configuration

In netdata.conf, there are the following settings:

[logs]
    # logs to trigger flood protection = 1000
    # logs flood protection period = 60
    # facility = daemon
    # level = info
    # daemon = journal
    # collector = journal
    # access = /var/log/netdata/access.log
    # health = /var/log/netdata/health.log

• logs to trigger flood protection and logs flood protection period enable logs flood protection for daemon and collector sources. It can also be configured per log source.
• facility is used only when Netdata logs to syslog.
• level defines the minimum log level of logs that will be logged. This setting is applied only to daemon and collector sources. It can also be configured per source.

Configuring log sources

Each for the sources (daemon, collector, access, health), accepts the following:

source = {FORMAT},level={LEVEL},protection={LOG}/{PERIOD}@{OUTPUT}

Where:

• {FORMAT}, is one of the log formats,
• {LEVEL}, is the minimum log level to be logged,
• {LOGS} is the number of logs to trigger flood protection configured per output,
• {PERIOD} is the equivalent of logs flood protection period configured per output,
• {OUTPUT} is one of the `log outputs,

All parameters can be omitted, except {OUTPUT}. If {OUTPUT} is the only given parameter, @ can be omitted.

Logs rotation

Netdata comes with logrotate configuration to rotate its log files periodically.

The default is usually found in /etc/logrotate.d/netdata.

Sending a SIGHUP to Netdata, will instruct it to re-open all its log files.

Log Fields

All fields exposed by Netdata

journal	logfmt	json	Description
_SOURCE_REALTIME_TIMESTAMP	time	time	the timestamp of the event
SYSLOG_IDENTIFIER	comm	comm	the program logging the event
ND_LOG_SOURCE	source	source	one of the log sources
PRIORITY numeric	level text	level numeric	one of the log levels
ERRNO	errno	errno	the numeric value of errno
INVOCATION_ID	-	-	a unique UUID of the Netdata session, reset on every Netdata restart, inherited by systemd when available
CODE_LINE	-	-	the line number of of the source code logging this event
CODE_FILE	-	-	the filename of the source code logging this event
CODE_FUNCTION	-	-	the function name of the source code logging this event
TID	tid	tid	the thread id of the thread logging this event
THREAD_TAG	thread	thread	the name of the thread logging this event
MESSAGE_ID	msg_id	msg_id	see message IDs
ND_MODULE	module	module	the Netdata module logging this event
ND_NIDL_NODE	node	node	the hostname of the node the event is related to
ND_NIDL_INSTANCE	instance	instance	the instance of the node the event is related to
ND_NIDL_CONTEXT	context	context	the context the event is related to (this is usually the chart name, as shown on netdata dashboards
ND_NIDL_DIMENSION	dimension	dimension	the dimension the event is related to
ND_SRC_TRANSPORT	src_transport	src_transport	when the event happened during a request, this is the request transport
ND_SRC_IP	src_ip	src_ip	when the event happened during an inbound request, this is the IP the request came from
ND_SRC_PORT	src_port	src_port	when the event happened during an inbound request, this is the port the request came from
ND_SRC_FORWARDED_HOST	src_forwarded_host	src_forwarded_host	the contents of the HTTP header X-Forwarded-Host
ND_SRC_FORWARDED_FOR	src_forwarded_for	src_forwarded_for	the contents of the HTTP header X-Forwarded-For
ND_SRC_CAPABILITIES	src_capabilities	src_capabilities	when the request came from a child, this is the communication capabilities of the child
ND_DST_TRANSPORT	dst_transport	dst_transport	when the event happened during an outbound request, this is the outbound request transport
ND_DST_IP	dst_ip	dst_ip	when the event happened during an outbound request, this is the IP the request destination
ND_DST_PORT	dst_port	dst_port	when the event happened during an outbound request, this is the port the request destination
ND_DST_CAPABILITIES	dst_capabilities	dst_capabilities	when the request goes to a parent, this is the communication capabilities of the parent
ND_REQUEST_METHOD	req_method	req_method	when the event happened during an inbound request, this is the method the request was received
ND_RESPONSE_CODE	code	code	when responding to a request, this this the response code
ND_CONNECTION_ID	conn	conn	when there is a connection id for an inbound connection, this is the connection id
ND_TRANSACTION_ID	transaction	transaction	the transaction id (UUID) of all API requests
ND_RESPONSE_SENT_BYTES	sent_bytes	sent_bytes	the bytes we sent to API responses
ND_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES	size_bytes	size_bytes	the uncompressed bytes of the API responses
ND_RESPONSE_PREP_TIME_USEC	prep_ut	prep_ut	the time needed to prepare a response
ND_RESPONSE_SENT_TIME_USEC	sent_ut	sent_ut	the time needed to send a response
ND_RESPONSE_TOTAL_TIME_USEC	total_ut	total_ut	the total time needed to complete a response
ND_ALERT_ID	alert_id	alert_id	the alert id this event is related to
ND_ALERT_EVENT_ID	alert_event_id	alert_event_id	a sequential number of the alert transition (per host)
ND_ALERT_UNIQUE_ID	alert_unique_id	alert_unique_id	a sequential number of the alert transition (per alert)
ND_ALERT_TRANSITION_ID	alert_transition_id	alert_transition_id	the unique UUID of this alert transition
ND_ALERT_CONFIG	alert_config	alert_config	the alert configuration hash (UUID)
ND_ALERT_NAME	alert	alert	the alert name
ND_ALERT_CLASS	alert_class	alert_class	the alert classification
ND_ALERT_COMPONENT	alert_component	alert_component	the alert component
ND_ALERT_TYPE	alert_type	alert_type	the alert type
ND_ALERT_EXEC	alert_exec	alert_exec	the alert notification program
ND_ALERT_RECIPIENT	alert_recipient	alert_recipient	the alert recipient(s)
ND_ALERT_VALUE	alert_value	alert_value	the current alert value
ND_ALERT_VALUE_OLD	alert_value_old	alert_value_old	the previous alert value
ND_ALERT_STATUS	alert_status	alert_status	the current alert status
ND_ALERT_STATUS_OLD	alert_value_old	alert_value_old	the previous alert value
ND_ALERT_UNITS	alert_units	alert_units	the units of the alert
ND_ALERT_SUMMARY	alert_summary	alert_summary	the summary text of the alert
ND_ALERT_INFO	alert_info	alert_info	the info text of the alert
ND_ALERT_DURATION	alert_duration	alert_duration	the duration the alert was in its previous state
ND_ALERT_NOTIFICATION_TIMESTAMP_USEC	alert_notification_timestamp	alert_notification_timestamp	the timestamp the notification delivery is scheduled
ND_REQUEST	request	request	the full request during which the event happened
MESSAGE	msg	msg	the event message

Message IDs

Netdata assigns specific message IDs to certain events:

• ed4cdb8f1beb4ad3b57cb3cae2d162fa when a Netdata child connects to this Netdata
• 6e2e3839067648968b646045dbf28d66 when this Netdata connects to a Netdata parent
• 9ce0cb58ab8b44df82c4bf1ad9ee22de when alerts change state
• 6db0018e83e34320ae2a659d78019fb7 when notifications are sent

You can view these events using the Netdata systemd-journal.plugin at the MESSAGE_ID filter, or using journalctl like this:

# query children connection
journalctl MESSAGE_ID=ed4cdb8f1beb4ad3b57cb3cae2d162fa

# query parent connection
journalctl MESSAGE_ID=6e2e3839067648968b646045dbf28d66

# query alert transitions
journalctl MESSAGE_ID=9ce0cb58ab8b44df82c4bf1ad9ee22de

# query alert notifications
journalctl MESSAGE_ID=6db0018e83e34320ae2a659d78019fb7

Using journalctl to query Netdata logs

The Netdata service's processes execute within the netdata journal namespace. To view the Netdata logs, you should specify the --namespace=netdata option.

# Netdata logs since the last time the service was started
journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata

# All netdata logs, the oldest entries are displayed first  
journalctl -u netdata --namespace=netdata

# All netdata logs, the newest entries are displayed first  
journalctl -u netdata --namespace=netdata -r