Deployment Guides

Get Netdata up and running in your infrastructure. Choose a deployment method that fits your needs.

Quick Start

Getting Started

• Testing Netdata? → Docker deployment (2 minutes, easy cleanup)
• Monitoring one server? → Standalone installation (1 minute, upgradeable)
• Production ready? → Parent-Child setup (recommended)

Deployment Methods

Standalone

Single Netdata Agent monitoring one system. Perfect for getting started or monitoring individual servers.

Best for: Testing or simple single-server monitoring

Setup time: < 1 minute

→ Deploy Standalone Agent

Parent-Child Streaming (Recommended)

The recommended production setup. Stream metrics from Child Agents to centralized Parent nodes for better data persistence and resource optimization.

Best for: Production environments of any size, high availability requirements

Setup time: 10-15 minutes

→ Deploy Parent-Child Setup

Kubernetes

Deploy Netdata across your Kubernetes clusters with our Helm chart. Required for proper Kubernetes monitoring.

Best for: Kubernetes environments (required for full K8s observability)

Setup time: 5-10 minutes

→ Deploy on Kubernetes

Docker

Run Netdata in containers for quick testing. Note: Some features are limited compared to host installation.

Best for: Quick testing, ephemeral environments

Setup time: 2-5 minutes

→ Deploy with Docker

Which Deployment Should I Choose?

Environment	Recommended Method	Why
Production servers	Parent-Child	Best data persistence, resource optimization, and high availability
Kubernetes	Helm Chart	Required for K8s API access and pod metadata collection
Testing/Development	Standalone or Docker	Quick setup, easy to remove
Single server	Standalone (upgrade to Parent-Child later)	Start simple, upgrade when ready for production

Important Notes

• Kubernetes: Always use our Helm chart. Direct host installation won't have access to K8s API for pod metadata and service discovery.
• Docker: Limited feature set compared to host installation. Best for testing, not recommended for production.
• Production: Parent-Child is recommended regardless of cluster size for better reliability and data persistence.