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.

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

Setup

You can configure the systemdunits 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 systemdunits, 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/systemdunits.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.

Config options

Option	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.

• Logic: (pattern1 OR pattern2)
• Pattern syntax: shell file name pattern
• Syntax:

includes:
  - pattern1
  - pattern2

include_unit_files

Systemd unit files matching the selector will be monitored.

• Logic: (pattern1 OR pattern2)
• Pattern syntax: shell file name pattern
• Syntax:

includes:
  - pattern1
  - pattern2

via UI

Configure the systemdunits collector from the Netdata web interface:

1. Go to Nodes.
2. Select the node where you want the systemdunits data-collection job to run and click the ⚙ (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
3. The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
4. In the Search box, type systemdunits (or scroll the list) to locate the systemdunits collector.
5. Click the + next to the systemdunits 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/systemdunits.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/systemdunits.conf

Examples

Service units

Collect state of all service type units.

Config

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

One specific unit

Collect state of one specific unit.

Config

jobs:
  - name: my-specific-service
    include:
      - 'my-specific.service'

All unit types

Collect state of all units.

Config

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.

Config

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

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

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 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

  To debug a specific job:

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

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