Skip to main content

PowerDNS Recursor

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: powerdns_recursor

Overview

This collector monitors PowerDNS Recursor instances.

It collects metrics from the internal webserver.

Used endpoints:

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 PowerDNS Recursor instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

MetricDimensionsUnit
powerdns_recursor.questions_intotal, tcp, ipv6questions/s
powerdns_recursor.questions_outudp, tcp, ipv6, throttledquestions/s
powerdns_recursor.answer_time0-1ms, 1-10ms, 10-100ms, 100-1000ms, slowqueries/s
powerdns_recursor.timeoutstotal, ipv4, ipv6timeouts/s
powerdns_recursor.dropsover-capacity-drops, query-pipe-full-drops, too-old-drops, truncated-drops, empty-queriesdrops/s
powerdns_recursor.cache_usagecache-hits, cache-misses, packet-cache-hits, packet-cache-missesevents/s
powerdns_recursor.cache_sizecache, packet-cache, negative-cacheentries

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

Setup

You can configure the powerdns_recursor collector in two ways:

MethodBest forHow to
UIFast setup without editing filesGo to Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs, search for powerdns_recursor, then click + to add a job.
FileIf you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible)Edit go.d/powerdns_recursor.conf and add a job.
important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

Prerequisites

Enable webserver

Follow webserver documentation.

Enable HTTP API

Follow HTTP API documentation.

Configuration

Options

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

Config options
OptionDescriptionDefaultRequired
update_everyData collection frequency.5no
autodetection_retryRecheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled.0no
urlServer URL.http://127.0.0.1:8081yes
timeoutHTTP request timeout.1no
usernameUsername for basic HTTP authentication.no
passwordPassword for basic HTTP authentication.no
proxy_urlProxy URL.no
proxy_usernameUsername for proxy basic HTTP authentication.no
proxy_passwordPassword for proxy basic HTTP authentication.no
methodHTTP request method.GETno
bodyHTTP request body.no
headersHTTP request headers.no
not_follow_redirectsRedirect handling policy. Controls whether the client follows redirects.nono
tls_skip_verifyServer certificate chain and hostname validation policy. Controls whether the client performs this check.nono
tls_caCertification authority that the client uses when verifying the server's certificates.no
tls_certClient TLS certificate.no
tls_keyClient TLS key.no

via UI

Configure the powerdns_recursor collector from the Netdata web interface:

  1. Go to Nodes.
  2. Select the node where you want the powerdns_recursor 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 powerdns_recursor (or scroll the list) to locate the powerdns_recursor collector.
  5. Click the + next to the powerdns_recursor 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/powerdns_recursor.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/powerdns_recursor.conf
Examples
Basic

An example configuration.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
url: http://127.0.0.1:8081

HTTP authentication

Basic HTTP authentication.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
url: http://127.0.0.1:8081
username: admin
password: password

Multi-instance

Note: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Local and remote instances.

Config
jobs:
- name: local
url: http://127.0.0.1:8081

- name: remote
url: http://203.0.113.0:8081

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 powerdns_recursor 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 powerdns_recursor

    To debug a specific job:

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

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the powerdns_recursor 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 powerdns_recursor

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 powerdns_recursor /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 powerdns_recursor

Do you have any feedback for this page? If so, you can open a new issue on our netdata/learn repository.