Configure Netdata Parents to centralize metrics

How Metrics Centralization Works

For full details on high-availability Parent clusters, including failover and maintenance procedures, see Clustering and High Availability of Netdata Parents.

Installation

A Netdata Parent is a regular Netdata Agent configured to receive streaming metrics from Netdata Children (also normal Agents!).

To install a Netdata Parent:

1. Install Netdata on your Parent node.

   For installation instructions, see the Installation section.

2. After installation, configure stream.conf to enable reception from Children.

   See Configuring Metrics Centralization Points for detailed configuration instructions.

3. Access your Parent's dashboard.

   Once your Parent is receiving metrics from your Children, open its built-in dashboard at http://parent-ip:19999 to view metrics, custom dashboards, and alerts for every connected Child. Non-sensitive functions (mount points, network interfaces, containers, etc.) work anonymously too; sensitive functions like processes or network connections require signing in to Netdata Cloud. For secure remote access without exposing port 19999 directly, see the reverse proxy guides.

4. Connect your Parent to Netdata Cloud.

   Claiming the Parent lets Netdata Cloud query it and registers all connected Children to Netdata Cloud automatically, adding a unified view across multiple Parents, mobile alert notifications (paid plans), and deduplication of alert notifications when more than one Parent evaluates the same Child. See the Connect Agent to Cloud guide for instructions.

Deploying a Parent with Docker

A Netdata Parent uses the standard netdata/netdata Docker image—a Parent is simply a regular Agent whose stream.conf is configured to receive metrics, so no separate image or flag is required.

Deploy the container with the docker run command from the Docker installation guide. The persistent volumes (netdataconfig, netdatalib, netdatacache) created by that command keep the Parent's configuration and metrics retention across container restarts.

To configure stream.conf inside the running container:

docker exec -it netdata bash
cd /etc/netdata && ./edit-config stream.conf

Set the [API_KEY] section as described in Configuring Metrics Centralization Points, then apply the change with docker restart netdata.

Key Features

important

Netdata Streaming and Replication

Copies recent past samples (replication) and real-time new samples (streaming) from production systems (Netdata Children) to metrics centralization points (Netdata Parents). Netdata Parents store the database for these metrics based on retention settings.

How Your Systems Connect

Netdata Child Behavior

• Each Netdata Child can stream to only one Netdata Parent at a time.
• Multiple Netdata Parents can be configured for high availability, but only the first working one will be used.

Netdata Parent Capabilities

• Receives metric samples from multiple Netdata Children.
• Can re-stream received metrics to another Netdata Parent, forming an infinite hierarchy of Parents.
• Supports Netdata Parents Clusters for high availability.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Netdata Child (Production System)	Netdata Parent (Centralization Point)
Metrics Retention	Minimal retention; can use ram or alloc mode.	Stores metrics for all connected systems.
Machine Learning	Can be disabled (default: enabled).	Runs anomaly detection for all connected systems.
Alerts & Notifications	Can be disabled (default: enabled).	Monitors health and sends alerts for all systems.
API & Dashboard	Can be disabled (default: enabled).	Hosts the dashboard using its own retention settings.
Exporting Metrics	Optional (default: enabled).	Exports all collected metrics.
Netdata Functions	Child must be online to function.	Forwards function requests to connected Children.
Netdata Cloud	Not required.	Registers all connected systems to Netdata Cloud.

Supported Configurations

For Netdata Children

• Full Mode (Default):
  • All Netdata features are enabled (machine learning, alerts, notifications, dashboard, etc.).
• Thin Mode:
  • Only collects and forwards metrics to a Parent.
  • Some local retention is kept to handle network issues, but all other features are disabled.

For Netdata Parents

• Standalone:
  • A single Parent in the infrastructure or the top-most Parent in a hierarchy.
• Cluster:
  • A group of Parents that share the same data from the same Children.
  • Provides high availability.
• Proxy:
  • Stores received metrics locally and forwards them to a higher-level Parent (Grand Parent).

Cluster Configuration

• A Cluster consists of circular Proxy nodes, where each Parent acts as a Parent to the others.
• Only the top level of a multi-level hierarchy can be configured as a cluster.

Best Practices

For detailed guidelines, check Best Practices for Observability Centralization Points.

To understand how node connection states (Live, Stale, Offline) work with Parent-Child setups, see Node States and Transitions.