Project: Netdata (Observability and Analysis / Observability)
File: example_collector.md

<!--startmeta customediturl: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/src/collectors/python.d.plugin/example/README.md" meta_yaml: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/src/collectors/python.d.plugin/example/metadata.yaml" sidebar_label: "Example collector" learn_status: "Published" learnrelpath: "Collecting Metrics/Other" most_popular: False message: "DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY, IT IS GENERATED BY THE COLLECTOR'S metadata.yaml FILE" endmeta--> Plugin: python.d.plugin Module: example <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/maintained%20by-Netdata-%2300ab44" /> Example collector that generates some random numbers as metrics. If you want to write your own collector, read our tutorial. The `get_data()` function uses `random.randint()` to generate a random number which will be collected as a metric. This collector is supported on all platforms. This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances. This integration doesn't support auto-detection. The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection. The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system. Metrics grouped by scope. The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels. These metrics refer to the entire monitored application. This scope has no labels. Metrics: | Metric | Dimensions | Unit | |:|:-|:-| | example.random | random | number | There are no alerts configured by default for this integration. No action required. The configuration file name for this integration is `python.d/example.conf`. You can edit the configuration file using the `edit-config` script from the Netdata . ```bash cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata sudo ./edit-config python.d/example.conf ``` There are 2 sections: Global variables One or more JOBS that can define multiple different instances to monitor. The following options can be defined globally: priority, penalty, autodetectionretry, updateevery, but can also be defined per JOB to override the global values. Additionally, the following collapsed table contains all the options that can be configured inside a JOB definition. Every configuration JOB starts with a `job_name` value which will appear in the dashboard, unless a `name` parameter is specified. <details><summary>Config options</summary> | Name | Description | Default | Required | |:-|:--|:-|:--:| | num_lines | The number of lines to create. | 4 | no | | lower | The lower bound of numbers to randomly sample from. | 0 | no | | upper | The upper bound of numbers to randomly sample from. | 100 | no | | update_every | Sets the default data collection frequency. | 1 | no | | priority | Controls the order of charts at the netdata dashboard. | 60000 | no | | autodetection_retry | Sets the job re-check interval in seconds. | 0 | no | | penalty | Indicates whether to apply penalty to update_every in case of failures. | yes | no | | name | Job name. This value will overwrite the `job_name` value. JOBS with the same name are mutually exclusive. Only one of them will be allowed running at any time. This allows autodetection to try several alternatives and pick the one that works. | | no | </details> A basic example configuration. ```yaml four_lines: name: "Four Lines" update_every: 1 priority: 60000 penalty: yes autodetection_retry: 0 num_lines: 4 lower: 0 upper: 100 ``` To troubleshoot issues with the `example` collector, run the `python.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]`. ```bash cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/ ``` Switch to the `netdata` user. ```bash sudo -u netdata -s ``` Run the `python.d.plugin` to debug the collector: ```bash ./python.d.plugin example debug trace ```