netdata - real-time monitoring

[nebulon]

@JOduMonT it seems you have just forked the tutorial app and copied things from the upstream netdata Dockerfile. If you actually want to create a Cloudron app package for netdata, then you would have to revisit the package files. For example VOLUME in Dockerfile is not supported, also none of the CloudronManifest.json meta information seems to have been applied to netdata. Also healthcheck is not implemented.
Generally it may be nice to have netdata if it provides useful information and is actually be packaged for Cloudron.

[JOduMonT]

@nebulon said in netdata - real-time monitoring:

@JOduMonT it seems you have just forked the tutorial app and copied things from the upstream netdata Dockerfile. If you actually want to create a Cloudron app package for netdata, then you would have to revisit the package files. For example VOLUME in Dockerfile is not supported, also none of the CloudronManifest.json meta information seems to have been applied to netdata. Also healthcheck is not implemented.
Generally it may be nice to have netdata if it provides useful information and is actually be packaged for Cloudron.

thanks for the guidance,
it was my first 10 minutes
I'll have more time next week.

[JOduMonT]

@nebulon said in netdata - real-time monitoring:

it seems you have just forked the tutorial app

Does it is a good way to do it or should a start from scratch ?
Did I missed a template repo ?

[marcusquinn]

Does look good!

https://www.netdata.cloud/integrations

Demo: https://london.my-netdata.io

[girish]

Just leaving a link here since I struggled a bit to find it again. https://forum.cloudron.io/post/82867 has a package from @cvachery

[LoudLemur]

@marcusquinn Yeah, that demo does look very good.

[girish]

@imc67 @marcusquinn are you still using netdata? If so, are you using the selfhosted dashboard or the dashboard in the cloud ?

Also, in the demo that marcus linked, it says "Your Agents are open by default. Secure them easily with Netdata Enterprise Agent." at the top. What does this mean? I thought agents are reporting something and you cannot query agents. Why are they open by default and can they only be secured with enterprise version?

[cvachery]

I think what they mean by that is that by default the WebUI is enabled on port 19999.
You can not add an authentification directly on the agent, on thedoc here they don't talk about Enterprise Agent on this page

[imc67]

@girish I still use Netdata installed on all three Cloudron servers + 3 RPI's.

On Cloudron I access them via AppProxy so they are secured. Then all the Agents are currently connected to the Netdata Cloud and I can see them all in one dashboard.

I don't know what Enterprise Agent is?

As far as I know agents are streaming data to the local webGUI or to the Netdata Cloud GUI.

[girish]

Thanks. I guess we need to educate people that the Login button logs into the cloud in the POSTINSTALL.

[cvachery]

Any update on the status of this app?

[girish]

@cvachery we have to revisit this. We got blocked by the possibly confusing Login button appearing on the top right after logging in. I guess we have to live with it?

[imc67]

@girish I think a good instruction will do

[cvachery]

@girish I guess so at least for the moment, I've asked on their discord and Gitlab if there is a way to disable it but to no avail yet
As @imc67 said I think good instruction will do especially as a first version. If I/we find a way to disable it later it could be added in an update.

[simon]

I would be delighted to see Netdata in Cloudron.
I have been using Netdata for many years now for about 50 servers.
My experience:
Netdata is a great tool for analysing the load on a machine, in real time or in the aftermath of a problem. Netdata itself is relatively resource-efficient.
Initially, I was irritated by the fact that the UI is very much geared towards using netdata.cloud. For example, there is a conspicuous "log in" button that takes you directly to the cloud (which has been payable for a few months now). Once you have registered the agent there, it is not so easy to get it out.
What is perhaps not so clear from the documentation is that the agent to be installed on the client can also act as a master and collect data from many clients. And completely without netdata.cloud.
As the Netdata UI is publicly accessible in the opensource version, protection via proxy is recommended, similar to https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/running-the-netdata-agent-behind-a-reverse-proxy/nginx

However, the question for me is in what context Netdata should be integrated into Cloudron. As an agent in the apps? As an agent on the host system? As a "monitoring master" app to monitor other servers/containers?

[cvachery]

There is no difference between the agent and master, the binaries are the same.
I don't see the point to differentiate usage between master and agent only as it is only some configuration changes.
By default the agent monitor the Cloudron server, and if you add the correct configuration it then become a parent node centralizing all your other nodes

[cvachery]

Still no decision taken about netdata @girish ?

[girish]

@cvachery sorry, forgot to update here. We will publish it, haven't gotten around yet...

[cvachery]

Litlle bump here to see where we are on that subject as it's been a while?

[girish]

@cvachery there are a lot of issues in the app. Or maybe it's the package. I don't have enough working knowledge of netdata to understand where the fault lies.

Here's some issues:

• The login button is there on top right even after login. We were willing to look past this. https://github.com/netdata/netdata/issues/9362 is the issue upstream, I think.

• After you login, the app is continuously sending analytics data to some external service. There is no way to turn this off afaict.

• Creating a space fails because it is sending the request to Netdata Cloud again.

• To add a node, again it says go to cloud.

• To use functions, needs sign in and needs cloud.

So anyway, after all this, I bit the bullet and signed up at https://app.netdata.cloud/ because otherwise there is nothing much to do in the app. The app is the exact same in the cloud already.

I think we have to take a step back to understand what is the advantage and purpose of selfhosting this. Nothing is stored in the database and the local directories atleast. It's all stored in the cloud.

For me, the cloud sign up is OK (it's not Cloudron.io's decision to decide upstream app workflows). But it seem everything is stored in the cloud service , defeating the purpose of selfhosting. The app is basically just hosting a front end to the cloud. It's like the youtube/twitter frontends. Except unlike the "alternate" frontends, the one in cloud and one selfhosted is the exact same. This could all be a big misunderstanding from me...