Deploy Netdata Monitoring on RamNode VPS

Why Netdata?

Netdata is an open-source, real-time performance monitoring solution that collects thousands of metrics per second with minimal system overhead.

Real-time monitoring with per-second granularity

Zero configuration auto-detection of apps

Low resource usage (~1% CPU, ~100MB RAM)

Beautiful dashboards and pre-configured alerts

Prerequisites

Requirements

• Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Debian 11/12, or AlmaLinux 8/9
• Root or sudo access
• Minimum 512 MB RAM (1 GB+ recommended)
• Port 19999 available

Features

• Per-second metric collection
• 2,000+ auto-detected metrics
• Built-in alerting system
• Optional cloud integration

Update Your System

Start by updating your system packages:

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

AlmaLinux/Rocky

sudo dnf update -y

Installation

Quick Installation (Recommended)

Use the official one-line installer:

Install Netdata

wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh

During installation, you'll be prompted to accept the installation and optionally connect to Netdata Cloud.

Alternative: Package Manager

For Ubuntu/Debian with the official repository:

Install from Repository

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https gnupg

# Add Netdata repository
wget -O /tmp/netdata-repo.deb https://repo.netdata.cloud/repos/stable/debian/bookworm/netdata-repo_2-2+debian12_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/netdata-repo.deb
sudo apt update

# Install Netdata
sudo apt install netdata -y

Verify Installation

Check that Netdata is running:

Check Status

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status netdata

# View version
netdata -v

Firewall Access

UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)

Allow access to the Netdata dashboard:

UFW Rules

# Allow from specific IP only (recommended)
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_IP_ADDRESS to any port 19999

# Or allow from anywhere (less secure)
sudo ufw allow 19999/tcp

firewalld (AlmaLinux/Rocky)

Configure firewalld:

firewalld Rules

# Allow from specific IP
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-rich-rule='rule family="ipv4" source address="YOUR_IP_ADDRESS" port protocol="tcp" port="19999" accept'

# Or allow from anywhere
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=19999/tcp

# Reload firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Access the Dashboard

Open your browser and navigate to:

Dashboard URL

http://YOUR_VPS_IP:19999

You'll see the Netdata dashboard displaying real-time metrics for CPU, memory, disk, network, and detected applications.

Security Options

Warning: Running Netdata exposed to the internet without protection is not recommended. Choose one of the security options below.

Option A: Restrict Access by IP

Edit the Netdata configuration:

Edit Configuration

sudo nano /etc/netdata/netdata.conf

netdata.conf

[web]
    bind to = 127.0.0.1
    allow connections from = localhost 192.168.* 10.*

Restart Netdata

sudo systemctl restart netdata

Option B: Nginx Reverse Proxy with Auth

Set up Nginx with password authentication:

Install Nginx

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install nginx apache2-utils -y

# AlmaLinux
sudo dnf install nginx httpd-tools -y

# Create password file
sudo htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd netdata_admin

Create Nginx Config

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/netdata

nginx config

upstream netdata {
    server 127.0.0.1:19999;
    keepalive 64;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name monitoring.yourdomain.com;
    
    location / {
        return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
    }
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name monitoring.yourdomain.com;
    
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/monitoring.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/monitoring.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    
    auth_basic "Netdata Monitoring";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    
    location / {
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_pass http://netdata;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_pass_request_headers on;
        proxy_set_header Connection "keep-alive";
        proxy_store off;
    }
}

Enable and Configure SSL

# Enable site (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/netdata /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Install Certbot and obtain certificate
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
sudo certbot --nginx -d monitoring.yourdomain.com

# Test and restart Nginx
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Option C: SSH Tunnel (Quick Access)

For occasional access without exposing ports:

SSH Tunnel

ssh -L 19999:localhost:19999 user@YOUR_VPS_IP

Then access the dashboard at http://localhost:19999 in your local browser.

Alerts Configuration

Custom Alert Definition

Create custom alerts:

Create Alert

sudo nano /etc/netdata/health.d/custom.conf

custom.conf

alarm: cpu_usage_high
   on: system.cpu
lookup: average -3m percentage foreach user,system
 units: %
 every: 1m
  warn: $this > 80
  crit: $this > 95
 delay: down 5m multiplier 1.5 max 1h
  info: CPU utilization averaged over 3 minutes
    to: sysadmin

Reload Health

sudo netdatacli reload-health

Email Notifications

Configure email alerting:

Edit Notification Config

sudo nano /etc/netdata/health_alarm_notify.conf

Email Settings

# Enable email notifications
SEND_EMAIL="YES"

# Recipient email
DEFAULT_RECIPIENT_EMAIL="admin@yourdomain.com"

# Sender settings
EMAIL_SENDER="netdata@yourvps.com"

Application Monitoring

Check Available Collectors

View available collectors:

List Collectors

ls /etc/netdata/go.d/
ls /etc/netdata/python.d/

MySQL/MariaDB Monitoring

Configure MySQL monitoring:

MySQL Config

sudo nano /etc/netdata/go.d/mysql.conf

mysql.conf

jobs:
  - name: local
    dsn: netdata:password@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/

Create MySQL User

CREATE USER 'netdata'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT USAGE, REPLICATION CLIENT, PROCESS ON *.* TO 'netdata'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Nginx Monitoring

Enable Nginx stub status:

Nginx Status

location /nginx_status {
    stub_status on;
    allow 127.0.0.1;
    deny all;
}

Netdata will auto-detect the status endpoint.

Docker Container Monitoring

Allow Netdata access to Docker:

Docker Access

sudo usermod -aG docker netdata
sudo systemctl restart netdata

Netdata Cloud (Optional)

Connect to Netdata Cloud

Centralize monitoring across multiple servers:

Claim Node

sudo netdata-claim.sh -token=YOUR_CLAIM_TOKEN -rooms=YOUR_ROOM_ID -url=https://app.netdata.cloud

Get your claim token from app.netdata.cloud after creating a free account.

Performance Tuning

Reduce Resource Usage

For VPS with limited resources:

Edit Configuration

sudo nano /etc/netdata/netdata.conf

netdata.conf

[global]
    # Reduce memory usage
    memory mode = dbengine
    page cache size = 32
    dbengine multihost disk space = 256
    
    # Reduce update frequency (default is 1 second)
    update every = 2

[web]
    # Reduce web client connections
    web files owner = root
    web files group = netdata

Disable Unnecessary Collectors

Disable collectors you don't need:

List Collectors

# List running collectors
sudo netdatacli dumpconfig | grep -A2 "\[plugins\]"

Disable Collectors

[plugins]
    # Disable if not needed
    cups = no
    nfacct = no

Restart

sudo systemctl restart netdata

Maintenance

Common Commands

Useful management commands:

Maintenance Commands

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status netdata

# Restart Netdata
sudo systemctl restart netdata

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u netdata -f

# Update Netdata
sudo /usr/libexec/netdata/netdata-updater.sh

# Check configuration
sudo netdatacli dumpconfig

# Reload health checks
sudo netdatacli reload-health

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Dashboard Not Loading

Debug

sudo systemctl status netdata
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 19999

High Memory Usage

Reduce Memory

sudo nano /etc/netdata/netdata.conf

# Add these settings:
[global]
    memory mode = dbengine
    dbengine multihost disk space = 128

Collector Not Working

Debug Collector

# Check collector logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/netdata/collector.log

# Verify collector configuration
sudo /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/go.d.plugin -d -m <module_name>

Alerts Not Sending

Test Notifications

sudo /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/alarm-notify.sh test

Next Steps

→Connect multiple servers to Netdata Cloud

→Configure custom application collectors

→Set up Slack or Discord notifications

→Create custom dashboards

Self-Hosted Netdata