docs/netdata-agent/configuration/anonymous-telemetry-events.md
By default, Netdata collects anonymous usage information from the open-source monitoring Agent. For events like start, stop, crash, etc., we use our own cloud function in GCP. For frontend telemetry (page views, etc.) on the dashboard itself, we use the open-source product analytics platform PostHog.
We are strongly committed to your data privacy.
We use the statistics gathered from this information for two purposes:
Quality assurance, to help us understand if Netdata behaves as expected, and to help us classify repeated issues with certain distributions or environments.
Usage statistics, to help us interpret how people use the Netdata Agent in real-world environments, and to help us identify how our development/design decisions influence the community.
Netdata collects usage information via two different channels:
netdata daemon executes the anonymous-statistics.sh script when Netdata starts, stops cleanly, or fails.When you access an Agent dashboard session by visiting http://NODE:19999, Netdata initializes a PostHog session and masks various event attributes.
Note: You can see the relevant code in the dashboard repository where the window.posthog.register() call is made.
window.posthog.register({
distinct_id: machineGuid,
$ip: "127.0.0.1",
$current_url: "agent dashboard",
$pathname: "netdata-dashboard",
$host: "dashboard.netdata.io",
})
In the above snippet, a Netdata PostHog session is initialized and the ip, current_url, pathname, and host attributes are set to constant values for all events that may be sent during the session. This way, information like the IP or hostname of the Agent will not be sent as part of the product usage event data.
We have configured the dashboard to trigger the PostHog JavaScript code only when the variable anonymous_statistics is true. The value of this variable is controlled via the opt-out mechanism.
Every time the daemon is started or stopped, and every time a fatal condition is encountered, Netdata uses the anonymous statistics script to collect system information and send it to the Netdata telemetry cloud function via an HTTP call.
Information collected for all events:
For FATAL events only:
The FATAL event sends the Netdata process and thread name, along with the source code function, source code filename, and source code line number of the fatal error.
:::note
To see exactly what and how is collected, you can review the script template daemon/anonymous-statistics.sh.in. The template is converted to a bash script called anonymous-statistics.sh, installed under the Netdata plugins directory, which is usually /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d.
:::
What's your installation type?
π§ Linux (standard) β Use Method 1 (File-based)
π₯οΈ Windows β Use Method 2 (Windows-specific)
π³ Docker β Use Method 3 (Environment variable)
π¦ Manual/Offline β Use Method 1 (File-based)
π· FreeBSD β Use Method 1 (File-based)
:::note
All opt-out methods prevent:
When opt-out is enabled, the anonymous statistics script exits immediately without sending any data.
:::
When to use: Standard Linux installations, FreeBSD, manual installations, macOS, or offline setups.
Steps:
.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics# Linux
touch /etc/netdata/.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics
# FreeBSD
touch /usr/local/etc/netdata/.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics
:::tip
This method works for all installation types including FreeBSD, manual, offline, and macOS installations. The file simply needs to existβthe content doesn't matter.
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</details> <details> <summary><strong>Method 2: Windows</strong></summary>When to use: Windows Agent installations.
On Windows, the Netdata configuration directory is located at C:\Program Files\Netdata\etc\netdata.
Option A: Create opt-out file
Run PowerShell as Administrator and execute:
New-Item -Path "C:\Program Files\Netdata\etc\netdata\.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics" -ItemType File -Force
Option B: Set environment variable
Run PowerShell as Administrator and execute:
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DISABLE_TELEMETRY", "1", "Machine")
Restart-Service -Name Netdata
:::note
After setting the environment variable, restart the Netdata service for the changes to take effect.
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</details> <details> <summary><strong>Method 3: Docker</strong></summary>When to use: Container-based deployments.
Set the DISABLE_TELEMETRY environment variable when creating the container:
docker run -e DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 ...
Or using Docker Compose:
environment:
- DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
:::note
You can also use DO_NOT_TRACK=1 as an alternative to DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1.
:::
See the Docker installation guide for complete configuration.
</details> <details> <summary><strong>Method 4: Installer scripts</strong></summary>When to use: Initial installation or manual updates.
Pass the --disable-telemetry flag to any installer script:
./netdata-installer.sh --disable-telemetry
Or export the environment variable before running the installer:
export DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
./kickstart.sh
:::note
You can also use DO_NOT_TRACK=1 as an alternative to DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 when using Netdata installer scripts.
:::
See the installation documentation for available installer scripts.
</details>| Installation Type | Configuration Directory |
|---|---|
| Linux (standard) | /etc/netdata |
| Windows | C:\Program Files\Netdata\etc\netdata |
| Docker | N/A (use environment variable) |
| macOS (Homebrew) | /usr/local/etc/netdata |
| macOS (other) | /etc/netdata |
| FreeBSD | /usr/local/etc/netdata |
To confirm that telemetry is disabled:
.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics file exists in your config directory, ORDISABLE_TELEMETRY environment variable is set in the environment used to start the Netdata daemon:::note
If you used DO_NOT_TRACK=1 with Docker or a Netdata installer script, confirm that it resulted in the .opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics file being created. The Agent dashboard will no longer send PostHog events, and the backend statistics script will not execute.
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