Elasticsearch

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: elasticsearch

Overview

This collector monitors the performance and health of the Elasticsearch cluster.

It uses Cluster APIs to collect metrics.

Used endpoints:

This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.

Elasticsearch can be monitored further using the following other integrations:

• Applications
• Containers

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

By default, it detects instances running on localhost by attempting to connect to port 9200:

• http://127.0.0.1:9200
• https://127.0.0.1:9200

Limits

By default, this collector monitors only the node it is connected to. To monitor all cluster nodes, set the cluster_mode configuration option to yes.

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

Setup

You can configure the elasticsearch collector in two ways:

:::important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

:::

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.

via UI

Configure the elasticsearch collector from the Netdata web interface:

1. Go to Nodes.
2. Select the node where you want the elasticsearch data-collection job to run and click the :gear: (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
3. The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
4. In the Search box, type elasticsearch (or scroll the list) to locate the elasticsearch collector.
5. Click the + next to the elasticsearch collector to add a new job.
6. Fill in the job fields, then click Test to verify the configuration and Submit to save.
   • Test runs the job with the provided settings and shows whether data can be collected.
   • If it fails, an error message appears with details (for example, connection refused, timeout, or command execution errors), so you can adjust and retest.

via File

The configuration file name for this integration is go.d/elasticsearch.conf.

The file format is YAML. Generally, the structure is:

update_every: 1
autodetection_retry: 0
jobs:
  - name: some_name1
  - name: some_name2

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/elasticsearch.conf

Examples

Basic single node mode

A basic example configuration.

jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:9200

Cluster mode

Cluster mode example configuration.

jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:9200
    cluster_mode: yes

HTTP authentication

Basic HTTP authentication.

jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:9200
    username: username
    password: password

HTTPS with self-signed certificate

Elasticsearch with enabled HTTPS and self-signed certificate.

jobs:
  - name: local
    url: https://127.0.0.1:9200
    tls_skip_verify: yes

Multi-instance

Note: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Collecting metrics from local and remote instances.

jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:9200

  - name: remote
    url: http://192.0.2.1:9200

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Metrics

Metrics grouped by scope.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.

Per node

These metrics refer to the cluster node.

Labels:

Metrics:

Per cluster

These metrics refer to the cluster.

Labels:

Metrics:

Per index

These metrics refer to the index.

Labels:

Metrics:

Live Data

This collector exposes real-time functions for interactive troubleshooting in the Live tab.

Top Queries

Retrieves currently running search tasks from the Elasticsearch Tasks API.

This function queries the /_tasks endpoint filtered for search actions (*search), providing a real-time snapshot of all active search operations across all nodes in the cluster.

Use cases:

• Identify long-running search queries that may be impacting cluster performance
• Monitor active search workload distribution across cluster nodes
• Debug slow or stuck search operations in real-time

Prerequisites

Ensure access to Tasks API

The user must have appropriate privileges to access the Tasks API.

1. For secured clusters, grant the monitor or manage cluster privilege:

   jsonCopy

   {
     "cluster": ["monitor"]
   }
   

2. Verify access to the Tasks API:

   bashCopy

   curl -u user:password "http://localhost:9200/_tasks?actions=*search"
   

:::info

• The Tasks API returns only currently running tasks; completed tasks are not stored
• Search tasks can be cancelled using POST /_tasks/{task_id}/_cancel if they are cancellable
• Works with both Elasticsearch and OpenSearch clusters

:::

Parameters

Returns

Real-time snapshot of currently executing search tasks across all cluster nodes. Each row represents a single active search operation.

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Important: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the elasticsearch collector, run the go.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].

  bashCopy

  cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
  

• Switch to the netdata user.

  bashCopy

  sudo -u netdata -s
  

• Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:

  bashCopy

  ./go.d.plugin -d -m elasticsearch
  

  To debug a specific job:

  bashCopy

  ./go.d.plugin -d -m elasticsearch -j jobName
  

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the elasticsearch collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

• Run the command specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
• Examine the output for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues. These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep elasticsearch

System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at /var/log/netdata/collector.log, and use grep to filter for collector's name:

grep elasticsearch /var/log/netdata/collector.log

Note: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the latest entries for troubleshooting current issues.

Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named "netdata" (replace if different), use this command:

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep elasticsearch