Unbound

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: unbound

Overview

This collector monitors Unbound servers.

This collector is supported on all platforms.

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

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

This integration doesn't support auto-detection.

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

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 unbound collector in two ways:

Method	Best for	How to
UI	Fast setup without editing files	Go to Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs, search for unbound, then click + to add a job.
File	If you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible)	Edit `go.d/unbound.conf` and add a job.

:::important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

:::

Prerequisites

Enable remote control interface

Set control-enable to yes in unbound.conf.

Check permissions and adjust if necessary

If using unix socket:

socket should be readable and writeable by netdata user

If using ip socket and TLS is disabled:

socket should be accessible via network

If TLS is enabled, in addition:

control-key-file should be readable by netdata user
control-cert-file should be readable by netdata user

For auto-detection parameters from unbound.conf:

unbound.conf should be readable by netdata user
if you have several configuration files (include feature) all of them should be readable by netdata user

Configuration

Options

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

<details open><summary>Config options</summary>

Group	Option	Description	Default	Required
Collection	update_every	Data collection frequency.	5	no
	autodetection_retry	Recheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled.	0	no
Target	address	Server address in IP:PORT format.	127.0.0.1:8953	yes
	timeout	Connection/read/write/SSL handshake timeout.	1	no
	conf_path	Absolute path to the Unbound configuration file. Used to adjust behavior based on the `remote-control` section.	/etc/unbound/unbound.conf	no
Customization	cumulative_stats	Statistics collection mode. Should match the `statistics-cumulative` parameter in the Unbound configuration file.	no	no
TLS	use_tls	Whether to use TLS or not.	yes	no
	tls_skip_verify	Server certificate chain and hostname validation policy. Controls whether the client performs this check.	yes	no
	tls_ca	Certificate authority that the client uses when verifying server certificates.		no
	tls_cert	Client TLS certificate.	/etc/unbound/unbound_control.pem	no
	tls_key	Client TLS key.	/etc/unbound/unbound_control.key	no

</details>

via UI

Configure the unbound collector from the Netdata web interface:

Go to Nodes.
Select the node where you want the unbound data-collection job to run and click the :gear: (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
In the Search box, type unbound (or scroll the list) to locate the unbound collector.
Click the + next to the unbound collector to add a new job.
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/unbound.conf.

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

yaml

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.

bash

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

Examples

Basic

An example configuration.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

yaml

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:8953

</details>

Unix socket

Connecting through Unix socket.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

yaml

jobs:
  - name: socket
    address: /var/run/unbound.sock

</details>

Multi-instance

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

Local and remote instances.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

yaml

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:8953

  - name: remote
    address: 203.0.113.11:8953

</details>

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

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 Unbound instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

Metric	Dimensions	Unit
unbound.queries	queries	queries
unbound.queries_ip_ratelimited	ratelimited	queries
unbound.dnscrypt_queries	crypted, cert, cleartext, malformed	queries
unbound.cache	hits, miss	events
unbound.cache_percentage	hits, miss	percentage
unbound.prefetch	prefetches	prefetches
unbound.expired	expired	replies
unbound.zero_ttl_replies	zero_ttl	replies
unbound.recursive_replies	recursive	replies
unbound.recursion_time	avg, median	milliseconds
unbound.request_list_usage	avg, max	queries
unbound.current_request_list_usage	all, users	queries
unbound.request_list_jostle_list	overwritten, dropped	queries
unbound.tcpusage	usage	buffers
unbound.uptime	time	seconds
unbound.cache_memory	message, rrset, dnscrypt_nonce, dnscrypt_shared_secret	KB
unbound.mod_memory	iterator, respip, validator, subnet, ipsec	KB
unbound.mem_streamwait	streamwait	KB
unbound.cache_count	infra, key, msg, rrset, dnscrypt_nonce, shared_secret	items
unbound.type_queries	a dimension per query type	queries
unbound.class_queries	a dimension per query class	queries
unbound.opcode_queries	a dimension per query opcode	queries
unbound.flag_queries	qr, aa, tc, rd, ra, z, ad, cd	queries
unbound.rcode_answers	a dimension per reply rcode	replies

Per thread

These metrics refer to threads.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

Metric	Dimensions	Unit
unbound.thread_queries	queries	queries
unbound.thread_queries_ip_ratelimited	ratelimited	queries
unbound.thread_dnscrypt_queries	crypted, cert, cleartext, malformed	queries
unbound.thread_cache	hits, miss	events
unbound.thread_cache_percentage	hits, miss	percentage
unbound.thread_prefetch	prefetches	prefetches
unbound.thread_expired	expired	replies
unbound.thread_zero_ttl_replies	zero_ttl	replies
unbound.thread_recursive_replies	recursive	replies
unbound.thread_recursion_time	avg, median	milliseconds
unbound.thread_request_list_usage	avg, max	queries
unbound.thread_current_request_list_usage	all, users	queries
unbound.thread_request_list_jostle_list	overwritten, dropped	queries
unbound.thread_tcpusage	usage	buffers

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 unbound 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].
bash
```
cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
```
Switch to the netdata user.
bash
```
sudo -u netdata -s
```
Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:
bash
```
./go.d.plugin -d -m unbound
```
To debug a specific job:
bash
```
./go.d.plugin -d -m unbound -j jobName
```

Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the unbound 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:

bash

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

System without systemd

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

bash

grep unbound /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:

bash

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep unbound