Knowledgebase

How to Install Netdata on AnonVM: A Comprehensive Guide

Netdata is a powerful, real-time monitoring tool designed to visualize your system’s metrics, such as CPU usage, memory, disk activity, and network traffic. It's ideal for users with an AnonVM server who need to track the health and performance of their VPS or dedicated server. This tutorial will walk you through the process of installing and configuring Netdata on your AnonVM server.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, make sure you have the following:

• A VPS or Dedicated Server: Ensure you're hosting your server with AnonVM, which offers secure, offshore, and high-performance hosting.
• Linux-based OS: This guide will work on most Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, or CentOS.
• Sudo or Root Access: You will need administrative privileges to install software.

Step 1: Update Your System

Start by logging into your AnonVM server via SSH. For Ubuntu/Debian-based systems, run the following commands to update your server:

For CentOS, use:

This ensures your server has the latest security patches and packages.

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Netdata requires several dependencies, which you can install using the following commands:

For Ubuntu/Debian:

For CentOS:

Step 3: Install Netdata

Netdata provides an easy-to-use installation script that automatically handles the setup process for your system. The script will download and install the latest stable version of Netdata.

Run the Netdata installation script:

This command downloads and executes the installation script. The script will take care of everything from installing Netdata to starting the service.

Step 4: Start Netdata Service

Once the installation is complete, Netdata should start automatically. If it doesn't, you can start it manually with the following command:

To ensure Netdata starts automatically when your server reboots, run:

Step 5: Access Netdata Web Interface

By default, Netdata listens on port 19999. To access the Netdata dashboard, open your web browser and enter the following URL:

For example, if your server's IP address is 192.168.1.100, visit:

You should see the Netdata dashboard, which provides real-time monitoring of your server’s performance metrics.

Step 6: Secure Your Netdata Installation

It’s important to secure your Netdata installation, especially if your server is exposed to the internet. Here's how to secure Netdata with basic authentication:

1. Install Apache tools to enable basic authentication:

    

   sudo apt install apache2-utils # For Ubuntu/Debian sudo yum install httpd-tools # For CentOS

2. Create a password file for basic authentication:

    

   sudo htpasswd -c /etc/netdata/.htpasswd your_username

   Replace your_username with a name of your choice, and you'll be prompted to set a password.

3. Edit the Netdata configuration file: Open the Netdata config file:

    

   sudo nano /etc/netdata/netdata.conf

   Locate the following section and add your authentication details:

    

   [web] bind to = 0.0.0.0:19999 allow connections from = your-ip authentication required = yes authentication username = your_username authentication password file = /etc/netdata/.htpasswd

4. Restart Netdata:

    

   sudo systemctl restart netdata

Now, when accessing Netdata’s web interface, you’ll be prompted to enter the username and password you configured.

Step 7: Customize Your Netdata Dashboard

Netdata’s dashboard is highly customizable. You can add and remove monitoring widgets, set up alerting, and modify the way data is displayed to fit your needs. To configure Netdata:

1. Configure Alerts: You can configure Netdata to send alerts when certain metrics exceed thresholds. Netdata supports various notification channels such as email, Slack, or Discord.
2. Add Custom Plugins: Netdata supports a variety of plugins, allowing you to monitor different applications and services like Nginx, MySQL, Docker, and more. You can install and configure these plugins to gain deeper insights into your server’s performance.
3. Create Custom Dashboards: You can design your own dashboards using Netdata’s flexible layout system, which can be particularly useful if you're monitoring multiple servers or services.

Step 8: Secure Netdata with SSL (Optional)

For even more security, you can configure SSL to serve Netdata over HTTPS. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Obtain an SSL Certificate: Use Certbot to obtain a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt:

    

   sudo apt install certbot # For Ubuntu/Debian sudo yum install certbot # For CentOS sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d your-domain.com

2. Configure Nginx to Reverse Proxy Netdata: If you have Nginx installed, configure it to reverse proxy requests to Netdata over HTTPS. Update your Nginx configuration file with the following:

    

   server { listen 80; server_name your-domain.com; return 301 https://$host$request_uri; } server { listen 443 ssl; server_name your-domain.com; ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/your-domain.com/privkey.pem; location / { proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:19999; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr; proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for; } }

3. Restart Nginx:

    

   sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now you can access Netdata securely using HTTPS.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ve successfully installed Netdata on your AnonVM server. You can now easily monitor your server’s performance in real time and gain insights into important system metrics. Netdata’s flexible features and real-time monitoring capabilities make it an excellent tool for keeping track of your server’s health and performance.

Whether you are managing a small project or a large-scale infrastructure, Netdata offers detailed insights that can help you optimize your server and prevent performance issues. Secure your installation, customize the dashboard, and stay on top of your server's performance with Netdata on AnonVM.