How to Monitor your VPS for Free

VirtuBox · Jul 5, 2016

As monitoring is still the best way to haven't downtime with your VPS, here some solution to monitor it for free.

1) Netdata

Netdata is a small monitoring tool which provide you the ability to monitor all your VPS services with a Clean web interface.
You can install it in only few minutes :

Prepare your server with some packages

Code:

[COLOR=#969896]# Debian / Ubuntu[/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]apt-get install zlib1g-dev uuid-dev libmnl-dev gcc make git autoconf autogen automake pkg-config

[COLOR=#969896]# Centos / Fedora / Redhat[/COLOR]
yum install zlib-devel libuuid-devel libmnl-devel gcc make git autoconf autogen automake pkgconfig
[/SIZE]

Install also network tools for remote monitoring :

Code:

[COLOR=#969896][FONT=Consolas]# debian / ubuntu

[/FONT][/COLOR]apt-get install curl jq nodejs

[COLOR=#969896]# centos / fedora / redhat

[/COLOR] [COLOR=#333333][FONT=Consolas]yum install curl jq nodejs[/FONT][/COLOR]

Then you just have to download it from github and to launch the install :

Code:

[COLOR=#969896][FONT=Consolas]# download it - the directory 'netdata' will be created

[/FONT][/COLOR]git clone https://github.com/firehol/netdata.git --depth=1
[COLOR=#0086B3]cd[/COLOR] netdata

[COLOR=#969896]# build it, install it, start it[/COLOR]
./netdata-installer.sh

You will be able to get access to the dashboard at : http://yourserverIP:19999/

More details at : https://github.com/firehol/netdata/wiki/Installation

2) Htop - The easiest to install

If htop will not provide you a web interface, it's the easiest monitor tool to install and to use.

Code:

[COLOR=#969896]# Debian / Ubuntu[/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]apt-get install htop

[COLOR=#969896]# Centos / Fedora / Redhat[/COLOR]
yum install htop
[/SIZE]

And to use it :

Code:

[COLOR=#969896]# Debian / Ubuntu / [/COLOR][COLOR=#969896]C[/COLOR][COLOR=#969896]entos / Fedora / Redhat[/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]htop

[/SIZE]

3) Nixstats.com

NIXStats provide domains & server monitoring service, it's currently in beta and totally free, you have just to run a single bash command to monitor a server.

4) Linode Longview

Linode provide also a free monitoring service for up to 10 servers, and you can install it using a single command line. It's working fine but you have only 12 hours history in free account.

Good monitoring !

Paul Wellner Bou · Jul 5, 2016

VirtuBox said:
2) Htop - The easiest to install

View attachment 1592

I could not see disk usage on this image. Seem it lacks this function

VirtuBox · Jul 5, 2016

Yes, htop is only a good way to see process and resources. but for disk usage you don't need a monitoring tools :

Code:

df -h

Marc A · Jul 6, 2016

Hello,

Thanks for this man! I am definitely using this.

Cheers,

Marc A. :drinks:

fwh · Jul 6, 2016

VirtuBox said:
Yes, htop is only a good way to see process and resources. but for disk usage you don't need a monitoring tools :

Code:

df -h

View attachment 1593

It it a good command to check disk usage with SSH

If we don't use tools to monitor a VPS then we can use these commands

Check server's RAM (memory) usage

# free -m

Another useful tool is ps, you can see running processes in RAM

# ps aux

showcrit · Jul 19, 2016

I'll definitely try Netdata, thanks for the recommendations!

Kaz Wolfe · Jul 19, 2016

The first image was attracted me, I will install Netdata on my hosting.
but Htop seems lighter than Netdata if we compare how much resource it will use to run its applications.

VirtuBox · Jul 23, 2016

Yes Netdata is "too attractive" to be used daily, at first because it need more resources than other monitoring tools, and also because it have several dependencies to dispay this beautiful dashboard. And in fact, I'm using only a tool to detect downtime, and I monitor my server only if there is a problem.

kurokood · Aug 1, 2016

The very first image was attracted me, I'll install Netdata on my small hosting.

but Htop appears lighter than Netdata when we compare just how much resource it'll use to operate its programs.

Maxoq · Aug 6, 2016

For Netdata, I would add extra information as following

Opening port 19999

Port 19999 is the default port of Netdata, you can change by leaving a comment in the configuration file

Code:

/etc/netdata/netdata.conf

If not accessible, you may need to open port 19999 by iptables

Code:

service iptables start
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 19999 -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
service iptables restart

Auto start netdata when reboot

Code:

echo "/usr/sbin/netdata" >> /etc/rc.local

You can run netdata manually with the command:

Code:

/usr/sbin/netdata

If you want to stop netdata, use killall

Code:

killall netdata

Update Netdata

if you want to update to newer version of Netdata, it will inform you in the Update tab in the Dashboard.

Now you just need to access the directory that you have got netdata previously and run update

Code:

cd /root/netdata/
git pull
./netdata-installer.sh

Script will automatically upgrade and restart netdata.

That's all I want to add to this great tutorial of @VirtuBox!

Thanks
Max

Justin · Sep 11, 2016

I installed netdata on my vps. The only thing I had to do extra was allow my IP through the firewall to access port 19999. It's a great way to monitor pretty much everything though, thank you for the tutorial.

VirtuBox · Sep 11, 2016

You're welcome ! Thread updated with two external monitoring tools. I will add some others soon

serverbundle · Oct 2, 2016

Zabbix is also pretty good however its more handy when you have to monitor multiple servers and services.

Elnar · Oct 4, 2016

I recommend zabbix+munin. This link will provide reliable monitoring, free push notifications and high-quality graphics.

BillEssley · Oct 5, 2016

serverbundle said:
Zabbix is also pretty good however its more handy when you have to monitor multiple servers and services.

Elnar said:
I recommend zabbix+munin. This link will provide reliable monitoring, free push notifications and high-quality graphics.

Nice share, it could be a good alternative for netdata and htop, I will have a check on Zabbix to see how it work.

What is munin? :think:

StackNetwork · Oct 10, 2016

New Relic Server Monitoring seems to be pretty good one and of course free. Also it doesn't seem to use lot of resources.

tcoder · Oct 12, 2016

I use Uptime Robot to monitor my sites, it's external so you can use it on share hosting as well. I've been using this for years and the free version of it, I always get a text alert if any of the websites I own go down for any reason. It has build in KEYWORD Monitoring too, so even if you website serves up a 404 page or an error page, if the keyword isn't present you'll get alerted also.

VirtuBox · Oct 12, 2016

Yes UptimeRobot is useful to receive an alert in case of downtime, they also offer a status web page with the monitors of your choice.

Optimidia · Oct 13, 2016

Got to love the look of Netdata! If it weren't because we already just use htop we probably would have lots of fun looking at statistics from Netdata. Maybe we can try it out in the future.

ventureer · Oct 14, 2016

Excellent advice @VirtuBox!

htop is definitely the option if you don't want a web interface. For a web based approach, all options look great!

How to Monitor your VPS for Free

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