Metrics with CollectD and Graphite

CollectD is a daemon which periodically collects system performance statistics. It can write the data to different destinations including csv-files, rrdtool and Graphite.

Installation

The installation can be done with pkgutil:

# pkgutil -y -i collectd

The configuration file is located at /etc/opt/csw/collectd.conf. Make sure to comment out rrdtool as we want to use Graphite as destination:

#LoadPlugin rrdtool

Then activate the Graphite plugin:

LoadPlugin write_graphite

and make sure to configure the graphite plugin accordingly (there is an example down in the config file):

<Plugin write_graphite>

  <Node "stats">

    Prefix "server."

    Postfix ".collectd"

  </Node>

</Plugin>

Then restart CollectD and the metrics should be flowing in to Graphite:

# svcadm restart cswcollectd

Make sure to reload the webpage of Graphite-Web to show the new metrics.