Documentation

Telegraf

  • Telegraf v0.1.5+
Plugin source Download configuration

CPU Input Plugin

This plugin gathers metrics about the system’s CPUs.

Introduced in: Telegraf v0.1.5 Tags: system OS support: all

Global configuration options

Plugins support additional global and plugin configuration settings for tasks such as modifying metrics, tags, and fields, creating aliases, and configuring plugin ordering. See CONFIGURATION.md for more details.

Configuration

# Read metrics about cpu usage
[[inputs.cpu]]
  ## Whether to report per-cpu stats or not
  percpu = true
  ## Whether to report total system cpu stats or not
  totalcpu = true
  ## If true, collect raw CPU time metrics
  collect_cpu_time = false
  ## If true, compute and report the sum of all non-idle CPU states
  ## NOTE: The resulting 'time_active' field INCLUDES 'iowait'!
  report_active = false
  ## If true and the info is available then add core_id and physical_id tags
  core_tags = false

Metrics

On Linux, consult man proc for details on the meanings of these values.

  • cpu
    • tags:
      • cpu (CPU ID or cpu-total)
    • fields:
      • time_user (float)
      • time_system (float)
      • time_idle (float)
      • time_active (float)
      • time_nice (float)
      • time_iowait (float)
      • time_irq (float)
      • time_softirq (float)
      • time_steal (float)
      • time_guest (float)
      • time_guest_nice (float)
      • usage_user (float, percent)
      • usage_system (float, percent)
      • usage_idle (float, percent)
      • usage_active (float)
      • usage_nice (float, percent)
      • usage_iowait (float, percent)
      • usage_irq (float, percent)
      • usage_softirq (float, percent)
      • usage_steal (float, percent)
      • usage_guest (float, percent)
      • usage_guest_nice (float, percent)

Troubleshooting

On Linux systems the /proc/stat file is used to gather CPU times. Percentages are based on the last 2 samples. Tags core_id and physical_id are read from /proc/cpuinfo on Linux systems

Example Output

cpu,cpu=cpu0,host=loaner time_active=202224.15999999992,time_guest=30250.35,time_guest_nice=0,time_idle=1527035.04,time_iowait=1352,time_irq=0,time_nice=169.28,time_softirq=6281.4,time_steal=0,time_system=40097.14,time_user=154324.34 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu0,host=loaner usage_active=31.249999981810106,usage_guest=2.083333333080696,usage_guest_nice=0,usage_idle=68.7500000181899,usage_iowait=0,usage_irq=0,usage_nice=0,usage_softirq=0,usage_steal=0,usage_system=4.166666666161392,usage_user=25.000000002273737 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu1,host=loaner time_active=201890.02000000002,time_guest=30508.41,time_guest_nice=0,time_idle=264641.18,time_iowait=210.44,time_irq=0,time_nice=181.75,time_softirq=4537.88,time_steal=0,time_system=39480.7,time_user=157479.25 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu1,host=loaner usage_active=12.500000010610771,usage_guest=2.0833333328280585,usage_guest_nice=0,usage_idle=87.49999998938922,usage_iowait=0,usage_irq=0,usage_nice=0,usage_softirq=2.0833333332070145,usage_steal=0,usage_system=4.166666665656117,usage_user=4.166666666414029 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu2,host=loaner time_active=201382.78999999998,time_guest=30325.8,time_guest_nice=0,time_idle=264686.63,time_iowait=202.77,time_irq=0,time_nice=162.81,time_softirq=3378.34,time_steal=0,time_system=39270.59,time_user=158368.28 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu2,host=loaner usage_active=15.999999993480742,usage_guest=1.9999999999126885,usage_guest_nice=0,usage_idle=84.00000000651926,usage_iowait=0,usage_irq=0,usage_nice=0,usage_softirq=2.0000000002764864,usage_steal=0,usage_system=3.999999999825377,usage_user=7.999999998923158 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu3,host=loaner time_active=198953.51000000007,time_guest=30344.43,time_guest_nice=0,time_idle=265504.09,time_iowait=187.64,time_irq=0,time_nice=197.47,time_softirq=2301.47,time_steal=0,time_system=39313.73,time_user=156953.2 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu3,host=loaner usage_active=10.41666667424579,usage_guest=0,usage_guest_nice=0,usage_idle=89.58333332575421,usage_iowait=0,usage_irq=0,usage_nice=0,usage_softirq=0,usage_steal=0,usage_system=4.166666666666667,usage_user=6.249999998484175 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu-total,host=loaner time_active=804450.5299999998,time_guest=121429,time_guest_nice=0,time_idle=2321866.96,time_iowait=1952.86,time_irq=0,time_nice=711.32,time_softirq=16499.1,time_steal=0,time_system=158162.17,time_user=627125.08 1568760922000000000
cpu,cpu=cpu-total,host=loaner usage_active=17.616580305880305,usage_guest=1.036269430422946,usage_guest_nice=0,usage_idle=82.3834196941197,usage_iowait=0,usage_irq=0,usage_nice=0,usage_softirq=1.0362694300459534,usage_steal=0,usage_system=4.145077721691784,usage_user=11.398963731636465 1568760922000000000

Was this page helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!

© 2026 InfluxData, Inc.

Where are you running InfluxDB?

Select your InfluxDB Cloud region and cluster or your InfluxDB OSS URL and we’ll customize code examples for you. Identify your InfluxDB Cloud cluster.

  • InfluxDB Cloud
  • InfluxDB OSS or Enterprise
AWS

  • US West (Oregon)

GCP
Azure
Default
Custom

For more information, see InfluxDB Cloud regions or InfluxDB OSS URLs.

Thank you for your feedback!

Let us know what we can do better:

Thank you!

No thanks

InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0: API tokens are hashed by default

Stronger token security in InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0 — tokens are hashed on disk by default. Existing tokens are hashed on first startup and can’t be recovered afterward. Capture any plaintext tokens you still need before you upgrade.

View InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0 release notes

Hashed tokens authenticate exactly like unhashed tokens — clients and integrations keep working.

Also new in 2.9.0:

  • Configurable backup compression
  • Restore support for backups containing hashed tokens
  • Tighter Edge Data Replication queue validation
  • Flux upgrade
  • Compaction reliability improvements

Key enhancements in Explorer 1.9

Explorer 1.9 is now available with InfluxQL support, an AI-assisted Flux to SQL converter (beta), and new live sample data simulators.

View Explorer 1.9 release notes

Explorer 1.9 includes new features and improvements that make it easier to query, visualize, and manage data.

Highlights:

  • Flux to SQL converter (beta): Convert Flux queries to SQL with an AI-assisted converter.
  • InfluxQL support: Query data with InfluxQL in the Data Explorer and dashboards, and save and load InfluxQL queries.
  • InfluxQL visualizations: Render line and bar charts from InfluxQL results with per-tag series grouping.
  • Query error history: Review a history of query errors in the query tool.
  • Live sample data simulators: Generate continuous live sample data with new bird data and signal generator simulators.

For more details, see Explorer 1.9 release notes

InfluxDB 3.10 is now available

InfluxDB 3 Core 3.10 adds an automatic catalog format upgrade, a configurable query-concurrency limit, and processing engine improvements.

Key updates in InfluxDB 3 Core 3.10:

  • Catalog format upgrade: the on-disk catalog automatically upgrades from format v2 to v3 on first 3.10 startup. Migration is one-way—back up your catalog before upgrading.
  • --max-concurrent-queries: limit concurrent queries (adjustable at runtime).
  • GET /ready endpoint for readiness probes.
  • Processing engine: cross-database queries and trigger lockdown flags.

For more information, see the InfluxDB 3 Core release notes.

InfluxDB 3.10 is now available

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise 3.10 adds automated backup and restore, row-level deletions, and user management, with an automatic catalog format upgrade and performance preview improvements.

Key updates in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise 3.10:

  • Catalog format upgrade: the on-disk catalog automatically upgrades from format v2 to v3 on first 3.10 startup. Migration is one-way—back up your catalog before upgrading.
  • Automated backup and restore (beta)
  • Row-level deletions
  • User management (authentication and RBAC) — preview
  • Performance preview improvements

Backup and restore, row-level deletions, and the performance preview require the Enterprise storage engine upgrade (opt-in beta). Beta and preview features are subject to breaking changes and aren’t recommended for production use.

For more information, see the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise release notes

Telegraf Enterprise is now generally available

Telegraf Enterprise is now generally available, along with Telegraf Controller v1.0.

Telegraf Enterprise combines Telegraf Controller, a centralized management console for Telegraf, with official support from InfluxData. Manage configurations, monitor fleet health, and operate tens of thousands of Telegraf agents from a single system.

InfluxDB Docker latest tag changing to InfluxDB 3 Core

On September 15, 2026, the latest tag for InfluxDB Docker images will point to InfluxDB 3 Core. To avoid unexpected upgrades, use specific version tags in your Docker deployments.

If using Docker to install and run InfluxDB, the latest tag will point to InfluxDB 3 Core. To avoid unexpected upgrades, use specific version tags in your Docker deployments. For example, if using Docker to run InfluxDB v2, replace the latest version tag with a specific version tag in your Docker pull command–for example:

docker pull influxdb:2