---
title: ''
description: Telegraf plugin for collecting metrics from CPU
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/input-plugins/cpu/
estimated_tokens: 1260
product: Telegraf Enterprise
version: v1
publisher: InfluxData
canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/input-plugins/cpu/
date: '2026-05-21T20:10:18+02:00'
lastmod: '2026-05-21T20:10:18+02:00'
---

==========

* Telegraf v0.1.5+

[Plugin source](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/tree/v1.39.1/plugins/inputs/cpu/)[Download configuration](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/influxdata/telegraf/refs/tags/v1.39.1/plugins/inputs/cpu/sample.conf)

# 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](/telegraf/v1/configuration/#plugins) for more details.

## Configuration

```toml
# 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

```text
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
```