Documentation

Telegraf

Install Telegraf

This page provides directions for installing, starting, and configuring Telegraf. To install Telegraf, do the following:

Download

Download the latest Telegraf release at the InfluxData download page.

Requirements

Installation of the Telegraf package may require root or administrator privileges in order to complete successfully.

Networking

Telegraf offers multiple service input plugins that may require custom ports. Modify port mappings through the configuration file (telegraf.conf).

For Linux distributions, this file is located at /etc/telegraf for default installations.

For Windows distributions, the configuration file is located in the directory where you unzipped the Telegraf ZIP archive. The default location is C:\InfluxData\telegraf.

NTP

Telegraf uses a host’s local time in UTC to assign timestamps to data. Use the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to synchronize time between hosts. If hosts’ clocks aren’t synchronized with NTP, the timestamps on the data might be inaccurate.

Installation

Ubuntu & Debian RedHat & CentOS SLES & openSUSE FreeBSD/PC-BSD macOS Windows

Debian and Ubuntu users can install the latest stable version of Telegraf using the apt-get package manager.

Ubuntu & Debian

Install Telegraf from the InfluxData repository with the following commands:

wget curl

# influxdata-archive_compat.key GPG Fingerprint: 9D539D90D3328DC7D6C8D3B9D8FF8E1F7DF8B07E
wget -q https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key
echo '393e8779c89ac8d958f81f942f9ad7fb82a25e133faddaf92e15b16e6ac9ce4c influxdata-archive_compat.key' | sha256sum -c && cat influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/influxdata-archive_compat.gpg > /dev/null
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/influxdata-archive_compat.gpg] https://repos.influxdata.com/debian stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdata.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install telegraf

# influxdata-archive_compat.key GPG Fingerprint: 9D539D90D3328DC7D6C8D3B9D8FF8E1F7DF8B07E
curl -s https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key > influxdata-archive_compat.key
echo '393e8779c89ac8d958f81f942f9ad7fb82a25e133faddaf92e15b16e6ac9ce4c influxdata-archive_compat.key' | sha256sum -c && cat influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/influxdata-archive_compat.gpg > /dev/null
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/influxdata-archive_compat.gpg] https://repos.influxdata.com/debian stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdata.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install telegraf

Install from a .deb file:

To manually install the Debian package from a .deb file:

  1. Download the latest Telegraf .deb release from the Telegraf section of the downloads page.

  2. Run the following command (making sure to supply the correct version number for the downloaded file):

    sudo dpkg -i telegraf_1.28.1-1_amd64.deb

Verify the authenticity of downloaded binary (optional)

InfluxData cryptographically signs each Telegraf binary release. For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your download with gpg.

(Most operating systems include the gpg command by default. If gpg is not available, see the GnuPG homepage for installation instructions.)

  1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key:

    curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --import

  2. Download the signature file for the release by adding .asc to the download URL. For example:

    wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc

  3. Verify the signature with gpg --verify:

    gpg --verify telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    The output from this command should include the following:

    gpg: Good signature from "InfluxDB Packaging Service <support@influxdb.com>" [unknown]

Configuration

Create a configuration file with default input and output plugins.

Every plugin will be in the file, but most will be commented out.

telegraf config > telegraf.conf

Create a configuration file with specific inputs and outputs

telegraf --input-filter <pluginname>[:<pluginname>] --output-filter <outputname>[:<outputname>] config > telegraf.conf

For more advanced configuration details, see the configuration documentation.

For instructions on how to manually install the RPM package from a file, please see the downloads page.

RedHat and CentOS: Install the latest stable version of Telegraf using the yum package manager:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/influxdb.repo
[influxdb]
name = InfluxData Repository - Stable
baseurl = https://repos.influxdata.com/stable/\$basearch/main
enabled = 1
gpgcheck = 1
gpgkey = https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key
EOF

Install telegraf once the repository is added to the yum configuration:

sudo yum install telegraf

Verify the authenticity of downloaded binary (optional)

InfluxData cryptographically signs each Telegraf binary release. For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your download with gpg.

(Most operating systems include the gpg command by default. If gpg is not available, see the GnuPG homepage for installation instructions.)

  1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key:

    curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --import

  2. Download the signature file for the release by adding .asc to the download URL. For example:

    wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc

  3. Verify the signature with gpg --verify:

    gpg --verify telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    The output from this command should include the following:

    gpg: Good signature from "InfluxDB Packaging Service <support@influxdb.com>" [unknown]

Configuration

Create a configuration file with default input and output plugins

Every plugin will be in the file, but most will be commented out.

telegraf config > telegraf.conf

Create a configuration file with specific inputs and outputs

telegraf --input-filter <pluginname>[:<pluginname>] --output-filter <outputname>[:<outputname>] config > telegraf.conf

For more advanced configuration details, see the configuration documentation.

There are RPM packages provided by openSUSE Build Service for SUSE Linux users:

# add go repository
zypper ar -f obs://devel:languages:go/ go
# install latest telegraf
zypper in telegraf

Verify the authenticity of downloaded binary (optional)

InfluxData cryptographically signs each Telegraf binary release. For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your download with gpg.

(Most operating systems include the gpg command by default. If gpg is not available, see the GnuPG homepage for installation instructions.)

  1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key:

    curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --import

  2. Download the signature file for the release by adding .asc to the download URL. For example:

    wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc

  3. Verify the signature with gpg --verify:

    gpg --verify telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    The output from this command should include the following:

    gpg: Good signature from "InfluxDB Packaging Service <support@influxdb.com>" [unknown]

Configuration

Create a configuration file with default input and output plugins

Every plugin will be in the file, but most will be commented out.

telegraf config > telegraf.conf

Create a configuration file with specific inputs and outputs

telegraf --input-filter <pluginname>[:<pluginname>] --output-filter <outputname>[:<outputname>] config > telegraf.conf

For more advanced configuration details, see the configuration documentation.

Telegraf is part of the FreeBSD package system. It can be installed by running:

sudo pkg install telegraf

The configuration file is located at /usr/local/etc/telegraf.conf with examples in /usr/local/etc/telegraf.conf.sample.

Verify the authenticity of downloaded binary (optional)

InfluxData cryptographically signs each Telegraf binary release. For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your download with gpg.

(Most operating systems include the gpg command by default. If gpg is not available, see the GnuPG homepage for installation instructions.)

  1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key:

    curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --import

  2. Download the signature file for the release by adding .asc to the download URL. For example:

    wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc

  3. Verify the signature with gpg --verify:

    gpg --verify telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    The output from this command should include the following:

    gpg: Good signature from "InfluxDB Packaging Service <support@influxdb.com>" [unknown]

Configuration

Create a configuration file with default input and output plugins.

Every plugin will be in the file, but most will be commented out.

telegraf config > telegraf.conf

Create a configuration file with specific inputs and outputs

telegraf --input-filter <pluginname>[:<pluginname>] --output-filter <outputname>[:<outputname>] config > telegraf.conf

For more advanced configuration details, see the configuration documentation.

Users of macOS 10.8 and higher can install Telegraf using the Homebrew package manager. Once brew is installed, you can install Telegraf by running:

brew update
brew install telegraf

Run one of the following commands to start Telegraf and begin collecting and processing metrics:

To have launchd start Telegraf as a service after the next login:

ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/telegraf/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents

Start Telegraf as a launchd service:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.telegraf.plist

To run telegraf directly (and not as a launchd service):

telegraf -config /usr/local/etc/telegraf.conf

Verify the authenticity of downloaded binary (optional)

InfluxData cryptographically signs each Telegraf binary release. For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your download with gpg.

(Most operating systems include the gpg command by default. If gpg is not available, see the GnuPG homepage for installation instructions.)

  1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key:

    curl -sL https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive_compat.key | gpg --import

  2. Download the signature file for the release by adding .asc to the download URL. For example:

    wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc

  3. Verify the signature with gpg --verify:

    gpg --verify telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz.asc telegraf-1.<nil>_linux_amd64.tar.gz

    The output from this command should include the following:

    gpg: Good signature from "InfluxDB Packaging Service <support@influxdb.com>" [unknown]

Configuration

Create a configuration file with default input and output plugins.

Every plugin will be in the file, but most will be commented out.

telegraf config > telegraf.conf

The output telegraf.conf contains all available plugins–some are enabled and the rest are commented out.

Create a configuration file with specific inputs and outputs

telegraf --input-filter <pluginname>[:<pluginname>] --output-filter <outputname>[:<outputname>] config > telegraf.conf

For more advanced configuration details, see the configuration documentation.

Download and run Telegraf as a Windows service

Installing a Windows service requires administrative permissions. To run PowerShell as an administrator, see Launch PowerShell as administrator.

In PowerShell as an administrator, do the following:

  1. Use the following commands to download the Telegraf Windows binary and extract its contents to C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\:

    wget `
https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.28.1_windows_amd64.zip `
-UseBasicParsing `
-OutFile telegraf-1.28.1_windows_amd64.zip `
Expand-Archive .\telegraf-1.28.1_windows_amd64.zip `
-DestinationPath 'C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\'

  2. Choose one of the following steps to place your telegraf.exe and telegraf.conf files in C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf:

    • Move the telegraf.exe and telegraf.conf files from C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf-1.28.1 to the parent directory C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf–for example:

      cd "C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf";
mv .\telegraf-1.28.1\telegraf.* .

    • Or, create a Windows symbolic link (Symlink) for C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf that points to the extracted directory.

The remaining instructions assume that telegraf.exe and telegraf.conf files are stored in C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf or that you created a Symlink to point to this directory.

  1. Optional: Disable the inputs.processes plugin. This plugin doesn’t support Windows and returns an error when run with the --test flag. Open telegraf.conf in your editor and comment the inputs.processes configuration lines.

    ...
# This plugin ONLY supports non-Windows
# [[inputs.processes]]
...
#  # use_sudo = false
...

  2. Optional: Enable a plugin to collect Windows-specific metrics–for example, uncomment the inputs.win_services plugin configuration line:

    ...
# # Input plugin to report Windows services info.
# # This plugin ONLY supports Windows
[[inputs.win_services]]
...

  3. Run the following command to install Telegraf and the configuration as a Windows service. For the --config option, pass the absolute path of the telegraf.conf configuration file.

    .\telegraf.exe --service install `
--config "C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf.conf"

  4. To test that the installation works, enter the following command:

    .\telegraf.exe `
--config C:\"Program Files"\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf.conf --test

    When run in test mode (using the --test flag), Telegraf runs once, collects metrics, outputs them to the console, and then exits. It doesn’t run processors, aggregators, or output plugins.

  5. To start collecting data, run:

    .\telegraf.exe --service start

Logging and troubleshooting

When Telegraf runs as a Windows service, Telegraf logs messages to Windows event logs. If the Telegraf service fails to start, view error logs by selecting Event Viewer→Windows Logs→Application.

Windows service commands

The following commands are available:

CommandEffect
telegraf.exe --service installInstall telegraf as a service
telegraf.exe --service uninstallRemove the telegraf service
telegraf.exe --service startStart the telegraf service
telegraf.exe --service stopStop the telegraf service

Custom-compile Telegraf

Use the Telegraf custom builder tool to compile Telegraf with only the plugins you need and reduce the Telegraf binary size.

Requirements

  • Ensure you’ve installed Go version is 1.18.0 or later.
  • Create your Telegraf configuration file with the plugins you want to use. For details, see Configuration options.

Build and run the custom builder

  1. Clone the Telegraf repository:

    git clone https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf.git

  2. Change directories into the top-level of the Telegraf repository:

    cd telegraf

  3. Build the Telegraf custom builder tool by entering the following command:

    make build_tools

  4. Run the custom_builder utility with at least one --config or --config-directory flag to specify Telegraf configuration files to build from. --config accepts local file paths and URLs. --config-dir accepts local directory paths. You can include multiple --config and --config-dir flags. The custom builder builds a telegraf binary with only the plugins included in the specified configuration files or directories:

    • Single Telegraf configuration:
      ./tools/custom_builder/custom_builder --config /etc/telegraf.conf
    • Single Telegraf configuration and Telegraf configuration directory:
      ./tools/custom_builder/custom_builder \
  --config /etc/telegraf.conf \
  --config-dir /etc/telegraf/telegraf.d
    • Remote Telegraf configuration:
      ./tools/custom_builder/custom_builder --config http://url-to-remote-telegraf/telegraf.conf

  5. View your customized Telegraf binary within the top level of your Telegraf repository.

Update your custom binary

To add or remove plugins from your customized Telegraf build, edit your configuration file and rerun the command from step 4 above.

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