Telegraf Installation

Telegraf Installation Guide

Telegraf is a lightweight, proven agent for collecting and reporting metrics. With Tinyfal, you’ll configure Telegraf to push system metrics securely to our cloud backend using HTTP output plugins.

Installation

Linux Installation

Ubuntu/Debian:

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# Add InfluxData repository
wget -qO- https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdb.key | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://repos.influxdata.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdb.list

# Install Telegraf
sudo apt update
sudo apt install telegraf

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora:

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# Add InfluxData repository
cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/influxdb.repo
[influxdb]
name = InfluxDB Repository - RHEL
baseurl = https://repos.influxdata.com/rhel/8/x86_64/stable/
enabled = 1
gpgcheck = 1
gpgkey = https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdb.key
EOF

# Install Telegraf
sudo yum install telegraf

Windows Installation

Download: Visit the Telegraf releases page
Extract: Unzip the Windows binary to C:\Program Files\Telegraf\
Service Setup: Run as Windows service or scheduled task

macOS Installation

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# Using Homebrew
brew install telegraf

# Or download binary directly
wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.28.0_darwin_amd64.tar.gz

Configuration

Basic Telegraf Configuration

Main Configuration File

Create or edit /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf:

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# Global Agent Configuration
[agent]
  interval = "10s"
  round_interval = true
  metric_batch_size = 1000
  metric_buffer_limit = 10000
  collection_jitter = "0s"
  flush_interval = "10s"
  flush_jitter = "0s"
  precision = ""
  hostname = ""
  omit_hostname = false

# HTTP Output Plugin for Tinyfal
[[outputs.http]]
  url = "https://api.tinyfal.com/metrics"
  timeout = "5s"
  method = "POST"
  username = ""
  password = ""
  data_format = "json"
  content_encoding = "gzip"
  
  # Your unique server token from Tinyfal app
  [outputs.http.headers]
    Authorization = "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
    Content-Type = "application/json"

# System Metrics Input Plugins
[[inputs.cpu]]
  percpu = true
  totalcpu = true
  collect_cpu_time = false
  report_active = false

[[inputs.disk]]
  ignore_fs = ["tmpfs", "devtmpfs", "devfs", "iso9660", "overlay", "aufs", "squashfs"]

[[inputs.diskio]]

[[inputs.mem]]

[[inputs.net]]

[[inputs.processes]]

[[inputs.swap]]

[[inputs.system]]

Token Configuration

Replace YOUR_TOKEN_HERE with the token generated in your Tinyfal mobile app:

Copy Token: From your Tinyfal app, copy the server token
Edit Config: Replace the placeholder in the Authorization header
Secure Storage: Ensure config file has proper permissions (600)

Advanced Configuration

Custom Metric Collection

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# Additional system metrics
[[inputs.kernel]]

[[inputs.linux_sysctl_fs]]

[[inputs.netstat]]

# Docker monitoring (if applicable)
[[inputs.docker]]
  endpoint = "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
  gather_services = false
  container_names = []
  source_tag = false
  container_name_include = []
  container_name_exclude = []
  timeout = "5s"
  api_version = "1.24"

Security Hardening

File Permissions: Set restrictive permissions on config files
User Account: Run Telegraf with dedicated system user
Network Security: Ensure HTTPS endpoints only
Token Rotation: Regularly rotate authentication tokens

Performance Tuning

Collection Interval: Adjust based on monitoring requirements
Buffer Settings: Configure for your network conditions
Metric Filtering: Include only necessary metrics
Compression: Enable gzip for reduced bandwidth usage

Service Management

Linux (systemd)

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# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable telegraf
sudo systemctl start telegraf

# Check status
sudo systemctl status telegraf

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u telegraf -f

Windows Service

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# Install as Windows service
telegraf.exe --service install --config "C:\Program Files\Telegraf\telegraf.conf"

# Start service
net start telegraf

Configuration Validation

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# Test configuration
telegraf --config /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf --test

# Check specific input
telegraf --config /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf --test --input-filter cpu

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Connection Errors: Verify token and network connectivity
Permission Issues: Check file permissions and user accounts
High CPU Usage: Adjust collection intervals and metric filtering
Missing Metrics: Verify input plugin configuration

Log Analysis

Linux: Check /var/log/telegraf/telegraf.log or journalctl
Windows: Check Windows Event Log or Telegraf service logs
Debug Mode: Enable debug logging for detailed troubleshooting

With Telegraf properly configured, your server metrics will be securely transmitted to Tinyfal’s backend, where you can monitor them through the mobile app in real-time.

Telegraf Installation