Collect Docker Container Metrics with SigNoz Cloud: Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Monitoring Docker container metrics is essential to ensure your containers are performing optimally and efficiently. SigNoz Cloud, combined with OpenTelemetry, offers a powerful solution for collecting and analyzing these metrics. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up Docker container metrics

Introduction

Monitoring Docker container metrics is essential to ensure your containers are performing optimally and efficiently. SigNoz Cloud, combined with OpenTelemetry, offers a powerful solution for collecting and analyzing these metrics. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up Docker container metrics collection using the docker_stats receiver on SigNoz Cloud.

Step 1: Prerequisites

Before getting started, make sure you have the following:

• Docker Installed: If Docker isn’t installed on your system, you can follow the Docker installation guide for your operating system.
• SigNoz Cloud Account: Sign up for a SigNoz Cloud account here.

Step 2: Prepare Your Environment

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.
2. Create a new directory for the project and navigate to it

Copied!mkdir docker-metrics-signoz 
cd docker-metrics-signoz
mkdir docker-metrics-signoz 
cd docker-metrics-signoz

Step 3: Create Configuration Files

1. Create the Configuration File

You need to create a configuration file for the OpenTelemetry Collector that defines how Docker metrics will be collected and sent to SigNoz.

Run the following command to create the file:

Copied!touch config.yaml
touch config.yaml

2. Configure the OpenTelemetry Collector

Open the config.yaml file in a text editor of your choice, and paste the following content:

Copied!receivers:
  docker_stats:
    endpoint: "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
    collection_interval: 10s

processors:
  batch:

exporters:
  otlp:
    endpoint: "ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443"
    tls:
      insecure: false
    headers:
      "signoz-access-token": "{signoz-token}"

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [docker_stats]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlp]
receivers:
  docker_stats:
    endpoint: "unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
    collection_interval: 10s

processors:
  batch:

exporters:
  otlp:
    endpoint: "ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443"
    tls:
      insecure: false
    headers:
      "signoz-access-token": "{signoz-token}"

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [docker_stats]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlp]

• Replace {region} with your SigNoz Cloud region (e.g., us, eu, or in).
• Replace {signoz-token} with your SigNoz ingestion token. You can find this token in your SigNoz Cloud account under Settings → Ingestion Settings.

Step 4: Create Docker Compose File

Next, create a Docker Compose file to run the OpenTelemetry Collector container.

1. Create the Docker Compose file:

Copied!touch docker-compose.yaml
touch docker-compose.yaml

2.Open the docker-compose.yaml file in a text editor and paste the following content:

Copied!version: '3'
services:
  otel-collector:
    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:latest
    command: ["--config=/etc/otel-collector-config.yaml"]
    volumes:
      - ./config.yaml:/etc/otel-collector-config.yaml
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    network_mode: host
version: '3'
services:
  otel-collector:
    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:latest
    command: ["--config=/etc/otel-collector-config.yaml"]
    volumes:
      - ./config.yaml:/etc/otel-collector-config.yaml
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    network_mode: host

Step 5: Start the OpenTelemetry Collector

Now that you have your configuration files set up, it’s time to start the OpenTelemetry Collector.

1. Make sure you are still in the docker-metrics-signoz directory.
2. Run the following command to start the OpenTelemetry Collector using Docker Compose:

Copied!docker-compose up -d
docker-compose up -d

This command will pull the required Docker image and start the OpenTelemetry Collector in the background.

Step 6: Verify Metric Collection

Once the OpenTelemetry Collector is running, you can verify if the metrics are being collected.

1. Log in to your SigNoz Cloud account.
2. Navigate to the Metrics section of the SigNoz dashboard.
3. Look for metrics that start with container. These metrics indicate that Docker container statistics are being collected successfully.

Step 7: Explore Collected Metrics

After ensuring that the metrics are being collected, you can explore and visualize them in the SigNoz dashboard. SigNoz provides both pre-built dashboards and custom dashboards for monitoring the following Docker container metrics:

• CPU Usage: Measure the CPU consumption of each container.
• Memory Usage: Track how much memory each container is using.
• Network I/O: Monitor the network traffic of containers.
• Block I/O: Keep an eye on block input/output performance.

These insights will help you ensure that your containers are functioning efficiently and can assist in identifying any performance bottlenecks.

Step 8: Troubleshooting

If you’re not seeing metrics in SigNoz, follow these troubleshooting steps:

1. Check the OpenTelemetry Collector Logs: Run the following command to check the logs for any issues:

Copied!docker-compose logs otel-collector
docker-compose logs otel-collector

2. Verify Configuration: Ensure that your SigNoz ingestion key and region are correctly set in the config.yaml file.

3. Check Docker Status: Verify that Docker is running and that you have active containers that can be monitored.

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Conclusion

By following these steps, you have successfully set up Docker container metrics collection using the docker_stats receiver on SigNoz Cloud. You can now monitor your containers’ performance and resource usage through the SigNoz dashboard, helping you to maintain smooth operations and catch issues before they escalate.