Monitoring Quickstart

DigitalOcean Monitoring collects system-level data like CPU, memory, disk, and load averages using the open-source do-agent metrics agent, written in Go. The agent is not installed by default. You need to opt in during Droplet creation or install it manually.

We support Ubuntu 14.04 or later, CentOS 6 or later, Debian 8 or later, and Fedora 27 or later. Once installed, the agent enables enhanced graphs and lets you set up monitoring alerts. Once installed, the agent collects and sends metrics to the Monitoring service to help you track resource usage and troubleshoot performance issues.

After installation, we recommend you set up resource alerts to stay ahead of issues and keep your infrastructure healthy.

To use the metrics agent, first create a Droplet. You can enable monitoring during Droplet creation, which installs the metrics agent automatically.

Upgrade the Metrics Agent

1. Go to the DigitalOcean Control Panel Droplet page and find the Droplet where you want to upgrade or reinstall the metrics agent. Click the More menu beside the Droplet, then click Access Console to open the Droplet’s Access page.

2. On the Access page, under the Droplet Console section, log in as root, then click Launch Droplet Console to open the Droplet’s DigitalOcean Droplet Web Console.

3. In the console, run the following command to install or upgrade the metrics agent:

   curl -sSL https://repos.insights.digitalocean.com/install.sh | sudo bash

   If the installation is successful, the command returns output confirming that the system is updated, dependencies like GnuPG and curl are upgraded, and the do-agent monitoring service is installed or upgraded without restarting containers, users, or VMs.

4. After installation, run the following command to confirm the metrics agent is active:

   systemctl status do-agent

   If the agent is running successfully, the output looks like this:

   ● do-agent.service - The DigitalOcean Monitoring Agent
       Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/do-agent.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
       Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-04-17 17:07:44 UTC; 47s ago
   ...

   This confirms that the agent is installed, runs in the background, and starts automatically on boot.

5. After installing and verifying the metrics agent, navigate to your Droplet’s page. In the Graphs section, you should see the graphs starting to populate with data.

We recommend setting up resource alerts to get notified when your metrics agent detects unusual behavior on your Droplet.

Set Up Alerts

1. Go to the DigitalOcean Monitoring Resource Alerts page, then on the Resource Agents page, click Create Resource Agent to open the Create Resource Alert page.

2. In the Select Metric & Set Threshold section, choose the Metric Type you want to monitor.

   You can select either 1, 5, or 15 Minute Load Average, Memory Utilization Percent, Disk Utilization Percent, CPU Utilization Percent, Disk Read I/O, Disk Write I/O, Public Inbound Bandwidth, Private Inbound Bandwidth, Public Outbound Bandwidth, or Private Outbound Bandwidth.

   For definitions of each metric, see our metrics definitions.

3. Set the rule.

   You can choose is above or is below to define the alert condition. Use is above when high usage indicates a problem, like CPU usage exceeding a safe limit. Use is below when low values may signal issues, such as a drop in bandwidth.

4. Set the threshold value that triggers the alert.

   For CPU, memory, or disk usage, we recommend starting with a threshold of 70%, as usage above that level may lead to degraded performance.

   For load averages, choose a number near or just above your Droplet’s vCPU count. For bandwidth and disk I/O metrics, select a value based on your Droplet’s typical usage patterns.

5. Set the duration for how long the condition must persist before the alert triggers.

   You can choose between 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour. Use shorter durations for critical services where immediate response matter, and longer durations to avoid triggering alerts due to short-lived spikes.

6. In the Select Droplets or Tags section, choose a specific Droplet, a tag, or All Droplets to apply the alert. Only Droplets that have the metrics agent installed are available for selection.

7. In the Select alert notification method section, choose whether to receive alerts by verified email addresses or Slack channels. You can update this notification method at any time.

8. In the Finalize section, name your resource alert or use the auto-generated name.

9. When you’re ready, click Create Resource Alert.

10. After you create your new alert, it appears on the Monitoring page under the Resource Alerts section.

Uninstall Metrics Agent

1. Go to the DigitalOcean Control Panel Droplet page and find the Droplet you want to remove a metrics agent from, click the More menu beside the Droplet, then click Access Console to open the Droplet’s Access page.

2. On the Access page, under the Droplet Console section, log in as root, then click Launch Droplet Console to open the Droplet’s DigitalOcean Droplet Web Console.

3. In the console, run the following command to uninstall the metrics agent:

   sudo apt-get purge do-agent

   If the command runs successfully, it returns output like this:

   Reading package lists... Done
   Building dependency tree... Done
   Reading state information... Done
   The following packages will be REMOVED:
     do-agent*
   0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 132 not upgraded.
   After this operation, 13.1 MB disk space will be freed.
   Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 

   This confirms the system removes the metrics agent package and shows how much disk space it frees.

4. Type Y to confirm the agent’s removal. This deletes its systemd and cron files, and purges its configuration.

   You may see warning messages like this:

   Failed to stop do-agent.service: Unit do-agent.service not loaded.
   Failed to disable unit: Unit do-agent.service does not exist

   These messages mean the agent was already stopped and its service file was already removed. The uninstallation still completes successfully.

5. To confirm that the agent is fully removed, run the following command:

   systemctl status do-agent

   If the uninstallation succeeded, the output includes this message:

   Unit do-agent.service could not be found.

   This confirms that the service is no longer installed. If you still see the agent listed, repeat the uninstallation steps or contact support.