How Do I Disable Process Name Collection in My Metrics Agent?

Our metrics agent collects the names of active system processes running on your Droplet. For example, it may detect processes like nginx, docker, or postgres. This information helps us understand common workloads and improve overall platform performance. The agent does not collect the contents of files, environment variables, or process arguments, only the names of the running processes.

You can choose to disable process name collection for privacy or compliance reasons. If you disable this process, the agent stops collecting process name data from your Droplet. Any data collected before opting out is retained and is not deleted automatically. If you want previously collected data removed, contact support.

Disable Process Name Collection

To disable process name collection, open the DigitalOcean Control Panel Droplet page, then find the Droplet you want to modify.

On the right of the Droplet, click the More menu, and then click Access Console to open your Droplet’s web console as a root user. Then, click Launch Droplet Console to open the web console.

Check Which Init System Your Droplet Uses

Before you begin, check which init system your Droplet uses. It is either systemctl or initctl. Since the metrics agent runs as a background service, disabling process name collection means changing how the service starts. Each init system manages services differently, so updating the agent’s start command depends on which one your system uses.

To check which init system your Droplet uses, run the following command:

command -v systemctl

If the command returns a path (for example, /bin/systemctl), your system uses systemctl. If it returns nothing, your system uses initctl.

Update systemctl System Configuration File

On operating systems with systemctl (such as Ubuntu 16.04+, Debian, CentOS 7+, and Fedora), you can disable process name collection by updating the metrics agent service configuration.

First, run this sed command to update the ExecStart line in the agent’s systemd unit file:

sed -i 's%ExecStart=/opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent%ExecStart=/opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent --no-collector.processes%' /etc/systemd/system/do-agent.service

This command adds the --no-collector.processes flag to the agent’s systemd service file, which disables process name collection when the agent starts.

To ensure that your Droplet recognizes the changes you made to the service file, reload systemd:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Then, restart your metrics agent so that it uses the new configuration:

sudo systemctl restart do-agent

Update initctl System Configuration File

On operating systems with initctl (such as Ubuntu 14.04 or CentOS 6.9), you need to update the agent’s Upstart config file directly.

Unlike systemctl, which allows you to edit the config while the service is running, initctl requires you to stop the service before editing the config file to avoid conflicts. To stop running the metrics agent, use the following command:

sudo initctl stop do-agent

Then, edit the Upstart config file using a sed command:

sed -i 's%exec su -s /bin/sh -c \x27exec \"$0\" \"$@\"\x27 do-agent -- /opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent --syslog%exec su -s /bin/sh -c \x27exec \"$0\" \"$@\"\x27 do-agent -- /opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent --syslog --no-collector.processes%' /etc/init/do-agent.conf

This command appends the --no-collector.processes flag to the exec line to disable process name collection in the Upstart config file. The exec command outlines the exact command the system executes to start the metrics agent process.

To ensure that your Droplet recognizes the changes you made to the Upstart config file, reload your Upstart config file:

sudo initctl reload-configuration

Then, restart your metrics agent so that it uses the new configuration:

sudo initctl start do-agent

Verify That Process Name Collection Is Disabled

To verify that process name collection is disabled after updating your agent’s config file, check the agent’s runtime arguments or log output.

First, check that the --no-collector.processes flag appears in the agent’s running process:

ps aux | grep do-agent

If you see a similar line like below, the agent is running with process name collection disabled.

/opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent --no-collector.processes

You can also check the agent logs to confirm the flag is active.

For systems using systemctl, run this command to see agent logs:

journalctl -u do-agent

For systems using initctl, run this command to see agent logs:

cat /var/log/upstart/do-agent.log

In either case, look for confirmation that the agent started with the --no-collector.processes flag, and make sure there are no logs mentioning the processes collector. For example, you might see a log entry, like this:

Starting do-agent: /opt/digitalocean/bin/do-agent --no-collector.processes

This confirms that the agent is running with process name collection disabled.

If the disabled flag is missing or the logs still reference the processes collector, repeat the disabling process or contact support for help.

Related Topics

Why are my alerts not working my Droplets?

You must install the DigitalOcean metrics agent to enable alerts for your Droplets.

How can I allowlist the DigitalOcean metrics agent with my firewall?

Configure your firewall to allow outgoing traffic through ports 80 and 443.