Overview
Capture metrics from directories and files of your choosing. The Agent collects:
- Number of files
- File size
- Age of the last modification
- Age of the creation
Setup
Installation
The Directory check is included in the Datadog Agent package, so you don’t need to install anything else on your server.
Configuration
Edit the directory.d/conf.yaml file, in the conf.d/ folder at the root of your Agent’s configuration directory to start collecting Directory performance data. See the sample directory.d/conf.yaml for all available configuration options.
init_config:
instances:
## @param directory - string - required
## The directory to monitor. On windows, please make sure you escape back-slashes otherwise the YAML
## parser fails (eg. - directory: "C:\\Users\\foo\\Downloads").
#
- directory: "<DIRECTORY_PATH>"
Ensure that the user running the Agent process (usually datadog-agent) has read access to the directories, subdirectories, and files you configure.
Note: On Windows when you add your directory, use double-backslashes C:\\path\\to\\directory instead of single-backslashes C:\path\to\directory for the check to run. Otherwise, the directory check fails with traceback ending in the error: found unknown escape character in "<string>".
Restart the Agent.
Validation
Run the Agent’s status subcommand and look for directory under the Checks section.
Data Collected
Metrics
system.disk.directory.bytes
(gauge) | Total size of the directory
Shown as byte |
system.disk.directory.file.bytes
(gauge) | Total size of the file
Shown as byte |
system.disk.directory.file.created_sec_ago
(gauge) | Duration since creation
Shown as second |
system.disk.directory.file.modified_sec_ago
(gauge) | Duration since last modification
Shown as second |
system.disk.directory.files
(gauge) | Number of files in the directory
Shown as file |
system.disk.directory.folders
(gauge) | Number of folders in the directory
Shown as file |
Events
The Directory check does not include any events.
Service Checks
system.disk.directory.exists
Returns WARNING if the Agent is unable to find or access the directory to monitor, OK otherwise.
Statuses: ok, warning
Troubleshooting
When running the check against very large directories and recursion is set to true, be aware that is an intensive operation on the I/O and CPU. The default check frequency, every 15 seconds, may need to be adjusted.
For example, if there is a directory with 15,000 files and sub-directories, and the check runs 30-40 seconds with high CPU usage, if you do not set up less frequent check frequency, the check with high CPU runs effectively and continuously.
Need help? Contact Datadog support.
