Datadog Agent Agent not collecting memory metrics

What is Datadog Agent Agent not collecting memory metrics

Understanding Datadog Agent

Datadog Agent is a lightweight software that runs on your hosts. It collects events and metrics from your hosts and sends them to Datadog, where you can analyze and visualize them. The Agent can collect system metrics, custom metrics, and logs, providing comprehensive monitoring capabilities for your infrastructure.

Identifying the Symptom

One common issue users encounter is the Datadog Agent not collecting memory metrics. This can manifest as missing data in your Datadog dashboards or alerts related to memory usage not triggering as expected. You may notice that other metrics are being collected correctly, but memory-specific data is absent.

Exploring the Issue

The root cause of this issue is often that memory metrics collection is not enabled or is misconfigured. The Datadog Agent requires specific configuration settings to collect memory metrics, and if these settings are incorrect or missing, the Agent will not gather the necessary data.

Configuration Files

The configuration for the Datadog Agent is typically found in the datadog.yaml file. This file contains various settings that control what metrics are collected and how they are sent to Datadog.

Steps to Fix the Issue

Step 1: Verify Configuration

First, ensure that the memory metrics collection is enabled in the datadog.yaml file. Open the file and look for the following section:

system_probe_config: enabled: true

If this section is missing or set to false, update it to true to enable system metrics collection, including memory metrics.

Step 2: Restart the Agent

After making changes to the configuration file, restart the Datadog Agent to apply the changes. Use the following command based on your operating system:

For Linux: sudo systemctl restart datadog-agentFor Windows: Restart the Datadog Agent service from the Services management console.

Step 3: Verify Metrics Collection

Once the Agent has restarted, verify that memory metrics are being collected. You can do this by checking the Datadog dashboard for memory-related metrics or by using the agent status command:

datadog-agent status

This command will provide a detailed status report of the Agent, including the metrics it is collecting.

Additional Resources

For more information on configuring the Datadog Agent, refer to the official Datadog Agent documentation. If you continue to experience issues, consider reaching out to Datadog Support for further assistance.