How can I claim a node from windows machine?

[driggsss]

From what I’ve researched, wmi/windows exporter is needed to be installed on the Windows Machine for it to send metrics to NetData Cloud. But in terms of claiming it, I have not seen any documentation about it. Not like in Linux it is a simple netdata-cloud.sh with added options (token, rooms, url)

[OdysLam]

Hey,

have you checked our blog post?

How to monitor Windows systems with Netdata - Netdata

In essence you install the wmi_exporter, which sends data to a remote netdata agent (that either runs on WSL, a VM, a container or another linux machine in the same network) and the netdata agent is responsible for handling the data.

When you claim your netdata agent, in essence, you enable the cloud to access the data that lives inside the netdata agent. When you view the data through the netdata cloud dashboard, thee data are streamed directly from the agent to your browser through the cloud.

Thus, to view windows metrics, you need both the exporter to get the data and the agent to receive the data.

[driggsss]

Hi Odyslam,

Here is my sample setup:

Windows Vm1 - 10.1.0.1
Ubuntu Vm1 - 10.1.0.2

I already claimed the ubuntu Vm1 since it is a simple “sudo netdata-claim.sh” with token and url.

How do I do this for my windows? I already setup the netdata agent on Ubuntu Vm1 to monitor the wmi exporter installed on my windows VM. Shall I re-claim again my ubuntu vm?

[OdysLam]

Hey @driggsss,

I see that my message above wasn’t clear. I am sorry for this. I think that an faq with a diagram would help both yourself and future users.

So, since you are gathering data in the Netdata agent from the wmi_exporter, the data reside inside that Netdata Agent. Thus, if you claim the Agent, you should be able to access the data through Cloud.

What you need to have in mind is that the wmi_exporter is not an agent on it’s own, as far as Netdata is concerned. It’s simple another data source, a collector, like the PostegreSQL collector. Thus, claiming the Windows machine doesn’t make sense in how Netdata is architectured, because Netdata doesn’t run on the Windows machine.

Check out our faq about Netdata collectors, to better understand the architecture:

What are collectors and how do they work?

Netdata gathers data from data sources using a collector system. A collector can be implemented differently, but it’s a logical “unit” that: Gathers data from a data source Organizes raw data into charts (and performs any processing required) Stores the data into the database and/or sends data to the streaming module There are 2 kinds of collectors: Internal Collectors External Collectors Internal Collectors are implemented inside the core Netdata Agent. External collectors are actually p…

[OdysLam]

Hey @driggsss I created a diagram to help you.

@ilyam8 and @driggsss does the diagram makes sense?