Skip to content

Contact sales

By filling out this form and clicking submit, you acknowledge our privacy policy.
  • Labs icon Lab
  • A Cloud Guru
Google Cloud Platform icon
Labs

Collecting Application Metrics with Prometheus

Prometheus exporters allow you to collect metric data from a variety of sources. You can monitor not only your servers but also the applications running on your servers. In this lab, you will have the opportunity to explore application monitoring in Prometheus by setting up monitoring for an application process and pulling application metric data into a Prometheus server.

Google Cloud Platform icon
Labs

Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 45m
Published
Clock icon Jun 12, 2020

Contact sales

By filling out this form and clicking submit, you acknowledge our privacy policy.

Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Install and Configure the Apache Exporter

    1. Log in to the Apache server.

    2. Create a user for the Apache exporter:

      sudo useradd -M -r -s /bin/false apache_exporter
      
    3. Download and install the Apache exporter binary:

      wget https://github.com/Lusitaniae/apache_exporter/releases/download/v0.7.0/apache_exporter-0.7.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
      
      tar xvfz apache_exporter-0.7.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
      
      sudo cp apache_exporter-0.7.0.linux-amd64/apache_exporter /usr/local/bin/
      
      sudo chown apache_exporter:apache_exporter /usr/local/bin/apache_exporter
      
    4. Create a systemd unit file for Apache exporter:

      sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/apache_exporter.service
      
      [Unit]
      Description=Prometheus Apache Exporter
      Wants=network-online.target
      After=network-online.target
      
      [Service]
      User=apache_exporter
      Group=apache_exporter
      Type=simple
      ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/apache_exporter
      
      [Install]
      WantedBy=multi-user.target
      
    5. Start and enable the apache_exporter service:

      sudo systemctl enable apache_exporter
      
      sudo systemctl start apache_exporter
      
    6. Verify the service is running and that it is serving metrics:

      sudo systemctl status apache_exporter
      
      curl localhost:9117/metrics
      
  2. Challenge

    Configure Prometheus to Scrape Metrics from the Apache Exporter

    1. Log in to the Prometheus server.

    2. Edit the Prometheus config:

      sudo vi /etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml
      
    3. Under the scrape_configs section, add a scrape configuration for the Apache exporter:

      - job_name: 'Apache Server'
        static_configs:
        - targets: ['limedrop-apache:9117']
      
    4. Restart Prometheus to load the new configuration:

      sudo systemctl restart prometheus
      
    5. Use the expression browser to verify you can see Apache metrics in Prometheus. You can access expression browser in a web browser at http://<PROMETHEUS_SERVER_PUBLIC_IP>:9090.

    6. Run a query to view some Apache metric data:

      apache_workers
      

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

What's a lab?

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

Provided environment for hands-on practice

We will provide the credentials and environment necessary for you to practice right within your browser.

Guided walkthrough

Follow along with the author’s guided walkthrough and build something new in your provided environment!

Did you know?

On average, you retain 75% more of your learning if you get time for practice.

Start learning by doing today

View Plans