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# PowerDNS Recursor


<img src="https://netdata.cloud/img/powerdns.svg" width="150"/>


Plugin: go.d.plugin
Module: powerdns_recursor

<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/maintained%20by-Netdata-%2300ab44" />

## Overview

This collector monitors PowerDNS Recursor instances.

It collects metrics from [the internal webserver](https://doc.powerdns.com/recursor/http-api/index.html#built-in-webserver-and-http-api).

Used endpoints:

- [`/api/v1/servers/localhost/statistics`](https://doc.powerdns.com/recursor/common/api/endpoint-statistics.html)




This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.


### Default Behavior

#### Auto-Detection

This integration doesn't support auto-detection.

#### Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

#### Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.


## Metrics

Metrics grouped by *scope*.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.



### Per PowerDNS Recursor instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

| Metric | Dimensions | Unit |
|:------|:----------|:----|
| powerdns_recursor.questions_in | total, tcp, ipv6 | questions/s |
| powerdns_recursor.questions_out | udp, tcp, ipv6, throttled | questions/s |
| powerdns_recursor.answer_time | 0-1ms, 1-10ms, 10-100ms, 100-1000ms, slow | queries/s |
| powerdns_recursor.timeouts | total, ipv4, ipv6 | timeouts/s |
| powerdns_recursor.drops | over-capacity-drops, query-pipe-full-drops, too-old-drops, truncated-drops, empty-queries | drops/s |
| powerdns_recursor.cache_usage | cache-hits, cache-misses, packet-cache-hits, packet-cache-misses | events/s |
| powerdns_recursor.cache_size | cache, packet-cache, negative-cache | entries |



## Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.


## Setup

### Prerequisites

#### Enable webserver

Follow [webserver](https://doc.powerdns.com/recursor/http-api/index.html#webserver) documentation.


#### Enable HTTP API

Follow [HTTP API](https://doc.powerdns.com/recursor/http-api/index.html#enabling-the-api) documentation.



### Configuration

#### File

The configuration file name for this integration is `go.d/powerdns_recursor.conf`.


You can edit the configuration file using the `edit-config` script from the
Netdata [config directory](/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/README.md#the-netdata-config-directory).

```bash
cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/powerdns_recursor.conf
```
#### Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.


<details open><summary>Config options</summary>

| Name | Description | Default | Required |
|:----|:-----------|:-------|:--------:|
| update_every | Data collection frequency. | 5 | no |
| autodetection_retry | Recheck interval in seconds. Zero means no recheck will be scheduled. | 0 | no |
| url | Server URL. | http://127.0.0.1:8081 | yes |
| timeout | HTTP request timeout. | 1 | no |
| username | Username for basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
| password | Password for basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
| proxy_url | Proxy URL. |  | no |
| proxy_username | Username for proxy basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
| proxy_password | Password for proxy basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
| method | HTTP request method. | GET | no |
| body | HTTP request body. |  | no |
| headers | HTTP request headers. |  | no |
| not_follow_redirects | Redirect handling policy. Controls whether the client follows redirects. | no | no |
| tls_skip_verify | Server certificate chain and hostname validation policy. Controls whether the client performs this check. | no | no |
| tls_ca | Certification authority that the client uses when verifying the server's certificates. |  | no |
| tls_cert | Client TLS certificate. |  | no |
| tls_key | Client TLS key. |  | no |

</details>

#### Examples

##### Basic

An example configuration.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

```yaml
jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:8081

```
</details>

##### HTTP authentication

Basic HTTP authentication.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

```yaml
jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:8081
    username: admin
    password: password

```
</details>

##### Multi-instance

> **Note**: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Local and remote instances.


<details open><summary>Config</summary>

```yaml
jobs:
  - name: local
    url: http://127.0.0.1:8081

  - name: remote
    url: http://203.0.113.0:8081

```
</details>



## Troubleshooting

### Debug Mode

To troubleshoot issues with the `powerdns_recursor` collector, run the `go.d.plugin` with the debug option enabled. The output
should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.

- Navigate to the `plugins.d` directory, usually at `/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/`. If that's not the case on
  your system, open `netdata.conf` and look for the `plugins` setting under `[directories]`.

  ```bash
  cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
  ```

- Switch to the `netdata` user.

  ```bash
  sudo -u netdata -s
  ```

- Run the `go.d.plugin` to debug the collector:

  ```bash
  ./go.d.plugin -d -m powerdns_recursor
  ```


