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minor fix, convert metadata of the learn to hidden sections Signed-off-by: Tasos Katsoulas <tasos@netdata.cloud>
118 lines
7.4 KiB
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118 lines
7.4 KiB
Text
<!--
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title: "How the dashboard works"
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description: >-
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"Learn how to navigate Netdata's preconfigured dashboard to get started
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exploring, visualizing, and troubleshooting in real time."
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type: "explanation"
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custom_edit_url: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/how-dashboard-works.mdx"
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sidebar_label: "How the dashboard works"
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learn_status: "Published"
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learn_topic_type: "Concepts"
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learn_rel_path: "Concepts"
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-->
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# How the dashboard works
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Because Netdata is a monitoring and _troubleshooting_ platform, a dashboard with real-time, meaningful, and
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context-aware charts is essential.
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As soon as you [install Netdata](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/get-started.mdx), it autodetects hardware, OS, containers, services, and
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applications running on your node and builds a dashboard on a single, scrollable webpage. This page features hundreds of
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charts, which are preconfigured to save you time from learning a query language, all stacked on top of one another. This
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vertical rhythm is designed to encourage exploration and help you visually identify connections between the metrics
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visualized in different charts.
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It's essential to understand the core concepts and features of Netdata's dashboard if you want to maximize your Netdata
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experience right after installation.
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## Open the dashboard
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Access Netdata's dashboard by navigating to `http://NODE:19999` in your browser, replacing `NODE` with either
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`localhost` or the hostname/IP address of a remote node.
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Many features of the internal web server that serves the dashboard are [configurable](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/web/server/README.md), including
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the listen port, enforced TLS, and even disabling the dashboard altogether.
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## Sections and menus
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As mentioned in the introduction, Netdata automatically organizes all the metrics it collects from your node, and places
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them into **sections** of closely related charts.
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The first section on any dashboard is the **System Overview**, followed by **CPUs**, **Memory**, and so on.
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These sections populate the **menu**, which is on the right-hand side of the dashboard. Instead of manually scrolling up
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and down to explore the dashboard, it's generally faster to click on the relevant menu item to jump to that position on
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the dashboard.
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Many menu items also contain a **submenu**, with links to additional categories. For example, the **Disks** section is often separated into multiple groups based on the number of disk drives/partitions on your node, which are also known as a family.
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## Charts
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Every **chart** in the Netdata dashboard is [fully interactive](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.mdx). Netdata
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synchronizes your interactions to help you understand exactly how a node behaved in any timeframe, whether that's
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seconds or days.
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A chart is an individual, interactive, always-updating graphic displaying one or more collected/calculated metrics,
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which are generated by [collectors](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/how-collectors-work.md).
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Hover over any chart to temporarily pause it and see the exact metrics values presented as different dimensions. Click
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or tap to stop the chart from automatically updating with new metrics, thereby locking it to a single timeframe.
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Double-click it to resume auto-updating.
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Let's cover two of the most important ways to interact with charts: panning through time and zooming.
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To pan through time, **click and hold** (or touch and hold) on any chart, then **drag your mouse** (or finger) to the
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left or right. Drag to the right to pan backward through time, or drag to the left to pan forward in time. Think of it
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like pushing the current timeframe off the screen to see what came before or after.
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To zoom, press and hold `Shift`, then use your mouse's scroll wheel, or a two-finger pinch if you're using a touchpad.
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See [interact with charts](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.mdx) for all the possible ways to interact with the charts on
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your dashboard.
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## Alarms
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Many of the preconfigured charts on the Netdata dashboard also come with preconfigured alarms. Netdata sends three
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primary alarm states via alarms: `CLEAR`, `WARNING`, and `CRITICAL`. If an alarm moves from a `CLEAR` state to either
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`WARNING` or `CRITICAL`, Netdata creates a notification to let you know exactly what's going on. There are [other alarm
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states](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/health/REFERENCE.md#alarm-statuses) as well.
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The easiest way to see alarms is by clicking on the alarm icon 
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in the top panel to open the alarms panel, which shows you all the active alarms. The other **All** tab shows every
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active alarm, and the **Log** tab shows a historical record of exactly when alarms triggered and to which state.
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Learn more about [viewing active alarms](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/view-active-alarms.md), [configuring
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alarms](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/configure-alarms.md), or [enabling a new notification
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method](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/enable-notifications.md).
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## What's next?
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Learn more about [interacting with charts](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.mdx) to quickly pan through time, zoom, and
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show/hide dimensions to best understand the state of your node in any timeframe. A complete understanding of [chart
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dimensions, contexts, and families](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.mdx) will also help with how Netdata
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organizes its dashboard and operates [alarms](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/configure-alarms.md).
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### Further reading & related information
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- Dashboard
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- **[How the dashboard works](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/how-dashboard-works.mdx)**
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- [Interact with charts](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.mdx)
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- [Chart dimensions, contexts, and families](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.mdx)
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- [Select timeframes to visualize](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/visualization-date-and-time-controls.mdx)
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- [Import, export, and print a snapshot](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/import-export-print-snapshot.mdx)
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- [Customize the standard dashboard](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/customize.mdx)
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- [HTTP API](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/web/api/README.md)
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- [Custom dashboards](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/web/gui/custom/README.md)
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