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Monitoring Stash

Stash has native support for monitoring via Prometheus. You can use builtin Prometheus scraper or prometheus-operator to monitor Stash. This tutorial will show you how Prometheus monitoring works with Stash, what metrics Stash exports, and how to enable monitoring.

How Prometheus monitoring works

Stash uses Prometheus PushGateway to export the metrics for backup & restore operations. The following diagram shows the logical structure of the Stash monitoring flow.

Stash Monitoring Flow
Fig: Monitoring process in Stash

Stash operator runs two containers. The operator container runs controllers and other necessary stuff and the pushgateway container runs prom/pushgateway image. Stash sidecar from different workloads and backup/restore jobs pushes its metrics to this pushgateway. The pushgateway exposes the metrics at /metrics path of :56789 port. Then, a Prometheus server scrapes these metrics through stash or stash-enterprise Service and acts as a data source of Grafana dashboard. Stash operator itself also provides some valuable metrics at /metrics path of :8443 port.

Available Metrics

Stash exports metrics for the backup process, restore process, repository status, etc. This section will list the metrics exported by Stash for different processes.

Backup Metrics

This section lists the metrics Stash exports for the backup process.

Backup Session Metrics:

A backup session represents a backup run. Stash exports the following metrics regarding the overall backup session.

Metric NameUsage
stash_backup_session_successIndicates whether the entire backup session was succeeded or not
stash_backup_target_count_totalIndicates the total number of targets that were backed up in this backup session
stash_backup_session_duration_secondsIndicates total time taken to complete the entire backup session
stash_backup_last_success_time_secondsIndicates the time(in Unix epoch) when the last backup session was succeeded

Backup Target Metrics: In each backup session, Stash takes backup of one or more targets. Stash exports the following metrics for the individual backup target.

Metric NameUsage
stash_backup_target_successIndicates whether the backup for a target has succeeded or not
stash_backup_target_host_count_totalIndicates the total number of hosts that was backed up for this target
stash_backup_target_last_success_time_secondsIndicates the time (in Unix epoch) when the last backup was successful for this target

Backup Host Metrics:

Stash may take a backup of multiple hosts for a single target. The following metrics are available for the individual backup hosts.

Metric NameUsage
stash_backup_host_backup_successIndicates whether the backup for a host succeeded or not
stash_backup_host_data_size_bytesTotal size of the target data to backup for a host (in bytes)
stash_backup_host_data_uploaded_bytesAmount of data uploaded to the repository for a host (in bytes)
stash_backup_host_files_totalTotal number of files that has been backed up for a host
stash_backup_host_files_newTotal number of new files that has been created since last backup for a host
stash_backup_host_files_modifiedTotal number of files that has been modified since last backup for a host
stash_backup_host_files_unmodifiedTotal number of files that has not been changed since last backup for a host
stash_backup_host_backup_duration_secondsIndicates total time taken to complete the backup process for a host
stash_backup_host_data_processing_time_secondsTotal time taken to process the target data for a host

Repository Metrics

Stash exports the following metrics for a repository.

Metric NameUsage
stash_repository_integrityResult of repository integrity check after the last backup
stash_repository_size_bytesIndicates size of repository after last backup (in bytes)
stash_repository_snapshot_countIndicates the number of snapshots stored in the repository
stash_repository_snapshot_cleanedIndicates the number of old snapshots cleaned up according to retention policy on last backup session

Restore Metrics

This section lists the metrics Stash exports for the restore process.

Restore Session Metrics:

A restore session represents a restore run. Stash exports the following metrics regarding the overall restore process.

Metric NameUsage
stash_restore_session_successIndicates whether the entire restore session was succeeded or not
stash_restore_session_duration_secondsIndicates the total time taken to complete the entire restore session
stash_restore_target_count_totalIndicates the total number of targets that were restored in this restore session

Restore Target Metrics:

Stash restore one or more targets in each restore run. Stash exports the following metrics regarding a restore target.

Metric NameUsage
stash_restore_target_successIndicates whether the restore for a target has succeeded or not
stash_restore_target_host_count_totalIndicates the total number of hosts that were restored for this restore target

Restore Host Metrics:

Stash may restore multiple hosts for a single target. The following metrics are available for the individual restore host.

Metric NameUsage
stash_restore_host_restore_successIndicates whether the restore process was succeeded for a host
stash_restore_host_restore_duration_secondsIndicates the total time taken to complete the restore process for a host

Operator Metrics

Following metrics are available for the Stash operator. These metrics are accessible through api endpoint of stash service.

Metric NameUsage
apiserver_audit_event_totalCounter of audit events generated and sent to the audit backend.
apiserver_client_certificate_expiration_secondsDistribution of the remaining lifetime on the certificate used to authenticate a request.
apiserver_current_inflight_requestsMaximal number of currently used inflight request limit of this apiserver per request kind in last second.
apiserver_request_countCounter of apiserver requests broken out for each verb, API resource, client, and HTTP response contentType and code.
apiserver_request_latenciesResponse latency distribution in microseconds for each verb, resource, and subresource.
apiserver_request_latencies_summaryResponse latency summary in microseconds for each verb, resource, and subresource.
authenticated_user_requestsCounter of authenticated requests broken out by username.

Pushgateway Metrics

The Pushgateway itself also exports some metrics related to Pushgateway build info, HTTP requests handled by it, Go process that running inside it, and CPU & Memory consumed by it, etc.

Build and Last Activity:

Metric NameUsage
pushgateway_build_infoA metric with a constant ‘1’ value labeled by version, revision, branch, and goversion from which pushgateway was built.
push_time_secondsLast Unix time when this group was changed in the Pushgateway.

CPU & Memory Related Metrics:

Metric NameUsage
process_cpu_seconds_totalTotal user and system CPU time spent in seconds.
process_max_fdsMaximum number of open file descriptors.
process_open_fdsNumber of open file descriptors.
process_resident_memory_bytesResident memory size in bytes.
process_start_time_secondsStart time of the process since unix epoch in seconds.
process_virtual_memory_bytesVirtual memory size in bytes.

Go Environment Related Metrics:

Metric NameUsage
go_gc_duration_secondsA summary of the GC invocation durations.
go_goroutinesNumber of goroutines that currently exist.
go_infoInformation about the Go environment.
go_memstats_alloc_bytesNumber of bytes allocated and still in use.
go_memstats_alloc_bytes_totalTotal number of bytes allocated, even if freed.
go_memstats_buck_hash_sys_bytesNumber of bytes used by the profiling bucket hash table.
go_memstats_frees_totalTotal number of frees.
go_memstats_gc_cpu_fractionThe fraction of this program’s available CPU time used by the GC since the program started.
go_memstats_gc_sys_bytesNumber of bytes used for garbage collection system metadata.
go_memstats_heap_alloc_bytesNumber of heap bytes allocated and still in use.
go_memstats_heap_idle_bytesNumber of heap bytes waiting to be used.
go_memstats_heap_inuse_bytesNumber of heap bytes that are in use.
go_memstats_heap_objectsNumber of allocated objects.
go_memstats_heap_released_bytes_totalTotal number of heap bytes released to OS.
go_memstats_heap_sys_bytesNumber of heap bytes obtained from system.
go_memstats_last_gc_time_secondsNumber of seconds since 1970 of last garbage collection.
go_memstats_lookups_totalTotal number of pointer lookups.
go_memstats_mallocs_totalTotal number of mallocs.
go_memstats_mcache_inuse_bytesNumber of bytes in use by mcache structures.
go_memstats_mcache_sys_bytesNumber of bytes used for mcache structures obtained from system.
go_memstats_mspan_inuse_bytesNumber of bytes in use by mspan structures.
go_memstats_mspan_sys_bytesNumber of bytes used for mspan structures obtained from system.
go_memstats_next_gc_bytesNumber of heap bytes when next garbage collection will take place.
go_memstats_other_sys_bytesNumber of bytes used for other system allocations.
go_memstats_stack_inuse_bytesNumber of bytes in use by the stack allocator.
go_memstats_stack_sys_bytesNumber of bytes obtained from system for stack allocator.
go_memstats_sys_bytesNumber of bytes obtained by system. Sum of all system allocations.
go_threadsNumber of OS threads created.

HTTP Request Related Metrics:

Metric NameUsage
http_request_duration_microsecondsThe HTTP request latencies in microseconds.
http_request_size_bytesThe HTTP request sizes in bytes.
http_requests_totalTotal number of HTTP requests made.
http_response_size_bytesThe HTTP response sizes in bytes.

How to Enable Monitoring

You have to enable Prometheus monitoring during installing / upgrading Stash. The following parameters are available to configure monitoring in Stash.

Helm ValuesAcceptable ValuesDefaultUsage
stash-community.monitoring.agentprometheus.io/builtin or prometheus.io/operatornoneSpecify which monitoring agent to use for monitoring Stash.
stash-community.monitoring.backuptrue or falsefalseSpecify whether to monitor Stash backup and restore.
stash-community.monitoring.operatortrue or falsefalseSpecify whether to monitor Stash operator.
stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labelsany labelapp: <generated app name> and release: <release name>.Specify the labels for ServiceMonitor. Prometheus crd will select ServiceMonitor using these labels. Only usable when monitoring agent is prometheus.io/operator.

Use stash-enterprise instead of stash-community if you are using Stash Enterprise edition.

You can enable monitoring in Stash as below,

New Installation

If you haven’t installed Stash yet, run the following command to enable Prometheus monitoring during installation

Helm 3:

$ helm install stash appscode/stash -n kube-system \
--version v2021.06.23 \
--set features.community=true               \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community. monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-app=prometheus \
--set-file global.license=/path/to/license-file.txt

Helm 2:

$ helm install appscode/stash --name stash -n kube-system \
--version v2021.06.23 \
--set features.community=true               \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-app=prometheus \
--set-file global.license=/path/to/license-file.txt

YAML (with Helm 3):

$ helm install stash appscode/stash -n kube-system \
--no-hooks \
--version v2021.06.23 \
--set features.community=true               \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-app=prometheus \
--set-file global.license=/path/to/license-file.txt | kubectl apply -f -

Existing Installation

If you have installed Stash already in your cluster but didn’t enable monitoring during installation, you can use helm upgrade command to enable monitoring in the existing installation.

Helm 3:

$ helm upgrade stash appscode/stash -n kube-system \
--reuse-values \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-apps=prometheus

Helm 2:

$ helm upgrade appscode/stash --name stash -n kube-system \
--reuse-values \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-apps=prometheus

YAML (with Helm 3):

$ helm upgrade stash appscode/stash -n kube-system \
--no-hooks \
--reuse-values \
--set stash-community.monitoring.agent=prometheus.io/operator \
--set stash-community.monitoring.backup=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.operator=true \
--set stash-community.monitoring.serviceMonitor.labels.k8s-apps=prometheus | kubectl apply -f -