Set Up Slack Alerts for a Standalone Node using Netdata

This document provides a step-by-step guide to configure Slack alerts for a standalone node using the Netdata monitoring tool.

📘 Introduction to netdata

Netdata is an open-source, real-time monitoring tool designed to visualize and alert on system and application performance metrics. It provides powerful visualization dashboards, health monitoring with automatic alarms, and integrations with popular notification platforms like Slack.

🛠️ Step 1: Install netdata on the VM

1. Run the following command to download and install Netdata:

   wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh

2. ✅ Verify the script integrity

   • During the process, the script will validate itself. If successful, it will return: OK, VALID

   • You can use this command to check the status of netdata server.

     sudo systemctl status netdata

🔔 Step 2: Configure slack notifications

1. Change to the Netdata config directory:

   cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata

2. Edit the Slack notification config:

   sudo ./edit-config health_alarm_notify.conf

3. Update the configuration as follows:

   SEND_SLACK="YES"
   SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXXXXXXX/XXXXXXXX/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
   DEFAULT_RECIPIENT_SLACK="#alarms"  # replace 'alarms' with your Slack channel name

4. If you don't have a Slack webhook URL, you can create one by following the link below. Create a Slack Incoming Webhook

💾 Step 3: Configure disk usage alert

1. Navigate to the health configuration directory:

   cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata

2. Edit the disk usage alarm:

   sudo ./edit-config health.d/disk_usage.conf

3. Example configuration:

   # you can disable an alarm notification by setting the 'to' line to: silent
   # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   # low disk space
   # checking the latest collected values
   # raise an alarm if the disk is low on available disk space
   template: disk_space_usage
   on: disk.space
   class: Utilization
   type: System
   component: Disk
   chart labels: mount_point=!/dev !/dev/* !/run !/run/* !HarddiskVolume* *
   calc: $used * 100 / ($avail + $used)
   units: %
   every: 1m
   warn: $this > 90
   crit: $this > 95
   delay: up 1m down 15m multiplier 1.5 max 1h
   repeat: warning 1200s critical 600s
   summary: Disk ${label:mount_point} space usage
   info: Total space utilization of disk ${label:mount_point} (ENV: sandbox )
   to: sysadmin

🔁 Step 4: Restart netdata

Restart Netdata to apply configuration changes:

sudo systemctl restart netdata

🧪 Step 5: Test slack alert delivery

1. Run the following test command to trigger a dummy alert:

   cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata
   /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/alarm-notify.sh test

2. ✅ You should receive a test message in your Slack channel.

❌ Step 6: Uninstall netdata (if needed)

If you want to remove Netdata from your system:

wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh --uninstall

This setup helps ensure you are promptly notified of potential issues on your VM, enhancing system reliability and awareness. And you can refere more on netdata here.