Setting up MySQL Statistics in Netdata

Last Updated on January 7, 2021 EST by Jordan

You might noticed MySQL statistics aren’t being show in Netdata. Here’s what I ran into.

Error: “MySQLdb or PyMySQL module is needed to use mysql.chart.py plugin”

The required python libraries for MySQL are missing, so you simply need to install them. For Ubuntu/Debian the following command should correct it.

apt-get install python-mysqldb

Setting up Netdata MySQL User

You might also see these errors in your log.

 5158 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] open /etc/my.cnf: no such file or directory
   5159 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5160 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] key-value delimiter not found: !includedir /etc/mysql/conf.d/
   5164 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@unix(/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5165 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5166 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@unix(/var/run/mysqld/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /var/run/mysqld/mysql.sock: connect: no such file or directory
   5167 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5168 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@unix(/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock: connect: permission denied
   5169 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5170 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@unix(/tmp/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /tmp/mysql.sock: connect: no such file or directory
   5171 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5172 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5173 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5174 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [root@tcp([::1]:3306)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'root'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5175 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5176 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@unix(/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'netdata'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5177 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5178 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@unix(/var/run/mysqld/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /var/run/mysqld/mysql.sock: connect: no such file or directory
   5179 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5180 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@unix(/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock: connect: permission denied
   5181 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5182 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@unix(/tmp/mysql.sock)/]: dial unix /tmp/mysql.sock: connect: no such file or directory
   5183 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5184 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@tcp(127.0.0.1:3306)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'netdata'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5185 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed
   5186 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] error on pinging the mysql database [netdata@tcp([::1]:3306)/]: Error 1045: Access denied for user 'netdata'@'localhost' (using password: NO)
   5187 2021-01-06 15:22:55: go.d ERROR: mysql[local] init failed

The fix is simple, add a user called Netdata with a password. Note, you can setup the Netdata user without a password, but this may expose information to the system that you might not want. Full information is located on Netdata’s website.

https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/agent/collectors/python.d.plugin/mysql

So let’s get Netdata pulling MySQL data.

Fast, open and potentially insecure no password optiom

This will just work, but leave a user on your MySQL instance without a password.

create user 'netdata'@'localhost';
grant usage on *.* to 'netdata'@'localhost';
flush privileges;

Password based polling

Let’s run the same command as above but give the user a password.

create user 'netdata'@'localhost';
grant usage on *.* to 'netdata'@'localhost';
alter user 'netdata'@'localhost' identified by 'setyourpassword';
flush privileges;

Now we need to tell Netdata the password.

cd /etc/netdata   # Replace this path with your Netdata config directory, if different
sudo ./edit-config python.d/mysql.conf

Instead of editing the defaults, go to the bottom of the config and just create a new section with the following

local_2:
  user     : 'netdata'
  pass : 'setyourpassword'
  socket   : '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock'
  update_every : 1

Now you should see MySQL metrics in Netdata

Error: “MySQLdb or PyMySQL module is needed to use mysql.chart.py plugin”

Setting up Netdata MySQL User

Fast, open and potentially insecure no password optiom

Password based polling

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