Getting Started

This guide will help you get the NetBird API Exporter up and running in your environment.

Table of contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. System Requirements
    1. Minimum Requirements
    2. Recommended Requirements
  3. Supported Platforms
    1. Container Platforms
    2. Operating Systems
    3. Helm Versions
  4. Next Steps
  5. Quick Verification
    1. Health Check
    2. Metrics Endpoint
  6. Troubleshooting
  7. Getting Help

Prerequisites

Before installing the NetBird API Exporter, ensure you have:

  1. NetBird Account: An active NetBird account with access to the dashboard
  2. API Token: A valid NetBird API token with appropriate permissions
  3. Prometheus Server: A Prometheus server or compatible metrics collection system
  4. Deployment Environment: One of the following:
    • Docker and Docker Compose
    • Kubernetes cluster (for Helm deployment)
    • Linux server (for systemd deployment)
    • Go development environment (for binary deployment)

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

  • CPU: 100m (0.1 CPU core)
  • Memory: 64MB RAM
  • Disk: 10MB storage
  • Network: Outbound HTTPS access to NetBird API
  • CPU: 200m (0.2 CPU core)
  • Memory: 128MB RAM
  • Disk: 50MB storage
  • Network: Stable internet connection

Supported Platforms

The NetBird API Exporter supports the following platforms:

Container Platforms

  • Docker 20.10+
  • Docker Compose 2.0+
  • Kubernetes 1.19+
  • Podman 3.0+

Operating Systems

  • Linux (amd64, arm64)
  • macOS (amd64, arm64)
  • Windows (amd64)

Helm Versions

  • Helm 3.0+

Next Steps

  1. Get your API token - Learn how to create and configure your NetBird API token
  2. Choose your installation method:
    • Docker Compose - Easiest for development and testing
    • Docker - Best for container environments
    • Helm - Ideal for Kubernetes clusters
    • systemd - Perfect for Linux servers
    • Binary - For custom setups
  3. Configure Prometheus - Set up Prometheus to scrape metrics
  4. Create dashboards - Build monitoring dashboards in Grafana

Quick Verification

Once you have the exporter running, you can quickly verify it’s working:

Health Check 

curl http://localhost:8080/health

Expected response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "version": "0.1.0"
}

Metrics Endpoint 

curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

You should see Prometheus metrics output starting with:

# HELP netbird_peers_total Total number of NetBird peers
# TYPE netbird_peers_total gauge
netbird_peers_total 42

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues during setup:

  1. Check the logs for error messages
  2. Verify your API token is correct and has proper permissions
  3. Ensure network connectivity to NetBird API
  4. Review the troubleshooting guide

Getting Help

  • 📖 Documentation: Browse the complete guide in the sidebar
  • 🐛 Issues: Report problems on GitHub Issues
  • 💡 Discussions: Ask questions in GitHub Discussions

Table of contents