Host Metrics on Raspberry Pi

Use OpenTelemetry to monitor Raspberry Pi host metrics including CPU, memory, disk, network, system load, and CPU/GPU temperature.

Prerequisites

Before setting up Raspberry Pi host metrics monitoring, ensure you have:

• Raspberry Pi (any model) running Raspberry Pi OS
• SSH access to your Pi
• Last9 account with integration credentials

1. Determine Your Pi’s Architecture

   Run this command to check your Pi’s architecture:

   uname -m

   • armv7l → 32-bit (use linux_armv7 package)
   • aarch64 → 64-bit (use linux_arm64 package)

2. Install OpenTelemetry Collector

   Note: systemd is required for automatic service configuration.

   • 64-bit (arm64)
   • 32-bit (armv7)

   For Raspberry Pi 4/5 with 64-bit OS:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get -y install wget
   wget https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v0.144.0/otelcol-contrib_0.144.0_linux_arm64.deb
   sudo dpkg -i otelcol-contrib_0.144.0_linux_arm64.deb

   More installation options can be found here.

3. Configure OpenTelemetry Collector

   Create the configuration file:

   sudo nano /etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml

   Use the following configuration optimized for Raspberry Pi:

   receivers:
     hostmetrics:
       collection_interval: 30s
       scrapers:
         cpu:
           metrics:
             system.cpu.utilization:
               enabled: true
             system.cpu.logical.count:
               enabled: true
         memory:
           metrics:
             system.memory.utilization:
               enabled: true
             system.memory.limit:
               enabled: true
         load:
         disk:
         filesystem:
           metrics:
             system.filesystem.utilization:
               enabled: true
         network:
         processes:
         process:
           mute_process_user_error: true
           mute_process_io_error: true
           mute_process_exe_error: true
           metrics:
             process.cpu.utilization:
               enabled: true
             process.memory.utilization:
               enabled: true
   
     # Raspberry Pi temperature (requires pi-temp-exporter)
     prometheus/pi_temp:
       config:
         scrape_configs:
           - job_name: 'pi-temperature'
             scrape_interval: 30s
             static_configs:
               - targets: ['localhost:9101']
   
   processors:
     # Memory limiter to prevent OOM on resource-constrained Pi
     memory_limiter:
       check_interval: 5s
       limit_mib: 100
       spike_limit_mib: 25
   
     batch:
       timeout: 10s
       send_batch_size: 1000
       send_batch_max_size: 2000
   
     resourcedetection/system:
       detectors: ["system"]
       system:
         hostname_sources: ["os"]
   
     resource/pi:
       attributes:
         - key: device.type
           value: raspberry-pi
           action: upsert
   
     transform/hostmetrics:
       metric_statements:
         - context: datapoint
           statements:
             - set(attributes["host.name"], resource.attributes["host.name"])
             - set(attributes["os.type"], resource.attributes["os.type"])
   
   exporters:
     otlp/last9:
       endpoint: "{{ .Metrics.WriteURL }}"
       headers:
         "Authorization": "{{ .Metrics.AuthValue }}"
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       metrics:
         receivers: [hostmetrics, prometheus/pi_temp]
         processors: [memory_limiter, batch, resourcedetection/system, resource/pi, transform/hostmetrics]
         exporters: [otlp/last9]

4. Install Temperature Exporter (Optional)

   To collect CPU/GPU temperature and throttle state:

   # Download the exporter
   sudo curl -o /usr/local/bin/pi-temp-exporter.py \
     https://raw.githubusercontent.com/last9/opentelemetry-examples/main/otel-collector/raspberry-pi/pi-temp-exporter.py
   sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pi-temp-exporter.py
   
   # Create and start service
   sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/pi-temp-exporter.service > /dev/null <<EOF
   [Unit]
   Description=Raspberry Pi Temperature Exporter
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/pi-temp-exporter.py
   Restart=always
   User=root
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   EOF
   
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable pi-temp-exporter
   sudo systemctl start pi-temp-exporter

5. Start the OpenTelemetry Collector Service

   Reload systemd to apply changes and start the service:

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable otelcol-contrib
   sudo systemctl start otelcol-contrib

Verification

Check the service status:

sudo systemctl status otelcol-contrib

Monitor logs in real-time:

sudo journalctl -u otelcol-contrib -f

Log into your Last9 account to confirm host metrics are being received.

Collected Metrics

Resource Optimization

For Raspberry Pi Zero or older models with limited resources, increase the collection interval and reduce batch sizes:

receivers:
  hostmetrics:
    collection_interval: 60s  # Instead of 30s

processors:
  batch:
    send_batch_size: 500
    send_batch_max_size: 1000

Need Help?

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Join our Discord community for real-time support
• Contact our support team at support@last9.io