How to Install Graphite on Linux Mint

Graphite is an open-source, distributed graphing system that is used for monitoring and visualization purposes. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install Graphite on Linux Mint.

Before installing Graphite, make sure that your Linux Mint system is up-to-date by running the following command in your terminal:

sudo apt-get update

Step 1: Install Python Dependencies

Graphite is written in Python, so it requires several Python dependencies to run. Run the following command to install the necessary Python dependencies:

sudo apt-get install python-dev python-pip libcairo2-dev libffi-dev build-essential -y

Step 2: Install Graphite Components

To install Graphite on Linux Mint, we need to install the following components:

• carbon: A backend service for Graphite
• whisper: A simple database library for storing time-series data
• graphite-web: A web application for visualizing Graphite graphs

Run the following command to install these components:

sudo pip install graphite-web carbon whisper

Step 3: Configure Carbon

Carbon is responsible for receiving metrics data and storing it in Whisper databases. In this step, we will configure Carbon by editing its configuration file.

Open the configuration file in your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /opt/graphite/conf/carbon.conf

Find the [cache] section and make sure that the following settings are present:

[cache]
ENABLE_LOGROTATION = True
USER = _graphite
MAX_CACHE_SIZE = inf
MAX_UPDATES_PER_SECOND = 500

Find the [relay] section and make sure that it is commented out:

# [relay]
# LINE_RECEIVER_PORT = 2013
# LINE_RECEIVER_INTERFACE = 0.0.0.0
# PICKLE_RECEIVER_PORT = 2014
# PICKLE_RECEIVER_INTERFACE = 0.0.0.0
# LOG_LISTENER_CONNECTIONS = False
# RELAY_METHOD = rules
# REPLICATION_FACTOR = 1
# DESTINATIONS = 127.0.0.1:2004

Exit the text editor by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Step 4: Configure Whisper

Whisper is used to store time-series data in Graphite. We need to configure it by editing the configuration file.

Open the configuration file in your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /opt/graphite/conf/storage-schemas.conf

Add the following text to the end of the file:

[default]
pattern = .*
retentions = 10s:7d,1m:30d,5m:1y

Exit the text editor by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Step 5: Configure Graphite-web

Graphite-web is the web application for visualizing Graphite graphs. We need to configure it by editing its configuration file.

Open the configuration file in your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /opt/graphite/webapp/graphite/local_settings.py

Find the DATABASES section and make sure that it is uncommented and has the following settings:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'NAME': '/opt/graphite/storage/graphite.db',
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'USER': '',
        'PASSWORD': '',
        'HOST': '',
        'PORT': ''
    }
}

Find the TIME_ZONE setting and set it to your local time zone:

TIME_ZONE = 'Asia/Kolkata'

Exit the text editor by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Step 6: Initialize Graphite Database

Before running Graphite-web, we need to initialize the Graphite database:

sudo graphite-manage migrate auth
sudo graphite-manage migrate

Step 7: Start the Services

We have configured all the components of Graphite. Now, we need to start the services by running the following commands:

sudo systemctl start carbon-cache
sudo systemctl start apache2

To make sure that the services are running, run the following commands:

sudo systemctl status carbon-cache
sudo systemctl status apache2

Step 8: Open Graphite in Browser

Now that Graphite is installed and running, we can access it in our web browser by entering the following URL:

http://localhost:80

If you installed Graphite on a remote server, replace localhost with the IP address or domain name of the server.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install Graphite on Linux Mint. With Graphite, you can visualize the performance of your applications and servers.