🚀 How to Install and Configure Node Exporter on Debian VPS

This article will provide a guide for how to install and configure Node Exporter on Debian VPS.

What is Node Exporter?

Node Exporter is a Prometheus exporter that collects and exposes hardware and OS-level metrics from Linux and Unix-like systems. It runs as a background service and makes these metrics available over HTTP, typically at http://localhost:9100/metrics, where Prometheus scrapes them for monitoring and alerting.

🔍 What It Monitors

Node Exporter gathers system-level metrics such as:

• CPU usage
• Memory usage
• Disk I/O and space
• Network statistics
• Filesystem metrics
• System load and uptime
• Hardware sensor data (if available)
• Systemd service states

✅ Key Features

• Lightweight & efficient: Minimal overhead, ideal for all server types.
• Easy integration: Works seamlessly with Prometheus and Grafana.
• Modular collectors: Can enable or disable specific metric collectors.
• Secure options: Supports TLS and basic auth (via reverse proxy or exporter wrappers).

🔧 Common Use Case

• Infrastructure monitoring: Paired with Prometheus and Grafana to build dashboards and alerting systems for your servers’ health and performance.

✅ Prerequisites

• A Debian VPS (Debian 10/Debian 11/Debian 12)
• Root or sudo access
• Prometheus server (optional, but needed for metrics scraping)

🛠️ How to Install and Configure Node Exporter on Debian VPS

To install and configure Node Exporter on Debian VPS, follow the steps below:

1. 🧩 Create a Dedicated User

   It’s best practice to run Node Exporter as a non-privileged system user.

   sudo useradd --no-create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin node_exporter
   

2. 📥 Download Node Exporter

   1. Find the latest version from the official releases page:
      https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases
   2. Download and extract:

      cd /tmp
      wget https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/download/v1.9.1/node_exporter-1.9.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
      tar -xzf node_exporter-1.9.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
      

      Replace 1.9.1 with the latest version if needed.

   3. Move the binary to a system path:

      sudo mv node_exporter-1.9.1.linux-amd64/node_exporter /usr/local/bin/
      sudo chown node_exporter:node_exporter /usr/local/bin/node_exporter
      

3. ⚙️ Create a Systemd Service

   Create a systemd service file to manage Node Exporter as a system service.

   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service
   

   Paste the following:

   [Unit]
   Description=Prometheus Node Exporter
   Wants=network-online.target
   After=network-online.target
   
   [Service]
   User=node_exporter
   Group=node_exporter
   Type=simple
   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node_exporter
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

   Save and exit.

4. 🔄 Start and Enable the Service

   sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl start node_exporter
   sudo systemctl enable node_exporter
   

   Check status:

   sudo systemctl status node_exporter
   

5. 🔓 Allow Port in Firewall

   By default, Node Exporter exposes metrics on port 9100.

   If ufw is enabled:

   sudo ufw allow 9100/tcp
   

6. 🔍 Test Node Exporter

   Open your browser or use curl to check if it’s running:

   http://:9100/metrics
   

   You should see a long list of metrics in plain text.

7. 🧲 Configure Prometheus to Scrape Node Exporter

   If you’re using Prometheus, add the target in prometheus.yml:

     - job_name: 'node_exporter'
       static_configs:
         - targets: [':9100']
   

   Reload Prometheus or restart the service:

   sudo systemctl restart prometheus
   

✅ Bonus: Secure Node Exporter with NGINX + Lets Encrypt

To secure Node Exporter with TLS (HTTPS), you’ll need to wrap it behind a reverse proxy like NGINX (since Node Exporter doesn’t support TLS natively). We’ll use Certbot to get a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate.

✅ Prerequisites

• Domain name pointing to your VPS (e.g. metrics.example.com)
• Node Exporter running on localhost:9100
• Port 80 and 443 open in firewall

To secure Node Exporter with TLS using NGINX + Let’s Encrypt, follow the steps below:

1. 🧱 Install NGINX

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install nginx -y
   

   Enable and start:

   sudo systemctl enable nginx
   sudo systemctl start nginx
   

2. 🧩 Configure Reverse Proxy for Node Exporter

   Create a new NGINX config:

   sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/node_exporter
   

   Paste this config (replace domain name):

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name metrics.example.com;
   
       location / {
           proxy_pass http://localhost:9100/;
           proxy_set_header Host $host;
           proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
       }
   }
   

   Enable the site:

   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/node_exporter /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
   sudo nginx -t
   sudo systemctl reload nginx
   

3. 🔐 Install Certbot and Get SSL Certificate

   Install Certbot:

   sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y
   

   Request SSL:

   sudo certbot --nginx -d metrics.example.com
   

   When prompted, choose to redirect HTTP to HTTPS.

4. 🔄 Auto-Renew SSL Certificate

   Let’s Encrypt certs are valid for 90 days. Add a cron job to auto-renew:

   sudo systemctl list-timers | grep certbot
   

   Certbot installs a timer automatically. To test:

   sudo certbot renew --dry-run
   

5. ✅ Test Access Over HTTPS

   Visit:

   https://metrics.example.com
   

   You should see Node Exporter’s /metrics output over a secure HTTPS connection.

🧪 Verify Metrics in Prometheus

1. Visit Prometheus web UI:
   http://prometheus.example.com:9090
2. Run a query like:

node_cpu_seconds_total

You should see live metrics.

Conclusion

You now know how to install and configure Node Exporter on Debian VPS.

Related:

• How to Install Prometheus on Debian VPS
• Top 10 Best Grafana Dashboards for Service Monitoring
• How to Deploy a Telegraf, InfluxDB and Grafana Stack on Debian VPS