Configure Observe Agent for Complete Filesystem Monitoring

General / Other
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Configure Observe Agent to Not Exclude Any Filesystem Types or Mount Points

Overview

This guide explains how to configure the Observe Agent’s hostmetrics receiver so that it does not exclude any filesystem types or mount points when scraping filesystem metrics, including system.filesystem.utilization.

Use this configuration when:

  • Certain mount points are missing from system_filesystem_utilization_ratio (or related metrics).
  • You need full visibility into all filesystems on a host, including virtual filesystems.
  • You want to disable any type- or mount_point-based exclusions in the agent.

Configuration

Update the Observe Agent configuration to override the hostmetrics receiver as follows:

otel_config_overrides:
  receivers:
    hostmetrics/host-monitoring-host:
      scrapers:
        filesystem:
          exclude_fs_types:
            fs_types: []
          exclude_mount_points:
            mount_points: []
          include_virtual_filesystems: true
          metrics:
            system.filesystem.utilization:
              enabled: true

Field Details

  • exclude_fs_types.fs_types: — Ensures no filesystem types are excluded from scraping.
  • exclude_mount_points.mount_points: — Ensures no mount points are excluded from scraping.
  • include_virtual_filesystems: true — Instructs the agent to also scrape virtual filesystems, which may be skipped by default.
  • metrics.system.filesystem.utilization.enabled: true — Explicitly enables the system.filesystem.utilization metric, which powers system_filesystem_utilization_ratio and related datasets.

Implementation Steps

  1. Locate the agent configuration
  • Identify where otel_config_overrides are defined (e.g., agent config file, Helm values, or similar).
  1. Add or update the otel_config_overrides block
  • Merge the snippet above into the existing otel_config_overrides.
  • Ensure the receiver name hostmetrics/host-monitoring-host and filesystem scraper key match your deployed configuration.
  1. Restart the Observe Agent
sudo systemctl restart observe-agent
  1. Validate behavior
  • Confirm that previously missing mount points now appear in filesystem inventory views and in metrics such as system_filesystem_utilization_ratio.
  • Cross-check against host commands: mount, df -h, or lsblk.

Troubleshooting and Tips

Best practices

  • After changes, verify the active configuration by inspecting the agent logs for hostmetrics filesystem scraper initialization lines.
  • If you run multiple receiver instances, confirm you updated the exact receiver used by your pipelines.
  • On containerized hosts, consider whether ephemeral overlay or tmpfs mounts should be included; with this configuration, they will be scraped.