Prometheus Node Exporter Installation Guide

This guide covers the installation and setup of Prometheus Node Exporter on a Linux system using systemd. Following these steps ensures that Node Exporter runs securely under a dedicated user account.

Create a dedicated user

Create a system user for Node Exporter without a home directory and login shell:

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

This ensures Node Exporter runs with minimal permissions.

Download Node Exporter

Visit the Node Exporter GitHub releases page.

Download the latest stable release for Linux (.tar.gz archive).

Example using wget for version 1.9.1:

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

Extract the archive:

tar -xzf node_exporter-1.9.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Move the executable to /usr/local/bin:

mv node_exporter-1.9.1.linux-amd64/node_exporter /usr/local/bin/

Set ownership to the Node Exporter user:

chown node_exporter:node_exporter /usr/local/bin/node_exporter

Configure Systemd Service

Create a systemd service file:

vi /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service

Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Prometheus Node Exporter
After=network.target

[Service]
User=node_exporter
Group=node_exporter
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node_exporter

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start and Enable Node Exporter

Reload systemd to recognize the new service, then enable and start it:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now node_exporter

Verify that Node Exporter is running:

systemctl status node_exporter

Node Exporter is now installed, running, and set to start automatically on boot. You can access metrics at http://<server-ip>:9100/metrics.

Notes

Restrict access to metrics: Node Exporter exposes multiple sensitive server metrics. Ensure that port 9100 is not publicly accessible. Limit access to Prometheus servers or trusted IPs using a firewall (e.g., ufw, iptables, or security groups if on cloud).
Clean up installation files: After installation, remove the downloaded archive and extracted folders to avoid unnecessary disk usage and clutter.