# Blackbox exporter [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/prometheus/blackbox_exporter/tree/master.svg?style=shield)][circleci] [![Docker Repository on Quay](https://quay.io/repository/prometheus/blackbox-exporter/status)][quay] [![Docker Pulls](https://img.shields.io/docker/pulls/prom/blackbox-exporter.svg?maxAge=604800)][hub] The blackbox exporter allows blackbox probing of endpoints over HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, TCP, ICMP and gRPC. ## Running this software ### From binaries Download the most suitable binary from [the releases tab](https://github.com/prometheus/blackbox_exporter/releases) Then: ./blackbox_exporter ### Using the docker image *Note: You may want to [enable ipv6 in your docker configuration](https://docs.docker.com/v17.09/engine/userguide/networking/default_network/ipv6/)* docker run --rm \ -p 9115/tcp \ --name blackbox_exporter \ -v $(pwd):/config \ quay.io/prometheus/blackbox-exporter:latest --config.file=/config/blackbox.yml ### Checking the results Visiting [http://localhost:9115/probe?target=google.com&module=http_2xx](http://localhost:9115/probe?target=google.com&module=http_2xx) will return metrics for a HTTP probe against google.com. The `probe_success` metric indicates if the probe succeeded. Adding a `debug=true` parameter will return debug information for that probe. The probe will also return timing metrics for measuring how long it takes to probe the target. For example, you can find out how much of the probe timeout is used. This is useful because Prometheus timeouts can never be longer than the scrape interval. probe_duration_seconds / probe_timeout_seconds This query will return the ratio of remaining time. Metrics concerning the operation of the exporter itself are available at the endpoint . ### TLS and basic authentication The Blackbox Exporter supports TLS and basic authentication. This enables better control of the various HTTP endpoints. To use TLS and/or basic authentication, you need to pass a configuration file using the `--web.config.file` parameter. The format of the file is described [in the exporter-toolkit repository](https://github.com/prometheus/exporter-toolkit/blob/master/docs/web-configuration.md). Note that the TLS and basic authentication settings affect all HTTP endpoints: /metrics for scraping, /probe for probing, and the web UI. ### Controlling log level for probe logs The blackbox_exporter has a primary structured logger that is used for logs related to the application itself. Application logs can be controlled by `--log.level`, which sets the log level for messages to output, valid levels are `debug`, `info`, `warn`, and `error`. The blackbox_exporter also maintains a second, fully independent structured logger that is used specifically for logging related to the probers (`http`, `tcp`, `icmp`, `dns`, `grpc`) and their output. The scrape probe logger defaults to `info` level filtering, similar to the primary logger. Prober logs can be controlled with `--log.prober` > _Note_ > > All log samples below used the following basic `blackbox.yml` configuration file and contain the probe logs of a single scrape generated by `curl` ```bash # blackbox.yml modules: http_2xx: prober: http # generate probe curl -sL "http://localhost:9115/probe?target=prometheus.io&module=http_2xx&debug=true" ```
Example stderr and debug module output with `--log.prober=info` (default) ```shell ~ $ ./blackbox_exporter --config.file ./blackbox.yml time=2025-09-09T00:58:02.557-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:95 msg="Starting blackbox_exporter" version="(version=0.27.0, branch=feat/make-scrape-logger-independent, revision=47e27d09847edf2ade2732b50663c37ed8177485)" time=2025-09-09T00:58:02.557-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:96 msg="(go=go1.24.4, platform=linux/amd64, user=tjhop@contraband, date=20250909-04:57:55, tags=unknown)" time=2025-09-09T00:58:02.557-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:108 msg="Loaded config file" time=2025-09-09T00:58:02.558-04:00 level=INFO source=tls_config.go:347 msg="Listening on" address=[::]:9115 time=2025-09-09T00:58:02.558-04:00 level=INFO source=tls_config.go:350 msg="TLS is disabled." http2=false address=[::]:9115 time=2025-09-09T00:58:06.756-04:00 level=WARN source=http.go:490 msg="Received redirect" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io location=https://prometheus.io/ ^Ctime=2025-09-09T00:58:12.257-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:290 msg="Received SIGTERM, exiting gracefully..." ``` ```shell ~ $ curl -sL "http://localhost:9115/probe?target=prometheus.io&module=http_2xx&debug=true" | sed '/Metrics that would have been returned/q' Logs for the probe: time=2025-09-09T00:58:06.756-04:00 level=WARN source=http.go:490 msg="Received redirect" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io location=https://prometheus.io/ Metrics that would have been returned: ```
Example stderr and debug module output with `--log.prober=debug` ```shell ~ $ ./blackbox_exporter --config.file ./blackbox.yml --log.prober=debug time=2025-09-09T00:58:21.483-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:95 msg="Starting blackbox_exporter" version="(version=0.27.0, branch=feat/make-scrape-logger-independent, revision=47e27d09847edf2ade2732b50663c37ed8177485)" time=2025-09-09T00:58:21.483-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:96 msg="(go=go1.24.4, platform=linux/amd64, user=tjhop@contraband, date=20250909-04:57:55, tags=unknown)" time=2025-09-09T00:58:21.483-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:108 msg="Loaded config file" time=2025-09-09T00:58:21.484-04:00 level=INFO source=tls_config.go:347 msg="Listening on" address=[::]:9115 time=2025-09-09T00:58:21.484-04:00 level=INFO source=tls_config.go:350 msg="TLS is disabled." http2=false address=[::]:9115 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.604-04:00 level=DEBUG source=handler.go:116 msg="Beginning probe" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io probe=http timeout_seconds=119.5 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.604-04:00 level=DEBUG source=utils.go:61 msg="Resolving target address" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io target=prometheus.io ip_protocol=ip4 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 level=DEBUG source=utils.go:96 msg="Resolved target address" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io target=prometheus.io ip=104.21.60.220 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:209 msg="Making HTTP request" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io url=http://104.21.60.220 host=prometheus.io time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=WARN source=http.go:490 msg="Received redirect" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io location=https://prometheus.io/ time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:209 msg="Making HTTP request" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io url=https://prometheus.io/ host="" time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:224 msg="Address does not match first address, not sending TLS ServerName" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io first=104.21.60.220 address=prometheus.io time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.765-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:590 msg="Received HTTP response" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io status_code=200 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:721 msg="Response timings for roundtrip" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io roundtrip=0 start=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 dnsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 connectDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.619-04:00 gotConn=2025-09-09T00:58:26.619-04:00 responseStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 tlsStart=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z tlsDone=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z end=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:721 msg="Response timings for roundtrip" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io roundtrip=1 start=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 dnsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.646-04:00 connectDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.656-04:00 gotConn=2025-09-09T00:58:26.717-04:00 responseStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.765-04:00 tlsStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.657-04:00 tlsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.717-04:00 end=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.801-04:00 level=DEBUG source=handler.go:127 msg="Probe succeeded" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io duration_seconds=0.196876958 ^Ctime=2025-09-09T00:58:32.471-04:00 level=INFO source=main.go:290 msg="Received SIGTERM, exiting gracefully..." ``` ```shell ~ $ curl -sL "http://localhost:9115/probe?target=prometheus.io&module=http_2xx&debug=true" | sed '/Metrics that would have been returned/q' Logs for the probe: time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.604-04:00 level=DEBUG source=handler.go:116 msg="Beginning probe" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io probe=http timeout_seconds=119.5 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.604-04:00 level=DEBUG source=utils.go:61 msg="Resolving target address" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io target=prometheus.io ip_protocol=ip4 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 level=DEBUG source=utils.go:96 msg="Resolved target address" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io target=prometheus.io ip=104.21.60.220 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:209 msg="Making HTTP request" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io url=http://104.21.60.220 host=prometheus.io time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=WARN source=http.go:490 msg="Received redirect" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io location=https://prometheus.io/ time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:209 msg="Making HTTP request" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io url=https://prometheus.io/ host="" time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:224 msg="Address does not match first address, not sending TLS ServerName" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io first=104.21.60.220 address=prometheus.io time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.765-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:590 msg="Received HTTP response" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io status_code=200 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:721 msg="Response timings for roundtrip" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io roundtrip=0 start=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 dnsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.605-04:00 connectDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.619-04:00 gotConn=2025-09-09T00:58:26.619-04:00 responseStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 tlsStart=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z tlsDone=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z end=0001-01-01T00:00:00.000Z time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 level=DEBUG source=http.go:721 msg="Response timings for roundtrip" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io roundtrip=1 start=2025-09-09T00:58:26.645-04:00 dnsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.646-04:00 connectDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.656-04:00 gotConn=2025-09-09T00:58:26.717-04:00 responseStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.765-04:00 tlsStart=2025-09-09T00:58:26.657-04:00 tlsDone=2025-09-09T00:58:26.717-04:00 end=2025-09-09T00:58:26.800-04:00 time=2025-09-09T00:58:26.801-04:00 level=DEBUG source=handler.go:127 msg="Probe succeeded" module=http_2xx target=prometheus.io duration_seconds=0.196876958 Metrics that would have been returned: ```
## Building the software ### Local Build make ### Building with Docker After a successful local build: docker build -t blackbox_exporter . ## [Configuration](CONFIGURATION.md) Blackbox exporter is configured via a [configuration file](CONFIGURATION.md) and command-line flags (such as what configuration file to load, what port to listen on, and the logging format and level). Blackbox exporter can reload its configuration file at runtime. If the new configuration is not well-formed, the changes will not be applied. A configuration reload is triggered by sending a `SIGHUP` to the Blackbox exporter process or by sending a HTTP POST request to the `/-/reload` endpoint. Blackbox exporter also supports automatic configuration reloading. You can enable this feature using the `--config.enable-auto-reload` flag. When enabled, the exporter will automatically check for changes to its configuration file at a specified interval in seconds. The interval can be customized with the `--config.auto-reload-interval` flag, which is set to 30 (which is 30 seconds) by default. To view all available command-line flags, run `./blackbox_exporter -h`. To specify which [configuration file](CONFIGURATION.md) to load, use the `--config.file` flag. Additionally, an [example configuration](example.yml) is also available. HTTP, HTTPS (via the `http` prober), DNS, TCP socket, ICMP and gRPC (see permissions section) are currently supported. Additional modules can be defined to meet your needs. The timeout of each probe is automatically determined from the `scrape_timeout` in the [Prometheus config](https://prometheus.io/docs/operating/configuration/#configuration-file), slightly reduced to allow for network delays. This can be further limited by the `timeout` in the Blackbox exporter config file. If neither is specified, it defaults to 120 seconds. ## Prometheus Configuration Blackbox exporter implements the multi-target exporter pattern, so we advice to read the guide [Understanding and using the multi-target exporter pattern ](https://prometheus.io/docs/guides/multi-target-exporter/) to get the general idea about the configuration. The blackbox exporter needs to be passed the target as a parameter, this can be done with relabelling. Example config: ```yml scrape_configs: - job_name: 'blackbox' metrics_path: /probe params: module: [http_2xx] # Look for a HTTP 200 response. static_configs: - targets: - http://prometheus.io # Target to probe with http. - https://prometheus.io # Target to probe with https. - http://example.com:8080 # Target to probe with http on port 8080. relabel_configs: - source_labels: [__address__] target_label: __param_target - source_labels: [__param_target] target_label: instance - target_label: __address__ replacement: 127.0.0.1:9115 # The blackbox exporter's real hostname:port. - job_name: 'blackbox_exporter' # collect blackbox exporter's operational metrics. static_configs: - targets: ['127.0.0.1:9115'] ``` HTTP probes can accept an additional `hostname` parameter that will set `Host` header and TLS SNI. This can be especially useful with `dns_sd_config`: ```yaml scrape_configs: - job_name: blackbox_all metrics_path: /probe params: module: [ http_2xx ] # Look for a HTTP 200 response. dns_sd_configs: - names: - example.com - prometheus.io type: A port: 443 relabel_configs: - source_labels: [__address__] target_label: __param_target replacement: https://$1/ # Make probe URL be like https://1.2.3.4:443/ - source_labels: [__param_target] target_label: instance - target_label: __address__ replacement: 127.0.0.1:9115 # The blackbox exporter's real hostname:port. - source_labels: [__meta_dns_name] target_label: __param_hostname # Make domain name become 'Host' header for probe requests - source_labels: [__meta_dns_name] target_label: vhost # and store it in 'vhost' label ``` ## Permissions The ICMP probe requires elevated privileges to function: * *Windows*: Administrator privileges are required. * *Linux*: either a user with a group within `net.ipv4.ping_group_range`, the `CAP_NET_RAW` capability or the root user is required. * Your distribution may configure `net.ipv4.ping_group_range` by default in `/etc/sysctl.conf` or similar. If not you can set `net.ipv4.ping_group_range = 0 2147483647` to allow any user the ability to use ping. * Alternatively the capability can be set by executing `setcap cap_net_raw+ep blackbox_exporter` * *BSD*: root user is required. * *OS X*: No additional privileges are needed. The UNIX probe requires the process owner to have write permissions (w) to the UNIX socket, and access permissions (x) to the directory structure the socket resides in. [circleci]: https://circleci.com/gh/prometheus/blackbox_exporter [hub]: https://hub.docker.com/r/prom/blackbox-exporter/ [quay]: https://quay.io/repository/prometheus/blackbox-exporter