---
title: Charmhub | Deploy Hardware Observer using Charmhub - The Open Operator Collection
description: Deploy the latest version of Hardware Observer on any cloud. Subordinate
  charm for monitoring hardware resources.
url: https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer
---

# Hardware Observer

[Canonical BootStack Charmers](https://charmhub.io/publisher/bootstack-charmers "View all packages from Canonical BootStack Charmers")

* [Canonical BootStack Charmers](https://charmhub.io/publisher/bootstack-charmers "View all packages from Canonical BootStack Charmers")

Platform:

26.04

24.04

22.04

20.04

18.04

stable 894

```
juju deploy hardware-observer
```

[Learn to deploy on juju >](https://juju.is/docs/juju/manage-applications)

---

#### Relevant links

* [Homepage](https://github.com/canonical/hardware-observer-operator)

---

#### Contacts

* [Submit a bug](https://github.com/canonical/hardware-observer-operator/issues)

---

Share your thoughts on this charm with the community on discourse.

[Join the discussion](https://discourse.charmhub.io/)

# Hardware Observer

Hardware-observer is a [subordinate machine charm](https://juju.is/docs/sdk/charm-taxonomy#heading--subordinate-charms) that provides monitoring and alerting of hardware resources on bare-metal infrastructure. This charm leverages the following exporters to provide detailed metrics:

* **Hardware Exporter**: For collecting metrics from BMCs and RAID controllers.
* **Smartctl Exporter**: For collecting SMART metrics from storage devices.
* **DCGM Exporter**. For collecting metrics from NVIDIA GPUs (if present)

This charm is ideal for monitoring hardware resources when used in conjunction with the [Canonical Observability Stack](https://charmhub.io/topics/canonical-observability-stack).

### [Hardware Exporter](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-hardware-exporter)

Hardware-observer collects and exports Prometheus metrics from BMCs (using the IPMI and newer Redfish protocols) and various SAS and RAID controllers through the use of the [prometheus-hardware-exporter](https://github.com/canonical/prometheus-hardware-exporter) project. It additionally configures Prometheus alert rules that are fired when the status of any metric is suboptimal.

Appropriate collectors and alert rules are installed based on the availability of one or more of the RAID/SAS controllers mentioned below:

* Broadcom MegaRAID controller
* Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller
* LSI SAS-2 controller
* LSI SAS-3 controller
* HPE Smart Array controller

### [Smartctl Exporter](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-smartctl-exporter)

The Smartctl Exporter integrates with the Hardware-observer to provide monitoring of storage device health via SMART data. Metrics are collected and exported to Prometheus using the [smartctl-exporter-snap](https://github.com/canonical/smartctl-exporter-snap).

### [DCGM Exporter](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-dcgm-exporter)

> **Note: requires revision ≥ 113**

The DCGM exporter integrates with Hardware Observer to monitor NVIDIA GPUs by collecting detailed performance and health metrics. These metrics are exported to Prometheus through the [DCGM snap](https://snapcraft.io/dcgm), enabling GPU performance tracking and monitoring.

The DCGM snap is installed automatically only if the charm detects the presence of NVIDIA driver at `/proc/driver/nvidia/version`.

You must manually install the NVIDIA driver before using the DCGM snap. Refer to the [documentation](https://documentation.ubuntu.com/server/how-to/graphics/install-nvidia-drivers/) for installation instructions.

Each driver version corresponds to a specific CUDA version. Check the [upstream documentation](https://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/cuda-compatibility/minor-version-compatibility.html) for more information.

## [Security, bugs and feature request](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-security-bugs-and-feature-request)

If you find a bug in this application or want to request a specific feature, here are the useful links:

* Raise issues or feature requests in [Github](https://github.com/canonical/hardware-observer-operator/issues).
* Security issues in Hardware Observer can be reported through [LaunchPad](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSecurity#How%20to%20File). Please do not file GitHub issues about security issues.

## [Contributing](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-contributing)

Please see the [Juju SDK docs](https://juju.is/docs/sdk) for guidelines on enhancements to this charm following best practice guidelines, and [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/canonical/hardware-observer-operator/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) for developer guidance.

## [License](https://charmhub.io/hardware-observer#p-26444-license)

Hardware Observer is free software, distributed under the Apache Software License, version 2.0. See [LICENSE](https://github.com/canonical/hardware-observer-operator/blob/master/LICENSE) for more information.

---

[Help improve this document in the forum](https://discourse.charmhub.io/t/hardware-observer-docs-index/11112) ([guidelines](https://discourse.charmhub.io/t/how-to-write-docs-our-documentation-guidelines-for-contributors/1245)). Last updated 11 months ago.