Reinstall Netdata

In certain situations, such as needing to enable a feature or troubleshoot an issue, you may need to reinstall the Netdata Agent on your node.

One-line installer script (kickstart.sh)

Reinstalling with the same install type

Run the one-line installer script with the --reinstall parameter to reinstall the Netdata Agent. This will preserve any user configuration in netdata.conf or other files, and will keep the same install type that was used for the original install.

If you used any optional parameters during initial installation, you need to pass them to the script again during reinstallation. If you cannot remember which options you used, read the contents of the .environment file and look for a REINSTALL_OPTIONS line. This line contains a list of optional parameters.

wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh --reinstall

Performing a clean reinstall

Run the one-line installer script with the --reinstall-clean parameter to perform a clean reinstall of the Netdata Agent. This will wipe all existing configuration and historical data, but can be useful sometimes for getting a badly broken installation working again. Unlike the regular --reinstall parameter, this may use a different install type than the original install used.

If you used any optional parameters during initial installation, you need to pass them to the script again during reinstallation. If you cannot remember which options you used, read the contents of the .environment file and look for a REINSTALL_OPTIONS line. This line contains a list of optional parameters.

wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh --reinstall-clean

Changing the install type of an existing installation

The clean reinstall procedure outlined above can also be used to manually change the install type for an existing installation. Without any extra parameters, it will automatically pick the preferred installation type for your system, even if that has changed since the original install. If you want to force use of a specific install type, you can use the --native-only, --static-only, or --build-only parameter to control which install type gets used, just like with a new install.

When using the --reinstall-clean option to change the install type, you will need to manually preserve any configuration or historical data you want to keep. The following directories may need to be preserved:

• /etc/netdata (/opt/netdata/etc/netdata for static installs): For agent configuration.
• /var/lib/netdata (/opt/netdata/var/lib/netdata for static installs): For claiming configuration.
• /var/cache/netdata (/opt/netdata/var/cache/netdata for static installs): For historical data.

When copying these directories back after the reinstall, you may need to update file ownership by running chown -R netdata:netdata on them.

Troubleshooting

If you still experience problems with your Netdata Agent installation after following one of these processes, the next best route is to uninstall and then try a fresh installation using the one-line installer.

You can also post to our community forums or create a new bug report.