@cryptotaxi247 / netdata / commits / fe4aee6d0

Add Remove Node guide (#20549)

Kanela committed Jun 25, 2025 at 20:58 UTC fe4aee6d0221b6380d6376aa053e0ff2546c7f68
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1 +# Removing a node from your Netdata Cloud Space
2 +
3 +You can remove a node from your Space in Netdata Cloud, but the process depends on the node's current state and requires different approaches for different scenarios.
4 +
5 +## Understanding Node States
6 +
7 +Before attempting to remove a node, it's important to understand what each status means:
8 +
9 +* **Online**: Node is actively connected and streaming data
10 +* **Stale**: Node is a child that stopped streaming to its parent, but the parent still has its historical data
11 +* **Offline**: Node is disconnected and no longer has data available for querying
12 +
13 +<details>
14 +<summary><strong>Why Can't I Delete Stale Nodes?</strong></summary><br/>
15 +
16 +**Stale means this node is a Child that has stopped streaming to its Parent, but the Parent still retains its historical data.**
17 +
18 +You can't delete a Stale node because the Parent is alive/connected to the Cloud and has data for the Stale node. The UI disables the "Remove" option to protect this historical data and maintain the parent-child relationship integrity.<br/>
19 +
20 +This is why stale nodes show "Delete is disabled" - the system prevents deletion while the parent node still holds queryable metrics data for that child.<br/>
21 +</details>
22 +
23 +
24 +## Quick Decision Guide
25 +
26 +**What's your node status?**
27 +
28 +```
29 +🔴 Node shows "Offline" → Use Method 1 (UI Method)
30 +🟡 Node shows "Stale" → Use Method 2 (CLI Method) ← MOST COMMON ISSUE
31 +📦 Multiple nodes to remove → Use Method 3 (Bulk Operations)
32 +```
33 +
34 +:::note
35 +
36 +You need **Admin** role in your Space to remove nodes. The CLI method requires a system with Netdata Agent installed.
37 +
38 +:::
39 +
40 +## Removal Methods
41 +
42 +<details>
43 +<summary><strong>Method 1: Removing Offline Nodes (UI Method)</strong></summary><br/>
44 +
45 +**When to use**: Your node shows as **Offline** status in Netdata Cloud.
46 +
47 +**Steps**:
48 +1. Stop the Netdata Agent on the node you want to remove
49 +2. In Netdata Cloud, go to **Space Settings > Nodes**
50 +3. Locate the offline node in the list
51 +4. Select the trash icon to remove it
52 +
53 +:::note
54 +
55 +The **Remove** option is only available in the **Space Settings** view. It will appear disabled in the "All Nodes" room or other parts of the UI.
56 +
57 +:::
58 +
59 +</details>
60 +
61 +<details>
62 +<summary><strong>Method 2: Removing Stale Nodes (CLI Method)</strong></summary><br/>
63 +
64 +**When to use**: Your node shows as **Stale** status and UI shows "Delete is disabled".
65 +
66 +**Step 1: Get the Node UUID**
67 +1. In Netdata Cloud, navigate to the stale node
68 +2. Click the **node information (i)** button
69 +3. Click **"View node info in JSON"**
70 +4. Copy the UUID from the JSON data (it will be copied to your clipboard)
71 +
72 +**Step 2: Remove the Stale Node**
73 +Run this command on any node with Netdata Agent installed:
74 +
75 +```bash
76 +netdatacli remove-stale-node <UUID>
77 +```
78 +
79 +Replace `<UUID>` with the node's actual identifier from Step 1.
80 +
81 +**What happens next**: The command unregisters and removes the node from the cloud. The node status should change from **Stale → Offline** in Netdata Cloud, then you can remove it via the UI method if needed.
82 +
83 +</details>
84 +
85 +<details>
86 +<summary><strong>Method 3: Bulk Operations</strong></summary><br/>
87 +
88 +**When to use**: You need to remove multiple nodes at once.
89 +
90 +You can use the remove-stale-node command with different identifiers:
91 +
92 +```bash
93 +# Using machine GUID
94 +netdatacli remove-stale-node <machine_guid>
95 +
96 +# Using hostname
97 +netdatacli remove-stale-node <hostname>
98 +
99 +# Remove ALL stale nodes (use with extreme caution)
100 +netdatacli remove-stale-node ALL_NODES
101 +```
102 +
103 +</details>
104 +
105 +## Prevention and Best Practices
106 +
107 +### Auto-scaling/Spot Instances
108 +For environments with auto-scaling cloud instances or spot instances that get terminated frequently, consider configuring nodes as ephemeral:
109 +
110 +```ini
111 +# In netdata.conf
112 +[global]
113 +is ephemeral node = yes
114 +```
115 +
116 +:::tip
117 +
118 +For nodes that are part of streaming configurations, see the [Nodes Ephemerality documentation](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/observability-centralization-points/nodes-ephemerality) for more advanced configuration options.
119 +
120 +:::
121 +
122 +### Prevent Automatic Reconnection
123 +To prevent removed nodes from reappearing:
124 +* Remove or clear any existing `claim.conf` file
125 +* Clear related environment variables on the node
126 +
127 +## Troubleshooting
128 +
129 +**"Delete is disabled"**: The node is Stale, not Offline. Use Method 2 (CLI approach).
130 +
131 +**"Command not found"**: Ensure you're running `netdatacli` on a system with Netdata Agent installed.
132 +
133 +**"Permission denied"**: You need **Admin** role in the Space to remove nodes.
134 +
135 +**Node reappears after removal**: The agent may still be running and configured to reconnect. Stop the agent and clear claim configuration.
136 +
137 +## Additional Resources
138 +
139 +For more advanced configuration options with streaming setups, see the [Nodes Ephemerality documentation](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/observability-centralization-points/nodes-ephemerality).