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A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Prometheus and Node Exporter

19 November 2025bpd · ubuntu

Collect and Store Your Server Metrics

The ‘Ubuntu System Administration Guide’ provides a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough for installing and configuring Prometheus and Node Exporter. Since these tools are not in the standard Ubuntu repositories, the installation is done manually, giving you a deeper understanding of how they work.

The Installation Process

The guide shows you how to:

  1. Create dedicated system users and groups for Prometheus and Node Exporter for better security.
  2. Download the latest official binaries from their GitHub releases.
  3. Move the executable files to `/usr/local/bin` and create the necessary configuration directories in `/etc`.
  4. Create `systemd` service files for both Prometheus and Node Exporter. This ensures they start automatically on boot and can be managed with standard `systemctl` commands.

After following these steps, you’ll have a running Prometheus server ready to start collecting metrics from your Node Exporter agents.

This post is based from content of the book Ubuntu System adminstration guide. And the book can be found here https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mattias-Hemmingsson/author/B0FF5CQX13