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Configure Telegraf to ignore file systems by type

To tell Telegraf to ignore specific file system types, you need to configure the disk input plugin in your Telegraf configuration file (telegraf.conf). Here's how:

Locate your Telegraf configuration file. The default location is usually:

Linux: /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf

Windows: In the directory where you extracted the Telegraf zip file (e.g., C:\Program Files\Telegraf\telegraf.conf)

Open the telegraf.conf file in a text editor.

Find the [[inputs.disk]] section. If it doesn't exist, you can add it. This section configures the disk input plugin.   

Add or modify the ignore_fs parameter. This parameter is an array of strings, where each string is a file system type you want Telegraf to ignore. Uncomment the line if it's commented out (remove the # at the beginning).   

For example, to ignore tmpfs, devtmpfs, and iso9660 file systems, your configuration should look like this:

[[inputs.disk]]
## By default stats will be gathered for all mount points.
## Set mount_points will restrict the stats to only the specified mount points.
# mount_points = ["/"]

## Ignore mount points by filesystem type.
ignore_fs = ["tmpfs", "devtmpfs", "iso9660"]

## Ignore mount points by mount options.
## The 'mount' command reports options of all mounts in parathesis.
## Bind mounts can be ignored with the special 'bind' option.
# ignore_mount_opts = []


Save the telegraf.conf file.

Restart the Telegraf service for the changes to take effect. The command to restart Telegraf depends on your operating system:

Linux (using systemd): sudo systemctl restart telegraf

Linux (using SysVinit): sudo service telegraf restart

Windows (if Telegraf is running as a service): Restart-Service Telegraf in PowerShell as Administrator.

After restarting, Telegraf will no longer collect disk usage metrics for the file system types listed in the ignore_fs parameter.

Common file system types to ignore:


tmpfs: Temporary file system backed by RAM.

devtmpfs: Device file system.

devfs: Another type of device file system.

iso9660: File system for optical discs (CD-ROM, DVD).

overlay: Overlay file system.

aufs: Another union file system.

squashfs: Compressed read-only file system.

proc: Process information pseudo-filesystem.

sysfs: System information pseudo-filesystem.

cgroup: Control groups filesystem.

vboxsf: VirtualBox shared folder file system.


You can add any other file system types you want to exclude to the ignore_fs list. Please consult your system's /proc/mounts (on Linux/Unix) or use the mount command to identify the file system types you want to ignore.

See also:

Server Metrics - Telegraf