# collectd Agent

> **Installing and configuring collectd**
>
> 1. Install [collectd](https://collectd.org/documentation.shtml) on your system. It’s usually available via your normal package manager, e.g. `apt-get install collectd`
> 2. From the Hosted Graphite Add-ons page, select collectd and download the appropriate configuration file. Version 5.4 works with most versions of collectd
> 3. Copy the downloaded configuration file to `/etc/collect/collectd.conf`. If you want to keep the original configuration file, rename it to collectd.conf.old
> 4. Configure optional plugins to collect data from many different technologies and running processes on your servers, see their table of plugins [here](https://collectd.org/wiki/index.php/Table_of_Plugins)
> 5. Restart collectd so that it uses the new configuration file, and metrics will appear in your Hosted Graphite account, prefixed with `collectd`
>
> **Generating and viewing the collectd dashboard**
>
> > Once collectd is up and running, you can automatically generate a dashboard from our dashboard library. Navigate to Dashboards => [Dashboard Library](https://docs.hostedgraphite.com/dashboard-and-graphs/dashboard-library) and click 'Generate'.

<figure><img src="https://495119770-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZtHmoGZNsmARIViZEdbz%2Fuploads%2FOiJ3ljwpI9A8kfEO37ez%2Fcollectd-agent.png?alt=media&#x26;token=84a84953-37a3-4ef2-9b0f-f272c810fbc6" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

For more detailed information on how to manually configure collectd, see our [collectd doc](https://docs.hostedgraphite.com/add-ons-and-integrations-guide/collectd-add-ons) in the Add-Ons and Integrations Guide.