Pulse/docs/VM_DISK_MONITORING.md

💾 VM Disk Monitoring

Monitor actual disk usage inside your VMs using the QEMU Guest Agent.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install Guest Agent:
   • Linux: apt install qemu-guest-agent (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum install qemu-guest-agent (RHEL).
   • Windows: Install virtio-win drivers.
2. Enable in Proxmox:
   • VM Options → QEMU Guest Agent → Enabled.
   • Restart the VM.
3. Verify:
   • Run qm agent <vmid> ping on the Proxmox host.
   • Check Pulse dashboard for disk usage (e.g., "5.2GB used of 32GB").

⚙️ Requirements

• QEMU Guest Agent: Must be installed and running inside the VM.
• Proxmox Permissions:
  • Proxmox 8: VM.Monitor
  • Proxmox 9+: VM.GuestAgent.Audit
  • Note: The Pulse setup script handles these permissions automatically.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Disk shows "-"	Hover over the dash for details. Common causes: Agent not running, disabled in config, or permission denied.
Permission Denied	Re-run the Pulse setup script to update permissions, or manually add VM.GuestAgent.Audit.
Agent Timeout	Increase timeouts via env vars if network is slow: GUEST_AGENT_FSINFO_TIMEOUT=10s.
Windows VMs	Ensure the QEMU Guest Agent service is running in Windows Services.

Diagnostic Script

Run this on your Proxmox host to debug specific VMs:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rcourtman/Pulse/main/scripts/test-vm-disk.sh | bash

📝 Notes

• Network Mounts: NFS/SMB mounts are automatically excluded.
• Databases: Usage reflects filesystem usage, which may differ from database-internal metrics.
• Containers: LXC containers are monitored natively without the guest agent.