netdata_netdata/packaging/makeself

Netdata Static Binary Build

Netdata provides pre-built static binaries for Linux systems where native packages aren't available. The installer automatically uses these static builds when needed.

Key Features:

• Self-contained installation (no system dependencies required, no interference with system libraries)
• Installed under /opt/netdata

Supported Architectures

Architecture	Identifier	Notes
x86_64	x86_64	64-bit Intel/AMD processors
ARMv7	armv7l	Raspberry Pi 2/3, many SBCs
AArch64	aarch64	ARM 64-bit (Pi 4, newer devices)
POWER8+	ppc64le	IBM POWER architecture

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Build Process

Requirements

Requirement	Purpose
Docker or Podman	Container environment for isolated builds
~10GB disk space	For build artifacts and containers

Preparation

Before building, ensure your repository is clean from previous builds.

→ Perform a cleanup

Building the Static Binary

Run the build script with your target architecture identifier:

# For x86_64 (default)
./packaging/makeself/build-static.sh x86_64

# For ARM 64-bit (AArch64)
./packaging/makeself/build-static.sh aarch64

# For ARMv7
./packaging/makeself/build-static.sh armv7l

# For POWER8+
./packaging/makeself/build-static.sh ppc64le

The script will automatically:

• Launch an Alpine Linux container
• Install necessary build dependencies
• Compile required third-party tools (bash, curl, etc.)
• Build Netdata with optimized settings
• Package everything into a self-extracting installer

When building for an architecture different from your host:

• The build process uses QEMU for emulation
• Build times will be significantly longer
• More disk space may be required
• Some features may have architecture-specific limitations

Build Output

The process generates several installer files in the artifacts/ directory:

artifacts/
├── netdata-latest.gz.run                    # Latest version
├── netdata-v[VERSION]-[BUILD].gz.run        # Specific version
├── netdata-[ARCH]-latest.gz.run             # Architecture-specific latest
└── netdata-[ARCH]-v[VERSION]-[BUILD].gz.run # Architecture-specific version

Example output:

$ ls -l artifacts/
drwxrwxr-x   - user group     cache
.rwxrwxr-x 94M user group     netdata-latest.gz.run
.rwxrwxr-x 94M user group     netdata-v2.3.0-193-nightly.gz.run
.rwxrwxr-x 94M user group     netdata-x86_64-latest.gz.run
.rwxrwxr-x 94M user group     netdata-x86_64-v2.3.0-193-nightly.gz.run

Advanced Build Options

Debug Builds

For troubleshooting, you can create a debug-enabled build:

./packaging/makeself/build-static.sh x86_64 debug

Debug build characteristics:

• Larger file size
• Runtime performance impact
• Additional diagnostic information
• Disabled optimizations
• Enhanced tracing capabilities

Troubleshooting

Running with Valgrind

To diagnose memory issues or crashes:

PATH="/opt/netdata/bin:${PATH}" valgrind --undef-value-errors=no /opt/netdata/bin/srv/netdata -D

Important notes:

• Performance will be significantly reduced (~10x slower)
• Stop Valgrind with Ctrl+C
• The --undef-value-errors=no flag suppresses hundreds of false positives from the bundled libraries

Crash Reporting

If Netdata crashes during development or testing:

1. Capture the complete Valgrind output
2. Open a GitHub Issue
3. Include:
   • Build details (architecture, version)
   • Complete stack trace
   • Steps to reproduce the issue