# performancecounter collector

The performancecounter collector exposes any configured metric.

|                     |                         |
|---------------------|-------------------------|
| Metric name prefix  | `performancecounter`              |
| Data source         | Performance Data Helper |
| Enabled by default? | No                      |

## Flags


### `--collector.performancecounter.objects`

Objects is a list of objects to collect metrics from. The value takes the form of a JSON array of objects.
YAML is supported.

The collector supports only English-named counter. Localized counter-names aren’t supported.

> [!CAUTION]
> If you are using a configuration file, the value must be kept as a string.
>
> Use a `|-` to keep the value as a string.

#### Example

```yaml
collector:
  performancecounter:
    objects: |-
      - name: memory
        object: "Memory"
        counters:
          - name: "Cache Faults/sec"
            metric: windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_total # optional
            type: "counter" # optional
```

#### Schema

YAML:

<details>
<summary>Click to expand YAML schema</summary>

```yaml
- name: cpu # free text name
  object: "Processor Information" # Performance counter object name
  instances: ["*"]
  instance_label: "core"
  counters:
    - name: "% User Time"
      metric: windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total # optional
      labels:
        state: user
    - name: "% Privileged Time"
      metric: windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total # optional
      labels:
        state: privileged
    - name: "% Idle Time"
      metric: windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total # optional
      labels:
        state: idle
- name: memory
  object: "Memory"
  type: "formatted"
  counters:
    - name: "Cache Faults/sec"
      metric: windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_per_second # optional
      type: "gauge" # optional
      multiplier: 1 # optional
```

</details>

<details>
<summary>Click to expand JSON schema</summary>

```json
[
  {
    "name": "cpu",
    "object": "Processor Information",
    "instances": [
      "*"
    ],
    "instance_label": "core",
    "counters": [
      {
        "name": "% User Time",
        "metric": "windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total",
        "labels": {
          "state": "user"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "% Privileged Time",
        "metric": "windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total",
        "labels": {
          "state": "privileged"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "% Idle Time",
        "metric": "windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total",
        "labels": {
          "state": "idle"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "name": "memory",
    "object": "Memory",
    "type": "formatted",
    "counters": [
      {
        "name": "Cache Faults/sec",
        "metric": "windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_per_second",
        "type": "gauge",
        "multiplier": 1
      }
    ]
  }
]
```
</details>

#### name

The name is used to identify the object in the logs and metrics.
Must unique across all objects.

#### object

ObjectName is the Object to query for, like Processor, DirectoryServices, LogicalDisk or similar.

The collector supports only english named counter. Localized counter-names are not supported.

#### type

The counter-type. The value can be `raw` or `formatted`. Optional and defaults to `raw`.

- `raw` returns the raw value of the counter. This is the default.
- `formatted` returns the formatted value of the counter. This is useful for counters like `Processor Information` where the value is a percentage.

The difference between a raw Windows Performance Counter and a formatted Windows Performance Counter is about how the data is presented and processed:

1. Raw Windows Performance Counter:

   This provides the counter's data in its basic, unprocessed form.
   The values may represent cumulative counts, time intervals, or other uncalibrated metrics.
   Interpreting these values often requires more calculations or context, such as calculating deltas or normalizing values over time.

2. Formatted Windows Performance Counter:

   This presents data that has already been processed and interpreted according to the counter type (e.g., rates per second, averages, percentages).
   Formatted counters are easier to understand directly since the necessary calculations have been applied.
   These are often what monitoring tools display to users because they are meaningful at a glance.

For example:

* A raw counter for CPU time might give the total number of clock ticks used since the system started.
* A formatted counter would convert this into a percentage of CPU utilization over a specific time interval.


#### instances

The instances key (this is an array) declares the instances of a counter you would like returned, it can be one or more values.

Example: Instances = `["C:","D:","E:"]`

This will return only for the instances C:, D: and E: where relevant. To get all instances of a Counter, use `["*"]` only.

Some Objects like `Memory` do not have instances to select from at all. In this case, the `instances` key can be omitted.

#### instance_label

The name of the label that holds the instance name. Optional and defaults to `object_instance`. Do not use `instance`: it collides with the target label that Prometheus adds.

The label is only added if `instances` is set.

Some objects report the same instance name more than once in a sample, for example `Process` reports every `svchost` process as `svchost`.
The first instance keeps its name, later ones get the suffix `#1`, `#2` and so on, skipping names that Windows reported itself, such as a network adapter `Ethernet#2`.
The suffix depends on the order of the sample and does not identify an instance across scrapes.

#### counters

List of counters to collect from the object. See the counters sub-schema for more information.

#### counters Sub-Schema

##### name

The name of the counter to collect.

##### metric

It indicates the name of the metric to be exposed. If not specified, the metric name will be generated based on the object name and the counter name.

This key is optional.

##### type

It indicates the type of the counter. The value can be `counter` or `gauge`.
If not specified, the windows_exporter will try to determine the type based on the counter type.

This key is optional.

##### multiplier

A factor that the value is multiplied by before it is exported, to convert it to
the base unit the Prometheus [naming conventions](https://prometheus.io/docs/practices/naming/#base-units)
ask for. For example, `0.001` converts milliseconds to seconds, `0.01` percent to
a ratio and `3600` hours to seconds. It must be a positive number, so counters
keep counting up. If the multiplier is the reciprocal of an integer, like `0.001`,
the value is divided by that integer instead, which avoids rounding artifacts
such as `0.009000000000000001`. If not specified, the value is exported as is.

With the object `type` `raw`, the default, time counters are already converted
to seconds, so do not scale them again:

- the 100 ns timers (`PERF_100NSEC_TIMER`, `PERF_100NSEC_TIMER_INV`,
  `PERF_100NSEC_MULTI_TIMER`, `PERF_100NSEC_MULTI_TIMER_INV` and
  `PERF_PRECISION_100NS_TIMER`), such as `% Idle Time`;
- `PERF_COUNTER_100NS_QUEUELEN_TYPE` counters, such as `Avg. Data Queue Length`
  of `SMB Client Shares`, as queue length times seconds, so their rate is the
  average queue length;
- `PERF_AVERAGE_TIMER` counters, such as `Avg. Disk sec/Read`, as the summed
  duration in seconds, using the time base of the counter. Their second value
  is the number of operations;
- `PERF_ELAPSED_TIME` counters, such as `Process\Elapsed Time`, as seconds since
  the start.

The raw value of an `_INV` counter is the inactive time: for `% Processor Time`,
that is the idle time, not the busy time. `MULTI_TIMER` values are summed over
all units of the counter, so they can grow faster than wall time.

This key is optional.

##### labels

Labels is a map of key-value pairs that will be added as labels to the metric.

Counters of the same object that share a metric name must differ in their labels, like `state` in the schema example above.
Otherwise, they would produce identical series and the collector fails to start.

### Example

```
# HELP windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_per_second windows_exporter: custom Performance Counter metric
# TYPE windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_per_second gauge
windows_performancecounter_memory_cache_faults_per_second 0
# HELP windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total windows_exporter: custom Performance Counter metric
# TYPE windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total counter
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,0",state="idle"} 92831.8125
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,0",state="privileged"} 28957.421875
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,0",state="user"} 12147.921875
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,1",state="idle"} 92790.4375
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,1",state="privileged"} 26724.78125
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,1",state="user"} 14421.8125
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,2",state="idle"} 91185.484375
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,2",state="privileged"} 27029.34375
windows_performancecounter_processor_information_processor_time_total{core="0,2",state="user"} 15722.203125
```

The memory gauge reads `0` here because the output comes from a single scrape: a formatted rate such as
`Cache Faults/sec` needs two samples, so it reports a value from the second scrape on.
> [!NOTE]
> If you are using a configuration file, the value must be keep as string.

Example:

```yaml
collector:
  performancecounter:
    objects: |
```


## Metrics

The perfdata collector returns metrics based on the user configuration.
The metrics are named based on the object name and the counter name.
The instance name is added as a label to the metric.

In addition, the collector exposes the following metrics for each configured object:

| Name | Description | Type | Labels |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `windows_performancecounter_collector_success` | Whether a performancecounter child collector was successful. | gauge | `collector` |
| `windows_performancecounter_collector_duration_seconds` | Duration of an performancecounter child collection. | gauge | `collector` |

The `collector` label contains the configured object `name`.

# Examples

## thermalzone collector

```yaml
collector:
  performancecounter:
    objects: |-
      - name: thermalzone
        object: "Thermal Zone Information"
        instances: ["*"]
        type: formatted
        counters:
          - name: "Temperature"
            type: "gauge"
            metric: windows_thermalzone_temperature_kelvin
          - name: "% Passive Limit"
            type: "gauge"
            metric: windows_thermalzone_percent_passive_limit
          - name: "Throttle Reasons"
            type: "gauge"
            metric: windows_thermalzone_throttle_reasons
```