Monitoring Wings - Pterodactyl Panel

Overview

Effective monitoring helps you maintain healthy Wings nodes, identify performance issues, and troubleshoot problems before they impact users.

Wings Logs

Systemd Journal

Wings logs are managed by systemd and accessible via journalctl:

# View all Wings logs
journalctl -u wings

# Follow logs in real-time
journalctl -u wings -f

# View last 100 lines
journalctl -u wings -n 100

# View logs since specific time
journalctl -u wings --since "1 hour ago"
journalctl -u wings --since "2024-03-04 10:00:00"

# View logs with priority (error and above)
journalctl -u wings -p err

Log Levels

Wings logs at different severity levels:

debug: Detailed information (only with debug: true)
info: General informational messages
warning: Warning messages (potential issues)
error: Error messages (actual problems)
fatal: Critical errors causing shutdown

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging in /etc/pterodactyl/config.yml:

debug: true

Debug mode generates significant log output. Only enable for troubleshooting and disable in production.

Restart Wings to apply:

systemctl restart wings
journalctl -u wings -f  # Watch debug logs

Log Analysis

Common Log Patterns

Successful Operations

# Server starts
journalctl -u wings | grep "server entered running state"

# Successful SFTP authentication
journalctl -u wings | grep "sftp.*authenticated"

# Backup completion
journalctl -u wings | grep "backup.*completed"

Errors and Issues

# Authentication failures
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "auth.*fail"

# Docker errors
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "docker.*error"

# Resource limit errors
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "oom\|memory"

# Network errors
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "connection.*refused\|timeout"

Performance Issues

# Slow operations
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "slow\|timeout"

# Throttling events
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "throttle"

# Container crashes
journalctl -u wings | grep -i "container.*exit\|container.*died"

Export Logs

Export logs for analysis or support:

# Export last 1000 lines
journalctl -u wings -n 1000 > wings.log

# Export logs from specific timeframe
journalctl -u wings --since "2024-03-04" --until "2024-03-05" > wings-march4.log

# Export as JSON for parsing
journalctl -u wings -o json > wings.json

System Monitoring

Resource Usage

Wings Process

# Wings memory and CPU usage
ps aux | grep wings

# Detailed process info
top -p $(pgrep wings)

# Resource limits
cat /proc/$(pgrep wings)/limits

System Resources

# CPU usage
mpstat 1 5

# Memory usage
free -h
vmstat 1 5

# Disk usage
df -h
du -sh /var/lib/pterodactyl/*

# I/O statistics
iostat -x 1 5

Network Usage

# Network interfaces
ip -s link

# Connection count
ss -s

# Active connections
ss -tunap | grep wings

# Bandwidth usage (requires iftop)
iftop -i eth0

Docker Monitoring

Container Statistics

# Real-time stats for all containers
docker stats

# Stats for specific server
docker stats ptdl-{server-uuid}

# One-time snapshot
docker stats --no-stream

# Format output
docker stats --format "table {{.Name}}\t{{.CPUPerc}}\t{{.MemUsage}}"

Container Logs

# View server console output
docker logs ptdl-{server-uuid}

# Follow logs in real-time
docker logs -f ptdl-{server-uuid}

# Last 100 lines
docker logs --tail 100 ptdl-{server-uuid}

# Logs since timestamp
docker logs --since 2024-03-04T10:00:00 ptdl-{server-uuid}

Container Inspection

# Detailed container info
docker inspect ptdl-{server-uuid}

# Resource limits
docker inspect ptdl-{server-uuid} | jq '.[0].HostConfig | {Memory, MemorySwap, CpuQuota}'

# Network settings
docker inspect ptdl-{server-uuid} | jq '.[0].NetworkSettings.Ports'

# Container state
docker inspect ptdl-{server-uuid} | jq '.[0].State'

List All Servers

# All Pterodactyl containers
docker ps -a --filter "name=ptdl-"

# Running servers only
docker ps --filter "name=ptdl-"

# Count servers by state
docker ps -a --filter "name=ptdl-" --format "{{.Status}}" | cut -d' ' -f1 | sort | uniq -c

Performance Metrics

Wings API Metrics

Wings exposes system information via its API:

# System information
curl -k https://node.example.com:8080/api/system

# With authentication (if required)
curl -k -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" https://node.example.com:8080/api/system

Response includes:

{
  "version": "1.11.0",
  "arch": "amd64",
  "os": "linux",
  "kernel": "5.15.0-58-generic",
  "cpu_count": 8
}

Activity Monitoring

Wings sends activity events to the Panel (app/Http/Controllers/Api/Remote/ActivityProcessingController.php:18):

{
  "data": [
    {
      "server": "server-uuid",
      "user": "user-uuid",
      "event": "server:console.command",
      "metadata": {"command": "say Hello"},
      "timestamp": "2026-03-04T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

View these in the Panel:

Admin Panel → Activity Logs
Filter by server, user, or event type

Health Checks

Wings Service Status

# Check if Wings is running
systemctl status wings

# Check if enabled to start on boot
systemctl is-enabled wings

# Check service start time and uptime
systemctl show wings -p ActiveEnterTimestamp

Connectivity Tests

# Test Wings API
curl -k https://node.example.com:8080/api/system

# Test SFTP port
telnet node.example.com 2022

# Test from Panel server
curl -k https://node.example.com:8080/api/system -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"

Docker Health

# Check Docker daemon
systemctl status docker

# Docker version
docker version

# Docker system info
docker info

# Check for Docker errors
journalctl -u docker -p err --since "1 hour ago"

Panel Connectivity

Check if the node appears online in the Panel:

Navigate to Admin Panel → Nodes
Look for green heart icon next to your node
Click node to view detailed status

If offline, check:

Wings is running: systemctl status wings
Firewall allows Panel IP on port 8080
SSL certificate is valid
Node token is correct in /etc/pterodactyl/config.yml

Automated Monitoring

Prometheus & Grafana

Monitor Wings with Prometheus and visualize in Grafana:

Setup Prometheus Node Exporter

# Install node_exporter
wget https://github.com/prometheus/node_exporter/releases/download/v1.6.1/node_exporter-1.6.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar xvfz node_exporter-1.6.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv node_exporter-1.6.1.linux-amd64/node_exporter /usr/local/bin/

# Create systemd service
cat > /etc/systemd/system/node_exporter.service << EOF
[Unit]
Description=Node Exporter
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/node_exporter
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl enable --now node_exporter

Configure cAdvisor for Container Metrics

# Run cAdvisor
docker run -d \
  --name=cadvisor \
  --restart=always \
  --volume=/:/rootfs:ro \
  --volume=/var/run:/var/run:ro \
  --volume=/sys:/sys:ro \
  --volume=/var/lib/docker/:/var/lib/docker:ro \
  --publish=8081:8080 \
  gcr.io/cadvisor/cadvisor:latest

Prometheus Configuration

Add to Prometheus config:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'pterodactyl_node'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['node.example.com:9100']  # node_exporter
        labels:
          node: 'node1'

  - job_name: 'pterodactyl_containers'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['node.example.com:8081']  # cAdvisor
        labels:
          node: 'node1'

Uptime Monitoring

Monitor Wings availability:

UptimeRobot / StatusCake

Configure HTTP(S) monitor:

URL: https://node.example.com:8080/api/system
Interval: 5 minutes
Alert on: HTTP status != 200

Simple Shell Script

cat > /usr/local/bin/check-wings.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
if ! systemctl is-active --quiet wings; then
    echo "Wings is down! Attempting restart..."
    systemctl restart wings
    
    # Send alert (customize for your notification system)
    curl -X POST https://your-webhook-url \
      -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      -d '{"text":"Wings on node1 was restarted"}'
fi
EOF

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/check-wings.sh

# Add to crontab
echo "*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/check-wings.sh" | crontab -

Alerting

Disk Space Alerts

cat > /usr/local/bin/check-disk.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
THRESHOLD=90
USAGE=$(df -h /var/lib/pterodactyl | awk 'NR==2 {print $5}' | sed 's/%//')

if [ "$USAGE" -gt "$THRESHOLD" ]; then
    echo "Disk usage is ${USAGE}% - exceeds threshold of ${THRESHOLD}%"
    # Send alert
    curl -X POST https://your-webhook-url \
      -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      -d "{\"text\":\"Disk usage on node1: ${USAGE}%\"}"
fi
EOF

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/check-disk.sh
echo "0 * * * * /usr/local/bin/check-disk.sh" | crontab -

Memory Alerts

cat > /usr/local/bin/check-memory.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
THRESHOLD=90
USAGE=$(free | grep Mem | awk '{print ($3/$2) * 100.0}' | cut -d. -f1)

if [ "$USAGE" -gt "$THRESHOLD" ]; then
    echo "Memory usage is ${USAGE}% - exceeds threshold of ${THRESHOLD}%"
    # Send alert
    curl -X POST https://your-webhook-url \
      -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
      -d "{\"text\":\"Memory usage on node1: ${USAGE}%\"}"
fi
EOF

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/check-memory.sh
echo "*/15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/check-memory.sh" | crontab -

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Wings Won’t Start

# Check service status
systemctl status wings

# View recent logs
journalctl -u wings -n 50

# Common issues:
# 1. Config file syntax error
wings configure --check

# 2. Port already in use
ss -tulpn | grep -E '8080|2022'

# 3. Docker not running
systemctl status docker

# 4. SSL certificate issues
openssl x509 -in /etc/letsencrypt/live/node.example.com/cert.pem -noout -dates

High CPU Usage

# Identify CPU-intensive containers
docker stats --no-stream | sort -k 3 -hr | head -10

# Check Wings process
top -p $(pgrep wings)

# Check for runaway containers
docker ps -q | xargs docker inspect --format='{{.State.Pid}} {{.Name}}' | while read pid name; do
    echo "$name: $(ps -p $pid -o %cpu=)"
done | sort -k2 -hr

High Memory Usage

# Identify memory-intensive containers
docker stats --no-stream | sort -k 4 -hr | head -10

# Check for memory leaks
for container in $(docker ps -q --filter "name=ptdl-"); do
    echo "Container: $container"
    docker stats --no-stream $container
done

# Check system memory
free -h
vmstat 1 5

Disk Space Issues

# Check disk usage
df -h

# Find large directories
du -sh /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/* | sort -hr | head -10

# Check Docker disk usage
docker system df

# Clean up Docker resources
docker system prune -a  # WARNING: Removes unused images

# Clean up old logs
journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

Network Issues

# Test Panel connectivity
curl -k https://panel.example.com

# Test Wings API
curl -k https://node.example.com:8080/api/system

# Check port connectivity
telnet node.example.com 8080
telnet node.example.com 2022

# Check firewall rules
ufw status numbered
iptables -L -n

# Check Docker networking
docker network ls
docker network inspect bridge

Performance Optimization

Monitor Performance Bottlenecks

# CPU bottlenecks
mpstat -P ALL 1 5

# Memory bottlenecks
vmstat 1 5

# Disk I/O bottlenecks
iostat -x 1 5

# Network bottlenecks
sar -n DEV 1 5

Optimize Based on Metrics

If you identify bottlenecks:

High CPU: Reduce server count or upgrade CPU
High Memory: Add RAM or reduce server memory allocations
Disk I/O: Use faster storage (NVMe SSD) or reduce disk-intensive servers
Network: Upgrade network interface or reduce bandwidth-heavy servers

Next Steps

Security

Secure your Wings installation

Configuration

Optimize Wings configuration

Docker Management

Container resource management

Networking

Network performance tuning

Getting Started

Operations

​Overview

​Wings Logs

​Systemd Journal

​Log Levels

​Debug Mode

​Log Analysis

​Common Log Patterns

​Successful Operations

​Errors and Issues

​Performance Issues

​Export Logs

​System Monitoring

​Resource Usage

​Wings Process

​System Resources

​Network Usage

​Docker Monitoring

​Container Statistics

​Container Logs

​Container Inspection

​List All Servers

​Performance Metrics

​Wings API Metrics

​Activity Monitoring

​Health Checks

​Wings Service Status

​Connectivity Tests

​Docker Health

​Panel Connectivity

​Automated Monitoring

​Prometheus & Grafana

​Setup Prometheus Node Exporter

​Configure cAdvisor for Container Metrics

​Prometheus Configuration

​Uptime Monitoring

​UptimeRobot / StatusCake

​Simple Shell Script

​Alerting

​Disk Space Alerts

​Memory Alerts

​Troubleshooting Common Issues

​Wings Won’t Start

​High CPU Usage

​High Memory Usage

​Disk Space Issues

​Network Issues

​Performance Optimization

​Monitor Performance Bottlenecks

​Optimize Based on Metrics

​Next Steps

Security

Configuration

Docker Management

Networking

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Wings Logs

Systemd Journal

Log Levels

Debug Mode

Log Analysis

Common Log Patterns

Successful Operations

Errors and Issues

Performance Issues

Export Logs

System Monitoring

Resource Usage

Wings Process

System Resources

Network Usage

Docker Monitoring

Container Statistics

Container Logs

Container Inspection

List All Servers

Performance Metrics

Wings API Metrics

Activity Monitoring

Health Checks

Wings Service Status

Connectivity Tests

Docker Health

Panel Connectivity

Automated Monitoring

Prometheus & Grafana

Setup Prometheus Node Exporter

Configure cAdvisor for Container Metrics

Prometheus Configuration

Uptime Monitoring

UptimeRobot / StatusCake

Simple Shell Script

Alerting

Disk Space Alerts

Memory Alerts

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Wings Won’t Start

High CPU Usage

High Memory Usage

Disk Space Issues

Network Issues

Performance Optimization

Monitor Performance Bottlenecks

Optimize Based on Metrics

Next Steps