Documentation

Everything you need to get a server monitored in under 2 minutes. No YAML, no exporters, no PhD required.

Quickstart

01

Install the agent

Download and install the Kernus agent on the server you want to monitor. The agent runs as a background process and sends metrics to Kernus.

Linux / macOS

$curl -sSL https://kernus.app/install | sh

Requires a Unix shell (macOS or Linux Terminal). On Windows, use WSL or Git Bash for this command — or install with PowerShell.

Then (after creating your token in step 2)

$kernus token kn_live_xxxx --host company-backend
$kernus agent start

Supports Linux (x86_64 / arm64) and macOS.

Windows (PowerShell)

Open Windows PowerShell (not Command Prompt). This downloads kernus.exe, verifies the SHA256 checksum, and adds it to your user PATH — same binary as the dashboard download.

PS>irm https://kernus.app/install.ps1 | iex

64-bit Windows (amd64) only. Close and reopen the terminal after install so kernus is on PATH. Then continue with step 2 (token) and step 3 below — the CLI commands are the same.

02

Create an Agent Token

Log in to the dashboard, go to Agent Tokens, and create a new token for this server. Each server gets its own token.

The token is shown only once — copy it somewhere safe before closing the page.

03

Configure and start

Point the agent at your token and give the server a name. Then start the agent — it will begin sending metrics immediately.

$kernus token kn_live_xxxx --host company-backend
$kernus agent start

The agent starts in the background by default. Stop it with `kernus agent stop`. On Linux, you can also run it as a systemd service (see below).

04

View your server in the dashboard

Head to Nodes in the sidebar. Your server should appear within a few seconds with live CPU, memory, and container metrics.

Running as a service (Linux)

To keep the agent running after a reboot, create a systemd unit. Replace the token and host name with your own values.

/etc/systemd/system/kernus-agent.service
[Unit]
Description=Kernus Metrics Agent
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/kernus agent start
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Environment=KERNUS_AGENT_TOKEN=kn_live_xxx
Environment=KERNUS_HOST_NAME=my-server

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
$sudo systemctl enable --now kernus-agent
$sudo journalctl -fu kernus-agent

Signed up with Google?

Accounts created via Google Sign-In have no password. Create an agent token directly from the dashboard and skip straight to step 3.

$kernus token kn_live_xxxx --host company-backend
$kernus agent start

CLI reference

kernus token <token> --host <name>Save a token to local config (agent.conf)
kernus agent startStart the metrics collection agent
kernus agent stopStop the running background agent process
kernus seeOpen the terminal UI to watch containers live
kernus agent start --token <token>Shortcut: set token and start in one command