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Run Blackbox Exporter as a separate service, define an HTTP probe module, and have Prometheus call the exporter’s /probe endpoint for each website URL. Relabel each URL into the probe request, alert on probe_success == 0 after a sustained failure, and let Alertmanager group and deliver the resulting alerts. Keep a second Prometheus job on the exporter’s own /metrics endpoint so an exporter outage cannot be mistaken for a website outage.
What this monitoring design measures
This is an active, black-box check: a probe makes a request to the endpoint and records what an outside client can observe. Prometheus stores the resulting time series, evaluates alert rules, and sends firing alerts to Alertmanager. Alertmanager then groups related alerts and routes them to the configured receivers.
The Blackbox Exporter project describes the service this way: “The blackbox exporter allows blackbox probing of endpoints over HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, TCP, ICMP and gRPC.” An HTTP probe is therefore one part of a broader dependency-monitoring design, not a replacement for application metrics or logs.
A successful Prometheus scrape of the exporter only proves that the exporter returned metrics. It does not prove that the website was reachable. That is why the target URL is passed as a parameter to /probe, and why the exporter itself needs a separate scrape job.
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Components and request flow
- Blackbox Exporter runs as its own service and loads a module such as
http_2xxfromblackbox.yml. - Prometheus scrapes the exporter’s
/probepath and supplies the module name plus the real website URL. - Relabeling moves the configured target into the
targetquery parameter and changes the scrape address to the exporter service. - The exporter probes the website and exposes probe results, including
probe_successand timing metrics. - Prometheus evaluates alert rules against those metrics.
- Firing alerts are sent to Alertmanager, where grouping, inhibition, routing, and notification are configured.
This arrangement separates target probing from metric collection. Prometheus knows which URL was tested through the instance label, while the network address it scrapes remains the Blackbox Exporter.
Prerequisites and design decisions
- A running Prometheus server that can reach the Blackbox Exporter service.
- A Blackbox Exporter process with a readable
blackbox.ymlconfiguration. - Network access from the exporter to every hostname, port, and protocol you intend to test.
- Alertmanager reachable by Prometheus for alert delivery.
- A decision about probe location. An in-cluster probe tests the path from that cluster; an external vantage point tests what users outside the cluster experience.
- An agreed failure window. A short
for:period pages quickly but is more sensitive to transient network errors; a longer period tolerates brief interruptions but delays notification.
Do not assume that an HTTP check covers every failure mode. DNS resolution, TCP connection establishment, TLS negotiation, application responses, and downstream dependencies can fail independently.
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Start with the built-in-style module name http_2xx and the HTTP prober:
modules:
http_2xx:
prober: httpThis module establishes the basic expectation that the endpoint responds successfully to an HTTP probe. It is suitable for a health URL or a public page when any successful 2xx response is acceptable.
A 2xx-only check is not always sufficient. Extend the module when the service requires a particular status code, redirect behavior, request header, or response-body match. Those checks should reflect the endpoint’s contract: for example, a login-protected health route may need authentication headers, while a content check can verify that the response contains an expected marker. Keep credentials out of files that are editable by broad groups.
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For HTTPS targets, the HTTP probe also exercises the TLS connection. Add certificate-expiry coverage when certificate rotation is a material operational risk; availability and certificate lifetime are separate conditions and should produce distinguishable alerts.
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Add a multi-target scrape job. The important details are the /probe path, the module parameter, and the relabeling chain:
scrape_configs:
- job_name: blackbox_http
metrics_path: /probe
params:
module: [http_2xx]
static_configs:
- targets:
- https://example.com/health
- https://www.example.com/
relabel_configs:
- source_labels: [__address__]
target_label: __param_target
- source_labels: [__param_target]
target_label: instance
- target_label: __address__
replacement: blackbox-exporter:9115How the relabeling works
- Prometheus initially treats each entry under
targetsas__address__. - The first rule copies that URL to
__param_target, which becomes the probe request’stargetparameter. - The second rule copies the same URL to
instance, preserving a useful label in dashboards and alerts. - The final rule replaces the scrape address with
blackbox-exporter:9115, so Prometheus contacts the exporter rather than trying to scrape the website directly.
Use a distinct target entry for each URL whose availability you need to report. A homepage and a health endpoint can fail differently, so alert labels should identify the exact URL or service path.
Step 3: Scrape the exporter’s own metrics
Keep exporter health separate from probe health. Add another job that scrapes the service’s normal metrics endpoint:
scrape_configs:
- job_name: blackbox_exporter
static_configs:
- targets:
- blackbox-exporter:9115This job uses the exporter’s /metrics endpoint. If it fails while all website probes disappear, you can investigate the monitoring path itself instead of declaring every website down. Give the exporter job its own alert or dashboard so an exporter crash, a network-policy change, and a genuine target outage are distinguishable.
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Test the exporter directly with a request shaped like this:
/probe?target=https://example.com&module=http_2xxInspect probe_success and the timing metrics in the response. A value of 1 means the configured probe succeeded; 0 means it did not. Timing series show where time was spent and help distinguish a slow endpoint from an immediately refused connection.
Also verify the target from the exporter’s network location, not only from your laptop. DNS views, firewall rules, proxy requirements, and certificate trust can differ between those environments.
Apply configuration changes only after validating the syntax with the validation mechanism provided by your Blackbox Exporter deployment. Reload the exporter with its /-/reload endpoint or by sending SIGHUP. Confirm that the new module appears in the next probe rather than assuming a reload succeeded.
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Step 5: Alert on sustained probe failures
The fundamental availability expression is:
probe_success == 0Use a for: window so one transient scrape does not immediately page someone. A complete Prometheus rule can look like this:
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groups:
- name: blackbox
rules:
- alert: WebsiteProbeFailed
expr: probe_success == 0
for: 5m
labels:
severity: page
annotations:
summary: "HTTP probe failed for {{ $labels.instance }}"
description: "The Blackbox Exporter probe has failed continuously for five minutes."The five-minute value is an example, not a universal setting. Choose the window from the endpoint’s normal behavior, scrape interval, maintenance practice, and the cost of a false page. A payment endpoint may justify faster escalation than a low-priority status page, while an unstable network path may need a longer confirmation period.
Latency alerts
A website can return a valid response and still be too slow for users. Use the probe duration and timeout-related metrics to create a second alert with a threshold tied to that service’s objective. Keep this alert separate from availability so operators can tell “unreachable” from “reachable but slow.” Do not use a latency threshold copied from another service: response times vary by endpoint, region, and probe location.
Certificate and protocol alerts
For HTTPS services, add certificate-expiry coverage and route it differently from an outage alert when possible. Probe DNS, TCP, ICMP, or gRPC dependencies when an HTTP result cannot isolate the failing layer. A DNS probe can reveal name-resolution failures; a TCP probe can identify a closed port; an ICMP probe can show reachability issues; and a gRPC module can test a service that has no HTTP health endpoint.
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Step 6: Send alerts through Alertmanager
Prometheus sends firing alerts to Alertmanager, not directly to every person or system that should receive them. Configure Alertmanager to group alerts by labels such as alert name and instance, then route groups to the appropriate receiver. Grouping prevents one network event from generating a separate notification for every URL, while distinct labels preserve the affected target.
Define receivers for the channels your organization operates, and keep credentials in protected configuration or a secret-management system. Alertmanager’s HTTP traffic supports TLS and basic authentication; use those controls when Prometheus and Alertmanager communicate across an untrusted network.
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Route availability, latency, certificate, and exporter-health alerts deliberately. For example, a sustained website failure may page an on-call team, while an approaching certificate expiry can open a ticket or send a lower-urgency notification. The correct routing depends on ownership and response procedures, not on the metric name alone.
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| Signal | What it answers | Useful follow-up |
|---|---|---|
probe_success |
Did the configured probe succeed? | Alert after a sustained zero and identify the URL with instance. |
| HTTP status and response behavior | Did the endpoint return the status, redirect, header, or body expected by its contract? | Customize the HTTP module when a generic 2xx test is too broad. |
| Probe duration and timeout metrics | Is the endpoint responding slowly or timing out? | Set a service-specific latency threshold and alert separately from downtime. |
| TLS and certificate data | Can HTTPS negotiate correctly, and is certificate expiry approaching? | Combine HTTPS probing with certificate-expiry alert coverage. |
| DNS, TCP, ICMP, or gRPC probe results | Which dependency layer is failing? | Add a module that matches the layer you need to isolate. |
Timeouts, DNS, and probe location
Blackbox Exporter resolves target hostnames for each probe and does not cache DNS results. If you probe many names frequently, a nearby caching resolver can reduce DNS load. This is especially important when several targets share the same resolver path or when probe frequency is high.
The exporter timeout is derived from Prometheus’s scrape timeout and can also be limited in the exporter configuration. Keep the scrape interval and timeout consistent with the response time you intend to measure. If Prometheus stops scraping before the probe can finish, a slow target may look like a generic scrape failure rather than a measured timeout.
Probe location changes the meaning of every result. An exporter inside a cluster validates the cluster’s DNS, egress policy, routes, and trust store. An exporter outside that network measures a more user-like path. If regional failures matter, deploy probes in the regions whose experience you need to observe and label them so Alertmanager can group or route by location.
Security requirements
- Restrict access to Prometheus, Blackbox Exporter, and Alertmanager endpoints with network policy or firewall rules.
- Use TLS and authentication where monitoring traffic crosses a boundary or carries sensitive configuration.
- Do not expose a general-purpose probe endpoint to the public internet; an unrestricted target parameter can be abused to make your exporter scan or access unintended destinations.
- Protect Alertmanager receiver configuration. Monitoring systems expose HTTP endpoints, and secrets in templates may be visible to anyone who can configure receivers.
- Limit who can edit modules, scrape targets, alert rules, and receiver definitions.
- Review headers and body-matching rules for accidental inclusion of credentials or personal data in labels and annotations.
Troubleshooting by symptom
The probe returns probe_success 0
- Run the direct
/proberequest and inspect timing and error metrics. - Check DNS resolution from the exporter host; remember that the exporter resolves names for every probe.
- Verify firewall, proxy, egress, and certificate-trust settings from the exporter’s network location.
- Confirm that the module name in the Prometheus job exactly matches the module loaded by Blackbox Exporter.
- Check whether the endpoint requires a status, redirect, header, or body rule that the current module does not define.
Prometheus shows no target or the wrong instance label
- Confirm that the URL is under
static_configs.targets. - Check all three relabeling steps: URL to
__param_target, parameter toinstance, and exporter address to__address__. - Verify that the exporter service name and port are reachable from Prometheus.
Every target fails at once
- Inspect the separate exporter
/metricsscrape job. - Check whether the exporter process reloaded successfully and whether its configuration is valid.
- Look for a shared DNS, egress, firewall, or certificate-trust change before investigating each website individually.
Alerts never arrive
- Confirm that Prometheus evaluates the rule and that the expression is firing for the expected labels.
- Verify Prometheus-to-Alertmanager connectivity and authentication.
- Inspect Alertmanager routing and grouping labels; an alert can be grouped or routed differently from the receiver you expected.
- Check receiver credentials, TLS settings, and Alertmanager logs without placing secrets in broadly visible annotations.
Choosing an implementation pattern
- In-cluster probe: best for validating internal DNS, service discovery, ingress, and egress behavior from the application environment.
- External probe: best for measuring a public endpoint from outside the hosting network and detecting edge, routing, or provider failures hidden from the cluster.
- Status-only HTTP check: simplest to operate when any successful 2xx response is acceptable.
- Content and certificate validation: appropriate when a status code can be returned by a broken application, stale cache, incorrect redirect, or expired certificate.
- Single endpoint: useful for a focused service-level signal, but it cannot identify which dependency failed.
- Dependency coverage: add DNS, TCP, ICMP, or gRPC probes when isolating the failing layer matters.
- Self-hosted pipeline: gives control over probe placement, retention, and routing but requires you to operate Prometheus, the exporter, Alertmanager, and their security boundaries.
- Managed monitoring: reduces operational burden but requires checking where probes run, how targets and credentials are protected, and how alert routing is customized.
Operational checklist
- Run Blackbox Exporter as a separate service.
- Define the smallest module that matches the endpoint contract, beginning with
http_2xxwhen appropriate. - Use the
/probescrape pattern and preserve the target URL ininstance. - Scrape the exporter’s own
/metricsendpoint in a separate job. - Test probes directly before relying on alerts.
- Alert on sustained
probe_success == 0, then add latency and certificate rules where they matter. - Keep scrape intervals and timeouts compatible with the response times you intend to measure.
- Reload with
/-/reloadorSIGHUPonly after validating configuration. - Secure all monitoring endpoints and protect receiver credentials.
- Review probe location and dependency coverage whenever the service’s failure modes change.
With this separation of probing, metric evaluation, and notification, a website outage becomes an actionable alert that identifies the affected URL, while exporter and dependency failures remain visible as distinct monitoring problems.
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