|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +layout: docs-user-guide |
| 3 | +title: Usage Telemetry |
| 4 | +slug: telemetry |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +Starting with the 4.1.0 release, Node-RED gathers anonymous usage information once |
| 9 | +a day and shares it with the Node-RED team. |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +This information is only shared with the Node-RED team once the user has opted |
| 12 | +into sharing their information. If the user declines to share their information, |
| 13 | +nothing is sent back to the team. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +### Why? |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +Historically, the only measures we've had around the size and scale of the Node-RED |
| 18 | +user-base have been secondary indicators, such as high-level statistics provided |
| 19 | +by npm and docker, or the general level of activity on the community forum. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +This does not give us much useful information to help understand Node-RED usage; |
| 22 | +such as what versions of Node.JS are being used, what operating systems are favoured. |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +### What data is collected? |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +With the 4.1.0 release, the collected information is: |
| 28 | + - A randomly generated instance identifier to allow us to de-duplicate reports |
| 29 | + - Node-RED version |
| 30 | + - Node.JS version |
| 31 | + - OS type/release/architecture |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +It does **not** contain: |
| 34 | + - Any personal information |
| 35 | + - Any flow configuration information |
| 36 | + - Any user-specific information related to security |
| 37 | + - Any information outside the scope of Node-RED |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +### How is the data collected? |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +If the user has opted to share information, a task will run 30 minutes after |
| 42 | +Node-RED starts (or when they opt-in), and every 24 hours after that. |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +The data is sent over HTTPS to an endpoint hosted by the Node-RED project. |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +### What happens to the data? |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +The reports are aggregated into a daily record of usage. The individual reports |
| 49 | +are kept for up to 90 days. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +### Who has access to the data? |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +The raw data is only accessible by the core Team Committers. |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +The aggregated data will be made available on a public dashboard for public |
| 56 | +consumption. _Note_: At the time of writing, we have not yet released this feature, |
| 57 | +so we have very little data to start building the dashboard with. Once it is available, |
| 58 | +this document will be updated to link to it and it will be publicised within the community. |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +### How do I opt out? |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +We hope you'll share your information to help us maintain the project. However, |
| 63 | +if you want to opt out, there are a number of ways to do so. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +#### Editor Settings |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +The first time you open the editor for Node-RED 4.1 or later, if you have not |
| 68 | +already opted in or out, you will be asked if you are willing to share your information. |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +You can change you made via the Editor Settings dialog at any time. |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +#### `settings.js` file |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +You can also enable/disable telemetry via your settings file. |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +If you have a preexisting settings file, you will need to add a `telemetry` section. |
| 77 | +For new installs of Node-RED, the default settings file already has this section, but |
| 78 | +with the `enabled` option commented out. Remove the `//` at the start of the line |
| 79 | +and change the value to `false`: |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +``` |
| 82 | + telemetry: { |
| 83 | + enabled: false, |
| 84 | + /** |
| 85 | + * If telemetry is enabled, the editor will notify the user if a new version of Node-RED |
| 86 | + * is available. Set the following property to false to disable this notification. |
| 87 | + */ |
| 88 | + updateNotification: true |
| 89 | + }, |
| 90 | +``` |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +#### Other |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +You can also disable telemetry using the `--no-telemetry` command-line flag, or by setting |
| 95 | +`NODE_RED_DISABLE_TELEMETRY` environment variable. |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +### Update notification |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +With the usage telemetry feature enabled, in response to sending the information, Node-RED |
| 100 | +is notified when there is a new version available. This will generate a notification |
| 101 | +in the editor tp help you know when its time to upgrade. |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +This notification can be disabled via the `telemetry.updateNotification` setting in the |
| 104 | +settings file; it cannot be disabled from within the editor. |
| 105 | + |
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