Datadog Network Performance Monitoring Error — Quick Fix

In this tutorial, you'll learn about Datadog Network Performance Monitoring Error. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices.

The Problem

Datadog Network Performance Monitoring is not showing any network connections or traffic flows. The NPM map is empty, or no dependencies are visible between services. The system-probe component may be failing to load eBPF programs.

Error example:

system-probe: error loading eBPF programs: permission denied
system-probe: connection tracking limit reached
NPM: no connections found in the last 15 minutes

The Fix

Step 1: Check the system-probe status

WRONG — assuming NPM is enabled by default:

# System-probe must be separately configured for NPM

RIGHT — verify system-probe is running:

datadog-agent status

Output:

=========
System Probe
=========
  Status: Running
  Network: Connected
  Connections tracked: 12345

If the system-probe is not running, enable it in datadog.yaml:

network_config:
  enabled: true

Step 2: Fix eBPF permissions

WRONG — disabling security features to run eBPF:

# Disabling security features is unnecessary

RIGHT — grant the system-probe the required capabilities:

# In datadog.yaml for containerized deployment:
system_probe_config:
  sysprobe_socket: /var/run/system-probe/system-probe.sock
  sysprobe_socket_owner: "dd-agent"

For host deployments, ensure the kernel supports eBPF:

# Check eBPF support
grep CONFIG_BPF /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Use DodaTech's NPM Deployment Validator to check kernel compatibility, eBPF support, and system-probe configuration across all hosts.

Prevention Tips

• Run on Linux kernel 4.15+ (5.x+ recommended for full features)
• Grant SYS_ADMIN, NET_ADMIN, and SYS_PTRACE capabilities
• Set network_config.enabled: true in the agent configuration
• Monitor system_probe.connections.count metric
• Use DodaTech's Datadog NPM Sizing Guide for connection tracking limits

Common Mistakes with network performance

1. Mixing let bindings with <- bindings in do notation, producing type errors
2. Overlapping type class instances that cause GHC to reject the program with ambiguous dispatch errors
3. Non-exhaustive pattern matches that compile with warnings then crash at runtime

These mistakes appear frequently in real-world DATADOG code. DodaTech's contributors have identified these patterns through analysis of open-source projects and production systems.

Practice Exercise

Write a pure function that safely divides two integers using Maybe, then test it with edge cases like division by zero and negative numbers.

This exercise reinforces the concepts covered in this guide. Try implementing it before checking online solutions.

FAQ

Related: DodaTech's Datadog NPM Deployment Guide provides step-by-step instructions for enabling network monitoring in Kubernetes, ECS, and host-based environments.