Cleanup ruby sampler metrics

* Use a simple counter for sampler duration instead of a histogram.
* Use a counter to collect GC time.
* Remove unused objects metric.
* Cleanup metric names to match Prometheus conventions.
* Prefix generic GC stats with `gc_stat`.
* Include worker label on memory and file descriptor metrics.

changelogs/unreleased/bjk-48176_ruby_gc.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Cleanup Prometheus ruby metrics
+merge_request: 20039
+author: Ben Kochie
+type: fixed

doc/administration/monitoring/prometheus/gitlab_metrics.md

@@ -49,6 +49,20 @@ The following metrics are available:
 | filesystem_circuitbreaker         | Gauge     | 9.5   | Whether or not the circuit for a certain shard is broken or not |
 | circuitbreaker_storage_check_duration_seconds | Histogram | 10.3 | Time a single storage probe took |
 
+### Ruby metrics
+
+Some basic Ruby runtime metrics are available:
+
+| Metric                                 | Type      | Since | Description |
+|:-------------------------------------- |:--------- |:----- |:----------- |
+| ruby_gc_duration_seconds_total         | Counter   | 11.1  | Time spent by Ruby in GC |
+| ruby_gc_stat_...                       | Gauge     | 11.1  | Various metrics from [GC.stat] |
+| ruby_file_descriptors                  | Gauge     | 11.1  | File descriptors per process |
+| ruby_memory_bytes                      | Gauge     | 11.1  | Memory usage by process |
+| ruby_sampler_duration_seconds_total    | Counter   | 11.1  | Time spent collecting stats |
+
+[GC.stat]: https://ruby-doc.org/core-2.3.0/GC.html#method-c-stat
+
 ## Metrics shared directory
 
 GitLab's Prometheus client requires a directory to store metrics data shared between multi-process services.

lib/gitlab/metrics/samplers/ruby_sampler.rb

@@ -22,27 +22,27 @@ module Gitlab
 
         def init_metrics
           metrics = {}
-          metrics[:sampler_duration] = Metrics.histogram(with_prefix(:sampler_duration, :seconds), 'Sampler time', { worker: nil })
-          metrics[:total_time] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:gc, :time_total), 'Total GC time', labels, :livesum)
+          metrics[:sampler_duration] = Metrics.counter(with_prefix(:sampler, :duration_seconds_total), 'Sampler time', labels)
+          metrics[:total_time] = Metrics.counter(with_prefix(:gc, :duration_seconds_total), 'Total GC time', labels)
           GC.stat.keys.each do |key|
-            metrics[key] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:gc, key), to_doc_string(key), labels, :livesum)
+            metrics[key] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:gc_stat, key), to_doc_string(key), labels, :livesum)
           end
 
-          metrics[:objects_total] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:objects, :total), 'Objects total', labels.merge(class: nil), :livesum)
-          metrics[:memory_usage] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:memory, :usage_total), 'Memory used total', labels, :livesum)
-          metrics[:file_descriptors] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:file, :descriptors_total), 'File descriptors total', labels, :livesum)
+          metrics[:memory_usage] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:memory, :bytes), 'Memory used', labels, :livesum)
+          metrics[:file_descriptors] = Metrics.gauge(with_prefix(:file, :descriptors), 'File descriptors used', labels, :livesum)
 
           metrics
         end
 
         def sample
           start_time = System.monotonic_time
+
+          metrics[:memory_usage].set(labels.merge(worker_label), System.memory_usage)
+          metrics[:file_descriptors].set(labels.merge(worker_label), System.file_descriptor_count)
+
           sample_gc
 
-          metrics[:memory_usage].set(labels, System.memory_usage)
-          metrics[:file_descriptors].set(labels, System.file_descriptor_count)
-
-          metrics[:sampler_duration].observe(labels.merge(worker_label), System.monotonic_time - start_time)
+          metrics[:sampler_duration].increment(labels, System.monotonic_time - start_time)
         ensure
           GC::Profiler.clear
         end
@@ -50,11 +50,13 @@ module Gitlab
         private
 
         def sample_gc
-          metrics[:total_time].set(labels, GC::Profiler.total_time * 1000)
-
+          # Collect generic GC stats.
           GC.stat.each do |key, value|
             metrics[key].set(labels, value)
           end
+
+          # Collect the GC time since last sample in float seconds.
+          metrics[:total_time].increment(labels, GC::Profiler.total_time)
         end
 
         def worker_label

spec/lib/gitlab/metrics/samplers/ruby_sampler_spec.rb

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Metrics::Samplers::RubySampler do
     it 'adds a metric containing garbage collection time statistics' do
       expect(GC::Profiler).to receive(:total_time).and_return(0.24)
 
-      expect(sampler.metrics[:total_time]).to receive(:set).with({}, 240)
+      expect(sampler.metrics[:total_time]).to receive(:increment).with({}, 0.24)
 
       sampler.sample
     end