---
title: How to check cluster health
description: Canonical makes open source secure, reliable and easy to use, providing
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url: https://canonical.com/dqlite/docs/howto/check-cluster-health?format=md
---

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# How to check cluster health

This guide shows you how to inspect whether a running cluster is behaving normally using the output of `dqlite-utils`.

## [Steps](https://canonical.com/dqlite/docs/howto/check-cluster-health?format=md#p-628-steps)

1. Type and run `cd /path/to/dqlite/dir`
2. Type and run `watch -n 1 'dqlite-utils -c ".status;.log --compact" | head -n25'`
3. Observe the `term` output for a few moments—it should be stable. If this value increases frequently, it indicates that the nodes are failing to elect a leader or that the elected leader is frequently becoming unavailable.
4. Observe the `current_index` for a few moments—it should be increasing at the rate new data is written by the leader. If `current_index` and `term` are both constant, it indicates that the leader is not being asked to write data.
5. Observe the log output (re-run the command from step 1 without `--compact` for more information). This should corroborate the observations from steps 2 and 3.
6. Type and run `watch -n 1 'dqlite-utils -c .config'` and check the set of nodes this server believes are in the cluster.
7. The cluster’s raft operation seems healthy but your problem persists, read how-to-check-data-integrity

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Check data-integrity](https://canonical.com/dqlite/docs/howto/check-data-integrity)

Last updated 2 months ago. [Help improve this document in the forum](https://discourse.dqlite.io/t/how-to-check-cluster-health/561).