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Google Cloud Observability provides the following agents for collecting metrics on Linux and Windows VM
instances.
Which agent should you choose?
Ops Agent:
The primary agent and preferred agent for collecting telemetry from your
Compute Engine instances. This agent combines logging and metrics into a single agent,
providing YAML-based configurations for collecting your logs and metrics, and features
high-throughput logging. You can configure the Ops Agent to collect metrics
from supported third-party applications.
Legacy Monitoring agent:
Gathers system and application metrics from virtual
machine instances and sends them to Cloud Monitoring. By default, the
Monitoring agent collects disk, CPU, network, and process metrics. You
can configure the Monitoring agent to monitor third-party applications to
get the full list of agent metrics.
If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how
Google Cloud Observability performs in real-world
scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and
deploy workloads.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[],[],null,["# Google Cloud Observability agents\n\nGoogle Cloud Observability provides the following agents for collecting metrics on Linux and Windows VM instances.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nWhich agent should you choose?\n------------------------------\n\n- [**Ops Agent**](/monitoring/agent/ops-agent): The primary agent and preferred agent for collecting telemetry from your Compute Engine instances. This agent combines logging and metrics into a single agent, providing YAML-based configurations for collecting your logs and metrics, and features high-throughput logging. You can configure the Ops Agent to collect metrics from [supported third-party applications](/monitoring/agent/ops-agent/third-party).\n- [**Legacy Monitoring agent**](/monitoring/agent/monitoring): Gathers system and application metrics from virtual machine instances and sends them to Cloud Monitoring. By default, the Monitoring agent collects disk, CPU, network, and process metrics. You can configure the Monitoring agent to monitor third-party applications to get the full list of agent metrics.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n**Note:** There will be no new feature development or support for new operating systems for the legacy Monitoring agent. We recommend that you use the [Ops Agent](/monitoring/agent/ops-agent) for new workloads and eventually transition your existing VMs to use the Ops Agent. We strongly recommend against using the Monitoring agent on Windows. \n[### Ops Agent\nView docs](/monitoring/agent/ops-agent) \n[### Legacy Monitoring agent\nView docs](/monitoring/agent/monitoring)\n\nTry it for yourself\n-------------------\n\n\nIf you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how\nGoogle Cloud Observability performs in real-world\nscenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and\ndeploy workloads.\n[Try Google Cloud Observability free](https://console.cloud.google.com/freetrial)"]]
