Brother Printer Exporter

A Prometheus exporter for Brother printers that collects metrics via SNMP.

Image: ghcr.io/d0ugal/brother-exporter:v1.12.42

Metrics

Printer Information

• brother_printer_info - Printer model, serial, firmware, and type information

Connection Status

• brother_printer_connection_status - SNMP connection status (1 = connected, 0 = disconnected)
• brother_printer_connection_errors_total - Total connection errors by type

Printer Status

• brother_printer_status - Printer operational status

Consumable Levels (Laser Printers)

• brother_toner_level_percent - Toner level percentage by color
• brother_toner_status - Toner status (ok/low/empty) by color
• brother_drum_level_percent - Drum level percentage by color
• brother_drum_status - Drum status (ok/low/empty) by color

Consumable Levels (Inkjet Printers)

• brother_ink_level_percent - Ink level percentage by color
• brother_ink_status - Ink status (ok/low/empty) by color

Paper Tray

• brother_paper_tray_status - Paper tray status by tray

Page Counters

• brother_page_count_total - Total pages printed
• brother_page_count_black_total - Black pages printed
• brother_page_count_color_total - Color pages printed

Endpoints

• GET /: HTML dashboard with service status and metrics information
• GET /metrics: Prometheus metrics endpoint
• GET /health: Health check endpoint

Quick Start

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'
services:
  brother-exporter:
    image: ghcr.io/d0ugal/brother-exporter:v1.12.42
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_HOST=192.168.1.100
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_TYPE=laser
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_COMMUNITY=public
    restart: unless-stopped

1. Update the printer IP address in the environment variables
2. Run: docker-compose up -d
3. Access metrics: curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

Configuration

Create a config.yaml file to configure the printer connection:

server:
  host: "0.0.0.0"
  port: 8080

logging:
  level: "info"
  format: "json"

metrics:
  collection:
    default_interval: "30s"

printer:
  host: "192.168.1.100"  # Your Brother printer IP
  community: "public"    # SNMP community string
  type: "laser"          # "laser" or "ink"

Deployment

Docker Compose (Environment Variables)

version: '3.8'
services:
  brother-exporter:
    image: ghcr.io/d0ugal/brother-exporter:v1.12.42
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_HOST=192.168.1.100
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_TYPE=laser
      - BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_COMMUNITY=public
    restart: unless-stopped

Kubernetes

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: brother-exporter
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: brother-exporter
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: brother-exporter
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: brother-exporter
        image: ghcr.io/d0ugal/brother-exporter:v1.12.42
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
        env:
        - name: BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_HOST
          value: "192.168.1.100"
        - name: BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_TYPE
          value: "laser"
        - name: BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_COMMUNITY
          value: "public"

Prometheus Integration

Add to your prometheus.yml:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'brother-exporter'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['brother-exporter:8080']

SNMP Requirements

The Brother printer must have SNMP enabled with the following settings:

• SNMP Version: v2c (recommended) or v1
• Community String: Usually "public" (default)
• Port: 161 (default SNMP port)

Enabling SNMP on Brother Printers

1. Access the printer's web interface
2. Navigate to Network Settings → SNMP
3. Enable SNMP
4. Set the community string (default: "public")
5. Save settings

Development

Building

make build

Testing

make test

Linting

make lint

Formatting

make fmt

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

1. Check SNMP is enabled on the printer
2. Verify community string matches configuration
3. Test SNMP connectivity:

   snmpwalk -v2c -c public 192.168.1.100 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0

No Metrics

1. Check printer type configuration (laser vs ink)
2. Verify OID support - some older printers may not support all OIDs
3. Check logs for SNMP errors

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.