brother-exporter

README

Brother Printer Exporter

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

Features

• Printer Information: Model, serial number, firmware version
• Printer Status: Ready, printing, warmup, error states
• Consumable Levels: Toner/ink levels and status for all colors
• Drum Levels: Drum life remaining (laser printers)
• Paper Tray Status: Paper availability and status
• Page Counters: Total, black, and color page counts
• Connection Monitoring: SNMP connection status and error tracking

Supported Printer Types

• Laser Printers: Monitors toner levels, drum levels, and page counters
• Inkjet Printers: Monitors ink levels and page counters

Installation

Build from Source

git clone <repository-url>
cd brother-exporter
make build

Configuration

Create a configuration file config.yaml:

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"

Environment Variables

You can also configure the exporter using environment variables:

export BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_HOST="192.168.1.100"
export BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_TYPE="laser"
export BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_COMMUNITY="public"
export BROTHER_EXPORTER_SERVER_PORT="8080"

Usage

Run with Configuration File

./brother-exporter -config config.yaml

Run with Environment Variables

./brother-exporter -config-from-env

Docker

docker run -d \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -e BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_HOST="192.168.1.100" \
  -e BROTHER_EXPORTER_PRINTER_TYPE="laser" \
  brother-exporter

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

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

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

Common SNMP OIDs

• System Description: 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0
• Printer Status: 1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.5.1
• Toner Levels: 1.3.6.1.2.1.43.11.1.1.9.1.x
• Page Counters: 1.3.6.1.2.1.43.10.2.1.4.1.1

Development

Building

make build

Testing

make test

Linting

make lint

Formatting

make fmt

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.