Collection of Usage Metrics

The openwisp-utils module includes an optional sub-app openwisp_utils.metric_collection, which allows us to collect of the following information from OpenWISP instances:

  • OpenWISP Version

  • List of enabled OpenWISP modules and their version

  • Operating System identifier, e.g.: Linux version, Kernel version, target platform (e.g. x86)

  • Installation method, if available, e.g. ansible-openwisp2 or docker-openwisp

The data above is collected during the following events:

  • Install: when OpenWISP is installed the first time

  • Upgrade: when any OpenWISP module is upgraded

  • Heartbeat: once every 24 hours

We collect data on OpenWISP usage to gauge user engagement, satisfaction, and upgrade patterns. This informs our development decisions, ensuring continuous improvement aligned with user needs.

To enhance our understanding and management of this data, we have integrated Clean Insights, a privacy-preserving analytics tool. Clean Insights allows us to responsibly gather and analyze usage metrics without compromising user privacy. It provides us with the means to make data-driven decisions while respecting our users’ rights and trust.

We have taken great care to ensure no sensitive or personal data is being tracked.

Opting out from metric collection

You can opt-out from sharing this data any time from the “System Info” page. Alternatively, you can also remove the openwisp_utils.metric_collection app from INSTALLED_APPS in one of the following ways:

  • If you are using the ansible-openwisp2 role, you can set the variable openwisp2_usage_metric_collection to false in your playbook.

  • If you are using docker-openwisp, you can set the environment variable METRIC_COLLECTION to False in the .env file.

However, it would be very helpful to the project if you keep the collection of these metrics enabled, because the feedback we get from this data is useful to guide the project in the right direction.