Azure Event Hubs and Loki Integration

Input and output integration overview

The Azure Event Hubs Input Plugin allows Telegraf to consume data from Azure Event Hubs and Azure IoT Hub, enabling efficient data processing and monitoring of event streams from these cloud services.

The Loki plugin allows users to send logs to Loki for aggregation and querying, leveraging Loki’s efficient storage capabilities.

Integration details

Azure Event Hubs

This plugin serves as a consumer for Azure Event Hubs and Azure IoT Hub, allowing users to ingest data streams from these platforms efficiently. Azure Event Hubs is a highly scalable data streaming platform and event ingestion service capable of receiving and processing millions of events per second, while Azure IoT Hub enables secure device-to-cloud and cloud-to-device communication in IoT applications. The Event Hub Input Plugin interacts seamlessly with these services, providing reliable message consumption and stream processing capabilities. Key features include dynamic management of consumer groups, message tracking to prevent data loss, and customizable settings for prefetch counts, user agents, and metadata handling. This plugin is designed to support a range of use cases, including real-time telemetry data collection, IoT data processing, and integration with various data analysis and monitoring tools within the broader Azure ecosystem.

Loki

This Loki plugin integrates with Grafana Loki, a powerful log aggregation system. By sending logs in a format compatible with Loki, this plugin allows for efficient storage and querying of logs. Each log entry is structured in a key-value format where keys represent the field names and values represent the corresponding log information. The sorting of logs by timestamp ensures that the log streams maintain chronological order when queried through Loki. This plugin’s support for secrets makes it easier to manage authentication parameters securely, while options for HTTP headers, gzip encoding, and TLS configuration enhance the adaptability and security of log transmission, fitting various deployment needs.

Configuration

Azure Event Hubs

[[inputs.eventhub_consumer]]
  ## The default behavior is to create a new Event Hub client from environment variables.
  ## This requires one of the following sets of environment variables to be set:
  ##
  ## 1) Expected Environment Variables:
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_CONNECTION_STRING"
  ##
  ## 2) Expected Environment Variables:
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_NAMESPACE"
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_NAME"
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_KEY_NAME"
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_KEY_VALUE"

  ## 3) Expected Environment Variables:
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_NAMESPACE"
  ##    - "EVENTHUB_NAME"
  ##    - "AZURE_TENANT_ID"
  ##    - "AZURE_CLIENT_ID"
  ##    - "AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET"

  ## Uncommenting the option below will create an Event Hub client based solely on the connection string.
  ## This can either be the associated environment variable or hard coded directly.
  ## If this option is uncommented, environment variables will be ignored.
  ## Connection string should contain EventHubName (EntityPath)
  # connection_string = ""

  ## Set persistence directory to a valid folder to use a file persister instead of an in-memory persister
  # persistence_dir = ""

  ## Change the default consumer group
  # consumer_group = ""

  ## By default the event hub receives all messages present on the broker, alternative modes can be set below.
  ## The timestamp should be in https://github.com/toml-lang/toml#offset-date-time format (RFC 3339).
  ## The 3 options below only apply if no valid persister is read from memory or file (e.g. first run).
  # from_timestamp =
  # latest = true

  ## Set a custom prefetch count for the receiver(s)
  # prefetch_count = 1000

  ## Add an epoch to the receiver(s)
  # epoch = 0

  ## Change to set a custom user agent, "telegraf" is used by default
  # user_agent = "telegraf"

  ## To consume from a specific partition, set the partition_ids option.
  ## An empty array will result in receiving from all partitions.
  # partition_ids = ["0","1"]

  ## Max undelivered messages
  ## This plugin uses tracking metrics, which ensure messages are read to
  ## outputs before acknowledging them to the original broker to ensure data
  ## is not lost. This option sets the maximum messages to read from the
  ## broker that have not been written by an output.
  ##
  ## This value needs to be picked with awareness of the agent's
  ## metric_batch_size value as well. Setting max undelivered messages too high
  ## can result in a constant stream of data batches to the output. While
  ## setting it too low may never flush the broker's messages.
  # max_undelivered_messages = 1000

  ## Set either option below to true to use a system property as timestamp.
  ## You have the choice between EnqueuedTime and IoTHubEnqueuedTime.
  ## It is recommended to use this setting when the data itself has no timestamp.
  # enqueued_time_as_ts = true
  # iot_hub_enqueued_time_as_ts = true

  ## Tags or fields to create from keys present in the application property bag.
  ## These could for example be set by message enrichments in Azure IoT Hub.
  # application_property_tags = []
  # application_property_fields = []

  ## Tag or field name to use for metadata
  ## By default all metadata is disabled
  # sequence_number_field = "SequenceNumber"
  # enqueued_time_field = "EnqueuedTime"
  # offset_field = "Offset"
  # partition_id_tag = "PartitionID"
  # partition_key_tag = "PartitionKey"
  # iot_hub_device_connection_id_tag = "IoTHubDeviceConnectionID"
  # iot_hub_auth_generation_id_tag = "IoTHubAuthGenerationID"
  # iot_hub_connection_auth_method_tag = "IoTHubConnectionAuthMethod"
  # iot_hub_connection_module_id_tag = "IoTHubConnectionModuleID"
  # iot_hub_enqueued_time_field = "IoTHubEnqueuedTime"

  ## Data format to consume.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_INPUT.md
  data_format = "influx"

Loki

[[outputs.loki]]
  ## The domain of Loki
  domain = "https://loki.domain.tld"

  ## Endpoint to write api
  # endpoint = "/loki/api/v1/push"

  ## Connection timeout, defaults to "5s" if not set.
  # timeout = "5s"

  ## Basic auth credential
  # username = "loki"
  # password = "pass"

  ## Additional HTTP headers
  # http_headers = {"X-Scope-OrgID" = "1"}

  ## If the request must be gzip encoded
  # gzip_request = false

  ## Optional TLS Config
  # tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"

  ## Sanitize Tag Names
  ## If true, all tag names will have invalid characters replaced with
  ## underscores that do not match the regex: ^[a-zA-Z_:][a-zA-Z0-9_:]*.
  # sanitize_label_names = false

  ## Metric Name Label
  ## Label to use for the metric name to when sending metrics. If set to an
  ## empty string, this will not add the label. This is NOT suggested as there
  ## is no way to differentiate between multiple metrics.
  # metric_name_label = "__name"

Input and output integration examples

Azure Event Hubs

1. Real-Time IoT Device Monitoring: Use the Azure Event Hubs Plugin to monitor telemetry data from IoT devices like sensors and actuators. By streaming device data into monitoring dashboards, organizations can gain insights into system performances, track usage patterns, and quickly respond to irregularities. This setup allows for proactive management of devices, improving operational efficiency and reducing downtime.

2. Event-Driven Data Processing Workflows: Leverage this plugin to trigger data processing workflows in response to events received from Azure Event Hubs. For instance, when a new event arrives, it can initiate data transformation, aggregation, or storage processes, allowing businesses to automate their workflows more effectively. This integration enhances responsiveness and streamlines operations across systems.

3. Integration with Analytics Platforms: Implement the plugin to funnel event data into analytics platforms like Azure Synapse or Power BI. By integrating real-time streaming data into analytics tools, organizations can perform comprehensive data analysis, drive business intelligence efforts, and create interactive visualizations that inform decision-making.

4. Cross-Platform Data Sync: Utilize the Azure Event Hubs Plugin to synchronize data streams across diverse systems or platforms. By consuming data from Azure Event Hubs and forwarding it to other systems like databases or cloud storage, organizations can maintain consistent and up-to-date information across their entire architecture, enabling cohesive data strategies.

Loki

1. Centralized Logging for Microservices: Utilize the Loki plugin to gather logs from multiple microservices running in a Kubernetes cluster. By directing logs to a centralized Loki instance, developers can monitor, search, and analyze logs from all services in one place, facilitating easier troubleshooting and performance monitoring. This setup streamlines operations and supports rapid response to issues across distributed applications.

2. Real-Time Log Anomaly Detection: Combine Loki with monitoring tools to analyze log outputs in real-time for unusual patterns that could indicate system errors or security threats. Implementing anomaly detection on log streams enables teams to proactively identify and respond to incidents, thereby improving system reliability and enhancing security postures.

3. Enhanced Log Processing with Gzip Compression: Configure the Loki plugin to utilize gzip compression for log transmission. This approach can reduce bandwidth usage and improve transmission speeds, especially beneficial in environments where network bandwidth may be a constraint. It’s particularly useful for high-volume logging applications where every byte counts and performance is critical.

4. Multi-Tenancy Support with Custom Headers: Leverage the ability to add custom HTTP headers to segregate logs from different tenants in a multi-tenant application environment. By using the Loki plugin to send different headers for each tenant, operators can ensure proper log management and compliance with data isolation requirements, making it a versatile solution for SaaS applications.

Feedback

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