Syslog and Elasticsearch Integration
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Powerful Performance, Limitless Scale
Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
See Ways to Get Started
Input and output integration overview
The Syslog plugin enables the collection of syslog messages from various sources using standard networking protocols. This functionality is critical for environments where systems need to be monitored and logged efficiently.
The Telegraf Elasticsearch Plugin seamlessly sends metrics to an Elasticsearch server. The plugin handles template creation and dynamic index management, and supports various Elasticsearch-specific features to ensure data is formatted correctly for storage and retrieval.
Integration details
Syslog
The Syslog plugin for Telegraf captures syslog messages transmitted over various protocols such as TCP, UDP, and TLS. It supports both RFC 5424 (the newer syslog protocol) and the older RFC 3164 (BSD syslog protocol). This plugin operates as a service input, effectively starting a service that listens for incoming syslog messages. Unlike traditional plugins, service inputs may not function with standard interval settings or CLI options like --once
. It includes options for setting network configurations, socket permissions, message handling, and connection handling. Furthermore, the integration with Rsyslog allows forwarding of logging messages, making it a powerful tool for collecting and relaying system logs in real-time, thus seamlessly integrating into monitoring and logging systems.
Elasticsearch
This plugin writes metrics to Elasticsearch, a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine capable of storing large amounts of data in near real-time. It is designed to handle Elasticsearch versions 5.x through 7.x and utilizes its dynamic template features to manage data type mapping properly. The plugin supports advanced features such as template management, dynamic index naming, and integration with OpenSearch. It also allows configurations for authentication and health monitoring of the Elasticsearch nodes.
Configuration
Syslog
[[inputs.syslog]]
## Protocol, address and port to host the syslog receiver.
## If no host is specified, then localhost is used.
## If no port is specified, 6514 is used (RFC5425#section-4.1).
## ex: server = "tcp://localhost:6514"
## server = "udp://:6514"
## server = "unix:///var/run/telegraf-syslog.sock"
## When using tcp, consider using 'tcp4' or 'tcp6' to force the usage of IPv4
## or IPV6 respectively. There are cases, where when not specified, a system
## may force an IPv4 mapped IPv6 address.
server = "tcp://127.0.0.1:6514"
## Permission for unix sockets (only available on unix sockets)
## This setting may not be respected by some platforms. To safely restrict
## permissions it is recommended to place the socket into a previously
## created directory with the desired permissions.
## ex: socket_mode = "777"
# socket_mode = ""
## Maximum number of concurrent connections (only available on stream sockets like TCP)
## Zero means unlimited.
# max_connections = 0
## Read timeout (only available on stream sockets like TCP)
## Zero means unlimited.
# read_timeout = "0s"
## Optional TLS configuration (only available on stream sockets like TCP)
# tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
# tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
## Enables client authentication if set.
# tls_allowed_cacerts = ["/etc/telegraf/clientca.pem"]
## Maximum socket buffer size (in bytes when no unit specified)
## For stream sockets, once the buffer fills up, the sender will start
## backing up. For datagram sockets, once the buffer fills up, metrics will
## start dropping. Defaults to the OS default.
# read_buffer_size = "64KiB"
## Period between keep alive probes (only applies to TCP sockets)
## Zero disables keep alive probes. Defaults to the OS configuration.
# keep_alive_period = "5m"
## Content encoding for message payloads
## Can be set to "gzip" for compressed payloads or "identity" for no encoding.
# content_encoding = "identity"
## Maximum size of decoded packet (in bytes when no unit specified)
# max_decompression_size = "500MB"
## Framing technique used for messages transport
## Available settings are:
## octet-counting -- see RFC5425#section-4.3.1 and RFC6587#section-3.4.1
## non-transparent -- see RFC6587#section-3.4.2
# framing = "octet-counting"
## The trailer to be expected in case of non-transparent framing (default = "LF").
## Must be one of "LF", or "NUL".
# trailer = "LF"
## Whether to parse in best effort mode or not (default = false).
## By default best effort parsing is off.
# best_effort = false
## The RFC standard to use for message parsing
## By default RFC5424 is used. RFC3164 only supports UDP transport (no streaming support)
## Must be one of "RFC5424", or "RFC3164".
# syslog_standard = "RFC5424"
## Character to prepend to SD-PARAMs (default = "_").
## A syslog message can contain multiple parameters and multiple identifiers within structured data section.
## Eg., [id1 name1="val1" name2="val2"][id2 name1="val1" nameA="valA"]
## For each combination a field is created.
## Its name is created concatenating identifier, sdparam_separator, and parameter name.
# sdparam_separator = "_"
Elasticsearch
[[outputs.elasticsearch]]
## The full HTTP endpoint URL for your Elasticsearch instance
## Multiple urls can be specified as part of the same cluster,
## this means that only ONE of the urls will be written to each interval
urls = [ "http://node1.es.example.com:9200" ] # required.
## Elasticsearch client timeout, defaults to "5s" if not set.
timeout = "5s"
## Set to true to ask Elasticsearch a list of all cluster nodes,
## thus it is not necessary to list all nodes in the urls config option
enable_sniffer = false
## Set to true to enable gzip compression
enable_gzip = false
## Set the interval to check if the Elasticsearch nodes are available
## Setting to "0s" will disable the health check (not recommended in production)
health_check_interval = "10s"
## Set the timeout for periodic health checks.
# health_check_timeout = "1s"
## HTTP basic authentication details.
## HTTP basic authentication details
# username = "telegraf"
# password = "mypassword"
## HTTP bearer token authentication details
# auth_bearer_token = "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9"
## Index Config
## The target index for metrics (Elasticsearch will create if it not exists).
## You can use the date specifiers below to create indexes per time frame.
## The metric timestamp will be used to decide the destination index name
# %Y - year (2016)
# %y - last two digits of year (00..99)
# %m - month (01..12)
# %d - day of month (e.g., 01)
# %H - hour (00..23)
# %V - week of the year (ISO week) (01..53)
## Additionally, you can specify a tag name using the notation {{tag_name}}
## which will be used as part of the index name. If the tag does not exist,
## the default tag value will be used.
# index_name = "telegraf-{{host}}-%Y.%m.%d"
# default_tag_value = "none"
index_name = "telegraf-%Y.%m.%d" # required.
## Optional Index Config
## Set to true if Telegraf should use the "create" OpType while indexing
# use_optype_create = false
## Optional TLS Config
# tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
# tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
# tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
# insecure_skip_verify = false
## Template Config
## Set to true if you want telegraf to manage its index template.
## If enabled it will create a recommended index template for telegraf indexes
manage_template = true
## The template name used for telegraf indexes
template_name = "telegraf"
## Set to true if you want telegraf to overwrite an existing template
overwrite_template = false
## If set to true a unique ID hash will be sent as sha256(concat(timestamp,measurement,series-hash)) string
## it will enable data resend and update metric points avoiding duplicated metrics with different id's
force_document_id = false
## Specifies the handling of NaN and Inf values.
## This option can have the following values:
## none -- do not modify field-values (default); will produce an error if NaNs or infs are encountered
## drop -- drop fields containing NaNs or infs
## replace -- replace with the value in "float_replacement_value" (default: 0.0)
## NaNs and inf will be replaced with the given number, -inf with the negative of that number
# float_handling = "none"
# float_replacement_value = 0.0
## Pipeline Config
## To use a ingest pipeline, set this to the name of the pipeline you want to use.
# use_pipeline = "my_pipeline"
## Additionally, you can specify a tag name using the notation {{tag_name}}
## which will be used as part of the pipeline name. If the tag does not exist,
## the default pipeline will be used as the pipeline. If no default pipeline is set,
## no pipeline is used for the metric.
# use_pipeline = "{{es_pipeline}}"
# default_pipeline = "my_pipeline"
#
# Custom HTTP headers
# To pass custom HTTP headers please define it in a given below section
# [outputs.elasticsearch.headers]
# "X-Custom-Header" = "custom-value"
## Template Index Settings
## Overrides the template settings.index section with any provided options.
## Defaults provided here in the config
# template_index_settings = {
# refresh_interval = "10s",
# mapping.total_fields.limit = 5000,
# auto_expand_replicas = "0-1",
# codec = "best_compression"
# }
Input and output integration examples
Syslog
-
Centralized Log Management: Use the Syslog plugin to aggregate log messages from multiple servers into a central logging system. This setup can help in monitoring overall system health, troubleshooting issues effectively, and maintaining audit trails by collecting syslog data from different sources.
-
Real-Time Alerting: Integrate the Syslog plugin with alerting tools to trigger real-time notifications when specific log patterns or errors are detected. For example, if a critical system error appears in the logs, an alert can be sent to the operations team, minimizing downtime and performing proactive maintenance.
-
Security Monitoring: Leverage the Syslog plugin for security monitoring by capturing logs from firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other security devices. This logging capability enhances security visibility and helps in investigating potentially malicious activities by analyzing the captured syslog data.
-
Application Performance Tracking: Utilize the Syslog plugin to monitor application performance by collecting logs from various applications. This integration helps in analyzing the application’s behavior and performance trends, thus aiding in optimizing application processes and ensuring smoother operation.
Elasticsearch
-
Time-based Indexing: Use this plugin to store metrics in Elasticsearch to index each metric based on the time collected. For example, CPU metrics can be stored in a daily index named
telegraf-2023.01.01
, allowing easy time-based queries and retention policies. -
Dynamic Templates Management: Utilize the template management feature to automatically create a custom template tailored to your metrics. This allows you to define how different fields are indexed and analyzed without manually configuring Elasticsearch, ensuring an optimal data structure for querying.
-
OpenSearch Compatibility: If you are using AWS OpenSearch, you can configure this plugin to work seamlessly by activating compatibility mode, ensuring your existing Elasticsearch clients remain functional and compatible with newer cluster setups.
Feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.
Powerful Performance, Limitless Scale
Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
See Ways to Get Started
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