Sumo Logic collectd Plugin

A collectd output plugin to send Carbon 2.0-formatted metrics to Sumo Logic.

Get Started

1. Python version

Sumo Logic collectd plugin is built on top of collectd-python plugin. The minimum required version for running the plugin is Python version 2.6. You can download and install the desired Python version from Python download page.

2. Install collectd on your machine

If collectd is already installed, you can skip this step. Otherwise, follow the instructions in the collectd download site for download and installation. For additional details, see First steps section in the collectd Wiki.

MacOS

brew install collectd

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt-get install collectd

3. Download and install Sumo Logic collectd plugin

Option 1: Install as a library

sudo pip install sumologic_collectd_metrics

All required dependencies will be automatically installed with library installation.

Option 2: Install with source code

The Sumo Logic collectd plugin source code can be saved in a directory anywhere on your system. Download it from Python Package Index, or:

git clone https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-collectd-plugin.git

Sumo Logic collectd plugin uses requests and retry libraries for sumbitting HTTPS requests. If they are not installed. Install them using pip:

sudo pip install requests
sudo pip install retry

4. Create an HTTP Metrics Source in Sumo Logic

Create a Sumo Logic account if you don't currently have one.

Follow these instructions for setting up an HTTP Source in Sumo Logic. Be sure to obtain the URL endpoint after creating an HTTP Source.

5. Configure Sumo Logic collectd plugin

Sumo Logic collectd plugin supports the following parameters. To configure the plugin, modify collectd's configuration file named collectd.conf (e.g. /etc/collectd/collectd.conf).

Required parameters

The parameters below are required and must be specified in the module config.

Basic parameters

The parameters below are not strictly required. It is recommended to set these parameters as they prove to be extremely useful to categorize your metrics and search by them.

Additional parameters

For additional configuration parameters, see Advanced parameters below.

Example configuration

An example configuration for the plugin is shown below (code to be added to collectd.conf under collectd_root/etc):

LoadPlugin python
<Plugin python>
    # Uncomment and update the following line if sumologic collectd plugin installed with source code
    # ModulePath "/path/to/sumologic-collectd-plugin"
    LogTraces true
    Interactive false
    Import "sumologic_collectd_metrics"

    <Module "sumologic_collectd_metrics">
        URL "https://<deployment>.sumologic.com/receiver/v1/http/<source_token>"  # URL must be specified
        # Uncomment and update the following lines to override the default metadata configured in the the Sumo Logic Source configuration
        # SourceName "my_source"
        # SourceHost "my_host"
        # SourceCategory "my_category"
        # Uncomment and update the following lines to add additional key=value pairs
        # Dimensions "my_dim_key1"="my_dim_val1", "my_dim_key2"="my_dim_val2"
        # Metadata "my_meta_key1"="my_meta_val1", "my_meta_key2"="my_meta_val2"
    </Module>
</Plugin>

Other recommended modules

It is recommeded to setup the following two plugins in collectd.conf. The functionalities of the two plugins are explained in collectd Wiki Plugin:LogFile and Plugin:CSV:

LoadPlugin logfile
<Plugin logfile>
    LogLevel "info"
    File "/var/log/collectd.log"
    Timestamp true
    PrintSeverity true
</Plugin>

LoadPlugin csv
<Plugin csv>
    DataDir "/usr/local/var/lib/collectd/csv"
</Plugin>

The following pulgins, if enabled in collectd.conf, enable collecting cpu, memory, disk, network metrics from the system:

LoadPlugin cpu
LoadPlugin memory
LoadPlugin disk
LoadPlugin interface

A list of all collectd plugins is awailable in collectd Wiki Table of Plugins

Reserved symbols

Equal sign and space are reserved symbols.

"=" " "

Reserved keywords

Following terms are reserved for Sumo Logic internal use only:

"_sourcehost", "_sourcename", "_sourcecategory", "_collectorid", "_collector", "_source", "_sourceid", "_contenttype", "_rawname"

6. Start sending metrics

Start sending metrics by running collectd, e.g. (command will differ depending on collectd installation):

sudo service collectd start

View logs

If logfile plugin is installed, then you can view logs by tailling collectd.log file, e.g. (command can be different depending on collectd installation):

tail -f /var/log/collectd.log

Data model

The Sumo Logic collectd plugin will send metrics using the Carbon 2.0 format, defined as:

dimensions  metadata value timestamp

dimensions and metadata are key/value pairs of strings separated by two spaces. dimensions uniquely identifying a metric, while metadata do not contribute to identifying a metric. Instead, they are used to categorize metrics for searching. value is a double number. timestamp is a 10-digit UNIX epoch timestamp.

Example data before compression:

host=my_mac plugin=cpu plugin_instance=1 type=cpu type_instance=user ds_name=value ds_type=DERIVE  meta_key1=meta_val1 5991.000000 1502148249
host=my_mac plugin=cpu plugin_instance=0 type=cpu type_instance=user ds_name=value ds_type=DERIVE  meta_key1=meta_val1 98722.000000 1502148249

Naming Schema

Collectd uses a very powerful naming schema to identify each statistics value. It has been proven very generic and flexible, but may be confusing at first, especially to new users. You can read more about it by following this wiki collectd naming schema.

Compression

Metrics are batched and compressed before they are sent. The default compression algorithm is "deflate". The algorithm is explained in more detail in An Explanation of the Deflate Algorithm. Alternatively, you can specify "gzip" for gzip compression and "none" for no compression.

Error handling

Sumo Logic collectd plugin retries on exceptions by default. When all retries fail, the request is either scheduled for a future attempt or dropped based on the buffer status. By default, 1000 requests are buffered. If the buffer becomes full, then requests failed after all retries will be dropped. Otherwise, it is put back to the processing queue for the next run.

7. View metrics

To view the metrics sent by the collectd plugin, log into Sumo Logic and open a Metrics tab. Query for metrics using either dimensions or metadata, e.g.:

_sourceName=my_source _sourceHost=my_host _sourceCategory=my_category plugin=cpu

You should be able to see metrics displayed in the main graph.

Advanced Topics

Advanced parameters

You can configure the Sumo Logic collectd plugin by overriding default values for plugin parameters.

Plugin Architecture

Collectd        MetricsConverter                    MetricsBatcher         MetricsBuffer                               MetricsSender
--------        --------------------------          --------------         ------------------------                    -----------------
                                                                                                       batch to send   
Raw Data   ->   Metric in Carbon 2.0 format    ->   Metrics Batch     ->   Buffered metrics batches         ->         Request scheduler
                                                                                                            <-
                                                                                                       failed batch

Plugin Internal Metrics

If the EnableInternalMetrics configuration option is set to true, the plugin emits metrics describing its own internal state.

The following metrics are available:

TLS 1.2 Requirement

Sumo Logic only accepts connections from clients using TLS version 1.2 or greater. To utilize the content of this repo, ensure that it's running in an execution environment that is configured to use TLS 1.2 or greater.

License

The Sumo Logic collectd output plugin is published under the Apache Software License, Version 2.0. Please visit http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.txt for details.