Datadog agent

Receive logs, metrics, and traces collected by a Datadog Agent

status: stable role: aggregator role: sidecar delivery: at-least-once acknowledgements: yes egress: batch state: stateless output: log output: metrics
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Receives observability data from a Datadog Agent over HTTP or HTTPS.

Configuration

Example configurations 

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "datadog_agent",
      "address": "0.0.0.0:80"
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "datadog_agent"
address = "0.0.0.0:80"

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: datadog_agent
    address: 0.0.0.0:80

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "datadog_agent",
      "address": "0.0.0.0:80",
      "store_api_key": true
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "datadog_agent"
address = "0.0.0.0:80"
store_api_key = true

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: datadog_agent
    address: 0.0.0.0:80
    store_api_key: true

acknowledgements

optional object

Deprecated

This field is deprecated.

Controls how acknowledgements are handled by this source.

This setting is deprecated in favor of enabling acknowledgements at the global or sink level.

Enabling or disabling acknowledgements at the source level has no effect on acknowledgement behavior.

See End-to-end Acknowledgements for more information on how event acknowledgement is handled.

acknowledgements.enabled

optional bool
Whether or not end-to-end acknowledgements are enabled for this source.

address

required string literal

The socket address to accept connections on.

It must include a port.

Examples 
"0.0.0.0:80"
"localhost:80"

decoding

optional object
Configures how events are decoded from raw bytes.

decoding.codec

optional string literal enum
The codec to use for decoding events.
Enum options
OptionDescription
bytesUses the raw bytes as-is.
gelfDecodes the raw bytes as a GELF message.
jsonDecodes the raw bytes as JSON.
native

Decodes the raw bytes as native Protocol Buffers format.

This codec is experimental.

native_json

Decodes the raw bytes as native JSON format.

This codec is experimental.

protobufDecodes the raw bytes as protobuf.
syslog

Decodes the raw bytes as a Syslog message.

Decodes either as the RFC 3164-style format (“old” style) or the RFC 5424-style format (“new” style, includes structured data).

default: bytes

decoding.gelf

optional object
GELF-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "gelf"
decoding.gelf.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether or not to replace invalid UTF-8 sequences instead of failing.

When true, invalid UTF-8 sequences are replaced with the U+FFFD REPLACEMENT CHARACTER.

default: true

decoding.json

optional object
JSON-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "json"
decoding.json.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether or not to replace invalid UTF-8 sequences instead of failing.

When true, invalid UTF-8 sequences are replaced with the U+FFFD REPLACEMENT CHARACTER.

default: true

decoding.native_json

optional object
Vector’s native JSON-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "native_json"
decoding.native_json.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether or not to replace invalid UTF-8 sequences instead of failing.

When true, invalid UTF-8 sequences are replaced with the U+FFFD REPLACEMENT CHARACTER.

default: true

decoding.protobuf

optional object
Protobuf-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "protobuf"
decoding.protobuf.desc_file
optional string literal
Path to desc file
decoding.protobuf.message_type
optional string literal
message type. e.g package.message

decoding.syslog

optional object
Syslog-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "syslog"
decoding.syslog.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether or not to replace invalid UTF-8 sequences instead of failing.

When true, invalid UTF-8 sequences are replaced with the U+FFFD REPLACEMENT CHARACTER.

default: true

disable_logs

optional bool
If this is set to true, logs are not accepted by the component.
default: false

disable_metrics

optional bool
If this is set to true, metrics (beta) are not accepted by the component.
default: false

disable_traces

optional bool
If this is set to true, traces (alpha) are not accepted by the component.
default: false

framing

optional object

Framing configuration.

Framing handles how events are separated when encoded in a raw byte form, where each event is a frame that must be prefixed, or delimited, in a way that marks where an event begins and ends within the byte stream.

framing.character_delimited

required object
Options for the character delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "character_delimited"
framing.character_delimited.delimiter
required uint
The character that delimits byte sequences.
framing.character_delimited.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, there is no maximum length enforced. If events are malformed, this can lead to additional resource usage as events continue to be buffered in memory, and can potentially lead to memory exhaustion in extreme cases.

If there is a risk of processing malformed data, such as logs with user-controlled input, consider setting the maximum length to a reasonably large value as a safety net. This ensures that processing is not actually unbounded.

framing.method

optional string literal enum
The framing method.
Enum options
OptionDescription
bytesByte frames are passed through as-is according to the underlying I/O boundaries (for example, split between messages or stream segments).
character_delimitedByte frames which are delimited by a chosen character.
length_delimitedByte frames which are prefixed by an unsigned big-endian 32-bit integer indicating the length.
newline_delimitedByte frames which are delimited by a newline character.
octet_countingByte frames according to the octet counting format.
default: bytes

framing.newline_delimited

optional object
Options for the newline delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "newline_delimited"
framing.newline_delimited.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, there is no maximum length enforced. If events are malformed, this can lead to additional resource usage as events continue to be buffered in memory, and can potentially lead to memory exhaustion in extreme cases.

If there is a risk of processing malformed data, such as logs with user-controlled input, consider setting the maximum length to a reasonably large value as a safety net. This ensures that processing is not actually unbounded.

framing.octet_counting

optional object
Options for the octet counting decoder.
Relevant when: method = "octet_counting"
framing.octet_counting.max_length
optional uint
The maximum length of the byte buffer.

multiple_outputs

optional bool

If this is set to true, logs, metrics (beta), and traces (alpha) are sent to different outputs.

For a source component named agent, the received logs, metrics (beta), and traces (alpha) can then be configured as input to other components by specifying agent.logs, agent.metrics, and agent.traces, respectively.

default: false

store_api_key

optional bool
If this is set to true, when incoming events contain a Datadog API key, it is stored in the event metadata and used if the event is sent to a Datadog sink.
default: true

tls

optional object
Configures the TLS options for incoming/outgoing connections.

tls.alpn_protocols

optional [string]

Sets the list of supported ALPN protocols.

Declare the supported ALPN protocols, which are used during negotiation with peer. They are prioritized in the order that they are defined.

tls.ca_file

optional string literal

Absolute path to an additional CA certificate file.

The certificate must be in the DER or PEM (X.509) format. Additionally, the certificate can be provided as an inline string in PEM format.

Examples 
"/path/to/certificate_authority.crt"

tls.crt_file

optional string literal

Absolute path to a certificate file used to identify this server.

The certificate must be in DER, PEM (X.509), or PKCS#12 format. Additionally, the certificate can be provided as an inline string in PEM format.

If this is set, and is not a PKCS#12 archive, key_file must also be set.

Examples 
"/path/to/host_certificate.crt"

tls.enabled

optional bool

Whether or not to require TLS for incoming or outgoing connections.

When enabled and used for incoming connections, an identity certificate is also required. See tls.crt_file for more information.

tls.key_file

optional string literal

Absolute path to a private key file used to identify this server.

The key must be in DER or PEM (PKCS#8) format. Additionally, the key can be provided as an inline string in PEM format.

Examples 
"/path/to/host_certificate.key"

tls.key_pass

optional string literal

Passphrase used to unlock the encrypted key file.

This has no effect unless key_file is set.

Examples 
"${KEY_PASS_ENV_VAR}"
"PassWord1"

tls.verify_certificate

optional bool

Enables certificate verification.

If enabled, certificates must not be expired and must be issued by a trusted issuer. This verification operates in a hierarchical manner, checking that the leaf certificate (the certificate presented by the client/server) is not only valid, but that the issuer of that certificate is also valid, and so on until the verification process reaches a root certificate.

Relevant for both incoming and outgoing connections.

Do NOT set this to false unless you understand the risks of not verifying the validity of certificates.

tls.verify_hostname

optional bool

Enables hostname verification.

If enabled, the hostname used to connect to the remote host must be present in the TLS certificate presented by the remote host, either as the Common Name or as an entry in the Subject Alternative Name extension.

Only relevant for outgoing connections.

Do NOT set this to false unless you understand the risks of not verifying the remote hostname.

Outputs

<component_id>

Default output stream of the component. Use this component’s ID as an input to downstream transforms and sinks. Only active if multiple_outputs is disabled.

logs

If multiple_outputs is enabled, received log events will go to this output stream. Use <component_id>.logs as an input to downstream transforms and sinks.

metrics

If multiple_outputs is enabled, received metric events will go to this output stream. Use <component_id>.metrics as an input to downstream transforms and sinks.

traces

If multiple_outputs is enabled, received trace events will go to this output stream. Use <component_id>.traces as an input to downstream transforms and sinks.

Output Data

Metrics

counter

counter
A single value that can be incremented or reset to a zero value but not decremented.
* optional
Any tags present on the metric.
source_type
The name of the source type.

distribution

distribution
A distribution represents a distribution of sampled values. It is used with services that support global histograms and summaries.
* optional
Any tags present on the metric.
source_type
The name of the source type.

gauge

gauge
A gauge represents a point-in-time value that can increase and decrease. Vector’s internal gauge type represents changes to that value. Gauges should be used to track fluctuations in values, like current memory or CPU usage.
* optional
Any tags present on the metric.
source_type
The name of the source type.

Logs

Warning

The fields shown below will be different if log namespacing is enabled. See Log Namespacing for more details

Line

An individual event from a batch of events received through an HTTP POST request sent by a Datadog Agent.
Fields
ddsource required string literal
The source field extracted from the event.
Examples
java
ddtags required string literal
The comma separated tags list extracted from the event.
Examples
env:prod,region:ap-east-1
hostname required string literal
The local hostname, equivalent to the gethostname command.
Examples
my-host.local
message required string literal
The message field, containing the plain text message.
Examples
Hi from erlang
service required string literal
The service field extracted from the event.
Examples
backend
source_type required string literal
The name of the source type.
Examples
datadog_agent
status required string literal
The status field extracted from the event.
Examples
info
timestamp required timestamp
The exact time the event was ingested into Vector.
Examples
2020-10-10T17:07:36.452332Z

Telemetry

Metrics

link

component_discarded_events_total

counter
The number of events dropped by this component.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
intentional
True if the events were discarded intentionally, like a filter transform, or false if due to an error.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

component_errors_total

counter
The total number of errors encountered by this component.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
error_type
The type of the error
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
stage
The stage within the component at which the error occurred.

component_received_bytes_total

counter
The number of raw bytes accepted by this component from source origins.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
container_name optional
The name of the container from which the data originated.
file optional
The file from which the data originated.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
mode optional
The connection mode used by the component.
peer_addr optional
The IP from which the data originated.
peer_path optional
The pathname from which the data originated.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
pod_name optional
The name of the pod from which the data originated.
uri optional
The sanitized URI from which the data originated.

component_received_event_bytes_total

counter
The number of event bytes accepted by this component either from tagged origins like file and uri, or cumulatively from other origins.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
container_name optional
The name of the container from which the data originated.
file optional
The file from which the data originated.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
mode optional
The connection mode used by the component.
peer_addr optional
The IP from which the data originated.
peer_path optional
The pathname from which the data originated.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
pod_name optional
The name of the pod from which the data originated.
uri optional
The sanitized URI from which the data originated.

component_received_events_count

histogram

A histogram of the number of events passed in each internal batch in Vector’s internal topology.

Note that this is separate than sink-level batching. It is mostly useful for low level debugging performance issues in Vector due to small internal batches.

component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
container_name optional
The name of the container from which the data originated.
file optional
The file from which the data originated.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
mode optional
The connection mode used by the component.
peer_addr optional
The IP from which the data originated.
peer_path optional
The pathname from which the data originated.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
pod_name optional
The name of the pod from which the data originated.
uri optional
The sanitized URI from which the data originated.

component_received_events_total

counter
The number of events accepted by this component either from tagged origins like file and uri, or cumulatively from other origins.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
container_name optional
The name of the container from which the data originated.
file optional
The file from which the data originated.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
mode optional
The connection mode used by the component.
peer_addr optional
The IP from which the data originated.
peer_path optional
The pathname from which the data originated.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
pod_name optional
The name of the pod from which the data originated.
uri optional
The sanitized URI from which the data originated.

component_sent_event_bytes_total

counter
The total number of event bytes emitted by this component.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
output optional
The specific output of the component.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

component_sent_events_total

counter
The total number of events emitted by this component.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
output optional
The specific output of the component.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

http_server_handler_duration_seconds

histogram
The duration spent handling a HTTP request.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
method optional
The HTTP method of the request.
path
The path that produced the error.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
status optional
The HTTP status code of the request.

http_server_requests_received_total

counter
The total number of HTTP requests received.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
method optional
The HTTP method of the request.
path
The path that produced the error.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

http_server_responses_sent_total

counter
The total number of HTTP responses sent.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
method optional
The HTTP method of the request.
path
The path that produced the error.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
status optional
The HTTP status code of the request.

source_lag_time_seconds

histogram
The difference between the timestamp recorded in each event and the time when it was ingested, expressed as fractional seconds.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_type
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

How it works

Context

By default, the datadog_agent source augments events with helpful context keys.

Configuring the Datadog Agent

Sending logs or metrics to Vector requires the Datadog Agent v7.35/6.35 or greater.

To send logs from a Datadog Agent to this source, the Datadog Agent configuration must be updated to use:

vector:
	logs.enabled: true
	logs.url: http://"<VECTOR_HOST>:<SOURCE_PORT>" # Use https if SSL is enabled in Vector source configuration

In order to send metrics the Datadog Agent configuration must be updated with the following options:

vector:
	metrics.enabled: true
	metrics.url: http://"<VECTOR_HOST>:<SOURCE_PORT>" # Use https if SSL is enabled in Vector source configuration

In order to send traces the Datadog Agent configuration must be updated with the following options:

vector:
	traces.enabled: true
	traces.url: http://"<VECTOR_HOST>:<SOURCE_PORT>" # Use https if SSL is enabled in Vector source configuration

State

This component is stateless, meaning its behavior is consistent across each input.

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Vector uses OpenSSL for TLS protocols due to OpenSSL’s maturity. You can enable and adjust TLS behavior via the tls.* options and/or via an OpenSSL configuration file. The file location defaults to /usr/local/ssl/openssl.cnf or can be specified with the OPENSSL_CONF environment variable.

Trace support caveats

The datadog_agent source is capable of receiving traces from the Datadog Agent and forwarding them to Datadog. In order to have accurate APM statistics, you should disable any sampling of traces within the Datadog Agent or client SDKs as Vector calculates the metrics that drive the APM statistics (like span hit count and duration distribution).
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