HTTP Client

Pull observability data from an HTTP server at a configured interval

status: beta role: daemon role: sidecar role: aggregator delivery: at-least-once acknowledgements: no egress: batch state: stateless output: log output: metrics
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Configuration

Example configurations 

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "http_client",
      "endpoint": "http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs"
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "http_client"
endpoint = "http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs"

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: http_client
    endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "http_client",
      "endpoint": "http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs",
      "headers": {
        "Accept": [
          "text/plain",
          "text/html"
        ],
        "X-My-Custom-Header": [
          "a",
          "vector",
          "of",
          "values"
        ]
      },
      "method": "GET",
      "query": {
        "field": [
          "value"
        ],
        "fruit": [
          "mango",
          "papaya",
          "kiwi"
        ]
      },
      "scrape_interval_secs": 15,
      "scrape_timeout_secs": 5
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "http_client"
endpoint = "http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs"
method = "GET"
scrape_interval_secs = 15
scrape_timeout_secs = 5

  [sources.my_source_id.headers]
  Accept = [ "text/plain", "text/html" ]
  X-My-Custom-Header = [ "a", "vector", "of", "values" ]

  [sources.my_source_id.query]
  field = [ "value" ]
  fruit = [ "mango", "papaya", "kiwi" ]

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: http_client
    endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs
    headers:
      Accept:
        - text/plain
        - text/html
      X-My-Custom-Header:
        - a
        - vector
        - of
        - values
    method: GET
    query:
      field:
        - value
      fruit:
        - mango
        - papaya
        - kiwi
    scrape_interval_secs: 15
    scrape_timeout_secs: 5

auth

optional object
HTTP Authentication.

auth.password

required string literal
The basic authentication password.
Relevant when: strategy = "basic"
Examples 
"${PASSWORD}"
"password"

auth.strategy

required string literal enum
The authentication strategy to use.
Enum options
OptionDescription
basic

Basic authentication.

The username and password are concatenated and encoded via base64.

bearer

Bearer authentication.

The bearer token value (OAuth2, JWT, etc.) is passed as-is.

Examples 
"basic"
"bearer"

auth.token

required string literal
The bearer authentication token.
Relevant when: strategy = "bearer"

auth.user

required string literal
The basic authentication username.
Relevant when: strategy = "basic"
Examples 
"${USERNAME}"
"username"

decoding

optional object
Decoder to use on the HTTP responses.

decoding.avro

required object
Apache Avro-specific encoder options.
Relevant when: codec = "avro"
decoding.avro.schema
required string literal

The Avro schema definition. Please note that the following [apache_avro::types::Value] variants are currently not supported:

  • Date
  • Decimal
  • Duration
  • Fixed
  • TimeMillis
Examples 
"{ \"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"log\", \"fields\": [{ \"name\": \"message\", \"type\": \"string\" }] }"
decoding.avro.strip_schema_id_prefix
required bool
For Avro datum encoded in Kafka messages, the bytes are prefixed with the schema ID. Set this to true to strip the schema ID prefix. According to Confluent Kafka’s document.

decoding.codec

optional string literal enum
The codec to use for decoding events.
Enum options
OptionDescription
avroDecodes the raw bytes as as an Apache Avro message.
bytesUses the raw bytes as-is.
gelf

Decodes the raw bytes as a GELF message.

This codec is experimental for the following reason:

The GELF specification is more strict than the actual Graylog receiver. Vector’s decoder currently adheres more strictly to the GELF spec, with the exception that some characters such as @ are allowed in field names.

Other GELF codecs such as Loki’s, use a Go SDK that is maintained by Graylog, and is much more relaxed than the GELF spec.

Going forward, Vector will use that Go SDK as the reference implementation, which means the codec may continue to relax the enforcement of specification.

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).

vrlDecodes the raw bytes as a string and passes them as input to a VRL program.
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

decoding.vrl

required object
VRL-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "vrl"
decoding.vrl.source
required string literal
The Vector Remap Language (VRL) program to execute for each event. Note that the final contents of the . target will be used as the decoding result. Compilation error or use of ‘abort’ in a program will result in a decoding error.
decoding.vrl.timezone
optional string literal

The name of the timezone to apply to timestamp conversions that do not contain an explicit time zone. The time zone name may be any name in the TZ database, or local to indicate system local time.

If not set, local will be used.

Examples 
"local"
"America/New_York"
"EST5EDT"

endpoint

required string literal

The HTTP endpoint to collect events from.

The full path must be specified.

Warning

You must explicitly add the path to your endpoint.
Examples 
"http://127.0.0.1:9898/logs"

framing

optional object
Framing to use in the decoding.

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.

headers

optional object

Headers to apply to the HTTP requests.

One or more values for the same header can be provided.

headers.*

required [string]
An HTTP request header and it’s value(s).

method

optional string literal enum
Specifies the method of the HTTP request.
Enum options string literal
OptionDescription
DELETEHTTP DELETE method.
GETHTTP GET method.
HEADHTTP HEAD method.
PATCHHTTP PATCH method.
POSTHTTP POST method.
PUTHTTP Put method.
default: GET

proxy

optional object

Proxy configuration.

Configure to proxy traffic through an HTTP(S) proxy when making external requests.

Similar to common proxy configuration convention, you can set different proxies to use based on the type of traffic being proxied, as well as set specific hosts that should not be proxied.

proxy.enabled

optional bool
Enables proxying support.
default: true

proxy.http

optional string literal

Proxy endpoint to use when proxying HTTP traffic.

Must be a valid URI string.

Examples 
"http://foo.bar:3128"

proxy.https

optional string literal

Proxy endpoint to use when proxying HTTPS traffic.

Must be a valid URI string.

Examples 
"http://foo.bar:3128"

proxy.no_proxy

optional [string]

A list of hosts to avoid proxying.

Multiple patterns are allowed:

PatternExample match
Domain namesexample.com matches requests to example.com
Wildcard domains.example.com matches requests to example.com and its subdomains
IP addresses127.0.0.1 matches requests to 127.0.0.1
CIDR blocks192.168.0.0/16 matches requests to any IP addresses in this range
Splat* matches all hosts

query

optional object

Custom parameters for the HTTP request query string.

One or more values for the same parameter key can be provided.

The parameters provided in this option are appended to any parameters manually provided in the endpoint option.

query.*

required [string]
A query string parameter and it’s value(s).

scrape_interval_secs

optional uint
The interval between scrapes. Requests are run concurrently so if a scrape takes longer than the interval a new scrape will be started. This can take extra resources, set the timeout to a value lower than the scrape interval to prevent this from happening.
default: 15 (seconds)

scrape_timeout_secs

optional float
The timeout for each scrape request.
default: 5 (seconds)

tls

optional object
TLS configuration.

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.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. For components that create a server, this requires that the client connections have a valid client certificate. For components that initiate requests, this validates that the upstream has a valid certificate.

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.

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.

Environment variables

HTTPS_PROXY

common optional string literal

The global URL to proxy HTTPS requests through.

If another HTTPS proxy is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one will be overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
http://foo.bar:3128

HTTP_PROXY

common optional string literal

The global URL to proxy HTTP requests through.

If another HTTP proxy is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one will be overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
http://foo.bar:3128

NO_PROXY

common optional string literal

List of hosts to avoid proxying globally.

Allowed patterns here include:

PatternExample match
Domain namesexample.com matches requests to example.com
Wildcard domains.example.come matches requests to example.com and its subdomains
IP addresses127.0.0.1 matches requests to 127.0.0.1
CIDR blocks192.168.0.0./16 matches requests to any IP addresses in this range
Splat* matches all hosts

If another no_proxy value is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one is overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
localhost,.example.com,192.168.0.0./16
*

http_proxy

common optional string literal

The global URL to proxy HTTP requests through.

If another HTTP proxy is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one will be overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
http://foo.bar:3128

https_proxy

common optional string literal

The global URL to proxy HTTPS requests through.

If another HTTPS proxy is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one will be overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
http://foo.bar:3128

no_proxy

common optional string literal

List of hosts to avoid proxying globally.

Allowed patterns here include:

PatternExample match
Domain namesexample.com matches requests to example.com
Wildcard domains.example.come matches requests to example.com and its subdomains
IP addresses127.0.0.1 matches requests to 127.0.0.1
CIDR blocks192.168.0.0./16 matches requests to any IP addresses in this range
Splat* matches all hosts

If another no_proxy value is set in the configuration file or at a component level, this one is overridden.

The lowercase variant has priority over the uppercase one.

Examples
localhost,.example.com,192.168.0.0./16
*

Outputs

<component_id>

Default output stream of the component. Use this component’s ID 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.

histogram

gauge
Also called a timer. A histogram samples observations (usually things like request durations or response sizes) and counts them in configurable buckets. It also provides a sum of all observed values.
* optional
Any tags present on the metric.
source_type
The name of the source type.

set

gauge
A set represents an array of unique values.
* 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

Structured

An individual line from an application/json request
Fields
* optional *
Any field contained in your JSON payload
source_type required string literal
The name of the source type.
Examples
http_client
timestamp required timestamp
The exact time the event was ingested into Vector.
Examples
2020-10-10T17:07:36.452332Z

Text

An individual line from a text/plain HTTP request
Fields
message required string literal
The raw line from the incoming payload.
Examples
Hello world
source_type required string literal
The name of the source type.
Examples
http_client
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_client_response_rtt_seconds

histogram
The round-trip time (RTT) of HTTP requests, tagged with the response code.
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.
status optional
The HTTP status code of the request.

http_client_responses_total

counter
The total number of HTTP requests, tagged with the response code.
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.
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 http_client source augments events with helpful context keys.

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.
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