Splunk HTTP Event Collector (HEC)

Receive logs from Splunk

status: stable role: aggregator delivery: at-least-once acknowledgements: yes egress: batch state: stateless
output: logs
View open issues for this component on GitHub
This source exposes three HTTP endpoints at a configurable address that jointly implement the Splunk HEC API: /services/collector/event, /services/collector/raw, and /services/collector/health.

Configuration

Example configurations

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "splunk_hec"
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "splunk_hec"

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: splunk_hec

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "splunk_hec",
      "address": "0.0.0.0:8088",
      "valid_tokens": [
        "A94A8FE5CCB19BA61C4C08"
      ]
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "splunk_hec"
address = "0.0.0.0:8088"
valid_tokens = [ "A94A8FE5CCB19BA61C4C08" ]

sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: splunk_hec
    address: 0.0.0.0:8088
    valid_tokens:
      - A94A8FE5CCB19BA61C4C08

acknowledgements

optional object
Acknowledgement configuration for the splunk_hec source.

acknowledgements.ack_idle_cleanup

optional bool

Whether or not to remove channels after idling for max_idle_time seconds.

A channel is idling if it is not used for sending data or querying acknowledgement statuses.

default: false

acknowledgements.enabled

optional bool
Enables end-to-end acknowledgements.

acknowledgements.max_idle_time

optional uint

The amount of time, in seconds, a channel is allowed to idle before removal.

Channels can potentially idle for longer than this setting but clients should not rely on such behavior.

Minimum of 1.

default: 300

acknowledgements.max_number_of_ack_channels

optional uint

The maximum number of Splunk HEC channels clients can use with this source.

Minimum of 1.

default: 1e+06

acknowledgements.max_pending_acks

optional uint

The maximum number of acknowledgement statuses pending query across all channels.

Equivalent to the max_number_of_acked_requests_pending_query Splunk HEC setting.

Minimum of 1.

default: 1e+07

acknowledgements.max_pending_acks_per_channel

optional uint

The maximum number of acknowledgement statuses pending query for a single channel.

Equivalent to the max_number_of_acked_requests_pending_query_per_ack_channel Splunk HEC setting.

Minimum of 1.

default: 1e+06

address

optional string literal

The socket address to listen for connections on.

The address must include a port.

default: 0.0.0.0:8088

event

optional object

Codec configuration applied to events received on /services/collector/event.

When decoding is set, Vector applies a second decoding pass after parsing the HEC envelope. The envelope’s event field is passed through the codec, and a single envelope can fan out to multiple events. Decode failures are swallowed and do not return an error to the Splunk client.

The VRL codec can access HEC envelope metadata, such as host, sourcetype, and, channel, and the authentication token via %splunk_hec.* paths and get_secret!("splunk_hec_token") before the program executes.

event.decoding

optional object

Decoding configuration applied to the payload.

When unset, the endpoint preserves its existing per-endpoint default behavior. When set, the endpoint-selected payload is processed through framing and decoding, and a single payload can fan out to multiple events.

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

The Avro schema definition. Note: The following [apache_avro::types::Value] variants are not supported:

  • Date
  • Decimal
  • Duration
  • Fixed
  • TimeMillis
Examples 
"{ \"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"log\", \"fields\": [{ \"name\": \"message\", \"type\": \"string\" }] }"
event.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, as described in Confluent Kafka’s documentation.
event.decoding.codec
required 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 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 the Go SDK as the reference implementation, which means the codec may continue to relax the enforcement of the specification.

influxdbDecodes the raw bytes as an Influxdb Line Protocol message.
jsonDecodes the raw bytes as JSON.
native

Decodes the raw bytes as native Protocol Buffers format.

This decoder can output all types of events: logs, metrics, and traces.

This codec is experimental.

native_json

Decodes the raw bytes as native JSON format.

This decoder can output all types of events: logs, metrics, and traces.

This codec is experimental.

otlp

Decodes the raw bytes as OTLP (OpenTelemetry Protocol) protobuf format.

This decoder handles the three OTLP signal types: logs, metrics, and traces. It automatically detects which type of OTLP message is being decoded.

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.
Examples 
"avro"
"bytes"
"gelf"
"influxdb"
"json"
"native"
"native_json"
"otlp"
"protobuf"
"syslog"
"vrl"
event.decoding.gelf
optional object
GELF-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "gelf"
event.decoding.gelf.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether 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
event.decoding.gelf.validation
optional string literal enum
Configures the decoding validation mode.
Enum options
OptionDescription
relaxed

Uses more relaxed validation that skips strict GELF specification checks.

This mode does not treat specification violations as errors, allowing the decoder to accept messages from sources that don’t strictly follow the GELF spec.

strictUses strict validation that closely follows the GELF spec.
default: strict
event.decoding.influxdb
optional object
Influxdb-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "influxdb"
event.decoding.influxdb.lossy
optional bool

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

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

Determines whether 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
event.decoding.protobuf
optional object
Protobuf-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "protobuf"
event.decoding.protobuf.desc_file
optional string literal

The path to the protobuf descriptor set file.

This file is the output of protoc -I <include path> -o <desc output path> <proto>.

For more information, see How Buf images work.

event.decoding.protobuf.message_type
optional string literal
The name of the message type to use for serializing.
Examples 
"package.Message"
event.decoding.protobuf.use_json_names
optional bool

Use JSON field names (camelCase) instead of protobuf field names (snake_case).

When enabled, the deserializer will output fields using their JSON names as defined in the .proto file (for example, jobDescription instead of job_description).

This is useful when working with data that needs to be converted to JSON or when interfacing with systems that use JSON naming conventions.

default: false
event.decoding.signal_types
optional [string]

Signal types to attempt parsing, in priority order.

The deserializer tries to parse signals in the specified order. This allows you to optimize performance when you know the expected signal types. For example, if you only receive traces, set this to ["traces"] to avoid attempting to parse as logs or metrics first.

If not specified, defaults to trying all types in this order: logs, metrics, traces. Duplicate signal types are automatically removed while preserving order.

Relevant when: codec = "otlp"
default: [logs metrics traces]
event.decoding.syslog
optional object
Syslog-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "syslog"
event.decoding.syslog.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether 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
event.decoding.vrl
required object
VRL-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "vrl"
event.decoding.vrl.source
required string literal
The Vector Remap Language (VRL) program to execute for each event. The final contents of the . target are used as the decoding result. Compilation errors or use of abort in the program result in a decoding error.
event.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 is used.

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

event.framing

optional object

Framing configuration applied to the payload.

Only used when decoding is also set. Defaults to a per-codec choice (typically bytes) that produces one event per payload.

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

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, no maximum length is 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 prevents processing from being unbounded.

event.framing.chunked_gelf
optional object
Options for the chunked GELF decoder.
Relevant when: method = "chunked_gelf"
event.framing.chunked_gelf.decompression
optional string literal enum
Decompression configuration for GELF messages.
Enum options
OptionDescription
AutoAutomatically detect the decompression method based on the magic bytes of the message.
GzipUse Gzip decompression.
NoneDo not decompress the message.
ZlibUse Zlib decompression.
default: Auto
event.framing.chunked_gelf.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of a single GELF message, in bytes. Messages longer than this length are dropped. If this option is not set, the decoder does not limit the length of messages and the per-message memory is unbounded.

Note: A message can be composed of multiple chunks, and this limit applies to the whole message, not to individual chunks.

This limit takes into account only the message payload. GELF header bytes are excluded from the calculation. The message payload is the concatenation of all chunk payloads.

event.framing.chunked_gelf.pending_messages_limit
optional uint
The maximum number of pending incomplete messages. If this limit is reached, the decoder starts dropping chunks of new messages, ensuring the memory usage of the decoder’s state is bounded. If this option is not set, the decoder does not limit the number of pending messages and the memory usage of its messages buffer can grow unbounded. This matches Graylog Server’s behavior.
event.framing.chunked_gelf.timeout_secs
optional float
The timeout, in seconds, for a message to be fully received. If the timeout is reached, the decoder drops all received chunks for the timed-out message.
default: 5
event.framing.length_delimited
required object
Options for the length delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "length_delimited"
event.framing.length_delimited.length_field_is_big_endian
optional bool
Length field byte order (little or big endian)
default: true
event.framing.length_delimited.length_field_length
optional uint
Number of bytes representing the field length
default: 4
event.framing.length_delimited.length_field_offset
optional uint
Number of bytes in the header before the length field
event.framing.length_delimited.max_frame_length
optional uint
Maximum frame length
default: 8.388608e+06
event.framing.max_frame_length
optional uint
Maximum frame length
Relevant when: method = "varint_length_delimited"
default: 8.388608e+06
event.framing.method
required 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.
chunked_gelfByte frames which are chunked GELF messages.
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.
varint_length_delimitedByte frames which are prefixed by a varint indicating the length. This is compatible with protobuf’s length-delimited encoding.
Examples 
"bytes"
"character_delimited"
"chunked_gelf"
"length_delimited"
"newline_delimited"
"octet_counting"
"varint_length_delimited"
event.framing.newline_delimited
optional object
Options for the newline delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "newline_delimited"
event.framing.newline_delimited.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, no maximum length is 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 prevents processing from being unbounded.

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

keepalive

optional object
Configuration of HTTP server keepalive parameters.

keepalive.max_connection_age_jitter_factor

optional float

The factor by which to jitter the max_connection_age_secs value.

A value of 0.1 means that the actual duration will be between 90% and 110% of the specified maximum duration.

default: 0.1

keepalive.max_connection_age_secs

optional uint

The maximum amount of time a connection may exist before it is closed by sending a Connection: close header on the HTTP response. Set this to a large value like 100000000 to “disable” this feature

Only applies to HTTP/0.9, HTTP/1.0, and HTTP/1.1 requests.

A random jitter configured by max_connection_age_jitter_factor is added to the specified duration to spread out connection storms.

Examples 
600
default: 300(seconds)

raw

optional object

Codec configuration applied to events received on /services/collector/raw.

When decoding is set, the (decompressed) request body is fed through the codec instead of being emitted as a single event. Decode failures are swallowed and do not return an error to the Splunk client. When unset, the endpoint preserves its existing behavior of one event per request body.

raw.decoding

optional object

Decoding configuration applied to the payload.

When unset, the endpoint preserves its existing per-endpoint default behavior. When set, the endpoint-selected payload is processed through framing and decoding, and a single payload can fan out to multiple events.

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

The Avro schema definition. Note: The following [apache_avro::types::Value] variants are not supported:

  • Date
  • Decimal
  • Duration
  • Fixed
  • TimeMillis
Examples 
"{ \"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"log\", \"fields\": [{ \"name\": \"message\", \"type\": \"string\" }] }"
raw.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, as described in Confluent Kafka’s documentation.
raw.decoding.codec
required 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 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 the Go SDK as the reference implementation, which means the codec may continue to relax the enforcement of the specification.

influxdbDecodes the raw bytes as an Influxdb Line Protocol message.
jsonDecodes the raw bytes as JSON.
native

Decodes the raw bytes as native Protocol Buffers format.

This decoder can output all types of events: logs, metrics, and traces.

This codec is experimental.

native_json

Decodes the raw bytes as native JSON format.

This decoder can output all types of events: logs, metrics, and traces.

This codec is experimental.

otlp

Decodes the raw bytes as OTLP (OpenTelemetry Protocol) protobuf format.

This decoder handles the three OTLP signal types: logs, metrics, and traces. It automatically detects which type of OTLP message is being decoded.

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.
Examples 
"avro"
"bytes"
"gelf"
"influxdb"
"json"
"native"
"native_json"
"otlp"
"protobuf"
"syslog"
"vrl"
raw.decoding.gelf
optional object
GELF-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "gelf"
raw.decoding.gelf.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether 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
raw.decoding.gelf.validation
optional string literal enum
Configures the decoding validation mode.
Enum options
OptionDescription
relaxed

Uses more relaxed validation that skips strict GELF specification checks.

This mode does not treat specification violations as errors, allowing the decoder to accept messages from sources that don’t strictly follow the GELF spec.

strictUses strict validation that closely follows the GELF spec.
default: strict
raw.decoding.influxdb
optional object
Influxdb-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "influxdb"
raw.decoding.influxdb.lossy
optional bool

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

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

Determines whether 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
raw.decoding.protobuf
optional object
Protobuf-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "protobuf"
raw.decoding.protobuf.desc_file
optional string literal

The path to the protobuf descriptor set file.

This file is the output of protoc -I <include path> -o <desc output path> <proto>.

For more information, see How Buf images work.

raw.decoding.protobuf.message_type
optional string literal
The name of the message type to use for serializing.
Examples 
"package.Message"
raw.decoding.protobuf.use_json_names
optional bool

Use JSON field names (camelCase) instead of protobuf field names (snake_case).

When enabled, the deserializer will output fields using their JSON names as defined in the .proto file (for example, jobDescription instead of job_description).

This is useful when working with data that needs to be converted to JSON or when interfacing with systems that use JSON naming conventions.

default: false
raw.decoding.signal_types
optional [string]

Signal types to attempt parsing, in priority order.

The deserializer tries to parse signals in the specified order. This allows you to optimize performance when you know the expected signal types. For example, if you only receive traces, set this to ["traces"] to avoid attempting to parse as logs or metrics first.

If not specified, defaults to trying all types in this order: logs, metrics, traces. Duplicate signal types are automatically removed while preserving order.

Relevant when: codec = "otlp"
default: [logs metrics traces]
raw.decoding.syslog
optional object
Syslog-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "syslog"
raw.decoding.syslog.lossy
optional bool

Determines whether 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
raw.decoding.vrl
required object
VRL-specific decoding options.
Relevant when: codec = "vrl"
raw.decoding.vrl.source
required string literal
The Vector Remap Language (VRL) program to execute for each event. The final contents of the . target are used as the decoding result. Compilation errors or use of abort in the program result in a decoding error.
raw.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 is used.

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

raw.framing

optional object

Framing configuration applied to the payload.

Only used when decoding is also set. Defaults to a per-codec choice (typically bytes) that produces one event per payload.

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

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, no maximum length is 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 prevents processing from being unbounded.

raw.framing.chunked_gelf
optional object
Options for the chunked GELF decoder.
Relevant when: method = "chunked_gelf"
raw.framing.chunked_gelf.decompression
optional string literal enum
Decompression configuration for GELF messages.
Enum options
OptionDescription
AutoAutomatically detect the decompression method based on the magic bytes of the message.
GzipUse Gzip decompression.
NoneDo not decompress the message.
ZlibUse Zlib decompression.
default: Auto
raw.framing.chunked_gelf.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of a single GELF message, in bytes. Messages longer than this length are dropped. If this option is not set, the decoder does not limit the length of messages and the per-message memory is unbounded.

Note: A message can be composed of multiple chunks, and this limit applies to the whole message, not to individual chunks.

This limit takes into account only the message payload. GELF header bytes are excluded from the calculation. The message payload is the concatenation of all chunk payloads.

raw.framing.chunked_gelf.pending_messages_limit
optional uint
The maximum number of pending incomplete messages. If this limit is reached, the decoder starts dropping chunks of new messages, ensuring the memory usage of the decoder’s state is bounded. If this option is not set, the decoder does not limit the number of pending messages and the memory usage of its messages buffer can grow unbounded. This matches Graylog Server’s behavior.
raw.framing.chunked_gelf.timeout_secs
optional float
The timeout, in seconds, for a message to be fully received. If the timeout is reached, the decoder drops all received chunks for the timed-out message.
default: 5
raw.framing.length_delimited
required object
Options for the length delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "length_delimited"
raw.framing.length_delimited.length_field_is_big_endian
optional bool
Length field byte order (little or big endian)
default: true
raw.framing.length_delimited.length_field_length
optional uint
Number of bytes representing the field length
default: 4
raw.framing.length_delimited.length_field_offset
optional uint
Number of bytes in the header before the length field
raw.framing.length_delimited.max_frame_length
optional uint
Maximum frame length
default: 8.388608e+06
raw.framing.max_frame_length
optional uint
Maximum frame length
Relevant when: method = "varint_length_delimited"
default: 8.388608e+06
raw.framing.method
required 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.
chunked_gelfByte frames which are chunked GELF messages.
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.
varint_length_delimitedByte frames which are prefixed by a varint indicating the length. This is compatible with protobuf’s length-delimited encoding.
Examples 
"bytes"
"character_delimited"
"chunked_gelf"
"length_delimited"
"newline_delimited"
"octet_counting"
"varint_length_delimited"
raw.framing.newline_delimited
optional object
Options for the newline delimited decoder.
Relevant when: method = "newline_delimited"
raw.framing.newline_delimited.max_length
optional uint

The maximum length of the byte buffer.

This length does not include the trailing delimiter.

By default, no maximum length is 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 prevents processing from being unbounded.

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

store_hec_token

optional bool

Whether or not to forward the Splunk HEC authentication token with events.

If set to true, when incoming requests contain a Splunk HEC token, the token used is kept in the event metadata and preferentially used if the event is sent to a Splunk HEC sink.

default: false

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 a 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 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.server_name

optional string literal

Server name to use when using Server Name Indication (SNI).

Only relevant for outgoing connections.

Examples 
"www.example.com"

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.

token

optional string literal

Deprecated

This option has been deprecated, use valid_tokens instead.

Optional authorization token.

If supplied, incoming requests must supply this token in the Authorization header, just as a client would if it was communicating with the Splunk HEC endpoint directly.

If not supplied, the Authorization header is ignored and requests are not authenticated.

valid_tokens

optional [string]

A list of valid authorization tokens.

If supplied, incoming requests must supply one of these tokens in the Authorization header, just as a client would if it was communicating with the Splunk HEC endpoint directly.

If not supplied, the Authorization header is ignored and requests are not authenticated.

Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "A94A8FE5CCB19BA61C4C08"
]

Outputs

<component_id>

Default output stream of the component. Use this component’s ID as an input to downstream transforms and sinks.

Output Types

Logs

Warning

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

Event

A single event
Fields
message required string literal
The raw line, unparsed.
Examples
2019-02-13T19:48:34+00:00 [info] Started GET "/" for 127.0.0.1
source_type required string literal
The name of the source type.
Examples
splunk_hec
splunk_channel required timestamp
The Splunk channel, value of the X-Splunk-Request-Channel header or channel query parameter, in that order of precedence.
Examples
2020-10-10T17:07:36.452332Z
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_buffer_max_byte_size

gauge
The maximum number of bytes the source buffer can hold. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
Deprecated
This metric has been deprecated in favor of source_buffer_max_size_bytes.
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.

source_buffer_max_event_size

gauge
The maximum number of events the source buffer can hold. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
Deprecated
This metric has been deprecated in favor of source_buffer_max_size_events.
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.

source_buffer_max_size_bytes

gauge
The maximum number of bytes the source buffer can hold. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
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.

source_buffer_max_size_events

gauge
The maximum number of events the source buffer can hold. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
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.

source_buffer_utilization

histogram
The utilization level of the source buffer. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
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.

source_buffer_utilization_level

gauge
The current utilization level of the source buffer. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer.
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.

source_buffer_utilization_mean

gauge
The mean utilization level of the source buffer. The outputs of the source send data to this buffer. The mean utilization is smoothed over time using an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA).
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.

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 splunk_hec source augments events with helpful context keys.

Indexer Acknowledgements

With acknowledgements enabled, the source uses the Splunk HEC indexer acknowledgements protocol to allow clients to verify data has been delivered to destination sinks. To summarize the protocol, each request to the source is associated with an integer identifier (an ack id) that the client is given and can use to query for the status of the request.

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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