Install Vector via Homebrew

Vector can be installed through Homebrew which is generally used on MacOS systems.

Install

The daemon deployment strategy is designed for data collection on a single host. Vector runs in the background, in its own process, collecting all data for that host. Typically data is collected from a process manager, such as Journald via Vector's journald source, but can be collected through any of Vector's sources. The following diagram demonstrates how it works.

Vector daemon deployment strategyVector daemon deployment strategy
1. Your service logs to STDOUT
STDOUT follows the 12 factor principles.
2. STDOUT is captured
STDOUT is captured by your platform.
3. Vector collects & fans-out data
Vector collects data from your platform.

  1. Add the Timber tap and install vector

    brew tap timberio/brew && brew install vector

    Looking for a specific version?

  2. Configure Vector

    Where do you want to send your data?
    Console
    cat <<-VECTORCFG > /etc/vector/vector.toml
    [sources.in]
      type = "file" # required
      include = ["/var/log/nginx/*.log"] # required
    

    [sinks.out]
      # General
      type = "console" # required
      inputs = ["in"] # required
    

      # Encoding
      encoding.codec = "json" # required
    VECTORCFG
    explain this command

  3. Start Vector

    brew services start vector

Configuring

The Vector configuration file is placed in:

/usr/local/etc/vector/vector.toml

A full spec is located at /usr/local/etc/vector/vector.spec.toml and examples are located in /usr/local/etc/vector/examples/*. You can learn more about configuring Vector in the Configuration section.

Deploying

How you deploy Vector is largely dependent on your use case and environment. Please see the deployment section for more info on how to deploy Vector.

Administering

Vector can be managed through the Homebrew services manager:

Administration

Uninstalling

brew remove vector

Updating

brew update && brew upgrade vector

Package

Architectures

Vector's Homebrew packages only support the X86_64 arhcitecture.

Versions

Historical Vector versions can be found in the releases. Once you've found the version you'd like to install you can specify it with:

brew install vector@X.X.X

Due to limitations of Homebrew, Vector cannot pin specific major or minor versions. If this is a requirement, then we recommend installing Vector directly from an archive.

Source Files

Vector's Homebrew source files are located in Vector's brew repo.

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