[[configuration-heartbeat-options]] == Set up monitors ++++ Set up {beatname_uc} monitors ++++ To configure {beatname_uc} define a set of `monitors` to check your remote hosts. Specify monitors either directly inside the +heartbeat.yml+ config file, or in external dynamically loaded files located in the directory referenced by `heartbeat.config.monitors.path`. One advantage of using external files is that these can be automatically reloaded without stopping the {beatname_uc} process. Each `monitor` item is an entry in a yaml list, and so begins with a dash (-). You can define the type of monitor to use, the hosts to check, and other optional settings that control {beatname_uc} behavior. The following example configures three monitors checking via the `icmp`, `tcp`, and `http` protocols directly inside the +heartbeat.yml+ file, and demonstrates how to use TCP Echo and HTTP response verification: [source,yaml] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # heartbeat.yml heartbeat.monitors: - type: icmp schedule: '*/5 * * * * * *' hosts: ["myhost"] - type: tcp schedule: '@every 5s' hosts: ["myhost:7"] # default TCP Echo Protocol check.send: "Check" check.receive: "Check" - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["http://localhost:80/service/status"] check.response.status: 200 heartbeat.scheduler: limit: 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Using the +heartbeat.yml+ configuration file is convenient, but has two drawbacks: it can become hard to manage with large numbers of monitors, and it will not reload heartbeat automatically when its contents changes. Define monitors via the +heartbeat.config.monitors+ to prevent those issues from happening to you. To do so you would instead have your +heartbeat.yml+ file contain the following: [source,yaml] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # heartbeat.yml heartbeat.config.monitors: # Directory + glob pattern to search for configuration files path: /path/to/my/monitors.d/*.yml # If enabled, heartbeat will periodically check the config.monitors path for changes reload.enabled: true # How often to check for changes reload.period: 1s ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Then, define one or more files in the directory pointed to by `heartbeat.config.monitors.path`. You may specify multiple monitors in a given file if you like. The contents of these files is monitor definitions only, e.g. what is normally under the `heartbeat.monitors` section of +heartbeat.yml+. See below for an example [source,yaml] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- # /path/to/my/monitors.d/localhost_service_check.yml - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["http://localhost:80/service/status"] check.response.status: 200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[monitor-options]] === Monitor options You can specify the following options when defining a {beatname_uc} monitor in any location. These options are the same for all monitors. Each monitor type has additional configuration options that are specific to that monitor type. [float] [[monitor-type]] ==== `type` The type of monitor to run. One of: * `icmp`: Uses an ICMP (v4 and v6) Echo Request to ping the configured hosts. Requires root access. See <>. * `tcp`: Connects via TCP and optionally verifies the endpoint by sending and/or receiving a custom payload. See <>. * `http`: Connects via HTTP and optionally verifies that the host returns the expected response. See <>. The `tcp` and `http` monitor types both support SSL/TLS and some proxy settings. [float] [[monitor-name]] ==== `name` The monitor name. This value appears in the <> under the `monitor` field as the job name and the `type` field as the job type. [float] [[monitor-enabled]] ==== `enabled` A Boolean value that specifies whether the module is enabled. If the `enabled` option is missing from the configuration block, the module is enabled by default. [float] [[monitor-schedule]] ==== `schedule` A cron-like expression that specifies the task schedule. For example: * `*/5 * * * * * *` runs the task every 5 seconds (for example, at 10:00:00, 10:00:05, and so on). * `@every 5s` runs the task every 5 seconds from the time when {beatname_uc} was started. The `schedule` option uses a cron-like syntax based on https://github.com/gorhill/cronexpr#implementation[this `cronexpr` implementation], but adds the `@every` keyword. [float] [[monitor-ipv4]] ==== `ipv4` A Boolean value that specifies whether to ping using the ipv4 protocol if hostnames are configured. The default is `true`. [float] [[monitor-ipv6]] ==== `ipv6` A Boolean value that specifies whether to ping using the ipv6 protocol if hostnames are configured. The default is `true`. [float] [[monitor-mode]] ==== `mode` If `mode` is `any`, the monitor pings only one IP address for a hostname. If `mode` is `all`, the monitor pings all resolvable IPs for a hostname. The `mode: all` setting is useful if you are using a DNS-load balancer and want to ping every IP address for the specified hostname. The default is `any`. [float] [[monitor-timeout]] ==== `timeout` The total running time for each ping test. This is the total time allowed for testing the connection and exchanging data. The default is 16 seconds (16s). If the timeout is exceeded, {beatname_uc} publishes a `service-down` event. If the value specified for `timeout` is greater than `schedule`, intermediate checks will not be executed by the scheduler. [float] [[monitor-fields]] ==== `fields` Optional fields that you can specify to add additional information to the output. For example, you might add fields that you can use for filtering log data. Fields can be scalar values, arrays, dictionaries, or any nested combination of these. By default, the fields that you specify here will be grouped under a `fields` sub-dictionary in the output document. To store the custom fields as top-level fields, set the `fields_under_root` option to true. If a duplicate field is declared in the general configuration, then its value will be overwritten by the value declared here. [float] [[monitor-fields-under-root]] ==== `fields_under_root` If this option is set to true, the custom <> are stored as top-level fields in the output document instead of being grouped under a `fields` sub-dictionary. If the custom field names conflict with other field names added by {beatname_uc}, then the custom fields overwrite the other fields. [float] [[monitor-tags]] ==== `tags` A list of tags that will be sent with the monitor event. This setting is optional. [float] [[monitor-processors]] ==== `processors` A list of processors to apply to the data generated by the monitor. See <> for information about specifying processors in your config. [float] [[monitor-icmp-options]] === ICMP options These options configure {beatname_uc} to use ICMP (v4 and v6) Echo Requests to check the configured hosts. These options are valid when the <> is `icmp`. [float] [[monitor-icmp-hosts]] ==== `hosts` A list of hosts to ping. [float] [[monitor-icmp-wait]] ==== `wait` The duration to wait before emitting another ICMP Echo Request. The default is 1 second (1s). [float] [[monitor-tcp-options]] === TCP options These options configure {beatname_uc} to connect via TCP and optionally verify the endpoint by sending and/or receiving a custom payload. These options are valid when the <> is `tcp`. [float] [[monitor-tcp-hosts]] ==== `hosts` A list of hosts to ping. The entries in the list can be: * A plain host name, such as `localhost`, or an IP address. If you specify this option, you must also specify a value for <>. If the monitor is <>, {beatname_uc} establishes an SSL/TLS-based connection. Otherwise, it establishes a plain TCP connection. * A hostname and port, such as `localhost:12345`. {beatname_uc} connects to the port on the specified host. If the monitor is <>, {beatname_uc} establishes an SSL/TLS-based connection. Otherwise, it establishes a TCP connection. * A full URL using the syntax `scheme://:[port]`, where: ** `scheme` is one of `tcp`, `plain`, `ssl` or `tls`. If `tcp` or `plain` is specified, {beatname_uc} establishes a TCP connection even if the monitor is configured to use SSL. If `tls` or `ssl` is specified, {beatname_uc} establishes an SSL connection. However, if the monitor is not configured to use SSL, the system defaults are used (currently not supported on Windows). ** `host` is the hostname. ** `port` is the port number. If `port` is missing in the URL, the <> setting is required. [float] [[monitor-tcp-ports]] ==== `ports` A list of ports to ping if the host specified in <> does not contain a port number. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: tcp schedule: '@every 5s' hosts: ["myhost"] ports: [80, 9200, 5044] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[monitor-tcp-check]] ==== `check` An optional payload string to send to the remote host and the expected answer. If no payload is specified, the endpoint is assumed to be available if the connection attempt was successful. If `send` is specified without `receive`, any response is accepted as OK. If `receive` is specified without `send`, no payload is sent, but the client expects to receive a payload in the form of a "hello message" or "banner" on connect. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: tcp schedule: '@every 5s' hosts: ["myhost"] ports: [7] check.send: 'Hello World' check.receive: 'Hello World' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[monitor-tcp-proxy-url]] ==== `proxy_url` The URL of the SOCKS5 proxy to use when connecting to the server. The value must be a URL with a scheme of socks5://. If the SOCKS5 proxy server requires client authentication, then a username and password can be embedded in the URL as shown in the example. [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- proxy_url: socks5://user:password@socks5-proxy:2233 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When using a proxy, hostnames are resolved on the proxy server instead of on the client. You can change this behavior by setting the `proxy_use_local_resolver` option. [float] [[monitor-tcp-proxy-use-local-resolver]] ==== `proxy_use_local_resolver` A Boolean value that determines whether hostnames are resolved locally instead of being resolved on the proxy server. The default value is false, which means that name resolution occurs on the proxy server. [float] [[monitor-tcp-tls-ssl]] ==== `ssl` The TLS/SSL connection settings. If the monitor is <>, it will attempt an SSL handshake. If `check` is not configured, the monitor will only check to see if it can establish an SSL/TLS connection. This check can fail either at TCP level or during certificate validation. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: tcp schedule: '@every 5s' hosts: ["myhost"] ports: [80, 9200, 5044] ssl: certificate_authorities: ['/etc/ca.crt'] supported_protocols: ["TLSv1.0", "TLSv1.1", "TLSv1.2"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also see <> for a full description of the `ssl` options. [float] [[monitor-http-options]] === HTTP options These options configure {beatname_uc} to connect via HTTP and optionally verify that the host returns the expected response. These options are valid when the <> is `http`. [float] [[monitor-http-urls]] ==== `urls` A list of URLs to ping. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["http://myhost:80"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[monitor-http-proxy-url]] ==== `proxy_url` The HTTP proxy URL. This setting is optional. [float] [[monitor-http-username]] ==== `username` The username for authenticating with the server. The credentials are passed with the request. This setting is optional. You need to specify credentials when your `check.response` settings require it. For example, you can check for a 403 response (`check.response.status: 403`) without setting credentials. [float] [[monitor-http-password]] ==== `password` The password for authenticating with the server. This setting is optional. [float] [[monitor-http-tls-ssl]] ==== `ssl` The TLS/SSL connection settings for use with the HTTPS endpoint. If you don't specify settings, the system defaults are used. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["https://myhost:443"] ssl: certificate_authorities: ['/etc/ca.crt'] supported_protocols: ["TLSv1.0", "TLSv1.1", "TLSv1.2"] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also see <> for a full description of the `ssl` options. [float] [[monitor-http-check]] ==== `check` An optional `request` to send to the remote host and the expected `response`. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["http://myhost:80"] check.request.method: HEAD check.response.status: 200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under `check.request`, specify these options: *`method`*:: The HTTP method to use. Valid values are `"HEAD"`, `"GET"` and `"POST"`. *`headers`*:: A dictionary of additional HTTP headers to send. *`body`*:: Optional request body content. Under `check.response`, specify these options: *`status`*:: The expected status code. If this setting is not configured or it's set to 0, any status code other than 404 is accepted. *`headers`*:: The required response headers. *`body`*:: A list of regular expressions to match the the body output. Only a single expression needs to match. The following configuration shows how to check the response when the body contains JSON: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["https://myhost:80"] check.request: method: GET headers: 'X-API-Key': '12345-mykey-67890' check.response: status: 200 body: '{"status": "ok"}' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following configuration shows how to check the response for multiple regex patterns: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["https://myhost:80"] check.request: method: GET headers: 'X-API-Key': '12345-mykey-67890' check.response: status: 200 body: - hello - world ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following configuration shows how to check the response with a multiline regex: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - type: http schedule: '@every 5s' urls: ["https://myhost:80"] check.request: method: GET headers: 'X-API-Key': '12345-mykey-67890' check.response: status: 200 body: '(?s)first.*second.*third' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [float] [[monitors-scheduler]] === Scheduler options You specify options under `heartbeat.scheduler` to control the behavior of the task scheduler. Example configuration: [source,yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- heartbeat.scheduler: limit: 10 location: 'UTC-08:00' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the example, setting `limit` to 10 guarantees that only 10 concurrent I/O tasks will be active. An I/O task can be the actual check or resolving an address via DNS. [float] [[heartbeat-scheduler-limit]] ==== `limit` The number of concurrent I/O tasks that {beatname_uc} is allowed to execute. If set to 0, there is no limit. The default is 0. Most operating systems set a file descriptor limit of 1024. For {beatname_uc} to operate correctly and not accidentally block libbeat output, the value that you specify for `limit` should be below the configured ulimit. [float] [[heartbeat-scheduler-location]] ==== `location` The timezone for the scheduler. By default the scheduler uses localtime. [float] [[monitor-watch-poll-file]] ==== `watch.poll_file` deprecated[6.5.0,Replaced by using dynamic reloading via the `heartbeat.config.monitors` option.] The JSON file to watch for additional monitor configurations. The JSON file can contain multiple objects, each of which specifies a different monitor config. {beatname_uc} checks this file periodically and starts a new monitor instance for each new JSON object added to the file. For example, imagine that you add 10 new entries to the JSON file, each for a different hostname. When {beatname_uc} picks up the changes in the file, it merges the original config (`heartbeat.yml`) plus the JSON objects, and starts a monitor for each new host that you've configured. If you delete an object from the JSON file and it doesn't exist in the main config, {beatname_uc} stops the monitor instance running for that object. Each monitor has a unique ID that's based on parameters like protocol, host, and port. If two monitors have the same ID, {beatname_uc} uses the settings that are defined in the last JSON object of the merged config. This means that you can specify settings in the JSON file that overwrite the settings in the main config. In this way, the configuration that you specify for the monitor in the main {beatname_uc} config file acts like a default config that you can live-reconfigure by specifying additional configurations in the external JSON file. Example configuration: [source, yaml] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- heartbeat.monitors: - type: tcp schedule: '*/5 * * * * * *' hosts: ["myhost"] watch.poll_file: path: {path.config}/monitors/dynamic.json interval: 5s ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *`path`*:: Specifies the path to the JSON file to check for updates. *`interval`*:: Specifies how often {beatname_uc} checks the file for changes. To reconfigure the settings specified in the example config, you could define the following JSON objects in `dynamic.json`: [source, json] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- {"hosts": ["myhost:1234"], "schedule": "*/15 * * * * * *"} <1> {"hosts": ["tls://otherhost:479"], "ssl.certificate_authorities": ["path/to/ca/file.pem"]} <2> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <1> Upon detecting the changes, {beatname_uc} stops the old monitor and then restarts it with a schedule of 15 seconds between checks. <2> {beatname_uc} starts a new monitor that uses a TLS-based connection with a custom CA certificate.