Docker logs

Collect logs from Docker

status: stable role: daemon delivery: best effort acknowledgements: no egress: stream state: stateless output: log previously known as: docker
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Alias

This component was previously called the docker source. Make sure to update your Vector configuration to accommodate the name change:

[sources.my_docker_logs_source]
+type = "docker_logs"
-type = "docker"

Warnings

Collecting logs directly from the Docker Engine is known to have performance problems for very large setups. If you have a large setup, please consider alternative collection methods, such as the Docker syslog or Docker journald driver drivers.
To avoid collecting logs from itself when deployed as a container, the Docker source uses current hostname to find out which container it is inside. If a container’s ID matches the hostname, that container will be excluded. If you change container’s hostname, consider manually excluding Vector container using exclude_containers.

Configuration

Example configurations 

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "docker_logs",
      "docker_host": "http://localhost:2375",
      "include_containers": [
        "include_"
      ],
      "include_labels": [
        "com.example.vendor=Timber Inc."
      ],
      "include_images": [
        "httpd"
      ]
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "docker_logs"
docker_host = "http://localhost:2375"
include_containers = [ "include_" ]
include_labels = [ "com.example.vendor=Timber Inc." ]
include_images = [ "httpd" ]

---
sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: docker_logs
    docker_host: http://localhost:2375
    include_containers:
      - include_
    include_labels:
      - com.example.vendor=Timber Inc.
    include_images:
      - httpd

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "docker_logs",
      "docker_host": "http://localhost:2375",
      "tls": null,
      "auto_partial_merge": true,
      "exclude_containers": [
        "exclude_"
      ],
      "include_containers": [
        "include_"
      ],
      "include_labels": [
        "com.example.vendor=Timber Inc."
      ],
      "include_images": [
        "httpd"
      ],
      "retry_backoff_secs": 1,
      "multiline": null,
      "host_key": "host"
    }
  }
}
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "docker_logs"
docker_host = "http://localhost:2375"
auto_partial_merge = true
exclude_containers = [ "exclude_" ]
include_containers = [ "include_" ]
include_labels = [ "com.example.vendor=Timber Inc." ]
include_images = [ "httpd" ]
retry_backoff_secs = 1
host_key = "host"

---
sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: docker_logs
    docker_host: http://localhost:2375
    tls: null
    auto_partial_merge: true
    exclude_containers:
      - exclude_
    include_containers:
      - include_
    include_labels:
      - com.example.vendor=Timber Inc.
    include_images:
      - httpd
    retry_backoff_secs: 1
    multiline: null
    host_key: host

auto_partial_merge

optional bool
Setting this to false will disable the automatic merging of partial events.
default: true

docker_host

common optional string literal
The Docker host to connect to. Use an HTTPS URL to enable TLS encryption. If absent, Vector will try to use DOCKER_HOST environment variable. If DOCKER_HOST is also absent, Vector will use default Docker local socket (/var/run/docker.sock on Unix platforms, //./pipe/docker_engine on Windows).
Examples 
"http://localhost:2375"
"https://localhost:2376"
"unix:///var/run/docker.sock"
"npipe:////./pipe/docker_engine"
"/var/run/docker.sock"
"//./pipe/docker_engine"

exclude_containers

optional [string]
A list of container IDs or names to match against for containers you don’t want to collect logs from. Prefix matches are supported, so you can supply just the first few characters of the ID or name of containers you want to exclude. This can be used in conjunction with include_containers.
Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "exclude_",
  "exclude_me_0",
  "ad08cc418cf9"
]

host_key

optional string literal
The key name added to each event representing the current host. This can also be globally set via the global host_key option.
default: host

include_containers

common optional [string]
A list of container IDs or names to match against for containers you want to collect logs from. Prefix matches are supported, so you can supply just the first few characters of the ID or name of containers you want to include. This can be used in conjunction with exclude_containers.
Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "include_",
  "include_me_0",
  "ad08cc418cf9"
]

include_images

common optional [string]
A list of image names to match against. If not provided, all images will be included.
Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "httpd",
  "redis"
]

include_labels

common optional [string]
A list of container object labels to match against when filtering running containers. This should follow the described label’s syntax in docker object labels docs.
Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "com.example.vendor=Timber Inc.",
  "com.example.name=Vector"
]

multiline

optional object
Multiline parsing configuration. If not specified, multiline parsing is disabled.

multiline.condition_pattern

required string regex
Condition regex pattern to look for. Exact behavior is configured via mode.
Examples 
"^[\\s]+"
"\\\\$"
"^(INFO|ERROR) "
";$"

multiline.mode

required string literal enum
Mode of operation, specifies how the condition_pattern is interpreted.
Enum options
OptionDescription
continue_pastAll consecutive lines matching this pattern, plus one additional line, are included in the group. This is useful in cases where a log message ends with a continuation marker, such as a backslash, indicating that the following line is part of the same message.
continue_throughAll consecutive lines matching this pattern are included in the group. The first line (the line that matched the start pattern) does not need to match the ContinueThrough pattern. This is useful in cases such as a Java stack trace, where some indicator in the line (such as leading whitespace) indicates that it is an extension of the preceding line.
halt_beforeAll consecutive lines not matching this pattern are included in the group. This is useful where a log line contains a marker indicating that it begins a new message.
halt_withAll consecutive lines, up to and including the first line matching this pattern, are included in the group. This is useful where a log line ends with a termination marker, such as a semicolon.
Examples 
"continue_through"
"continue_past"
"halt_before"
"halt_with"

multiline.start_pattern

required string regex
Start regex pattern to look for as a beginning of the message.
Examples 
"^[^\\s]"
"\\\\$"
"^(INFO|ERROR) "
"[^;]$"

multiline.timeout_ms

required uint
The maximum time to wait for the continuation. Once this timeout is reached, the buffered message is guaranteed to be flushed, even if incomplete.
Examples 
1000
600000

retry_backoff_secs

optional uint
The amount of time to wait before retrying after an error.
default: 1 (seconds)

tls

optional object
TLS options to connect to the Docker daemon. This has no effect unless docker_host is an HTTPS URL. If absent, Vector will try to use environment variable DOCKER_CERT_PATH and then DOCKER_CONFIG. If both environment variables are absent, Vector will try to read certificates in ~/.docker/.

tls.ca_file

required string literal
Path to CA certificate file.
Examples 
"certs/ca.pem"

tls.crt_file

required string literal
Path to TLS certificate file.
Examples 
"certs/cert.pem"

tls.key_file

required string literal
Path to TLS key file.
Examples 
"certs/key.pem"

Environment variables

DOCKER_CERT_PATH

common optional string literal

Path to look for TLS certificates when tls configuration is absent. Vector will use:

  • $DOCKER_CERT_PATH/ca.pem: CA certificate.
  • $DOCKER_CERT_PATH/cert.pem: TLS certificate.
  • $DOCKER_CERT_PATH/key.pem: TLS key.
Examples
certs/

DOCKER_CONFIG

common optional string literal
Path to look for TLS certificates when both tls configuration and DOCKER_CERT_PATH are absent.
Examples
certs/

DOCKER_HOST

common optional string literal
The Docker host to connect to when docker_host configuration is absent.
Examples
unix:///var/run/docker.sock

Outputs

<component_id>

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

Output Data

Logs

Log

A Docker log event
Fields
* required string literal
Each container label is inserted with it’s exact key/value pair.
Examples
Started GET / for 127.0.0.1 at 2012-03-10 14:28:14 +0100
container_created_at required timestamp
A UTC timestamp representing when the container was created.
Examples
2020-10-10T17:07:36.452332Z
container_id required string literal
The Docker container ID that the log was collected from.
Examples
9b6247364a03
715ebfcee040
container_name required string literal
The Docker container name that the log was collected from.
Examples
evil_ptolemy
nostalgic_stallman
host required string literal
The local hostname, equivalent to the gethostname command.
Examples
my-host.local
image required string literal
The image name that the container is based on.
Examples
ubuntu:latest
busybox
timberio/vector:latest-alpine
message required string literal
The raw log message.
Examples
Started GET / for 127.0.0.1 at 2012-03-10 14:28:14 +0100
source_type required string literal
The name of the source type.
Examples
docker
stream required string literal
The standard stream that the log was collected from.
Examples
stdout
stderr
timestamp required timestamp
The UTC timestamp extracted from the Docker log event.
Examples
2020-10-10T17:07:36.452332Z

Telemetry

Metrics

link

communication_errors_total

counter
The total number of errors stemming from communication with the Docker daemon.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

component_discarded_events_total

counter
The number of events dropped by this component.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

component_errors_total

counter
The total number of errors encountered by this component.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
error_type required
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 required
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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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.

container_metadata_fetch_errors_total

counter
The total number of errors encountered when fetching container metadata.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

container_processed_events_total

counter
The total number of container events processed.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

containers_unwatched_total

counter
The total number of times Vector stopped watching for container logs.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

containers_watched_total

counter
The total number of times Vector started watching for container logs.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

events_in_total

counter
The number of events accepted by this component either from tagged origins like file and uri, or cumulatively from other origins. This metric is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Use component_received_events_total instead.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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.

events_out_total

counter
The total number of events emitted by this component. This metric is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Use component_sent_events_total instead.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
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.

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 required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

logging_driver_errors_total

counter
The total number of logging driver errors encountered caused by not using either the jsonfile or journald driver.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

processed_bytes_total

counter
The number of bytes processed by the component.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
container_name optional
The name of the container from which the bytes originate.
file optional
The file from which the bytes originate.
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 bytes originate.
peer_path optional
The pathname from which the bytes originate.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
pod_name optional
The name of the pod from which the bytes originate.
uri optional
The sanitized URI from which the bytes originate.

processed_events_total

counter
The total number of events processed by this component. This metric is deprecated in place of using component_received_events_total and component_sent_events_total metrics.
component_id required
The Vector component ID.
component_kind required
The Vector component kind.
component_name required
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type required
The Vector component type.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.

Examples

Dummy Logs

Given this event...
 ```json
 {
   "stream": "stdout",
   "message": "150.75.72.205 - - [03/Oct/2020:16:11:29 +0000] "HEAD /initiatives HTTP/1.1" 504 117"
 }
```
...and this configuration...
[sources.my_source_id]
type = "docker_logs"
include_images = [ "mingrammer/flog" ]

---
sources:
  my_source_id:
    type: docker_logs
    include_images:
      - mingrammer/flog

{
  "sources": {
    "my_source_id": {
      "type": "docker_logs",
      "include_images": [
        "mingrammer/flog"
      ]
    }
  }
}
...this Vector event is produced:
{
  "container_created_at": "2020-10-03T16:11:29.443232Z",
  "container_id": "fecc98177eca7fb75a2b2186c418bf9a0cd3a05a1169f2e2293bf8987a9d96ab",
  "container_name": "flog",
  "host": "my-host.local",
  "image": "mingrammer/flog",
  "message": "150.75.72.205 - - [03/Oct/2020:16:11:29 +0000] \"HEAD /initiatives HTTP/1.1\" 504 117",
  "source_type": "docker",
  "stream": "stdout"
}

How it works

Context

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

Merging Split Messages

Docker, by default, splits log messages that exceed 16kb. This can be a rather frustrating problem because it produces malformed log messages that are difficult to work with. Vector’s solves this by default, automatically merging these messages into a single message. You can turn this off via the auto_partial_merge option. Furthermore, you can adjust the marker that we use to determine if an event is partial via the partial_event_marker_field option.

State

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