AWS Kinesis Streams logs

Publish logs to AWS Kinesis Streams topics

status: stable delivery: at-least-once acknowledgements: yes egress: batch state: stateless
Page source Edit this page

Configuration

Example configurations 

{
  "sinks": {
    "my_sink_id": {
      "type": "aws_kinesis_streams",
      "inputs": [
        "my-source-or-transform-id"
      ],
      "stream_name": "my-stream"
    }
  }
}
[sinks.my_sink_id]
type = "aws_kinesis_streams"
inputs = [ "my-source-or-transform-id" ]
stream_name = "my-stream"

---
sinks:
  my_sink_id:
    type: aws_kinesis_streams
    inputs:
      - my-source-or-transform-id
    stream_name: my-stream

{
  "sinks": {
    "my_sink_id": {
      "type": "aws_kinesis_streams",
      "inputs": [
        "my-source-or-transform-id"
      ],
      "compression": "none",
      "endpoint": "http://127.0.0.0:5000/path/to/service",
      "partition_key_field": "user_id",
      "region": "us-east-1",
      "stream_name": "my-stream"
    }
  }
}
[sinks.my_sink_id]
type = "aws_kinesis_streams"
inputs = [ "my-source-or-transform-id" ]
compression = "none"
endpoint = "http://127.0.0.0:5000/path/to/service"
partition_key_field = "user_id"
region = "us-east-1"
stream_name = "my-stream"

---
sinks:
  my_sink_id:
    type: aws_kinesis_streams
    inputs:
      - my-source-or-transform-id
    compression: none
    endpoint: http://127.0.0.0:5000/path/to/service
    partition_key_field: user_id
    region: us-east-1
    stream_name: my-stream

acknowledgements

optional object

Controls how acknowledgements are handled for this sink.

See End-to-end Acknowledgements for more information on how event acknowledgement is handled.

acknowledgements.enabled

optional bool

Whether or not end-to-end acknowledgements are enabled.

When enabled for a sink, any source connected to that sink, where the source supports end-to-end acknowledgements as well, waits for events to be acknowledged by the sink before acknowledging them at the source.

Enabling or disabling acknowledgements at the sink level takes precedence over any global acknowledgements configuration.

auth

optional object
Configuration of the authentication strategy for interacting with AWS services.

auth.access_key_id

required string literal
The AWS access key ID.
Examples 
"AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"

auth.assume_role

required string literal
The ARN of an IAM role to assume.
Examples 
"arn:aws:iam::123456789098:role/my_role"

auth.credentials_file

required string literal
Path to the credentials file.
Examples 
"/my/aws/credentials"

auth.imds

optional object
Configuration for authenticating with AWS through IMDS.
auth.imds.connect_timeout_seconds
optional uint
Connect timeout for IMDS.
default: 1 (seconds)
auth.imds.max_attempts
optional uint
Number of IMDS retries for fetching tokens and metadata.
default: 4
auth.imds.read_timeout_seconds
optional uint
Read timeout for IMDS.
default: 1 (seconds)

auth.load_timeout_secs

optional uint

Timeout for successfully loading any credentials, in seconds.

Relevant when the default credentials chain or assume_role is used.

Examples 
30

auth.profile

optional string literal

The credentials profile to use.

Used to select AWS credentials from a provided credentials file.

Examples 
"develop"
default: default

auth.region

optional string literal

The AWS region to send STS requests to.

If not set, this defaults to the configured region for the service itself.

Examples 
"us-west-2"

auth.secret_access_key

required string literal
The AWS secret access key.
Examples 
"wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY"

batch

optional object
Event batching behavior.

batch.max_bytes

optional uint

The maximum size of a batch that is processed by a sink.

This is based on the uncompressed size of the batched events, before they are serialized/compressed.

default: 5e+06 (bytes)

batch.max_events

optional uint
The maximum size of a batch before it is flushed.
default: 500 (events)

batch.timeout_secs

optional float
The maximum age of a batch before it is flushed.
default: 1 (seconds)

buffer

optional object

Configures the buffering behavior for this sink.

More information about the individual buffer types, and buffer behavior, can be found in the Buffering Model section.

buffer.max_events

optional uint
The maximum number of events allowed in the buffer.
Relevant when: type = "memory"
default: 500

buffer.max_size

required uint

The maximum size of the buffer on disk.

Must be at least ~256 megabytes (268435488 bytes).

Relevant when: type = "disk"

buffer.type

optional string literal enum
The type of buffer to use.
Enum options
OptionDescription
disk

Events are buffered on disk.

This is less performant, but more durable. Data that has been synchronized to disk will not be lost if Vector is restarted forcefully or crashes.

Data is synchronized to disk every 500ms.

memory

Events are buffered in memory.

This is more performant, but less durable. Data will be lost if Vector is restarted forcefully or crashes.

default: memory

buffer.when_full

optional string literal enum
Event handling behavior when a buffer is full.
Enum options
OptionDescription
block

Wait for free space in the buffer.

This applies backpressure up the topology, signalling that sources should slow down the acceptance/consumption of events. This means that while no data is lost, data will pile up at the edge.

drop_newest

Drops the event instead of waiting for free space in buffer.

The event will be intentionally dropped. This mode is typically used when performance is the highest priority, and it is preferable to temporarily lose events rather than cause a slowdown in the acceptance/consumption of events.

default: block

compression

optional string literal enum

Compression configuration.

All compression algorithms use the default compression level unless otherwise specified.

Enum options string literal
OptionDescription
gzipGzip compression.
noneNo compression.
zlibZlib compression.
zstdZstandard compression.
default: none

encoding

required object
Configures how events are encoded into raw bytes.

encoding.avro

required object
Apache Avro-specific encoder options.
Relevant when: codec = "avro"
encoding.avro.schema
required string literal
The Avro schema.
Examples 
"{ \"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"log\", \"fields\": [{ \"name\": \"message\", \"type\": \"string\" }] }"

encoding.codec

required string literal enum
The codec to use for encoding events.
Enum options
OptionDescription
avroEncodes an event as an Apache Avro message.
csv

Encodes an event as a CSV message.

This codec must be configured with fields to encode.

gelfEncodes an event as a GELF message.
jsonEncodes an event as JSON.
logfmtEncodes an event as a logfmt message.
native

Encodes an event in the native Protocol Buffers format.

This codec is experimental.

native_json

Encodes an event in the native JSON format.

This codec is experimental.

raw_message

No encoding.

This encoding uses the message field of a log event.

Be careful if you are modifying your log events (for example, by using a remap transform) and removing the message field while doing additional parsing on it, as this could lead to the encoding emitting empty strings for the given event.

text

Plain text encoding.

This encoding uses the message field of a log event. For metrics, it uses an encoding that resembles the Prometheus export format.

Be careful if you are modifying your log events (for example, by using a remap transform) and removing the message field while doing additional parsing on it, as this could lead to the encoding emitting empty strings for the given event.

Examples 
"avro"
"csv"
"gelf"
"json"
"logfmt"
"native"
"native_json"
"raw_message"
"text"

encoding.csv

required object
The CSV Serializer Options.
Relevant when: codec = "csv"
encoding.csv.fields
required [string]

Configures the fields that will be encoded, as well as the order in which they appear in the output.

If a field is not present in the event, the output will be an empty string.

Values of type Array, Object, and Regex are not supported and the output will be an empty string.

encoding.except_fields

optional [string]
List of fields that are excluded from the encoded event.

encoding.metric_tag_values

optional string literal enum

Controls how metric tag values are encoded.

When set to single, only the last non-bare value of tags are displayed with the metric. When set to full, all metric tags are exposed as separate assignments.

Relevant when: codec = "json" or codec = "text"
Enum options
OptionDescription
fullAll tags are exposed as arrays of either string or null values.
singleTag values are exposed as single strings, the same as they were before this config option. Tags with multiple values show the last assigned value, and null values are ignored.
default: single

encoding.only_fields

optional [string]
List of fields that are included in the encoded event.

encoding.timestamp_format

optional string literal enum
Format used for timestamp fields.
Enum options
OptionDescription
rfc3339Represent the timestamp as a RFC 3339 timestamp.
unixRepresent the timestamp as a Unix timestamp.

endpoint

optional string literal
Custom endpoint for use with AWS-compatible services.
Examples 
"http://127.0.0.0:5000/path/to/service"

healthcheck

optional object
Healthcheck configuration.

healthcheck.enabled

optional bool
Whether or not to check the health of the sink when Vector starts up.
default: true

inputs

required [string]

A list of upstream source or transform IDs.

Wildcards (*) are supported.

See configuration for more info.

Array string literal
Examples 
[
  "my-source-or-transform-id",
  "prefix-*"
]

partition_key_field

optional string literal

The log field used as the Kinesis record’s partition key value.

If not specified, a unique partition key is generated for each Kinesis record.

Examples 
"user_id"

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

region

optional string literal
The AWS region of the target service.
Examples 
"us-east-1"

request

optional object

Middleware settings for outbound requests.

Various settings can be configured, such as concurrency and rate limits, timeouts, etc.

request.adaptive_concurrency

optional object

Configuration of adaptive concurrency parameters.

These parameters typically do not require changes from the default, and incorrect values can lead to meta-stable or unstable performance and sink behavior. Proceed with caution.

request.adaptive_concurrency.decrease_ratio
optional float

The fraction of the current value to set the new concurrency limit when decreasing the limit.

Valid values are greater than 0 and less than 1. Smaller values cause the algorithm to scale back rapidly when latency increases.

Note that the new limit is rounded down after applying this ratio.

default: 0.9
request.adaptive_concurrency.ewma_alpha
optional float

The weighting of new measurements compared to older measurements.

Valid values are greater than 0 and less than 1.

ARC uses an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) of past RTT measurements as a reference to compare with the current RTT. Smaller values cause this reference to adjust more slowly, which may be useful if a service has unusually high response variability.

default: 0.4
request.adaptive_concurrency.rtt_deviation_scale
optional float

Scale of RTT deviations which are not considered anomalous.

Valid values are greater than or equal to 0, and we expect reasonable values to range from 1.0 to 3.0.

When calculating the past RTT average, we also compute a secondary “deviation” value that indicates how variable those values are. We use that deviation when comparing the past RTT average to the current measurements, so we can ignore increases in RTT that are within an expected range. This factor is used to scale up the deviation to an appropriate range. Larger values cause the algorithm to ignore larger increases in the RTT.

default: 2.5

request.concurrency

optional string literal enum uint
Configuration for outbound request concurrency.
Enum options
OptionDescription
adaptiveConcurrency will be managed by Vector’s Adaptive Request Concurrency feature.
none

A fixed concurrency of 1.

Only one request can be outstanding at any given time.

default: none

request.rate_limit_duration_secs

optional uint
The time window used for the rate_limit_num option.
default: 1 (seconds)

request.rate_limit_num

optional uint
The maximum number of requests allowed within the rate_limit_duration_secs time window.
default: 9.223372036854776e+18 (requests)

request.retry_attempts

optional uint

The maximum number of retries to make for failed requests.

The default, for all intents and purposes, represents an infinite number of retries.

default: 9.223372036854776e+18 (retries)

request.retry_initial_backoff_secs

optional uint

The amount of time to wait before attempting the first retry for a failed request.

After the first retry has failed, the fibonacci sequence is used to select future backoffs.

default: 1 (seconds)

request.retry_max_duration_secs

optional uint
The maximum amount of time to wait between retries.
default: 3600 (seconds)

request.timeout_secs

optional uint

The time a request can take before being aborted.

Datadog highly recommends that you do not lower this value below the service’s internal timeout, as this could create orphaned requests, pile on retries, and result in duplicate data downstream.

default: 60 (seconds)

stream_name

required string literal
The stream name of the target Kinesis Firehose delivery stream.
Examples 
"my-stream"

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.

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.

Relevant for both incoming and outgoing connections.

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

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

common optional string literal
The AWS access key id. Used for AWS authentication when communicating with AWS services.
Examples
AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE

AWS_CONFIG_FILE

common optional string literal
Specifies the location of the file that the AWS CLI uses to store configuration profiles.
Default: ~/.aws/config

AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

common optional string literal
The default AWS region.
Examples
/path/to/credentials.json

AWS_PROFILE

common optional string literal
Specifies the name of the CLI profile with the credentials and options to use. This can be the name of a profile stored in a credentials or config file.
Default: default
Examples
my-custom-profile

AWS_ROLE_SESSION_NAME

common optional string literal
Specifies a name to associate with the role session. This value appears in CloudTrail logs for commands performed by the user of this profile.
Examples
vector-session

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

common optional string literal
The AWS secret access key. Used for AWS authentication when communicating with AWS services.
Examples
wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

AWS_SESSION_TOKEN

common optional string literal
The AWS session token. Used for AWS authentication when communicating with AWS services.
Examples
AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPy...truncated...zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4Olgk

AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE

common optional string literal
Specifies the location of the file that the AWS CLI uses to store access keys.
Default: ~/.aws/credentials

Telemetry

Metrics

link

buffer_byte_size

gauge
The number of bytes current in the buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_discarded_events_total

counter
The number of events dropped by this non-blocking buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_events

gauge
The number of events currently in the buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_received_event_bytes_total

counter
The number of bytes received by this buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_received_events_total

counter
The number of events received by this buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_sent_event_bytes_total

counter
The number of bytes sent by this buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

buffer_sent_events_total

counter
The number of events sent by this buffer.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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_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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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_bytes_total

counter
The number of raw bytes sent by this component to destination sinks.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
component_type
The Vector component type.
endpoint optional
The endpoint to which the bytes were sent. For HTTP, this will be the host and path only, excluding the query string.
file optional
The absolute path of the destination file.
host optional
The hostname of the system Vector is running on.
pid optional
The process ID of the Vector instance.
protocol
The protocol used to send the bytes.
region optional
The AWS region name to which the bytes were sent. In some configurations, this may be a literal hostname.

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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

utilization

gauge
A ratio from 0 to 1 of the load on a component. A value of 0 would indicate a completely idle component that is simply waiting for input. A value of 1 would indicate a that is never idle. This value is updated every 5 seconds.
component_id
The Vector component ID.
component_kind
The Vector component kind.
component_name
Deprecated, use component_id instead. The value is the same as component_id.
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.

Permissions

Platform: Amazon Web Services
Relevant policies
PolicyRequired forRequired when
kinesis:DescribeStream
  • healthcheck
kinesis:PutRecords
  • operation

How it works

AWS authentication

Vector checks for AWS credentials in the following order:

  1. The auth.access_key_id and auth.secret_access_key options.
  2. The AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables.
  3. The AWS credentials file (usually located at ~/.aws/credentials).
  4. The IAM instance profile (only works if running on an EC2 instance with an instance profile/role). Requires IMDSv2 to be enabled. For EKS, you may need to increase the metadata token response hop limit to 2.

If no credentials are found, Vector’s health check fails and an error is logged. If your AWS credentials expire, Vector will automatically search for up-to-date credentials in the places (and order) described above.

Obtaining an access key

In general, we recommend using instance profiles/roles whenever possible. In cases where this is not possible you can generate an AWS access key for any user within your AWS account. AWS provides a detailed guide on how to do this. Such created AWS access keys can be used via auth.access_key_id and auth.secret_access_key options.

Assuming roles

Vector can assume an AWS IAM role via the auth.assume_role option. This is an optional setting that is helpful for a variety of use cases, such as cross account access.

Buffers and batches

This component buffers & batches data as shown in the diagram above. You’ll notice that Vector treats these concepts differently, instead of treating them as global concepts, Vector treats them as sink specific concepts. This isolates sinks, ensuring services disruptions are contained and delivery guarantees are honored.

Batches are flushed when 1 of 2 conditions are met:

  1. The batch age meets or exceeds the configured timeout_secs.
  2. The batch size meets or exceeds the configured max_bytes or max_events.

Buffers are controlled via the buffer.* options.

Health checks

Health checks ensure that the downstream service is accessible and ready to accept data. This check is performed upon sink initialization. If the health check fails an error will be logged and Vector will proceed to start.

Require health checks

If you’d like to exit immediately upon a health check failure, you can pass the --require-healthy flag:

vector --config /etc/vector/vector.toml --require-healthy

Disable health checks

If you’d like to disable health checks for this sink you can set the healthcheck option to false.

Partitioning

By default, Vector issues random 16 byte values for each Kinesis record’s partition key, evenly distributing records across your Kinesis partitions. Depending on your use case this might not be sufficient since random distribution does not preserve order. To override this, you can supply the partition_key_field option. This option presents an alternate field on your event to use as the partition key value instead. This is useful if you have a field already on your event, and it also pairs nicely with the remap transform, which enables you to add partition-related metadata to events.

Missing partition keys

Kinesis requires a value for the partition key. If the key is missing or the value is blank, the event is dropped and a warning-level log event is logged. The field specified in the partition_key_field option should thus always contain a value.

Partition keys that exceed 256 characters

If the value provided exceeds the maximum allowed length of 256 characters Vector will slice the value and use the first 256 characters.

Non-string partition keys

Vector will coerce the value into a string.

Rate limits & adaptive concurrency

Adaptive Request Concurrency (ARC)

Adaptive Request Concurrency is a feature of Vector that does away with static concurrency limits and automatically optimizes HTTP concurrency based on downstream service responses. The underlying mechanism is a feedback loop inspired by TCP congestion control algorithms. Checkout the announcement blog post,

We highly recommend enabling this feature as it improves performance and reliability of Vector and the systems it communicates with. As such, we have made it the default, and no further configuration is required.

Static concurrency

If Adaptive Request Concurrency is not for you, you can manually set static concurrency limits by specifying an integer for request.concurrency:

[sinks.my-sink]
  request.concurrency = 10

Rate limits

In addition to limiting request concurrency, you can also limit the overall request throughput via the request.rate_limit_duration_secs and request.rate_limit_num options.

[sinks.my-sink]
  request.rate_limit_duration_secs = 1
  request.rate_limit_num = 10

These will apply to both adaptive and fixed request.concurrency values.

Retry policy

Vector will retry failed requests (status == 429, >= 500, and != 501). Other responses will not be retried. You can control the number of retry attempts and backoff rate with the request.retry_attempts and request.retry_backoff_secs options.

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 using the tls.* options.
Sidebar