IPMI Sensor and AWS Timestream Integration

Input and output integration overview

The IPMI Sensor Plugin facilitates the collection of server health metrics directly from hardware via the IPMI protocol, querying sensor data from either local or remote systems.

The AWS Timestream Telegraf plugin enables users to send metrics directly to Amazon’s Timestream service, which is designed for time series data management. This plugin offers a variety of configuration options for authentication, data organization, and retention settings.

Integration details

IPMI Sensor

The IPMI Sensor plugin is designed to gather bare metal metrics via the command line utility ipmitool, which interfaces with the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). This protocol provides management and monitoring capabilities for hardware components in server systems, allowing for the retrieval of critical system health metrics such as temperature, fan speeds, and power supply status from both local and remote servers. When configured without specified servers, the plugin defaults to querying the local machine’s sensor statistics using the ipmitool sdr command. In scenarios covering remote hosts, authentication is supported through username and password using the command format ipmitool -I lan -H SERVER -U USERID -P PASSW0RD sdr. This flexibility allows users to monitor systems effectively across various environments. The plugin also supports multiple sensor types, including chassis power status and DCMI power readings, catering to administrators needing real-time insight into server operations.

AWS Timestream

This plugin is designed to efficiently write metrics to Amazon’s Timestream service, a time series database optimized for IoT and operational applications. With this plugin Telegraf can send data collected from various sources and supports a flexible configuration for authentication, data organization, and retention management. It utilizes a credential chain for authentication, allowing various methods such as web identity, assumed roles, and shared profiles. Users can define how metrics are organized in Timestream—whether to use a single table or multiple tables, alongside control over aspect such as retention periods for both magnetic and memory stores. A key feature is its ability to handle multi-measure records, enabling efficient data ingestion and helping to reduce the overhead of multiple writes. In terms of error handling, the plugin includes mechanisms for addressing common issues related to AWS errors during data writes, such as retry logic for throttling and the ability to create tables as needed.

Configuration

IPMI Sensor

[[inputs.ipmi_sensor]]
  ## Specify the path to the ipmitool executable
  # path = "/usr/bin/ipmitool"

  ## Use sudo
  ## Setting 'use_sudo' to true will make use of sudo to run ipmitool.
  ## Sudo must be configured to allow the telegraf user to run ipmitool
  ## without a password.
  # use_sudo = false

  ## Servers
  ## Specify one or more servers via a url. If no servers are specified, local
  ## machine sensor stats will be queried. Uses the format:
  ##  [username[:password]@][protocol[(address)]]
  ##  e.g. root:passwd@lan(127.0.0.1)
  # servers = ["USERID:PASSW0RD@lan(192.168.1.1)"]

  ## Session privilege level
  ## Choose from: CALLBACK, USER, OPERATOR, ADMINISTRATOR
  # privilege = "ADMINISTRATOR"

  ## Timeout
  ## Timeout for the ipmitool command to complete.
  # timeout = "20s"

  ## Metric schema version
  ## See the plugin readme for more information on schema versioning.
  # metric_version = 1

  ## Sensors to collect
  ## Choose from:
  ##   * sdr: default, collects sensor data records
  ##   * chassis_power_status: collects the power status of the chassis
  ##   * dcmi_power_reading: collects the power readings from the Data Center Management Interface
  # sensors = ["sdr"]

  ## Hex key
  ## Optionally provide the hex key for the IMPI connection.
  # hex_key = ""

  ## Cache
  ## If ipmitool should use a cache
  ## Using a cache can speed up collection times depending on your device.
  # use_cache = false

  ## Path to the ipmitools cache file (defaults to OS temp dir)
  ## The provided path must exist and must be writable
  # cache_path = ""

AWS Timestream

[[outputs.timestream]]
  ## Amazon Region
  region = "us-east-1"

  ## Amazon Credentials
  ## Credentials are loaded in the following order:
  ## 1) Web identity provider credentials via STS if role_arn and web_identity_token_file are specified
  ## 2) Assumed credentials via STS if role_arn is specified
  ## 3) explicit credentials from 'access_key' and 'secret_key'
  ## 4) shared profile from 'profile'
  ## 5) environment variables
  ## 6) shared credentials file
  ## 7) EC2 Instance Profile
  #access_key = ""
  #secret_key = ""
  #token = ""
  #role_arn = ""
  #web_identity_token_file = ""
  #role_session_name = ""
  #profile = ""
  #shared_credential_file = ""

  ## Endpoint to make request against, the correct endpoint is automatically
  ## determined and this option should only be set if you wish to override the
  ## default.
  ##   ex: endpoint_url = "http://localhost:8000"
  # endpoint_url = ""

  ## Timestream database where the metrics will be inserted.
  ## The database must exist prior to starting Telegraf.
  database_name = "yourDatabaseNameHere"

  ## Specifies if the plugin should describe the Timestream database upon starting
  ## to validate if it has access necessary permissions, connection, etc., as a safety check.
  ## If the describe operation fails, the plugin will not start
  ## and therefore the Telegraf agent will not start.
  describe_database_on_start = false

  ## Specifies how the data is organized in Timestream.
  ## Valid values are: single-table, multi-table.
  ## When mapping_mode is set to single-table, all of the data is stored in a single table.
  ## When mapping_mode is set to multi-table, the data is organized and stored in multiple tables.
  ## The default is multi-table.
  mapping_mode = "multi-table"

  ## Specifies if the plugin should create the table, if the table does not exist.
  create_table_if_not_exists = true

  ## Specifies the Timestream table magnetic store retention period in days.
  ## Check Timestream documentation for more details.
  ## NOTE: This property is valid when create_table_if_not_exists = true.
  create_table_magnetic_store_retention_period_in_days = 365

  ## Specifies the Timestream table memory store retention period in hours.
  ## Check Timestream documentation for more details.
  ## NOTE: This property is valid when create_table_if_not_exists = true.
  create_table_memory_store_retention_period_in_hours = 24

  ## Specifies how the data is written into Timestream.
  ## Valid values are: true, false
  ## When use_multi_measure_records is set to true, all of the tags and fields are stored
  ## as a single row in a Timestream table.
  ## When use_multi_measure_record is set to false, Timestream stores each field in a
  ## separate table row, thereby storing the tags multiple times (once for each field).
  ## The recommended setting is true.
  ## The default is false.
  use_multi_measure_records = "false"

  ## Specifies the measure_name to use when sending multi-measure records.
  ## NOTE: This property is valid when use_multi_measure_records=true and mapping_mode=multi-table
  measure_name_for_multi_measure_records = "telegraf_measure"

  ## Specifies the name of the table to write data into
  ## NOTE: This property is valid when mapping_mode=single-table.
  # single_table_name = ""

  ## Specifies the name of dimension when all of the data is being stored in a single table
  ## and the measurement name is transformed into the dimension value
  ## (see Mapping data from Influx to Timestream for details)
  ## NOTE: This property is valid when mapping_mode=single-table.
  # single_table_dimension_name_for_telegraf_measurement_name = "namespace"

  ## Only valid and optional if create_table_if_not_exists = true
  ## Specifies the Timestream table tags.
  ## Check Timestream documentation for more details
  # create_table_tags = { "foo" = "bar", "environment" = "dev"}

  ## Specify the maximum number of parallel go routines to ingest/write data
  ## If not specified, defaulted to 1 go routines
  max_write_go_routines = 25

  ## Please see README.md to know how line protocol data is mapped to Timestream
  ##

Input and output integration examples

IPMI Sensor

1. Centralized Monitoring Dashboard: Utilize the IPMI Sensor plugin to gather metrics from multiple servers and compile them into a centralized monitoring dashboard. This enables real-time visibility into server health across data centers. Administrators can track metrics like temperature and power usage, helping them make data-driven decisions about resource allocation, potential failures, and maintenance schedules.

2. Automated Power Alerts: Incorporate the plugin into an alerting system that monitors chassis power status and triggers alerts when anomalies are detected. For instance, if the power status indicates a failure or if watt values exceed expected thresholds, automated notifications can be sent to operations teams, ensuring prompt attention to hardware issues.

3. Energy Consumption Analysis: Leverage the DCMI power readings collected via the plugin to analyze energy consumption patterns of hardware over time. By integrating these readings with analytics platforms, organizations can identify opportunities to reduce power usage, optimize efficiency, and potentially decrease operational costs in large server farms or cloud infrastructures.

4. Health Check Automation: Schedule regular health checks by using the IPMI Sensor Plugin to collect data from a fleet of servers. This data can be logged and compared against historical performance metrics to identify trends, outliers, or signs of impending hardware failure, allowing IT teams to take proactive measures and reduce downtime.

AWS Timestream

1. IoT Data Metrics: Use the Timestream plugin to send real-time metrics from IoT devices to Timestream, allowing for quick analysis and visualization of sensor data. By organizing device readings into a time series format, users can track trends, identify anomalies, and streamline operational decisions based on device performance.

2. Application Performance Monitoring: Leverage Timestream alongside application monitoring tools to send metrics about service performance over time. This integration enables engineers to perform historical analysis of application performance, correlate it with business metrics, and optimize resource allocation based on usage patterns viewed over time.

3. Automated Data Archiving: Configure the Timestream plugin to write data to Timestream while simultaneously managing retention periods. This setup can automate archiving strategies, ensuring that older data is preserved according to predefined criteria. This is especially useful for compliance and historical analysis, allowing businesses to maintain their data lifecycle with minimal manual intervention.

4. Multi-Application Metrics Aggregation: Utilize the Timestream plugin to aggregate metrics from multiple applications into Timestream. By creating a unified database of performance metrics, organizations can gain holistic insights across various services, improving visibility into system-wide performance and facilitating cross-application troubleshooting.

Feedback

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