Nginx and Clarify Integration

Input and output integration overview

The Nginx plugin for Telegraf is designed to collect status metrics from Nginx web servers, providing real-time insights into server operation metrics.

The Clarify plugin allows users to publish Telegraf metrics directly to Clarify, enabling enhanced analysis and monitoring capabilities.

Integration details

Nginx

This plugin gathers status metrics from Nginx. It utilizes the ngx_http_stub_status_module to collect basic metrics related to the server’s performance. The plugin provides valuable insights into active connections, requests handled, and the current state of various metrics. This real-time data is essential for monitoring web server performance and ensuring optimal operations. The configuration allows users to specify the URL for the Nginx status endpoint, set timeouts, and configure TLS settings if necessary.

Clarify

This plugin facilitates the writing of Telegraf metrics to Clarify, a platform for managing and analyzing time series data. By transforming metrics into Clarify signals, this output plugin enables seamless integration of collected telemetry data into the Clarify ecosystem. Users must obtain valid credentials, either through a credentials file or basic authentication, to configure the plugin. The configuration also provides options for fine-tuning how metrics are mapped to signals in Clarify, including the ability to specify unique identifiers using tags. Given that Clarify supports only floating point values, the plugin ensures that any unsupported types are effectively filtered out during the publishing process. This comprehensive connectivity aligns with use cases in monitoring, data analysis, and operational insights.

Configuration

Nginx

[[inputs.nginx]]
  ## An array of Nginx stub_status URI to gather stats.
  urls = ["http://localhost/server_status"]

  ## Optional TLS Config
  # tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
  ## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
  # insecure_skip_verify = false

  ## HTTP response timeout (default: 5s)
  response_timeout = "5s"

Clarify

[[outputs.clarify]]
  ## Credentials File (Oauth 2.0 from Clarify integration)
  credentials_file = "/path/to/clarify/credentials.json"

  ## Clarify username password (Basic Auth from Clarify integration)
  username = "i-am-bob"
  password = "secret-password"

  ## Timeout for Clarify operations
  # timeout = "20s"

  ## Optional tags to be included when generating the unique ID for a signal in Clarify
  # id_tags = []
  # clarify_id_tag = 'clarify_input_id'

Input and output integration examples

Nginx

1. Web Performance Monitoring: Use the Nginx plugin to gather performance metrics from various Nginx servers across your infrastructure. By visualizing these metrics in real-time dashboards, teams can track performance trends, identify bottlenecks, and enhance the user experience on their web applications. Implementing such monitoring allows businesses to proactively address performance issues before they impact end-users.

2. Load Balancer Monitoring: Integrate this plugin with your load balancers to track the performance of backend Nginx servers. By collecting statistics like ‘active connections’ and ‘requests handled’, your operations team can ensure that traffic is flowing optimally and that no single server is overwhelmed. This proactive approach to load balancing prevents service downtime and enhances user experience.

3. Automated Alerting Systems: Combine the Nginx plugin with alerting services to automatically notify your team when a server’s metrics exceed predefined thresholds. For instance, if the number of active connections is too high, the system can trigger alerts so that corrective actions can be taken immediately, thus maintaining service quality and reliability.

4. Historical Data Analysis: Store the metrics collected by the Nginx plugin in a time-series database to analyze historical performance trends. This analysis can uncover periods of high traffic or poor performance, allowing for data-driven decisions about infrastructure scaling and optimization. By understanding past trends, organizations can better prepare for future demands.

Clarify

1. Automated Data Monitoring: By integrating the Clarify plugin with sensor data collection, organizations can automate the monitoring of environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity. The plugin processes metrics in real-time, sending updates to Clarify where they can be analyzed for trends, alerts, and historical tracking. This use case makes it easier to maintain optimal conditions in data centers or production environments, reducing the risk of equipment failures.

2. Performance Metrics Analysis: Companies can leverage this plugin to send application performance metrics to Clarify. By transmitting key indicators such as response times and error rates, developers and operations teams can utilize Clarify’s capabilities to visualize and analyze application performance over time. This insight can drive improvements in user experience and help identify areas in need of optimization.

3. Sensor Data Aggregation: Utilizing the plugin to push data from multiple sensors to Clarify allows for a comprehensive view of physical environments. This aggregation is particularly beneficial in sectors such as agriculture, where metrics from various sensors can be correlated to decision-making about resource allocations, pest control, and crop management. The plugin ensures the data is accurately mapped and transformed for effective analysis.

4. Real-Time Alerts and Notifications: Implement the Clarify plugin to trigger real-time alerts based on predefined thresholds within the metrics being sent. For instance, if temperature readings exceed certain levels, alerts can be generated and sent to operational staff. This proactive approach allows for immediate responses to potential issues, enhancing operational reliability and safety.

Feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.