ping

README

Ping Input Plugin

Sends a ping message by executing the system ping command and reports the results.

This plugin has two main methods of operation: exec and native. The recommended method is native, which has greater system compatibility and performance. However, for backwards compatibility the exec method is the default.

When using method = "exec", the systems ping utility is executed to send the ping packets.

Most ping command implementations are supported, one notable exception being that there is currently no support for GNU Inetutils ping. You may instead use the iputils-ping implementation:

apt-get install iputils-ping

When using method = "native" a ping is sent and the results are reported in native Go by the Telegraf process, eliminating the need to execute the system ping command.

Global configuration options

In addition to the plugin-specific configuration settings, plugins support additional global and plugin configuration settings. These settings are used to modify metrics, tags, and field or create aliases and configure ordering, etc. See the CONFIGURATION.md for more details.

Configuration

# Ping given url(s) and return statistics
[[inputs.ping]]
  ## Hosts to send ping packets to.
  urls = ["example.org"]

  ## Method used for sending pings, can be either "exec" or "native".  When set
  ## to "exec" the systems ping command will be executed.  When set to "native"
  ## the plugin will send pings directly.
  ##
  ## While the default is "exec" for backwards compatibility, new deployments
  ## are encouraged to use the "native" method for improved compatibility and
  ## performance.
  # method = "exec"

  ## Number of ping packets to send per interval.  Corresponds to the "-c"
  ## option of the ping command.
  # count = 1

  ## Time to wait between sending ping packets in seconds.  Operates like the
  ## "-i" option of the ping command.
  # ping_interval = 1.0

  ## If set, the time to wait for a ping response in seconds.  Operates like
  ## the "-W" option of the ping command.
  # timeout = 1.0

  ## If set, the total ping deadline, in seconds.  Operates like the -w option
  ## of the ping command.
  # deadline = 10

  ## Interface or source address to send ping from.  Operates like the -I or -S
  ## option of the ping command.
  # interface = ""

  ## Percentiles to calculate. This only works with the native method.
  # percentiles = [50, 95, 99]

  ## Specify the ping executable binary.
  # binary = "ping"

  ## Arguments for ping command. When arguments is not empty, the command from
  ## the binary option will be used and other options (ping_interval, timeout,
  ## etc) will be ignored.
  # arguments = ["-c", "3"]

  ## Use only IPv4 addresses when resolving a hostname. By default, both IPv4
  ## and IPv6 can be used.
  # ipv4 = false

  ## Use only IPv6 addresses when resolving a hostname. By default, both IPv4
  ## and IPv6 can be used.
  # ipv6 = false

  ## Number of data bytes to be sent. Corresponds to the "-s"
  ## option of the ping command. This only works with the native method.
  # size = 56

File Limit

Since this plugin runs the ping command, it may need to open multiple files per host. The number of files used is lessened with the native option but still many files are used. With a large host list you may receive a too many open files error.

To increase this limit on platforms using systemd the recommended method is to use the "drop-in directory", usually located at /etc/systemd/system/telegraf.service.d.

You can create or edit a drop-in file in the correct location using:

systemctl edit telegraf

Increase the number of open files:

[Service]
LimitNOFILE=8192

Restart Telegraf:

systemctl restart telegraf

Linux Permissions

When using method = "native", Telegraf will attempt to use privileged raw ICMP sockets. On most systems, doing so requires CAP_NET_RAW capabilities or for Telegraf to be run as root.

With systemd:

systemctl edit telegraf

[Service]
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_RAW
AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_RAW

systemctl restart telegraf

Without systemd:

setcap cap_net_raw=eip /usr/bin/telegraf

Reference man 7 capabilities for more information about setting capabilities.

Other OS Permissions

When using method = "native", you will need permissions similar to the executable ping program for your OS.

Metrics

• ping
  • tags:
    • url
  • fields:
    • packets_transmitted (integer)
    • packets_received (integer)
    • percent_packet_loss (float)
    • ttl (integer, Not available on Windows)
    • average_response_ms (float)
    • minimum_response_ms (float)
    • maximum_response_ms (float)
    • standard_deviation_ms (float, Available on Windows only with method = "native")
    • percentile<N>_ms (float, Where <N> is the percentile specified in percentiles. Available with method = "native" only)
    • errors (float, Windows only)
    • reply_received (integer, Windows with method = "exec" only)
    • percent_reply_loss (float, Windows with method = "exec" only)
    • result_code (int, success = 0, no such host = 1, ping error = 2)

reply_received vs packets_received

On Windows systems with method = "exec", the "Destination net unreachable" reply will increment packets_received but not reply_received*.

ttl

There is currently no support for TTL on windows with "native"; track progress at https://github.com/golang/go/issues/7175 and https://github.com/golang/go/issues/7174

Example Output

ping,url=example.org average_response_ms=23.066,ttl=63,maximum_response_ms=24.64,minimum_response_ms=22.451,packets_received=5i,packets_transmitted=5i,percent_packet_loss=0,result_code=0i,standard_deviation_ms=0.809 1535747258000000000

Documentation

Index

• type HostPinger
• type NativePingFunc
• type Ping
  • func (p *Ping) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error
  • func (p *Ping) Init() error
  • func (*Ping) SampleConfig() string

Types

type HostPinger

type HostPinger func(binary string, timeout float64, args ...string) (string, error)

HostPinger is a function that runs the "ping" function using a list of passed arguments. This can be easily switched with a mocked ping function for unit test purposes (see ping_test.go)

type NativePingFunc

type NativePingFunc func(destination string) (*pingStats, error)

type Ping

type Ping struct {
	Log telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`

	// Interval at which to ping (ping -i <INTERVAL>)
	PingInterval float64 `toml:"ping_interval"`

	// Number of pings to send (ping -c <COUNT>)
	Count int

	// Per-ping timeout, in seconds. 0 means no timeout (ping -W <TIMEOUT>)
	Timeout float64

	// Ping deadline, in seconds. 0 means no deadline. (ping -w <DEADLINE>)
	Deadline int

	// Interface or source address to send ping from (ping -I/-S <INTERFACE/SRC_ADDR>)
	Interface string

	// URLs to ping
	Urls []string

	// Method defines how to ping (native or exec)
	Method string

	// Ping executable binary
	Binary string

	// Arguments for ping command. When arguments is not empty, system binary will be used and
	// other options (ping_interval, timeout, etc.) will be ignored
	Arguments []string

	// Whether to resolve addresses using ipv4 or not.
	IPv4 bool

	// Whether to resolve addresses using ipv6 or not.
	IPv6 bool

	// Calculate the given percentiles when using native method
	Percentiles []int

	// Packet size
	Size *int
	// contains filtered or unexported fields
}

func (*Ping) Gather

func (p *Ping) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error

func (*Ping) Init

func (p *Ping) Init() error

Init ensures the plugin is configured correctly.

func (*Ping) SampleConfig

func (*Ping) SampleConfig() string