The Infrastructure agent installs bundled binaries together in the following directories:
# Linux
/opt/newrelic-infra/newrelic-integrations/bin/ # versions >= 1.48.0 of the infrastructure agent
/var/db/newrelic-infra/newrelic-integrations/bin/ # versions < 1.48.0 of the infrastructure agent
# Windows
C:\Program Files\New Relic\newrelic-infra\newrelic-integrations\And expects the associated configuration files to be placed in the following directory:
# Linux
/etc/newrelic-infra/integrations.d/
# Windows
C:\Program Files\New Relic\newrelic-infra\integrations.d\Flex itself comes with several command line arguments that can assist you during development of your configurations as you shape your metric outputs. You can run the following command to see all of the options available to you:
# Linux
/opt/newrelic-infra/newrelic-integrations/bin/nri-flex -help # versions >= 1.48.0 of the infrastructure agent
/var/db/newrelic-infra/newrelic-integrations/bin/nri-flex -help # versions < 1.48.0 of the infrastructure agent
# Windows
C:\Program Files\New Relic\newrelic-infra\newrelic-integrations\nri-flex.exe -helpAs you can see, there are well over 40 unique command line arguments that are available. The majority are for use when Flex is run without the Infrastructure agent, or are related to experimental features. But there are three that you should be aware of for troubleshooting purposes:
config_path- Set a specific config file to executepretty- Print pretty formatted JSONverbose- Print more information to logs
These arguments allow you to see in real-time how Flex is processing the config you send it and the associated data output from the API(s) in the config.
You can manually test a config file to ensure the output meets your expectations by running a command like this, replacing <FILE_NAME> with the name of your config file:
# Linux
./nri-flex -verbose -pretty -config_path /etc/newrelic-infra/integrations.d/<FILE_NAME>
# Windows
.\nri-flex.exe -verbose -pretty -config_path "C:\Program Files\New Relic\newrelic-infra\integrations.d\<FILE_NAME>"This will give you an output similar to this:
INFO[0000] com.newrelic.nri-flex GOARCH=amd64 GOOS=linux version=1.3.5
DEBU[0000] config: git sync configuration not set
WARN[0000] config: testing agent config, agent features will not be available
DEBU[0000] config: running async name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] config: processing apis apis=1 name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] fetch: collect data name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] commands: executing count=1 name=pingTest
DEBU[0004] processor-data: running data handler name=pingTest
DEBU[0004] config: finished variable processing apis apis=1 name=pingTest
INFO[0004] flex: completed processing configs configs=1
{
"name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"protocol_version": "3",
"integration_version": "1.3.5",
"data": [
{
"metrics": [
{
"avg": 17.491,
"event_type": "pingTest",
"flex.commandTimeMs": 4029,
"integration_name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"integration_version": "1.3.5",
"max": 17.55,
"min": 17.425,
"packetLoss": 0,
"packetsReceived": 5,
"packetsTransmitted": 5,
"stddev": 0.151,
"timeMs": 4006,
"url": "google.com"
},
{
"event_type": "flexStatusSample",
"flex.Hostname": "<REDACTED>.us-east-2.compute.internal",
"flex.IntegrationVersion": "1.3.5",
"flex.counter.ConfigsProcessed": 1,
"flex.counter.EventCount": 1,
"flex.counter.Event
DropCount": 0,
"flex.counter.pingTest": 1,
"flex.time.elapsedMs": 4031,
"flex.time.endMs": 1609978782729,
"flex.time.startMs": 1609978778698
}
],
"inventory": {},
"events": []
}
]
}This has 4 major sections:
INFO[0000] com.newrelic.nri-flex GOARCH=amd64 GOOS=linux version=1.3.5
DEBU[0000] config: git sync configuration not set
WARN[0000] config: testing agent config, agent features will not be available
DEBU[0000] config: running async name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] config: processing apis apis=1 name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] fetch: collect data name=pingTest
DEBU[0000] commands: executing count=1 name=pingTest
DEBU[0004] processor-data: running data handler name=pingTest
DEBU[0004] config: finished variable processing apis apis=1 name=pingTest
INFO[0004] flex: completed processing configs configs=1The intro section shows a log of how nri-flex executed your config file. If you have a malformed YAML file, you'll oftentimes see the last line show a zero entry like this:
INFO[0004] flex: completed processing configs configs=0
{
"name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"protocol_version": "3",
"integration_version": "1.3.5",
"data": [
{
"metrics": [This next section leads into the more interesting part of the payload, but you can quickly see the version of nri-flex you're executing with here if needed.
{
"avg": 17.491,
"event_type": "pingTest",
"flex.commandTimeMs": 4029,
"integration_name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"integration_version": "1.3.5",
"max": 17.55,
"min": 17.425,
"packetLoss": 0,
"packetsReceived": 5,
"packetsTransmitted": 5,
"stddev": 0.151,
"timeMs": 4006,
"url": "google.com"
},The next JSON object(s) will represent the output of nri-flex executing the supplied configuration file. This is where you will see error output, if applicable. It's a representation of the raw data that will be shipped into New Relic One's Telemetry Data Platform.
{
"event_type": "flexStatusSample",
"flex.Hostname": "<REDACTED>.us-east-2.compute.internal",
"flex.IntegrationVersion": "1.3.5",
"flex.counter.ConfigsProcessed": 1,
"flex.counter.EventCount": 1,
"flex.counter.Event
DropCount": 0,
"flex.counter.pingTest": 1,
"flex.time.elapsedMs": 4031,
"flex.time.endMs": 1609978782729,
"flex.time.startMs": 1609978778698
}The last major section shows the flexStatusSample event. This is a heartbeat event that is sent along with every successful execution of nri-flex and can be used to evaluate whether a problem lies in your config, or with the Flex binary itself.
When timeout is reached Flex ignores the output and returns an error. Note that Flex waits for the command to stop by itself. Example:
integrations:
- name: nri-flex
config:
name: Timeout
apis:
- name: Timeout
commands:
- run: echo "key:5" && sleep 2
timeout: 1000
set_header: [key]
split_by: ":"Payload:
{
"name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"protocol_version": "3",
"integration_version": "1.4.1",
"data": [
{
"metrics": [
{
"context_error": "context deadline exceeded",
"error": "signal: killed",
"error_exec": "echo \"key:5\" \u0026\u0026 sleep 2",
"error_msg": "key:5\n",
"event_type": "TimeoutSample",
"integration_name": "com.newrelic.nri-flex",
"integration_version": "1.4.1"
}
],
"inventory": {},
"events": []
}
]
}If verbose is enabled, error will be logged too:
DEBU[0002] command: failed context_err="context deadline exceeded" err="signal: killed" exec="echo \"key:5\" && sleep 2" suggestion="if you are handling this error case, ignore"
Assertion rules will filter output based on regular expressions. When the output doesn't match the regular expression, this will
be ignored and no error will be returned. If verbose mode is enabled, a log line will be produced when data is discarded.
Example:
integrations:
- name: nri-flex
config:
name: Assertion
apis:
- name: Assertion
commands:
- run: echo "key:not a number"
set_header: [key]
split_by: ":"
assert:
match: \dIf verbose is enabled, error will be logged:
...
DEBU[0000] commands: assertion failed will not process exe="echo \"key:not a number\"" name=Assertion
...
More information about assertion can be found in command docs
Flex is pretty forgiving, but there may be times that the data you aimed at capturing won't show up in New Relic. There may be several reasons to this. Here are the most common, by category.
Check that the path, URI, or resource locator is correct. Flex can't guess if there's a typo in your configuration.
While the path of the data source may be correct, it may not contain the data you expected. If it's an HTTP endpoint, try using curl to verify it's responsive (that is, you get a 200 OK). Commands may not always be available or you may be lacking permissions to run them. Files can be empty or protected.
Always explore the availability of your sources prior to using Flex.
While Flex is pretty flexible about things, you may have instructed it to perform something impossible, such as splitting records by colons when the file only contains comma-separated values, or apply a regex filter that returns zero matches.
Check the functions documentation for instructions on how to best use each Flex feature.
YAML files are notoriously picky with indentation. Lack of indentation, or using tabs instead of spaces, can cause Flex to reject any configuration file. We recommend that you two-space indentation for each level. Do not use tabs or other characters -- they're forbidden by the YAML specification. Use a YAML linter or checker to verify that your YAML conforms to the standard.
The Infrastructure agent needs to know that your Flex configurations must be run using Flex. Add the following lines at the top of your Flex configuration file and indent the rest accordingly...
integrations:
- name: nri-flex
config:
#Your Flex config goes hereOr reference the Flex stand-alone configuration file from the main Infrastructure agent configuration file:
integrations:
- name: nri-flex
config_template_path: /path/to/flex/integration.yml # It can be any folderCheck that your New Relic license key is correct and active. You won't be able to send data to New Relic otherwise, though you can still use Flex in development mode.
Flex will not send data to New Relic if the Infrastructure agent is not running. Check whether it's running or not by running these commands:
- Linux:
systemctl status newrelic-infraorpgrep newrelic-infra - Windows:
net status newrelic-infra
If the agent is not running, learn how to start, stop, restart, or check the agent status.
The New Relic Infrastructure agent is a highly optimized piece of software, but still requires that the host meets certain requirements and is compatible. Check the Infra agent requirements.
Flex only works when the agent is running in root mode.
Verify that your network connection is up and that nothing is preventing the Infrastructure agent from communicating with the New Relic platform.