remotecfg
remotecfg is an optional configuration block that enables Alloy to fetch and load the configuration from a remote endpoint.
You specify remotecfg without a label and can only include it once per configuration file.
The API definition for managing and fetching configuration that the remotecfg block uses is available under the Apache 2.0 license.
Note
The
remotecfgblock requires a compatible remote configuration management server that implements the [alloy-remote-config API][API definition]. The server dynamically decides which configuration to serve based on the collector’sidandattributes.If you want to load a static configuration file from an HTTP server, use import.http instead. Refer to Load configuration from remote sources for more information.
Usage
remotecfg {
}Arguments
You can use the following arguments with remotecfg:
| Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
attributes | map(string) | A set of self-reported attributes. | {} | no |
bearer_token_file | string | File containing a bearer token to authenticate with. | no | |
bearer_token | secret | Bearer token to authenticate with. | no | |
enable_http2 | bool | Whether to enable HTTP2 for requests. | true | no |
follow_redirects | bool | Whether to follow redirects returned by the server. | true | no |
http_headers | map(list(secret)) | Custom HTTP headers to send with each request. The map key is the header name. | no | |
id | string | A self-reported ID. | see below | no |
name | string | A human-readable name for the collector. | "" | no |
no_proxy | string | Comma-separated list of IP addresses, CIDR notations, and domain names to exclude from proxying. | "" | no |
poll_frequency | duration | How often to poll the API for configuration updates. | "1m" | no |
proxy_connect_header | map(list(secret)) | Specifies headers to send to proxies during CONNECT requests. | no | |
proxy_from_environment | bool | Use the proxy URL indicated by environment variables. | false | no |
proxy_url | string | HTTP proxy to send requests through. | "" | no |
url | string | The address of the API to poll for configuration. | "" | no |
If you don’t set the url, the remotecfg block has no effect.
If you don’t set id, Alloy generates a random, anonymous unique ID (UUID) and stores it in an alloy_seed.json file in the Alloy storage path.
This allows the ID to persist across restarts.
You can use the name field to set a human-friendly identifier for the Alloy instance.
Alloy includes the id and attributes fields in periodic requests to the remote endpoint so the API can decide what configuration to serve.
The attributes map keys can include any custom value except the reserved prefix collector..
The reserved label prefix is for automatic system attributes.
You can’t override this prefix.
collector.os: The operating system where Alloy is running.collector.version: The version of Alloy.
You must set poll_frequency to at least "10s".
You can provide at most one of the following:
authorizationblockbasic_authblockbearer_token_fileargumentbearer_tokenargumentoauth2block
no_proxy can contain IPs, CIDR notations, and domain names. IP and domain names can contain port numbers.
proxy_url must be configured if no_proxy is configured.
proxy_from_environment uses the environment variables HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY (or the lowercase versions thereof).
Requests use the proxy from the environment variable matching their scheme, unless excluded by NO_PROXY.
proxy_url and no_proxy must not be configured if proxy_from_environment is configured.
proxy_connect_header should only be configured if proxy_url or proxy_from_environment are configured.
Blocks
You can use the following blocks with remotecfg:
| Block | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
authorization | Configure generic authorization to the endpoint. | no |
basic_auth | Configure basic_auth for authenticating to the endpoint. | no |
oauth2 | Configure OAuth 2.0 for authenticating to the endpoint. | no |
oauth2 > tls_config | Configure TLS settings for connecting to the endpoint. | no |
tls_config | Configure TLS settings for connecting to the endpoint. | no |
The > symbol indicates deeper levels of nesting.
For example, oauth2 > tls_config refers to a tls_config block defined inside an oauth2 block.
authorization
| Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
credentials_file | string | File containing the secret value. | no | |
credentials | secret | Secret value. | no | |
type | string | Authorization type, for example, “Bearer”. | no |
credential and credentials_file are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside an authorization block.
Warning
Using
credentials_filecauses the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use thelocal.filecomponent with thecredentialsattribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.
basic_auth
| Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
password_file | string | File containing the basic auth password. | no | |
password | secret | Basic auth password. | no | |
username | string | Basic auth username. | no |
password and password_file are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside a basic_auth block.
Warning
Using
password_filecauses the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use thelocal.filecomponent with thepasswordattribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.
oauth2
| Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
client_id | string | OAuth2 client ID. | no | |
client_secret_file | string | File containing the OAuth2 client secret. | no | |
client_secret | secret | OAuth2 client secret. | no | |
endpoint_params | map(string) | Optional parameters to append to the token URL. | no | |
no_proxy | string | Comma-separated list of IP addresses, CIDR notations, and domain names to exclude from proxying. | no | |
proxy_connect_header | map(list(secret)) | Specifies headers to send to proxies during CONNECT requests. | no | |
proxy_from_environment | bool | Use the proxy URL indicated by environment variables. | false | no |
proxy_url | string | HTTP proxy to send requests through. | no | |
scopes | list(string) | List of scopes to authenticate with. | no | |
token_url | string | URL to fetch the token from. | no |
client_secret and client_secret_file are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside an oauth2 block.
Warning
Using
client_secret_filecauses the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use thelocal.filecomponent with theclient_secretattribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.
The oauth2 block may also contain a separate tls_config sub-block.
no_proxy can contain IPs, CIDR notations, and domain names. IP and domain names can contain port numbers.
proxy_url must be configured if no_proxy is configured.
proxy_from_environment uses the environment variables HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY (or the lowercase versions thereof).
Requests use the proxy from the environment variable matching their scheme, unless excluded by NO_PROXY.
proxy_url and no_proxy must not be configured if proxy_from_environment is configured.
proxy_connect_header should only be configured if proxy_url or proxy_from_environment are configured.
tls_config
| Name | Type | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ca_pem | string | CA PEM-encoded text to validate the server with. | no | |
ca_file | string | CA certificate to validate the server with. | no | |
cert_pem | string | Certificate PEM-encoded text for client authentication. | no | |
cert_file | string | Certificate file for client authentication. | no | |
insecure_skip_verify | bool | Disables validation of the server certificate. | no | |
key_file | string | Key file for client authentication. | no | |
key_pem | secret | Key PEM-encoded text for client authentication. | no | |
min_version | string | Minimum acceptable TLS version. | no | |
server_name | string | ServerName extension to indicate the name of the server. | no |
The following pairs of arguments are mutually exclusive and can’t both be set simultaneously:
ca_pemandca_filecert_pemandcert_filekey_pemandkey_file
When configuring client authentication, both the client certificate (using cert_pem or cert_file) and the client key (using key_pem or key_file) must be provided.
When min_version isn’t provided, the minimum acceptable TLS version is inherited from Go’s default minimum version, TLS 1.2.
If min_version is provided, it must be set to one of the following strings:
"TLS10"(TLS 1.0)"TLS11"(TLS 1.1)"TLS12"(TLS 1.2)"TLS13"(TLS 1.3)
Example
remotecfg {
url = "<SERVICE_URL>"
basic_auth {
username = "<USERNAME>"
password_file = "<PASSWORD_FILE>"
}
id = constants.hostname
attributes = {"cluster" = "dev", "namespace" = "otlp-dev"}
poll_frequency = "5m"
}Troubleshooting
If Alloy fails to load configuration using remotecfg, check the following:
401or403errors: Verify that authentication settings are correct, such asbasic_auth,authorization, OAuth2, or bearer token.404errors: Confirm that the configuredurlpoints to a server implementing the alloy-remote-config API. Static HTTP servers can’t serve configuration forremotecfg.415 Unsupported Media Typeerrors: Ensure the server implements the [alloy-remote-config API][API definition] and returns the expected response format.- Connection timeouts: Check network connectivity, proxy settings, and firewall rules between the collector and the remote server.
If you only want to load a static configuration file from an HTTP server, use import.http instead.
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