Careful!
You are browsing documentation for the next version of Kuma. Use this version at your own risk.
MeshAccessLog
With the MeshAccessLog policy you can easily set up access logs on every data plane proxy in a mesh.
This policy uses a new policy matching algorithm. Do not combine with TrafficLog.
This guide assumes you have already configured your observability tools to work with Kuma. If you haven’t, see the observability docs.
targetRef support matrix
targetRef |
Allowed kinds |
|---|---|
targetRef.kind |
Mesh, Dataplane, MeshSubset(deprecated) |
to[].targetRef.kind |
Mesh, MeshService, MeshExternalService |
To learn more about the information in this table, see the matching docs.
Configuration
Format
Kuma gives you full control over the format of the access logs.
The shape of a single log record is defined by a template string that uses command operators to extract and format data about a TCP connection or an HTTP request.
For example:
%START_TIME% %KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE% => %KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE% %DURATION%
%START_TIME% and %KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE% are examples of available command operators.
All command operators defined by Envoy are supported, along with additional command operators defined by Kuma:
| Command Operator | Description |
|---|---|
%KUMA_MESH% |
Name of the mesh in which traffic is flowing. |
%KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE% |
Name of a service that is the source of traffic. |
%KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE% |
Name of a service that is the destination of traffic. |
%KUMA_SOURCE_ADDRESS_WITHOUT_PORT% |
Address of a Dataplane that is the source of traffic. |
%KUMA_TRAFFIC_DIRECTION% |
Direction of the traffic, INBOUND, OUTBOUND, or UNSPECIFIED. |
All additional access log command operators are valid to use with both TCP and HTTP traffic.
Internally, Kuma determines traffic protocol based on the value of kuma.io/protocol tag on the inbound interface of a destination Dataplane.
There are two types of format, plain and json.
Plain accepts a string with command operators and produces a string output.
JSON accepts a list of key-value pairs that produces a valid JSON object.
It is up to the user to decide which format type to use. Some system will automatically parse JSON logs and allow you to filter and query based on available keys.
If a command operator is specific to HTTP traffic, such as %REQ(X?Y):Z% or %RESP(X?Y):Z%, in the case of TCP traffic it will be replaced by a symbol “-” for plain and a null value for json.
You can set the format.omitEmptyValues boolean option to change this to "" for plain and
omit them entirely for json.
Plain
The default format string for TCP traffic is:
[%START_TIME%] %RESPONSE_FLAGS% %KUMA_MESH% %KUMA_SOURCE_ADDRESS_WITHOUT_PORT%(%KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE%)->%UPSTREAM_HOST%(%KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE%) took %DURATION%ms, sent %BYTES_SENT% bytes, received: %BYTES_RECEIVED% bytes
The default format string for HTTP traffic is:
[%START_TIME%] %KUMA_MESH% "%REQ(:METHOD)% %REQ(X-ENVOY-ORIGINAL-PATH?:PATH)% %PROTOCOL%" %RESPONSE_CODE% %RESPONSE_FLAGS% %BYTES_RECEIVED% %BYTES_SENT% %DURATION% %RESP(X-ENVOY-UPSTREAM-SERVICE-TIME)% "%REQ(X-FORWARDED-FOR)%" "%REQ(USER-AGENT)%" "%REQ(X-REQUEST-ID)%" "%REQ(:AUTHORITY)%" "%KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE%" "%KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE%" "%KUMA_SOURCE_ADDRESS_WITHOUT_PORT%" "%UPSTREAM_HOST%"
Example configuration:
format:
type: Plain
plain: '[%START_TIME%] %BYTES_RECEIVED%'
Example output:
[2016-04-15T20:17:00.310Z] 154
JSON
Example configuration:
format:
type: Json
json:
- key: "start_time"
value: "%START_TIME%"
- key: "bytes_received"
value: "%BYTES_RECEIVED%"
Example output:
{
"start_time": "2016-04-15T20:17:00.310Z",
"bytes_received": "154"
}
TCP configuration with default fields:
format:
type: Json
json:
- key: "start_time"
value: "%START_TIME%"
- key: "response_flags"
value: "%RESPONSE_FLAGS%"
- key: "kuma_mesh"
value: "%KUMA_MESH%"
- key: "kuma_source_address_without_port"
value: "%KUMA_SOURCE_ADDRESS_WITHOUT_PORT%"
- key: "kuma_source_service"
value: "%KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE%"
- key: "upstream_host"
value: "%UPSTREAM_HOST%"
- key: "kuma_destination_service"
value: "%KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE%"
- key: "duration_ms"
value: "%DURATION%"
- key: "bytes_sent"
value: "%BYTES_SENT%"
- key: "bytes_received"
value: "%BYTES_RECEIVED%"
HTTP configuration with default fields:
format:
type: Json
json:
- key: "start_time"
value: "%START_TIME%"
- key: "kuma_mesh"
value: "%KUMA_MESH%"
- key: 'method'
value: '"%REQ(:METHOD)%'
- key: "path"
value: "%REQ(X-ENVOY-ORIGINAL-PATH?:PATH)%"
- key: 'protocol'
value: '%PROTOCOL%'
- key: "response_code"
value: "%RESPONSE_CODE%"
- key: "response_flags"
value: "%RESPONSE_FLAGS%"
- key: "bytes_received"
value: "%BYTES_RECEIVED%"
- key: "bytes_sent"
value: "%BYTES_SENT%"
- key: "duration_ms"
value: "%DURATION%"
- key: "upstream_service_time"
value: "%RESP(X-ENVOY-UPSTREAM-SERVICE-TIME)%"
- key: 'x_forwarded_for'
value: '"%REQ(X-FORWARDED-FOR)%"'
- key: 'user_agent'
value: '"%REQ(USER-AGENT)%"'
- key: 'request_id'
value: '"%REQ(X-REQUEST-ID)%"'
- key: 'authority'
value: '"%REQ(:AUTHORITY)%"'
- key: "kuma_source_service"
value: "%KUMA_SOURCE_SERVICE%"
- key: "kuma_destination_service"
value: "%KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE%"
- key: "kuma_source_address_without_port"
value: "%KUMA_SOURCE_ADDRESS_WITHOUT_PORT%"
- key: "upstream_host"
value: "%UPSTREAM_HOST%"
Backends
A backend determines where the logs end up.
TCP
A TCP backend streams logs to a server via TCP protocol. You can configure a TCP backend with an address:
backends:
- type: Tcp
tcp:
address: 127.0.0.1:5000
File
A file backend streams logs to a text file. You can configure a file backend with a path:
backends:
- type: File
file:
path: /dev/stdout
OpenTelemetry
An OpenTelemetry (OTel) backend sends data to an OpenTelemetry server. You can configure an OpenTelemetry backend with an endpoint, attributes (which contain additional information about the log) and body (can be a string message, including multi-line, or it can be a structured data). Attributes and endpoints can use placeholders described in the format section.
backends:
- type: OpenTelemetry
openTelemetry:
endpoint: otel-collector:4317
body:
kvlistValue:
values:
- key: "mesh"
value:
stringValue: "%KUMA_MESH%"
attributes:
- key: "start_time"
value: "%START_TIME%"
Body
Body is of type any (defined here) and can be one of the following forms:
body:
stringValue: "%KUMA_MESH%"
body:
boolValue: true
body:
intValue: 123
body:
doubleValue: 1.2
body:
bytesValue: aGVsbG8=
body:
arrayValue:
values:
- stringValue: "%KUMA_MESH%"
body:
kvlistValue:
values:
- key: "mesh"
value:
stringValue: "%KUMA_MESH%"
Examples
Log outgoing traffic from specific frontend version to a backend service
apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshAccessLog
metadata:
name: frontend-to-backend
namespace: kuma-demo
labels:
kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
targetRef:
kind: Dataplane
labels:
app: frontend
version: canary
to:
- targetRef:
kind: MeshService
name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_8080
default:
backends:
- type: File
file:
path: "/dev/stdout"
apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshAccessLog
metadata:
name: frontend-to-backend
namespace: kuma-demo
labels:
kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
targetRef:
kind: Dataplane
labels:
app: frontend
version: canary
to:
- targetRef:
kind: MeshService
name: backend
namespace: kuma-demo
sectionName: http
default:
backends:
- type: File
file:
path: "/dev/stdout"
Logging to multiple backends
This configuration logs to three backends: TCP, file and OpenTelemetry.
apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshAccessLog
metadata:
name: multiple-backends
namespace: kuma-demo
labels:
kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
rules:
- default:
backends:
- type: Tcp
tcp:
address: 127.0.0.1:5000
format:
type: Json
json:
- key: start_time
value: "%START_TIME%"
- type: File
file:
path: "/dev/stdout"
format:
type: Plain
plain: "[%START_TIME%]"
- type: OpenTelemetry
openTelemetry:
endpoint: otel-collector:4317
body:
kvlistValue:
values:
- key: mesh
value:
stringValue: "%KUMA_MESH%"
attributes:
- key: start_time
value: "%START_TIME%"
Log all incoming and outgoing traffic
For this use case we recommend creating two separate policies. One for incoming traffic:
apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshAccessLog
metadata:
name: all-incoming-traffic
namespace: kuma-demo
labels:
kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
rules:
- default:
backends:
- type: File
file:
path: "/dev/stdout"
And one for outgoing traffic:
apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshAccessLog
metadata:
name: all-outgoing-traffic
namespace: kuma-demo
labels:
kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
to:
- targetRef:
kind: Mesh
default:
backends:
- type: File
file:
path: "/dev/stdout"
Logging traffic going outside the Mesh
To target ExternalServices, use MeshService as the targetRef kind with name set to
the kuma.io/service value.
To target other non-mesh traffic, for example passthrough traffic, use Mesh as the targetRef kind. In this case, %KUMA_DESTINATION_SERVICE% is set to external.
Select a built-in gateway
You can select a built-in gateway using the kuma.io/service value. A current limitation is that traffic routed from a gateway to a service is logged by that gateway as having destination "*".