influxdata
[[outpus.execd]] Error handling
Use Case
Telegraf encourages the development of external plugins that can be integrated via the execd plugin. However, its error handling model is limited, as communication between Telegraf and external plugins relies solely on standard input and output streams
Example:
amqp -> telegraf -> execd -> custom output
When using inputs like AMQP, messages are trackable and typically acknowledged only after successful processing (ie with http output). In contrast, with the execd plugin, metrics may remain buffered (as stdin write is not blocking up to ~64 KB by default) or be lost if an error occurs during processing by the custom output plugin.
Expected behavior
The potential loss of metrics is at least documented. Alternative communication mechanisms, such as Unix sockets or named pipes, are proposed to improve reliability and enable proper error handling.
Actual behavior
Execd plugin might silently lose metrics
Additional info
No response
