NAME

ipfixcol2-json-output - JSON (output plugin)

DESCRIPTION

The plugin converts IPFIX flow records into JSON format and sends them to remote destinations over network, stores them into files or prints them on standard output. Some elements (timestamps, IP/MAC addresses, TCP flags, etc.) can be converted into human readable format. Others are represented as plain numbers.

Each flow record is converted individually and send to outputs where at least one output method must be configured. All fields in an IPFIX record are formatted as: <field name>:<value>, where the field name represents a name of a corresponding Information Element as "<Enterprise Name>:<Information Element Name>" and value is a number, string, boolean or null (if conversion from IPFIX to JSON fails or it is a zero-length field). The Enterprise Name is a name of an organization that manages the field, such as IANA, CISCO, etc.

If the field name and type is unknown and "ignoreUnknown" option is disabled, the field name use format 'enXX:idYY' where XX is an Enterprise Number and YY is an Information Element ID. See notes for instructions on how to add missing definitions of Information Elements.

Flow records with structured data types (basicList, subTemplateList and subTemplateMultiList) are supported. See the particular section below for information about the formatting of these types.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT

The following output is for illustration purpose only. Available IPFIX fields depend on a structure of records that your exporter sends. See documentation of the exporter, if you want to change available IPFIX fields.

{


    "@type": "ipfix.entry",


    "iana:octetDeltaCount": 3568720,


    "iana:packetDeltaCount": 2383,


    "iana:flowStartMilliseconds": "2018-05-11T19:44:29.006Z",


    "iana:flowEndMilliseconds": "2018-05-11T19:44:30.364Z",


    "iana:ingressInterface": 1,


    "iana:ipVersion": 4,


    "iana:sourceIPv4Address": "192.168.0.100",


    "iana:destinationIPv4Address": "192.168.0.101",


    "iana:ipClassOfService": 0,


    "iana:ipTTL": 62,


    "iana:protocolIdentifier": "TCP",


    "iana:tcpControlBits": ".AP.S.",


    "iana:sourceTransportPort": 47200,


    "iana:destinationTransportPort": 20810,


    "iana:egressInterface": 0,


    "iana:samplingInterval": 0,


    "iana:samplingAlgorithm": 0
}

The plugin can produce multiple record types, which are always distinguished by "@type" key:

ipfix.entry: Flow record captured by the exporter as shown in the example above. This record is always converted and it is the most common type.
ipfix.optionsEntry: Record containing additional information provided by the exporter to the collector. Usually it is used for information about the exporter configuration (such as packet sampling) and flow export statistics. Periodicity and content of the record always depends on the particular exporter. By default, record conversion is disabled, see ignoreOptions parameter in the configuration section.
ipfix.template and ipfix.optionsTemplate: Records describing structure of flow records (i.e. ipfix.entry) and options records (i.e. ipfix.optionsEntry), respectively. These types are usually useful only for exporter analytics. Periodicity of these records usually depends on the exporter and used transport protocol. For example, for connection over UDP it corresponds to "template refresh interval" configured on the exporter. However, for TCP and SCTP sessions, the template records are usually sent only once immediately after session start. By default, template record conversion is disabled, see templateInfo parameter in the configuration section.

EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION

Below you see a complex configuration with all available output options enabled. Don't forget to remove (or comment) outputs that you don't want to use!

<output>


    <name>JSON output</name>


    <plugin>json</plugin>


    <params>


        <tcpFlags>formatted</tcpFlags>


        <timestamp>formatted</timestamp>


        <protocol>formatted</protocol>


        <ignoreUnknown>true</ignoreUnknown>


        <ignoreOptions>true</ignoreOptions>


        <nonPrintableChar>true</nonPrintableChar>


        <octetArrayAsUint>true</octetArrayAsUint>


        <numericNames>false</numericNames>


        <splitBiflow>false</splitBiflow>


        <detailedInfo>false</detailedInfo>


        <templateInfo>false</templateInfo>


        <outputs>


            <!-- Choose one or more of the following outputs -->


            <server>


                <name>Local server</name>


                <port>8000</port>


                <blocking>no</blocking>


            </server>


            <send>


                <name>Send to my server</name>


                <ip>127.0.0.1</ip>


                <port>8000</port>


                <protocol>tcp</protocol>


                <blocking>no</blocking>


            </send>


            <print>


                <name>Printer to standard output</name>


            </print>


            <file>


                <name>Store to files</name>


                <path>/tmp/ipfixcol/flow/%Y/%m/%d/</path>


                <prefix>json.</prefix>


                <timeWindow>300</timeWindow>


                <timeAlignment>yes</timeAlignment>


                <compression>none</compression>


            </file>


            <kafka>


                <name>Send to Kafka</name>


                <brokers>127.0.0.1</brokers>


                <topic>ipfix</topic>


                <blocking>false</blocking>


                <partition>unassigned</partition>


                <!-- Zero or more additional properties -->


                <property>


                    <key>compression.codec</key>


                    <value>lz4</value>


                </property>


            </kafka>


        </outputs>


    </params>
</output>

PARAMETERS

Formatting parameters:

tcpFlags: Convert TCP flags to common textual representation (formatted, e.g. ".A..S.") or to a number (raw). [values: formatted/raw, default: formatted]
timestamp: Convert timestamp to ISO 8601 textual representation (all timestamps in UTC and milliseconds, e.g. "2018-01-22T09:29:57.828Z") or to a unix timestamp (all timestamps in milliseconds). [values: formatted/unix, default: formatted]
protocol: Convert protocol identification to formatted style (e.g. instead 6 writes "TCP") or to a number. [values: formatted/raw, default: formatted]
ignoreUnknown: Skip unknown Information Elements (i.e. record fields with unknown name and data type). If disabled, data of unknown elements are formatted as unsigned integer or hexadecimal values. For more information, see octetArrayAsUint option. [values: true/false, default: true]
ignoreOptions: Skip non-flow records used for reporting metadata about IPFIX Exporting and Metering Processes (i.e. records described by Options Templates). [values: true/false, default: true]
nonPrintableChar: Ignore non-printable characters (newline, tab, control characters, etc.) in IPFIX strings. If disabled, these characters are escaped on output. [values: true/false, default: true]
octetArrayAsUint: Converter each IPFIX field with octetArray type (including IPFIX fields with unknown definitions) as unsigned integer if the size of the field is less or equal to 8 bytes. Fields with the size above the limit are always converted as string representing hexadecimal value, which is typically in network byte order (e.g. "0x71E1"). Keep on mind, that there might be octetArray fields with variable length that might be interpreted differently based on their size. If disabled, octetArray fields are never interpreted as unsigned integers. [values: true/false, default: true]
numericNames: Use only short identification of Information Elements (i.e. "enXX:idYY"). If enabled, the short version is used even if the definition of the field is known. This option can help to create a shorter JSON records with key identifiers which are independent on the internal configuration. [values: true/false, default: false]
splitBiflow: In case of Biflow records, split the record to two unidirectional flow records. Non-biflow records are unaffected. [values: true/false, default: false]
detailedInfo: Add additional information about the IPFIX message (such as export time, Observation Domain ID, IP address of the exporter, etc.) to which each record belongs. Additional fields starts with "ipfix:" prefix. [values: true/false, default: false]
templateInfo: Convert Template and Options Template records. See the particular section below for information about the formatting of these records. [values: true/false, default: false]

----

Output types: At least one of the following output must be configured. Multiple server/send/file/kafka outputs can be used at the same time if the outputs are not in collision with each other.

server: TCP (push) server provides data on a local port. Converted records are automatically send to all clients that are connected to the port. To test the server you can use, for example, ncat(1) utility: "ncat <server ip> <port>".

name: Identification name of the output. Used only for readability.
port: Local port number of the server.
blocking: Enable blocking on TCP sockets (true/false). If blocking mode is disabled and a client is not able to retrieve records fast enough, some flow records may be dropped (only individual clients are affected). On the other hand, if the blocking mode is enabled, no records are dropped. However, if at least one client is slow, the plugin waits (i.e. blocks) until data are send. This can significantly slow down the whole collector and other output plugins because processing records is suspended. In the worst-case scenario, if the client is not responding at all, the whole collector is blocked! Therefore, it is usually preferred (and much safer) to disable blocking.

send: Send records over network to a client. If the destination is not reachable or the client is disconnected, the plugin drops all records and tries to reconnect every 5 seconds. As with the server, you can verify functionality using ncat(1) utility: "ncat -lk <local ip> <local port>"

name: Identification name of the output. Used only for readability.
ip: IP address or domain name of the client
port: Remote port number
protocol: Transport protocol: TCP or UDP (this field is case insensitive)
blocking: Enable blocking on a socket (true/false). See the description of this property at the server output.

file: Store data to files.

name: Identification name of the output. Used only for readability.
path: The path specifies storage directory for data collected by the plugin. Format specifiers for day, month, etc. are supported so you can create suitable directory hierarchy. See "strftime" for conversion specification. (Note: UTC time)
prefix: Specifies name prefix for output files.
timeWindow: Specifies the time interval in seconds to rotate files [minimum 60, default 300]
timeAlignment: Align file rotation with next N minute interval (yes/no).
compression: Data compression helps to significantly reduce size of output files. Following compression algorithms are available:

none: Compression disabled [default]
gzip: GZIP compression

kafka: Send data to Kafka i.e. Kafka producer.
Warning: Library librdkafka < 1.5.0 contains a bug which might prevent the plugin from starting. If so, use json-kafka output plugin which implements workaround for this issue.

name: Identification name of the output. Used only for readability.
brokers: Initial list of brokers as a CSV list of broker "host" or "host:port".
topic: Kafka topic to produce to.
partition: Partition number to produce to. If the value is "unassigned", then the default random distribution is used. [default: "unassigned"]
brokerVersion: Older broker versions (before 0.10.0) provide no way for a client to query for supported protocol features making it impossible for the client to know what features it may use. As a workaround a user may set this property to the expected broker version and the client will automatically adjust its feature set. [default: <empty>]
blocking: Enable blocking on produce. If disabled and a cluster is down or not able to retrieve records fast enough, some flow records may be dropped. On the other hand, if enabled, no records are dropped. However, if the cluster is slow or not accessible at all, the plugin waits (i.e. blocks) until data are send. This can significantly slow down or block(!) the whole collector and other output plugins [true/false, default: false]
performanceTuning: By default, the connection provided by librdkafka is not optimized for high throughput required for transport of JSON records. This option adds optional library parameters, which reduces messaging overhead and significantly improves throughput. In particular, Kafka message capacity is increased and maximal buffering interval is prolonged. These options can be overwritten by user defined properties. [true/false, default: true]
property: Additional configuration properties of librdkafka library as key/value pairs. Multiple <property> parameters, which can improve performance, can be defined. See the project website for the full list of supported options. Keep on mind that some options might not be available in all versions of the library.

print: Write data on standard output.

name: Identification name of the output. Used only for readability.

NOTES

If one or more Information Element definitions are missing, you can easily add them. All definitions are provided by libfds <https://github.com/CESNET/libfds/>
library. See the project website for help.

If a flow record contains multiple occurrences of the same Information Element, their values are stored into a single name/value pair as JSON array. Order of the values in the array corresponds to their order in the flow record.

For higher performance, it is advisable to use non-formatted conversion of IPFIX data types. In that case, you should prefer, for example, timestamps as numbers over ISO 8601 strings and numeric identifiers of fields as they are usually shorted.

STRUCTURED DATA TYPES

Flow records can be extended with structured data types (as described in RFC6313). Each of these types are formatted as JSON objects with "@type" field which helps to distinguish its formatting. Moreover, as the standard describes, the semantic of the list is also included.

Converted basicList contains "fieldID" with the Information Element identifier of zero or more Information Element(s) contained in the list. All values are stored as a JSON array in "data" field.

{


    "example:blField": {


        "@type": "basicList",


        "semantic": "anyOf",


        "fieldID": "iana:octetDeltaCount",


        "data": [23, 34, 23]


    }
}

Converted subTemplateList contains only additional "data" field with array of zero or more JSON objects. As all nested JSON object are described by the same IPFIX Template, it's guaranteed the their structure is also the same. The "semantic" field indicates the relationship among the different JSON objects.

{


    "example:stlField": {


        "@type": "subTemplateList",


        "semantic": "allOf",


        "data": [


            {"keyA.1": "value1", "keyA.2": "value2"},


            {"keyB.1": "value1", "keyB.2": "value2"},


        ]


    }
}

Converted subTemplateMultiList is similar to the previous type, however, sub-records can be even more nested. The "data" field contains a JSON array with zero or more nested JSON arrays. Each nested array contains zero or more JSON objects and it's guaranteed that JSON objects in the same array have the same structure. The "semantic" field indicates top-level relationship among the nested arrays.

{


    "example:stmlField": {


        "@type": "subTemplateMultiList",


        "semantic": "allOf",


        "data" : [


            [


                {"keyA.1": "value1", "keyA.2": "value2"},


                {"keyB.1": "value1", "keyB.2": "value2"},


            ],


            [


                {"idA.1": "something", "idB.1": 123}


            ]


        ]


    }
}

Keep on mind that all structures can be nested in each other.

TEMPLATE AND OPTIONS TEMPLATE RECORDS

These records are converted only if <templateInfo> option is enabled.

Template record describes structure of flow records, and its "@type" is "ipfix.template". Converted Template record contains "ipfix:templateId" field, which is unique to the Transport Session and Observation Domain, and "ipfix:fields", which is an array of JSON objects specifying fields of flow records.

{


    "@type": "ipfix.template",


    "ipfix:templateId": 49171,


    "ipfix:fields": [


        {


            "ipfix:elementId": 16399,


            "ipfix:enterpriseId": 6871,


            "ipfix:fieldLength": 1


        }, {


            "ipfix:elementId": 184,


            "ipfix:enterpriseId": 29305,


            "ipfix:fieldLength": 4


        }, {


            ...


        }


    ]
}

Options Template record describes structure of additional information for the collector, such as sampling configuration, export statistics, etc. The description is converted to a record with "@type" equal to "ipfix.optionsEntry". Converted Options Template record is similar to the previous type, however, it contains additional "ipfix:scopeCount" field, which specifies number of scope fields in the record. A scope count of N specifies that the first N field specifiers are scope fields.

{


    "@type": "ipfix.optionsTemplate",


        "ipfix:templateId": 53252,


        "ipfix:scopeCount": 1,


        "ipfix:fields": [


            {


                    "ipfix:elementId": 130,


                    "ipfix:enterpriseId": 0,


                    "ipfix:fieldLength": 4


            }, {


                    "ipfix:elementId": 103,


                    "ipfix:enterpriseId": 6871,


                    "ipfix:fieldLength": 4


            }, {


            ...


        }


    ]
}

AUTHOR

Lukáš Huták (lukas.hutak@cesnet.cz), Petr Velan (petr.velan@cesnet.cz)