Understand the Agent Configuration

Out of the box, the Sysdig agent will gather and report on a wide variety of predefined metrics. It can also accommodate any number of custom parameters for additional metrics collection.

The agent relies on a configuration file named dragent.yaml to define metrics collection parameters. This file is located in the /opt/draios/etc/ directory. Configuration parameters may be added directly in YAML format as key-value pairs.

The agent and its probe-loader shell script also understand the following environment variables:

  • SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER (12.17.0 and newer)
  • SYSDIG_BPF_PROBE

The contents of dragent.yaml and the agent’s environment variables may be specified in different ways depending on how the agent was installed.

This document describes how to modify dragent.yaml and the agent’s environment variables.

Environments

For more information about configuring each of the three environments listed in this section, see Edit the Configuration File.

Kubernetes

If Sysdig agent is installed in a Kubernetes environment, you can edit the dragent.yaml file using one of the following options:

  • values.yaml

  • ConfigMap

  • sysdig-deploy Helm chart

Container

If Sysdig agent is installed in a non-orchestrated environment such as Docker, you can edit the dragent.yaml file using one or more of the following options:

  • A dragent.yaml file mounted as a Docker volume inside the container.

    docker run -v /home/admin-user/config-files/sysdig-agent/dragent.yaml:/opt/draios/etc/dragent.yaml ... quay.io/sysdig/agent

  • Pass parameters that will be appended to a dynamically generated dragent.yaml file via the ADDITIONAL_CONF environment variable.

    `docker run -e ADDITIONAL_CONF="<dragent.yaml parameters>" ... quay.io/sysdig/agent.

    If dragent.yaml is mounted as a Docker volume inside the container, the ADDITIONAL_CONF environment variable will be ignored.

  • Use environment variables such as COLLECTOR, ACCESS_KEY, TAGS, and so on to add or override specific parameters in dragent.yaml.

  • Pass environment variables directly to the agent such as SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER or SYSDIG_BPF_PROBE.

Linux package

If the Sysdig agent is installed in a Linux host via a .rpm or .deb package, edit /opt/draios/etc/dragent.yaml directly.

On .rpm installations, environment variables may be specified in /etc/sysconfig/dragent. On .deb installations, environment variables may be specified in /etc/default/dragent.

Use one of the following:

SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER=universal_ebpf # Agent version 12.17.0 or newer
export SYSDIG_BPF_PROBE=""

This environment file is sourced directly by the agent init script. For agent versions 12.16.x and older, the export keyword is required.

Edit the Configuration File

dragent.yaml

  1. Log in to the host where the agent is installed.

  2. Open /opt/draios/etc/dragent.yaml.

    If dragent.yaml is mounted inside an agent container as a Docker volume, it may be located anywhere on the host that the administrator finds convenient.

  3. Edit the file using proper YAML syntax. See the examples at the bottom of the page.

  4. Restart the agent for changes to take effect.

    • Linux package: service dragent restart

    • Non-orchestrated container: docker restart sysdig-agent

configmap.yaml

If you install the agent using DaemonSets on a Kubernetes cluster, you use configmap.yaml to connect with and manipulate the underlying dragent.yaml file.

Use the following ways to add parameters to configmap.yaml:

  • Directly edit configmap.yaml in YAML as key-value pairs.

  • Use environment variables such as ADDITIONAL_CONF.

You can edit the files locally and apply the changes with kubectl -f:

  1. Open the configmap.yaml file.

  2. Edit the file as needed.

  3. Apply the changes:

    kubectl apply -f sysdig-agent-configmap.yaml

All the running agents will automatically pick the new configuration after Kubernetes pushes the changes across all the nodes in the cluster.

docker run

Run the docker run command with -e ADDITIONAL_CONF="<VARIABLES>" where <VARIABLES> contains all the customized parameters you want to include.

Convert YAML Parameters to Single-Line Format

To insert ADDITIONAL_CONF parameters in a docker run command or a DaemonSet file, you must convert the YAML code into a single line. You can do the conversion manually for short snippets. To convert longer portions of YAML, use echo|sed commands.

  1. Write your configuration in YAML, as it would be entered directly in dragent.yaml.

  2. In a Bash shell, use echo and sed to convert to a single line:

    echo '<YAML_CONTENT>' | sed -e ':a' -e 'N' -e '$!ba' -e 's/\n/\\n/g'
    
  3. Insert the resulting line into the docker run command or add it to the DaemonSet file as an ADDITIONAL_CONF.

Examples

Disable StatsD Collection

This example shows how to turn off the StatsD collection and blacklist port 6443.

Sysdig agent uses port 6443 for both inbound and outbound communication with the Sysdig backend. The agent initiates a request and keeps a connection open with the Sysdig backend for the backend to push configurations, Falco rules, policies, and so on.

Ensure that you allow the agents’ inbound and outbound communication on TCP 6443 from the respective IP addresses associated with your SaaS Regions. Note that you are allowing the agent to send communication outbound on TCP 6443 to the inbound IP ranges listed in the SaaS Regions.

YAML Format
statsd:
    enabled: false
    blacklisted_ports:
    - 6443
Single-Line Format

Use spaces, hyphens, and \n correctly when manually converting to a single line:

ADDITIONAL_CONF="statsd:\n enabled: false\n blacklisted_ports:\n - 6443"

You can run a full agent startup Docker command in a single line as follows:

docker run
  --name sysdig-agent \
  --privileged \
  --net host \
  --pid host \
  -e ACCESS_KEY=<ACCESS_KEY> \
  -e COLLECTOR=<COLLECTOR_ADDRESS> \
  -e TAGS=dept:sales,local:NYC \
  -e ADDITIONAL_CONF="statsd:\n    enabled: false\n    blacklisted_ports:\n    - 6443" \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/host/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /dev:/host/dev \
  -v /proc:/host/proc:ro \
  -v /boot:/host/boot:ro \
  -v /lib/modules:/host/lib/modules:ro \
  -v /usr:/host/usr:ro \
  quay.io/sysdig/agent
Add RabbitMQ App Check

This example helps you override the default configuration for a RabbitMQ app check.

YAML Format
app_checks:
  - name: rabbitmq
    pattern:
      port: 15672
    conf:
      rabbitmq_api_url: "http://localhost:15672/api/"
      rabbitmq_user: myuser
      rabbitmq_pass: mypassword
      queues:
        - MyQueue1
        - MyQueue2
Single-Line Format (echo | sed)

From a Bash shell, issue the echo command and sed script.

echo "app_checks:
  - name: rabbitmq
    pattern:
      port: 15672
    conf:
      rabbitmq_api_url: "http://localhost:15672/api/"
      rabbitmq_user: myuser
      rabbitmq_pass: mypassword
      queues:
        - MyQueue1
        - MyQueue2
" | sed -e ':a' -e 'N' -e '$!ba' -e 's/\n/\\n/g'

This results in the single-line format to be used with ADDITIONAL_CONF in a Docker command or DaemonSet file.

"app_checks:\n - name: rabbitmq\n  pattern:\n    port: 15672\n  conf:\n    rabbitmq_api_url: http://localhost:15672/api/\n    rabbitmq_user: myuser\n    rabbitmq_pass: mypassword\n    queues:\n      - MyQueue1\n      - MyQueue2\n"

helm install

If you installed the Sysdig agent in Kubernetes using the Helm chart, then no configmap.yaml file was downloaded. You can edit dragent.yaml using the Helm syntax:

helm install sysdig-agent \
  --namespace sysdig-agent \
  --set global.clusterConfig.name='my_cluster' \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.{tag_name_1}={tag_value_1} \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.{tag_name_2}={tag_value_2} \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.{tag_name_3}={tag_value_3} \
  sysdig/sysdig-deploy

where for each tag_name you have a specific tag_value like:

helm install sysdig-agent \
  --namespace sysdig-agent \
  --set global.clusterConfig.name='my_cluster' \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.linux=ubuntu \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.dept=dev \
  --set global.sysdig.tags.local=nyc \
  sysdig/sysdig-deploy

This command will be translated into the following:

data:
  dragent.yaml: |
    tags: linux:ubuntu,dept:dev,local:nyc
    k8s_cluster_name: my_cluster    

Environment Variables Used by Entry Point Script for Non-Orchestrated Containers

Name

Value

Description

ACCESS_KEY

Your Sysdig access key.

Required.

TAGS

Meaningful tags you want applied to your instances.

Optional.

For example:

tags: linux:ubuntu,dept:dev,local:nyc

See sysdig-agent-configmap.yaml.

REGION

The region associated with your Sysdig SaaS application.

Enter the SaaS region.

COLLECTOR

<collector-hostname.com>

Enter the hostname or IP address of the Sysdig collector service. Note that when used within dragent.yaml, it must be lowercase (collector).

For SaaS regions, see SaaS Regions and IP Ranges.

For SaaS applications, you must use either `REGION` or `COLLECTOR`.

COLLECTOR_PORT

6443

On-prem only. The port used by the Sysdig collector service. Default: 6443.

SECURE

true

Use SSL/TLS to connect to collector service, defaults to true. Set to false to use plaintext HTTP to communicate with the collector service, (not recommended).

CHECK_CERTIFICATE

true

On-prem only. Set to true when using SSL/TLS to connect to the collector service and should check for a valid SSL/TLS certificate.

ADDITIONAL_CONF

Optional. A place to provide custom configuration values to the agent as environment variables. If `dragent.yaml` is mounted as a Docker volume inside the container, `ADDITIONAL_CONF` will be ignored.

SYSDIG_PROBE_URL

Optional. An alternative URL to download precompiled kernel modules.

Environment Variables Used by the Agent Probe-Loader Shell Script

Name

Value

Description

SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER

kmod, universal_ebpf, or legacy_ebpf

Optional. The syscall capture driver that is used by the agent. Agent defaults to `kmod` if this environment variable is not set.

SYSDIG_BPF_PROBE

"" or a path to a custom-built eBPF object file.

Optional. Deprecated and superseded by SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER. The old environment variable that is used to force the agent to load the current eBPF driver.

Note:The agent will exit with an error if SYSDIG_AGENT_DRIVER and SYSDIG_BPF_PROBE are set to conflicting values.

Here is a sample Docker command using environment variables in an on-prem environment with a self-signed certificate:

docker run \
  --name sysdig-agent \
  --privileged \
  --net host \
  --pid host \
  -e ACCESS_KEY=<ACCESS_KEY> \
  -e COLLECTOR=<ONPREM_COLLECTOR_HOST> \
  -e COLLECTOR_PORT=6443 \
  -e CHECK_CERTIFICATE=false \
  -e TAGS=my_tag:some_value \
  -e ADDITIONAL_CONF="log:\n file_priority: debug\n console_priority: error" \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/host/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /dev:/host/dev \
  -v /proc:/host/proc:ro \
  -v /boot:/host/boot:ro \
  -v /lib/modules:/host/lib/modules:ro \
  -v /usr:/host/usr:ro \
  --shm-size=350m \
  quay.io/sysdig/agent