Value input data format

Use the value input data format to parse single values into Telegraf metrics.

Configuration

Specify the measurement name and a field to use as the parsed metric.

To specify the measurement name for your metric, set name_override; otherwise, the input plugin name (for example, “exec”) is used as the measurement name.

You must tell Telegraf what type of metric to collect by using the data_type configuration option. Available options are:

  • integer: converts the received data to an integer value. Produces an error on non-integer data.
  • float (or long): converts the received data to a floating-point value. Treats integers as floating-point values and produces an error on data that can’t be converted, such as strings.
  • string: outputs the data as a string.
  • base64: outputs the data as a base64-encoded string.
  • boolean: converts the received data to a boolean value. Produces an error on any data except the strings true and false.
  • auto_integer: converts the received data to an integer value if possible, and returns the data as a string otherwise. Helpful for mixed-type data.
  • auto_float: converts the received data to a floating-point value if possible, and returns the data as a string otherwise. Helpful for mixed-type data. Integer data is treated as floating-point values.

The auto conversions might convert data to their prioritized type by accident. For example, if a string data source provides "55", it converts to an integer or float. This might break outputs that require a consistent type within a field or column, so use strict typing whenever possible.

[[inputs.exec]]
  ## Commands array
  commands = ["cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail"]

  ## override the default metric name of "exec"
  name_override = "entropy_available"

  ## override the field name of "value"
  # value_field_name = "value"

  ## Data format to consume.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ##   https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_INPUT.md
  data_format = "value"
  data_type = "integer" # required

Was this page helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!