Integrate with external plugins

Use the `execd` shim

The shim makes it easy to extract an internal input, processor, or output plugin from the main Telegraf repo out to a stand-alone repo. This allows anyone to build and run it as a separate app using one of the execd plugins:

• inputs.execd
• processors.execd
• outputs.execd

Extract a plugin using the shim wrapper

1. Move the project to an external repo. We recommend preserving the path structure: for example, if your plugin was located at plugins/inputs/cpu in the Telegraf repo, move it to plugins/inputs/cpu in the new repo.
2. Copy main.go into your project under the cmd folder. This serves as the entry point to the plugin when run as a stand-alone program.

   The shim isn’t designed to run multiple plugins at the same time, so include only one plugin per repo.

   Write an external plugin

   Set up your plugin to use it with execd.

   For listed external plugins, the author of the external plugin is also responsible for the maintenance and feature development of external plugins.

   1. Write your Telegraf plugin. Follow InfluxData’s best practices:
      • Input plugins
      • Processor plugins
      • Aggregator plugins
      • Output plugins
   2. If your plugin is written in Go, follow the steps for the Execd Go Shim.
   3. Add usage and development instructions in the homepage of your repository for running your plugin with its respective execd plugin. Refer to openvpn and awsalarms for examples. Include the following steps:
      • How to download the release package for your platform or how to clone the binary for your external plugin
      • Commands to build your binary
      • Location to edit your telegraf.conf
      • Configuration to run your external plugin with inputs.execd, processors.execd or outputs.execd
   4. Submit your plugin by opening a PR to add your external plugin to the /EXTERNAL_PLUGINS.md list. Include the plugin name, a link to the plugin repository and a short description of the plugin.

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