The socket plugin helper creates various types of socket instances.

Here is an example:

require 'fluent/plugin/output'
​
module Fluent::Plugin
  class ExampleOutput < Output
    Fluent::Plugin.register_output('example', self)
​
    # 1. Load socket helper
    helpers :socket
​
    config_param :host, :string
    config_param :port, :integer
​
    # Omit `configure`, `shutdown` and other plugin APIs
​
    def try_write(chunk)
      # 2. Create socket
      socket = socket_create(:tcp, @host, @port)
      chunk.each do |time, record|
        # 3. Write data to socket
        socket.write(record.to_json)
      end
    ensure
      # 4. Close socket
      socket.close if socket
    end
  end
end

The socket plugin helper does not manage the lifecycle of the socket. User must close the socket when it is no longer needed.

Methods

socket_create(proto, host, port, **kwargs, &block)

This method creates socket instance with the given protocol type.

If block is given, it will be invoked with the socket instance as a parameter, and socket will automatically be closed when the block terminates.

• proto: protocol type. { :tcp, :udp, :tls }

• host: host name or IP address

• port: port number

• kwargs: extra options. For more details, see methods below.

• block: customize socket

Code example:

# TCP
socket = socket_create(:tcp, 'example.com', 12340)
socket.write(data)
socket.close
​
# UDP
socket = socket_create(:udp, 'example.com', 12341)
socket.write(data)
socket.close
​
# TLS
socket = socket_create(:tls, 'example.com', 12342, insecure: true)
socket.write(data)
socket.close
​
# close socket automatically
socket_create(:udp, 'example.com', 12341) do |sock|
  sock.write(data)
end

socket_create_tcp(host, port, **kwargs, &block)

This method creates socket instance for TCP.

If block is given, it will be invoked with the socket instance as a parameter, and socket will automatically be closed when the block terminates.

• host: hostname or IP address

• port: port number

• kwargs: extra options

  • resolve_name: if true, resolve the hostname

  • nonblock: if true, use non-blocking I/O

  • linger_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_LINGER

  • recv_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_RECVTIMEO

  • send_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_SNDTIMEO

  • send_keepalive_packet: if true, enable TCP keep-alive via SO_KEEPALIVE

  • connect_timeout: the timeout for socket connect. When the connection timed out during establishment, Errno::ETIMEDOUT is raised.

send_keepalive_packet Use Case

If you set true to send_keepavlie_packet, you also need to configure keep-alive related kernel parameters:

net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_intvl = 75
net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_probes = 5
net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_time = 7200

This parameter mitigates half-open connection issue with load balancers. Check also this issue for AWS NLB case.

socket_create_udp(host, port, **kwargs, &block)

This method creates socket instance for UDP.

If block is given, it will be invoked with the socket instance as a parameter, and socket will automatically be closed when the block terminates.

• host: host name or IP address

• port: port number

• kwargs: extra options

  • resolve_name: if true, resolve the hostname

  • connect: if true, connect to host

  • nonblock: if true, use non-blocking I/O

  • linger_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_LINGER

  • recv_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_RECVTIMEO

  • send_timeout: the timeout (seconds) to set SO_SNDTIMEO

socket_create_tls(host, port, **kwargs, &block)

This method creates socket instance for TLS.

If block is given, it will be invoked with the socket instance as a parameter, and socket will automatically be closed when the block terminates.

• host: host name or IP address

• port: port number

• kwargs: extra options

  • version: set TLS version :TLSv1_1 or :TLSv1_2. (default: :TLSv1_2)

  • ciphers: set the list of available cipher suites. (default:

    "ALL:!aNULL:!eNULL:!SSLv2")

  • insecure: if true, set TLS verify mode NONE

  • verify_fqdn: if true, validate the server certificate for the hostname

  • fqdn: set FQDN

  • enable_system_cert_store: if true, enable system default cert store

  • allow_self_signed_cert: if true, allow self-signed certificate

  • cert_paths: files contain PEM-encoded certificates

  • private_key_path: set the client private key path

  • private_key_passphrase: set the client private key passphrase

  • cert_thumbprint: set the certificate thumbprint for searching from Windows system certstore

  • cert_logical_store_name: set the certificate logical store name on Windows system certstore

  • cert_use_enterprise_store: if true, enable to use certificate enterprise store on Windows system certstore

  • Support more parameters same as socket_create_tcp's kwargs

Plugins using socket

• ​out_forward​

If this article is incorrect or outdated, or omits critical information, please let us know. Fluentd is an open-source project under Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). All components are available under the Apache 2 License.