Here's how to configure Astra Traffic Collector for traffic monitoring inside a linux based VM (AWS/GCP/Azure/DO). It also covers troubleshooting common issues encountered during configuration.
SSH into the VM.
Pre-requisite
Install Docker Compose in your VM by following the official doc.
Create a directory for the Astra Traffic Collector
mkdir -p /opt/astra-traffic-collector && cd /opt/astra-traffic-collector
** Create docker-compose.yaml file**
version: '3.3'
services:
my-service-init:
image: busybox:1.35.0-uclibc
user: root
volumes:
- collector-message:/tmp/message_data
command: chown -R 10001:10001 /tmp/message_data
otel-sensor:
image: docker.io/getastra/traffic-collector
container_name: astra-traffic-collector
volumes:
- collector-message:/var/lib/otelcol/file_storage:z
- /opt/astra-traffic-collector/config_custom.yaml:/etc/otelcol-contrib/config_custom.yaml:ro
network_mode: host
env_file:
- .env
restart: always
depends_on:
- my-service-init
volumes:
collector-message:
Create .env file
Replace with the COLLECTOR_ID displayed during the creation of astra traffic collector integration.
Replace with the CLIENT_ID displayed during the creation of astra traffic collector integration.
Replace with the CLIENT_SECRET displayed during the creation of astra traffic collector integration.
COLLECTOR_ID=
CLIENT_ID=
CLIENT_SECRET=
TOKEN_URL=https://auth.getastra.com/realms/astra_api_scanner/protocol/openid-connect/token
REMOTE_ADDR_IDENTIFIER_HEADER=x-forwarded-for
Create config_custom.yaml file
processors:
# https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/processor/filterprocessor
filter/custom:
error_mode: ignore
traces:
span:
## allowing traces based on hostname regex pattern. Following will drop all traces originated from host other than: localhost*
# - IsMatch(attributes["url.host"], "localhost*") == false
## excluding traces based on hostname regex pattern. Following will drop all traces originated from host: localhost*
# - IsMatch(attributes["url.host"], "localhost*")
## excluding traces based on template regex pattern. Following will drop all traces having url_template: _wdt*
# - IsMatch(attributes["url.template"], "_wdt*")
## exclude traces with method set to OPTIONS. Comment below line to allow the traces with http method OPTIONS
- ConvertCase(attributes["http.method"], "upper") == "OPTIONS"
# https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/processor/transformprocessor
transform/custom:
error_mode: ignore
trace_statements:
- context: span
statements:
## Templatize url path regex pattern by keyword: "slug". Following will templatize the url Path: /api/v1/chinchikrqwertyuiop/ -> /api/v1/{{slug}}/
- replace_pattern(attributes["url.template"], "chinchikrqwertyuiop", "{{slug}}")
## Redact MasterCard credit card number
#- replace_all_patterns(attributes, "value", "^5[1-5][0-9]{14}$", "{{card}}")
**Create linux service file under /etc/systemd/system/astra-traffic-collector.service ** The service file allows the Astra Traffic Collector to be managed as a systemd service, enabling easy start, stop, restart, and automatic start on boot.
[Unit]
Description=Start Astra's traffic collectors
After=docker.service
Requires=docker.service
[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "docker compose -f /opt/astra-traffic-collector/docker-compose.yaml up"
ExecStop=/bin/bash -c "docker compose -f /opt/astra-traffic-collector/docker-compose.yaml down"
Restart=always
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
**Manage the service by using systemctl **
# Enable the service to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable astra-traffic-collector
# Manage the service
sudo systemctl start | stop | restart | status astra-traffic-collector
# Disable the service
sudo systemctl disable astra-traffic-collector
** Stop the astra-traffic-collector by running **
sudo systemctl stop astra-traffic-collector
**To customize the traffic collector edit the /opt/astra-traffic-collector/config_custom.yaml. Refer here **
**Start the traffic collector by running **
sudo systemctl start astra-traffic-collector
| This process updates the astra-traffic-collector container to a new version of the collector while retaining any customization you've made via configuration files, such as custom_config.yaml
**Execute the following commands to stop, upgrade and then start the service **
systemctl stop astra-traffic-collector
cd /opt/astra-traffic-collector/
docker-compose pull
systemctl start astra-traffic-collector
**Unable to send traces from traffic collector to ga collector **
Symptoms
No entries in inventory/ inventory not getting updated
Following or similar error seen in traffic-collector container log
error exporterhelper/queue_sender.go:92 Exporting failed. Dropping data. {"kind": "exporter", "data_type": "traces", "name": "otlp", "error": "not retryable error: Permanent error: rpc error: code = Unauthenticated desc = transport: per-RPC creds failed due to error: failed to get security token from token endpoint (endpoint \"https://auth.getastra.com/realms/astra_api_scanner/protocol/openid-connect/token\"); oauth2: \"unauthorized_client\" \"Invalid client or Invalid client credentials\"", "dropped_items": 1}
Cause
Authenication fails with IAM server
Solution
Edit /opt/astra-traffic-collector/.env and update it with right credentials.
Restart astra-traffic-collector
sudo systemctl stop astra-traffic-collector
sudo systemctl start astra-traffic-collector
Unable to see entries in inventory
Symptoms
No entries in inventory/ inventory not getting updated
No error in nginx/traffic-collector log
Cause
Unregistered hostname
Solution
Double check if the hostname is registered under Scope URI for Report in Target setup page
How to restart astra-traffic-collector
Execute the following commands to restart astra-traffic-collector
systemctl stop astra-traffic-collector
systemctl start astra-traffic-collector
Can I see what trace are sent from my environment?
Yes, one can see the traces sent by traffic-collector by inspecting docker logs. Run docker logs