Docker

StackState Self-hosted v4.6.x

This page describes StackState version 4.6.

Go to the documentation for the latest StackState release.

Overview

StackState Agent V2

StackState Agent V2 can run in a Docker container. The Agent collects data from the host where it is running and can be configured to integrate with external systems. Retrieved data is pushed to StackState, to work with this data the StackState Agent V2 StackPack must be installed in your StackState instance. For details of the data retrieved and available integrations, see the StackPack integration documentation.

In Docker Swarm mode, the StackState Cluster Agent can be deployed on the manager node to retrieve topology data for the cluster.

Monitoring

StackState Agent V2 will synchronize the following data with StackState from the host it is running on:

Hosts, processes, and containers
Network connections between processes/containers/services including network traffic telemetry
Telemetry for hosts, processes, and containers

In Docker swarm mode, StackState Cluster Agent running on the manager node will synchronize the following topology data for a Docker cluster:

Containers
Services
Relations between containers and services

Setup

StackState Receiver API address

StackState Agent connects to the StackState Receiver API at the specified StackState Receiver API address. The correct address to use is specific to your installation of StackState.

Single container

To start a single Docker container with StackState Agent V2, run the following command:

docker run -d \
    --name stackstate-agent \
    --privileged \
    --network="host" \
    --pid="host" \
    -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
    -v /proc/:/host/proc/:ro \
    -v /sys/fs/cgroup/:/host/sys/fs/cgroup:ro \
    -e STS_API_KEY="API_KEY" \
    -e STS_STS_URL="<stackstate-receiver-api-address>" \
    -e HOST_PROC="/host/proc" \
    -e HOST_SYS="/host/sys" \
    docker.io/stackstate/stackstate-agent-2:latest

Docker compose

To run StackState Agent V2 with Docker compose:

Add the following configuration to the compose file on each node where the Agent will run:

stackstate-agent:
 image: docker.io/stackstate/stackstate-agent-2:latest
 network_mode: "host"
 pid: "host"
 privileged: true
 volumes:
   - "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro"
   - "/proc/:/host/proc/:ro"
   - "/sys/fs/cgroup/:/host/sys/fs/cgroup:ro"
   - "/etc/passwd:/etc/passwd:ro"
   - "/sys/kernel/debug:/sys/kernel/debug"
 environment:
   STS_API_KEY: "API_KEY"
   STS_STS_URL: "<stackstate-receiver-api-address>"
   STS_PROCESS_AGENT_URL: "<stackstate-receiver-api-address>"
   STS_APM_URL: "<stackstate-receiver-api-address>"
   HOST_PROC: "/host/proc"
   HOST_SYS: "/host/sys"

Run the command:
```
docker-compose up -d
```

Docker swarm mode

In Docker Swarm mode, the StackState Cluster Agent can be deployed on the manager node to retrieve basic topology data (services, containers and the relations between them). To retrieve full data, StackState Agent V2 must also be deployed on each node as a Docker compose setup.

To run StackState Cluster Agent in Docker Swarm mode:

Create a file docker-compose.yml with the following content. Update to include details of your StackState instance:

STS_API_KEY - the API Key for your StackState instance
STS_STS_URL - the URL of the StackState Receiver API
STS_CLUSTER_NAME - the name you would like to give this cluster

stackstate-agent:
    image: docker.io/stackstate/stackstate-cluster-agent:latest
    deploy:
      placement:
        constraints: [ node.role == manager ]
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - /etc/passwd:/etc/passwd:ro
      - /sys/kernel/debug:/sys/kernel/debug
    environment:
      STS_API_KEY: "API_KEY"
      STS_STS_URL: "<stackstate-receiver-api-address>"
      STS_COLLECT_SWARM_TOPOLOGY: "true"
      STS_LOG_LEVEL: "debug"
      STS_LOG_TO_CONSOLE: "true"
      DOCKER_SWARM: "true"
      STS_CLUSTER_NAME: <cluster_name>

Run the command:

docker stack deploy -c docker-compose.yml

Running the StackState Cluster Agent in Docker Swarm mode will collect basic topology data from the cluster. To retrieve more data, including telemetry, StackState Agent V2 must also be installed on each node in the Swarm cluster as a Docker compose setup.

Upgrade

To upgrade StackState Agent V2 running inside a Docker container.

Stop the running container and remove it.

docker stop stackstate-agent
docker container rm stackstate-agent

Run the container using the instructions provided in setup.

Configure

Agent configuration

The StackState Agent V2 configuration is located in the file /etc/stackstate-agent/stackstate.yaml. The configuration file contains the STS_API_KEY and STS_STS_URL environment variables set when the Docker command is run. No further configuration should be required, however, a number of advanced configuration options are available.

Advanced Agent configuration

StackState Agent V2 can be configured to reduce data production, tune the process blacklist, or turn off specific features when not needed. The required settings are described in detail on the page advanced Agent configuration.

Integration configuration

StackState Agent V2 can be configured to run checks that integrate with external systems. Each integration has its own configuration file that is used by the associated Agent check. Configuration files for integrations that will run through the StackState Agent in Docker should be added as a volume to the directory /etc/stackstate-agent/conf.d/ when the container is started.

For example, the Agent Docker configuration below includes a volume with a check configuration file for the ServiceNow integration:

stackstate-agent:
    image: docker.io/stackstate/stackstate-agent-2:latest
    network_mode: "host"
    pid: "host"
    privileged: true
    volumes:
      - "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro"
      - "/proc/:/host/proc/:ro"
      - "/sys/fs/cgroup/:/host/sys/fs/cgroup:ro"
      - "/etc/passwd:/etc/passwd:ro"
      - "/sys/kernel/debug:/sys/kernel/debug"
      - "/etc/stackstate-agent/conf.d/servicenow.d/conf.yaml:/servicenow.d/conf.yaml:ro"
    environment:
      STS_API_KEY: "API_KEY"
      STS_STS_URL: "<stackstate-receiver-api-address>"
      HOST_PROC: "/host/proc"
      HOST_SYS: "/host/sys"

Documentation for the available StackState integrations, including how to configure the associated Agent checks, can be found on the StackPacks > Integrations pages.

Proxy configuration

The Agent can be configured to use a proxy for HTTP and HTTPS requests. For details, see use an HTTP/HTTPS proxy.

Self-Signed Certificates

If StackState Agent V2 will run checks that are configured to use self-signed certificates for HTTPs requests, override the CURL_CA_BUNDLE environment variable:

  CURL_CA_BUNDLE = ""

Traces

StackState Agent V2 can be configured to collect traces via a StackState tracing integration. If the Agent will be used in conjunction with a language specific trace client, make sure to configure your app to use the host’s PID namespace:

  service:
    ...
    pid: "host" # should match with processes reported by the StackState process Agent
    ...

Commands

Start or stop the Agent

To start, stop or restart StackState Agent V2, start or stop the container it is running in:

# Start container
docker start stackstate-agent

# Stop container
docker stop stackstate-agent

Status and information

For status information, refer to the Docker log files for the container.

To run the Agent status command inside a container:

docker exec stackstate-agent bash -c 'agent status'

Manually run a check

Use the command below to manually run an Agent check.

# Execute a check once and display the results.
docker exec stackstate-agent bash -c 'agent check <CHECK_NAME>'

# Execute a check once with log level debug and display the results.
docker exec stackstate-agent bash -c 'agent check -l debug <CHECK_NAME>'

Troubleshooting

To troubleshoot the Agent, try to check the Agent status or manually run a check.

Log files

Docker logs for the StackState Agent container can be followed using the command:

docker logs -f stackstate-agent

Inside the running container, StackState Agent V2 logs are in the following files:

/var/log/stackstate-agent/agent.log
/var/log/stackstate-agent/process-agent.log

Set log level

To troubleshoot the StackState Agent container, set the logging level to debug using the STS_LOG_LEVEL environment variable:

STS_LOG_LEVEL: "DEBUG"

Support knowledge base

Troubleshooting steps for any known issues can be found in the StackState support knowledge base.

Uninstall

To uninstall StackState Agent V2, stop the Docker container it is running in and remove it.

docker stop stackstate-agent
docker container rm stackstate-agent

StackState Docs