===================
Graphite Log Feeder
===================

Overview
========

Graphite Log Feeder (GLF) is a generic tool that can parse application
log files, extract meaningful data, and forward it to Graphite for
visualizing.  There is a parser included for ingesting data from 
The Grinder.  This parser can be used as the basis for creating other parsers
(for Apache, Scribe, your own application, or whatever.)

There is a similar tool -- Logster -- which also feeds log data
to Graphite.  However, Logster only supports realtime log analysis,
whereas glf only supports non-realtime analysis, making the two tools
complimentary.



Installation
============

GLF is installed via pip.
::

    pip install graphite_log_feeder

Once pip has installed glf, you will need to generate a
config file, and edit it to be suitable for your
environment.  Glf comes with a command-line option to
generate a sample config file
::

    graphite_log_feeder.py -e


This will generate a file named 'glf.sample.conf'
which you can use as the basis for creating your own
configuration.


There must be a running installation of Graphite on your
network for GLF to forward data to.  See the Graphite web site for
details on setting up and configuring Graphite

http://graphite.wikidot.com/



Usage
=====

(after adjusting the values in your sample config file to be
appropriate for your environment)
::

    graphite_log_feeder.py  <config_file>




Additional Resources
====================

Java/JMX counters and application-level metrics can be fed to
Graphite using the JMXTrans tool:

http://code.google.com/p/jmxtrans/

OS-level metrics (CPU, mem, etc.) can be fed to Graphite via
quickstatd or collectd (with graphite plugin)

https://bitbucket.org/travis_bear/quickstatd

