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Networking

Fluent Bit implements a unified networking interface that's exposed to components like plugins. This interface abstracts the complexity of general I/O and is fully configurable.

A common use case is when a component or plugin needs to connect with a service to send and receive data. There are many challenges to handle like unresponsive services, networking latency, or any kind of connectivity error. The networking interface aims to abstract and simplify the network I/O handling, minimize risks, and optimize performance.

Networking concepts

Fluent Bit uses the following networking concepts:

TCP connect timeout

Typically, creating a new TCP connection to a remote server is straightforward and takes a few milliseconds. However, there are cases where DNS resolving, a slow network, or incomplete TLS handshakes might create long delays, or incomplete connection statuses.

  • net.connect_timeout lets you configure the maximum time to wait for a connection to be established. This value already considers the TLS handshake process.

  • net.connect_timeout_log_error indicates if an error should be logged in case of connect timeout. If disabled, the timeout is logged as a debug level message.

TCP source address

On environments with multiple network interfaces, you can choose which interface to use for Fluent Bit data that will flow through the network.

Use net.source_address to specify which network address to use for a TCP connection and data flow.

Connection keepalive

A connection keepalive refers to the ability of a client to keep the TCP connection open in a persistent way. This feature offers many benefits in terms of performance because communication channels are always established beforehand.

Any component that uses TCP channels like HTTP or TLS, can take use feature. For configuration purposes use the net.keepalive property.

Connection keepalive idle timeout

If a connection keepalive is enabled, there might be scenarios where the connection can be unused for long periods of time. Unused connections can be removed. To control how long a keepalive connection can be idle, Fluent Bit uses a configuration property called net.keepalive_idle_timeout.

DNS mode

The global dns.mode value issues DNS requests using the specified protocol, either TCP or UDP. If a transport layer protocol is specified, plugins that configure the net.dns.mode setting override the global setting.

Maximum connections per worker

For optimal performance, Fluent Bit tries to deliver data quickly and create TCP connections on-demand and in keepalive mode. In highly scalable environments, you might limit how many connections are created in parallel.

Use the net.max_worker_connections property in the output plugin section to set the maximum number of allowed connections. This property acts at the worker level. For example, if you have five workers and net.max_worker_connections is set to 10, a maximum of 50 connections is allowed. If the limit is reached, the output plugin issues a retry.

Listener backlog

When Fluent Bit listens for incoming connections (for example, in input plugins like HTTP, TCP, OpenTelemetry, Forward, Syslog, etc.), the operating system maintains a queue of pending connections. The net.backlog option controls the maximum number of pending connections that can be queued before new connection attempts are refused. Increasing this value can help Fluent Bit handle bursts of incoming connections more gracefully. The default value is 128.

Note: On Linux, the effective backlog value may be capped by the kernel parameter net.core.somaxconn. If you need to allow a higher number of pending connections, you may need to increase this system setting.

Configuration options

The following table describes the network configuration properties available and their usage in optimizing performance or adjusting configuration needs for plugins that rely on networking I/O:

Property
Description
Default

net.connect_timeout

Set maximum time expressed in seconds to wait for a TCP connection to be established, including the TLS handshake time.

10

net.connect_timeout_log_error

On connection timeout, specify if it should log an error. When disabled, the timeout is logged as a debug message.

true

net.dns.mode

Select the primary DNS connection type (TCP or UDP). Can be set in the [SERVICE] section and overridden on a per plugin basis if desired.

none

net.dns.prefer_ipv4

Prioritize IPv4 DNS results when trying to establish a connection.

false

net.dns.resolver

Select the primary DNS resolver type (LEGACY or ASYNC).

none

net.keepalive

Enable or disable connection keepalive support. Accepts a Boolean value: on or off.

on

net.keepalive_idle_timeout

Set maximum time expressed in seconds for an idle keepalive connection.

30

net.keepalive_max_recycle

Set maximum number of times a keepalive connection can be used before it's retired.

2000

net.max_worker_connections

Set maximum number of TCP connections that can be established per worker.

0 (unlimited)

net.source_address

Specify network address to bind for data traffic.

none

net.backlog

Set the maximum number of pending connections for listening sockets. This option is vailable on versions >= 4.0.4.

128

Example

This example sends five random messages through a TCP output connection. The remote side uses the nc (netcat) utility to see the data.

Use the following configuration snippet of your choice in a corresponding file named fluent-bit.yaml or fluent-bit.conf:

service:
    flush: 1
    log_level: info

pipeline:
    inputs:
        - name:  random
          samples: 5

    outputs:
        - name: tcp
          match: '*'
          host: 127.0.0.1
          port: 9090
          format: json_lines
          # Networking Setup
          net.dns.mode: TCP
          net.connect_timeout: 5
          net.source_address: 127.0.0.1
          net.keepalive: on
          net.keepalive_idle_timeout: 10

In another terminal, start nc and make it listen for messages on TCP port 9090:

nc -l 9090

Start Fluent Bit with the configuration file you defined previously to see data flowing to netcat:

$ nc -l 9090
{"date":1587769732.572266,"rand_value":9704012962543047466}
{"date":1587769733.572354,"rand_value":7609018546050096989}
{"date":1587769734.572388,"rand_value":17035865539257638950}
{"date":1587769735.572419,"rand_value":17086151440182975160}
{"date":1587769736.572277,"rand_value":527581343064950185}

If the net.keepalive option isn't enabled, Fluent Bit closes the TCP connection and netcat quits.

After the five records arrive, the connection idles. After 10 seconds, the connection closes due to net.keepalive_idle_timeout.

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