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Regulate

Read events from a Fluentd forwarder to transform them into typed TenXObjects to filter using local/centralized regulator policy. This module is a component of the Edge Regulator app.

Architecture

graph LR
    A["<div style='font-size: 14px;'>📂 Fluentd</div><div style='font-size: 10px;'>sources</div>"] --> B["<div style='font-size: 14px;'>🔧 exec_filter</div><div style='font-size: 10px;'>plugin</div>"]
    B --> C["<div style='font-size: 14px;'>⚡ 10x Regulator</div><div style='font-size: 10px;'>filter policy</div>"]
    C --> B
    B --> D["<div style='font-size: 14px;'>📤 Fluentd</div><div style='font-size: 10px;'>outputs</div>"]

    classDef input fill:#2563eb,stroke:#1d4ed8,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px,rx:8,ry:8
    classDef filter fill:#ea580c,stroke:#c2410c,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px,rx:8,ry:8
    classDef engine fill:#7c3aed,stroke:#6d28d9,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px,rx:8,ry:8
    classDef output fill:#16a34a,stroke:#15803d,color:#ffffff,stroke-width:2px,rx:8,ry:8

    class A input
    class B filter
    class C engine
    class D output

Data Flow

  • 📂 Fluentd Sources - Collect logs from files, TCP, HTTP, or other sources
  • 🔧 exec_filter Plugin - Pipes ALL events to 10x sidecar via stdin
  • ⚡ 10x Regulator - Applies rate/policy-based filtering, drops noisy events
  • 🔄 Bidirectional Pipe - FILTERED events return via stdout to exec_filter
  • 📤 Fluentd Outputs - Only filtered events ship to final destinations

Key Characteristics

Feature Description
🚦 Rate Limiting Filter events based on per-template rate limits
📋 Policy-Based Apply local or centralized filtering policies
💰 Cost Control Reduce log volume and costs by dropping noisy events
🔧 exec_filter Uses Fluentd's native exec_filter for stdin/stdout piping

Sidecar Relay

This module configures a Fluentd exec-filter that launches a 10x sidecar process and passes it collected events to regulate using a local/centralized policy. The sidecar relays regulated events back to the Fluentd filter to ship to outputs (e.g., Splunk, S3).

Install

See the Log10x Edge Regulator Fluentd run instructions

Deploy to k8s via Helm

See the Log10x Edge Regulator Fluentd deployment instructions

Config Files

To configure the Fluentd regulator module, Edit these files.

Below is the default configuration from: regulate/config.yaml.

Edit Online

Edit config.yaml Locally 

# 🔟❎ 'run' Fluentd regulator configuration

# Configure an input that reads events from a Fluentd forwarder and
# an output that writes filtered TenXObjects back to Fluentd.

# This config runs in conjunction with the instructions provided in:
# https://doc.log10x.com/run/input/forwarder/fluentd/regulate/#install

# Set the 10x pipeline to 'run'
tenx: run

# =============================== Dependencies ================================

include:

  # Include regulator output options (encodeObjects, outputFields, outputEncodeType)
  - run/modules/input/forwarder/fluentd/regulate/module.yaml

  # Include the stdin input from which to read events from the forwarder
  - run/modules/input/forwarder/fluentd/input

  # Include Unix domain socket/stdout to write events into the forwarder
  - '$="run/modules/input/forwarder/fluentd/output/" + (TenXString.includes(TenXEnv.get("os.name"), "Windows") ? "stdio" : "unix")'

# ============================== Fluentd Options ==============================

fluentd:
  # 'encodeObjects' specifies the target output (Unix/stdout) will write filtered
  #  TenXObjects in their original form via the intrinsic 'fullText' field.
  encodeObjects: false

  # 'outputFields' specifies TenXObject field names to emit alongside the main event.
  #  When set, enrichment fields are included in the sidecar output for forwarder post-processing.
  #  Example: outputFields: [level, group, symbolMessage]
  outputFields: []

  # 'outputEncodeType' controls the output format when outputFields is set.
  #  Possible values: 'json' or 'delimited'
  outputEncodeType: delimited

Options

Specify the options below to configure the Fluentd regulator:

Name Description
fluentdEncodeObjects Controls whether events written to a Fluentd forwarder are encoded or written in raw form
fluentdOutputFields List of TenXObject field names to include alongside the main event in output
fluentdOutputEncodeType Output format when outputFields are set. Possible values: [json, delimited]

fluentdEncodeObjects

Controls whether events written to a Fluentd forwarder are encoded or written in raw form.

Type Default
Boolean false

Sets the format in which to serialize TenXObjects back to the Fluentd forwarder. If true, write events using the encode function. If false, write events in their original form as read from the Fluentd forwarder using the fullText field.

fluentdOutputFields

List of TenXObject field names to include alongside the main event in output.

Type Default
List []

Specifies TenXObject field names to emit alongside the main event text when writing back to the Fluentd forwarder. When empty (default), only the main event field is written. Example fields: level, group, symbolMessage.

fluentdOutputEncodeType

Output format when outputFields are set. Possible values: [json, delimited].

Type Default
String delimited

Specifies how the combined output (main event field plus outputFields) is encoded when writing back to the Fluentd forwarder. Possible values:

  • json: formats all fields as a JSON object
  • delimited: formats field values separated by the output delimiter Only takes effect when fluentdOutputFields is set.


This module is defined in regulate/module.yaml.