Edge Delta Environment Variables

Environment Variables for Edge Delta Fleets.

  3 minute read  

Overview

Environment variables are dynamic values that can affect the behavior of running processes. They are used by the operating system and applications running on it to pass configuration options and other important parameters. These values are set during agent installation and can be used to control and influence various aspects of the agent’s behavior.

Frequently Used Environment Variables

The following environment variable parameters can be passed when you install and deploy the Edge Delta Fleet.

ED_API_KEY

Identifies and authorizes access to your Fleet’s Pipeline configuration in the Edge Delta back end.

ED_ARCHIVE_FLUSH_INTERVAL

Specifies the duration after which logs are flushed and sent to the configured archiving destination. The default value is 30m.

ED_CUSTOM_TAGS

Attaches attributes statically. Format should be in form: <key 1>:<value 1>|<key 2>:<value 2>|...

ED_HOST_OVERRIDE

By default, the agent fetches the host name using the operating system’s built-in methods:

  • macOS: The agent calls os.HostName(), which retrieves the host name from kern.hostname.
  • Linux: The agent calls os.HostName(), which retrieves the host name from /proc/sys/kernel/hostname.
  • Windows: The agent calls ComputerNameEx system call, which retrieves the hostname from the kernel.

You can configure a custom name with the ED_HOST_OVERRIDE variable. This is useful to help identify agents.

export ED_HOST_OVERRIDE="custom-hostname"

Alternatively you can change the host name:

  • macOS: sudo scutil --set HostName "new-hostname"
  • linux: sudo hostname new-hostname

Note: This command changes the hostname temporarily. To make it permanent, additional steps, such as editing the /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts files, may be required, depending on the Linux distribution.

  • windows (PowerShell): Rename-Computer -NewName "new-hostname"; Restart-Computer

ED_INSTALL_PATH

Specifies a custom location to install the agent in a Unix based system (Linux or macOS)

ED_LOGGING_DIR

Overrides the default logging directory of the agent. The default is /var/log/edgedelta/*. This is useful if the default location on disk can only be accessed by root users.

ED_TAG_OVERRIDE

Specifies a tag that is different to the one configured in the Web App. Use this option to deploy two fleets with the same Pipeline configuration.

HTTP_PROXY

Uses proxy details to route the Fleet’s outbound traffic through an HTTP internal proxy.

HTTPS_PROXY

Uses proxy details to route the Fleet’s outbound traffic through an HTTPS internal proxy.

NO_PROXY

Disables the proxy for requests that hit a specific destination.

OTEL_SERVICE_NAME

Defines the resource.service.name field in Edge Delta OTEL messages.

STORE_PORT

Uses a port number to expose agent metrics storage.

Scenarios

  • API Key Management: Using variables like ED_API_KEY to manage authorization tokens for accessing services securely.
  • Custom Tagging and Identification: Using variables like ED_CUSTOM_TAGS for tagging resources and ED_HOST_OVERRIDE to specify custom host names, which can help during debugging and monitoring.
  • Proxy Configuration: Setting HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY to route traffic through proxies, crucial in environments with tight network security policies.
  • Log Management: Using variables such as ED_ARCHIVE_FLUSH_INTERVAL to manage how logs are processed and stored.
  • Service Setup: Configuring services via variables like OTEL_SERVICE_NAME and STORE_PORT to set up monitoring and service-specific parameters.

Setting Environment Variables

Linux/macOS

Only ED_ENV_VARS, ED_INSTALL_PATH and ED_API_KEY are passed as installation variables when installing in Linux/macOS. To use other variables you need to use ED_ENV_VARS and pass in a child variable:

export VARIABLE_NAME="value"

or

export ED_ENV_VARS="<VARIABLE>=value"

Example:

export ED_API_KEY="your-api-key"

or

Example 2:

export ED_ENV_VARS="ED_CUSTOM_TAGS=tag1:value1|tag2:value2|tag3:value3" ED_API_KEY=your-api-key

To update the variable for a running fleet you don’t need to reinstall but you do need to restart the agent. Using a custom installation path requires a re-install.

Windows (Command Prompt)

set VARIABLE_NAME="value"

Example:

set ED_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:VARIABLE_NAME="value"

Example:

$env:ED_API_KEY="your-api-key"