Supported Protocols

In this section, we will outline the most common protocols used to send metrics to Hosted Graphite, along with some useful examples.

Contents

• Supported Protocols

  • TCP Connection

  • UDP Packets

  • HTTP POST

  • TCP Over TLS

  • StatsD

  • Quick Reference

TCP Connection

A simple way to send metrics to us is via a TCP connection. First, ensure each metric name is prefixed by your API key, then you securely send your metric(s) using the Metric Data Format.

Host: carbon.hostedgraphite.com Port: 2003

It is not necessary (nor recommended) to create a new connection for each metric. You can put multiple metrics on separate lines. A long-lived connection will be faster because you won’t have to wait to establish a new connection each time. The following simple example shows how to send a single TCP metric using the Netcat utility:

echo "YOUR-API-KEY.test.testing 1.2" | nc carbon.hostedgraphite.com 2003

For programming language-specific examples of sending metrics via TCP, check out our Language Guide.

UDP Packets

For a similar, but non-blocking alternative to TCP, you can use UDP packets to send the metric(s) to us. Ensure each metric name is prefixed by your API key (see above) to securely send your UDP metric(s) using the Metric Data Format.

Host: carbon.hostedgraphite.com Port: 2003

Here’s a simple example using netcat on linux:

echo "YOUR-API-KEY.test.udp.metric 1.2" | nc -uw0 carbon.hostedgraphite.com 2003

You can send multiple metrics on separate lines as with TCP, but be aware there is a size limit of 8192 bytes for UDP packets.

For programming language-specific examples of sending metrics via UDP, check out our Language Guide.

HTTP POST

POST your metrics to the following URL:

https://www.hostedgraphite.com/api/v1/sink

Your metric data should be provided in the Metric Data Format as the HTTP POST payload. Don’t prefix your metric names with your API Key - instead use it as the username for Basic Authentication.

Here’s an example using curl on linux, which lets you provide the API key in the URL.

curl https://[e-mail]/api/v1/sink --data-binary "test.http.metric 1.2"

If your data was accepted, you will receive a HTTP/1.1 202 Accepted response, with no content body. If your data wasn’t accepted, you’ll receive a 400 error with more information about why.

For programming language-specific examples of sending metrics via HTTP POST, check out our Language Guide.

TCP Over TLS

If you want, you can send your metrics over TCP using an encrypted tunnel. First, ensure each metric name is prefixed by your API key (see above), then send your metric(s) using the Metric Data Format.

Host: carbon.hostedgraphite.com Port: 20030

The following simple example shows how to send a single metric using Ncat on linux:

echo "YOUR-API-KEY.conc_users 59" | ncat --ssl carbon.hostedgraphite.com 20030

Alternatively, the following example using OpenSSL should work out of the box in OS X:

echo "YOUR-API-KEY.conc_users 59" |  openssl s_client -connect carbon.hostedgraphite.com:20030

For programming language-specific examples of sending metrics via TLS over TCP, check out our Language Guide.

StatsD

StatsD is commonly used as a pre-aggregation service and sends metrics via UDP by default. First, ensure each metric name is prefixed by your API key, then send your metric(s) using the Metric Data Format.

Host: carbon.hostedgraphite.com Port: 8125

The following simple example shows how to send a single counter metric using Ncat on linux:

echo "YOUR-API-KEY.test.statsd.metric:1.2|c" | nc -u -w1 statsd.hostedgraphite.com 8125

Find more information about using StatsD and Hosted StatsD in our Add-ons and Integrations Guide.

Quick Reference

You can send Graphite messages via:

• TCP & UDP connections to carbon.hostedgraphite.com port 2003 (Metric names must be API Key-prefixed)
• TCP over TLS tunnel to carbon.hostedgraphite.com port 20030 (Metric names must be API Key-prefixed)
• HTTP POST to https://[e-mail]/api/v1/sink (Metric names are not API Key-prefixed, HTTP 202 response on success)
• StatsD to carbon.hostedgraphite.com port 8125 (Metric names must be API Key-prefixed)
• Python Pickle carbon.hostedgraphite.com port 2004 (discussed in the language guide)

Tip: Send your metrics to us in a non-blocking/asynchronous manner. Holding up processing to send metrics will skew the data (if it’s being used for performance analysis), and in the worst case have a negative impact on the responsiveness of your app to users.