The Apache Cassandra integration collects request, task, and storage metrics that highlight the load on an instance. Optionally, the integration can also collect general JVM metrics related to memory and garbage collection. The integration also collects system, debug, and garbage-collection logs. These logs are parsed into a JSON payload, which includes fields for the message, Java class, and line number.
For more information about Cassandra, see the Apache Cassandra documentation.
Prerequisites
To collect Cassandra telemetry, you must install the Ops Agent:
- For metrics, install version 2.6.0 or higher.
- For logs, install version 2.5.0 or higher.
This integration supports Cassandra versions 3.11 and 4.0.
Configure your Cassandra instance
To expose a JMX endpoint, you must set the com.sun.management.jmxremote.port
system property when starting the JVM. We also recommend setting the
com.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port system property to the same port. To
expose a JMX endpoint remotely, you must also set the java.rmi.server.hostname
system property.
By default, these properties are set in a Cassandra deployment's
cassandra-env.sh file.
To set system properties by using command-line arguments, prepend the property
name with -D when starting the JVM. For example, to set
com.sun.management.jmxremote.port to port 7199, specify the following when
starting the JVM:
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=7199
Configure the Ops Agent for Cassandra
Following the guide for Configuring the Ops Agent, add the required elements to collect telemetry from Cassandra instances, and restart the agent.
Example configuration
The following commands create the configuration to collect and ingest telemetry for Cassandra and restarts the Ops Agent.
# Configures Ops Agent to collect telemetry from the app and restart Ops Agent.
set -e
# Create a back up of the existing file so existing configurations are not lost.
sudo cp /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml.bak
# Configure the Ops Agent.
sudo tee /etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml > /dev/null << EOF
metrics:
receivers:
cassandra:
type: cassandra
endpoint: service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://127.0.0.1:7199/jmxrmi
service:
pipelines:
cassandra:
receivers:
- cassandra
logging:
receivers:
cassandra_system:
type: cassandra_system
cassandra_debug:
type: cassandra_debug
cassandra_gc:
type: cassandra_gc
service:
pipelines:
cassandra:
receivers:
- cassandra_system
- cassandra_debug
- cassandra_gc
EOF
sudo service google-cloud-ops-agent restart
sleep 60
In this example, the com.sun.management.jmxremote.port and
com.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port system properties were set to 7199,
and the java.rmi.server.hostname system property was set to 127.0.0.1. For
more information, see Configure metrics collection.
Configure logs collection
To ingest logs from Cassandra, you must create receivers for the logs that Cassandra produces and then create a pipeline for the new receivers.
To configure a receiver for your cassandra_system logs, specify the following
fields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
exclude_paths |
A list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched by include_paths. |
|
include_paths |
[/var/log/cassandra/system*.log] |
A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths; for example, /var/log/cassandra/system*.log. |
record_log_file_path |
false |
If set to true, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of the agent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded. |
type |
The value must be cassandra_system. |
|
wildcard_refresh_interval |
60s |
The interval at which wildcard file paths in include_paths are refreshed. Given as a time duration parsable by time.ParseDuration, for example 30s or 2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval. |
To configure a receiver for your cassandra_debug logs, specify the following
fields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
exclude_paths |
[] |
A list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched by include_paths. |
include_paths |
[/var/log/cassandra/debug*.log] |
A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths; for example, /var/log/cassandra/system*.log. |
record_log_file_path |
false |
If set to true, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of the agent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded. |
type |
The value must be cassandra_debug. |
|
wildcard_refresh_interval |
60s |
The interval at which wildcard file paths in include_paths are refreshed. Given as a time duration parsable by time.ParseDuration, for example 30s or 2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval. |
To configure a receiver for your cassandra_gc logs, specify the following
fields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
exclude_paths |
[] |
A list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched by include_paths. |
include_paths |
[/var/log/cassandra/gc.log.*.current] |
A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths; for example, /var/log/cassandra/system*.log. |
record_log_file_path |
false |
If set to true, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of the agent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded. |
type |
The value must be cassandra_gc. |
|
wildcard_refresh_interval |
60s |
The interval at which wildcard file paths in include_paths are refreshed. Given as a time duration parsable by time.ParseDuration, for example 30s or 2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval. |
What is logged
The logName is derived from
the receiver IDs specified in the configuration. Detailed fields inside the
LogEntry are as follows.
Log entries don't contain any fields that are blank or missing.
The cassandra_system logs contain the following fields in the LogEntry:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
jsonPayload.javaClass |
string | Java class where the log originated |
jsonPayload.level |
string | Log entry level |
jsonPayload.lineNumber |
string | Line number of the source file where the log originated |
jsonPayload.message |
string | Log message, including detailed stacktrace where provided |
jsonPayload.module |
string | Module of cassandra where the log originated |
severity |
string (LogSeverity) |
Log entry level (translated) |
The cassandra_debug logs contain the following fields in the LogEntry:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
jsonPayload.javaClass |
string | Java class where the log originated |
jsonPayload.level |
string | Log entry level |
jsonPayload.lineNumber |
string | Line number of the source file where the log originated |
jsonPayload.message |
string | Log message |
jsonPayload.module |
string | Module of cassandra where the log originated |
severity |
string (LogSeverity) |
Log entry level (translated) |
The cassandra_gc logs contain the following fields in the LogEntry:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
jsonPayload.message |
string | Log message |
jsonPayload.timeStopped |
string | Seconds the JVM was stopped for garbage collection |
jsonPayload.timeStopping |
string | Seconds the JVM took to stop threads before garbage collection |
jsonPayload.uptime |
string | Seconds the JVM has been active |
severity |
string (LogSeverity) |
Log entry level (translated) |
Configure metrics collection
To ingest metrics from Cassandra, you must create a receiver for the metrics that Cassandra produces and then create a pipeline for the new receiver.
This receiver does not support the use of multiple instances in the configuration, for example, to monitor multiple endpoints. All such instances write to the same time series, and Cloud Monitoring has no way to distinguish among them.
To configure a receiver for your cassandra metrics, specify the following
fields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
collect_jvm_metrics |
true |
Configures the receiver to also collect the supported JVM metrics. |
collection_interval |
60s |
A time duration value, such as 30s or 5m. |
endpoint |
localhost:7199 |
The JMX Service URL or host and port used to construct the service URL. This value must be in the form of service:jmx:<protocol>:<sap> or host:port. Values in host:port form are used to create a service URL of service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://<host>:<port>/jmxrmi. |
password |
The configured password if JMX is configured to require authentication. | |
type |
The value must be cassandra. |
|
username |
The configured username if JMX is configured to require authentication. |
What is monitored
The following table provides the list of metrics that the Ops Agent collects from the Cassandra instance.
| Metric type | |
|---|---|
| Kind, Type Monitored resources |
Labels |
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.count
|
|
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance |
operation
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.error.count
|
|
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance |
operationstatus
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.range_slice.latency.50p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.range_slice.latency.99p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.range_slice.latency.max
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.read.latency.50p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.read.latency.99p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.read.latency.max
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.write.latency.50p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.write.latency.99p
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.write.latency.max
|
|
GAUGE, DOUBLEgce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.compaction.tasks.completed
|
|
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.compaction.tasks.pending
|
|
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.storage.load.count
|
|
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.storage.total_hints.count
|
|
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance |
|
workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.storage.total_hints.in_progress.count
|
|
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance |
|
Verify the configuration
This section describes how to verify that you correctly configured the Cassandra receiver. It might take one or two minutes for the Ops Agent to begin collecting telemetry.
To verify that the logs are ingested, go to the Logs Explorer and run the following query to view the Cassandra logs:
resource.type="gce_instance"
(log_id("cassandra_system") OR log_id("cassandra_debug") OR log_id("cassandra_gc"))
To verify that the metrics are ingested, go to Metrics Explorer and run the following query in the MQL tab:
fetch gce_instance
| metric 'workload.googleapis.com/cassandra.client.request.count'
| every 1m
View dashboard
To view your Cassandra metrics, you must have a chart or dashboard configured. The Cassandra integration includes one or more dashboards for you. Any dashboards are automatically installed after you configure the integration and the Ops Agent has begun collecting metric data.
You can also view static previews of dashboards without installing the integration.
To view an installed dashboard, do the following:
- In the Google Cloud console, select Monitoring
or click the following button:
Go to Monitoring - In the navigation pane, select
Dashboards. - Select the Dashboard List tab.
- Choose the Integrations category.
- Click the name of the dashboard you want to view.
If you have configured an integration but the dashboard has not been installed, then check that the Ops Agent is running. When there is no metric data for a chart in the dashboard, installation of the dashboard fails. After the Ops Agent begins collecting metrics, the dashboard is installed for you.
To view a static preview of the dashboard, do the following:
- In the Google Cloud console, select Monitoring
or click the following button:
Go to Monitoring - In the navigation pane, select
Integrations. - Click the Compute Engine deployment-platform filter.
- Locate the entry for Cassandra and click View Details.
- Select the Dashboards tab to see a static preview. If the dashboard is installed, then you can navigate to it by clicking View dashboard.
For more information about dashboards in Cloud Monitoring, see Dashboards and charts.
For more information about using the Integrations page, see Manage integrations.
Install alerting policies
Alerting policies instruct Cloud Monitoring to notify you when specified conditions occur. The Cassandra integration includes one or more alerting policies for you to use. You can view and install these alerting policies from the Integrations page in Monitoring.
To view the descriptions of available alerting policies and install them, do the following:
- In the Google Cloud console, select Monitoring
or click the following button:
Go to Monitoring - In the navigation pane, select
Integrations.
- Locate the entry for Cassandra and click View details.
- Select the Alerts tab. This tab provides descriptions of available alerting policies and provides an interface for installing them.
- Install alerting policies. Alerting policies need
to know where to send notifications that the alert has been
triggered, so they require information from you for installation.
To install alerting policies, do the following:
- From the list of available alerting policies, select those that you want to install.
In the Configure notifications section, select one or more notification channels. You have the option to disable the use of notification channels, but if you do, then your alerting policies fire silently. You can check their status in Monitoring, but you receive no notifications.
For more information about notification channels, see Manage notification channels.
- Click Create Policies.
For more information about alerting policies in Cloud Monitoring, see Introduction to alerting.
For more information about using the Integrations page, see Manage integrations.
What's next
For a walkthrough on how to use Ansible to install the Ops Agent, configure a third-party application, and install a sample dashboard, see the Install the Ops Agent to troubleshoot third-party applications video.