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Chef cookbook for the New Relic infrastructure agent

This cookbook installs and configures the New Relic infrastructure agent, as well New Relic and and on-host integrations.

Install and use the Chef cookbook

Requirements

Platforms

• Amazon Linux all versions
• CentOS version 5 or higher
• Debian version 7 ("Wheezy") or higher
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 5 or higher
• Ubuntu versions 16.04., 18.04., 20.04* (LTS versions)
• Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2019, and their service packs.
• SUSE Linux Enterprise 11, 12

Chef

• Chef 15+

Recipes

newrelic-infra::default

Determines the platform and includes the appropriate platform specific recipe. This is the only recipe that should be included in a node's run list.

newrelic-infra::agent_linux

Installs and configures the Infrastructure agent on a Linux host. This recipe should NOT be directly included in a node's run list. The default recipe will automatically determine which platform specific recipe to apply.

Here are the steps that the recipe performs:

1. Adds the newrelic-infra package repository source.
2. Can install, upgrade, or remove the newrelic-infra package. By default, the package is only installed.
3. Enables and starts the newrelic_infra agent service.
4. Generates the agent configuration file.
5. Includes the newrelic-infra::host_integrations recipe to install and configure any on-host integrations.

newrelic-infra::agent_windows

Installs and configures the Infrastructure agent on a Windows host. This recipe should NOT be directly included in a node's run list. The default recipe will automatically determine which platform specific recipe to apply.

newrelic-infra::host_integrations

Installs New Relic provided and on-host integrations if the integration has been addded to the list of host_integrations (for example, default['newrelic_infra']['features]['host_integrations'] = []). It also generates configuration for any of the available on-host integrations from New Relic, and installs any custom integrations defined with attributes.

For more infromation on the available custom resource for installing and configuring custom on-host integrations see the Custom resources documentation.

Example configuration for a custom on-host integration installed and configured via attributes:

default['newrelic_infra']['custom_integrations']['test_integration'] = {
  integration_name: 'com.test.integration',
  remote_url: 'https://url-to-a-tarball-for-install.com/test.tar.gz',
  instances: [
    {
      name: 'test_integration_metrics',
      command: 'metrics',
      arguments: {
        test: true
      },
      labels: {
        environment: 'test'
      }
    }
  ],
  commands: {
    metrics: %w[--metrics]
  }
}

For more information on the available New Relic on-host integrations and configuration you can check the official documentation.

Attributes

See attributes/defaults.rb for more details and default values.

Name	Default value	Description
default['newrelic_infra']['features']['host_integrations']	[]	List of New Relic on-host integrations
default['newrelic_infra']['user']['name']	newrelic_infra	Service account user name
default['newrelic_infra']['group']['name']	newrelic_infra	Service account group name
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['license_key']	nil	Account license key to send metrics to
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['display_name']	nil	Override the auto-generated hostname for reporting
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['proxy']	nil	Use a proxy to communicate with New Relic
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['verbose']	nil	When set to 1, enables verbose logging for the agent
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['debug']	nil	Enable Golang debugging
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['log_file']	nil	To log to another location; when not set, the agent logs to the system log files
default['newrelic_infra']['config']['custom_attributes']	{}	A hash of custom attributes to annotate the data from this agent instance
default['newrelic_infra']['agent']['config']['file']	agent.yaml	File name for the agent configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['agent']['config']['mode']	0640	File permissions for the agent configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['agent']['directory']['path']	/etc/newrelic-infra	Directory path for the agent configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['agent']['directory']['mode']	0750	Directory permissions for the agent configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['packages']['agent']['action']	[:install]	Action(s) to perform on the agent package
default['newrelic_infra']['packages']['agent']['retries']	0	The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource
default['newrelic_infra']['packages']['agent']['version']	nil	Version of the agent package to install
default['newrelic_infra']['packages'][integration_package_name]['action']	[:install]	Action(s) to perform on the agent on-host integration package
default['newrelic_infra']['packages'][integration_package_name]['retries']	0	The number of times to catch exceptions and retry the resource
default['newrelic_infra']['packages'][integration_package_name]['version']	nil	Version of the on-host integration package to install
default['newrelic_infra']['host_integrations']['config_dir']	/etc/newrelic-infra/integrations.d	Directory for the New Relic provided on-host integration configurations
default['newrelic_infra']['host_integrations']['config']	{}	New Relic provided on-host integration configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['custom_integrations']	{}	New Relic Infrastructure on-host custom integration configuration
default['newrelic_infra']['provider']	package_manager	When package_manager installs the packages from yum/apt/zypp, if tarball installs the agent from a tarball
default['newrelic_infra']['tarball']['version']	nil	the version number of the tarball to install
default['newrelic_infra']['delete_yaml_quotes']	true	if true it deletes the quotes (") from the generated integration configs and definitions files

APT repository attributes

The apt_repository Chef resource is built using metaprogramming, so that the configuration can be extended via attributes. Any property available to the resource can be passed in via attributes.

Attributes that cannot be passed to the resource are logged out as warnings in order to prevent potential failes from typos, older Chef versions, etc. For more information, refer to the Chef documentation on the apt_repository resource.

Name	Default value	Description
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['uri']	https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/linux/apt	Repository base URL
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['key']	https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/keys/newrelic_apt_key_current.gpg	Repository GPG key URL
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['distribution']	node['lsb']['codename']	Distribution code name
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['components']	['main']	Repository components
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['arch']	'amd64'	Package architecture to install
default['newrelic_infra']['apt']['action']	[:add]	apt_repository resource actions to perform

Windows attributes

When using Windows, you can set a source URL and checksum for the agent download.

Name	Default value	Description
default['newrelic-infra']['windows_source']	https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/windows/newrelic-infra.msi	Remote URL for Infrastructure agent windows download
default['newrelic-infra']['windows_checksum']	nil	SHA-256 Checksum for source file

Yum repository attributes

The yum_repository Chef resource is built using metaprogramming, so that the configuration can be extended via attributes. Any property available to the resource can be passed in via attributes.

Attributes that cannot be passed to the resource are logged out as warnings in order to prevent potential failes from typos, older Chef versions, etc. For more information, refer to the Chef documentation on the yum_repository resource.

Name	Default value	Description
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['description']	'New Relic Infrastructure'	Repository description
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['baseurl']	Default is determined by distribution see attributes/default.rb for more information.	Repository base URL
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['gpgkey']	'https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/keys/newrelic_rpm_key_current.gpg'	Repository GPG key URL
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['gpgcheck']	true	Perform a GPG check on installed packages
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['repo_gpgcheck']	true	Perform a GPG check on the package repository
default['newrelic_infra']['yum']['action']	[:add, :makecache]	yum_repository resource actions to perform

Custom Resources

newrelic_infra_integration

Installs and configures a custom New Relic Infrastructure on-host integration.

Example:

newrelic_infra_integration 'test' do
  integration_name 'test_integration'
  remote_url 'https://url-to-a-tarball-for-install.com/test.tar.gz'
  commands { metrics: %w[--metrics] }
  instances(
    [
      {
        name: 'test_integration_metrics',
        command: 'metrics',
        arguments: {
          test: true
        },
        labels: {
          environment: 'test'
        }
      }
    ]
  )
end

Supported properties:

Property name	Required	Type	Default
integration_name	true	String	nil
remote_url	true	String	nil
instances	true	Array	nil
commands	true	Hash	nil
description	false	[String, nil]	nil
cli_options	false	[Hash, nil]	nil
interval	false	Integer	10
prefix	false	String	integration/#{integration_name}
install_method	true	'tarball' or 'binary'	'tarball'
os	false	'linux'	'linux'
protocol_version	false	Integer	1
user	false	String	'newrelic_infra'
group	false	String	'newrelic_infra'
base_dir	false	String	'/var/db/newrelic-infra/custom-integrations'
bin_dir	false	String	/opt/newrelic-infra
bin	false	String	The folder is #{bin_dir}/#{name} and the file name is the tarball or binary without any extension
definition_file	false	String	#{base_dir}/#{resource_name).yaml
config_dir	false	String	'/etc/newrelic-infra/integrations.d/'
config_file	false	String	#{config_dir}/#{resource_name).yaml

Usage

Cookbook usage

• Set any attributes necessary for your desired configuration
• Add the newrelic-infra::default recipe your run list
• For wrapper cookbooks, add the newrelic-infra cookbook as a dependency to your metadata.rb or Berksfile, then include newrelic-infra::default recipe.

Custom resource usage

• Add the newrelic-infra cookbook as a dependency to your metadata.rb or Berksfile
• Configure the custom resource(s) using the supported properties

Testing

Refer to https://github.com/chef-cookbooks/community_cookbook_documentation/blob/master/TESTING.MD

Releasing new versions

For releasing a new version to the [Chef Supermarket][12] follow this steps:

• Update the version number in [metadata.rb][13].
• Create the github release for the new version. This will trigger a GitHub Actions job that will deploy the new version.
• Watch the build with the version number in Github Actions: https://github.com/newrelic/infrastructure-agent-chef/actions
• If that passes, the new version should be on https://supermarket.chef.io/cookbooks/newrelic-infra and available to use everywhere

Support

Should you need assistance with New Relic products, you are in good hands with several support diagnostic tools and support channels.

New Relic offers NRDiag, a client-side diagnostic utility that automatically detects common problems with New Relic agents. If NRDiag detects a problem, it suggests troubleshooting steps. NRDiag can also automatically attach troubleshooting data to a New Relic Support ticket. Remove this section if it doesn't apply.

If the issue has been confirmed as a bug or is a feature request, file a GitHub issue.

Support Channels

• New Relic Documentation: Comprehensive guidance for using our platform
• New Relic Community: The best place to engage in troubleshooting questions
• New Relic Developer: Resources for building a custom observability applications
• New Relic University: A range of online training for New Relic users of every level
• New Relic Technical Support 24/7/365 ticketed support. Read more about our Technical Support Offerings.

Privacy

At New Relic we take your privacy and the security of your information seriously, and are committed to protecting your information. We must emphasize the importance of not sharing personal data in public forums, and ask all users to scrub logs and diagnostic information for sensitive information, whether personal, proprietary, or otherwise.

We define “Personal Data” as any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, including, for example, your name, phone number, post code or zip code, Device ID, IP address, and email address.

For more information, review New Relic’s General Data Privacy Notice.

Contribute

We encourage your contributions to improve this project! Keep in mind that when you submit your pull request, you'll need to sign the CLA via the click-through using CLA-Assistant. You only have to sign the CLA one time per project.

If you have any questions, or to execute our corporate CLA (which is required if your contribution is on behalf of a company), drop us an email at opensource@newrelic.com.

A note about vulnerabilities

As noted in our security policy, New Relic is committed to the privacy and security of our customers and their data. We believe that providing coordinated disclosure by security researchers and engaging with the security community are important means to achieve our security goals.

If you believe you have found a security vulnerability in this project or any of New Relic's products or websites, we welcome and greatly appreciate you reporting it to New Relic through HackerOne.

If you would like to contribute to this project, review these guidelines.

To all contributors, we thank you! Without your contribution, this project would not be what it is today.

License

infrastructure-agent-chef is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.