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Devices: Quick Start

This guide will walk you through configuring your first device in Director using a syslog server for illustration.

Configuration​

Director searches the <vm_root>/config directory recursively for files with .yaml or .yml extensions. You can organize your configurations in several ways:

Using the .yaml extension as a standalone file…
or with a listener-based grouping:

  syslog.yaml
  /device/listeners/syslog.yaml

Using the .yml extension, along with other devices:

  /devices/syslog.yml

Choose the grouping that best fits your needs—Director will find them regardless of the folder structure.

Basic UDP Setup​

1. Create The Configuration File​

Create a syslog configuration in your preferred location (e.g. config/devices/syslog.yaml):

- id: 1
  name: syslog_udp
  type: syslog
  properties:
    protocol: udp
    address: 0.0.0.0
    port: 514

2. Test The Configuration​

You can test the configuration using either Director's cross-platform companion Generator or traditional tools:

Using VirtualMetric Generator

vmetric-generator -mode=syslog -address=127.0.0.1:514 -message="Test Message"

Secure TCP Setup​

1. Prepare TLS Certificates​

Using VirtualMetric Director

vmetric-director -pfx2pem=./cert-file.pfx # Windows

This generates the key.pem and cert.pem files.

warning

Always use TLS encryption in production environments, especially over untrusted networks. Ensure proper file permissions are set on certificate files:

  • Private key (key.pem) should be readable only by the Director process
  • Certificate file (cert.pem) can be world-readable

2. Create Secure Configuration​

Update or create your configuration file, e.g. config/devices/secure_syslog.yaml:

- id: 2
  name: syslog_secure
  type: syslog
  properties:
    protocol: tcp
    address: 0.0.0.0
    port: 6514
    tls:
      status: true
      cert_name: cert.pem
      key_name: key.pem
    framing: octet
    max_connections: 1000
    timeout: 300
    batch_size: 5000
    queue:
      interval: 2
note

The cert.pem and key.pem are generated via pfx2pem.

3. Place TLS Certificates​

Copy the certificate files to your Director root directory:

cp cert.pem key.pem <vm_root>/

4. Test Secure Configuration​

Test the secure connection:

echo "Test secure message" | openssl s_client -connect 127.0.0.1:6514

Performance Tuning​

For high-volume environments, add the following to your configuration:

  reuse: true
  workers: 4
  buffer_size: 32768
  flush_interval: 5

Monitoring​

Check Director's logs for success messages on launching and initialization, connection acceptance, and configuration validation.

tip

Worker counts, buffer sizes, and batch settings can be adjusted based on your message volume.

Next Steps​

Configure and use message forwarding, advanced authentication options, and pipelines.