Daemon Configuration

Explore Tetragon options and configuration mechanisms.

Tetragon default controlling settings are set during compilation, so configuration is only needed when it is necessary to deviate from those defaults. This document lists those controlling settings and how they can be set as a CLI arguments or as configuration options from YAML files.

Options

The following table list all Tetragon daemon available options and is automatically generated using the tetragon binary --generate-docs flag. The same information can also be retrieved using --help.

Flag	Usage	Default Value
`--bpf-lib`	Location of Tetragon libs (btf and bpf files)	`/var/lib/tetragon/`
`--btf`	Location of btf
`--cgroup-rate`	Base sensor events cgroup rate <events,interval> disabled by default ('1000/1s' means rate 1000 events per second
`--config-dir`	Configuration directory that contains a file for each option
`--cpuprofile`	Store CPU profile into provided file
`--data-cache-size`	Size of the data events cache	`1024`
`--debug`	Enable debug messages. Equivalent to '--log-level=debug'	`false`
`--disable-kprobe-multi`	Allow to disable kprobe multi interface	`false`
`--enable-export-aggregation`	Enable JSON export aggregation	`false`
`--enable-k8s-api`	Access Kubernetes API to associate Tetragon events with Kubernetes pods	`false`
`--enable-msg-handling-latency`	Enable metrics for message handling latency	`false`
`--enable-pid-set-filter`	Enable pidSet export filters. Not recommended for production use	`false`
`--enable-pod-info`	Enable PodInfo custom resource	`false`
`--enable-policy-filter`	Enable policy filter code (beta)	`false`
`--enable-policy-filter-debug`	Enable policy filter debug messages	`false`
`--enable-process-ancestors`	Include ancestors in process exec events	`true`
`--enable-process-cred`	Enable process_cred events	`false`
`--enable-process-ns`	Enable namespace information in process_exec and process_kprobe events	`false`
`--enable-tracing-policy-crd`	Enable TracingPolicy and TracingPolicyNamespaced custom resources	`true`
`--event-queue-size`	Set the size of the internal event queue.	`10000`
`--export-aggregation-buffer-size`	Aggregator channel buffer size	`10000`
`--export-aggregation-window-size`	JSON export aggregation time window	`15s`
`--export-allowlist`	JSON export allowlist
`--export-denylist`	JSON export denylist
`--export-file-compress`	Compress rotated JSON export files	`false`
`--export-file-max-backups`	Number of rotated JSON export files to retain	`5`
`--export-file-max-size-mb`	Size in MB for rotating JSON export files	`10`
`--export-file-perm`	Access permissions on JSON export files	`600`
`--export-file-rotation-interval`	Interval at which to rotate JSON export files in addition to rotating them by size	`0s`
`--export-filename`	Filename for JSON export. Disabled by default
`--export-rate-limit`	Rate limit (per minute) for event export. Set to -1 to disable	`-1`
`--expose-kernel-addresses`	Expose real kernel addresses in events stack traces	`false`
`--expose-stack-addresses`	Expose real linear addresses in events stack traces	`false`
`--field-filters`	Field filters for event exports
`--force-large-progs`	Force loading large programs, even in kernels with < 5.3 versions	`false`
`--force-small-progs`	Force loading small programs, even in kernels with >= 5.3 versions	`false`
`--generate-docs`	Generate documentation in YAML format to stdout	`false`
`--gops-address`	gops server address (e.g. 'localhost:8118'). Disabled by default
`--help`	help for tetragon	`false`
`--k8s-kubeconfig-path`	Absolute path of the kubernetes kubeconfig file
`--kernel`	Kernel version
`--kmods`	List of kernel modules to load symbols from	`[]`
`--log-format`	Set log format	`text`
`--log-level`	Set log level	`info`
`--memprofile`	Store MEM profile into provided file
`--metrics-label-filter`	Comma-separated list of enabled metrics labels. Unknown labels will be ignored.	`namespace,workload,pod,binary`
`--metrics-server`	Metrics server address (e.g. ':2112'). Disabled by default
`--netns-dir`	Network namespace dir	`/var/run/docker/netns/`
`--pprof-addr`	Profile via pprof http
`--process-cache-size`	Size of the process cache	`65536`
`--procfs`	Location of procfs to consume existing PIDs	`/proc/`
`--rb-queue-size`	Set size of channel between ring buffer and sensor go routines (default 65k, allows K/M/G suffix)	`65535`
`--rb-size`	Set perf ring buffer size for single cpu (default 65k, allows K/M/G suffix)	`0`
`--rb-size-total`	Set perf ring buffer size in total for all cpus (default 65k per cpu, allows K/M/G suffix)	`0`
`--redaction-filters`	Redaction filters for events
`--release-pinned-bpf`	Release all pinned BPF programs and maps in Tetragon BPF directory. Enabled by default. Set to false to disable	`true`
`--server-address`	gRPC server address (e.g. 'localhost:54321' or 'unix:///var/run/tetragon/tetragon.sock'	`localhost:54321`
`--tracing-policy`	Tracing policy file to load at startup
`--tracing-policy-dir`	Directory from where to load Tracing Policies	`/etc/tetragon/tetragon.tp.d`
`--verbose`	set verbosity level for eBPF verifier dumps. Pass 0 for silent, 1 for truncated logs, 2 for a full dump	`0`

Configuration precedence

Tetragon controlling settings can also be loaded from YAML configuration files according to this order:

From the drop-in configuration snippets inside the following directories where each filename maps to one controlling setting and the content of the file to its corresponding value:
- /usr/lib/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*
- /usr/local/lib/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*
From the configuration file /etc/tetragon/tetragon.yaml if available, overriding previous settings.
From the drop-in configuration snippets inside /etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*, similarly overriding previous settings.
If the config-dir setting is set, Tetragon loads its settings from the files inside the directory pointed by this option, overriding previous controlling settings. The config-dir is also part of Kubernetes ConfigMap.

When reading configuration from directories, each filename maps to one controlling setting. If the same controlling setting is set multiple times, then the last value or content of that file overrides the previous ones.

To summarize the configuration precedence:

Drop-in directory pointed by --config-dir.
Drop-in directory /etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*.
Configuration file /etc/tetragon/tetragon.yaml.
Drop-in directories:
- /usr/local/lib/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*
- /usr/lib/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/*

Note

To clear a controlling setting that was set before, set it again to an empty value.

Package managers can customize the configuration by installing drop-ins under /usr/. Configurations in /etc/tetragon/ are strictly reserved for the local administrator, who may use this logic to override package managers or the default installed configuration.

Configuration examples

The examples/configuration/tetragon.yaml file contains example entries showing the defaults as a guide to the administrator. Local overrides can be created by editing and copying this file into /etc/tetragon/tetragon.yaml, or by editing and copying “drop-ins” from the examples/configuration/tetragon.conf.d directory into the /etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/ subdirectory. The latter is generally recommended.

Each filename maps to a one controlling setting and the content of the file to its corresponding value. This is the recommended way.

Changing configuration example:

/etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/bpf-lib with a corresponding value of:
```
/var/lib/tetragon/
```
/etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/log-format with a corresponding value of:
```
text
```
/etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/export-filename with a corresponding value of:
```
/var/log/tetragon/tetragon.log
```

Note Defaults controlling settings can be restored by simply deleting /etc/tetragon/tetragon.yaml and all drop-ins under /etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/

Restrict gRPC API access

The gRPC API supports unix sockets, it can be set using one of the following methods:

Use the --server-address flag:

--server-address unix:///var/run/tetragon/tetragon.sock

Or use the drop-in configuration file /etc/tetragon/tetragon.conf.d/server-address containing:
```
unix:///var/run/tetragon/tetragon.sock
```

Then to access the gRPC API with tetra client, set --server-address to point to the corresponding address:

sudo tetra --server-address unix:///var/run/tetragon/tetragon.sock getevents

Note When reading events with the tetra client, if --server-address is not specified, it will try to detect if Tetragon daemon is running on the same host and use its server-address configuration.

Caution Ensure that you have enough privileges to open the gRPC unix socket since it is restricted to privileged users only.

Configure Tracing Policies location

Tetragon daemon automatically loads Tracing policies from the default /etc/tetragon/tetragon.tp.d/ directory. Tracing policies can be organized in directories such: /etc/tetragon/tetragon.tp.d/file-access, /etc/tetragon/tetragon.tp.d/network-access, etc.

The --tracing-policy-dir controlling setting can be used to change the default directory from where Tracing policies are loaded.

The --tracing-policy controlling setting can be used to specify the path of one tracing policy to load.

Last modified January 4, 2024: docs: use tetragon YAML docs data for daemon options reference (a97e4ee8)