Forward HiveMQ JMX metrics to DataDog | HiveMQ Platform Operator (new)

This article explains how to expose HiveMQ JMX metrics to DataDog using Kubernetes.

\uD83D\uDCD8 Requirements

Running Kubernetes cluster version 1.23.x or higher
Helm version 3.10.x or higher
The Kubernetes command line tool kubectl
HiveMQ Professional or Enterprise Edition, versions 4.19 or higher
kubectl context set to the target Kubernetes cluster where HiveMQ is installed

\uD83D\uDCD8 Instructions

Install and configure a DataDog agent

Add Datadog helm repository:

helm repo add datadog https://helm.datadoghq.com
helm repo update datadog

Create datadog-values.yaml. For full values check here.
Please refer to following the example of datadog-values.yaml:

logLevel: DEBUG
targetSystem: "linux"
datadog:
  apiKey: <DATADOG_API_KEY_FROM_THE_DATADOG_ACCOUNT>
  
  #Logs configurations
  logs:
    enabled: true
    containerCollectAll: true
    containerCollectUsingFiles: true
  
  # Please configure this setting based on your region
  site: datadoghq.eu
  
  
  tags: []
  # datadog.kubelet.tlsVerify should be `false` on kind and minikube
  # to establish communication with the kubelet
  kubelet:
    tlsVerify: false
  
  #Following settings are required to collect the Kubernetes events with the Cluster Agent  
  collectEvents: true

clusterAgent:
  rbac:
    create: true  

# setting to read JMX metrics from HiveMQ
agents:
  image:
    tagSuffix: "jmx"

Optionally, create a dedicated namespace for the Datadog Agent. Further in this article, we consider the datadog namespace.
```
kubectl create namespace datadog
```

Install Datadog agent using Helm:

helm upgrade datadog --install datadog/datadog --values datadog-values.yaml --namespace datadog

Verify installation and check the agent pod’s status

kubectl get pods --namespace datadog

The successful output should resemble this:

NAME                                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/datadog-b7rtk                            3/3     Running   0          40s
pod/datadog-cluster-agent-7b8c8495f9-7zbff   1/1     Running   0          40s
pod/datadog-jdbvj                            3/3     Running   0          40s

Also, check the agent’s logs to confirm.

kubectl logs daemonsets/datadog --namespace datadog --follow

kubectl logs deployment/datadog-cluster-agent --namespace datadog --follow

Install HiveMQ Platform

Optionally, create a dedicated namespace for the HiveMQ. Further in this article, we assume the hivemq namespace.
```
kubectl create namespace hivemq
```

Install the HiveMQ Platform Operator

helm upgrade oper --install hivemq/hivemq-platform-operator --namespace hivemq

Once the pod for the hivemq-platform-operator “oper” is running and ready, proceed to install the HiveMQ Platform(s).

kubectl get pods --selector "app.kubernetes.io/name":"hivemq-platform-operator" -A

For the Datadog Agent to auto-discover HiveMQ metrics and logs, update the hivemq-platform’s values.yaml and add the required annotation to HiveMQ pods:

nodes:
  # Annotations to add to the HiveMQ Pods
  annotations:
    ad.datadoghq.com/hivemq.checks: '{
        "hivemq": {
          "init_config": {
            "is_jmx": true,
            "collect_default_metrics": true
          },
          "instances": [
            {
              "host": "%%host%%",
              "port": "9010"
            }
          ]
        }
      }'

Reference: Datadog Integration Annotations method – https://docs.datadoghq.com/containers/kubernetes/integrations/?tab=annotations.

Should you want to add more metrics to available HiveMQ metrics, please refer to the following example:

nodes:
    # Annotations to add to the HiveMQ Pods
    annotations:
    ad.datadoghq.com/hivemq.checks: '{
          "hivemq": {
            "init_config": {
              "is_jmx": true,
              "collect_default_metrics": true,
              "conf": [
                {
                  "include": {
                    "bean": "metrics:name=com.hivemq.jvm.memory.heap.max",
                    "attribute": {
                      "Value": {
                        "alias": "hivemq.jvm.memory.heap.max.xxx1234",
                        "metric_type": "gauge"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                },
                {
                  "include": {
                    "bean": "metrics:name=com.hivemq.jvm.memory.heap.used",
                    "attribute": {
                      "Value": {
                        "alias": "hivemq.jvm.memory.heap.used.xxx1234",
                        "metric_type": "gauge"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                },
                {
                  "include": {
                    "bean": "metrics:name=com.hivemq.jvm.garbage-collector.G1-Young-Generation.time",
                    "attribute": {
                      "Value": {
                        "alias": "hivemq.jvm.garbage.collector.G1.Young.Generation.time.xxx1234",
                        "metric_type": "gauge"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                },
                {
                  "include": {
                    "bean": "metrics:name=com.hivemq.jvm.garbage-collector.G1-Old-Generation.time",
                    "attribute": {
                      "Value": {
                        "alias": "hivemq.jvm.garbage.collector.G1.Old.Generation.time.xxx1234",
                        "metric_type": "gauge"
                      }
                    }
                  }
                }
              ]
            },
            "instances": [
              {
                "host": "%%host%%",
                "port": "9010"
              }
            ]
          }
        }'

Install the HiveMQ Platform using the following command:

helm upgrade broker --install hivemq/hivemq-platform --values hivemq-platform-values.yaml

Log in to your Datadog account and click “Metrics” → ” Explorer” from the left navigation links tab. You will be redirected to the “Graph your data” page. By default, you will see the “system.cpu.user“ metric and its data.
Start typing "hivemq" in the search box and you should be able to see the list of available HiveMQ metrics.

Create a HiveMQ dashboard in the Datadog UI

In the Datadog UI, click the “New Dashboard” link from the left navigation links tab
Enter the name and select the “New Screenboard” button.
Click the “Gear” icon from the top right corner and click the “Import Dashboard JSON” link
Import the attached HiveMq dashboard JSON and done:
Check the HiveMQ dashboard to view HiveMQ Metrics.

Uninstall DataDog and HiveMQ.

helm list --all-namespaces
helm uninstall datadog --namespace datadog
helm uninstall broker --namespace hivemq
helm uninstall oper --namespace hivemq
kubectl delete namespace datadog
kubectl delete namespace hivemq