| 1 | <!--startmeta |
| 2 | custom_edit_url: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/src/crates/netflow-plugin/integrations/ipfix.md" |
| 3 | meta_yaml: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/src/crates/netflow-plugin/metadata.yaml" |
| 4 | sidebar_label: "IPFIX" |
| 5 | learn_status: "Published" |
| 6 | learn_rel_path: "Network Flows/Flow Protocols" |
| 7 | keywords: ['ipfix', 'netflow v10', 'flows', 'network flows', 'flow collector', 'rfc 7011'] |
| 8 | message: "DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY, IT IS GENERATED BY THE FLOWS' metadata.yaml FILE" |
| 9 | endmeta--> |
| 10 | |
| 11 | <!-- markdownlint-disable-file --> |
| 12 | |
| 13 | # IPFIX |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
| 16 | <img src="https://netdata.cloud/img/network-wired.svg" width="150"/> |
| 17 | |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Plugin: netflow-plugin |
| 20 | Module: ipfix |
| 21 | |
| 22 | <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/maintained%20by-Netdata-%2300ab44" /> |
| 23 | |
| 24 | ## Overview |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Collect network flow records from IPFIX (NetFlow v10) exporters. IPFIX extends |
| 27 | NetFlow v9 with variable-length fields, vendor-specific information elements, |
| 28 | and template withdrawal. Each record exposes the same core fields as NetFlow plus |
| 29 | any additional IEs the exporter provides. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | For full documentation including vendor configuration examples (Cisco, Juniper, Arista, |
| 32 | ASA NSEL), biflow handling, sampling caveats, and verification steps, see the |
| 33 | [Network Flows Overview](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/network-flows/). |
| 34 | |
| 35 | |
| 36 | The plugin listens on the same UDP socket as NetFlow. IPFIX messages are identified by |
| 37 | version number 10 and decoded using cached templates. Decoded records are enriched and |
| 38 | appended to disk-backed journal tiers. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | |
| 41 | This integration is only supported on the following platforms: |
| 42 | |
| 43 | - Linux |
| 44 | |
| 45 | This integration runs as a single instance per Netdata Agent. |
| 46 | |
| 47 | |
| 48 | ### Default Behavior |
| 49 | |
| 50 | #### Auto-Detection |
| 51 | |
| 52 | The plugin starts when enabled in netflow.yaml and listens on the configured UDP port. |
| 53 | |
| 54 | #### Limits |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Operational limits are driven by sustained flows/s, template churn, cardinality, retention, storage speed, and enrichment. Plan around 25k sustained flows/s per well-provisioned agent for the full raw + rollup pipeline; use distributed agents for larger deployments. |
| 57 | |
| 58 | #### Performance Impact |
| 59 | |
| 60 | Disabled until exporters send traffic. Once active, CPU and disk I/O scale with flow rate, template volume, and cardinality; size retention and storage from observed flows/s. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | ## Setup |
| 63 | |
| 64 | |
| 65 | ### Prerequisites |
| 66 | |
| 67 | #### IPFIX-capable exporter |
| 68 | |
| 69 | A router, switch, or firewall configured to export IPFIX datagrams to the |
| 70 | Netdata agent's UDP listener. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | |
| 73 | |
| 74 | ### Configuration |
| 75 | |
| 76 | #### Options |
| 77 | |
| 78 | IPFIX shares the same `netflow.yaml` configuration file as NetFlow and sFlow. |
| 79 | Enable IPFIX via the `protocols.ipfix` option. |
| 80 | |
| 81 | |
| 82 | <details open><summary>Config options</summary> |
| 83 | |
| 84 | |
| 85 | |
| 86 | | Option | Description | Default | Required | |
| 87 | |:-----|:------------|:--------|:---------:| |
| 88 | | listener.listen | UDP endpoint for IPFIX datagrams. | 0.0.0.0:2055 | no | |
| 89 | | protocols.ipfix | Enable IPFIX decoding. | yes | no | |
| 90 | | journal.journal_dir | Directory for journal files (relative to NETDATA_CACHE_DIR). | flows | no | |
| 91 | | journal.tiers.<tier>.size_of_journal_files | Per-tier hard size cap. Replace `<tier>` with `raw`, `minute_1`, `minute_5`, or `hour_1`. Set to `null` for time-only retention. | 10GB | no | |
| 92 | | journal.tiers.<tier>.duration_of_journal_files | Per-tier maximum age. Replace `<tier>` with `raw`, `minute_1`, `minute_5`, or `hour_1`. Set to `null` for size-only retention. | 7d | no | |
| 93 | |
| 94 | |
| 95 | </details> |
| 96 | |
| 97 | |
| 98 | |
| 99 | #### via File |
| 100 | |
| 101 | The configuration file name for this integration is `netflow.yaml`. |
| 102 | |
| 103 | |
| 104 | You can edit the configuration file using the [`edit-config`](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/README.md#edit-configuration-files) script from the |
| 105 | Netdata [config directory](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/README.md#locate-your-config-directory). |
| 106 | |
| 107 | ```bash |
| 108 | cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata |
| 109 | sudo ./edit-config netflow.yaml |
| 110 | ``` |
| 111 | |
| 112 | ##### Examples |
| 113 | |
| 114 | ###### IPFIX collection |
| 115 | |
| 116 | Listen for IPFIX records on Netdata's default flow listener port. |
| 117 | |
| 118 | ```yaml |
| 119 | enabled: true |
| 120 | listener: |
| 121 | listen: "0.0.0.0:2055" |
| 122 | protocols: |
| 123 | v5: false |
| 124 | v7: false |
| 125 | v9: false |
| 126 | ipfix: true |
| 127 | sflow: false |
| 128 | |
| 129 | ``` |
| 130 | |
| 131 | |
| 132 | ### Verifying flow data is arriving and diagnosing failures |
| 133 | |
| 134 | See [Troubleshooting](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/network-flows/troubleshooting) for |
| 135 | the full diagnostic recipe. For IPFIX specifically, watch the `template_errors` dimension |
| 136 | on `netflow.input_packets` -- IPFIX is template-driven and data records arriving before |
| 137 | their templates are dropped. See also |
| 138 | [Validation and Data Quality](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/network-flows/validation-and-data-quality). |
| 139 | |
| 140 | |
| 141 |