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The Apache Web Server integration collects traffic-related metrics, such as thenumber of open connections or incoming requests. The integration also collectsaccess and error logs. Access logs are parsed into a JSON payload focused onrequest details, and error logs are parsed for their error code and message.
For more information about Apache Web Server, see theApache Web Server (httpd) documentation.
Prerequisites
To collect Apache Web Server telemetry, you mustinstall the Ops Agent:
- For metrics, install version 2.7.0 or higher.
- For logs, install version 2.4.0 or higher.
This integration supports Apache Web Server version 2.4.
Configure your Apache Web Server instance
To collect telemetry from your Apache Web Server, you must configure theserver'shttpd.conf file to enable themod_status plugin.
Many Apache installations enable this plugin by default. To see if theplugin is enabled on your VM instance, run:
curllocalhost:80/server-status?autoIf the plugin is enabled, then the output includes lines similar to thefollowing:
Total Accesses: 2Total kBytes: 1BusyWorkers: 1IdleWorkers: 4
If you get a404 Not Found page instead, then themod_status plugin is notenabled.
Configure the Ops Agent for Apache Web Server
Following the guide toConfigure the OpsAgent, add the required elementsto collect telemetry from Apache Web Server instances, andrestart the agent.
Example configuration
The following commands create the configuration to collect and ingest telemetryfor Apache Web Server:
#ConfiguresOpsAgenttocollecttelemetryfromtheapp.Youmustrestarttheagentfortheconfigurationtotakeeffect.set-e#Checkifthefileexistsif[!-f/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml];then#Createthefileifitdoesn'texist.sudomkdir-p/etc/google-cloud-ops-agentsudotouch/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yamlfi#Createabackupoftheexistingfilesoexistingconfigurationsarenotlost.sudocp/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml.bak#ConfiguretheOpsAgent.sudotee/etc/google-cloud-ops-agent/config.yaml >/dev/null <<EOFmetrics:receivers:apache:type:apacheservice:pipelines:apache:receivers:-apachelogging:receivers:apache_access:type:apache_accessapache_error:type:apache_errorservice:pipelines:apache:receivers:-apache_access-apache_errorEOFFor these changes to take effect, you must restart the Ops Agent:
Linux
- To restart the agent, run the following command on your instance:
sudo systemctl restart google-cloud-ops-agent
- To confirm that the agent restarted, run the following command and verify that the components "Metrics Agent" and "Logging Agent" started:
sudo systemctl status "google-cloud-ops-agent*"
Windows
- Connect to your instance using RDP or a similar tool and login to Windows.
- Open a PowerShell terminal with administrator privileges by right-clicking the PowerShell icon and selectingRun as Administrator
- To restart the agent, run the following PowerShell command:
Restart-Service google-cloud-ops-agent -Force
- To confirm that the agent restarted, run the following command and verify that the components "Metrics Agent" and "Logging Agent" started:
Get-Service google-cloud-ops-agent*
Configure logs collection
To ingest logs from Apache Web Server, you must create a receiver for the logsthat Apache Web Server produces and then create a pipeline for the new receiver.
To configure a receiver for yourapache_access logs, specify the followingfields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
exclude_paths | A list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched byinclude_paths. | |
include_paths | [/var/log/apache2/access.log,/var/log/apache2/access_log,/var/log/httpd/access_log] | A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths; for example,/var/log/apache*/*.log. |
record_log_file_path | false | If set totrue, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of theagent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded. |
type | This value must beapache_access. | |
wildcard_refresh_interval | 60s | The interval at which wildcard file paths ininclude_paths are refreshed. Given as atime duration, for example30s or2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval. |
To configure a receiver for yourapache_error logs, specify the followingfields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
exclude_paths | A list of filesystem path patterns to exclude from the set matched byinclude_paths. | |
include_paths | [/var/log/apache2/error.log,/var/log/apache2/error_log,/var/log/httpd/error_log] | A list of filesystem paths to read by tailing each file. A wild card (*) can be used in the paths; for example,/var/log/apache*/*.log. |
record_log_file_path | false | If set totrue, then the path to the specific file from which the log record was obtained appears in the output log entry as the value of theagent.googleapis.com/log_file_path label. When using a wildcard, only the path of the file from which the record was obtained is recorded. |
type | This value must beapache_error. | |
wildcard_refresh_interval | 60s | The interval at which wildcard file paths ininclude_paths are refreshed. Given as atime duration, for example30s or2m. This property might be useful under high logging throughputs where log files are rotated faster than the default interval. |
What is logged
ThelogName is derived fromthe receiver IDs specified in the configuration. Detailed fields inside theLogEntryare as follows.
Theapache_access logs contain the following fields in theLogEntry:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
httpRequest | object | SeeHttpRequest |
jsonPayload.host | string | Contents of the Host header |
jsonPayload.user | string | Authenticated username for the request |
severity | string (LogSeverity) | Log entry level (translated). |
Theapache_error logs contain the following fields in theLogEntry:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
jsonPayload.client | string | Client IP address (optional) |
jsonPayload.errorCode | string | Apache error code |
jsonPayload.level | string | Log entry level |
jsonPayload.message | string | Log message |
jsonPayload.module | string | Apache module where the log originated |
jsonPayload.pid | string | Process ID |
jsonPayload.tid | string | Thread ID |
severity | string (LogSeverity) | Log entry level (translated). |
Configure metrics collection
To ingest metrics from Apache Web Server, you must create a receiver for the metricsthat Apache Web Server produces and then create a pipeline for the new receiver.
This receiver does notsupport the use of multiple instances in the configuration, for example, tomonitor multiple endpoints. All such instances write to the same time series,and Cloud Monitoring has no way to distinguish among them.
To configure a receiver for yourapache metrics, specify the followingfields:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
collection_interval | 60s | Atime duration value, such as30s or5m. |
server_status_url | http://localhost:80/server-status?auto | The URL exposed by themod_status module. |
type | This value must beapache. |
What is monitored
The following table provides the list of metrics that the Ops Agent collectsfrom the Apache Web Server instance.
| Metric type | |
|---|---|
| Kind, Type Monitored resources | Labels |
workload.googleapis.com/apache.current_connections | |
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance | server_name |
workload.googleapis.com/apache.requests | |
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance | server_name |
workload.googleapis.com/apache.scoreboard | |
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance | server_namestate |
workload.googleapis.com/apache.traffic | |
CUMULATIVE, INT64gce_instance | server_name |
workload.googleapis.com/apache.workers | |
GAUGE, INT64gce_instance | server_namestate |
Verify the configuration
This section describes how to verify that you correctly configured theApache Web Server receiver. It might take one or twominutes for the Ops Agent to begin collecting telemetry.
To verify that Apache Web Server logs are being sent toCloud Logging, do the following:
In the Google Cloud console, go to theLogs Explorer page:
If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isLogging.
- Enter the following query in the editor, and then clickRun query:
resource.type="gce_instance"(log_id("apache_access") OR log_id("apache_error"))
To verify that Apache Web Server metrics are being sent toCloud Monitoring, do the following:
In the Google Cloud console, go to theleaderboard Metrics explorer page:
If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.
- In the toolbar of thequery-builder pane, select the button whose name is eithercode MQL orcode PromQL.
- Verify thatPromQL is selectedin theLanguage toggle. The language toggle is in the same toolbar thatlets you format your query.
- Enter the following query in the editor, and then clickRun query:
{"workload.googleapis.com/apache.requests", monitored_resource="gce_instance"}
View dashboard
To view your Apache Web Server metrics, you must have a chart or dashboardconfigured.The Apache Web Server integration includes one or more dashboards for you.Any dashboards are automatically installed after you configure theintegration and the Ops Agent has begun collecting metric data.
You can also view static previews of dashboards withoutinstalling the integration.
To view an installed dashboard, do the following:
In the Google Cloud console, go to the
Dashboards page:If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.
- Select theDashboard List tab, and then choose theIntegrations category.
- Click the name of the dashboard you want to view.
If you have configured an integration but the dashboard has not beeninstalled, then check that the Ops Agent is running. When there is nometric data for a chart in the dashboard, installation of the dashboard fails.After the Ops Agent begins collecting metrics, the dashboard is installedfor you.
To view a static preview of the dashboard, do the following:
In the Google Cloud console, go to the
Integrations page:If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.
- Click theCompute Engine deployment-platform filter.
- Locate the entry for Apache Web Server and clickView Details.
- Select theDashboards tab to see a static preview. If the dashboard is installed, then you can navigate to it by clickingView dashboard.
For more information about dashboards in Cloud Monitoring, seeDashboards and charts.
For more information about using theIntegrations page, seeManage integrations.
Install alerting policies
Alerting policies instruct Cloud Monitoring to notify you whenspecified conditions occur.The Apache Web Server integration includes one or more alerting policies foryou to use.You can view and installthese alerting policies from theIntegrations page inMonitoring.
To view the descriptions of available alerting policies and install them, do the following:
In the Google Cloud console, go to the
Integrations page:If you use the search bar to find this page, then select the result whose subheading isMonitoring.
- Locate the entry for Apache Web Server and clickView Details.
- Select theAlerts tab. This tab provides descriptions of available alerting policies and provides an interface for installing them.
- Install alerting policies. Alerting policies need to know where to send notifications that the alert has been triggered, so they require information from you for installation. To install alerting policies, do the following:
- From the list of available alerting policies, select those that you want to install.
In theConfigure notifications section, select one or more notification channels. You have the option to disable the use of notification channels, but if you do, then your alerting policies fire silently. You can check their status in Monitoring, but you receive no notifications.
For more information about notification channels, seeManage notification channels.
- ClickCreate Policies.
For more information about alerting policies in Cloud Monitoring, seeIntroduction to alerting.
For more information about using theIntegrations page, seeManage integrations.
What's next
For a walkthrough on how to use Ansible to install the Ops Agent, configurea third-party application, and install a sample dashboard, see theInstall the Ops Agent to troubleshoot third-party applications video.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under theApache 2.0 License. For details, see theGoogle Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-12-15 UTC.