Carbon2 output data format
This page documents an earlier version of Telegraf. Telegraf v1.21 is the latest stable version. View this page in the v1.21 documentation.
The carbon2 output data format (serializer) translates the Telegraf metric format to the Carbon2 format.
Configuration
[[outputs.file]]
  ## Files to write to, "stdout" is a specially handled file.
  files = ["stdout", "/tmp/metrics.out"]
  ## Data format to output.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
  data_format = "carbon2"
Standard form:
metric=name field=field_1 host=foo  30 1234567890
metric=name field=field_2 host=foo  4 1234567890
metric=name field=field_N host=foo  59 1234567890
Metrics
The serializer converts the metrics by creating intrinsic_tags using the combination of metric name and fields.  So, if one Telegraf metric has 4 fields, the carbon2 output will be 4 separate metrics. There will be a metric tag that represents the name of the metric and a field tag to represent the field.
Example
If we take the following InfluxDB Line Protocol:
weather,location=us-midwest,season=summer temperature=82,wind=100 1234567890
After serializing in Carbon2, the result would be:
metric=weather field=temperature location=us-midwest season=summer  82 1234567890
metric=weather field=wind location=us-midwest season=summer  100 1234567890
Fields and tags with spaces
When a field key or tag key-value have spaces, spaces will be replaced with _.
Tags with empty values
When a tag’s value is empty, it will be replaced with null.
Support and feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! We welcome and encourage your feedback and bug reports for Telegraf and this documentation. To find support, the following resources are available:
InfluxDB Cloud customers can contact InfluxData Support.