AWS Kinesis Data Streams

Configuration Options

Required Options

inputs(required)

A list of upstream source or transform IDs. Wildcards (*) are supported.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
array	literal		["my-source-or-transform-id","prefix-*"]

encoding(required)

Configures the encoding specific sink behavior.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash	literal		[]

region(required)

The AWS region of the target service. If endpoint is provided it will override this value since the endpoint includes the region.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal		["us-east-1"]

stream_name(required)

The stream name of the target Kinesis Logs stream.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal		["my-stream"]

type(required)

The component type. This is a required field for all components and tells Vector which component to use.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal		["aws_kinesis_streams"]

Advanced Options

auth(optional)

Options for the authentication strategy.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash	literal		[]

endpoint(optional)

Custom endpoint for use with AWS-compatible services. Providing a value for this option will make region moot.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal		["127.0.0.0:5000/path/to/service"]

partition_key_field(optional)

The log field used as the Kinesis record's partition key value.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal		["user_id"]

buffer(optional)

Configures the sink specific buffer behavior.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash	literal		[]

batch(optional)

Configures the sink batching behavior.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash			[]

compression(optional)

The compression strategy used to compress the encoded event data before transmission.

Some cloud storage API clients and browsers will handle decompression transparently, so files may not always appear to be compressed depending how they are accessed.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
string	literal	none

healthcheck(optional)

Health check options for the sink.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash			[]

request(optional)

Configures the sink request behavior.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash			[]

proxy(optional)

Configures an HTTP(S) proxy for Vector to use. By default, the globally configured proxy is used.

Type	Syntax	Default	Example
hash	literal		[]

How it Works

AWS authentication

Vector checks for AWS credentials in the following order:

The access_key_id and secret_access_key options.
The AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables.
The credential_process command in the AWS config file (usually located at ~/.aws/config).
The AWS credentials file (usually located at ~/.aws/credentials).
The IAM instance profile (only works if running on an EC2 instance with an instance profile/role).

If no credentials are found, Vector's health check fails and an error is logged. If your AWS credentials expire, Vector will automatically search for up-to-date credentials in the places (and order) described above.

Partitioning

By default, Vector issues random 16 byte values for each Kinesis record's partition key, evenly distributing records across your Kinesis partitions. Depending on your use case this might not be sufficient since random distribution does not preserve order. To override this, you can supply the partition_key_field option. This option presents an alternate field on your event to use as the partition key value instead. This is useful if you have a field already on your event, and it also pairs nicely with the remap transform, which enables you to add partition-related metadata to events.

State

This component is stateless, meaning its behavior is consistent across each input.

Health checks

Health checks ensure that the downstream service is accessible and ready to accept data. This check is performed upon sink initialization. If the health check fails an error will be logged and Vector will proceed to start.

Rate limits & adapative concurrency

Buffers and batches

This component buffers & batches data as shown in the diagram above. You'll notice that Vector treats these concepts differently, instead of treating them as global concepts, Vector treats them as sink specific concepts. This isolates sinks, ensuring services disruptions are contained and delivery guarantees are honored.

Batches are flushed when 1 of 2 conditions are met:

The batch age meets or exceeds the configured timeout_secs.
The batch size meets or exceeds the configured max_size or max_events.

Buffers are controlled via the buffer.* options.

Retry policy

Vector will retry failed requests (status == 429, >= 500, and != 501). Other responses will not be retried. You can control the number of retry attempts and backoff rate with the request.retry_attempts and request.retry_backoff_secs options.