telegraf/docs/OUTPUTS.md

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### Output Plugins
This section is for developers who want to create a new output sink. Outputs
are created in a similar manner as collection plugins, and their interface has
similar constructs.
### Output Plugin Guidelines
- An output must conform to the [telegraf.Output][] interface.
- Outputs should call `outputs.Add` in their `init` function to register
themselves. See below for a quick example.
- To be available within Telegraf itself, plugins must add themselves to the
`github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/outputs/all/all.go` file.
- The `SampleConfig` function should return valid toml that describes how the
plugin can be configured. This is included in `telegraf config`. Please
consult the [SampleConfig][] page for the latest style guidelines.
- The `Description` function should say in one line what this output does.
### Output Plugin Example
```go
package simpleoutput
// simpleoutput.go
import (
"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/outputs"
)
type Simple struct {
Ok bool
}
func (s *Simple) Description() string {
return "a demo output"
}
func (s *Simple) SampleConfig() string {
return `
ok = true
`
}
func (s *Simple) Connect() error {
// Make a connection to the URL here
return nil
}
func (s *Simple) Close() error {
// Close connection to the URL here
return nil
}
func (s *Simple) Write(metrics []telegraf.Metric) error {
for _, metric := range metrics {
// write `metric` to the output sink here
}
return nil
}
func init() {
outputs.Add("simpleoutput", func() telegraf.Output { return &Simple{} })
}
```
## Data Formats
Some output plugins, such as the [file][] plugin, can write in any supported
[output data formats][].
In order to enable this, you must specify a
`SetSerializer(serializer serializers.Serializer)`
function on the plugin object (see the file plugin for an example), as well as
defining `serializer` as a field of the object.
You can then utilize the serializer internally in your plugin, serializing data
before it's written. Telegraf's configuration layer will take care of
instantiating and creating the `Serializer` object.
You should also add the following to your `SampleConfig()`:
```toml
## 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 = "influx"
```
[file]: https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/tree/master/plugins/inputs/file
[output data formats]: https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
[SampleConfig]: https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/wiki/SampleConfig
[telegraf.Output]: https://godoc.org/github.com/influxdata/telegraf#Output