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Configure Global Log Receiver

Published April 5, 2023 | Last modified May 13, 2025

Objective

This guide provides instructions on how to enable sending of your tenant logs from F5® Distributed Cloud Regional Edge (RE) Sites to an external log collection system. The sent logs include all system and application logs of your tenant. This also includes logs of all Customer Edge (CE) Sites of that tenant. For conceptual information about logging, see Logs.

A folder gets created each day in your log collection system and in that folder, a folder for each hour gets created. The logs are sent for every 5 minutes into the hourly folder and are stored in a compressed gzip file.

Global log receiver supports sending the logs for the following log collection systems:

  • AWS Cloudwatch
  • AWS S3
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Azure Event Hubs
  • Datadog
  • GCP Bucket
  • Generic HTTP or HTTPs server
  • IBM QRadar
  • Kafka
  • NewRelic
  • Splunk
  • SumoLogic

Note: Currently, global log receiver supports only sending the request (access) logs, security events, and audit logs for all HTTP load balancers and sites.

Using the instructions provided in this guide, you can configure a Global Log Receiver in the F5® Distributed Cloud Console (Console) to enable sending of logs to an external log collection system.

Prerequisites

Enable Global Receiver of Logs

You can configure global log receiver in either system namespace (Multi-Cloud Network Connect service) or in shared namespace (Shared Configuration service). In case of configuring in shared namespace, you can configure to send from either shared namespace or all namespaces or specific list of namespaces. If you are configuring in system namespace, you can only send logs from system namespace.

The example shown in this guide creates a global log receiver object in the Console in system namespace for sending the logs to the external log collection system.

Step 1: Start creating a global log receiver.

  • In the Console home page, select the Multi-Cloud Network Connect service or the Shared Configuration service.

    • Multi-Cloud Network Connect service: Select Manage > Log Management > Global Log Receiver.
    • Shared Configuration service: Select Manage > Global Log Receiver.
Figure: Navigate to Global Log Receiver Page

Figure: Navigate to Global Log Receiver Page

  • Select Add Global Log Receiver.
Step 2: Configure global log receiver properties.

  • Enter a name in the Metadata section. Optionally, set labels and add a description.

  • From the Log Type menu, select Request Logs, Security Events, Audit Logs, or DNS Request Logs. The request logs are set by default.

  • In case of Multi-Cloud Network Connect service, select logs from current namespace from the Log Message Selection menu. This is also the default option.

  • In case of Shared Configuration service, you can select one of the following options:

    • Select logs from current namespace: This option sends logs from the shared namespace. In case of DNS Request Logs, sending logs from the current namespace is not supported. Either select logs from all namespaces or select logs from specific namespaces, and select the system namespace to send logs from.
    • Select logs from all namespaces: This option sends logs from all namespaces.
    • Select logs in specific namespaces: This option sends logs from specified namespaces. Enter the namespace name in the displayed namespaces list. Use Add item to add more than one namespace.

  • From the Receiver Configuration drop-down menu, select a receiver and follow the corresponding instructions below.

AWS Cloudwatch Receiver
Figure: AWS Cloudwatch Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: AWS Cloudwatch Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter the group name for the target CloudWatch logs stream in the Group Name field.

  • Enter the stream name for the target CloudWatch logs stream in the Stream Name field.

  • From the AWS Cloud Credentials menu, select a cloud credentials object. Alternatively, you can also use Add Item to create a new object. For instructions on creating cloud credentials, see Cloud Credentials.

  • Select a region from the AWS Region drop-down menu. Ensure that you select the same region in which the S3 storage is configured.

AWS S3 Receiver
Figure: AWS S3 Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: AWS S3 Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter your AWS S3 bucket name in the S3 Bucket Name field.

  • From the AWS Cloud Credentials menu, select a cloud credentials object. Alternatively, you can also use Add Item to create a new object. For instructions on creating cloud credentials, see Cloud Credentials.

  • Select a region from the AWS Region drop-down menu. Ensure that you select the same region in which the S3 storage is configured.

Azure Blob Storage
Figure: Azure Blob Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: Azure Blob Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Click Configure to set up the Azure Blob storage connection string.
Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your connection string into the Blindfolded Secret field.

    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your connection string into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your connection string.

  • Where to get the Azure BLOB connection string:

    • Go to All Services > Storage accounts > (name of account).
    • Select Access Keys on the navigation menu for the storage account you have selected.
    • In the Access Keys pane, choose one of the access keys and click Show for the Connection String. Click Copy to Clipboard on the left side of the shown field.

  • Click Apply.

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String Location

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String Location

  • In the Container Name field, enter the name of the Azure container into which the logs should be sent.
Azure Event Hubs
Figure: Azure Event Hubs Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: Azure Event Hubs Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Click Configure to set up the Azure Event Hubs storage connection string.
Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your connection string into the Blindfolded Secret field.

    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your connection string into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your connection string.

Note: Your connection string should look like EntityPath=<EventHubName>.

  • To retrieve the Azure Event Hubs connection string, refer to the following Microsoft article.

  • Click Apply.

  • In the Container Name field, enter the name of the Azure container into which the logs should be stored.

Datadog Receiver
Figure: Datadog Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: Datadog Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter the URL for Datadog into the Datadog Site field (datadoghq.com)

  • Click Configure to set up the Datadog API Key.

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

Figure: Azure Blob Connection String

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your Datadog API Key into the Blindfolded Secret field.
    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your Datadog API Key into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your Datadog API Key.

  • Where to get the Datadog API Key:

    • Go to API Keys.
    • Create API key or select existing one.
    • A dialog will pop up. Click Copy from the dialog and paste this value into the global log receiver configuration for API Key.

  • For Datadog documentation, see API App Keys.

Figure: Datadog API Key Location

Figure: Datadog API Key Location

  • Click Apply.
GCP Bucket Receiver
Figure: GCP Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: GCP Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • In the GCP Bucket Name field, enter the name of the bucket into which the logs should be sent.

  • Use the GCP Cloud Credentials drop-down menu to select an existing set of credentials. Alternatively, select Add Item to create new credentials. For help creating new credentials, see Cloud Credentials.

HTTP Receiver
Figure: HTTP Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: HTTP Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter the URI for your HTTP receiver in the HTTP Uri field.

  • Choose an authentication type from the Authentication drop-down menu:

    • None: No authentication will be performed.
    • Basic Authentication: Enter your login in the User Name field and click Configure to enter your password.
    • Token Authentication: Click Configure to enter your authentication token.
IBM QRadar Receiver
Figure: QRadar Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: QRadar Global Log Receiver Configuration

Enter the URI for your QRadar receiver in the Log Source Collector URL field. For more information, refer to the following IBM document.

Note: In some cases, multiple events will be sent to the global log receiver at once. The QRadar receiver needs to be told to split the events into multiple records. To do this, configure the Message Pattern field as follows:

Figure: QRadar Message Pattern Configuration

Figure: QRadar Message Pattern Configuration

Kafka Receiver
Figure: Kafka Global Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: Kafka Global Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter a Kafka bootstrap server in the form of host:port into the Kafka Bootstrap Server List. Use Add Item to add additional pairs.

  • Enter the Kafka Topic name for the reported events.

NewRelic Receiver
Figure: NewRelic Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: NewRelic Log Receiver Configuration

  • Select the endpoint that is applicable to your NewRelic account from the NewRelic Account Endpoint drop-down menu.

  • Click Configure to set up the NewRelic license key.

Figure: NewRelic License Key

Figure: NewRelic License Key

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your NewRelic license key into the Blindfolded Secret field.

    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your NewRelic license key into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your NewRelic license key.

  • Click Apply.

Splunk Receiver
Figure: Splunk Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: Splunk Log Receiver Configuration

  • Enter the Splunk HEC Logs Endpoint.

  • Click Configure to set up the Splunk HEC token.

Figure: Splunk License Key

Figure: Splunk License Key

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your Splunk HEC token into the Blindfolded Secret field.

    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your Splunk HEC token into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your Splunk HEC token.

  • Click Apply.

Splunk Configuration Details

According to a Splunk article, there are two different Splunk HEC URIs:

In either of the scenarios, you can use the following commands to validate the URLs:

  • In case of Splunk Cloud, enter %>nslookup http-inputs-<customer_stack>.splunkcloud.com

  • In case of Splunk Test Drive, enter $ nslookup input-prd-uniqueid.cloud.splunk.com

See Splunk documentation.

SumoLogic Receiver
Figure: SumoLogic Log Receiver Configuration

Figure: SumoLogic Log Receiver Configuration

  • Click Configure to set up the SumoLogic Source Address URL.
Figure: SumoLogic Source Address URL

Figure: SumoLogic Source Address URL

  • Select Blindfolded Secret from the Secret Type drop-down menu.

  • Use the Action drop-down menu to select:

    • Use Blindfold Blindfolded Secret: Enter your SumoLogic HTTP collector URL into the Blindfolded Secret field.

    • Blindfold New Secret: Select Built-in from the Policy Type drop-down menu and enter your SumoLogic HTTP collector URL into the Secret to Blindfold field, or select Custom for the policy type and then choose a custom policy and enter your SumoLogic HTTP collector URL.

  • Click Apply.

Step 3: Optionally, configure advanced settings.

Advanced settings include configuring batch options and TLS. Using batch options, you can apply limits such as maximum number of messages bytes or timeout for a batch of logs to be sent to the receiver.

Select the Show Advanced Fields toggle and do the following in the Batch Options section:

  • Select Timeout Seconds from the Batch Timeout Options menu and enter a timeout value in the Timeout Seconds box.
  • Select Max Events from the Batch Max Events menu and enter a value between 32 and 2000 in the Max Events box.
  • Select Max Bytes from the Batch Bytes menu and enter a value between 4096 and 1048576 in the Batch Bytes box. Logs will be sent after the batch is size is equal to or more than the specified byte size.

Perform the following for the TLS drop-down menu:

  • Select Use TLS for the TLS field.
  • Select Server CA Certificates for the Trusted CA field. Enter the certificates in PEM or Base64 format in the Server CA Certificates box.
  • Select Enable mTLS from the mTLS config menu and enter client certificate in PEM or Base64 format in the Client Certificate box.
    • Select Configure in the Client Private Key field, enter the secret in the box with type selected as Text.
    • Select Blindfold, wait for the operation to complete, and click Apply.
Step 4: Complete log receiver creation.

Select Save and Exit to complete creating the global log receiver.

Step 5: Inspect your connection and verify that logs are collected in the receiver.
  • Select ... > Test Connection in the Actions column for your global log receiver object. Wait for the test to complete and return message indicating successful connection.

Note: The F5 Distributed Cloud performs up to 20 retries in case of connection failure. The retries are performed only in case of the following HTTP response codes are returned:

  • 429
  • 500 and above, but not 501
  • Verify that logs are collected into your receiver (such as S3 bucket in AWS).

Concepts

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