Access Logging

This section highlights the observability features of the Network Load Balancer (NLB) access logging. The NLB supports extensive logging, which provide visibility into the network traffic. When enabled, all logs are transmitted to our observability system, where they can be queried and analyzed for valuable insights. Central logging must be enabled for this functionality, ensuring effective monitoring and troubleshooting of network traffic. This allows for proactive identification and resolution of potential issues, enhancing overall network performance and reliability.

Note: This feature is only available for newly created NLBs in non-US datacenters and requires central logging to be enabled as a prerequisite.

Accessing Logs

Once central logging is enabled, logs from your NLB will be sent to the logging service. You can access and analyze these logs using a dedicated Grafana instance.

Note: The Grafana URL where the logs will be available will follow the pattern as in this example: https://grafana.d6b7a2374abe.dev.logging.de-txl.ionos.com/ where d6b7a2374abe is a hash of the contract number.

Enable Central Logging

• Requirement: Enabling central logging is mandatory for the NLB to send logs.

• Configuration: Send a POST request to the NLB endpoint to enable central logging. Here's an example using curl:

Note:

• Set centralLogging to true.

• Replace datacenterId and TOKEN with your actual data center ID and authorization token.

curl -X "POST" "https://api.ionos.com/cloudapi/v6/datacenters/{datacenterId}/networkloadbalancers" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \
-d '{
  "type": "networkloadbalancer",
  "metadata": {},
  "properties": {
    "name": "My Network Load Balancer",
    "listenerLan": 1,
    "ips": [
      "81.173.1.2",
      "22.231.2.2",
      "22.231.2.3"
    ],
    "targetLan": 2,
    "lbPrivateIps": [
      "81.173.1.5/24",
      "22.231.2.5/24"
    ],
    "centralLogging": true,
    "loggingFormat": "%{+Q}o %{-Q}ci - - [%trg] %r %ST %B \"\" \"\" %cp %ms %ft %b %s %TR %Tw %Tc %Tr %Ta %tsc %ac %fc %bc %sc %rc %sq %bq %CC %CS %hrl %hsl"
  },
  "entities": {
    "flowlogs": {
      "type": "collection",
      "offset": 0,
      "limit": 1000,
      "_links": {}
    },
    "forwardingrules": {
      "type": "collection",
      "offset": 0,
      "limit": 1000,
      "_links": {}
    }
  }
}'

Note: We can enable/disable central logging via PUT requests as well.

Note: Enabling central logging incurs additional costs.