DACS Receiver
The DACS Receiver collects operational metrics from DACS environments and sends them through an OpenTelemetry metrics pipeline.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Component ID | dacsreceiver |
| Type | Receiver |
| Signal | Metrics |
| Availability | PHO Collector distribution |
Capabilities
- DACS operational information stored in PostgreSQL.
- Host-local monitoring of the DACS Server, Station daemon, ESP, Service Control Point, Sink daemon, and local and remote WAN daemons.
- Independent collection intervals and timeouts for each source.
- Metric-group and individual-metric selection.
- OpenTelemetry-compatible output for downstream processing and export.
SOAP collection is not offered as a supported customer capability in the current release and should remain disabled.
Prerequisites
- A PHO Collector distribution containing
dacsreceiver. - A PHO licence with one
dacsreceiverentitlement per configured receiver instance. - For PostgreSQL monitoring, network access and valid database credentials.
- For host-local monitoring, the Collector must run on a host containing the relevant DACS process.
- The Collector service account must be permitted to use the installed DACS statistics utility.
The Sink daemon commonly runs on an ADS host and may require a separate Collector deployment.
Configuration
At least one source must be enabled.
PostgreSQL settings
| Setting | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
enabled | No | true | Enables PostgreSQL collection |
endpoint | When enabled | — | PostgreSQL connection string |
username | No | — | Database username |
password | No | — | Database password |
collection_interval | No | 30s | Collection frequency |
timeout | No | 10s | Maximum collection duration |
Host-local source settings
| Block | Monitored service | Metric prefix | Available metrics |
|---|---|---|---|
dacs_svr | DACS Server | dacs.svr.* | 76 |
dacs_stn | DACS Station daemon | dacs.stn.* | 46 |
dacs_esp | DACS ESP | dacs.esp.* | 22 |
dacs_scp_main | Service Control Point | dacs.scp.* | 22 |
dacs_snkd | Sink daemon | dacs.snkd.* | 48 |
dacs_wanl | Local WAN daemon | dacs.wanl.* | 69 |
dacs_wanr | Remote WAN daemon | dacs.wanr.* | 71 |
Each block accepts:
| Setting | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
enabled | No | false | Enables collection for this service |
tool_path | When enabled | /reuters/dacs/tools/set_debug | Installed DACS statistics utility |
collection_interval | No | 60s | Collection frequency |
timeout | No | 15s | Maximum collection duration; cannot exceed the interval |
groups | No | Component defaults | Enables or disables metric categories |
metrics | No | Group setting | Overrides an individual metric |
Example
extensions:
pho_license:
file: /etc/otelcol/license.json
receivers:
dacsreceiver:
postgres:
enabled: true
endpoint: postgresql://dacs-db.example.com:5432/dacs
username: ${env:DACS_DB_USER}
password: ${env:DACS_DB_PASSWORD}
collection_interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
soap:
enabled: false
dacs_svr:
enabled: true
tool_path: /reuters/dacs/tools/set_debug
collection_interval: 60s
timeout: 15s
groups:
ping_status:
enabled: true
metrics:
dacs.svr.load.position.count:
enabled: false
processors:
batch: {}
exporters:
otlp:
endpoint: telemetry-gateway.example.com:4317
service:
extensions: [pho_license]
pipelines:
metrics:
receivers: [dacsreceiver]
processors: [batch]
exporters: [otlp]
Use environment variables or an approved secrets manager for credentials.
Metric groups
| Source | Enabled by default | Optional categories |
|---|---|---|
| DACS Server | Process status and system load | Active/backup servers, station activity, logins, updates, usage, checksums, sizes, buffers, ping status, historical news, user lists, and debug requests |
| DACS Station | Daemon status and SCP information | Messages, buffers, and wait status |
| DACS ESP | Daemon status and SCP information | Messages, uploads, downloads, software, usage data, and application signing |
| Service Control Point | Version, connection statistics, and operation statistics | Database size |
| Sink daemon | Daemon status and client information | Messages, buffers, login attempts, and off-state information |
| Local WAN daemon | Status flags and persistent HTTP | WAN and IPC message activity |
| Remote WAN daemon | Network information and persistent HTTP | WAN/server activity, pending requests, and ping information |
An individual metric setting takes precedence over its group setting. Unknown group and metric names are rejected during configuration validation.
PostgreSQL telemetry
| Metric | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
dacs.usage_filter.mount.count | 1 | Mount requests by DACS site |
dacs.usage_filter.mount_denied.count | 1 | Denied mount requests by site |
dacs.usage_filter.item_open.count | 1 | Item-open requests by site |
dacs.usage_filter.item_denied.count | 1 | Denied item requests by site |
dacs.consolidation.item.status | 1 | Consolidation status |
dacs.db.main.size | By | Main DACS database size |
dacs.map_collect.vendor.revision | 1 | Vendor mapping revision |
Common attributes include dacs.source, dacs.component, dacs.site, dacs.db, dacs.vendor, and dacs.status_class.
Operational behaviour
- A failed collection does not report a misleading healthy or zero value.
- Other enabled sources continue operating when one source fails.
- Collection resumes automatically when the source becomes available.
- Monitoring should alert on both unhealthy values and missing data.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Recommended action |
|---|---|
| Receiver fails during startup | Confirm at least one source is enabled and every enabled source is configured |
| PostgreSQL metrics are absent | Verify credentials, database availability, network access, and the connection string |
| Host-local metrics are absent | Verify the DACS process is running and the Collector account can use the configured utility |
| Only a small metric set appears | Enable the required metric groups |
| Configuration reports an unknown group | Confirm the group belongs to the selected DACS service |
| Frequent collection timeouts | Increase the timeout without exceeding the collection interval |
| Insufficient licence capacity | Confirm one dacsreceiver entitlement is available per configured instance |