NS1 + HAProxy Integration (non-enterprise)

Execute the cURL command below to create a new data source. Replace $API_KEY with a valid API key created in the previous step and <name> with a name for this data source (e.g., HAProxy Connect)

curl -X PUT -H "X-NSONE-Key: $API_KEY" -d '{ "sourcetype": "nsone_v1", "name": "<name>", "config": {} }' https://api.nsone.net/v1/data/sources

Record the data source ID generated in the response.

Execute the command below to create a new data feed from the data source you just created. Replace $API_KEY with the valid NS1 API key, <name> with a name for the data feed (for internal reference only), <label> with a simple label (no spaces) for the service this data feed represents (e.g., server or facility name).

curl -X PUT -H 'X-NSONE-Key: $API_KEY' -d '{"name":"<name>", "config":{"label":"<label>"}}' https://api.nsone.net/v1/data/feeds/<sourceID>

Repeat the previous step to create a data feed for each point of presence (PoP).

Login to the first HAProxy server (i.e., PoP).

Edit the /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg file by adding the following line to the "global" section:

stats socket /var/run/haproxy.sock mode 600 level admin

stats timeout 1m

Reload the HAProxy server, and then run the following commands to verify that the stats socket is functioning properly:

echo "show info" | nc -U /var/run/haproxy.sock stdio

echo "show stat" | nc -U /var/run/haproxy.sock stdio

You should see general information, as well as comma-delimited stats using netcat non-interactively.

Construct a BASH script to send the number of current connections to the NS1 platform. The following script will query the socket, grab the value(s) we want, and POST to the associated data feed.

#!/bin/bash
 
 APIKey='<NS1_API_key>'
 
 SourceUUID='<NS1_data_source_ID>'
 
 Region='<region>'
 
 CurrConns=`echo "show info" | nc -U /var/run/haproxy.sock | grep CurrConns | cut -d " " -f2`
 
 curl -sX POST -H 'X-NSONE-Key: '$APIKey
 'https://api.nsone.net/v1/feed/'$SourceUUID -d '{"'$Region'":
 {"connections": '$CurrConns'}}'

Replace <NS1_API_Key> with a valid NS1 API key (with data sources & feed permissions enabled), <NS1_data_source_ID> with the data source ID generated earlier, and <region> with the region of the current PoP (e.g., lga01).

Save the script as /root/shed_load.sh, and configure it to execute once per minute in the root crontab using the following command:

crontab -e

Then, add the following task:

*/1 *  * * *     /root/shed_load.sh

Repeat this process for the other HAProxy PoPs that you want to send information to the NS1 platform, changing the <region> in the BASH script to match the region of the specific PoP.

In the NS1 portal, navigate to the DNS page and create a new zone.

Within the zone you just created, create an A record with answers corresponding to each HAProxy PoP.

Save the record and click the name of the record you just created to view record details, including the list of associated DNS answers.

Click the menu icon to the right of the first answer and select Edit Answer Metadata.

Select the Up/down metadata field on the left and set the current "up" status to true or false. Optionally, you can click the "Feed" icon and select an existing monitor or data feed to automatically update this field. Note that the monitor or data feed you select must be configured to monitor the up status of this endpoint.

Select the Geographic regions field and select the region associated with the HAProxy PoP that this answer represents.

Select the Active connections field, and then click the "Feed" icon to the right to view a list of available monitors and data feeds. Select the relevant HAProxy data feed created earlier.

Select the Low watermark field and enter a value (in this case, referring to the number of active connections) at which point NS1 should begin to shed traffic away from this PoP (i.e., return this particular answer less often).

Select the High watermark field and enter a value (again, the number of active connections) at which point the NS1 should stop sending traffic to this PoP altogether (i.e., stop returning this DNS answer).

Click Ok. The metadata field labels appear below the first answer.

Repeat steps 4-10 for the remaining answers, using the region and data feed specific to each PoP.

After editing the answer metadata within the A record, click Create Filter Chain.

Add the following filters to the Filter Chain configuration by clicking the + sign to the left of it or dragging and dropping it under "Active Filters."

Under Active Filters, click the Shed Load filter to reveal the filter description and drop-down menu. Select Active Connections from the list to ensure this filter references the correct metadata field.

Click Save Filter Chain.