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CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale Destination

The CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale Destination can stream data to a LogScale HEC (HTTP Event Collector) in JSON or Raw format.

Type: Streaming | TLS Support: Configurable | PQ Support: Yes

(In Cribl Stream 3.5.x, this Destination was labeled Humio HEC. Some links from this page might still lead to “Humio”-branded resources that CrowdStrike has not renamed.)

Recommendations

To load-balance to customer-managed LogScale receivers, Cribl recommends placing a load balancer in front of cluster nodes, following LogScale Manual Cluster Deployment recommendations. If you are using LogScale Cloud, it provides its own load balancing.

We recommend sending events with the sourceType field set to a LogScale parser. This tells LogScale which parser to use to extract fields (e.g., "sourceType":"json").

If LogScale cannot match the sourceType value to a parser, it will use the kv parser, and you will get an error that LogScale could not resolve the specified parser. Alternatively, you can assign a parser to the ingest token that you use to authenticate this Destination.

The fields element does not support Nested JSON. Any nested elements will be dropped.

Configuring Cribl Stream to Output to CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale Destinations

From the top nav, click Manage, then select a Worker Group to configure. Next, you have two options:

To configure via the graphical QuickConnect UI, click Routing > QuickConnect (Stream) or Collect (Edge). Next, click Add Destination at right. From the resulting drawer’s tiles, select CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale. Next, click either Add Destination or (if displayed) Select Existing. The resulting drawer will provide the options below.

Or, to configure via the Routing UI, click Data > Destinations (Stream) or More > Destinations (Edge). From the resulting page’s tiles or the Destinations left nav, select CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale. Next, click Add Destination to open a New Destination modal that provides the options below.

General Settings

Output ID: Enter a unique name to identify this CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale definition. If you clone this Destination, Cribl Stream will add -CLONE to the original Output ID.

LogScale endpoint: URL of a CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale endpoint to send events to (e.g., https://cloud.us.humio.com:443/api/v1/ingest/hec).

  • JSON-formatted events normally go to /api/v1/ingest/hec or /services/collector.
  • Raw (simple line-delimited) events normally go to /api/v1/ingest/hec/raw or /services/collector/raw.

Request format: Select how you want events formatted, either JSON or Raw. Make sure your selection here matches the LogScale endpoint you specify above.

Authentication Settings

Use the Authentication method drop-down to select one of these options:

  • Manual: Displays a LogScale Auth token field for you to enter your CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale HEC API token.

  • Secret: Displays a LogScale token (text secret) drop-down, in which you can select a stored secret that references the API token described above. A Create link is available to store a new, reusable secret.

Optional Settings

Backpressure behavior: Select whether to block, drop, or queue events when all receivers are exerting backpressure. (Causes might include a broken or denied connection, or a rate limiter.) Defaults to Block.

Tags: Optionally, add tags that you can use to filter and group Destinations in Cribl Stream’s Manage Destinations page. These tags aren’t added to processed events. Use a tab or hard return between (arbitrary) tag names.

Persistent Queue Settings

This tab is displayed when the Backpressure behavior is set to Persistent Queue.

Max file size: The maximum data volume to store in each queue file before closing it. Enter a numeral with units of KB, MB, etc. Defaults to 1 MB.

Max queue size: The maximum amount of disk space that the queue is allowed to consume on each Worker Process. Once this limit is reached, this Destination will stop queueing data and apply the Queue‑full behavior. Required, and defaults to 5 GB. Accepts positive numbers with units of KB, MB, GB, etc. Can be set as high as 1 TB, unless you’ve configured a different Max PQ size per Worker Process in Group Settings.

Queue file path: The location for the persistent queue files. Defaults to $CRIBL_HOME/state/queues. To this value, Cribl Stream will append /<worker‑id>/<output‑id>.

Compression: Codec to use to compress the persisted data, once a file is closed. Defaults to None; Gzip is also available.

Queue-full behavior: Whether to block or drop events when the queue is exerting backpressure (because disk is low or at full capacity). Block is the same behavior as non-PQ blocking, corresponding to the Block option on the Backpressure behavior drop-down. Drop new data throws away incoming data, while leaving the contents of the PQ unchanged.

Clear Persistent Queue: Click this “panic” button if you want to delete the files that are currently queued for delivery to this Destination. A confirmation modal will appear - because this will free up disk space by permanently deleting the queued data, without delivering it to downstream receivers. (Appears only after Output ID has been defined.)

Strict ordering: The default Yes position enables FIFO (first in, first out) event forwarding. When receivers recover, Cribl Stream will send earlier queued events before forwarding newly arrived events. To instead prioritize new events before draining the queue, toggle this off. Doing so will expose this additional control:

  • Drain rate limit (EPS): Optionally, set a throttling rate (in events per second) on writing from the queue to receivers. (The default 0 value disables throttling.) Throttling the queue’s drain rate can boost the throughput of new/active connections, by reserving more resources for them. You can further optimize Workers’ startup connections and CPU load at Group Settings > Worker Processes.

Processing Settings

Post‑Processing

Pipeline: Pipeline to process data before sending the data out using this output.

System fields: A list of fields to automatically add to events that use this output. By default, includes cribl_pipe (identifying the Cribl Stream Pipeline that processed the event). Supports wildcards. Other options include:

  • cribl_host – Cribl Stream Node that processed the event.
  • cribl_input – Cribl Stream Source that processed the event.
  • cribl_output – Cribl Stream Destination that processed the event.
  • cribl_route – Cribl Stream Route (or QuickConnect) that processed the event.
  • cribl_wp – Cribl Stream Worker Process that processed the event.

Retries

Honor Retry-After header: Whether to honor a Retry-After header, provided that the header specifies a delay no longer than 180 seconds. Cribl Stream/Edge limits the delay to 180 seconds even if the Retry-After header specifies a longer delay. When enabled, any Retry-After header received takes precedence over all other options configured in the Retries section. When disabled, all Retry-After headers are ignored.

Settings for failed HTTP requests: When you want to automatically retry requests that receive particular HTTP response status codes, use these settings to list those response codes.

For any HTTP response status codes that are not explicitly configured for retries, Cribl Stream/Edge applies the following rules:

Status CodeAction
Any in the 1xx, 3xx, or 4xx seriesDrop the request
Any in the 5xx seriesRetry the request

Upon receiving a response code that’s on the list, Cribl Stream/Edge first waits for a set time interval called the Pre-backoff interval and then begins retrying the request. Time between retries increases based on an exponential backoff algorithm whose base is the Backoff multiplier, until the backoff multiplier reaches the Backoff limit (ms). At that point, Cribl Stream/Edge continues retrying the request without increasing the time between retries any further.

If the sender (which manages the connection to the Destination) is at capacity, it will not accept any incoming events. These incoming events originate internally from a previous stage of the data flow when Destinations send outbound requests to their respective external services, and they include retry requests and new requests. Any events that were already in transit when the sender reached capacity will continue to be processed downstream.

Sender capacity is freed up when an outgoing request succeeds or encounters a non-retryable error. When the sender has available capacity again, it will resume accepting incoming events. This capacity management is influenced by the number of active connections and configured limits, such as concurrency and buffer sizes. If a Pipeline sends events faster than the Destination can process, the buffers may fill up, leading to backpressure and Sender at capacity warnings. This backpressure prevents the sender from accepting additional requests until capacity is restored.

By default, this Destination has no response codes configured for automatic retries. For each response code you want to add to the list, select Add Setting and configure the following settings:

  • HTTP status code: A response code that indicates a failed request, for example 429 (Too Many Requests) or 503 (Service Unavailable).
  • Pre-backoff interval (ms): The amount of time to wait before beginning retries, in milliseconds. Defaults to 1000 (one second).
  • Backoff multiplier: The base for the exponential backoff algorithm. A value of 2 (the default) means that Cribl Stream/Edge will retry after 2 seconds, then 4 seconds, then 8 seconds, and so on.
  • Backoff limit (ms): The maximum backoff interval Cribl Stream/Edge should apply for its final retry, in milliseconds. Default (and minimum) is 10,000 (10 seconds); maximum is 180,000 (180 seconds, or 3 minutes).

Retry timed-out HTTP requests: When you want to automatically retry requests that have timed out, toggle this control on to display the following settings for configuring retry behavior:

  • Pre-backoff interval (ms): The amount of time to wait before beginning retries, in milliseconds. Defaults to 1000 (one second).
  • Backoff multiplier: The base for the exponential backoff algorithm. A value of 2 (the default) means that Cribl Stream/Edge will retry after 2 seconds, then 4 seconds, then 8 seconds, and so on.
  • Backoff limit (ms): The maximum backoff interval Cribl Stream/Edge should apply for its final retry, in milliseconds. Default (and minimum) is 10,000 (10 seconds); maximum is 180,000 (180 seconds, or 3 minutes).

Advanced Settings

Validate server certs: Defaults to Yes to reject certificates that are not authorized by a CA in the CA certificate path, or by another trusted CA (e.g., the system’s CA).

Round–robin DNS: Toggle on to enable round-robin DNS lookup across multiple IP addresses, IPv4 and IPv6. When a DNS server resolves a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to multiple IP addresses, Cribl Stream will sequentially use each address in the order they are returned by the DNS server for subsequent connection attempts. (This setting is available only when General Settings > Load balancing is set to No.)

Compress: Defaults to Yes to compress the payload body before sending.

Request timeout: Amount of time (in seconds) to wait for a request to complete before aborting it. Defaults to 30.

Request concurrency: Maximum number of concurrent requests per Worker Process. When Cribl Stream hits this limit, it begins throttling traffic to the downstream service. Defaults to 5. Minimum: 1. Maximum: 32. Each request can potentially hit a different HEC receiver.

Max body size (KB): Maximum size, in KB, of the request body. Defaults to 4096. Lowering the size can potentially result in more parallel requests and also cause outbound requests to be made sooner.

Max events per request: Maximum number of events to include in the request body. The 0 default allows unlimited events.

Flush period (sec): Maximum time between requests. Low values can cause the payload size to be smaller than the configured Max body size. Defaults to 1.

  • Retries happen on this flush interval.
  • Any HTTP response code in the 2xx range is considered success.
  • Any response code in the 5xx range is considered a retryable error, which will not trigger Persistent Queue (PQ) usage.
  • Any other response code will trigger PQ (if PQ is configured as the Backpressure behavior).

Extra HTTP headers: Click Add Header to add Name/Value pairs to pass as additional HTTP headers. Values will be sent encrypted.

Failed request logging mode: Use this drop-down to determine which data should be logged when a request fails. Select among None (the default), Payload, or Payload + Headers. With this last option, Cribl Stream will redact all headers, except non-sensitive headers that you declare below in Safe headers.

Safe headers: Add headers that you want to declare as safe to log in plaintext. (Sensitive headers such as authorization will always be redacted, even if listed here.) Use a tab or hard return to separate header names.

Environment: If you’re using GitOps, optionally use this field to specify a single Git branch on which to enable this configuration. If empty, the config will be enabled everywhere.

Notes on HTTP-Based Outputs

  • To proxy outbound HTTP/S requests, see System Proxy Configuration.

  • Cribl Stream will attempt to use keepalives to reuse a connection for multiple requests. After two minutes of the first use, the connection will be thrown away, and a new connection will be reattempted. This is to prevent sticking to a particular Destination when there is a constant flow of events.

  • If the server does not support keepalives – or if the server closes a pooled connection while idle – a new connection will be established for the next request.

  • Cribl Stream will pick the first IP in the list for use in the next connection. Enable Round-robin DNS to better balance distribution of events between CrowdStrike Falcon LogScale servers.