Failure Flags > Configuring Failure Flags

Configuring Failure Flags

Supported platforms:

N/A

This page explains how to configure the Failure Flags sidecar. Gathering your configuration details now will make it easier to deploy Failure Flags in the next step. Failure Flags supports two configuration methods:

Using environment variables (recommended), and
Using a configuration file.

This page covers configuration options that are common to all platforms.

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Common configuration options

The following table lists each option with its corresponding environment variable and configuration file property.

Environment variable	Config file property	Description
`FAILURE_FLAGS_ENABLED`		Set to `true`, `yes`, or `1`to enable the Failure Flags SDK in your application. If you’re using Failure Flags by proxy, set this to `false`.
`GREMLIN_SIDECAR_ENABLED`		Set to `true`, `yes`, or `1`to enable the Failure Flags sidecar. If this is unset or set to any other value, the sidecar will operate in NOOP mode.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_ID`	`team_id`	Your Gremlin Team ID. This and other credential details are available in the Gremlin web app.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_CERTIFICATE`	`team_certificate`	Set to the contents of your Gremlin Team certificate. This and other credential details are available in the Gremlin web app. You can preserve newlines using the `\n`escape character, or by omitting them entirely.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_PRIVATE_KEY`	`team_private_key`	Set to the contents or file path of your Gremlin Team private key. This and other credential details are available in the Gremlin web app. You can preserve newlines using the `\n`escape character, or by omitting them entirely.
`SERVICE_NAME`	`service_name`	Set to the name of the service as you want it to appear in Gremlin. Service names can only contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores, and must be less than 64 characters long. This variable is required for Kubernetes, but can be detected automatically on other platforms.

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Setting targeting labels

You can set custom labels (i.e., tags) to uniquely identify deployments of your software for targeting. Custom labels can be set by either using environment variables or in your configuration file.

Using environment variables, labels are variables containing the prefix GREMLIN_LABEL_. The text following this prefix will be set as the label's key, and the value will be set to the variable’s value. For example, the following variable will result in the label ENVIRONMENT: Production:

Shell


# Environment variable
GREMLIN_LABEL_ENVIRONMENT: Production

Using configuration files, add a list of key-value pairs to the labels property:

YAML


# Config file
labels:
  environment: Production

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Using a configuration file

Gremlin supports YAML files for file-based configuration. When using a configuration file, the following environment variables are required:

Warning

This file can be used to store sensitive material (i.e., Gremlin credentials) and should be stored appropriately.

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Environment variable	Description
`FAILURE_FLAGS_ENABLED`	Set to `true`, `yes`, or `1`to enable the Failure Flags SDK in your application.
`GREMLIN_SIDECAR_ENABLED`	Set to `true`, `yes`, or `1`to enable Failure-Flags-Sidecar. If unset or set to any other value Failure-Flags-Sidecar will operate in NOOP mode.
`GREMLIN_CONFIG_FILE`	Set to the fully qualified path of the file containing your Failure Flags configuration.

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Example configuration file

YAML


## Gremlin Team Id - you can find this value at https://app.gremlin.com/settings/teams
team_id: ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff

## Failure Flags Service Labels - Add labels to identify unique deployments.
labels:
    datacenter: corp-na1
    project: columbia

## Debug, set to true for enhanced debug logging to STDOUT
## Uncomment to enable debugging
#debug: true

## Gremlin Team Certificate - Paste certificate content here.
team_certificate: |
    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
    ExampleXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXX
    -----END CERTIFICATE-----

## Gremlin Team Certificate - Paste certificate content here.
team_private_key: |
    -----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY-----
    ExampleXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX==
    -----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----

## HTTPS Proxy, set this when routing outbound Gremlin HTTPS traffic through a proxy
#https_proxy: https://corp.proxy.internal:3128

## Custom CA Certificate, set this when using a https proxy with a self-signed certificate
## Paste certificate content here.
#ssl_cert: |
#    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
#    ExampleXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
#    XXXXXXXX
#    -----END CERTIFICATE-----

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Importing configuration values from files or ARNs

For some configuration options, you can retrieve their values from files deployed with the sidecar container, or from AWS services by using Amazon Resource Names (ARNs). These options are denoted by the suffixes _FILE or _ARN. You can use these options in place of their base option in the above table. Gremlin supports secretsmanager secrets and ssm parameter ARNs.

Note

Paths to files must be fully qualified paths from the filesystem root and cannot include relative paths.

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Environment variable	Config file property	Description
`GREMLIN_CONFIG_FILE`		If your config file is included in your container, this is the fully qualified path of the file containing your Failure Flags configuration.
`GREMLIN_CONFIG_ARN`		If your config file is hosted e.g. in AWS Secrets Manager, this is the Amazon Resource Name (ARN)of the resource containing your configuration file. If you must assume a different role at runtime to access that resource, you can specify that IAM role using `GREMLIN_CONFIG_ARN_ROLE`.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_CERTIFICATE_FILE`	`team_certificate_file`	If your team certificate file is included in your container, this is its fully qualified path.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_CERTIFICATE_ARN`	`team_certificate_arn`	If your team certificate is hosted e.g. in AWS Secrets Manager, this is the Amazon Resource Name (ARN)of the resource containing your certificate. If you must assume a different role at runtime to access that resource, you can specify that IAM role using `GREMLIN_CONFIG_ARN_ROLE`.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE`	`team_private_key_file`	If your private key file is included in your container, this is its fully qualified path.
`GREMLIN_TEAM_PRIVATE_KEY_ARN`	`team_private_key_arn`	If your private key is hosted e.g. in AWS Secrets Manager, this is the Amazon Resource Name (ARN)of the resource containing your key. If you must assume a different role at runtime to access that resource, you can specify that IAM role using `GREMLIN_CONFIG_ARN_ROLE`.

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For example, this configuration uses a file in the sidecar for the team certificate and an AWS ARN for the team private key:

SHELL


GREMLIN_TEAM_CERTIFICATE_FILE=/opt/secrets/gremlin/team-certificate.pem
GREMLIN_TEAM_PRIVATE_KEY_ARN=arn:aws:secretsmanager:<region>:<aws_account_id>:secret:<secret-name>

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Advanced configuration options

Environment variable	Config file property	Description
`HTTPS_PROXY`	`https_proxy`	If your application is behind a corporate proxy, set this to the URI of the proxy.
`GREMLIN_CUSTOM_ROOT_CERTIFICATE`	`ssl_cert`	If your company uses a proxy with a self-signed TLS certificate, set this to the contents of the root Certificate Authority (CA) certificate. This option has corresponding `_FILE`and `_ARN`options (in the config file, these are `ssl_cert_file`and `ssl_cert_arn`respectively).
`GREMLIN_CUSTOM_ROOT_CERTIFICATE_BUNDLE_FILE`	`ssl_trust_cert_bundle_file`	If your company uses a private Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), set this to the path of the file containing the full certificate chain. This option has a corresponding `_ARN`option (`ssl_trust_cert_bundle_file_arn` in the config file)
`GREMLIN_API_ENDPOINT_URL`	`api_endpoint_url`	The Gremlin API endpoint to use. This is only needed when using Gremlin Private Edition.

Failure Flags

Deploying Failure Flags on AWS Lambda