What happens when APM Server or Elasticsearch is down?edit

If Elasticsearch is down

APM Server does not have an internal queue to buffer requests, but instead leverages an HTTP request timeout to act as back-pressure. If Elasticsearch goes down, the APM Server will eventually deny incoming requests. Both the APM Server and APM agent(s) will issue logs accordingly.

If APM Server is down

Some agents have internal queues or buffers that will temporarily store data if the APM Server goes down. As a general rule of thumb, queues fill up quickly. Assume data will be lost if APM Server goes down. Adjusting these queues/buffers can increase the agent’s overhead, so use caution when updating default values.

  • Go agent - Circular buffer with configurable size: ELASTIC_APM_BUFFER_SIZE.
  • Java agent - Internal buffer with configurable size: max_queue_size.
  • Node.js agent - No internal queue. Data is lost.
  • PHP agent - No internal queue. Data is lost.
  • Python agent - Internal Transaction queue with configurable size and time between flushes.
  • Ruby agent - Internal queue with configurable size: api_buffer_size.
  • RUM agent - No internal queue. Data is lost.
  • .NET agent - No internal queue. Data is lost.