---
title: Telegraf Documentation
description: Telegraf plugin for collecting metrics from Exec
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/input-plugins/exec/
estimated_tokens: 2016
product: Telegraf
version: v1
---

-   Telegraf v0.1.5+

# Exec Input Plugin

This plugin executes the given `commands` on every interval and parses metrics from their output in any one of the supported [data formats](/telegraf/v1/data_formats/input). This plugin can be used to poll for custom metrics from any source.

**Introduced in:** Telegraf v0.1.5 **Tags:** system **OS support:** all

## Global configuration options

Plugins support additional global and plugin configuration settings for tasks such as modifying metrics, tags, and fields, creating aliases, and configuring plugin ordering. See [CONFIGURATION.md](/telegraf/v1/configuration/#plugins) for more details.

## Configuration

```toml
# Read metrics from one or more commands that can output to stdout
[[inputs.exec]]
  ## Commands array
  commands = []

  ## Environment variables
  ## Array of "key=value" pairs to pass as environment variables
  ## e.g. "KEY=value", "USERNAME=John Doe",
  ## "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/custom/lib64:/usr/local/libs"
  # environment = []

  ## Timeout for each command to complete.
  # timeout = "5s"

  ## Measurement name suffix
  ## Used for separating different commands
  # name_suffix = ""

  ## Ignore Error Code
  ## If set to true, a non-zero error code in not considered an error and the
  ## plugin will continue to parse the output.
  # ignore_error = false

  ## Log all messages sent to stderr
  # log_stderr = false

  ## Data format
  ## By default, exec expects JSON. This was done for historical reasons and is
  ## different than other inputs that use the influx line protocol. Each data
  ## format has its own unique set of configuration options, read more about
  ## them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_INPUT.md
  # data_format = "json"
```

Glob patterns in the `command` option are matched on every run, so adding new scripts that match the pattern will cause them to be picked up immediately.

### Logging

When setting `log_stderr` to `true`, the called command may write log messages to `stderr`, which Telegraf will log line-wise using the configured logging facility. By default, the *error* level will be used. Use the known prefixes `E!`, `W!`, `I!`, `D!` or `T!` to log with the *error*, *warning*, *info*, *debug* or *trace* log-level, respectively.

### Example

This script produces static values, since no timestamp is specified the values are at the current time. Ensure that int values are followed with `i` for proper parsing.

```sh
#!/bin/sh
echo 'example,tag1=a,tag2=b i=42i,j=43i,k=44i'
```

It can be paired with the following configuration and will be run at the `interval` of the agent.

```toml
[[inputs.exec]]
  commands = ["sh /tmp/test.sh"]
  timeout = "5s"
  data_format = "influx"
```

## Troubleshooting

### My script works when I run it by hand, but not when Telegraf is running as a service

This may be related to the Telegraf service running as a different user. The official packages run Telegraf as the `telegraf` user and group on Linux systems.

### With a PowerShell on Windows, the output of the script appears to be truncated

You may need to set a variable in your script to increase the number of columns available for output:

```shell
$host.UI.RawUI.BufferSize = new-object System.Management.Automation.Host.Size(1024,50)
```

## Metrics

## Example Output

#### Related

-   [Configure plugins](/telegraf/v1/configure_plugins/)
-   [Exec Plugin Source](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/tree/v1.38.4/plugins/inputs/exec/README.md)