Blip

This page details how to configure the Blip binary (blip) that runs monitors. To configure (customize) metrics collection, see Plans and Metrics.

• Config File
• Command Line Options
  • --config FILE
  • --debug
  • --help
  • --log
  • --print-config
  • --print-domains
  • --print-monitors
  • --run
  • --version
• Startup
• Signals

Config File

Blip uses a single YAML file for configuration. See Configure / Config File for the full list of Blip config variables.

👉 By default, Blip reads blip.yaml in the current working directory, if it exits.

You can specify a different config file with the --config command-line option:

$ blip --config FILE

Or, you can specify a config file with the BLIP_CONFIG environment variable:

$ export BLIP_CONFIG=FILE
$ blip

The command-line option takes precedent over the environment variable. In the following example, Blip uses only FILE_2:

$ export BLIP_CONFIG=FILE_1
$ blip --config FILE_2

Command Line Options

Run blip --help to list command line options.

--config FILE

Default: blip.yaml
Env var: BLIP_CONFIG

Specify Blip configuration file. The specified file must exist, else Blip will error on boot.

Blip will boot successfully if the default file, blip.yaml, does not exist in the current working directly. In this case, Blip tries to auto-detect a local MySQL instance, which is useful for local development.

--debug

Env var: BLIP_CONFIG

Print debug to STDERR.

--help

Print help and exit.

--log

Default: false
Env var: BLIP_LOG

Print all “info” events to STDOUT. By default, Blip prints only errors to STDERR. See Logging.

--print-config

Print the server config after booting.

This option does not stop Blip from running. Specify --run=false to print the final server config and exit.

--print-domains

Print domains and collector options, then exit.

--print-monitors

Print the monitors after booting. The monitors are finalized: monitor defaults and interpolation have been applied.

This option does not stop Blip from running. Specify --run=false to print monitors and exit.

--run

Default: true
Env var: BLIP_RUN

Run Blip and all monitors after successful boot. If --run=false (or environment varialbe BLIP_RUN=false), Blip starts and loads everything, but exits before running monitors. See Startup.

--version

Print version and exit.

Startup

Blip has a two-phase startup sequence: boot, then run.

The boot phase loads and validates everything: Blip config, monitors, plans, and so forth. Any error on boot causes Blip to exit with a non-zero exit status.

The run phase runs monitors and the Blip API. Once running, Blip does not exit until it receives a signal. It retires on all errors, including panic.

To boot without running (which is useful to validate everything), specify --run=false on the commnand line, or environment varialbe BLIP_RUN=false.

Signals

Blip does a controlled shutdown on SIGTERM. Other signals are not caught.