MongoDB Atlas

Integrating MongoDB Atlas Metrics and Logs to KubeSense

KubeSense brings MongoDB Atlas telemetry into the platform through the OpenTelemetry (OTEL) Collector. Once configured, you can monitor Atlas metrics, capture audit and access logs, and visualize them alongside the rest of your infrastructure in KubeSense.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

A MongoDB Atlas project with API access enabled
An Atlas API key pair with at least the Project Data Access Read Only role
KubeSense deployed with an OTEL Collector that can reach the MongoDB Atlas endpoints
Audit logging enabled in Atlas if you plan to collect audit logs
Access to modify the KubeSense Helm values file

Collecting MongoDB Atlas Metrics

Step 1: Update KubeSense Helm Values File

Add the MongoDB Atlas receiver configuration to your KubeSense Helm values file (within the kubesensor section):

otel-collector:
  config:
    receivers:
      mongodbatlas:
        # Authentication
        public_key: <mongodb-atlas-public-key>
        private_key: <mongodb-atlas-private-key>
        # Metrics collection interval
        collection_interval: 5m
    service:
      pipelines:
        metrics/mongodbatlas:
          receivers:
          - mongodbatlas
          processors:
          - batch
          exporters:
          - otlphttp/kubesense_metrics

Note: Replace the public_key and private_key values with your MongoDB Atlas API credentials. Ensure that the OTEL collector endpoint used by otlphttp/kubesense_metrics is configured in your KubeSense deployment.

Step 2: Apply the Configuration

Upgrade your KubeSense deployment with the updated values file:

helm upgrade kubesense kubesense/kubesense \
  -f values.yaml \
  --namespace kubesense

Collecting MongoDB Atlas Logs

Step 1: Enable Log Collection in Helm Values

Extend the MongoDB Atlas receiver configuration to enable log ingestion:

otel-collector:
  config:
    receivers:
      mongodbatlas:
        public_key: <mongodb-atlas-public-key>
        private_key: <mongodb-atlas-private-key>
        logs:
          enabled: true
          projects:
            - name: "<Atlas Project Name>"
              collect_audit_logs: true
              collect_host_logs: true
              include_clusters: [Cluster0]
              access_logs:
                page_size: 2000
                max_pages: 10
                poll_interval: 5m
    service:
      pipelines:
        logs/mongodbatlas:
          receivers:
          - mongodbatlas
          processors:
          - batch
          exporters:
          - otlphttp/kubesense_logs

Note: Update the project name, cluster list, and log settings to match your MongoDB Atlas environment. Ensure audit logging is enabled in Atlas if you plan to collect audit logs.

Step 2: Apply the Configuration

Upgrade KubeSense to apply the changes:

helm upgrade kubesense kubesense/kubesense \
  -f values.yaml \
  --namespace kubesense

MongoDB Atlas Metrics Collected

KubeSense ingests a wide range of MongoDB Atlas metrics, including:

Metric Name	Type	Unit	Description
mongodbatlas.db.counts	gauge	number	Total number of databases
mongodbatlas.db.size	gauge	bytes	Aggregate database size
mongodbatlas.disk.partition.iops.average	gauge	ops/s	Average partition I/O operations per second
mongodbatlas.disk.partition.latency.max	gauge	milliseconds	Maximum disk partition latency
mongodbatlas.process.cpu.usage.average	gauge	percent	Average MongoDB process CPU usage
mongodbatlas.process.connections	sum	number	Current number of client connections
mongodbatlas.process.db.operations.rate	gauge	operations/s	Database operation rate
mongodbatlas.process.memory.usage	gauge	bytes	MongoDB process memory usage
mongodbatlas.system.cpu.normalized.usage.average	gauge	percent	Normalized system CPU usage
mongodbatlas.system.network.io.max	gauge	bytes/s	Maximum system network throughput

For the complete list of metrics, refer to the MongoDB Atlas receiver documentation.

MongoDB Atlas Log Attributes

When logs are ingested, the following attributes are available in KubeSense:

Name	Path	Type	Description
Project	attributes.project	string	MongoDB Atlas project name
Cluster	attributes.cluster	string	Cluster identifier
Log Type	attributes.type	string	Log category (audit, access, host, etc.)
Timestamp	timestamp	timestamp	Time the event was recorded
Severity	severity_text	string	Log severity level
Message	body	string	Log message content

Visualization in KubeSense

Once the pipelines are active, MongoDB Atlas metrics and logs populate the KubeSense dashboards and log explorer, allowing you to:

Monitor CPU, memory, disk, and network trends across clusters
Track MongoDB operations, connections, and cache activity
Analyze audit and access logs for security and compliance
Build alerts and custom views for Atlas environments

Configuration Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`public_key`	string	Yes	MongoDB Atlas API public key
`private_key`	string	Yes	MongoDB Atlas API private key
`collection_interval`	string	No	Frequency of metric collection (`5m` default)
`logs.enabled`	boolean	No	Enable or disable log ingestion
`logs.projects`	array	No	List of projects to collect logs from
`logs.projects[].include_clusters`	array	No	Cluster names to include
`access_logs.poll_interval`	string	No	Polling interval for access logs

Troubleshooting

Logs Not Appearing

Ensure audit logging is enabled in Atlas for the target project
Verify the API key role includes Project Data Access Read Only
Confirm the project and cluster names in the configuration match Atlas exactly
Check OTEL collector logs for MongoDB Atlas API errors

Metrics Missing

Verify the API key permissions and cluster type (some cluster tiers limit metric availability)
Ensure the collection_interval is set to a supported value
Review OTEL collector logs for connectivity or authentication issues

Best Practices

Rotate Atlas API keys regularly and store them securely
Limit API key permissions to the minimum required role
Configure resource tags in resource/env to differentiate Atlas environments
Use dedicated pipelines for Atlas data to simplify monitoring and alerting

Conclusion

By integrating MongoDB Atlas telemetry with KubeSense, you gain full visibility into Atlas performance, resource utilization, and security events, all within your centralized observability platform.

MongoDB Atlas

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