• 1) Install difftastic (difft cli)

  macOS / Linux

  brew install difftastic
  

  Other: See other installation options for difftastic here.

• 2) Clone / start the local VRL webserver (for testing)

  Clone

  git clone https://github.com/shaeqahmed/vrl-web.git
  

  Start the server and keep it running (in a new terminal tab)

  cd vrl-web/vrl-web-server-warp
  cargo run --release
  

python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt

examples (an example directory)
└── aws_vpcflow # (create a folder with the logsource name)
    ├── fields # (place files containing ECS / custom fields specified in the Filebeat-style format in this sub directory)
    │   ├── agent.yml
    │   ├── base-fields.yml
    │   ├── ecs.yml
    │   └── fields.yml
    ├── log_source.yml # (the edited log source file)
    ├── log_source_generated.yml.go  # (the generated log source file, use this to update^)
    └── test # (directory containing test   expected files, also according to the Filebeat style (e.g. '-expected.json' for assertions)
        ├── test-extra-samples.log
        ├── test-extra-samples.log-expected.json
        ├── test-tcp-flag-sequence.log
        ├── test-tcp-flag-sequence.log-expected.json
        ├── test-v5-all-fields.log
        ├── test-v5-all-fields.log-expected.json
        ├── test-with-message-field.log
        └── test-with-message-field.log-expected.json

python3 main.py --logsource-dir examples/minimal # simple working example

python3 main.py --logsource-dir examples/aws_vpcflow # example for devloping a new log source for AWS VPC Flow logs using an existing test case suite / schema

Running this command will help you create a valid log_source.yml file for a log source name aws_vpcflow. It will use the fields (schema) and tests you have provided in the fields/ and test/ subdirectories respectively.

For inspiration on example test cases, fields to start with, and how to structure ECS compatible tables, you can reference the approach from Filebeat / Elastic e.g.:

• Tests https://github.com/elastic/integrations/tree/main/packages/aws/data_stream/vpcflow/_dev/test/pipeline

• Fields https://github.com/elastic/integrations/tree/main/packages/aws/data_stream/vpcflow/fields

After running the script, if an error is encountered such as an invalid VRL script, mismatching schemas, etc. the error will be logged by the CLI and your EDITOR will be opened with the corresponding files (log source, failing test case, etc.) prompting you to make the necessary fixes.

Once you have made the fixes, close the editor window, and hit 'enter in the CLI as it prompts you to re-run the steps until all the test cases are passing. To close out the interactive session, run Ctrl C in the terminal to end the process.

Happy log source writing 🎉.