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L7 Protocol Metrics

kpod-metrics auto-detects application-layer protocols from eBPF-captured traffic. No configuration or instrumentation needed.

Supported Protocols

Protocol Detection Method Metrics
HTTP Request/response parsing Latency, status codes, methods
DNS Port 53 + packet parsing Resolution latency, response codes
Redis RESP protocol detection Command latency, command types
MySQL MySQL wire protocol Query latency, error rates
Kafka Kafka protocol header Request latency, API keys
MongoDB MongoDB wire protocol Operation latency, operation types

How It Works

L7 protocol detection uses eBPF programs attached to socket-level tracepoints. When a TCP connection carries a recognized protocol:

  1. eBPF captures the request/response pair
  2. Protocol-specific parser extracts metadata (method, status, latency)
  3. Metrics are exported with protocol-specific labels

Enabling L7 Metrics

L7 collectors are enabled by default in the standard and comprehensive profiles:

config:
  collectors:
    dns: true
    # dnsPorts: [53]     # customize DNS ports

Topology Integration

L7 protocol detection feeds into the Service Topology feature. Edges in the topology graph show the auto-detected protocol alongside latency and request rate.