mtail, Log Lines Counted Into Metrics
mtail on EL 10 from the upstream release (sha256-verified), as a hardened systemd service on loopback; the live test appends three lines to the followed log, one with ERROR, and reads lines_total 3 and errors_total 1; every program directory is compiled by --compile_only before a restart. Original role, live-tested on Rocky Linux 10.
Verification
Live-testedReally deployed to a container sandbox, proven idempotent (a second run changes nothing), verified against the role’s assertions, then torn down.
Conformance
- Static validation (yamllint · ansible-lint)
Provenance
- SHA-256 checksum
- Signature (pending)
Functional
- Live-tested - applied, verified, destroyed
Last verified 2026-09-21 · podman 4.9.3 · ansible 2.21.4 · how we verify
Cite it in your README
badge · attributionPaste this beside the module in the repository that uses it. The badge is rendered from this artifact's verification record, so it reads live-tested because the record says so, and the link lands on this page.
[](https://www.iac-bazaar.com/catalog/ansible-mtail?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=artifact)
Ansible role 1.0.0, live-tested on IaC Bazaar: [mtail, Log Lines Counted Into Metrics](https://www.iac-bazaar.com/catalog/ansible-mtail?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=artifact)
```yaml
# mtail, Log Lines Counted Into Metrics: https://www.iac-bazaar.com/catalog/ansible-mtail (download from your IaC Bazaar account)
```Preview:
Documentation
mtail
mtail, Google's log-to-metrics extractor, from the upstream release
(sha256-verified), as a hardened system service on loopback whose programs
are compiled by mtail --compile_only before a restart. Original role for
EL 10, live-tested with podman on Rocky Linux 10.
No package, so the checksum is the whole story. EL 10 carries no
mtail; Google ships a release with a checksum file beside it. The
role downloads both and has Ansible's get_url refuse the asset unless its
SHA-256 is the one in the vendor's file, then installs the binaries as
root's in /usr/local/bin, pinned by mtail_version.
A service account, a hardened unit, a loopback listener. mtail
is a system user with no shell that owns the data directory and nothing
else; the unit runs with NoNewPrivileges, PrivateTmp, ProtectHome and
ProtectSystem=strict. The listener is 127.0.0.1:3903 by default,
for a proxy that authenticates or a client on the same host; the live test
reads the listening sockets and expects loopback only.
Proven by lines counted. The live test appends three lines to the
followed log, one of them holding ERROR, and reads lines_total 3 and
errors_total 1 from /metrics - mtail's tailing, its program and its
exporter all ran. The shipped program counts lines and errors over every
log; per-application programs go in mtail_extra_programs, and the whole
directory is compiled before the service restarts (mtail compiles only
*.mtail files from a directory, so a file-level validator would check
nothing).
License
Commercial - IaC Bazaar EULA. (c) IaC Bazaar.
Usage code & full reference need an account
The complete copy-paste usage, the full input/output reference, and operational notes are free with an account - shown here and bundled in the download. Sign in and this section fills in.
- Variables
- Test
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