Can a plugin be loaded dynamically by the agent? Or does it have to be compiled with the agent ?
Currently all plugins are compiled into the agent, however there is an open issue on GitHub discussing a gRPC-based plugin system, which would enable the dynamic loading of plugins:
opened 09:34PM - 20 Feb 18 UTC
feature request
plugin/parser
plugin/serializer
## Feature Request
### Proposal:
Add a plugin system, similar to #1717 but… using gRPC.
### Current behavior:
~Plugins must be compiled into Telegraf directly. The only option for external code is the `exec` plugin.~ _Update: Options for external code are now: inputs.exec, inputs.execd, processors.execd, and outputs.execd._
### Desired behavior:
Be able to create plugins that can be compiled and maintained separately from Telegraf, and have improved performance with support for event driven `ServiceInput`'s.
### Use case:
Some plugins cannot be submitted to, is not general purpose enough for, or for other reasons cannot be included in the main Telegraf build. Allowing the plugin to be compiled separately and loaded at runtime into any supporting Telegraf version will reduce the overhead of maintaining these plugins.