How to send data from a New Relic Python app

This guide shows how to route New Relic telemetry from a Python app through Sawmills. For collector endpoint exposure, first complete How to send data to the Sawmills collector.

Note: This guide covers the New Relic Python APM language agent (and, optionally, the standalone Telemetry SDK). It does not cover the New Relic Infrastructure agent. For Infrastructure setup, see New Relic Infrastructure agent.

Prerequisites

A running Sawmills Collector with a New Relic source configured
A New Relic license key
A Python app instrumented with the New Relic Python agent (newrelic)

Environment Variables

Unlike the Java agent — which splits timeslice and dimensional metrics across two hosts — the New Relic Python agent sends its telemetry to a single host, so one variable, NEW_RELIC_HOST, points the agent at Sawmills.

Variable	Controls	Format	Example
`NEW_RELIC_HOST`	Python APM agent connection (timeslice metrics)	`host`	`<collector-id>.collectors.sawmills.ai`
`NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY`	Authentication to New Relic	key	`eu01xx...NRAL`

Your <collector-id> is shown in the Sawmills UI under your pipeline’s collector details.

The New Relic source processes the APM agent’s timeslice metrics (metric_data) and forwards them to New Relic. Other APM payloads the agent sends over this connection — transaction traces, custom/analytics events, error data, and span events — are acknowledged by the collector but not forwarded. Route through Sawmills for APM metrics; if you depend on traces, events, or errors in New Relic, those are not preserved on this path today.

NEW_RELIC_HOST for the Python agent is a hostname only — do not include a scheme (https://) or a :port suffix. The Python agent does not read NEW_RELIC_METRICS_HOST (that variable is Java/Telemetry-SDK only); setting it here has no effect.

Port

The Sawmills collector receives the New Relic protocols on a dedicated port (the source’s default is 14275; your collector may differ). Find the exact value under New Relic ingestion endpoints → APM agent in the collector details in the Sawmills UI — copy the host:port shown there. The Python agent takes the host and port as separate settings and defaults to 443 when no port is given, so set the port explicitly to match your collector endpoint. In newrelic.ini:

[newrelic]
host = <collector-id>.collectors.sawmills.ai
port = 14275

Or via environment variable:

export NEW_RELIC_PORT="14275"

Configure the Python app

export NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY="<your-license-key>"
export NEW_RELIC_HOST="<collector-id>.collectors.sawmills.ai"
# Port shown for your collector's New Relic APM ingestion endpoint (default 14275):
export NEW_RELIC_PORT="14275"

Start the app under the New Relic admin wrapper so the agent is initialized:

NEW_RELIC_CONFIG_FILE=newrelic.ini newrelic-admin run-program python your_app.py

For Kubernetes, inject the values from a ConfigMap and Secret:

env:
  - name: NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: newrelic-license
        key: license_key
  - name: NEW_RELIC_HOST
    valueFrom:
      configMapKeyRef:
        name: newrelic-config
        key: NEW_RELIC_HOST
  # Port of your collector's New Relic APM ingestion endpoint (default 14275):
  - name: NEW_RELIC_PORT
    valueFrom:
      configMapKeyRef:
        name: newrelic-config
        key: NEW_RELIC_PORT

Restart the deployment after changes:

kubectl rollout restart deployment/<your-app>

Telemetry SDK (optional)

If your app uses the standalone New Relic Telemetry SDK for Python (newrelic-telemetry-sdk) to send dimensional metrics directly to the Metric API — separate from the APM agent — point its client host at the collector when you construct it:

from newrelic_telemetry_sdk import MetricClient

client = MetricClient(
    license_key="<your-license-key>",
    host="<collector-id>.collectors.sawmills.ai",
    port=14275,  # your collector's New Relic endpoint port — the SDK defaults to 443
)

Most Python APM users do not use the Telemetry SDK; skip this section if you only instrument with the newrelic agent.

Verify

Check application logs for the agent connecting to your Sawmills collector endpoint (look for a line reporting the reporting host on agent startup).
Validate data in New Relic. The New Relic source forwards only the APM agent’s metric_data (timeslice metrics), which New Relic stores as Metric — so query the Metric type, not Transaction:

SELECT count(*) FROM Metric WHERE appName = '<your-app-name>' SINCE 5 minutes ago

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
No data arrives	Verify DNS reachability to `<collector-id>.collectors.sawmills.ai` from the app
Agent can’t connect / TLS error	Ensure `NEW_RELIC_HOST` is a hostname only (no `https://`, no `:port`)
Connecting on the wrong port	Set `port` in `newrelic.ini` or `NEW_RELIC_PORT` — not a `:port` suffix on `NEW_RELIC_HOST`
Agent never initializes	Start the app with `newrelic-admin run-program`, or `import newrelic.agent; initialize()`
Changes not taking effect	Restart the deployment after updating env vars

Overview

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How to send data from a New Relic Python app

Prerequisites

Environment Variables

Port

Configure the Python app

Telemetry SDK (optional)

Verify

Troubleshooting

​Prerequisites

​Environment Variables

​Port

​Configure the Python app

​Telemetry SDK (optional)

​Verify

​Troubleshooting

​Related Docs

Prerequisites

Environment Variables

Port

Configure the Python app

Telemetry SDK (optional)

Verify

Troubleshooting

Related Docs