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---
title: Carbon2 output data format
description: Use the Carbon2 output data format (serializer) to convert Telegraf metrics into the Carbon2 format.
menu:
telegraf_1_18:
name: Carbon2
weight: 10
parent: Output data formats
---
The `carbon2` output data format (serializer) translates the Telegraf metric format to the [Carbon2 format ](http://metrics20.org/implementations/ ).
### Configuration
```toml
[[outputs.file]]
## Files to write to, "stdout" is a specially handled file.
files = ["stdout", "/tmp/metrics.out"]
## Data format to output.
## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
## more about them here:
## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
data_format = "carbon2"
```
Standard form:
```
metric=name field=field_1 host=foo 30 1234567890
metric=name field=field_2 host=foo 4 1234567890
metric=name field=field_N host=foo 59 1234567890
```
### Metrics
The serializer converts the metrics by creating `intrinsic_tags` using the combination of metric name and fields. So, if one Telegraf metric has 4 fields, the `carbon2` output will be 4 separate metrics. There will be a `metric` tag that represents the name of the metric and a `field` tag to represent the field.
### Example
If we take the following InfluxDB Line Protocol:
```
weather,location=us-midwest,season=summer temperature=82,wind=100 1234567890
```
After serializing in Carbon2, the result would be:
```
metric=weather field=temperature location=us-midwest season=summer 82 1234567890
metric=weather field=wind location=us-midwest season=summer 100 1234567890
```
### Fields and tags with spaces
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When a field key or tag key-value have spaces, spaces will be replaced with `_` .
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### Tags with empty values
When a tag's value is empty, it will be replaced with `null` .
