Apache Logstash Configuration

deb (Debian/Ubuntu/Mint)

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats//-oss-7.15.1-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i -oss-7.15.1-amd64.deb

rpm (CentOS/RHEL/Fedora)

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats//-oss-7.15.1-x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -vi -oss-7.15.1-x86_64.rpm

macOS

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats//-oss-7.15.1-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf -oss-7.15.1-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz

Windows

• Download the Windows zip file from the official downloads page.
• Extract the contents of the zip file into C:\Program Files.
• Rename the -<version>-windows directory to ``.
• Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator). If you are running Windows XP, you may need to download and install PowerShell.
• Run the following commands to install as a Windows service:

cd 'C:\Program Files\'
.\install-service-.ps1

There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the apache module.

deb/rpm

sudo filebeat modules list
sudo filebeat modules enable apache

macOS

cd <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>
./filebeat modules list
./filebeat modules enable apache

Windows

cd <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>
.\filebeat.exe modules list
.\filebeat.exe modules enable apache

Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, most commonly this would be to read logs from a non-default location

deb/rpm /etc/filebeat/modules.d/apache.yml
mac/win <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>/modules.d/apache.yml

- module: apache
# Access logs
access:
  enabled: true

  # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
  # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
  var.paths: ["/custom/path/to/logs"]

# Error logs
error:
  enabled: true

  # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
  # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
  var.paths: ["/custom/path/to/logs"]

deb/rpm /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml
mac/win <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>/filebeat.yml

We'll be shipping to Logstash so that we have the option to run filters before the data is indexed.
Comment out the elasticsearch output block.

## Comment out elasticsearch output
#output.elasticsearch:
#  hosts: ["localhost:9200"]

Let's check the configuration file is syntactically correct by running directly inside the terminal. If the file is invalid, will print an error loading config file error message with details on how to correct the problem.

deb/rpm

sudo  -e -c /etc//.yml

macOS

cd <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>
./ -e -c .yml

Windows

cd <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>
.\.exe -e -c .yml

Ok, time to start ingesting data!

deb/rpm

sudo systemctl enable filebeat

sudo systemctl start filebeat

mac

./filebeat

Windows

Start-Service filebeat

If you don't see data appearing in your Stack after following the steps, visit the Help Centre guide for steps to diagnose no data appearing in your Stack or Chat to support now.

The Apache module comes with predefined Kibana dashboards. To view your dashboards for any of your Logit.io stacks, launch Kibana and choose Dashboards.

Apache (also known as Apache HTTP Server) is a popular open-source web server that manages incoming HTTP requests. The first edition of Apache was launched over twenty years ago in 1995 & has grown to power over 40% of websites globally. Just one of the reasons for its widespread adoption is due to its highly flexible and powerful features.

Apache produces access & error logs and as a server that manages HTTP requests, the tool generates a high amount of log data when used to monitor high traffic websites. This can be difficult to efficiently analyse without an Apache log viewer.

The error log is characterised as the most important log data you’ll want to analyse as part of your audits. It contains a wealth of information beyond just errors & can be used for comprehensive diagnostic reporting. Access logs keep track of all access requests that have been sent to your web server and include data such as IP addresses, URLs & response times.

Logit.io provides a complete solution for fast Apache log viewing & analysis. Our platform’s built-in Apache log analyser saves on the need to configure numerous tools for the ingestion of Apache server logs as our hosted ELK Stack takes care of transforming, parsing, alerting, visualising & reporting in one centralised platform.

Followed our configuration file example for Apache and are still encountering issues? We're here to help. Reach out by contacting our team by visiting our dedicated Help Centre or via live chat & we'll be able to get back to you.