Filebeat Configuration

A log shipper designed for files.

Filebeat is an open source shipping agent that lets you ship logs from local files to one or more destinations, including Logstash.

Step 1 - Install Filebeat

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 and extract the Windows zip file.
Rename the -<version>-windows directory to ``.
Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator.
Run the following to install as a Windows service:

.\install-service-.ps1

If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example: PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-.ps1.

My OS isn't here! Chat to support now

Step 2 - Copy Configuration File

The configuration file below is pre-configured to send data to your Logit.io Stack via Logstash.

Copy the configuration file below and overwrite the contents of filebeat.yml.

For versions 7.16.x and above Please change - type: log to - type: filestream

# ============================== Filebeat inputs ==============================
filebeat.inputs:

- type: log

  # Change to true to enable this input configuration.
  enabled: true

  # Paths to send data from
  paths:
  - [enter-path-to-your-logs e.g. /var/log/*.log]
# ============================== Filebeat modules ==============================

filebeat.config.modules:
  # Glob pattern for configuration loading
  path: ${path.config}/modules.d/*.yml

  # Set to true to enable config reloading
  reload.enabled: false

  # Period on which files under path should be checked for changes
  #reload.period: 10s

# ======================= Elasticsearch template setting =======================

setup.template.settings:
  index.number_of_shards: 1
  #index.codec: best_compression
  #_source.enabled: false

# ================================== Outputs ===================================
# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------
<div class="sw-warning">
    <b>No input available! </b> Your stack is missing the required input for this data source <a href="#" onclick="Intercom('showNewMessage')" class="btn btn-info btn-sm">Talk to support to add the input</a>
</div>

Step 3 - Start filebeat

Ok, time to start ingesting data!

deb/rpm

sudo systemctl enable filebeat
sudo systemctl start filebeat

mac

./filebeat

Windows

Start-Service filebeat

Step 4 - Configure Modules (Optional)

Depending on your data source, Filebeat provides pre-configured modules and dashboards. The following data sources have Filebeat modules available to use straight away -

apache, auditd, elasticsearch, haproxy, iis, kafka, kibana, logstash, mongodb, mysql, nginx, postgresql, redis, system, traefik

Step 5 - How to diagnose no data in Stack

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.

Step 6 - Filebeat Overview

Filebeat is the most popular way to send logs to ELK due to its reliability & minimal memory footprint. It is the leading Beat out of the entire collection of open-source shipping tools, including Auditbeat, Metricbeat & Heartbeat.

Filebeat's origins begin from combining key features from Logstash-Forwarder & Lumberjack & is written in Go. Within the logging pipeline, Filebeat can generate, parse, tail & forward common logs to be indexed within Elasticsearch. The harvester is often compared to Logstash but it is not a suitable replacement & instead should be used in tandem for most use cases.

Earlier versions of Filebeat suffered from a very limited scope & only allowed the user to send events to Logstash & Elasticsearch. More recent versions of the shipper have been updated to be compatible with Redis & Kafka.

A misconfigured Filebeat setup can lead to many complex logging concerns that this filebeat.yml wizard aims to solve. Just a couple of examples of these include excessively large registry files & file handlers that error frequently when encountering deleted or renamed log files. Tracking numerous pipelines using this shipper can become tedious for self hosted Elastic Stacks so you may wish to consider our Hosted ELK service as a solution to this.

If you need any further assistance with migrating your log data to ELK we're here to help you get started. Feel free to get in contact with our support team by sending us a message via live chat & we'll be happy to assist.

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