HAProxy
Ship logs from HAProxy to logstash
Configure Filebeat to ship logs from HAProxy to Logstash and Elasticsearch.
Follow this step by step guide to get 'logs' from your system to Logit.io:
Step 1 - Install Filebeat
- Linux
- macOS
- DEB
- RPM
To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:
- Choose the AMD / Intel file (x86_64) or
- Choose the ARM file (arm64)
You can tell if you have a Linux PC with an AMD / Intel CPU (kernel) architecture by opening a terminal and running the uname -m command. If it displays x86_64 you have AMD / Intel architecture.
If you have an x86_64 system download and extract the contents of the file using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf filebeat-8.12.2-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
If you have an arm64 system download and extract the contents of the file using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-linux-arm64.tar.gz
tar xzvf filebeat-8.12.2-linux-arm64.tar.gz
To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:
- Choose the AMD / Intel file (x86_64) or
- Choose the ARM file (aarch64)
You can tell if you have a Mac with an ARM CPU architecture by opening the Terminal application and running the arch command. If it displays arm64 you have ARM architecture.
If you have an x86_64 system download and extract the contents of the file using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf filebeat-8.12.2-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
If you have an aarch64 system download and extract the contents of the file using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-darwin-aarch64.tar.gz
tar xzvf filebeat-8.12.2-darwin-aarch64.tar.gz
To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:
- Choose the AMD / Intel file (x86_64) or
- Choose the ARM file (aarch64)
You can tell if you have a PC with an ARM CPU architecture by opening the Terminal application and running the arch command. If it displays arm64 you have ARM architecture.
If you have an x86_64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i filebeat-8.12.2-amd64.deb
If you have an aarch64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-arm64.deb
sudo dpkg -i filebeat-8.12.2-arm64.deb
To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:
- Choose the AMD / Intel file (x86_64) or
- Choose the ARM file (aarch64)
You can tell if you have a PC with an ARM CPU architecture by opening the Terminal application and running the arch command. If it displays arm64 you have ARM architecture.
If you have an x86_64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -vi filebeat-8.12.2-x86_64.rpm
If you have an aarch64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:
curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.12.2-aarch64.rpm
sudo rpm -vi filebeat-8.12.2-aarch64.rpm
Step 2 - Setup HAProxy Configuration
DEB (Debian/Ubuntu)
HAProxy generates logs in syslog format, on debian and ubuntu the haproxy package contains the required syslog configuration to generate a haproxy.log file which we will then monitor using filebeat. Confirm the existence of /etc/rsyslog.d/49-haproxy.conf and /var/log/haproxy.log If you've recently installed haproxy you may need to restart rsyslog to get additional haproxy config file loaded.
RPM (Centos/RHEL)
The RPM haproxy default configuration sends it's logs to a syslog daemon listening on localhost via UDP. We need to configure rsyslog to listen on localhost and write a haproxy.log file which we will then monitor using filebeat. Run the following lines of command and then restart rsyslog.
echo '#Rsyslog configuration to listen on localhost for HAProxy log messages
#and write them to /var/log/haproxy.log
$ModLoad imudp
$UDPServerRun 514
$UDPServerAddress 127.0.0.1
local2.* /var/log/haproxy.log' | sudo tee /etc/rsyslog.d/haproxy.conf
sudo systemctl restart rsyslog
Step 3 - Enable the Haproxy module
- Linux
- macOS
- DEB
- RPM
There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the haproxy module:
sudo filebeat modules list
sudo filebeat modules enable haproxy
In the module config under modules.d, change the module settings to match your environment. You must enable at least one fileset in the module.
Filesets are disabled by default.
Copy the snippet below and replace the contents of the haproxy.yml module file:
# Module: haproxy
# Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/8.12/filebeat-module-haproxy.html
- module: haproxy
# All logs
log:
enabled: true
# Set which input to use between syslog (default) or file.
#var.input:
# Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
# Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
#var.paths:
Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, for haproxy we want to configure the haproxy module to read from file, uncomment and edit the var.input line to say
var.input: file
There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the haproxy module:
./filebeat modules list
./filebeat modules enable haproxy
In the module config under modules.d, change the module settings to match your environment. You must enable at least one fileset in the module.
Filesets are disabled by default.
Copy the snippet below and replace the contents of the haproxy.yml module file:
# Module: haproxy
# Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/8.12/filebeat-module-haproxy.html
- module: haproxy
# All logs
log:
enabled: true
# Set which input to use between syslog (default) or file.
#var.input:
# Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
# Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
#var.paths:
Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, for haproxy we want to configure the haproxy module to read from file, uncomment and edit the var.input line to say
var.input: file
There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the haproxy module:
sudo filebeat modules list
sudo filebeat modules enable haproxy
In the module config under modules.d, change the module settings to match your environment. You must enable at least one fileset in the module.
Filesets are disabled by default.
Copy the snippet below and replace the contents of the haproxy.yml module file:
# Module: haproxy
# Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/8.12/filebeat-module-haproxy.html
- module: haproxy
# All logs
log:
enabled: true
# Set which input to use between syslog (default) or file.
#var.input:
# Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
# Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
#var.paths:
Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, for haproxy we want to configure the haproxy module to read from file, uncomment and edit the var.input line to say
var.input: file
There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the haproxy module:
sudo filebeat modules list
sudo filebeat modules enable haproxy
In the module config under modules.d, change the module settings to match your environment. You must enable at least one fileset in the module.
Filesets are disabled by default.
Copy the snippet below and replace the contents of the haproxy.yml module file:
# Module: haproxy
# Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/8.12/filebeat-module-haproxy.html
- module: haproxy
# All logs
log:
enabled: true
# Set which input to use between syslog (default) or file.
#var.input:
# Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
# Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
#var.paths:
Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, for haproxy we want to configure the haproxy module to read from file, uncomment and edit the var.input line to say
var.input: file
Step 4 - Update your 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.
# ============================== Filebeat modules ==============================
filebeat.config.modules:
path: ${path.config}/modules.d/*.yml
reload.enabled: false
#reload.period: 10s
# ================================== Outputs ===================================
# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------
output.logstash:
hosts: ["your-logstash-host:your-ssl-port"]
loadbalance: true
ssl.enabled: true
# ================================= Processors =================================
processors:
- add_host_metadata:
when.not.contains.tags: forwarded
- add_cloud_metadata: ~
- add_docker_metadata: ~
- add_kubernetes_metadata: ~
If you’re running Filebeat 7 add this code block to the end. Otherwise, you can leave it out.
# ... For Filebeat 7 only ...
filebeat.registry.path: /var/lib/filebeat
If you’re running Filebeat 6 add this code block to the end. Otherwise, you can leave it out.
# ... For Filebeat 6 only ...
registry_file: /var/lib/filebeat/registry
Validate your YAML
It’s a good idea to run the configuration file through a YAML validator to rule out indentation errors, clean up extra characters, and check if your YAML file is valid. Yamllint.com is a great choice.
Step 5 - Validate configuration
- Linux
- macOS
- DEB
- RPM
sudo ./filebeat -e -c filebeat.yml --strict.perms=false
You’ll be running filebeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run filebeat with --strict.perms=false as shown above. Read more about how to change ownership.
sudo ./filebeat -e -c filebeat.yml --strict.perms=false
You’ll be running filebeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run filebeat with --strict.perms=false as shown above. Read more about how to change ownership.
sudo filebeat -e -c /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml
sudo filebeat -e -c /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml
Step 6 - Start filebeat
- Linux
- macOS
- DEB
- RPM
To start Filebeat, run:
sudo chown root filebeat.yml
sudo chown root modules.d/haproxy.yml
sudo ./filebeat -e
You’ll be running filebeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run filebeat with --strict.perms=false as shown above. Read more about how to change ownership.
To start Filebeat, run:
sudo chown root filebeat.yml
sudo chown root modules.d/haproxy.yml
sudo ./filebeat -e
You’ll be running filebeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run filebeat with --strict.perms=false as shown above. Read more about how to change ownership.
To start Filebeat, run:
sudo service filebeat start
To start Filebeat, run:
sudo service filebeat start
Step 7 - Check Logit.io for your logs
Data should now have been sent to your Stack.
If you don't see logs take a look at How to diagnose no data in Stack below for how to diagnose common issues.
Step 8 - 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 9 - HAproxy dashboard
The HAproxy module comes with predefined Kibana dashboards. To view your dashboards for any of your Logit.io stacks, launch Logs and choose Dashboards.
Step 10 - HAproxy Logs Overview
HAProxy (High Availability Proxy) is an open-source software load balancer for proxying HTTP & TCP based applications. As the tool offers high availability by default it is well suited for high traffic websites.
HAProxy is the de-facto proxy server powering many of the web’s most popular sites & is often the default deployment in most cloud platforms. For most Linux distributions it is the reference load-balancer recommended for container orchestration (E.G Kubernetes).
HAProxy logs hold data on HTTP queries, error codes & how long the request took to send, if it was queued and how long for, how long the TCP connection took to establish, as well as information on response size and cookies, among other valuable insights for reporting & security. These logs can be difficult to process for analysis at scale & so a log analyser will likely be required to process HAProxy logs efficiently.
Requests & traffic for HTTP & TCP based applications are spread across multiple servers when HAProxy is used. The proxy is well known for its flexibility & the tool’s logs can be used in a log management solution such as Logit.io for easy identification of critical issues within an application.
The Logit.io platform offers a complete solution for centralising your log files from multiple applications and servers and provides a HAProxy log analyser as standard. You can also use our Kibana integrations to visualise key server metrics from both frontend and backend applications for fast error resolution & troubleshooting.
Followed our HAProxy log configuration guide and are still encountering issues? We're here to help you get started. Feel free to reach out by contacting our support team by visiting our dedicated Help Centre or via live chat & we'll be happy to assist.