HTTP Metrics

First we need to install Metricbeat.

deb (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
wget -qO - https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/oss-6.x/apt stable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-6.x.list

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install metricbeat

rpm (Redhat/Centos)

sudo rpm --import https://packages.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
echo "[elastic-6.x]
name=Elastic repository for 6.x packages
baseurl=https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/6.x/yum
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
enabled=1
autorefresh=1
type=rpm-md" | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/elastic-beats.repo

sudo yum install metricbeat

sudo chkconfig --add metricbeat

macOS

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-6.7.2-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf metricbeat-6.7.2-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz

Windows

• Download the Metricbeat Windows zip file from the official downloads page.

• Extract the contents of the zip file into C:\Program Files.

• Rename the metricbeat-<version>-windows directory to Metricbeat.

• 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 Metricbeat as a Windows service:

  PS > cd 'C:\Program Files\Metricbeat'
  PS C:\Program Files\Metricbeat> .\install-service-metricbeat.ps1
  
  Security warning
  Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the internet can be useful,
  this script can potentially harm your computer. If you trust this script, use
  the Unblock-File cmdlet to allow the script to run without this warning message.
  Do you want to run C:\Program Files\Winlogbeat\install-service-metricbeat.ps1?
  [D] Do not run  [R] Run once  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "D"): R
  
  Status   Name               DisplayName
  ------   ----               -----------
  Stopped  metricbeat         metricbeat

deb/rpm /etc/metricbeat/metricbeat.yml
mac/win <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>/metricbeat.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"]

Uncomment and change the logstash output to match below.

output.logstash:
    hosts: ["your-logstash-host:your-ssl-port"]
    loadbalance: true
    ssl.enabled: true

There are several built in metricbeat modules you can use. To enable the HTTP module run.

deb/rpm

metricbeat modules list
metricbeat modules enable http

macOS

./metricbeat modules list
./metricbeat modules enable http

Windows

PS > .\metricbeat.exe modules enable http

Each module has its own configuration file where different metricsets can be enabled / disabled. Locate the configuration file for the HTTP module.

deb/rpm /etc/metricbeat/modules.d/http.yml

mac/win ~/<EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>/modules.d/http.yml

By default the HTTP json and server metricsets are disabled. To enable or disable a metric simply comment or uncomment the line out.

- module: http
  #metricsets:
  #  - json
  period: 10s
  hosts: ["localhost:80"]
  namespace: "json_namespace"
  path: "/"
  #body: ""
  #method: "GET"
  #username: "user"
  #password: "secret"
  #request.enabled: false
  #response.enabled: false
  #json.is_array: false
  #dedot.enabled: false

- module: http
  #metricsets:
  #  - server
  host: "localhost"
  port: "8080"
  enabled: false
  #paths:
  #  - path: "/foo"
  #    namespace: "foo"
  #    fields: # added to the the response in root. overwrites existing fields
  #      key: "value"

Ok, time to start gathering metrics!

deb/rpm

sudo systemctl enable metricbeat
sudo systemctl start metricbeat

macOS

./metricbeat

Windows

PS C:\Program Files\Metricbeat> Start-Service metricbeat