YAML Tips and Gotchas

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The Filebeat configuration file uses YAML for its syntax. When you edit the file to modify configuration settings, there are a few things that you should know.

Use Spaces for Indentation

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Indentation is meaningful in YAML. Make sure that you use spaces, rather than tab characters, to indent sections.

Look at the Default Config File for Structure

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The best way to understand where to define a configuration option is by looking at the filebeat.yml configuration file. The configuration file contains most of the configuration options that are available for Filebeat. To change a configuration setting, simply uncomment the line and change the setting.

Test Your Config File

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You can test your configuration file to verify that the structure is valid. Simply run Filebeat in the foreground with the -configtest flag specified. For example:

filebeat -c filebeat.yml -configtest

You’ll see a message if Filebeat finds an error in the file.

Wrap Regular Expressions in Single Quotation Marks

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If you need to specify a regular expression in a YAML file, it’s a good idea to wrap the regular expression in single quotation marks to work around YAML’s tricky rules for string escaping.

For more information about YAML, see http://yaml.org/.