Step 4: Load the index template in Elasticsearch
editStep 4: Load the index template in Elasticsearch
editIn Elasticsearch, index templates are used to define settings and mappings that determine how fields should be analyzed.
The recommended index template file for Filebeat is installed by the
Filebeat packages. If you accept the default configuration in the
filebeat.yml
config file, Filebeat loads the template automatically
after successfully connecting to Elasticsearch. If the template already exists,
it’s not overwritten unless you configure Filebeat to do so.
You can disable automatic template loading, or load your own template, by configuring template loading options in the Filebeat configuration file.
You can also set options to change the name of the index and index template.
A connection to Elasticsearch is required to load the index template. If the output is not Elasticsearch, you must load the template manually.
For more information, see:
- Configure template loading
- Load the template manually - required for non-Elasticsearch output
Configure template loading
editBy default, Filebeat automatically loads the recommended template file,
fields.yml
, if the Elasticsearch output is enabled. You can change the
defaults in the filebeat.yml
config file to:
-
Load a different template
setup.template.name: "your_template_name" setup.template.fields: "path/to/fields.yml"
If the template already exists, it’s not overwritten unless you configure Filebeat to do so.
-
Overwrite an existing template
setup.template.overwrite: true
-
Disable automatic template loading
setup.template.enabled: false
If you disable automatic template loading, you need to load the template manually.
-
Change the index name
By default, Filebeat writes events to indices named
filebeat-6.4.3-yyyy.MM.dd
, whereyyyy.MM.dd
is the date when the events were indexed. To use a different name, you set theindex
option in the Elasticsearch output. The value that you specify should include the root name of the index plus version and date information. You also need to configure thesetup.template.name
andsetup.template.pattern
options to match the new name. For example:
If you plan to set up the Kibana dashboards, also set this option to overwrite the index name defined in the dashboards and index pattern. |
See Load the Elasticsearch index template for the full list of configuration options.
Load the template manually
editTo load the template manually, run the setup
command. A
connection to Elasticsearch is required.
If another output is enabled, you need
to temporarily disable that output and enable Elasticsearch by using the
-E
option. The examples here assume that Logstash output is enabled. You can
omit the -E
flags if Elasticsearch output is already enabled.
If you are connecting to a secured Elasticsearch cluster, make sure you’ve configured credentials as described in Step 2: Configure Filebeat.
If the host running Filebeat does not have direct connectivity to Elasticsearch, see Load the template manually (alternate method).
To load the template, use the appropriate command for your system.
deb and rpm:
filebeat setup --template -E output.logstash.enabled=false -E 'output.elasticsearch.hosts=["localhost:9200"]'
mac:
./filebeat setup --template -E output.logstash.enabled=false -E 'output.elasticsearch.hosts=["localhost:9200"]'
docker:
docker run docker.elastic.co/beats/filebeat:6.4.3 setup --template -E output.logstash.enabled=false -E 'output.elasticsearch.hosts=["localhost:9200"]'
win:
Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
From the PowerShell prompt, change to the directory where you installed Filebeat, and run:
PS > .\filebeat.exe setup --template -E output.logstash.enabled=false -E 'output.elasticsearch.hosts=["localhost:9200"]'
Force Kibana to look at newest documents
editIf you’ve already used Filebeat to index data into Elasticsearch,
the index may contain old documents. After you load the index template,
you can delete the old documents from filebeat-*
to force Kibana to look
at the newest documents. Use this command:
deb, rpm, and mac:
curl -XDELETE 'http://localhost:9200/filebeat-*'
win:
PS > Invoke-RestMethod -Method Delete "http://localhost:9200/filebeat-*"
This command deletes all indices that match the pattern filebeat-*
.
Before running this command, make sure you want to delete all indices that match
the pattern.
Load the template manually (alternate method)
editIf the host running Filebeat does not have direct connectivity to Elasticsearch, you can export the index template to a file, move it to a machine that does have connectivity, and then install the template manually.
-
Export the index template:
deb and rpm:
filebeat export template > filebeat.template.json
mac:
./filebeat export template > filebeat.template.json
win:
PS > .\filebeat.exe export template --es.version 6.4.3 | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 filebeat.template.json
-
Install the template:
deb, rpm, and mac:
curl -XPUT -H 'Content-Type: application/json' http://localhost:9200/_template/filebeat-6.4.3 -d@filebeat.template.json
win:
PS > Invoke-RestMethod -Method Put -ContentType "application/json" -InFile filebeat.template.json -Uri http://localhost:9200/_template/filebeat-6.4.3