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Command Line Options

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Command Line Options

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The following command line options are available for Packetbeat. To use these options, you need to start Packetbeat in the foreground.

Run ./packetbeat -h to see the full list of options from the command line.

Packet-Beat Specific Options

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These command line options are specific to Packetbeat:

-I <file>: Pass a pcap file as input to Packetbeat instead of reading packets from the network. This option is useful only for testing Packetbeat. Example: -I ~/pcaps/network_traffic.pcap.
-O: Read packets one by one by pressing Enter after each. This option is useful only for testing Packetbeat.
-devices: Print the list of devices that are available for sniffing.
-dump <file>: Write all captured packets to a file. This option is useful for troubleshooting Packetbeat.
-l <n>: Read the pcap file n number of times. Use this option in combination with the -I option. For an infinite loop, use 0. The -l option is useful only for testing Packetbeat.
-t: Read the packets from the pcap file as fast as possible without sleeping. Use this option in combination with the -I option. The -t option is useful only for testing Packetbeat.
-waitstop <n>: Wait an additional n seconds before exiting.

Other Options

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These command line options from libbeat are also available for Packetbeat:

-E <setting>=<value>

Overwrite an individual setting in the config file. For example:

sudo ./packetbeat -c packetbeat.yml -E name=mybeat

-N

Disable the publishing of events to the defined output. This option is useful only for testing the Beat.

-c <file>

Pass the location of a configuration file for the Beat.

-configtest

Test the configuration file and then exit. This option is useful for troubleshooting the configuration of a Beat.

-cpuprofile <output file>

Write CPU profile data to the specified file. This option is useful for troubleshooting the Beat.

-d <selectors>

Enable debugging for the specified selectors. For the selectors, you can specify a comma-separated list of components, or you can use -d "*" to enable debugging for all components. For example, -d "publish" displays all the "publish" related messages.

-e

Log to stderr and disable syslog/file output.

-httpprof [<host>]:<port>

Start http server for profiling. This option is useful for troubleshooting and profiling the Beat.

-memprofile <output file>

Write memory profile data to the specified output file. This option is useful for troubleshooting the Beat.

-path.config

Set the default location for configuration (e.g. the Elasticsearch template). See the Directory Layout section for details.

-path.data

Set the default location for data files. See the Directory Layout section for details.

-path.home

Set the default location for miscellaneous files. See the Directory Layout section for details.

-path.logs

Set the default location for log files. See the Directory Layout section for details.

-v

Enable verbose output to show INFO-level messages.

-version

Display the Beat version and exit.

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