Packetbeat and systemd
editPacketbeat and systemd
editThe DEB and RPM packages include a service unit for Linux systems with systemd. On these systems, you can manage Packetbeat by using the usual systemd commands.
Start and stop Packetbeat
editUse systemctl to start or stop Packetbeat:
systemctl start packetbeat
systemctl stop packetbeat
By default, the Packetbeat service starts automatically when the system boots. To enable or disable auto start use:
systemctl enable packetbeat
systemctl disable packetbeat
Packetbeat status and logs
editTo get the service status, use systemctl:
systemctl status packetbeat
Logs are stored by default in journald. To view the Logs, use journalctl:
journalctl -u packetbeat.service
Customize systemd unit for Packetbeat
editThe systemd service unit file includes environment variables that you can override to change the default options.
| Variable | Description | Default value |
|---|---|---|
BEAT_LOG_OPTS |
Log options |
|
BEAT_CONFIG_OPTS |
Flags for configuration file path |
|
BEAT_PATH_OPTS |
Other paths |
|
You can use BEAT_LOG_OPTS to set debug selectors for logging. However,
to configure logging behavior, set the logging options described in
Configure logging.
To override these variables, create a drop-in unit file in the
/etc/systemd/system/packetbeat.service.d directory.
For example a file with the following content placed in
/etc/systemd/system/packetbeat.service.d/debug.conf
would override BEAT_LOG_OPTS to enable debug for Elasticsearch output.
[Service] Environment="BEAT_LOG_OPTS=-d elasticsearch"
To apply your changes, reload the systemd configuration and restart the service:
systemctl daemon-reload systemctl restart packetbeat
It is recommended that you use a configuration management tool to
include drop-in unit files. If you need to add a drop-in manually, use
systemctl edit packetbeat.service.