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Elastic Docs ›Logstash Reference [6.1] ›Setting Up and Running Logstash

Logstash Directory Layout

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Logstash Directory Layout

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This section describes the default directory structure that is created when you unpack the Logstash installation packages.

Directory Layout of .zip and .tar.gz Archives

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The .zip and .tar.gz packages are entirely self-contained. All files and directories are, by default, contained within the home directory — the directory created when unpacking the archive.

This is very convenient because you don’t have to create any directories to start using Logstash, and uninstalling Logstash is as easy as removing the home directory. However, it is advisable to change the default locations of the config and the logs directories so that you do not delete important data later on.

Type Description Default Location Setting

home

Home directory of the Logstash installation.

{extract.path}- Directory created by unpacking the archive

bin

Binary scripts, including logstash to start Logstash and logstash-plugin to install plugins

{extract.path}/bin

settings

Configuration files, including logstash.yml and jvm.options

{extract.path}/config

path.settings

logs

Log files

{extract.path}/logs

path.logs

plugins

Local, non Ruby-Gem plugin files. Each plugin is contained in a subdirectory. Recommended for development only.

{extract.path}/plugins

path.plugins

data

Data files used by logstash and its plugins for any persistence needs.

{extract.path}/data

path.data

Directory Layout of Debian and RPM Packages

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The Debian package and the RPM package each place config files, logs, and the settings files in the appropriate locations for the system:

Type Description Default Location Setting

home

Home directory of the Logstash installation.

/usr/share/logstash

bin

Binary scripts including logstash to start Logstash and logstash-plugin to install plugins

/usr/share/logstash/bin

settings

Configuration files, including logstash.yml, jvm.options, and startup.options

/etc/logstash

path.settings

conf

Logstash pipeline configuration files

/etc/logstash/conf.d

path.config

logs

Log files

/var/log/logstash

path.logs

plugins

Local, non Ruby-Gem plugin files. Each plugin is contained in a subdirectory. Recommended for development only.

/usr/share/logstash/plugins

path.plugins

data

Data files used by logstash and its plugins for any persistence needs.

/var/lib/logstash

path.data

Directory Layout of Docker Images

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The Docker images are created from the .tar.gz packages, and follow a similar directory layout.

Type Description Default Location Setting

home

Home directory of the Logstash installation.

/usr/share/logstash

bin

Binary scripts, including logstash to start Logstash and logstash-plugin to install plugins

/usr/share/logstash/bin

settings

Configuration files, including logstash.yml and jvm.options

/usr/share/logstash/config

path.settings

conf

Logstash pipeline configuration files

/usr/share/logstash/pipeline

path.config

plugins

Local, non Ruby-Gem plugin files. Each plugin is contained in a subdirectory. Recommended for development only.

/usr/share/logstash/plugins

path.plugins

data

Data files used by logstash and its plugins for any persistence needs.

/usr/share/logstash/data

path.data

Logstash Docker containers do not create log files by default. They log to standard output.

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