Debian

Ship system log files from Debian to Logstash

Follow the steps below to send your observability data to Logit.io

Logs

Configure Filebeat to ship logs from Debian Systems to Logstash and Elasticsearch.

Install Integration

Please click on the Install Integration button to configure your stack for this source.

Install Filebeat

To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:

  • Choose the AMD / Intel file (x86_64) or
  • Choose the ARM file (aarch64)

You can tell if you have a PC with an ARM CPU architecture by opening the Terminal application and running the arch command. If it displays arm64 you have ARM architecture.

To successfully install filebeat you will need to have root access.

If you have an x86_64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.15.2-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i filebeat-8.15.2-amd64.deb

If you have an aarch64 system download and install filebeat using the following commands:

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/filebeat/filebeat-8.15.2-arm64.deb
sudo dpkg -i filebeat-8.15.2-arm64.deb

Enable The System Module

There are several built in filebeat modules you can use. You will need to enable the system module.

Change directory to the location where filebeat was extracted and run the following commands:

sudo filebeat modules list
sudo filebeat modules enable system

Navigate to the modules.d folder, copy the snippet below and replace the contents of the system.yml module file:

# Module: system
# Docs: https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/8.15.2/filebeat-module-system.html
 
- module: system
  # Syslog
  syslog:
    enabled: true
 
    # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
    # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
    #var.paths:
 
  # Authorization logs
  auth:
    enabled: true
 
    # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
    # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
    #var.paths:

Update Your Configuration File

The configuration file below is pre-configured to send data to your Logit.io Stack via Logstash.

Note: Please make sure the 'paths' field in the Filebeat inputs section and the 'hosts' field in the Logstash outputs section are correctly populated. If you are logged into your Logit.io account the 'hosts' field should have been pre-populated with the correct values. The 'paths' field will need to be set to the location of the logs you want to send to your Stack.

Copy the configuration file below (making the above changes as necessary) and overwrite the contents of filebeat.yml (this file can be found in the location where you installed Filebeat in the previous step).

####################### Logit.io Filebeat Configuration ########################
# ============================== Filebeat inputs ==============================
filebeat.inputs:
- type: filestream
  enabled: true
  id: my_unique_id
  paths:
    # REQUIRED CHANGE TO YOUR LOGS PATH
    - /var/log/*.log
  fields:
    type: logfile
 
# ============================== Filebeat modules ==============================
filebeat.config.modules:
  path: ${path.config}/modules.d/*.yml
  reload.enabled: false
  #reload.period: 10s
 
# ================================== Outputs ===================================
# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------
output.logstash:
  hosts: ["@logstash.host:@logstash.sslPort"]
  loadbalance: true
  ssl.enabled: true
 
# ================================= Processors =================================
processors:
  - add_host_metadata:
      when.not.contains.tags: forwarded
  - add_cloud_metadata: ~
  - add_docker_metadata: ~
  - add_kubernetes_metadata: ~

Validate Configuration

sudo filebeat -e -c /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml

If the yml file is invalid, filebeat will print an error loading config file error message with details on how to correct the problem. If you have issues starting filebeat see "How To Diagnose No Data In Stack" below to troubleshoot.

Start filebeat

To start Filebeat, run:

sudo service filebeat start

Check Logit.io for your logs

Data should now have been sent to your Stack.

View My Data

If you don't see take a look at How to diagnose no data in Stack below for how to diagnose common issues.

How to diagnose no data in Stack

If you don't see data appearing in your stack after following this integration, take a look at the troubleshooting guide for steps to diagnose and resolve the problem or contact our support team and we'll be happy to assist.

(Optional) Update Logstash Pipelines

All Logit.io stacks come pre-configured with popular Logstash Pipelines. We would recommend that you add system specific filters if you don't already have them, to ensure enhanced dashboards and modules work correctly.

Edit Pipelines

Edit your Logstash Pipelines by choosing Stack > Settings > Logstash Pipelines.

if [fileset][module] == "system" {
  if [fileset][name] == "auth" {
    grok {
      match => { "message" => ["%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} sshd(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: %{DATA:[system][auth][ssh][event]} %{DATA:[system][auth][ssh][method]} for (invalid user )?%{DATA:[system][auth][user]} from %{IPORHOST:[system][auth][ssh][ip]} port %{NUMBER:[system][auth][ssh][port]} ssh2(: %{GREEDYDATA:[system][auth][ssh][signature]})?",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} sshd(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: %{DATA:[system][auth][ssh][event]} user %{DATA:[system][auth][user]} from %{IPORHOST:[system][auth][ssh][ip]}",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} sshd(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: Did not receive identification string from %{IPORHOST:[system][auth][ssh][dropped_ip]}",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} sudo(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: \s*%{DATA:[system][auth][user]} :( %{DATA:[system][auth][sudo][error]} ;)? TTY=%{DATA:[system][auth][sudo][tty]} ; PWD=%{DATA:[system][auth][sudo][pwd]} ; USER=%{DATA:[system][auth][sudo][user]} ; COMMAND=%{GREEDYDATA:[system][auth][sudo][command]}",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} groupadd(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: new group: name=%{DATA:system.auth.groupadd.name}, GID=%{NUMBER:system.auth.groupadd.gid}",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} useradd(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: new user: name=%{DATA:[system][auth][user][add][name]}, UID=%{NUMBER:[system][auth][user][add][uid]}, GID=%{NUMBER:[system][auth][user][add][gid]}, home=%{DATA:[system][auth][user][add][home]}, shell=%{DATA:[system][auth][user][add][shell]}$",
                "%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][auth][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][auth][hostname]} %{DATA:[system][auth][program]}(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][auth][pid]}\])?: %{GREEDYMULTILINE:[system][auth][message]}"] }
      pattern_definitions => {
        "GREEDYMULTILINE"=> "(.|\n)*"
      }
      remove_field => "message"
    }
    date {
      match => [ "[system][auth][timestamp]", "MMM  d HH:mm:ss", "MMM dd HH:mm:ss" ]
    }
    geoip {
      source => "[system][auth][ssh][ip]"
      target => "[system][auth][ssh][geoip]"
    }
  }
  else if [fileset][name] == "syslog" {
    grok {
      match => { "message" => ["%{SYSLOGTIMESTAMP:[system][syslog][timestamp]} %{SYSLOGHOST:[system][syslog][hostname]} %{DATA:[system][syslog][program]}(?:\[%{POSINT:[system][syslog][pid]}\])?: %{GREEDYMULTILINE:[system][syslog][message]}"] }
      pattern_definitions => { "GREEDYMULTILINE" => "(.|\n)*" }
      remove_field => "message"
    }
    date {
      match => [ "[system][syslog][timestamp]", "MMM  d HH:mm:ss", "MMM dd HH:mm:ss" ]
    }
  }
}