GitLab

Ship your GitLab logs using Filebeat to your Logit.io Stack

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

Logs

Configure GitLab to ship logs via Filebeat to your Logit.io stacks via Logstash.

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 filebeat (opens in a new tab) ZIP file (Windows ZIP x86_64) or
Choose the Microsoft Software Installer MSI (opens in a new tab) file (Windows MSI x86_64 (beta))

To successfully install filebeat and set up the required Windows service you will need to have administrator access.

If you have chosen to download the zip file:

Extract the contents of the zip file into C:\Program Files.
Rename the extracted folder to filebeat
Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
From the PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to install filebeat as a Windows service:

cd 'C:\Program Files\filebeat'

.\install-service-filebeat.ps1

If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example:

PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-filebeat.ps1

For more information about Powershell execution policies see here (opens in a new tab).

If you have chosen to download the filebeat.msi file:

double-click on it and the relevant files will be downloaded.

At the end of the installation process you'll be given the option to open the folder where filebeat has been installed.

Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
From the PowerShell prompt, change directory to the location where filebeat was installed and run the following command to install filebeat as a Windows service:

.\install-service-filebeat.ps1

If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example:

PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-filebeat.ps1

For more information about Powershell execution policies see here (opens in a new tab).

Configure GitLab Logging

GitLab comes equipped with a sophisticated logging framework that ships several system logs.

To manage these logs effectively, we recommend referring to the "Log system from GitLab" (opens in a new tab) documentation and customizing the Filebeat configuration below to meet your specific requirements.

This will help you collect and forward the relevant log data to your preferred destination for analysis and monitoring purposes.

Configure Filebeat.yml

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

Copy the configuration file below and overwrite the contents of the Filebeat configuration file typically located at /etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml

####################### Logit.io Filebeat Configuration #########################
# ============================== Filebeat inputs ===============================
filebeat.inputs:
- type: filestream
  enabled: true
  paths:
  - "/var/opt/gitlab/*.log"
  
  fields:
    type: "gitlabs"
  fields_under_root: true
  encoding: utf-8
  ignore_older: 12h
 
# ================================== Outputs ===================================
output.logstash:
  hosts: ["@logstash.host:@logstash.sslPort"]
  loadbalance: true
  ssl.enabled: true

Validate Configuration

In the directory where Filebeat is installed, run the following command to validate the installation:

.\@beatname.exe test config -c @beatname.yml

If the yml file is invalid, @beatname will print a description of the error. For example, if the output.logstash section was missing, @beatname would print no outputs are defined, please define one under the output section

Start Filebeat

To start Filebeat, run in Powershell:

Start-Service filebeat

Launch Logit.io to view 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.

GitLab Overview

GitLab is a versatile software development platform that offers numerous features to streamline development workflows for organizations. To effectively monitor and analyze activity on GitLab, it's crucial to have a reliable and efficient log management solution.

GitLab generates various types of logs that capture significant information about system activity, application performance, and user behavior. Organizations can use Filebeat, an open-source log shipper, to send GitLab logs to various destinations such as Elasticsearch, Logstash, and OpenSearch for effective log management.

Filebeat is highly compatible and easy to use, making it a widely preferred option for sending logs from GitLab to different destinations. Organizations can configure GitLab to forward logs to a syslog server and use Filebeat to collect and forward log data to Elasticsearch or other destinations.

A robust log management solution enables organizations to gain valuable insights into GitLab activity and take proactive steps to ensure optimal system performance and application security. By leveraging tools such as Filebeat and OpenSearch, organizations can analyze data from various sources and gain a deeper understanding of their development workflows.

If you need any further assistance with shipping your log data to Logit.io we're here to help you get started. Feel free to get in contact with our support team by sending us a message via live chat and we'll be happy to assist.

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