Filebeat Configuration

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))

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).

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 e.g. - /Windows/DtcInstall.log is a log file called DtcInstall.log located in C:/Windows.

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. If it is missing create a new file with that name and populate it with the configuration details below).

###################### Logit.io Filebeat Configuration ########################
# ============================== Filebeat inputs ==============================
filebeat.inputs:
- type: filestream
  enabled: true
  paths:
    # REQUIRED: Change the path to your logs:
    - C:\Windows\System32\winevt\Logs\*
  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: ~

To start Filebeat, run in Powershell:

Start-Service filebeat