Sending json format log to kibana using filebeat, logstash and elasticsearch? - elasticsearch

Question

I have logs like this:
{"logId":"57aaf6c8d32fb","clientIp":"127.0.0.1","time":"03:11:29 pm","uniqueSubId":"57aaf6c98963b","channelName":"JSPC","apiVersion":"v1","modulName":null,"actionName":"apiRequest","typeOfError":"","statusCode":"","message":"In Auth","exception":"In Auth","logType":"Info"}
{"logId":"57aaf6c8d32fb","clientIp":"127.0.0.1","time":"03:11:29 pm","uniqueSubId":"57aaf6c987206","channelName":"JSPC","apiVersion":"v2","modulName":null,"actionName":"performV2","typeOfError":"","statusCode":"","message":"in inbox api v2 5","exception":"in inbox api v2 5","logType":"Info"}
I want to push them to kibana. I am using filebeat to send data to logstash, using following configuration:
filebeat.yml
### Logstash as output
logstash:
# The Logstash hosts
hosts: ["localhost:5044"]
# Number of workers per Logstash host.
#worker: 1
Now using following configuration, I want to change codec type:
input {
beats {
port => 5000
tags => "beats"
codec => "json_lines"
#ssl => true
#ssl_certificate => "/opt/filebeats/logs.example.com.crt"
#ssl_key => "/opt/filebeats/logs.example.com.key"
}
syslog {
type => "syslog"
port => "5514"
}
}
But, still I get the logs in string format:
"message":
"{\"logId\":\"57aaf6c96224b\",\"clientIp\":\"127.0.0.1\",\"time\":\"03:11:29
pm\",\"channelName\":\"JSPC\",\"apiVersion\":null,\"modulName\":null,\"actionName\":\"404\",\"typeOfError\":\"EXCEPTION\",\"statusCode\":0,\"message\":\"404
page encountered
http:\/\/localjs.com\/uploads\/NonScreenedImages\/profilePic120\/16\/29\/15997002iicee52ad041fed55e952d4e4e163d5972ii4c41f8845105429abbd11cc184d0e330.jpeg\",\"logType\":\"Error\"}",
Please help me solve this.

Answer 1

To parse JSON log lines in Logstash that were sent from Filebeat you need to use a json filter instead of a codec. This is because Filebeat sends its data as JSON and the contents of your log line are contained in the message field.
Logstash config:
input {
beats {
port => 5044
}
}
filter {
if [tags][json] {
json {
source => "message"
}
}
}
output {
stdout { codec => rubydebug { metadata => true } }
}
Filebeat config:
filebeat:
prospectors:
- paths:
- my_json.log
fields_under_root: true
fields:
tags: ['json']
output:
logstash:
hosts: ['localhost:5044']
In the Filebeat config, I added a "json" tag to the event so that the json filter can be conditionally applied to the data.
Filebeat 5.0 is able to parse the JSON without the use of Logstash, but it is still an alpha release at the moment. This blog post titled Structured logging with Filebeat demonstrates how to parse JSON with Filebeat 5.0.

Answer 2

From FileBeat 5.x You can do it without using Logstash.
Filebeat config:
filebeat.prospectors:
- input_type: log
paths: ["YOUR_LOG_FILE_DIR/*"]
json.message_key: logId
json.keys_under_root: true
output.elasticsearch:
hosts: ["<HOSTNAME:PORT>"]
template.name: filebeat
template.path: filebeat.template.json
Filebeat is more lightweight then Logstash.
Also, even if you need to insert to elasticsearch version 2.x you can use this feature of FileBeat 5.x
Real example can be found here

Answer 3

I've scoured internet for the exact same problem you are having and tried various suggestions, including those above. However, none helped so I did it the old fashioned way. I went on elasticsearch documentation on filebeat configuration
and all that was required (no need for filters config in logstash)
Filebeat config:
filebeat.prospectors:
- input_type: log
document_type: #whatever your type is, this is optional
json.keys_under_root: true
paths:
- #your path goes here
keys_under_root
copies nested json keys to top level in the output document.
My filebeat version is 5.2.2.