Configure inputs

By default, Journalbeat reads log events from the default systemd journals. To specify other journal files, set the paths option in the journalbeat.inputs section of the journalbeat.yml file. Each path can be a directory path (to collect events from all journals in a directory), or a file path. For example:

journalbeat.inputs:
- paths:
  - "/dev/log"
  - "/var/log/messages/my-journal-file.journal"

Within the configuration file, you can also specify options that control how Journalbeat reads the journal files and which fields are sent to the configured output. See Configuration options for a list of available options.

The following examples show how to configure Journalbeat for some common use cases.

Example 1: Monitor multiple journals under the same directoryThis example configures Journalbeat to read from multiple journals that are stored under the same directory. Journalbeat merges all journals under the directory into a single event stream and reads the events. With seek set to cursor, Journalbeat starts reading at the beginning of the journal, but will continue reading at the last known position after a reload or restart.

journalbeat.inputs:
- paths: ["/path/to/journal/directory"]
  seek: cursor

Example 2: Fetch log events for Redis running on Docker (uses field names from systemd)This example configures Journalbeat to fetch log events for Redis running in a Docker container. The fields are matched using field names from the systemd journal.

journalbeat.inputs:
- paths: []
  include_matches:
    - "CONTAINER_TAG=redis"
    - "_COMM=redis"

Example 3: Fetch log events for Redis running on Docker (uses translated field names)This example also configures Journalbeat to fetch log events for Redis running in a Docker container. However, in this example the fields are matched using the translated field names provided by Journalbeat.

journalbeat.inputs:
- paths: []
  include_matches:
    - "container.image.tag=redis"
    - "process.name=redis"

You can specify the following options to configure how Journalbeat reads the journal files.

A list of paths that will be crawled and fetched. Each path can be a directory path (to collect events from all journals in a directory), or a file path. If you specify a directory, Journalbeat merges all journals under the directory into a single journal and reads them.

If no paths are specified, Journalbeat reads from the default journal.

The number of seconds to wait before trying to read again from journals. The default is 1s.

The maximum number of seconds to wait before attempting to read again from journals. The default is 60s.

The position to start reading the journal from. Valid settings are:

When specified under paths, the seek setting applies to all journals under the configured paths. When specified directly under the journalbeat namespace, the setting applies to all journals read by Journalbeat.

If you have old log files and want to skip lines, start Journalbeat with seek: tail specified. Then stop Journalbeat, set seek: cursor, and restart Journalbeat.

A list of filter expressions used to match fields. The format of the expression is field=value. Journalbeat fetches all events that exactly match the expressions. Pattern matching is not supported.

To reference fields, use one of the following:

When specified under paths, the include_matches filter is applied to all journals under the configured paths. When specified directly under the journalbeat namespace, the setting applies to all journals read by Journalbeat.

You can use the following translated names in filter expressions to reference journald fields:

The following translated fields for Docker are also available: