# Add a separator character in multiline configuration

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [October 19, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539 "2017-10-19T10:37:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zeenon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/zeenon/32/24883_2.png) [@zeenon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/zeenon)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539/1 "2017-10-19T10:37:17Z")

</div>

hi,  
I have a multiline configuration like this:  
multiline.pattern : '^.{22}\*'  
multiline.negate: false  
multiline.match: after

and filebeat joins the lines if a \* is found at column 23  
each original line has a \t to separate fields, so it would be nice if filebeat add a \t before joining lines  
So, If a line has 10 \t separator, it is a concatenation of two lines; if a line has 15 \t separator; it is a concatenation of three lines and so on.  
Is it possible ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steffens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/steffens/32/79630_2.png) [@steffens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/steffens)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539/2 "2017-10-23T12:35:20Z")

</div>

Do you have some sample logs and output you want? Filebeat splits lines on `\n` or `\r\n` only. A custom split pattern for events is not yet configurable.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zeenon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/zeenon/32/24883_2.png) [@zeenon](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/zeenon)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539/3 "2017-10-23T12:51:43Z")

</div>

For example,  
2017/10/23 l1f1\tl1f2\l1f3  
2017/10/23 \*l2f1\tl2f2\l2f3

and driven by the star in column 12,  
2017/10/23 l1f1\tl1f2\l1f3\t2017/10/23 \*l2f1\tl2f2\l2f3

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steffens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/steffens/32/79630_2.png) [@steffens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/steffens)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539/4 "2017-10-23T13:23:16Z")

</div>

If I understand you correctly, you want to replace `*` with `\t`. Filebeat still inserts the `\n` character. You will have to use logstash or elasticsearch ingest node to do additional processing to replace characters.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/add-a-separator-character-in-multiline-configuration/104539/5 "2017-11-20T13:23:22Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.