# Cannot find protobuf codec

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cannot-find-protobuf-codec/103626>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [October 11, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cannot-find-protobuf-codec/103626 "2017-10-11T22:16:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![michaelharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@michaelharris](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/michaelharris)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cannot-find-protobuf-codec/103626/1 "2017-10-11T22:16:40Z")

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I am trying to install the protobuf codec for logstash, but the logstash plugin utility can't find it. I need an offline pack as the Linux machine logstash is running on has no access outside our intranet.

I am running this on WIndows 7. My command:  
bin/logstash-plugin.bat prepare-offline-pack logstash-codec-protobuf

And the result:  
ERROR: Cannot create the offline archive, message: Cannot find plugins matching: 'logstash-codec-protobuf'

I am referencing [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/plugins-codecs-protobuf.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/plugins-codecs-protobuf.html) to get the plugin name.

Has this plugin been removed? Am I missing something?

Thanks for any help.

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**Author:** ![michaelharris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@michaelharris](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/michaelharris)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cannot-find-protobuf-codec/103626/2 "2017-10-12T14:49:18Z")

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For anyone who runs into a similar issue I solved the problem. It turns out I didn't follow the instructions at [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/offline-plugins.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/offline-plugins.html)

Where it says:

1. Make sure all the plugins that you want to package are installed on the staging server and that the staging server can access the Internet.

It turns out you have to install the plugin first on the staging server that will be packaging the plugin. Makes sense, but it seems like it would make more sense for the utility to download the plugin if it doesn't exist, since you are wanting to install a plugin that you don't have. Or better yet, why not just have a repository of packaged plugins you can download so you don't have to install Logstash on a machine just to download a plugin you need?

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/cannot-find-protobuf-codec/103626/3 "2017-11-09T14:49:27Z")

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