# Config\_dir vs filebeat.config.prospectors **URL:** \ **Category:** Beats\ **Created:** [February 7, 2018, 11:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/config-dir-vs-filebeat-config-prospectors/118819 "2018-02-07T11:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AbdulH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@AbdulH](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/AbdulH)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 11:13am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/config-dir-vs-filebeat-config-prospectors/118819/1 "2018-02-07T11:13:37Z")
Documentation seems to suggest conf\_dir can be used to set the external config directory. However they can also be set using the following: ``` filebeat.config.prospectors: enabled: true path: configs/*.yml reload.enabled: true reload.period: 10s ``` What are the differences between both methods and what happens if both are set? I know that the 2nd method allows the auto reading of new config files. ---
**Author:** ![kvch](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/kvch/32/72058_2.png) [@kvch](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kvch)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/config-dir-vs-filebeat-config-prospectors/118819/2 "2018-02-07T16:12:30Z")
The difference is `config_dir` is not reread periodically if reload is enabled. If both is set all configs are read and merged into a same config structure. But only the files under `filebeat.config.prospectors.path` are reread in case of reload. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2018, 11:14am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/config-dir-vs-filebeat-config-prospectors/118819/3 "2018-02-28T11:14:03Z")
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