# Delete some characters in the line

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [December 11, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008 "2017-12-11T05:08:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![skywarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@skywarp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/skywarp)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:08am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008/1 "2017-12-11T05:08:47Z")

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Hello!  
Can I use the "exclude\_lines" option to delete some characters in a string (for example: \<14\>) if I have "filebeat.prospectors: type - udp"?  
If not, how do I delete the fake characters?  
Filebeat output:  
"\<14\>{hostname: localhost, level:INFO, message: text}"  
Need:  
"{hostname: localhost, level:INFO, message: text}"

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [December 11, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008/2 "2017-12-11T12:45:09Z")

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Unfortunately, Filebeat does not support string replacement.

However you could try remove it using ES Ingest node's gsub processor: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/gsub-processor.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/master/gsub-processor.html)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![skywarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@skywarp](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/skywarp)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008/3 "2017-12-12T03:06:58Z")

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Thank you

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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:** [January 9, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-some-characters-in-the-line/111008/4 "2018-01-09T03:07:24Z")

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