# File creates empty sincedb file and no data is processed

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [December 18, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368 "2016-12-18T21:34:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chromechris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47c2d/32.png) [@chromechris](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/chromechris)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368/1 "2016-12-18T21:34:10Z")

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I'm sure there is a logical reason for this. I have a file that is parsed most of the times but sometimes it is not. I have deleted the sincedb file pattern for this file multiple times, tried setting the "sincedb\_path" to "/dev/null" also, but no data is processed from this file. I have run Logstash in Debug mode, and im able to see that no actual data from the file is processed, even though a sincedb file for this is created but it is empty. Any ideas on what could be causing this. Also, I am not able to see any errors in any of the Logstash logs. Any ideas are very much appreciated guys, thanks.

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**Author:** ![jakommo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jakommo/32/6716_2.png) [@jakommo](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jakommo)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368/2 "2016-12-20T15:00:11Z")

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Are there new lines added to the file?  
Logstash will only look for new lines and not process old ones, even if sincedb\_path is set to /dev/null.  
If you want to read the whole file again, you can temporarily set start\_position =\> "beginning" , as documented [here](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/plugins-inputs-file.html#plugins-inputs-file-start_position).

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**Author:** ![guyboertje](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/guyboertje/32/31592_2.png) [@guyboertje](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/guyboertje)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368/3 "2016-12-20T17:25:28Z")

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How are you re-parsing the file? IOW, how is the same file getting new content?

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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 17, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/file-creates-empty-sincedb-file-and-no-data-is-processed/69368/4 "2017-01-17T17:25:30Z")

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Closed on January 17, 2017, 5:25pm UTC

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