# Filebeat couldn't start

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [June 15, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046 "2018-06-15T07:56:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/1 "2018-06-15T07:56:16Z")

</div>

Hi,

I did this configuration on filebeat.yml but I had this error when I started it :

```auto
- type: log
  enabled: true
  paths:
    - /var/log/network/FWEquin_WAN_R03-01M.log
  fields:
    log_type: fortigate
- type: log
  enabled: true
    - /var/log/network/frghcfwdmz01m.log
  fields:
    log_type: paloalto
- type: log
  enabled: true
    - /var/log/network/frghcfwint01m-fwcommon-2.log
  fields:
    log_type: cisco_asa
[root@frghcslnetv03 filebeat]# service filebeat start
Starting filebeat: Exiting: error loading config file: yaml: line 26: did not find expected key

```

And the line 26 is :

```auto
log_type: fortigate

```

On "/var/log" there is no filebeat file or directory

PLEASE HEEEELP !!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 10:36am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/2 "2018-06-15T10:36:08Z")

</div>

Hi, a few questions so I can help you

1. Can you tell us the version of filebeat you're using?

2. Can you paste the full `filebeat.yml`?

3. What is the output of `filebeat test config` ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/3 "2018-06-15T12:22:44Z")

</div>

I resolve the probleme by installing the last version : 6.3.

Can I have two output logstash ?

```auto
output.logstash:
  # The Logstash hosts
  hosts: ["172.16.250.30:5044", "172.16.250.29:5044"]

```

???

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/4 "2018-06-15T12:40:40Z")

</div>

Yes, but only one will be used at a time, that is, events won't be duplicated.

Have a look at the [documentation for hosts](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/logstash-output.html#hosts) and [load balancing.](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/logstash-output.html#loadbalance)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/5 "2018-06-15T12:52:53Z")

</div>

Ah ok, so it is impossible to see logs in two différentes interfaces ?

"The list of known Logstash servers to connect to. If load balancing is disabled, but multiple hosts are configured, one host is selected randomly"

How can I activate the load balancing ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/6 "2018-06-15T14:35:06Z")

</div>

see the second link I sent you, [load balancing.](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/logstash-output.html#loadbalance)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/7 "2018-07-05T07:42:39Z")

</div>

Also with one output filebeat couldn't start, I stiil have :

```auto
[root@frghcslnetv03 ~]# service filebeat status
filebeat-god is stopped

```

And the error log is :

```auto
2018-07-05T09:43:46.786+0200 ERROR instance/beat.go:691 Exiting: Error in initing input: can not convert 'string' into 'bool' accessing 'filebeat.inputs.0.enabled' (source:'/etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml')
Exiting: Error in initing input: can not convert 'string' into 'bool' accessing 'filebeat.inputs.0.enabled' (source:'/etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml')
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 8:00am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/8 "2018-07-05T08:00:29Z")

</div>

It is complaining about the `enabled` field in your input being a string instead of a bool. It has to be `enabled: true` instead of `enabled: "true"`.

If you can't fix it please paste your full config in here so we can look at it

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 8:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/9 "2018-07-05T08:04:00Z")

</div>

```auto
###################### Filebeat Configuration Example #########################

# This file is an example configuration file highlighting only the most common
# options. The filebeat.reference.yml file from the same directory contains all the
# supported options with more comments. You can use it as a reference.
#
# You can find the full configuration reference here:
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/index.html

# For more available modules and options, please see the filebeat.reference.yml sample
# configuration file.

#=========================== Filebeat inputs =============================

filebeat.inputs:

# Each - is an input. Most options can be set at the input level, so
# you can use different inputs for various configurations.
# Below are the input specific configurations.

#- type: log
# enabled: true
# paths:
# - /var/log/network/FWEquin_WAN_R03-01M.log
# fields:
# log_type: fortigate
#- type: log
# enabled: true
# - /var/log/network/frghcfwdmz01m.log
# fields:
# log_type: paloalto
- type: log
  enabled: true
    - /var/log/network/frghcfwint01m-fwcommon-2.log
  fields:
    log_type: cisco_asa

  # Exclude lines. A list of regular expressions to match. It drops the lines that are
  # matching any regular expression from the list.
  #exclude_lines: ['^DBG']

  # Include lines. A list of regular expressions to match. It exports the lines that are
  # matching any regular expression from the list.
  #include_lines: ['^ERR', '^WARN']

  # Exclude files. A list of regular expressions to match. Filebeat drops the files that
  # are matching any regular expression from the list. By default, no files are dropped.
 #exclude_files: ['.gz$']

  # Optional additional fields. These fields can be freely picked
  # to add additional information to the crawled log files for filtering
  #fields:
  # level: debug
  # review: 1

  ### Multiline options

  # Mutiline can be used for log messages spanning multiple lines. This is common
  # for Java Stack Traces or C-Line Continuation

  # The regexp Pattern that has to be matched. The example pattern matches all lines starting with [
  #multiline.pattern: ^\[

  # Defines if the pattern set under pattern should be negated or not. Default is false.
  #multiline.negate: false

  # Match can be set to "after" or "before". It is used to define if lines should be append to a pattern
  # that was (not) matched before or after or as long as a pattern is not matched based on negate.
  # Note: After is the equivalent to previous and before is the equivalent to to next in Logstash
  #multiline.match: after

#============================= Filebeat modules ===============================

filebeat.config.modules:
  # Glob pattern for configuration loading
  path: ${path.config}/modules.d/*.yml

  # Set to true to enable config reloading
  reload.enabled: false

  # Period on which files under path should be checked for changes
  #reload.period: 10s

#==================== Elasticsearch template setting ==========================

setup.template.settings:
  index.number_of_shards: 3
  #index.codec: best_compression
  #_source.enabled: false

#================================ General =====================================

# The name of the shipper that publishes the network data. It can be used to group
# all the transactions sent by a single shipper in the web interface.
#name:

# The tags of the shipper are included in their own field with each
# transaction published.
#tags: ["service-X", "web-tier"]

# Optional fields that you can specify to add additional information to the
# output.
#fields:
# env: staging
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 8:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/10 "2018-07-05T08:04:16Z")

</div>

```auto
#============================== Dashboards =====================================
# These settings control loading the sample dashboards to the Kibana index. Loading
# the dashboards is disabled by default and can be enabled either by setting the
# options here, or by using the `-setup` CLI flag or the `setup` command.
#setup.dashboards.enabled: false

# The URL from where to download the dashboards archive. By default this URL
# has a value which is computed based on the Beat name and version. For released
# versions, this URL points to the dashboard archive on the artifacts.elastic.co
# website.
#setup.dashboards.url:

#============================== Kibana =====================================

# Starting with Beats version 6.0.0, the dashboards are loaded via the Kibana API.
# This requires a Kibana endpoint configuration.
#setup.kibana:

  # Kibana Host
  # Scheme and port can be left out and will be set to the default (http and 5601)
  # In case you specify and additional path, the scheme is required: http://localhost:5601/path
  # IPv6 addresses should always be defined as: https://[2001:db8::1]:5601
  #host: "localhost:5601"

#============================= Elastic Cloud ==================================

# These settings simplify using filebeat with the Elastic Cloud (https://cloud.elastic.co/).

# The cloud.id setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.hosts` and
# `setup.kibana.host` options.
# You can find the `cloud.id` in the Elastic Cloud web UI.
#cloud.id:
# The cloud.auth setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.username` and
# `output.elasticsearch.password` settings. The format is `<user>:<pass>`.
#cloud.auth:

#================================ Outputs =====================================

# Configure what output to use when sending the data collected by the beat.

#-------------------------- Elasticsearch output ------------------------------
#output.elasticsearch:
  # Array of hosts to connect to.
 # hosts: ["localhost:9200"]

  # Optional protocol and basic auth credentials.
  #protocol: "https"
  #username: "elastic"
  #password: "changeme"

#----------------------------- Logstash output --------------------------------
output.logstash:
  # The Logstash hosts
  hosts: ["172.16.250.30:5044"]

  # Optional SSL. By default is off.
  # List of root certificates for HTTPS server verifications
  #ssl.certificate_authorities: ["/etc/pki/root/ca.pem"]

  # Certificate for SSL client authentication
  #ssl.certificate: "/etc/pki/client/cert.pem"

  # Client Certificate Key
  #ssl.key: "/etc/pki/client/cert.key"

#================================ Logging =====================================

# Sets log level. The default log level is info.
# Available log levels are: error, warning, info, debug
#logging.level: debug

# At debug level, you can selectively enable logging only for some components.
# To enable all selectors use ["*"]. Examples of other selectors are "beat",
# "publish", "service".
#logging.selectors: ["*"]

#============================== Xpack Monitoring ===============================

# filebeat can export internal metrics to a central Elasticsearch monitoring
# cluster. This requires xpack monitoring to be enabled in Elasticsearch. The
# reporting is disabled by default.

# Set to true to enable the monitoring reporter.
#xpack.monitoring.enabled: false

# Uncomment to send the metrics to Elasticsearch. Most settings from the
# Elasticsearch output are accepted here as well. Any setting that is not set is
# automatically inherited from the Elasticsearch output configuration, so if you
# have the Elasticsearch output configured, you can simply uncomment the
# following line.
#xpack.monitoring.elasticsearch:
```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 8:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/11 "2018-07-05T08:05:55Z")

</div>

I don't understand why it doesn't work !!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrisr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/adrisr/32/25423_2.png) [@adrisr](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/adrisr)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 9:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/12 "2018-07-05T09:47:35Z")

</div>

There's a mistake here:

```auto
- type: log
  enabled: true
    - /var/log/network/frghcfwint01m-fwcommon-2.log

```

It should be:

```auto
- type: log
  enabled: true
  paths:
    - /var/log/network/frghcfwint01m-fwcommon-2.log

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/13 "2018-07-05T09:53:48Z")

</div>

Yes, I didn't see that !! Thank you

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![asalma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/asalma/32/32199_2.png) [@asalma](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/asalma)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 9:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/14 "2018-07-05T09:56:59Z")

</div>

And is this correcte please, because it doesnt work :

```auto
#----------------------------- Logstash output --------------------------------
output.logstash:
  # The Logstash hosts
  hosts: ["172.16.250.30:5044", "172.16.250.29:5044"]
  loadbalance: true

  # Optional SSL. By default is off.
  # List of root certificates for HTTPS server verifications
  #ssl.certificate_authorities: ["/etc/pki/root/ca.pem"]

  # Certificate for SSL client authentication
  #ssl.certificate: "/etc/pki/client/cert.pem"

  # Client Certificate Key
  #ssl.key: "/etc/pki/client/cert.key"
```

---

<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:** [August 2, 2018, 9:57am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-couldnt-start/136046/15 "2018-08-02T09:57:00Z")

</div>

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