# Filebeat.idle\_timeout VS output.elasticsearch.flush\_interval

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [August 10, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638 "2017-08-10T15:29:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mguiwin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/mguiwin/32/6743_2.png) [@mguiwin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mguiwin)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638/1 "2017-08-10T15:29:29Z")

</div>

Hi,

Given the following configuration,

```
filebeat.spool_size: 786432
filebeat.idle_timeout: 30s

output.elasticsearch:
  enabled: true
  hosts: ["elastic-node1:9200", "elastic-node2:9200", "elastic-node3:9200"]
  ...
  worker: 64
  bulk_max_size: 4096
  flush_interval: 30s
  compression_level: 3

```

It seems to me that `filebeat.idle_timeout` and `output.elasticsearch.flush_interval` settings have very similar roles - allow to wait for the spool / bulk to fill up for some time, albeit not on the same level.

Does it make sense to enable both of them, and especially the `output.elasticsearch.flush_interval` if `filebeat.idle_timeout` is already set?

Thanks,  
MG

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steffens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/steffens/32/79630_2.png) [@steffens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/steffens)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638/2 "2017-08-11T13:44:36Z")

</div>

The filebeat spooler circumvents the additional batching in the outputs pipeline. Only `filebeat.idle_timeout` should be active here.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![steffens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/steffens/32/79630_2.png) [@steffens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/steffens)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638/3 "2017-08-11T13:44:58Z")

</div>

Note, with 6.0.0 beta1 both options are removed.

---

<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:** [September 8, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-idle-timeout-vs-output-elasticsearch-flush-interval/96638/4 "2017-09-08T13:45:27Z")

</div>

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.