# Filebeat output elasticsearch max\_retries configuration question

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [March 16, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315 "2021-03-16T03:06:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tianhao](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tianhao/32/82282_2.png) [@tianhao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tianhao)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315/1 "2021-03-16T03:06:19Z")

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Hi !

I saw the description `Filebeat ignores the max_retries setting and retries indefinitely.` in [Configure the Elasticsearch output | Filebeat Reference [7.11] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/elasticsearch-output.html#_max_retries) but in the filebeat configuration file The max\_retries description will retry according to the max\_retries configuration. If you want to confirm, which description shall prevail?

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**Author:** ![shaunak](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/shaunak/32/6643_2.png) [@shaunak](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/shaunak)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315/2 "2021-03-16T17:14:56Z")

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Looking at the [code](https://github.com/elastic/beats/blob/ab2b4784d057d6ab4d5fa19493dc8e527484fc41/libbeat/outputs/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.go#L123) for the Elasticsearch output, it looks like the `max_retries` configuration is being honored. So I would say the description in the Filebeat configuration file prevails.

If you have a GitHub account, would you mind filing a bug for this documentation issue: [https://github.com/elastic/beats/issues/new?assignees=&labels=&template=bug-report.md](https://github.com/elastic/beats/issues/new?assignees=&labels=&template=bug-report.md)?

Thanks,

Shaunak

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tianhao](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/tianhao/32/82282_2.png) [@tianhao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/tianhao)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315/4 "2021-03-18T03:50:44Z")

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I saw [Clarify max\_retries description for Filebeat and Winlogbeat by dedemorton · Pull Request #7180 · elastic/beats · GitHub](https://github.com/elastic/beats/pull/7180) from github issues, description `Filebeat configure the pipeline to guaranteed send. This enables infinite retry`, `infinite retry` doesn't it apply to output elasticsearch?

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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:** [April 15, 2021, 5:51am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/filebeat-output-elasticsearch-max-retries-configuration-question/267315/5 "2021-04-15T05:51:37Z")

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