# How to install filebeat as a service and start it everytime windows start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Beats\ **Tags:** filebeat\ **Created:** [July 19, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777 "2017-07-19T13:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![patrickian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@patrickian](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patrickian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/1 "2017-07-19T13:52:32Z")
I'm installing filebeat in client PCs and basically, I don't want them seeing what filebeat does. I want to install it as a service in windows, run it everytime their machine starts and read from a defined directory (not default) I've installed it as a service following the guide but if I'm not mistaken, I have to manually type in Start-Service filebeat to run the service and it doesn't read from the log file I defined in the prospector (it works if I start filebeat via the command line normally) Is there a way to do this? Thank you ---
**Author:** ![andrewkroh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/andrewkroh/32/3784_2.png) [@andrewkroh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/andrewkroh)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/2 "2017-07-19T17:44:54Z")
Once you have enabled the filebeat service it will start-up automatically when the machine boots, so you do not need to continually run `Start-Service filebeat`. Give it a test, reboot the machine and see. ---
**Author:** ![patrickian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@patrickian](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patrickian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/3 "2017-07-19T23:01:55Z")
Thanks. will give it a try in a while. Does it always use the configuration file in the filebeat root directory when it autostart? ---
**Author:** ![andrewkroh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/andrewkroh/32/3784_2.png) [@andrewkroh](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/andrewkroh)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/4 "2017-07-19T23:04:57Z")
Yes, the path to the config file is specified in the service's properties. ---
**Author:** ![patrickian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@patrickian](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/patrickian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/5 "2017-07-20T01:16:26Z")
Thanks for the assistance. It's now running as a service and automatically starts during windows startup. For those who will be having this issue in the future, here are the steps I did. 1.) Download and extract filebeat. 2.) _Important_ create the configuration first. 3.) Install as service using Powershell. 4.) Start the service using Start-Service filebeat. 5.) You can now close the powershell window. It will automatically start now even when windows restart. \*I think the reason why it did not work for me before was that I installed the service before I did the configuration. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-to-install-filebeat-as-a-service-and-start-it-everytime-windows-start/93777/6 "2017-08-17T01:16:50Z")
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