# Logstash - output csv plugin - all fields are strings **URL:** \ **Category:** Logstash\ **Created:** [March 26, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513 "2021-03-26T15:32:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YaronB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b4bc9f/32.png) [@YaronB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/YaronB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/1 "2021-03-26T15:32:10Z")
i'm trying to move some data to mongodb from elastic using elastic input plugin and csv ouput plugin and then mongoimport. how can i define the fields types , including nested fields? everything is showing up as strings in the csv output -\> mongo here is an example of \_source data: ```auto { "id": "uf02fh-ch29ufh-hd289guf-hf92ui", "platform": { "description": "Chrome 90.0.4430.19 on OS X 10.14.6 64-bit", "layout": "Blink", "manufacturer": null, "os": { "architecture": 64, "family": "OS X", "version": "10.14.6" } }, "videos": [ { "filename": "1.mpeg" }, { "filename": "2.mpeg" } ], "completed": false, "createdAt": "2021-03-15T14:39:56.059Z", "brightnessLevel": [ 106.56687102472326 ], "gdprTimestamp": "2021-03-15T14:39:57.468Z", "quality": "hd", "updatedAt": "2021-03-15T14:40:53.147Z" } ``` here is the conf file: ```auto input { elasticsearch { hosts => "xxx:port" user => "elastic" password => "password" index => "some_index" query => '{ "query": { "match_all": {} }, "_source": ["id","platform","videos","completed","createdAt","brightnessLevel","gdprTimestamp","quality","updatedAt"] }' } } output { csv { # elastic field name fields => ["id","platform","videos","completed","createdAt","brightnessLevel","gdprTimestamp","quality","updatedAt"] # This is path where we store output. path => "/tmp/csv-export.csv" } } ``` ---
**Author:** ![Badger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/badger/32/25190_2.png) [@Badger](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/2 "2021-03-26T17:13:50Z")
The csv output calls Array::to\_csv, which is equivalent to [CSV::generate\_line](https://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-3.0.0/libdoc/csv/rdoc/CSV.html#method-c-generate_line), which is defined as returning a string. Anything in the csv file will be a string. ---
**Author:** ![YaronB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b4bc9f/32.png) [@YaronB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/YaronB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/3 "2021-03-26T20:02:58Z")
Is there a way to avoid that? What would the best practice to move some index data from elastic to mongo using logstash? ---
**Author:** ![Badger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/badger/32/25190_2.png) [@Badger](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/4 "2021-03-26T20:25:42Z")
You could try using the [mongodb output](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/plugins-outputs-mongodb.html). ---
**Author:** ![YaronB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b4bc9f/32.png) [@YaronB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/YaronB)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 12:30pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/5 "2021-03-27T12:30:03Z")
so i tried with the following conf: ```auto input { elasticsearch { hosts => "ES:port" user => "elastic" password => "password" index => "some_index" query => '{ "query": { "match_all": {} }, "_source": ["id","platform","videos","completed","createdAt","brightnessLevel","gdprTimestamp","quality","updatedAt"] }' } } output { mongodb { id => "my_id" collection => "some_collection" database => "dbname" uri => "mongodb+srv://user:pass@mongo_hostname/dbname?retryWrites=true&w=majority" codec => "json" } } ``` but got this error: [2021-03-27T12:33:37,286][WARN][logstash.outputs.mongodb][main] MONGODB | Failed to handshake with [mongodb shard address]: ArgumentError: wrong number of arguments (given 2, expected 1) any idea what's wrong in the config ? logstash-output-mongodb (3.1.6) ---
**Author:** ![Badger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/badger/32/25190_2.png) [@Badger](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/6 "2021-03-27T15:56:00Z")
A similar error came up recently [here](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-mongodb-output-plugin-command-insert-requires-authentication/268265). I do not have a good answer for it. If it threw an exception you could capture the init of that exception in a debugger, if it provided a stack trace you could review the code where it happens. However, we have neither. ---
**Author:** ![YaronB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b4bc9f/32.png) [@YaronB](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/YaronB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 10:11am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/7 "2021-03-30T10:11:55Z")
Thanks @Badger i was thinking logstash and its plugins are much more stabled and working out of the box. especially for such basic use cases... it's a bummer. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 10:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/logstash-output-csv-plugin-all-fields-are-strings/268513/8 "2021-04-27T10:12:29Z")
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