# Meaning of \*\* in filter input context

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [December 16, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348 "2015-12-16T11:50:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nerdstrike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nerdstrike/32/6664_2.png) [@nerdstrike](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nerdstrike)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348/1 "2015-12-16T11:50:18Z")

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While attempting to sort out my recalcitrant ELK setup, I am finding scattered examples of logstash filter patterns like:

`file { path => "/var/log/**/*" }`

Does this have any specific meaning?

The problem at hand is getting logstash to recognise logs in nested folders, e.g.

/var/log/service/$year/$month/\*

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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:** [December 16, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348/2 "2015-12-16T12:11:09Z")

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Yes, it means search for files recursively under `/var/log/`. Alternatively you could use `/var/log/service/*/*/*` if you want to be a bit more specific in your path.

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**Author:** ![nerdstrike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/nerdstrike/32/6664_2.png) [@nerdstrike](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/nerdstrike)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348/3 "2015-12-16T13:45:57Z")

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Thank you Shaunak. I recommend this feature gets a mention in at least one or two places. It's hard to find!

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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:** [December 16, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348/4 "2015-12-16T14:16:33Z")

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Thanks for your suggestion. I have submitted a pull request to add this to the doc: [https://github.com/logstash-plugins/logstash-input-file/pull/84](https://github.com/logstash-plugins/logstash-input-file/pull/84)

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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:** [July 6, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/meaning-of-in-filter-input-context/37348/5 "2017-07-06T05:18:11Z")

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Closed on July 6, 2017, 5:18am UTC