Metricbeat docker compose environment variables

[TobiasSackmann]

Hi all,

I am trying to set up stack monitoring using docker via docker compose.
Here is a sample I found on the Internet that uses the ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS variable. I'd like to define more in this section like the module to be used etc.

  metricbeat:
    image: docker.elastic.co/beats/metricbeat:7.11.1
    environment:
      ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS: http://node01:9200
    volumes:
      - metricbeat-data01:/usr/share/metricbeat/data
    networks:
      - es-network
    depends_on:
      - node01

I'd like to configure as much as possible directly via docker compose, but I cannot find a detailed list of available environment variables. Could you please share the list or even better provide a link to the correct documentation side?

[TiagoQueiroz]

Hi @TobiasSackmann

There are some ways you can configure metricbeat without having to edit the file:

• You can create a configuration file that uses some environment variables as explained in our docs
• Use CLI arguments to override some elements from the configuration file

The docker image you're using uses a configuration file that reads from environment variables, it has got something like that:

output.elasticsearch:
  hosts: '${ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS:elasticsearch:9200}'
  username: '${ELASTICSEARCH_USERNAME:}'
  password: '${ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD:}'

Hence the values you can configure using environment variables.

[TobiasSackmann]

The problem is not the output.Elasticsearch section which is filled by the
ELASTICSEARCH_HOSTS variable. I would rather need the kibana equivalent to fill this section.

setup.kibana:
  host: 'kibana:5601'

Currently the setup.kibana part is completely missing when I have a look at the metricbeat.yml within the docker container.

Unfortunately, none of your links provides a full list of variables nor does the metricbeat.reference.yml within the docker container.

A full list of environment variables that are processed would be appreciated(or at least the one for the kibana hosts).

Kind regards
Tobias