# Multiple prospectors vs multiple config files **URL:** \ **Category:** Beats\ **Tags:** filebeat\ **Created:** [April 20, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-prospectors-vs-multiple-config-files/128783 "2018-04-20T01:35:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![las](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f9b8f/32.png) [@las](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/las)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-prospectors-vs-multiple-config-files/128783/1 "2018-04-20T01:35:51Z")
When to choose multiple config files over multiple prospectors? To configure multiple files, in version 6, do we need to use -c command or config\_dir property? ---
**Author:** ![steffens](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/steffens/32/79630_2.png) [@steffens](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/steffens)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-prospectors-vs-multiple-config-files/128783/2 "2018-04-20T11:58:21Z")
`config_dir` is deprecated and will be removed in the future. For config files per prospectors/inputs use [external loading capabilities](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/filebeat-configuration-reloading.html) build into filebeat. This feature also supports [live reloading](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/_live_reloading.html) of your prospector configs. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/multiple-prospectors-vs-multiple-config-files/128783/3 "2018-05-18T11:58:27Z")
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