# NoMethodError: undefined method \`\<' for nil:NilClass\>

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/nomethoderror-undefined-method-for-nil-nilclass/133869>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [May 30, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/nomethoderror-undefined-method-for-nil-nilclass/133869 "2018-05-30T12:09:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Akash\_Kumar\_Dutta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Akash\_Kumar\_Dutta](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Akash_Kumar_Dutta)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/nomethoderror-undefined-method-for-nil-nilclass/133869/1 "2018-05-30T12:09:36Z")

</div>

The config for my logstash looks like:

```
input {
      kafka {
        bootstrap_servers => "kafka-0.kafka-svc.ns-adutta.svc.cluster.local:9093,kafka-1.kafka-svc.ns-adutta.svc.cluster.local:9093,kafka-2.kafka-svc.ns-adutta.svc.cluster.local:9093"
        topics => "ops.docker-logs-fluentbit.stream.json.001"
        group_id => "1"
        client_id => "1"
      }
    }
output {

    stdout {}
    elasticsearch{

      hosts => "https://abcd.com:9243"
      index => "docker-logs"
      user => "xx"
      password => "xxxx"

  }

```

The error I get:  
[2018-05-30T11:58:45,130][FATAL][logstash.runner] An unexpected error occurred! {:error=\>#\<NoMethodError: undefined method `<' for nil:NilClass>, :backtrace=>["/usr/share/logstash/vendor/bundle/jruby/2.3.0/gems/logstash-output-elasticsearch-9.1.1-java/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch/common.rb:222:in`get\_event\_type'", "/usr/share/logstash/vendor/bundle/jruby/2.3.0/gems/logstash-output-elasticsearch-9.1.1-java/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch/common.rb:47:in `event_action_tuple'", "/usr/share/logstash/vendor/bundle/jruby/2.3.0/gems/logstash-output-elasticsearch-9.1.1-java/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch/common.rb:36:in`block in multi\_receive'", "org/jruby/RubyArray.java:2486:in `map'", "/usr/share/logstash/vendor/bundle/jruby/2.3.0/gems/logstash-output-elasticsearch-9.1.1-java/lib/logstash/outputs/elasticsearch/common.rb:36:in`multi\_receive'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/output\_delegator\_strategies/shared.rb:13:in `multi_receive'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/output_delegator.rb:49:in`multi\_receive'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb:477:in `block in output_batch'", "org/jruby/RubyHash.java:1343:in`each'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb:476:in `output_batch'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb:428:in`worker\_loop'", "/usr/share/logstash/logstash-core/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb:386:in `block in start\_workers'"]}  
[2018-05-30T11:58:45,302][ERROR][org.logstash.Logstash] java.lang.IllegalStateException: org.jruby.exceptions.RaiseException: (SystemExit) exit

The stdout works fine as it prints the kafka messages, but the elasticsearch doesn't receive any. Please help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RobBavey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/robbavey/32/20421_2.png) [@RobBavey](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/RobBavey)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/nomethoderror-undefined-method-for-nil-nilclass/133869/2 "2018-06-01T13:28:59Z")

</div>

@Akash_Kumar_Dutta

This error typically occurs when the elasticsearch instance is not available when Logstash starts up. Make sure that you can access the elasticsearch instance from the machine that Logstash is running on.

The latest version of the elasticsearch output plugin handles this a little better - it will wait for connectivity to the elasticsearch box, rather than producing this error. To update the plugin, run

`bin/logstash-plugin update logstash-output-elasticsearch`

Thanks,

Rob

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/nomethoderror-undefined-method-for-nil-nilclass/133869/3 "2018-06-29T13:29:01Z")

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