# Number Format Exception when parsing mac address from Netflow

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [June 28, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192 "2016-06-28T18:28:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fidel\_Netflow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@Fidel\_Netflow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Fidel_Netflow)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192/1 "2016-06-28T18:28:35Z")

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Hi, I am receiving the following error when trying to index netflow records:

"error"=\>{"type"=\>"mapper\_parsing\_exception", "reason"=\>"failed to parse [netflow.staMacAddress]", "caused\_by"=\>{"type"=\>"number\_format\_exception", "reason"=\>"For input string: "2c:33:7a:5b:46:bb""}}}}, :level=\>:warn}

My terminal output shows that the mac address appears to be parsed cleanly:

"staMacAddress" =\> "2c:33:7a:5b:46:bb",

So I am unsure why they aren't making it into elasticsearch. Any insight would be greatly appreciated

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**Author:** ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192/2 "2016-06-29T06:10:05Z")

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What's the mapping of the netflow.staMacAddress field (use Elasticsearch get mapping API)?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fidel\_Netflow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@Fidel\_Netflow](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Fidel_Netflow)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192/3 "2016-06-29T16:50:57Z")

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It's of type string.. which is why I wouldn't expect this error

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magnusbaeck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/magnusbaeck/32/44943_2.png) [@magnusbaeck](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/magnusbaeck)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192/4 "2016-06-29T16:52:29Z")

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Really? Please show your mappings.

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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, 4:50am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/number-format-exception-when-parsing-mac-address-from-netflow/54192/5 "2017-07-06T04:50:21Z")

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Closed on July 6, 2017, 4:50am UTC