# Only invoke geoip if field is IP

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317>\
**Category:** Logstash\
**Created:** [July 10, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317 "2015-07-10T14:50:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Khoa\_Nguyen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dec6dc/32.png) [@Khoa\_Nguyen1](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Khoa_Nguyen1)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317/1 "2015-07-10T14:50:12Z")

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How do I conditionally invoke geoip if the field is a valid IP address?

---

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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:** [July 10, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317/2 "2015-07-10T17:23:09Z")

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Use a conditional.

```
if [fieldname] =~ /^\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}$/ {
  geoip {
    ...
  }
}

```

Not the best and most stringent expression for validating IPv4 addresses but you get the idea.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Khoa\_Nguyen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dec6dc/32.png) [@Khoa\_Nguyen1](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Khoa_Nguyen1)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317/3 "2015-07-10T17:54:27Z")

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Thanks for your input. I realize grok has patterns for IP (IPv4 or IPv6) already. Can I do this:

```
grok {
    match => { "clientIP" => "%{IP:validIP}" }
}

geoip {
    source => "validIP"
    remove_field => "validIP"
}

```

Thanks

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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:** [July 10, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317/4 "2015-07-10T19:36:53Z")

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Yes, but you probably want to disable the `_grokparsefailure` tag (`tag_on_failure` parameter to grok IIRC). I'm assuming the geoip filter behaves nicely when the field named in `source` doesn't exist.

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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:** [July 6, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/only-invoke-geoip-if-field-is-ip/25317/5 "2017-07-06T05:34:59Z")

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