# Pipelines YAML file is empty

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/pipelines-yaml-file-is-empty/297560>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [February 18, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/pipelines-yaml-file-is-empty/297560 "2022-02-18T03:21:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Naba01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Naba01](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Naba01)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/pipelines-yaml-file-is-empty/297560/1 "2022-02-18T03:21:44Z")

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I am new to ELK.Just tried installing and starting logstash on local windows PC, getting the below error after run the logstash.bat command.  
Could you please help resolve the issue.

```auto
ERROR: Pipelines YAML file is empty. Location: C:/elastic_stack/logstash-8.0.0/config/pipelines.yml
usage:
  bin/logstash -f CONFIG_PATH [-t] [-r] [] [-w COUNT] [-l LOG]
  bin/logstash --modules MODULE_NAME [-M "MODULE_NAME.var.PLUGIN_TYPE.PLUGIN_NAME.VARIABLE_NAME=VALUE"] [-t] [-w COUNT] [-l LOG]
  bin/logstash -e CONFIG_STR [-t] [--log.level fatal|error|warn|info|debug|trace] [-w COUNT] [-l LOG]
  bin/logstash -i SHELL [--log.level fatal|error|warn|info|debug|trace]
  bin/logstash -V [--log.level fatal|error|warn|info|debug|trace]
  bin/logstash --help
[2022-02-18T08:38:29,689][FATAL][org.logstash.Logstash] Logstash stopped processing because of an error: (SystemExit) exit
org.jruby.exceptions.SystemExit: (SystemExit) exit
        at org.jruby.RubyKernel.exit(org/jruby/RubyKernel.java:747) ~[jruby-complete-9.2.20.1.jar:?]
        at org.jruby.RubyKernel.exit(org/jruby/RubyKernel.java:710) ~[jruby-complete-9.2.20.1.jar:?]
        at C_3a_.elastic_stack.logstash_minus_8_dot_0_dot_0.lib.bootstrap.environment.<main>(C:\elastic_stack\logstash-8.0.0\lib\bootstrap\environment.rb:94) ~[?:?]

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tomo\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@Tomo\_M](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Tomo_M)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/pipelines-yaml-file-is-empty/297560/2 "2022-02-20T15:17:45Z")

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If pipeline is not specified by YAML file, use logstash.bat with one of the above options in your error message.

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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:** [March 20, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/pipelines-yaml-file-is-empty/297560/3 "2022-03-20T15:18:15Z")

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