# Unable to start filebeat getting Exiting: couldn't connect to any of the configured Elasticsearch hosts. Errors: \[error connecting to Elasticsearch at http://localhost:5601: Failed to parse JSON response: invalid character '\<' l

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** filebeat\
**Created:** [March 23, 2022, 6:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412 "2022-03-23T06:56:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sureshaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@sureshaws](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sureshaws)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 6:56am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412/1 "2022-03-23T06:56:28Z")

</div>

Getting the below error  
Exiting: couldn't connect to any of the configured Elasticsearch hosts. Errors: [error connecting to Elasticsearch at [http://localhost:5601](http://localhost:5601): Failed to parse JSON response: invalid character '\<' l

here is the filebeat.yml  
###################### Filebeat Configuration Example #########################

# This file is an example configuration file highlighting only the most common

# options. The filebeat.reference.yml file from the same directory contains all the

# supported options with more comments. You can use it as a reference.

# 

# You can find the full configuration reference here:

# [Filebeat Reference | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/index.html)

# For more available modules and options, please see the filebeat.reference.yml sample

# configuration file.

# ============================== Filebeat inputs ===============================

filebeat.inputs:

- type: log  
enabled: true  
paths:
  - C:\project\kotak\2022\3\1\CreditCardService\kotak-crosssell-creditcard\logs\kotak-crosssell-creditcard.log  
multiline:  
pattern: '^[\b\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}[T]\d{2}:\d{2}'  
match: after  
negate: true

output.elasticsearch:  
hosts: ["localhost:9200"]  
username: "elastic"  
password: "paow8\*mXNkVauPJ7NEb2"  
index: "cross-sell"  
pipeline: "cross-sell-pipeline"

setup:  
template.enabled: false

# Exclude lines. A list of regular expressions to match. It drops the lines that are

# matching any regular expression from the list.

#exclude\_lines: ['^DBG']

# Include lines. A list of regular expressions to match. It exports the lines that are

# matching any regular expression from the list.

#include\_lines: ['^ERR', '^WARN']

# Exclude files. A list of regular expressions to match. Filebeat drops the files that

# are matching any regular expression from the list. By default, no files are dropped.

#prospector.scanner.exclude\_files: ['.gz$']

# Optional additional fields. These fields can be freely picked

# to add additional information to the crawled log files for filtering

#fields:

# level: debug

# review: 1

# ============================== Filebeat modules ==============================

filebeat.config.modules:

# Glob pattern for configuration loading

path: ${path.config}/modules.d/\*.yml

# Set to true to enable config reloading

reload.enabled: false

# Period on which files under path should be checked for changes

#reload.period: 10s

# ======================= Elasticsearch template setting =======================

setup.template.settings:  
index.number\_of\_shards: 1  
#index.codec: best\_compression  
#\_source.enabled: false

# ================================== General ===================================

# The name of the shipper that publishes the network data. It can be used to group

# all the transactions sent by a single shipper in the web interface.

#name:

# The tags of the shipper are included in their own field with each

# transaction published.

#tags: ["service-X", "web-tier"]

# Optional fields that you can specify to add additional information to the

# output.

#fields:

# env: staging

# ================================= Dashboards =================================

# These settings control loading the sample dashboards to the Kibana index. Loading

# the dashboards is disabled by default and can be enabled either by setting the

# options here or by using the `setup` command.

setup.dashboards.enabled: false

# The URL from where to download the dashboards archive. By default this URL

# has a value which is computed based on the Beat name and version. For released

# versions, this URL points to the dashboard archive on the [artifacts.elastic.co](http://artifacts.elastic.co)

# website.

#setup.dashboards.url:

# =================================== Kibana ===================================

# Starting with Beats version 6.0.0, the dashboards are loaded via the Kibana API.

# This requires a Kibana endpoint configuration.

setup.kibana:

# Kibana Host

# Scheme and port can be left out and will be set to the default (http and 5601)

# In case you specify and additional path, the scheme is required: [http://localhost:5601/path](http://localhost:5601/path)

# IPv6 addresses should always be defined as: https://[2001:db8::1]:5601

host: "localhost:5601"

# Kibana Space ID

# ID of the Kibana Space into which the dashboards should be loaded. By default,

# the Default Space will be used.

#space.id:

# =============================== Elastic Cloud ================================

# These settings simplify using Filebeat with the Elastic Cloud ([https://cloud.elastic.co/](https://cloud.elastic.co/)).

# The cloud.id setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.hosts` and

# `setup.kibana.host` options.

# You can find the `cloud.id` in the Elastic Cloud web UI.

#cloud.id:"staging:dXMtZWFzdC0xLmF3cy5mb3VuZC5pbyRjZWM2ZjI2MWE3NGJmMjRjZTMzYmI4ODExYjg0Mjk0ZiRjNmMyY2E2ZDA0MjI0OWFmMGNjN2Q3YTllOTYyNTc0Mw=="

# The cloud.auth setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.username` and

# `output.elasticsearch.password` settings. The format is `<user>:<pass>`.

#cloud.auth:password

# ================================== Outputs ===================================

# Configure what output to use when sending the data collected by the beat.

# ---------------------------- Elasticsearch Output ----------------------------

output.elasticsearch:

# Array of hosts to connect to.

hosts: ["localhost:5601"]

# Protocol - either `http` (default) or `https`.

#protocol: "https"

# Authentication credentials - either API key or username/password.

#api\_key: "id:api\_key"  
#username: "elastic"  
#password: "changeme"

# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------

#output.logstash:

# The Logstash hosts

#hosts: ["localhost:5044"]

# Optional SSL. By default is off.

# List of root certificates for HTTPS server verifications

#ssl.certificate\_authorities: ["/etc/pki/root/ca.pem"]

# Certificate for SSL client authentication

#ssl.certificate: "/etc/pki/client/cert.pem"

# Client Certificate Key

#ssl.key: "/etc/pki/client/cert.key"

# ================================= Processors =================================

processors:

- add\_host\_metadata:  
when.not.contains.tags: forwarded
- add\_cloud\_metadata: ~
- add\_docker\_metadata: ~
- add\_kubernetes\_metadata: ~

# ================================== Logging ===================================

# Sets log level. The default log level is info.

# Available log levels are: error, warning, info, debug

#logging.level: debug

# At debug level, you can selectively enable logging only for some components.

# To enable all selectors use ["\*"]. Examples of other selectors are "beat",

# "publisher", "service".

#logging.selectors: ["\*"]

# ============================= X-Pack Monitoring ==============================

# Filebeat can export internal metrics to a central Elasticsearch monitoring

# cluster. This requires xpack monitoring to be enabled in Elasticsearch. The

# reporting is disabled by default.

# Set to true to enable the monitoring reporter.

#monitoring.enabled: false

# Sets the UUID of the Elasticsearch cluster under which monitoring data for this

# Filebeat instance will appear in the Stack Monitoring UI. If output.elasticsearch

# is enabled, the UUID is derived from the Elasticsearch cluster referenced by output.elasticsearch.

#monitoring.cluster\_uuid:

# Uncomment to send the metrics to Elasticsearch. Most settings from the

# Elasticsearch output are accepted here as well.

# Note that the settings should point to your Elasticsearch _monitoring_ cluster.

# Any setting that is not set is automatically inherited from the Elasticsearch

# output configuration, so if you have the Elasticsearch output configured such

# that it is pointing to your Elasticsearch monitoring cluster, you can simply

# uncomment the following line.

#monitoring.elasticsearch:

# ============================== Instrumentation ===============================

# Instrumentation support for the filebeat.

#instrumentation:  
# Set to true to enable instrumentation of filebeat.  
#enabled: false

```
# Environment in which filebeat is running on (eg: staging, production, etc.)
#environment: ""

# APM Server hosts to report instrumentation results to.
#hosts:
# - http://localhost:8200

# API Key for the APM Server(s).
# If api_key is set then secret_token will be ignored.
#api_key:

# Secret token for the APM Server(s).
#secret_token:

```

# ================================= Migration ==================================

# This allows to enable 6.7 migration aliases

#migration.6\_to\_7.enabled: true

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zx8086](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/zx8086/32/94917_2.png) [@zx8086](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/zx8086)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 7:38am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412/2 "2022-03-23T07:38:13Z")

</div>

5601is the port for Kibana. Elasticsearch should be 9200 at least.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mtojek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/mtojek/32/63863_2.png) [@mtojek](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mtojek)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412/3 "2022-03-24T14:46:36Z")

</div>

Please reformat your post using `code tags`. It's hard to go through it and find any bugs.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mangeshmj1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@mangeshmj1992](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mangeshmj1992)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412/4 "2022-03-24T15:01:14Z")

</div>

Hi @sureshaws ,  
Please try below one, pattern, match and negate should be under multiline not on same line

```auto
multiline:
  pattern: '^[\b\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}[T]\d{2}:\d{2}'
  match: after
  negate: true

```

---

<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:** [April 21, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/unable-to-start-filebeat-getting-exiting-couldnt-connect-to-any-of-the-configured-elasticsearch-hosts-errors-error-connecting-to-elasticsearch-at-http-localhost-failed-to-parse-json-response-invalid-character-l/300412/5 "2022-04-21T17:01:45Z")

</div>

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