# Where in directory structure can collected metricbeat data be viewed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Beats\ **Tags:** metricbeat\ **Created:** [November 30, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681 "2016-11-30T21:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rherr63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@rherr63](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rherr63)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/1 "2016-11-30T21:24:38Z")
The documentation data indicates location for persistent data files is /var/lib/metricbeat. That directory is empty and i have searched other locations containing metricbeat and data in path. I am getting data because I see entries similar to following present at /var/log/metricbeat/metricbeat: INFO Non-zero metrics in the last 30s: fetches.system-memory.success-1 fetches.system-filename.success-1 fetches.system-process.events=83. I am attempting to output data to Kafka but need to resolve a firewall issue first. Is it possible in any other location other than the log snippet shown above (from /var/log/metricbeat) to view the data being collected? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ruflin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ruflin/32/3116_2.png) [@ruflin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ruflin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 9:03am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/2 "2016-12-01T09:03:52Z")
Can you share your config file? You can enabled file or console output to have a look at the data that is generated. - [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/file-output.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/file-output.html) - [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/console-output.html](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/console-output.html) ---
**Author:** ![rherr63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@rherr63](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rherr63)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/3 "2016-12-01T13:58:39Z")
Was there a specific section you wanted me to cut-and-paste? logging section is as follows =\> logging.level: debug logging.selectors: ["beat"] logging.to\_syslog: true ---
**Author:** ![rherr63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@rherr63](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/rherr63)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/4 "2016-12-01T14:01:24Z")
Only other populated section is the Kafka output where i have the "hosts:" and "topic:" fields specified. I will take a look at the two links you provided to see if i can see the actual data. The output snippet I included in first post (e.g. fetches.system-process.events=83, etc.) is not helpful to see what is actually being captured. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ruflin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ruflin/32/3116_2.png) [@ruflin](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ruflin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/5 "2016-12-05T15:30:01Z")
Please have a look at the docs I posted. In case this didn't help, please post your full config file and quickly mention what didn't work about the console or file output. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/where-in-directory-structure-can-collected-metricbeat-data-be-viewed/67681/6 "2017-01-02T15:30:23Z")
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