can logstash process multiple output simultaneously?

Question

i'm very new to logstash and elastic search. I am trying to store log files both in elasticsearch and a flat file. I know that logstash support both output. But are they processed simultaneously? or is it done periodically through a job?

Answer 1

Yes you can do this like so by tagging and cloning your inputs with the "add_tag" command on your shipper config.

input
{
    tcp     { type => "linux" port => "50000" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
    tcp     { type => "apache_access" port => "50001" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
    tcp     { type => "apache_error"  port => "50002" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
    tcp     { type => "windows_security" port => "50003" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
    tcp     { type => "windows_application" port => "50004" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
    tcp     { type => "windows_system" port => "50005" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
udp { type => "network_equipment" port => "514" codec => plain { charset => "US-ASCII" } }
udp { type => "firewalls" port => "50006" codec => plain }
}
filter
{
    grok    { match => [ "host", "%{IPORHOST:ipaddr}(:%{NUMBER})?" ] }
    mutate  { replace => [ "fqdn", "%{ipaddr}" ] }
    dns     { reverse => [ "fqdn", "fqdn" ] action => "replace" }
    if [type] == "linux"                    { clone { clones => "linux.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "apache_access"            { clone { clones => "apache_access.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "apache_error"             { clone { clones => "apache_error.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "windows_security"         { clone { clones => "windows_security.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "windows_application"      { clone { clones => "windows_application.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "windows_system"           { clone { clones => "windows_system.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
    if [type] == "network_equipment"        { clone { clones => "network_%{fqdn}.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
if [type] == "firewalls"        { clone { clones => "firewalls.log" add_tag => "savetofile" } }
}
output
{
    #stdout { debug => true }
    #stdout { codec => rubydebug }
    redis   { host => "1.1.1.1" data_type => "list" key => "logstash" }
}

And on your main logstash instance you would do this:

input {
    redis {
    host => "1.1.1.1" 
    data_type => "list" 
    key => "logstash" 
    type=> "redis-input"
    # We use the 'json' codec here because we expect to read json events from redis.
    codec => json
          }
    }
    output
    {
        if "savetofile" in [tags] {
            file {
                path => [ "/logs/%{fqdn}/%{type}" ] message_format => "%{message}"   
            } 
        }
        else { elasticsearch { host => "2.2.2.2" }
    }
}