Metricbeat quick start: installation and configuration [metricbeat-installation-configuration]

Metricbeat helps you monitor your servers and the services they host by collecting metrics from the operating system and services.

This guide describes how to get started quickly with metrics collection. You’ll learn how to:

install Metricbeat on each system you want to monitor
specify the metrics you want to collect
send the metrics to {{es}}
visualize the metrics data in {{kib}}

% TO DO: Use :class: screenshot

Before you begin [_before_you_begin]

You need {{es}} for storing and searching your data, and {{kib}} for visualizing and managing it.

:::::::{applies-switch} :group: deployment

::::::{applies-item} ess: ga :sync: hosted To get started quickly, spin up an {{ech}} deployment. {{ech}} is available on AWS, GCP, and Azure. Try it out for free. ::::::

::::::{applies-item} self: ga :sync: self To install and run {{es}} and {{kib}}, see Installing the {{stack}}. ::::::

::::::{applies-item} serverless: ga :sync: serverless ::::{include} /reference/_snippets/serverless-before-you-begin.md :::: ::::::

:::::::

Step 1: Install Metricbeat [install]

Install Metricbeat as close as possible to the service you want to monitor. For example, if you have four servers with MySQL running, it’s recommended that you run Metricbeat on each server. This allows Metricbeat to access your service from localhost and does not cause any additional network traffic or prevent Metricbeat from collecting metrics when there are network problems. Metrics from multiple Metricbeat instances will be combined on the Elasticsearch server.

To download and install Metricbeat, use the commands that work with your system:

:::::::{tab-set} :group: platform

::::::{tab-item} DEB :sync: deb

shell

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-amd64.deb

::::::

::::::{tab-item} RPM :sync: rpm

shell

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -vi metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-x86_64.rpm

::::::

::::::{tab-item} MacOS :sync: macos

shell

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz

::::::

::::::{tab-item} Linux :sync: linux

shell

curl -L -O https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzvf metricbeat-{{version.stack}}-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

::::::

::::::{tab-item} Windows :sync: windows

Download the Metricbeat Windows zip file.
Extract the contents of the zip file into C:\Program Files.
Rename the metricbeat-[version]-windows-x86_64 directory to Metricbeat.
Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
From the PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to install Metricbeat as a Windows service:

shell

PS > cd 'C:\Program Files\Metricbeat'
PS C:\Program Files\Metricbeat> .\install-service-metricbeat.ps1

:::{note} If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example: PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-metricbeat.ps1. :::

:::{important} :applies_to: stack: ga 9.0.6+!

The base folder has changed from C:\ProgramData\ to C:\Program Files\ because the latter has stricter permissions. The home path (base for state and logs) is now C:\Program Files\Metricbeat-Data.

The install script (install-service-metricbeat.ps1) will check whether C:\ProgramData\Metricbeat exits and move it to C:\Program Files\Metricbeat-Data. For more details on the installation script refer to: install script.

:::

::::::

::::::: The commands shown are for AMD platforms, but ARM packages are also available. Refer to the download page for the full list of available packages.

Other installation options [other-installation-options]

Step 2: Connect to the {{stack}} [set-connection]

Connections to {{es}} and {{kib}} are required to set up Metricbeat.

Set the connection information in metricbeat.yml. To locate this configuration file, see Directory layout.

:::::::{applies-switch} :group: deployment

::::::{applies-item} ess: ga :sync: hosted Specify the cloud.id of your {{ech}} deployment, and set cloud.auth to a user who is authorized to set up Metricbeat. For example:

yaml

cloud.id: "staging:dXMtZWFzdC0xLmF3cy5mb3VuZC5pbyRjZWM2ZjI2MWE3NGJmMjRjZTMzYmI4ODExYjg0Mjk0ZiRjNmMyY2E2ZDA0MjI0OWFmMGNjN2Q3YTllOTYyNTc0Mw=="
cloud.auth: "metricbeat_setup:YOUR_PASSWORD" <1>

This examples shows a hard-coded password, but you should store sensitive values in the secrets keystore. ::::::

::::::{applies-item} self: ga :sync: self

Set the host and port where Metricbeat can find the {{es}} installation, and set the username and password of a user who is authorized to set up Metricbeat. For example:
yaml
```
output.elasticsearch:
  hosts: ["https://myEShost:9200"]
  username: "metricbeat_internal"
  password: "YOUR_PASSWORD" <1>
  ssl:
    enabled: true
    ca_trusted_fingerprint: "b9a10bbe64ee9826abeda6546fc988c8bf798b41957c33d05db736716513dc9c" <2>
```
1. This example shows a hard-coded password, but you should store sensitive values in the secrets keystore.
2. This example shows a hard-coded fingerprint, but you should store sensitive values in the secrets keystore. The fingerprint is a HEX encoded SHA-256 of a CA certificate, when you start {{es}} for the first time, security features such as network encryption (TLS) for {{es}} are enabled by default. If you are using the self-signed certificate generated by {{es}} when it is started for the first time, you will need to add its fingerprint here. The fingerprint is printed on {{es}} start up logs, or you can refer to connect clients to {{es}} documentation for other options on retrieving it. If you are providing your own SSL certificate to {{es}} refer to Metricbeat documentation on how to setup SSL.
If you plan to use our pre-built {{kib}} dashboards, configure the {{kib}} endpoint. Skip this step if {{kib}} is running on the same host as {{es}}.
yaml
```
  setup.kibana:
    host: "mykibanahost:5601" <1>
    username: "my_kibana_user" <2> <3>
    password: "YOUR_PASSWORD"
```
1. The hostname and port of the machine where {{kib}} is running, for example, mykibanahost:5601. If you specify a path after the port number, include the scheme and port: http://mykibanahost:5601/path.
2. The username and password settings for {{kib}} are optional. If you don’t specify credentials for {{kib}}, Metricbeat uses the username and password specified for the {{es}} output.
3. To use the pre-built {{kib}} dashboards, this user must be authorized to view dashboards or have the kibana_admin built-in role. ::::::

::::::{applies-item} serverless: ga :sync: serverless ::::{include} /reference/_snippets/serverless-connect.md :::: ::::::

::::::: To learn more about required roles and privileges, see Grant users access to secured resources.

::::{note} You can send data to other outputs, such as {{ls}}, but that requires additional configuration and setup. ::::

Step 3: Enable and configure metrics collection modules [enable-modules]

Metricbeat uses modules to collect metrics. Each module defines the basic logic for collecting data from a specific service, such as Redis or MySQL. A module consists of metricsets that fetch and structure the data. Read How Metricbeat works to learn more.

Identify the modules you need to enable. To see the list of available modules, run:

:::::::{tab-set} :group: platform

::::::{tab-item} DEB :sync: deb
sh
```
metricbeat modules list
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} RPM :sync: rpm
sh
```
metricbeat modules list
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} MacOS :sync: macos
sh
```
./metricbeat modules list
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Linux :sync: linux
sh
```
./metricbeat modules list
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Windows :sync: windows
sh
```
PS > .\metricbeat.exe modules list
```
::::::

:::::::
From the installation directory, enable one or more modules. If you accept the default configuration without enabling additional modules, Metricbeat collects system metrics only.

The following command enables the nginx config in the modules.d directory:

:::::::{tab-set} :group: platform

::::::{tab-item} DEB :sync: deb
sh
```
metricbeat modules enable nginx
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} RPM :sync: rpm
sh
```
metricbeat modules enable nginx
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} MacOS :sync: macos
sh
```
./metricbeat modules enable nginx
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Linux :sync: linux
sh
```
./metricbeat modules enable nginx
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Windows :sync: windows
sh
```
PS > .\metricbeat.exe modules enable nginx
```
::::::

:::::::

See the modules command to learn more about this command. If you are using a Docker image, see Run Metricbeat on Docker.
In the module config under modules.d, change the module settings to match your environment. See Standard config options for more about available settings.

:::{tip} To test your configuration file, change to the directory where the Metricbeat binary is installed, and run Metricbeat in the foreground with the following options specified: ./metricbeat test config -e. Make sure your config files are in the path expected by Metricbeat (see Directory layout), or use the -c flag to specify the path to the config file. :::

For more information about configuring Metricbeat, also see:

Configure Metricbeat
Config file format
metricbeat.reference.yml: This reference configuration file shows all non-deprecated options. You’ll find it in the same location as metricbeat.yml.

Step 4: Set up assets

Metricbeat comes with predefined assets for parsing, indexing, and visualizing your data. To load these assets:

Make sure the user specified in metricbeat.yml is authorized to set up Metricbeat.
From the installation directory, run:

:::::::{tab-set} :group: platform

::::::{tab-item} DEB :sync: deb
sh
```
metricbeat setup -e
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} RPM :sync: rpm
sh
```
metricbeat setup -e
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} MacOS :sync: macos
sh
```
./metricbeat setup -e
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Linux :sync: linux
sh
```
./metricbeat setup -e
```
::::::

::::::{tab-item} Windows :sync: windows
sh
```
PS > .\metricbeat.exe setup -e
```
::::::

:::::::

-e is optional and sends output to standard error instead of the configured log output.

By default Windows log files are stored in C:\Program Files\Metricbeat-Data\logs.

:::{note} In versions before 9.0.6, the default location for Windows log files was C:\ProgramData\metricbeat\logs. :::

This step loads the recommended index template for writing to Elasticsearch and deploys the sample dashboards for visualizing the data in Kibana.

:::{tip} A connection to Elasticsearch (or {{ech}}) is required to set up the initial environment. If you’re using a different output, such as Logstash, see Load the index template manually and Load Kibana dashboards. :::

Step 5: Start Metricbeat

Before starting Metricbeat, modify the user credentials in metricbeat.yml and specify a user who is authorized to publish events.

To start Metricbeat, run:

:::::::{tab-set} :group: platform

::::::{tab-item} DEB :sync: deb

sudo service metricbeat start

::::{note} If you use an init.d script to start Metricbeat, you can’t specify command line flags (see Command reference). To specify flags, start Metricbeat in the foreground. ::::

Also see Metricbeat and systemd. ::::::

::::::{tab-item} RPM :sync: rpm

sudo service metricbeat start

::::{note} If you use an init.d script to start Metricbeat, you can’t specify command line flags (see Command reference). To specify flags, start Metricbeat in the foreground. ::::

Also see Metricbeat and systemd. ::::::

::::::{tab-item} MacOS :sync: macos

sudo chown root metricbeat.yml <1>
sudo chown root modules.d/nginx.yml <1>
sudo ./metricbeat -e

You’ll be running Metricbeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run Metricbeat with --strict.perms=false specified. See Config File Ownership and Permissions. ::::::

::::::{tab-item} Linux :sync: linux

sudo chown root metricbeat.yml <1>
sudo chown root modules.d/nginx.yml <1>
sudo ./metricbeat -e

You’ll be running Metricbeat as root, so you need to change ownership of the configuration file and any configurations enabled in the modules.d directory, or run Metricbeat with --strict.perms=false specified. See Config File Ownership and Permissions. ::::::

::::::{tab-item} Windows :sync: windows

PS C:\Program Files\metricbeat> Start-Service metricbeat

By default Windows log files are stored in C:\Program Files\Metricbeat-Data\logs.

:::{note} In versions before 9.0.6, the default location for Windows log files was C:\ProgramData\metricbeat\logs. :::

::::{note} On Windows, statistics about system load and swap usage are currently not captured :::: ::::::

:::::::

Metricbeat should begin streaming metrics to {{es}}.

Step 6: View your data in {{kib}} [view-data]

Metricbeat comes with pre-built {{kib}} dashboards and UIs for visualizing log data. You loaded the dashboards earlier when you ran the setup command.

To open the dashboards:

Launch {{kib}}:

:::::::{applies-switch} :group: deployment ::::::{applies-item} ess: ga :sync: hosted
1. Log in to your {{ecloud}} account.
2. Navigate to the {{kib}} endpoint in your deployment. :::::: ::::::{applies-item} self: ga :sync: self Point your browser to http://localhost:5601, replacing localhost with the name of the {{kib}} host. :::::: ::::::{applies-item} serverless: ga :sync: serverless ::::{include} /reference/_snippets/serverless-view-data.md :::: :::::: :::::::
In the side navigation, click Discover. To see Metricbeat data, make sure the predefined metricbeat-* data view is selected.

::::{tip} If you don’t see data in {{kib}}, try changing the time filter to a larger range. By default, {{kib}} shows the last 15 minutes. ::::
In the side navigation, click Dashboard, then select the dashboard that you want to open.

The dashboards are provided as examples. We recommend that you customize them to meet your needs.

What’s next? [_whats_next]

Now that you have your infrastructure metrics streaming into {{es}}, learn how to unify your logs, metrics, uptime, and application performance data.

Ingest data from other sources by installing and configuring other Elastic {{beats}}:

Elastic {{beats}} To capture
{{filebeat}} Logs
{{winlogbeat}} Windows event logs
{{heartbeat}} Uptime information
APM Application performance metrics
{{auditbeat}} Audit events

Elastic {{beats}}	To capture
{{filebeat}}	Logs
{{winlogbeat}}	Windows event logs
{{heartbeat}}	Uptime information
APM	Application performance metrics
{{auditbeat}}	Audit events

Use the Observability apps in {{kib}} to search across all your data:

Elastic apps	Use to
{{metrics-app}}	Explore metrics about systems and services across your ecosystem
{{logs-app}}	Tail related log data in real time
{{uptime-app}}	Monitor availability issues across your apps and services
APM app	Monitor application performance
{{siem-app}}	Analyze security events