2.0 KiB
logstash-forwarder-java
What is this ?
Logstash-forwarder-java is a log shipper program written in java. This is in fact a java version of logstash-forwarder by jordansissel. Here are a few features of this program :
- compatible with Java 5 runtime
- lightweight : requires only a few dependencies and few system resources
- configuration compatible with logstash-forwarder
- lumberjack output (including zlib compression)
Why ?
Logstash-forwarder is written in go. This programming language is not available on all platforms (for example AIX), that's why a java version is more portable.
Logstash runs on java and provides a lumberjack output, but the file input doesn't run on all plaforms (for example AIX) and logstash requires a recent JVM. Moreover Logstash is heavier : big package and more system resources.
So logstash-forwarder-java is a solution for those who want a portable, lightweight log shipper for their ELK stack.
How to install it ?
For the moment the only way to install logstash-forwarder-java is to download the maven project and run maven build. Next step is to distribute the logstash-forwarder-java jar and the lib directory located in the maven target directory. I'll try to provide a tarball in the next releases.
Differences with logstash-forwarder
Configuration
The configuration file is the same (json format), but there are a few differences :
- the ssl ca parameter points to a java keystore containing the root certificate of the server, not a PEM file
- the program only uses the first server in the network section for the moment
- comments are C-style comments
Command-line options
Some options are the same :
- config (but only for a file, not a directory)
- quiet
- idle-timeout (renamed idletimeout)
- spool-size (renamed spoolsize)
- help
There are a few more options :
- debug : turn on debug logging level
- trace : turn on trace logging level