Logging to Logstash¶

Logstash is often used for log centralization and analysis. This cookbook describes how to set up Zotonic for logging to Logstash over UDP. As mentioned in the Logging chapter, Zotonic uses the Lager framework. So we will change Zotonic’s Logstash configuration in order to send messages to Logstash.

Step 1: install a Logstash handler¶

First, you need to install a Logstash handler for Lager, for instance this one. To do so, add it (and the jsx JSON library) as a dependency in your Zotonic project:

zotonic.config¶

[{zotonic,
    [
        {deps, [
            {lager_logstash, "", {git, "https://github.com/rpt/lager_logstash.git", {tag, "0.1.3"}}},
            {jsx, ".*", {git, "https://github.com/talentdeficit/jsx.git", {tag, "2.8.0"}}}
        ]}
    ]
}].

And recompile Zotonic to install the dependencies.

Step 2: configure the Logstash handler¶

The next step is to tell the Logstash handler where it should send its messages to:

erlang.config¶

{lager, [
    {handlers, [
        %% Keep the console backend
        {lager_console_backend, info},

        %% And add a Logstash backend
        {lager_logstash_backend, [
            {level, info},

            %% Change the host and port to your Logstash server
            {output, {udp, "logs.yourcompany.com", 5514}},
            {format, json},
            {json_encoder, jsx}
        ]}
    ]},
    {crash_log, "priv/log/crash.log"}
]},

Step 3: Logstash configuration¶

You need to configure your Logstash server so it can receive messages from Zotonic. A simple configuration should suffice:

logstash.conf¶

input {
    udp {
        port => 5514
        codec => "json"
    }
}

output {
    elasticsearch {
        hosts => ["your_elastic:9200"]
    }
}

You should now find all Zotonic log messages in Logstash. To test this, just call:

lager:error("Just testing the Logstash setup here!").