• Plugin version: v3.1.0
• Released on: 2021-11-04
• Changelog

For other versions, see theVersioned plugin docs.

For questions about the plugin, open a topic in theDiscuss forums. For bugs or feature requests, open an issue inGithub. For the list of Elastic supported plugins, please consult theElastic Support Matrix.

Generate random log events.

The general intention of this is to test performance of plugins.

An event is generated first

This plugin uses different field names depending on whetherECS-compatibility in enabled (see alsoecs_compatibility).

This plugin supports the following configuration options plus theCommon options described later.

Also seeCommon options for a list of options supported by all input plugins.

• Value type isnumber
• Default value is0

Set how many messages should be generated.

The default,0, means generate an unlimited number of events.

• Value type isstring

• Supported values are:

  • disabled: uses backwards compatible field names, such as[host]
  • v1,v8: uses fields that are compatible with ECS, such as[host][name]

Controls this plugin’s compatibility with theElastic Common Schema (ECS). SeeCompatibility with the Elastic Common Schema (ECS) for detailed information.

Sample output: ECS enabled

{    "message" => "Hello world!",    "event" => {        "sequence" => 0    },    "host" => {        "name" => "the-machine"    }}

Sample output: ECS disabled

{    "message" => "Hello world!",    "sequence" => 0,    "host" => "the-machine"}

• Value type isarray
• There is no default value for this setting.

The lines to emit, in order. This option cannot be used with themessage setting.

Example:

input {  generator {    lines => [      "line 1",      "line 2",      "line 3"    ]    # Emit all lines 3 times.    count => 3  }}

The above will emitline 1 thenline 2 thenline 3, thenline 1, etc…

• Value type isstring
• Default value is"Hello world!"

The message string to use in the event.

If you set this tostdin then this plugin will read a single line from stdin and use that as the message string for every event.

Otherwise, this value will be used verbatim as the event message.

• Value type isnumber
• Default value is1

These configuration options are supported by all input plugins:

• Value type ishash
• Default value is{}

Add a field to an event

• Value type iscodec
• Default value is"plain"

The codec used for input data. Input codecs are a convenient method for decoding your data before it enters the input, without needing a separate filter in your Logstash pipeline.

• Value type isboolean
• Default value istrue

Disable or enable metric logging for this specific plugin instance by default we record all the metrics we can, but you can disable metrics collection for a specific plugin.

• Value type isstring
• There is no default value for this setting.

Add a uniqueID to the plugin configuration. If no ID is specified, Logstash will generate one. It is strongly recommended to set this ID in your configuration. This is particularly useful when you have two or more plugins of the same type, for example, if you have 2 generator inputs. Adding a named ID in this case will help in monitoring Logstash when using the monitoring APIs.

input {  generator {    id => "my_plugin_id"  }}

• Value type isarray
• There is no default value for this setting.

Add any number of arbitrary tags to your event.

This can help with processing later.

• Value type isstring
• There is no default value for this setting.

Add atype field to all events handled by this input.

Types are used mainly for filter activation.

The type is stored as part of the event itself, so you can also use the type to search for it in Kibana.

If you try to set a type on an event that already has one (for example when you send an event from a shipper to an indexer) then a new input will not override the existing type. A type set at the shipper stays with that event for its life even when sent to another Logstash server.