[[filebeat-modules-overview]]
== Modules overview

{beatname_uc} modules simplify the collection, parsing, and visualization of common
log formats.

A typical module (say, for the Nginx logs) is composed of one or
more filesets (in the case of Nginx, `access` and `error`). A fileset contains
the following:

* {beatname_uc} input configurations, which contain the default paths where to
  look or the log files. These default paths depend on the operating system.
  The {beatname_uc} configuration is also responsible with stitching together
  multiline events when needed.

* Elasticsearch {elasticsearch}/ingest.html[Ingest Node] pipeline definition,
  which is used to parse the log lines.

* Fields definitions, which are used to configure Elasticsearch with the
  correct types for each field. They also contain short descriptions for each
  of the fields.

* Sample Kibana dashboards, when available, that can be used to visualize the
log files.

{beatname_uc} automatically adjusts these configurations based on your environment
and loads them to the respective Elastic stack components.

NOTE: At the moment, {beatname_uc} modules require using the Elasticsearch
{elasticsearch}/ingest.html[Ingest Node]. In the future, {beatname_uc} modules will
be able to also configure Logstash as a more powerful alternative to Ingest
Node. For now, if you want to use Logstash, you can follow the steps described
in the section called
{logstashdoc}/filebeat-modules.html[Working with {beatname_uc} Modules] in the
Logstash Reference.

{beatname_uc} modules require Elasticsearch 5.2 or later.

[float]
=== Get started

To learn how to configure and run {beatname_uc} modules:

* Get started by reading <<filebeat-modules-quickstart>>.
* Learn about the different ways to enable modules in <<configuration-filebeat-modules>>.
* Dive into the documentation for each module.