---
navigation_title: "heartbeat"
mapped_pages:
  - https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/logstash/current/plugins-inputs-heartbeat.html
---

# Heartbeat input plugin [plugins-inputs-heartbeat]


* Plugin version: v3.1.1
* Released on: 2021-08-04
* [Changelog](https://github.com/logstash-plugins/logstash-input-heartbeat/blob/v3.1.1/CHANGELOG.md)

For other versions, see the [Versioned plugin docs](logstash-docs://reference/input-heartbeat-index.md).

## Getting help [_getting_help_25]

For questions about the plugin, open a topic in the [Discuss](http://discuss.elastic.co) forums. For bugs or feature requests, open an issue in [Github](https://github.com/logstash-plugins/logstash-input-heartbeat). For the list of Elastic supported plugins, please consult the [Elastic Support Matrix](https://www.elastic.co/support/matrix#logstash_plugins).


## Description [_description_25]

Generate heartbeat messages.

The general intention of this is to test the performance and availability of Logstash.


## Elastic Common Schema (ECS) [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs]

This plugin could provide a field, originally named `clock`, to track `epoch` or `sequence` incremental numbers. When [ECS compatibility mode](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) is enabled that value is now present in the event’s `[event][sequence]` subfield.

When [ECS compatibility mode](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) is enabled the use of `message` as selector of sequence type is not available and only [`sequence`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-sequence) is considered. In this case if `message` contains sequence selector strings it’s ignored.

The existing `host` field is moved to `[host][name]` when ECS is enabled.

| `disabled` | `v1`, `v8` | Availability | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [host] | [host][name] | *Always* | *Name or address of the host is running the plugin* |
| [clock] | [event][sequence] | *When `sequence` setting enables it* | *Increment counter based on seconds or from local 0 based counter* |


## Heartbeat Input Configuration Options [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-options]

This plugin supports the following configuration options plus the [Common options](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-common-options) described later.

| Setting | Input type | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`count`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-count) | [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number) | No |
| [`ecs_compatibility`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) | [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string) | No |
| [`interval`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-interval) | [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number) | No |
| [`message`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-message) | [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string) | No |
| [`sequence`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-sequence) | [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string) one of `["none", "epoch", "sequence"]` | No |
| [`threads`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-threads) | [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number) | No |

Also see [Common options](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-common-options) for a list of options supported by all input plugins.

 

### `count` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-count]

* Value type is [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number)
* Default value is `-1`

How many times to iterate. This is typically used only for testing purposes.


### `ecs_compatibility` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility]

* Value type is [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string)
* Supported values are:

    * `disabled`: `clock` counter field added at root level
    * `v1`,`v8`: ECS compliant `[event][sequence]` counter field added to the event

* Default value depends on which version of Logstash is running:

    * When Logstash provides a `pipeline.ecs_compatibility` setting, its value is used as the default
    * Otherwise, the default value is `disabled`.


Controls this plugin’s compatibility with the [Elastic Common Schema (ECS)][Elastic Common Schema (ECS)](ecs://reference/index.md)). Refer to [Elastic Common Schema (ECS)](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs) in this topic for detailed information.


### `interval` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-interval]

* Value type is [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number)
* Default value is `60`

Set how frequently messages should be sent.

The default, `60`, means send a message every 60 seconds.


### `message` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-message]

* Value type is [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string)
* Default value is `"ok"`

The message string to use in the event.

If you set this value to `epoch`, then this plugin will use the current timestamp in unix timestamp (which is by definition, UTC).  It will output this value into a field called `clock`

If you set this value to `sequence`, then this plugin will send a sequence of numbers beginning at 0 and incrementing each interval.  It will output this value into a field called `clock`

Otherwise, this value will be used verbatim as the event message. It will output this value into a field called `message`

::::{note}
Usage of `epoch`  and `sequence` in `message` setting is deprecated. Consider using [`sequence`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-sequence) settings, which takes precedence over the usage of `message` setting as selector.
::::


::::{note}
If [ECS compatibility mode](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) is enabled and `message` contains `epoch` or `sequence`, it is ignored and is not present as a field in the generated event.
::::



### `sequence` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-sequence]

* Value can be any of: `none`, `epoch`, `sequence`
* Default value is `"none""`

If you set this value to `none`, then no sequence field is added.

If you set this value to `epoch`, then this plugin will use the current timestamp in unix timestamp (which is by definition, UTC).  It will output this value into a field called `clock` if [ECS compatibility mode](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) is disabled. Otherwise, the field name is `[event][sequence]`.

If you set this value to `sequence`, then this plugin will send a sequence of numbers beginning at 0 and incrementing each interval.  It will output this value into a field called `clock` if [ECS compatibility mode](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-ecs_compatibility) is disabled. Otherwise, the field name is `[event][sequence]`

If `sequence` is defined, it takes precedence over `message` configuration. If `message` doesn’t have `epoch` or `sequence` values, it will be present in the generated event together with `clock` field.


### `threads` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-threads]

* Value type is [number](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#number)
* Default value is `1`



## Common options [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-common-options]

These configuration options are supported by all input plugins:

| Setting | Input type | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [`add_field`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-add_field) | [hash](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#hash) | No |
| [`codec`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-codec) | [codec](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#codec) | No |
| [`enable_metric`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-enable_metric) | [boolean](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#boolean) | No |
| [`id`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-id) | [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string) | No |
| [`tags`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-tags) | [array](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#array) | No |
| [`type`](#plugins-inputs-heartbeat-type) | [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string) | No |

### `add_field` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-add_field]

* Value type is [hash](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#hash)
* Default value is `{}`

Add a field to an event


### `codec` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-codec]

* Value type is [codec](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#codec)
* 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.


### `enable_metric` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-enable_metric]

* Value type is [boolean](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#boolean)
* Default value is `true`

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.


### `id` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-id]

* Value type is [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string)
* There is no default value for this setting.

Add a unique `ID` 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 heartbeat inputs. Adding a named ID in this case will help in monitoring Logstash when using the monitoring APIs.

```json
input {
  heartbeat {
    id => "my_plugin_id"
  }
}
```

::::{note}
Variable substitution in the `id` field only supports environment variables and does not support the use of values from the secret store.
::::



### `tags` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-tags]

* Value type is [array](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#array)
* There is no default value for this setting.

Add any number of arbitrary tags to your event.

This can help with processing later.


### `type` [plugins-inputs-heartbeat-type]

* Value type is [string](/reference/configuration-file-structure.md#string)
* There is no default value for this setting.

Add a `type` 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.