Featured resource
2025 Tech Upskilling Playbook
Tech Upskilling Playbook

Build future-ready tech teams and hit key business milestones with seven proven plays from industry leaders.

Check it out
  • Lab
    • Libraries: If you want this lab, consider one of these libraries.
    • Security
Google Cloud Platform icon
Labs

Ingest and Parse Logs with Elastic Stack

In this lab, you’ll gain hands-on experience using Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) to ingest, parse, troubleshoot syslog and local application log messages, and structure your log data for easier analysis. When you’re finished, you’ll have configured your environment with the apps and tools necessary to ingest logs from different sources, and will have made them readable by visualizing them according to your requirements.

Google Cloud Platform icon
Lab platform
Lab Info
Level
Beginner
Last updated
Nov 05, 2025
Duration
1h 30m

Contact sales

By clicking submit, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Ingest Log Data into ELK

    To start, you will verify that your Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana services have been installed and started. You will enable Kibana’s built-in features for monitoring the health of your Elastic Stack. Then you will configure your Logstash instance to ingest syslog messages, and then send them on (output) to your Elasticsearch node. Finally, you will use the command line interface (CLI) to generate syslog messages.

  2. Challenge

    Logstash Filters and Kibana Visualization

    In this challenge, you'll create an index pattern in Kibana to access your syslog data stored in Elasticsearch, and create a Discover dashboard in Kibana to visualize your log messages. Then, you'll create a second pipeline to ingest local Linux log data. You'll use Logstash filters like Grok and Date to better visualize your data in Kibana.

  3. Challenge

    Test the Pipeline Configuration to Ensure Correct Log Ingestion

    To finish off, you'll use the Linux command line to check your Logstash configuration to ensure that inputs, filters, and outputs are correctly defined, access your Logstash logs for errors or warnings related to the pipeline configuration or data processing, check if indices matching yours are created in Elasticsearch, and check for potential port conflicts.

  4. Challenge

    The Last Challenge

    Welcome to the final challenge! This is your last chance to experiment in the environment. Clicking Finish Lab will end this little world that flittered into existence just for you.

About the author

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

Real skill practice before real-world application

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

Learn by doing

Engage hands-on with the tools and technologies you’re learning. You pick the skill, we provide the credentials and environment.

Follow your guide

All labs have detailed instructions and objectives, guiding you through the learning process and ensuring you understand every step.

Turn time into mastery

On average, you retain 75% more of your learning if you take time to practice. Hands-on labs set you up for success to make those skills stick.

Get started with Pluralsight