The Logstash pipeline consists of input, filter, and output plugins. Let's have a look at the following diagram to understand how Logstash uses the plugins:
In the preceding architecture, we can see that there can be multiple data sources from which data is collected, which constitutes as Logstash Input Plugin. After getting input, we can use the Filter Plugin to transform the data and we can store output or write data to a destination using the Output Plugin.
Logstash uses a configuration file to specify the plugins for getting input, filtering data, and storing output. The Input Plugin and Output Plugin are mandatory to specify in the configuration file whereas the Filter plugin is optional to use. If you have input data and without transforming or modifying the data, you can directly store the data in the destination, then in this case filter plugin is not required.
The architecture can be simplified as shown in the following diagram:
Now that we understand...