# elastic/logstash-forwarder

An experiment to cut logs in preparation for processing elsewhere. Replaced by Filebeat: https://github.com/elastic/beats/tree/master/filebeat

Repository: https://github.com/elastic/logstash-forwarder
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/logstash-forwarder
Language: Go
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Archived: true
Last push: 2024-08-08T07:17:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5145, "days_push": 755, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, archived, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1782, forks 401 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:35.666377+00:00)

## What it is
A lightweight Go-based log shipper that collects log files locally and forwards them securely over the lumberjack protocol for processing elsewhere, e.g., by Logstash. It was designed for low resource usage on underprovisioned systems and has been fully replaced by Filebeat.

## Use cases
- ship log files from servers to logstash
- collect logs locally with low resource usage
- forward logs securely over ssl
- tail log files and send them over the network
- lightweight alternative to running logstash on every host

## When to choose
- maintaining a legacy pipeline that already speaks the lumberjack protocol
- you cannot migrate to filebeat yet

## When to avoid
- starting any new log shipping project
- you need ongoing bug fixes or new features
- you want a supported log shipper - use filebeat instead

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: abandoned
- function: logging, cli
- domain: monitoring, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, go
- tags: log-shipping, log-collector, lumberjack-protocol, deprecated, filebeat-successor, devops, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- elastic/logstash-forwarder (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:35.666377+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:24:21.419989+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/elastic/logstash-forwarder (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:35.666377+00:00, sha 745cabd1cee7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.