> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://chsakell.gitbook.io/harmony/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://chsakell.gitbook.io/harmony/configuration/docker/distributed-logging.md).

# Distributed logging

Centralize your logs in a log management system

Harmony uses [Kibana](https://www.elastic.co/kibana) & [Elasticsearch ](https://www.elastic.co/)for centralized, distributed logging. All microservices send their logs to an elastic instance and Kibana is responsible to search, aggregate, and visualize data.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Search functionality is only available using docker containers. 

Deploy Elasticsearch and Kibana using either the **docker-compose** or the Kubernetes **kubectl** command.
{% endhint %}

### Configure Kibana for searching

Assuming you have deployed the docker containers either using the <mark style="color:orange;">docker-compose</mark> command or using the <mark style="color:orange;">kubectl</mark> to a Kubernetes cluster, Kibana should be up and running on port **5601**.

1. Navigate to <http://localhost:5601/app/home#/> to open Kibana's interface. If it's the first time you will see a welcome message, just click **Explore on my own**.

<div><figure><img src="https://4051864592-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F9FS3EgJIfGPiZJAR9LaG%2Fuploads%2FFreDJqLRUAxeQ3oI1xEZ%2Fkibana-welcome.png?alt=media&amp;token=6b88cdb6-0f3e-4117-bc6f-f8a04cb22cab" alt=""><figcaption><p>Welcome to Elastic</p></figcaption></figure> <figure><img src="https://4051864592-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F9FS3EgJIfGPiZJAR9LaG%2Fuploads%2FKogEE4FIAdj7U7Y8KmWs%2Fkibana-home.png?alt=media&amp;token=9e0cdbb6-f65d-46b4-9cde-ae3c7871fda2" alt=""><figcaption><p>Kibana</p></figcaption></figure></div>

2. Open the left sidebar and find the **Kibana index patterns** from the management menu, in order to create an index pattern for harmony. Alternative you can just navigate to <http://localhost:5601/app/management/kibana/indexPatterns>. Click **Create index pattern** and fill the following values:

* Name: **harmony-\***
* Timestamp field: **@timestamp**

<figure><img src="https://4051864592-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F9FS3EgJIfGPiZJAR9LaG%2Fuploads%2F8LLDQWOEnDpxbaWDcx6b%2Fkibana-index-patterns.png?alt=media&amp;token=5b449928-c15f-4801-b126-cdd5d35fe9bd" alt=""><figcaption><p>Create index pattern</p></figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="https://4051864592-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F9FS3EgJIfGPiZJAR9LaG%2Fuploads%2FyNNlkjsYh2AJHkdWQhVK%2Fkibana-create-index-pattern.png?alt=media&amp;token=526ccb0d-ddea-47fb-94bb-da2195db4f3c" alt=""><figcaption><p>Index pattern for Harmony</p></figcaption></figure>

3. Your index pattern is good to go. Select **Discover** from the left sidebar and start searching!

<figure><img src="https://4051864592-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F9FS3EgJIfGPiZJAR9LaG%2Fuploads%2FFG5i5NjC7EBrn2tnrsQ7%2Fkibana-discover-logs.png?alt=media&amp;token=302e4c2c-72ff-4d8e-8f58-bcb722c63f90" alt=""><figcaption><p>Search with Kibana</p></figcaption></figure>