Execute use when setting up log aggregation solutions using ELK, Loki, or Splunk. Trigger with phrases like "setup log aggregation", "deploy ELK stack", "configure Loki", or "install Splunk". Generates production-ready configurations for data ingestion, processing, storage, and visualization with proper security and scalability.
Deploy centralized log aggregation platforms (ELK Stack, Grafana Loki, Splunk) with ingestion pipelines, structured parsing, retention policies, visualization dashboards, and alerting. Configure log shippers (Filebeat, Promtail, Fluentd) to collect from applications, containers, and system logs with proper security and scalability.
Prerequisites
Target infrastructure identified: Kubernetes, Docker Compose, or VMs
Storage requirements calculated: estimate daily log volume and multiply by retention period
Network connectivity between log sources and aggregation platform (typically ports 9200, 3100, 8088)
Authentication mechanism defined (LDAP, OAuth, API tokens, or basic auth)
Select the log aggregation platform: ELK for full-text search and complex queries, Loki for lightweight Kubernetes-native logging, Splunk for enterprise with advanced analytics
Deploy the storage backend: Elasticsearch cluster, Loki with object storage (S3/GCS), or Splunk indexers
Configure log shippers on sources: Filebeat for ELK, Promtail for Loki, Fluentd/Fluent Bit for multi-destination
Define parsing rules: Logstash grok patterns for unstructured logs, JSON parsing for structured logs, multiline handling for stack traces
Set retention policies: Index Lifecycle Management (ILM) for Elasticsearch, chunk retention for Loki, index rotation for Splunk
Deploy visualization: Kibana dashboards for ELK, Grafana dashboards for Loki, Splunk Search for Splunk
Configure alerting: define log-based alerts for error spikes, application exceptions, and security events
Implement RBAC: restrict dashboard access and log visibility by team and environment
Test the full pipeline: generate test logs, verify ingestion, confirm parsing, and validate dashboard display
Output
Docker Compose or Kubernetes manifests for the log aggregation stack
Increase ES_JAVA_OPTS heap size (set to 50% of available RAM, max 32GB) or add nodes
Cannot connect to Elasticsearch
Network issue or Elasticsearch not started
Verify Elasticsearch is running and healthy; check firewall rules and bind address
Failed to create index
Disk space full or index template misconfigured
Check disk usage with df -h; review index template settings and shard allocation
Failed to parse log line
Grok pattern mismatch or unexpected log format
Test grok patterns with Kibana Grok Debugger; add fallback pattern for unmatched lines
Promtail: too many open files
System file descriptor limit too low for log tailing
Increase ulimit -n to 65536; reduce the number of watched paths
Examples
"Deploy an ELK stack on Docker Compose with Filebeat collecting Nginx and application logs, Logstash parsing with grok, and a Kibana dashboard for 5xx error monitoring."
"Set up Loki + Promtail on Kubernetes with 14-day retention, basic auth, and a Grafana dashboard showing logs per namespace."
"Configure Fluentd to ship logs from 20 application servers to both Elasticsearch (hot storage, 7 days) and S3 (cold storage, 1 year)."
