logstash grok parse error date format

Question

I am quite new to logstash so this may be a simple error but I am not able to find where my error is. I have installed logstash and I am trying to parse some logs I generate from a custom java program. I am searching for quite an specific line:

ERROR ProcessStatus 05/24/2017 12:13:58 RETC:0 : Request.evaluate:PDP Response decision: Permit
ERROR ProcessStatus 05/24/2017 12:13:58 RETC:0 : Request.evaluate:PDP Response decision: NotApplicable

I have defined the following config file:

input { 
    file {
        type => "log"
        path => [ "/var/log/tomcat7/catalina.out" ]
    }
}

filter {
    grok {
        match => [ "message" , "%{WORD:text1} %{WORD:text2} \[%{DATA:date}\] %{WORD:text3}:%{NUMBER:num1} : %{WORD:text4}.%{WORD:text5}:%{WORD:text6} %{WORD:text7} %{WORD:text8} %{WORD:decision}"]
        remove_field => [ "message" ]
    }
    date {
        match => [ "timestamp", "MM/dd/YYYY HH:mm:ss" ]
        remove_field => [ "timestamp" ]
    }
}

output {
  stdout {
    codec => rubydebug
  }
}

When the line is received in the log file I am getting a parse error:

{
          "path" => "/var/log/tomcat7/catalina.out",
    "@timestamp" => 2017-05-24T14:31:18.494Z,
      "@version" => "1",
          "host" => "acio-web01",
       "message" => "ERROR ProcessStatus 05/24/2017 16:31:17 RETC:0 : Request.evaluate:PDP Response decision: Indeterminate",
          "type" => "log",
          "tags" => [
        [0] "_grokparsefailure"
    ]
}

I am suspicious that the parsing error has something to see with the date format but i have not been able to find a correct way of defining it. Any idea of what I am doing wrong?

Answer 1

Your grok pattern doesn't match your data. In the message it's showing, there are no [] around the date, but your pattern assumes that there are.

You can paste your log line and pattern in at https://grokdebug.herokuapp.com/ and play with it till it matches.