> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.elastiflow.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.elastiflow.com/flowcoll/configuration/config_gen.md).

# General Configuration

ElastiFlow now supports YAML configuration files for all binaries, with a default file location of `/etc/elastiflow/<binary_name>.yml`. These YAML files are compatible with all existing ElastiFlow settings.

Although environment variables are still available for configuring the collector, the systemd attributes file may be removed in future releases.

To use a YAML file for configuration, either place it in the default location or specify a custom location with the `--config` or `-c` flag when running the binary:

```bash
./flowcoll --config=/etc/elastiflow/flowcoll.yml
```

or

```bash
./flowcoll -c=/etc/elastiflow/flowcoll.yml
```

### Implementing YAML Configuration

This example demonstrates configuring logging settings for the ElastiFlow flow-collector binary using a `flowcoll.yml` file:

1. Create a new file called `flowcoll.yml` with the following content.

   ```yaml
   EF_LOGGER_LEVEL: 'info'
   EF_LOGGER_ENCODING: 'json'
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_ENABLE: true
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_FILENAME: '/var/log/elastiflow/flowcoll/flowcoll.log'
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_MAX_SIZE: 100
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_MAX_AGE: 7
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_MAX_BACKUPS: 4
   EF_LOGGER_FILE_LOG_COMPRESS: false
   ```
2. Customize the settings as needed and create additional YAML files for other ElastiFlow binaries if required.
3. Run the flowcoll binary with the `--config` flag, specifying the path to your `flowcoll.yml` file:

   ```bash
   ./flowcoll --config=/path/to/flowcoll.yml
   ```


---

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