﻿---
title: Reload the configuration dynamically
description: You can configure Auditbeat to dynamically reload configuration files when there are changes. To do this, you specify a path (glob) to watch for module...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/beats/auditbeat/auditbeat-configuration-reloading
products:
  - Auditbeat
  - Beats
applies_to:
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Beta
  - Elastic Stack: Beta
---

# Reload the configuration dynamically
<warning>
  This functionality is in beta and is subject to change. The design and code is less mature than official GA features and is being provided as-is with no warranties. Beta features are not subject to the support SLA of official GA features.
</warning>

You can configure Auditbeat to dynamically reload configuration files when there are changes. To do this, you specify a path ([glob](https://golang.org/pkg/path/filepath/#Glob)) to watch for module configuration changes. When the files found by the glob change, new modules are started/stopped according to changes in the configuration files.
To enable dynamic config reloading, you specify the `path` and `reload` options in the main `auditbeat.yml` config file. For example:
```sh
auditbeat.config.modules:
  path: ${path.config}/conf.d/*.yml
  reload.enabled: true
  reload.period: 10s
```

<definitions>
  <definition term="path">
    A glob that defines the files to check for changes.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reload.enabled">
    When set to `true`, enables dynamic config reload.
  </definition>
  <definition term="reload.period">
    Specifies how often the files are checked for changes. Do not set the `period` to less than 1s because the modification time of files is often stored in seconds. Setting the `period` to less than 1s will result in unnecessary overhead.
  </definition>
</definitions>

Each file found by the glob must contain a list of one or more module definitions. For example:
```yaml
- module: file_integrity
  paths:
  - /www/wordpress
  - /www/wordpress/wp-admin
  - /www/wordpress/wp-content
  - /www/wordpress/wp-includes
```

<note>
  On systems with POSIX file permissions, all Beats configuration files are subject to ownership and file permission checks. If you encounter config loading errors related to file ownership, see [Config file ownership and permissions](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/beats/libbeat/config-file-permissions).
</note>