---
title: Monitor a Fleet-managed APM Server
description: In 8.0 and later, you can use Metricbeat to collect data about APM Server and ship it to a monitoring cluster. To collect and ship monitoring data: Configure...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/apm/apm-server/monitor-fleet-managed
products:
  - APM
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
---

# Monitor a Fleet-managed APM Server
<note>
  This guide assumes you are already ingesting APM data into the Elastic Stack.
</note>

In 8.0 and later, you can use Metricbeat to collect data about APM Server and ship it to a monitoring cluster. To collect and ship monitoring data:
1. [Configure Elastic Agent to send monitoring data](#apm-configure-ea-monitoring-data)
2. [Install and configure Metricbeat to collect monitoring data](#apm-install-config-metricbeat)


## Configure Elastic Agent to send monitoring data

<admonition title="Admonition">
  Before you can monitor APM, you must have monitoring data for the Elasticsearch production cluster. To learn how, see [Collect Elasticsearch monitoring data with Metricbeat](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/monitor/stack-monitoring/collecting-monitoring-data-with-metricbeat). Alternatively, open the **Stack Monitoring** app in Kibana and follow the in-product guide.
</admonition>

1. Enable monitoring of Elastic Agent by adding the following settings to your `elastic-agent.yml` configuration file:
   ```yaml
   agent.monitoring:
     http:
       enabled: true 
       host: localhost 
       port: 6791 
   ```
2. Enroll Elastic Agent
   After editing `elastic-agent.yml`, you must re-enroll Elastic Agent for the changes to take effect.
   To enroll the Elastic Agent in Fleet:
   ```shell
   elastic-agent enroll --url <string>
                        --enrollment-token <string>
                        [--ca-sha256 <string>]
                        [--certificate-authorities <string>]
                        [--daemon-timeout <duration>]
                        [--delay-enroll]
                        [--elastic-agent-cert <string>]
                        [--elastic-agent-cert-key <string>]
                        [--elastic-agent-cert-key-passphrase <string>]
                        [--force]
                        [--header <strings>]
                        [--help]
                        [--insecure ]
                        [--proxy-disabled]
                        [--proxy-header <strings>]
                        [--proxy-url <string>]
                        [--staging <string>]
                        [--tag <string>]
                        [global-flags]
   ```

See the [Elastic Agent command reference](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/fleet/agent-command-reference) for more information on the enroll command.

## Install and configure Metricbeat to collect monitoring data

1. Install Metricbeat on the same server as Elastic Agent. To learn how, see [Get started with Metricbeat](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-installation-configuration). If you already have Metricbeat installed, skip this step.
2. Enable the `beat-xpack` module in Metricbeat.
   For example, to enable the default configuration in the `modules.d` directory, run the following command, using the correct command syntax for your OS:
   ```sh
   metricbeat modules enable beat-xpack
   ```
   For more information, see [Configure modules](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/configuration-metricbeat) and [beat module](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-module-beat).
3. Configure the `beat-xpack` module in Metricbeat.
   When complete, your `modules.d/beat-xpack.yml` file should look similar to this:
   ```yaml
   - module: beat
     xpack.enabled: true
     period: 10s
     hosts: ["http://localhost:6791"]
     basepath: "/processes/apm-server-default"
     username: remote_monitoring_user
     password: your_password
   ```
   1. Do not change the  `module` name or `xpack.enabled` boolean; these are required for stack monitoring. We recommend accepting the default `period` for now.
2. Set the `hosts` to match the host:port configured in your `elastic-agent.yml` file. In this example, that’s `http://localhost:6791`.
   To monitor multiple APM Server instances running in multiple Elastic Agents, specify a list of hosts, for example:
   ```yaml
   hosts: ["http://localhost:5066","http://localhost:5067","http://localhost:5068"]
   ```
   If you configured Elastic Agent to use encrypted communications, you must access it via HTTPS. For example, use a `hosts` setting like `https://localhost:5066`.
3. APM Server metrics are exposed at `/processes/apm-server-default`. Add this location as the `basepath`.
4. Set the `username` and `password` settings as required by your environment. If Elastic security features are enabled, you must provide a username and password so that Metricbeat can collect metrics successfully:
   1. Create a user on the Elasticsearch cluster that has the `remote_monitoring_collector` [built-in role](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/elasticsearch/roles). Alternatively, if it’s available in your environment, use the `remote_monitoring_user` [built-in user](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/users-roles/cluster-or-deployment-auth/built-in-users).
2. Add the `username` and `password` settings to the beat module configuration file.
4. Optional: Disable the system module in the Metricbeat.
   By default, the [system module](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-module-system) is enabled. The information it collects, however, is not shown on the **Stack Monitoring** page in Kibana. Unless you want to use that information for other purposes, run the following command:
   ```sh
   metricbeat modules disable system
   ```
5. Identify where to send the monitoring data.
   <tip>
   In production environments, you should send your deployment logs and metrics to a dedicated monitoring deployment (referred to as the *monitoring cluster*). Monitoring indexes logs and metrics into Elasticsearch and these indexes consume storage, memory, and CPU cycles like any other index. By using a separate monitoring deployment, you avoid affecting your other production deployments and can view the logs and metrics even when a production deployment is unavailable.
   </tip>
   For example, specify the Elasticsearch output information in the Metricbeat configuration file (`metricbeat.yml`):
   ```yaml
   output.elasticsearch:
     # Array of hosts to connect to.
     hosts: ["<ES_MONITORING_HOST1_URL>:9200", "http://es-mon2:9200"] 

     # Optional protocol and basic auth credentials.
     #protocol: "https"
     #api_key:  "id:api_key" 
     #username: "elastic"
     #password: "changeme"
   ```
   If you configured the monitoring cluster to use encrypted communications, you must access it via HTTPS. For example, use a `hosts` setting like `https://es-mon-1:9200`.
   <important>
   The Elasticsearch monitoring features use ingest pipelines, therefore the cluster that stores the monitoring data must have at least one ingest node.
   </important>
   If the Elasticsearch security features are enabled on the monitoring cluster, you must provide a valid user ID and password so that Metricbeat can send metrics successfully:
   1. Create a user on the monitoring cluster that has the `remote_monitoring_agent` [built-in role](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/elasticsearch/roles). Alternatively, if it’s available in your environment, use the `remote_monitoring_user` [built-in user](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/users-roles/cluster-or-deployment-auth/built-in-users).
2. Add the `username` and `password` settings to the Elasticsearch output information in the Metricbeat configuration file.
   For more information about these configuration options, see [Configure the Elasticsearch output](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/elasticsearch-output).
6. [Start Metricbeat](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/beats/metricbeat/metricbeat-starting) to begin collecting APM monitoring data.
7. [View the monitoring data in Kibana](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/deploy-manage/monitor/stack-monitoring/kibana-monitoring-data).