Diskover Alternate Ingesters - User Guide Index

Overview

Alternate ingesters redirect Diskover scan output from Elasticsearch to alternative storage systems such as Apache Parquet files, cloud data warehouses, or other data platforms. Unlike index plugins that enrich metadata within Elasticsearch, ingesters completely replace the default storage backend.

This page serves as the central reference for all alternate ingester documentation. Each guide provides installation instructions, configuration details, output format specifications, analytics tool integration examples, and troubleshooting information.

Key Difference from Plugins: Ingesters are selected via the --altingester command-line flag and completely replace Elasticsearch as the data destination. Data stored via ingesters is not accessible through the Diskover Web UI—you'll query this data using analytics tools appropriate for the storage format.

Available Ingesters

📊 Data Lake & Analytics

Ingesters vs Elasticsearch: When to Use Each

Decision Guide

Use Elasticsearch (default) when:

• You need the Diskover Web UI for interactive browsing and file actions

• Real-time search and filtering are required

• Users need immediate access to scan results

• You're leveraging Diskover workflows, automations, and file actions

Use Alternate Ingesters when:

• Building a data lake or data warehouse that includes file metadata

• Integrating with analytics platforms (Snowflake, BigQuery, Athena, Spark)

• Performing historical analysis across multiple scans

• Archiving scan data for compliance or long-term retention

• Minimizing infrastructure costs for stored scan data

Hybrid Approach: Many organizations use both approaches—Elasticsearch for active, real-time operations and alternate ingesters for archival and analytics. You can run scans with different ingesters for different storage targets.

Quick Reference

Output Formats by Ingester

License Requirements

All alternate ingesters require the MLT (MultiStream Edition) license tier.

External Dependencies

How Ingesters Work

Alternate ingesters are invoked using the --altingester command-line flag:

# Linux
python3 /opt/diskover/diskover.py --altingester <ingester_name> /path/to/scan

# Windows
python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\diskover.py" --altingester <ingester_name> D:\path\to\scan

Key Points:

1. Configure — Set up the ingester in Diskover Admin > Settings > Alternate Ingesters

2. Execute — Run a scan with the --altingester flag

3. Alternative Output — Scan data goes to the ingester's target instead of Elasticsearch

4. Query Externally — Use analytics tools appropriate for the output format

Important: The --altingester flag completely replaces Elasticsearch output for that scan. No data will be searchable in the Diskover Web UI.

Support & Resources

• Diskover Documentation: docs.diskoverdata.com

• Support Portal: support.diskoverdata.com

Last Updated: January 2026
Diskover Data, Inc.