[DOCS] Addressed feedback about beats monitoring settings

libbeat/_meta/config.reference.yml

@@ -188,7 +188,10 @@ output.elasticsearch:
   # Configure http request timeout before failing an request to Elasticsearch.
   #timeout: 90
 
-  # Use SSL settings for HTTPS.
+  # The time interval (in seconds) when metrics are set to Elasticsearch.
+  #period: 60 * time.Second
+
+  # Use SSL settings for HTTPS. Default is true.
   #ssl.enabled: true
 
   # Configure SSL verification mode. If `none` is configured, all server hosts

libbeat/docs/monitoring/configuring.asciidoc

@@ -20,31 +20,29 @@
 {monitoring} enables you to easily monitor {beatname_uc} from {kib}. For more
 information, see {kibana-ref}/xpack-monitoring.html[Monitoring].
 
-. Configure {beatname_uc} to send metrics to your {es} cluster by setting the
-`xpack.monitoring` settings in the {beatname_uc} configuration file. For
-example:
+. Configure {beatname_uc} to send metrics by using the `xpack.monitoring`
+settings in the {beatname_uc} configuration file. If you configured {es} output
+and you want to use the same {es} production cluster and credentials, you can
+specify the following minimal configuration options:
 +
 --
 [source, yml]
 --------------------
 xpack.monitoring:
   enabled: true
   elasticsearch:
-    url: ["https://example.com:9200", "https://example2.com:9200"]
-    username: elastic
-    password: changeme
 --------------------
 
-Many of the configuration options for `xpack.monitoring` match the
-`output.elasticsearch` options. If you configured {es} output and you want to
-use the same {es} cluster and credentials to store your monitoring metrics, you
-can specify the following minimal configuration options:
+Otherwise, you must specify additional configuration options. For example:
 
 [source, yml]
 --------------------
 xpack.monitoring:
   enabled: true
   elasticsearch:
+    hosts: ["https://example.com:9200", "https://example2.com:9200"]
+    username: elastic
+    password: changeme
 --------------------
 
 --
@@ -83,12 +81,6 @@ configuration option contains the following fields:
 The maximum number of metrics to bulk in a single {es} bulk API index request.
 The default is `50`. For more information, see <<elasticsearch-output>>.
 
-////
-[float]
-===== `buffer_size`
-
-TBD. The default value is `50`.
-////
 [float]
 ===== `compression_level`
 
@@ -127,12 +119,14 @@ Dictionary of HTTP parameters to pass within the url with index operations.
 
 The password that {beatname_uc} uses to authenticate with the {es} instances for
 shipping monitoring data.
-////
+
 [float]
 ===== `period`
 
-TBD. The default value is 60 * time.Second.
-////
+The time interval (in seconds) when metrics are sent to the {es} cluster. A new
+snapshot of {beatname_uc} metrics is generated and scheduled for publishing each
+period. The default value is 60 * time.Second.
+
 [float]
 ===== `protocol`
 
@@ -165,14 +159,10 @@ Configuration options for Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer
 connections. If the `ssl` section is missing, the host CAs are used for
 HTTPS connections to {es}. For more information, see <<configuration-ssl>>.
 
-[float]
-===== `url`
-
-The URL for the {es} instances. You can specify a single host as a string or
-specify multiple hosts as an array. Defaults to `http://localhost:9200`.
-
 [float]
 ===== `username`
 
 The user ID that {beatname_uc} uses to authenticate with the {es} instances for
-shipping monitoring data.
+shipping monitoring data. The default is `beats_system`, which is a built-in
+user ID.  For more information, see
+{xpack-ref}/setting-up-authentication.html#built-in-users[Built-in Users].