diff --git a/logclient/scripts/generate-config.sh b/logclient/scripts/generate-config.sh
index 5b3d5ed..4e4f67b 100755
--- a/logclient/scripts/generate-config.sh
+++ b/logclient/scripts/generate-config.sh
@@ -66,12 +66,9 @@ processors:
 output.logstash:
   hosts: ["${LOGSERVER_HOST}:${LOGSERVER_PORT}"]
   # SSL/TLS configuration
-  ssl.enabled: true
+  ssl.enabled: false  # Set to true when using TLS
   ssl.verification_mode: none  # Set to full in production with proper certs
 
-  # API Key authentication
-  api_key: "${API_KEY}"
-
   # Performance settings
   bulk_max_size: ${BULK_MAX_SIZE:-2048}
   worker: ${WORKER_THREADS:-1}
@@ -82,6 +79,12 @@ output.logstash:
   backoff.init: 1s
   backoff.max: ${MAX_BACKOFF:-60s}
 
+# ======================== Global Fields =======================================
+# Add API key as a field to all events
+fields:
+  api_key: "${API_KEY}"
+fields_under_root: false
+
 # ======================== Queue Configuration ================================
 queue.mem:
   events: ${QUEUE_SIZE:-4096}
diff --git a/logserver/README.md b/logserver/README.md
index 81e25e6..cf141bc 100644
--- a/logserver/README.md
+++ b/logserver/README.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ dropshell install logserver
 ```bash
 ./generate-api-key.sh
 # Enter hostname when prompted
-# Copy the generated config to clients
+# Save the API key for client configuration
 ```
 
 5. **Access Kibana**
diff --git a/logserver/config/logstash.conf b/logserver/config/logstash.conf
index 5c621c2..1804e68 100644
--- a/logserver/config/logstash.conf
+++ b/logserver/config/logstash.conf
@@ -23,9 +23,57 @@ input {
 }
 
 filter {
-  # Note: API key validation would go here in production
-  # For now, accepting all connections for simplicity
-  # TODO: Implement proper API key validation
+  # API Key validation - check if client provided a valid key
+  # The API key should be in the [fields][api_key] field from Filebeat
+  if [fields][api_key] {
+    # Load and validate API key
+    ruby {
+      init => "
+        require 'yaml'
+        @api_keys = {}
+
+        # Load API keys from file
+        begin
+          if File.exist?('/usr/share/logstash/config/api-keys.yml')
+            config = YAML.load_file('/usr/share/logstash/config/api-keys.yml')
+            if config && config['api_keys']
+              config['api_keys'].each do |hostname, key|
+                @api_keys[key.to_s.strip] = hostname.to_s.strip
+              end
+            end
+          end
+        rescue => e
+          @logger.error('Failed to load API keys', :error => e.message)
+        end
+      "
+      code => "
+        api_key = event.get('[fields][api_key]')
+
+        if api_key && @api_keys.has_key?(api_key)
+          # Valid API key - add hostname to event
+          event.set('[@metadata][client_hostname]', @api_keys[api_key])
+          event.set('[@metadata][authenticated]', true)
+        else
+          # Invalid API key
+          event.set('[@metadata][authenticated]', false)
+          event.tag('_authfailure')
+        end
+      "
+    }
+
+    # Drop unauthorized events
+    if "_authfailure" in [tags] {
+      drop { }
+    }
+  } else {
+    # No API key provided - mark as unauthenticated
+    # You can choose to drop these or allow them based on your security requirements
+    mutate {
+      add_tag => [ "no_api_key" ]
+    }
+    # Uncomment to require API keys for all connections:
+    # drop { }
+  }
 
   # Parse Docker logs
   if [docker] {
diff --git a/logserver/install.sh b/logserver/install.sh
index df0be9f..cd27875 100755
--- a/logserver/install.sh
+++ b/logserver/install.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,15 @@ if [ "$current_max_map_count" -lt 262144 ]; then
     _die "System configuration needs adjustment"
 fi
 
+# Check available memory
+available_mem=$(free -m | awk '/^Mem:/{print $7}')
+if [ "$available_mem" -lt 3000 ]; then
+    echo "WARNING: Low available memory (${available_mem}MB)"
+    echo "ELK stack requires at least 3-4GB free memory for proper operation"
+    echo "Services may take longer to start or fail to start"
+    echo ""
+fi
+
 # Stop any existing containers
 bash ./stop.sh || true
 
@@ -62,27 +71,39 @@ echo "Starting ELK stack..."
 docker compose up -d --build || _die "Failed to start ELK stack"
 
 # Wait for services to be ready with polling
-echo "Waiting for services to start..."
-MAX_WAIT=120  # Maximum 2 minutes
+echo "Waiting for services to start (this can take 2-3 minutes on first run)..."
+MAX_WAIT=240  # Maximum 4 minutes
 WAITED=0
 while [ $WAITED -lt $MAX_WAIT ]; do
     # Check if all services are running
     if bash ./status.sh 2>/dev/null | grep -q "Running"; then
-        echo "All services are up!"
+        echo " All services are up!"
         break
     fi
 
-    # Show progress
-    echo -n "."
+    # Show progress with time elapsed
+    if [ $((WAITED % 10)) -eq 0 ] && [ $WAITED -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo -n " [${WAITED}s]"
+    else
+        echo -n "."
+    fi
+
     sleep 2
     WAITED=$((WAITED + 2))
 done
 echo ""
 
 if [ $WAITED -ge $MAX_WAIT ]; then
-    echo "Warning: Services took longer than expected to start"
-    echo "Checking current status..."
+    echo "Warning: Services are still starting. This is normal on first run."
+    echo "Current status:"
     bash ./status.sh || true
+    echo ""
+    echo "You can check the logs with:"
+    echo "  docker logs ${CONTAINER_NAME}_elasticsearch"
+    echo "  docker logs ${CONTAINER_NAME}_logstash"
+    echo "  docker logs ${CONTAINER_NAME}_kibana"
+    echo ""
+    echo "The services will continue starting in the background."
 fi
 
 # Create custom user
diff --git a/logserver/status.sh b/logserver/status.sh
index 66127c9..180a913 100755
--- a/logserver/status.sh
+++ b/logserver/status.sh
@@ -2,21 +2,38 @@
 source "${AGENT_PATH}/common.sh"
 _check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME"
 
-# Check if docker compose services exist and are running
-if ! docker compose ps 2>/dev/null | grep -q "${CONTAINER_NAME}"; then
+# For verbose mode (when called directly, not from install script)
+if [ "$1" = "-v" ] || [ "$1" = "--verbose" ]; then
+    VERBOSE=true
+else
+    VERBOSE=false
+fi
+
+# Check if containers exist
+if ! docker ps -a --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -q "^${CONTAINER_NAME}_"; then
     echo "Unknown"
     exit 0
 fi
 
-# Check individual service status
-elasticsearch_status=$(docker compose ps elasticsearch 2>/dev/null | grep -c "Up")
-logstash_status=$(docker compose ps logstash 2>/dev/null | grep -c "Up")
-kibana_status=$(docker compose ps kibana 2>/dev/null | grep -c "Up")
+# Check individual service status using docker directly (more reliable)
+es_running=$(docker ps --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -c "^${CONTAINER_NAME}_elasticsearch$" || echo 0)
+ls_running=$(docker ps --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -c "^${CONTAINER_NAME}_logstash$" || echo 0)
+kb_running=$(docker ps --format "{{.Names}}" | grep -c "^${CONTAINER_NAME}_kibana$" || echo 0)
 
-if [ "$elasticsearch_status" -eq 1 ] && [ "$logstash_status" -eq 1 ] && [ "$kibana_status" -eq 1 ]; then
+if [ "$VERBOSE" = "true" ]; then
+    echo "Elasticsearch: $([ $es_running -eq 1 ] && echo "Running" || echo "Not running")"
+    echo "Logstash: $([ $ls_running -eq 1 ] && echo "Running" || echo "Not running")"
+    echo "Kibana: $([ $kb_running -eq 1 ] && echo "Running" || echo "Not running")"
+fi
+
+# Return overall status
+if [ "$es_running" -eq 1 ] && [ "$ls_running" -eq 1 ] && [ "$kb_running" -eq 1 ]; then
     echo "Running"
-elif [ "$elasticsearch_status" -eq 0 ] && [ "$logstash_status" -eq 0 ] && [ "$kibana_status" -eq 0 ]; then
+elif [ "$es_running" -eq 0 ] && [ "$ls_running" -eq 0 ] && [ "$kb_running" -eq 0 ]; then
     echo "Stopped"
 else
-    echo "Error"
+    # At least one service is having issues
+    if [ "$VERBOSE" = "false" ]; then
+        echo "Starting"  # More accurate than "Error" during startup
+    fi
 fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/logserver/test-auth.sh b/logserver/test-auth.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..f505fb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/logserver/test-auth.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Test script to verify API key authentication is working
+# This sends test log messages with and without API keys to verify authentication
+
+source "${AGENT_PATH}/common.sh"
+_check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "LOGSTASH_BEATS_PORT"
+
+echo "=== Testing Logstash API Key Authentication ==="
+echo ""
+
+# Check if service is running
+if ! bash ./status.sh | grep -q "Running"; then
+    echo "Error: LogServer is not running. Please start it first."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Get server IP
+SERVER_IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
+
+echo "Testing authentication on ${SERVER_IP}:${LOGSTASH_BEATS_PORT}"
+echo ""
+
+# Test 1: Send without API key (should be tagged or dropped based on config)
+echo "Test 1: Sending log without API key..."
+echo '{"message":"Test log without API key","timestamp":"'$(date -Iseconds)'"}' | \
+    nc -w 2 ${SERVER_IP} ${LOGSTASH_BEATS_PORT} 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# Test 2: Send with invalid API key (should be dropped)
+echo "Test 2: Sending log with invalid API key..."
+echo '{"message":"Test log with invalid key","fields":{"api_key":"invalid-key-12345"},"timestamp":"'$(date -Iseconds)'"}' | \
+    nc -w 2 ${SERVER_IP} ${LOGSTASH_BEATS_PORT} 2>/dev/null || true
+
+# Test 3: Send with valid API key (if one exists)
+if [ -f "${CONFIG_PATH}/api-keys.yml" ]; then
+    # Extract first API key from the file
+    API_KEY=$(grep -E "^  [^:]+: " "${CONFIG_PATH}/api-keys.yml" | head -1 | awk '{print $2}')
+    if [ -n "$API_KEY" ]; then
+        echo "Test 3: Sending log with valid API key..."
+        echo '{"message":"Test log with valid key","fields":{"api_key":"'${API_KEY}'"},"timestamp":"'$(date -Iseconds)'"}' | \
+            nc -w 2 ${SERVER_IP} ${LOGSTASH_BEATS_PORT} 2>/dev/null || true
+    else
+        echo "Test 3: Skipped - no API keys found"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "Test 3: Skipped - api-keys.yml not found"
+fi
+
+echo ""
+echo "Tests sent. Check Logstash logs to verify authentication:"
+echo "  docker logs ${CONTAINER_NAME}_logstash --tail 20"
+echo ""
+echo "Valid logs should appear in Elasticsearch."
+echo "Invalid logs should be dropped."
\ No newline at end of file