diff --git a/config.yaml b/config.yaml
index a27003b..0d82f9e 100644
--- a/config.yaml
+++ b/config.yaml
@@ -49,3 +49,20 @@ options:
     default: ""
     description: |
       A YAML list which will be injected to define additional prospectors/inputs.
+  ignore_older:
+    type: string
+    default: "0"
+    description: |
+      If this option is enabled, Filebeat ignores any files that were modified before the specified timespan.
+      Configuring ignore_older can be especially useful if you keep log files for a long time. The passed 
+      values should be integers, e.g., "90", "3600", "600". The values are assumed to be in seconds
+      https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/filebeat-input-log.html#filebeat-input-log-ignore-older"
+  clean_inactive:
+    type: string
+    default: "0"
+    description: |
+      When this option is enabled, Filebeat removes the state of a file after the specified period of inactivity has
+      elapsed. Bear in mind that if clean_inactive is enabled, it must be greater than ignore_older + scan_frequency to
+      make sure that no states are removed while a file is still being harvested. The passed values should be integers, 
+      e.g., "90", "3600", "600". The values are assumed to be in seconds:
+      https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/filebeat/current/filebeat-input-log.html#filebeat-input-log-clean-inactive"
diff --git a/reactive/filebeat.py b/reactive/filebeat.py
index 352fae4..8f2db49 100644
--- a/reactive/filebeat.py
+++ b/reactive/filebeat.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import base64
 import os
 import time
+import re
 
 
 FILEBEAT_CONFIG = '/etc/filebeat/filebeat.yml'
@@ -190,6 +191,56 @@ def check_filebeat_repo():
     remove_state('filebeat.repo.changed')
 
 
+@when('apt.installed.filebeat')
+@when('config.changed')
+def sanity_check():
+    config_items = {
+        'ignore_older': config().get('ignore_older'),
+        'clean_inactive': config().get('clean_inactive')
+    }
+
+    log("Executing sanity checks on config values.")
+
+    # sanity check config strings 
+    for cfg, value in config_items.items():
+        if is_valid_time_string(value) is None:
+            log("Invalid config, the value for {} is not an integer."
+                "Passed value: {}.".format(cfg, value))
+            #status.blocked("Invalid config. Please check the logs for details.")
+            status_set("blocked", "Invalid config. Please check the logs for details.")
+            return
+
+    # sanity check value compliance (e.g., clean_inactive must be greater 
+    # than ignore_older + scan_frequency). scan_frequency is no longer a 
+    # charm config option but it defaults to 10s and it's set to that in 
+    # the charm templates so using that below.
+    scan_frequency = 10
+    ignore_older = int(config_items['ignore_older'])
+    clean_inactive = int(config_items['clean_inactive'])
+
+    if clean_inactive and \
+            int(clean_inactive) <= int(ignore_older) + int(scan_frequency):
+        log("Invalid config, make sure that the value for 'clean_inactive' "
+                "is greater than 'ignore_older + scan_frequency'.")
+        #status.blocked("Invalid config. Please check the logs for details.")
+        status_set("blocked", "Invalid config. Please check the logs for details.")
+        return
+
+    log("Charm config sanity checks passed. Restarting Filebeat")
+    service("restart", "filebeat")
+
+
+def is_valid_time_string(str_in):
+    """
+    Returns str_in as integer if possible, logs an error and returns 
+    None otherwise.
+    """
+    try:
+        return int(str_in)
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        return None
+
+
 @hook('stop')
 def remove_filebeat():
     """Stop, purge, and remove all traces of filebeat."""
diff --git a/templates/filebeat-5.yml b/templates/filebeat-5.yml
index 3542d6c..4d94139 100644
--- a/templates/filebeat-5.yml
+++ b/templates/filebeat-5.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ filebeat:
       scan_frequency: 10s
       harvester_buffer_size: {{ harvester_buffer_size }}
       max_bytes: {{ max_bytes }}
+      ignore_older: {{ ignore_older }}
+      clean_inactive: {{ clean_inactive }}
       fields:
         juju_model_name: {{ juju_model_name }}
         juju_model_uuid: {{ juju_model_uuid }}
@@ -34,6 +36,8 @@ filebeat:
       scan_frequency: 10s
       harvester_buffer_size: {{ harvester_buffer_size }}
       max_bytes: {{ max_bytes }}
+      ignore_older: {{ ignore_older }}
+      clean_inactive: {{ clean_inactive }}
       fields_under_root: true
       symlinks: true
       # NB: disable json decoding; setting any of these would result in the
diff --git a/templates/filebeat-6.yml b/templates/filebeat-6.yml
index 34f48b1..09b3390 100644
--- a/templates/filebeat-6.yml
+++ b/templates/filebeat-6.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ filebeat:
       scan_frequency: 10s
       harvester_buffer_size: {{ harvester_buffer_size }}
       max_bytes: {{ max_bytes }}
+      ignore_older: {{ ignore_older }}
+      clean_inactive: {{ clean_inactive }}
       fields_under_root: false
       fields:
         type: logpath-logs
@@ -39,6 +41,8 @@ filebeat:
       scan_frequency: 10s
       harvester_buffer_size: {{ harvester_buffer_size }}
       max_bytes: {{ max_bytes }}
+      ignore_older: {{ ignore_older }}
+      clean_inactive: {{ clean_inactive }}
       fields_under_root: false
       fields:
         type: container-logs
diff --git a/templates/filebeat-7.yml b/templates/filebeat-7.yml
index 8031f82..912b89b 100644
--- a/templates/filebeat-7.yml
+++ b/templates/filebeat-7.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ filebeat:
       scan_frequency: 10s
       harvester_buffer_size: {{ harvester_buffer_size }}
       max_bytes: {{ max_bytes }}
+      ignore_older: {{ ignore_older }}
+      clean_inactive: {{ clean_inactive }}
       fields_under_root: false
       fields:
         type: logpath-logs