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    Collect Elastic Windows Event Log Beats logs

    Supported in:

    This document explains how to ingest Elastic Windows Event Log Beats logs into Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

    Winlogbeat is Elastic's Windows-specific event log shipping agent that collects Windows Event Logs and forwards them to various destinations. It runs as a Windows service on Windows systems and can collect events from Application, Security, System, and other Windows event log channels.

    Before you begin

    Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

    • A Google SecOps instance
    • Windows Server 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd for running the Bindplane agent
    • Network connectivity between the Bindplane agent and the Logstash server
    • Network connectivity between Logstash and the Bindplane agent
    • If running behind a proxy, ensure that firewall ports are open according to the Bindplane agent requirements
    • Windows systems where Winlogbeat will be installed to collect event logs
    • Administrator access to Windows systems for Winlogbeat installation
    • Logstash server (version 7.x or 8.x) for intermediary processing

    Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

    1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
    2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.

    3. Download the Ingestion Authentication File. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

    Get Google SecOps customer ID

    1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
    2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.

    3. Copy and save the Customer IDfrom the Organization Detailssection.

    Install the Bindplane agent

    Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

    Windows installation

    1. Open Command Promptor PowerShellas an administrator.

    2. Run the following command:

        msiexec 
  
 / 
 i 
  
 "https://github.com/observIQ/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/observiq-otel-collector.msi" 
  
 / 
 quiet

    3. Wait for the installation to complete.

    4. Verify the installation by running:

       sc query observiq-otel-collector

      The service status should be RUNNING.

    Linux installation

    1. Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

    2. Run the following command:

       sudo  
sh  
-c  
 " 
 $( 
curl  
-fsSlL  
https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh ) 
 " 
  
install_unix.sh

    3. Wait for the installation to complete.

    4. Verify the installation by running:

       sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

      The service status should be active (running).

    Additional installation resources

    For additional installation options and troubleshooting, see Bindplane agent installation guide .

    Configure Bindplane agent to ingest syslog and send to Google SecOps

    Locate the configuration file

    • Linux:

       sudo  
nano  
/etc/bindplane-agent/config.yaml

    • Windows:

       notepad "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\config.yaml"

    Edit the configuration file

    1. Replace the entire contents of config.yaml with the following configuration:

        receivers 
 : 
  
 tcplog 
 : 
  
 listen_address 
 : 
  
 "0.0.0.0:1514" 
 exporters 
 : 
  
 chronicle/winlogbeat 
 : 
  
 compression 
 : 
  
 gzip 
  
 creds_file_path 
 : 
  
 '<CREDS_FILE_PATH>' 
  
 customer_id 
 : 
  
 '<CUSTOMER_ID>' 
  
 endpoint 
 : 
  
< REGION_ENDPOINT 
>  
 log_type 
 : 
  
 ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
  
 ingestion_labels 
 : 
  
 env 
 : 
  
 production 
  
 source 
 : 
  
 winlogbeat 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs/winlogbeat_to_chronicle 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 tcplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle/winlogbeat

    2. Replace the following placeholders:

      • Receiver configuration:

        • listen_address : Set to 0.0.0.0:1514 to listen on all interfaces on port 1514 (TCP). You can change the port number if needed, but ensure that it matches the Logstash syslog output configuration.

      • Exporter configuration:

        • <CREDS_FILE_PATH> : Full path to ingestion authentication file:

          • Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
          • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json

        • <CUSTOMER_ID> : Customer ID from the previous step

        • <REGION_ENDPOINT> : Regional endpoint URL:

          • US: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • Europe: europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • Asia: asia-southeast1-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          • See Regional Endpoints for complete list

    Example configuration:

    •   receivers 
 : 
  
 tcplog 
 : 
  
 listen_address 
 : 
  
 "0.0.0.0:1514" 
 exporters 
 : 
  
 chronicle/winlogbeat 
 : 
  
 compression 
 : 
  
 gzip 
  
 creds_file_path 
 : 
  
 '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json' 
  
 customer_id 
 : 
  
 'a1b2c3d4-e5f6-g7h8-i9j0-k1l2m3n4o5p6' 
  
 endpoint 
 : 
  
 malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
  
 log_type 
 : 
  
 ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT 
  
 raw_log_field 
 : 
  
 body 
  
 ingestion_labels 
 : 
  
 env 
 : 
  
 production 
  
 source 
 : 
  
 winlogbeat 
 service 
 : 
  
 pipelines 
 : 
  
 logs/winlogbeat_to_chronicle 
 : 
  
 receivers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 tcplog 
  
 exporters 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 chronicle/winlogbeat

    Save the configuration file

    After editing, save the file:

    • Linux: Press Ctrl+O , then Enter , then Ctrl+X
    • Windows: Click File > Save

    Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

    • To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux:

      1. Run the following command:

         sudo  
systemctl  
restart  
observiq-otel-collector

      2. Verify the service is running:

         sudo  
systemctl  
status  
observiq-otel-collector

      3. Check logs for errors:

         sudo  
journalctl  
-u  
observiq-otel-collector  
-f

    • To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows:

      1. Choose one of the following options:

        • Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator:

           net stop observiq-otel-collector && net start observiq-otel-collector

        • Services console:

          1. Press Win+R , type services.msc , and press Enter.
          2. Locate observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector.
          3. Right-click and select Restart.

      2. Verify the service is running:

         sc query observiq-otel-collector

      3. Check logs for errors:

          type 
  
 "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log"

    Install and configure Logstash

    Logstash is required as an intermediary to receive events from Winlogbeat and forward them to the Bindplane agent via syslog. Winlogbeat does not have native syslog output capability.

    Install Logstash

    1. Download Logstash from the Elastic downloads page .
    2. Install Logstash on a Windows or Linux server:

    • Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

       wget  
-qO  
-  
https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch  
 | 
  
sudo  
apt-key  
add  
-
sudo  
apt-get  
install  
apt-transport-https echo 
  
 "deb https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/apt stable main" 
  
 | 
  
sudo  
tee  
-a  
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-8.x.list
sudo  
apt-get  
update && 
sudo  
apt-get  
install  
logstash

    • Linux (RHEL/CentOS):

       sudo  
rpm  
--import  
https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
sudo  
tee  
/etc/yum.repos.d/logstash.repo  
<<EOF [ 
logstash-8.x ] 
 name 
 = 
Elastic  
repository  
 for 
  
 8 
.x  
packages baseurl 
 = 
https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/8.x/yum gpgcheck 
 = 
 1 
 gpgkey 
 = 
https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch enabled 
 = 
 1 
 autorefresh 
 = 
 1 
 type 
 = 
rpm-md
EOF
sudo  
yum  
install  
logstash

    • Windows:

      1. Download the ZIP file from the Elastic downloads page.
      2. Extract to C:\logstash .

    Configure Logstash pipeline

    1. Create a new pipeline configuration file:

      • Linux:

         sudo  
nano  
/etc/logstash/conf.d/winlogbeat-to-syslog.conf

      • Windows:

         notepad "C:\logstash\config\winlogbeat-to-syslog.conf"

    2. Add the following configuration:

       input {
    beats {
        port => 5044
    }
}

output {
    syslog {
        host => "<BINDPLANE_AGENT_IP>"
        port => 1514
        protocol => "tcp"
        rfc => "rfc5424"
        appname => "winlogbeat"
        facility => "user-level"
        severity => "informational"
    }
}

    3. Replace <BINDPLANE_AGENT_IP> with the IP address of the server running the Bindplane agent.

    Example Logstash configuration

    •  input {
    beats {
        port => 5044
    }
}

output {
    syslog {
        host => "192.168.1.100"
        port => 1514
        protocol => "tcp"
        rfc => "rfc5424"
        appname => "winlogbeat"
        facility => "user-level"
        severity => "informational"
    }
}

    Start Logstash

    • Linux:

      1. Start Logstash:

         sudo  
systemctl  
start  
logstash
sudo  
systemctl  
 enable 
  
logstash

      2. Verify Logstash is running:

         sudo  
systemctl  
status  
logstash

      3. Check Logstash logs:

         sudo  
tail  
-f  
/var/log/logstash/logstash-plain.log

    • Windows:

       cd C:\logstash\bin
logstash.bat -f C:\logstash\config\winlogbeat-to-syslog.conf

      For production use, install Logstash as a Windows service using NSSM or similar tools.

    Install Winlogbeat on Windows systems

    Download Winlogbeat

    1. Download Winlogbeat from the Elastic downloads page .
    2. Choose the ZIP or MSI installer for Windows.

    Install Winlogbeat

    • Using MSI installer:

      1. Run the MSI installer.
      2. Follow the installation wizard.
      3. Install to the default location: C:\Program Files\Winlogbeat .

    • Using ZIP file:

      1. Extract the ZIP file to C:\Program Files\Winlogbeat .
      2. Open PowerShellas an administrator.

      3. Navigate to the Winlogbeat directory:

          cd 
 'C:\Program Files\Winlogbeat'

      4. Run the installation script:

          .\ 
 install-service 
 -winlogbeat 
 . 
 ps1

    Configure Winlogbeat to send logs to Logstash

    1. Open the Winlogbeat configuration file:

       notepad "C:\Program Files\Winlogbeat\winlogbeat.yml"

    2. Configure the event logs to collect. Locate the winlogbeat.event_logs section and configure as follows:

        winlogbeat.event_logs 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Application 
  
 ignore_older 
 : 
  
 72h 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 System 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Security 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational 
  
 ignore_older 
 : 
  
 72h 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Windows PowerShell 
  
 event_id 
 : 
  
 400, 403, 600, 800 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational 
  
 event_id 
 : 
  
 4103, 4104, 4105, 4106 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 ForwardedEvents 
  
 tags 
 : 
  
 [ 
 forwarded 
 ]

    3. Comment out the Elasticsearch output section by adding # at the beginning of each line:

        #output.elasticsearch: 
 #  hosts: ["localhost:9200"]

    4. Uncomment and configure the Logstash output section:

        output.logstash 
 : 
  
 hosts 
 : 
  
 [ 
 "<LOGSTASH_SERVER_IP>:5044" 
 ]

    5. Replace <LOGSTASH_SERVER_IP> with the IP address of your Logstash server.

    Example Winlogbeat configuration

    •   winlogbeat.event_logs 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Application 
  
 ignore_older 
 : 
  
 72h 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 System 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Security 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational 
  
 ignore_older 
 : 
  
 72h 
 output.logstash 
 : 
  
 hosts 
 : 
  
 [ 
 "192.168.1.50:5044" 
 ]

    Save the configuration file

    Save and close the file.

    Start Winlogbeat service

    1. Open PowerShellas an administrator.

    2. Start the Winlogbeat service:

        Start-Service 
 winlogbeat

    3. Verify the service is running:

        Get-Service 
 winlogbeat

      The status should show as Running.

    4. Check Winlogbeat logs for errors:

        Get-Content 
 "C:\ProgramData\winlogbeat\Logs\winlogbeat" 
 -Tail 
 50

    Verify log flow

    Verify Winlogbeat to Logstash connection

    1. On the Logstash server, check the Logstash logs:

      • Linux:

         sudo  
tail  
-f  
/var/log/logstash/logstash-plain.log

      • Windows:

          type 
  
 C 
 : 
 \ 
 logstash 
 \ 
 logs 
 \ 
 logstash 
 - 
 plain 
 . 
 log

    2. Look for messages indicating Beats connections:

       [INFO ][logstash.inputs.beats] Beats inputs: Starting input listener {:address=>"0.0.0.0:5044"}

    Verify Logstash to Bindplane agent connection

    1. On the Bindplane agent server, check the agent logs:

      • Linux:

         sudo  
journalctl  
-u  
observiq-otel-collector  
-f

      • Windows:

          type 
  
 "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log"

    2. Look for messages indicating successful log ingestion.

    Verify logs in Google SecOps

    1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
    2. Go to Search.

    3. Run a search query to verify Winlogbeat logs are being ingested:

       metadata.log_type = "ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT"

    4. Verify that Windows event logs appear in the search results.

    Troubleshooting

    Winlogbeat not connecting to Logstash

    • Verify network connectivity between Winlogbeat and Logstash:

        Test-NetConnection 
 -ComputerName 
< LOGSTASH_IP 
> -Port 
 5044

    • Check Windows Firewall rules allow outbound connections on port 5044.

    • Verify Logstash is listening on port 5044:

      • Linux:

         sudo  
netstat  
-tulpn  
 | 
  
grep  
 5044

      • Windows:

         netstat -an | findstr 5044

    Logstash not forwarding to Bindplane agent

    • Verify network connectivity between Logstash and Bindplane agent:

      • Linux:

         telnet  
<BINDPLANE_IP>  
 1514

      • Windows:

         Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <BINDPLANE_IP> -Port 1514

    • Check firewall rules allow TCP connections on port 1514.

    • Verify Bindplane agent is listening on port 1514:

      • Linux:

         sudo  
netstat  
-tulpn  
 | 
  
grep  
 1514

      • Windows:

         netstat -an | findstr 1514

    Logs not appearing in Google SecOps

    • Verify the customer ID and ingestion authentication file are correct.
    • Check the Bindplane agent logs for authentication errors.
    • Verify the regional endpoint matches your Google SecOps instance region.
    • Ensure the log_type is set to ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT exactly as shown.

    UDM mapping table

    Field mapping information is not available for this parser.

    Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.

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