Collect Elastic Windows Event Log Beats logs

Parser Version: 19.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

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 credentials for the Bindplane agent

To authenticate the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps, choose one of the following methods:

New deployments: Use the Chronicle API (Option 1).
Legacy deployments: Continue using the ingestion authentication file (Option 2) until the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

Option 1: Create a service account for the Chronicle API (recommended)

Sign in to the Google Cloud console and select the Google Cloud project that is linked to your Google SecOps instance.
Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
Click Create service account.
Provide the following configuration details:
- Service account name: Enter a name for the account (for example, bindplane-ingest).
- Service account description: Enter a description (for example, Bindplane agent log ingestion).
Click Create and continue.
In the Grant this service account access to project section, click Select a role and select Chronicle Editor.
Click Continue, and then click Done.
Click the service account you created, and then go to the Keys tab.
Click Add key > Create new key.
Select JSON and click Create. The key file is downloaded to your computer.
Save the key file as ingestion-auth.json in the Bindplane collector directory (/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json on Linux or C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json on Windows), or update creds_file_path in config.yaml to match the path where you save it.
Go to IAM & Admin > Settings and copy the Project number. You'll need it for the exporter configuration.

Option 2: Download the ingestion authentication file (legacy)

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
Download the ingestion authentication file.
Save the file securely on the system where the Bindplane agent will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
Copy and save the Customer ID from the Organization Details section.

Note: The customer ID is required for configuring the Bindplane agent exporter.

Install the Bindplane agent

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

Windows installation

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.

Run the following command:

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

Wait for the installation to complete.
Verify the installation by running:
```
sc query observiq-otel-collector
```
The service status should be RUNNING.

Linux installation

Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

Run the following command:

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

Wait for the installation to complete.
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 /opt/observiq-otel-collector/config.yaml

Windows:

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

Edit the configuration file

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

receivers:
  tcplog:
    listen_address: "0.0.0.0:1514"

exporters:
  chronicle/winlogbeat:
    protocol: https
    # Region of your instance, for example us, europe, asia-southeast1
    location: <LOCATION>
    # Project number of the Google Cloud project linked to the instance
    project: '<PROJECT_NUMBER>'
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '<CREDS_FILE_PATH>'
    customer_id: '<CUSTOMER_ID>'
    endpoint: chronicle.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

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 the service account JSON key file (Option 1):
    - Linux: /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json
    - Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
  - <CUSTOMER_ID>: Customer ID from the previous step
  - location: Replace <LOCATION> with the region of your Google SecOps instance (for example, us, europe, or asia-southeast1). The exporter prefixes chronicle.googleapis.com with this value. See Regional Endpoints for the complete list.
  - project: Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.
  - endpoint: Keep set to chronicle.googleapis.com.

Example configuration:

receivers:
  tcplog:
    listen_address: "0.0.0.0:1514"

exporters:
  chronicle/winlogbeat:
    protocol: https
    # Region of your instance, for example us, europe, asia-southeast1
    location: <LOCATION>
    # Project number of the Google Cloud project linked to the instance
    project: '<PROJECT_NUMBER>'
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
    customer_id: 'a1b2c3d4-e5f6-g7h8-i9j0-k1l2m3n4o5p6'
    endpoint: chronicle.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

Legacy ingestion API exporter

If you use the ingestion authentication file from Option 2, replace the exporters block with the following. Set creds_file_path to the path to the ingestion authentication file, and if your instance is outside the US, replace malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com with your regional endpoint (for example, europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com).

exporters:
  chronicle/winlogbeat:
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '<CREDS_FILE_PATH>'
    customer_id: '<CUSTOMER_ID>'
    endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
    log_type: ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT
    raw_log_field: body
    ingestion_labels:
      env: production
      source: 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:

Run the following command:

sudo systemctl restart observiq-otel-collector

Verify the service is running:

sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector

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

Download Logstash from the Elastic downloads page.
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

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"

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"
    }
}

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:

Start Logstash:

sudo systemctl start logstash
sudo systemctl enable logstash

Verify Logstash is running:
```
sudo systemctl status logstash
```

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

Download Winlogbeat from the Elastic downloads page.
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 PowerShell as 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

Open the Winlogbeat configuration file:

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

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]

Comment out the Elasticsearch output section by adding # at the beginning of each line:
```
#output.elasticsearch:
#  hosts: ["localhost:9200"]
```

Uncomment and configure the Logstash output section:

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

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

Open PowerShell as an administrator.
Start the Winlogbeat service:
```
Start-Service winlogbeat
```
Verify the service is running:
```
Get-Service winlogbeat
```
The status should show as Running.

Check Winlogbeat logs for errors:

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

Verify log flow

Verify Winlogbeat to Logstash connection

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

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

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"

Look for messages indicating successful log ingestion.

Verify logs in Google SecOps

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to Search.
Run a search query to verify Winlogbeat logs are being ingested:
```
metadata.log_type = "ELASTIC_WINLOGBEAT"
```
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.

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