Explorer Event Log Iamt - Failed to Read Windows Events Log
Event log management is a disquisitional skill to learn in all Windows environments. Action is existence recorded to Windows consequence logs every 2d and it acts as not only a security tool but also as a vital troubleshooting aid.
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Once a server environment goes past a few servers though, managing individual server event logs becomes unwieldy at best. Luckily, you take a feature called Windows Event Forwarding (WEF) to make information technology easier.
Windows Effect Log Forwarding Overview
WEF is a service that allows you to forward events from multiple Windows servers and collect them in one spot. The service has two primary components; a forwarder and a collector. A collector is a service running on Windows server that collects all events sent to it from an event log forwarder.
The "link" betwixt the forwarding server and a collector is known as a subscription.
Collectors serve as subscription managers that accept events and allow y'all to specify which event log alerts to collect from endpoints.
WEF Projection Overview
This is a Project article where we cover how to build a project or implement a solution. Each section hereafter will exist cumulative steps that build upon the previous.
For this project, yous're going to larn how to set upwardly a basic WEF implementation. Y'all'll learn how to fix up both a collector and how to forward events to a collector with a subscription.
You'll larn how to:
- Ready upwards and configure an upshot log collector on a Windows Server example. This volition exist the Windows Server that all of the issue log forwarders volition send events to.
- Create a GPO which, when practical, will point applicable Windows Server instances to the collector to send events to.
- Configuring the types of events to transport to the collector.
You volition learn how to piece of work through each step in the residual of this article.
Environment and Noesis Requirements
Before you go as well far, permit's first ensure my environment is the aforementioned as yours. Delight exist sure yous have the following items in place before starting:
- (2) Windows Server instances – Yous can employ any Window Server instance of 2012 R2 or higher. In this article, I'll be using Windows Server 2016.
- Active Directory
- GPO – A familiarity with Group Policy Objects will be required.
- WinRM- WinRM needs to be running on all clients. Not configured just running.
Configuring the Event Log Collector
The beginning job to perform is configuring one of your Windows Server instances every bit the collector. Recall that the collector is the one that receives incoming event logs from the forwarder.
Enabling WinRM on the Collector
Windows Server instances that forward events to the collector practice so over PowerShell Remoting or WinRM. You lot'll starting time have to ensure WinRM is bachelor on your collector. If the collector is running Windows Server 2012 R2 and higher up, WinRM is enabled past default, but the Windows Firewall may exist interfering.
Run the the Enable-PSRemoting PowerShell cmdlet with no parameters on the collector. Even if PowerShell Remoting is already enabled, it will skip the necessary steps.
To be sure, you lot can likewise run Invoke-Control -ComputerName <COLLECTORHOSTNAME> -ScriptBlock {1} from a remote estimator. If you lot don't receive an fault, PowerShell Remoting is working.
Starting the Subscription Collector Service
At present that PowerShell Remoting is enabled and listening, outset the subscription collector service. The subscription collector service needs to as well start up automatically when Windows Server boots up.
On the collector, open up Consequence Viewer click on Subscriptions. The kickoff time you open the Subscriptions option, Windows will ask if yous want to start the Windows Effect Log Collector Service and configured to beginning automatically. Click Yep to have.
You can meet an example of the message below.
Congratulations! Yous now have a collector configured. Information technology'southward now time gear up up a GPO which volition instruct Windows Server instances to frontward events to the collector.
Setting upwardly the Forwarders' GPO
The next step is to configure i or more than Windows servers to begin forwarding effect logs to the collector. The easiest fashion to exercise and so is by creating a GPO. This GPO can and so exist applied to one or more OUs which contain the servers to ship events from.
Y'all'll acquire the nuts of setting up the necessary settings in a GPO in this Project article. But if y'all'd like to a complete rundown with all the available options, check out the Microsoft documentation.
Allowing the Network Service to Read Event Logs
WEF uses the Network Service account to read and send events from a forwarder to a collector. By default, the Network Service account does not have access to practice this. You'll get-go need to set this ACL to allow information technology.
Note: Many of the event logs in Windows Server already provide the Network Service business relationship admission to the common event logs like Application and System. Simply the account is not given admission to the Security effect log and other custom event logs.
To allow the Network Service account to read upshot logs on consequence log forwarders, use a GPO. In this article, you lot'll acquire how to allow the Network Service account admission to the Security event log. Other event logs volition follow the same process.
1. Begin by opening up a control prompt and running wevtutil gl security. This will provide diverse information nearly the Security event log. Merely the slice to pay attending to is the channelAccess SDDL.
You tin see below an example of the SDDL you'll demand for the Security upshot log. The channelAccess line represents the permissions ready on the result log. Copy the SDDL highlighted below and salve it somewhere for later to add together to a GPO.
2. Create a GPO via the Group Policy Direction Console. Inside of the GPO, navigate to Reckoner Configuration → Policies → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Event Forwarding → Configure target subscription manager.
3. Set the value for the target subscription manager to the WinRM endpoint on the collector. You volition prepare the Server to exist in the format:
Server=http://<FQDN of the collector>:5985/wsman/SubscriptionManager/WEC,Refresh=60
Note the Refresh interval at the end of the collector endpoint. The Refresh interval indicates how often clients should check in to see if new subscriptions are bachelor.
4. Adjacent, detect the SDDL you lot copied earlier from running wevtutil gl security and paste it into the setting Estimator Configuration → Policies → Authoritative Templates → Windows Components → Upshot Log Service → Security → Configure log admission.
Note that this SDDL will take precedence over all other permissions that have been configured for the event log.
Y'all can see an example of what your GPO will look like below for the Security event log.
5. Once the GPO is created, you'll then either link this GPO to an existing OU containing the Windows servers to send event logs from or create a new OU and link the GPO. Whatever Advert estimator business relationship you add to this OU will now gear up upwards a subscription to the collector.
Setting up a Subscription
While configuring WEF to collect all events for all Windows servers in an Active Directory domain may seem like a adept idea, it's not. You must exist selective and only frontward events that are important to y'all. Filtering out the racket from what matters is where WEF demonstrates its true value.
Let's work through setting up a subscription for the Security Event log.
Since you've already created the GPO and linked it to an Agile Directory OU containing the Windows servers you'd similar to send events from, the event sources are already set
- On the collector, open the Windows Result Viewer and right-click on Subscriptions, and then create subscription.
two. Equally shown below, select the Source calculator initiated option then click Select Computer Groups. This is where you will select which computers you lot'd similar to forward events from.
Pro Tip: Selecting AD Groups. Ex: "Domain Controllers" will auto-populate any computers inside the group. No demand to select individual computers every fourth dimension yous add a new server.
iii. Next select the events to forward. Opening up the query filter as you can see beneath, select Security to forward events to the collector from the Security issue log.
4. One time the Security log is selected, you tin can filter downwards even more than by inbound the consequence ID, keywords, users and computers every bit shown below.
5. Click OK to get out from the Query Filter.
6. Click Avant-garde in the Subscription Properties window. At present select Minimize Latency. This setting will ensure the collector volition receive events as presently every bit possible and too to help it take hold of up if it gets behind.
Verifying the WEF Configuration
Once WEF is gear up, yous should at present check to meet if the forwarders actually checked in by checking the Source Computers cavalcade on the main Subscriptions page.
Y'all can also check the Event Forwarding Plugin Operational log under Applications and Services on the client to make sure everything is working. This is where you'll see descriptive errors if something has gone awry with Kerberos or firewalls.
All that is left to to is find a low-value customer, articulate the Security log and run into if you get an alert.
Your Takeaways
In this Project, you lot learned how to prepare a basic WEF subscription. You:
- Set up an effect collector
- Created a GPO to create a subscription on various Windows Server forwarders
- Configured a WEF subscription to merely send specific events
- Ensured the WEF subscription sent events every bit fast as possible
WEF is a bit tricky to configure initially, simply in one case upwards and running, you should have little problems and minimal maintenance headaches.
Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/windows-event-collector/
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