# Windows Event Log (winevtlog)

The **winevtlog** input plugin allows you to read Windows Event Log with new API from `winevt.h`.

## Configuration Parameters <a href="#config" id="config"></a>

The plugin supports the following configuration parameters:

| Key                    | Description                                                                                                                                                                           | Default |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| Channels               | A comma-separated list of channels to read from.                                                                                                                                      |         |
| Interval\_Sec          | Set the polling interval for each channel. (optional)                                                                                                                                 | 1       |
| Interval\_NSec         | Set the polling interval for each channel (sub seconds. (optional)                                                                                                                    | 0       |
| Read\_Existing\_Events | Whether to read existing events from head or tailing events at last on subscribing. (optional)                                                                                        | False   |
| DB                     | Set the path to save the read offsets. (optional)                                                                                                                                     |         |
| String\_Inserts        | Whether to include StringInserts in output records. (optional)                                                                                                                        | True    |
| Render\_Event\_As\_XML | Whether to render system part of event as XML string or not. (optional)                                                                                                               | False   |
| Use\_ANSI              | Use ANSI encoding on eventlog messages. If you have issues receiving blank strings with old Windows versions (Server 2012 R2), setting this to True may solve the problem. (optional) | False   |

Note that if you do not set *db*, the plugin will tail channels on each startup.

## Configuration Examples <a href="#config_example" id="config_example"></a>

### Configuration File

Here is a minimum configuration example.

```python
[INPUT]
    Name         winevtlog
    Channels     Setup,Windows PowerShell
    Interval_Sec 1
    DB           winevtlog.sqlite

[OUTPUT]
    Name   stdout
    Match  *
```

Note that some Windows Event Log channels (like `Security`) requires an admin privilege for reading. In this case, you need to run fluent-bit as an administrator.

### Command Line

If you want to do a quick test, you can run this plugin from the command line.

```bash
$ fluent-bit -i winevtlog -p 'channels=Setup' -p 'Read_Existing_Events=true' -o stdout
```

Note that `winevtlog` plugin will tail channels on each startup. If you want to confirm whether this plugin is working or not, you should specify `-p 'Read_Existing_Events=true'` parameter.


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