Installing and managing Windows connector

Install the Windows connector to collect data from the Windows-based application log files and Amazon Web Services.

This connector supports the File and AWS collection types only.

The following image shows the list of tasks that you can perform for the connector:

Before you begin

Ensure that you are downloading and installing the connector on a Windows server, version 2012 or later.
Ensure that you have the privileges to execute a batch file and install an application as a service.
Ensure that the 24444 port is available on the Windows server from where logs will be collected.

To download and install a connector

From the Collection menu, select Connectors.
On the Connectors page, click Create.
In the Connector Name field, enter a unique connector name.
From the Select Connector Type list, select Windows Connector.
In the Description field, enter connector description.
In the Download Connector step, click Download.
The connector is downloaded in a .zip file with the name tdc-connector-windows-<build_number>.zip.
In the Tags step, add tags (in the form of key-value pairs) to identify the connector; for example, name-windows, location-Pune, and so on.
Click + to add the tag.
Important
Even if you are adding only one tag, ensure that you click +.
In the Download Install Script step, click Download.
The format of the .bat file name is install-connector-<connector name>.bat. For example, if you entered the connector name as my-bmc, the .bat filename is install-connector-my-bmc.bat.
Important
Install only one connector for a Windows server to avoid port conflicts.
On the Windows server from where logs will be collected, create a new folder and copy the downloaded .zip and .bat files.
Important
Ensure that there are no spaces in the folder names or in the whole path that you have provided.
Extract the .zip file by using the Extract here option.
Important
You get the BMC-DevTools folder after extracting the .zip file. The BMC-DevTools folder and the .bat file must be at the same level in the folder hierarchy. For example, if you extract the downloaded connector file in the C:\Connector folder, ensure that the downloaded .bat file is also present inside the Connector folder.
Open the command prompt with administrative privileges.
Go to the folder where you have extracted the .zip file and copied the .bat file.
Execute the .bat file.
The connector is installed and starts as a Windows service. Access the connector logs at the following location: <Folder where the zip file is extracted>\BMC-DevTools\opt\td-agent\td-agent.log.

To communicate with the connector through a proxy

Connector can communicate with the proxy over HTTP protocol only.

Go to System Properties > Environment Variables.
In the System variable section, click New.
Enter Variable name as HTTP_PROXY and Variable value as http://<proxy-host>:<proxy-port> (example: http://proxyserver:8080).
Save the variable and restart the connector service.
Important
To set the HTTP proxy environment variable at user level, configure the connector service by using the user account (log on as a service).

To verify connector installation

To verify the connector installation, go to the Collection menu and click Connectors, and look for the installed connector on the page. Connectors will be available in one of the following status:

Created: The connector was installed successfully, but has not started sending heartbeats.
Active: The connector is sending heartbeats.
Suspended: The connector has not sent heartbeats for a preconfigured time. You can delete a connector only in this status.

To stop a connector service

From the service console:
1. Go to the Task Manager.
2. Click the Services tab.
3. Search and select the connector name that you entered.
4. Click Stop.
From the command prompt:
1. Open command prompt.
2. Run the following command:
  sc stop <service_name>

To start a connector service

From the service console:
1. Go to the Task Manager.
2. Click the Services tab.
3. Search and select the connector name that you entered.
4. Click Start.
From the command prompt:
1. Open command prompt.
2. Run the following command:
  sc start <service_name>

To uninstall a connector service

Ensure that the connector is not associated with a collection policy.
Stop the connector service.
Delete the connector service by running the following command:
sc delete <service_name>
To verify that the connector service is deleted:
sc query <service_name>
Delete the folder where you unzipped the downloaded connector file.

To delete a connector

Ensure that the connector is not associated with a collection policy.
Stop the connector and wait for 5 minutes.
When you stop the connector, its status changes to Suspended.
On the Connector page, for the required connector, click the Actions menu and select Delete.
Confirm deletion by clicking Yes.

Where to go from here

Creating-a-parsing-rule