Installing and managing the Windows connector

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

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

Before you begin

Make sure that you are downloading and installing the connector on a Windows Server Standard Edition, version 2012 or later.
Make sure that you have the privileges to execute a batch file and install an application as a service.
Make sure 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, make sure 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
Make sure 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, make sure that the downloaded .bat file is also present inside the Connector folder.
Open the command prompt with administrative privileges.
Run the .bat file.
You can see the computer name with Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
If you want to change the computer name with FQDN, enter Y.
Enter the computer name with the FQDN. For example, xyz.bmc.com.
If you want to confirm the computer name with FQDN, enter Y.
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

Stop a connector service by using one of the following options:

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>

After you stop the connector, it might take up to 10 minutes to change the connector status to Suspended.

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 upgrade a connector

Connectors with a pending status are due for an upgrade. You can upgrade only the active connectors.

From the Collection menu, select Connectors.
Click the Action menu of the Windows connector that you want to upgrade and click Upgrade.

The Connector Upgrade page is displayed.
(Optional) In the Description field, enter the connector description.
In the Download Connector field, click Download.
The connector is downloaded in a .zip file with the name tdc-connector-windows-<build_number>.zip.
(Optional) In the Tags field, add tags to identify the connector; click + to add more tags.
For example: key-windows, value-bmc.
In the Download Install Script field, click Download.
The script is downloaded as a .bat file with the name upgrade-connector-<connector name>.bat.
For example, if you entered the connector name as my-bmc, the .bat file name is upgrade-connector-my-bmc.bat.
Click Save.
Create a folder named upgrade on the Windows server from where logs will be collected.
Important
Make sure that there are no spaces in the folder names or in the path that you provide.
Copy the downloaded .zip and .bat files.
Perform one of the following actions to change the End of Line (EOL) script to a Windows connector.
- Use an editor such as Notepad++ and perform the following actions:
  1. Open the upgrade-connector-<connector-name>.bat file in an editor; for example, Notepad ++.
  2. Go to Edit > EOL Conversion > Windows and save the file.
- Run the following commands in the Command Line Interface in the given order:
  upgrade-connector-<connector-name>.bat | MORE /P > upgrade-connector-<connector-name>-eol.bat
  upgrade-connector-<connector-name>-eol.bat
Extract the .zip file in the same folder where you copied the .bat file.
Make sure that the unzipped connector file and the .bat files are copied to the same folder.
Important
Make sure that you do not copy the script on any public domain.
Open the command prompt with administrator privileges.
Navigate to the .bat folder and run the .bat file to upgrade the connector.
You can see the computer name with its Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
(Optional) If you choose to change the computer name with FQDN, enter Y and perform the following actions:
1. Enter the computer name with the FQDN.
  For example, xyz.bmc.com.
2. Enter Y to confirm the computer name.

To verify the upgrade

Verify the upgrade after the connector starts as a Docker service.

Go to the Collection > Connectors page.
For the connector that you upgraded, verify that the upgrade status is Completed.

To uninstall a connector service

Make sure 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

Make sure 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