Monitor file over Windows share
You can create a data collector for a Windows share connection to collect data from shared network drives. To use this capability, you must ensure that you have access to the appropriate network drives.
Related topics
To collect data by using a Windows share connection
- Navigate to Administration > Data Collectors > Add Data Collector
.
- In the Name box, provide a unique name to identify this data collector.
- From the Type list, select Monitor over Windows Share.
Provide the following information, as appropriate:
Field
Description
Target/Collection Host
Target Host
Collection Host (Agent)
Type or select the collection host depending on whether you want to use the Collection Station or the Collection Agent to perform data collection.
The collection host is the computer on which the Collection Station or the Collection Agent is located.
By default, the Collection Station is already selected. You can either retain the default selection or select the Collection Agent.
Note: For this type of data collector, the target host and collection host are expected to have different values.
Collector Inputs
Server Name
Credentials
(Optional) Select Apply security credential to provide user name and password credentials automatically and not having to enter it manually and then select the appropriate credential profile from the Available Credential list, that must have already configured under Administration > Credentials.
OR
Select Provide Credential to manually add credentials, and then manually enter the credentials in the following User Name, Password, Domain fields. You can create a credential profile using the manually entered details by clicking Add Credential
next to the Domain field.
User Name
Provide the user name for connecting with the server from which you want to retrieve the data.
Note: This field is disabled if you applied a security profile earlier.
Password
Provide the password for connecting with the server from which you want to retrieve the data.
Domain
Provide the domain of the Windows user with which you want to connect to retrieve the data files.
Click Add Credential, provide a credential name, and click OK to create a new credential profile from the credentials that you provided in the user name, password, and domain fields. Once this profile is created, it is displayed under Administration > Credentials.
Directory Path
Provide the Windows share path in the format \\serverName\shareName\directoryLocationPath.
To retrieve data files from subdirectories, provide the path up to the parent directory.
Note: When creating a data collector template as a part of the collection profile, provide the path in the following format:
\shareName\directoryLocationPath
The host name is added as a prefix to the preceding path when the collection profile is applied to a host.
Include sub-directories
Filename/Rollover Pattern
Specify the file name only, or specify the file name with a rollover pattern to identify subsequent logs.
You can use the following wild card characters:
- Asterisk (*)—Can be used to substitute zero or more characters in the file name.
- Question mark (?)—Can be used to substitute exactly one character in the file name.
Specifying a rollover pattern can be useful to monitor rolling log files where the log files are saved with the same name but differentiated with some variable like the time stamp or a number.
Note: Ensure that you specify a rollover pattern for identifying log files that follow the same data format (which means they will be indexed with the same data pattern).
Time Zone
Data Pattern
Pattern
Date Format
When you select a data pattern, the matching date format is automatically updated. However, you can specifically find date formats matching the timestamp in your data file.
Use one of the following methods to specify a date format:
- Filter the relevant data formats: Click Auto-Detect to find automatically find a list of matching data patterns and date formats. If no matching data patterns are found, a list of matching date formats is displayed. You can click each of the date formats displayed on the left, to see a preview of the sample records.
Note: Before filtering the relevant date formats by clicking Auto-Detect, under the Advanced Options section, ensure that the correct file encoding is set. - Manually select a date format: Manually scan through the list available, and select one of the date formats available. Click Preview to see the sample records parsed.
Alternatively, from the Pattern list, select Free Text with Timestamp and click Preview to find the relevant data formats that match the file. - Create a new date format: If you are not satisfied with the results arising out of the date formats available, you can create a new date format. To do this, select the Create new Date Format option and manually enter the date format depending on the timestamp that you want to capture. For example, if your data file contains the timestamp, "28 Apr 2014 10:58:28", then your date format must be dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss.
Notes:
- If you select both – a pattern and a date format, then the date format specified takes precedence over the date format from the pattern that you selected. So the timestamp is indexed as per the specified date format, and the rest of the data is indexed as per the pattern.
- If you select only a date format, then the date format is used for indexing the timestamp, while the rest of the data is displayed in a raw format in your search results.
Date Locale
You can use this setting to enable reading the date and time string based on the language selected. Note that this setting only applies to those portions of the date and time string that consist letters (digits are not considered).
By default, this value is set to English.
You can manually select a language to override the default locale. For a list of languages supported, see Language-information.
Poll Interval (mins)
Enter a number to specify the poll interval (in minutes) for the log collection.
By default, this value is set to 1.
Start/Stop Collection
(Optional) Select this check box if you want to start the data collection immediately.
- Click Create to save your changes.