Install by .msi Installer (Windows)

The recommended way to install Fluentd on Windows is to use MSI installers of fluent-package.
What is fluent-package?
fluent-package is a packaged distribution of Fluentd which is formerly known as td-agent.
Includes Ruby and other library dependencies (since most Windows machines don't have them installed).
Includes a set of commonly-used 3rd-party plugins such as out_es.
Currently two versions of distributions are available.
fluent-package v5 package (Fluentd 1.16.2 or later). This version is recommended.
td-agent v4 package (Fluentd 1.16.1 or below).
NOTE:
About td-agent v4, See Install by .msi Installer v4 (Windows).
About deprecated Treasure Agent (td-agent) 3 will not be maintained anymore, see Install by msi Package v3.
What is calyptia-fluentd?
calyptia-fluentd is the alternative distribution of Fluentd.
Includes Ruby and other library dependencies (since most Windows box are not installed).
Includes a set of frequently-used 3rd party plugins such as out_elasticsearch and in_windows_eventlog2.
This alternative agent is developed by Calyptia, Inc..
Currently, calyptia-fluentd is on v1 only.
calyptia-fluentd v1 packages Fluentd 1.12.x (or later).
fluent-package v5
Step 1: Install fluent-package
Download the latest MSI installer from the download page. Run the installer and follow the wizard. If you want to use Long Term Support version, use LTS.
fluent-package installation wizard
Step 2: Set up fluentd.conf
Open C:/opt/fluent/etc/fluent/fluentd.conf with a text editor. Replace the configuration with the following content:
<source>
  @type windows_eventlog2
  @id windows_eventlog2
  channels application
  read_existing_events false
  tag winevt.raw
  rate_limit 200
  <storage>
    @type local
    persistent true
    path C:\opt\fluent\winlog.json
  </storage>
</source>
​
<match winevt.raw>
  @type stdout
</match>
Step 3: Launch Fluent Package Command Prompt with Administrator privilege
Open Windows Start menu, and search Fluent Package Command Prompt. In most environments, the program will be found right under the "Recently Added" section or "Best match" section.
Windows start menu and Fluent Package Command Prompt
Fluent Package Command Prompt is basically cmd.exe, with a few PATH tweaks for Fluentd programs. Use this program whenever you need to interact with Fluentd.
Step 4: Run fluentd
Type the following command into Fluent Package Command Prompt with Administrator privilege:
C:\opt\fluent> fluentd
Now fluentd starts listening to Windows Eventlog, and will print records to stdout as they occur.
Fluent Package Command Prompt
Step 5: Run fluentd as Windows service
Fluentd is registered as a Windows service permanently by the msi installer. Since version 5.0.0, the service does not automatically start after installed. You must manually start it.
Choose one of your preferred way:
Using GUI
Using net.ext
Using Powershell Cmdlet
Using GUI
Please guide yourself to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Services, and you'll see Fluentd Windows Service is listed.
Please double click Fluentd Window Service, and click Start button. Then the process will be executed as Windows Service.
Using net.exe
> net start fluentdwinsvc
The Fluentd Windows Service service is starting..
The Fluentd Windows Service service was started successfully.
Using Powershell Cmdlet
PS> Start-Service fluentdwinsvc
Note that using fluentdwinsvc is needed to start Fluentd service from the command-line. fluentdwinsvc is the service name and it should be passed to net.exe or Start-Service Cmdlet.
The log file will be located at C:/opt/fluent/fluentd.log as we specified in Step 3.
Step 6: Install Plugins
Open Fluent Package Command Prompt and use fluent-gem command:
C:\opt\fluent> fluent-gem install fluent-plugin-xyz --version=1.2.3
calyptia-fluentd v1
Step 1: Install calyptia-fluentd
Download the latest MSI installer from the download page. Run the installer and follow the wizard.
calyptia-fluentd installation wizard
Note: Calyptia-Fluentd is a drop-in-replacement agent of other Fluentd stable distribution. Currently, we use the same Windows Service name which is fluentdwinsvc. This is because when you already installed other agent which register Windows Service as fluentdwinsvc, you must uninstall already installed Windows Service which uses fluentdwinsvc as service name.
Step 2: Set up calyptia-fluentd.conf
Open C:/opt/calyptia-fluentd/etc/calyptia-fluentd/calyptia-fluentd.conf with a text editor. Replace the configuration with the following content:
<source>
  @type windows_eventlog2
  @id windows_eventlog2
  channels application
  read_existing_events false
  tag winevt.raw
  rate_limit 200
  <storage>
    @type local
    persistent true
    path C:\opt\td-agent\winlog.json
  </storage>
</source>
​
<match winevt.raw>
  @type stdout
</match>
Step 3: Launch Calyptia-Fluentd Command Prompt
Open Windows Start menu, and search Calyptia-fluentd Command Prompt. In most environments, the program will be found right under the "Recently Added" section.
Calyptia-fluentd Command Prompt is basically cmd.exe, with a few PATH tweaks for calyptia-fluentd programs. Use this program whenever you need to interact with calyptia-fluentd.
Step 4: Run calyptia-fluentd
Type the following command into Calyptia-fluentd Command Prompt:
C:\opt\calyptia-fluentd> calyptia-fluentd
Now calyptia-fluentd starts listening to Windows Eventlog, and will print records to stdout after consuming Windows EventLog Events on Application channel.
Step 5: Run calyptia-fluentd as Windows service
As of first released version, calyptia-fluentd will register as a Windows service as fluentdwinsvc by the msi installer. Also, You can manage calyptia-fluentd service manually.
Using GUI
Please guide yourself to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools -> Services, and you'll see Fluentd Windows Service is listed.
Please double click Fluentd Window Service, and click Start button. Then the process will be executed as Windows Service.
Using net.exe
> net start fluentdwinsvc
The Fluentd Windows Service service is starting..
The Fluentd Windows Service service was started successfully.
Using Powershell Cmdlet
PS> Start-Service fluentdwinsvc
Note that using fluentdwinsvc is needed to start Fluentd service from the command-line. fluentdwinsvc is the service name and it should be passed to net.exe or Start-Service Cmdlet.
The log file will be located at C:/opt/calyptia-fluentd/calyptia-fleuntd.log as we specified in Step 3.
Step 6: Install Plugins
Open Calyptia-fluentd Command Prompt and use calyptia-fluentd-gem command as Administrator:
C:\opt\calyptia-fluentd> calyptia-fluentd-gem install fluent-plugin-xyz --version=1.2.3
Next Steps
You are now ready to collect real logs with Fluentd. Refer to the following tutorials on how to collect data from various sources:
Basic Configuration
​Config File​
Application Logs
​Ruby​
​Java​
​Python​
​PHP​
​Perl​
​Node.js​
​Scala​
Examples
​Store Apache Log into Amazon S3​
​Store Apache Log into MongoDB​
​Data Collection into HDFS​
For further steps, follow these:
​ChangeLog of td-agent​
​Chef Cookbook​
If this article is incorrect or outdated, or omits critical information, please let us know. Fluentd is an open-source project under Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). All components are available under the Apache 2 License.