Install by .msi Installer v3 (Windows)

The recommended way to install Fluentd on Windows is to use MSI installers of td-agent.

What is td-agent?

td-agent is a packaged distribution of Fluentd.

  • 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.

  • Originally developed by Treasure Data, Inc (hence the name).

Currently two versions of td-agent are available.

  • td-agent v4 packages Fluentd 1.11.x (or later). This version is recommended.

  • td-agent v3 packages Fluentd 1.10.x (or below).

td-agent v3

NOTE: As Treasure Agent (td-agent) 3 will not be maintained anymore, recommend to Upgrade td-agent from v3 to v4.

Step 1: Install td-agent

Please download and install the .msi file from here:

Step 2: Run td-agent from Command Prompt

First, please prepare your config file located at C:/opt/td-agent/etc/td-agent/td-agent.conf. The config below is the simplest example to output any incoming records to td-agent's log file:

<source>
  @type forward
</source>
<match test.**>
  @type stdout
</match>

After you have installed the .msi package, you will see the program called Td-agent Command Prompt installed. Please double click this icon in the Windows menu (below is how it looks like on Windows Server 2012).

In the prompt, please execute the command below to launch td-agent process:

> fluentd -c etc\td-agent\td-agent.conf

Then, please launch another Td-agent Command Prompt and type the command below to send a record to td-agent process:

> echo {"message":"hello"} | fluent-cat test.event

It's working properly if td-agent process outputs:

test.event: {"k", "v"}

Step 3: Register td-agent to Windows Service

Next, register td-agent as a Windows Service to permanently run as a server process. Open Td-agent Command Prompt with administrative privileges, and type these commands:

> fluentd --reg-winsvc i
> fluentd --reg-winsvc-fluentdopt '-c C:/opt/td-agent/etc/td-agent/td-agent.conf -o C:/opt/td-agent/td-agent.log'

NOTE: Making td-agent service start automatically requires additional command-line parameters:

> fluentd --reg-winsvc i --reg-winsvc-auto-start --reg-winsvc-delay-start
> fluentd --reg-winsvc-fluentdopt '-c C:/opt/td-agent/etc/td-agent/td-agent.conf -o C:/opt/td-agent/td-agent.log'

Step 4: Run td-agent as a Windows Service

Using GUI

Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Services, and you should see Fluentd Windows Service listed there.

Double click on Fluentd Window Service and click Start to execute it as a 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 fluentdwinsvc is the Fluentd service name and it should be passed to net.exe or Start-Service Cmdlet to start.

The log file will be located at C:/opt/td-agent/td-agent.log as specified in Step 3 earlier.

Step 4: Install Plugins

Open Td-agent Command Prompt and use fluent-gem command:

> fluent-gem install fluent-plugin-xyz --version=1.2.3

Tips

Manage privileges in td-agent 3.8.1 or later/td-agent 4.1.0 or later

You need admin privilege to execute td-agent-gem command. For upgrade users since 3.8.0 or earlier/td-agent 4.0.1 or earlier, explicitly remove privileges for NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users from c:\opt\td-agent.

This change is for fixing CVE-2020-28169.

Uninstall td-agent v3 being registered to Windows Service

When you uninstall td-agent v3, you should take care to see if it is registered to Windows Service, since td-agent v3 doesn't automatically unregister itself. If it is registered, you must unregister it manually before uninstalling it.

NOTE: If you uninstall td-agent v3 without unregistering it, the service remains after uninstalling and causes the v4 installation to fail. You need to reinstall td-agent v3 and unregister the service with the following steps.

You can check if it is registered with the following Powershell command:

PS> Get-Service fluentdwinsvc

You can unregister td-agent v3 with the following steps:

  • Stop the service with the following Powershell command:

PS> Stop-Service fluentdwinsvc

  • Open Td-agent Command Prompt with administrative privileges and type the following command:

> fluentd --reg-winsvc u

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:

For further steps, follow these:

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.

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