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

This article contains deprecated td-agent (EOL) information: SHOULD NOT use td-agent anymore.

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).

Td-agent Command Prompt

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"}
Td-agent Windows Prompt

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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