Integrations
Log Management
Applications
IIS

IIS Log Configuration

Ship logs from your IIS Websites to Logstash

Send your HashiCorp Vault logs to logit.io via logstash using the instructions below and begin searching your data.

Install Integration

Please click on the Install Integration button to configure your stack for this source.

Install Filebeat

To get started you will need to install filebeat. To do this you have two main options:

To successfully install filebeat and set up the required Windows service you will need to have administrator access.

If you have chosen to download the zip file:

  • Extract the contents of the zip file into C:\Program Files.
  • Rename the extracted folder to filebeat
  • Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
  • From the PowerShell prompt, run the following commands to install filebeat as a Windows service:
cd 'C:\Program Files\filebeat'
.\install-service-filebeat.ps1

If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example:

PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-filebeat.ps1

For more information about Powershell execution policies see here (opens in a new tab).

If you have chosen to download the filebeat.msi file:

  • double-click on it and the relevant files will be downloaded.

At the end of the installation process you'll be given the option to open the folder where filebeat has been installed.

  • Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator (right-click the PowerShell icon and select Run As Administrator).
  • From the PowerShell prompt, change directory to the location where filebeat was installed and run the following command to install filebeat as a Windows service:
.\install-service-filebeat.ps1

If script execution is disabled on your system, you need to set the execution policy for the current session to allow the script to run. For example:

PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -File .\install-service-filebeat.ps1

For more information about Powershell execution policies see here (opens in a new tab).

Enable IIS module in Filebeat

We need to enable the IIS module in Filebeat so that filebeat know to look for IIS logs. In Powershell run the following command:

.\Filebeat modules enable iis

Additional module configuration can be done using the per module config files located in the modules.d folder, most commonly this would be to read logs from a non-default location

win <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>/modules.d/

- module: iis
    # Access logs
    access:
    enabled: true
 
    # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
    # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
    # var.paths: ["C:/inetpub/logs/LogFiles/*/*.log"]
 
    # Error logs
    error:
    enabled: true
 
    # Set custom paths for the log files. If left empty,
    # Filebeat will choose the paths depending on your OS.
    # var.paths: ["C:/Windows/System32/LogFiles/HTTPERR/*.log"]

Update Your Configuration File

The configuration file below is pre-configured to send data to your Logit.io Stack via Logstash.

Copy the configuration file below and overwrite the contents of filebeat.yml.

# ============================== Filebeat modules ==============================
filebeat.config.modules:
    path: ${path.config}/modules.d/*.yml
    reload.enabled: false
    #reload.period: 10s
 
# ================================== Outputs ===================================
# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------
output.logstash:
    hosts: ["@logstash.host:@logstash.sslPort"]
    loadbalance: true
    ssl.enabled: true
 
# ================================= Processors =================================
processors:
    - add_host_metadata:
        when.not.contains.tags: forwarded
    - add_cloud_metadata: ~
    - add_docker_metadata: ~
    - add_kubernetes_metadata: ~

If you're running Filebeat 7 add this code block to the end. Otherwise, you can leave it out.

# ... For Filebeat 7 only ...
filebeat.registry.path: /var/lib/filebeat

If you're running Filebeat 6 add this code block to the end. Otherwise, you can leave it out.

# ... For Filebeat 6 only ...
registry_file: /var/lib/filebeat/registry

Validate your YAML

It's a good idea to run the configuration file through a YAML validator to rule out indentation errors, clean up extra characters, and check if your YAML file is valid. Yamllint.com (opens in a new tab) is a great choice.

Validate configuration

cd <EXTRACTED_ARCHIVE>
.\@beatname.exe -e -c @beatname.yml

If the yml file is invalid, will print an error loading config file error message with details on how to correct the problem. If you have issues starting see "How To Diagnose No Data In Stack" below to troubleshoot.

Start filebeat

To start Filebeat, run in Powershell:

Start-Service filebeat

Launch Logit.io to view your logs

Data should now have been sent to your Stack.

View My Data

If you don't see take a look at How to diagnose no data in Stack below for how to diagnose common issues.

How to diagnose no data in Stack

If you don't see data appearing in your Stack after following the steps, visit the Help Centre guide for steps to diagnose no data appearing in your Stack or Chat to support now.

IIS dashboard

The IIS module comes with predefined Kibana dashboards. To view your dashboards for any of your Logit.io stacks, launch Logs and choose Dashboards. Predefined kibana dashboard screenshot

IIS Logging Overview

Applications developed for .NET can be hosted on an IIS (Internet Information Services) web server which can only be used on the Windows operating system. IIS is commonly used to host web apps & static sites running on ASP.Net.

IIS is known for its high flexibility & rich features. The most recent version of IIS includes a number of out of the box security features including request filters, client certificate mapping & URL authorisation.

Modules for the latest version of IIS can be added as extensions to your configuration if required to process requests. These include modules for security, compression, content & caching which all hold a wealth of unique features essential to server administration teams.

Remote management is also included as part of the server's functionality making it an ideal choice for DevOps teams undertaking remote work.

All of this server activity generates a huge amount of log data for analysis. Our IIS log file analyser can be used to centralise your data & set up alerts (opens in a new tab) to monitor your application security in real-time as well as deliver metrics for Kibana visualisations & reports easily.

If you need any further assistance with analysing your IIS logs we're here to help you get started. Feel free to reach out by contacting our support team by visiting our dedicate Help Centre or via live chat & we'll be happy to assist.

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