Windows Events Connector

Overview

The Windows Events connector collects Windows Event Log data from Windows servers and workstations. Windows Event Logs are the primary logging mechanism in Windows operating systems, capturing system events, application behavior, security audits, and operational activities. Content streams into Edge Delta Pipelines for analysis by AI teammates through the Edge Delta MCP connector.

The connector reads events directly from Windows Event Log channels using native Windows Event Log APIs, providing real-time event streaming from channels like Application, System, Security, and Setup. It supports custom event channels, XML event parsing, and automatic metadata extraction.

When you add this streaming connector, it appears as a Windows Event source in your selected pipeline. AI teammates access this data by querying the Edge Delta backend with the Edge Delta MCP connector.

Platform: Windows only (Windows Server 2012 R2+, Windows 10+)

For comprehensive Windows Event source configuration details, see the Windows Event Source documentation.

Add the Windows Events Connector

To add the Windows Events connector, you configure which Windows Event Log channels to monitor and deploy to Windows agents.

Prerequisites

Before configuring the connector, ensure you have:

• Windows Server 2012 R2+ or Windows 10+ on target systems
• Edge Delta agent installed and running on Windows hosts
• Appropriate permissions to read Event Log channels:
  • Application/System channels: Local Users group or higher
  • Security channel: Administrator or Event Log Readers group
  • Custom channels: Specific channel read permissions

Configuration Steps

1. Navigate to AI Team > Connectors in the Edge Delta application
2. Find the Windows Events connector in Streaming Connectors
3. Click the connector card
4. Configure Channel (Application, System, Security, etc.)
5. Optionally configure Advanced Settings for metadata and rate limiting
6. Select a target environment (Windows agents only)
7. Click Save

The connector deploys to Windows agents and begins reading events from the specified channel.

Configuration Options

Connector Name

Name to identify this Windows Events connector instance.

Channel

Windows Event Log channel to collect logs from.

Format: Exact channel name as shown in Event Viewer

Examples:

• Application - Application events, crashes, errors
• System - System events, service status, driver issues
• Security - Security audit events, logon/logoff (requires elevated permissions)
• Setup - Windows installation and update events
• Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational - PowerShell command execution
• Microsoft-Windows-TaskScheduler/Operational - Scheduled task events
• Microsoft-Windows-DNS-Client/Operational - DNS client queries

Common Channels:

Finding Channels: Open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) on Windows, expand Windows Logs or Applications and Services Logs to see available channels

Advanced Settings

Metadata Level (Resource Attributes)

This option is used to define which detected resources and attributes to add to each data item as it is ingested by Edge Delta. You can select:

• Required Only: This option includes the minimum required resources and attributes for Edge Delta to operate.
• Default: This option includes the required resources and attributes plus those selected by Edge Delta
• High: This option includes the required resources and attributes along with a larger selection of common optional fields.
• Custom: With this option selected, you can choose which attributes and resources to include. The required fields are selected by default and can’t be unchecked.

Based on your selection in the GUI, the source_metadata YAML is populated as two dictionaries (resource_attributes and attributes) with Boolean values.

See Choose Data Item Metadata for more information on selecting metadata.

Windows Events-specific metadata included:

• Host name - Windows hostname
• Host IP - Windows host IP address
• Service name - Service identifier
• Source name - Connector instance name
• Source type - Windows Events connector type

Event metadata extracted:

• Event ID - Numeric event identifier
• Event Level - Severity (Critical, Error, Warning, Information, Verbose)
• Event Source - Application or component that logged the event
• Event Channel - Event Log channel name
• Computer - Computer name from event
• User - User account associated with event (if available)
• Timestamp - Event timestamp

Metadata Level (Attributes)

Additional attribute-level metadata fields to include.

Default: ed.env.id

Rate Limit

Rate limit configuration to control volume of Windows Events data accepted.

Purpose: Protects Edge Delta from being overwhelmed by excessive event rates

Configuration:

• Evaluation Policy: Policy to decide whether source will be rate limited

When to Use: Prevent high-volume event channels from overwhelming the pipeline (Security logs during attacks, Application logs from chatty apps)

How to Use the Windows Events Connector

The Windows Events connector integrates seamlessly with AI Team, enabling data ingestion from Windows infrastructure. AI teammates automatically leverage Windows Events data to monitor system health, investigate security incidents, analyze application failures, and troubleshoot Windows services.

Use Case: Application Error Monitoring

Monitor application crashes and errors on Windows servers. AI teammates analyze Application channel events to identify failing applications, detect error patterns, and correlate crashes with system changes. This is valuable for troubleshooting application stability issues and identifying problematic updates.

Configuration:

• Channel: Application

Common Event IDs:

• 1000 - Application Error (crash)
• 1001 - Application Error reporting
• 1002 - Application hang

Use Case: Security Incident Investigation

Track security events for intrusion detection and compliance. AI teammates analyze Security channel events to detect failed login attempts, identify unauthorized access, track privilege escalation, and monitor security policy changes. Combined with PagerDuty alerts, teammates automatically investigate security incidents.

Configuration:

• Channel: Security

Common Event IDs:

• 4624 - Successful logon
• 4625 - Failed logon attempt
• 4648 - Logon with explicit credentials
• 4672 - Special privileges assigned to new logon
• 4688 - New process created
• 4697 - Service installed

Use Case: Windows Service Monitoring

Monitor Windows services for failures and restarts. AI teammates analyze System channel events to detect service crashes, identify startup failures, and track unexpected restarts. This enables proactive service health monitoring across Windows infrastructure.

Configuration:

• Channel: System

Common Event IDs:

• 7034 - Service crashed unexpectedly
• 7036 - Service entered running/stopped state
• 7040 - Service startup type changed
• 7045 - New service installed

Troubleshooting

No events collected: Verify Edge Delta running on Windows system with Get-Service edgedelta. Check agent has permissions to read channel (Security requires Administrator or Event Log Readers). Confirm channel name spelled exactly as in Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc). Review Edge Delta logs for permission errors.

Access denied on Security channel: Security channel requires elevated permissions. Add Edge Delta service account to Event Log Readers group or run as Administrator. Verify with wevtutil gl Security to check channel permissions. Restart Edge Delta service after permission changes.

Events missing or delayed: Check Event Log service running with Get-Service EventLog. Verify Windows Event Log not full (default 20MB, rotates automatically). Monitor Event Log for errors with Event ID 1104 (log cleared), 6008 (unexpected shutdown). Increase Event Log size if frequently full.

High CPU usage on Windows agent: Reduce event volume with rate limiting. Monitor event rate in Event Viewer. Check for misconfigured applications generating excessive logs. Filter events at source when possible. Deploy multiple agents if needed.

Channel not found: Verify channel exists in Event Viewer. Channel names are case-sensitive. Some channels only exist after specific Windows features installed (IIS, DNS, etc.). Use exact path for operational channels (e.g., Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational). Check for typos in channel name.

Events truncated or incomplete: Some events contain large XML data. Check Edge Delta logs for parsing errors. Verify Windows Event Log XML format valid. Monitor for corrupt events in Event Viewer. Increase memory if processing very large events.

Forwarded events not appearing: Verify Windows Event Collector (WEC) configured correctly if using ForwardedEvents channel. Check source systems forwarding to correct collector. Verify WinRM service running on both source and collector. Test with wecutil ss to check subscriptions.

Next Steps

• Learn about Windows Event source configuration for advanced pipeline integration
• Learn about Edge Delta MCP connector for querying Windows Events data
• Learn about creating custom teammates that can use Windows Events data

For additional help, visit AI Team Support.