Enabling push subscriptions in winrm where Windows 2003 R2 server is acting as an event collector

Article
04/17/2009

Windows remote management is a technology that can be used to manage windows servers. By installing the download ws-management onto a windows 2003 r2 server, this server can act as an event collector. This document describes the steps taken to enable windows 2003 r2 as an event collector. Two utilities will be utilized to enable Windows 2003 r2 as a collector. These utilities are:

Winrm
Wecutil

It is important to note that some functionality of wecutil is not available on Windows 2003 R2, most notably the qc command. This command is not required though. Here are the steps taken to enable Windows 2003 R2 to act as an event collector. Further reading can be found in this blog post by Otto Helweg.

Environment Configuration for sample

Source Computer

· Windows 2003 R2 with latest service pack and patches

· WS-Management 1.1

Collector Computer

· Windows 2003 R2 with latest service pack and patches

· WS-Management 1.1

Installation and Configuration Steps.

1. Install Windows 2003 R2 on collector computer.

2. Install ws-management download onto both source and colletor computers.

3. Ensure Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is started (You can have the firewall turned off but the service needs to be enabled for winrm quickconfig to succeed.

4. Open a command prompt and run the command winrm quickconfig –q on both the source and collector machine. NOTE: This step is not needed on the source machine if you were creating a collector initiated PULL subscription.

5. From the command prompt run the command gpedit.msc, this will allow you to edit the local security policy settings that affect the way winrm functions. This should be done on both source and collector machines.

6. Most important is to configure your authentication scheme and trusted hosts settings under WinRM Client and your selected authentication settings. Below is a table to help with determining an authentication scheme.

Type of Request	Authentication Scheme(s) Supported	Notes
Source-To-Collector	Kerberos	If certificates are not configured on the source it will always use Kerberos for event deliveries to the event collector. This requires that the Source have a valid Kerberos ticket.
Source-To-Collector	Certificates	The Source may also use client certificates for source-initiated subscriptions
Collector-To-Source	Basic Digest Negotiate (Kerberos first then NTLM) Kerberos	Kerberos is the default authentication scheme in this request type but alternatives can be configured in the event subscription for collector initiated. (Events sent from the source are always encrypted with either a Kerberos Ticket or client certificate)

Trusted host settings for winrm client configuration (The explain tab has more detailed help on the configuration setting. NOTE: This is a potential security risk if enabling all hosts to communicate with the collector. This is only need on the collector machine if Kerberos Authentication is not used to communicate with the source machine.)

8. Once you have configured winrm settings, you need to execute gpupdate /force to cause the policy settings to be refreshed.

9. Next, start winrm and wecsvc from the command line using the following commands:

· net start winrm (on source[Not needed for source initiated subscription] and collector)

· net start wecsvc (on collector only)

This will ensure both services are started and operational.

10. Use the following command to validate the configuration winrm is using:

· winrm get winrm/config

The above configuration shows both client and server configuration. This output should match what is stored in the policy database shown in step 5.

11. You can also validate that there is a valid listener on the source/collector by executing the command winrm e winrm/config/listener. You should see output similar to the following letting you know that the machine has a valid and operational listener (Note the ListeningOn settings if running in on a multi-homed server):

C:\etw>winrm e winrm/config/listener

Listener [Source="GPO"]

Address = *

Transport = HTTP

Port = 80

Hostname

Enabled = true

URLPrefix = wsman

CertificateThumbprint

ListeningOn = 127.0.0.1, 172.29.14.8

12. Now that we have a valid configuration we need to create a subscription file. This file is an xml file that contains the subscription xml. Below is an example of a subscription with comments.

<Subscription xmlns="https://schemas.microsoft.com/2006/03/windows/events/subscription">
    
    <SubscriptionId>Collection1</SubscriptionId>
    
    <SubscriptionType>CollectorInitiated</SubscriptionType>
    
    <Description>Collector Initiated Subscription Test 1</Description>
    
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Uri>https://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/windows/EventLog</Uri>
    
    <ConfigurationMode>Custom</ConfigurationMode>
    
    <Delivery Mode="Push">
        <Batching>
            
            <MaxItems>20</MaxItems>
            <MaxLatencyTime>20000</MaxLatencyTime>
        </Batching>
        <PushSettings>
            
            <Heartbeat Interval="20000"/>
        </PushSettings>
    </Delivery>
    
    <Expires>2018-01-01T00:00:00.000Z</Expires>
    <Query>
        <![CDATA[
            <QueryList>
                <Query Path="Application">
                    <Select>*</Select>
                </Query>
            </QueryList>
        ]]>
    </Query>
    
    <ReadExistingEvents>false</ReadExistingEvents>
    
    <TransportName>http</TransportName>
    
    <ContentFormat>RenderedText</ContentFormat>
    
    <Locale Language="en-US"/>
    
    <LogFile>ForwardedEvents</LogFile>
    
    <CredentialsType>Basic</CredentialsType>
    
    <EventSources>
        <EventSource Enabled="true">
            <Address>LC1-12C28.DC162220.lab</Address>
            
            <UserName>administrator</UserName>
        </EventSource>
    </EventSources>
</Subscription>

13. Once you have a valid configuration file, you can setup the subscription by executing the command:

wecutil cs ci.xml /cun:<username> /cup:<password for username>

14. If using a network capture utility you will see a request similar to the following (Assumes allow unencrypted is set and using basic authentication with http)

REQUEST

POST /wsman HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/soap+xml;charset=UTF-8
User-Agent: Microsoft WinRM Client
Host: LC1-12C28.DC162220.lab
Content-Length: 2878
Connection: Keep-Alive
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW5pc3RyYXRvcjpyZ3V0aHJpZQ==

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="https://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns:a="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing" xmlns:e="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/eventing" xmlns:n="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/09/enumeration" xmlns:w="https://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wsman/1/wsman.xsd">
<s:Header>
    <a:To>https://LC1-12C28.DC162220.lab:80/wsman</a:To>
    <w:ResourceURI s:mustUnderstand="true">https://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/windows/EventLog</w:ResourceURI>
    <a:ReplyTo>
      <a:Address s:mustUnderstand="true">https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing/role/anonymous</a:Address>
    </a:ReplyTo>
    <a:Action s:mustUnderstand="true">https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/eventing/Subscribe</a:Action>
    <w:MaxEnvelopeSize s:mustUnderstand="true">153600</w:MaxEnvelopeSize>
    <a:MessageID>uuid:2711428A-D19A-42A4-98DF-079CFCD7ABD5</a:MessageID>
    <w:Locale xml:lang="en-US" s:mustUnderstand="false" />
    <w:OptionSet xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <w:Option Name="SubscriptionName">collection3</w:Option>
      <w:Option Name="Compression">SLDC</w:Option>
      <w:Option Name="CDATA" xsi:nil="true"/>
      <w:Option Name="ContentFormat">RenderedText</w:Option>
      <w:Option Name="IgnoreChannelError" xsi:nil="true"/>
    </w:OptionSet>
    <w:OperationTimeout>PT60.000S</w:OperationTimeout>
</s:Header>
<s:Body>
    <e:Subscribe>
      <e:EndTo>
        <a:Address>https://lc1-12c29.DC162220.lab:80/wsman/subscriptions/F494AF9C-3AE0-41BB-B502-1FA4DC4D7816</a:Address>
        <a:ReferenceProperties>
          <e:Identifier>882AF072-DB9F-49DC-AC3A-D851A537886C</e:Identifier>
        </a:ReferenceProperties>
      </e:EndTo>
      <e:Delivery Mode="https://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wsman/1/wsman/Events">
        <w:Heartbeats>PT20.000S</w:Heartbeats>
        <e:NotifyTo>
          <a:Address>https://lc1-12c29.DC162220.lab:80/wsman/subscriptions/F494AF9C-3AE0-41BB-B502-1FA4DC4D7816</a:Address>
          <a:ReferenceProperties>
            <e:Identifier>882AF072-DB9F-49DC-AC3A-D851A537886C</e:Identifier>
          </a:ReferenceProperties>
          <c:Policy xmlns:c="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2002/12/policy" xmlns:auth="https://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/authentication">
            <c:ExactlyOne>
              <c:All>
                <auth:Authentication Profile="https://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wsman/1/wsman/secprofile/http/spnego-kerberos"></auth:Authentication>
              </c:All>
            </c:ExactlyOne>
          </c:Policy>
        </e:NotifyTo>
        <w:ConnectionRetry Total="5">PT60.0S</w:ConnectionRetry>
        <w:MaxElements>20</w:MaxElements>
        <w:MaxTime>PT20.000S</w:MaxTime>
        <w:MaxEnvelopeSize Policy="Notify">153600</w:MaxEnvelopeSize>
        <w:Locale xml:lang="en-US"/>
        <w:ContentEncoding>UTF-8</w:ContentEncoding>
      </e:Delivery>
      <e:Expires>PT275480553.0S</e:Expires>
      <w:Filter Dialect="https://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/eventquery">
        <QueryList>
        <Query Path="Application">
        <Select>*</Select>
        </Query>
        </QueryList>
      </w:Filter>
      <w:SendBookmarks/>
    </e:Subscribe>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

RESPONSE

Content-Type: application/soap+xml;charset=UTF-8
Server: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/1.0
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:37:26 GMT
Content-Length: 958

<s:Envelope xml:lang="en-US" xmlns:s="https://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns:a="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing" xmlns:e="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/eventing" xmlns:n="https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/09/enumeration" xmlns:w="https://schemas.dmtf.org/wbem/wsman/1/wsman.xsd">
<s:Header>
    <a:Action >https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/eventing/SubscribeResponse</a:Action>
    <a:MessageID >uuid:629302C2-3441-4459-A5DA-994ACFB40F32</a:MessageID>
    <a:To>https://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2004/08/addressing/role/anonymous</a:To>
    <a:RelatesTo >uuid:2711428A-D19A-42A4-98DF-079CFCD7ABD5</a:RelatesTo>
</s:Header>
<s:Body>
    <e:SubscribeResponse>
      <e:SubscriptionManager>
        <a:Address>https://LC1-12C28.DC162220.lab:80/wsman</a:Address>
        <a:ReferenceProperties>
          <e:Identifier>143DDA8B-85A6-4BCD-8427-6E409C178389</e:Identifier>
        </a:ReferenceProperties>
      </e:SubscriptionManager>
      <e:Expires>PT0.0S</e:Expires>
    </e:SubscribeResponse>
</s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

15. At this point the subscription should be enabled and events will be processed. You can test this by going to the source computer and using the eventcreate command as follows:

eventcreate /id 999 /t error /l application /d "Test event."

To remove the subscription you can use wecutil as follows:

wecutil ds <subscriptionId>

Here is the request/response generated over the network by this command:

REQUEST

POST /wsman HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/soap+xml;charset=UTF-8
User-Agent: Microsoft WinRM Client
Host: LC1-12C28.DC162220.lab
Content-Length: 1337
Connection: Keep-Alive
Authorization: Basic YWRtaW5pc3RyYXRvcjpyZ3V0aHJpZQ==

RESPONSE

HTTP/1.1 200
Content-Type: application/soap+xml;charset=UTF-8
Server: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/1.0
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:38:48 GMT
Content-Length: 668

This completes the steps required to enabled/disable a subscription. Attached is a network trace that shows how the calls would look across the network. The event data will always be encrypted by either the Kerberos ticket or certificate depending on how you have configured your environment.

How to check the events forwarded to collector

Once you have created a subscription, check the even log location you specified in your subscription file. In the case of this sample, we specified the forwarded events log. The screenshot below shows an example of the forwarded event.

Additional Reading and References

https://blogs.technet.com/otto/archive/2008/07/08/quick-and-dirty-enterprise-eventing-for-windows.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc782312.aspx

https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=845289ca-16cc-4c73-8934-dd46b5ed1d33&displaylang=en

attachments.zip

Comments

Anonymous
April 17, 2009
PingBack from http://asp-net-hosting.simplynetdev.com/enabling-push-subscriptions-in-winrm-where-windows-2003-r2-server-is-acting-as-an-event-collector/
Anonymous
June 26, 2011
Hello, your post is very helpful, but I have a question : is it possible to forward events to a different destination log ? I tried to do that by creating a custom event log (with New-Eventlog on Powershell), but I couldn’t use this log under Windows Event Subscription GUI (didn’t appear). I tried to change the destination log with wecutil, but when i came back to Windows Event Subscription GUI, I had an error message which told me that the destination log wasn’t a valid event log… Do you have an idea ? Is it possible to create valid custom event logs and to use it with Event Forwarding ? Oy maybe is it possible to store events in a database ? Thank you !

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Enabling push subscriptions in winrm where Windows 2003 R2 server is acting as an event collector

How to check the events forwarded to collector

Additional Reading and References

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