Collect Windows DHCP and DNS Logs with Event Trace

Example configuration steps for capturing Windows DHCP and DNS logs using the Windows Event Trace (ETW) source.

This guide demonstrates how to configure the Windows Event Trace source in Bindplane to capture DHCP and DNS logs. The Windows Event Trace source reads events directly from Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) providers, enabling you to ingest logs that aren't written to standard event channels.

Prerequisites

• Bindplane collector version supporting the Windows Event Trace source (v1.75.0 or later)

• Administrative privileges on the Windows host

• The DHCP and DNS ETW providers enabled

NOTE

The Windows Event Trace source may impact system performance if too many providers are enabled. Start with the minimal providers necessary for your use case. You may need to adjust the configuration if you are sending a large amount of data.

Steps

1. Create or edit a configuration in Bindplane.

2. Add Source and select Windows Event Trace.

3. You may need to adjust the permissions on the Audit log DNS channel. You can do that by running:

   1. wevtutil set-log "Microsoft-Windows-DNSServer/Audit" /e:true
      wevtutil sl "Microsoft-Windows-DNSServer/Audit" /ca:"O:BAG:BAD:(A;;0x1;;;SY)"

4. In the Providers field, specify the DHCP and DNS providers:

   1. Microsoft-Windows-DHCP-Server

      Microsoft-Windows-DNSServer

5. Configure other fields as needed (such as Session Name or Level). The defaults typically work for most environments.

6. Save the configuration and apply it to a collector running in Windows.

7. Roll out the configuration. Once the collector loads the new config, DHCP and DNS events will appear in your destination platform.

For reference, the provider names above can be verified on the Windows host by running:

logman query providers Microsoft-Windows-DHCP-Server
logman query providers Microsoft-Windows-DNSServer

Troubleshooting

If logs are not appearing:

• Ensure the collector service account has permission to create ETW sessions.

• Confirm the provider names are correct and available on the host with logman query providers.

• Review the collector logs for errors related to ETW session creation.

For more details on the source fields, see the Windows Event Trace source documentation.