Collect Microsoft Windows Sysmon data

This document:

• describes the deployment architecture and installation steps, plus any required configuration that produce logs supported by the Chronicle Parser for Microsoft Windows Sysmon events. For an overview of Chronicle data ingestion, see Data ingestion to Chronicle.
• includes information about how the parser maps fields in the original log to Chronicle Unified Data Model fields.

Information in this document applies to the parser with the WINDOWS_SYSMON ingestion label. The ingestion label identifies which parser normalizes raw log data to structured UDM format.

Before you begin

Review the recommended deployment architecture

This diagram represents the recommended core components in a deployment architecture to collect and send Microsoft Windows Sysmon data to Chronicle. Compare this information with your environment to be sure these components are installed. Each customer deployment will differ from this representation and may be more complex. The following is required:

• Systems in the deployment architecture are configured with the UTC time zone.
• Sysmon is installed on servers, endpoints, and domain controllers.
• The collector Microsoft Windows server receives logs from servers, endpoints, and domain controllers.

• Microsoft Windows systems in the deployment architecture use:

  • Source Initiated Subscriptions to collect events across multiple devices.
  • WinRM service for remote system management.

• NXLog is installed on the collector Window server to forward logs to Chronicle forwarder.

• Chronicle forwarder is installed on a central Microsoft Windows server or Linux server.

  Note: If you choose to deploy the Chronicle Linux forwarder, the central Linux server and collector Microsoft Windows server will be different systems. If you choose to deploy the Chronicle forwarder for Microsoft Windows, the central Microsoft Windows server and collector Microsoft Windows server can be the same system.

  

Review the supported devices and versions

The Chronicle parser supports logs generated by the following Microsoft Windows server versions. Microsoft Windows Server is released with the following editions: Foundation, Essentials, Standard, and Datacenter. The event schema of logs generated by each edition does not differ.

• Microsoft Windows Server 2019
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012

Chronicle parser supports logs generated by:

• Microsoft Windows 7 and higher client systems
• Sysmon version 13.24.

Chronicle parser supports logs collected by NXLog Community or Enterprise Edition.

Review the supported log types

The Chronicle parser supports the following log types generated by Microsoft Windows Sysmon. For more information about these log types, see the Microsoft Windows Sysmon documentation. It supports logs generated with English language text and is not supported with logs generated in non-English languages.

Log Type	Description
Sysmon Logs	Sysmon channel contains 27 Event Ids. (Event Id: 1 to 26, and 255). For a description of this log type, see the Microsoft Windows Sysmon Events documentation

Configure Microsoft Windows servers, endpoints, and domain controllers

1. Install and configure the servers, endpoints, and domain controllers. For information, see Microsoft Windows Sysmon Configuration documentation.
2. Set up a collector Microsoft Windows server to parse the collected logs from multiple systems.
3. Set up the central Microsoft Windows or Linux server
4. Configure all systems with the UTC time zone.
5. Configure the devices to forward logs to the collector Microsoft Windows server.
   • Configure Source Initiated Subscriptions on Microsoft Windows systems. For information, see Setting up a Source Initiated Subscription.
   • Enable WinRM on Microsoft Windows servers and clients. For information, see Installation and configuration for Microsoft Windows Remote Management.

Configure NXLog and Chronicle forwarder

1. Install NXLog on the collector Microsoft Windows server. Follow the NXLog documentation, including information about configuring NXLog to collect logs from Sysmon.

2. Create a configuration file for NXLog. Use the im_msvistalog input module. Here is an example NXLog configuration. Replace <hostname> and <port> values with information about the destination central Microsoft Windows or Linux server. For more information, see NXLog documentation about the om_tcp module.

   define ROOT     C:\Program Files (x86)\nxlog
   define SYSMON_OUTPUT_DESTINATION_ADDRESS <hostname>
   define SYSMON_OUTPUT_DESTINATION_PORT <port>
   define CERTDIR  %ROOT%\cert
   define CONFDIR  %ROOT%\conf
   define LOGDIR   %ROOT%\data
   define LOGFILE  %LOGDIR%\nxlog.log
   LogFile %LOGFILE%
   
   Moduledir %ROOT%\modules
   CacheDir  %ROOT%\data
   Pidfile   %ROOT%\data\nxlog.pid
   SpoolDir  %ROOT%\data
   
   <Extension _json>
       Module      xm_json
   </Extension>
   
   <Input windows_sysmon_eventlog>
       Module  im_msvistalog
       <QueryXML>
           <QueryList>
               <Query Id="0">
                   <Select Path="Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational">*</Select>
               </Query>
           </QueryList>
       </QueryXML>
       ReadFromLast  False 
       SavePos  False
   </Input>
   
   <Output out_chronicle_sysmon>
       Module      om_tcp
       Host        %SYSMON_OUTPUT_DESTINATION_ADDRESS%
       Port        %SYSMON_OUTPUT_DESTINATION_PORT%
       Exec        $EventTime = integer($EventTime) / 1000;
       Exec        $EventReceivedTime = integer($EventReceivedTime) / 1000;
       Exec        to_json();
   </Output>
   
   <Route r2>
       Path    windows_sysmon_eventlog => out_chronicle_sysmon
   </Route>
   

3. Install the Chronicle forwarder on the central Microsoft Windows or Linux server. See the Installing and configuring the forwarder on Linux or Installing and configuring the forwarder on Microsoft Windows for information about installing and configuring the forwarder.

4. Configure the Chronicle forwarder to send logs to Chronicle. Here is an example forwarder configuration.

     - syslog:
         common:
           enabled: true
           data_type: WINDOWS_SYSMON
           Data_hint:
           batch_n_seconds: 10
           batch_n_bytes: 1048576
         tcp_address: 0.0.0.0:10518
         connection_timeout_sec: 60
   

5. Start the NXLog service.

Field mapping reference: device event fields to UDM fields

This section describes how the parser maps original device log fields to Unified Data Model (UDM) fields. The field mapping may differ by Event Id.

Note: The % values (e.g. %1, %2, %3, %{EventID}) are variable placeholders.

Common fields

NXLog field	UDM field
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
Category	security_result.summary and metadata.product_event_type
AccountName	principal.user.userid
Domain	principal.administrative_domain
RecordNumber	metadata.product_log_id
HostName	principal.hostname
UserID	principal.user.windows_sid
SeverityValue	security_result.severity
EventID	security_result.rule_name set to "EventID: %{EventID}" metadata.product_event_type set to "%{Category} [%{EventID}]"

Event Id: 1

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	target.process.pid
Image	target.process.file.full_path
Description	metadata.description
CommandLine	target.process.command_line
CurrentDirectory	src.file.full_path
User	Domain stored in principal.administrative_domain Username stored in principal.user.userid
Hashes	Based on Hash algorithm. MD5 stored in target.process.file.md5 SHA256 stored in target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 stored in target.process.file.sha1
ParentProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ParentProcessGuid>"
ParentProcessId	principal.process.pid
ParentImage	principal.process.file.full_path
ParentCommandLine	principal.process.command_line

Event Id: 2

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "FILE_MODIFICATION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
CreationUtcTime	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "CreationUtcTime" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
PreviousCreationUtcTime	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "PreviousCreationUtcTime" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 3

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "NETWORK_CONNECTION" security_result.action set to "ALLOW" network.direction" set to "OUTBOUND"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
User	Domain stored in principal.administrative_domain Username stored in principal.user.userid"
Protocol	network.ip_protocol
SourceIp	principal.ip
SourcePort	principal.port
DestinationIp	target.ip
DestinationHostname	target.hostname
DestinationPort	target.port

Event Id: 4

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "SETTING_MODIFICATION" target.resource.resource_type set to "SETTING" resource.resource_subtype set to "State"
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
State	target.resource.name
Version	metadata.product_version

Event Id: 5

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_TERMINATION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>
ProcessId	target.process.pid
Image	target.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 6

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_MODULE_LOAD"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ImageLoaded	principal.process.file.full_path
Hashes	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. MD5 stored in target.process.file.md5 SHA256 stored in target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 stored in target.process.file.sha1
Signed	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Signed" and value set to target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Signature	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Signature" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
SignatureStatus	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "SignatureStatus" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 7

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_MODULE_LOAD"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
ImageLoaded	target.process.file.full_path
Description	metadata.description
Hashes	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. MD5 stored in target.process.file.md5 SHA256 stored in target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 stored in target.process.file.sha1
Signed	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Signed" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Signature	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Signature" Signature value in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
SignatureStatus	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "SignatureStatus" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 8

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_MODULE_LOAD"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
SourceProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<SourceProcessGuid>"
SourceProcessId	principal.process.pid
SourceImage	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<TargetProcessGuid>"
TargetProcessId	target.process.pid
TargetImage	target.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 9

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "FILE_READ" If the Device log field, which is required to validate the FILE_READ UDM event type, is not available, then metadata.event_type is set to "GENERIC_EVENT".
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
Device	target.file.full_path

Event Id: 10

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_OPEN" target.resource.resource_subtype set to "GrantedAccess"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
SourceProcessGUID	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<SourceProcessGuid>"
SourceProcessId	principal.process.pid
SourceImage	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetProcessGUID	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<TargetProcessGuid>"
TargetProcessId	target.process.pid
TargetImage	target.process.file.full_path
GrantedAccess	target.resource.name

Event Id: 11

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "FILE_CREATION" target.resource.resource_subtype set to "CreationUtcTime"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
CreationUtcTime	target.resource.name

Event Id: 12

NXLog field	UDM field
	If the Message the field contains "CreateKey|CreateValue", then metadata.event_type set to "REGISTRY_CREATION" If the Message field contains "DeleteKey|DeleteValue", then metadata.event_type set to REGISTRY_DELETION Otherwise, metadata.event_type set to "REGISTRY_MODIFICATION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetObject	target.registry.registry_key

Event Id: 13

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "REGISTRY_MODIFICATION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetObject	target.registry.registry_key
Details	target.registry.registry_value_data

Event Id: 14

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "REGISTRY_MODIFICATION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetObject	src.registry.registry_key
NewName	target.registry.registry_key

Event Id: 15

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to FILE_CREATION
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
CreationUtcTime	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "CreationUtcTime" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Hash	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. If MD5, the value is stored in target.process.file.md5 If SHA256 set to the value is stored in target.process.file.sha256 If SHA1, the value is stored in target.process.file.sha1

Event Id: 16

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "SETTING_MODIFICATION"
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessID	target.process.pid
Configuration	The value is stored in target.process.command_line when this field value contains any command line or process The value is stored in target.process.file.full_path when this field value contains the configuration file path.
ConfigurationFileHash	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. If MD5, the value is stored in target.process.file.md5 If SHA256 set to the value is stored in target.process.file.sha256 If SHA1, the value is stored in target.process.file.sha1

Event Id: 17

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_UNCATEGORIZED" target.resource.resource_type set to "PIPE"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	target.process.pid
PipeName	target.resource.name
Image	target.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 18

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_UNCATEGORIZED" target.resource.resource_type set to "PIPE"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	target.process.pid
PipeName	target.resource.name
Image	target.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 19

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to USER_RESOURCE_ACCESS
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
Operation
User	The Domain is stored in principal.administrative_domain The Username is stored in principal.user.userid
EventNamespace	target.file.full_path
Name	target.application
Query	target.resource.name

Event Id: 20

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "USER_RESOURCE_ACCESS"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
Operation	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Operation" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
User	The domain is stored in principal.administrative_domain The Username is stored in principal.user.userid
Name	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Name" Name value in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Type	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Type" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Destination	target.resource.name

Event Id: 21

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "USER_RESOURCE_ACCESS"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
Operation	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Operation" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
User	The domain is stored in principal.administrative_domain The username is stored in principal.user.userid
Consumer	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Consumer" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Filter	target.resource.name

Event Id: 22

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "NETWORK_DNS" network.application_protocol set to "DNS"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
QueryName	network.dns.questions
QueryStatus	Stored in security_result.summary as "Query Status: "
QueryResults	Type is saved to network.dns.answers.type with values separated by a semicolon (;) Data is saved to network.dns.answers.data Values that do not have type are mapped to network.dns.answers.data.
Image	principal.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 23

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "FILE_DELETION"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
User	Domain stored into principal.administrative_domain Username stored in principal.user.userid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
Hashes	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. MD5 set to target.process.file.md5 SHA256 set to target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 set to target.process.file.sha1
IsExecutable	Field target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "IsExecutable" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value
Archived	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Archived" and the value is stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 24

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "RESOURCE_READ"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	target.process.file.full_path target.resource.name
ClientInfo	ip stored in target.ip hostname stored in target.hostname user stored in principal.user.userid
Hashes	The field populated is determined by the Hash algorithm. If MD5, value stored in target.process.file.md5 If SHA256, value stored in target.process.file.sha256 If SHA1, value stored in target.process.file.sha1
Archived	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "Archived" and value stored in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 25

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to "PROCESS_LAUNCH"
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	target.process.product_specific_process_id stored as "SYSMON:<ProcessGuid>"
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
Image	target.process.file.full_path

Event Id: 26

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to FILE_DELETION
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id set to "SYSMON:%{ProcessGuid}
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
User	Domain set to principal.administrative_domain Username set to principal.user.userid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
Hashes	Based on Hash algorithm. MD5 set to target.process.file.md5 SHA256 set to target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 set to target.process.file.sha1
IsExecutable	target.resource.attribute.labels.key set to "IsExecutable" & value in target.resource.attribute.labels.value

Event Id: 29

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to FILE_CREATION
RuleName	security_result.rule_name
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ProcessGuid	principal.process.product_specific_process_id is set to "SYSMON:PROCESS_GUID" PROCESS_GUID is the ProcessGuid. The ProcessGuid field is a unique value for this process across a domain to make event correlation easier.
ProcessId	principal.process.pid
User	Domain is set to principal.administrative_domain Username is set to principal.user.userid
Image	principal.process.file.full_path
TargetFilename	target.file.full_path
Hashes	Based on the hash algorithm, the following values are set: MD5 is set to target.process.file.md5 SHA256 is set to target.process.file.sha256 SHA1 is set to target.process.file.sha1

Event Id: 255

NXLog field	UDM field
	metadata.event_type set to SERVICE_UNSPECIFIED metadata.product_event_type set to "Error - [255]" target.application set to "Microsoft Sysmon"
UtcTime	metadata.event_timestamp
ID	security_result.summary
Description	security_result.description