Forum Discussion
Exploring Monitoring Tools for Windows Environments: Tracking User Activities and Logins
Good morning, everyone,
I work in Windows technical support and often install Windows servers with AD configuration, etc. However, I need to monitor my environment, such as knowing which users have active sessions, login attempts, tracking user logins, and so on.
I'm looking for a tool that can assist me in this function, but I'd like to know from more experienced professionals how this is typically done.
I have already researched a module called Winlogbeat in Elastic and also looked into Zabbix, which seems to be able to handle this.
Does anyone have any other tool suggestions or can you tell me the right way to do this?
Thanks in advance
Hi grodrigues43,
you can you native Windows tools, but I guess these are to simple for you:- Event Viewer: Windows includes the Event Viewer, which allows you to examine event logs, including security-related events like login attempts and user actions.
- Group Policy: You can utilize Group Policy settings to enable auditing and tracking of activities on Windows servers and workstations.
There are some really good Third-Party Monitoring Solutions:
- SolarWinds Log & Event Manager: This comprehensive tool offers log management and real-time event monitoring, including user activity tracking.
www.solarwinds.com - Splunk: A versatile log analysis and monitoring tool that can centralize and analyze logs from Windows systems. We are using it in our environment for almost everything.
Splunk | The Key to Enterprise Resilience - ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer: This solution provides real-time log monitoring, correlation, and alerting for Windows event logs.
www.manageengine.de - Sysinternals Suite: Microsoft's Sysinternals Suite includes utilities like "Process Explorer" and "Process Monitor," which can be helpful for monitoring user activities.
Sysinternals Suite - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn
For addition:
* Elasticsearch and Kibana with Winlogbeat:- You mentioned Winlogbeat in conjunction with Elastic, a powerful combination for forwarding Windows event logs to Elasticsearch. Kibana allows you to create custom dashboards and visualizations for tracking user activities effectively.
Kibana: Visualisieren, Analysieren und Erkunden von Daten | Elastic
* Zabbix:
- Zabbix is a versatile monitoring tool that can be configured to collect and analyze logs, including Windows event logs.
www.zabbix.com
** Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems:
- SIEM solutions like IBM QRadar, McAfee Enterprise Security Manager, or AlienVault offer robust user activity tracking and event correlation capabilities.
When choosing a tool, you need to consider factors such as the size of your environment, your budget, and the level of detail you require for monitoring. Define these factors, then you can decide what soultion is the best for you.Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item.If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.
Kindest regards,
Leon Pavesic
Hi grodrigues43,
you can you native Windows tools, but I guess these are to simple for you:- Event Viewer: Windows includes the Event Viewer, which allows you to examine event logs, including security-related events like login attempts and user actions.
- Group Policy: You can utilize Group Policy settings to enable auditing and tracking of activities on Windows servers and workstations.
There are some really good Third-Party Monitoring Solutions:
- SolarWinds Log & Event Manager: This comprehensive tool offers log management and real-time event monitoring, including user activity tracking.
www.solarwinds.com - Splunk: A versatile log analysis and monitoring tool that can centralize and analyze logs from Windows systems. We are using it in our environment for almost everything.
Splunk | The Key to Enterprise Resilience - ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer: This solution provides real-time log monitoring, correlation, and alerting for Windows event logs.
www.manageengine.de - Sysinternals Suite: Microsoft's Sysinternals Suite includes utilities like "Process Explorer" and "Process Monitor," which can be helpful for monitoring user activities.
Sysinternals Suite - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn
For addition:
* Elasticsearch and Kibana with Winlogbeat:- You mentioned Winlogbeat in conjunction with Elastic, a powerful combination for forwarding Windows event logs to Elasticsearch. Kibana allows you to create custom dashboards and visualizations for tracking user activities effectively.
Kibana: Visualisieren, Analysieren und Erkunden von Daten | Elastic
* Zabbix:
- Zabbix is a versatile monitoring tool that can be configured to collect and analyze logs, including Windows event logs.
www.zabbix.com
** Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems:
- SIEM solutions like IBM QRadar, McAfee Enterprise Security Manager, or AlienVault offer robust user activity tracking and event correlation capabilities.
When choosing a tool, you need to consider factors such as the size of your environment, your budget, and the level of detail you require for monitoring. Define these factors, then you can decide what soultion is the best for you.Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item.If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.
Kindest regards,
Leon Pavesic
- Thanks friend, I think I was on the right track, looking for third party software, I'll check out these others that you mentioned. But thank you in advance for your attention and detail in your response, I never monitored it so I was really lost where to start.
