Install the Collector for Windows manually 🔗

Before proceeding to install the Collector for Windows manually, check the prerequisites.

Modify the default configuration 🔗

All installation methods offer default configurations using environment variables. Before starting the splunk-otel-collector service, replace the variables in the default configuration file with the appropriate values for your environment. See Advanced configuration for Windows for more information.

Splunk-specific environment variables are listed on the table below:

Name	Description	Default config?
`SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN`	The Splunk access token to authenticate requests	Yes
`SPLUNK_API_URL`	The Splunk API URL. For example, https://api.us0.signalfx.com	Yes
`SPLUNK_BALLAST_SIZE_MIB` (deprecated)	`memory_ballast` is deprecated. If you’re using this variable, see how to update your configuration.	No
`SPLUNK_BUNDLE_DIR`	The path to the Smart Agent bundle. For example, `/usr/lib/splunk-otel-collector/agent-bundle`	Yes
`SPLUNK_COLLECTD_DIR`	The path to the collectd config directory for the Smart Agent. For example, `/usr/lib/splunk-otel-collector/agent-bundle/run/collectd`	Yes
`SPLUNK_CONFIG`	Destination path of the Collector custom configuration file	No
`SPLUNK_CONFIG_YAML`	Specifies your custom configuration YAML. This is useful in environments where access to the underlying file system is not readily available	No
`SPLUNK_DEBUG_CONFIG_SERVER`	By default, the Collector provides a sensitive value-redacting, local config server listening at http://localhost:55554/debug/configz/effective, which is helpful in troubleshooting. To disable it, set `SPLUNK_DEBUG_CONFIG_SERVER` to any value other than `true`. To set the desired port to listen to, use `SPLUNK_DEBUG_CONFIG_SERVER_PORT`	No
`SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN`	The Splunk HEC authentication token	Yes
`SPLUNK_HEC_URL`	The Splunk HEC endpoint URL. For example, https://ingest.us0.signalfx.com/v1/log	Yes
`SPLUNK_INGEST_URL`	The Splunk ingest URL. For example, https://ingest.us0.signalfx.com	Yes
`SPLUNK_LISTEN_INTERFACE`	The network interface the agent receivers listen on. `0.0.0.0` by default	Yes
`SPLUNK_MEMORY_LIMIT_MIB`	Use it to set the memory limit for the `memory_limiter` processor. 512 MiB by default	No
`SPLUNK_MEMORY_TOTAL_MIB`	Total memory in MiB to allocate to the Collector	No
`SPLUNK_REALM`	Your Splunk realm	No
`SPLUNK_TRACE_URL`	The Splunk trace endpoint URL. For example, https://ingest.us0.signalfx.com/v2/trace	Yes

SPLUNK_*_URL environment variables are automatically derived from SPLUNK_REALM. For example, SPLUNK_INGEST_URL = https://ingest.SPLUNK_REALM.signalfx.com.

Note

When configuring additional settings, use service, process, or terminal scopes.

Configure proxy settings 🔗

To configure proxy settings to install and run the OpenTelemetry Collector, see Configure proxy settings for the Collector.

Windows installer file (MSI) installation 🔗

To install the package using Windows Installer, download the Windows MSI package (64-bit only) from GitHub releases .

The package is installed to \Program Files\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector.

The splunk-otel-collector service is created, but not started.

A default configuration file is copied to \ProgramData\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector\agent_config.yaml, if it does not already exist. This file is required to start the splunk-otel-collector service.

Note

The ProgramData folder is hidden by default on Windows.

Next, proceed with the GUI, or follow the instructions to install using a Powershell terminal.

Install using the GUI 🔗

Run the downloaded package and follow the instructions in the guided setup.

Install using a PowerShell terminal 🔗

Follow these steps:

Open a PowerShell terminal.
Run the following command, where PATH_TO_MSI is the full path to the downloaded package. For example, C:\your\download\folder\splunk-otel-collector-0.4.0-amd64.msi.

Start-Process -Wait msiexec "/i PATH_TO_MSI /qn"

Update all variables in the configuration file as appropriate.
Start the splunk-otel-collector service by rebooting the system or by running the following command in a PowerShell terminal:

Start-Service splunk-otel-collector

Learn more about advanced configuration options (including Service Logging) using PowerShell in the Splunk Distribution of OpenTelemetry Collector Windows manual .

Install Fluentd MSI for log collection 🔗

Default log collection 🔗

Install, configure, and start the Collector with Windows Installer. The Collector default configuration file \ProgramData\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector\agent_config.yaml listens for log events on 127.0.0.1:8006 and sends them to Splunk Observability Cloud.

Log collection with Fluentd 🔗

Note

You need to be an Admin to configure log collection with Fluentd.

Perform the following steps to install Fluentd and forward collected log events to the Collector:

Install Fluentd MSI version 4.0 or higher.
Configure Fluentd to collect log events and forward them to the Collector:
- Option 1: Update the default config file provided by the Fluentd MSI at \opt\td-agent\etc\td-agent\td-agent.conf to collect the desired log events and forward them to 127.0.0.1:8006.
- Option 2: The installed Collector package provides a custom Fluentd config file \Program Files\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector\fluentd\td-agent.conf to collect log events from the Windows Event Log \Program Files\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector\fluentd\conf.d\eventlog.conf and forwards them to 127.0.0.1:8006.
To use these files, backup the \opt\td-agent\etc\td-agent` directory, and copy the contents from \Program Files\Splunk\OpenTelemetry Collector\fluentd` to \opt\td-agent\etc\td-agent`.
To apply any changes made to the Fluentd config files, restart the system, or restart fluentdwinsvc .

- Stop-Service fluentdwinsvc
- Start-Service fluentdwinsvc

View the Fluentd service logs and errors in \opt\td-agent\td-agent.log.

Learn more about general Fluentd configuration details in the official Fluentd documentation .

Install using a Chocolatey package 🔗

A Chocolatey package is available to download, install, and configure the Collector and Fluentd with the following PowerShell command:

choco install splunk-otel-collector --params="'/SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN:MY_SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN /SPLUNK_REALM:MY_SPLUNK_REALM'"

Learn more about the package parameters in GitHub.

Install using Docker 🔗

Run the following command to deploy the latest Docker image:

$ docker run --rm -e SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN=12345 -e SPLUNK_REALM=us0  `
          -p 13133:13133 -p 14250:14250 -p 14268:14268 -p 4317:4317 -p 6060:6060  `
          -p 8888:8888 -p 9080:9080 -p 9411:9411 -p 9943:9943 `
          --name=otelcol quay.io/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector-windows:latest

Install using the binary file 🔗

To install the Collector using the binary file, follow these steps:

Download the binary for your architecture from GitHub releases .
If you’re not using an existing or custom config file, download the default config file <https://github.com/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector/tree/main/cmd/otelcol/config/collector>` for the Collector. See more at Collector for Windows default configuration.
Run the binary from the command line:

# see available command-line options
PS> & '<download dir>\otelcol_windows_amd64.exe' --help
Usage of otelcol:
    --config string          Locations to the config file(s), note that only a single location can be set per flag entry e.g. --config=/path/to/first --config=path/to/second. (default "[]")
    --feature-gates string   Comma-delimited list of feature gate identifiers. Prefix with '-' to disable the feature. '+' or no prefix will enable the feature. (default "[]")
    --no-convert-config      Do not translate old configurations to the new format automatically. By default, old configurations are translated to the new format for backward compatibility.
    --set string             Set arbitrary component config property. The component has to be defined in the config file and the flag has a higher precedence. Array config properties are overridden and maps are joined. Example --set=processors.batch.timeout=2s (default "[]")
    -v, --version                Version of the collector.

# set the SPLUNK_REALM and SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN env vars required in our default config files
PS> $env:SPLUNK_REALM = "<realm>"
PS> $env:SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN = "<token>"

# start the collector
PS> & '<download dir>\otelcol_windows_amd64.exe' --config=<path to config file>

# alternatively, use the SPLUNK_CONFIG env var instead of the --config command-line option
PS> $env:SPLUNK_CONFIG = "<path to config file>"
PS> & '<download dir>\otelcol_windows_amd64.exe'

# type Ctrl-c to stop the collector

Use a custom configuration file 🔗

If you’re using a custom configuration file, mount the directory containing the file and either use the SPLUNK_CONFIG=<path> environment variable or the --config=<path> command line argument. Replace <path> with the path to the custom file within the container.

To mount configuration files on a Windows container, specify a directory name in which the configuration file is present.

Example with `SPLUNK_CONFIG` 🔗

$ docker run --rm -e SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN=12345 -e SPLUNK_REALM=us0 `
          -e SPLUNK_CONFIG=c:\splunk_config\gateway_config.yaml -p 13133:13133  `
          -p 14250:14250 -p 14268:14268 -p 4317:4317 -p 6060:6060 -p 8888:8888 -p 9080:9080 `
          -p 9411:9411 -p 9943:9943 -v ${PWD}\splunk_config:c:\splunk_config:RO `
          --name otelcol quay.io/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector-windows:latest

Example with `--config` 🔗

$ docker run --rm -e SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN=12345 -e SPLUNK_REALM=us0 `
    -p 13133:13133 -p 14250:14250 -p 14268:14268 -p 4317:4317 -p 6060:6060 `
    -p 8888:8888 -p 9080:9080 -p 9411:9411 -p 9943:9943 `
    -v ${PWD}\splunk_config:c:\splunk_config:RO `
    --name otelcol quay.io/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector-windows:latest `
    --config c:\splunk_config\gateway_config.yaml

Next steps 🔗

After you have installed the package, see:

Collector for Windows default configuration.
Advanced configuration for Windows.
Use the Collector: How to perform common tasks.
Use navigators in Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring.
View logs and errors in the Windows Event Viewer. Search for “view logs and errors” on Microsoft documentation site for more information.

Related Topics

Install the Collector for Windows manually 🔗

Modify the default configuration 🔗

Configure proxy settings 🔗

Windows installer file (MSI) installation 🔗

Install using the GUI 🔗

Install using a PowerShell terminal 🔗

Install Fluentd MSI for log collection 🔗

Default log collection 🔗

Log collection with Fluentd 🔗

Install using a Chocolatey package 🔗

Install using Docker 🔗

Install using the binary file 🔗

Use a custom configuration file 🔗

Example with `SPLUNK_CONFIG` 🔗

Example with `--config` 🔗

Next steps 🔗

Was this topic useful?

Splunk

Related Topics

Install the Collector for Windows manually 🔗

Modify the default configuration 🔗

Configure proxy settings 🔗

Windows installer file (MSI) installation 🔗

Install using the GUI 🔗

Install using a PowerShell terminal 🔗

Install Fluentd MSI for log collection 🔗

Default log collection 🔗

Log collection with Fluentd 🔗

Install using a Chocolatey package 🔗

Install using Docker 🔗

Install using the binary file 🔗

Use a custom configuration file 🔗

Example with SPLUNK_CONFIG 🔗

Example with --config 🔗

Next steps 🔗

Was this topic useful?

Example with `SPLUNK_CONFIG` 🔗

Example with `--config` 🔗