Add an XDR Collector Profile for Windows

Add a Cortex XDR Collector profile, which defines the data that is collected from a Windows collector machine, and defines automatic XDR Collector upgrade settings.

Notice

Ingestion of logs and data requires a Cortex XDR Pro per GB license.

Note

Ingestion of log events larger than 5 MB is not supported.

Supported versions and architectures

Cortex XDR supports the following Elasticsearch Filebeat versions with the operating systems listed in the Elasticsearch support matrix that conform with the collector machine operating systems supported by Cortex XDR:

• 64-bit XDR Collectors: Supports Filebeat version 8.15.
• 32-bit XDR Collectors: Supports Filebeat version 7.17.1

Cortex XDR supports the input types and modules available in Elasticsearch Filebeat.

Note

Fileset validation is enforced. You must enable at least one fileset in the module, because filesets are disabled by default.

Log format constraints

• Cortex XDR collects all logs in either an uncompressed JSON or text format.
• Compressed files, such as the gzip format, are not supported.
• Logs in single line format or multiline format are supported. For more information about handling messages that span multiple lines of text in Elasticsearch Filebeat, see Manage Multiline Messages.

Related Information

• Elasticsearch Filebeat Overview Documentation
• Configure Filebeat Inputs in Elasticsearch
• Configure Filebeat Modules in Elasticsearch
• Elasticsearch Support Matrix
• XDR Collector machine requirements and supported operating systems
• Collection of Windows DHCP logs and Windows DNS Debug logs:

  • Windows DHCP logs
  • Windows DNS Debug logs

Winlogbeat Profile

Use an XDR Collector Windows Winlogbeat profile to collect event log data, using the Elasticsearch Winlogbeat default configuration file, called winlogbeat.yml.

Supported versions and architectures

Cortex XDR supports the following Elasticsearch Winlogbeat versions with the Windows versions listed in the Elasticsearch support matrix that conform with the collector machine operating systems supported by Cortex XDR:

• 64-bit XDR Collectors: Supports Winlogbeat version 9.3.2.
• 32-bit XDR Collectors: Supports Winlogbeat version 7.17.1.

Cortex XDR supports the modules available in Elasticsearch Winlogbeat.

Data ingestion and normalization

After ingestion, Cortex XDR normalizes and saves the Windows event logs collected by the Winlogbeat profile in the dataset xdr_data. The normalized logs are also saved in a unified format in <vendor>_<product>_raw if the product and vendor are defined, and otherwise, in microsoft_windows_raw. You can search the data using Cortex Query Language (XQL) queries, build correlation rules, and generate dashboards based on the data. For more information, see Query Windows Event Log records.

Related information

• Elasticsearch Winlogbeat Overview Documentation
• Winlogbeat Modules in ElasticSearch
• Elasticsearch Support Matrix
• XDR Collector machine requirements and supported operating systems
• Collection of Windows DHCP logs and Windows DNS Debug logs:

  • Windows DHCP logs
  • Windows DNS Debug logs

Settings profile

Use an XDR Collector Settings profile to configure automatic upgrade settings for XDR Collector releases.

Policy mapping

To map your XDR Collector profile to a collector machine, you must use an XDR Collector policy. After you have created your profile, map it to a new or existing policy.

How to configure XDR Collector profiles

Filebeat configuration

In the Filebeat Configuration File editor, you can define the data collection for your Elasticsearch Filebeat configuration file called filebeat.yml.

Cortex XDR provides YAML templates for DHCP, DNS, IIS, XDR Collector Logs, and NGINX.

1. In Cortex XDR, select Settings → Configurations → XDR Collectors → Profiles → +Add Profile → Windows.
2. Select Filebeat, then click Next.
3. Configure the General Information parameters.

   • Profile Name: Enter a unique name to identify the profile. The name can contain only letters, numbers, or spaces, and must be no more than 30 characters. The name that you enter here will be displayed in the list of profiles when you configure a policy.
   • (Optional) Add description here: To provide additional context for the purpose or business reason for your new profile, enter a profile description.
4. In the Filebeat Configuration File editing box, type or paste the contents of your configuration file, or use a template. To add a template, select one from the list, and click Add.
5. Cortex XDR supports all sections in the filebeat.yml configuration file, such as support for Filebeat fields and tags. You can use the "Add fields" processor to identify the product/vendor for the data collected by the XDR Collectors, so that the collected events go through the ingestion flow (Parsing Rules). To configure the product/vendor, ensure that you use the default fields attribute (do not use the target attribute), as shown in the following example:

   processors:
     - add_fields:
         fields:
           vendor: <Vendor>
           product: <Product>

   For more information about the "Add fields" processor, see Add_fields.
6. To finish creating your new profile, click Create.

   Your new profile will be listed under the applicable platform on the XDR Collectors Profiles page.
7. Apply profiles to XDR Collector machine policies by performing one of the following:

   • Right-click a profile, and select Create a new policy rule using this profile.
   • Launch the new policy wizard from XDR Collectors → Policies → XDR Collectors Policies.

Winlogbeat configuration

In the Winlogbeat Configuration File editor, you can define the data collection for your Elasticsearch Winlogbeat configuration file called winlogbeat.yml.

Cortex XDR provides a YAML template for Windows Security. To add a template, select it and click Add.

1. In Cortex XDR, select Settings → Configurations → XDR Collectors → Profiles → +Add Profile → Windows.
2. Select Winlogbeat profile, then click Next.
3. Configure the General Information parameters.

   • Profile Name: Enter a unique name to identify the profile. The name can contain only letters, numbers, or spaces, and must be no more than 30 characters. The name that you enter here will be displayed in the list of profiles when you configure a policy.
   • (Optional) Add description here: To provide additional context for the purpose or business reason for your new profile, enter a profile description.
4. In the Winlogbeat Configuration File editing box, type or paste the contents of your configuration file, or use the template. To add the template, click Select template, and then click Windows Security. Click Add.
5. Cortex XDR supports all sections in the winlogbeat.yml configuration file, such as support for Winlogbeat fields and tags. You can use the "Add fields" processor to identify the product/vendor for the data collected by the XDR Collectors, so that the collected events go through the ingestion flow (Parsing Rules). To configure the product/vendor, ensure that you use the default fields attribute (do not use the target attribute), as shown in the following example:

   processors:
     - add_fields:
         fields:
           vendor: <Vendor>
           product: <Product>

   For more information about the "Add fields" processor, see Add_fields.
6. To finish creating your new profile, click Create.

   Your new profile will be listed under the applicable platform on the XDR Collectors Profiles page.
7. Apply profiles to XDR Collector machine policies by performing one of the following:

   • Right-click a profile, and select Create a new policy rule using this profile.
   • Launch the new policy wizard from XDR Collectors → Policies → XDR Collectors Policies.

Settings configuration

You can configure automatic upgrades for XDR Collector releases. By default, this is disabled, and the Use Default (Disabled) option is selected. To implement automatic upgrades, follow these steps:

1. In Cortex XDR, select Settings → Configurations → XDR Collectors → Profiles → +Add Profile → Windows.
2. Select Settings profile, then click Next.
3. Configure the General Information parameters.

   • Profile Name: Enter a unique name to identify the profile. The name can contain only letters, numbers, or spaces, and must be no more than 30 characters. The name that you enter here will be displayed in the list of profiles when you configure a policy.
   • (Optional) Add description here: To provide additional context for the purpose or business reason for your new profile, enter a profile description.
4. Clear the Use Default (Disabled) checkbox.
5. For Collector Auto-Upgrade, select Enabled.

   Additional fields are displayed for defining the scope of the automatic upgrade.
6. Configure the scope of automatic upgrades:

   • To ensure the latest XDR Collector release is used, leave the Use Default (Latest collector release) checkbox selected.
   • To configure only a particular scope, perform the following steps:

     1. Clear the Use Default (Latest collector release) checkbox.
     2. For Auto Upgrade Scope, select one of the following options:

        Option	More details
        Latest collector release	Configures the scope of the automatic upgrade to whenever a new XDR Collector release is available including maintenance releases and new features.
        Only maintenance release	Configures the scope of the automatic upgrade to whenever a new XDR Collector maintenance release is available.
        Only maintenance releases in a specific version	Configures the scope of the automatic upgrade to whenever a new XDR Collector maintenance release is available for a specific version. When this option is selected, you can select the specific Release Version.

7. To finish creating your new profile, click Create.

   Your new profile will be listed under the applicable platform on the XDR Collectors Profiles page.
8. Apply profiles to XDR Collector machine policies by performing one of the following:

   • Right-click a profile, and select Create a new policy rule using this profile.
   • Launch the new policy wizard from XDR Collectors → Policies → XDR Collectors Policies.

Additional XDR Collector profile management options

As needed, you can return to the XDR Collectors Profiles page to manage your XDR Collectors profiles. To manage a specific profile, right-click anywhere in an XDR Collector profile row, and select the desired action:

Option	More details
Edit	Lets you edit the XDR Collector profile
Save As New	Copies the existing profile with its current settings, so that you can make modifications, and save it as a new profile with a unique name
Delete	Deletes the XDR Collector profile
View Collector Policies	Opens a new tab that displays the XDR Collectors Policies page, showing the policies that are currently associated with your XDR Collector profiles
Copy text to clipboard	Copies the text from a specific field in the row of a XDR Collector profile
Copy entire row	Copies the text from the entire row of a XDR Collector profile