{"id":355,"date":"2019-02-18T17:38:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T17:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/?p=355"},"modified":"2019-02-22T15:27:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T15:27:20","slug":"elodea-first-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/elodea-first-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Elodea \u2013 First Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recently we\nreleased a new product that collects events from different sources, sends them\ninto a database and alerts on important events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elodea <\/strong>(acronym for Event Log Dispatcher and Event Alerter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program and its documentation are available on this page: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/elodea.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this\narticle I will demonstrate how to setup and configure Elodea on your PC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To simplify\nthe demonstration process, we will work solely with a local computer. But you\ncan use this experience when setting up Elodea in your network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, you will need to install Microsoft SQL Server. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elodea\nsupports all SQL Servers editions (starting from SQL Server 2008), so you may\ntry even free SQL Server Express available at <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/sql-server\/sql-server-editions-express<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use\nany Windows (server or workstation) starting from Windows Server 2008 (or\nWindows Vista).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Install SQL Server on your computer. You can setup it with the default installation options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not\nnecessary, but I would recommend to install SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).\nSQL Server installer may prompt you to install SSMS or you can download it from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/sql\/ssms\/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download\nElodea and Event Log Explorer from <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/download.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start Elodea installer by running file elodea_setup.exe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow the setup wizard steps. When the Setup prompts you to install Collector Service, select to install it under a User account<\/strong> and input your own Windows user name and password in the related lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elodea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We will run\nthe service under a user account because SQL Server Express by default enables\nonly Windows user authentication and assigns the dbo rights to a user who\ninstalled the SQL Server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can\nconfigure Elodea by starting Elodea Event Collector Settings from Windows Start\nmenu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elodea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Review the Settings<\/strong> tab and make sure that the\nservice not started. Switch to the Db Connection<\/strong>\ntab to configure database connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Input localhost\\SQLEXPRESS<\/em><\/strong>\ninto Db Connection (this is the default instance name for SQL Server Express on\na local computer, you can also use COMPUTER_NAME\\ SQLEXPRESS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elodea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click Create new database<\/strong> to create a new\ndatabase. A new window will appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Create<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click Connect<\/strong> button, type Elodea<\/em><\/strong>\ninto the Database name, and then click Create<\/strong>\nbutton. You will see a message that the database was created, then this window\nwill be closed and the program will connect to this new database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switch to SMTP Connection<\/strong> to set up connection to\na SMTP server to receive alerts from Elodea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SMTP<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Type your\nSMTP server name, input SMTP port number and enable SSL connection if required.\nEnter your name and your password and then click Check now<\/strong> to verify connection and save your settings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switch to the\nFeeds<\/strong> tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feed is a\nspecial Elodea entity that describes what events and from what sources will be\ncollected by Elodea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elodea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Create a\nfeed for Application events by clicking on Add\nfeed<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Create<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Type AppEvents<\/em><\/strong>\ninto as feed name and change Description\nmode<\/strong> to 3 \u2013 all<\/em><\/strong>. Click Ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Create<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then create a subscription in this Feed by clicking on Add subscription<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set Subscription model<\/strong> to Push<\/strong> and set XML query<\/strong> to __application_all.xml<\/strong>.\nClick Test button to verify the selected XML query is valid. Press OK<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We created\na Standard feed subscribing to all application events on a local computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s\ncreate a feed that receive error events from Application and System logs and\nsends email notifications on errors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create Add feed<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type Errors<\/em><\/strong> into Feed name, change Type <\/strong>to Alarm <\/strong>and change Description mode<\/strong> to 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Create<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note that a\nnew type Actions<\/strong> appear in the top\nof this window. Switch to this tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Action<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Select Email<\/strong> option, then input your email\ndetails into From, To and Subject fields. Make sure that addresses are valid.\nSet Template to __default.txt<\/strong> and click\nOK button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Press Add\nsubscription, set Subscription model<\/strong>\nto Push<\/strong> and set XML query<\/strong> to __application_system_error.xml<\/strong>,\nthen press OK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you\nhave 2 feeds, AppEvents and Errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s try\nit! Switch to the Service tab and click Start and make sure that the service\nstatus has changed to running<\/strong>. Make\nseveral events in the application log.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Windows Command Prompt and type commands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

eventcreate \/id:1 \/d:\"test event\" \/t:Information\neventcreate \/id:2 \/d:\"test event\" \/t:Warning\neventcreate \/id:3 \/d:\"test event\" \/t:Error\neventcreate \/id:4 \/d:\"test event\" \/t:Information <\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"EventCreate<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Let’s view\nwhat is in the database. You can check it using SQL Server Management Studio,\nbut it is better to view the database using Event Log Explorer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start Event\nLog Explorer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Select Database -> Connect<\/strong> from the main\nmenu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enter localhost\\SQLEXPRESS<\/em><\/strong>\ninto Database server field, tick Use operating system authentication, type Elodea<\/em><\/strong>\ninto Database name field, then click OK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now you can\nload tables. Select Database -> Load\ntable<\/strong> from the main menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Select\nfd_AppEvents, then select Database ->\nLoad table<\/strong> again and select fd_Errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2 tabs will\nappear in Event Log Explorer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
fd_AppEvents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"AppEvents<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
fd_Errors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Errors<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
And you can work with these tables in Event Log Explorer as you work with a general event logs. E.g. you can run analytical reports for these events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Elodea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Error feed should\nalso collect errors from the system log. Test it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
eventcreate \/id:100 \/d:\"test event\" \/t:Error\n\/l:System <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Verify email notifications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"email<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Now you can\nquit Elodea event collector settings \u2013 the collector service will continue\nworking all the time when your computer is on. <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently we released a new product that collects events from different sources, sends them into a database and alerts on important events. Elodea (acronym for Event Log Dispatcher and Event Alerter). The program and its documentation are available on this page: https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/elodea.html In this article I will demonstrate how to setup and configure Elodea on your PC. To simplify the demonstration process, we will work\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60,62],"tags":[63,61,64,47],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventlogxp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}