# windows_exporter

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A Prometheus exporter for Windows machines.

## Collectors

| Name                                                       | Description                                                                                                                                                 | Enabled by default |
|------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| [ad](docs/collector.ad.md)                                 | Active Directory Domain Services                                                                                                                            |                    |
| [adcs](docs/collector.adcs.md)                             | Active Directory Certificate Services                                                                                                                       |                    |
| [adfs](docs/collector.adfs.md)                             | Active Directory Federation Services                                                                                                                        |                    |
| [cache](docs/collector.cache.md)                           | Cache metrics                                                                                                                                               |                    |
| [cpu](docs/collector.cpu.md)                               | CPU usage                                                                                                                                                   | &#10003;           |
| [cpu_info](docs/collector.cpu_info.md)                     | CPU Information                                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [container](docs/collector.container.md)                   | Container metrics                                                                                                                                           |                    |
| [diskdrive](docs/collector.diskdrive.md)                   | Diskdrive metrics                                                                                                                                           |                    |
| [dfsr](docs/collector.dfsr.md)                             | DFSR metrics                                                                                                                                                |                    |
| [dhcp](docs/collector.dhcp.md)                             | DHCP Server                                                                                                                                                 |                    |
| [dns](docs/collector.dns.md)                               | DNS Server                                                                                                                                                  |                    |
| [exchange](docs/collector.exchange.md)                     | Exchange metrics                                                                                                                                            |                    |
| [file](docs/collector.file.md)                             | File metrics                                                                                                                                                |                    |
| [fsrmquota](docs/collector.fsrmquota.md)                   | Microsoft File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) Quotas collector                                                                                              |                    |
| [gpu](docs/collector.gpu.md)                               | GPU metrics                                                                                                                                                 |                    |
| [hyperv](docs/collector.hyperv.md)                         | Hyper-V hosts                                                                                                                                               |                    |
| [iis](docs/collector.iis.md)                               | IIS sites and applications                                                                                                                                  |                    |
| [license](docs/collector.license.md)                       | Windows license status                                                                                                                                      |                    |
| [logical_disk](docs/collector.logical_disk.md)             | Logical disks, disk I/O                                                                                                                                     | &#10003;           |
| [memory](docs/collector.memory.md)                         | Memory usage metrics                                                                                                                                        | &#10003;           |
| [mscluster](docs/collector.mscluster.md)                   | MSCluster metrics                                                                                                                                           |                    |
| [msmq](docs/collector.msmq.md)                             | MSMQ queues                                                                                                                                                 |                    |
| [mssql](docs/collector.mssql.md)                           | [SQL Server Performance Objects](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/performance-monitor/use-sql-server-objects#SQLServerPOs) metrics |                    |
| [netframework](docs/collector.netframework.md)             | .NET Framework metrics                                                                                                                                      |                    |
| [net](docs/collector.net.md)                               | Network interface I/O                                                                                                                                       | &#10003;           |
| [os](docs/collector.os.md)                                 | OS information (hostname, product/version, install time)                                                                                                   | &#10003;           |
| [pagefile](docs/collector.pagefile.md)                     | pagefile metrics                                                                                                                                            |                    |
| [performancecounter](docs/collector.performancecounter.md) | Custom performance counter metrics                                                                                                                          |                    |
| [physical_disk](docs/collector.physical_disk.md)           | physical disk metrics                                                                                                                                       | &#10003;           |
| [printer](docs/collector.printer.md)                       | Printer metrics                                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [process](docs/collector.process.md)                       | Per-process metrics                                                                                                                                         |                    |
| [remote_fx](docs/collector.remote_fx.md)                   | RemoteFX protocol (RDP) metrics                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [scheduled_task](docs/collector.scheduled_task.md)         | Scheduled Tasks metrics                                                                                                                                     |                    |
| [service](docs/collector.service.md)                       | Service state metrics                                                                                                                                       | &#10003;           |
| [smb](docs/collector.smb.md)                               | SMB Server                                                                                                                                                  |                    |
| [smbclient](docs/collector.smbclient.md)                   | SMB Client                                                                                                                                                  |                    |
| [smtp](docs/collector.smtp.md)                             | IIS SMTP Server                                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [system](docs/collector.system.md)                         | System calls                                                                                                                                                | &#10003;           |
| [tcp](docs/collector.tcp.md)                               | TCP connections                                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [terminal_services](docs/collector.terminal_services.md)   | Terminal services (RDS)                                                                                                                                     |                    |
| [textfile](docs/collector.textfile.md)                     | Read prometheus metrics from a text file                                                                                                                    |                    |
| [time](docs/collector.time.md)                             | Windows Time Service                                                                                                                                        |                    |
| [udp](docs/collector.udp.md)                               | UDP connections                                                                                                                                             |                    |
| [update](docs/collector.update.md)                         | Windows Update Service                                                                                                                                      |                    |
| [vmware](docs/collector.vmware.md)                         | Performance counters installed by the Vmware Guest agent                                                                                                    |                    |

See the linked documentation on each collector for more information on reported metrics, configuration settings and usage examples.

### Filtering enabled collectors

The `windows_exporter` will expose all metrics from enabled collectors by default.  This is the recommended way to collect metrics to avoid errors when comparing metrics of different families.

For advanced use the `windows_exporter` can be passed an optional list of collectors to filter metrics. The `collect[]` parameter may be used multiple times. In Prometheus configuration you can use this syntax under the [scrape config](https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/configuration/configuration/#<scrape_config>).

```
  params:
    collect[]:
      - foo
      - bar
```

This can be useful for having different Prometheus servers collect specific metrics from nodes.

## Flags

windows_exporter accepts flags to configure certain behaviours. The ones configuring the global behaviour of the exporter are listed below, while collector-specific ones are documented in the respective collector documentation above.

| Flag                      | Description                                                                                                                                                                                      | Default value |
|---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
| `--web.listen-address`    | host:port for exporter.                                                                                                                                                                          | `:9182`       |
| `--telemetry.path`        | URL path for surfacing collected metrics.                                                                                                                                                        | `/metrics`    |
| `--collectors.enabled`    | Comma-separated list of collectors to use. Use `[defaults]` as a placeholder which gets expanded containing all the collectors enabled by default.                                               | `[defaults]`  |
| `--scrape.timeout-margin` | Seconds to subtract from the timeout allowed by the client. Tune to allow for overhead or high loads.                                                                                            | `0.5`         |
| `--web.config.file`       | A [web config][web_config] for setting up TLS and Auth                                                                                                                                           | None          |
| `--config.file`           | [Using a config file](#using-a-configuration-file) from path                                                                                                                                     | None          |
| `--log.file`              | Output file of log messages. One of [stdout, stderr, eventlog, \<path to log file>]<br>**NOTE:** The MSI installer will add a default argument to the installed service setting this to eventlog | stderr        |

## Installation

The latest release can be downloaded from the [releases page](https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter/releases).

All binaries and installation packages are signed with an self-signed certificate. The public key can be found [here](https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter/blob/master/installer/codesign.cer).
Once import into the trusted root certificate store, the binaries and installation packages will be trusted.

Each release provides a .msi installer. The installer will setup the windows_exporter as a Windows service, and may create an exception in the Windows Firewall (see example below).

If the installer is run without any parameters, the exporter will run with default settings for enabled collectors, ports, etc.

The installer provides a configuration file to customize the exporter.

The configuration file
* is located in the same directory as the exporter executable.
* has the YAML format and is provided with the `--config.file` parameter.
* can be used to enable or disable collectors, set collector-specific parameters, and set global parameters.

The following parameters are available:

| Name                 | Description                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `ENABLED_COLLECTORS` | As the `--collectors.enabled` flag, provide a comma-separated list of enabled collectors                                                                                                    |
| `CONFIG_FILE`        | Use the `--config.file` flag to specify a config file. If empty, default config file at install dir will be used. If set, the config file must be exist before the installation is started. |                                                                                     |
| `LISTEN_ADDR`        | The IP address to bind to. Defaults to an empty string. (any local address)                                                                                                                 |
| `LISTEN_PORT`        | The port to bind to. Defaults to `9182`.                                                                                                                                                    |
| `METRICS_PATH`       | The path at which to serve metrics. Defaults to `/metrics`                                                                                                                                  |
| `TEXTFILE_DIRS`      | Use the `--collector.textfile.directories` flag to specify one or more directories, separated by commas, where the collector should read text files containing metrics                      |
| `REMOTE_ADDR`        | Allows setting comma separated remote IP addresses for the Windows Firewall exception (allow list). Defaults to an empty string (any remote address).                                       |
| `EXTRA_FLAGS`        | Allows passing full CLI flags. Defaults to an empty string. For `--collectors.enabled` and `--config.file`, use the specialized properties  `ENABLED_COLLECTORS` and `CONFIG_FILE`          |
| `ADDLOCAL`           | Enables features within the windows_exporter installer. Supported values: `FirewallException`                                                                                               |
| `REMOVE`             | Disables features within the windows_exporter installer. Supported values: `FirewallException`                                                                                              |
| `APPLICATIONFOLDER`  | Directory to install windows_exporter. Defaults to `C:\Program Files\windows_exporter`                                                                                                      |

> [!NOTE]
> The installer properties are always preferred over the values defined in the config file. If you prefer to configure via the config file, avoid using any of the properties listed above.

Parameters are sent to the installer via `msiexec`.
On PowerShell, the `--%` should be passed before defining properties.

Example invocations:

```powershell
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> --% ENABLED_COLLECTORS=os,iis LISTEN_PORT=5000
```

Example service collector with a custom query.
```powershell
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> --% ENABLED_COLLECTORS=os,service EXTRA_FLAGS="--collectors.exchange.enabled=""ADAccessProcesses"""
```

Define a config file.
```powershell
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> --% CONFIG_FILE="D:\config.yaml"
```

Alternative install directory
```powershell
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> --% ADDLOCAL=FirewallException APPLICATIONFOLDER="F:\Program Files\windows_exporter"
```

On some older versions of Windows,
you may need to surround parameter values with double quotes to get the installation command parsing properly:
```powershell
msiexec /i C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\windows_exporter.msi --% ENABLED_COLLECTORS="ad,iis,memory,process,tcp,textfile,thermalzone" TEXTFILE_DIRS="C:\custom_metrics\"
```

To install the exporter with creating a firewall exception, use the following command:

```powershell
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> --% ADDLOCAL=FirewallException
```

PowerShell versions 7.3 and above require [PSNativeCommandArgumentPassing](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/learn/experimental-features?view=powershell-7.3) to be set to `Legacy` when using `--% EXTRA_FLAGS`:

```powershell
$PSNativeCommandArgumentPassing = 'Legacy'
msiexec /i <path-to-msi-file> ENABLED_COLLECTORS=os,service --% EXTRA_FLAGS="--collectors.exchange.enabled=""ADAccessProcesses"""
```

## Docker Implementation

The windows_exporter can be run as a Docker container. The Docker image is available on

* [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/prometheuscommunity/windows-exporter): `docker.io/prometheuscommunity/windows-exporter`
* [GitHub Container Registry](https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter/pkgs/container/windows-exporter): `ghcr.io/prometheus-community/windows-exporter`
* [quay.io Registry](https://quay.io/repository/prometheuscommunity/windows-exporter): `quay.io/prometheuscommunity/windows-exporter`

### Tags

The Docker image is tagged with the version of the exporter. The `latest` tag is also available and points to the latest release.

## Kubernetes Implementation

See detailed steps to install on Windows Kubernetes [here](./kubernetes/kubernetes.md).

## Supported versions

`windows_exporter` supports Windows Server versions 2016 and later, and desktop Windows version 10 and 11 (21H2 or later).

There are known compatibility issues with Windows Server 2012 R2 and earlier versions.

### HTTP Endpoints

windows_exporter provides the following HTTP endpoints:

* `/metrics`: Exposes metrics in the [Prometheus text format](https://prometheus.io/docs/instrumenting/exposition_formats/).
* `/health`: Returns 200 OK when the exporter is running.
* `/debug/pprof/`: Exposes the [pprof](https://golang.org/pkg/net/http/pprof/) endpoints. Only, if `--debug.enabled` is set.

### Using [defaults] with `--collectors.enabled` argument

Using `[defaults]`  with `--collectors.enabled` argument which gets expanded with all default collectors.

    .\windows_exporter.exe --collectors.enabled "[defaults],process,container"

This enables the additional process and container collectors on top of the defaults.

### Using a configuration file

YAML configuration files can be specified with the `--config.file` flag. e.g. `.\windows_exporter.exe --config.file=config.yml`. If you are using the absolute path, make sure to quote the path, e.g. `.\windows_exporter.exe --config.file="C:\Program Files\windows_exporter\config.yml"`

```yaml
collectors:
  enabled: cpu,net,service
collector:
  service:
    include: windows_exporter
log:
  level: warn
```

An example configuration file can be found [here](docs/example_config.yml).

#### Configuration file notes

Configuration file values can be mixed with CLI flags. E.G.

`.\windows_exporter.exe --collectors.enabled=cpu`

```yaml
log:
  level: debug
```

CLI flags enjoy a higher priority over values specified in the configuration file.

## License

Under [MIT](LICENSE)

[web_config]: https://github.com/prometheus/exporter-toolkit/blob/master/docs/web-configuration.md
