community.windows.win_eventlog module – Manage Windows event logs

Note

This module is part of the community.windows collection (version 2.3.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install community.windows.

To use it in a playbook, specify: community.windows.win_eventlog.

Synopsis

• Allows the addition, clearing and removal of local Windows event logs, and the creation and removal of sources from a given event log. Also allows the specification of settings per log and source.

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
category_file path	For one or more sources specified, the path to a custom category resource file.
maximum_size string	The maximum size of the event log. Value must be between 64KB and 4GB, and divisible by 64KB. Size can be specified in KB, MB or GB (e.g. 128KB, 16MB, 2.5GB).
message_file path	For one or more sources specified, the path to a custom event message resource file.
name string / required	Name of the event log to manage.
overflow_action string	The action for the log to take once it reaches its maximum size. For DoNotOverwrite, all existing entries are kept and new entries are not retained. For OverwriteAsNeeded, each new entry overwrites the oldest entry. For OverwriteOlder, new log entries overwrite those older than the retention_days value. Choices: "DoNotOverwrite" "OverwriteAsNeeded" "OverwriteOlder"
parameter_file path	For one or more sources specified, the path to a custom parameter resource file.
retention_days integer	The minimum number of days event entries must remain in the log. This option is only used when overflow_action is OverwriteOlder.
sources list / elements=string	A list of one or more sources to ensure are present/absent in the log. When category_file, message_file and/or parameter_file are specified, these values are applied across all sources.
state string	Desired state of the log and/or sources. When sources is populated, state is checked for sources. When sources is not populated, state is checked for the specified log itself. If state is clear, event log entries are cleared for the target log. Choices: "absent" "clear" "present" ← (default)

See Also

See also

community.windows.win_eventlog_entry

Write entries to Windows event logs.

Examples

- name: Add a new event log with two custom sources
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    sources:
      - NewLogSource1
      - NewLogSource2
    state: present

- name: Change the category and message resource files used for NewLogSource1
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    sources:
      - NewLogSource1
    category_file: C:\NewApp\CustomCategories.dll
    message_file: C:\NewApp\CustomMessages.dll
    state: present

- name: Change the maximum size and overflow action for MyNewLog
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    maximum_size: 16MB
    overflow_action: DoNotOverwrite
    state: present

- name: Clear event entries for MyNewLog
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    state: clear

- name: Remove NewLogSource2 from MyNewLog
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    sources:
      - NewLogSource2
    state: absent

- name: Remove MyNewLog and all remaining sources
  community.windows.win_eventlog:
    name: MyNewLog
    state: absent

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Description
entries integer	The count of entries present in the event log. Returned: success Sample: 50
exists boolean	Whether the event log exists or not. Returned: success Sample: true
maximum_size_kb integer	Maximum size of the log in KB. Returned: success Sample: 512
name string	The name of the event log. Returned: always Sample: "MyNewLog"
overflow_action string	The action the log takes once it reaches its maximum size. Returned: success Sample: "OverwriteOlder"
retention_days integer	The minimum number of days entries are retained in the log. Returned: success Sample: 7
sources list / elements=string	A list of the current sources for the log. Returned: success Sample: ["MyNewLog", "NewLogSource1", "NewLogSource2"]
sources_changed list / elements=string	A list of sources changed (e.g. re/created, removed) for the log; this is empty if no sources are changed. Returned: always Sample: ["NewLogSource2"]

Authors

• Andrew Saraceni (@andrewsaraceni)

Collection links

• Issue Tracker
• Repository (Sources)
• Communication