The EventLogMonitor

Matthias Blomme ⏱ 3 min
  • ace
  • monitoring
  • windows
  • tools
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Ever stared at the Windows Event Viewer, waiting for errors to show up?
It shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. It should be smooth, effortless and simple to use.

I can hear all the Linux boys rolling their eyes (I get it, I’d run ACE on Linux, too). But Windows servers are everywhere, and for many of us, EventLogMonitor is a game-changer.

Never met EventLogMonitor? You’re not alone, this post is tailor-made for you.

What it is

EventLogMonitor is tail -f for Windows Event Logs — no clicking, no waiting, just live entries. It’s that simple, and yes, it really tails.

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EventLogMonitor isn’t a one-trick pony. It also gives you:

  • Source selection: Monitor defaults (IBM Integration, WebSphere Broker, ACE) or any custom log.
  • Event filtering: Drill down by source name, event ID, or keyword so you only see what matters.
  • Look-back window: Load the last N entries at startup (-p N) to get instant context.
  • Output formatting: Format timestamps up front (-tf), set output level, …

Getting Started

Launch EventLogMonitor.exe with no flags (either from CLI or via double click) and you’ll get:

  • Look-back window: none
  • Output: minimal
  • Sources: IBM Integration, WebSphere Broker, and IBM App Connect Enterprise

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Usually that’s enough to catch the basics. Here are the tweaks you’ll use most:

Putting the timestamp first:

EventLogMonitor.exe -tf

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Expand monitoring sources and use the history
(-s IBM picks up any source with “IBM” in its name, -p 10 preloads the last 10 entries.)

EventLogMonitor.exe -s IBM -p 10

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For more details, have a look at the Usage documentation
or the README in the GitHub repository. m-g-k has done a really extensive job describing all the options.

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Download & Install

Grab what you need by downloading the desired binary (with or without .NET Framework) from
m-g-k’s EventLogMonitor releases page,
or build it directly from the source code, if you so desire.

Resources

Written by Matthias Blomme

#IBMChampion #AppConnectEnterprise (ACE)

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