Fluent Bit integration not starting on Windows Content Server 24.4

Hello,

I’m working with Extended ECM / Content Server 24.4 on Windows Server 2019 and I’m trying to set up monitoring for OTCM, including system metrics and security logs.

Setup:

Content Server service: Content Server (OTCS)
Fluent Bit config location: C:\OPENTEXT\OTCS\config\fluentbit\fluent-bit.conf
Admin UI: “Enable → Forward using Fluent Bit” is ON
Config [INPUT] tcp and [OUTPUT] stdout as per default setup
Restarted Content Server and even the full VM

Problem:

No Fluent Bit process appears (Get-Process fluent-bit)
No Fluent Bit service exists (Get-Service fluent-bit)
Logs indicate no Fluent Bit instance running
Admin UI says “Restart of Fluent Bit service required,” but there is no service

Goal:

Get Fluent Bit running as a process/service to receive system monitoring telemetry from Content Server
Optionally forward that telemetry to an OpenTelemetry collector

Goal / Questions:
I want to reliably monitor OTCM / Content Server metrics and logs. Specifically:

In Windows deployments of Content Server 24.4, should Fluent Bit exist as a separate Windows service, or is it supposed to be spawned by Content Server automatically?
If a service is required, is there an official procedure or recommended method to install/configure it?
Are there known issues with Fluent Bit not starting on Windows when using the default OTCM config?
Are there other recommended approaches or best practices for monitoring OTCM, including system metrics, security logs, or forwarding telemetry to OpenTelemetry collectors?

Visual reference:

Config file location: C:\OPENTEXT\OTCS\config\fluentbit\fluent-bit.conf
Admin UI: “Enable → Forward using Fluent Bit” is ON
Input: TCP, Port 5170, Tag cs.systemmonitoring
Output: STDOUT, JSON lines

Any guidance, documentation, or example setups would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

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appuq

The documentation says this "

Fluent BitTM

service is used in a cloud deployment of Content Server as a log processor and forwarder. Fluent Bit is packaged in the Content Server container image so it is available by default in container deployment."

I kind of read it as a statement that says if your OTCS is deployed in a K8S platform… Perhaps ask OT on a ticket to see if it is applicable to VM or Physical machine deployments.I have not worked on this, just curious to read your post.

PS:I plan on doing K8S in the near future I do the container OTCS every 3 months in Azure let me see if it kind of shows something useful.

Bram Verkuijlen

Hello again,

Following up on my previous post about Fluent Bit not starting automatically on Windows Content Server 24.4.

I’ve made significant progress:

Installed Fluent Bit 4.0.13 manually on the same Windows Server (2019).
Used the default Fluent Bit config that Content Server generates at
C:\OPENTEXT\OTCS\config\fluentbit\fluent-bit.conf.
Manually launched Fluent Bit using PowerShell:
- cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\fluent-bit\bin" .\fluent-bit.exe -c "C:\Program Files (x86)\fluent-bit\conf\fluent-bit.conf"

✅ Result:
Fluent Bit successfully receives and parses JSON telemetry from the Content Server when forwarding is enabled.

So the configuration and TCP input work fine — but Fluent Bit is not being started automatically by the Content Server service.

Current Situation / Questions

In Windows deployments of Content Server 24.4,
- Is Fluent Bit expected to run as an independent Windows service, or should it be spawned by the OTCS process when “Forward using Fluent Bit” is enabled?
If it should run as a service, is there an official procedure or installer for registering Fluent Bit as a Windows service (similar to how it’s handled on Linux)?
Are there any known issues with the Fluent Bit integration not creating or starting the Windows service automatically?

Goal

Ultimately, I’d like to have a reliable Fluent Bit setup on Windows that:

Starts automatically with the Content Server or as a system service,
Collects OTCM metrics and system monitor logs,
And forwards them to an OpenTelemetry Collector for further analysis.

If anyone from OpenText or the community has details on the intended behavior or recommended service setup for Fluent Bit on Windows, I’d really appreciate your insights.

Best regards,
Bram Verkuijlen

Bram Verkuijlen

Thanks a lot for the clarification — that actually makes sense. It does sound like the Fluent Bit service is only bundled and auto-managed in containerized (Kubernetes) OTCS deployments, not on Windows or traditional VM installs.

I’ve shared a follow-up post with some progress and test results from a manual Fluent Bit setup on Windows Content Server 24.4, in case you’re interested in how it behaves outside of K8s.

Really appreciate you taking the time to check and comment!

appuq

your line 2 is tell tale, K8S OTCS is basically a linux shell.I routinely log in to the shell and explore around

If it should run as a service, is there an official procedure or installer for registering Fluent Bit as a Windows service (similar to how it’s handled on Linux)?

David Henshaw

@Bram Verkuijlen - the OpenText product won't automatically start any services that it doesn't implement/isn't responsible for.

Instead, you'll need to setup Fluent bit itself to run as a Windows Service.

See https://docs.fluentbit.io/manual/4.0/installation/downloads/windows#windows-service-support