Run Telegraf as a Windows service

Telegraf natively supports running as a Windows service.

Download and run Telegraf as a Windows service

In PowerShell as an administrator, do the following:

1. Use the following commands to download the Telegraf Windows binary and extract its contents to C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\:

   > wget https://dl.influxdata.com/telegraf/releases/telegraf-1.20.4_windows_amd64.zip -UseBasicParsing -OutFile telegraf-_windows_amd64.zip
   > Expand-Archive .\telegraf-1.20.4_windows_amd64.zip -DestinationPath 'C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\'
   

2. Move the telegraf.exe and telegraf.conf files from C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf-1.20.4 up a level to C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf:

   > cd "C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf"
   > mv .\telegraf-1.20.4\telegraf.* .
   

   Or create a Windows symbolic link (Symlink) to point to this directory.

   The instructions below assume that either the telegraf.exe and telegraf.conf files are stored in C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf, or you’ve created a Symlink to point to this directory.

3. Install Telegraf as a service:

   > .\telegraf.exe --service install --config "C:\Program Files\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf.conf"
   

   Make sure to provide the absolute path of the telegraf.conf configuration file, otherwise the Windows service may fail to start.

4. To test that the installation works, run:

   > C:\"Program Files"\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf.exe --config C:\"Program Files"\InfluxData\telegraf\telegraf.conf --test
   

5. To start collecting data, run:

   telegraf.exe --service start
   

Logging and troubleshooting

When Telegraf runs as a Windows service, Telegraf logs messages to Windows event logs. If the Telegraf service fails to start, view error logs by selecting Event Viewer→Windows Logs→Application.

Windows service commands

The following commands are available: