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In this article, you will see how to track who accesses files on Windows File Servers in your organization, using Windows Server’s built-in auditing. At the end of the article, you will also see how to do it effortlessly through LepideAuditor. Here are the steps to track who read a file on Windows File Server. This can be ensured by auditing all User actions related to file and folder access. In this guide, we are going to see how we can enable auditing on Windows Server 2008 and 2008R2. On Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2, auditing file and folder accesses consists of two parts.

Oct 05, 2018  Hello, we want to audit every delete action on our fileserver. But when i set it up all read actions are also logged. Is there an option to only log deleted files? Regards, Thanks for the tips. I enabled on the folder the Delete action audit. Then enabled at the local policy audit object access. Than it starts with logging all read access. On Windows Server 2012, auditing file and folder accesses consists of two parts: Enable File and Folder auditing which can be done in two ways. Through Group Policy (for Domains, Sites and Organizational Units). Local Security policy (for single Servers). Configure audit settings for File. Before Windows will log file system events, you need to enable auditing in policy and configure system access control lists (SACLs) on the file/folders that you want to audit. Windows File Server auditing Access permissions audit Compliance audit reports. Detailed forensics of all changes / failed attempts to file create, delete, modification and folder structure; Track file and folder access permissions & owners; Audit Windows Failover Clusters for a secure, downtime-free and a compliant network environment.

Recently, I helped a customer achieve two objectives:

1. Audit access to sensitive content on the file servers and ensure the information is captured
2. Generate reports on a regular basis that would show WHO did WHAT to WHICH content and WHEN this was done.

I thought I would share this in case you found yourself wanting to do something similar.

Windows File Server Auditing Tools Free

A word of caution, though: Due to the wide scope of what can be audited and to the degree in which the information can be logged, it is very important that you first establish the audit objectives for your company as a whole and your department in particular. These objectives will also be influenced by the country you are in and any industry affiliation. Decisions will also have to be made regarding the retention policies of your audit logs.

Environment Overview

My lab setup consists of two domain controllers and a file server, all running Windows Server 2008 R2 and a Windows 7 workstation.

The Audit policy is configured within a Group Policy Object and linked to the Organizational Unit that contains the computer object of RootMS01.

The file server hosts the file shares, folders and files I will be setting up the Audit System Access Control List (SACL) on.

A few caveats:

1. Auditing has to be enabled in the system’s security policy and in the Access Control List of a resource to successfully log events
2. Audit policy can be enabled either through group policy or the local security policy
3. If this is a Windows Server 2008 R2 or later operating system I recommend using the Advanced Audit Policy Configuration (Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsAdvanced Audit Policy ConfigurationAudit Policies) as opposed to the older Audit Policy (Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsLocal PoliciesAudit Policy)
4. Do not mix use of both Advanced Audit Policy Configuration and the older Audit Policy: If you enable audit policy through Advanced Audit Policy Configuration either through group policy or the local security policy, I recommend using the Advanced Audit Policy Configuration at every level (local policy, site, domain and OU-linked group policy)

Enable Audit Policy

1. Create a Group Policy Object and name it something to the effect of File Server Audit Policy

2. Edit the GPO, browse to Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsAdvanced Audit Policy ConfigurationAudit Policies and define the following Audit Policy settings

The settings below are from the WS2008R2SP1 Member Server Security Compliance baseline of the Security Compliance Manager (SCM) - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/cc835245.aspx with the exception of Object Access: File System which I enabled for Success

3. Also remember to set the following settings as well under Computer ConfigurationWindows SettingsSecurity SettingsLocal PoliciesSecurity Options -

a. Audit: Force audit policy subcategory settings (Windows Vista or later) to override audit policy category settings to Enabled

b. Audit: Shut down system immediately if unable to log security audits to Disabled

Windows Server File Auditing Performance

Event Log Size

You may need to increase the size of the Security event log to accommodate the new events generated configure the following group policy settings. This can be done with the policy setting Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsEvent Log ServiceSecurity - Maximum Log Size (KB). For maximum supported sizes see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957662

Note: if you wish to archive old events, set Retain old events to Enabled and Backup log automatically when full to Enabled. By doing so, the event log file is automatically closed and renamed when it is full and a new file is then started. If you do not wish to retain old events, set Retain old events to Disabled.

Set up Audit System Access Control List (SACL)

The critical part is setting up the right amount of auditing for the right security principal and for the right resources. The image below shows the folder structure for which I will be setting up the audit entries:

I created an entry for UserHomeFolder that applies to the folder, subfolders and files, for the Builtin Administrators group for all accesses.

The rationale behind this is that since the users have exclusive rights to their home folders, besides them, only members of the local administrators group would have the ability to read or modify the contents of the folders.

Sample events

Here’s a selection of some of the types of events you can expect to see with auditing enabled:

Security Event Cleared

Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog
Date: 8/14/2013 7:59:09 AM
Event ID: 1102
Task Category: Log clear
Level: Information
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: RootMS01.Reskit.com
Description:
The audit log was cleared.
Subject:
Security ID: RESKITBWayne
Account Name: BWayne
Domain Name: RESKIT
Logon ID: 0x871de

Ownership of File Taken

Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date: 8/14/2013 1:39:46 AM
Event ID: 4663
Task Category: File System
Level: Information
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: RootMS01.Reskit.com
Description:
An attempt was made to access an object.
Subject:
Security ID: RESKITpparker
Account Name: pparker
Account Domain: RESKIT
Logon ID: 0x1119f6
Object:
Object Server: Security
Object Type: File
Object Name: C:SharesUserHomeFolderBWayneBusinessProposal.txt
Handle ID: 0x290
Process Information:
Process ID: 0x7cc
Process Name: C:WindowsSystem32dllhost.exe
Access Request Information:
Accesses: WRITE_OWNER
Access Mask: 0x80000

Security ACL on File Modified

Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date: 8/14/2013 1:41:39 AM
Event ID: 4663
Task Category: File System
Level: Information
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: RootMS01.Reskit.com
Description:
An attempt was made to access an object.
Subject:
Security ID: RESKITpparker
Account Name: pparker
Account Domain: RESKIT
Logon ID: 0x1119f6
Object:
Object Server: Security
Object Type: File
Object Name: C:SharesUserHomeFolderBWayneBusinessProposal.txt
Handle ID: 0x360
Process Information:
Process ID: 0x730
Process Name: C:WindowsSystem32dllhost.exe
Access Request Information:
Accesses: WRITE_DAC
Access Mask: 0x40000

Generic File Read

Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date: 8/14/2013 1:51:48 AM
Event ID: 4663
Task Category: File System
Level: Information
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: RootMS01.Reskit.com
Description:
An attempt was made to access an object.
Subject:
Security ID: RESKITpparker
Account Name: pparker
Account Domain: RESKIT
Logon ID: 0x17235b
Object:
Object Server: Security
Object Type: File
Object Name: C:SharesUserHomeFolderBWayneBusinessProposal.txt
Handle ID: 0x1b4
Process Information:
Process ID: 0x2f8
Process Name: C:WindowsSystem32dllhost.exe
Access Request Information:
Accesses: READ_CONTROL
Access Mask: 0x20000

Run scripts to report on 4663 events

Auditing File And Folder Access

The PowerShell script below queries the Security event log on one or more servers for events with id 4663. This event documents actual operations performed against files and other objects for which auditing is enabled in the Security tab. The script also lists the name of the object and the bitwise equivalent of the permissions were actually exercised.

Save the code below to a file with the .ps1 extension. On the first line, replace machine names with the names of your fileservers. And on the last line, replace the output file and folder name.

$server = 'RootMS01','RootDC01'
$out = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder
$out.AppendLine('ServerName,EventID,TimeCreated,UserName,File_or_Folder,AccessMask')
$ns = @{e = 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event'}
foreach ($svr in $server)
{ $evts = Get-WinEvent -computer $svr -FilterHashtable @{logname='security';id='4663'} -oldest

foreach($evt in $evts)
{
$xml = $evt.ToXml()

$SubjectUserName = Select-Xml -Xml $xml -Namespace $ns -XPath '//e:Data[@Name='SubjectUserName']/text()' Select-Object -ExpandProperty Node Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value

$ObjectName = Select-Xml -Xml $xml -Namespace $ns -XPath '//e:Data[@Name='ObjectName']/text()' Select-Object -ExpandProperty Node Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value

$AccessMask = Select-Xml -Xml $xml -Namespace $ns -XPath '//e:Data[@Name='AccessMask']/text()' Select-Object -ExpandProperty Node Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value

$out.AppendLine('$($svr),$($evt.id),$($evt.TimeCreated),$SubjectUserName,$ObjectName,$AccessMask')

Write-Host $svr
Write-Host $evt.id,$evt.TimeCreated,$SubjectUserName,$ObjectName,$AccessMask

}
}
$out.ToString() out-file -filepath C:Temp4663Events.csv

Here’s some typical output:

You can use the table below (taken from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa822867(v=vs.85).aspx ) to interpret the AccessMask values to the file and directory access rights.

Remember to also report on the following events:

1. 4670 (Authorization Policy Change)
2. 4907 (Audit Policy Change), and
3. 1102 (Log clear)

File Server

Setting up Custom Views in Event Viewer

You can create a filter that includes events from multiple event logs that satisfy specified criteria. You can then name and save that filter as a custom view. To apply the filter associated with a saved custom view, you navigate to the custom view in the console tree and click its name. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709635.aspx for steps on how to create a Custom View.

As an example, the following filter looks for file access events by a user with sAMAccountName pparker:

<QueryList>
<Query Path='Security'>
<Select Path='Security'>
*[System[(EventID=4663)]]
and
*[EventData[Data[@Name='SubjectUserName'] and (Data='pparker')]]
</Select>
</Query>
</QueryList>

Final Thoughts

1. If you need to set up audit SACLs on a large number of files, Global Object Access Auditing lets you create System Access Control Lists (SACL) for the entire computer, based on file and registry. See http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2011/03/10/global-object-access-auditing-is-magic.aspx for more information

2. Enabling Object Access: File Share audit policy will generate very helpful 5145 events like the one below:

Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
Date: 8/14/2013 2:08:25 AM
Event ID: 5145
Task Category: Detailed File Share
Level: Information
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: RootMS01.Reskit.com
Description:
A network share object was checked to see whether client can be granted desired access.
Subject:
Security ID: RESKITAdministrator
Account Name: Administrator
Account Domain: RESKIT
Logon ID: 0x49199
Network Information:
Object Type: File
Source Address: 10.10.10.11
Source Port: 61361
Share Information:
Share Name: *Shares
Share Path: ??C:Shares
Relative Target Name: UserHomeFolderLSkywalkerProjects.txt
Access Request Information:
Access Mask: 0x120089
Accesses: READ_CONTROL
SYNCHRONIZE
ReadData (or ListDirectory)
ReadEA
ReadAttributes
Access Check Results:
READ_CONTROL: Granted by Ownership
SYNCHRONIZE: Granted by D:(A;;FA;;;WD)
ReadData (or ListDirectory): Granted by D:(A;;FA;;;WD)
ReadEA: Granted by D:(A;;FA;;;WD)

However, since there are no SACLs for shares, once this setting is enabled, access to all shares on the system will be audited and a large volume of these events will be generated.

3. A backup job running under the context of a local administrator on the file server will also generate a large volume of 4663 events. The command AuditPol /Set /User:ReskitBackupAcct /Subcategory:”File System” /Success:Enable /Exclude can be used for a user-level exclusion. However this setting is not honored for users who are members of the Administrators local group.

Posted by Tristan Kington, MSPFE Editor, only I never done it, I only said I done it.