Targeting Live Data as an Input Source

Message Analyzer enables you to capture live traffic from network protocols, ETW-instrumented Windows system components, certain devices, and application communications. To capture this traffic, Message Analyzer makes use of several Microsoft Protocol Engineering Framework (PEF) providers that are designed to capture messages at different stack entry points (layers), which includes the capture of events at the ETW layer, along with a host of other Windows ETW-instrumented message providers that capture events from various Windows components at the ETW layer, for example, DNS, DHCP, Active Directory, and many other providers that are available from the Add System Providers dialog. As such, these message providers and various combinations thereof are the means of targeting live data of different types as input to Message Analyzer. Moreover, certain message providers are combined and included in built-in Trace Scenarios to optimize each scenario for capturing specific data. These scenarios are available for selection when you are configuring a Live Trace Session.

Using Trace Scenarios as an Input Source

The following are a few examples of built-in Trace Scenarios that serve as input sources for Message Analyzer. They use one or more message providers to return specific types of message data after you start a Live Trace Session:

• Local Network Interfaces scenario — uses the Microsoft-PEF-NDIS-PacketCapture provider on computers running the Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows Server 2012 operating systems, or uses the Microsoft-Windows-NDIS-PacketCapture provider on computers running Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, or later. Captures traffic at and above the Link Layer. Note that the Microsoft-PEF-NDIS-PacketCapture provider has an Advanced Settings dialog that enables you to configure Fast Filter groups. The Microsoft-Windows-NDIS-PacketCapture provider also has an Advanced Settings dialog that provides special features and capabilities, for example, specifying advanced filtering configurations when capturing traffic from remote hosts and virtual machines (VMs) that are serviced by a Hyper-V-Switch.

• Loopback and Unencrypted IPSEC scenario — uses the Microsoft-Pef-WFP-MessageProvider to capture local traffic above the IP/Network layer, which includes transport messages such as TCP, UDP, and anything above these; this includes other messages above the IP layer, for example, those that are issued by the DNS protocol, SOAP, and RPC. Note that the Microsoft-Pef-WFP-MessageProvider has an Advanced Settings dialog that enables you to configure Fast Filters and WFP Layer Set filters.

• Pre-Encryption for HTTPS scenario — uses the Microsoft-Pef-WebProxy provider, which is based on Fiddler, to capture local HTTP client browser traffic at the Application Layer prior to HTTPS encryption. Note that the Microsoft-Pef-WebProxy provider has an Advanced Settings dialog that enables you to configure Hostname and Port filters.

• USB2 scenario — uses the Microsoft-Windows-USB-USBPORT and Microsoft-Windows-USB-USBHUB providers to capture events related to USB2 devices plugged into a USB port, for troubleshooting such devices.

• SMB Client and Firewall scenario — uses the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient and Microsoft-Pef-WFP-MessageProvider to capture SMB2 client traffic with message headers only, along with capturing network traffic above the IP layer for correlation with the SMB2 traffic, respectively.

Selecting a Built-In Trace Scenario

You can locate the built-in Trace Scenarios in the Select Scenario drop-down list on the ETW Providers toolbar of the New Session dialog, as shown in the figure that follows.

Figure 19: Message Analyzer Built-In Trace Scenarios for Live Trace Session Configuration

These Trace Scenarios encapsulate built-in message provider configurations that are optimized to capture specific types of data in a Live Trace Session. To add a basic Trace Scenario with no additional configuration required for a Live Trace Session, you can select a scenario in the Select Scenario drop-down list in the New Session dialog. The scenario that you choose should contain the provider/s that capture data at a particular stack layer, or should focus on capturing messages from some device, application, or system component in which you are interested. Note that a description is provided with each Trace Scenario in the Select Scenario drop-down list so that you can get a sense of its functionality. After you select a scenario, you can begin capturing data immediately with a single click on the Start button of the New Session dialog. Thereafter, the message data displays in the data viewer that is set as the default, for example, the Analysis Grid viewer.

More Information
To learn more about the functions of the Trace Scenarios provided by default in every Message Analyzer installation, see the Built-In Trace Scenarios topic.

Quick Start Trace Scenarios

Message Analyzer also enables you to use a few different methods to start a live trace immediately, with no initial configuration required. These methods also make use of built-in Trace Scenarios, which contain message providers that are tailored to capture specific types of data, as follows:

• Start Local Trace — click this button on the Start Page to begin capturing messages at and above the Link Layer with the Microsoft-Windows-NDIS-PacketCapture provider in the Local Network Interfaces scenario on your Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows 10 computer, or with the Microsoft-PEF-NDIS-PacketCapture provider in the Local Network Interfaces scenario on your local Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows Server 2012 computer.

• Favorite Scenarios — click this drop-down list on the Message Analyzer global toolbar and then click one of the favorited Trace Scenarios in the list, or select a Trace Scenario from the Favorite Scenarios list on the Start Page. The Trace Scenarios that are included in the Favorite Scenarios list by default are the Local Network Interfaces, Loopback and Unencrypted IPSEC, and Pre-Encryption for HTTPS scenarios, which capture messages at and above the Link Layer, above the IP/Network Layer, and unencrypted at the Application Layer, respectively. Favorite Scenarios are also accessible from the Message Analyzer File menu. Note that you can set other Trace Scenarios to Favorite status as you discover their compatibility with your needs.

Using System ETW Providers as an Input Source

In a Live Trace Session, instead of capturing message data through a built-in Trace Scenario, you have the option to specify one or more Windows system ETW Providers from the Add System Providers dialog, which is accessible by clicking the Add System Providers item in the Add Providers drop-down list on the ETW Providers toolbar of the New Session dialog. Although there are no restrictions on using these providers, you should be familiar with the type of data they capture before you use them. Otherwise, it might be difficult to make sense of the data you capture.

Possible information sources that you might consult to learn more about the type of data that system ETW Providers capture consist of the following:

• Advanced Settings dialog — click an ellipsis (…) on the ETW Core tab of the Advanced Settings dialog for any message provider to view a list of Keyword filters that such providers make available for selection, as described in System ETW Provider Event Keyword/Level Settings.

• Provider manifest files — these are typically cached on your machine. The manifests typically include Keywords that define the events that a provider captures and can also contain event descriptions that can be useful when assessing ETW Provider functionality. To see an example of a simple manifest, see the Event Manifest topic in the ETW Framework Conceptual Tutorial.

• Windows Events Provider Explorer (WEPExplorer) — a graphic utility that enables you to display metadata from the manifest of each system ETW Provider that is installed and registered on your system. The metadata includes event Keywords, error Levels, Opcodes, Channels, and so on. For further details, see Windows Events Provider Explorer on the web.

• Event Trace Sessions — view Keyword configurations for various ETW Providers in live sessions that you can view with Performance Monitor, as described in Finding System ETW Provider Metadata. If you select an ETW Provider in the Providers list in the Properties dialog for a particular session and then click the Edit button, you can display the list of Keywords that were originally specified in the manifest as the selected provider was developed. This can give you an indication of the type of messages that the selected ETW Provider will capture. In most cases, you can also locate such providers in the previously mentioned Add System Providers dialog when you are configuring a Live Trace Session in Message Analyzer.

• Community knowledge bases — you may be able to find information on optimized ETW Provider configurations from sources such as blogs and other social media.

Optimizing Data Capture Configurations

There are several ways that you can optimize your data capture configurations. Most of them involve additional filtering of some sort. Other methods include specifying a Trace Scenario or ETW message provider that captures specific types of messages, or messages at different Layers, as previously indicated. The goal is to maintain optimal performance while capturing the least amount of data to solve the problem at hand. For example, by specifying a Session Filter, ETW Keyword filter, Fast Filter, Parsing Level, a Trace Scenario that focuses on messages at a particular Layer, or by applying other advanced filtering techniques, you can optimize the process of capturing data in a Live Trace Session to achieve the following:

• Reduced message count in a more manageable data set that focuses on specific data only.

• Faster performance and reduced use of system resources when capturing message data.

• A more streamlined data analysis process.

• A focused set of messages that expedites the analysis process for others with whom you are sharing your results.

More Information
To learn more about using Session Filters, see Working with Session Filters in a Live Trace Session.
To learn more about using Keyword filters, see Adding a System ETW Provider and System ETW Provider Event Keyword/Level Settings.
To learn more about using Fast Filters, see PEF-NDIS Fast Filters and PEF-WFP Fast Filters.
To learn more about using Parsing Levels, see Setting the Session Parsing Level.
To learn more about the capabilities of the Microsoft-Windows-NDIS-PacketCapture provider, see the Microsoft-Windows-NDIS-PacketCapture Provider topic.

Session Configuration Workflow and Features

The linked section immediately below provides a general workflow that you can follow when configuring a Live Trace Session. It also contains subtopics that describe the features and functions that you can use when configuring a Live Trace Session:
Configuring a Live Trace Session

See Also

Built-In Trace Scenarios
PEF Message Providers