Deployment Checklist

Purchase a Multi-User License

For deployments used by more than one person, a multi-user Seq license will be needed.

Seq Pricing

Provision Hardware

Seq needs enough hardware capacity to perform under the expected load. There are some rules of thumb to help make an initial estimate.

System Requirements

Software Prerequisites

Windows Server 2012 R2 or better and .NET 4.6 are needed.

System Requirements

Create a Service Account

It is best practice to use an unprivileged machine account to run the Seq service. This should be a local Windows account on the target server (by default Local System is used otherwise).

Service Account Requirements

Choose a Storage Location

Choose a location on disk where Seq will store log data. On cloud VMs, an option with local redundancy is recommended (e.g. an attached data disk on Azure).

Obtain and Install an SSL Certificate

Unless SSL is terminated at a load balancer, a certificate will be needed for the domain Seq is hosted on.

SSL

Install Seq

Install Seq from MSI on the target server.

Skip Install or start the Seq service when prompted, or run seq service stop && seq service uninstall afterwards to remove the default http://localhost:5341 service instance.

Configure the Seq Service

Run seq.exe install passing appropriate --storage, --listen and --username arguments.

Storage, URLs

Bind the SSL Certificate

The SSL certificate must be associated with the port used by Seq. This is done with the seq.exe bind-ssl command-line.

SSL

Configure an Ingestion Port

If the server accepts events from the open Internet, setting up a dedicated port for ingestion can assist with firewall/load balancer/security group configuration.

api.ingestionPort

Save your Seq Master Encryption Key

On the Seq server, run seq.exe show-key and copy the resulting key to a secure location.

Backup and Restore

Start Seq

If you haven't already, run seq.exe start and view Seq in your browser.

Import your Seq License

Paste your Seq license key into Settings > License and save changes.

Enable Authentication

Under Settings > Users, enable authentication and set up the admin user account.

Managing Users, Active Directory, Azure Active Directory

Configure the Backup Location

Under Settings > Backup, make sure daily backups are stored to an appropriate drive.

Backup and Restore

Require API Keys

We recommend all apps logging to Seq use a distinct API key; enforce this under Settings > API Keys.

API Keys

Configure Retention Policies

Make sure at least one retention policy is configured, so that disk space isn't exhausted.

Retention Policies

Exclude Log Storage from Virus Scanning

Seq stores log data in the Stream subdirectory under its storage root path (by default, C:\ProgramData\Seq); excluding this location from virus scanners like Windows Defender can improve performance and prevent inadvertent screening of log data files.

Windows Defender Instructions