sumeshi/prefetch2es
GitHub: sumeshi/prefetch2es
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# prefetch2es
[](LICENSE)
[](https://badge.fury.io/py/prefetch2es)
[](https://github.com/sumeshi/prefetch2es/actions/workflows/test.yaml)
A command-line tool for parsing Windows Prefetch files and importing the results into Elasticsearch.
**prefetch2es** is built on [pyscca](https://github.com/libyal/libscca/tree/main/pyscca) and converts Windows Prefetch artifacts into Elasticsearch-friendly records.
## Features
- Parse Windows Prefetch (`.pf`) files using pyscca
- Process a single file, multiple files, or a directory of `.pf` files
- Import parsed records into Elasticsearch (`prefetch2es`)
- Export parsed records as JSON (`prefetch2json`)
- Generate timeline-oriented records for forensic analysis (`--timeline`)
## Installation
### From PyPI
$ pip install prefetch2es
### From GitHub Releases
Standalone binaries built with Nuitka are available from GitHub Releases.
$ chmod +x ./prefetch2es
$ ./prefetch2es {{options...}}
> prefetch2es.exe {{options...}}
## Usage
**prefetch2es** can be executed from the command line or incorporated into a Python script.
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf
from prefetch2es import prefetch2es
prefetch2es("/path/to/your/file.pf")
### Arguments
prefetch2es can process multiple files at once.
$ prefetch2es file1.pf file2.pf file3.pf
prefetch2es can recursively process all `.pf` files under a specified directory.
$ tree .
pffiles/
├── file1.pf
├── file2.pf
├── file3.pf
└── subdirectory/
├── file4.pf
└── subsubdirectory/
├── file5.pf
└── file6.pf
$ prefetch2es /pffiles/ # The path is recursively expanded to all .pf files.
### Options
--version, -v
--help, -h
--quiet, -q
Suppress standard output
(default: False)
--multiprocess, -m:
Enable multiprocessing for faster execution
(default: False)
--size:
Number of files to process per chunk (default: 500)
--host:
Elasticsearch host address (default: localhost)
--port:
Elasticsearch port number (default: 9200)
--index:
Destination index name (default: prefetch2es)
--scheme:
Protocol scheme to use (http or https) (default: http)
--pipeline:
Elasticsearch Ingest Pipeline to use (default: )
--timeline:
Enable timeline analysis mode for forensic investigation
(default: False)
--tags:
Comma-separated tags to add to each record for identification
(e.g., hostname, domain name) (default: )
--login:
Username for Elasticsearch authentication
--pwd:
Password for Elasticsearch authentication
### Examples
When using from the command line:
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --host=localhost --port=9200 --index=foobar --size=500
When using from a Python script:
if __name__ == '__main__':
prefetch2es('/path/to/your/file.pf', host='localhost', port=9200, index='foobar', size=500)
With credentials for Elastic Security:
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --host=localhost --port=9200 --index=foobar --login=elastic --pwd=******
With timeline analysis mode:
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --timeline --index=prefetch-timeline
With custom tags for system identification:
# Single tag
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --timeline --tags="WORKSTATION-01" --index=prefetch-timeline
# Multiple tags (comma-separated)
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --timeline --tags="WORKSTATION-01,FOO,BAR" --index=prefetch-timeline
## Appendix
### prefetch2json
An additional feature: :sushi: :sushi: :sushi:
Convert Windows Prefetch files to a Python `List[dict]` object.
$ prefetch2json /path/to/your/file.pf -o /path/to/output/target.json
Convert Windows Prefetch to a Python List[dict] object.
from prefetch2es import prefetch2json
if __name__ == '__main__':
filepath = '/path/to/your/file.pf'
result: List[dict] = prefetch2json(filepath)
With timeline analysis and custom tags:
$ prefetch2json /path/to/your/file.pf --timeline --tags="WORKSTATION-01,FINANCE" -o output.json
### Timeline Analysis
prefetch2es supports timeline analysis mode that creates specialized timeline records for forensic investigation.
Standard mode creates one record per Prefetch file.
Timeline mode creates one record per recorded execution timestamp.
$ prefetch2es /path/to/your/file.pf --timeline --index=prefetch-timeline
This mode creates records optimized for temporal analysis of application execution patterns, making it easier to investigate system activity over time.
#### Tags for System Identification
Use the `--tags` option to add custom tags for better organization and filtering:
# Identify source system and department
$ prefetch2es /path/to/prefetch/ --timeline --tags="WORKSTATION-01" --index=prefetch-timeline
# Add criticality level
$ prefetch2es /path/to/prefetch/ --timeline --tags="SERVER-02,FOO,BAR" --index=prefetch-timeline
## Output Format Examples
### Standard Mode
[
{
"name": "CMD.EXE",
"filenames": [
"\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\DISKPART.EXE",
"\\VOLUME{01d12173f395296c-66f451bc}\\CMDER129\\VENDOR\\CLINK\\CLINK_DLL_X64.DLL",
"\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\NTDLL.DLL",
"\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CMD.EXE",
...
],
"exec_count": 55,
"last_exec_times": [
"2016-01-12T20:07:03.981069Z",
"2016-01-10T02:29:02.788726Z",
"2016-01-04T23:27:28.405869Z",
"2016-01-04T23:27:28.726891Z",
"2016-01-04T18:38:10.935655Z",
"2016-01-04T18:38:11.344163Z",
"2015-12-31T21:42:29.667018Z",
"2015-12-17T22:34:21.579861Z"
],
"format_version": 30,
"prefetch_hash": "D269B812",
"number_of_volumes": 2,
"number_of_filenames": 62,
"number_of_file_metrics_entries": 62,
"metrics": [
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\DISKPART.EXE",
"file_reference": "0X1000000009EF4"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d12173f395296c-66f451bc}\\CMDER129\\VENDOR\\CLINK\\CLINK_DLL_X64.DLL",
"file_reference": "0X100000000B5A6"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\NTDLL.DLL",
"file_reference": "0X10000000575F4"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CMD.EXE",
"file_reference": "0X1000000009CA8"
},
...
],
"volumes": [
{
"path": "\\VOLUME{01d12173f395296c-66f451bc}",
"creation_time": "2015-11-17T20:10:06.204964Z",
"serial_number": "66F451BC"
},
{
"path": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}",
"creation_time": "2015-11-17T20:57:46.243468Z",
"serial_number": "8C9F49EC"
}
],
"source_file": "/workspace/tests/cache/CMD.EXE-D269B812.pf",
"tags": [
"prefetch"
]
},
...
]
### Timeline Mode
[
{
"@timestamp": "2016-01-12T20:07:03.981069Z",
"event": {
"action": "prefetch-executed",
"category": [
"process"
],
"type": [
"start"
],
"kind": "event",
"provider": "prefetch",
"module": "windows",
"dataset": "windows.prefetch"
},
"process": {
"name": "CMD.EXE",
"start": "2016-01-12T20:07:03.981069Z"
},
"windows": {
"prefetch": {
"exec_count": 55,
"hash": {
"prefetch": "D269B812"
},
"format_version": 30,
"volumes": [
{
"path": "\\VOLUME{01d12173f395296c-66f451bc}",
"creation_time": "2015-11-17T20:10:06.204964Z",
"serial_number": "66F451BC"
},
{
"path": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}",
"creation_time": "2015-11-17T20:57:46.243468Z",
"serial_number": "8C9F49EC"
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\DISKPART.EXE",
"file_reference": "0X1000000009EF4"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d12173f395296c-66f451bc}\\CMDER129\\VENDOR\\CLINK\\CLINK_DLL_X64.DLL",
"file_reference": "0X100000000B5A6"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\NTDLL.DLL",
"file_reference": "0X10000000575F4"
},
{
"filename": "\\VOLUME{01d1217a9c4c6779-8c9f49ec}\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CMD.EXE",
"file_reference": "0X1000000009CA8"
},
...
]
}
},
"log": {
"file": {
"path": "/workspace/tests/cache/CMD.EXE-D269B812.pf"
}
},
"tags": [
"prefetch"
]
},
...
]
## Supported Prefetch versions
- Windows XP
- Windows 2003
- Windows Vista (SP0)
- Windows 7 (SP0)
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 10 1809
- Windows 10 1903
- Windows 11 24H2
For more information, please visit [libscca](https://github.com/libyal/libscca/blob/main/documentation/Windows%20Prefetch%20File%20(PF)%20format.asciidoc).
## License
prefetch2es is released under the [MIT](https://github.com/sumeshi/prefetch2es/blob/master/LICENSE) License.
### Third-party licenses
The standalone binaries distributed via GitHub Releases bundle [libscca / pyscca](https://github.com/libyal/libscca),
which is licensed under the [GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 or later (LGPL-3.0-or-later)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html).
- Upstream source: https://github.com/libyal/libscca
- Bundled version: [`libscca-python==20260527`](https://pypi.org/project/libscca-python/20260527/) (source: https://github.com/libyal/libscca/releases/tag/20260527)
- License text: https://github.com/libyal/libscca/blob/main/COPYING.LESSER
You may obtain, modify, and rebuild libscca from the upstream source above in accordance with the LGPL.