Tag Archives: SmartConnector

ArcSight Cisco IOS SmartConnector installation with Dynamips and Dynagen

Event Management, Log Management, , ,

In my previous blob posts I have explain on how to install ArcSight Logger L750MB, how to setup a Windows Snare SmartConnector, some useful ArcSight SmartConnector commands and on how to backup your Logger configurations. This new blog post will explain you on how to setup a Cisco lab with Dynamips and Dynagen and how to setup an ArcSight Cisco IOS SmartConnector. The ArcSight Cisco IOS SmartConnector supports 2600 series and above with IOS 11.3, 12.4, 15.0, and 15.1.

Dynamips and Dynagen lab setup

First of all my lab is running under Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS. Dynamips is a Cisco router emulator, but he can also emulate switches and Cisco PIX/ASA. Dynagen is a front-end for Dynamips. “Dynagen takes care of specifying the right port adapters, generating and matching up those pesky NIO descriptors, specifying bridges, frame-relay, ATM switches, etc. It also provides a management CLI for listing devices, suspending and reloading instances, determining and managing idle-pc values, performing packet captures, etc.”.

You have to create a “dynamics” folder into your “/opt” directory.

Download the latest Dynagen version and uncompress the archive in the “dynamips” folder. My lab Dynagen version is 0.9.1 and this specific version require at least version 0.2.8-RC1 of Dynamics. Download version 0.2.8-RC1 of Dynamics and use the “chmod 755” command to make the Dynamips binary executable.

Create symbolic links, in “/usr/sbin” for the Dynagen and Dynamips programs.

cd /usr/sbin
ln -s /opt/dynamips/dynagen-0.11.0/dynagen dynagen
ln -s /opt/dynamips/dynamips-0.2.8-RC1-x86.bin dynamips

Create a directory for Cisco IOS images.

Download you Cisco IOS images into the “images” directory. To find Cisco IOS images you can use some Google dorks.

For 7200 search with intitle:index.of c7200*.bin -site:cisco.com – Try

For 3660 search with intitle:index.of c3660*.bin -site:cisco.com – Try

For PIX search with intitle:index.of cisco pix*.bin -site:cisco.com – Try

For my lab I have use the “c7200-adventerprisek9-mz.124-4.T1.bin” IOS image. You will maybe need to uncompress the IOS image archive.

Then create a “lab_router.net” file into “/opt/dynamips/dynagen-0.11.0/sample_labs” directory. Here under my “lab_router.net” configuration.

[localhost]
[[7200]]
ram=256
image = /opt/dynamips/images/c7200-adventerprisek9-mz.124-4.T1.bin
nep = npe-400
[[router R1]]
model = 7200
f0/0 = NIO_tap:tap0
f1/0 = NIO_gen_eth:eth0

Maybe you have to adapt your IOS image file path.

Now you have to create a TUN/TAP interface on your Linux box.

Install “uml-utilities” package.

Load the TUN/TAP driver into the kernel.

Create a TUN/TAP interface by invoking the “tunctl” command. Enable the “tap0” interface and configure an IP address for it.

Remove your existing “eth0” interface configuration with the following command.

Add a default route that points to the router interface connected to the “tap0” interface.

Now start the dynamics process with the following command. Not that the “&” character instruct the process to run in the background.

Use the “dynagen” command to process the “lab_router.net” configuration file and start the virtual network.

The Dynagen “list” command will permit you to list the network equipment and the the TCP port for console access.

Connect you with telnet on “localhost” port “2000” to get access to the router.

On the first router configuration question response “no“.

Perform the following tasks on the router, to configure the “f0/0” router interface how is mapped to the TUN/TAP “tap0” interface.

  • Enter in configuration mode.
  • Enable the “f0/0” interface
  • Provide an IP address for this interface
  • Try to ping the “tap0” interface

Now provide Cisco passwords.

At this point you can connect you, with telnet, from the Linux box to the Cisco router directly on IP 10.100.100.1.

Perform the following tasks on the router, to finish our router configuration to have the possibility to communicate with external world.

  • Enter in configuration mode.
  • Enable the “f1/0” interface
  • Provide an IP address for this interface, here 192.168.178.22.
  • Try to ping the default gateway for 192.168.178.0/24 network, here 192.168.178.1.

Your Cisco router is now able to communicate with outside world.

ArcSight Cisco IOS SmartConnector installation and setup

If you have an existing Syslog UDP daemon, for example the SmartConnector configured in the Snare Windows blog post, you don’t need to follow the installation and setup. ArcSight Cisco IOS SmartConnector is considered as a “sub connector” for Syslog SmartConnector. All Cisco IOS messages how will be received by the Syslog UDP daemon are recognized coming from a Cisco IOS, but the same Syslog UDP daemon can also receive Windows Snare, Snort, Juniper NSM, JunOS, Red Hat Linux Audit messages. Cisco IOS Syslog message will be converted into SmartMessage (CEF) format.

First verify that you don’t have any existing Syslog UDP daemon how is running on the box, you can use “netstat -uan” to verify this.

Upload the “ArcSight-5.0.2.5703.0-Connector-Downloadable-Logger-Linux.bin” binary available from the ArcSight Download Center, and use the “chmod 755” command to make the binary executable.

Execute the binary in order to install the SmartConnector.

Press “Enter” twice times, provide the installation directory, in our case “/opt/ArcSightSmartConnectors” and confirm the installation.

We recommend you to create a links in order to remove the SmartConnector.

Once the SmartConnector installed you need to configure him.

Select the destination type that you want to configure for this SmartConnector, in our case it will be the L750MB Logger.

Provide the hostname or IP address of the Logger, the destination port (for Logger software version the port is 9000/TCP), and the Receiver Name (available in the Configuration -> Event Input / Output menu of the Logger).

Select “Syslog Daemon(syslog)” as SmartConnector to install, don’t change the network IP, port and protocol (514/UDP).

Provide a SmartConnector name, don’t forget that the SmartConnector could also receive Syslog messages from other devices than Cisco IOS.

Select if you want to install the SmartConnector as a service or as a standalone application, in our case we will stay in standalone mode.

Now you have to start the SmartConnector by executing the following commands.

The SmartConnector is waiting for messages and is running (ET=Up, HT=Up).

Configure Cisco IOS for event collection

Log again on the Cisco router with telnet.

Execute the following steps to enable Cisco IOS event collection.

  • Enter in enable mode.
  • Enter in configuration mode.
  • Enable Time-Stamps on Log Message
  • Enable System Message Loggin
  • Set the Syslog Destination, in our case the Syslog UDP daemon SmartConnector.

In your ArcSight SmartConnector console, you will see that the first Cisco vendor and CiscoRouter product message has been received by the SmartConnector.

Also if you check the “/opt/ArcSightSmartConnectors/current/logs/agent.log” log file, you will see these messages.

[2011-07-03 21:20:33,717][INFO ][default.com.arcsight.agent.loadable._EventCounter][processSingleAlert] First event from [CISCO|CiscoRouter||192.168.178.22] received.

[2011-07-03 21:20:38,033][INFO ][default.com.arcsight.common.eb.a][processSingleAlert] Succesfully loaded categorization file [cisco/ciscorouter_xr.csv]

[2011-07-03 21:20:45,419][INFO ][default.com.arcsight.agent.loadable._DeviceEventCounter][processSingleAlert] New device found [|192.168.178.22|CISCO|CiscoRouter]. Starting counters.

In your Logger you will see all Cisco events.

ArcSight Logger and SmartConnectors Questions and Answers

Event Management, Log Management, ,

I receive questions about ArcSight Logger and SmartConnectors, you will find here under some answers. I will add more questions and answers in future. Don’t hesitate to add your questions as comments on this blog post.

Is ArcSight Logger L750MB still free for download ?

ArcSight Logger L750MB is now for free, since 17 August. You don’t have to pay 49$ per year any more.

Is ArcSight Logger L750MB available as ISO or virtual appliance ?

ArcSight Logger L750MB is not provided as ISO or as virtual appliance (VMWare image, Xen, VirtualBox, KVM, etc.). The Logger is available as a binary file how will install the software on an existing operating system.

Where can I find an ArcSight Logger demo ?

ArcSight has publish a Logger demonstration video on YouTube.

Where can I find an ArcSight SmartConnector list ?

For Logger L750MB, you can find all the supported products list in my previous blog post. For a complete list of ArcSight SmartConnector supported products, a PDF is available on ArcSight web site.

Where can I download CEF (Common Event Format) specifications ?

ArcSight doesn’t provide direct access to the CEF open log management standard. You have to contact ArcSight through this Web page.

What are Logger and SmartConnector default ports ?

For ArcSight Logger it is depending if you have acquire a software or appliance version. If you have a software version, the default port will be 9000/TCP to access to the Logger Web interface and to configure the destination port of your SmartConnector. If you have an appliance version, the default port will be 443/TCP to to the Logger Web interface and to configure the destination port of your SmartConnector.

For ArcSight ESM, all communication are done on port 8443/TCP by default.

What is ArcSight Logger administration default URL ?

Default administration URL is https://$LOGGER:9000 for a software version, or https://$LOGGER:443 for an appliance version. Replace the $LOGGER variable with the hostname or IP address of your Logger.

What are ArcSight Logger default login and password ?

ArcSight Logger default login and password are “admin” / “password” 🙂

How many Storage Groups are available in ArcSight Logger ?

ArcSight Logger propose 6 Storage Groups, one of them is reserved for internal activities and one will be created by default. You have to create the 4 others Storage Groups during the Logger setup, after the installation you will no more able to create additional Storage Groups.

Do an ArcSight SmartConnector require a server ?

Depending on your architecture, you will require or not a server to host an ArcSight SmartConnector.

Cases you don’t need a server to host a SmartConnector :

  • You have a L3x00 serie Logger. These Logger series have an embedded SmartConnector appliance, so you will be able to manage embedded SmartConnectors and a certain number of remote SmartConnectors directly from the Logger.
  • You have a SmartConnector appliance. SmartConnector appliances are able to manage a certain number of embedded SmartConnectors, so you will be able to manage embedded SmartConnectors and a certain number of remote SmartConnectors directly from the Logger.
Cases you will need a server to host a SmartConnector :
  • You have a software Logger (L750MB or L5GB). Software Logger doesn’t provide any embedded SmartConnector appliance, you will not be able to manage remote SmartConnectors through the Logger.
  • You have a L7x00 serie Logger. These Logger series doesn’t provide any embedded SmartConnector appliance, you will not be able to manage remote SmartConnectors through the Logger.
  • You have ArcSight ESM. ESM don’t provide any embedded SmartConnectors, but you will able to manage remote SmartConnectors.

ArcSight SmartConnector Custom Zones Mapping

Event Management, Log Management,

Once you have install and configure your SYSLOG ArcSight SmartConnector to communicate with your free L750MB Logger, you can customize “zones mapping” for all devices how will communicate with the SmartConnector. In CEF (Common Event Format) standard, the device zone is classified under “deviceZoneURI” and the SmartConnector zone is classified under “agentZoneURI“.

A zone represent a part of your network with contiguous IP addresses, for example LAN, DMZ, VPN, WIFI. If you customize your devices “zones mapping“, you will able to create, with your Logger, alerts, queries and reports for group of devices how are in the same zone. This will save you time 🙂

An ArcSight SmartConnector zone is represented by :

  • A starting IP address (for example : 192.168.0.15)
  • A ending IP address (for example : 192.168.0.20)
  • A zone name (for example : /All Zones/Office Zones/Printers)

The zone will be represented by this uncommented line :

192.168.0.15,192.168.0.20,/All Zones/Office Zones/Printers

In order to customize your devices “zones mapping“, you only have edit the “defaultzones.csv” file located in “$ARCSIGHT_HOME/current/user/agent/acp/” directory.

Delete the following line from the file :

#ignore.this.file <- delete this line

Then add your zones mapping, save the file and restart the SmartConnector.

ArcSight SmartConnector commands and features

Event Management, Log Management, ,

If you have download for free the ArcSight Logger L750MB version, follow the installation guideline under Centos and install Windows Snare with ArcSight Syslog SmartConnector, you have now an operational lab or production environment. In this post we will describe you some SmartConnector commands and features. These commands and features are not documented in the provided ArcSight Logger L750MB documentation.

Starting the SmartConnector

If you don’t have specify, during the setup, to run the SmartConnector as a service, you will ne to start it manually. To start the SmartConnector you need to go in the “$ARCSIGHT_HOME/current/bin” directory and execute the “arcsight” script for Linux, or “arcsight.bat” script under Windows, with the following argument.

Starting ArcSight SmartConnector
Starting ArcSight SmartConnector

Once started, to confirm that the SmartConnector is working properly, you will have to check these outputs.

ArcSight SmartConnector starting outputs
ArcSight SmartConnector starting outputs

“Eps” will give you the actual EPS throughput, and “Evts” the total number of events how have been processed by the SmartConnector. “ET” and “HT” should have twice the “Up” value in order to validate the the SmartConnector connexion with the Logger is working properly. If they are any communication troubles between the SmartConnector and the Logger you will have these kind of outputs.

ArcSight SmartConnector and Logger communication troubles
ArcSight SmartConnector and Logger communication troubles

Checking SmartConnector availability

To valide that the SmartConnector is up and running, you can use the following command.

ArcSight SmartConnector agent up
ArcSight SmartConnector agent up

If the SmartConnector is down, you will have this result.

ArcSight SmartConnector down
ArcSight SmartConnector down

This command will not validate that the communication between the SmartConnector and the Logger is up and running.

Restarting the SmartConnector

To restart the SmartConnector you will have to use the following command.

ArcSight SmartConnector restart
ArcSight SmartConnector restart

Stopping the SmartConnector

If you have start the SmartConnector in the standalone mode, a simple CTRL+C will terminate the activities. But you can also stop the activities with the following command :

Stopping ArcSight SmartConnector
Stopping ArcSight SmartConnector

Checking SmartConnector status

To check the complete SmartConnector status use the following command.

ArcSight SmartConnector status
ArcSight SmartConnector status

The output will provide you some useful informations about the SmartConnector activities (memory usage, agent type, agent version, processed events, EPS, last event processed date, etc.)

Checking SmartConnector DNS resolution

To verify that the SmartConnector is able to do DNS resolution you can execute the following command.

ArcSight SmartConnector DNS test
ArcSight SmartConnector DNS test

ArcSight Agent FlexAgent Regex Tester

ArcSight provide, with the SmartConnector, a tool how will permit you to create and test regex for your logs. SmartConnectors delivered for ArcSight Logger L750MB will not allow you to add FlexConnectors (custom agents), but you can still use this regex GUI for personal purposes. To start the regex GUI execute the following command.

ArcSight Agent FlexAgent regex tester
ArcSight Agent FlexAgent regex tester

For example, I have test the regex tool, with the following postfix log entry.

May 12 04:14:13 logger sendmail[3457]: p4C2EDU2003456: to=<[email protected]>, ctladdr=<[email protected]> (0/0), delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=local, pri=31483, dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent

The regex tester will provide you a solution on how to parse this log.

ArcSight regex tester example
ArcSight regex tester example