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Syslog-ng and Universal Forwarder

This document assumes you already have syslog-ng, Splunk Universal Forwarder and Splunk installed and will not cover installation.

You should also have the Palo Alto Networks for Splunk Add-on installed as described in the Installation Guide

info

The App and Add-on do not need to be installed on the Universal Forwarder.

Step 1: Setup Syslog-ng​

Add the following lines to the /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf file. This example uses the default install location of syslog-ng on an ubuntu server. Change the directory as need.

Under "Sources" add a source in syslog-ng to listen for logs on a port. This example uses port UDP 514:

source s_udp514 { 
    network(
        transport("udp")
        port(514)
        flags(no-parse)
    );
};

Under "Destinations" specify a .log file destination:

destination d_udp514 { file("/YOURPATH/udp514.log" template("${MSG}\n")); };

Under "Log paths" specify the path of the log:

log { source(s_udp514); destination(d_udp514); };

Save syslog-ng.conf and restart syslog-ng:

$ /etc/init.d/syslog-ng restart

Configure Splunk Universal Forwarder​

Configure the Universal Forwarder to monitor the /YOURPATH/udp514.log file created in step 1.

Create or modify/opt/splunkforwader/etc/system/local/inputs.conf and add a monitoring stanza:

[monitor:///YOURPATH/udp514.log]
sourcetype = pan:log

Create or modify/opt/splunkforwader/etc/system/local/outputs.conf and add a tcpout stanza:

[tcpout]
defaultGroup = default-autolb-group

[tcpout:default-autolb-group]
server = 192.168.0.3:9997

[tcpout-server://192.168.0.3:9997]
note

Replace the IP address 192.168.0.3 with the IP of Splunk indexer.

To forward to multiple Splunk servers use this tcpout stanza instead:

[tcpout]
defaultGroup = default-autolb-group

[tcpout:default-autolb-group]
server = 192.168.0.1:9997,192.168.0.2:9997,192.168.0.3:9997
[tcpout-server://192.168.0.1:9997]
[tcpout-server://192.168.0.2:9997]
[tcpout-server://192.168.0.3:9997]

Restart Splunk Universal Forwarder:

$ /opt/splunkforwarder/bin/splunk restart

Step 3: Configure Splunk Indexer​

If it doesn't exist, add a listening port on Splunk Indexer:

  1. From the Web Interface navigate to Settings->;Forwarding and receiving
  2. Under Recieve Data, click on Configure receiving
  3. If port 9997 is already listed then you are done
  4. Otherwise, click on New
  5. Add port 9997 to Listen on this port
  6. Click Save

Step 4: Verify​

Verify logs are being forwarded correctly by searching for the following: :

source="/YOURPATH/udp514.log"

Change the source to the directory and file you are monitoring.

Verify that sourcetype is being transformed. You should see pan:traffic , pan:system , pan:threat , pan:config as the sourcetype.

If log sourcetype is pan:log then syslog-ng is changing the logs and they are not being transformed. Go back to step 1 and verify you made the correct changes.

info

If the Indexer has not been running and receiving for a lengthy period of time. It may take awhile for logs to show up.