Collect Cisco Router logs

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This document explains how to ingest Cisco Router logs to Google Security Operations using a Bindplane agent. The parser first extracts common fields from various syslog message formats using a series of Grok patterns, handling different timestamp and key-value data variations. Then, it applies specific logic based on the extracted event type (facility, mnemonics, message_type), enriching the data with additional fields and mapping them to the UDM model.

Before you begin

  • Ensure that you have a Google SecOps instance.
  • Ensure that you are using Windows 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd .
  • If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open.
  • Ensure that you have privileged access to a Cisco Router.

Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

  1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
  2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
  3. Download the Ingestion Authentication File. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

  1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
  2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
  3. Copy and save the Customer IDfrom the Organization Detailssection.

Install the Bindplane agent

Windows installation

  1. Open the Command Promptor PowerShellas an administrator.
  2. Run the following command:

      msiexec 
      
     / 
     i 
      
     "https://github.com/observIQ/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/observiq-otel-collector.msi" 
      
     / 
     quiet 
     
    

Linux installation

  1. Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.
  2. Run the following command:

     sudo  
    sh  
    -c  
     " 
     $( 
    curl  
    -fsSlL  
    https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh ) 
     " 
      
    install_unix.sh 
    

Additional installation resources

Configure the Bindplane agent to ingest Syslog and send to Google SecOps

  1. Access the configuration file:

    1. Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /etc/bindplane-agent/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
    2. Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano , vi , or Notepad).
  2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

      receivers 
     : 
      
     udplog 
     : 
      
     # Replace the port and IP address as required 
      
     listen_address 
     : 
      
     "0.0.0.0:514" 
     exporters 
     : 
      
     chronicle/chronicle_w_labels 
     : 
      
     compression 
     : 
      
     gzip 
      
     # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1 
      
     creds 
     : 
      
     '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json' 
      
     # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2 
      
     customer_id 
     : 
      
    < customer_id 
    >  
     endpoint 
     : 
      
     malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
      
     # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization 
      
     ingestion_labels 
     : 
      
     log_type 
     : 
      
     CISCO_ROUTER 
      
     raw_log_field 
     : 
      
     body 
     service 
     : 
      
     pipelines 
     : 
      
     logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0 
     : 
      
     receivers 
     : 
      
     - 
      
     udplog 
      
     exporters 
     : 
      
     - 
      
     chronicle/chronicle_w_labels 
     
    
  3. Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.

  4. Replace <customer_id> with the actual customer ID.

  5. Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the authentication file was saved in the Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file section.

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

  • To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

     sudo  
    systemctl  
    restart  
    bindplane-agent 
    
  • To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Servicesconsole or enter the following command:

     net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent 
    

Configure Syslog on a Cisco Router

  1. Sign in to the Cisco Router.
  2. Escalate privileges by entering the enable command:

     Switch>  
     enable 
    Switch# 
    
  3. Switch to configuration mode by entering the conf t command:

     Switch#  
    conf  
    t
    Switch ( 
    config ) 
     # 
     
    
  4. Enter the following commands:

     logging  
    host  
    <bindplane-server-ip>  
    transport  
    <tcp/udp>  
    port  
    <port-number>
    logging  
    source-interface  
    <interface> 
    
    • Replace <bindplane-server-ip> with the Bindplane agent IP address, and <port-number> with the configured port.
    • Replace <tcp/udp> with the configured listening protocol on the Bindplane agent; for example, udp .
    • Replace <interface> with the Cisco interface ID; for example, Ethernet1/1 .
  5. Set the priority level by entering the following command:

     logging  
     trap 
      
    Informational  
    logging  
    console  
    Informational  
    logging  
    severity  
    Informational 
    
  6. Set the syslog facility:

     logging  
    facility  
    local6 
    
  7. Enable timestamps by entering the following command:

     service  
    timestamps  
    log  
    datetime 
    
  8. Save and exit.

  9. Configure the settings to survive restart by entering the following command:

     copy  
    running-config  
    startup-config 
    

UDM Mapping Table

Log field UDM mapping Logic
client_ip
target.ip, target.asset.ip The value is taken from the client_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
client_mac
target.mac The value is taken from the client_mac field extracted by the grok parser.
dst_ip
target.ip, target.asset.ip The value is taken from the dst_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
dst_port
target.port The value is taken from the dst_port field extracted by the grok parser and converted to an integer.
duration
- This field is not mapped to the UDM.
host_ip
target.ip, target.asset.ip The value is taken from the host_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
local_proxy
intermediary.ip The value is taken from the local_proxy field extracted by the grok parser.
message_data
metadata.description The value is taken from the message_data field extracted by the grok parser.
protocol
network.ip_protocol The value is taken from the protocol field extracted by the grok parser and converted to uppercase.
received_bytes
network.received_bytes The value is taken from the received_bytes field extracted by the grok parser and converted to an unsigned integer.
referral_url
network.http.referral_url The value is taken from the referral_url field extracted by the grok parser.
remote_proxy
intermediary.ip The value is taken from the remote_proxy field extracted by the grok parser.
send_bytes
network.sent_bytes The value is taken from the send_bytes field extracted by the grok parser and converted to an unsigned integer.
sent_bytes
network.sent_bytes The value is taken from the sent_bytes field extracted by the grok parser and converted to an unsigned integer.
server_host
target.hostname, target.asset.hostname The value is taken from the server_host field extracted by the grok parser.
server_ip
target.ip, target.asset.ip The value is taken from the server_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
src_ip
principal.ip, principal.asset.ip The value is taken from the src_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
src_port
principal.port The value is taken from the src_port field extracted by the grok parser and converted to an integer.
user_ip
target.ip, target.asset.ip The value is taken from the user_ip field extracted by the grok parser.
user_mail
principal.user.userid, principal.user.email_addresses The value is taken from the user_mail field extracted by the grok parser.
username
target.user.userid The value is taken from the username field extracted by the grok parser.
-
metadata.event_timestamp The value is taken from the create_time field.
-
metadata.event_type The value is set to GENERIC_EVENT by default, and changed to specific event types based on the parsed log message.
-
metadata.log_type The value is set to CISCO_ROUTER .
-
metadata.product_event_type The value is taken from the message_type field, which is generated by combining the facility , priority , and mnemonics fields.
-
metadata.product_name The value is set to Router .
-
metadata.vendor_name The value is set to Cisco .
-
network.application_protocol The value is set to HTTP or HTTPS if the protocol field is http or https , respectively.
-
extensions.auth.type The value is set to AUTHTYPE_UNSPECIFIED by default, and changed to specific authentication types based on the parsed log message.
-
security_result.action The value is set to ALLOW for successful logins and BLOCK for failed logins.
-
security_result.category The value is set to NETWORK_SUSPICIOUS for events with IP options and AUTH_VIOLATION for failed logins.
-
security_result.description The value is set to specific messages for different events.
-
security_result.severity The value is set to LOW for successful logins, MEDIUM for failed logins, and INFORMATIONAL for other events.
-
security_result.severity_details The value is taken from the fail_reason field for failed logins, and set to Informational message for events with IP options.
-
security_result.summary The value is set to specific messages for different events.

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