Collect Honeyd logs

Supported in:

This document explains how to ingest Honeyd logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

Honeyd is an open-source honeypot framework that simulates virtual hosts to detect unauthorized access and network scanning. It generates logs for connection attempts, port scans, and attacker interactions with honeypot services.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • A Google SecOps instance
  • Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
  • Network connectivity between the Bindplane agent and the Honeyd host
  • If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
  • A running Honeyd deployment with logging enabled

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.
  4. 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

Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

Windows installation

  1. Open 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 
     
    
  3. Wait for the installation to complete.

  4. Verify the installation by running:

     sc query observiq-otel-collector 
    

    The service should show as RUNNING.

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 
    
  3. Wait for the installation to complete.

  4. Verify the installation by running:

     sudo  
    systemctl  
    status  
    observiq-otel-collector 
    

    The service should show as active (running).

Additional installation resources

For additional installation options and troubleshooting, see the Bindplane agent installation guide .

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

Locate the configuration file

  • Linux:

     sudo  
    nano  
    /opt/observiq-otel-collector/config.yaml 
    
  • Windows:

     notepad "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\config.yaml" 
    

Edit the configuration file

  • Replace the entire contents of config.yaml with the following configuration:

      receivers 
     : 
      
     udplog 
     : 
      
     listen_address 
     : 
      
     "0.0.0.0:514" 
     exporters 
     : 
      
     chronicle/honeyd 
     : 
      
     compression 
     : 
      
     gzip 
      
     creds_file_path 
     : 
      
     '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json' 
      
     customer_id 
     : 
      
     '<customer_id>' 
      
     endpoint 
     : 
      
     malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
      
     log_type 
     : 
      
     HONEYD 
      
     raw_log_field 
     : 
      
     body 
      
     ingestion_labels 
     : 
      
     env 
     : 
      
     production 
     service 
     : 
      
     pipelines 
     : 
      
     logs/honeyd_to_chronicle 
     : 
      
     receivers 
     : 
      
     - 
      
     udplog 
      
     exporters 
     : 
      
     - 
      
     chronicle/honeyd 
     
    

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

  • Receiver configuration:

    • udplog : The receiver type based on protocol:
      • udplog for UDP syslog
      • tcplog for TCP syslog
    • 0.0.0.0 : IP address to listen on:
      • 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (recommended)
      • Specific IP address to listen on one interface
    • 514 : Port number to listen on (for example, 514 , 1514 , 6514 )
  • Exporter configuration:

    • honeyd : Descriptive name for the exporter
    • creds_file_path : Full path to ingestion authentication file:
      • Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
      • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
    • <customer_id> : Customer ID from the previous step
    • endpoint : Regional endpoint URL:
      • US: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • Europe: europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • Asia: asia-southeast1-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • See Regional Endpoints for complete list
    • HONEYD : Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle
    • ingestion_labels : Optional labels in YAML format (for example, env: production )
  • Pipeline configuration:

    • honeyd_to_chronicle : Descriptive name for the pipeline

Save the configuration file

  • After editing, save the file:
    • Linux: Press Ctrl+O , then Enter , then Ctrl+X
    • Windows: Click File > Save

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

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

     sudo  
    systemctl  
    restart  
    observiq-otel-collector 
    
    1. Verify the service is running:

       sudo  
      systemctl  
      status  
      observiq-otel-collector 
      
    2. Check logs for errors:

       sudo  
      journalctl  
      -u  
      observiq-otel-collector  
      -f 
      
  • To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, choose one of the following options:

    • Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator:

       net stop observiq-otel-collector && net start observiq-otel-collector 
      
    • Services console:

      1. Press Win+R , type services.msc , and press Enter.
      2. Locate observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector.
      3. Right-click and select Restart.
      4. Verify the service is running:

         sc query observiq-otel-collector 
        
      5. Check logs for errors:

          type 
          
         "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log" 
         
        

Configure Honeyd syslog forwarding

Honeyd writes connection and interaction logs to local files. To forward these logs using syslog to the Bindplane agent, configure rsyslog on the Honeyd host.

  1. Sign in to the Honeyd host with root or sudo privileges.
  2. Identify the Honeyd log file location. By default, Honeyd logs to the path specified with the -l flag at startup (for example, /var/log/honeyd/honeyd.log ).
  3. Create an rsyslog configuration file to forward Honeyd logs:

     sudo  
    nano  
    /etc/rsyslog.d/honeyd-forward.conf 
    
  4. Add the following configuration:

     module(load="imfile")
    input(type="imfile"
        File="/var/log/honeyd/honeyd.log"
        Tag="honeyd:"
        Severity="info"
        Facility="local6")
    local6.* @<BINDPLANE_AGENT_IP>:514 
    
    • Replace <BINDPLANE_AGENT_IP> with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
    • Replace /var/log/honeyd/honeyd.log with the actual path to your Honeyd log file.
    • Use @@ instead of @ for TCP forwarding (must match the Bindplane agent receiver type).
  5. Restart rsyslog to apply the changes:

     sudo  
    systemctl  
    restart  
    rsyslog 
    
  6. Verify that syslog messages are being received by checking the Bindplane agent logs.

UDM mapping table

Log Field UDM Mapping Logic
comment
metadata.event_type Set to "NETWORK_HTTP" if network.application_protocol in ["HTTP","HTTPS"]; "NETWORK_FTP" if dst_port == "21"; "NETWORK_SMTP" if dst_port == "25"; else "NETWORK_CONNECTION"
metadata.product_name Set to "Honeyd"
metadata.vendor_name Set to "Niels Provos"
dst_port
network.application_protocol Set to "UNKNOWN_APPLICATION_PROTOCOL", then updated to app_protocol_output derived from dst_port if dst_port present and app_protocol_output not empty
protocol
network.ip_protocol Converted from protocol_number_src (protocol) using ip_protocol_out mapping
received_bytes
network.received_bytes Set to received_bytes if type == "E", converted to uinteger
sent_bytes
network.sent_bytes Set to sent_bytes if type == "E" or protocol == "1", converted to uinteger
src_ip
principal.asset.ip Value copied directly
src_ip
principal.ip Value copied directly
src_port
principal.port Value copied directly, converted to integer
dst_ip
target.asset.ip Value copied directly
dst_ip
target.ip Value copied directly
comment
target.platform Set to "WINDOWS" if matches (?i)WINDOWS; "LINUX" if matches (?i)LINUX
comment
target.platform_patch_level Extracted from comment using grok pattern
comment
target.platform_version Extracted from comment using grok pattern
dst_port
target.port Value copied directly, converted to integer

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