Collect Aruba switch logs

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

Aruba switches generate syslog messages for system events, interface state changes, authentication, and process activity. The parser extracts fields from syslog messages using grok patterns and maps them to the UDM model.

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 Aruba switch
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the Aruba switch

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 the Bindplane agent 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 Bindplane agent installation guide .

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

Locate the configuration file

• Linux:

   sudo  
  nano  
  /etc/bindplane-agent/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/aruba_switch 
   : 
    
   compression 
   : 
    
   gzip 
    
   creds_file_path 
   : 
    
   '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json' 
    
   customer_id 
   : 
    
   '<customer_id>' 
    
   endpoint 
   : 
    
   malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com 
    
   log_type 
   : 
    
   ARUBA_SWITCH 
    
   raw_log_field 
   : 
    
   body 
   service 
   : 
    
   pipelines 
   : 
    
   logs/aruba_switch_to_chronicle 
   : 
    
   receivers 
   : 
    
   - 
    
   udplog 
    
   exporters 
   : 
    
   - 
    
   chronicle/aruba_switch 
   
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • listen_address : IP address and port to listen on:
    • 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (recommended)
    • Port 514 is the standard syslog port (requires root on Linux; use 1514 for non-root)

• Exporter configuration:

  • 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 copied from the Google SecOps console
  • 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

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 syslog on the Aruba switch

Option 1: CLI configuration

1. Connect to the Arubaswitch via SSH:

    ssh  
   admin@<switch-ip> 
   

2. Enter global configuration mode:

    configure terminal 
   

3. Specify the external syslog server:

    logging <bindplane-ip> 
   

   • Replace <bindplane-ip> with the Bindplane agent IP address.

4. (Optional) Set the logging severity level:

    logging severity <level> 
   

5. (Optional) Add a custom log source identifier (tag):

    logging facility local5 
   

6. Save the configuration:

    write memory 
   

Option 2: Web interface configuration

1. Log in to the Aruba switch web interface.
2. Go to System > Logs > Syslog.
3. Add syslog server parameters:
   • Enter the Bindplane IPaddress.
   • Enter the Bindplane Port.
   • Set the Severity Levelto control the verbosity of logs.
4. Click Save.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
app	principal.application	The value of the app field from the raw log is directly assigned to principal.application .
description	security_result.description	The value of the description field from the raw log is directly assigned to security_result.description .
event_id	additional.fields.key	The string "event_id" is assigned to additional.fields.key .
event_id	additional.fields.value.string_value	The value of the event_id field from the raw log is directly assigned to additional.fields.value.string_value .
host	principal.asset.hostname	The value of the host field from the raw log is directly assigned to principal.asset.hostname .
host	principal.hostname	The value of the host field from the raw log is directly assigned to principal.hostname .
pid	principal.process.pid	The value of the pid field from the raw log is directly assigned to principal.process.pid .
ts	metadata.event_timestamp	The value of the ts field from the raw log is converted to a timestamp and assigned to metadata.event_timestamp . The timestamp is also used for the top-level timestamp field in the UDM. The metadata.event_type is set to "STATUS_UPDATE" because the principal_mid_present variable is set to "true" in the parser when the host field is present in the raw log. The string "ARUBA_SWITCH" is assigned to metadata.product_name within the parser. The string "ARUBA SWITCH" is assigned to metadata.vendor_name within the parser. The parser attempts to extract and parse the user agent from the raw log using client.userAgent.rawUserAgent . If successful, the parsed user agent is assigned to network.http.parsed_user_agent . However, since the raw logs provided do not contain this field, this UDM field will likely be empty. The parser attempts to extract the raw user agent from the raw log using client.userAgent.rawUserAgent . If successful, the raw user agent is assigned to network.http.user_agent . However, since the raw logs provided do not contain this field, this UDM field will likely be empty.

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