Collect Apache Cassandra logs

This document explains how to ingest Apache Cassandra logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane. The parser extracts fields, converting them into the Unified Data Model (UDM). It uses grok patterns to parse the initial message, then uses a JSON filter for nested data and performs conditional transformations to map various fields to their UDM equivalents, handling different log levels and enriching the output with metadata.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

• Google SecOps instance
• Windows 2016 or later or Linux host with systemd
• If running behind a proxy, firewall ports are open
• Privileged access to an Apache Cassandra instance

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 ID from the Organization Details section.

Install the Bindplane agent

Windows installation

1. Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell as 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

For additional installation options, consult the installation guide.

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

1. Access the configuration file:
   • Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /etc/bindplane-agent/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   • 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: 'CASSANDRA'
               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 Services console or enter the following command:

  net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent
  

Configure Syslog export in Apache Cassandra

1. Sign in to the Apache Cassandra host using SSH.
2. Open the configuration file logback.xml and insert the following code on Line 28:
   • For most versions of Apache Cassandra, the location would be $(CASSANDRA_HOME)/conf.
   • Package installations of Datastax Enterprise, the location would be /etc/dse.
   • Tar file installations of DSE, the location would be $(TARBALL_ROOT)/resources/cassandra/conf.

3. Add the following Appender definition to the logback.xml file on Line 28:

   <appender name="SYSLOG" class="ch.qos.logback.classic.net.SyslogAppender">
       <syslogHost>bindplane-ip</syslogHost>
       <port>bindplane-port</port>
       <facility>LOCAL7</facility>
       <throwableExcluded>true</throwableExcluded>
       <suffixPattern>%thread:%level:%logger{36}:%msg</suffixPattern>
   </appender>
   

4. Replace bindplane-ip and bindplane-port with the actual Bindplane agent IP address and port.

5. Add the following code to the root logger block <root level=INFO> in the logback.xml file:

   1. The location where this line is inserted depends on your version of Apache Cassandra:

      • Apache Cassandra 5.0.x, Line 123.
      • Apache Cassandra 4.0.x and 4.1.x, Line 115.
      • Apache Cassandra 3.11.x and 3.0.x, Line 92.
      • Datastax Enterprise (All versions), Line 121.

      <appender-ref ref=`SYSLOG` />
      

UDM mapping table

Changes

2022-04-13

Enhancement:

• Newly created parser

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