Collect NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense logs

This document explains how to ingest NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense (AED) logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense is a network security appliance that sits at the perimeter between your internal network and the internet. It provides automated DDoS protection, threat intelligence-based blocking, and reputation analysis to stop inbound and outbound threats before they can impact network availability or compromise resources.

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 NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense appliance
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense web UI with administrator role

Get Google SecOps credentials for the Bindplane agent

To authenticate the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps, choose one of the following methods:

• New deployments: Use the Chronicle API (Option 1).
• Legacy deployments: Continue using the ingestion authentication file (Option 2) until the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

Option 1: Create a service account for the Chronicle API (recommended)

1. Sign in to the Google Cloud console and select the Google Cloud project that is linked to your Google SecOps instance.
2. Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
3. Click Create service account.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Service account name: Enter a name for the account (for example, bindplane-ingest).
   • Service account description: Enter a description (for example, Bindplane agent log ingestion).
5. Click Create and continue.
6. In the Grant this service account access to project section, click Select a role and select Chronicle Editor.
7. Click Continue, and then click Done.
8. Click the service account you created, and then go to the Keys tab.
9. Click Add key > Create new key.
10. Select JSON and click Create. The key file is downloaded to your computer.
11. Save the key file as ingestion-auth.json in the Bindplane collector directory (/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json on Linux or C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json on Windows), or update creds_file_path in config.yaml to match the path where you save it.
12. Go to IAM & Admin > Settings and copy the Project number. You'll need it for the exporter configuration.

Option 2: Download the ingestion authentication file (legacy)

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 ID from the Organization Details section.

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 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
   

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 /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/arbor_edge_defense:
      protocol: https
      # Region of your instance, for example us, europe, asia-southeast1
      location: <LOCATION>
      # Project number of the Google Cloud project linked to the instance
      project: '<PROJECT_NUMBER>'
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '<PLACEHOLDER_CREDS_FILE_PATH>'
      customer_id: '<PLACEHOLDER_CUSTOMER_ID>'
      endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
      log_type: ARBOR_EDGE_DEFENSE
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
        env: production
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/arbor_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - udplog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/arbor_edge_defense
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • udplog: UDP syslog receiver for NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense log forwarding
  • 0.0.0.0:514: IP address and port to listen on. Replace the port as required in your infrastructure

• Exporter configuration:

  • <PLACEHOLDER_CREDS_FILE_PATH>: Full path to the service account JSON key file (Option 1):
    • Linux: /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json
    • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
  • <PLACEHOLDER_CUSTOMER_ID>: Google SecOps customer ID
  • location: Replace <LOCATION> with the region of your Google SecOps instance (for example, us, europe, or asia-southeast1). The exporter prefixes chronicle.googleapis.com with this value. See Regional Endpoints for the complete list.
  • project: Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.
  • endpoint: Keep set to chronicle.googleapis.com.

Legacy ingestion API exporter

• If you use the ingestion authentication file from Option 2, replace the exporters block with the following. Set creds_file_path to the path to the ingestion authentication file, and if your instance is outside the US, replace malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com with your regional endpoint (for example, europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com).

  exporters:
    chronicle/arbor_edge_defense:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '<PLACEHOLDER_CREDS_FILE_PATH>'
      customer_id: '<PLACEHOLDER_CUSTOMER_ID>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: ARBOR_EDGE_DEFENSE
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
        env: production
  

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:

1. Run the following command:

   sudo systemctl restart observiq-otel-collector
   

2. Verify the service is running:

   sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector
   

3. Check logs for errors:

   sudo journalctl -u observiq-otel-collector -f
   

To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows:

1. 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.

2. Verify the service is running:

   sc query observiq-otel-collector
   

3. Check logs for errors:

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

Configure syslog export on NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense

1. Sign in to the NETSCOUT Arbor Edge Defense web UI.
2. Go to Administration > Notifications > Notification Destinations.
3. Click Add to create a new syslog destination.

4. Provide the following configuration details:

   • Host: Enter the IP address or hostname of the Bindplane agent host.
   • Protocol: Select UDP.
   • Syslog Format: Select CEF.

5. Click Save.

6. Click Config Commit to apply the configuration changes.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
src_ip	principal.ip	The value is taken from the src_ip field.
src_port	principal.port	The value is taken from the src_port field and converted to an integer.
dst_ip	target.ip	The value is taken from the dst_ip field.
dst_port	target.port	The value is taken from the dst_port field and converted to an integer.
protocol	network.ip_protocol	The value is taken from the protocol field and mapped to the IP protocol.
action	security_result.action	Mapped based on the action: blocked maps to BLOCK, passed maps to ALLOW.
alert_type	security_result.category_details	The value is taken from the alert_type field.
severity	security_result.severity	Mapped based on the severity level.
description	metadata.description	The value is taken from the description field.
	metadata.event_type	Derived from available fields: NETWORK_CONNECTION if source and destination IP are present; otherwise GENERIC_EVENT.
	metadata.product_name	Set to Arbor Edge Defense.
	metadata.vendor_name	Set to NETSCOUT.

Change Log

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