Collect F5 BIG-IP APM logs

Parser Version: 6.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest F5 BIG-IP APM logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides secure, unified access to applications, APIs, and data. It delivers identity-aware, context-based access control with SSO, multi-factor authentication, and SSL VPN capabilities for enterprise networks. The parser extracts fields from F5 BIG-IP APM syslog formatted logs. It uses grok and/or kv to parse the log message and then maps these values to the Unified Data Model (UDM). It also sets default metadata values for the event source and type.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

A Google SecOps instance
Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
Privileged access to the F5 BIG-IP management interface

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)

Sign in to the Google Cloud console and select the Google Cloud project that is linked to your Google SecOps instance.
Go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
Click Create service account.
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).
Click Create and continue.
In the Grant this service account access to project section, click Select a role and select Chronicle Editor.
Click Continue, and then click Done.
Click the service account you created, and then go to the Keys tab.
Click Add key > Create new key.
Select JSON and click Create. The key file is downloaded to your computer.
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.
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)

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
Download the ingestion authentication file.
Save the file securely on the system where the Bindplane agent will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
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

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.

Run the following command:

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

Wait for the installation to complete.
Verify the installation by running:
```
sc query observiq-otel-collector
```

The service should show as RUNNING.

Linux installation

Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

Run the following command:

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

Wait for the installation to complete.

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 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/chronicle_w_labels:
    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: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
    customer_id: 'YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID'
    endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
    log_type: 'F5_BIGIP_APM'
    raw_log_field: body
    ingestion_labels:

service:
  pipelines:
    logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
      receivers:
        - udplog
      exporters:
        - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:
- Receiver configuration:
  - udplog: Use udplog for UDP syslog or tcplog for TCP syslog
  - 0.0.0.0: IP address to listen on (0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces)
  - 514: Port number to listen on (standard syslog port)
- Exporter configuration:
  - 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
  - YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID: Customer ID from the Get customer ID section
  - 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.
  - log_type: Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle (F5_BIGIP_APM)

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/chronicle_w_labels:
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
    customer_id: 'YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID'
    endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
    log_type: 'F5_BIGIP_APM'
    raw_log_field: body
    ingestion_labels:
```

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

Verify the service is running:

  sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector

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 F5 BIG-IP APM syslog forwarding

Sign in to the F5 BIG-IP web interface (TMUI/Configuration Utility).
Go to System > Logs > Configuration > Remote Logging.
In the Remote Logging section, provide the following configuration details:
- Remote IP: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
- Remote Port: Enter 514.
Click Add.
Click Update to save the configuration.

To configure high-speed logging (HSL) for detailed APM logs via CLI:

SSH to the F5 BIG-IP system.

Run the following commands:

tmsh create ltm pool syslog_pool members add { BINDPLANE_IP:514 }
tmsh create sys log-config destination remote-high-speed-log secops_hsl pool-name syslog_pool protocol udp
tmsh create sys log-config destination remote-syslog secops_syslog remote-high-speed-log secops_hsl
tmsh create sys log-config publisher secops_publisher destinations add { secops_syslog }
tmsh save sys config

Replace BINDPLANE_IP with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.

Assign the publisher to the APM access profile:
1. Go to Access > Profiles / Policies > Access Profiles.
2. Select the target access profile.
3. In the Log Settings tab, select the created publisher.
4. Click Update.
Verify syslog messages are being sent by checking the Bindplane agent logs.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
application	principal.application	The value is taken from the application field extracted by the grok filter.
bytes_in	network.received_bytes	The value is taken from the bytes_in field extracted by the grok filter and converted to unsigned integer.
bytes_out	network.sent_bytes	The value is taken from the bytes_out field extracted by the grok filter and converted to unsigned integer.
cmd_data	principal.process.command_line	The value is taken from the cmd_data field extracted by the kv filter.
destination_ip	target.ip	The value is taken from the destination_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
destination_port	target.port	The value is taken from the destination_port field extracted by the grok filter and converted to integer.
folder	principal.process.file.full_path	The value is taken from the folder field extracted by the kv filter.
geoCountry	principal.location.country_or_region	The value is taken from the geoCountry field extracted by the grok filter.
geoState	principal.location.state	The value is taken from the geoState field extracted by the grok filter.
inner_msg	security_result.description	The value is taken from the inner_msg field extracted by the grok filter when no other specific description is available.
ip_protocol	network.ip_protocol	The value is taken from the ip_protocol field extracted by the grok filter.
principal_hostname	principal.hostname	The value is taken from the principal_hostname field extracted by the grok filter.
principal_ip	principal.ip	The value is taken from the principal_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
process_id	principal.process.pid	The value is taken from the process_id field extracted by the grok filter.
role	user_role.name	The value is taken from the role field extracted by the grok filter. If the role field contains "admin" (case-insensitive), the value is set to "ADMINISTRATOR".
severity	security_result.severity_details	The original value from the syslog message is stored here. The value is derived from the severity field using conditional logic: , CRITICAL -> CRITICAL , ERR -> ERROR , ALERT, EMERGENCY -> HIGH , INFO, NOTICE -> INFORMATIONAL , DEBUG -> LOW , WARN -> MEDIUM
source_ip	principal.ip	The value is taken from the source_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
source_port	principal.port	The value is taken from the source_port field extracted by the grok filter and converted to integer.
status	security_result.summary	The value is taken from the status field extracted by the kv filter.
timestamp	metadata.event_timestamp, timestamp	The value is taken from the timestamp field extracted by the grok filter and parsed into a timestamp object. The timestamp field in the top level event object also gets this value.
user	principal.user.userid	The value is taken from the user field extracted by the grok filter, after removing "id" or "ID" prefixes. The value is derived based on the presence of other fields: , If user exists: USER_UNCATEGORIZED , If source_ip and destination_ip exist: NETWORK_CONNECTION , If principal_ip or principal_hostname exist: STATUS_UPDATE , Otherwise: GENERIC_EVENT Hardcoded to "BIGIP_APM". Hardcoded to "F5". If the result field is "failed", the value is set to "BLOCK".
`facility`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`Tunnel_Type`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`partition`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`priority`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`session_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.session_id`	Mapped from changelog
`Client_IP`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.ip` and `event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`Assigned_PPP_Dynamic_IPv4`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.ip` and `event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`ID`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.rule_id`	Mapped from changelog
`resource_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.about.resource.name`	Mapped from changelog
`log_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.metadata.product_log_id`	Mapped from changelog
`f5_partition`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`f5_object_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.name`	Mapped from changelog
`listener_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.application`	Mapped from changelog
`geoContinent`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`reputation`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`syslog_priority`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`User-Agent`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.http.user_agent`	Mapped from changelog
`User-Agent`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.http.parsed_user_agent`	Mapped from changelog
`http_protocol_info`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`X-Forwarded-For`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`Accept-Encoding`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`Accept`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`host`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`http_protocol_info`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.application_protocol`	Mapped from changelog
`hostname`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.hostname`	Mapped from changelog
`hostname`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.hostname`	Mapped from changelog
`bigip_mgmt_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`bigip_mgmt_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`bigip_mgmt_ip2`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`bigip_mgmt_ip2`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`client_ip_geo_location`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.location.country_or_region`	Mapped from changelog
`client_port`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.port`	Mapped from changelog
`client_request_uri`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.url`	Mapped from changelog
`configuration_date_time`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`context_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.administrative_domain`	Mapped from changelog
`context_type`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.application`	Mapped from changelog
`dest_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`dest_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`dest_port`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.port`	Mapped from changelog
`device_product`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.name`	Mapped from changelog
`device_version`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`errdefs_msgno`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.rule_id`	Mapped from changelog
`http_method`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.http.method`	Mapped from changelog
`http_protocol_info`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.http.user_agent`	Mapped from changelog
`http_protocol_info`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.http.parsed_user_agent`	Mapped from changelog
`route_domain`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`captcha_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`browser_verification_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`client_type`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`jailbroken_or_rooted_device`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`mobile_debugger_enabled_device`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`imei`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`http_request`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`human_behaviour`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`timestamp`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.metadata.event_timestamp`	Mapped from changelog
`virtual_server_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.cloud.vpc.name`	Mapped from changelog
`device_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.asset_id`	Mapped from changelog
`host`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.hostname`	Mapped from changelog
`host`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.hostname`	Mapped from changelog
`request_date_time`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.metadata.collected_timestamp`	Mapped from changelog
`profile_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.user.user_display_name`	Mapped from changelog
`support_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`request_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`previous_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`anomaly_categories`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`previous_support_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`session_id`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`configured_mitigation_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`configured_mitigation_action_reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`actual_mitigation_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`actual_mitigation_action_reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`anomalies`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`browser_configured_verification_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`browser_actual_verification_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`browser_actual_verification_action_reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`previous_request_date_time`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields`	Mapped from changelog
`action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.action_details`	Mapped from changelog
`reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.summary`	Mapped from changelog
`bot_signature`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`bot_signature_category`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`device_id_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`bot_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`device_id_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`previous_initiated_action`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`class`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`previous_initiated_action_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`enforced_by`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`additional_bot_signatures`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`headless_signatures`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`micro_service_matched_wildcard_url`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`micro_service_hostname`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`mobile_is_app`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`mobile_in_emulation_mode`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`challenge_failure_reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`os_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`classification_reason`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`new_request_status`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog
`micro_service_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.name`	Mapped from changelog
`micro_service_type`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.resource_subtype`	Mapped from changelog
`application_display_name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.application`	Mapped from changelog
`application_version`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.platform_version`	Mapped from changelog
`http_protocol_indication`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.application_protocol_version`	Mapped from changelog
`client_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`client_ip`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.ip`	Mapped from changelog
`principal_hostname`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.intermediary.hostname` and `event.idm.read_only_udm.intermediary.asset.hostname`	Mapped from changelog
`rulename`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.rule_name`	Mapped from changelog
`filepath`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.target.file.full_path`	Mapped from changelog
`appprotocol`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.network.application_protocol`	Mapped from changelog

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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