Collect Red Hat Directory Server LDAP logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Red Hat Directory Server LDAP logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

Red Hat Directory Server is an enterprise-class LDAP directory service built on open standards that provides centralized user identity management, authentication, and access control for Linux and UNIX environments. Directory Server stores access, error, audit, audit fail, and security logs in the /var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/ directory, recording client connections, LDAP operations, configuration changes, failed operations, and security events such as authentication attempts and authorization issues.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

A Google SecOps instance
A Linux host with systemd
Network connectivity between the Bindplane agent and the Red Hat Directory Server host
If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
Root or sudo access to the Red Hat Directory Server host
Red Hat Directory Server 11 or later installed and running
The rsyslog service installed and running on the Directory Server host

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 a 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.

Note: The customer ID is required for configuring the Bindplane agent exporter.

Install the Bindplane agent

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

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 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

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/redhat_ds:
    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: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
    customer_id: '<customer_id>'
    endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
    log_type: REDHAT_DIRECTORY_SERVER
    raw_log_field: body

service:
  pipelines:
    logs/redhat_ds:
      receivers:
        - udplog
      exporters:
        - chronicle/redhat_ds

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

Receiver configuration:
- udplog: The receiver type based on protocol:
  - udplog for UDP syslog
  - tcplog for TCP syslog
  - syslog for RFC 3164/5424 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:
- <customer_id>: Customer ID from the earlier step
- 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.
- Adjust the creds_file_path to the path of your service account JSON key file (Option 1), depending on the platform:
  - Linux: /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json

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/redhat_ds:
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
    customer_id: '<customer_id>'
    endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
    log_type: REDHAT_DIRECTORY_SERVER
    raw_log_field: body
```

Save the configuration file

After editing, save the file:
- Linux: Press Ctrl+O, then Enter, then Ctrl+X

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

Enable audit and audit fail logging in Red Hat Directory Server

By default, Red Hat Directory Server enables access, error, and security logging, but disables audit and audit fail logging. Enable these logs to capture all directory changes and failed operations.

Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges on the Directory Server host.
Enable the audit log by running the following command:
```
dsconf -D "cn=Directory Manager" instance_name config replace nsslapd-auditlog-logging-enabled=on
```
Note: Replace instance_name with the actual name of your Directory Server instance.

Enable the audit fail log by running the following command:

dsconf -D "cn=Directory Manager" instance_name config replace nsslapd-auditfaillog-logging-enabled=on

Verify that all log types are enabled:

dsconf -D "cn=Directory Manager" instance_name config get nsslapd-accesslog-logging-enabled nsslapd-errorlog-logging-enabled nsslapd-auditlog-logging-enabled nsslapd-auditfaillog-logging-enabled nsslapd-securitylog-logging-enabled

Verify that the log files exist in the log directory:
```
ls -la /var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/
```
Note: You should see the following log files: access, errors, audit, security. The audit fail log writes to the same file as the audit log by default unless a separate path is configured using the nsslapd-auditfaillog attribute.

Optional: enable logging using the web console

Sign in to the Red Hat Directory Server web console.
Select the instance.
Go to Server > Logging.
Select the log type you want to enable (for example, Audit Log).
Enable the logging toggle for the selected log type.
Click Save Log Settings.

Configure rsyslog to forward Directory Server logs to the Bindplane agent

Red Hat Directory Server writes logs to files in /var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/ rather than to syslog directly. Use the rsyslog imfile module to monitor these log files and forward the entries to the Bindplane agent.

Create a new rsyslog configuration file for Directory Server log forwarding:
```
sudo nano /etc/rsyslog.d/rhds-forward.conf
```

Add the following content to the configuration file:

# Load the imfile module to read log files
module(load="imfile" PollingInterval="10")

# Monitor the access log
input(type="imfile"
    File="/var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/access"
    Tag="dirsrv-access"
    Severity="info"
    Facility="local6")

# Monitor the error log
input(type="imfile"
    File="/var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/errors"
    Tag="dirsrv-errors"
    Severity="err"
    Facility="local6")

# Monitor the audit log
input(type="imfile"
    File="/var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/audit"
    Tag="dirsrv-audit"
    Severity="info"
    Facility="local6")

# Monitor the security log
input(type="imfile"
    File="/var/log/dirsrv/slapd-instance_name/security"
    Tag="dirsrv-security"
    Severity="info"
    Facility="local6")

# Forward all Directory Server logs to the Bindplane agent
local6.* @BINDPLANE_IP:514

Verify the rsyslog configuration syntax:
```
sudo rsyslogd -N1
```
Restart the rsyslog service to apply the changes:
```
sudo systemctl restart rsyslog
```
Verify that Directory Server logs are being forwarded by checking the Bindplane agent logs:
```
sudo journalctl -u observiq-otel-collector -f
```
Note: Generate an LDAP operation (for example, run an ldapsearch query) to produce access log entries and confirm that the Bindplane agent is receiving events.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
`attrs_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`cn_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`conn_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`csn_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`err_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`etime_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`fd_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`filter_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`method_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`msgid_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`name_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`nentries_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`offset_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`op_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`optime_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`org_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`ou_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`scope_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`slot_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`tag_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`targetop_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`version_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`wtime_label`	`about.labels`	Merged
`desc`	`metadata.description`	Directly mapped
`creationDate`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `UNIX_MS`
`recordDate`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `UNIX_MS`
`time`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `dd/MMM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss Z`
`ts`	`metadata.event_timestamp`	Parsed as `MMM d HH:mm:ss`
`operation`	`metadata.product_event_type`	Directly mapped
`mrId`	`metadata.product_log_id`	Directly mapped
`properties._ecs_agent_version`	`metadata.product_version`	Directly mapped
`host`	`principal.asset.hostname`	Directly mapped
`oid`	`principal.asset.product_object_id`	Directly mapped
`host`	`principal.hostname`	Directly mapped
`client_ip`	`principal.ip`	Merged
`namespace`	`principal.namespace`	Directly mapped
`user`	`principal.user.userid`	Directly mapped
`sec_result`	`security_result`	Merged
`properties._hostname`	`target.asset.hostname`	Directly mapped
`properties.host`	`target.asset.hostname`	Directly mapped
`properties._hostname`	`target.hostname`	Directly mapped
`properties.host`	`target.hostname`	Directly mapped
`target_ip`	`target.ip`	Merged
`properties.country`	`target.location.country_or_region`	Directly mapped
`properties._file_path`	`target.process.file.full_path`	Directly mapped
`properties._file_size`	`target.process.file.size`	Renamed/mapped
`discipline_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`document_type_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`environment_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`hostgroup_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`platform_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`product_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`project_label`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Merged
`base`	`target.user.group_identifiers`	Merged
`dn`	`target.user.group_identifiers`	Merged
N/A	`metadata.event_type`	Constant: `NETWORK_CONNECTION`
N/A	`metadata.product_name`	Constant: `REDHAT_DIRECTORY_SERVER`
N/A	`metadata.vendor_name`	Constant: `REDHAT`
N/A	`target.platform`	Constant: `LINUX`
`properties._file_inode`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`properties._file_offset`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`conn`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`op`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`err`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`tag`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`nentries`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`wtime`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`optime`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`etime`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`csn`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`cn`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`ou`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`filter`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`attrs`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`scope`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`o`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`targetop`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`msgid`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`method`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`version`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`fd`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`slot`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`name`	`event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields`	Mapped from changelog
`properties.discipline" ,"properties.document_type" ,"properties.environment" ,"properties.hostgroup" ,"properties.platform" ,"properties.product`	`target.resource.attribute.labels`	Mapped from changelog

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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