NOTE:My previous howto involved a much more complicated way of installing Splunk to run as a non-root user. The method was flawed in that it didn't leave a way to upgrade without all sorts of permissions problems... yuck.
For ease of use, I've split all the info up into two posts. This first one contains all the information you need to install and/or upgrade Splunk. The second post will contain all sorts of configuration stuff.INSTALLING SPLUNK is a pretty painless 4-step processs.
1) Navigate to the /opt directory (the default for most Splunk installs... don't ask me why)
2) Grab Splunk from the offical repositories with the
wget command
3) Unpack the downloaded .tgz file using
tar4) Run the script to install/start Splunk
Code:
cd /opt
sudo wget 'http://www.splunk.com/index.php/download_track?file=3.4.8/linux/splunk-3.4.8-54309-Linux-i686.tgz&ac=&wget=true&name=wget&typed=releases'
sudo tar xvfz splunk-3.4.6-51113-Linux-i686.tgz
sudo splunk/bin/splunk start
Accept the E.U.L.A. and your install is complete. The pretty web UI is now waiting for you at
http://your.server.ip.address:8000 Simple, no?
UPGRADING SPLUNK is just about as simple as the install, but requires one more step. Stop the old version, download the new version and extract it in the same folder. Start Splunk back up and it will recognize the upgrade.
You can check back here for several months and I should have the newest
wget link. Otherwise, you'll have to register for a free splunk account at
https://www.splunk.com/index.php/sign_up to get access to the newest links.
Code:
cd /opt
sudo splunk/bin/splunk stop
sudo wget 'new-splunk-version-link-goes-here'
sudo tar xvfz new-splunk-downloaded-version.tgz
sudo splunk/bin/splunk start
I've never had an upgrade go haywire on me. But if you want to be extra safe, backup
/opt/splunk/etc to save your personal settings and
/opt/splunk/var/lib/splunk to save your indexed files.
See post below for configuration and upgrade info.
CONFIGURING SPLUNK This step will vary, depending on your needs. I still recommend a few settings for everyone:
Listen for logs on port 514:Most devices and many apps (including
syslog) use port 514 for sending log info. You'll want Splunk to be listening.
- navigate to your Splunk web UI (http://your.server.ip.address:8000)
- click "Admin"
- click "Data Inputs"
- click "Network Ports"
- "New Input" button.
- choose "UDP" and the port number will automagically change to 514.
- click the "Submit" button to save the configuration change
Start upon bootup:Pretty self-explanatory. When the machine boots up, so does Splunk.
Code:
sudo /opt/splunk/bin/splunk enable boot-start
Only allow certain IP addresses to access the Web UI:Since the free version of Splunk doesn't secure the web UI, I lock down access to all that sensitive information through iptables. Obviously, you'll want to replace "ip.address1.to.allow" with your address or a range you want to allow access from (i.e. 10.10.10.35 or 10.10.10.0/24).
Code:
sudo iptables -A INPUT -s ip.address1.to.allow -p tcp --dport 8000 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -s ip.address2.to.allow -p tcp --dport 8000 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 8000 -j DROP
SEND MAC/LINUX LOGS TO SPLUNK: This is a two step process where you add your Slunk server to the list of known hosts on the client machine and then tell the
syslog process to forward logs to Splunk.
Add the following line to /etc/hosts
(NOTE: Use tabs, spaces won't work.)
Code:
ip.address.of.splunkserver splunkserver
Where
splunkserver is the name of your Splunk server. Now, add the following lines to /etc/syslog.conf:
Code:
# additional config for sending logs to splunk
*.info @splunksever
Where
*.info is the
level of detail you desire to be sent.
SEND WINDOWS LOGS TO SPLUNKAs far as I know, there is no simple equivalent of syslog for Windows installed by default. So you'll need to install some type of utility or app to send logs. I recommend
Snare.
Download and Install Snare here:
http://www.intersectalliance.com/dow...-MultiArch.exeOpen the Snare interface to configure its log management:
- Click on "Network Configuration"
- Set the "Destination Snare Server Address" to Splunk's IP
- Change "Destination Port" to 514
- Click the checkbox to "Enable SYSLOG header"
- Select your desired "Syslog Priority" level from the drop down menu.
- Click the "Change Configuration" button
You might need to add an exception for Snare in the Windows Firewall. (tested in XP)
- Navigate to the Windows Firwall settings (Start > Control Panel > Windows Firewall)
- Click on the Exceptions Tab
- Click the "Add Program" button
- Browse to C:\Program Files\Snare\SnareCore (or wherever you installed Snare)
That's all... for now.
