Collect Arista switch logs

Supported in:

This document explains how to ingest Arista switch logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane agent.

Arista EOS (Extensible Operating System) runs on Arista network switches and generates syslog messages for system events, interface changes, authentication, AAA accounting, and protocol state changes. The parser handles both JSON and syslog formats.

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 the Arista switch
  • If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
  • Arista EOS 4.23.x or later
  • Privileged access on the Arista EOS switch

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

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 Bindplane agent to ingest syslog and send to Google SecOps

Locate the configuration file

  • Linux:

    sudo nano /etc/bindplane-agent/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/arista_switch:
        compression: gzip
        creds_file_path: '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json'
        customer_id: '<customer_id>'
        endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
        log_type: ARISTA_SWITCH
        raw_log_field: body

service:
    pipelines:
        logs/arista_to_chronicle:
            receivers:
                - udplog
            exporters:
                - chronicle/arista_switch

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

  • Receiver configuration:

    • listen_address: IP address and port to listen on:
      • 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (recommended)
      • Port 514 is the standard syslog port (requires root on Linux; use 1514 for non-root)

  • Exporter configuration:

    • creds_file_path: Full path to ingestion authentication file:
      • Linux: /etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json
      • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
    • customer_id: Customer ID copied from the Google SecOps console
    • endpoint: Regional endpoint URL:
      • US: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • Europe: europe-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • Asia: asia-southeast1-malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      • See Regional Endpoints for complete list

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

    1. Verify the service is running:

      ```bash
sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector
```

    2. Check logs for errors:

      ```bash
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 syslog on the Arista switch

  1. Sign in to the Arista switch.

  2. Enter configuration mode:

    Arista# configure terminal

  3. Configure the syslog destination to send logs to the Bindplane agent:

    Arista(config)# logging host <bindplane-server-ip> <port-number> protocol udp
Arista(config)# logging trap informational
Arista(config)# copy running-config startup-config
    • Replace <bindplane-server-ip> with the Bindplane agent IP address.
    • Replace <port-number> with the port configured to listen (for example, 514).

  4. (Optional) Enable command execution logging for AAA accounting:

    Arista(config)# aaa accounting commands all console start-stop logging
Arista(config)# aaa accounting commands all default start-stop logging
Arista(config)# aaa accounting exec console start-stop logging
Arista(config)# aaa accounting exec default start-stop logging
Arista(config)# copy running-config startup-config

  5. (Optional) Enable authentication success and failure logging:

    Arista(config)# aaa authentication policy on-success log
Arista(config)# aaa authentication policy on-failure log
Arista(config)# copy running-config startup-config

UDM Mapping Table

Log Field UDM Mapping Logic
appname target.application Directly mapped from the appname field.
description metadata.description Directly mapped from the description field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns based on the product_event_type.
dst_ip target.ip, target.asset.ip Directly mapped from the dst_ip field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
dst_mac target.mac Directly mapped from the dst_mac field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
dst_port target.port Directly mapped from the dst_port field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
facility additional.fields[facility].string_value Directly mapped from the facility field.
hostname principal.hostname, principal.asset.hostname Directly mapped from the hostname field.
inner_msg metadata.description Directly mapped from the inner_msg field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
ip_protocol network.ip_protocol Directly mapped from the ip_protocol field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns. If the value is "tcp", it's converted to "TCP". If the event type is "NO_IGMP_QUERIER", it's set to "IGMP".
pid principal.process.pid Directly mapped from the pid field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
prin_ip principal.ip, principal.asset.ip Directly mapped from the prin_ip field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
product_event_type metadata.product_event_type Directly mapped from the product_event_type field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
proto network.application_protocol If the proto field is "sshd", the UDM field is set to "SSH".
severity security_result.severity, security_result.severity_details The security_result.severity is derived from the severity field based on these mappings: "DEFAULT", "DEBUG", "INFO", "NOTICE" -> "INFORMATIONAL"; "WARNING", "ERROR", "ERR", "WARN" -> "MEDIUM"; "CRITICAL", "ALERT", "EMERGENCY" -> "HIGH". The raw value of severity is mapped to security_result.severity_details.
session_id network.session_id Directly mapped from the session_id field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
source_ip principal.ip, principal.asset.ip Directly mapped from the source_ip field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
source_port principal.port Directly mapped from the source_port field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
src_ip principal.ip, principal.asset.ip Directly mapped from the src_ip field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
table_name target.resource.name Directly mapped from the table_name field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns. If this field is populated, target.resource.resource_type is set to "TABLE".
target_host target.hostname, target.asset.hostname Directly mapped from the target_host field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
target_ip target.ip, target.asset.ip Directly mapped from the target_ip field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
target_package target.process.command_line Directly mapped from the target_package field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
target_port target.port Directly mapped from the target_port field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
timestamp metadata.event_timestamp Directly mapped from the timestamp field after being parsed into a timestamp object.
user principal.user.userid Directly mapped from the user field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
user_name target.user.userid Directly mapped from the user_name field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns.
vrf additional.fields[vrf].string_value Directly mapped from the vrf field, which is extracted from the message field using grok patterns. Derived from a combination of has_principal, has_target, user, message, product_event_type, and description fields using complex conditional logic as described in the parser code. Default value is "GENERIC_EVENT". Hardcoded to "ARISTA_SWITCH". Hardcoded to "Arista Switch". Hardcoded to "Arista". Set to "BLOCK" if the description field contains "connection rejected".
dpid additional.fields[DPID].string_value Directly mapped from the dpid field.
intf additional.fields[intf].string_value Directly mapped from the intf field.

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