Collect Aruba Wireless Controller and Access Point logs

Parser Version: 12.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Aruba Wireless Controller and Access Point logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

Aruba Wireless Controllers and Access Points generate syslog messages for wireless events, client associations, authentication, access control, and system operations. The parser processes syslog messages, extracting fields related to observer, intermediary, and access point details.

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 Aruba Wireless Controller
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to an Aruba Wireless Controller

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.

Note: The JSON key is a credential. Restrict access to the file on the Bindplane host and rotate the key according to your organization's policy.

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.

Note: This file authenticates the agent to the legacy Ingestion API (malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com), which Google has scheduled for end of life on July 20, 2027. Plan to move to Option 1 before that date.

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.

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

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.

Note: The Chronicle API exporter configuration requires Bindplane collector v1.106.0 or later. The previous commands install the latest release. If you're updating an existing installation, upgrade the collector before changing the configuration.

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/aruba_wireless:
      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: ARUBA_WIRELESS
      raw_log_field: body
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/aruba_wireless_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - udplog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/aruba_wireless
  

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 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
  • customer_id: Customer ID copied from the Google SecOps console
  • 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/aruba_wireless:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: ARUBA_WIRELESS
      raw_log_field: body
  

Note: This exporter will stop working when the Ingestion API is discontinued on July 20, 2027.

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:

     sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector
     

  2. 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 Aruba Wireless Controller and Access Point

1. Sign in to the Aruba controller web UI.
2. Go to the top menu and select Configuration > System.
3. Select Logging to open the logging configuration page.
4. In the Syslog servers section, click + Add to add a new syslog server.
5. Enter the following details:
   • Name: Enter a unique name for the syslog server; for example, Google SecOps Syslog.
   • IP Address: Enter the Bindplane IP address.
   • Port: Enter the Bindplane port number (typically 514 for UDP).
   • Logging Facility: Select local 6 (commonly used for network devices).
   • Logging Level: Select Informational to capture information logs.
   • Format: Select bsd-standard format (this is the default syslog format used by Aruba controllers).
6. Click Submit to save your settings.
7. Click Pending Changes.

8. Click Deploy Changes to apply the new syslog server configuration.

   Note: After deploying the changes, configure the logging level for specific categories of logs.

9. Go to the Logging Level settings and set the Logging Level to Informational for each of the following categories:

   • Network
   • All
   • Cluster
   • DHCP
   • GP
   • Mobility
   • Packet-Dump
   • SDN

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
Additional Info	read_only_udm.security_result.description	The value of Additional Info from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field security_result.description.
AP	read_only_udm.target.hostname	When present in the raw log, the value after AP: is extracted and mapped to the UDM field target.hostname.
BSSID	read_only_udm.target.mac, read_only_udm.principal.resource.name (when resource type is BSSID)	The BSSID value from the raw log is mapped to target.mac. It's also used as the resource name when the principal.resource.type is BSSID.
COMMAND	read_only_udm.principal.process.command_line	The command value from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.process.command_line.
Dst-MAC	read_only_udm.target.mac	When present, the Dst-MAC value from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.mac.
SERVER	read_only_udm.target.hostname	When present, the server name from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.hostname.
SERVER-IP	read_only_udm.target.ip	When present, the server IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.ip.
Src-MAC	read_only_udm.principal.mac	When present, the Src-MAC value from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.mac.
SSID	read_only_udm.target.resource.name (when resource type is SSID)	The SSID value from the raw log is used as the resource name when the target.resource.type is SSID.
USER	read_only_udm.target.user.userid	When present, the user ID from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.user.userid.
USERIP	read_only_udm.principal.ip, read_only_udm.observer.ip	When present, the user IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.ip and observer.ip.
USERMAC	read_only_udm.principal.mac	When present, the user MAC from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.mac.
USERNAME	read_only_udm.principal.user.userid	When present, the username from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.user.userid.
action	read_only_udm.security_result.action	The action value from the raw log (e.g., permit, deny) is mapped to the UDM field security_result.action.
apname	read_only_udm.target.hostname	When present, the AP name from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.hostname.
bssid	read_only_udm.target.mac	When present, the BSSID value from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.mac.
collection_time.seconds	read_only_udm.metadata.event_timestamp.seconds	The seconds value of the collection time from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field metadata.event_timestamp.seconds.
device_ip	read_only_udm.intermediary.ip	The device IP from the raw log or from logstash is mapped to the UDM field intermediary.ip.
dstip	read_only_udm.target.ip	When present, the destination IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.ip.
dstport	read_only_udm.target.port	When present, the destination port from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.port.
event_id	read_only_udm.metadata.product_event_type	The event ID from the raw log is used to construct the metadata.product_event_type field in the UDM, prefixed with Event ID:.
event_message	read_only_udm.security_result.summary	The event message from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field security_result.summary.
log.source.address	read_only_udm.observer.ip	The log source address is mapped to the UDM field observer.ip.
log_type	read_only_udm.metadata.log_type	The log type from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field metadata.log_type.
logstash.collect.host	read_only_udm.observer.ip or read_only_udm.observer.hostname	The logstash collect host is mapped to either observer.ip if it's an IP address, or observer.hostname if it's a hostname.
logstash.ingest.host	read_only_udm.intermediary.hostname	The logstash ingest host is mapped to the UDM field intermediary.hostname.
logstash.process.host	read_only_udm.intermediary.hostname	The logstash process host is mapped to the UDM field intermediary.hostname.
program	read_only_udm.target.application	The program name from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.application.
serverip	read_only_udm.target.ip	When present, the server IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.ip.
servername	read_only_udm.target.hostname	When present, the server name from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field target.hostname.
srcip	read_only_udm.principal.ip	When present, the source IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.ip.
srcport	read_only_udm.principal.port	When present, the source port from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.port.
syslog_host	read_only_udm.intermediary.hostname	The syslog host from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field intermediary.hostname.
timestamp	read_only_udm.metadata.event_timestamp	The timestamp from the raw log is parsed and mapped to the UDM field metadata.event_timestamp.
userip	read_only_udm.principal.ip, read_only_udm.observer.ip	When present, the user IP from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.ip and observer.ip.
usermac	read_only_udm.principal.mac	When present, the user MAC from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.mac.
username	read_only_udm.principal.user.userid	When present, the username from the raw log is mapped to the UDM field principal.user.userid. Derived from the event_id and logic within the parser. Determined by the parser based on the event ID and log message content. Hardcoded to Wireless. Hardcoded to Aruba. Determined by the parser based on the event ID and log message content. Determined by the parser based on the event ID and log message content. Extracted from the raw log message using regex. Determined by the parser based on the event ID and log message content. An empty object is added when the event_type is USER_LOGIN or a related authentication event. Determined by the parser based on the network protocol used in the event (e.g., TCP, UDP, ICMP, IGMP). Contains additional fields extracted from the raw log based on specific conditions. For example, the ap_name is added as a key-value pair when present. Set to BSSID when a BSSID is present in the principal's context. Set to SSID when an SSID is present in the target's context. Contains key-value pairs of relevant detection information extracted from the raw log, such as BSSID or SSID.
event_code	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
function_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
thread_id	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
station_macaddress	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.mac	Mapped from changelog
station_macaddress	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.mac	Mapped from changelog
event_details	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.summary	Mapped from changelog
application	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.application	Mapped from changelog
version	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
priority	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
module	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
instance	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
role	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.user.attribute.roles.name	Mapped from changelog
policy	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.rule_name	Mapped from changelog
command_status	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.attribute.labels	Mapped from changelog
p_host	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.ip	Mapped from changelog
p_host	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.ip	Mapped from changelog
p_host	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.hostname	Mapped from changelog
p_host	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.hostname	Mapped from changelog
t_user	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.user.userid	Mapped from changelog
p_ip	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.ip	Mapped from changelog
p_ip	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.ip	Mapped from changelog
cmd	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.process.command_line	Mapped from changelog
node	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.resource.name	Mapped from changelog
principal_ip_value	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.ip	Mapped from changelog
p_port	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.port	Mapped from changelog
t_hostname	event.idm.read_only_udm.intermediary.hostname	Mapped from changelog
details	metadata.description	Mapped from changelog
ap_name	additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
logstash.irm_site", "logstash.irm_environment", "logstash.irm_region	additional.fields	Mapped from changelog

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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