Collect BlueCat DDI logs

Parser Version: 1.0

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest BlueCat DDI logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane. BlueCat DDI is an integrated DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management (IPAM) solution that provides centralized management and automation of core network services. It helps organizations manage DNS zones, DHCP scopes, and IP address allocations across complex enterprise environments.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance.
• A Windows 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 BlueCat Address Manager administration console.

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.

Install the Bindplane agent

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

Windows installation

1. Open the 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
   

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
   

Additional installation resources

For additional installation options, consult the 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

1. Access the configuration file:

   • Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it is in the /observiq-otel-collector/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   • Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano, vi, or Notepad).

2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

   receivers:
     udplog:
       listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
     chronicle/bluecat_ddi:
       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: '<customer_id>'
       endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
       log_type: BLUECAT_DDI
       raw_log_field: body
       ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       logs/bluecat_ddi:
         receivers:
           - udplog
         exporters:
           - chronicle/bluecat_ddi
   

• Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
• 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.
• Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.
• Replace <customer_id> with the actual customer ID.
• Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the service account key file (Option 1) was saved in the Get Google SecOps credentials for the Bindplane agent section.

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/bluecat_ddi:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: BLUECAT_DDI
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
  

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

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux:

1. Run the following command:

   sudo systemctl restart observiq-otel-collector
   

2. Verify the service is running:

   sudo systemctl status observiq-otel-collector
   

3. Check logs for errors:

   sudo journalctl -u observiq-otel-collector -f
   

To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows:

1. 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.

2. Verify the service is running:

   sc query observiq-otel-collector
   

3. Check logs for errors:

   type "C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\log\collector.log"
   

Configure BlueCat DDI syslog forwarding

Configure syslog on BlueCat Address Manager

1. Sign in to the BlueCat Address Manager web interface.
2. From the configuration drop-down menu, select a configuration.
3. Select the Servers tab.
4. Under Servers, click the name of the BDDS (BlueCat DNS/DHCP Server) that you want to configure.
5. Click the Syslog tab.
6. Under Syslog, click New.
7. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Server Address: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host (for example, 192.168.1.100).
   • Port: Enter 514 (or your configured Bindplane agent port).
   • Transport: Select UDP.
8. Click Add to save the syslog redirection entry.
9. Click Deploy to push the updated configuration to the BDDS appliance.

Configure syslog on BlueCat DNS/DHCP Server (BDDS) via CLI

If you prefer to configure syslog forwarding directly on the BDDS appliance instead of through Address Manager:

1. Connect to the BDDS appliance via SSH.
2. Sign in with administrative credentials.

3. Edit the syslog-ng configuration file:

   sudo vi /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf
   

4. Add the following destination and log statements:

   destination d_bindplane {
       udp("<BINDPLANE_IP>" port(514));
   };
   
   log {
       source(s_local);
       destination(d_bindplane);
   };
   

5. Replace <BINDPLANE_IP> with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.

6. Save the file and restart the syslog-ng service:

   sudo systemctl restart syslog-ng
   

7. Verify that logs are being forwarded by checking the Bindplane agent logs.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
auth_mechanism	extensions.auth.mechanism	Merged
log_type	extensions.auth.mechanism	Mapped: systemd → auth_mechanism
log_type	extensions.auth.type	Mapped: CRON → AUTHTYPE_UNSPECIFIED, audit → AUTHTYPE_UNSPECIFIED
log_type	intermediary	Mapped: named → intermediary
relay_ip	intermediary.ip	Merged
description	metadata.description	Renamed/mapped
inner_message	metadata.description	Directly mapped
kv.cat	metadata.description	Directly mapped
msg	metadata.description	Directly mapped
ts	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed as MMM d HH:mm:ss
ts_date	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed as MMM d HH:mm:ss
ts_timestamp	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed as yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss
has_principal	metadata.event_type	Mapped: true → NETWORK_CONNECTION
log_type	metadata.event_type	Mapped values (15 total, e.g. named → USER_UNCATEGORIZED, named → NETWORK_DNS, `dhcp...
message	metadata.event_type	Mapped: session closed → USER_LOGOUT
operation_type	metadata.event_type	Mapped: view → USER_UNCATEGORIZED
csv.event_id	metadata.product_event_type	Directly mapped
log_type	network.application_protocol	Mapped: named → DNS, dhcpd → DHCP
client_mac	network.dhcp.chaddr	Directly mapped
client_ip	network.dhcp.ciaddr	Directly mapped
src_ip	network.dhcp.ciaddr	Directly mapped
relay_ip	network.dhcp.giaddr	Directly mapped
log_type	network.dhcp.opcode	Mapped: dhcpd → BOOTREQUEST, dhcpd → BOOTREPLY
message_type	network.dhcp.opcode	Mapped values (7 total, e.g. DHCPDISCOVER → BOOTREQUEST, "DHCPREQUEST", "BOOTREQUEST" ...
src_ip	network.dhcp.siaddr	Directly mapped
server_host	network.dhcp.sname	Renamed/mapped
log_type	network.dhcp.type	Mapped values (7 total, e.g. dhcpd → DISCOVER, dhcpd → REQUEST, dhcpd → OFFER)
message_type	network.dhcp.type	Mapped values (7 total, e.g. DHCPDISCOVER → DISCOVER, "DHCPREQUEST", "BOOTREQUEST" → `...
src_ip	network.dhcp.yiaddr	Directly mapped
log_type	network.dns.answers	Mapped: named → response
response	network.dns.answers	Merged
log_type	network.dns.questions	Mapped: named → query
query	network.dns.questions	Merged
question	network.dns.questions	Merged
ses	network.session_id	Directly mapped
hostname	principal.hostname	Directly mapped
server_host	principal.hostname	Directly mapped
kv.src	principal.ip	Merged
log_type	principal.ip	Mapped: named → src_ip, dhcpd → src_ip, syslog-ng → src_ip
src_ip	principal.ip	Merged
client_mac	principal.mac	Merged
log_type	principal.mac	Mapped: dhcpd → client_mac
message_type	principal.mac	Mapped: DHCPDISCOVER → client_mac, "DHCPREQUEST", "BOOTREQUEST" → client_mac, `DHCPR...
src_port	principal.port	Renamed/mapped
acct	principal.user.userid	Directly mapped
src_user	principal.user.userid	Directly mapped
application	target.application	Directly mapped
terminal	target.application	Directly mapped
file_path	target.file.full_path	Directly mapped
server_host	target.hostname	Directly mapped
target_host	target.hostname	Directly mapped
log_type	target.ip	Mapped: named → target_ip, dhcpd → target_ip, syslog-ng → target_ip
server_ip	target.ip	Merged
target_ip	target.ip	Merged
client_mac	target.mac	Merged
log_type	target.mac	Mapped: dhcpd → client_mac
message_type	target.mac	Mapped: "DHCPOFFER", "BOOTREPLY" → client_mac, DHCPACK → client_mac, DHCPNAK → `cl...
tgt_port	target.port	Renamed/mapped
cmd	target.process.command_line	Directly mapped
exe	target.process.command_line	Directly mapped
file_path	target.process.file.full_path	Directly mapped
pid	target.process.pid	Directly mapped
N/A	extensions.auth.type	Constant: AUTHTYPE_UNSPECIFIED
N/A	metadata.event_type	Constant: USER_UNCATEGORIZED
N/A	metadata.product_name	Constant: Bluecat DDI
N/A	metadata.vendor_name	Constant: Bluecat Networks
N/A	network.application_protocol	Constant: DNS
N/A	network.dhcp.opcode	Constant: BOOTREQUEST
N/A	network.dhcp.type	Constant: DISCOVER

Change Log

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