Collect Palo Alto Networks firewall logs

Supported in:

Google secops SIEM

Note: This feature is covered by Pre-GA Offerings Terms of the Google Security Operations Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA features might have limited support, and changes to pre-GA features might not be compatible with other pre-GA versions. For more information, see the Google SecOps Technical Support Service guidelines and the Google SecOps Service Specific Terms.

This document explains how to ingest Palo Alto Networks firewall logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance
• Windows 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the BindPlane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the Palo Alto Networks firewall management console or appliance
• Palo Alto Networks firewall (all versions support standard syslog; for CEF/LEEF custom formats, PAN-OS 8.0.3+ recommended)

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 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 this installation guide.

Configure the Bindplane agent to ingest Syslog and send to Google SecOps

1. Access the configuration file:

   1. Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /etc/bindplane-agent/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   2. Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano, vi, or Notepad).

2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

   receivers:
     udplog:
       # Replace the port and IP address as required
       listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
     chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
       compression: gzip
       # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
       creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
       # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
       customer_id: YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID
       endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
       # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
       log_type: 'PAN_FIREWALL'
       raw_log_field: body
       ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
         receivers:
           - udplog
         exporters:
           - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels
   

   • Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
   • Replace <customer_id> with the actual customer ID.
   • Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the authentication file was saved in the Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file section.

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

  sudo systemctl restart bindplane-agent
  

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Services console or enter the following command:

  net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent
  

Configure syslog forwarding on Palo Alto Networks Firewall

Create a syslog server profile

1. Sign in to the Palo Alto Networks Firewall Management Console.
2. Go to Device > Server Profiles > Syslog.
3. Click Add to create a new server profile.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Name: Enter a descriptive name (for example, Google SecOps BindPlane).
   • Location: Select the virtual system (vsys) or Shared where this profile will be available.
5. Click Servers > Add to configure the syslog server.
6. Provide the following server configuration details:
   • Name: Enter a descriptive name for the server (for example, BindPlane Agent).
   • Syslog Server: Enter the BindPlane Agent IP address.
   • Transport: Select UDP or TCP, depending on your BindPlane Agent configuration (UDP is default).
   • Port: Enter the BindPlane Agent port number (for example, 514).
   • Format: Select BSD (default) or IETF, depending on your requirements.
   • Facility: Select LOG_USER (default) or another facility as needed.
7. Click OK to save the syslog server profile.

Optional: Configure custom log format for CEF or LEEF

If you need CEF (Common Event Format) or LEEF (Log Event Extended Format) logs instead of CSV:

1. In the Syslog Server Profile, select the Custom Log Format tab.
2. Configure the custom log format for each log type (Config, System, Threat, Traffic, URL, Data, WildFire, Tunnel, Authentication, User-ID, HIP Match).
3. For CEF format configuration, refer to the Palo Alto Networks CEF Configuration Guide.
4. Click OK to save the configuration.

Note: Palo Alto Networks recommends PAN-OS 8.0.3 or later for CEF custom log formats.

Create a log forwarding profile

1. Go to Objects > Log Forwarding.
2. Click Add to create a new log forwarding profile.
3. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Name: Enter a profile name (for example, Google SecOps Forwarding). If you want the firewall to automatically assign this profile to new security rules and zones, name it default.
4. For each log type you want to forward (Traffic, Threat, WildFire Submission, URL Filtering, Data Filtering, Tunnel, Authentication), configure the following:
   • Click Add in the respective log type section.
   • Syslog: Select the syslog server profile you created (for example, Google SecOps BindPlane).
   • Log Severity: Select the severity levels to forward (for example, All).
5. Click OK to save the log forwarding profile.

Apply log forwarding profile to security policies

1. Go to Policies > Security.
2. Select the security rule(s) for which you want to enable log forwarding.
3. Click the rule to edit it.
4. Go to the Actions tab.
5. In the Log Forwarding menu, select the log forwarding profile you created (for example, Google SecOps Forwarding).
6. Click OK to save the security policy configuration.

Configure log settings for system logs

1. Go to Device > Log Settings.
2. For each log type (System, Configuration, User-ID, HIP Match, Global Protect, IP-Tag, SCTP) and severity level, select the syslog server profile you created.
3. Click OK to save the log settings.

Commit the changes

1. Click Commit at the top of the firewall web interface.
2. Wait for the commit to complete successfully.
3. Verify that logs are being sent to the Bindplane agent by checking the Google SecOps console for incoming Palo Alto Networks firewall logs.

Supported log types and formats

The Google SecOps parser supports the following Palo Alto Networks firewall log types:

• Traffic logs
• Threat logs
• URL Filtering logs
• Data Filtering logs
• WildFire Submission logs
• Tunnel Inspection logs
• Authentication logs
• User-ID logs
• HIP Match logs
• System logs
• Configuration logs
• GlobalProtect logs
• SCTP logs
• Decryption logs

The parser supports logs in the following formats:

• CSV (Comma Separated Values) - Default format
• CEF (Common Event Format) - Requires custom log format configuration
• LEEF (Log Event Extended Format) - Requires custom log format configuration

Need more help? Get answers from Community members and Google SecOps professionals.