Collect F5 BIG-IP APM logs

Supported in:

This document explains how to ingest F5 BIG-IP APM logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) provides secure, unified access to applications, APIs, and data. It delivers identity-aware, context-based access control with SSO, multi-factor authentication, and SSL VPN capabilities for enterprise networks. The parser extracts fields from F5 BIG-IP APM syslog formatted logs. It uses grok and/or kv to parse the log message and then maps these values to the Unified Data Model (UDM). It also sets default metadata values for the event source and type.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • A Google SecOps instance
  • Windows Server 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 F5 BIG-IP management interface

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/chronicle_w_labels:
        compression: gzip
        creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
        customer_id: 'YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID'
        endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
        log_type: 'F5_BIGIP_APM'
        raw_log_field: body
        ingestion_labels:

service:
    pipelines:
        logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
            receivers:
                - udplog
            exporters:
                - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels

Configuration parameters

  • Replace the following placeholders:

    • Receiver configuration:

      • udplog: Use udplog for UDP syslog or tcplog for TCP syslog
      • 0.0.0.0: IP address to listen on (0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces)
      • 514: Port number to listen on (standard syslog port)

    • 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
      • YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID: Customer ID from the Get customer ID section
      • 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
      • log_type: Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle (F5_BIGIP_APM)

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 F5 BIG-IP APM syslog forwarding

  1. Sign in to the F5 BIG-IP web interface (TMUI/Configuration Utility).
  2. Go to System > Logs > Configuration > Remote Logging.
  3. In the Remote Logging section, provide the following configuration details:
    • Remote IP: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
    • Remote Port: Enter 514.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Click Update to save the configuration.

  6. To configure high-speed logging (HSL) for detailed APM logs via CLI:

    1. SSH to the F5 BIG-IP system.

    2. Run the following commands:

      tmsh create ltm pool syslog_pool members add { BINDPLANE_IP:514 }
tmsh create sys log-config destination remote-high-speed-log secops_hsl pool-name syslog_pool protocol udp
tmsh create sys log-config destination remote-syslog secops_syslog remote-high-speed-log secops_hsl
tmsh create sys log-config publisher secops_publisher destinations add { secops_syslog }
tmsh save sys config
      • Replace BINDPLANE_IP with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.

  7. Assign the publisher to the APM access profile:

    1. Go to Access > Profiles / Policies > Access Profiles.
    2. Select the target access profile.
    3. In the Log Settings tab, select the created publisher.
    4. Click Update.

  8. Verify syslog messages are being sent by checking the Bindplane agent logs.

UDM mapping table

Log Field UDM Mapping Logic
application principal.application The value is taken from the application field extracted by the grok filter.
bytes_in network.received_bytes The value is taken from the bytes_in field extracted by the grok filter and converted to unsigned integer.
bytes_out network.sent_bytes The value is taken from the bytes_out field extracted by the grok filter and converted to unsigned integer.
cmd_data principal.process.command_line The value is taken from the cmd_data field extracted by the kv filter.
destination_ip target.ip The value is taken from the destination_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
destination_port target.port The value is taken from the destination_port field extracted by the grok filter and converted to integer.
folder principal.process.file.full_path The value is taken from the folder field extracted by the kv filter.
geoCountry principal.location.country_or_region The value is taken from the geoCountry field extracted by the grok filter.
geoState principal.location.state The value is taken from the geoState field extracted by the grok filter.
inner_msg security_result.description The value is taken from the inner_msg field extracted by the grok filter when no other specific description is available.
ip_protocol network.ip_protocol The value is taken from the ip_protocol field extracted by the grok filter.
principal_hostname principal.hostname The value is taken from the principal_hostname field extracted by the grok filter.
principal_ip principal.ip The value is taken from the principal_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
process_id principal.process.pid The value is taken from the process_id field extracted by the grok filter.
role user_role.name The value is taken from the role field extracted by the grok filter. If the role field contains "admin" (case-insensitive), the value is set to "ADMINISTRATOR".
severity security_result.severity_details The original value from the syslog message is stored here. The value is derived from the severity field using conditional logic: , CRITICAL -> CRITICAL , ERR -> ERROR , ALERT, EMERGENCY -> HIGH , INFO, NOTICE -> INFORMATIONAL , DEBUG -> LOW , WARN -> MEDIUM
source_ip principal.ip The value is taken from the source_ip field extracted by the grok filter.
source_port principal.port The value is taken from the source_port field extracted by the grok filter and converted to integer.
status security_result.summary The value is taken from the status field extracted by the kv filter.
timestamp metadata.event_timestamp, timestamp The value is taken from the timestamp field extracted by the grok filter and parsed into a timestamp object. The timestamp field in the top level event object also gets this value.
user principal.user.userid The value is taken from the user field extracted by the grok filter, after removing "id" or "ID" prefixes. The value is derived based on the presence of other fields: , If user exists: USER_UNCATEGORIZED , If source_ip and destination_ip exist: NETWORK_CONNECTION , If principal_ip or principal_hostname exist: STATUS_UPDATE , Otherwise: GENERIC_EVENT Hardcoded to "BIGIP_APM". Hardcoded to "F5". If the result field is "failed", the value is set to "BLOCK".

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