Collect Fortinet FortiClient 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 Fortinet FortiClient logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane agent.

FortiClient is an endpoint security solution that provides antivirus, web filtering, VPN, vulnerability scanning, and application firewall capabilities for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chromebook endpoints. FortiClient is centrally managed through FortiClient EMS (Endpoint Management Server), which pushes security policies and configuration profiles to endpoints.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance
• Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
• Network connectivity between Bindplane agent and FortiClient endpoints
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the FortiClient EMS management console
• FortiClient EMS version 7.0 or later with licensed FortiClient endpoints

Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agent.
3. Click Download to download the ingestion authentication file.

4. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane agent will be installed.

   Note: This JSON file contains credentials for authenticating the Bindplane agent to Google SecOps.

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 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/forticlient:
    compression: gzip
    creds_file_path: '/etc/bindplane-agent/ingestion-auth.json'
    customer_id: 'your-customer-id-here'
    endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
    log_type: FORTINET_FORTICLIENT
    raw_log_field: body
    ingestion_labels:
        env: production
        source: forticlient

service:
    pipelines:
    logs/forticlient_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
        - udplog
        exporters:
        - chronicle/forticlient

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

Receiver configuration:

• listen_address: IP address and port to listen on. Use 0.0.0.0:514 to listen on all interfaces on port 514.

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 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
• log_type: FORTINET_FORTICLIENT
• ingestion_labels: Optional labels in YAML format

Save the configuration file

After editing, save the file:

• Linux: Press Ctrl+O, then Enter, then Ctrl+X
• Windows: Click File > Save

Restart Bindplane agent to apply the changes

• Linux

  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
     

• Windows

  Choose one of the following options:

  • Using Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator:

    net stop observiq-otel-collector && net start observiq-otel-collector
    

  • Using 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 FortiClient endpoint logging to send logs to Bindplane agent

FortiClient endpoint logging is configured centrally through FortiClient EMS by editing endpoint profiles with XML configuration. EMS pushes the logging configuration to FortiClient endpoints, which then send logs directly to the Bindplane agent syslog listener.

Sign in to FortiClient EMS

1. Sign in to the FortiClient EMS web console.
2. Go to Endpoint Profiles > Manage Profiles.

Edit or create an endpoint profile

1. Select an existing profile to edit, or click Add to create a new profile.
2. In the Profile Name field, enter a descriptive name (for example, Chronicle-Logging-Profile).
3. Click Advanced.
4. Click the XML Configuration tab.
5. Click Edit.

Configure remote logging in XML

EMS displays two panes. Use the pane on the right to edit the XML configuration.

Locate the <log_settings> section within <system>. If it does not exist, add it. Within <log_settings>, locate or add the <remote_logging> section and configure it as follows:

<forticlient_configuration>
    <system>
    <log_settings>
        <onnet_local_logging>1</onnet_local_logging>
        <level>6</level>
        <log_events>ipsecvpn,sslvpn,scheduler,update,firewall,av,proxy,shield,webfilter,endpoint,fssoma,configd,vuln,sandboxing,antiexploit</log_events>
        <remote_logging>
        <log_upload_enabled>1</log_upload_enabled>
        <log_protocol>syslog</log_protocol>
        <netlog_server>192.168.1.100</netlog_server>
        <netlog_categories>7</netlog_categories>
        <log_upload_freq_minutes>5</log_upload_freq_minutes>
        </remote_logging>
    </log_settings>
    </system>
</forticlient_configuration>

Configuration parameters:

• <log_upload_enabled>: Set to 1 to enable remote logging.
• <log_protocol>: Set to syslog to send logs to a syslog server. Use faz to send logs to FortiAnalyzer instead.
• <netlog_server>: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host (for example, 192.168.1.100). This parameter is used only when <log_protocol> is set to syslog.
• <netlog_categories>: Enter the bitmask of log categories to upload:
  • 1 = Traffic logs
  • 2 = Vulnerability logs
  • 4 = Event logs
  • 7 = All categories (1 + 2 + 4)
• <log_upload_freq_minutes>: Enter the log upload frequency in minutes (for example, 5 for every 5 minutes).
• <level>: FortiClient logging level. Enter one of the following:
  • 0 = Emergency
  • 1 = Alert
  • 2 = Critical
  • 3 = Error
  • 4 = Warning
  • 5 = Notification
  • 6 = Information (recommended)
  • 7 = Debug

• <log_events>: Comma-separated list of FortiClient events or processes to log. Include the events you want to capture (for example, ipsecvpn,sslvpn,firewall,av,webfilter,endpoint).

  Note: All elements within <remote_logging> apply only to remote logs. They do not affect the behavior of local logs.

Save the profile

1. Click Test XML to validate the XML configuration.
2. Click Save to save the profile.

Apply the profile to endpoints

1. Go to Endpoint Policies > Manage Policies.
2. Select an existing policy or click Add to create a new policy.
3. In the Profile dropdown, select the profile you created or edited.
4. In the Endpoint Groups section, select the endpoint groups to which you want to apply the policy.
5. Click Save.

EMS pushes the profile configuration to endpoints with the next Telemetry communication. FortiClient endpoints will begin sending logs to the Bindplane agent syslog listener.

Verify log forwarding

1. On the Bindplane agent host, check the agent logs to verify that logs are being received:

   Linux:

   sudo journalctl -u observiq-otel-collector -f
   

   Windows:

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

2. On a FortiClient endpoint, verify that remote logging is enabled by checking the FortiClient logs:

   Windows:

   C:\Program Files\Fortinet\FortiClient\logs\
   

   macOS:

   /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/logs/
   

   Linux:

   /var/log/forticlient/
   

3. In the Google SecOps console, verify that FortiClient logs are being ingested:

   • Go to Search.
   • Enter a search query for FortiClient logs (for example, metadata.log_type = "FORTINET_FORTICLIENT").
   • Verify that logs appear in the search results.

UDM mapping table

Log field	UDM mapping	Logic
emsserial, devid, usingpolicy, itime, fctsn, logver, site, fctver, browsetime, event_id, SubjectUserName, SubjectLogonId, ThreadID	additional.fields	Labels created with key and value from each field, merged into additional.fields
timestamp	metadata.collected_timestamp	Parsed as UNIX timestamp
ts	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed with date filter using formats "MMM d HH:mm:ss", "MMM d HH:mm:ss", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
deviceip, client_ip, devicemac, hostname, user, uid	metadata.event_type	Set to USER_RESOURCE_ACCESS if user/uid present and machine id present; USER_UNCATEGORIZED if machine id present; GENERIC_EVENT otherwise
eventtype	metadata.product_event_type	Value copied directly
id	metadata.product_log_id	Converted to string, value copied
service	network.application_protocol	Uppercased, then set to predefined protocol if matches list (e.g., "SSH" for "22", "SSH", "SSHD"; "HTTP" for "80", "8080", "HTTP"), else to service if in extended list, else empty
direction	network.direction	Set to INBOUND if matches (?i)inbound; OUTBOUND if matches (?i)outbound
proto	network.ip_protocol	Set to "TCP" if proto == "6"
rcvdbyte	network.received_bytes	Converted to uinteger, value copied if not empty/0
sentbyte	network.sent_bytes	Converted to uinteger, value copied if not empty/0
sessionid	network.session_id	Value copied directly
pcdomain	principal.administrative_domain	Value copied directly
srcproduct	principal.application	Value copied directly
hostname	principal.hostname	Value copied directly
deviceip, client_ip	principal.ip	Value from deviceip if not empty, else from client_ip if valid IP
devicemac	principal.mac	Converted to MAC format, value copied if valid
os, source	principal.platform	Set to WINDOWS if os/source matches (?i)windows; MAC if matches (?i)mac|ios; LINUX if matches (?i)linux
source_ver	principal.platform_version	Value copied directly
srcport	principal.port	Converted to integer, value copied
ProcessId	principal.process.pid	Value copied directly
srcname, source_type, type	principal.resource.attribute.labels	Labels created with key and value from each field, merged into attribute.labels
devname	principal.resource.name	Value copied directly
ProviderGuid	principal.resource.product_object_id	Value copied directly
subtype	principal.resource.resource_subtype	Value copied directly
url	principal.url	Value copied directly
uid, fctuid	principal.user.product_object_id	Value from uid if not empty, else fctuid
user	principal.user.user_display_name	Value copied directly
user	principal.user.userid	Value copied directly
SubjectUserSid	principal.user.windows_sid	Value copied if matches SID regex
utmaction	security_result.action	Set to ALLOW if in [accept,allow,passthrough,pass,permit,detected]; BLOCK if in [deny,dropped,blocked,block]; UNKNOWN_ACTION otherwise
utmevent	security_result.category_details	Value copied directly
utmaction	security_result.description	Set to "utmaction:"
userinitiated	security_result.detection_fields	Label created with key "userinitiated" and value from userinitiated, merged
level	security_result.severity	Set to INFORMATIONAL if level == "info"
threat	security_result.threat_name	Value copied directly
emshostname, remotename	target.hostname	Value from emshostname if not empty, else remotename
dstip	target.ip	Extracted valid IP from dstip
dstport	target.port	Converted to integer, value copied if not 0
	metadata.product_name	Set to "FORTINET_FORTICLIENT"
	metadata.vendor_name	Set to "FORTINET_FORTICLIENT"

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