Collect IBM Verify Identity Access logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document describes how to collect IBM Verify Identity Access logs. The parser extracts common fields using Grok patterns and leverages XML parsing for detailed event information embedded within the description field, ultimately mapping extracted data to the Unified Data Model (UDM) for standardized security event representation.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• Google SecOps instance
• Windows 2016 or later, or a Linux host with systemd
• If running behind a proxy, firewall ports are open
• Privileged access to IBM Verify Identity Access (IVIA)

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's in the /opt/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:
           # Replace the port and IP address as required
           listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
       chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
           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
           # 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: <customer_id>
           endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
           # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
           log_type: 'IBM_SVA'
           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 <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/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: <customer_id>
          endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
          # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
          log_type: 'IBM_SVA'
          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

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

   sudo systemctl restart bindplane-agent
   

2. 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 in IVIA

1. Sign in to IBM Security Verify Governance.
2. Go to Monitor > Logs > Remote Syslog Forwarding.
3. In the Remote Syslog Forwarding page, click Add.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Server: Enter the Bindplane agent IP address.
   • Port: Enter the Bindplane agent port number.
   • Protocol: Select UDP (the other possible option is TCP, depending on your Bindplane agent configuration).
   • Format: Select the format (BSD Syslog Protocol or Syslog Protocol) in which you want to send the system logs.
5. Click Save Configuration.

Configure Log Sources for the remote log server

1. In the Remote Syslog Forwarding page, click the Sources tab.
2. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Name: Select a log source from the drop-down list.
   • Instance Name: The option is only available if you select Name as IsimNode.
   • Log File: When you select Name as IsimNodes, Install logs, or IsimDmgr then the respective logs file is automatically shown in the drop-down.
   • Tag: This tag name must be unique across all the sources, and must not contain any space (for example: My_Tag or MyTag).
   • Facility: Select a category name for the system log to be forwarded.
   • Severity: Select Informational.
3. Click Save Configuration.

Note: You can configure multiple sources in the same way.

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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