Collect IBM WebSphere Application Server logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest IBM WebSphere Application Server logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

IBM WebSphere Application Server is a Java EE application server that generates system, security audit, and access logs. The parser maps these logs to the Unified Data Model (UDM), extracting process details, user information, event timestamps, and file metadata.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance
• Windows Server 2016 or later, or Linux host with systemd
• Network connectivity between the Bindplane agent and the IBM WebSphere Application Server
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Administrative access to the IBM WebSphere Application Server

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.

   Note: The customer ID is required for configuring the Bindplane agent exporter.

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 the Bindplane agent 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 Bindplane agent to ingest logs and send to Google SecOps

Locate the configuration file

• Linux:

  sudo nano /opt/observiq-otel-collector/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:
    filelog:
      include:
        - /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/*/logs/*/SystemOut.log
        - /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/*/logs/*/SystemErr.log
      start_at: beginning
  
  exporters:
    chronicle/websphere:
      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: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: chronicle.googleapis.com
      log_type: IBM_WEBSPHERE_APP_SERVER
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
        env: production
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/websphere_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - filelog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/websphere
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • filelog: The receiver type for collecting log files from disk
  • include: List of file paths to monitor. Default WebSphere log locations:
    • Linux: /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/<PROFILE>/logs/<SERVER>/SystemOut.log
    • Windows: C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\<PROFILE>\logs\<SERVER>\SystemOut.log
  • start_at: Set to beginning to read existing logs or end to only read new entries

• Exporter configuration:

  • websphere: Descriptive name for the exporter
  • creds_file_path: Full path to the service account JSON key file (Option 1):
    • Linux: /opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json
    • Windows: C:\Program Files\observIQ OpenTelemetry Collector\ingestion-auth.json
  • <customer_id>: Customer ID from the previous step
  • location: 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. See Regional Endpoints for the complete list.
  • project: Replace <PROJECT_NUMBER> with the project number from IAM & Admin > Settings.
  • endpoint: Keep set to chronicle.googleapis.com.
  • IBM_WEBSPHERE_APP_SERVER: Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle
  • ingestion_labels: Optional labels in YAML format (for example, env: production)

• Pipeline configuration:

  • websphere_to_chronicle: Descriptive name for the pipeline

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/websphere:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: IBM_WEBSPHERE_APP_SERVER
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
        env: production
  

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

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 IBM WebSphere Application Server logging

1. Sign in to the IBM WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
2. Go to Troubleshooting > Logs and Trace.
3. Select the server (for example, server1).
4. Click Diagnostic Trace to configure trace logging levels, or click JVM Logs to configure SystemOut and SystemErr log settings.
5. Under JVM Logs, verify the following settings:
   • System.out log file name: ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/SystemOut.log
   • System.err log file name: ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/SystemErr.log
   • Log file rotation: Configure log rotation (for example, by file size or time) to prevent log files from growing indefinitely.
6. Click Apply and then Save to save the configuration.
7. Identify the log directories on your WebSphere server. Default locations include:
   • <WAS_HOME>/profiles/<PROFILE>/logs/<SERVER>/SystemOut.log
   • <WAS_HOME>/profiles/<PROFILE>/logs/<SERVER>/SystemErr.log
   • <WAS_HOME>/profiles/<PROFILE>/logs/<SERVER>/BinaryAudit* (security audit logs, if auditing is enabled)

8. Ensure the Bindplane agent include paths in config.yaml match the actual log file locations on your WebSphere server.

   Note: If security auditing is enabled, you can also include BinaryAudit* files by adding the appropriate path to the include list in the Bindplane agent configuration. The Bindplane agent service account must have read access to the log directories.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
number, MemCount, JMSMessageID	additional	Merged as key-value pairs for each field
TrgAction, description	metadata.description	Value from TrgAction if not empty, else description
time	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed using date filter with formats MM/dd/yy HH:mm:ss.SSS Z, M/dd/yy H:mm:ss.SSS Z, UNIX_MS
	metadata.event_type	Set to "GENERIC_EVENT"
Action	metadata.product_event_type	Value copied directly
product_log_id	metadata.product_log_id	Value copied directly
version	metadata.product_version	Value copied directly
product	metadata.product_name	Value copied directly
vendor	metadata.vendor_name	Value copied directly
file_name	target.file.full_path	Value copied directly
command	target.process.command_line	Value copied directly
filename	target.process.file.full_path	Value copied directly
Members	target.user.group_identifiers	Merged from processed Members array
Eid	target.user.product_object_id	Value copied directly
Profile	target.user.user_display_name	Value copied directly
principal_user	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.user.userid	Mapped from changelog
exception_code	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields	Mapped from changelog
exception_class	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields	Mapped from changelog
source_line	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
length	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
websphere_java_version	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
websphere_platform_details	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
java_compiler	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
java_vm_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
parent_context	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
event_context	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
method_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
principal_application	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.application	Mapped from changelog
os_version	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.platform_software.platform_version	Mapped from changelog
os_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.asset.platform_software.platform_patch_level	Mapped from changelog
process_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.resource.name	Mapped from changelog
full_orb_version	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.detection_fields	Mapped from changelog
target_application	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.application	Mapped from changelog

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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