Collect Infoblox RPZ logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest Infoblox RPZ logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

Infoblox Response Policy Zone (RPZ) is a DNS security feature that blocks DNS queries to malicious domains based on threat intelligence feeds and custom policies. It generates syslog-formatted logs for RPZ policy hits and blocked queries.

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 Infoblox NIOS appliance
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the Infoblox Grid Manager or NIOS appliance

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 the Bindplane agent to ingest syslog 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:
    udplog:
      listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
  
  exporters:
    chronicle/infoblox_rpz:
      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: INFOBLOX_RPZ
      raw_log_field: body
      ingestion_labels:
        env: production
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/rpz_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - udplog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/infoblox_rpz
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • udplog: The receiver type based on protocol:
    • udplog for UDP syslog
    • tcplog for TCP syslog
  • 0.0.0.0: IP address to listen on:
    • 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (recommended)
    • Specific IP address to listen on one interface
  • 514: Port number to listen on (for example, 514, 1514, 6514)

• Exporter configuration:

  • infoblox_rpz: 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.
  • INFOBLOX_RPZ: Log type exactly as it appears in Chronicle
  • ingestion_labels: Optional labels in YAML format (for example, env: production)

• Pipeline configuration:

  • rpz_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/infoblox_rpz:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: INFOBLOX_RPZ
      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 Infoblox RPZ syslog forwarding

1. Sign in to the Infoblox Grid Manager.
2. Go to Grid > Grid Properties > Monitoring.
3. Under Syslog, click Add to configure an external syslog server.
4. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Syslog Server Address: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host (for example, 192.168.1.100).
   • Port: Enter 514 (must match the Bindplane agent receiver port).
   • Protocol: Select UDP.
   • Severity: Select Info or higher to capture RPZ events.
5. Click Save & Close.
6. Ensure that RPZ query logging is enabled on the relevant DNS views:
   1. Go to Data Management > DNS > Zones.
   2. Select the RPZ zone.
   3. Verify that Logging is enabled for RPZ policy hits.

7. Verify that syslog messages are being received by checking the Bindplane agent logs.

   Note: Infoblox NIOS forwards RPZ logs via syslog in standard syslog format. Ensure that RPZ query logging is enabled on all DNS views where RPZ policies are applied.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
serverIp	intermediary.asset.ip	Merged
serverIp	intermediary.ip	Merged
descrip	metadata.description	Directly mapped
msg	metadata.description	Directly mapped
syslogTimestamp	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed as dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss.SSS
ts	metadata.event_timestamp	Parsed as MMM dd HH:mm:ss
event_type	metadata.event_type	Directly mapped
device_event_class_id	metadata.product_event_type	Directly mapped
evt_type	metadata.product_event_type	Directly mapped
device_version	metadata.product_version	Directly mapped
dns	network.dns	Renamed/mapped
protocol	network.ip_protocol	Directly mapped
dnsDomain	principal.asset.hostname	Directly mapped
clientIp	principal.asset.ip	Merged
dnsDomain	principal.hostname	Directly mapped
clientIp	principal.ip	Merged
srcPort	principal.port	Directly mapped
severity	security_result.severity	Mapped values (5 total, e.g. "0", "1", "2", "3", "LOW" → LOW, `"informational", "INFORMA...
dnsServerIp	target.asset.ip	Merged
dnsServerIp	target.ip	Merged
N/A	metadata.product_event_type	Constant: DNS Query
N/A	metadata.product_name	Constant: NIOS
N/A	metadata.vendor_name	Constant: INFOBLOX
N/A	network.application_protocol	Constant: DNS
N/A	security_result.severity	Constant: LOW

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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