Collect Suricata EVE logs

Supported in:

This document explains how to ingest Suricata EVE logs to Google Security Operations using Bindplane.

Suricata is an open-source high-performance network threat detection engine that provides intrusion detection (IDS), intrusion prevention (IPS), and network security monitoring capabilities. The EVE (Extensible Event Format) log output provides comprehensive JSON-formatted logs covering alerts, flows, DNS, HTTP, TLS, and file transaction data. The parser extracts fields from Suricata EVE JSON formatted logs. It parses the JSON 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 Suricata host (root or sudo)

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: 'SURICATA_EVE'
        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 (SURICATA_EVE)

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 Suricata EVE syslog forwarding

  1. Open the Suricata configuration file (typically /etc/suricata/suricata.yaml).

  2. Locate the outputs section and configure the EVE log output for syslog:

    outputs:
  - eve-log:
      enabled: yes
      filetype: syslog
      identity: "suricata"
      facility: local5
      level: Info
      types:
        - alert:
            payload: yes
            payload-printable: yes
            packet: yes
            metadata: yes
        - http:
            extended: yes
        - dns:
            query: yes
            answer: yes
        - tls:
            extended: yes
        - files:
            force-magic: no
        - flow
        - netflow
        - anomaly:
            enabled: yes
        - stats:
            enabled: yes

  3. If the syslog daemon is not configured to forward to Bindplane, configure rsyslog or syslog-ng:

    • For rsyslog (edit /etc/rsyslog.conf or create /etc/rsyslog.d/suricata.conf):

      local5.* @BINDPLANE_IP:514
      • Replace BINDPLANE_IP with the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
      • Use @ for UDP or @@ for TCP.

    • For syslog-ng (edit /etc/syslog-ng/syslog-ng.conf):

      destination d_bindplane { udp("BINDPLANE_IP" port(514)); };
filter f_suricata { facility(local5); };
log { source(s_src); filter(f_suricata); destination(d_bindplane); };

  4. Restart the syslog daemon:

    sudo systemctl restart rsyslog

  5. Restart Suricata:

     sudo systemctl restart suricata

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

UDM mapping table

Log Field UDM Mapping Logic
timestamp metadata.event_timestamp Event timestamp
event_type metadata.product_event_type Type of EVE event (e.g., alert, flow, dns, http, tls)
src_ip principal.ip Source IP address
src_port principal.port Source port number
dest_ip target.ip Destination IP address
dest_port target.port Destination port number
proto network.ip_protocol Network protocol (e.g., TCP, UDP, ICMP)
flow_id network.session_id Unique flow identifier
alert.signature security_result.rule_name Alert signature name
alert.signature_id security_result.rule_id Alert signature identifier
alert.severity security_result.severity Alert severity level
alert.category security_result.category_details Alert classification category
alert.action security_result.action Action taken (e.g., allowed, blocked)
alert.rev security_result.rule_version Rule revision number
http.hostname target.hostname HTTP request hostname
http.url target.url HTTP request URL
http.http_method network.http.method HTTP request method
http.status network.http.response_code HTTP response status code
http.http_user_agent network.http.user_agent HTTP user agent string
http.http_refer network.http.referral_url HTTP referrer URL
http.length additional.fields HTTP content length
dns.type network.dns.type DNS query or response
dns.rrname network.dns.questions.name DNS query name
dns.rrtype network.dns.questions.type DNS query type
dns.rdata network.dns.answers.data DNS response data
tls.subject network.tls.client.subject TLS certificate subject
tls.issuerdn network.tls.client.issuer TLS certificate issuer
tls.sni network.tls.client.server_name TLS Server Name Indication
tls.version network.tls.version TLS version
tls.ja3.hash network.tls.client.ja3 JA3 client fingerprint hash
tls.ja3s.hash network.tls.server.ja3s JA3S server fingerprint hash
app_proto network.application_protocol Application layer protocol detected
flow.bytes_toserver network.sent_bytes Bytes sent from client to server
flow.bytes_toclient network.received_bytes Bytes sent from server to client
flow.pkts_toserver additional.fields Packets sent from client to server
flow.pkts_toclient additional.fields Packets sent from server to client
in_iface additional.fields Input network interface
community_id network.community_id Network community ID flow hash

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