Collect VMware Tanzu logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest VMware Tanzu logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

VMware Tanzu is a Kubernetes platform that generates JSON and syslog-formatted audit logs for Kubernetes API server events, resource access, authentication decisions, and configuration changes. The parser extracts fields from JSON-formatted audit logs and maps them to the Unified Data Model (UDM).

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 Tanzu Operations Manager
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to VMware Tanzu

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/vmware_tanzu:
      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: VMWARE_TANZU
      raw_log_field: body
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/vmware_tanzu_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - udplog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/vmware_tanzu
  

Configuration parameters

Replace the following placeholders:

• Receiver configuration:

  • listen_address: IP address and port to listen on:
    • 0.0.0.0 to listen on all interfaces (recommended)
    • Port 514 is the standard syslog port (requires root on Linux; use 1514 for non-root)

• Exporter configuration:

  • 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 copied from the Google SecOps console
  • 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.

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/vmware_tanzu:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: VMWARE_TANZU
      raw_log_field: body
  

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 syslog for VMware Tanzu

1. Sign in to the Tanzu Operations Manager web UI.
2. Select your User name and then click Settings.
3. Select Syslog.
4. Click Yes to send system logs to a remote server.
5. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Address: Enter the Bindplane agent IP address.
   • Port: Enter the Bindplane agent port number.
   • Transport Protocol: Select UDP or TCP, depending on your Bindplane agent configuration.
6. Click Save.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
annotations.authorization.k8s.io/decision	security_result.action	If the annotation authorization.k8s.io/decision exists, its value is converted to uppercase. If the uppercase value is "ALLOW", the UDM field is set to ALLOW. Otherwise, it's set to BLOCK.
annotations.authorization.k8s.io/reason	security_result.description	If the annotation authorization.k8s.io/reason exists, its value (with double quotes removed) is used.
apiVersion	metadata.product_version	Directly mapped.
auditID	metadata.product_log_id	Directly mapped.
kind	metadata.product_event_type	Directly mapped.
objectRef.name	target.resource.name	Directly mapped.
objectRef.namespace	target.resource.attribute.labels.key, target.resource.attribute.labels.value	The key is set to "namespace", and the value is taken from objectRef.namespace.
objectRef.resource	target.resource.resource_subtype	Directly mapped.
objectRef.resourceVersion	target.resource.attribute.labels.key, target.resource.attribute.labels.value	The key is set to "resourceVersion", and the value is taken from objectRef.resourceVersion.
objectRef.uid	target.resource.product_object_id	Directly mapped.
requestReceivedTimestamp / timestamp	metadata.event_timestamp	The parser tries to parse requestReceivedTimestamp first. If it's not present, it uses the timestamp field extracted from the syslog prefix.
requestURI	target.url	Directly mapped.
responseStatus.code	network.http.response_code	Directly mapped after being converted to an integer.
sourceIPs	principal.ip	All IP addresses in the sourceIPs array are added to the principal.ip array.
stage	metadata.description	Directly mapped.
stageTimestamp	metadata.collected_timestamp	Directly mapped.
user.groups	principal.user.group_identifiers	All groups in the user.groups array are added to the principal.user.group_identifiers array.
user.uid	principal.user.userid	Directly mapped.
user.username	principal.user.user_display_name	Directly mapped.
verb	network.http.method	Directly mapped after being converted to uppercase. Determined by the verb field. If verb is "CREATE", the event type is USER_RESOURCE_CREATION. If verb is "PATCH" or "UPDATE", the event type is USER_RESOURCE_UPDATE_CONTENT. If verb is "DELETE", the event type is USER_RESOURCE_DELETION. Otherwise, if verb is not empty, the event type is USER_RESOURCE_ACCESS. If none of these conditions are met, the event type is set to GENERIC_EVENT. Hardcoded to "VMWARE_TANZU". Hardcoded to "VMWARE". Hardcoded to "VMWARE_TANZU". Hardcoded to "CLUSTER".

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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