Collect ZyXEL ZyWALL logs

Supported in:

Google SecOps SIEM

This document explains how to ingest ZyXEL ZyWALL logs to Google Security Operations using the Bindplane agent.

ZyXEL ZyWALL is a UTM/firewall appliance that generates firewall, VPN, IDP, content filter, and system event logs. It provides unified threat management for on-premise network environments.

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 ZyXEL ZyWALL appliance
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Administrative access to the ZyXEL ZyWALL 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 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 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/zywall:
      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: ZYWALL
      raw_log_field: body
  
  service:
    pipelines:
      logs/zywall_to_chronicle:
        receivers:
          - udplog
        exporters:
          - chronicle/zywall
  

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/zywall:
      compression: gzip
      creds_file_path: '/opt/observiq-otel-collector/ingestion-auth.json'
      customer_id: '<customer_id>'
      endpoint: malachiteingestion-pa.googleapis.com
      log_type: ZYWALL
      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 ZyXEL ZyWALL syslog forwarding

1. Sign in to the ZyWALL web management interface by navigating to the appliance IP address in a web browser.
2. Go to Configuration > Log & Report > Log Settings.
3. In the Remote Server section, select an available profile (for example, Remote Server 1) and click Edit.
4. Configure the following settings:
   • Check Active to enable the remote syslog profile.
   • Log Format: Select VRPT/Syslog.
   • Server Address: Enter the IP address of the Bindplane agent host.
   • Server Port: Enter 514.
   • Log Facility: Select Local0 or your preferred facility.
5. In the Active Log section, select the log categories you want to forward:
   • System
   • Firewall
   • VPN
   • IDP (Intrusion Detection and Prevention)
   • Content Filter
   • Anti-Virus
   • Anti-Spam
6. Click OK to save the configuration.

7. Verify that the syslog server is receiving logs from the ZyWALL appliance.

   Note: The ZyWALL supports up to four remote server profiles (Remote Server 1 through 4), allowing you to forward logs to multiple syslog destinations simultaneously.

UDM mapping table

Log Field	UDM Mapping	Logic
devID, class, dir	additional.fields	Additional fields not covered by the standard UDM schema
inter_host	intermediary.hostname	Hostname of the intermediary device
msg	metadata.description	Description of the event
	metadata.event_type	Type of the event
protoID	network.ip_protocol	IP protocol used in the network event
src_ip	principal.asset.ip	IP address of the asset associated with the principal
src_ip	principal.ip	IP address of the principal
ob_mac	principal.mac	MAC address of the principal
src_port	principal.port	Port number used by the principal
cat	security_result.category_details	Category details of the security result
rule_name	security_result.rule_name	Name of the rule that triggered the security result
note	security_result.summary	Summary of the security result
dst_ip	target.asset.ip	IP address of the asset associated with the target
dst_ip	target.ip	IP address of the target
dst_port	target.port	Port number used by the target
	metadata.product_name	Name of the product that generated the event
	metadata.vendor_name	Name of the vendor of the product
action	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.action	Mapped from changelog
app	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
cef_event_class_id	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
cef_spec_version	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
proto	event.idm.read_only_udm.additional.fields	Mapped from changelog
cef_name	event.idm.read_only_udm.metadata.product_event_type	Mapped from changelog
cef_device_version	event.idm.read_only_udm.metadata.product_version	Mapped from changelog
ob	event.idm.read_only_udm.network.sent_bytes	Mapped from changelog
user	event.idm.read_only_udm.principal.user.userid	Mapped from changelog
cef_severity	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.severity	Mapped from changelog
ZYlevel	event.idm.read_only_udm.security_result.severity_details	Mapped from changelog
dvchost	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.asset.hostname	Mapped from changelog
dvchost	event.idm.read_only_udm.target.hostname	Mapped from changelog

Change Log

View the Change Log for this parser

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