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Manual Chapter : Configuring High-Speed Remote Logging of DoS Events

Applies To:

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BIG-IP AFM

  • 15.1.9, 15.1.8
Manual Chapter

Configuring High-Speed Remote Logging of DoS Events

Overview: Configuring DoS Protection event logging

You can configure the BIG-IP system to log information about BIG-IP system denial-of-service (DoS) events, and send the log messages to remote high-speed log servers.
The BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) must be licensed and provisioned before you can configure DoS Protection event logging. Additionally, for high-volume logging requirements, such as DoS, ensure that the BIG-IP system sends the event logs to a remote log server.
This illustration shows the association of the configuration objects for remote high-speed logging of DoS Protection events.
Association of remote high-speed logging configuration objects
Associations between remote high-speed logging configuration objects

About the configuration objects of DoS protection event logging

When configuring remote high-speed logging of DoS Protection event logging, it is helpful to understand the objects you need to create and why, as described here:
Object
Reason
Applies to
Pool of remote log servers
Create a pool of remote log servers to which the BIG-IP system can send log messages.
Creating a pool of remote logging servers.
Destination (unformatted)
Create a log destination of Remote High-Speed Log type that specifies a pool of remote log servers.
Creating a remote high-speed log destination.
Destination (formatted)
If your remote log servers are the ArcSight, Splunk, IPFIX, or Remote Syslog type, create an additional log destination to format the logs in the required format and forward the logs to a remote high-speed log destination.
Creating a formatted remote high-speed log destination.
Publisher
Create a log publisher to send logs to a set of specified log destinations.
Creating a publisher.
DNS logging profile
Create a custom DNS logging profile to define the data you want the BIG-IP system to include in the DNS logs and associate a log publisher with the profile.
Creating a custom DoS Protecttion Logging profile.
protected object (also called virtual server)
Associate a custom DNS profile with a protected object to define how the system logs the DNS traffic that the protected object processes.
Configuring a protected object to perform DoS Protection event logging.

Create a pool of remote logging servers

Before creating a pool of log servers, gather the IP addresses of the servers that you want to include in the pool. Ensure that the remote log servers are configured to listen to and receive log messages from the BIG-IP system.
Create a pool of remote log servers to which the BIG-IP system can send log messages.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    Configuration
    .
  2. On the Main tab, click
    Local Traffic
    Pools
    .
    The Pool List screen opens.
  3. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Pool screen opens.
  4. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique name for the pool.
  5. Using the
    New Members
     setting, add the IP address for each remote logging server that you want to include in the pool:
    1. Type an IP address in the
      Address
       field, or select a node address from the
      Node List
      .
    2. Type a service number in the
      Service Port
       field, or select a service name from the list.
      Typical remote logging servers require port
      514
      .
    3. Click
      Add
      .
  6. Click
    Finished
    .

Create a remote high-speed log destination

Before creating a remote high-speed log destination, ensure that at least one pool of remote log servers exists on the BIG-IP system.
Create a log destination of the
Remote High-Speed Log
 type to specify that log messages are sent to a pool of remote log servers.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Logs
    Configuration
    Log Destinations
    .
    The Log Destinations screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique, identifiable name for this destination.
  4. From the
    Type
     list, select
    Remote High-Speed Log
    .
    If you use log servers such as Remote Syslog, Splunk, or ArcSight, which require data be sent to the servers in a specific format, you must create an additional log destination of the required type, and associate it with a log destination of the
    Remote High-Speed Log
     type. With this configuration, the BIG-IP system can send data to the servers in the required format.
    The BIG-IP system is configured to send an unformatted string of text to the log servers.
  5. From the
    Pool Name
     list, select the pool of remote log servers to which you want the BIG-IP system to send log messages.
  6. From the
    Protocol
     list, select the protocol used by the high-speed logging pool members.
  7. Click
    Finished
    .

Create a formatted remote high-speed log destination

Ensure that at least one remote high-speed log destination exists on the BIG-IP system.
Create a formatted logging destination to specify that log messages are sent to a pool of remote log servers, such as Remote Syslog, Splunk, or IPFIX servers.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Logs
    Configuration
    Log Destinations
    .
    The Log Destinations screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique, identifiable name for this destination.
  4. From the
    Type
     list, select a formatted logging destination, such as
    Remote Syslog
    ,
    Splunk
    , or
    IPFIX
    .
    The Splunk format is a predefined format of key value pairs.
    The BIG-IP system is configured to send a formatted string of text to the log servers.
  5. If you selected
    Remote Syslog
    , then from the
    Syslog Format
     list select a format for the logs, and then from the
    High-Speed Log Destination
     list, select the destination that points to a pool of remote Syslog servers to which you want the BIG-IP system to send log messages.
    For logs coming from Access Policy Manager (APM), only the BSD Syslog format is supported.
  6. If you selected
    Splunk
     or
    IPFIX
    , then from the
    Forward To
     list, select the destination that points to a pool of high-speed log servers to which you want the BIG-IP system to send log messages.
  7. Click
    Finished
    .

Create a publisher

Ensure that at least one destination associated with a pool of remote log servers exists on the BIG-IP system.
Create a publisher to specify where the BIG-IP system sends log messages for specific resources.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    System
    Logs
    Configuration
    Log Publishers
    .
    The Log Publishers screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a unique, identifiable name for this publisher.
  4. For the
    Destinations
     setting, select a destination from the
    Available
     list, and click
    <<
     to move the destination to the
    Selected
     list.
    If you are using a formatted destination, select the destination that matches your log servers, such as Remote Syslog, Splunk, or ArcSight.
  5. Click
    Finished
    .

Creating a custom DoS protection logging profile

Create a custom logging profile to log DoS Protection events and send the log messages to a specific location.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Security
    Event Logs
    Logging Profiles
    .
    The Logging Profiles list screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The Create New Logging Profile screen opens.
  3. In the Logging Profile Properties, select the
    DoS Protection
     check box.
    The DoS Protection tab opens.
  4. In the DNS DoS Protection area, from the
    Publisher
     list, select the publisher that the BIG-IP system uses to log DNS DoS events.
    You can specify publishers for other DoS types in the same profile, for example, for SIP or Application DoS Protection.
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
Assign this custom DoS Protection Logging profile to a protected object.
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