Configure Syslog Monitoring
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Configure Syslog Monitoring

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Configure Syslog Monitoring

To Use Syslog for Monitoring a Palo Alto Networks firewall, create a Syslog server profile and assign it to the log settings for each log type. Optionally, you can configure the header format used in syslog messages and enable client authentication for syslog over TLSv1.2.
For CEF-formated syslog events collection, you must edit the default syslog configuration. The default
syslog monitoring configuration is not supported for CEF syslog events collection.
  1. Configure a Syslog server profile.
    You can use separate profiles to send syslogs for each log type to a different server. To increase availability, define multiple servers (up to four) in a single profile.
    1. Select
      Device
      Server Profiles
      Syslog
      .
    2. Click
      Add
      and enter a
      Name
      for the profile.
    3. If the firewall has more than one virtual system (vsys), select the
      Location
      (vsys or
      Shared
      ) where this profile is available.
    4. For each syslog server, click
      Add
      and enter the information that the firewall requires to connect to it:
      • Name
        —Unique name for the server profile.
      • Syslog Server
        —IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the syslog server.
        If you configure an FQDN and use
        UDP
        transport, if the firewall cannot resolve the FQDN, the firewall uses the existing IP address resolution for the FQDN as the
        Syslog Server
        address.
      • Transport
        —Select
        TCP
        ,
        UDP
        , or
        SSL
        (TLS) as the protocol for communicating with the syslog server. For
        SSL
        , the firewall supports only TLSv1.2.
      • Port
        —The port number on which to send syslog messages (default is UDP on port 514); you must use the same port number on the firewall and the syslog server.
      • Format
        —Select the syslog message format to use:
        BSD
        (the default) or
        IETF
        . Traditionally,
        BSD
        format is over UDP and
        IETF
        format is over TCP or SSL/TLS.
      • Facility
        —Select a syslog standard value (default is
        LOG_USER
        ) to calculate the priority (PRI) field in your syslog server implementation. Select the value that maps to how you use the PRI field to manage your syslog messages.
    5. (
      Optional
      ) To customize the format of the syslog messages that the firewall sends, select the
      Custom Log Format
      tab. For details on how to create custom formats for the various log types, refer to the Common Event Format Configuration Guide.
    6. Click
      OK
      to save the server profile.
  2. Configure syslog forwarding for Traffic, Threat, and WildFire Submission logs.
    1. Configure the firewall to forward logs. For more information, see Step Create a Log Forwarding profile.
      1. Select
        Objects
        Log Forwarding
        , click
        Add
        , and enter a
        Name
        to identify the profile.
      2. For each log type and each severity level or WildFire verdict, select the
        Syslog
        server profile and click
        OK
        .
    2. Assign the log forwarding profile to a security policy to trigger log generation and forwarding. For more information, See Step Assign the Log Forwarding profile to policy rules and network zones.
      1. Select
        Policies
        Security
        and select a policy rule.
      2. Select the
        Actions
        tab and select the
        Log Forwarding
        profile you created.
      3. In the
        Profile Type
        drop-down, select
        Profiles
        or
        Groups
        , and then select the security profiles or
        Group Profiles
        required to trigger log generation and forwarding.
      4. For Traffic logs, select one or both of the
        Log at Session Start
        and
        Log At Session End
        check boxes, and click
        OK
        .
      For detailed information about configuring a log forwarding profile and assigning the profile to a policy rule, see Configure Log Forwarding.
  3. Configure syslog forwarding for System, Config, HIP Match, and Correlation logs.
    1. Select
      Device
      Log Settings
      .
    2. For System and Correlation logs, click each Severity level, select the
      Syslog
      server profile, and click
      OK
      .
    3. For Config, HIP Match, and Correlation logs, edit the section, select the
      Syslog
      server profile, and click
      OK
      .
  4. (
    Optional
    ) Configure the header format of syslog messages.
    The log data includes the unique identifier of the firewall that generated the log. Choosing the header format provides more flexibility in filtering and reporting on the log data for some Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) servers.
    This is a global setting and applies to all Syslog server profiles configured on the firewall.
    1. Select
      Device
      Setup
      Management
      and edit the Logging and Reporting Settings.
    2. Select the
      Log Export and Reporting
      tab and select the Syslog HOSTNAME Format:
      • FQDN
        (default)—Concatenates the hostname and domain name defined on the sending firewall.
      • hostname
        —Uses the hostname defined on the sending firewall.
      • ipv4-address
        —Uses the IPv4 address of the firewall interface used to send logs. By default, this is the MGT interface.
      • ipv6-address
        —Uses the IPv6 address of the firewall interface used to send logs. By default, this is the MGT interface.
      • none
        —Leaves the hostname field unconfigured on the firewall. There is no identifier for the firewall that sent the logs.
    3. Click
      OK
      to save your changes.
  5. Create a certificate to secure syslog communication over TLSv1.2.
    Required only if the syslog server uses client authentication. The syslog server uses the certificate to verify that the firewall is authorized to communicate with the syslog server.
    Ensure the following conditions are met:
    • The private key must be available on the sending firewall; the keys can’t reside on a Hardware Security Module (HSM).
    • The subject and the issuer for the certificate must not be identical.
    • The syslog server and the sending firewall must have certificates that the same trusted certificate authority (CA) signed. Alternatively, you can generate a self-signed certificate on the firewall, export the certificate from the firewall, and import it in to the syslog server.
    • The connection to a Syslog server over TLS is validated using the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) or using Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL) so long as each certificate in the trust chain specifies one or both of these extensions. However, you cannot bypass OCSP or CRL failures so you must ensure that the certificate chain is valid and that you can verify each certificate using OCSP or CRL.
    1. Select
      Device
      Certificate Management
      Certificates
      Device Certificates
      and click
      Generate
      .
    2. Enter a
      Name
      for the certificate.
    3. In the
      Common Name
      field, enter the IP address of the firewall sending logs to the syslog server.
    4. In
      Signed by
      , select the trusted CA or the self-signed CA that the syslog server and the sending firewall both trust.
      The certificate can’t be a
      Certificate Authority
      nor an
      External Authority
      (certificate signing request [CSR]).
    5. Click
      Generate
      . The firewall generates the certificate and key pair.
    6. Click the certificate Name to edit it, select the
      Certificate for Secure Syslog
      check box, and click
      OK
      .
  6. Commit your changes and review the logs on the syslog server.
    1. Click
      Commit
      .
    2. To review the logs, refer to the documentation of your syslog management software. You can also review the Syslog Field Descriptions.
  7. (
    Optional
    ) Configure the firewall to terminate the connection to the syslog server upon FQDN refresh.
    When you configure a syslog server profile using a FQDN, the firewall maintains its connection to the syslog server by default in the event of an FQDN name change. This is supported on PAN-OS 10.0.8 and later releases.
    For example, you have replaced an existing syslog server with a new syslog server that uses a different FQDN name. If you want the firewall to connect to the new syslog server using a new FQDN name, you can configure the firewall to automatically terminate its connection to the old syslog server and establish a connection to the new syslog server using the new FQDN name.
    1. Configure the firewall to terminate the connection to the syslog server upon FQDN refresh.
      admin>
      set syslogng fqdn-refresh yes

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