Install the Windows-Based User-ID Agent
Focus
Focus

Install the Windows-Based User-ID Agent

Table of Contents
End-of-Life (EoL)

Install the Windows-Based User-ID Agent

The following procedure shows how to install the User-ID agent on a member server in the domain and set up the service account with the required permissions. If you are upgrading, the installer will automatically remove the older version; however, it is a good idea to back up the config.xml file before running the installer.
For information about the system requirements for installing the Windows-based User-ID agent and for information on supported server OS versions, refer to the User-ID agent release notes and the Palo Alto Networks Compatibility Matrix.
  1. Create a dedicated Active Directory service account for the User-ID agent to access the services and hosts it will monitor to collect user mappings.
    Create a Dedicated Service Account for the User-ID Agent and grant the necessary permissions for the Windows User-ID agent.
    1. Enable the service account to log on as a service by configuring either local or group policy.
      1. To configure the group policy if you are installing Windows-based User-ID agents on multiple servers, select
        Group Policy Management
        Default Domain Policy
        Computer Configuration
        Policies
        Windows Settings
        Security Settings
        Local Policies
        User Rights Assignment
        for the Windows server that is the agent host.
      2. Right-click
        Log on as a service
        , then select
        Properties
        .
      3. Add the service account username or builtin group (Administrators have this privilege by default).
      The permission to log on as a service is only needed locally on the Windows server that is the agent host. If you are using only one User-ID agent, you can grant the permissions locally on the agent host using the following instructions.
      1. To assign permissions locally, select
        Control Panel
        Administrative Tools
        Local Security Policy
        .
      2. Select
        Local Policies
        User Rights Assignment
        Log on as a service
        .
      3. Add User or Group
        to add the service account.
      4. Enter the service account name in
        domain\username
        format in the
        Enter the object names to select
        entry field and click
        OK
        .
      To confirm the service account name is valid,
      Check Names
      .
    2. If you want to use server monitoring to identify users, add the service account to the Event Log Reader builtin group to enable privileges for reading the security log events.
      1. On the domain controller or Exchange server that contains the logs you want the User-ID agent to read, or on the member server that receives events from Windows log forwarding, run the MMC and launch the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
      2. Navigate to the Builtin folder for the domain, right-click the
        Event Log Reader
        group and select
        Add to Group
        to open the properties dialog.
      3. Click
        Add
        and enter the name of the service account that you configured the User-ID service to use and then click
        Check Names
        to validate that you have the proper object name.
      4. Click
        OK
        twice to save the settings.
      5. Confirm that the builtin Event Log Reader group lists the service account as a member.
    3. Assign account permissions to the installation folder to allow the service account to access the agent’s installation folder to read the configuration and write logs.
      You only need to perform this step if the service account you configured for the User-ID agent is not either a domain administrator or a local administrator on the User-ID agent server host.
      1. From the Windows Explorer, navigate to
        C:\Program Files(x86)\Palo Alto Networks
        , right-click the folder, and select
        Properties
        .
      2. On the
        Security
        tab, click
        Edit
        .
      3. Add
        the User-ID agent service account and assign it permissions to
        Modify
        ,
        Read & execute
        ,
        List folder contents
        ,
        Read
        , and
        Write
        , and then click
        OK
        to save the account settings.
      If you want to allow the service account to access the User-ID agent’s registry keys,
      Allow
      the
      Full Control
      permission.
    4. Give the service account permissions to the User-ID Agent registry sub-tree:
      1. Run
        regedt32
        and navigate to the Palo Alto Networks sub-tree in the following location:
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Palo Alto Networks
        .
      2. Right-click the Palo Alto Networks node and select
        Permissions
        .
      3. Assign the User-ID service account
        Full Control
        and then click
        OK
        to save the setting.
  2. Decide where to install the User-ID agent.
    The User-ID agent queries the Domain Controller and Exchange server logs using Microsoft Remote Procedure Calls (MSRPCs). During the initial connection, the agent transfers the most recent 50,000 events from the log to map users. On each subsequent connection, the agent transfers events with a timestamp later than the last communication with the domain controller. Therefore, always install one or more User-ID agents at each site that has servers to be monitored.
    • You must install the User-ID agent on a system running one of the supported OS versions: see “Operating System (OS) Compatibility User-ID Agent” in the Compatibility Matrix. The system must also meet the minimum requirements (see the User-ID agent release notes).
    • Make sure the system that will host the User-ID agent is a member of the same domain as the servers it will monitor.
    • As a best practice, install the User-ID agent close to the servers it will be monitoring: there is more traffic between the User-ID agent and the monitored servers than there is between the User-ID agent and the firewall, so locating the agent close to the monitored servers optimizes bandwidth usage.
    • To ensure the most comprehensive mapping of users, you must monitor all domain controllers that process authentication for users you want to map. You might need to install multiple User-ID agents to efficiently monitor all of your resources.
    • If you are using the User-ID agent for credential detection, you must install it on the read-only domain controller (RODC). As a best practice deploy a separate agent for this purpose. Do not use the User-ID agent installed on the RODC to map IP addresses to users. The User-ID agent installer for credential detection is named
      UaCredInstall64-x.x.x.msi
      .
  3. Download the User-ID agent installer.
    Install the User-ID agent version that is the same as the PAN-OS version running on the firewalls. If there is not a User-ID agent version that matches the PAN-OS version, install the latest version that is closest to the PAN-OS version.
    1. Select
      Updates
      Software Updates
      .
    2. Set
      Filter By
      to
      User Identification Agent
      and select the version of the User-ID agent you want to install from the corresponding Download column. The file name uses the following format:
      UaInstall-x.x.x.msi
      (where
      x
      represents the version number). For example, to download the 10.0 version of the User-ID agent, select
      UaInstall-10.0.0-0.msi
      .
      If you are using the User-ID agent for credential detection, make sure you download the
      UaCredInstall64-x.x.x.msi
      file instead. Only download and install the
      UaCredInstall64-x.x.x.msi
      if you are using the User-ID agent for credential detection.
    3. Save the file on the systems where you plan to install the agent.
  4. Run the installer as an administrator.
    1. Open the Windows
      Start
      menu, right-click the
      Command Prompt
      program, and select
      Run as administrator
      .
    2. From the command line, run the .msi file you downloaded. For example, if you saved the .msi file to the Desktop, enter the following:
      C:\Users\administrator.acme>cd Desktop
      C:\Users\administrator.acme\Desktop>UaInstall-6.0.0-1.msi
    3. Follow the setup prompts to install the agent using the default settings. By default, the agent gets installed to
      C:\Program Files(x86)\Palo Alto Networks
      , but you can
      Browse
      to a different location.
    4. When the installation completes,
      Close
      the setup window.
  5. Launch the User-ID Agent application as an administrator.
    Open the Windows
    Start
    menu, right-click the
    User-ID Agent
    program, and select
    Run as administrator
    .
    You must run the User-ID Agent application as an administrator to install the application, commit configuration changes, or uninstall the application.
  6. (
    Optional
    ) Change the service account that the User-ID agent uses to log in.
    By default, the agent uses the administrator account used to install the .msi file. To change the account to a restricted account:
    1. Select
      User Identification
      Setup
      and click
      Edit
      .
    2. Select the
      Authentication
      tab and enter the service account name that you want the User-ID agent to use in the
      User name for Active Directory
      field.
    3. Enter the
      Password
      for the specified account.
    4. Commit
      the changes to the User-ID agent configuration to restart the service using the service account credentials.
  7. (
    Optional
    ) Assign your own certificates for mutual authentication between the Windows User-ID agent and the firewall.
    1. Obtain your certificate for the Windows User-ID agent using one of the following methods. Upload the server certificate in Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) format and the server certificate’s encrypted key.
      • Generate a Certificate and export it for upload to the Windows User-ID agent.
      • Export a certificate from your enterprise certificate authority (CA) and the upload it to the Windows User-ID agent.
    2. Add a server certificate to Windows User-ID agent.
      1. On the Windows User-ID agent, select
        Server Certificate
        and click
        Add
        .
      2. Enter the path and name of the certificate file received from the CA or browse to the certificate file.
      3. Enter the private key passphrase.
      4. Click
        OK
        and then
        Commit
        .
    3. Upload a certificate to the firewall to validate the Windows User-ID agent’s identity.
    4. Configure the certificate profile for the client device (firewall or Panorama).
      1. Select
        Device
        Certificate Management
        Certificate Profile
        .
      2. You can only assign one certificate profile for Windows User-ID agents and Terminal Server (TS) agents. Therefore, your certificate profile must include all certificate authorities that issued certificates uploaded to connected User-ID and TS agents.
    5. Assign the certificate profile on the firewall.
      1. Select
        Device
        User Identification
        Connection Security
        and click the edit button.
      2. Select the
        User-ID Certificate Profile
        you configured in the previous step.
      3. Click
        OK
        .
    6. Commit
      your changes.
  8. To use the Windows-based User-ID agent to detect credential submissions and Prevent Credential Phishing, you must install the User-ID credential service on the Windows-based User-ID agent. You can only install this add-on on a read-only domain controller (RODC).

Recommended For You