FortiSIEM Windows Agent

FortiSIEM Windows Agents provides a scalable way to collect logs and other audit violations from a large number of Windows servers.

This section describes how to install, setup, maintain and troubleshoot FortiSIEM Windows Agent 3.3.0.

Prerequisites
Installing Windows Agent
Installing Windows Agent Without Supervisor Communication
Managing Windows Agent
Configuring Windows Servers for FortiSIEM Agents
Configuring Monitoring Policies in FortiSIEM
Verifying Windows Events in FortiSIEM
Uninstalling Windows Agent
REST APIs used for Communication
Troubleshooting from Windows Agent
Sample Windows Agent Logs

Prerequisites

Ensure that the following prerequisites are met before installing FortiSIEM Windows Agent:

Supported Operating Systems
Supported Languages
Hardware Requirements
Software Requirements
Communication Ports
Other Installation Considerations

Supported Operating Systems

FortiSIEM Windows Agent 3.3.0 runs on the following Operating Systems:

Windows 7 Enterprise/Professional
Windows 8
Windows 10
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2019 Core

Supported Languages

All languages in which the Windows Operating System is available are supported.

Hardware Requirements

Component	Requirement
CPU	x86 or x64 (or compatible) at 2 GHz or higher
Hard Disk Free space	10 GB (minimum)
Server Operating System	- Windows Server 2008 R2 and above (strongly recommended) - Desktop Operating System: Windows 7, 8,10 and above
RAM	- For 32 bit OS: 2 GB for Windows 7, 8, 10 minimum - For 64 bit OS: 4 GB for Windows 7, 8, 10, Windows Server 2008 / 2012 minimum

Software Requirements

Component	Requirement	Notes
Installed Software	.NET Framework 4.5	.NET Framework 4.5 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30653, and is already available on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Communication Ports

FortiSIEM Windows Agent 3.3.0 communicates outbound via HTTPS with Supervisor and Collectors.

The Agent registers to the Supervisor and periodically receives monitoring template updates if any, via HTTP(S).
The Agent then forwards the events to the Collectors via HTTP(S).

Ensure that Firewalls, if any, between the Agents and Supervisor/Collector permit HTTP(S) traffic on port 443.

Other Installation Considerations

Beginning with Windows Agent release 3.0:

Agents must upload event data to a Collector. Therefore, minimum architecture is one Super appliance and one Collector appliance.
The Collector must be installed as IPv4 only. Dual stack IPv4/IPv6 or IPv6 Collectors are not supported with Agents.
Enable TLS 1.2 for Windows Agent to communicate with FortiSIEM Super/Worker/Collector nodes. Without TLS 1.2 enabled, Windows Agent installation will fail. By default, SSL3 / TLS 1.0 is enabled in Windows 7, 8 and 2008-R2. Before proceeding with the Windows Agent installation, please enable TLS 1.2 (if not already enabled) as follows:
1. Start elevated Command Prompt (i.e., with administrative privilege)
2. Run the following commands sequentially as shown.
  REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Client" /v DisabledByDefault /t
  REG_DWORD /d 00000000

Installing Windows Agent

Before installing FortiSIEM Agent on FortSIEM Nodes, you must do detailed performance testing since FortSIEM nodes consume significant CPU to process a high volume of events in real-time.

During installation, the Windows Agent will register with FortiSIEM Supervisor.

The required parameters are:

SUPER_IP: IP Address or Host name/FQDN of Supervisor node
ORG_ID: FortiSIEM Organization Id to which this Agent belongs
ORG_NAME: FortiSIEM Organization Name
AGENT_USER: Agent user name (for registration only)
AGENT_PASSWORD: Agent password (for registration only)

The optional parameters are:

HOST_NAME: This name will be displayed in FortiSIEM CMDB. If this is not specified, the agent will try to discover the host name

For Service Provider installations, the Agent user name and password is defined in the Organization. See here for details.

For Enterprise installations, Agent user name and password is defined in CMDB > User page. You must create a user and check Agent Admin. See here for details.

Follow the steps below to install FortiSIEM Windows Agent:

Log in to the Windows machine where Windows Agent will be installed.
Copy Windows Agent 3.3.0 binaries: AoWinAgt-x64.msi or AoWinAgt-x86.msi and InstallSettings.xml to the same folder.
Obtain the Organization ID, Organization Name and Agent registration credentials.
1. When using the multi-tennant version of FortiSIEM, follow these substeps to find these items:
  1. Log in to FortiSIEM in Super Global mode as Admin user.
  2. Go to ADMIN > Setup > Organizations and locate the Organization (ID, Name) to which this Agent belongs. If not present, create an Organization.
  3. Locate the Agent Registration User and Password for the Organization. If not present, define them.
2. When using the Enterprise version of FortiSIEM, use “1” for the Organization ID and “super” for the Organization Name.
If the InstallSettings.xml file was not included with your distribution, then create it:
1. Use your favorite text editor to create an XML file named InstallSettings.xml in the same folder where you copied the Windows Agent binaries. Use the following code as a template.
2. Provide the values for the Organization name (ORG_NAME) the Agent Registration User name (AGENT_USER) and Password (AGENT_PASSWORD) from step #3.
  Note that <HostName>test.abcd.com</HostName> is an optional value and can be omitted. This field is used to override the default system hostname. If this field is omitted, then the actual hostname of the device is used.
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
	<InstallConfig Version="1">
	  <Org>
	    <ID>ORG_ID</ID>
	    <Name>ORG_NAME</Name>
	  </Org>
	  <Super>
	    <Name>SUPER_IP</Name>
	    <Port>443</Port>
	  </Super>
```
```
    <HostName>test.abcd.com</HostName>
```
```
    <Registration>
	    <Username>ORG_NAME/AGENT_USER</Username>
	    <Password>AGENT_PASSWORD</Password>
         </Registration>
	  <Proxy>
	    <Server></Server>
	    <Port></Port>
	  </Proxy>
	  <SSLCertificate>ignore</SSLCertificate>
	</InstallConfig> 
```
Install the Agent:
1. Log in to the Windows machine as Administrator.
2. Make sure that the MSI in step #2 and InstallSettings.xml in step #4, are in the same folder.
3. Double-click the MSI package and the installation process will start.
  If any settings errors are detected, the install process will fail; else it will succeed. The Agent will register to the Supervisor and start running.
Check CMDB for successful registration:
1. Log in to FortiSIEM in Super Global mode as Admin user.
2. Go to CMDB and search for the Agent Host name.
3. Check the Status column.
Make sure the Templates and Host to Template association policies are defined for this Host:
1. Log in to FortiSIEM in Super Global mode.
2. Go to ADMIN > Setup > Windows Agent and make sure the templates and host to template associations are defined.
  One of the host-to-template association policies must match this agent. The first matched policy will be selected.

Installing Windows Agent Without Supervisor Communication

In typical installations, FortiSIEM Agents register to the Supervisor node, but send the events by using the Collector. In many MSSP situations, customers do not want Agents to directly communicate with the Supervisor node. This requirement can be satisfied by setting up the Collector as an HTTPS proxy between the Agent and the Supervisor. This section describes the required configurations.

Step 1: Setup the Collector as an HTTPS Proxy
Step 2: Install Agents to Work with the Collector

Step 1: Setup the Collector as an HTTPS Proxy

Follow these steps to setup the Collector as an HTTPS proxy:

Log in to the Collector.
Go to /etc/httpd/conf.d.
Create the configuration file agent-proxy.conf with the content below.
Restart httpd, for example:
service httpd restart

agent-proxy.conf Content

ProxyPass /phoenix/rest/register/windowsAgent https://{actual IP address of the Supervisor node}/phoenix/rest/register/windowsAgent

ProxyPassReverse /phoenix/rest/register/windowsAgent https://{actual IP address of the Supervisor node}/phoenix/rest/register/windowsAgent

ProxyPass /phoenix/rest/windowsAgent/update https://{actual IP address of the Supervisor node}/phoenix/rest/windowsAgent/update

ProxyPassReverse /phoenix/rest/windowsAgent/update https://{actual IP address of the Supervisor node}/phoenix/rest/windowsAgent/update

SSLProxyEngine on

SSLProxyVerify none

SSLProxyCheckPeerCN off

SSLProxyCheckPeerExpire off

Step 2: Install Agents to Work with the Collector

Follow these steps to install the Windows Agents to work with the Collector.

If you already have agents registered with the Supervisor, then uninstall them.
Re-install the Windows Agents, following the instructions here. During installation, set the Supervisor IP to the IP address of the Collector node.

Managing Windows Agent

Stopping Agent

Log in to the Windows machine where the Agent is installed.
Go to Services > FortiSIEM Windows Agent.
Stop FortiSIEM Windows Agent service.

Starting Agent

Log in to the Windows machine where the Agent is installed.
Go to Services > FortiSIEM Windows Agent.
Start FortiSIEM Windows Agent service.

Configuring Windows Servers for FortiSIEM Agents

Configuring Windows Sysmon
Configuring Windows DNS
Configuring Windows DHCP
Configuring Windows IIS
Configuring Event Forwarding
Configuring Auditing Policies
Enabling FIPS

Configuring Windows Sysmon

The supported Sysmon versions are 5.02 and above. The latest Sysmon download instructions are available here.

Log in to the Windows machine.
Download the popular Sysmon configuration file and save it as https://github.com/SwiftOnSecurity/sysmon-config/blob/master/sysmonconfig-export.xml
Save the configuration file as sysmonconfig.xml
Check whether the Sysmon executable is installed or not by running: Sysmon64.exe -c
1. If Sysmon is running, update the Sysmon configuration by using the command with administrator rights: sysmon.exe -c sysmonconfig.xml
2. If Sysmon is not available on the system, download and install using the command with administrator rights: sysmon.exe -accepteula -i sysmonconfig.xml
Check the new configuration using the command: Sysmon64.exe -c
Check for Sysmon events:
1. Go to EventViewer > Applications and Service Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Sysmon > Operational.
2. Check for Sysmon logs on the right panel.
3. Right-click on Operational and choose Properties.
4. Note the Full Name (typically 'Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational') for FortiSIEM configuration.

Configuring Windows DNS

Follow the steps below to configure DNS server:

Log in to the Windows machine.
Configure DNS logging:
1. Launch DNS Manager.
2. Select the specific DNS Server and click Properties.
3. On Debug Logging tab, enable Log packets for debugging.
4. Specify the log file name and path, for example C:\DNSLogs.log.
Check for DNS logs. If logs are present, FortiSIEM Agent will automatically collect these logs.
1. Go to EventViewer > Applications and Service Logs > DNS Server.
2. Check for DNS logs on the right panel.

Configuring Windows DHCP

Follow the steps below to configure DHCP server:

Log in to the Windows machine.
Configure DHCP logging:
1. Launch DHCP Manager.
2. Select the specific DHCP Server and click IPv4 > Properties.
3. Enable DHCP Audit Logging.
Check for DHCP events. If logs are present, FortiSIEM Agent will automatically collect these logs:
1. Go to EventViewer > Applications and Service Logs > Microsoft > Windows > DHCP Server.
2. Check for DHCP logs on the right panel.

Configuring Windows IIS

Follow these steps to configure the IIS Server:

Log in to the Windows machine.
Configure IIS logging:
1. Launch IIS Manager.
  - From the Start menu, click Programs or All Programs, and point to Administrative Tools.
  - On Administrative Tools, Click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Select the specific IIS Server and click the Logging icon on the panel on the right side.
3. Specify the log path if default path (%SystemDrive%\inetpub\logs\LogFiles) does not exist.
4. Ensure that all the W3C fields are selected for logging.
Check for IIS events. If logs are present, FortiSIEM Agent will automatically collect these logs:
1. Go to IIS logs default path, example: C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\.
2. Check for IIS traffic logs.

Configuring Windows Event Forwarding

Using Windows Event Forwarding, it is possible for Windows Servers (called Event Source Computers) to forward events to a central Windows Server where FortiSIEM Windows Agent (called Event Collector Computer) is running. The Agent can then send to FortiSIEM Collector/Worker/Supervisor nodes. This is an alternative to running FortiSIEM Agent on every Windows Server. The disadvantage of this approach is that only Windows (Security, application, and system) events can be collected in this way, while FortiSIEM native Agent can collect other information such as FIM, Custom log, Sysmon, etc. FortiSIEM can parse the forwarded Windows events so that the actual reporting Windows server is captured and all the attributes are parsed as sent by native agents.

Configuring Locale on Windows Servers
Configuring Source-Initiated Subscription

Configuring Locale on Windows Servers

Configure Locale on Windows 10
Configure Locale on Generic Servers

Configure Locale on Windows 10

To set the locale of Collector machine to en-US:

Go to the Windows Settings page.
Go to Time And Language, and choose the Language option.
Change the Windows Display Language to English (United States).
Select the Region option on the left.
Choose the option Additional Date, time & regional settings on the right side of the page.
Choose the option Region and open the Administrative tab.
Click the Change system locale... button and change the locale to English (United States) in the provided dialog box. Click OK.
In the Administrative tab, click the Copy Settings... button.
In that property page tab, select both check boxes: Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts. Click OK.
Restart your computer.

Configure Locale on Generic Servers

Go to the Control Panel.
Choose the Language option.
Select the language English (United States) and move it to top of the list.
Select the option Change date, time, or number formats on the left side of the page.
In this property page tab, select the Location tab and choose the Home Location as United States. Click Apply.
Select the Administrative tab.
Click Change system locale.... Change the locale to English (United States) in the provided dialog. Click OK.
In the Administrative tab, click Copy Settings....
In this property page tab, select both check boxes: Welcome screen and system accounts and New user accounts. Click OK.
Restart your computer.

Configuring Source-Initiated Subscription

Configure the Event Collector Computer
Configure the Event Source Computer
Configure the Domain Controller or Source Computer

Configure the Event Collector Computer

You must complete the following steps on the Event Collector computer where the FSM Agent is installed:

Open a command prompt in an elevated privilege (for example,Run as Administrator…) and run this command to configure the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service:
winrm qc -q
Run this command to configure the Windows Event Collector service:
wecutil qc /q
Copy and save the following XML in a file (Configuration.xml) and edit the values depending on your requirements or scenario.
The XML configuration will grant the Domain Computers and Network Service accounts as the local event forwarder for the source computers. The XML configuration will contain the language locale, which is same as the Collector computer's language locale.
<Subscription xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2006/03/windows/events/subscription">
<SubscriptionId>FwdSubscription</SubscriptionId>
<SubscriptionType>SourceInitiated</SubscriptionType>
<Description>Source Initiated Subscription</Description>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
<Uri>http://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/windows/EventLog</Uri>

<ConfigurationMode>Custom</ConfigurationMode>
<Delivery Mode="Push">
<Batching>
<MaxItems>1</MaxItems>
<MaxLatencyTime>1000</MaxLatencyTime>
</Batching>
<PushSettings>
<Heartbeat Interval="30000" />
</PushSettings>
</Delivery>
<Expires>2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z</Expires>
<Query>
<![CDATA[
<QueryList>
<Query Path="Security">
<Select>*</Select>
</Query>
</QueryList>]]>
</Query>
<ReadExistingEvents>true</ReadExistingEvents>
<TransportName>http</TransportName>
<ContentFormat>RenderedText</ContentFormat>
<Locale Language="en-US" />
<LogFile>ForwardedEvents</LogFile>
<AllowedSourceNonDomainComputers></AllowedSourceNonDomainComputers>
<AllowedSourceDomainComputers>O:NSG:NSD:(A;;GA;;;DC)(A;;GA;;;NS)</AllowedSourceDomainComputers>
</Subscription>
From the Command Prompt, enter the following command to create the subscription according to the specified XML configuration file:
wecutil cs Configuration.xml

From the Command Prompt, enter the following command to add an inbound and outbound exception in the firewall for port 5985 (http):

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=“Winrm HTTP Remote Management” protocol=TCP dir=in localport=5985 action=allow

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=“Winrm HTTP Remote Management” protocol=TCP dir=out remoteport=5985 action=allow

Configure the Event Source Computer

You must complete these steps on the Event Source computer.

Open a Command Prompt in an elevated privilege (for examle, Run as Administrator…) and run the following commands:

net localgroup "Event log readers" "NT Authority\Network Service" /add

net localgroup "Event log readers" "Domain Computers" /add

winrm qc -q

From the command prompt enter the following command to add an inbound and outbound exception in the firewall for port 5985 (http):

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=“Winrm HTTP Remote Management” protocol=TCP dir=in localport=5985 action=allow

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=“Winrm HTTP Remote Management” protocol=TCP dir=out remoteport=5985 action=allow

Configure the Domain Controller or Source Computer

The following policy changes must be performed on the Domain Controller (for domain environments) or Source Computers (for non-domain environments).

Run the local group policy editor (for non-domain environments) or the domain group policy editor (for domain environments).
Go to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Event Forwarding.
Open Configure target Subscription Manager.
Choose the Enabled option.
Click the Show... button beside SubscriptionManagers.
Add the value Server=http://<Collector FQDN>:5985/wsman/SubscriptionManager/WEC to the list and click OK.
In the Configure target Subscription Manager dialog box, click Apply and then OK.
Go to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Remote Management > WinRM Service.
Open Turn On Compatibility HTTP Listener.
Choose the option Enabled.
Click Apply and then OK.
Close the group policy editor.
Start the Command Prompt in admin mode and run the following command:
gpupdate /force

Configuring Auditing Policies

The following policy changes must be performed on the Domain Controller (for domain environments) or Source Computers (for non-domain environments).

Configure Security Audit Logging Policy
Configure File Auditing Policy
Configure Audit File System Policy

Configure Security Audit Logging Policy

Configure this policy to control Windows logging. Because Windows generates many security logs, specify the categories of events that you want to be logged and available for monitoring by FortiSIEM.

Log in to the machine where you want to configure the policy as an administrator.
Go to Programs > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
Expand Local Policies and select Audit Policy.
You will see the current security audit settings.
Select a policy and edit the Local Security Settings for the events you want to be audited. The recommended settings are:

Policy	Description	Settings
Audit account logon events and Audit logon events	For auditing log in activity.	Select Success and Failure.
Audit object access events	For auditing access to files and folders. There is an additional configuration requirement for specifying which files and folders, users and user actions will be audited. See the next section, Configuring File Auditing Policy.	Select Success and Failure.
Audit system events	Includes system up/down messages.

For an Enterprise Server's Domain Group Policy, make sure you set the following under Group Policy > Local Policies > Audit Policy:
Policy = Audit object access
Security Setting = Success or Failure

Configure File Auditing Policy

Configure this policy to see user meta data in file auditing events.

Log in to the machine where you want to set the policy with administrator privileges.
On a domain computer, a Domain administrator account is needed.
Open Windows Explorer, select the file you want to set the auditing policy for, right-click on it, and select Properties.
In the Security tab, click Advanced.
Select the Auditing tab, and click Add.
This button is labeled Edit in Windows 2008.
In the Select User or Group dialog, click Advanced, and find and select the users whose access to this file you want to monitor.
Click OK after adding the users.
In the Permissions tab, set the permissions for each user added.
The configuration is now complete. Windows will generate audit events when the users you specified take the actions specified on the files or folders for which you set the audit policies.

Configure Audit File System Policy

Configure this policy to enable change events for permission and/or ownership changes to files and/or directories. The policy will also upload the monitored files to FortiSIEM. This feature is available in FortiSIEM Windows Agent 3.2.

Complete these steps to enable Audit File System policy:

Log in, with administrator privileges, to the machine where you want to set the policy.
On a domain computer, you must have a Domain administrator account.
Go to Programs > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
Expand the Advanced Audit Policy Configuration node.
Expand System Audit Policies-Local Group Policy Object node.
You will see the current security audit settings.
Select Object Access.
Select Audit File System on the left side of the window.
Double-click Audit File System. In the pop-up window, select both Success and Failure under Configure the following audit events.
Click Apply, then OK.

The Audit File System Policy is now enabled. Reboot your system to apply the changes.

Enabling FIPS

Follow the steps below to enable FIPS on a Windows system:

Click Start > Run and enter the command secpol.msc to open the Local Security Policy window.
Select Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
In the right pane, double-click System cryptography: Use FIPS compliant algorithms for encryption, hashing, and signing and select Enabled.
Click Apply and then OK.

Configuring Monitoring Policies in FortiSIEM

After you have configured Windows Servers in the previous step (Configuring Windows Servers for FortiSIEM Agents), you must create monitoring policies in FortiSIEM. For more information, see Define the Windows Agent Monitor Templates and Associate Windows Agents to Templates in the FortiSIEM User's Guide.

Verifying Events in FortiSIEM

Follow the steps below to verify the events in FortiSIEM:

1. Go to ANALYTICS tab.
2. Click the Filters field.
3. Create the following condition: Attribute= Raw Event Log, Operator = CONTAIN, Value = AccelOps-WUA and click Save & Run.
  Note: All event types for all Windows Server generated logs are prefixed by AccelOps-WUA.
4. Select the following Group By:
  1. Reporting Device Name
  2. Reporting IP
5. Select the following Display Fields:
  1. Reporting Device Name
  2. Reporting IP
  3. COUNT(Matched Events)
6. Run the query for the last 15 minutes.
  The Query will return all hosts that reported events in the last 15 minutes.

Uninstalling Windows Agent

Follow the steps below to uninstall FortiSIEM Windows Agent:

Log in to the Windows machine where the Agent is installed.
Go to Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features.
Uninstall FortiSIEM Windows Agent.

REST APIs used for Communication

A Windows Agent uses the following REST APIs:

Purpose	URL	Notes
Registration to Supervisor	https://<SuperFQDN>:<port>/phoenix/rest/register/windowsAgent	Supported Port is 443
Status update to Supervisor	https://<SuperFQDN>:<port>/phoenix/rest/windowsAgent/update	Supported Port is 443
Event Upload to Collectors	https://<CollectorFQDNorIP>:<port>/winupload_direct?<AgentID>	Supported Port is 443

Troubleshooting from Windows Agent

The debugging information is available in two log files:

Agent Service logs are located in C:\ProgramData\AccelOps\Agent\Logs\AoWinAgt.log
Agent Application logs are located in C:\ProgramData\AccelOps\Agent\Logs\ProxyTrace.log

Sample Windows Agent Logs

For sample Windows Agent logs, see Sample Windows Agent Logs in the FortiSIEM User's Guide.