Automated ELK Stack Deployment

The files in this repository were used to configure the network depicted below.

These files have been tested and used to generate a live ELK deployment on Azure. They can be used to either recreate the entire deployment pictured above. Alternatively, select portions of the Azure Network file may be used to install only certain pieces of it, such as Filebeat.

This document contains the following details:

• Description of the Topology
• Access Policies
• ELK Configuration
  • Beats in Use
  • Machines Being Monitored
• How to Use the Ansible Build

Description of the Topology

The main purpose of this network is to expose a load-balanced and monitored instance of DVWA, the D*mn Vulnerable Web Application.

Load balancing ensures that the application will be highly functional, in addition to restricting heavy traffic to the network.

• What aspect of security do load balancers protect?
  • they prevent help DDos attacks and keep network traffic flowing smoothly
• What is the advantage of a jump box?
  • it is a secure computer used exclusively for admin tasks, so there is less to worry about in terms of locating a security threat

Integrating an ELK server allows users to easily monitor the vulnerable VMs for changes to the data and system logs.

• What does Filebeat watch for?
  • Filebeat monitors the log files or locations that you specify, collects log events, and forwards them either to Elasticsearch or Logstash for indexing
• What does Metricbeat record?
  • Metricbeat takes the metrics and statistics that it collects and ships them to the output that you specify, such as Elasticsearch or Logstash. Metricbeat helps you monitor your servers by collecting metrics from the system and services running on the server

The configuration details of each machine may be found below.

Namr	Function	IP Address	Operating System
Jump-Box-Provisioner	Gateway	10.0.0.4(Private), 20.124.252.153(Public)	Linux
ELK	Server	10.2.0.4(Private), 52.173.207.206(Public)	Linux
Web-1	Server	10.0.0.5(Private), 20.121.2.91(Public)	Linux
Web-2	Server	10.0.0.6(Private), 20.121.2.91(Public)	Linux

Access Policies

The machines on the internal network are not exposed to the public Internet.

Only the Jump-Box-Provisioner machine can accept connections from the Internet. Access to this machine is only allowed from the following IP addresses:

• 107.11.54.228

Machines within the network can only be accessed by Jump-Box_Provisioner.

• Which machine did you allow to access your ELK VM?
  • Jump-Box-Provisioner
• What was its IP address?
  • 10.0.0.4

A summary of the access policies in place can be found in the table below.

Name	Publicly Accessible	Allowed IP Addresses
Jump-Box-Provisioner	Yes	107.11.54.228
ELK	No	10.0.0.4
Web-1	No	10.0.0.4
Web-2	No	10.0.0.4

Elk Configuration

Ansible was used to automate configuration of the ELK machine. No configuration was performed manually, which is advantageous because...

• What is the main advantage of automating configuration with Ansible?
  • YAML Playbooks, which are great tools for configuration and automoation

The playbook implements the following tasks:

• In 3-5 bullets, explain the steps of the ELK installation play. E.g., install Docker; download image; etc.

  • Install docker.io
  • Install pip3
  • Install Docker python module
  • Download and launch docker

The following screenshot displays the result of running docker ps after successfully configuring the ELK instance.

Target Machines & Beats

This ELK server is configured to monitor the following machines:

Name	IP Address
Web-1	10.0.0.5
Web-2	10.0.0.6

We have installed the following Beats on these machines:

• filebeat

• metricbeat

These Beats allow us to collect the following information from each machine:

• Filebeat collects log files and their data, examples include files that are generated by Apache and Microsoft Azure.

• Metricbeat collects physical machine and hardware metrics, such as uptime and CPU usage

Using the Playbook

In order to use the playbook, you will need to have an Ansible control node already configured. Assuming you have such a control node provisioned:

SSH into the control node and follow the steps below:

1. Copy the .config.yml file to /etc/ansible/roles/files.
2. Update the config.yml file to include the ELK private IP in lines 1106 and 1806.
3. Run the playbook, and navigate to ELK_VM to check that the installation worked as expected.

Answer the following questions to fill in the blanks:__

• Which file is the playbook? Where do you copy it?
  • playbook.yml, /etc/ansible/roles
• Which file do you update to make Ansible run the playbook on a specific machine? *
• How do I specify which machine to install the ELK server on versus which to install Filebeat on?
  • specify two separate groups in the etc/ansible/hosts file. webservers where Filebeat will be installed and elkservers which will have the IP of the ELK VM
• Which URL do you navigate to in order to check that the ELK server is running?
  • http://52.173.207.206:5601

• As a Bonus, provide the specific commands the user will need to run to download the playbook, update the files, etc.