NDR: Deploying a Virtual Sensor in Hyper-V

Notice

• This guide is intended to serve as an example only. Users must modify applicable details, such as IP addresses, subnets, and device names, to align with their specific environment.

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  Exercise caution when making changes to your firewall or environment, as unplanned modifications can result in downtime, depending on the complexity of the configuration and infrastructure.

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  Your experience may vary if you are using a different software version or a product from another brand or manufacturer. Please note that you are solely responsible for the configuration and management of your devices.

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Hyper-V Modular Sensor Deployment

Site Preparation

This process requires a Microsoft Hyper-V environment on a Windows server. Windows Server 2016 is the tested version.

You will need:

• Server switch with a physical network interface that supports promiscuous mode
• One IP address with access to a default gateway
• A Stellar Cyber license that can be applied to the sensor
• Open firewall ports for log ingestion
• Open firewall ports for Network Traffic, Sandbox, and IDS features, as necessary

Downloading Images

You can download the images for modular sensors using the link below.

• Download the modular sensor image from the following URL: aella-modular-ds-5.1.1.vhdx
• Our example assumes that the file has been downloaded into the local C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual hard disks\ folder.

Creating A Virtual Switch

The first step is to create a virtual switch through which the VM will communicate.

Use our example as a guideline, as you might be using a different software version.

1. Start the Hyper-V manager and open the Virtual Switch Manager from the right-hand sidebar. Select Create Virtual Switch then choose External Network. The resulting display is shown in the following image.

2. The next step is to select the physical network port that is to be used to connect to the outside world. The result will look similar to the sample in the following image.

Setting Promiscuous Mode

Promiscuous mode is used so that the sensor can monitor all traffic. This setting is not supported via the user interface so the following commands must be used via the PowerShell.

In this example the name of the switch is "External." This must be modified for the value actually used.

C:\Users\Administrator> $a = Get-VMSystemSwitchExtensionPortFeature -FeatureId 776e0ba7-94a1-41c8-8f28-951f524251b5

C:\Users\Administrator> $a.SettingData.MonitorMode = 2

C:\Users\Administrator> add-VMSwitchExtensionPortFeature -ExternalPort -SwitchName <name of the switch> -VMSwitchExtensionFeature $a

Creating a New VM

1. Return to the Hyper-V manager and select Action | New | Virtual Machine.

2. Specify a name for the new sensor. This can be any legal VM name but it is recommended to adopt a site convention so that the name identifies the type of sensor. The screen will look similar to the following image.

3. Enter the Generation parameter. The guest Operating System is a 64-bit OS so "Generation 1" is a good choice as shown in the following image.

4. Next, assign memory according to the sensor's expected workload, as stated in Virtual Appliance Sizing Specifications section.

5. Configure the Management network interface. You can either enter a static IP or configure using a DHCP server. This is the interface that will be used for the sensor to send its Interflow data records to the data processor. The networking is selected as in the following image.

6. Connect the Virtual Disk image that was downloaded in the site preparation mentioned above. In the dialog box use the Use existing option as shown in the following image. If the image was placed in a different location adjust the Location field appropriately.

7. At this point the creation of the VM is complete and it should appear in the Hyper-V Manager screen in a manner similar to the following image.

Changing the Processor Setting

Before activating the VM, it needs to have the proper number of CPU cores allocated to it. Select the VM in the list and click Settings | Processor menu options.

• In the resulting dialog box, change the number of processors according to the sensor's expected workload, as stated in Virtual Appliance Sizing Specifications section.

Ensure that Processor Compatibility Mode is Disabled

Stellar Cyber sensors deployed in Hyper-V must have the processor compatibility feature disabled to ensure that the SSSE3 instruction set can be used and that aella_flow runs properly. Although the sensor VM starts and appears to run correctly with processor compatibility enabled, stability issues will eventually occur due to high CPU usage.

You can verify that processor compatibility mode is disabled in the same dialog box where you just assigned CPU cores:

1. Expand the Processor entry in the left pane of the Settings dialog box.
2. Click on the Compatibility entry.
3. Ensure that Migrate to a physical computer with a different processor is disabled and click OK.
4. The image below shows you the option that must be disabled for Stellar Cyber sensors:

Adding an Interface

1. The aggregator requires a connection to the virtual switch that we created in the first steps. Click Add Hardware | Network Adapter as shown in the following image. Note that you can only add a network adapter to the VM while it is powered off.

2. After the interface is created, select the virtual switch that was created in the first steps of this procedure.

3. Expand the associated network adapter and click Advanced Features. Set the mirroring mode of the aggregator to Destination. This is shown in the following image.

4. When you have finished adding the interface, power the VM on.