Suricata and Grafana Integration

Input and output integration overview

This plugin reports internal performance counters of the Suricata IDS/IPS engine and processes the incoming data to fit Telegraf’s format.

This plugin enables Telegraf to stream metrics directly to Grafana dashboards in real-time, leveraging Grafana Live for instantaneous data visualization and operational insights.

Integration details

Suricata

The Suricata plugin captures and reports internal performance metrics from the Suricata IDS/IPS engine, which includes a wide range of statistics such as traffic volume, memory usage, uptime, and counters for flows and alerts. This plugin listens for JSON-formatted log outputs from Suricata, allowing it to parse and format the data for integration with Telegraf. It operates as a service input plugin, meaning it actively waits for metrics or events from Suricata rather than collecting metrics at predefined intervals. The plugin supports configurations for different metrics versions allowing for enhanced flexibility and detailed data gathering.

Grafana

Telegraf can be used to send real-time data to Grafana using the Websocket output plugin. Metrics collected by Telegraf are instantly pushed to Grafana dashboards, enabling real-time visualization and analysis. This plugin is ideal for use cases where low latency, live data visualization is essential, such as operational monitoring, real-time analytics, and immediate incident response scenarios. It supports authentication headers, customizable data serialization formats (like JSON), and secure communication via TLS, offering flexibility and ease of integration in dynamic, interactive dashboard environments.

Configuration

Suricata

[[inputs.suricata]]
  ## Source
  ## Data sink for Suricata stats log. This is expected to be a filename of a
  ## unix socket to be created for listening.
  # source = "/var/run/suricata-stats.sock"

  ## Delimiter
  ## Used for flattening field keys, e.g. subitem "alert" of "detect" becomes
  ## "detect_alert" when delimiter is "_".
  # delimiter = "_"

  ## Metric version
  ## Version 1 only collects stats and optionally will look for alerts if
  ## the configuration setting alerts is set to true.
  ## Version 2 parses any event type message by default and produced metrics
  ## under a single metric name using a tag to differentiate between event
  ## types. The timestamp for the message is applied to the generated metric.
  ## Additional tags and fields are included as well.
  # version = "1"

  ## Alerts
  ## In metric version 1, only status is captured by default, alerts must be
  ## turned on with this configuration option. This option does not apply for
  ## metric version 2.
  # alerts = false

Grafana

[[outputs.websocket]]
  ## Grafana Live WebSocket endpoint
  url = "ws://localhost:3000/api/live/push/custom_id"

  ## Optional headers for authentication
  # [outputs.websocket.headers]
  #   Authorization = "Bearer YOUR_GRAFANA_API_TOKEN"

  ## Data format to send metrics
  data_format = "influx"

  ## Timeouts (make sure read_timeout is larger than server ping interval or set to zero).
  # connect_timeout = "30s"
  # write_timeout = "30s"
  # read_timeout = "30s"

  ## Optionally turn on using text data frames (binary by default).
  # use_text_frames = false

  ## TLS configuration
  # tls_ca = "/path/to/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/path/to/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/path/to/key.pem"
  # insecure_skip_verify = false

Input and output integration examples

Suricata

1. Network Traffic Analysis: Utilize the Suricata plugin to track detailed metrics about network intrusion attempts and performance, aiding in real-time threat detection and response. By visualizing captured alerts and flow statistics, security teams can quickly pinpoint vulnerabilities and mitigate risks.

2. Performance Monitoring Dashboard: Create a dashboard using the Suricata Telegraf plugin metrics to monitor the health and performance of the IDS/IPS engine. This use case provides an overview of memory usage, captured packets, and alert statistics, allowing teams to maintain optimal operating conditions.

3. Automated Security Reporting: Leverage the plugin to generate regular reports on alert statistics and traffic patterns, helping security analysts to identify long-term trends and prepare strategic defense initiatives. Automated reports also ensure that the security posture of the network is continually assessed.

4. Real-time Alert Handling: Integrate Suricata’s alert metrics within a broader incident response automation framework. By incorporating the inputs from the Suricata plugin, organizations can develop smart triggers for alerting and automated response workflows that enhance reaction times to potential threats.

Grafana

1. Real-Time Infrastructure Dashboards: Deploy Telegraf to stream server health metrics directly to Grafana dashboards, enabling IT teams to visualize infrastructure performance in real-time. This setup allows immediate detection and response to critical system events.

2. Interactive IoT Monitoring: Integrate IoT device metrics collected by Telegraf and push live data into Grafana, creating dynamic and interactive dashboards for monitoring smart city projects or manufacturing processes. This real-time visibility significantly enhances responsiveness and operational efficiency.

3. Instantaneous Application Performance Analysis: Stream application metrics in real-time from production environments into Grafana dashboards, enabling development teams to rapidly detect and diagnose performance bottlenecks or anomalies during deployments, minimizing downtime and improving reliability.

4. Live Event Analytics: Utilize Telegraf to capture and stream real-time audience or system metrics during major live events directly into Grafana dashboards. Event organizers can dynamically monitor and react to changing conditions or trends, significantly enhancing audience engagement and operational decision-making.

Feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.