Suricata and IoTDB 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 saves Telegraf metrics to an Apache IoTDB backend, supporting session connection and data insertion.

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.

IoTDB

Apache IoTDB (Database for Internet of Things) is an IoT native database with high performance for data management and analysis, deployable on the edge and the cloud. Its light-weight architecture, high performance, and rich feature set create a perfect fit for massive data storage, high-speed data ingestion, and complex analytics in the IoT industrial fields. IoTDB deeply integrates with Apache Hadoop, Spark, and Flink, which further enhances its capabilities in handling large scale data and sophisticated processing tasks.

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

IoTDB

[[outputs.iotdb]]
  ## Configuration of IoTDB server connection
  host = "127.0.0.1"
  # port = "6667"

  ## Configuration of authentication
  # user = "root"
  # password = "root"

  ## Timeout to open a new session.
  ## A value of zero means no timeout.
  # timeout = "5s"

  ## Configuration of type conversion for 64-bit unsigned int
  ## IoTDB currently DOES NOT support unsigned integers (version 13.x).
  ## 32-bit unsigned integers are safely converted into 64-bit signed integers by the plugin,
  ## however, this is not true for 64-bit values in general as overflows may occur.
  ## The following setting allows to specify the handling of 64-bit unsigned integers.
  ## Available values are:
  ##   - "int64"       --  convert to 64-bit signed integers and accept overflows
  ##   - "int64_clip"  --  convert to 64-bit signed integers and clip the values on overflow to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
  ##   - "text"        --  convert to the string representation of the value
  # uint64_conversion = "int64_clip"

  ## Configuration of TimeStamp
  ## TimeStamp is always saved in 64bits int. timestamp_precision specifies the unit of timestamp.
  ## Available value:
  ## "second", "millisecond", "microsecond", "nanosecond"(default)
  # timestamp_precision = "nanosecond"

  ## Handling of tags
  ## Tags are not fully supported by IoTDB.
  ## A guide with suggestions on how to handle tags can be found here:
  ##     https://iotdb.apache.org/UserGuide/Master/API/InfluxDB-Protocol.html
  ##
  ## Available values are:
  ##   - "fields"     --  convert tags to fields in the measurement
  ##   - "device_id"  --  attach tags to the device ID
  ##
  ## For Example, a metric named "root.sg.device" with the tags `tag1: "private"`  and  `tag2: "working"` and
  ##  fields `s1: 100`  and `s2: "hello"` will result in the following representations in IoTDB
  ##   - "fields"     --  root.sg.device, s1=100, s2="hello", tag1="private", tag2="working"
  ##   - "device_id"  --  root.sg.device.private.working, s1=100, s2="hello"
  # convert_tags_to = "device_id"

  ## Handling of unsupported characters
  ## Some characters in different versions of IoTDB are not supported in path name
  ## A guide with suggetions on valid paths can be found here:
  ## for iotdb 0.13.x           -> https://iotdb.apache.org/UserGuide/V0.13.x/Reference/Syntax-Conventions.html#identifiers
  ## for iotdb 1.x.x and above  -> https://iotdb.apache.org/UserGuide/V1.3.x/User-Manual/Syntax-Rule.html#identifier
  ##
  ## Available values are:
  ##   - "1.0", "1.1", "1.2", "1.3"  -- enclose in `` the world having forbidden character 
  ##                                    such as @ $ # : [ ] { } ( ) space
  ##   - "0.13"                      -- enclose in `` the world having forbidden character 
  ##                                    such as space
  ##
  ## Keep this section commented if you don't want to sanitize the path
  # sanitize_tag = "1.3"

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.

IoTDB

1. Real-Time IoT Monitoring: Utilize the IoTDB plugin to gather sensor data from various IoT devices and save it in an Apache IoTDB backend, facilitating real-time monitoring of environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. This use case enables organizations to analyze trends over time and make informed decisions based on historical data, while also utilizing IoTDB’s efficient storage and querying capabilities.

2. Smart Agriculture Data Collection: Use the IoTDB plugin to collect metrics from smart agriculture sensors deployed in fields. By transmitting moisture levels, nutrient content, and atmospheric conditions to IoTDB, farmers can access detailed insights into optimal planting and watering schedules, thus improving crop yields and resource management.

3. Energy Consumption Analytics: Leverage the IoTDB plugin to track energy consumption metrics from smart meters across a utility network. This integration enables analytics to identify peaks in usage and predict future consumption patterns, ultimately supporting energy conservation initiatives and improved utility management.

4. Automated Industrial Equipment Monitoring: Use this plugin to gather operational metrics from machinery in a manufacturing plant and store them in IoTDB for analysis. This setup can help identify inefficiencies, predictive maintenance needs, and operational anomalies, ensuring optimal performance and minimizing unexpected downtimes.

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.