Launch an Instance and Configure a Host

Note: Fore more information, see AWS "Launch an instance using the new launch instance wizard" documentation (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-launch-instance-wizard.html).

  1. Log in to the Amazon EC2 console.Go to EC2 Dashboard and click Launch Instance.
    netwitness_ec2_dashboad_816x255.png

    Launch an Instance page is displayed.

    125_AWS1.png

  2. (Optional) Under Name and tags, enter a name for your instance.

  3. Under Application and OS Images (Amazon Machine Image), click My AMIs and select either Owned by me or Shared with me option.
  4. Search for NW-12 and select the NW-12.5.0.0-AMI-21645-Full image from the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) drop-down menu.

    125_AWS2.png

  5. Under Instance type, Choose the RAM and CPUs by selecting the instance type.
    For more information, see Storage Guide for NetWitness® Platform 12.5 for guidelines on how to configure the EC2 Instance based on the requirements of the NetWitness component (that is, service) for which you are launching an instance. The following example has the m4.2xlarge instance type selected with 8 CPUs and 32 GB of RAM.

    netwitness_instance_type.png

  6. Under Network settings, select Select existing security grop option and select your security group from Common security groups drop-down menu.

    netwitness_security_group_566x394.png

  7. Under Configure Storage specify the size and type of the volume.

    netwitness_storage_configuration_576x236.png

    For more information, see the Storage Guide for NetWitness® Platform 12.5 for guidelines on how to configure storage based on based on the requirements of the NetWitness component (that is, service) for which you are launching an instance.

  1. Under Summary, you can specify the number of instances required and to review your instance configuration.

  2. Click Launch Instance.

  3. Click Instances.

  4. Select Instances from the left navigation panel to review all instances that AWS is initializing (for example, the RSA-NW_Concentrator) .

    netwitness_modify_instances_897x385.png

    The IP Address for the new RSA-NW-Concentrator host is sample-ip-address.

    netwitness_launch_instances_area_916x394.png

  1. SSH to the newly-created instance using the default NetWitness credentials.
  2. Go to Configure Hosts (Instances) in NetWitness Platform.

Storage Configurations

For storage allocations of all host types, see the Prepare Virtual or Cloud Storage topic in the Storage Guide for NetWitness® Platform 12.5.

Installation Tasks

Before you begin the installation tasks make sure you open the firewall ports. For more information on the lists of all the ports in a deployment, see the"Network Architecture and Ports" topic in the Deployment Guide for NetWitness Platform 12.5.

Caution: Do not proceed with the installation until the ports on your firewall are configured.

Task 1 - Install 12.5 on the NW Server Host and Component Hosts

Complete the following steps to install 12.5 on NW Server host and other component hosts. Steps that are specific to the NW Server host or to component hosts are noted.

Note: You can perform this task for NW-12.5.0.0-AMI-21645-Full instance.

Caution: If you want to install the Endpoint Relay Server, do not run the nwsetup-tui script. Follow the instructions in "(Optional) Installing and Configuring Relay Server" in the NetWitness Endpoint Configuration Guide.

IMPORTANT: In NetWitness Platform, deployment account password must contain at least one number, one upper and lower case letter, and one special characters (!@#%^,+ . ) along with the existing policy. The same password policy applies while updating deploy_admin password using nw-manage script. If deploy_admin password is changed on Primary NW Server, It must be changed on the Warm Standby Server if it exists.

    1. Log in to the host with the root credentials and run the nwsetup-tui command to set up the host.

      This initiates the nwsetup-tui (Setup program) and the EULA is displayed.

      Note: Use the following options to navigate the Setup prompts.
      1.) When you navigate through the Setup program prompts, use the down and up arrows to move among fields, and use the Tab key to move to and from commands (such as <Yes>, <No>, <OK>, and <Cancel>). Press Enter to register your command response and move to the next prompt.
      2.) The Setup program adopts the color scheme of the desktop or console you use to access the host.
      3.) If you specify DNS servers during the Setup program (nwsetup-tui) execution, they MUST be valid (valid in this context means valid during setup) and accessible for the nwsetup-tui script to proceed. Any misconfigured DNS servers cause the Setup program to fail. If you need to reach a DNS server after setup that is unreachable during setup, (for example, to relocate a host after setup that would have a different set of DNS Servers), see "Change Host Network Configuration" topic in the System Maintenance Guide.
      If you do not specify DNS Servers during setup (nwsetup-tui), you must select 1 The Local Repo (on the NW Server) in the NetWitness Update Repository prompt in step 12 (the DNS servers are not defined so the system cannot access the external repo).

       

      netwitness_1-licenseagreement_655x255.png

    2. Tab to Accept and press Enter.
      The Is this the host you want for your 12.5 NW Server prompt is displayed.

      12.5_install.png
    3. Tab to Yes and press Enter to install 12.5 on the NW Server.
      Tab to No and press Enter to install 12.5 on other component hosts.

      Caution: If you choose the wrong host for the NW Server and complete the Setup, you must restart the Setup Program (step 2) and complete steps all the subsequent steps to correct this error.

    4. The Install prompt is displayed (Recover does not apply to the installation. It is for 12.5 Disaster Recovery.).

      NW Server Host prompt:

      125_Fresh_Install.png

      Other Component Hosts, the prompt is the same, but does not include option 3 Install (Warm/Standby)

    5. Press Enter. Install (Fresh Install) is selected by default.
      The System Host Name prompt is displayed.
      NW Server prompt:
      netwitness_4-syshostname_298x124.png

      Other Component Hosts prompt says <non-nwserver-host-name>

      Caution: If you include "." in a host name, the host name must also include a valid domain name.


      Press Enter if want to keep this name. If not, edit the host name, tab to OK, and press Enter to change it.
    6. This step applies only to NW Server hosts.
      The Master Password prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_5-masterpwd_523x201.png
      The following list of characters are supported for Master Password and Deployment Password:
      • Symbols: ! @ # % ^ +
      • Numbers: 0-9
      • Lowercase Characters: a-z
      • Uppercase Characters: A-Z

                          No ambiguous characters are supported for Master Password and Deployment Password. For example:
                        space { } [ ] ( ) / \ ' " ` ~ ; : .< > -

                        Type the Password, down arrow to Verify, retype the password, tab to OK, and press Enter.

        1. This step applies to both NW Server hosts and component hosts.
          The Deployment Password prompt is displayed.
          netwitness_6-deploypwd_461x184.png
          Type the Password, down arrow to Verify, retype the password, tab to OK, and press Enter.
        2. One of the following conditional prompts is displayed.
          • If the Setup program finds a valid IP address for this host, the following prompt is displayed.
            netwitness_7-ipaddress-stillwanttochngntwksttg-no_267x107.png
            Press Enter if you want to use this IP and avoid changing your network settings. Tab to Yes and press Enter if you want to change the IP configuration on the host.
          • If you are using an SSH connection, the following warning is displayed.

            Note: If you connect directly from the host console, the following warning is not displayed.

            netwitness_8-sshwarning_320x127.png
            Press Enter to close warning prompt.

          • If the Setup Program finds an IP configuration and you choose to use it, the Update Repository prompt is displayed. Go to step 12 and complete the installation.
          • If the Setup Program did not find an IP configuration or if you choose to change the existing IP configuration, the Network Configuration prompt is displayed.

            Caution: Only select "Use DHCP" as an IP address configuration for the NW Server if DHCP issues static IP addresses.

            netwitness_10-staticordhcp-static_495x224.png

                     Tab to 
OK and press Enter to use Static IP.If you want to use DHCP, down arrow to 2 Use DHCP and press Enter.         The Network Configuration prompt is displayed.   
       netwitness_9-ntwkinterface_332x206_123.png
    1. Down arrow to the network interface you want, tab to OK, and press Enter. If you do not want to continue, tab to Exit.
      The following Static IP Configuration prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_10-staticipconfig_343x250.png
    2. Type the configuration values, tab to OK, and press Enter. If you do not complete all the required fields, an All fields are required error message is displayed (Secondary DNS Server and Local Domain Name fields are not required). If you use the wrong syntax or character length for any of the fields, an Invalid <field-name> error message is displayed.

      Caution: If you select DNS Server, make sure that the DNS Server is correct and the host can access it before proceeding with the installation.

    3. The Use Network Address Translation (NAT) prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_natprompt_224x110.png
      For the NW Server, tab to No and press Enter.
      For component hosts, if this host requires the use of NAT-based addresses to communicate with the NW Server, tab to Yes. Otherwise, tab to No and press Enter.

    4. The Update Repository prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_8-updaterepo-local_500x223.png

      For the NW Server:

      • Press Enter to choose the Local Repo.
      • If you want to use an external repo, down arrow to External Repo, tab to OK, and press Enter. If you select 1 The Local Repo (on the NW Server) in the Setup program, make sure that you have the appropriate media attached to the host (media that contains the ISO file, for example a build stick) from which it can install NetWitness 12.5. If the program cannot find the attached media, you receive the following prompt.
        netwitness_9-nomediaattchdupdrepo_338x103.png
      • If you select 2 An External Repo (on an externally-managed server), the UI prompts you for a URL. The repositories give you access to RSA updates and CentOS updates. Refer to "Appendix B. Create an External Repo" in this guide for instructions on how to create this repo and its external repo URL so you can enter it in the following prompt.
        125_external_repo.png
        Enter the base URL of the NetWitness external repo and click OK. The Start Install prompt is displayed.

      For component hosts:

      • Select the same repo that you selected when you installed the NW Server host and follow the steps above.
      • The NW Server IP Address prompt is displayed.
        125_nw_server_IP.png
        Type the NW Server IP address. Tab to OK and press Enter.
    5. The Disable firewall prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_10-disablefirewall-no_301x130.png
      Tab to No (default), and press Enter to use the standard firewall configuration.
      To disable the standard firewall configuration, tab to Yes, and press Enter.
      If you select Yes, confirm your selection(select Yes again) or select No to use the standard firewall configuration.
      netwitness_11-disablefirewall-do-not-confirm_486x146.png
    6. The Start Install prompt is displayed.
      netwitness_11-installnowrestart_436x203.png
    7. Press Enter to install 12.5.
      When Installation complete is displayed, you have installed 12.5 on this host.

      Note: Ignore the hash code errors similar to the errors shown in the following figure that are displayed when you initiate the nwsetup-tui command. Yum does not use MD5 for any security operations so they do not affect the system security.

      netwitness_hasherrors.png

    8. (Optional) If your system configuration requires that a component host must use a NAT IP address to reach the NW Server host, you must configure the NAT IP address of the NW Server by running the following command:
      nw-manage --update-host --host-id <NW Server Host UUID> --ipv4-public <NAT IP address>

Set Up ESA Hosts

After you install your NW Server and component hosts, follow these steps to set up your ESA hosts.

  • Install your primary ESA host following the instructions in "Install 12.5 on the NetWitness Server (NW Server) Host and Other Component Hosts" in this guide, and install the ESA Primary service on it after you finish the Set Up program in the UI in netwitness_adminicon_25x22.png (Admin) > Hosts > netwitness_ic-install.png:
    esaprimary_123.png
  • (Conditional) If you have a secondary ESA host, install it and install the ESA Secondary service on it after you finish the Set Up program in the UI in netwitness_adminicon_25x22.png (Admin) > Hosts > netwitness_ic-install.png:
    esasecondary_123.png

Install Component Services on Hosts

After you have installed NW Server and component hosts, and set up your ESA hosts, follow these steps to install component services, such as Decoders and Concentrators, on your host systems.

  1. Install a component service on the host:
  1. Log into NetWitness and go to netwitness_adminicon_25x22.png (Admin) > Hosts.
    The New Hosts dialog is displayed with the Hosts view grayed out in the background.

    Note: If the New Hosts dialog is not displayed, click Discover in the Hosts view toolbar.

  2. Select the host in the New Hosts dialog and click Enable.
    The New Hosts dialog closes and the host is displayed in the Hosts view.
  3. Select that host in the Hosts view and click netwitness_ic-install.png.
    The Install Services dialog is displayed.
  4. Select the appropriate host type (for example, Concentrator) in Category and click Install.
    concentrator_123.png

Complete Licensing Requirements

Complete licensing requirements for installed services. See the NetWitness Platform 12.5 Licensing Management Guide for more information. Go to the NetWitness All Versions Documents page and find NetWitness Platform guides to troubleshoot issues.

(Optional) Install Warm Standby NW Server

Refer to "Warm Standby NW Server Host" under "Deployment Option Setup Procedures" in the Deployment Guide for NetWitness Platform 12.5 for instructions on how to set up a Warm Standby NW Server.