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Hello Everyone,   Is anyone else have issues with video content and downloads not available on the new RSA Link platform? The images below are what I am seeing. Is it possible to still access the original community site until everything is migrated?   ... View more

Overview If you are looking at retention requirements for compliance, making decisions about the architecture, or to retain a decent investigation history, NetWitness retention is always at the top of these discussions.  As we all find out over time, retention is something that needs to be monitored for trends so informed decisions can be made to meet the corporate or regulatory retention requirements.  This article will shed some light on retention in the NetWitness Platform Systems and demonstrate how to view the retention numbers as a “stack”.  Scroll to the bottom to download the retention script related to this article.   Persistence There are basically two levels of persistence in the NetWitness Platform: Permanent - Final resting place for the data - It is NOT copied to another destination in the platform; i.e Network/Log Decoder raw packets/logs residing on the Network/Log Decoder Temporary - Data that is copied (via aggregation) from this location to another device, i.e. The Concentrator consuming meta and sessions data from a Network/Log Decoder.  The meta and session data is considered temporary as only needs to reside on the Network/Log Decoder long enough to be consumed by the aggregating Concentrator.   Database Types Below are the database types and the index used by the NetWitness Platform PacketDB – Raw captured log/network data Present on Log/Network Decoders and Archivers MetaDB – Meta data generated from Log/Network Decoder parsing and processing (App Rules/Feeds) Present on Log/Network Decoders, Concentrators and Archivers SessionDB – Data that links the meta data and packet data together into sessions Present on Log/Network Decoders, Concentrators and Archivers Index – Not really a database, but provides a method to lookup sessions using meta key values or session ID's.   NetWitness Systems Let's take a look at how the database types, persistence, and the retention requirements relate to the individual NetWitness Systems.     Log/Network Decoder PacketDB Permanent resting place (unless Log Archiver is deployed for Log Decoder) Meet Your Requirement Retention Days MetaDB Temporary resting place Typically like to see ~30 Days Retention SessionDB Temporary resting place Typically like to see ~30 Days Retention   Concentrator MetaDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days SessionDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days Index Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days   Log Archiver PacketDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days MetaDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days SessionDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days Index Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days   Log Hybrid Retention PacketDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days MetaDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days SessionDB Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days Index Permanent Resting Place Meet Your Requirement Retention Days   Interpreting The Numbers Viewing The "Stack" When examining retention it is best to evaluate the systems as a "stack".  This will assist in viewing the relationship between the capture devices (Network/Log Decoders) and the upstream consumers (Concentrators) of the data in relation to the corporate goal or regulatory requirement.  The image below shows the NetWitness "stacks" in this particular sample architecture.  Each individual stack is separated by the "----------", so we can see that there are 15 stacks, two of which are archivers.     Determine The Retention Determine if your goals or requirements are met by viewing the "Permanent" retention numbers.  *Note the Archiver permanent numbers are relative to a "Collection" name, there will always be a "default" collection.  If there were other collections, the row for each collection would be the "Permanent" retention numbers.      The Retention Script Attached is the retention script used to provide the outputs shown above. The script provides output to file in two text formats and outputs to local and/or syslog target: Table for console viewing (text format) CSV for use in other programs Syslog (CEF Format), it can send to a syslog target (unencrypted only - Logger limitation) It writes the output to /var/log/messages (CEF Format) Requirements In order for the script file to function as designed, you will need the following prerequisites: Install the NwBackup script, particularly the following scripts: Run get-all-systems11.sh Run ssh-propagate11.sh Installation Download the retention script at the end of this article SSH to the console of the NetwWitness Server (Node Zero) Login as the "root" user Create the /root/scripts/admin  mkdir /root/scripts mkdir /root/scripts/admin Create the retention directories to store the output files (these are the defaults). mkdir /root/retention mkdir /root/retention/table mkdir /root/retention/csv Using WinSCP or other client to copy the script to the NetWitness Server (Node Zero) /root/scripts/admin directory Make the script file executable chmod +x /root/scripts/admin/netwitness_retention_csv.sh Edit the script file variable values to match your output directories, syslog server, and number of history days to keep for the CSV and table text files. Manual Execution SSH to the console of the NetwWitness Server (Node Zero) Login as the "root" user After you have completed the Installation Steps, type the following command /root/scripts/admin/netwitness_retention_csv.sh You will see ouput to the console similar to below Crontab Scheduling Instructions SSH to NetWitness Server (Node-zero) Login as "root" Edit crontab crontab -e Add to crontab to execute once every 24 hours at 11pm UTC Press the following key Insert add the following text at the top or the bottom of the file ## Retention Script ## 0 23 * * * /root/scripts/admin/netwitness_retention_csv.sh Press ESC Type the following keys :wq Press ENTER   Additional Notes Since this data is now passed to the /var/log/messages it can ingested by the Log Decoder and partially parsed.  There will be a follow up article on properly parsing it and pulling this data into the Reporting Engine to spot trends.  Due to time constraints I was not able to add it to this article. ... View more

I need to setup a values list field that has four values.  Very High, High, Low and Very Low i.e. no middle option.  The Image files that came with Archer supports a 3 point scale and a 5 point scale. Does anyone have a set of similar graphics that have a 4 point scale. Thanks, ... View more

Hi guys, Are Tree Maps meant to work properly on iPads? It doesn't appear to, but I don't know if that's a bug or something that was never intended to be used on a mobile device. Thanks for any insight anyone has on this. ... View more

Is it possible to build questionnaire in Archer but user completion is anonymous? Thank you. ... View more