Configuring log forwarding

Forwarding mode only requires configuration on the client side. No configuration is needed on the server side. In aggregation mode, accepting the logs must be enabled on the FortiAnalyzer that is acting as the server.

Forwarding mode

Forwarding mode can be configured in the GUI. No configuration is required on the server side.

To configure the client:

1. Go to System Settings > Log Forwarding.
2. Click Create New in the toolbar. The Create New Log Forwarding pane opens.

   

3. Fill in the information as per the below table, then click OK to create the new log forwarding. The FortiAnalyzer device will start forwarding logs to the server.

   Name		Enter a name for the remote server.
   Status		Set to On to enable log forwarding. Set to Off to disable log forwarding.
   Remote Server Type		Select the type of remote server to which you are forwarding logs: FortiAnalyzer, Syslog, Syslog Pack, or Common Event Format (CEF). The Syslog option can be used to forward logs to FortiSIEM and FortiSOAR.
   Server Address		Enter the remote server address.
   Server Port		Enter the server port number. Default: 514.
   Compression		Turn on to enable log message compression when the remote FortiAnalyzer also supports this format. If the remote FortiAnalyzer does not support compression, log messages will remain uncompressed. This option is only available when the server type is FortiAnalyzer.
   Reliable Connection		Turn on to use TCP connection. Turn off to use UDP connection. If you want to forward logs to a Syslog or CEF server, ensure this option is supported. RELP is not supported. If the connection goes down, logs are buffered and automatically forwarded when the connection is restored. The buffer limit is 12GB.
   Sending Frequency		Select when logs will be sent to the server: Real-time, Every 1 Minute, or Every 5 Minutes (default). This option is only available when the server type is FortiAnalyzer.
   Log Forwarding Filters
   	Device Filters	Click Select Device, then select the devices whose logs will be forwarded.
   	Log Filters	Turn on to configure filter on the logs that are forwarded. Select All or Any of the Following Conditions in the Log messages that match field to control how the filters are applied to the logs. Add filters to the table by selecting the Log Field, Match Criteria, and Value for each filter.
   	Enable Exclusions	Turn on to configure filter on the logs that are forwarded. Add exclusions to the table by selecting the Device Type and Log Type. Then, add Log Fields to the Exclusion List by clicking Fields and specifying the excluded log fields in the Select Log Field pane.
   	Enable Masking	Turn on to enable log field masking. In the Masking Data Fields, select any data fields that should be masked during log forwarding. The remote server will receive logs with the selected field values masked. Configure a Data Mask Key.

When configuring Log Forwarding Filters, FortiAnalyzer does not support wildcard or subnet values for IP log field filters when using the Equal to and Not equal to operators. If wildcards or subnets are required, use Contain or Not contain operators with the regex filter. For example, the following text filter excludes logs forwarded from the 172.10.0.0/16 subnet: srcip !~ "172\.10\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+

Devices whose logs are being forwarded to another FortiAnalyzer device are added to the server as unauthorized devices. To authorize devices, see Authorizing devices.

Aggregation mode

Aggregation mode can only be configured using the CLI. Aggregation mode configurations are not listed in the GUI table, but still use a log forwarding ID number.

Use the following CLI command to see what log forwarding IDs have been used: get system log-forward

To configure the server:

1. If required, create a new administrator with the Super_User profile. See Creating administrators.
2. Enable log aggregation and, if necessary, configure the disk quota, with the following CLI commands:

   config system log-forward-service

   set accept-aggregation enable

   set aggregation-disk-quota <quota>

   end

To configure the client:

1. Open the log forwarding command shell:

   config system log-forward

2. Create a new, or edit an existing, log forwarding entry:

   edit <log forwarding ID>

3. Set the log forwarding mode to aggregation:

   set mode aggregation

4. Set the server display name and IP address:

   set server-name <string>

   set server-ip <xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx>

5. Enter the user name and password of the super user administrator on the server:

   set agg-user <string>

   set agg-password <string>

6. If required, set the aggregation time from 0 to 23 hours (default: 0, or midnight):

   set agg-time <integer>

7. Enter the following to apply the configuration and create the log aggregation:

   end

   The following line will be displayed to confirm the creation of the log aggregation:

   check for cfg[<log forwarding ID>] svr_disp_name=<server-name>

For more information, see the FortiAnalyzer CLI Reference.