NetIQ Sentinel 7.1.1.2 Readme

February 2014

Sentinel 7.1.1.2 resolves specific previous issues. This document outlines why you should install this hotfix.

Many of these improvements were made in direct response to suggestions from our customers. We thank you for your time and valuable inputs. We hope you continue to help us ensure our products meet all your needs. You can post feedback in the Sentinel Community Support Forums, our community Web site that also includes product notifications, blogs, and product user groups.

For more information about this hotfix and for the latest Readme, see the Sentinel 7.1 Documentation Web site.

1.0 What’s New?

The hotfix resolves the following issues. For the list of software fixes and enhancements in previous releases, see the Sentinel 7.1 Documentation Web site.

1.1 The Copy Process Truncates Files Over 2 GB

Issue: In Sentinel 7.1.0.0, 7.1.0.1, 7.1.1.0, and 7.1.1.1, the copy process that moves parsed event data partitions from primary storage to secondary storage can truncate files larger than 2 GB. The copy process copies the first 2 GB successfully, but does not copy the remainder of the file and does not report any error. (BUG 860133)

This issue does not occur if secondary storage is disabled. This issue is unlikely to occur if the event rate is low (less than 500 events per second) or if there are multiple data retention policies in effect (which increases the number of event partitions and therefore decreases the probability that any individual event partition is larger than 2 GB). This issue does not affect raw (unparsed) data. For more information on this issue, see TID 7014515 in the Novell Support Knowledge Base.

Fix: Sentinel now uses a different copy process to avoid this error. After copying an event data file to secondary storage, Sentinel runs data checks automatically to verify that the copy completed successfully. If the file check fails, Sentinel automatically retries the copy. The default data check is a quick verification of file size to detect file truncation. Sentinel also provides an alternate check that compares strong checksums (hashes) of the source file and its copy to detect file truncation and additionally many forms of data corruption. However, the alternate check requires significant I/O and will impact the system performance.

To enable the alternate check:

  1. Log in to the Sentinel server.

  2. Open the etc/opt/novell/sentinel/config/configuration.properties file in an editor.

  3. Set the partition.archiver.quickintegritycheck property to false as follows:

    partition.archiver.quickintegritycheck=false

  4. Restart the Sentinel server.

1.2 The Event Time in the CSV File is Not in the Standard Date Format

Issue: When you export the search results to a CSV file, the date in the EventTime (dt) field is not in a standard format. (BUG 855420)

Fix: The EventTime (dt) field in the CSV file now displays the date in a standard readable format.

1.3 Sentinel Stops Working When the Sentinel Control Center is Launched on Different Computers Simultaneously

Issue: When you try launching the Sentinel Control Center on different computers simultaneously, Sentinel stops working. (BUG 854759)

Fix: Sentinel now works properly when the Sentinel Control Center is launched on different computers simultaneously.

2.0 System Requirements

You can upgrade to Sentinel 7.1.1.2 from Sentinel 7.0 or later.

For information about hardware requirements, supported operating systems, and browsers, see Meeting System Requirements in the NetIQ Sentinel 7.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.

3.0 Upgrading to Sentinel 7.1.1.2

Download the hotfix from the Novell Patch Finder Web site. Before you upgrade to Sentinel, ensure that there are no duplicate users in the MongoDB database. For more information, see Section 3.1, Prerequisite.

The following sections provide information about upgrading Sentinel:

NOTE:

  • After the upgrade is complete, when the system starts for the first time, Sentinel might take a few minutes to start because the system performs a one-time update to the Security Intelligence schema. The time required to start depends on the amount of Security Intelligence data in your system.

  • After you upgrade Sentinel, clear the Java Web Start cache on the client computers to use the latest version of Sentinel applications. You can clear the Java Web Start cache by either using the javaws -clearcache command or by using Java Control Center. For more information, see http://www.java.com/en/download/help/plugin_cache.xml.

3.1 Prerequisite

Sentinel 7.1.1 and later includes MongoDB version 2.4.1. MongoDB 2.4 requires removal of duplicate user names in the database. Before you upgrade to Sentinel 7.1.1.2, verify whether there are any duplicate users and then remove the duplicate users.

Perform the following steps to verify and remove any duplicate users:

  1. Log in to the Sentinel 7.1 or earlier server as the novell user.

  2. Change to the following directory:

    cd opt/novell/sentinel/3rdparty/mongo/bin
    
  3. Run the following commands to verify duplicate users:

    ./mongo --port 27017 --host "localhost"
    
    use analytics
    
    db.system.users.findOne().count()
    

    If the count is more than 1, it indicates there are duplicate users.

Perform the following steps to remove duplicate users:

  1. Run the following command to list the users:

    db.system.users.findOne().pretty()
    

    The command lists users along with duplicate entries. The first user in the list is the original user. You should keep the first user and delete the others in the list. The other entries would be the most recent that were probably installed when you restored the backup

  2. Run the following command to remove duplicate users:

    db.system.users.remove({ _id : ObjectId("object_ID") })
    
  3. Run the following command to verify whether the duplicate users have been removed:

    db.system.users.findOne().pretty()
    
  4. Switch to database admin user:

    use admin
    
  5. Repeat Step 1 through Step 3 to verify and remove duplicate dbausers in the admin database.

3.2 Upgrading Sentinel

For information about upgrading to Sentinel 7.1.1.2, see “Upgrading Sentinel” in the NetIQ Sentinel 7.1 Installation and Configuration Guide.

3.3 Upgrading High Availability Traditional Installations

When you upgrade the Sentinel traditional installation in a high availability setup, first upgrade the passive nodes in the cluster, then upgrade the active cluster node.

To upgrade high availability traditional installations:

  1. Enable the maintenance mode on the cluster:

    crm configure property maintenance-mode=true
    

    Maintenance mode helps you to avoid any disturbance to the running cluster resources while you update Sentinel. You can run this command from any cluster node.

  2. Verify whether the maintenance mode is active:

    crm status
    

    The cluster resources should appear in the unmanaged state.

  3. Upgrade the passive cluster node:

    1. Stop the cluster stack:

      rcopenais stop
      

      Stopping the cluster stack ensures that the cluster resources remain accessible and avoids fencing of nodes.

    2. Log in as root to the server where you want to upgrade Sentinel.

    3. Extract the install files from the tar file:

      tar xfz <install_filename>
      
    4. Run the following command in the directory where you extracted the install files:

      ./install-sentinel --cluster-node
      
    5. After the upgrade is complete, restart the cluster stack:

      rcopenais start
      

      Repeat Step 3 for all passive cluster nodes.

  4. Upgrade the active cluster node:

    1. Back up your configuration, then create an ESM export.

      For more information about backing up data, see Backing Up and Restoring Data in the NetIQ 7.1 Administration Guide.

    2. Stop the cluster stack:

      rcopenais stop
      

      Stopping the cluster stack ensures that the cluster resources remain accessible and avoids fencing of nodes.

    3. Log in as root to the server where you want to upgrade Sentinel.

    4. Run the following command to extract the install files from the tar file:

      tar xfz <install_filename>
      
    5. Run the following command in the directory where you extracted the install files:

      ./install-sentinel 
      
    6. After the upgrade is complete, start the cluster stack:

      rcopenais start
      
  5. Disable the maintenance mode on the cluster:

    crm configure property maintenance-mode=false
    

    You can run this command from any cluster node.

  6. Verify whether the maintenance mode is inactive:

    crm status
    

    The cluster resources should appear in the Started state.

  7. (Optional) Verify whether the Sentinel upgrade is successful:

    rcsentinel version
    

3.4 Upgrading Sentinel Appliance Versions 7.0.1 or Earlier

When you upgrade the appliance from Sentinel 7.0.1 or earlier, the upgrade fails in WebYaST because the vendor name for the patch has changed from Novell to NetIQ. You must upgrade the appliance by using the zypper patch command.

To upgrade the appliance by using zypper:

  1. Back up your configuration, then create an ESM export. For more information, see Backing Up and Restoring the Data in the NetIQ Sentinel 7.1 Administration Guide.

  2. Log in to the appliance console as the root user.

  3. Run the following command:

    /usr/bin/zypper patch
    
  4. Enter 1 to accept the vendor change from Novell to NetIQ.

  5. Enter Y to proceed.

  6. Enter yes to accept the license agreement.

  7. Restart the Sentinel appliance.

3.5 Upgrading Sentinel 7.0 to 7.1.1.2

If you upgrade Sentinel from 7.0 to 7.1.1 and your Sentinel installation is in a non-default location, run the following commands as the novell user:

ln -s
"$RPM_INSTALLATION_PREFIX/opt/novell/sentinel/3rdparty/activemq/activemq-all-5.4.2.jar"
"$RPM_INSTALLATION_PREFIX/opt/novell/sentinel/lib/activemq-all-5.4.2.jar"

Where $RPM_INSTALLATION_PREFIX is the location of the Sentinel installation.

4.0 Known Issue

NetIQ Corporation strives to ensure our products provide quality solutions for your enterprise software needs. The following issue is currently being researched. If you need further assistance with any issue, please contact Technical Support.

For the list of known issues in previous releases, see the Sentinel 7.1 Documentation Web site.

4.1 MongoDB Does Not Start if There Are Duplicate Users in the Database

Issue: MongoDB does not start if there are duplicate user names in the database. This issue might occur if you had done a full backup and restore of security intelligence data any time on your Sentinel server, before upgrading to Sentinel 7.1.1. (BUG 856174)

Workaround: There is no workaround at this time. Before you upgrade to Sentinel 7.1.1 and later, verify whether there are duplicate users and then remove any duplicate users. For more information, see Section 3.1, Prerequisite.

5.0 Contact Information

Our goal is to provide documentation that meets your needs. If you have suggestions for improvements, please email Documentation-Feedback@netiq.com. We value your input and look forward to hearing from you.

For detailed contact information, see the Support Contact Information Web site.

For general corporate and product information, see the NetIQ Corporate Web site.

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