Cyber Security: thehive install step by step
This page is a step by step installation and configuration guide to get an instance of TheHive up and running. This guide is illustrated with examples for DEB and RPM packages based systems and for installation from binary packages.
This guide describes the installation of a new instance of TheHive only
Dependencies#
This process requires few programs beeing already installed on the system.
apt install wget gnupg apt-transport-https git ca-certificates ca-certificates-java curl \ software-properties-common python3-pip lsb_release
Java Virtual Machine#
For security and long-term support reasons, we require using Amazon Corretto builds (this is OpenJDK built and packaged by Amazon) Java version 8 is no longer supported
Other
wget -qO- https://apt.corretto.aws/corretto.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/corretto.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/corretto.gpg] https://apt.corretto.aws stable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/corretto.sources.list
sudo apt update sudo apt install java-common java-11-amazon-corretto-jdk echo JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-amazon-corretto" | sudo tee -a /etc/environment export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-amazon-corretto"
Apache Cassandra#
Apache Cassandra is a scalable and high available database. TheHive supports the latest stable version 4.0.x of Cassandra.
Upgrading from Cassandra 3.x
If you are upgrading from Cassandra 3.x, please follow the dedicated guide. This part is relevant for fresh installation only.
Installation#
DEB RPM Other Add Apache repository references
wget -qO - https://downloads.apache.org/cassandra/KEYS | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/cassandra-archive.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/cassandra-archive.gpg] https://debian.cassandra.apache.org 40x main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cassandra.sources.list
Install the package
sudo apt update sudo apt install cassandra
By default, data is stored in /var/lib/cassandra.
Configuration#
Configure Cassandra by editing /etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml file.
/etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml
# content from /etc/cassandra/cassandra.yaml
[..]
cluster_name: 'thp'
listen_address: 'xx.xx.xx.xx' # address for nodes
rpc_address: 'xx.xx.xx.xx' # address for clients
seed_provider:
- class_name: org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleSeedProvider
parameters:
# Ex: "<ip1>,<ip2>,<ip3>"
- seeds: 'xx.xx.xx.xx' # self for the first node data_file_directories:
- '/var/lib/cassandra/data'
commitlog_directory: '/var/lib/cassandra/commitlog'
saved_caches_directory: '/var/lib/cassandra/saved_caches'
hints_directory:
- '/var/lib/cassandra/hints'
[..]
Start the service#
sudo systemctl start cassandra
Remove existing data before starting
With the DEB packages, Cassandra service could start automatically before configuring it: Stop it, remove the data and restart once the configuration is updated:
sudo systemctl stop cassandra sudo rm -rf /var/lib/cassandra/*
By default Cassandra listens on 7000/tcp (inter-node), 9042/tcp (client).
Additional configuration : disable tombstones (for standalone server ONLY)# This action should be performed after the installation and the first start of TheHive
If you are installing a standalone server, tombstones can be disabled.
Check gc_grace_seconds value
cqlsh -u cassandra <IP ADDRESS> -e "SELECT table_name,gc_grace_seconds FROM system_schema.tables WHERE keyspace_name='thehive'"
Note: default credentials for Cassandra database: cassandra/cassandra
Results should look like this:
table_name | gc_grace_seconds
-------------------------+------------------
edgestore | 864000
edgestore_lock_ | 864000
graphindex | 864000
graphindex_lock_ | 864000
janusgraph_ids | 864000
system_properties | 864000
system_properties_lock_ | 864000
systemlog | 864000
txlog | 864000
Disable by setting gc_grace_seconds to 0. Use this command line:
for TABLE in edgestore edgestore_lock_ graphindex graphindex_lock_ janusgraph_ids system_properties system_properties_lock_ systemlog txlog
do
cqlsh -u cassandra -e "ALTER TABLE thehive.${TABLE} WITH gc_grace_seconds = 0;"
done
Check changes has been taken into account, by running this command again:
cqlsh -u cassandra <IP ADDRESS> -e "SELECT table_name,gc_grace_seconds FROM system_schema.tables WHERE keyspace_name='thehive'"
Results should look like this:
table_name | gc_grace_seconds
-------------------------+------------------
edgestore | 0
edgestore_lock_ | 0
graphindex | 0
graphindex_lock_ | 0
janusgraph_ids | 0
system_properties | 0
system_properties_lock_ | 0
systemlog | 0
txlog | 0
For additional configuration options, refer to:
Cassandra documentation page Datastax documentation page
Elasticsearch#
TheHive requires Elasticsearch to manage data indices.
Elasticsearch 7.x only is supported
Installation#
Other Add Elasticsearch repository keys
wget -qO - https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
Add the DEB repository of Elasticsearch
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/elasticsearch-keyring.gpg] https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/7.x/apt stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/elastic-7.x.list
Install the package
sudo apt update sudo apt install elasticsearch
Configuration#
/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
Elasticsearch configuration should contain the following lines:
/etc/elasticsearch/elasticsearch.yml
http.host: 127.0.0.1 transport.host: 127.0.0.1 cluster.name: hive thread_pool.search.queue_size: 100000 path.logs: "/var/log/elasticsearch" path.data: "/var/lib/elasticsearch" xpack.security.enabled: false script.allowed_types: "inline,stored"
Info
Indexes will be created at the first start of TheHive. It can take few time Like data and files, indexes should be part of the backup policy Indexes can removed and created again Custom JVM options add the file /etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d/jvm.options with following lines:
-Dlog4j2.formatMsgNoLookups=true -Xms4g -Xmx4g
This can be updated according the amount of memory available
Start the service#
sudo systemctl start elasticsearch sudo systemctl enable elasticsearch
Remove existing data before starting
With the DEB packages, Elastic service could start automatically before configuring it: Stop it, remove the data and restart once the configuration is updated:
sudo systemctl stop elasticsearch sudo rm -rf /var/lib/elasticsearch/*
File storage#
For standalone production and test servers, we recommends using local filesystem. If you think about building a cluster with TheHive, you have several possible solutions: using NFS or S3 services; see the related guide for more details and an example with MinIO servers.
Local Filesystem
S3 with Min.io
To store files on the local filesystem, start by choosing the dedicated folder (by default /opt/thp/thehive/files):
sudo mkdir -p /opt/thp/thehive/files
This path will be used in the configuration of TheHive.
Later, after having installed TheHive, ensure the user thehive owns the path chosen for storing files:
chown -R thehive:thehive /opt/thp/thehive/files
TheHive#
This part contains instructions to install TheHive and then configure it.
Installation#
All packages are published on our packages repository. We support Debian and RPM packages as well as binary packages (zip archive). All packages are signed using our GPG key 562CBC1C. Its fingerprint is 0CD5 AC59 DE5C 5A8E 0EE1 3849 3D99 BB18 562C BC1C.
wget -O- https://archives.strangebee.com/keys/strangebee.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/strangebee-archive-keyring.gpg
Install TheHive package by using the following commands:
Other
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/strangebee-archive-keyring.gpg] https://deb.strangebee.com thehive-5.2 main' | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/strangebee.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y thehive
Configuration#
The configuration that comes with binary packages is ready for a standalone installation, everything on the same server.
In this context, and at this stage, you might need to set the following parameters accordingly:
/etc/thehive/application.conf
[..] # Service configuration application.baseUrl = "http://localhost:9000" # play.http.context = "/" # [..]
Following configurations are required to start TheHive successfully:
Secret key configuration Database configuration File storage configuration Secret key configuration#
Debian
RPM
Other
The secret key is automatically generated and stored in /etc/thehive/secret.conf by package installation script.
Database & index#
By default, TheHive is configured to connect to Cassandra and Elasticsearch databases installed locally.
/etc/thehive/application.conf
# Database and index configuration
# By default, TheHive is configured to connect to local Cassandra 4.x and a
# local Elasticsearch services without authentication.
db.janusgraph {
storage {
backend = cql
hostname = ["127.0.0.1"]
# Cassandra authentication (if configured)
# username = "thehive"
# password = "password"
cql {
cluster-name = thp
keyspace = thehive
}
}
index.search {
backend = elasticsearch
hostname = ["127.0.0.1"]
index-name = thehive
}
}
File storage#
By default, TheHive is configured to store files locally in /opt/thp/thehive/files.
Local filesystem
S3
If you chose to store files on the local filesystem:
Ensure thehive user has permissions on the destination folder
chown -R thehive:thehive /opt/thp/thehive/files
Default values in the configuration file
/etc/thehive/application.conf
# Attachment storage configuration
# By default, TheHive is configured to store files locally in the folder.
# The path can be updated and should belong to the user/group running thehive service. (by default: thehive:thehive)
storage {
provider = localfs
localfs.location = /opt/thp/thehive/files
}
Cortex & MISP#
By default the configuration file coming with packages contains following lines, enabling Cortex and MISP modules. If you are not using one them, you can comment the related line and restart the service.
/etc/thehive/application.conf
# Additional modules # # TheHive is strongly integrated with Cortex and MISP. # Both modules are enabled by default. If not used, each one can be disabled by # ommenting the configuration line. scalligraph.modules += org.thp.thehive.connector.cortex.CortexModule scalligraph.modules += org.thp.thehive.connector.misp.MispModule
Run#
sudo systemctl start thehive sudo systemctl enable thehive
Please consider the service may take a while at the first start
Once it has started, open your browser and connect to http://YOUR_SERVER_ADDRESS:9000/.
The default admin user is admin@thehive.local with password secret. It is recommended to change the default password.
Advanced configuration# For additional configuration options, please refer to the Configuration Guides.
To setup HTTPS, refer to the dedicated page.
Usage & Licenses# By default, TheHive comes with no license token and let everyone use the application with 2 users and 1 organisation: this is the community version.
To unlock advanced features, contact StrangeBee to get a license - https://wwww.strangebee.com / contact@strangebee.com
First steps & license activation# Now the application is up & running, make your first steps as Administrator, and follow this guide to activate a license: Activate a license.