On this weblog submit, you’ll discover ways to file SSH classes on a Crimson Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) VSI in a non-public VPC community utilizing in-built packages. The VPC personal community is provisioned by way of Terraform and the RHEL packages are put in utilizing Ansible automation. Moreover, you’ll discover ways to arrange a extremely accessible bastion host.
What’s session recording and why is it required?
A bastion host and a leap server are each safety mechanisms utilized in community and server environments to regulate and improve safety when connecting to distant methods. They serve comparable functions however have some variations of their implementation and use circumstances. The bastion host is positioned in entrance of the personal community to take SSH requests from public visitors and move the request to the downstream machine. Bastion host and leap servers are weak to intrusion as a result of they’re uncovered to public visitors.
Session recording helps an administrator of a system to audit person SSH classes and ensure they adjust to regulatory necessities. Within the occasion of a safety breach, the administrator will need to audit and analyze the person classes. That is essential for a security-sensitive system.
What’s a non-public VPC community?
A digital personal cloud is totally personal if there isn’t any public ingress or outgress community visitors. In easy technical phrases, it’s personal if there are not any public gateways on the subnets (personal subnets) and no floating IPs on the Digital Server Cases (VSIs).
How do I connect with the personal VPC community?
Shopper-to-site VPN for VPC is without doubt one of the two VPN choices accessible on IBM Cloud, and it permits customers to connect with IBM Cloud assets by way of safe, encrypted connections.
The client-to-site VPN is extremely accessible, with two VPN servers which can be created in two completely different availability zones in the identical area. The bastions are extremely accessible as nicely.
Stipulations
Provision the personal VPC community utilizing Terraform
After you have the IBM Cloud Secrets and techniques Supervisor secret with the certificates, launch your terminal and set the next Terraform variables:
export TF_VAR_ibmcloud_api_key=<IBM_CLOUD_API_KEY>
export TF_VAR_secrets_manager_certificate_crn=<SECRET_CRN>
git clone https://github.com/VidyasagarMSC/private-vpc-network
cd terraform
Run the Terraform instructions to provision the VPC assets (e.g., subnets, bastion hosts (VSIs), VPN, and many others.):
terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply
Connect with client-to-site VPN
As soon as the VPC assets are efficiently provisioned, it’s essential obtain the VPN shopper profile by navigating to VPN servers web page on IBM Cloud.
Click on the Shopper-to-site servers tab after which on the identify of the VPN:
Obtain the profile from the Purchasers tab.
The VPN provisioned by way of Terraform makes use of certificates. Comply with the directions right here to connect with the OpenVPN Shopper.
You need to see the profitable connection in your OpenVPN Shopper:
Confirm the SSH connection
On a terminal, add the SSH personal key to the SSH agent with the next command:
ssh-add <LOCATION_OF_PRIVATE_SSH_KEY>
Instance: ssh-add ~/.ssh/<NAME_OF_THE_PRIVATE_KEY>
Run the next command to SSH into the RHEL VSI by way of a bastion host. You may be utilizing the personal IP tackle of the bastion in Zone 1:
ssh -J root@10.10.0.13 root@10.10.128.13
Bear in mind, you ought to be linked to the client-to-site VPN to entry the RHEL VSI by way of the bastion host.
After SSH, You need to see directions to allow SSH session recording utilizing the TLOG package deal on RHEL.
Deploy session recording utilizing Ansible
To deploy the session recording resolution, it’s essential have the next packages put in on the RHEL VSI:
tlog
SSSD
cockpit-session-recording
The packages shall be put in by way of Ansible automation on all of the VSIs—each bastion hosts and RHEL VSI.
Transfer to the Ansible folder:
cd ansible
Create hosts.ini from the template file:
cp hosts_template.ini hosts.ini
Run the Ansible playbook to put in the packages from an IBM Cloud personal mirror/repository:
ansible-playbook main_playbook.yml -i hosts.ini –flush-cache
You’ll be able to see in Determine 1 that after you SSH into the RHEL machine, you will note a notice saying: ATTENTION! Your session is being recorded!
Test the session recordings, logs and stories
In case you intently observe the messages post-SSH, you will note a URL to the net console that may be accessed utilizing the machine identify or personal IP over port 9090. To permit visitors on port 9090, within the Terraform code, change the worth of allow_port_9090 variable to true and run terraform apply. The newest terraform apply will add ACL and safety group guidelines to permit visitors on port 9090.
Now, open a browser and navigate to http://10.10.128.13:9090. To entry utilizing the VSI identify, it’s essential arrange a non-public DNS (out of scope for this text). You want a root password to entry the net console:
Navigate to Session Recording on the left-hand facet to see the listing of session recordings. Together with session recordings, you’ll be able to examine the logs, diagnostic stories, and many others.:
Really helpful studying
Conclusion
This text coated why session recording is required in bastion hosts for auditing and compliance and the way session recording may be arrange with the built-in RHEL packages utilizing Ansible Automation.
Whereas designing a secured digital personal cloud community, you realized the very best practices in architecting a VPC personal community. We additionally coated the necessity to construct extremely accessible VPN servers and bastion hosts. With the provisioning of cloud infrastructure utilizing Terraform and Ansible for session recording, you bought hands-on expertise.
Study extra about IBM Cloud VPC
When you have any queries, be at liberty to achieve out to me on Twitter or on LinkedIn.
