Solaris BSM Audit log loader: How to configure a forwarder to read /var/audit/* BSM logs on OSX?

[jonncallahan]

Hey all.

I've got Forwarder set up on our OSX fleet with a modified BSM parsing app (link below) to parse and forward the logs in /var/audit. The problem is that BSM logs are created with root:wheel ownership. While chowning the dir works fine for all current logs, once the logs are rotated, the new file is again owned by root:wheel. Due to this, Forwarder is unable to open them. So this leaves me with a few options:

1. Run Forwarder as a separate, privileged user in the wheel group.
2. Add the users to the wheel group (cringe)
3. Set a config somewhere to force all new /var/audit logs to be created with different perms.

Option 3 would be the best, but I'm unable to find anything via my google-fu on how to do this with OpenBSM. Option 2 is a no-go for obvious reasons which leaves me with option 1 as far as I can tell. Is this really the best route to go, or am I missing another (and better) approach for deploying Forwarder?

BSM log parsing Splunk app:

https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/847/

[MuS]

Hi jonncallahan,

This is not really a Splunk problem, since Splunk is just another process running on your OSX.
I suggest starting to read here http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/apple-in-the-enterprise/introduction-to-os-x-access-control-lists-a... followed by https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/openbsm-auditing-on-mac-os-x/ and maybe this one https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20150108

If this still does not do the job, create a root cronjob that copies the needed file into a Splunk readable location and index the files from there.

Hope this helps ...

cheers, MuS

[jonncallahan]

You're correct: it's not technically a Splunk problem. Figured I'd ask here, though, as I can't imagine this problem hasn't already been solved by others who have to deal with OSX fleets. Regardless, I appreciate the links and a fourth option to consider.