Autogenerated on 2012-11-29
from - https://redmine.openinfosecfoundation.org/projects/suricata/wiki/Basic_Setup


Basic Setup

When using Debian or FreeBSD, make sure you enter all commands as root/super-
user because for these operating systems it is not possible to use 'sudo'.
Start with creating a directory for Suricata's log information.

  sudo mkdir /var/log/suricata


To prepare the system for using it, enter:

  sudo mkdir /etc/suricata

The next step is to copy classification.config, reference.config and
suricata.yaml from the base build/installation directory (ex. from git it will
be the oisf directory) to the /etc/suricata directory. Do so by entering the
following:

  sudo cp classification.config /etc/suricata
  sudo cp reference.config /etc/suricata
  sudo cp suricata.yaml /etc/suricata


Auto setup

You can also use the available auto setup features of Suricata:
ex:

     ./configure && make && make install-conf

make install-conf
would do the regular "make install" and then it would automatically create/
setup all the necessary directories and suricata.yaml for you.

     ./configure && make && make install-rules

make install-rules
would do the regular "make install" and then it would automatically download
and set up the latest ruleset from Emerging Threats available for Suricata

     ./configure && make && make install-full

make install-full
would combine everything mentioned above (install-conf and install-rules) - and
will present you with a ready to run (configured and set up) Suricata

Setting variables

Make sure every variable of the vars, address-groups and port-groups in the
yaml file is set correctly for your needs. A full explanation is available in
the Rule_vars_section_of_the_yaml. You need to set the ip-address(es) of your
local network at HOME_NET. It is recommended to set EXTERNAL_NET to !$HOME_NET.
This way, every ip-address but the one set at HOME_NET will be treated as
external. It is also possible to set EXTERNAL_NET to 'any', only the
recommended setting is more precise and lowers the change that false positives
will be generated. HTTP_SERVERS, SMTP_SERVERS , SQL_SERVERS , DNS_SERVERS and
TELNET_SERVERS are by default set to HOME_NET. AIM_SERVERS is by default set at
'any'. These variables have to be set for servers on your network. All settings
have to be set to let it have a more accurate effect.
Next, make sure the following ports are set to your needs: HTTP_PORTS,
SHELLCODE_PORTS, ORACLE_PORTS and SSH_PORTS.
Finally, set the host-os-policy to your needs. See Host_OS_Policy_in_the_yaml
for a full explanation.

    windows:[]
    bsd: []
    bsd-right: []
    old-linux: []
    linux: [10.0.0.0/8, 192.168.1.100, "8762:2352:6241:7245:E000:0000:0000:
  0000"]
    old-solaris: []
    solaris: ["::1"]
    hpux10: []
    hpux11: []
    irix: []
    macos: []
    vista: []
    windows2k3: []

Note that bug #499 may prevent you from setting old-linux, bsd-right and old-
solaris right now.

Interface cards

To check the available interface cards, enter:

  ifconfig

Now you can see which one you would like Suricata to use.
To start the engine and include the interface card of your preference, enter:

  sudo suricata -c /etc/suricata/suricata.yaml -i wlan0

Instead of wlan0, you can enter the interface card of your preference.
To see if the engine is working correctly and receives and inspects traffic,
enter:

  cd /var/log/suricata

Followed by:

  tail http.log

And:

  tail -n 50 stats.log

To make sure the information displayed is up-dated in real time, use the -
f option before http.log and stats.log:

  tail -f http.log stats.log