Setting up a virtual sensor

1. Obtain the latest Perch Sensor VMWare OVA or Hyper-V zip file - Navigate to Settings > Sensors and you will find the latest images available to download at the top of the page.
2. Install VMWare - Use the sensor image OVA with ESXi, vSphere or Virtualbox to create a pre-configured Perch Sensor virtual machine. Hyper-V - For instructions on how to import the sensor image from the zip, click here Note regarding Hyper-V: We’ve observed that if the latest updates are not installed, Server 2012R2 and Server 2016 have issues running NDIS Mirroring as required for proper functionality.
3. If you need assistance in configuring virtual switches to pass along mirrored port traffic, refer to documentation available for VMWare and Hyper-V.

The sensor has default user information:

Username: perch
Password: prairiefire

Login Logging in with this user will take you to a console application to configure your sensor.

The sensor configuration wizard starts with the management network interface as shown below. The management network interface is the interface used to connect to the Perch cloud via the Internet.

Use the arrow keys to select the interface. Here we have selected the interface called enp1s0.

Then select whether or not the interface uses DHCP, here we have selected No and filled in the corresponding information.

Hit OK to continue. The settings are saved as we move on to the next section.

Proxy configuration is optional. If the management network interface does not need a proxy to access the Internet, select No then OK to continue.

If a proxy is needed, select Yes and fill in the necessary information as shown below.

In either case, hit OK to continue. The settings are saved as you continue to the next section.

Here you can select which interfaces you wish to monitor, including the management interface you chose earlier (though this is not necessary).

The interfaces that should be monitored are the ones that have mirrored/spanned traffic that reproduces all your internal network traffic at an ingress/egress point. This is typically done with port mirroring on a managed switch.

Here the enp0s31f6 interface is marked as being monitored.

Also in this section is the Suricata HOME_NET¹ value, which indicates your local network subnets. The prepopulated default is appropriate in almost all cases.

As usual, hit OK to continue. The settings are saved as you continue to the next section.

The next section covers some miscellaneous information about the sensor and its installation. This includes sensor name, to distinguish among a many-sensor installation, and geographic location.

For geographic location, you can enter your Zip code, Country code / Postal code or Geohash.

Hit OK when done. Settings are saved before moving to the final step.

Registration with the Perch cloud is the final step in the configuration process. To complete this step, generate an invite code from the Perch web application.

1. To get your sensor invite code, login or register at: app.perchsecurity.com.

2. For users installing their first sensor, click Connect a Sensor.

   

3. For all other sensor installations, go to Settings then Sensors and click on the Purple Plus icon.

   

4. On the Device Invites page, create a new invite code with the Purple Plus icon.

   

5. Enter the code you received from the Perch app into your sensor and hit OK. Please wait while your sensor completes registration as it may take a few minutes.

   

6. Once completed, the sensor will be fully operational, though it may take some time before its internal processes have been fully initialized.