NSX-T can automatically apply signatures to your hosts, and update intrusion detection signatures by checking our cloud-based service.

Distributed firewall (DFW) must be enabled for IDS to work. If traffic is blocked by a DFW rule, then IDS will not see the traffic.

Intrusion detection can be enabled on standalone hosts by toggling the enabled bar. If VC clusters are detected, IDS can also be enabled on a cluster basis by selecting the cluster and clicking enable.

Signatures

Signatures are applied to IDS rules through profiles. A single profile is applied to matching traffic. By default, NSX Manager checks for new signatures once per day. New signature update versions are published every two weeks (with additional non-scheduled 0-day updates). When a new update is available, there is a banner across the page with an Update Now link.

If Auto update new versions is selected, signatures are automatically applied to your hosts after they are downloaded from the cloud. If auto update is disabled, the signatures are stopped at the listed version. Click view and change versions to add another version, in addition to the default. Currently, two versions of signatures are maintained. Whenever there is a change in the version commit identification number, a new version is downloaded.

If a proxy server is configured for NSX Manager to access the Internet, click Proxy Settings and complete the configuration.

Offline Downloading and Uploading Signatures

To download and upload a signature bundle, when NSX Manager does not have Internet access:
  1. This API is the first one to be called before any communication with the cloud service is started. It registers the client using the client's license key, and generates credentials for the client to use. Send all licenses and you will be provided with necessary permission. The client_id is the name given by the user. The client_secret is generated and used as the request for the Authentication API. If the client has previously registered, but does not have access to the client_id and client_secret, the client has to re-register using the same API. 
    POST https://api.nsx-sec-prod.com/1.0/auth/register
    Body: 
    {
"license_keys":["xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx"],
"device_type":"NSX-Idps-Offline-Download",
"client_id": "client_username"
}
    Response: 
    {"client_id":"client_username", 
"client_secret": "Y54+V/rCpEm50x5HAUIzH6aXtTq7s97wCA2QqZ8VyrtFQjrJih7h0alItdQn02T46EJVnSMZWTseragTFScrtIwsiPSX7APQIC7MxAYZ0BoAWvW2akMxyZKyzbYZjeROb/C2QchehC8GFiFNpwqiAcQjrQHwHGdttX4zTQ="
}
  2. This API call authenticates the client using the client_id and client_secret, and generates an authorization token to use in the headers of requests to IDS Signatures APIs. The token is valid for 60 minutes. If the token is expired, the client has to reauthenticate using the client_id and client_secret.
    POST https://api.nsx-sec-prod.com/1.0/auth/authenticate
    Body: 
    {"client_id":"client_username", 
"client_secret": "Y54+V/rCpEm50x5HAUIzH6aXtTq7s97wCA2QqZ8VyrtFQjrJih7h0alItdQn02T46EJVnSMZWTseragTFScrtIwsiPSX7APQIC7MxAYZ0BoAWvW2akMxyZKyzbYZjeROb/C2QchehC8GFiFNpwqiAcQjrQHwHGdttX4zTQ="
}
    Response: 
    {
    "access_token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiI3ZjMwN2VhMmQwN2IyZjJjYzM5ZmU5NjJjNmZhNDFhMGZlMTk4YjMyMzU4OGU5NGU5NzE3NmNmNzk0YWU1YjdjLTJkYWY2MmE3LTYxMzctNGJiNS05NzJlLTE0NjZhMGNkYmU3MCIsInN1YiI6IjdmMzA3ZWEyZDA3YjJmMmNjMzlmZTk2MmM2ZmE0MWEwZmUxOThiMzIzNTg4ZTk0ZTk3MTc2Y2Y3OTRhZTViN2MtMmRhZjYyYTctNjEzNy00YmI1LTk3MmUtMTQ2NmEwY2RiZTcwIiwiZXhwIjoxNTU1NTUyMjk0LCJpYXQiOjE1NTU1NDg2OTR9.x4U75GShDLMhyiyUO2B9HIi1Adonzx3Smo01qRhvXuErQSpE_Kxq3rzg1_IIyvoy3SJwwDhSh8KECtGW50eCPg",
    "token_type": "bearer",
    "expires_in": 3600,
    "scope": "[idps_scope]"
}
  3. The response to this command has the link for the ZIP file. NSXCloud downloads the signatures from the git hub repo every 24 hours, and saves the signatures in a ZIP file. Copy and paste the signatures URL into your browser, and the ZIP file will download. 
    GET https://api.nsx-sec-prod.com/1.0/intrusion-services/signatures

    In the Headers tab, the Authorization key will have the access_token value from the authenticate API response.

    Authorization: eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiI3ZjMwN2VhMmQwN2IyZjJjYzM5ZmU5NjJjNmZhNDFhMGZlMTk4YjMyMzU4OGU5NGU5NzE3NmNmNzk0YWU1YjdjLTJkYWY2MmE3LTYxMzctNGJiNS05NzJlLTE0NjZhMGNkYmU3MCIsInN1YiI6IjdmMzA3ZWEyZDA3YjJmMmNjMzlmZTk2MmM2ZmE0MWEwZmUxOThiMzIzNTg4ZTk0ZTk3MTc2Y2Y3OTRhZTViN2MtMmRhZjYyYTctNjEzNy00YmI1LTk3MmUtMTQ2NmEwY2RiZTcwIiwiZXhwIjoxNTU1NTUyMjk0LCJpYXQiOjE1NTU1NDg2OTR9.x4U75GShDLMhyiyUO2B9HIi1Adonzx3Smo01qRhvXuErQSpE_Kxq3rzg1_IIyvoy3SJwwDhSh8KECtGW50eCPg
    Response: 
    {
"signatures_url": "https://ncs-idps-us-west-2-prod-signatures.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/a07fe284ff70dc67194f2e7cf1a8178d69570528.zip?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjENf%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMSJHMEUCIG1UYbzfBxOsm1lvdj1k36LPyoPota0L4CSOBMXgKGhmAiEA%2BQC1K4Gr7VCRiBM4ZTH2WbP2rvIp0qfHfGlOx0ChGc4q6wEIHxABGgw1MTAwMTM3MTE1NTMiDA4H4ir7eJl779wWWirIAdLIx1uAukLwnhmlgLmydZhW7ZExe%2BamDkRU7KT46ZS93mC1CQeL00D2rjBYbCBiG1mzNILPuQ2EyxmqxhEOzFYimXDDBER4pmv8%2BbKnDWPg08RNTqpD%2BAMicYNP7WlpxeZwYxeoBFruCDA2l3eXS6XNv3Ot6T2a%2Bk4rMKHtZyFkzZREIIcQlPg7Ej5q62EvvMFQdo8TyZxFpMJBc4IeG0h1k6QZU1Jlkrq2RYKit5WwLD%2BQKJrEdf4A0YctLbMCDbNbprrUcCADMKyclu8FOuABuK90a%2BvnA%2FJFYiJ32eJl%2Bdt0YRbTnRyvlMuSUHxjNAdyrFxnkPyF80%2FQLYLVDRWUDatyAo10s3C0pzYN%2FvMKsumExy6FIcv%2FOLoO8Y9RaMOTnUfeugpr6YsqMCH0pUR4dIVDYOi1hldNCf1XD74xMJSdnviaxY4vXD4bBDKPnRFFhOxLTRFAWVlMNDYggLh3pV3rXdPnIwgFTrF7CmZGJAQBBKqaxzPMVZ2TQBABmjxoRqCBip8Y662Tbjth7iM2V522LMVonM6Tysf16ls6QU9IC6WqjdOdei5yazK%2Fr9g%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191202T222034Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3599&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAXNPZPUTA6A7V7P4X%2F20191202%2Fus-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=d85ca4aef6abe22062e2693acacf823f0a4fc51d1dc07cda8dec93d619050f5e"
}
  4. Navigate to Security > Distributed IDS > Settings. Click Upload IDS Signatures in the right corner. Navigate to the saved signature ZIP file and upload the file. You can also upload the signature ZIP using the API call:
    POST https://<mgr-ip>/policy/api/v1/infra/settings/firewall/security/intrusion-services/signatures?action=upload_signatures