NetBackup and Veritas Appliances Hardening Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (10.2, 5.1.1, 3.0), NetBackup (10.2, 5.1.1, 3.0)
Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS,Flex Appliance OS,Linux,UNIX,Windows
  1. Top recommendations to improve your NetBackup and Veritas appliances security posture
    1.  
      Introduction
    2.  
      Keeping all systems and software updated
    3.  
      Enabling multifactor authentication
    4.  
      Increasing the appliance security level
    5.  
      Implementing an immutable data vault
    6.  
      Securing credentials
    7.  
      Reducing network exposure
    8.  
      Enabling encryption
    9.  
      Enabling catalog protection
    10.  
      Enabling malware scanning and anomaly detection
    11.  
      Enabling security observability
    12.  
      Restricting user access
    13.  
      Configuring a sign-in banner
  2. Steps to protect Flex Appliance
    1.  
      About Flex Appliance hardening
    2. Managing single sign-on (SSO)
      1.  
        Managing identity providers (IDPs)
      2.  
        Importing single sign-on (SSO) users
    3.  
      Managing user authentication with smart cards or digital certificates
    4. About lockdown mode
      1.  
        Changing the lockdown mode
    5.  
      Using network access control
    6.  
      Using an external certificate
    7.  
      Forwarding logs
    8.  
      Creating a NetBackup WORM storage server instance
    9. Configuring an isolated recovery environment on a WORM storage server
      1.  
        Configuring data transmission between a production environment and an IRE WORM storage server
    10.  
      Protecting the NetBackup catalog on a WORM storage server
    11.  
      Using a sign-in banner
  3. Steps to protect NetBackup Appliance
    1.  
      About NetBackup Appliance hardening
    2. About single sign-on (SSO) authentication and authorization
      1.  
        Configure single sign-on (SSO) for a NetBackup Appliance
    3. About authentication using smart cards and digital certificates
      1.  
        2FA
      2.  
        Smart card Authentication for NetBackup Web UI
      3.  
        Smart card authentication for NetBackup Appliance Web UI
      4.  
        Smart card authentication for NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu
      5.  
        Configure role-based access control
      6.  
        Configure authentication for a smart card or digital certificate for the NetBackup Web UI
    4.  
      Disable user access to the NetBackup appliance operating system
    5.  
      About Network Access Control
    6. About data encryption
      1.  
        KMS support
    7.  
      FIPS 140-2 conformance for NetBackup Appliance
    8.  
      About implementing external certificates
    9. About forwarding logs to an external server
      1.  
        Uploading certificates for TLS
      2.  
        Enabling log forwarding
    10.  
      Creating the appliance login banner
  4. Steps to protect NetBackup
    1.  
      About NetBackup hardening
    2. Configure NetBackup for single sign-on (SSO)
      1.  
        Configure the SAML KeyStore
      2.  
        Configure the SAML keystore and add and enable the IDP configuration
      3.  
        Enroll the NetBackup primary server with the IDP
    3. Configure user authentication with smart cards or digital certificates
      1.  
        Configure smart card authentication with a domain
      2.  
        Configure smart card authentication without a domain
    4. Access codes
      1.  
        Get CLI access through web UI authentication
      2.  
        Approve your CLI access request
      3.  
        Approve CLI access requests of other users
    5. Workflow to configure immutable and indelible data
      1.  
        About configuring disk pool storage
      2.  
        Use WORM setting
      3.  
        Creating a backup policy
    6. Add a configuration for an external CMS server
      1.  
        Add a credential for CyberArk
    7. Configuring an isolated recovery environment on a NetBackup BYO media server
      1.  
        Configuring AIR for replicating backup images from production environment to IRE BYO environment
    8. About FIPS support in NetBackup
      1.  
        Enable FIPS mode on NetBackup during installation
      2.  
        Enable FIPS mode on a NetBackup host after installation
      3.  
        Enable FIPS mode for the NetBackup Authentication Broker service
      4.  
        Enable FIPS mode for the NetBackup Administration Console
      5.  
        NB_FIPS_MODE option for NetBackup servers and clients
    9.  
      Installing KMS
    10. Workflow for external KMS configuration
      1.  
        Validating KMS credentials
      2.  
        Configuring KMS credentials
      3.  
        Configuring KMS
      4.  
        Creating keys in an external KMS
      5. Workflow to configure data-in-transit encryption
        1.  
          Configure the global data-in-transit encryption setting
        2. Configure the DTE mode on a client
          1.  
            DTE_CLIENT_MODE for clients
        3. How DTE configuration settings work in various NetBackup operations
          1.  
            Backup
          2.  
            Restore
          3.  
            MSDP backup, restore, and optimized duplication
          4.  
            Universal-Share policy backup
          5.  
            Catalog backup and recovery
          6.  
            Duplication
          7.  
            Synthetic backup
          8.  
            Verify
          9.  
            Import
          10.  
            Replication
        4.  
          Configure the DTE mode on the media server
        5. Modify the DTE mode on a backup image
          1.  
            DTE_IGNORE_IMAGE_MODE for NetBackup servers
    11. Workflow to use external certificates for NetBackup host communication
      1. About certificate revocation lists for external CA
        1.  
          How CRLs from ECA_CRL_PATH are used
        2.  
          How CRLs from CDP URLs are used
      2.  
        Configuring an external certificate for the NetBackup web server
      3.  
        Configuring the primary server to use an external CA-signed certificate
      4. Configuring an external certificate for a clustered primary server
        1. Configuration options for external CA-signed certificates for a virtual name
          1.  
            CLUSTER_ECA_CERT_PATH for clustered primary server
          2.  
            CLUSTER_ECA_TRUST_STORE_PATH for clustered primary server
          3.  
            CLUSTER_ECA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH for clustered primary server
          4.  
            CLUSTER_ECA_KEY_PASSPHRASEFILE for clustered primary server
      5. Configuring a NetBackup host (media server, client, or cluster node) to use an external CA-signed certificate after installation
        1.  
          Enrolling an external certificate for a remote host
      6. Configuration options for external CA-signed certificates
        1. ECA_CERT_PATH for NetBackup servers and clients
          1.  
            Specifying Windows certificate store for ECA_CERT_PATH
        2.  
          ECA_TRUST_STORE_PATH for NetBackup servers and clients
        3.  
          ECA_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH for NetBackup servers and clients
        4.  
          ECA_KEY_PASSPHRASEFILE for NetBackup servers and clients
        5.  
          ECA_CRL_CHECK for NetBackup servers and clients
        6.  
          ECA_CRL_PATH for NetBackup servers and clients
        7.  
          ECA_CRL_PATH_SYNC_HOURS for NetBackup servers and clients
        8.  
          ECA_CRL_REFRESH_HOURS for NetBackup servers and clients
        9.  
          ECA_DISABLE_AUTO_ENROLLMENT for NetBackup servers and clients
        10.  
          ECA_DR_BKUP_WIN_CERT_STORE for NetBackup servers and clients
        11.  
          MANAGE_WIN_CERT_STORE_PRIVATE_KEY option for NetBackup primary servers
    12.  
      Guidelines for managing the primary server NetBackup catalog
    13. About protecting the MSDP catalog
      1. About the MSDP shadow catalog
        1.  
          Changing the MSDP shadow catalog path
        2.  
          Changing the MSDP shadow catalog schedule
        3.  
          Changing the number of MSDP catalog shadow copies
      2.  
        About the MSDP catalog backup policy
    14. How to set up malware scanning
      1.  
        Prerequisites for a scan host
      2.  
        Configuring a new scan host pool
    15. About backup anomaly detection
      1.  
        Detecting backup anomalies on the primary server
      2.  
        Detecting backup anomalies on the media server
      3.  
        Configure anomaly detection settings
      4.  
        View anomalies
    16.  
      Send audit events to system logs
    17.  
      Send audit events to log forwarding endpoints
    18.  
      Display a banner to users when they sign in

Configuring an isolated recovery environment on a WORM storage server

You can configure an isolated recovery environment (IRE) on a WORM storage server to create an air gap between your production environment and a copy of the protected data. The air gap restricts network access to the data except during the timeframe when data replication occurs. This feature helps to protect against ransomware and malware.

To configure an IRE, you need a production NetBackup environment and a target Flex Appliance with a WORM storage server instance.

The production environment does not require any additional steps for this feature. Use the following procedure to configure an IRE on the target WORM storage server from the deduplication shell.

To configure an IRE

  1. If Auto Image Replication (AIR) is not configured on the production domain, continue to the next step.

    If AIR is already configured on the production domain, log in to the deduplication shell as the msdpadm user. Run the following command to show the SLP windows for replication from the primary server to the WORM server.

    setting ire-network-control show-slp-windows production_primary_server=<production domain> production_primary_server_username=<production username> ire_primary_server=<IRE domain> ire_primary_server_username=<IRE username>

    Where:

    • <production domain> is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the primary server in your production environment.

    • <production username> is the username of a NetBackup user with permission to list SLPs and SLP windows in the production environment. For Windows users, enter the username in the format <domain name>\<username>. For other users, enter the username only.

    • <IRE domain> is the FQDN of the primary server in the IRE. Use the same hostname that you used for the target primary server when you configured the SLPs in the production environment.

    • <IRE username> is the username of a NetBackup user with permission to list SLPs and storage units in the IRE. For Windows users, enter the username in the format <domain name>\<username>. For other users, enter the username only.

    For example:

    production_primary_server=examplePrimary.domain.com production_primary_server_username=appadmin ire_primary_server=exampleIREPrimary.domain.com ire_primary_server_username=appadmin

    The following is an example output of the command:

    EveryDayAtNoon:
    SLPs: SLP1
    Sunday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Monday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Tuesday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Wednesday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Thursday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Friday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    Saturday start: 12:00:00 duration: 00:59:59
    
    WeeklyWindow:
    SLPs: SLP2
    Sunday start: 10:00:00 duration: 01:59:59
    Monday NONE
    Tuesday NONE
    Wednesday NONE
    Thursday NONE
    Friday NONE
    Saturday start: 10:00:00 duration: 01:59:59

    This example shows two SLP windows:

    • A daily window for one hour starting at noon.

    • A weekly window for two hours starting at 10:00 A.M.

  2. Based on the requirements for your environment, determine a schedule and take note of it. For an existing AIR environment, the schedule must accommodate the SLP windows that you viewed in the previous step.

    You can set a daily schedule that is open at the same time each day, or you can set a different schedule for each day of the week.

    In the previous example, you can accommodate both SLP windows with either of the following:

    • A daily schedule from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.

    • A schedule from 12:00 P.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Monday through Friday and a schedule from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday

    Note:

    If the production environment and the IRE are in different time zones, the schedule must begin only once per day in both time zones. For example, if one environment is in the Asia/Kolkata time zone and the other is in the America/New_York time zone, the following schedule in Kolkata is not supported: Tuesday start time 22:00:00 and Wednesday start time 03:00:00. When these start times get converted to the New York time zone, they become Tuesday start time 12:30:00 and Tuesday start time 17:30:00, which is not supported.

  3. Run the following command to configure which subnets and IP addresses are allowed to access the WORM storage server:

    setting ire-network-control allow-subnets subnets=<CIDR subnets or IP addresses>

    Where <CIDR subnets or IP addresses> is a comma-separated list of the allowed IP addresses and subnets, in CIDR notation.

    For example:

    setting ire-network-control allow-subnets subnets=10.80.120.208,10.84.48.0/20

    Note:

    The IRE primary server, the IRE media servers, and the DNS server for the IRE must be included in the allowed list. If all of these servers are in the same subnet, only the subnet is required to be in the allowed list. If you have a dual stack IPv4-IPv6 network, make sure that you add both the IPv4 and the IPv6 addresses to the allowed list.

  4. Run the following command to set the daily air gap schedule:

    setting ire-network-control set-schedule start_time=<time> duration=<duration> [weekday=<0-6>]

    Where [weekday=<0-6>] is an optional parameter to indicate the day if you need to set different schedules for different days. 0 is Sunday, 1 is Monday, etc.

    For example:

    setting ire-network-control set-schedule start_time=10:00:00 duration=03:00:00 weekday=0

  5. Before you can send data between the production domain and the IRE storage server, you must add MSDP reverse connections and add the replication operation. See Configuring data transmission between a production environment and an IRE WORM storage server.