Installing from the ISO image

Video overview

Watch these short videos for a quick overview of the installation and configuration process.

How to install LANGuardian

How to set up a monitoring port

What to do after installation

For more NetFort videos, see our video page or check out our YouTube channel.

LANGuardian runs on industry-standard hardware. The system on which you install it should be similar to, or more powerful than, a dual-core processor with 2 GB RAM. If you are installing LANGuardian in a virtualized hardware environment, the equivalent resources should be available. Please contact us if you have any questions about hardware specifications.

LANGuardian requires at least two network adapters: one for the management (user) interface, and one for the monitoring interface.

The network adapter for the management interface connects to a standard network port. This adapter requires a fixed IP address. You should have to hand the usual information needed to join a network:

• IP address
• Subnet mask
• Gateway address

The network adapter for the monitoring interface connects to a monitoring (SPAN) port on your core switch.

Installing the software

Follow these steps to install LANGuardian from the ISO image:

1. Burn the ISO image onto a CD.
2. Insert the disc in the PC or server.
3. Boot the machine from the CD (you may need to modify the BIOS to enable booting from CD).
4. Complete the LANGuardian setup process.

Running the LANGuardian Setup utility

The LANGuardian Setup utility runs when you boot the LANGuardian CD. There are seven steps. After you complete these steps, the LANGuardian machine will be available on your network. You can then access the Configuration Wizard with a web browser to complete the configuration process.

  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Copyright © 2012 NetFort Technologies Limited. All rights reserved.
  
  Welcome to the setup utility for LANGuardian.
  
  This utility will guide you through the LANGuardian installation process. 
  The installation takes less than five minutes.
  
  +--------------------------------------------------------+
  | PLEASE NOTE:                                           |
  |                                                        |
  | This installation will overwrite any data or operating |
  | system that exists on the selected hard disk.          |
  |                                                        |
  +--------------------------------------------------------+
  
  Type YES to continue with the installation. Type NO to quit the setup program
  without installing LANGuardian.
  
  Do you want to continue with the installation [NO]? 
  

Enter YES to continue with the installation.

Step 1: Select the installation disk

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Step 1 of 6: Select the installation disk
  
  The following list shows the existing disks on this computer.
  
  Disk ID   Description                                                      Size
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1         Western Digital WD5000B                                        100 GB
  2         Maxtor                                                         400 GB
  3         Hitachi SD160002                                               260 GB 
  4         Seagate HD Barracuda 7200 RPM                                  500 GB
  
  Please select the disk on which you want to install LANGuardian.
  
  Enter the disk ID number: 
  

The disk on which you install LANGuardian should have a capacity of at least 50 GB. You can install on smaller disks but performance and storage capacity will be affected.

Enter the disk ID number and press Enter to continue.

Step 2: Confirm the installation disk

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Step 2 of 6: Confirm the installation disk
  
  You have chosen to install LANGuardian on this disk:
  
  Disk ID   Description                                                      Size
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2         Maxtor                                                         400 GB
  
  If you proceed with the installation, all data on this disk will be erased.
  Type YES to continue with the installation. Type NO to quit the setup utility
  without installing LANGuardian.
  
  Do you want to continue [NO]?
  

When you install LANGuardian, any existing data on the installation disk will be erased. To avoid accidental loss of data, the setup utility asks you to confirm that you want to proceed with the installation.

Type YES to continue with the installation. If you type NO, the setup utility will exit without making any changes to the disk.

Step 3: Select a network device

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Step 3 of 6: Select a network device for the LANGuardian user interface
  
  LANGuardian requires at least two network interface cards (NICs). One NIC will
  be assigned to the browser-based user interface. LANGuardian will use the
  other NICs to capture network traffic data.
  
  The following NICs are available on your computer:
  
  NIC ID    Description                                                    Status
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1         Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection                           Connected
  2         Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection                           Connected
  3         Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection                           Connected
  4         Marvell Yukon 88E805 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet...          Not connected
  
  Please select a NIC to assign to the user interface.
  
  If you want to be sure of the ID of each NIC, disconnect all network cables
  and reconnect them one at a time, pressing the R key after you connect each one.
  
  Enter the NIC ID number or press the R key to refresh the list [R]: 
  

The setup utility lists the network interface cards (NICs) it finds on the system. Choose the NIC you want to assign to the LANGuardian user interface. You can determine the number of each NIC by disconnecting all network cables and reconnecting them one at a time and pressing the R key.

Step 4: Configure the network device

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Step 4 of 6: Configure the user interface network device
  
  You have chosen to assign this device to the LANGuardian user interface:
  
  NIC ID    Description                                                    Status
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3         Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection                           Connected
  
  Please enter the following network settings:
  
  LANGuardian computer IP address:    192.168.127.200
  LANGuardian computer network mask:  255.255.255.0
  Default gateway IP address:         192.168.127.1
  DNS server IP address:              16.1.20.232
  
  Press any key to continue with the installation. 	
  

Enter the following network settings:

• IP address – the static IP address of the management interface (this will be the address you enter in your web browser to access the LANGuardian home page).
• Subnet mask
• Gateway address
• DNS server address

At this stage in the installation process, no changes have been made to your system and your disk has not been modified. The setup utility asks you to confirm your settings once again before beginning the actual installation.

Step 5: Confirm settings

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Step 5 of 6: Confirm settings
  
  LANGuardian Setup will now complete the installation using these settings:
  
  Disk ID   Description                                                      Size
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2         Maxtor                                                         400 GB
  
  NIC ID    Description                                                    Status
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3         Intel PRO/1000 Network Connection                           Connected
  
            LANGuardian computer IP address:  192.168.127.200
            LANGuardian computer network mask: 255.255.255.0
            Default gateway:
            DNS server
  
  Type YES to continue with the installation. Type NO to quit the setup program
  without installing LANGuardian.
  
  Are you sure you want to install LANGuardian using these settings [YES]?
   

Type YES to complete the installation. If you type NO, the setup utility will exit without making any changes to your system.

Step 6: Complete the installation

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  ---------------------
  
  Step 6 of 6: Complete the installation
  
  Please wait while LANGuardian Setup completes the installation. 
  

	
  LANGuardian Setup
  -----------------
  
  Finished!
  
  LANGuardian has been installed successfully. Please remove the LANGuardian
  CD and restart the system to complete the installation. After restart, you
  can use the LANGuardian Management Utility on this console to change the
  operating mode and network settings.
  
  You can access the main LANGuardian user interface via a web browser at:
  
  https://192.168.127.200
  
  The first time you visit this URL, LANGuardian will display the Configuration
  Wizard, which will guide you through the remaining configuration steps.
  
  We hope you enjoy using LANGuardian.
  
  The NetFort team (support@netfort.com)
  
  Press any key to restart...
  

When the setup utility finishes the installation, remove the LANGuardian CD and restart the system.

After the system restarts, you can visit the URL shown in step 7 to access the Configuration Wizard and complete the installation. Before you do that, you must configure a monitoring port on your core switch to enable LANGuardian to capture traffic data.

Configure a monitoring port

Network core switches typically have a port mirroring capability that enables you to set up a monitoring port (called a SPAN port on Cisco switches) through which you can capture network traffic for analysis. For details, see the architecture and network monitoring concepts pages.

The steps to configure a monitoring port are specific to each switch. The video on this page gives an overview of the steps involved. See the core switch documentation page for links to documentation for popular switches.

If you need help configuring a monitoring port on your switch, contact our support team for free, no-obligation assistance.

Using the Configuration Wizard

When the system reboots after you finish running the LANGuardian Setup Utility, the home page of the browser-based user interface is available at the IP address you specified during the installation. You must use the HTTPS protocol. For example, if the IP address you specified during the installation is 192.168.10.200, the address of your LANGuardian home page will be https://192.168.10.200.

The first time you visit the home page after installation, LANGuardian will display the Configuration Wizard. Follow the steps to complete the installation. For details, see Using the Configuration Wizard.

After you complete the wizard steps, LANGuardian will display the home page. It comes pre-configured with a number of standard dashboards and reports, which you can use as-is or customize according to your requirements. LANGuardian begins monitoring your network immediately after installation, so you should see traffic data appearing in the reports within a few minutes. Please contact us if you encounter any problems when installing or configuring LANGuardian.

Integration with Active Directory

LANGuardian integrates with Active Directory to create reports that include user names and department information. It uses an account on the Active Directory domain server to authenticate itself and query the server event logs and global catalog for login activity and user information, such as email address and department. The domain account must have sufficient privileges to read the event security logs.

Follow these steps to integrate LANGuardian with Active Directory:

1. Click Configuration on the Administration menu.
2. On the Configuration page, scroll down to the section on Identify Configuration.
3. Click Configure support for Active Directory identity logging.
4. On the Active Directory page, click Add new server.
5. Click the Enter new credentials radio button.
6. Enter the following details:
• User: the username of the domain account.
• Password: the password for the domain account.
• IP Address: the address of a domain controller.
7. Click Search. LANGuardian will search for and display all Active Directory domain controllers in the domain.
8. Tick the checkbox opposite the name of each controller you want to add, then click Save Selected.

Notes:

• We recommend that you add all domain controllers unless you are sure that they do not authenticate users.
• You may want to consider creating a dedicated account to associate your LANGuardian instance with Active Directory. If you do this, ensure that the account has the following rights: Deny logon locally and Manage auditing and security log.
• On your domain controllers, configure the security settings to audit logon events.

For a detailed description of the steps involved, see Integrating LANGuardian with Active Directory.

Need help?

Please contact us if you need help installing or configuring NetFort LANGuardian. You can avail of free no-obligation technical support by contacting our helpdesk on support@netfort.com. See also the NetFort discussion forum for technical tips and usage information.