Separate Postanalytics Module Installation¶

In Wallarm's request processing, two stages are involved, including the postanalytics stage for statistical request analysis. Postanalytics is memory-intensive, which may require it to be performed on a dedicated server for optimized performance. This article explains how to install the postanalytics module on a separate server.

Overview¶

The processing of requests in the Wallarm node consists of two stages:

Primary processing in the NGINX-Wallarm module, which is not memory demanding and can be executed on frontend servers without altering server requirements.
Statistical analysis of the processed requests in the postanalytics module which is memory demanding.

The schemes below depict module interaction in two scenarios: when installed on the same server and on different servers.

NGINX-Wallarm and postanalytics on one serverNGINX-Wallarm and postanalytics on different servers

Requirements¶

Access to the account with the Administrator role and two‑factor authentication disabled in Wallarm Console for the US Cloud or EU Cloud
Executing all commands as a superuser (e.g. root)
Access to https://meganode.wallarm.com to download all-in-one Wallarm installer. Ensure the access is not blocked by a firewall
Access to https://us1.api.wallarm.com if working with US Wallarm Cloud or to https://api.wallarm.com if working with EU Wallarm Cloud. If access can be configured only via the proxy server, then use the instructions
Installed text editor vim, nano, or any other. In the commands in this article, vim is used

Step 1: Download all-in-one Wallarm installer¶

To download all-in-one Wallarm installation script, execute the command:

x86_64 versionARM64 version

curl -O https://meganode.wallarm.com/5.2/wallarm-5.2.1.x86_64-glibc.sh

curl -O https://meganode.wallarm.com/5.2/wallarm-5.2.1.aarch64-glibc.sh

Step 2: Prepare Wallarm token¶

To install node, you will need a Wallarm token of the appropriate type. To prepare a token:

API tokenNode token

Open Wallarm Console → Settings → API tokens in the US Cloud or EU Cloud.
Find or create API token with the Deploy source role.
Copy this token.

Open Wallarm Console → Nodes in the US Cloud or EU Cloud.
Do one of the following:
- Create the node of the Wallarm node type and copy the generated token.
- Use existing node group - copy token using node's menu → Copy token.

Step 3: Run all-in-one Wallarm installer to install postanalytics¶

To install postanalytics separately with all-in-one installer, use:

API tokenNode token

# If using the x86_64 version:
sudo env WALLARM_LABELS='group=<GROUP>' sh wallarm-5.2.1.x86_64-glibc.sh postanalytics

# If using the ARM64 version:
sudo env WALLARM_LABELS='group=<GROUP>' sh wallarm-5.2.1.aarch64-glibc.sh postanalytics

The WALLARM_LABELS variable sets group into which the node will be added (used for logical grouping of nodes in the Wallarm Console UI).

# If using the x86_64 version:
sudo sh wallarm-5.2.1.x86_64-glibc.sh postanalytics

# If using the ARM64 version:
sudo sh wallarm-5.2.1.aarch64-glibc.sh postanalytics

Step 4: Configure the postanalytics module¶

Resources and memory¶

To change how much memory Tarantool uses, look for the SLAB_ALLOC_ARENA setting in the /opt/wallarm/env.list file. It is set to use 1 GB by default. If you need to change this, you can adjust the number to match the amount of memory Tarantool actually needs. For help on how much to set, see our recommendations.

To change allocated memory:

Open for editing the /opt/wallarm/env.list file:
```
sudo vim /opt/wallarm/env.list
```
Set the SLAB_ALLOC_ARENA attribute to memory size. The value can be an integer or a float (a dot . is a decimal separator). For example:
```
SLAB_ALLOC_ARENA=2.0
```

Host and port¶

By default, the postanalytics module is set to accept connections on all IPv4 addresses of the host (0.0.0.0) using port 3313. It is recommended to retain the default configuration unless a change is necessary.

However, if you need to change the default configuration:

Open for editing the /opt/wallarm/env.list file:
```
sudo vim /opt/wallarm/env.list
```
Update the HOST and PORT values as required. Define the PORT variable if it is not already specified, for example:
```
# tarantool
HOST=0.0.0.0
PORT=3300
```
Open for editing the /opt/wallarm/etc/wallarm/node.yaml file:
```
sudo vim /opt/wallarm/etc/wallarm/node.yaml
```

Enter the new host and port values for the tarantool parameters, as shown below:

hostname: <name of postanalytics node>
uuid: <UUID of postanalytics node>
secret: <secret key of postanalytics node>
tarantool:
    host: '0.0.0.0'
    port: 3300

Step 5: Enable inbound connections for the postanalytics module¶

The postanalytics module uses port 3313 by default, but some cloud platforms may block inbound connections on this port.

To guarantee integration, allow inbound connections on port 3313 or your custom port. This step is essential for the NGINX-Wallarm module, installed separately, to connect with the Tarantool instance.

Step 6: Restart the Wallarm services¶

After making the necessary changes, restart the Wallarm services on the machine hosting the postanalytics module to apply the updates:

sudo systemctl restart wallarm.service

Step 7: Install the NGINX-Wallarm module on a separate server¶

Once the postanalytics module is installed on the separate server:

Install the NGINX-Wallarm module on a different server following the corresponding guide.

When launching the installation script for the NGINX-Wallarm module on a separate server, include the filtering option, for example:

API tokenNode token

# If using the x86_64 version:
sudo env WALLARM_LABELS='group=<GROUP>' sh wallarm-5.2.1.x86_64-glibc.sh filtering

# If using the ARM64 version:
sudo env WALLARM_LABELS='group=<GROUP>' sh wallarm-5.2.1.aarch64-glibc.sh filtering

The WALLARM_LABELS variable sets group into which the node will be added (used for logical grouping of nodes in the Wallarm Console UI).

# If using the x86_64 version:
sudo sh wallarm-5.2.1.x86_64-glibc.sh filtering

# If using the ARM64 version:
sudo sh wallarm-5.2.1.aarch64-glibc.sh filtering

Step 8: Connect the NGINX-Wallarm module to the postanalytics module¶

On the machine with the NGINX-Wallarm module, in the NGINX configuration file, specify the postanalytics module server address:

upstream wallarm_tarantool {
    server <ip1>:3313 max_fails=0 fail_timeout=0 max_conns=1;
    server <ip2>:3313 max_fails=0 fail_timeout=0 max_conns=1;

    keepalive 2;
    }

    # omitted

wallarm_tarantool_upstream wallarm_tarantool;

max_conns value must be specified for each of the upstream Tarantool servers to prevent the creation of excessive connections.
keepalive value must not be lower than the number of the Tarantool servers.

Once the configuration file changed, restart NGINX/NGINX Plus on the NGINX-Wallarm module server:

DebianUbuntuCentOSAlmaLinux, Rocky Linux or Oracle Linux 8.xRHEL 8.x

sudo systemctl restart nginx

sudo service nginx restart

sudo systemctl restart nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 9: Check the NGINX‑Wallarm and separate postanalytics modules interaction¶

To check the NGINX‑Wallarm and separate postanalytics modules interaction, you can send the request with test attack to the address of the protected application:

curl http://localhost/etc/passwd

If the NGINX‑Wallarm and separate postanalytics modules are configured properly, the attack will be uploaded to the Wallarm Cloud and displayed in the Attacks section of Wallarm Console:

If the attack was not uploaded to the Cloud, please check that there are no errors in the services operation:

Analyze the postanalytics module logs
```
sudo cat /opt/wallarm/var/log/wallarm/tarantool-out.log
```
If there is the record like SystemError binary: failed to bind: Cannot assign requested address, make sure that the server accepts connection on specified address and port.
On the server with the NGINX‑Wallarm module, analyze the NGINX logs:
```
sudo cat /var/log/nginx/error.log
```
If there is the record like [error] wallarm: <address> connect() failed, make sure that the address of separate postanalytics module is specified correctly in the NGINX‑Wallarm module configuration files and separate postanalytics server accepts connection on specified address and port.
On the server with the NGINX‑Wallarm module, get the statistics on processed requests using the command below and make sure that the value of tnt_errors is 0
```
curl http://127.0.0.8/wallarm-status
```
Description of all parameters returned by the statistics service →

Postanalytics module protection¶

Protect installed postanalytics module

We highly recommend to protect a newly installed Wallarm postanalytics module with a firewall. Otherwise, there is a risk of getting unauthorized access to the service that may result in:

Disclosure of information about processed requests
Possibility of executing arbitrary Lua code and operating system commands

Please note that no such risk exists if you are deploying the postanalytics module alongside with the NGINX-Wallarm module on the same server. This holds true because the postanalytics module will listen to the port 3313.

Here are the firewall settings that should be applied to the separately installed postanalytics module:

Allow the HTTPS traffic to and from the Wallarm API servers, so the postanalytics module can interact with these servers:
- us1.api.wallarm.com is the API server in the US Wallarm Cloud
- api.wallarm.com is the API server in the EU Wallarm Cloud
Restrict the access to the 3313 Tarantool port via TCP and UDP protocols by allowing connections only from the IP addresses of the Wallarm filtering nodes.

Tarantool troubleshooting¶

Tarantool troubleshooting