Installation

There are several types of appliances available. A valid or evaluation key is required with each install. A key can be obtained from Plixer International, Inc. or a local reseller.

The steps below describe the process of installing hardware and virtual appliances. Although the screen captures show FlowPro Defender, the same steps are performed for each flavor of FlowPro.

Hardware Appliance

Once the hardware appliance is installed in a network rack, power it on and follow the steps below:

  1. Using an SSH client, remotely login using the username root and password flowpro. The hardware appliance will perform a quick setup and immediately reboot
CentOS release 6.5 (Final)
Kernel 2.6.32-431.3.1.e16.x86_64 on an x86.64

localhost login: root
Password: _
  1. Login to the hardware appliance again using the username root and password flowpro. Answer a few brief questions. The hardware appliance will reboot to apply the necessary settings.
*********************************
FlowPro Hardware Appliance
Initial Configuration
*********************************

What is the appliances static IP Address?
10.1.2.3
What is the appliances Netmask?
255.255.255.0
What is the appliances gateway?
10.1.1.1
What is the hostname for this appliance?
flowpro-defender1

What is the IP Address to your DNS?
This will allow the FlowPro to resolve IP addresses.

*Login to the hardware appliance again and answer a few brief questions*
  1. Login to the hardware appliance command line with the flowpro username and password. Apply the license key by issuing the license set command.
  2. In the new window, beside license= paste in the license key
FlowPro Defender (TM) v15.5.5.277
[2018-04-24 15:01:05 -0400 (Wed, 24 Apr 2018)]
Copyright (C) 2012 - 2018 Plixer, All rights reserved.
Plixer
Need an IPFIX Collector? Download Scrutinizer at http://www.plixer.com

         Machine ID : 6YZ6XEPT669PBA664A14561Q
    Licensed Verson : 15.5
      Licensed Type : valid
         Expiration : Tue Apr 12 2019
License expires in 342 day(s)

FLOW PRO> help license

+-------------------------------------------------+

license <set|update|check|status>

    license update can be used to apply a license key to this flowpro.
    license check or status will give details about the current license key.

+-------------------------------------------------+

FLOWPRO> license set_
  1. Press CTRL+X to save

FlowPro is now ready for operations

Virtual Appliance - ESX

The FlowPro Virtual Appliance (FVA) is packaged as an all-in-one virtual machine template known as an OVF template. For VMware deployments, ESXESXi 5.0 or higher is required. VMware Tools will be required to shut down the FVA through the VMware vSphere Client.

System Requirements

Component in Specifications
RAM 2GB
Disks 5GB
Processor 1 CPU 2 Core 2GHz+
Operating System ESXi5

Deploying the OVF Template

  1. Connect to the ESX host using VMware vSphere, or vCenter.
  2. Select File then Deploy OVF Template.
  3. Select Deploy from File, browse to the OVF Template, and click Next.
  4. Review the OVF template details and click Next.
  5. Define the name of the FlowPro Virtual Appliance and click Next.
  6. Select a datastore and click Next.
  7. Select the disk format and click Next.
  8. Select the Network Mapping and click Next.
  9. Review the Virtual Settings and click Finish to import the OVF Template.
  10. The virtual machine itself has both network adapters and eth1 (or mon1) is already in promiscuous mode. By default, it will start listening for traffic on the default virtual network, but it may not be the correct virtual network that needs to be monitored. If a user wants to monitor something different, they will have to set up a mirror port of a Virtual Distributed Switch or a mirror port using a physical NIC on the ESXi host.
  11. Right click on the FlowPro virtual machine and power it on.
  12. Navigate to the Console tab and login using the username root and password flowpro. The virtual appliance will perform a quick setup and immediately reboot.
  13. Login to the virtual appliance again using the username root and password flowpro. Answer a few brief questions. The virtual appliance will reboot to apply the necessary settings.
*********************************
FlowPro Hardware Appliance
Initial Configuration
*********************************

What is the appliances static IP Address?
10.1.2.3
What is the appliances Netmask?
255.255.255.0
What is the appliances gateway?
10.1.1.1
What is the hostname for this appliance?
flowpro-defender1

What is the IP Address to your DNS?
This will allow the FlowPro to resolve IP addresses.
  1. Login to the virtual appliance command line with the flowpro username and password. Apply the license key by issuing the license set command.
FlowPro Defender (TM) v15.5.5.277
[2018-04-24 15:01:05 -0400 (Wed, 24 Apr 2018)]
Copyright (C) 2012 - 2018 Plixer, All rights reserved.
Plixer
Need an IPFIX Collector? Download Scrutinizer at http://www.plixer.com

         Machine ID : 6YZ6XEPT669PBA664A14561Q
    Licensed Verson : 15.5
      Licensed Type : valid
         Expiration : Tue Apr 12 2019
License expires in 342 day(s)

FLOW PRO> help license

+-------------------------------------------------+

license <set|update|check|status>

    license update can be used to apply a license key to this flowpro.
    license check or status will give details about the current license key.

+-------------------------------------------------+

FLOWPRO> license set_
  1. In the new window, beside license= paste in the license key
  2. Press CTRL+X to save

The FlowPro is now ready for configuration.

Installing VMware Tools

VMware Tools are not required for proper function of the virtual appliance. However, there are certain advantages to deploying it on each virtual appliance. See VMware’s documentation for more details.

VMware Tools are not installed by default because each version of ESX installs a different VMware Tools package. A script is included with the Virtual FlowPro to simplify the install process.

  1. In the VMware vSphere Client, right click on the FlowPro virtual machine and select Guest then Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
  2. Login to the console of the FlowPro Virtual Appliance as the root user and run the command /home/flowpro/conf/vmwareToolsInstall.sh.

Upgrading the Virtual Machine Hardware Version

The FlowPro Virtual Appliance is built on Virtual Machine Hardware Version 8 to maintain backwards compatibility with ESXi 5.0 hypervisors. While the virtual machine is powered off, in vSphere (or vCenter) right click on the virtual machine and select Upgrade Virtual Hardware.

Virtual Machine - Hyper-V

System Requirements

Component Min Specifications
RAM 2GB
Disks 5GB
Processor 1 CPU 2 Core 2GHz+
Operating System MS Windows Server 2012

Importing a Virtual Machine

  1. Download the latest Plixer FlowPro Appliance

  2. Unzip the file on the Hyper-V server

  3. Open Hyper-V Manager and select Import Virtual Machine

  4. Specify the FlowPro Appliance System Folder

  5. Select the Virtual Machine

  6. Choose the import type

  7. Go to Setting

  8. Select the Network Adapter and assign it to the appropriate Virtual Switch FlowPro Appliance requires a mirrored port to be associated with eth1 (or mon1). To set up a mirrored port, reference:

    http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2015/01/06/settingup-port-mirroring-to-capture-mirrored-traffic-on-a-hyper-v-virtualmachine.aspx

  9. Expand the Network Adapter section, select Advanced Features, set the MAC Address to Static, enter in a unique MAC Address, and then press “OK”.

  10. Start the Virtual Machine.

  11. Right Click on the Virtual Machine and click Connect to login to the Plixer FlowPro Appliance using root/flowpro. The server will perform a quick setup and immediately reboot.