Winlogbeat setup error: x509 certificate is valid for <ip>, not <same ip>

I'm trying to send logs from Winlogbeat to my ELK stack. I did everything according to the official guide and it worked for my host. However, when copying the same winlogbeat directory to my Event Collector server, it did not work (all files are the same including the yml file). When trying to run the "winlogbeat.exe setup -e" I got the following error: 'error connecting to elasticsearch at "https://elastic-host:9200" Get "https://elastic-host:9200" Winlogbeat setup error: x509 certificate is valid for elastic-host ip, not elastic-host ip' (same ips). The CA is already added to the trusted root certificates. Everything is configured the same as on the host, on the host it works, on the server it doesn't. (the ELK server and the EVC are in the same segment so there shouldn't be any firewall drops)

Hi Michlol,

Please share your winlogbeat.yml for a better understanding.

Thanks

My .yml (same file on host and EVC server):
on the host it works without the ssl as well and the traffic is still encrypted due to the TLS that I configured on the docker cluster. So I'm not sure the ssl configuration is needed (but I wanted to include them in case they are needed).

###################### Winlogbeat Configuration Example ########################

# This file is an example configuration file highlighting only the most common
# options. The winlogbeat.reference.yml file from the same directory contains
# all the supported options with more comments. You can use it as a reference.
#
# You can find the full configuration reference here:
# https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/winlogbeat/index.html

# ======================== Winlogbeat specific options =========================

# event_logs specifies a list of event logs to monitor as well as any
# accompanying options. The YAML data type of event_logs is a list of
# dictionaries.
#
# The supported keys are name (required), tags, fields, fields_under_root,
# forwarded, ignore_older, level, event_id, provider, and include_xml. Please
# visit the documentation for the complete details of each option.
# https://go.es.io/WinlogbeatConfig

winlogbeat.event_logs:
  - name: Application
    ignore_older: 72h

  - name: System
  
  - name: Security
    processors:
      - script:
          lang: javascript
          id: security
          file: ${path.home}/module/security/config/winlogbeat-security.js

  - name: Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
    processors:
      - script:
          lang: javascript
          id: sysmon
          file: ${path.home}/module/sysmon/config/winlogbeat-sysmon.js

  - name: Windows PowerShell
    event_id: 400, 403, 600, 800
    processors:
      - script:
          lang: javascript
          id: powershell
          file: ${path.home}/module/powershell/config/winlogbeat-powershell.js

  - name: Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
    event_id: 4103, 4104, 4105, 4106
    processors:
      - script:
          lang: javascript
          id: powershell
          file: ${path.home}/module/powershell/config/winlogbeat-powershell.js

  - name: ForwardedEvents
    tags: [forwarded]
    processors:
      - script:
          when.equals.winlog.channel: Security
          lang: javascript
          id: security
          file: ${path.home}/module/security/config/winlogbeat-security.js
      - script:
          when.equals.winlog.channel: Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          lang: javascript
          id: sysmon
          file: ${path.home}/module/sysmon/config/winlogbeat-sysmon.js
      - script:
          when.equals.winlog.channel: Windows PowerShell
          lang: javascript
          id: powershell
          file: ${path.home}/module/powershell/config/winlogbeat-powershell.js
      - script:
          when.equals.winlog.channel: Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
          lang: javascript
          id: powershell
          file: ${path.home}/module/powershell/config/winlogbeat-powershell.js

# ====================== Elasticsearch template settings =======================

setup.template.settings:
  index.number_of_shards: 1
  #index.codec: best_compression
  #_source.enabled: false


# ================================== General ===================================

# The name of the shipper that publishes the network data. It can be used to group
# all the transactions sent by a single shipper in the web interface.
#name:

# The tags of the shipper are included in their own field with each
# transaction published.
#tags: ["service-X", "web-tier"]

# Optional fields that you can specify to add additional information to the
# output.
#fields:
#  env: staging

# ================================= Dashboards =================================
# These settings control loading the sample dashboards to the Kibana index. Loading
# the dashboards is disabled by default and can be enabled either by setting the
# options here or by using the `setup` command.
#setup.dashboards.enabled: false

# The URL from where to download the dashboards archive. By default this URL
# has a value which is computed based on the Beat name and version. For released
# versions, this URL points to the dashboard archive on the artifacts.elastic.co
# website.
#setup.dashboards.url:

# =================================== Kibana ===================================

# Starting with Beats version 6.0.0, the dashboards are loaded via the Kibana API.
# This requires a Kibana endpoint configuration.
setup.kibana:

  # Kibana Host
  # Scheme and port can be left out and will be set to the default (http and 5601)
  # In case you specify and additional path, the scheme is required: http://localhost:5601/path
  # IPv6 addresses should always be defined as: https://[2001:db8::1]:5601
  host: "192.168.101.129:5601"
  protocol: https
  username: "elastic"
  password: "passwd"
  
  setup.kibana.ssl.enabled: true
  setup.kibana.ssl.certificate_authorities: ["C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\ca.crt"]
  setup.kibana.ssl.certificate: "C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\winlogbeat.crt"
  setup.kibana.ssl.key: "C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\winlogbeat.key"
  # Kibana Space ID
  # ID of the Kibana Space into which the dashboards should be loaded. By default,
  # the Default Space will be used.
  #space.id:

# =============================== Elastic Cloud ================================

# These settings simplify using Winlogbeat with the Elastic Cloud (https://cloud.elastic.co/).

# The cloud.id setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.hosts` and
# `setup.kibana.host` options.
# You can find the `cloud.id` in the Elastic Cloud web UI.
#cloud.id:

# The cloud.auth setting overwrites the `output.elasticsearch.username` and
# `output.elasticsearch.password` settings. The format is `<user>:<pass>`.
#cloud.auth:

# ================================== Outputs ===================================

# Configure what output to use when sending the data collected by the beat.

# ---------------------------- Elasticsearch Output ----------------------------
output.elasticsearch:
  # Array of hosts to connect to.
  hosts: ["192.168.101.129:9200"]
  
  username: "elastic"
  password: "passwd"
  
  # Protocol - either `http` (default) or `https`.
  protocol: "https"
  output.elasticsearch.ssl.certificate_authorities: ["C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\ca.crt"]
  output.elasticsearch.ssl.certificate: "C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\winlogbeat.crt"
  output.elasticsearch.ssl.key: "C:\\Program Files\\Winlogbeat\\winlogbeat.key"
  # Authentication credentials - either API key or username/password.
  #api_key: "id:api_key"
# ------------------------------ Logstash Output -------------------------------
#output.logstash:
  # The Logstash hosts
  #hosts: ["localhost:5044"]

  # Optional SSL. By default is off.
  # List of root certificates for HTTPS server verifications
  #ssl.certificate_authorities: ["/etc/pki/root/ca.pem"]

  # Certificate for SSL client authentication
  #ssl.certificate: "/etc/pki/client/cert.pem"

  # Client Certificate Key
  #ssl.key: "/etc/pki/client/cert.key"

# ================================= Processors =================================
processors:
  - add_host_metadata:
      when.not.contains.tags: forwarded
  - add_cloud_metadata: ~

# ================================== Logging ===================================

# Sets log level. The default log level is info.
# Available log levels are: error, warning, info, debug
#logging.level: debug

# At debug level, you can selectively enable logging only for some components.
# To enable all selectors use ["*"]. Examples of other selectors are "beat",
# "publish", "service".
#logging.selectors: ["*"]

# ============================= X-Pack Monitoring ==============================
# Winlogbeat can export internal metrics to a central Elasticsearch monitoring
# cluster.  This requires xpack monitoring to be enabled in Elasticsearch.  The
# reporting is disabled by default.

# Set to true to enable the monitoring reporter.
#monitoring.enabled: false

# Sets the UUID of the Elasticsearch cluster under which monitoring data for this
# Winlogbeat instance will appear in the Stack Monitoring UI. If output.elasticsearch
# is enabled, the UUID is derived from the Elasticsearch cluster referenced by output.elasticsearch.
#monitoring.cluster_uuid:

# Uncomment to send the metrics to Elasticsearch. Most settings from the
# Elasticsearch output are accepted here as well.
# Note that the settings should point to your Elasticsearch *monitoring* cluster.
# Any setting that is not set is automatically inherited from the Elasticsearch
# output configuration, so if you have the Elasticsearch output configured such
# that it is pointing to your Elasticsearch monitoring cluster, you can simply
# uncomment the following line.
#monitoring.elasticsearch:

# ============================== Instrumentation ===============================

# Instrumentation support for the winlogbeat.
#instrumentation:
    # Set to true to enable instrumentation of winlogbeat.
    #enabled: false

    # Environment in which winlogbeat is running on (eg: staging, production, etc.)
    #environment: ""

    # APM Server hosts to report instrumentation results to.
    #hosts:
    #  - http://localhost:8200

    # API Key for the APM Server(s).
    # If api_key is set then secret_token will be ignored.
    #api_key:

    # Secret token for the APM Server(s).
    #secret_token:


# ================================= Migration ==================================

# This allows to enable 6.7 migration aliases
#migration.6_to_7.enabled: true

Hi Michlol,

This is in a docker environment? your certificate paths are all in windows format.

Are you able to confirm that the node cert contain hostname of your new server that copy pasted to and its tally with output.elasticsearch.hosts?

Thanks

Hi Kavier,

The winlogbeat.yml file is on a windows server (Event collector), the certificate paths are all in windows format so winlogbeat will be able to find them on the windows server, since it is not on my centos elk server. Either way I don't think this is what causes the problem, since as I mentioned before - the .yml file on my host works without the ssl configurations.

The node cert is for my elk server- which is the destination for the logs from both my host and the EVC server, so I don't believe there should be a different host name. As for the winlogbeat certs- they are only included here incase they are needed but aren't used in the yml file I use on my host- which works well and communication is encrypted due to the TLS configured on the ELK server.

Hi Michlol,

I am having some confusion, would like to check and clarify below,
correct me if I'm wrong, if I understand correctly:

  1. This setup was working on your host, but when you copy to Windows server (event collector aka EVC), it stopped working with error below

error connecting to elasticsearch at "https://elastic-host:9200" Get "https://elastic-host:9200" Winlogbeat setup error: x509 certificate is valid for elastic-host ip, not elastic-host ip' (same ips)

  1. As for the winlogbeat certs- they are only included here incase they are needed but aren't used in the yml file which part in the yml configuration are you referring to?
  2. As of what I know, if you include the setting in .yml file, it will take it as part of the configuration, if you want to just keep it there, perhaps you should comment it with a "#"

Either way I don't think this is what causes the problem, since as I mentioned before - the .yml file on my host works without the ssl configurations.

The reason why I am asking about certificate about the certification is because the error was x509 certificate related, and it was working if SSL configuration disabled.

Hi Kavier,

That is correct, I got this error while running the setup command for winlogbeat.

I am refering to these parts:

In the file I'm using those lines are comments, so the problem isn't related to those lines.

The problem is probably with either the CA or the Elasticsearch certificate I just don't know what is the problem since the error shows the same ip- my Elasticsearch server.
So according to the logic of the error, how can the certificate be valid for the server, but also invalid for the same exact server?

This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.