fleet/docs/infrastructure/configuring-the-fleet-binary.md

Configuring The Fleet Binary

For information on how to run the fleet binary, detailed usage information can be found by running fleet --help. This document is a more detailed version of the information presented in the help output text. If you prefer to use a CLI instead of a web browser, we hope that you like the binary interface to the Fleet application!

High-level configuration overview

To get the most out of running the Fleet server, it is helpful to establish a mutual understanding of what the desired architecture looks like and what it's trying to accomplish.

Your Fleet server's two main purposes are:

• To serve as your osquery TLS server
• To serve the Fleet web application, which allows you to manage osquery configuration, query hosts, perform interesting analytics, etc.

The Fleet server allows you persist configuration, manage users, etc. Thus, it needs a database. Fleet uses MySQL and requires you to supply configurations to connect to a MySQL server. Fleet also uses Redis to perform some more high-speed data access action throughout the lifecycle of the application (for example, distributed query result ingestion). Thus, Fleet also requires that you supply Redis connention configurations.

Since Fleet is a web application, when you run Fleet there are some other configurations that are worth defining, such as:

• The TLS certificates that Fleet should use to terminate TLS.
• The JWT Key which is used to sign and verify session tokens.

Since Fleet is an osquery TLS server, you are also able to define configurations that can customize your experience there, such as:

• The destination of the osquery status and result logs on the local filesystem
• Various details about the refresh/check-in intervals for your hosts

Commands

The fleet binary contains several "commands". Similarly to how git has many commands (git status, git commit, etc), the fleet binary accepts the following commands:

• fleet prepare db
• fleet serve
• fleet version
• fleet config_dump

Options

How do you specify options?

In order of precedence, options can be specified via:

• A configuration file (in YAML format)
• Environment variables
• Command-line flags

For example, all of the following ways of launching Fleet are equivalent:

Using only CLI flags

$ /usr/bin/fleet serve \
  --mysql_address=127.0.0.1:3306 \
  --mysql_database=kolide \
  --mysql_username=root \
  --mysql_password=toor \
  --redis_address=127.0.0.1:6379 \
  --server_cert=/tmp/server.cert \
  --server_key=/tmp/server.key \
  --logging_json \
  --auth_jwt_key=changeme

Using only environment variables

$ KOLIDE_MYSQL_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1:3306 \
  KOLIDE_MYSQL_DATABASE=kolide \
  KOLIDE_MYSQL_USERNAME=root \
  KOLIDE_MYSQL_PASSWORD=toor \
  KOLIDE_REDIS_ADDRESS=127.0.0.1:6379 \
  KOLIDE_SERVER_CERT=/tmp/server.cert \
  KOLIDE_SERVER_KEY=/tmp/server.key \
  KOLIDE_LOGGING_JSON=true \
  KOLIDE_AUTH_JWT_KEY=changeme \
  /usr/bin/fleet serve

Using a config file

$ echo '
mysql:
  address: 127.0.0.1:3306
  database: kolide
  username: root
  password: toor
redis:
  address: 127.0.0.1:6379
server:
  cert: /tmp/server.cert
  key: /tmp/server.key
logging:
  json: true
auth:
  jwt_key: changeme
' > /tmp/kolide.yml
$ fleet serve --config /tmp/kolide.yml

What are the options?

Note that all option names can be converted consistently from flag name to environment variable and visa-versa. For example, the --mysql_address flag would be the KOLIDE_MYSQL_ADDRESS. Further, specifying the mysql_address option in the config would follow the pattern:

mysql:
  address: 127.0.0.1:3306

Basically, just capitalize the option and prepend KOLIDE_ to it in order to get the environment variable. The conversion works the same the opposite way.

MySQL

mysql_address

The address of the MySQL server which Fleet should connect to. Include the hostname and port.

• Default value: localhost:3306

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_ADDRESS

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	address: localhost:3306
  

mysql_database

The name of the MySQL database which Fleet will use.

• Default value: kolide

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_DATABASE

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	database: kolide
  

mysql_username

The username to use when connecting to the MySQL instance.

• Default value: kolide

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_USERNAME

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	username: kolide
  

mysql_password

The password to use when connecting to the MySQL instance.

• Default value: kolide

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_PASSWORD

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	password: kolide
  

mysql_tls_ca

The path to a PEM encoded certificate of MYSQL's CA for client certificate authentication.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_TLS_CA

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	tls_ca: /path/to/server-ca.pem
  

mysql_tls_cert

The path to a PEM encoded certificate use for tls authentication.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_TLS_CERT

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	tls_cert: /path/to/certificate.pem
  

mysql_tls_key

The path to a PEM encoded private key use for tls authentication.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_TLS_KEY

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	tls_key: /path/to/key.pem
  

mysql_tls_config

The tls value in a MYSQL DSN. Can be true,false,skip-verify or the CN value of the certificate.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_TLS_CONFIG

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	tls_config: true
  

mysql_tls_server_name

The server name or IP address used by the client certificate.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_TLS_SERVER_NAME

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	servername: 127.0.0.1
  

mysql_max_open_conns

Maximum open connections to database

• Default value: 50

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_MAX_OPEN_CONNS

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	max_open_conns: 50
  

mysql_max_idle_conns

Maximum idle connections to database. This value should be equal to or less than mysql_max_open_conns

• Default value: 50

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_MYSQL_MAX_IDLE_CONNS

• Config file format:

  mysql:
  	max_idle_conns: 50
  

Redis

redis_address

The address of the Redis server which Fleet should connect to. Include the hostname and port.

• Default value: localhost:6379

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_REDIS_ADDRESS

• Config file format:

  redis:
  	address: 127.0.0.1:7369
  

redis_password

The password to use when connecting to the Redis instance.

• Default value: <empty>

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_REDIS_PASSWORD

• Config file format:

  redis:
  	password: foobar
  

Server

server_address

The address to serve the Fleet webserver.

• Default value: 0.0.0.0:8080

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_ADDRESS

• Config file format:

  server:
  	address: 0.0.0.0:443
  

server_cert

The TLS cert to use when terminating TLS.

• Default value: ./tools/osquery/kolide.crt

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_CERT

• Config file format:

  server:
  	cert: /tmp/kolide.crt
  

server_key

The TLS key to use when terminating TLS.

• Default value: ./tools/osquery/kolide.key

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_KEY

• Config file format:

  server:
  	key: /tmp/kolide.key
  

server_tls

Whether or not the server should be served over TLS.

• Default value: true

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_TLS

• Config file format:

  server:
  	tls: false
  

server_tls_compatibility

Configures the TLS settings for compatibility with various user agents. Options are modern, intermediate, and old (deprecated). These correspond to the compatibility levels defined by the Mozilla OpSec team

• Default value: modern

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_TLS_COMPATIBILITY

• Config file format:

  server:
  	tls_compatibility: intermediate
  

server_url_prefix

Sets a URL prefix to use when serving the Fleet API and frontend. Prefixes should be in the form /apps/fleet (no trailing slash).

Note that some other configurations may need to be changed when modifying the URL prefix. In particular, URLs that are provided to osquery via flagfile, the configuration served by Fleet, the URL prefix used by fleetctl, and the redirect URL set with an SSO Identity Provider.

• Default value: Empty (no prefix set)

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SERVER_URL_PREFIX

• Config file format:

  server:
  	url_prefix: /apps/fleet
  

Auth

auth_jwt_key

The JWT key to use when signing and validating session keys. If this value is not specified the Fleet server will fail to start and a randomly generated key will be provided for use.

• Default value: None

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_AUTH_JWT_KEY

• Config file format:

  auth:
  	jwt_key: JVnKw7CaUdJjZwYAqDgUHVYP
  

auth_bcrypt_cost

The bcrypt cost to use when hashing user passwords.

• Default value: 12

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_AUTH_BCRYT_COST

• Config file format:

  auth:
  	bcrypt_cost: 14
  

auth_salt_key_size

The key size of the salt which is generated when hashing user passwords.

• Default value: 24

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_AUTH_SALT_KEY_SIZE

• Config file format:

  auth:
  	salt_key_size: 36
  

App

app_token_key_size

Size of generated app tokens.

• Default value: 24

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_APP_TOKEN_KEY_SIZE

• Config file format:

  app:
  	token_key_size: 36
  

app_invite_token_validity_period

How long invite tokens should be valid for.

• Default value: 5 days

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_APP_TOKEN_VALIDITY_PERIOD

• Config file format:

  app:
  	invite_token_validity_period: 1d
  

Session

session_key_size

The size of the session key.

• Default value: 64

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SESSION_KEY_SIZE

• Config file format:

  session:
  	key_size: 48
  

session_duration

The amount of time that a session should last for.

• Default value: 90 days

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_SESSION_DURATION

• Config file format:

  session:
  	duration: 30d
  

Osquery

osquery_node_key_size

The size of the node key which is negotiated with osqueryd clients.

• Default value: 24

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_NODE_KEY_SIZE

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	node_key_size: 36
  

osquery_label_update_interval

The interval at which Fleet will ask osquery agents to update their results for label queries.

Setting this to a higher value can reduce baseline load on the Fleet server in larger deployments.

• Default value: 1h

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_LABEL_UPDATE_INTERVAL

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	label_update_interval: 30m
  

osquery_detail_update_interval

The interval at which Fleet will ask osquery agents to update host details (such as uptime, hostname, network interfaces, etc.)

Setting this to a higher value can reduce baseline load on the Fleet server in larger deployments.

• Default value: 1h

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_DETAIL_UPDATE_INTERVAL

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	detail_update_interval: 30m
  

osquery_status_log_plugin

Which log output plugin should be used for osquery status logs received from clients.

Options are filesystem, firehose, and 'pubsub'.

• Default value: filesystem

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_STATUS_LOG_PLUGIN

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	status_log_plugin: firehose
  

osquery_result_log_plugin

Which log output plugin should be used for osquery result logs received from clients.

Options are filesystem, firehose, and 'pubsub'.

• Default value: filesystem

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_RESULT_LOG_PLUGIN

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	result_log_plugin: firehose
  

osquery_status_log_file

DEPRECATED: Use filesystem_status_log_file.

The path which osquery status logs will be logged to.

• Default value: /tmp/osquery_status

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_STATUS_LOG_FILE

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	status_log_file: /var/log/osquery/status.log
  

osquery_result_log_file

DEPRECATED: Use filesystem_result_log_file.

The path which osquery result logs will be logged to.

• Default value: /tmp/osquery_result

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_RESULT_LOG_FILE

• Config file format:

  osquery:
  	result_log_file: /var/log/osquery/result.log
  

osquery_enable_log_rotation

DEPRECATED: Use fileystem_enable_log_rotation.

This flag will cause the osquery result and status log files to be automatically rotated when files reach a size of 500 Mb or an age of 28 days.

• Default value: false

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_OSQUERY_ENABLE_LOG_ROTATION

• Config file format:

  osquery:
     enable_log_rotation: true
  

Logging (Fleet server logging)

logging_debug

Whether or not to enable debug logging.

• Default value: false

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_LOGGING_DEBUG

• Config file format:

  logging:
  	debug: true
  

logging_json

Whether or not to log in JSON.

• Default value: false

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_LOGGING_JSON

• Config file format:

  logging:
  	json: true
  

logging_disable_banner

Whether or not to log the welcome banner.

• Default value: false

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_LOGGING_DISABLE_BANNER

• Config file format:

  logging:
  	diable_banner: true
  

Filesystem

filesystem_status_log_file

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to filesystem (the default value).

The path which osquery status logs will be logged to.

• Default value: /tmp/osquery_status

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FILESYSTEM_STATUS_LOG_FILE

• Config file format:

  filesystem:
  	status_log_file: /var/log/osquery/status.log
  

filesystem_result_log_file

This flag only has effect if osquery_result_log_plugin is set to filesystem (the default value).

The path which osquery result logs will be logged to.

• Default value: /tmp/osquery_result

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FILESYSTEM_RESULT_LOG_FILE

• Config file format:

  filesystem:
  	result_log_file: /var/log/osquery/result.log
  

filesystem_enable_log_rotation

This flag only has effect if osquery_result_log_plugin or osquery_status_log_plugin are set to filesystem (the default value).

This flag will cause the osquery result and status log files to be automatically rotated when files reach a size of 500 Mb or an age of 28 days.

• Default value: false

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FILESYSTEM_ENABLE_LOG_ROTATION

• Config file format:

  filesystem:
     enable_log_rotation: true
  

Firehose

firehose_region

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to firehose.

AWS region to use for Firehose connection

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FIREHOSE_REGION

• Config file format:

  firehose:
  	region: ca-central-1
  

firehose_access_key_id

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin or osquery_result_log_plugin are set to firehose.

If firehose_access_key_id and firehose_secret_access_key are omitted, Fleet will try to use AWS STS credentials.

AWS access key ID to use for Firehose authentication.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FIREHOSE_ACCESS_KEY_ID

• Config file format:

  firehose:
  	access_key_id: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
  

firehose_secret_access_key

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin or osquery_result_log_plugin are set to firehose.

AWS secret access key to use for Firehose authentication.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FIREHOSE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

• Config file format:

  firehose:
  	secret_access_key: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
  

firehose_status_stream

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to firehose.

Name of the Firehose stream to write osquery status logs received from clients.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FIREHOSE_STATUS_STREAM

• Config file format:

  firehose:
  	status_stream: osquery_status
  

firehose_result_stream

This flag only has effect if osquery_result_log_plugin is set to firehose.

Name of the Firehose stream to write osquery result logs received from clients.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_FIREHOSE_RESULT_STREAM

• Config file format:

  firehose:
  	result_stream: osquery_result
  

PubSub

pubsub_project

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to pubsub.

The identifier of the Google Cloud project containing the pubsub topics to publish logs to.

Note that the pubsub plugin uses Application Default Credentials (ADCs) for authentication with the service.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_PUBSUB_PROJECT

• Config file format:

  pubsub:
    project: my-gcp-project
  

pubsub_result_topic

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to pubsub.

The identifier of the pubsub topic that client results will be published to.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_PUBSUB_RESULT_TOPIC

• Config file format:

  pubsub:
    result_topic: osquery_result
  

pubsub_status_topic

This flag only has effect if osquery_status_log_plugin is set to pubsub.

The identifier of the pubsub topic that osquery status logs will be published to.

• Default value: none

• Environment variable: KOLIDE_PUBSUB_STATUS_TOPIC

• Config file format:

  pubsub:
    status_topic: osquery_status