Linux

Overview

This section describes how to install and configure MetaDefender (MD) Cluster Identity Service on supported Linux distributions. After installation, MD Cluster Control Center can connect to MD Cluster Identity and monitor its system health.

Prerequisites

Before installing the MD Cluster Identity Service, ensure the following requirements are met.

Requirement	Description
Operating System	Ubuntu 22.04+, Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 12+, Rocky 9+, or RHEL 9+.
Privileges	Root or sudo privileges
Installation package	Debian/Ubuntu: `md-cluster-identity-service_<version>-1_amd64.deb` Rocky/RHEL: `md-cluster-identity-service-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm`
Network access	Required port is open (default port: 8891). A minimum network bandwidth of 1 Gbps is required.
Hardware	4vCPU and 4GB RAM
Disk space	A minimum of 50 GB of available disk space is required.

Create the ignition file

Create an ignition file in YAML format. This file contains the credentials required for the service to connect to the system.

The file must include the following keys:

Key	Description
`database.host`	IP address or domain name of the server hosting PostgreSQL.
`database.port`	IP address or domain name of the server hosting PostgreSQL.
`database.user`	PostgreSQL server user. SUPERUSER privileges are required to set up the database and extensions during the initial configuration.
`database.password`	PostgreSQL user password.
`secure.connection_key`	A 4–64 character alphanumeric string (a–z, A–Z, 0–9) used by MD Cluster Control Center to connect to the server.
`secure.private_key`	The content of private key in X509 format.
`secure.certificate`	The content of certificate in X509 format.

Example ignition file:

database:

host: "posgresql_host"

port: 5432

user: "postgres"

password: "admin"

secure:

connection_key: "1234abcd" # [0-9a-zA-Z]{4,64}

private_key: |

-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----

MIIJQwIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASCCS0wggkpAgEAAoICAQCjYtuWaICCY0tJ

PubxpIgIL+WWmz/fmK8IQr11Wtee6/IUyUlo5I602mq1qcLhT/kmpoR8Di3DAmHK

nSWdPWtn1BtXLErLlUiHgZDrZWInmEBjKM1DZf+CvNGZ+EzPgBv5nTekLWcfI5ZZ

toGuIP1Dl/IkNDw8zFz4cpiMe/BFGemyxdHhLrKHSm8Eo+nT734tItnHKT/m6DSU

0xlZ13d6ehLRm7/+Nx47M3XMTRH5qKP/7TTE2s0U6+M0tsGI2zpRi+m6jzhNyMBT

J1u58qAe3ZW5/+YAiuZYAB6n5bhUp4oFuB5wYbcBywVR8ujInpF8buWQUjy5N8pS

Np7szdYsnLJpvAd0sibrNPjC0FQCNrpNjgJmIK3+mKk4kXX7ZTwefoAzTK4l2pHN

uC53QVc/EF++GBLAxmvCDq9ZpMIYi7OmzkkAKKC9Ue6Ef217LFQCFIBKIzv9cgi9

fwPMLhrKleoVRNsecBsCP569WgJXhUnwf2lon4fEZr3+vRuc9shfqnV0nPN1IMSn

zXCast7I2fiuRXdIz96KjlGQpP4XfNVA+RGL7aMnWOFIaVrKWLzAtgzoGMTvP/Au

Save the ignition file to the following path on the target machine:

/etc/opswat/md_cluster_identity_service.yml

Info

The ignition file contains sensitive credentials. This file can be safely deleted any time after the installation is complete.

Install the service

Copy the installer file (.deb or .rpm) to the target machine.
Open Terminal.
Run the following command to start the installation:

# Debian or Ubuntu

sudo apt install -y uuid tar

sudo dpkg -i <md_cluster_identity_service_package> || sudo apt install -f

# Rocky or RHEL

sudo dnf install -y yum-utils

sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled devel

sudo dnf update -y

sudo dnf install -y redhat-lsb-core libuuid tar

sudo yum install <md_cluster_identity_service_package> -y

Verify the service status

Open Terminal and run the following command:

sudo systemctl status md-cluster-identity-service

Check the active (running) field in the output.
If the service is not running, start it manually:

sudo systemctl restart md-cluster-identity-service

To ensure the service starts automatically at system boot:

sudo systemctl enable md-cluster-identity-service

Service management

Action	Command
Check service status	`sudo systemctl status md-cluster-identity-service`
Start service	`sudo systemctl start md-cluster-identity-service`
Stop service	`sudo systemctl stop md-cluster-identity-service`
Restart service	`sudo systemctl restart md-cluster-identity-service`
Enable service at boot	`sudo systemctl enable md-cluster-identity-service`

Customize the service configuration

During installation, MD Cluster Identity Service generates a configuration file at:

/etc/md-cluster-identity-service/md_cluster_identity_service.yml

To customize the service behavior:

Open the configuration file in a text editor such as nano.

sudo nano /etc/md-cluster-identity-service/md_cluster_identity_service.yml

Modify the required settings according to your environment.
Save the changes.
Restart the service to apply the new settings.

sudo systemctl restart md-cluster-identity-service

Directory structure

/etc/opswat/md_cluster_identity_service.yml: Service Ignition file.
/etc/md-cluster-identity-service/md_cluster_identity_service.yml: Service configuration file.
/var/log/md-cluster-identity-service/: Default log directory.
/var/lib/md-cluster-identity-service/: Contains persistent data required for the service to maintain state across reboots.

Log files

To check the service logs, open the file: /var/log/md-cluster-identity-service/identity-service.log

To check the system log, run the following in Terminal:

# Fetch by systemd-journald

sudo journalctl -r

# Ubuntu syslog

sudo cat /var/log/syslog

# Rocky or RHEL syslog

sudo cat /var/log/message

Uninstall the service

# Debian or Ubuntu

sudo apt purge <md_cluster_identity_service_package>

# Rocky or RHEL

sudo yum remove <md_cluster_identity_service_package>

Troubleshooting

A. Service is not running

Check the service status

sudo systemctl status md-cluster-identity-service

Start the service if it is not running:

sudo systemctl start md-cluster-identity-service

B. Installation fails

Possible causes

Insufficient privileges.
Missing dependencies.

Solution

Ensure the installation command is executed with sudo.
Ensure dependencies are installed.

C. MD Cluster Control Center cannot connect to MD Cluster Identity Service.

Possible causes

Network connectivity issues.
Firewall restrictions.
PostgreSQL database connectivity issues

Solution

Ensure MD Cluster Control Center has network connectivity to MD Cluster Identity Service.
Verify that firewall rules allow inbound and outbound connections.
Verify PostgreSQL database connectivity and credentials in the ignition file.

Ignition file key reference

database.host (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: IP address or domain name of the server hosting PostgreSQL.
database.port (Required)
- Value type: integer.
- Description: PostgreSQL server port (default: 5432).
database.user (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: PostgreSQL server user. SUPERUSER privileges are required to set up the database and extensions during the initial configuration.
database.password (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: PostgreSQL user password.
secure.connection_key (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: Use a 4–64 character string that contains only numbers (0–9) and letters (a–z, A–Z). This string is used by clients to connect to the server. Set this value as the identity.connection_key in the MD Cluster Control Center configuration file.
secure.private_key (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: The content of private key in X509 format.
secure.certificate (Required)
- Value type: string.
- Description: The content of certificate in X509 format.

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