Use deployment scripts to add and protect computers

Adding a computer to your list of protected resources in Deep Security and implementing protection is a multi-step process. Almost all of these steps can be performed from the command line on the computer and can therefore be scripted. The Deep Security Manager contains a deployment script writing assistant which can be accessed from the Support menu.

The deployment scripts generated through Deep Security Manager do the following:

• install the Deep Security Agent on a chosen platform
• activate the agent
• assign a policy to the agent

Generate a deployment script

1. Before you begin:
   1. Make sure you have imported the agent software to Deep Security Manager. See Get Deep Security Agent software for details.
   2. Make sure your agent version control settings are configured as desired. See Configure agent version control for details.
   3. Make sure you have enabled agent-initiated activation (AIA). AIA is required if you want your deployment script to activate the agent after installation. See Activate and protect agents using agent-initiated activation and communication for details.
2. In the upper right corner of the Deep Security Manager console, click Support > Deployment Scripts.
3. Select the platform on which you are deploying the software.
4. Select Activate agent automatically after installation.

   Agents must be activated before you apply a policy to protect the computer. Activation registers the agent with the manager during an initial communication.

5. Optionally, select the Security Policy, Computer Group, Relay Group, Proxy to contact Deep Security Manager, and Proxy to contact Relay(s).
6. Optionally (but highly recommended), select Validate Deep Security Manager TLS certificate.

   When this option is selected, it checks that Deep Security Manager is using a valid TLS certificate from a trusted certificate authority (CA) when downloading the agent software, which can help prevent a "man in the middle" attack. You can check whether Deep Security Manager is using a valid CA certificate by looking at the browser bar in the Deep Security Manager console. By default, Deep Security Manager uses a self-signed certificate, which is not compatible with the Validate Deep Security Manager TLS certificate option. If your Deep Security Manager is not behind a load balancer, see Replace the Deep Security Manager TLS certificate for instructions on replacing the default self-signed certificate with a certificate from a trusted certificate authority. If the manager is behind a load balancer, you will need to replace the load balancer's certificates.

7. Optionally (but highly recommended), select Validate the signature on the agent installer to have the deployment script initiate a digital signature check on the agent installer file. If the check is successful, the agent installation proceeds. If the check fails, the agent installation is aborted. Before you enable this option, understand that:
   • This option is only supported for Linux and Windows installers (RPM, DEB, or MSI files).
   • (Linux only) This option requires that you import the public signing key to each agent computer where the deployment script will run. For details, see Check the signature on an RPM file and Check the signature on a DEB file.
8. The deployment script generator displays the script. Click Copy to Clipboard and paste the deployment script in your preferred deployment tool, or click Save to File.

   

If you are using Amazon Web Services and deploying new Amazon EC2, Amazon WorkSpace, or VPC instances, copy the generated script and paste it into the User Data field. This will let you launch existing Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) and automatically install and activate the agent at startup. The new instances must be able to access the URLs specified in the generated deployment script. This means that your Deep Security Manager must be either Internet-facing, connected to AWS via VPN or Direct Link, or that your Deep Security Manager be deployed on Amazon Web Services too.

When copying the deployment script into the User Data field for a Linux deployment, copy the deployment script as-is into the "User Data" field and CloudInit will execute the script with sudo. (If there are failures, they will be noted in /var/log/cloud-init.log.)

Troubleshooting and tips

• If you are attempting to run a deployment script and see exit code 2 "TLS certificate validation for the agent package download has failed. Please check that your Deep Security Manager TLS certificate is signed by a trusted root certificate authority. For more information, search for "deployment scripts" in the Deep Security Help Center.", the deployment script was created with the Validate Deep Security Manager TLS certificate check box selected. This error appears if Deep Security Manager is using a certificate that is not publicly trusted (such as the default self-signed certificate) for the connection between Deep Security Manager and its agents, or if there is a problem with a third-party certificate, such as a missing certificate in the trust chain between your certificate and the trusted CA. For information on certificates, see Replace the Deep Security Manager TLS certificate. As an alternative to replacing the trusted certificate, you can clear the Validate Deep Security Manager TLS certificate check box when generating a deployment script. Note that this is not recommended for security reasons.
• If you are attempting to deploy the agent from PowerShell (x86), you will receive the following error : C:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\Deep Security Agent\dsa_control' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

  The PowerShell script expects the environment variable for ProgramFiles to be set to "Program Files", not "Program Files (x86)". To resolve the issue, close PowerShell (x86) and run the script in PowerShell as an administrator.

• On Windows computers, the deployment script will use the same proxy settings as the local operating system. If the local operating system is configured to use a proxy and the Deep Security Manager is accessible only through a direct connection, the deployment script will fail.
• The deployment script can be modified to perform agent updates instead of new installs by changing the rpm -ihv to rpm -U.
• If there is a need to control the specific agent version used by the deployment scripts there are 2 options to meet this goal:
  • Use agent version control. See Configure agent version control for details. This approach has the advantage that you do not have to hard-code the agent version itself into each script which can be a more flexible approach for some deployments.
  • Either modify the deployment script, or write your own scripts, to meet requirements specific to your deployment. Details on the URL format to download agents can be found here URL format for download of the agent.
• Instead of using the deployment scripts generated by the manager, you can use your own automation method coupled with an agent download URL to automate the download and installation of the agent. For details, see URL format for download of the agent.