Collecting logs from Siemens SICAM SCC and sending them to ArcSight Logger could be complex because of the unique combination of the log source and the desired destination. This post will show you how to forward log data from SICAM SCC to ArcSight Logger by incorporating the NXLog log collection tool.
Siemens SICAM SCC
Siemens SICAM SCC or SICAM Station Control Center is a human-machine interface (HMI) for multiple power automation systems. Using various integrated communication drivers, SICAM SCC can communicate with SICAM PAS/PQS, SICAM RTUs, bay units, and protection devices that support IEC 61850/IEC 60870-5-104.
SICAM SCC system is scalable and offers efficient engineering for energy automation applications at utilities and industrial enterprises.
Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs
Siemens SICAM SCC produces a wide variety of logs concerning its operations. Some of those logs are available through Windows Event Log and network monitoring, but most exist as flat files.
Siemens SICAM SCC controls systems of significant financial and security importance. In mission-critical settings, the timely collection and processing of SICAM SCC logs is crucial to the reliability and security of the systems it controls. Even a brief interruption of normal operations could result in catastrophic consequences. However, the sheer diversity of log formats and data structures, and the noise that some of these logs contain, pose severe challenges to most logging software.
NXLog Enterprise Edition is a lightweight, modular log collection tool capable of tackling the most challenging cases log collection may pose. Its rich features allow it to read almost any log format and parse fields to produce structured data for further processing. It is the perfect tool for monitoring and collecting SICAM SCC logs.
- Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs from Windows Event Log
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Many applications send their logs directly to Windows Event Log, the preferred logging facility on the Windows platform. Siemens SICAM SCC sends its diagnostic and security-related events, such as user authentication, the state of system components, record modifications, and information about various other services, to Windows Event Log. Logs can be read and collected using an Event ID related to SICAM SCC or by a given source name.
- Collecting Siemens SICAM SCC logs from file
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File-based SICAM SCC logs include logs from:
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Dynamic Alarm Filter Configuration trace log
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Communication Connection trace log
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Add-in trace log
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Runtime Data Server trace log
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Import/Export Wizard trace log
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SICAM Global Wizard log, SICAM PAS Wizard log, SICAM IEC Wizard log
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Import/Export Wizard log
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Report log
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- Siemens SICAM SCC Network Monitoring
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NXLog can passively monitor network traffic and generate logs for most network protocols. This ability to log network communication from Siemens SICAM SCC, and integrated devices, can provide another valuable log source.
The easiest way to collect and normalize Siemens SICAM SCC logs is by deploying NXLog. With its unique capabilities, logs can be collected from literally any file in any format. Given the wide variation in format and structure of such log files, its versatility is ideal for these systems.
For more information on integrating NXLog with Siemens SICAM SCC, see the Siemens SICAM SCC integration guide.
The sources mentioned above and NXLog’s features play an important role in normalizing logs accepted by ArcSight Logger.
Sending logs to Micro Focus ArcSight Logger
Micro Focus ArcSight Logger is a log management solution that provides secure storage, efficient search, reporting, and log data analysis. NXLog integrates with ArcSight Logger by sending logs in Common Event Format (CEF) over UDP or TCP. NXLog also supports receiving logs from an ArcSight Logger Forwarder.
- CEF TCP Receiver
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A CEF TCP Receiver must be created from the Logger user interface for ArcSight Logger to receive logs over UDP or TCP. NXLog supports log collection from various sources and can transform the data to CEF using the xm_cef extension.
- TCP Forwarder
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An ArcSight Logger forwarder can be configured to forward events to a remote server over UDP or TCP. A TCP Forwarder needs to be configured to forward events to NXLog. It sends data in the same format that ArcSight Logger ingests.
For more information on configuring NXLog and sending logs to ArcSight Logger, please visit the ArcSight Logger integration section in the NXLog User Guide.
