This article provides an overview of the remote sharing feature included with Security and Event Manager (SEM) 2024.2, highlighting its use cases and examples of applications.
Overview
Remote sharing is designed as an alternative to the existing SFTP and email options for users to store the output of their Scheduled reports. It offers a secure and efficient way to manage report distribution within an organization’s network.
Creating an SMB configuration
SMB configuration dialog is located within the SEM UI at Settings > Sharing > SMB and contains multiple fields.
Name
Each configuration requires a unique name. This helps you easily identify and manage different configurations within your system.
Path
The Path setting specifies the target path where scheduled reports will be uploaded. The target machine must be on the same network as SEM and must be accessible from SEM. The path must point to an existing directory with sharing enabled. In Windows, you can enable sharing by right-clicking on the folder, selecting Properties, going to the Sharing tab, and clicking the Share... button. Ensure the path includes the full "Network Path" (the domain can be replaced by IP). For example: \\IP_Address\SharedFolder
Port
The Port setting defines which port the SMB protocol will use. The default value on Windows is 445, which is commonly used. However, some customized SMB shares, like Linux Samba shares, might use a different port.
Username
The Username setting is crucial for authentication with the target server. The username must be a valid existing user on the machine with Read/Write permissions on the specified path. You can test the permissions by logging in with the user account and attempting read/write operations on the path. Username may include a domain in UPN format (username@domain) or Netbios domain format (domain\Username).
Password
The Password setting should be the password that corresponds to the user specified in the Username setting. This will be used for authentication with the target server.
Minimum SMB version
The Minimum SMB Version setting allows you to specify the minimum SMB version of the protocol to be used. Some older shares may not support the latest SMB dialects, and if older SMB protocols are deemed insecure (e.g., SMBv1), you can configure SEM to use newer, more secure versions. The default SMB version is set to the SMB210.
Testing SMB configuration
Before each creation/edit of configuration, a test of configuration must be performed by clicking the Test button. The following are checked:
· Share path is reachable by SEM
· Share path is a directory
· Provided user credentials are valid
· The user has valid Read/Write permissions for a given path
Completing an SMB creation
After the successful test, the SMB configuration can be saved and is ready to be used.
Copying SMB configuration
If multiple configurations on the same SMB server are needed, for instance, with different paths or users, you don’t need to fill out all the fields from scratch. Instead, you can use the copy feature on an existing configuration and then just change the required fields, which can save time and effort.
Using SMB configuration
Once the SMB configuration is created, it can be used to store the results of one or more scheduled reports. The SMB configuration is selected on a search-to-search basis, so different scheduled reports can use different SMB shares.
There is also a “Manage SMB” button, which opens the SMB configuration page in a new browser tab, ensuring that your unsaved scheduled report configuration remains intact. The available SMB configurations are dynamically loaded, so you don’t need to reopen the scheduled report modal to select configurations created after it was opened.
