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Deploy the ExtraHop Explore 5100 Appliance

In this guide, you will learn how to configure the rack-mounted EXA 5100 ExtraHop Explore appliance and to join multiple Explore appliances to create an Explore cluster.

For the best performance, data redundancy, and stability, you must configure at least three Explore appliances in an Explore cluster.

System requirements

To install the Explore appliance, your environment must meet the following requirements:

Appliance
2U of rack space and 2x750W of power
Network Access
  • The following TCP ports must be open:
    TCP ports 80 and 443
    Enables you to administer the Explore appliance. Requests sent to port 80 are automatically redirected to HTTPS port 443.
    TCP port 9443
    Enables Explore nodes to communicate with other Explore nodes in the same cluster.

Install the Explore appliance

To install the Explore appliance, complete the following steps.

Before you begin

All Explore nodes in an Explore cluster must be physically located in the same datacenter. This configuration helps reduce any network latency that might affect the collection of records.
  1. Rack mount the Explore appliance.
    Install the Explore appliance in your data center with the included rack-mounting kit. The mounting kit supports most four-post racks with either round or square holes.
  2. Connect port 1.
    The Explore appliance contains a set of four 10/100/1000 BASE-T network ports. Only the first port on the left is active. Connect the 1GbE port on the Explore appliance to the management network with a network patch cable.
  3. (Optional): Connect a 10 GbE port
    Connect one of the 10 GbE ports on the appliance with a 10 GbE cable to your network to manage the Explore appliance. Note which port you are connecting to so you can configure this port later through the Administration settings.
    Note:You can configure only one port as an Explore appliance management port.
  4. Connect the power cords.
    Connect the two supplied power cords to the power supplies on the back of the appliance.
  5. Plug the power cords into a power outlet. If the appliance does not power on automatically, press the power button on the front of the appliance.

Configure an IP address

DHCP is enabled by default on the ExtraHop system. When you power on the appliance, interface 1 attempts to acquire an IP address through DHCP. If successful, the IP address appears on the home screen of the LCD. If an IP address has not been configured, the LCD displays No IP.

If your network does not support DHCP, you can configure a static IP address through the LCD menu on the front panel or through the command-line interface (CLI).

Configure a static IP address through the CLI

You can access the CLI by connecting a USB keyboard and SVGA monitor to the appliance or through an RS-232 serial cable and a terminal-emulator program. The terminal emulator must be set to 115200 bps with 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8N1), and hardware flow control should be disabled.

  1. Establish a connection to the ExtraHop system.
  2. At the login prompt, type shell and then press ENTER.
  3. At the password prompt, type the service tag number found on the pullout tab on the front of the appliance, and then press ENTER.
  4. Enable privileged commands by running the following command: 
    enable
  5. At the password prompt, type the service tag number, and then press ENTER.
  6. Enter configuration mode by running the following command: 
    configure
  7. Enter the interface configuration mode by running the following command: 
    interface
  8. Run the ip command and specify the IP address and DNS settings in the following format: ip ipaddr <ip_address> <netmask> <gateway> <dns_server>
    For example:
    extrahop[EXA](config-if)# ip ipaddr 10.10.2.14 255.255.0.0 10.10.1.253
10.10.1.254
  9. Leave the interface configuration section: 
    exit
  10. Save the running config file: 
    running_config save
  11. Type y and then press ENTER.

Configure a static IP address through the front panel

Complete the following steps to configure the IP address from the front panel. If an IP address has not been configured, the front panel displays No IP. If the system is plugged in and powered off, the LCD screen displays ExtraHop.

  1. Make sure that the default management interface is connected to the network and the link status is active.
  2. Press the select button (✓) to begin.
  3. Press the right arrow (>) button to select Net and then press the select button.
  4. Press the right arrow button twice to highlight DHCP and then press the select button.
  5. Press the right arrow button to select Static and then press the select button.
  6. Press the right arrow button to select IP and then press the select button. The currently configured IP address appears.
  7. Press the right arrow button until the first digit you want to change is highlighted.
  8. Press the select button. The digit blinks when selected. While the digit is blinking, press the left arrow (<) or right arrow (>) button to change the digit value.
  9. After you have chosen the correct digit, press the select button.
  10. Repeat steps 7-9 for each remaining digit you want to change.
  11. Press the left arrow button to navigate to the up arrow on the display and press the select button.
  12. On the Save screen, select Yes and then press the select button.
  13. Wait a moment to be redirected to the Net screen. Repeat the actions above to set the mask, gateway, and up to two DNS servers.
  14. Configure the iDRAC DHCP, IP, mask, gateway, and DNS in the same manner as the IP address.

Configure the Explore appliance

After you configure an IP address for the Explore appliance, log in to the Administration settings on the ExtraHop system through https://<extrahop-hostname-or-IP-address>/admin and complete the following recommended procedures.

Note:The default login username is setup and the password is the service tag number on the pullout tab on the front of the appliance. You can modify user names and passwords in the Administration settings.

Register your ExtraHop system

This guide provides instructions on how to apply a new product key and activate all of your purchased modules. You must have privileges on the ExtraHop system to access the Administration settings.

Register the appliance

Before you begin

Note:If you are registering a Discover or Command appliance, you can optionally enter the product key after you accept the EULA and log in to the ExtraHop system (https://<extrahop_ip_address>/).
  1. Log in to the Administration settings on the ExtraHop system through https://<extrahop-hostname-or-IP-address>/admin.
  2. Review the license agreement, select I Agree, and then click Submit.
  3. On the login screen, type setup for the username.
  4. For the password, select from the following options:
    • For 1U and 2U appliances, type the serial number printed on the label on the back of the appliance. The serial number can also be found on the LCD display on the front of the appliance in the Info section.
    • For the EDA 1100, type the serial number displayed in the Appliance info section of the LCD menu. The serial number is also printed on the bottom of the appliance.
    • For the EDA 1200, type the serial number printed on the back of the appliance.
    • For a virtual appliance in AWS, type the instance ID, which is the string of characters that follow i- (but not i- itself).
    • For a virtual appliance in GCP, type the instance ID.
    • For all other virtual appliances, type default.
  5. Click Log In.
  6. In the Appliance Settings section, click License.
  7. Click Manage License.
  8. If you have a product key, click Register and type your product key into the field.
    Note:If you received a license file from ExtraHop Support, click Manage License, click Update, then paste the contents of the file into the Enter License field. Click Update.
  9. Click Register.

Next steps

Have more questions about ExtraHop licensing works? See the License FAQ.

Troubleshoot license server connectivity

For ExtraHop systems licensed and configured to connect to ExtraHop Cloud Services, registration and verification is performed through an HTTPS request to ExtraHop Cloud Services.

If your ExtraHop system is not licensed for ExtraHop Cloud Services or is not yet licensed, the system attempts to register the system through a DNS TXT request for regions.hopcloud.extrahop.com and an HTTPS request to all ExtraHop Cloud Services regions. If this request fails, the system tries to connect to the ExtraHop licensing server through DNS server port 53. The following procedure is useful to verify that the ExtraHop system can communicate with the licensing server through DNS.

Open a terminal application on your Windows, Linux, or macOS client that is on the same network as your ExtraHop system and run the following command: 
nslookup -type=NS d.extrahop.com
If the name resolution is successful, output similar to the following appears: 
Non-authoritative answer:
d.extrahop.com  nameserver = ns0.use.d.extrahop.com.
d.extrahop.com  nameserver = ns0.usw.d.extrahop.com.
If the name resolution is not successful, make sure that your DNS server is properly configured to lookup the
extrahop.com domain.

(Optional) Configure the 10GbE management port

  1. In the Network Settings section, click Connectivity.
  2. In the Interfaces section, click Interface 5 or Interface 6. Make sure you select the same interface as the physical port you connected the 10GbE cable to. Interface 5 is the 10GbE port to the left on the rear of the appliance.
  3. From the Interface Mode drop-down list, select Management Port.
  4. Configure the rest of the network settings.
  5. Click Save.
  6. In the Interfaces section, click Interface 1.
  7. From the Interface Mode drop-down list, select Disabled.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Click the View and Save Changes button at the top of the page to save the running config file.
  10. Click Save. Your connection to the ExtraHop system through interface 1 terminates.
  11. Log in to the ExtraHop system again to connect through the newly configured 10GbE interface.

Create an Explore cluster

For the best performance, data redundancy, and stability, you must configure at least three Explore appliances in an Explore cluster.

Important:If you are creating an Explore cluster with six or more nodes, you must configure the cluster with manager nodes. For manager node instructions, see Deploying manager nodes.

In the following example, the Explore appliances have the following IP addresses:

  • Node 1: 10.20.227.177
  • Node 2: 10.20.227.178
  • Node 3: 10.20.227.179

You will join nodes 2 and 3 to node 1 to create the Explore cluster. All three nodes are data nodes. You cannot join a data node to a manager node or join a manager node to a data node to create a cluster.

Important:Each node that you join must have the same configuration (physical or virtual) and the same ExtraHop firmware version. EXA 5100 and EXA 5200 physical appliances can be in the same cluster.

Before you begin

You must have already installed or provisioned the Explore appliances in your environment before proceeding.
  1. Log in to the Administration settings on all three Explore appliances with the setup user account in three separate browser windows or tabs.
  2. Select the browser window of node 1.
  3. In the Status and Diagnostics section, click Fingerprint and note the fingerprint value. You will later confirm that the fingerprint for node 1 matches when you join the remaining two nodes.
  4. Select the browser window of node 2.
  5. In the Explore Cluster Settings section, click Join Cluster.
  6. In the Host field, type the hostname or IP address of data node 1 and then click Continue.
    Note:For cloud-based deployments, be sure to type the IP address listed in the Interfaces table on the Connectivity page.
  7. Confirm that the fingerprint on this page matches the fingerprint you noted in step 3.
  8. In the Setup Password field, type the password for the node 1 setup user account and then click Join.
    When the join is complete, the Explore Cluster Settings section has two new entries: Cluster Members and Cluster Data Management.
  9. Click Cluster Members. You should see node 1 and node 2 in the list.
  10. In the Status and Diagnostics section, click Explore Cluster Status. Wait for the Status field to change to Green before adding the next node.
  11. Repeat steps 5 - 10 to join each additional node to the new cluster.
    Note:To avoid creating multiple clusters, always join a new node to an existing cluster and not to another single appliance.
  12. When you have added all of your Explore appliances to the cluster, click Cluster Members in the Explore Cluster Settings section. You should see all of the joined nodes in the list, similar to the following figure.
  13. In the Explore Cluster Settings section, click Cluster Data Management and make sure that Replication Level is set to 1 and Shard Reallocation is ON.

Next steps

Connect the Discover and Command appliances to Explore appliances

Connect the Explore appliance to Discover and Command appliances

After you deploy the Explore appliance, you must establish a connection from all ExtraHop Discover and Command appliances to the Explore appliance before you can query records.

Important:Connect the Discover appliance to each Explore node so that the Discover appliance can distribute the workload across the entire Explore cluster.
Note:If you manage all of your Discover appliances from a Command appliance, you only need to perform this procedure from the Command appliance.
  1. Log in to the Administration settings on the ExtraHop system through https://<extrahop-hostname-or-IP-address>/admin.
  2. In the ExtraHop Explore Settings section, click Connect Explore Appliances.
  3. Click Add New.
  4. In the Explore node field, type the hostname or IP address of any Explore appliance in the Explore cluster.
  5. For each additional Explore appliance in the cluster, click Add New and enter the individual hostname or IP address in the corresponding Explore node field.


  6. Click Save.
  7. Confirm that the fingerprint on this page matches the fingerprint of node 1 of the Explore cluster.
  8. In the Explore Setup Password field, type the password for the Explore node 1 setup user account and then click Connect.
  9. When the Explore Cluster settings are saved, click Done.

Send record data to the Explore appliance

After your Explore appliance is connected to all of your Discover and Command appliances, you must configure the type of records you want to store.

See Records for more information about configuration settings, how to generate and store records, and how to create record queries.
Last modified 2023-11-07