Debian

Installation on Debian

Requirements

Debian's flexibility as a server or desktop makes it an ideal platform to host the Netify agent. If you are running Debian as your desktop, a single network card is sufficient if you're looking to classify traffic only from your personal device. This is not a very common integration, however, it can be quite useful for evaluation the solution quickly - sometimes referred to as 'kicking the tires'.

More often, Debian is used on baremetal hardware or inside a virtual machine (VM). In this role, the system will need at least 2 network interfaces:

  • Network Interface #1: used to access the operating system and Netify
  • Network Interface #2: used to ingest port mirror traffic from LAN segment 1
  • Network Interface #N: used to ingest port mirror traffic from LAN segment N (optional)

You will also need to know which version of Debian you are running in order to add the correct repository. If you're not sure, use the lsb_release command:

apt update; apt -y install lsb-release
lsb_release  -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:  Debian
Description:     Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
Release:         11
Codename:        bullseye
In version 5, the Netify Agent and plugin architecture was extended. It would be very unusual to only install the agent without one or more plugins. However, we keep these steps separate for clarity.

Adding the Netify Repository vs Command Line

Adding the Netify repository to your Debian server has three main advantages:

  • Automatically resolves and install dependencies
  • Increases security through the use of signed packages
  • Allows for auto or simplified updates in the future

Debian 12 - Bookworm

Adding Netify Repository

apt-get update
apt-get -y install curl gnupg2
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/apt-gpg-key-netify.asc -o Netify.gpg
apt-key add - < Netify.gpg
echo 'deb http://download.netify.ai/5/debian/12/ /' > /tmp/netify.list
mv /tmp/netify.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netify.list
apt-get update
apt-get -y install netifyd

Command Line Installation

Open a browser and navigate to https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/12/amd64/. Find the version you would like to install, right click over the filename and select "Copy link address". 

apt update
cd /tmp/
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/12/amd64/netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb -O
apt install ./netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb

Debian 11 - Bullseye

Adding Netify Repository

apt-get update
apt-get install curl gnupg2
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/apt-gpg-key-netify.asc -o Netify.gpg
apt-key add - < Netify.gpg
echo 'deb http://download.netify.ai/5/debian/11/ /' > /tmp/netify.list
mv /tmp/netify.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netify.list
apt-get update
apt-get -y install netifyd

Command Line Installation

Open a browser and navigate to https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/11/amd64/. Find the version you would like to install, right click over the filename and select "Copy link address". 

apt update
cd /tmp/
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/11/amd64/netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb -O
apt install ./netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb

Debian 10 - Buster

Adding Netify Repository

apt-get update
apt-get install curl gnupg2
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/apt-gpg-key-netify.asc -o Netify.gpg
apt-key add - < Netify.gpg
echo 'deb http://download.netify.ai/5/debian/10/ /' > /tmp/netify.list
mv /tmp/netify.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netify.list
apt-get update
apt-get -y install netifyd

Command Line Installation

Open a browser and navigate to https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/10/amd64/. Find the version you would like to install, right click over the filename and select "Copy link address". 

apt update
cd /tmp/
curl https://download.netify.ai/5/debian/10/amd64/netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb -O
apt install ./netifyd_5.0.44-1_amd64.deb

ARM and MIPS

Please contact us if you would like more information about compiling for architectures other than amd64.

Post Installation

After installing the agent, verify the installation and some path information using the -s (status) argument. 

netifyd -s
Netify Agent/5.0.44-1-HEAD-nnnn-aaaaaaaa (debian; linux-gnu; x86_64; conntrack; netlink; dns-cache; tpv3; tcmalloc; regex)
✗ agent is not running: PID 0
• persistent state path: /etc/netifyd
• volatile state path: /var/run/netifyd
! agent run-time status could not be determined.
The Netify agent is not configured to start post install. It will not be running by default and should expect to see the 'not running' and 'run-time status could not be determined' messages.

Netify Informatics

Network Intelligence Netify Informatics is an optional, cloud-based, SaaS service. It uses analytics and Machine Learning to transform telemetry originating from the Netify DPI Agent into high-level network intelligence and visibility. The solution provides insights into what's happening on the network in areas that include:

  • Device Identification and Management
  • Cybersecurity Risk
  • Forensics
  • Regulatory Compliance

To learn more about Netify Informatics, click here.

In addition to the Netify agent being installed, two plugins are required:

If you installed the agent by configuring a Netify software repository, simply run: 
apt update
apt install netify-proc-core netify-sink-http
If you installed the agent manually, you will also need to install the plugin packages manually.

Once the plugins have been installed, run the following two commands: 

netifyd --enable-informatics
netifyd -p
The first command will enable and auto configure the two plugins that were installed as well as restarting the Netify agent. The second command will display your Netify Agent UUID (in the form xx-xx-xx-xx) that will be needed when you provision the agent to your Netify Informatics account.

Failure to run the netifyd command with the --enable-informatics option will result in a Provision code not found error during the provisioning wizard.

Next Steps

Documentation


Netify DPI Agent


Technical Support

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