Rule Management with Suricata-Update
====================================

While it is possible to download and install rules manually, it is
recommended to use a management tool for this. ``suricata-update`` is the
official way to update and manage rules for Suricata.

``suricata-update`` is bundled with Suricata and is normally installed
with it. For instructions on installing manually, see http://suricata-update.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickstart.html#install-suricata-update

.. note:: ``suricata-update`` is bundled with Suricata version 4.1 and
          later. It can be used with older versions as well. It will
          have to be installed separately in that case.

To download the Emerging Threats Open ruleset, it is enough to simply run:

::

  sudo suricata-update

This will download the ruleset into `/var/lib/suricata/rules/`

Suricata's configuration will have to be updated to have a rules config like
this:

::

  default-rule-path: /var/lib/suricata/rules
  rule-files:
    - suricata.rules

Now (re)start Suricata.


Updating your rules
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To update the rules, simply run

::

    sudo suricata-update

It is recommended to update your rules frequently.


Using other rulesets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suricata-Update is capable of making other rulesets accessible as well.

To see what is available, fetch the master index from the OISF hosts:

::

    sudo suricata-update update-sources

Then have a look at what is available:

::

    sudo suricata-update list-sources

This will give a result similar to

.. image:: suricata-update/suricata-update.png

Each of the rulesets has a name that has a 'vendor' prefix, followed by a
set name. For example, OISF's traffic id ruleset is called 'oisf/trafficid'.

To enable 'oisf/trafficid', enter:

::

    sudo suricata-update enable-source oisf/trafficid
    sudo suricata-update

Now restart Suricata again and the rules from the OISF TrafficID ruleset are loaded.

To see which rulesets are currently active, use "list-enabled-sources".

Controlling which rules are used
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By default ``suricata-update`` will merge all rules into a single file
"/var/lib/suricata/rules/suricata.rules".

To enable rules that are disabled by default, use `/etc/suricata/enable.conf`

::

    2019401                   # enable signature with this sid
    group:emerging-icmp.rules # enable this rulefile
    re:trojan                 # enable all rules with this string


Similarly, to disable rules use `/etc/suricata/disable.conf`:

::

    2019401                   # disable signature with this sid
    group:emerging-info.rules # disable this rulefile
    re:heartbleed             # disable all rules with this string

After updating these files, rerun ``suricata-update`` again:

::

    sudo suricata-update

Finally restart Suricata.

Further reading
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See https://suricata-update.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
