Release Notes

Abstract

This technical note contains installation instructions, and a list of new features and resolved issues for the IBM Security QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 (2021.6.9.20240703190930) SFS. These instructions are intended for administrators who are upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 by using an SFS file.

Content

What's New

For more information on new and changed features in QRadar 7.5.0, see What's new in 7.5.0.

IBM QRadar updated to dark theme
In QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9, the IBM QRadar user interface (UI) is updated to a dark theme. The light mode option is no longer available. This update does not affect the functionality of the product.

CIDR data type for reference data
Added a new data type called CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) for reference data. CIDR supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. For more information, see Command reference for reference data utilities.

Monitor-only mode in RegexMonitor

RegexMonitor now supports an optional Monitor-only mode that can notify you about expensive artifacts that are detected during parsing without disabling them automatically.

Console-only DR using the Data Synchronization app

Added Console-only DR feature to enable Console-only failover and failback by using QRadar Data Synchronization app. Console-only DR implementation is useful for customers in the following scenarios.

An actual disaster recovery where the console is not available but the other deployment hosts are still running.
A disaster recovery exercise where the main site is still available during the disaster recovery process.

For more information, see QRadar Console-only DR using Data Synchronization App.

Performance enhancements

Search performance is up to 2 times higher on Data Nodes in certain scenarios.
Quick Filter index generation is now faster on Data Nodes, and allows timely indexing of larger data volumes.
The JSON encoded offline forwarding speed is increased up to 80 times, depending on the forwarded event sizes and the custom properties used in forwarding.

Known Issues

WinCollect 7.3.1-43 upgrade fails
The WinCollect RPM validation is out of date and causes the upgrade to fail. To resolve the issue, and for more information, see WinCollect 7.3.1-43 upgrade fails due to "[CRITICAL] Transaction failed.

Pulse App upgrade fails on QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9
If you upgrade from QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to Update Package 9 after upgrading to Pulse App v2.2.14, you may be unable to access the Pulse App or find it in an ERROR state in the qappmanager utility. To resolve the issue, and for more information, see DT390721.

NIC renaming when bonded during RHEL7 to RHEL8 migration
If you upgrade from QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to Update Package 8 or later, bonded network interfaces are renamed after upgrading from RHEL7 to RHEL8 which leaves the host without a network after reboot. For more information, see DT391410.

After upgrading from QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 to Update Package 9 with SSH, CLI session is down temporarily

If you use SSH to upgrade to 7.5.0 Update Package 9, you will lose access to the CLI session for 20-30 minutes after the system reboot. You can use the Integrated Management Module (IMM), the Integrated Dell Remote Access controller (iDRAC), or a remote console, to monitor the upgrade.

High availability upgrades to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 require a full DRBD re-sync after the upgrade completes

The QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 upgrades from QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 on HA pairs updates the Distributed Replicated Block Device (DRBD) version from V8 to V9. After the upgrade to 7.5.0 Update Package 9 is complete, a DRBD re-sync occurs to the secondary as a requirement of the version change to ensure data is synchronized and consistent between the primary and secondary hosts. To verify the percent synchronized between hosts after you upgrade, type the following command:

cat /sys/kernel/debug/drbd/resources/store/connections/<hostname>/0/proc_drbd

Example output:

 0: cs:SyncSource ro:Primary/Secondary ds:UpToDate/Inconsistent C r-----
    ns:50365464 nr:0 dw:3054568 dr:49715727 al:436 bm:747 lo:0 pe:[0;3] ua:8 ap:[0;0] ep:1 wo:1 oos:50327916
 [========>...........] sync'ed: 48.5% (49148/95364)M

Upgrading to RHEL-8 on systems with LUKS encrypted partitions is not supported
You must ensure that your deployment does not include hosts with LUKS encrypted partitions to successfully upgrade your system. For more information see, Upgrading QRadar SIEM.

Upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8 or later from QRadar version 7.2.x can fail due to insufficient disk space.
In QRadar version 7.3.0 or earlier, appliances were built with smaller partition sizes that can cause issues when you upgrade to RHEL-8. Depending on the appliance type, you can save the SFS file in a different directory or rebuild the system at Update Package 8 or later, and then add it to the deployment.

Leapp pretests do not verify sufficient disk space

Leapp pretests fail to ensure if the /storetmp directory has sufficient disk space to store the upgrade cache directory. You must ensure that all appliances have at minimum 10GB of space available in the /storetmp directory before you upgrade to 7.5.0 Update Package 9.

Leapp pretests fail due to multiple physical network interface configurations
When you upgrade to 7.5.0 Update Package 8 or later, the Leapp pretest fails if the tool detects any Network Interface Card (NIC) that uses kernel naming (eth) and multiple NICs existing on the same system. For more information on the known issue and the workaround, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4067471.

The e1000 network driver is not supported in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

In 7.5.0 Update Package 9, the e1000 network driver is not supported in RHEL 8. This affects both bare metal and virtual environments. The newer e1000e network driver is fully supported in RHEL 8. For more information, see DT382313.

Upgrade patch pretest fails on dual stack

After you upgrade to 7.5.0 Update Package 9, the RHEL-8 upgrade pretest fails after the system reboot.

Apps might go down during base image upgrade

After you install QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9, your applications might go down temporarily while they are being upgraded to the latest base image.

Apps fail to restart after upgrade

After you upgrade some apps remain in an "error" state on deployments with 30+ apps. Restart the apps by using the qappmanager: /opt/qradar/support/qappmanager

For more information, see About the qappmanager support utility.

Duplicate app entries on Traefik when QRadar console is powered off and on again
If you power off your QRadar console via VSphere and power it on again, duplicate entires of apps exist on the Traefik UI. To resolve this issue, restart the Traefik service.

Factory reinstall on QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 in the recovery partition fails on M5 hardware.

Factory reinstall with Update Package 9 ISO in the recovery partition on M5 hardware is not supported.

Alternatively, you can use one of the following methods:

Reinstall QRadar from media. For more information, see Reinstalling QRadar from media.
Replace the factory reinstall image in the recovery partition with a previous version. For more information, see https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6490659.

For more information, see DT364088.

Managed WinCollect 7 agents cannot receive updates from encrypted QRadar Managed Hosts with 7.5.0 Update Package 7 Interim Fix 05 and later
In 7.5.0 Update Package 7 Interim Fix 5 and later, changes for managed WinCollect agents on 7.3.1 Patch 2 (7.3.1-28) do not complete as expected for encrypted managed hosts that attempt to connect to the Console. To resolve this issue, you must upgrade to WinCollect 7.3.1-43. For more information, see DT269649.

Error messages appear during decapper startup in QRadar Network Insights

The following error messages on the terminal broadcast messages or decapper logs indicate an automatic fallback to a legacy decapper library on virtual hosts.

EAL: rte_mem_virt2phy(): cannot open /proc/self/pagemap: Permission denied

EAL: Cannot use IOVA as 'PA' since physical addresses are not available

This fallback is necessary when IOMMU and virtualization passthrough are not available and enabled in the virtual platform configuration. The decapper continues to function, possibly with lowered throughput.

Admin password does not set correctly on auto-install

In some instances of QRadar installations using the auto-install method, the Admin password is not being set properly. To resolve this issues, manually update the Admin password in the QRadar host CLI. For more information, see DT258627.

Autoupdates (AU) issue after upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 or later
It is possible for autoupdates to revert to a previous version of autoupdates after you upgrade. Older versions of autoupdate might not update RPMs as expected.

After you upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 or later, type the following command to check your autoupdate version:

/opt/qradar/bin/UpdateConfs.pl -v

Review the issue and the resolution section for your auto update version in the following technical note, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6515880.

Issue adding Data Nodes to a cluster

When you add a Data Node to a cluster, they must either all be encrypted, or all be unencrypted. You cannot add both encrypted and unencrypted Data Nodes to the same cluster.

Resolved Issues

For a list of Known Issues links of resolved issues in QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9, see Known Issues. The Known Issues search page allows users to search for Known Issues by versions or status.

Some Known Issues links might take 24 hours to display properly after a software release is posted to IBM Fix Central.

The following is a list of Known Issues fixed in QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9:

DT256898: eps60s value is not set to 0 when the log source stops receiving events
DT256900: CEP cannot be toggled for force parsing If a custom rule's name starts with a CEP name and it is used by another rule
DT257068: Users cannot configure a test parameter for a rule when using a Reference Table
DT258372: When deleting rules from API the username is truncated in audit log if the username include a period (.)
DT258746: The "Assigned to User" filter has been removed when editing "My Offense"
DT258826: An application error is observed when clicking a link in the "Top Category Types" dashboard widget
DT259594: Assign offense menu showing as blank when trying to assign offense without log source access
DT259709: Use case manager rules can be inconsistent with rules in the rule tab
DT259763: AQL Custom Function Table Replication Issue in Data Gateway
DT261799: False Positive flags do not reflect correctly in the rules
DT261802: Customer with local language set as Simplified Chinese would run into offence page freeze
DT261851: Modifying system rule leads CRE to throw NPE when reading dependant rules
DT269186: Users who log in to QRadar can receive an Error "Invalid license key" when the license is valid
DT270141: Group Based LDAP Authentication does not preserve tenant assignment in User Details interface
DT270299: Scheduled reports that contains more than three columns throws "Array index out of range" exception
DT277116: Apps are in a failed state after upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 IF06 on a FIPS enabled system - not live
DT364307: Failed to add HA on console when iscsi configured on UP8 install - not live
DT364450: Failed to add HA on a QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 console when an NFS mount is configured
DT365145: HA synchronization status in 7.5.0 UP8 is not displayed in System and License Management
DT365203: UP8 patch installer "--leapp-only" option does not support HA secondaries
DT365204: UP8 patch installer option "--leapp-only" will not run successfully on fresh UP7 installations
DT365205: Patching a QIF host to 7.5.0 UP7 or UP8 may result in services failing to start
DT365206: UP8 patch installer is unable to run "--leapp-only" option on a detached Console HA host
DT365574: Events that bypass parsing will not have the correct collectorid
DT365799: Cannot send udp syslog to QRADAR_CONSOLE_IP from app container on Apphost
DT365964: UserDomainPermission_Test still impacts CRE performance after fix for DT212087
DT366125: A boot loop can occur while patching to 7.5.0 UP8 due to incorrect grub configuration
DT378245: Cliniq failure on MH after RHEL8 migration causes patch to fail - not live
DT378557: LDAP Authentication module can generate an 'Application Error' when saving changes in 7.5.0 UP7
DT378590: Natted deployments will fail to patch as Installer does not look at public IPs for checking if leapp-only was run
DT378682: When patching to 7.5.0 UP8, the RHEL8 Leapp migration script fails to remove the mptbase kernel module on VMware hosts
DT378761: Expired user sessions preventing new logins
DT378774: Change in QRADAR-17670 for CONFIGSERVICE_URL to fqdn causes replication to try public IP first - not live
DT378823: Service scaserver is unable to start after migrating to RHEL 8 due to incorrect lib file
DT378980: Patching to QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 can hang in environments using network address translation (NAT)
DT380809: QRadar consoles running high availability with NFS mounts configured can fail "--leapp-only" tests when patching to 7.5.0 UP8
DT380966: Upgrades to QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 can fail if /storetmp does not have enough available disk space
DT381206: Upgrades to UP8 IF01 might cause applications not to start due to podman-client-registry keystore corruption
DT381391: 3148 AIO Console could have a CRE performance bottle neck
DT382094: Custom actions scripts no longer work due to permission issues
DT382313: Upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 will fail on virtual hosts using an e1000 NIC adapter
DT386246: A kernel defect is causing a significant search performance degradation issue in QRadar 7.5.0 UP8 IF02
DT386356: A deploy while HA is syncing will invalidate store and cause/restart a full sync - not live
DT386462: When upgrading QRadar to 7.5.0 UP8, if an HA secondary host fails to reboot during the RHEL8 migration, the patch installer on the primary host will hang indefinitely
DT386559: Missing langpacks in UP8 cause API errors - not live
DT386964: Services broken when Patched UP8 host failover to Fresh UP8 host due to UID changes in RHEL8 - not live
DT139510: Log sources can sometimes display a status of error or not available when they are working as expected
DT251817: Non-admin user cannot edit the group of log sources using the API when the security profile is set to all log source groups
DT251857: QRadar apps can randomly disappear from the QRadar user interface
DT160982: The "Not" operator used with the log source API does not properly filter results as expected
DT134169: 7.5.0 UP1 deployments with QNI appliances can fail to deploy if the connection to QNI is unavailable
DT145570: Modifying the rule "Multiple login failures for single username" might cause a NPE error when QRadar is reading the rule
DT252005: install-ssl-cert.sh unable to install certificate signed by intermediate certificate authority
DT196807: QRadar filter "Source Network" displays an empty list in locales other than english
DT197404: Destination IP/Source IP search parameter does not work with multiple IPs separated by comma in the Offenses tab
DT252050: Apps can take longer than the default 90 seconds to start when 20 or more apps are installed
IJ46731: Timestamps on the Manage Vulnerabilities -> By Vulnerability Instances screen are incorrect - not live
DT253294: Timestamps in a scan results (excel) report are displayed in the GMT timezone
DT215947: Log sources status column might not update as expected, leading to stale or outdates status information
DT253091: QRadar Risk Manager: Unable to create a topology model
DT252110: Offense tab columns do not sort as expected when search is set to default
DT244446: Custom rules: Match count rules do not trigger as expectedly when used with coalescing log sources
DT252111: Offenses created from flows rule does not show the first event in search result count
DT252084: QRadar non-administrator users cannot save changed to log source groups in the Log Source Management (LSM) app
DT252141: Reports fail to generate when files other than images exist in /store/reporting/reports/logos
DT252113: Admin tab can display an application error when assistant app cannot determine
DT252086: Quick filter flow interface values can be duplicated for admins in the user interface when domains are configured
DT252142: Data obfuscation can experience performance issues due to empty or null string checking
DT252099: Bytes sent sorting for numeric custom property is filtered in the user interface as alphabetic

Upgrade information

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 resolves reported issues from users and administrators from previous QRadar versions. This cumulative software update fixes known software issues in your QRadar deployment. QRadar software updates are installed by using an SFS file, and update all appliances attached to the QRadar Console.

The 750-QRADAR-QRSIEM-2021.6.9.20240703190930 SFS file can upgrade the following QRadar versions to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9:

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 Interim Fix 01 to Interim Fix 06
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8
QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8 Interim Fix 01 to Interim Fix 03

Note: To successfully upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9, your deployment must be on QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 or later.

However, this document does not cover all of the installation messages and requirements, such as changes to appliance memory requirements or browser requirements for QRadar. To review any additional requirements, see the QRadar Upgrade Guide.

See QRadar: Software update check list for administrators for a list of steps to review before you update your QRadar deployment.

Before you begin

Ensure that you take the following precautions:

Back up your data before you begin any software upgrade. For more information about backup and recovery, see the QRadar Administration Guide.
To avoid access errors in your log file, close all open QRadar sessions.
The QRadar software update cannot be installed on a managed host that is at a different software version from the Console. All appliances in the deployment must be at the same software revision to update the entire deployment.
Verify that all changes are deployed on your appliances. The update cannot install on appliances that have changes that are not deployed.
If this is a new installation, review the instructions in the QRadar Installation Guide.

Installing the QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Software Update

These instructions guide you through the process of upgrading an existing QRadar version to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9. To update appliances in parallel, see: QRadar: How to Update Appliances in Parallel.

Procedure

Download the software update to install QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 from the IBM Fix Central website:

https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/quickorder?parent=IBM%20Security&product=ibm/Other+software/IBM+Security+QRadar+SIEM&release=7.5.0&platform=Linux&function=fixId&fixids=7.5.0-QRADAR-QRSIEM-20240703190930&includeRequisites=1&includeSupersedes=0&downloadMethod=ddp&source=fc
Use SSH to log in to your Console as the root user.
To verify you have enough space (10GB) in /store/tmp for the QRadar Console, type the following command:
```
  df -h /tmp /storetmp /store/transient | tee diskchecks.txt
```
- Best directory option: /storetmp
  It is available on all appliance types at all versions. In QRadar 7.5.0 versions /store/tmp is a symlink to the /storetmp partition.

If the disk check command fails, retype the quotation marks from your terminal, then rerun the command. This command returns the details to both the command window and to a file on the Console named diskchecks.txt. Review this file to ensure that all appliances have at minimum 10GB of space available in a directory to copy the SFS before attempting to move the file to a managed host. If required, free up disk space on any host that fails to have less that 10GB available.

Note: In QRadar 7.3.0 and later, an update to directory structure for STIG-compliant directories reduces the size of several partitions. This can impact moving large files to QRadar.

To create the /media/updates directory, type the following command:
```
  mkdir -p /media/updates
```
Use SCP to copy the files to the QRadar Console to the /storetmp directory or a location with 10GB of disk space.
Change to the directory where you copied the patch file. For example,
```
  cd /storetmp
```

To mount the patch file to the /media/updates directory, type the following command:

  mount -o loop -t squashfs /storetmp/750-QRADAR-QRSIEM-2021.6.9.20240703190930.sfs /media/updates

A Leapp pretest, might be required based on your upgrade path:
1. For QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 7 users updating to Update Package 9, type the following command:
```
/media/updates/installer --leapp-only
```
2. For QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 8 to Update Package 9 updates, skip this step. No leapp pretest is required.
To run the patch installer, type the following command:
```
  /media/updates/installer 
```
Note: The first time that you run the software update, there might be a delay before the software update installation menu is displayed.
Using the patch installer, select all.
- The all option updates the software on all appliances in the following order:
  1. Console
  2. No order required for remaining appliances. All remaining appliances can be updated in any order that you require.
- If you do not select the all option, you must select your Console appliance.
  
  As of QRadar 7.2.6 Patch 4 and later, you are only provided the option to update all or update the Console appliance. Managed hosts are not displayed in the installation menu to ensure that the Console is patched first. After the Console is patched, a list of managed hosts that can be updated is displayed in the installation menu. This change was made starting with QRadar 7.2.6 Patch 4 to ensure that the Console appliance is always updated before managed hosts to prevent upgrade issues.
  
  If you want to patch systems in series, you can update the Console first, then copy the patch to all other appliances and run the patch installer individually on each managed host. The Console must be patched before you can run the installer on managed hosts. When updating in parallel, there is no order required in how you update appliances after the Console is updated.
  
  If your Secure Shell (SSH) session is disconnected while the upgrade is in progress, the upgrade continues. When you reopen your SSH session and rerun the installer, the patch installation resumes.

Installation wrap-up

After the system reboot is not initiated after the patch completes and you have exited the installer, type the following command:
```
  umount /media/updates
```
Clear your browser cache before you log in to the Console.
Delete the SFS file from all appliances.
HA pair appliances complete a full DRBD sync to the secondary after the QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 update completes. This process can take several hours to finish based on the bandwidth between hosts.
For administrators with managed WinCollect 7 agents, upgrades to 7.5.0 Update Package 9 require WinCollect version 7.3.1-43. Depending on your upgrade path, you might be required to update your WinCollect agent version on the Console. For more information, see the WinCollect 7.3.1-43 release notes.

Results

A summary of the software update installation advises you of any managed hosts that were not updated. If the software update fails to update a managed host, you can copy the software update to the host and run the installation locally.

After all hosts are updated, send an email to your team to inform them that they will need to clear their browser cache before they log in to the QRadar SIEM interface.

[{"Type":"MASTER","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB24","label":"Security Software"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Product":{"code":"SSBQAC","label":"IBM Security QRadar SIEM"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z000000cwtdAAA","label":"Upgrade"}],"ARM Case Number":"","Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"}],"Version":"7.5.0"}]

Tips

Release of QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 SFS (2021.6.9.20240703190930)