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 Interim Fix 01 (20240725005939INT) SFS. These instructions are intended for administrators who are upgrading to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01 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The WinCollect RPM validation is out of date and causes the upgrade to fail.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.

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. can experience an issue where events routing to storage unexpectedly; however, the EPS rate is not yet hitting the maximum capability of the appliance.

Performance degradation when events are moved between ecs-ec and ecs-ep components

In QRadar 7.5.0 Upgrade Package 9 Interim Fix 01, you may experience slower event processing when events are moved from the ecs queue to ep components (TCP_TO_EP), which can significantly impact EPS throughput. For more information, see DT394105.

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.

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

Known Issues fixed in QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01.

DT386044: Missing some fields for CRE Rule Modified SIM audit event.
DT389402: Geographic rule test fails location match when IP is present in Network Hierarchy.
DT270362: Custom AQL Queries are removed from Manage Search Results after a Full Deploy.
DT386337: Offline forwarding events failing with TCP over TLS when eventprocessor has no direct Internet access.
DT389204: Event Collectors with encryption enabled that drop connections to the Event Processor might experience event loss.

Upgrade information

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01 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-2021.6.9.20240725005939 SFS file can upgrade the following QRadar versions to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01:

QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 SFS (2021.6.9.20240719124908)

Note: Verify that your deployment is not on the old QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 GA version (2021.6.9.20240703190930). To successfully upgrade to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01, your deployment must be on QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 SFS (2021.6.9.20240719124908). For more information, see Release of QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 SFS.

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 Interim Fix 01 Software Update

These instructions guide you through the process of upgrading an existing QRadar version to QRadar 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01. 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 Interim Fix 01 from the IBM Fix Central website:

https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/quickorder?parent=IBM%20Security&product=ibm/Other+software/IBM+Security+QRadar+Vulnerability+Manager&release=All&platform=All&function=fixId&fixids=7.5.0-QRADAR-QRSIEM-20240725005939INT&includeSupersedes=0&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-2021.6.9.20240725005939.sfs /media/updates

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.
For administrators with managed WinCollect 7 agents, upgrades to 7.5.0 Update Package 9 Interim Fix 01 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 Interim Fix 01 SFS (20240725005939INT)