How to create and use a USB buildstick for RSA NetWitness Platform 10.6.x appliances

Issue

How to create and use a USB buildstick for RSA NetWitness 10.6.x appliances?

Tasks

Resource Required

•     Universal Netboot Installer program at http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/?source=directory
•     7-zip or other utility to open and extract ISO files
•     Latest NetWitness USB ISO files

•     USB thumb drive 4GB, or preferred 8GB

Hint: After inserting the USB stick into a Windows PC make sure it is seen by the computer as a Removable disk, and not as hard disk.

Resolution

Creating USB Build Stick

1. Format the USB drive (do not quick format) as FAT32.
2. Launch the Unetbootin tool
   •     Select the Diskimage radio button
   •     Select the ISO file, sa-upgrade-{version}-usbboot.iso
   •     Confirm Type is set to USB Drive and Drive is set to the correct USB drive
   •     Click OK to start build process
   •     Click Yes to All when asked to overwrite files (popup may be hidden behind)
   •     After installation is complete, do not reboot and Exit
3. Copy additional files to the USB buildstick
   •     Copy the sa-upgrade-{version}-usb.iso file to the root of the USB build stick
   •     Open the sa-upgrade-{version}-usbboot.iso file using 7-zip or similar utility on your local machine.
   •     Copy the [BOOT] folder from the open sa-upgrade-{version}-usbboot.iso file to the root of the USB build stick
    

Rebuild the appliances using the build stick

1. Insert the USB buildstick into the NetWitness appliance and reboot
2. If the appliance does not boot from the USB by default, reboot and enter into the boot option or bios (F11)
   Password is rsabios
3. Select appropriate NetWitness appliance option from the Kickstart menu
4. At the first time prompt for wipe the disks choose Yes (Y) for new installs.
5. When it asks you for a reboot, proceed to reboot and repeat the steps 2-3 to get into the Kickstart menu.
6. When it prompts for the disk wipe for the second time choose No. (N) and proceed to install the NetWitness appliance software.

If you are unsure of any of the steps above or experience any issues, contact RSA Support and quote this article ID for further assistance.

Notes

For additional information on the buildstick procedure, refer to How to use an RSA Security Analytics build stick that was provided by RSA Support.

For USB Build Stick Instructions for ISO for RSA NetWitness® Platform 11.3 and Later

Internal Comments

UserName:melim
6/23/2014 3:24:45 PM - Tech review
sent email to author: From: Meli, Marco Sent: 23 June 2014 16:23 To: Weshahy, Mohamed (Mohamed.Weshahy@rsa.com) Subject: KB a66243 review Hi Mo, I am reviewing KB a66243. Although technically is good you would need to modify the format as otherwise it will show horrible in SCOL. Here some suggestions: - As title you can choose for instance: “Series 4 Build Stick Procedure� - Change the fonts: No colours at all. Normal text should be Tahoma 8. System output New Courier 8. Commands to run New Courier 8 bold - Insert a fact (read the ppt of my first email, it explains everything) Let me know once you have done so that I can approve it. Thanks and Regards, Marco Meli

UserName:melim
6/23/2014 3:55:58 PM - tech reviewed
I edited the KB and copied edited. I let the author know so next time he knows what to do. I sent him also the ppt with the instructions

UserName:shurtj
7/1/2014 9:10:08 PM - Changed Article Type
Changed the article type from corrective to how-to and modified the statements accordingly to adhere to Primus best practices. Updated the title to be more descriptive and referenced KB article a64278 in a Note statement.

UserName:shurtj
8/10/2014 7:22:25 PM - Minor Change
Removed RSA NetWitness from partitions.

Product Details

RSA Product Set: NetWitness Logs & Network
RSA Version/Condition: 10.6.x
Platform: CentOS 6

Summary

How to create and use a USB buildstick for RSA NetWitness Platform 10.6.x appliances?

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