NetWitness 12.4 Upgrade Failing

Issue

During the NetWitness software Upgrade phase, the upgrade fails with the below error in /var/netwitness/config-management/chef-solo.log:

 [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Running exception handlers
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Creating JSON exception report
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Creating JSON exception report
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Exception handlers complete
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: Stacktrace dumped to /var/lib/netwitness/config-management/cache/chef-stacktrace.out
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: PLEASE PROVIDE THE CONTENTS OF THE stacktrace.out FILE (above) IF YOU FILE A BUG REPORT
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
[2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: NoMethodError: manage_fstab[/home mount stig controls] (nw-base::stig_mount line 42) had an error: NoMethodError: ruby_block[Update /etc/fstab] (nw-base::stig_mount line 43) had an error: NoMethodError: undefined method `split' for nil:NilClass

Cause

This happens when there's no /boot filesystem. The reason being kickstart is distinct compared to other providers (VMware/AWS)

Resolution

Resolution: Skip running resources in nw-base::stig_mount on OpenStack
Steps:
1) Run the below command, which comments out the stig_mount recipe from the stig_controls recipe, hence removing it from the chef run list:

 sed -i "s/include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_mount'/#include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_mount'/" /var/netwitness/config-management/cookbooks/platform/nw-base/recipes/stig_controls.rb

2) To confirm, please run the below command:

 cat /var/netwitness/config-management/cookbooks/platform/nw-base/recipes/stig_controls.rb

Output:

 #
 
# Cookbook Name:: nw-base
 
# Recipe:: stig_controls
 
#
 
# Copyright (c) 2024 RSA Security LLC or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved.
 
#
 
# Note: audit stig controls handled by auditd-wrapper cookbook
 
# Note: ssh stig controls handled by the ssh cookbook
 
include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_auth'
 
include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_packages'
 
include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_services'
 
include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_fips_kernel'
 
include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_sessions'
 
 #include_recipe 'nw-base::stig_mount'

3) Restart the upgrade
4) Reinstall rsa-nw-config-management after successful upgrade to revert recipe changes:

 dnf reinstall rsa-nw-config-management -y

Product Details

NetWitness Product Set: NetWitness Logs & Network
NetWitness Product/Service Type: NetWitness Platform
NetWitness Version/Condition: 12.4
Platform: AlmaLinux 8.9

Summary

During the NetWitness software Upgrade phase, the upgrade fails with the below error in /var/netwitness/config-management/chef-solo.log: [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Running exception handlers [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Creating JSON exception report [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Creating JSON exception report [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] ERROR: Exception handlers complete [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: Stacktrace dumped to /var/lib/netwitness/config-management/cache/chef-stacktrace.out [2024-03-14T00:05:42+00:00] FATAL: NoMethodError: manage_fstab[/home mount stig controls] (nw-base::stig_mount line 42) had an error: NoMethodError: ruby_block[Update /etc/fstab] (nw-base::stig_mount line 43) had an error: NoMethodError: undefined method `split' for nil:NilClass

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