How to Install Fleet Osquery Manager on Ubuntu Linux

Install MariaDB Database Server

Fleet Osquery Manager requires a database to store its information. Installing MariaDB on your Ubuntu system is a common way to set this up. You’ll need to run a few commands to get MariaDB installed and running correctly.

Run these commands to install it:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mariadb-server

After installation, make sure the service starts whenever your computer turns on:

sudo systemctl stop mariadb
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Setup Fleet Database

Once MariaDB is installed, you need to set up a dedicated database for Fleet Osquery Manager. This involves running a security script to protect your database and then creating the specific database that Fleet will use.

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

CREATE DATABASE fleetdb;
CREATE USER ‘fleetuser’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘your_strong_password’;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON fleetdb.* TO ‘fleetuser’@’localhost’;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

How to install and use MariaDB on Ubuntu Linux

Install Redis Server

Fleet uses Redis, an in-memory data structure store often used for caching and message brokering, to handle quick data tasks. Install it with this command:

sudo apt install redis
sudo systemctl enable redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server

How to install Redis on Ubuntu Linux

Install Fleet Osquery Manager

Docker Deployment (Recommended)

Here’s how to get started with Docker Deployment:

First, install Docker on your Ubuntu system. Then, create a folder for your configuration and run Fleet as a container. This keeps your setup isolated and simple to update.

Manual Binary Installation

Installing Fleet Osquery Manager directly on Ubuntu without using Docker is possible by downloading the latest version. This method uses a simple script to fetch and unpack the necessary files for installation.

LATEST_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/fleetdm/fleet/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d ‘”‘ -f 4)
curl -LO https://github.com/fleetdm/fleet/releases/download/$LATEST_VERSION/fleet_$LATEST_VERSION_linux.tar.gz
tar xf fleet_$LATEST_VERSION_linux.tar.gz
sudo cp fleet /usr/local/bin/

Systemd Service

To ensure Fleet Osquery Manager runs continuously in the background on your Ubuntu system, you need to set up a systemd service. This involves creating a configuration file that tells systemd how to start, stop, and manage the Fleet service.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/fleet.service

Add this configuration:

[Unit]
Description=Fleet Osquery Manager
After=network.target

[Service]
User=fleet
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/fleet serve –config /etc/fleet/fleet.yml
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable fleet
sudo systemctl start fleet

Configure Nginx Reverse Proxy

Configuring Nginx as a reverse proxy for Fleet OSquery Manager on Ubuntu is a recommended step. This setup helps manage secure connections using SSL certificates and directs traffic to the Fleet application running on your server.

sudo apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Create an Nginx configuration file that points to your server’s domain and forwards traffic to your Fleet port (usually 8080). Use Certbot to automatically attach your SSL certificate to the site.

Once finished, visit your domain in a web browser to finalize the setup.

Follow the screen prompts to create your admin account.

You can now add your devices to the dashboard.

Add hosts to Fleet

Conclusion

You have successfully installed the Fleet OSquery Manager. Your system is now ready to track and manage your devices securely. By using modern tools like Docker and Nginx, you have ensured that your management platform remains stable and safe for years to come.

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