How to install SquidAnalyzer on CentOS 7

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In this guide, you will learn how to install SquidAnalyzer on CentOS 7 or other Redhat based Linux OS. #centlinux #linux #squidproxy

What is SquidAnalyzer? :

SquidAnalyzer is a log analyzer for Squid proxy server. SquidAnalyzer generates and provides analytical reports via a web-based interface. SquidAnalyzer is free and open source. SquidAnalyzer is distributed under GNU GPL license.

We install Squid proxy server on CentOS 7 in our previous article. Now, we are installing SquidAnalyzer for Squid log analysis on the same CentOS 7 server to have a analytical view of Squid logs.

Environment Specification:

We have provisioned a CentOS 7 virtual machine with following specification.

  • CPU – 3.4 Ghz (1 Core)
  • Memory – 1 GB
  • Storage – 20 GB
  • Operating System – CentOS 7.7
  • Hostname – squid-proxy-01.example.com
  • IP Address – 192.168.116.214/24

Install SquidAnalyzer Prerequisites:

SquidAnalyzer is a web based software therefore, we are required to install a web server to deploy and run SquidAnalyzer.

Install Apache HTTP Server using yum command.

# yum install -y httpd

SquidAnalyzer also requires perl compiler for installation.

Install perl packages using yum command.

# yum install -y perl perl-devel

We are also required git command to clone the SquidAnalyzer source from GitHub.

# yum install -y git

Install SquidAnalyzer on CentOS 7:

Download the source code of SquidAnalyzer using git command.

# cd /var/www
# git clone https://github.com/darold/squidanalyzer
Cloning into 'squidanalyzer'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 2064, done.
remote: Total 2064 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 2064
Receiving objects: 100% (2064/2064), 1.44 MiB | 640.00 KiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (1309/1309), done.

Compile SquidAnalyzer from source code.

# cd squidanalyzer/
# perl Makefile.PL
which: no bzcat in (/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/root/bin)
Checking if your kit is complete...
Looks good
Writing Makefile for SquidAnalyzer
Done...

Now type 'make && make install'

You can now install SquidAnalyzer on CentOS 7 as follows.

# make && make install
cp SquidAnalyzer.pm blib/lib/SquidAnalyzer.pm
cp squid-analyzer blib/script/squid-analyzer
/usr/bin/perl -MExtUtils::MY -e 'MY->fixin(shift)' -- blib/script/squid-analyzer
Manifying blib/man3/SquidAnalyzer.3pm

Installing /usr/local/share/perl5/SquidAnalyzer.pm
sh install_all.sh

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Modify your httpd.conf to allow access to HTML output like follow:
        Alias /squidreport /var/www/squidanalyzer
        <Directory /var/www/squidanalyzer>
            Options -Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
            AllowOverride None
            Order deny,allow
            Deny from all
            Allow from 127.0.0.1
        </Directory>
2. If necessary, give additional host access to SquidAnalyzer in httpd.conf.
   Restart and ensure that httpd is running.
3. Browse to http://my.host.dom/squidreport/ to ensure that things are working
   properly.
4. Setup a cronjob to run squid-analyzer daily:

     # SquidAnalyzer log reporting daily
     0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/squid-analyzer > /dev/null 2>&1

or run it manually. For more information, see /README file.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appending installation info to /usr/lib64/perl5/perllocal.pod

Edit Apache configuration to add SquidAnalyzer website.

# cd
# vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/squidanalyzer.conf

Add following directives in configuration file.

Alias /squidreport /var/www/squidanalyzer
<Directory /var/www/squidanalyzer>
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride None
        Order deny,allow
        Deny from all
        Allow from 192.168.116.0/24
</Directory>

Enable and start httpd.service.

# systemctl enable --now httpd
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/httpd.service to /usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service.

Configure Linux Firewall:

Allow HTTP service in CentOS 7 firewall.

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
success
# firewall-cmd --reload
success

Set Squid Logfile Location:

By default the log file location, provided in squidanalyzer.conf file is incorrect according to our Linux distro. Therefore, we need to correct it before moving forward.

# grep LogFile /etc/squidanalyzer/squidanalyzer.conf
LogFile /var/log/squid3/access.log
# sed -i 's/squid3/squid/' /etc/squidanalyzer/squidanalyzer.conf
# grep LogFile /etc/squidanalyzer/squidanalyzer.conf
LogFile /var/log/squid/access.log

Create a Cron Job for SquidAnalyzer:

Configure a Cron job for SquidAnalyzer to generate analytical reports.

# crontab -e

add following lines therein.

# SquidAnalyzer log reporting daily
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/squid-analyzer > /dev/null 2>&1

We have to explicitly execute squid-analyzer command one time to generate reports in /var/www/squidanalyzer directory.

# /usr/local/bin/squid-analyzer

Access SquidAnalyzer Web UI:

Open URL http://squid-proxy-01.example.com/squidreport in a web browser.

SquidAnalyzer Global Statistics
SquidAnalyzer Cache Statistics
SquidAnalyzer Top 100 URL

Configure HTTP Basic Authentication:

SquidAnalyzer does not provides a native authentication method.

Since the SquidAnalyzer running as a web application, therefore, we can utilize the HTTP basic authentication to restrict the access to SquidAnalyzer website.

Install httpd-tools using yum command.

# yum install -y httpd-tools
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * base: mirrors.ges.net.pk
 * extras: mirrors.ges.net.pk
 * updates: mirrors.ges.net.pk
Package httpd-tools-2.4.6-90.el7.centos.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Nothing to do

Nothing to do! because, we have already installed httpd-tools during installation of Squid proxy server on CentOS 7.

Create a password file for SquidAnalyzer and add squidadmin user therein.

# htpasswd -c /etc/squidanalyzer/passwd squidadmin
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user squidadmin

Edit Apache configurations to add HTTP basic authentication.

# vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/squidanalyzer.conf

Add HTTP basic authentication for SquidAnalyzer. Final configuration should be look like this.

Alias /squidreport /var/www/squidanalyzer
<Directory /var/www/squidanalyzer>
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride None
        Order deny,allow
        Deny from all
        Allow from 192.168.116.0/24
        AuthType Basic
        AuthName "Restricted Content"
        AuthUserFile /etc/squidanalyzer/passwd
        Require valid-user
</Directory>

Test Apache configuration files for syntax errors.

# httpd -t
Syntax OK

Restart Apache service to take changes in effect.

# systemctl restart httpd.service

Open URL http://squid-proxy-01.example.com/squidreport in a web browser.

SquidAnalyzer Login

Now, it requires user authentication for access to SquidAnalyzer website.

Conclusion:

In this guide, you will learn how to install SquidAnalyzer on CentOS 7 or other Redhat based Linux OS.

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