How to install Bastillion on CentOS 7

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

What is Bastillion? :

Bastillion is a web-based SSH Terminal emulator. By using this software we can configure a jump server that provides centrally managed administrative access to systems. The software layers TLS/SSL on top of SSH and acts as a bastion host for administration. Bastillion is a freemium software and we can add maximum 6 users and 12 systems without acquiring a subscription.

In this article, we will install Bastillion Jump Server on CentOS 7. Bastillion is the fork of Keybox and the same steps can be used to install Keybox on CentOS 7.

Bastillion Features:

Core features of Bastillion are.

  • Centralized user control
  • Prevent SSH key sprawl and access mismanagement
  • Infrastructure protection
  • Layered Protocols
  • Auditable

Environment Specification:

We have configured a CentOS 7 minimal installed virtual machine for this tutorial.

  • CPU – 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
  • Memory – 2 GB
  • Storage – 20 GB
  • Operating System – CentOS 7.7
  • Hostname – bastillion-01.recipes.com
  • IP Address – 192.168.116.213 /24

Install Java on CentOS 7:

Bastillion is a Java based web application and it requires OpenJDK / Oracle JDK 1.9 or later.

Oracle JDK 1.9 is available to download at Oracle website.

We are required an Oracle User Account for downloading Oracle JDK 1.9. Therefore, login to Oracle website and download Oracle JDK 1.9 (RPM).

Transfer the downloaded file to bastillion-01.recipes.com using WinSCP.

Connect to bastillion-01.recipes.com using ssh as root user and install Oracle JDK using rpm command.

# rpm -ivh jdk-9.0.4_linux-x64_bin.rpm
Preparing...                          ################################# [100%]
Updating / installing...
   1:jdk-9.0.4-2000:9.0.4-ga          ################################# [100%]
Unpacking JAR files...
        plugin.jar...
        javaws.jar...
        deploy.jar...

Set JAVA_HOME environment variable.

# echo "export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk-9.0.4/" >> /etc/profile

Verify Java installation.

# java -version
java version "9.0.4"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 9.0.4+11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 9.0.4+11, mixed mode)

Oracle JDK 9 has been installed on CentOS 7.

Install Bastillion on CentOS 7:

Bastillion is available to download at GitHub .

Download the Bastillion-Jetty using wget command.

# wget https://github.com/bastillion-io/Bastillion/releases/download/v3.08.01/bastillion-jetty-v3.08_01.tar.gz
--2019-11-11 19:55:05--  https://github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com/8083731/0aaf9e00-de42-11e9-9c7b-f1077b02ff54?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWNJYAX4CSVEH53A%2F20191111%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20191111T145505Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=f5a6cbd0b455305d4e316f242e4f5e18562ebb38ce81d6543b17ac5ec7fab9bf&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&actor_id=0&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3Dbastillion-jetty-v3.08_01.tar.gz&response-content-type=application%2Foctet-stream
Resolving github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com (github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com)... 52.216.99.83
Connecting to github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com (github-production-release-asset-2e65be.s3.amazonaws.com)|52.216.99.83|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 19016060 (18M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: âbastillion-jetty-v3.08_01.tar.gzâ

100%[======================================>] 19,016,060   232KB/s   in 2m 20s

2019-11-11 19:57:27 (132 KB/s) - âbastillion-jetty-v3.08_01.tar.gzâ saved [19016060/19016060]

Extract TARball using tar command to install Bastillion jump server.

# tar xvf bastillion-jetty-v3.08_01.tar.gz

Move the extracted directory to /usr/lib directory.

# mv Bastillion-jetty/ /usr/lib/

Configure Linux Firewall for Bastillion:

Allow Bastillion default service port 8443/tcp in CentOS 7 firewall.

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8443/tcp
success
# firewall-cmd --reload
success

Configure Bastillion Service:

Start Bastillion as follows.

# cd /usr/lib/Bastillion-jetty/
# ./startBastillion.sh
2019-11-11 20:02:52.788:INFO::main: Logging initialized @3947ms to org.eclipse.jetty.util.log.StdErrLog
2019-11-11 20:02:53.605:WARN:oejx.XmlConfiguration:main: Deprecated method public void org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpConfiguration.setBlockingTimeout(long) in file:///root/Bastillion-jetty/jetty/etc/jetty.xml
2019-11-11 20:02:54.188:INFO::main: Console stderr/stdout captured to /root/Bastillion-jetty/jetty/logs/2019_11_11.jetty.log
Please enter database password:
Please confirm database password:

Since, we are starting Bastillion for the first time, therefore we have to set the database password here.

Press Ctrl+C to break the process. Because, we will start Bastillion as a service.

Configure Bastillion startup service on CentOS 7 as follows.

# cd
# cp /usr/lib/Bastillion-jetty/jetty/bin/jetty.sh /etc/init.d/bastillion
# echo JETTY_HOME=/usr/lib/Bastillion-jetty/jetty > /etc/default/bastillion
# chkconfig --add bastillion
# service bastillion start
Starting Jetty: 2019-11-11 21:36:04.745:INFO::main: Logging initialized @1380ms to org.eclipse.jetty.util.log.StdErrLog
2019-11-11 21:36:05.184:WARN:oejx.XmlConfiguration:main: Deprecated method public void org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpConfiguration.setBlockingTimeout(long) in file:///usr/lib/Bastillion-jetty/jetty/etc/jetty.xml
2019-11-11 21:36:05.400:INFO::main: Console stderr/stdout captured to /usr/lib/Bastillion-jetty/jetty/logs/2019_11_11.jetty.log
. OK Mon Nov 11 21:36:11 PKT 2019

Access Bastillion Web Console:

Open URL https://bastillion.recipes.com:8443 in a web browser. Browser may displays a security warning because of the self-signed SSL certificate.

Ignore the warning and proceed to website.

Bastillion Web Login 1

Login to Bastillion Web UI using default username/password i.e. admin/changeme

Bastillion Web Login 2

After successful login, we are now at the next configuration page and here we are being asked to setup two-factor authentication for Android and iOS.

Bastillion Web QR Code

We are not required it now. therefore, we are skipping this step by clicking on Skip for now button.

Bastillion Web Main Menu 1

Click on Systems.

Bastillion Web Manage Systems 1

Click on Add System to add a machine in Bastillion jump server.

Bastillion Web Add System

Another dialog box will show up and asked for the password of the machine we are adding to Bastillion.

Provide the password and click on Submit.

Bastillion Web Password 1

Our machine has been added into Bastillion.

Bastillion Web Manage Systems 2

Click on Home to go back to main page.

Bastillion Web Main Menu 2

Click on Users.

Bastillion Web Manage Users 1

Click on Add User to add a new user in Bastillion.

Bastillion Web Add User

Add a user as per the above screenshot.

Bastillion Web Manage Users 2

Click on Home.

Bastillion Web Main Menu 3

Click on Composite SSH Terms.

Bastillion Web Composite SSH Terminals

Select your machine and click on Create SSH Terminals.

Bastillion Web Password 2

System will ask you for the password.

Enter the password and click on Submit.

Bastillion Web SSH Shell

After successful authentication, an SSH terminal has been spawned for the machine.

Conclusion:

In this guide, you have learned how to install Bastillion on CentOS 7 or other Redhat based Linux OS.

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