Installing Meld on Ubuntu 20: A Step-by-Step Guide

In this article, we will explore the process of installing Meld on Ubuntu 20 and configuring it for use with your favorite Next Gen Firewall. Meld is an open-source project from Palo Alto Networks that enables you to take threat feeds such as IP and URL lists, transform them into a single list, and utilize them with your firewall.

Before we begin, ensure that your Ubuntu install is up-to-date by running the following command:

```

sudo apt update

```

Once updated, proceed with installing the necessary packages required for Meld installation. These packages include gcc, git, python-minimal, python2.7-dev, libffi-dev, and libssl-dev. You can install these packages by running:

```

sudo apt install -y gcc git python-minimal python2.7-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev

```

After installing the required packages, add your user to the minemeld group using the following command:

```

sudo usermod -a -G minemeld

```

This step is essential for development purposes and allows you to interact with Meld's features without encountering any permission issues.

Next, download the Ansible playbook configuration file by running:

```

ansible-playbook -K -i 127.0.0.1, local.yml

```

You will be prompted to provide a password during the installation process. This password will serve as your admin account password for the Minemeld application.

To configure Meld, you need to replace the default NGINX web server certificates with your own PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) certificates. You can do this by replacing the following files:

* `~/cert.key` with `/etc/nginx/minemeld.pem`

* `~/cert.pem` with `/etc/nginx/minemeld.cer`

Restart NGINX after replacing the certificates.

The next step is to set up your Ubuntu 18.04 VM (Virtual Machine) with at least 2vCPU, 4GB memory, and 80GB disk space. You can use Redhat or CentOS as well, but this tutorial will focus on Ubuntu 18.04.

Meld is capable of transforming multiple threat feeds from public sources such as Spamhaus and Abuse.ch into a single consumable feed for use with your firewall. For example, you can take lists from these public sources and transform them into a single list that can be used by your firewall to block those URLs.

In summary, Meld is an open-source project that enables you to take threat feeds, transform them, set confidence levels, and output the results into a single consumable feed. With Meld, you can integrate multiple threat feeds from various sources and use them with your favorite Next Gen Firewall.

By following these steps, you will be able to install and configure Meld on Ubuntu 20 for use with your firewall.

Install meld ubuntu 20