Installation Decisions

Director

Before installing the Validation Platform, determine which installation method is correct for your environment. You have two options when installing the Director: a virtual appliance (VA) or installable software. Descriptions and customer responsibilities are included as follows.

The Mandiant Advantage Security Validation team recommends using the Virtual Appliance. The install is quick and easy, and you have no operating system maintenance requirements.

Virtual Appliance (VA)

Installable software

Easiest and quickest to install and manage for many environments
Complete virtual "appliance" that contains an OS and preinstalled software
The Security Validation team provides patches and updates to both the OS and platform software
Can be installed in ESXi, Virtual Box, Hyper-V, AWS, or Azure
When using Security Validation appliances (OVA, AMI, VHD), you are prohibited from installing other third-party software or packages.

Requires Linux administration skills
Can be installed anywhere supported versions of Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Rocky Linux) runs: physical, virtual, on-premises, cloud, and so on.
Installation can be automated/scripted
You install, configure, and maintain the operating system (OS)

Linux Actor

Before installing the Validation Platform Linux Actor, determine which installation method is correct for your environment. There are two available formats: virtual appliances (VA) and installable software. Descriptions and customer responsibilities are included as follows.

Your environment determines which option the Mandiant Advantage Security Validation team recommends: if you already have a Linux system you maintain, use the software. Otherwise, use the Virtual Appliance.

Virtual Appliance (VA)		Installable software (package)
Easiest to manage for many environments Complete virtual appliance that contains an OS and preinstalled software The Security Validation team provides patches and updates to both the OS and platform software Can be installed in ESXi, Virtual Box, Hyper-V, AWS, or Azure When using Security Validation appliances (OVA, AMI, VHD), you are prohibited from installing other third-party software or packages.		Installation & registration can be combined using Bulk Registration Tokens Can be installed anywhere supported versions of Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, Ubuntu, or Rocky Linux) runs: physical, virtual, on-premises, cloud, and so on. Must be used if you want an Ubuntu Actor Installation can be automated / scripted When not using the easy install option, requires Linux administration skills You install, configure, and maintain the operating system (OS)

Actor Functionality: VA vs Software

	Virtual Appliance (VA)	Installable software
Host firewall control (iptables)	✔	✔
NTP control	✔
DNS control	✔
NOPASSWD directive	✔
Commands add to Allow list instead of NOPASSWD		✔
Supports making changes to the Network using the Network Settings page.
Can use openssl libraries (Ability to run HTTPS Actions when not installed as a root user)	✔	✔
Install & Register using Bulk Registration Tokens		✔

Windows and Mac Actors

Windows and Mac Actors both come as software, allowing you to install them on systems in your environment that you maintain. There are several options for installation, including one that completes installation and registration. For more information, see Easy Actor Installation.