Requirements

This topic summarizes the requirements for installing Tanium™ software.

Installation package and license files

Tanium provides the following installation package files and license file required to install the Tanium Server, Tanium Module Server, and Tanium Zone Server:

• SetupServer.exe
• SetupModuleServer.exe
• SetupZoneServer.exe
• tanium.license

The installation package for each of these three servers must have the same build number (for example, all must have build number 7.4.4.1250). To complete the procedures in this guide, be sure you can copy these files to, and between, the host computers.

The license is bound to the hostname you assign to the Tanium Server. In high availability (HA) deployments, the license must specify the hostnames of both Tanium Servers. Contact Tanium Support if the server hostnames change.

Server version and host system requirements

Table 1 summarizes basic requirements for Tanium Core Platform and database servers that are installed on customer-provided Windows infrastructure. For detailed version specifications and sizing guidelines, see Reference: Host system resource guidelines.

Tanium modules and shared services might have additional requirements for Tanium Core Platform servers. Table 2 provides links to the user guide sections that list these requirements.

The Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions of the following Windows Server platforms are supported. The Server Core and Nano Server options are not supported.

Click the links in the following table to see the minimum Tanium Core Platform version (Tanium dependencies) and other platform server requirements for each Tanium module and shared service.

Client host system requirements

The following table summarizes basic requirements for endpoint host systems where you install the Tanium Client. Hardware resource requirements vary based on the actions that you deploy to the endpoints; contact Tanium Support at [email protected] for guidance.

Internet access, network connectivity, and firewall

Tanium components use TCP/IP to communicate over IPv4 and IPv6 networks. Tanium Core Platform 7.2 and earlier supports only IPv4. Requirements if you need IPv6 support in version 7.3 or later. You must work with your network administrator to ensure that the Tanium components are provisioned with IP addresses and can use DNS to resolve host names.

During installation and ongoing operations, the Tanium Server and the web browser that you use to access the Tanium Console must connect to https://content.tanium.com to import updates to Tanium Core Platform components and modules. The Tanium Server might need to connect to additional URLs based on the components you import. For a list of the required URLs, see Tanium Core Platform Deployment Reference Guide: Internet URLs required.

The Tanium Server must be able to connect to the Tanium database server and Module Server. In an HA deployment, the Tanium Servers must be able to connect to each other over a reliable Ethernet connection. All these connections require a minimum throughput of 1 Gbps and a maximum round-trip latency of 30 ms.

If your enterprise network environment requires outbound Internet connections to traverse a proxy server, you can configure the proxy settings as described under Tanium Console User Guide: Configuring proxy server settings.

Table 4 summarizes the Tanium processes and default values for ports used in Tanium Core Platform communication. Host and network firewalls might require configuration to allow the specified processes to send and receive TCP data over the listed ports. The Tanium installer opens required ports in the Windows host firewall. You must work with your network security administrator to ensure the platform components can communicate through any security barriers (such as firewalls) in their communication path. For a detailed explanation, see Tanium Core Platform Deployment Reference Guide: Network ports.

Configure firewall policies to open ports for Tanium traffic with TCP-based rules instead of application identity-based rules. For example, on a Palo Alto Networks firewall, configure the rules with service objects or service groups instead of application objects or application groups.

Your security administrator might also need to create rules to exempt or exclude Tanium processes that run on the host computers from blocking by antivirus or processing by encryption or other security and management stack software. For details, see Tanium Core Platform Deployment Reference Guide: Host system security exceptions.

The following figure illustrates how the Tanium Core Platform uses these ports in an HA deployment on Windows infrastructure.

SSL/TLS certificates

SSL/TLS certificate and key exchanges secure connections to the Tanium™ Console or Tanium™ API, as well as connections between the Tanium Server and Tanium Module Server. When you run the server installation wizards, they prompt you to generate a self-signed certificate or specify the location of a certificate that was issued by a commercial certificate authority (CA) or your own enterprise CA. As a best practice to facilitate troubleshooting, use the self-signed certificates during initial installation and replace them with CA-issued certificates later. This practice enables you to separate potential installation issues from TLS connection issues. For details, see Tanium Core Platform Deployment Reference Guide: Securing Tanium Console, API, and Module Server access.

Administrator account permissions

Work with your Microsoft Active Directory (AD) administrator to provision the accounts needed during Tanium Core Platform installations or upgrades and for post-installation or post-upgrade activities.

Administrator accounts for installations and upgrades

The following table lists the administrator accounts required to install or upgrade Tanium Core Platform servers, create Tanium databases, or deploy Tanium Clients. You can use a single service account to install the Tanium Server and to create databases on the SQL or PostgreSQL server, as long as the account has the all required group memberships and permissions for those servers. You can also use a single service account to install the Zone Server and Zone Server Hub. You must use a separate service account to install the Module Server.

Administrator accounts for post-installation/upgrade activities

The following table lists the administrator accounts required for regular, ongoing operations performed after installations or upgrades, including running the services for Tanium Core Platform servers and Tanium Clients, and accessing Tanium databases. If you reuse the accounts used for installations and upgrades, first reduce the account permissions to those specified in the following table. You can use a single service account to run the Tanium Server service and access the Tanium databases. You can also use a single service account to run the Zone Server and Zone Server Hub services. You must use a separate service account to run the Module Server service.