42box Installation Documentation

Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: 20250508

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Hardware and Software Requirements
  3. Network Requirements
  4. Installation Procedure
  5. After Installation
  6. Support and Assistance
  7. Appendix: Required Firewall Rules

1. Overview

The 42box ISO Image, provided by 42clue GmbH, is a specialized testing and monitoring appliance that automatically collects test data from your environment. It streams the collected data securely to the 42clue Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform for further analysis and reporting.

The installation procedure is designed to be automatic and does not require manual user intervention. Estimated deployment time ranges from 10 to 45 minutes depending on available hardware resources and network speed.

2. Hardware and Software Requirements

Ensure the target virtual environment or physical hardware meets the following minimum requirements:

  • Virtual CPU (vCPU): 2 cores minimum
  • RAM: 4 GB minimum
  • Storage: 64 GB minimum (SSD storage preferred for optimal performance)

Virtualization Environments

The 42box is designed to work efficiently in various virtualization environments.

3. Network Requirements

The 42box requires an active internet connection to communicate with the 42clue SaaS Platform. The appliance uses DHCP to obtain its IP address, DNS, gateway and other network settings automatically.

For physical servers, the ethernet network cable must be connected to the first network port which is labeled “0”.

The following network prerequisites must be satisfied:

  • DHCP Server: Required (IP address configuration through DHCP is mandatory)
  • Internet Connectivity: Continuous internet access for data transfer and communication with the 42clue SaaS Platform.
  • Firewall Rules: See Appendix for required firewall settings below.

4. Installation Procedure

Follow the steps provided below to deploy the 42box ISO image:

  1. Download ISO Image: Acquire the 42box ISO Image provided by 42clue GmbH.
  2. Mount ISO & Boot VM: Attach the ISO image to the virtual machine’s CD/DVD drive and power on the VM.
  3. Automated Installation:
    • Upon booting from ISO, the installation process will automatically commence. This is an unattended installation—no user action is required.
    • Note: Installation duration typically varies from approximately 10 to 45 minutes depending on system resources.
  4. Completion Confirmation:
    • After installation, the VM reboots automatically. Verify successful boot-up and access to the network.

5. After Installation

Perform the following checks after the automated installation process completes:

  • Do NOT try to login:
    • The 42box does not require (and does not allow) anyone to log in or configure it. Everything is set up automatically.
  • Find the assigned hostname:
    • After the 42box is running, it assigns itself a unique name (called a “hostname”).
  • Tell 42clue the hostname:
    • Send this unique hostname (you can just email it) to your 42clue contact. This step is important.
    • The 42clue team uses the hostname to check the box is working and has successfully connected to their service.

6. Support and Assistance

For technical support or assistance with configuration and installation issues, please reach out via:

7. Appendix: Required Firewall Rules

Your firewall and security team must permit access from the 42box to the following external destinations:

Required Outbound Communication:

Protocol Port Direction Purpose
TCP 22 Outbound Secure SSH tunnel
UDP 123 Outbound NTP time synchronization
TCP 443 Outbound HTTPS communication (all web traffic)
TCP 4200 Outbound Custom monitoring data transmission

Note: All communication is encrypted. HTTP (port 80) is no longer used as all web traffic has been configured to use HTTPS (port 443) exclusively. The 42box is configured to use the default Ubuntu servers (archive.ubuntu.com and security.ubuntu.com) with HTTPS for all package operations, and APT is configured to enforce HTTPS certificate verification, disable installation of recommended packages, and disable language translations to reduce bandwidth usage.

Required Domain Access:

The 42box needs to access the following domains:

  • amazonaws.com
  • border0.com
  • canonical.com
  • cisofy.com
  • cloudfront.net
  • cribl.cloud
  • cribl.io
  • fastly.net
  • github.com
  • githubusercontent.com
  • hashicorp.com
  • ntp.org
  • snapcraft.io
  • tudos.de
  • ubuntu.com

Important: Wildcard access (*.domain.com) is required for each of the listed FQDNs to ensure proper functionality of all services. This allows the 42box to access various subdomains that may be used for different services within each domain.

Note: Contact 42clue support if further firewall specifications or guidance are required.

Confidential: For authorized personnel only.