DRAFT Quick Start Guide - Creating an Assessor Configuration XML File

Product Name

CIS-CAT Pro Assessor v4

Product Version

all

Date

04 Oct 2023

Overview

This guide outlines the process of creating a Configuration XML file to store assessment details of multiple local or remote endpoints in CIS-CAT Pro Assessor. An XML file allows the user to configure Benchmarks, Profile levels, interactive values, user properties, and reporting options all in a single file.

Requirements

CIS-CAT Pro Assessor v4 “with GUI” running on a Windows host

While it is possible to create a Configuration XML file from scratch using a text editor, we recommend populating the initial values using the Assessor GUI (Windows only). The resulting XML file can then be edited further, and used for both GUI and CLI assessments on all supported platforms.

Walkthrough

1	Start Assessor by launching the `Assessor-GUI.exe` as Administrator:
2	Select "Advanced" -> "Add Remote or Local Target System":
3	Enter the connection details for the first host, and select the desired Benchmark & Profile level: For information on the required protocols & ports for remote assessments, please refer to the Configuration Guide.
4	On the next screen, you can then select the "Add" button in the top right to include additional systems in this scan using the same procedure as shown in the previous step. The below example screenshot shows 3 targets, one Windows Server 2019 host and two Linux systems (Ubuntu & Debian), each with their own credentials, Benchmarks and Profile levels:
5	Once all entries have been made to the “Target Systems” list, move to the next “Assessment options” screen, where you can select report formats, along with a CIS-CAT Pro Dashboard upload URL (if applicable). You can then save these systems and preferences as a Configuration XML with the “Save configuration file“ checkbox near the bottom; the desired path & filename can be supplied with the “Save As” button: You can also optionally encrypt this configuration file with a password. This helps protect the embedded connection credentials from being viewable in plaintext. If a Configuration XML is encrypted, it is no longer possible to make changes to the file using a text editor. You can however re-import the encrypted XML into the Assessor GUI, supply the chosen password and enact modifications at a later time.
6	(todo)