Deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux manually
Want to experience Defender for Endpoint? Sign up for a free trial.
Tip
Looking for advanced guidance on deploying Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux? See Advanced deployment guide on Defender for Endpoint on Linux.
This article describes how to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux manually. A successful deployment requires the completion of all of the following tasks:
- Prerequisites and system requirements
- Configure the Linux software repository
- Application installation
- Download the onboarding package
- Client configuration
Prerequisites and system requirements
Before you get started, see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux for a description of prerequisites and system requirements for the current software version.
Warning
Upgrading your operating system to a new major version after the product installation requires the product to be reinstalled. You need to Uninstall the existing Defender for Endpoint on Linux, upgrade the operating system, and then reconfigure Defender for Endpoint on Linux following the below steps.
Configure the Linux software repository
Defender for Endpoint on Linux can be deployed from one of the following channels (denoted as [channel]): insiders-fast, insiders-slow, or prod
. Each of these channels corresponds to a Linux software repository. The instructions in this article describe configuring your device to use one of these repositories.
The choice of the channel determines the type and frequency of updates that are offered to your device. Devices in insiders-fast are the first ones to receive updates and new features, followed later by insiders-slow and lastly by prod
.
In order to preview new features and provide early feedback, it's recommended that you configure some devices in your enterprise to use either insiders-fast or insiders-slow.
Warning
Switching the channel after the initial installation requires the product to be reinstalled. To switch the product channel: uninstall the existing package, re-configure your device to use the new channel, and follow the steps in this document to install the package from the new location.
Installer script
While we discuss manual installation, alternatively, you can use an automated installer bash script provided in our public GitHub repository. The script identifies the distribution and version, simplifies the selection of the right repository, sets up the device to pull the latest package, and combines the product installation and onboarding steps.
> ./mde_installer.sh --help
usage: basename ./mde_installer.sh [OPTIONS]
Options:
-c|--channel specify the channel from which you want to install. Default: insiders-fast
-i|--install install the product
-r|--remove remove the product
-u|--upgrade upgrade the existing product
-o|--onboard onboard/offboard the product with <onboarding_script>
-p|--passive-mode set EPP to passive mode
-t|--tag set a tag by declaring <name> and <value>. ex: -t GROUP Coders
-m|--min_req enforce minimum requirements
-w|--clean remove repo from package manager for a specific channel
-v|--version print out script version
-h|--help display help
Read more here.
RHEL and variants (CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, Amazon Linux 2, Rocky, and Alma)
Install
yum-utils
if it isn't installed yet:sudo yum install yum-utils
Note
Your distribution and version, and identify the closest entry (by major, then minor) for it under
https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/
.Use the following table to help guide you in locating the package:
Distro & version Package For Alma 8.4 and higher https://packages.microsoft.com/config/alma/8/prod.repo For Alma 9.2 and higher https://packages.microsoft.com/config/alma/9/prod.repo For RHEL/Centos/Oracle 9.0-9.8 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/9/prod.repo For RHEL/Centos/Oracle 8.0-8.10 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/8/prod.repo For RHEL/Centos/Oracle 7.2-7.9 & Amazon Linux 2 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7.2/prod.repo For Amazon Linux 2023 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/amazonlinux/2023/prod.repo For Fedora 33 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/fedora/33/prod.repo For Fedora 34 https://packages.microsoft.com/config/fedora/34/prod.repo For Rocky 8.7 and higher https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rocky/8/prod.repo For Rocky 9.2 and higher https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rocky/9/prod.repo In the following commands, replace [version] and [channel] with the information you've identified:
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo=https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/[version]/[channel].repo
Tip
Use hostnamectl command to identify system related information including release [version].
For example, if you're running CentOS 7 and want to deploy Defender for Endpoint on Linux from the
prod
channel:sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo=https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo
Or if you wish to explore new features on selected devices, you might want to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux to insiders-fast channel:
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo=https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/insiders-fast.repo
Install the Microsoft GPG public key:
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
SLES and variants
Note
Your distribution and version, and identify the closest entry (by major, then minor) for it under https://packages.microsoft.com/config/sles/
.
In the following commands, replace [distro] and [version] with the information you've identified:
sudo zypper addrepo -c -f -n microsoft-[channel] https://packages.microsoft.com/config/[distro]/[version]/[channel].repo
Tip
Use SPident command to identify system related information including release [version].
For example, if you're running SLES 12 and wish to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux from the prod
channel:
sudo zypper addrepo -c -f -n microsoft-prod https://packages.microsoft.com/config/sles/12/prod.repo
Install the Microsoft GPG public key:
sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
Ubuntu and Debian systems
Install
curl
if it isn't installed yet:sudo apt-get install curl
Install
libplist-utils
if it isn't installed yet:sudo apt-get install libplist-utils
Note
Your distribution and version, and identify the closest entry (by major, then minor) for it under
https://packages.microsoft.com/config/[distro]/
.In the following command, replace [distro] and [version] with the information you've identified:
curl -o microsoft.list https://packages.microsoft.com/config/[distro]/[version]/[channel].list
Tip
Use hostnamectl command to identify system related information including release [version].
For example, if you're running Ubuntu 18.04 and wish to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux from the
prod
channel:curl -o microsoft.list https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/prod.list
Install the repository configuration:
sudo mv ./microsoft.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-[channel].list
For example, if you chose
prod
channel:sudo mv ./microsoft.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-prod.list
Install the
gpg
package if not already installed:sudo apt-get install gpg
If
gpg
isn't available, then installgnupg
.sudo apt-get install gnupg
Install the Microsoft GPG public key:
- For Debian 11 and earlier, run the following command.
curl -sSL https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg > /dev/null
For Debian 12 and later, run the following command.
curl -sSL https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/microsoft-prod.gpg > /dev/null
Install the HTTPS driver if not already installed:
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
Update the repository metadata:
sudo apt-get update
Mariner
Install
dnf-plugins-core
if it isn't installed yet:sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core
Configure and Enable the required repositories
Note
On Mariner, Insider Fast Channel is not available.
If you want to deploy Defender for Endpoint on Linux from the
prod
channel. Use the following commandssudo dnf install mariner-repos-extras sudo dnf config-manager --enable mariner-official-extras
Or if you wish to explore new features on selected devices, you might want to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux to insiders-slow channel. Use the following commands:
sudo dnf install mariner-repos-extras-preview sudo dnf config-manager --enable mariner-official-extras-preview
Application installation
RHEL and variants (CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, Amazon Linux 2, Rocky, and Alma)
sudo yum install mdatp
Note
If you have multiple Microsoft repositories configured on your device, you can be specific about which repository to install the package from. The following example shows how to install the package from the production
channel if you also have the insiders-fast
repository channel configured on this device. This situation can happen if you are using multiple Microsoft products on your device. Depending on the distribution and the version of your server, the repository alias might be different than the one in the following example.
# list all repositories
yum repolist
...
packages-microsoft-com-prod packages-microsoft-com-prod 316
packages-microsoft-com-prod-insiders-fast packages-microsoft-com-prod-ins 2
...
# install the package from the production repository
sudo yum --enablerepo=packages-microsoft-com-prod install mdatp
SLES and variants
sudo zypper install mdatp
Note
If you have multiple Microsoft repositories configured on your device, you can be specific about which repository to install the package from. The following example shows how to install the package from the production
channel if you also have the insiders-fast
repository channel configured on this device. This situation can happen if you are using multiple Microsoft products on your device.
zypper repos
...
# | Alias | Name | ...
XX | packages-microsoft-com-insiders-fast | microsoft-insiders-fast | ...
XX | packages-microsoft-com-prod | microsoft-prod | ...
...
sudo zypper install packages-microsoft-com-prod:mdatp
Ubuntu and Debian systems
sudo apt-get install mdatp
Note
If you have multiple Microsoft repositories configured on your device, you can be specific about which repository to install the package from. The following example shows how to install the package from the production
channel if you also have the insiders-fast
repository channel configured on this device. This situation can happen if you are using multiple Microsoft products on your device.
cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*
deb [arch=arm64,armhf,amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/prod insiders-fast main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/prod bionic main
sudo apt -t bionic install mdatp
Note
Reboots are NOT required after installing or updating Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux except when you're running auditD in immutable mode.
Mariner
sudo dnf install mdatp
Note
If you have multiple Microsoft repositories configured on your device, you can be specific about which repository to install the package from. The following example shows how to install the package from the production
channel if you also have the insiders-slow
repository channel configured on this device. This situation can happen if you are using multiple Microsoft products on your device.
sudo dnf config-manager --disable mariner-official-extras-preview
sudo dnf config-manager --enable mariner-official-extras
Download the onboarding package
Download the onboarding package from Microsoft Defender portal.
Warning
Repackaging the Defender for Endpoint installation package is not a supported scenario. Doing so can negatively impact the integrity of the product and lead to adverse results, including but not limited to triggering tampering alerts and updates failing to apply.
Important
If you miss this step, any command executed will show a warning message indicating that the product is unlicensed. Also the mdatp health
command returns a value of false
.
In the Microsoft Defender portal, go to Settings > Endpoints > Device management > Onboarding.
In the first drop-down menu, select Linux Server as the operating system. In the second drop-down menu, select Local Script as the deployment method.
Select Download onboarding package. Save the file as WindowsDefenderATPOnboardingPackage.zip.
From a command prompt, verify that you have the file, and extract the contents of the archive:
ls -l
total 8 -rw-r--r-- 1 test staff 5752 Feb 18 11:22 WindowsDefenderATPOnboardingPackage.zip
unzip WindowsDefenderATPOnboardingPackage.zip
Archive: WindowsDefenderATPOnboardingPackage.zip inflating: MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py
Client configuration
Copy MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py to the target device.
Note
Initially the client device is not associated with an organization and the orgId attribute is blank.
mdatp health --field org_id
Run MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py.
Note
To run this command, you must have
python
orpython3
installed on the device depending on the distro and version. If needed, see Step-by-step Instructions for Installing Python on Linux.Note
To onboard a device that was previously offboarded you must remove the mdatp_offboard.json file located at /etc/opt/microsoft/mdatp.
If you're running RHEL 8.x or Ubuntu 20.04 or higher, you need to use
python3
.sudo python3 MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py
For the rest of distros and versions, you need to use
python
.sudo python MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py
Verify that the device is now associated with your organization and reports a valid organization identifier:
mdatp health --field org_id
Check the health status of the product by running the following command. A return value of
true
denotes that the product is functioning as expected:mdatp health --field healthy
Important
When the product starts for the first time, it downloads the latest antimalware definitions. This may take up to a few minutes depending on the network connectivity. During this time the above command returns a value of
false
. You can check the status of the definition update using the following command:mdatp health --field definitions_status
Please note that you may also need to configure a proxy after completing the initial installation. See Configure Defender for Endpoint on Linux for static proxy discovery: Post-installation configuration.
Run an AV detection test to verify that the device is properly onboarded and reporting to the service. Perform the following steps on the newly onboarded device:
Ensure that real-time protection is enabled (denoted by a result of
true
from running the following command):mdatp health --field real_time_protection_enabled
If it isn't enabled, execute the following command:
mdatp config real-time-protection --value enabled
Open a Terminal window and execute the following command to run a detection test:
curl -o /tmp/eicar.com.txt https://secure.eicar.org/eicar.com.txt
You can run more detection tests on zip files using either of the following commands:
curl -o /tmp/eicar_com.zip https://secure.eicar.org/eicar_com.zip curl -o /tmp/eicarcom2.zip https://secure.eicar.org/eicarcom2.zip
The files should be quarantined by Defender for Endpoint on Linux. Use the following command to list all the detected threats:
mdatp threat list
Run an EDR detection test and simulate a detection to verify that the device is properly onboarded and reporting to the service. Perform the following steps on the newly onboarded device:
Verify that the onboarded Linux server appears in Microsoft Defender XDR. If this is the first onboarding of the machine, it can take up to 20 minutes until it appears.
Download and extract the script file to an onboarded Linux server and run the following command:
./mde_linux_edr_diy.sh
After a few minutes, a detection should be raised in Microsoft Defender XDR.
Look at the alert details, machine timeline, and perform your typical investigation steps.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint package external package dependencies
The following external package dependencies exist for the mdatp package:
- The mdatp RPM package requires
glibc >= 2.17
,audit
,policycoreutils
,semanage
selinux-policy-targeted
,mde-netfilter
- For DEBIAN the mdatp package requires
libc6 >= 2.23
,uuid-runtime
,auditd
,mde-netfilter
- For Mariner the mdatp package requires
attr
,audit
,diffutils
,libacl
,libattr
,libselinux-utils
,selinux-policy
,policycoreutils
,mde-netfilter
The mde-netfilter package also has the following package dependencies:
- For DEBIAN, the mde-netfilter package requires
libnetfilter-queue1
,libglib2.0-0
- For RPM, the mde-netfilter package requires
libmnl
,libnfnetlink
,libnetfilter_queue
,glib2
- For Mariner, the mde-netfilter package requires
libnfnetlink
,libnetfilter_queue
If the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint installation fails due to missing dependencies errors, you can manually download the prerequisite dependencies.
Log installation issues
See Log installation issues for more information on how to find the automatically generated log that is created by the installer when an error occurs.
How to migrate from Insiders-Fast to Production channel
Uninstall the
Insiders-Fast channel
version of Defender for Endpoint on Linux.sudo yum remove mdatp
Disable the Defender for Endpoint on Linux Insiders-Fast repo
sudo yum repolist
Note
The output should show
packages-microsoft-com-fast-prod
.sudo yum-config-manager --disable packages-microsoft-com-fast-prod
Redeploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux using the Production channel.
Uninstallation
See Uninstall for details on how to remove Defender for Endpoint on Linux from client devices.
See also
Tip
Do you want to learn more? Engage with the Microsoft Security community in our Tech Community: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Tech Community.