Deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux manually

Applies to:

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Server
• Microsoft Defender for Servers

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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
  • RHEL and variants (CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, Amazon Linux 2, Rocky, and Alma)
  • SLES and variants
  • Ubuntu and Debian systems
  • Mariner
• Application installation
  • RHEL and variants (CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, Amazon Linux 2, Rocky, and Alma)
  • SLES and variants
  • Ubuntu and Debian systems
  • Mariner
• Download the onboarding package
• Client configuration

Prerequisites and system requirements

Before you begin, 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, reconfigure your device to use the new channel, and follow the steps in this document to install the package from the new location.

RHEL and variants (CentOS, Fedora, Oracle Linux, Amazon Linux 2, Rocky, and Alma)

1. Install yum-utils if it isn't installed yet:

   sudo yum install yum-utils
   

2. Locate the correct package for your distribution and version. Use the following table to help guide you in locating the package:

   Distro & version	Package
   Alma 8.4 and higher	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/alma/8/prod.repo
   Alma 9.2 and higher	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/alma/9/prod.repo
   RHEL/Centos/Oracle 9.0-9.8	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/9/prod.repo
   RHEL/Centos/Oracle 8.0-8.10	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/8/prod.repo
   RHEL/Centos/Oracle 7.2-7.9 & Amazon Linux 2	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7.2/prod.repo
   Amazon Linux 2023	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/amazonlinux/2023/prod.repo
   Fedora 33	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/fedora/33/prod.repo
   Fedora 34	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/fedora/34/prod.repo
   Rocky 8.7 and higher	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rocky/8/prod.repo
   Rocky 9.2 and higher	https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rocky/9/prod.repo

   Note

   For your distribution and version, identify the closest entry for it (by major, then minor) under https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/.

3. 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
   

4. Install the Microsoft GPG public key:

   sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
   

SLES and variants

Note

For your distribution and version, identify the closest entry for it (by major, then minor) under https://packages.microsoft.com/config/sles/.

1. 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
   

2. Install the Microsoft GPG public key:

   sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
   

Ubuntu and Debian systems

1. Install curl if it isn't installed yet:

   sudo apt-get install curl
   

2. Install libplist-utils if it isn't installed yet:

   sudo apt-get install libplist-utils
   

   Note

   For your distribution and version, identify the closest entry for it (by major, then minor) under https://packages.microsoft.com/config/[distro]/.

3. 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
   

4. 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
   

5. Install the gpg package if not already installed:

   sudo apt-get install gpg
   

   If gpg isn't available, then install gnupg.

   sudo apt-get install gnupg
   

6. 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
     

7. Install the HTTPS driver if not already installed:

   sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
   

8. Update the repository metadata:

   sudo apt-get update
   

Mariner

1. Install dnf-plugins-core if it isn't installed yet:

   sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core
   

2. Configure and enable the required repositories.

   Note

   On Mariner, Insider Fast Channel isn't available.

   If you want to deploy Defender for Endpoint on Linux from the prod channel. Use the following commands

   sudo 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

Use the commands in the following sections to install Defender for Endpoint on your Linux distribution.

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're 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're 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're 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're 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 the 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 shows a warning message indicating that the product is unlicensed. Also the mdatp health command returns a value of false.

1. In the Microsoft Defender portal, go to Settings > Endpoints > Device management > Onboarding.

2. 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.

3. Select Download onboarding package. Save the file as WindowsDefenderATPOnboardingPackage.zip.

   

4. 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

1. Copy MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py to the target device.

   Note

   Initially the client device isn't associated with an organization and the orgId attribute is blank.

   mdatp health --field org_id
   

2. Run MicrosoftDefenderATPOnboardingLinuxServer.py.

   Note

   To run this command, you must have python or python3 installed on the device depending on the distro and version. If needed, see Step-by-step Instructions for Installing Python on Linux.

   To onboard a device that was previously offboard, 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
   

3. Verify that the device is now associated with your organization and reports a valid organization identifier:

   mdatp health --field org_id
   

4. 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 anti-malware definitions. This process might take up to a few minutes depending on the network connectivity. During this time, the command mentioned earlier returns a value of false. You can check the status of the definition update using the following command:

   mdatp health --field definitions_status
   

   You might 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.

5. Run an antivirus detection test to verify that the device is properly onboarded and reporting to the service. Perform the following steps on the newly onboarded device:

   1. 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
      

   2. 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
      

   3. 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.

   4. Use the following command to list all the detected threats:

      mdatp threat list
      

6. 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:

   1. 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.

   2. Download and extract the script file to an onboarded Linux server, and then run the following command: ./mde_linux_edr_diy.sh

      After a few minutes, a detection should be raised in Microsoft Defender XDR.

   3. 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, policycoreutils, selinux-policy-targeted, mde-netfilter
• For DEBIAN the mdatp package requires libc6 >= 2.23, uuid-runtime, mde-netfilter
• For Mariner the mdatp package requires attr, diffutils, libacl, libattr, libselinux-utils, selinux-policy, policycoreutils, mde-netfilter

Note

Beginning with version 101.24082.0004, Defender for Endpoint on Linux no longer supports the Auditd event provider. We're transitioning completely to the more efficient eBPF technology. If eBPF isn't supported on your machines, or if there are specific requirements to remain on Auditd, and your machines are using Defender for Endpoint on Linux version 101.24072.0001 or lower, the following other dependencies on the auditd package exist for mdatp:

• The mdatp RPM package requires audit, semanage.
• For DEBIAN, the mdatp package requires auditd.
• For Mariner, the mdatp package requires audit.

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.

Troubleshoot installation issues

• For details on how to find the log that's generated when an installation error occurs, see Log installation issues.

• For information about common installation issues, see Installation issues.

• If the health of the device is false, see Investigate agent health issues.

• For product performance issues, see Troubleshoot performance issues for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux.

• For proxy and connectivity issues, see Troubleshoot cloud connectivity issues for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux.

• To get support from Microsoft, open a support ticket, and provide the log files created by using the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint client analyzer tool.

How to switch between channels

For example, to change channel from Insiders-Fast to Production, do the following:

1. Uninstall the Insiders-Fast channel version of Defender for Endpoint on Linux.

   sudo yum remove mdatp
   

2. Disable the Defender for Endpoint on Linux Insiders-Fast channel

   sudo yum-config-manager --disable packages-microsoft-com-fast-prod
   

3. Reinstall Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux using the Production channel, and onboard the device in the Microsoft Defender portal.

How to configure policies for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux

You can configure antivirus and EDR settings on your endpoints. For more information, see the following articles:

• Set preferences for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux describes the available settings
• Security settings management describes how to configure settings in the Microsoft Defender portal.

Uninstall Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux

For manual uninstallation, execute the following command for your Linux distribution.

• sudo yum remove mdatp for RHEL and variants(CentOS and Oracle Linux).
• sudo zypper remove mdatp for SLES and variants.
• sudo apt-get purge mdatp for Ubuntu and Debian systems.
• sudo dnf remove mdatp for Mariner

Tip

Do you want to learn more? Engage with the Microsoft Security community in our Tech Community: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Tech Community.