Activate your console on the Insight Platform

This article will guide you through the console activation process that enables InsightVM’s cloud capabilities.

Insight Platform overview

The Rapid7 Insight Platform provides data collection, visibility, analytics, and automation to establish a shared point of view between security, IT operations, and DevOps teams. Our cloud Platform delivers one-click access to Rapid7’s vulnerability management, application testing, orchestration and automation, incident detection and response, phishing analysis and simulation, and log management solutions.

You can learn more about the Insight Platform in the following pages:

InsightVM cloud capabilities

InsightVM license holders can take advantage of the following capabilities and tools that are only available through the Rapid7 Insight Platform:

Understand different user identifications

The credentials used to access to InsightVM’s cloud capabilities are different from those used for the on-premises Security Console. This section will help you distinguish between the two sets.

Security Console login

The Security Console login is the username and password you use to access your console using the IP address or FQDN of the host machine. These logins only exist within the console itself. The following login page accepts Security Console login credentials:

insight.rapid7.com account

Unlike Security Console logins, insight.rapid7.com accounts use email addresses as the user identifier. The following sign-in page at insight.rapid7.com accepts Insight account credentials:

At the conclusion of this activation process, your Insight account will be used to authenticate your access to InsightVM’s cloud capabilities.

Requirements

You must meet the following general and networking requirements before you start the activation process:

  • Your Security Console must be on version 6.5.29 or later.
  • Your Security Console must not be already activated on the Insight Platform.
  • You must configure network traffic allowances for the hostname of your corresponding data region.

Activation process

The following numbered sections guide you through the activation process.

IMPORTANT

Before starting this procedure, ensure the Security Console’s host machine has the correct time. If the time setting on the host machine is incorrect, it may interfere with your ability to access InsightVM’s cloud capabilities.

To ensure that the system time is correct, Rapid7 recommends syncing your Security Console’s host machine with an NTP server.

Choose one of the following methods to initiate the console activation wizard.

1a. Launch the wizard automatically

In your Security Console, click any of the following tabs on your left navigation menu to automatically start the wizard:

  • Dashboard
  • Projects
  • Goals and SLAs
  • Containers
  • Automation
  • Management

When the activation window appears, click Activate Now.

I clicked one of those tabs and the wizard didn’t start. What does that mean?

Your console is already activated on the Insight Platform. No further action is required.

1b. Launch the wizard manually

Alternatively, start the wizard manually by navigating to the Insight Platform tab of the “Security Console Configuration” screen:

  1. From your left navigation menu, click the Administration tab.
  2. In the Console > Platform section, click Manage data synchronization with the Platform.
  3. On the Security Console Configuration screen, click the Insight Platform tab.
  4. Click Activate Console.
  5. When the activation window appears, click Activate Now.

My Insight Platform tab only shows a Deactivate Console link. What does this mean?

Your console is already activated on the Insight Platform. No further action is required.

My Insight Platform tab already shows a pairing key field. What does this mean?

Someone else in your organization has already started the activation wizard. If you need to restart the wizard, click the Cancel console activation link located above the pairing key field and start the process again.

2. Determine if you already have an Insight account

The wizard prompts you to select whether or not you already have an insight.rapid7.com account.

If you already have an Insight account, select the corresponding option and click Next. Skip ahead to the “Sign in” section of this article.

If you do not have an Insight account, select the corresponding option and fill out the necessary form fields. After you submit the form, look out for an email to set your password and security questions. After you’ve completed your account setup, proceed to the “Sign in” section.

Not sure which option applies to you?

Contact our Support team for assistance.

What if I chose the wrong option?

If you submit the wrong option during this step of the wizard, you can cancel the activation process by clicking the Cancel console activation link on the Insight Platform tab of the “Security Console Configuration” screen.

Return to step 1 to restart the wizard.

3. Sign in

Go to insight.rapid7.com and sign in with your Insight account credentials. This sign-in page is meant exclusively for email-based Insight accounts.

REMINDER

Your existing Security Console login does not apply to this sign-in page.

4. Open your cloud instance of InsightVM

The goal of this step is to navigate to your cloud instance of InsightVM in order to retrieve your console pairing key. A successful sign-in takes you to one of three possible views depending on your current Insight Platform structure.

InsightVM “Welcome” screen

If you are taken directly to InsightVM after signing in and are presented with a “Welcome” screen, then you’re already in the right place. Proceed to the pairing key section.

“Platform Home” page

If you are taken to the “Platform Home” page, browse to the InsightVM tile and click Pair console to open the “Welcome” screen described previously. Proceed to the pairing key section.

Any other Insight product

If you already subscribe to other Insight products like InsightIDR or InsightOps, you may be taken directly to one of those screens instead. To navigate back to your cloud instance of InsightVM, browse to the upper left corner of your screen and expand the dropdown next to the product name. Click My Account. From the “Platform Home” page, browse to the InsightVM tile and click Pair console to open the “Welcome” screen. Proceed to the pairing key section.

5. Copy and enter your license key

You may receive a console license key which may be in a short or long format. Follow the steps that correspond to your console license key format.

30 days

If you do not enter the key you were issued within 30 days, then the console will activate but it will not be automatically paired to the Cloud. You will have to revert the manual process as per short license key format of logging into the Insight Platform account going to IVM copying the pairing key and adding it into the console.

License key format: `XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX-XX`

Pairing key process

The regular pairing key process is still applicable even if you experience issues with the traditional short format console license key because you will have to pair the console with the cloud IVM instance using the pairing key.

  1. Login to insight.rapid7.com and IVM.
  2. On the InsightVM Welcome screen, copy the pairing key and go to the on-premise Security Console.
  3. Log into the Security Console using your original console username and password.
  4. When prompted, click Enter pairing key. This takes you to the Insight Platform tab of the Security Console Configuration.
  5. Enter your pairing key in the field and click Activate Console.

You’re on the Platform!

You should now have successfully paired your on-premises Security Console with your cloud instance of InsightVM.

License key format: `XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX:XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX-XXX`

Not a new paring key

This is not a new pairing key format. It is a new form of license key that will be entered into the Security Console. This license key will activate the Security Console and pair to Cloud.

This composite key contains your security console license activation key and pairing key information.

  1. Log into the Security Console using your original console username and password.
  2. When prompted, click Enter pairing key.
  3. On the Configuration page, enter your key and click Activate Console.

You’re on the Platform!

You should now have successfully activated your Security Console and paired to the InsightCm cloud instance.

License activation

  • If your product key looks like this, XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX, enter the license key to activate your Security Console. If you wish to pair your Security Console to an InsightVM cloud instance refer to our documentation for further details.

  • If your product key looks like this, XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX:XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX-XXX, enter your license key to activate your Security Console and autopair to InsightVM cloud. For more information, refer to our documentation for further details.

Troubleshooting

If you are having connection or sync issues, try troubleshooting with the following steps:

Verify endpoint network traffic

You must allow network traffic to the corresponding hostname of your selected cloud region in order to communicate with the Insight Platform. Check the Configure communications with the Insight Platform page for more information on these traffic requirements.

Console deactivation

WARNING - Data loss

Deactivating your console from the Insight Platform will result in the permanent loss of all your saved dashboards, remediation projects, goals, filters, and any other cloud feature configurations you have saved during your opt-in period.

While your console data will be unaffected, you will need to reactivate your console in order to sync your data to the Insight Platform again.

If you need to deactivate your Security Console from the Insight Platform, return to the Insight Platform tab of the “Security Console Configuration” screen and click Deactivate Console.