Step-by-step exercises for OSSEC Simulator - read them here, then practice live in the tool above.
Getting Started with the OSSEC Simulator
Last updated: August 8, 2026
What you're practicing: correlating raw log lines with host-IDS alert rules, the way a SOC analyst does.
1. Click "Open" to launch the simulator.
2. Paste in one of the sample log lines (or your own).
3. See which rule fires, and read why.
4. Try a log line that should NOT trigger anything, and confirm it stays quiet -- false positives matter as much as true ones.
5. Work through a few more log samples to get a feel for which patterns matter to the IDS.
6. Save your session as a practice report.
Tip: good SOC analysts don't just see "an alert fired" -- they can explain exactly which part of the log line caused it.