Install the Fastly VCL Enforcer v11

If your organization uses Fastly, you can use HUMAN's Fastly VCL  Enforcer to protect against malicious behavior. The Enforcer is deployed to your content delivery network (CDN) and dictates how traffic should be handled per your organization's standards.

You can learn how to install the Fastly VCL Enforcer with this article.

Prerequisites

• A Fastly account. You can navigate to Fastly’s website to create one.
• A Fastly API token with global scope (not global:read). You can find or generate one from the Fastly dashboard > Account > Personal Profile > API tokens.
• A Fastly service created on the CDN and set up with your organization’s necessary service configurations, such as Domains and Origins. You'll configure the Fastly Enforcer on this service. You can use an existing one or create a new service from Fastly’s dashboard by selecting Create service > CDN.
• Your unique HUMAN information:
  • Your Application ID. You can find this under Platform Settings > Applications > Select an application > Application Settings > Application ID in the HUMAN console. If you have multiple environments, you will also have multiple Application IDs, so be sure to choose the correct ID for the environment you want to install on.
  • Your Server Token. You can find this under Platform Settings > Applications > Select an application > Application Settings > Server Token.
  • Your Risk Cookie Key. You can find this under Bot Defender > Policies > Policy Settings > Policy Information.

Contact Fastly and HUMAN

To install the Fastly Enforcer, you first need to do the following:

1. Contact Fastly to enable HUMAN support
2. Contact HUMAN to receive necessary setup files

Contact Fastly

Fastly needs to activate certain functionality in your service so it works with the HUMAN Enforcer. Fastly is familiar with HUMAN and its Enforcer, so you can simply send them an email to enable it.

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Note

This functionality must be manually activated by Fastly for each service you want to add the HUMAN Enforcer to, so you may need to send multiple service IDs.

1. From the Fastly dashboard, select the service you want to add the Enforcer to.

2. Copy the service’s ID.

3. Send an email to [email protected] with the following:

   • Subject: Please enable HUMAN support for our Fastly service
   • Body: Please enable HUMAN support for our service ID, <YOUR_ID_HERE>, and confirm when it is completed.

Fastly will add the following pragmas to your service:

• fix_unsent_body_drain: Used to resolve an issue with HTTP response bodies not being fully sent to the client.
• no_body_if_bereq_is_get_or_head: Used to prevent a response body from being sent to the client if the request method is GET or HEAD.

You can confirm that these pragmas were added by navigating to your service’s Service configuration > Show VCL.

Contact HUMAN

After Fastly enables HUMAN support in your service, you need to contact the HUMAN team to receive the necessary VCL files and account information to complete your setup. To do so:

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Note

If you’ve already received all this information, then you can skip this section.

1. Email us at [email protected]. Be sure to note that you are starting a Fastly VCL Enforcer configuration.

2. Ensure you receive all of the following:

   • The following VCL files, which you’ll use in Upload and edit VCL files:
     • PX.vcl
     • PX_CONFIGS.vcl
     • PX_CUSTOM.vcl
   • The following configuration values, which you’ll use while updating the configs file settings:
     • px_remote_config_id
     • px_remote_config_auth_token
   • The logger authentication token, which you’ll use in Logging endpoint setup

Once you receive these, you're ready to Install the Enforcer

Install the Enforcer

Once you’ve enabled HUMAN support via Fastly and acquired all the necessary information from HUMAN, you’re ready to start installing the Enforcer.

1. Navigate to the Fastly dashboard and select the service you want to add the Enforcer to.

2. Select Edit configuration > Clone. Be sure to note the version number you are editing. This will be used as the version_id in later on in Remote configuration setup.

3. Complete each of the following sections in order:

   1. Remote configuration setup
   2. Upload and edit VCL files
   3. MAIN file settings
   4. Logging endpoint setup
   5. Optional Fastly shielding functionality
   6. Optional WAF prefetch condition

Remote configuration setup

Remote configuration is a feature that lets you access and modify your Enforcer’s configuration remotely without redeploying your Fastly service. This also allows the HUMAN team to troubleshoot or customize your Enforcer directly. Remote configuration is required as part of your Enforcer setup.

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Note

HUMAN will never change your Enforcer configuration without your permission. You can learn more about remote configurations with our help article.

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Data > Dictionaries and select Create to make a new dictionary.
2. Create a Fastly dictionary named px_enforcer_config_rdata. You do not need to add any key values; HUMAN will populate the dictionary for you.

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Note

The following steps must be completed via Fastly’s API. For your convenience, you may also download our provided Postman Collection.

3. Use Fastly’s Get an edge dictionary endpoint to retrieve the dictionary id for the px_enforcer_config_rdata, then save it for later on in the installation process. To make this call, you will need:

   • The service_id, which you can find at the top of your Fastly service.
   • The version_id, which is the version of the service you are currently editing.
   • Your Fastly API token.

curl -i "https://api.fastly.com/service/<service_id>/version/<version_id>/dictionary/px_enforcer_config_rdata" \
-H 'Fastly-Key: <fastly_api_token>' \
-H 'Accept: application/json'

4. Use Fastly’s Create an edge dictionary endpoint to create a dictionary named px_private. Then, save its id for the next step. To make this call, you will need:

   • The service_id, which you can find at the top of your Fastly service.
   • The version_id, which is the version of the service you are currently editing.
   • Your Fastly API token.

curl -i -X POST https://api.fastly.com/service/<service_id>/version/<version_id>/dictionary \
-H 'Fastly-Key: <fastly_api_token>' \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-d 'name=px_private&write_only=true'

5. Use Fastly’s Create an entry in an edge dictionary endpoint to create an item key named px_fastly_api_token and with its item value as your Fastly API token.

   • The service_id, which you can find at the top of your Fastly service.
   • The dictionary_id, which is the id of the px_private dictionary you created in Step 4.
   • Your Fastly API token, which you’ll use to make the call and as the dictionary item value.

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Note

Because px_private is a private Fastly dictionary, the item key and value pair may not appear in your Fastly service GUI, even after you’ve successfully created it via API call.

curl -i -X POST "https://api.fastly.com/service/<service_id>/dictionary/<dictionary_id>/item" \
-H 'Fastly-Key: <fastly_api_token>' \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-d 'item_key=px_fastly_api_token&item_value=<fastly_api_token>'

Next, you're ready to move on to Upload and edit VCL files.

Upload and edit VCL files

The HUMAN Fastly VCL Enforcer consists of three custom VCL files that need to be uploaded to your service. These define the logic, configurations, and desired customizations for the VCL Enforcer. You can find a summary of all the files in the following table.

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Note

If you don't have these files, see Contact HUMAN.

Each file must be uploaded to your Fastly service. Follow the respective section to learn how to upload each file.

• PX file settings
• Configs file settings
• Custom file settings

PX file settings

To create the PX file in your Fastly service:

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Note

Do not make changes to the PX.vcl file.

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Custom VCL and select Upload a new VCL file.
2. Enter PX for the Name of the file.
3. In Config file, select Upload file and select the provided PX.vcl file from HUMAN.
4. Select Create.

Your PX file should be created. Next, be sure to create a configs file.

Configs file settings

To create the PX_CONFIGS file in your Fastly service:

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Custom VCL and select Upload a new VCL file.
2. Enter PX_CONFIGS for the Name of the file.
3. In Config file, select Upload file and select the provided PX_CONFIGS.vcl file from HUMAN.
4. Select Create.
5. If you are redirected to your VCL file list, select the edit button next to your PX_CONFIGS file.
6. In the Edit VCL field, set the following configurations shown below.

table px_configs {
    "px_app_id": "<APP_ID>", # see prerequisites
    "px_cookie_secret": "<COOKIE_SECRET>", # see prerequisites
    "px_auth_token": "<AUTH_TOKEN>", # see prerequisites
    "px_remote_config_id": "<REMOTE_CONFIG_ID>", # see contact human
    "px_remote_config_auth_token": "<REMOTE_CONFIG_AUTH_TOKEN>", # see contact human
    "px_enforcer_config_rdata_id": "<REMOTE_CONFIG_DICTIONARY_ID>" # see remote configuration setup
}

5. Additionally, update the .host value with your Application ID, as shown below.

backend PX_API {
    # ...
    .host = "sapi-<PX_APP_ID>.perimeterx.net"; # see prerequisites
    # ...
}

6. Select Update.

Your PX_CONFIGS file should be created. Next, see Custom file settings.

Custom file settings

To create the PX_CUSTOM file in your Fastly service:

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Note

You do not need to add any custom configurations for the Enforcer to function, but we recommend you upload the px_custom.vcl file regardless so you can return to make changes later.

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Custom VCL and select Upload a new VCL file.
2. Enter PX_CUSTOM for the Name of the file.
3. In Config file, select Upload file and select the provided PX_CUSTOM.vcl file from HUMAN.
4. Select Create.
5. If you are redirected to your VCL file list, select the edit button next to your PX_CUSTOM file.
6. In the Edit VCL field, customize your Enforcer configuration as desired. You can reference all available Fastly configurations in our help article.
7. Select Update.

Your PX_CUSTOM files should be created.

Now that you have uploaded all the files provided by HUMAN, you must now update the MAIN file settings.

MAIN file settings

There is no single entry point for VCL code. Instead, Fastly exposes a number of different subroutines that function as "hooks" during the various stages of the VCL request lifecycle. These specific subroutines such as vcl_recv or vcl_deliver must be defined in a special custom VCL file known as the MAIN file. Typically, Fastly automatically creates a MAIN file when you create a new service. To integrate the HUMAN Enforcer into the MAIN file, we must invoke the appropriate HUMAN subroutine in every VCL hook subroutine.

You will need to edit the existing MAIN file or create a new one with all the HUMAN Enforcer subroutines to your existing VCL hooks, which are listed below. While adding these subroutines, keep in mind that:

• The HUMAN subroutines should be called as early as possible in the defined hook. This is because the subroutines use request headers and return statements to switch between different Fastly states and apply HUMAN enforcement logic only when necessary. Additionally, calling the enforcement flow in the very beginning helps avoid invoking business logic unnecessarily.
• The HUMAN subroutines should always be called before the Fastly macro.

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Note

The px_recv_clustering_fixup subroutine is the only exception for the above. px_recv_clustering_fixup should be called immediately after the #FASTLY recv macro rather than before.

To update your MAIN file:

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Custom VCL.

2. Edit your MAIN file or create a new one.

   1. If you do have an existing MAIN file, select edit button next to it.
   2. If you don’t have an existing MAIN file, copy the available template from Fastly, select Upload a new VCL file, enter MAIN for its name, and paste the template you copied into Edit VCL.

3. In the Edit VCL field, update each VCL subroutine with the corresponding HUMAN subroutine from below.

RECV

sub vcl_recv {
    call px_recv;
    # ...
#FASTLY recv
    call px_recv_clustering_fixup;
    # ...
}

MISS

sub vcl_miss {
    call px_miss;
    # ...
#FASTLY miss
    # ...
}

PASS

sub vcl_pass {
    call px_pass;
    # ...
#FASTLY pass
    # ...
}

FETCH

sub vcl_fetch {
    call px_fetch;
    # ...
#FASTLY fetch
    # ...
}

ERROR

sub vcl_error {
    call px_error;
    # ...
#FASTLY error
    # ...
}

DELIVER

sub vcl_deliver {
    call px_deliver;
    # ...
#FASTLY deliver
    # ...
}

4. Update your existing MAIN file or create the one you just made.

   1. If you’re updating your existing MAIN file, select Update.
   2. If you’re creating a new MAIN file from Fastly’s template, select Create. Then, after you’re redirected to your VCL files list, select Set as main next to your new MAIN file.

Next, you’re ready to move on to Logging endpoint setup.

Logging endpoint setup

HUMAN uses your Fastly service’s logging to keep track of the Enforcer’s performance and activity. As part of the installation process, you will create three new HTTPS endpoints:

• PX-Async-Activities: Sends asynchronous activities, such as page_requested or block, to HUMAN's servers.
• PX-Telemetry: Enables the telemetry feature, which can send on-demand data about the Enforcer configuration to HUMAN.
• HS-Log: Sends Enforcer logs to HUMAN.

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Note

HS-Log uses a logger authentication token that must be provided by HUMAN. If you do not have it, see Contact HUMAN.

To create the required logging endpoints:

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Logging.

2. On the HTTPS logging provider, select Create endpoint.

3. Create each endpoint with its corresponding fields as shown. If a Fastly field is not listed below, then you can use the default value or leave it blank.

   1. PX-Async-Activities

      • Name: PX-Async-Activities
      • Placement: None
      • URL: https://collector-<px_app_id>.perimeterx.net/api/v1/collector/s2s
      • Maximum bytes: 500000
      • Advanced Options
        • Content type: application/json
        • JSON log entry format: Array of JSON

   2. PX-Telemetry

      • Name: PX-Telemetry
      • Placement: None
      • URL: https://collector-<px_app_id>.perimeterx.net/api/v2/risk/telemetry
      • Maximum Logs: 1
      • Advanced Options
        • Content type: application/json

   3. HS-Log

      • Name: HS-Log
      • Placement: none
      • URL: https://sapi-<APP_ID>.perimeterx.net/enforcer-logs/
      • Advanced Options
        • Content type: application/json
        • Custom Header Name: Authorization
        • Custom Header Value: Bearer <LOGGER_AUTH_TOKEN>
        • JSON log entry format: Array of JSON
        • Select a log line format: Blank

Next, you can configure some optional settings:

• Optional logging endpoints
• Optional Fastly shielding functionality
• Optional WAF prefetch condition

Otherwise, you can move on to Wrap up.

Optional logging endpoints

You can also add logging endpoints that receive messages from the Enforcer about the Fastly request flow. The Enforcer can send two types of logs depending on the configured px_logger_severity: debug and error.

To receive Enforcer logs:

1. Navigate to Service configuration > Custom VCL.
2. Select Edit next to your PX_CONFIG file.
3. Update px_logger_severity to the desired logging level.
4. Navigate to Service configuration > Logging.
5. On the HTTPS logging provider, select create endpoint.
6. Create a new endpoint named either PX-Debug or PX-Error depending on your desired endpoint.
7. Configure where you want the logs to go (e.g. URL). Other settings can stay as the default values.

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Note

If you need to turn on Enforcer logs temporarily and you don't have an existing logging endpoint where you can easily view the logs, Fastly's online log viewer may provide a quick solution.

Next, depending on your Fastly service, you may need to configure the following:

• Optional Fastly shielding functionality
• Optional WAF prefetch condition

Otherwise, you can move on to Wrap up.

Optional Fastly shielding functionality

The px_shield VCL snippet is required for Fastly Shielding functionality to stay enabled after a restart triggered by the Enforcer. You can learn more about Fastly’s shielding functionality with their help article.

To create px_shield:

1. Navigate to Service configuration > VCL snippets.

2. Select Create a new VCL snippet.

3. Create a snippet with the following settings:

   • Name: px_shield
   • Type: within subroutine - recv (vcl_recv)
   • VCL: set var.fastly_req_do_shield = (req.restarts == 0 || (req.restarts == 1 && req.http.px-tmp:internal-flow == "1"));
   • Advanced option
     • Priority: 1

Next, you may need to configure an Optional WAF prefetch condition. If you don’t, you can move on to Wrap up.

Optional WAF prefetch condition

If you are using Fastly WAF, we recommend adding condition to your Fastly service to address a potential issue that may arise from running WAF rules multiple times. This condition will effectively prevent the duplication of WAF activations and ensure a smoother operation of the integration for customers who have enabled Fastly WAF but have not implemented the WAF prefetch condition.

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Note

This step is not applicable if using Fastly Next-Gen (Signal Sciences) WAF. If you are using Fastly Next-Gen (Signal Sciences) WAF, reach out to your HUMAN Solution Architect.

To add this condition to your service, you must use the Fastly API. The condition should be made with the following settings:

• Name: PX-Waf-Prefetch-Condition
• Type: prefetch
• Apply If: req.backend.is_origin && !req.http.bypasswaf
• Priority: 10

curl -i -X POST "https://api.fastly.com/service/<service_id>/version/<version_id>/condition" \
-H "Fastly-Key: <fastly_api_token>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-d "name=PX-Waf-Prefetch-Condition&statement=req.backend.is_origin+%26%26+%21req.http.bypasswaf&type=PREFETCH&priority=10"

Next, you’re ready for Wrap up.

Wrap up

If you’ve completed your Enforcer installation, you must have the following in your Fastly service:

• In Service configuration > Data > Dictionaries, a dictionary named px_enforcer_config_rdata
• A private dictionary, px_private, with a key named px_fastly_api_token
• In Service configuration > Custom VCL, four VCL files:
  • MAIN, which must have the necessary HUMAN subroutines
  • PX, which must not have any changes to it
  • PX_CONFIGS, which must be updated with your unique values
  • PX_CUSTOM, which may have custom configurations as desired for your organization
• In Service configuration > Logging, three logging endpoints:
  • PX-Async-Activities
  • PX-Telemetry
  • HS-Log

You may also have:

• In Service configuration > Logging, two optional logging endpoints:
  • PX-Debug
  • PX-Error
• In Service configuration > Snippets, a snippet named px_shield.
• In Service configurations > Condition, a condition named PX-Waf-Prefetch-Condition

If you have all of these items, then you’re ready to deploy your Fastly VCL Enforcer. From your Fastly service, select Activate. This will launch the Enforcer.

Once you finish installing, be sure to contact HUMAN to complete your tuning process.