# How-to Guides

Step-by-step instructions for accomplishing specific tasks with LinuxGuard. These guides assume you have basic familiarity with Linux system administration and are looking to complete a particular operation.

How-to guides are goal-oriented and practical. They guide you through the steps required to solve a real-world problem, without extensive explanation of underlying concepts. Each guide focuses on achieving a specific outcome efficiently.

## Getting Started with LinuxGuard

Before installing LinuxGuard, you'll need to complete these three essential steps:

1. [**Prerequisites**](/how-to-guides/how-to/prerequisites.md) — Verify your system meets the requirements and gather the necessary credentials
2. [**Installation**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation.md) — Install the LinuxGuard agent using your preferred method
3. [**Configuration**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configuration.md) — Configure the agent and enroll it with your tenant

## In This Section

### Installation

* [**Installation Overview**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation.md) — Choose your installation method: unified installer script or per-distribution guides
* [**Debian / Ubuntu**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation/debian-ubuntu.md) — Install on Debian-based systems using APT package manager
* [**RedHat / CentOS**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation/redhat-centos.md) — Install on RedHat-based systems using DNF/YUM package manager
* [**SUSE / openSUSE**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation/suse.md) — Install on SUSE-based systems using zypper package manager
* [**Alpine Linux**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation/alpine.md) — Install on Alpine Linux using APK package manager
* [**Container Installation**](/how-to-guides/how-to/installation/container-installation.md) — Run LinuxGuard agent in containerized environments

### Setup & Management

* [**Prerequisites**](/how-to-guides/how-to/prerequisites.md) — System requirements, network access, and credential preparation
* [**Configuration**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configuration.md) — Agent configuration, enrollment flags, and service management
* [**Uninstallation**](/how-to-guides/how-to/uninstallation.md) — Remove the LinuxGuard agent from your systems

### Integrations

* [**Configure Notification Rules**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configure-notification-rules.md) — Create rules that route LinuxGuard signals to your alerting and SIEM destinations
* [**Webhook Integration**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configure-notification-rules/webhook-integration.md) — Configure webhook endpoints with HMAC signature verification and full payload reference
* [**Syslog Forwarding**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configure-notification-rules/syslog-forwarding.md) — Forward signals to any SIEM using RFC 3164 or RFC 5424 with structured data
* [**Splunk HEC Integration**](/how-to-guides/how-to/configure-notification-rules/splunk-hec-integration.md) — Configure Splunk HTTP Event Collector with the correct authorization and event schema

### Automated Deployment

* [**Automated Deployment Overview**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment.md) — Compare all six deployment automation methods and choose the right one for your environment
* [**Deploy with Ansible**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-ansible.md) — Install and enroll LinuxGuard using an Ansible role with Ansible Vault secrets management
* [**Deploy with AWS EC2 User-Data**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-aws-userdata.md) — Bootstrap LinuxGuard on EC2 instances using IAM roles and Secrets Manager
* [**Deploy with GCP Startup Script**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-gcp-startup.md) — Deploy LinuxGuard on Compute Engine using startup scripts with Secret Manager
* [**Deploy with Azure**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-azure.md) — Deploy LinuxGuard on Azure VMs using cloud-init and Managed Identity with Key Vault
* [**Deploy with Chef**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-chef.md) — Install and enroll LinuxGuard using a Chef cookbook with chef-vault secrets management
* [**Deploy with Puppet**](/how-to-guides/how-to/automated-deployment/deploy-with-puppet.md) — Install and enroll LinuxGuard using a Puppet module with Hiera eyaml secrets management

## Related Sections

Looking for something else?

* [**Tutorials**](/tutorials/tutorials.md) — Learn LinuxGuard through hands-on guided experiences
* [**Reference**](/reference/reference.md) — Look up CLI commands, supported distributions, and terminology
* [**Explanation**](/explanation/explanation.md) — Understand the security architecture and design decisions behind LinuxGuard

***

**Related**: [Tutorials](/tutorials/tutorials.md) | [Reference](/reference/reference.md) | [Explanation](/explanation/explanation.md)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.linuxguard.io/how-to-guides/how-to.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.