Category Archives: FDM

Posts and Tutorials concerning the Firepower Defence Manager web management console.

Replacing Cisco Firewalls with Fortinet Firewalls

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4

KB ID 0001741

Replacing Cisco

If you’ve been following articles on the site you will know that the focus of the firewall related output is shifting from Cisco ASA / Cisco FirePOWER to Fortinet (FortiGate) firewalls.

This article is so you can make an informed choice about what you want to replace your Cisco firewall with.

Note: I’m starting with SOHO and Small Business sized firewalls, but I will extend this to ‘Enterprise sized’ firewalls as I have the time.

Replacing Cisco SOHO Small Business Firewalls with FortiGate

If ever there was something that was incorrectly sold it was likely a SOHO Cisco firewall. The problem was, back in the day of the ASA5505 the only alternative was a ASA5510 and that was four times the price, plus the 5505 had a built in switch which saved you having to buy one of those as well. Even now (in 2021) these things are ubiquitous, I see them balanced in wall mounted comms cabinets, and sat in data centres and popped under peoples desks.

To make matters worse it’s replacement the ASA5506-X was a decent firewall but it wasn’t also a switch! (Cisco half heartedly tried to fix this and made it worse). To add insult to injury if you paid for the NGFW Firepower option Cisco just disabled it without warning in version 9.10.(1). 

Then we got the FPR1010 this comes in two flavours, the ASA Code version which I deploy, and the FDM version which is bobbins! (I get 10 questions a day on the site to help people set them up). This (at time of writing) is a relatively new firewall but I’ll include it for completeness, (and article longevity).

High Availability: Seriously? I see this more often than I should! Don’t be deploying home sized firewalls and wanting Enterprise solutions! Stop it now. On a serous note, all the little ASA/FPR support it, but they all need additional licensing to do so. 

Stats: Remember when comparing the stats, we are comparing (mostly) old hardware against brand new (purpose built) hardware so the FortiGates will always look better on paper.

Cisco ASA5505, 5506-X and FPR1010 Specifications

Fortigate 40F, 60F, and 80F Specifications

Replacing Cisco SOHO Firewalls Conclusion

  • Unless you need 10Gb connectivity (on your WAN) then go for the 60F, if you need all those 1Gb ports and you want it to function as a switch.
  • If you don’t need so many LAN ports then go for the 40F (Note: even with 1x WAN port you can deploy SDWAN by using another interface!)

Replacing Cisco Medium Business / Small enterprise Firewalls with FortiGate

This is a difficult one to call, you can’t really say FortiGate model X is a direct comparison for Cisco model Y. To size a FortiGate firewall you need to 

First: Decide what throughput you need (remember to factor in NGFW/IDS/ATP and possibly HTTPS Throughput this will be LOWER than the max throughput!)

Second: Decide what connectivity you want.

FortiGate throughput for these classes of firewalls falls into roughly three different categories;

  1. 10Gbps Throughput (1Gbps HTTPS Inspection throughput) to 27Gbps Throughput (4Gbps HTTPS throughput) = 100 and 200 Series.
  2. 32Gbps Throughput (3.9Gbps HTTPS Inspection throughput) to 36Gbps Throughput (5.7Gbps HTTPS throughput) = 300, 400 and 500 Series.
  3. 36Gbps Throughput (8Gbps HTTPS Inspection throughput) to 52Gbps Throughput (3.9Gbps HTTPS throughput) = 600, 800 and 900 Series.

Note: If the figures dont overlap neatly, thats because these are a mixture of D, E and F Releases.

Cisco ASA5500 and 5500-X  Specifications

Cisco Firepower 1100 to 2100 Series Specifications

Fortigate 100 to 900 Series Specifications

Replacing Cisco Bonuses

  • Remote VPN: You don’t need to buy additional remote VPN (AnyConnect) licences any more. With FortiGate remote SSL VPN is built in, and the client numbers are impressive.
  • Failover: Is supported even for Active / Active and good old Active / Passive. and Clustering.
  • SDWAN: You now have this capability if you require it.
  • Redundant Power Supply: Is on all FortiGate models in this class.

If anyone wants to add any real world experiences or comments, please do so below.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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Cisco FTD (and ASA) Creating AnyConnect Profiles

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KB ID 0001685

Problem

A few days ago I did an article on Deploying Cisco AnyConnect with the Cisco FTD, there I glossed over the AnyConnect profile section. For a long time now, we have been able to edit the AnyConnect profile from within the firewall (if we are running ASA code!) But for the FTD we need to take a step backwards and go back to using the ‘offline’ AnyConnect profile editor.

Solution

Firstly you need to download the offline profile editor, you will find it on the Cisco AnyConnect Mobility Client download page;

I wont insult your intelligence, the setup is straight forward;

Launch the editor, and the screen you will see is exactly the same as you would normally see while using the profile editor in a Cisco ASA, (when launched from within the ASDM).

Note: I’m not going to go though all the settings, (this post would become immense!) Typically I allow remote (RDP) connections, and set the public FDQN for my AnyConnect profile.

Once you have finished, you can simply save the settings as an XML file.

Import an AnyConnect ‘Profile XML File’ into Cisco ASA

As mentioned above with all ‘modern’ versions of the ASDM/AnyConnect client you can create and edit an AnyConnect profile directly from within the ASDM. But (for completeness) here’s how to import one you created externally, (or exported form another firewall).

Configuration >Remote Access VPN > Network (Client) Access > AnyConnect Client Profile > Import.

Import an AnyConnect ‘Profile XML File’ into Cisco FTD

Objects > AnyConnect Client Profiles > Create AnyConnect Client Profile > Give it a name > Upload.

Browse to, and select the previously created XML file > Open.

Then save and deploy the changes (this takes ages!).

You can now select this ‘profile file’ when setting up AnyConnect, or edit any existing AnyConnect Remote Access VPN configuration, and add this profile to it.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Cisco Firepower 1010 Configuration

Cisco FTD Deploy AnyConnect (from FDM)

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12

KB ID 0001682

Problem

In this article I will focus on ‘Remote Access’ VPN, which for Cisco FTD means using the AnyConnect client. Ive spent years deploying this solution for ASA so it’s a product I know well. As with all things Cisco, there are a couple of things that could trip you up. Let’s get them out of the way first.

If you are used to AnyConnect then you probably have the client software. It’s the same software package that’s installed with Cisco ASA. Sometimes just getting access to the download is a trial! Anyway you will need the AnyConnect ‘Package’ files, these typically have a .pkg extension, (Cisco refer to these as Head-End packages). Theres one for macOS, one for Windows, (well another one now for ARM processors, but I’ve not needed it yet), and one for Linux. You will need to download a package for each platform your users will need to connect with.

AnyConnect Licence! After years of getting a few free with a Cisco ASA, I was unhappy to find that’s not the case with Cisco FTD. If you want to use AnyConnect you need to have a licence, and it needs to be in your Smart Licensing Account, (before you enable Remote Access VPN). 

Final Gotcha! Make sure you HAVE NOT enabled HTTPS management on the outside interface of the FTD before you start configuring AnyConnect, or you will get all the way to the end, and it will fall over and you will have to start again (thanks Cisco! How hard would it be to say, if you enable this, I will disable https outside management is this OK?) 

Solution

If you haven’t already done so enable the Remote Access VPN licence > Smart Licence > Fire Configuration > RA VPN  License > Enable > Change to licence type (mines Apex). Have a coffee and recheck everything is licensed OK.

AnyConnect 4 – Plus and Apex Licensing Explained

Remote Access VPN > Configure > Create Connection Profile.

Give the profile a name, a group alias, and group URL > I’m using the FTD as my AAA Identity source (so my username and passwords are held on the firewall) that’s fine for small deployments, but in production you should think about deploying an AAA solution (called a Special Identities Realm in FTD). Scroll down.

I typically create a new network object for my remote clients to use, you can select your internal DHCP server to send out addresses if you wish > Next.

I’m using Cisco Umbrella DNS servers, (or the DNS servers formally known as OpenDNS) > I’m setting a ‘welcome banner’ but you dont need to, (some people find them annoying!) > Scroll down.

Split tunnelling: As always Cisco assume you want to tunnel everything, in most cases that’s NOT the requirement (BUT it IS the most secure!) I setup split tunnelling by Excluding my internal networks > Next.

Client Profiles: If you have one you can set it here, if you want to create one, see the following article;

Cisco FTD (and ASA) Creating AnyConnect Profiles

Select the certificate the FTD will present (don’t choose the web one it will error!) > Select the interface your client will connect to (typically outside) > Enter the FQDN of the device > I allow bypass for VPN traffic, if you want to scan remote traffic with firepower etc DON’T select this > Enable NAT Exemption (select the internal interface) > Internal Networks: Then add in the internal network, I’ve already got an object for that, (you may need to create one.) > Scroll down.

Here you upload your .pkg files (I mentioned above) when you have finished > Next.

Review the settings > Finish.

Cisco FTD Create User (via FDM)

You will need a username and password to authenticate (skip this as you are not using the FTD’s internal user database.) Objects > Users > Add > Supply a username and password > OK

Pending Changes > Deploy Now.

Go and have a coffee again, keep clicking pending changes until it looks like this. (Quite why it takes so long, I have no idea?) It’s even more fun, if you made a mistake, because it will just error and fall over, so you have to find the error (if you can) > then remove the pending change and start all over again. Cheers Cisco!

Finally go to an external client and give it a try, if your clients don’t have the client software installed simply ‘browse’ to the FTD to get it.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Cisco Firepower 1010 Configuration

Cisco FTD Site to Site VPN

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9

KB ID 0001681

Problem

While working out how to create a VPN on the Cisco FTD (Firepower 1010), I thought I might as well set it up to the Cisco ASA that I have in the Data Center on my test network. This is what I’m connecting;

 

Create Site to Site VPN On Cisco FTD (using FDM)

Using a web browser connect to the devices FDM > Site to Site VPN > View Configuration.

Create Site-to-site-connection.

  • Connection profile name: Something sensible like VPN-To-HQ or VPN-To-Datacentre.
  • Local VPN Access Interface: outside.
  • Local Network: Crete new network.

  • Name: This will be your local LAN so give it a recognisable name.
  • Type: Network
  • Network: Your local (behind the FTD) network i.e. 10.254.254.0/24
  • OK.

  • Remote IP Address: The public IP address of the other device (in my case the Cisco ASA).
  • Remote Network: Add
  • Crete new network

  • Name: This will be the remote sites LAN so give it a recognisable name.
  • Type: Network
  • Network: The remote (behind the ASA) network i.e. 192.168.100.0/24
  • OK.

 

Check the settings are correct > Next.

I’m using IKEv2 (if your ASA is older than version 8.4 you will need to use IKEv1) > IKE Version 2 Globally Applied > Edit.

Create new IKE Policy.

 

  • Priority: 1
  • Name: S2S-IKEv2-Policy
  • Encryption: DES Really! (Why is that the default?) Remove DES and replace with AES256

I leave the rest of the settings as they are some people might not like Sha1 if you want to change it to sha254 for example then do so, but remember to change it on the IKEv2 policy on the ASA also. Also DON’T CONFUSE PRF with PFS, we will get the chance to set PFS later. > OK.

IPsec Proposal > Edit.

Add in AES-SHA > OK. 

Enter (and confirm) the local and remote Pre-Shared Key (I usually set these the same, but they don’t have to be). Scroll down.

  • Nat Exempt: inside
  • Diffie Helman Group for Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS): Leave disabled.
  • Next

Review the settings > Finish.

FTD VPN One Way VPN Traffic Warning!

At this point if you configure the ASA, the tunnel will come up, and if you’re behind the FTD everything will work. But If you’re behind the ASA and you want to talk to anything behind the FTD, it wont work. This confused me for a while, I could ping from my house to my servers at the DC but they could not ping me!

Resolution: What you need to do is (on the FTD) ALLOW traffic ‘inbound’ on the outside interface, for the subnet behind the ASA. (Yes that’s bobbins I know, it should do that for you, but at the moment it does not).

Policies > Access Control > Add.

  • Title: Allow-VPN-Traffic
  • Source Zone: outside_zone
  • Source Networks: The Network behind the ASA
  • Source Ports: ANY
  • Destination Zone: inside_zone
  • Destination Networks: ANY
  • Destination Ports/Protocols: ANY
  • OK

Pending changes > Deploy Now.

It can take a while to deploy, I recheck pending changes, and wait until it says it’s finished.

Create ASA Config for VPN to Cisco FTD

I’ve covered Cisco ASA IKEv2 VPN configs elsewhere, so I’ll just post the config here and you can change the details (in red) and copy and paste it into your ASA.

[box]

object network OBJ-SITE-A
 subnet 192.168.100.0 255.255.255.0
object network OBJ-SITE-B
 subnet 10.254.254.0 255.255.255.0
!
access-list VPN-INTERESTING-TRAFFIC extended permit ip object OBJ-SITE-A object OBJ-SITE-B
!
nat (inside,outside) source static OBJ-SITE-A OBJ-SITE-A destination static OBJ-SITE-B OBJ-SITE-B no-proxy-arp route-lookup
!
crypto ipsec ikev2 ipsec-proposal VPN-TRANSFORM
 protocol esp encryption aes-256
 protocol esp integrity sha-1
!
crypto map CRYPTO-MAP 1 match address VPN-INTERESTING-TRAFFIC
crypto map CRYPTO-MAP 1 set peer 2.2.2.2
crypto map CRYPTO-MAP 1 set ikev2 ipsec-proposal VPN-TRANSFORM
crypto map CRYPTO-MAP interface outside
!
crypto ikev2 policy 10
 encryption aes-256
 integrity sha
 group 14
 prf sha
 lifetime seconds 86400
crypto ikev2 enable outside
!
tunnel-group 2.2.2.2 type ipsec-l2l
tunnel-group 2.2.2.2 ipsec-attributes
 ikev2 remote-authentication pre-shared-key cisco123
 ikev2 local-authentication pre-shared-key cisco123
!

[/box]

Troubleshooting and debugging FTD VPN

All the traditional command line tools we used to use for VPN troubleshooting are available to you, you will need to SSH into the ‘Management Port’ before you can use them though! Or you can simply do the debugging and troubleshooting on the ASA!

Troubleshoot phase 1 (IKE)

[box]

show crypto isa
debug crypto ikev2 protocol

[/box]

Troubleshoot phase 2 (IPSec)

[box]

show crypto ipsec sa
debug crypto ipsec 255

[/box]

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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Configure Cisco FTD Port Forwarding (via FDM)

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8

KB ID 0001680

Problem

You have a Cisco FTD device that you manage via FDM, and you would like to setup port forwarding. In the example below I will forward TCP Port 80 (HTTP) traffic from the outside interface of my FTD Device (Firepower 1010) to an internal web server on 10.254.254.212

Solution (Step 1: Create an FTD NAT Policy)

Using a web browser connect to the FDM > Polices > NAT > Add.

 

Set the following options;

  • Title: Give the NAT rule a title e.g. Webserver-01
  • Create Rule for: Manual NAT
  • Status: Enable
  • Placement: Above a Specific Rule
  • Rule: InsideOutsideNATRule
  • Type: Static
  • Original Packet: Source Interface: inside
  • Original Packet: Source Address: Select ‘Create New Network’

In the Add new Network Object Window;

  • Name: Name of the server/object you are port forwarding to e.g. Webserver-01
  • Host: IP address of the server/object you are port forwarding to
  • OK

Back At the NAT Rule Window;

  • Source Address: Ensure it’s set to the object you just created
  • Original Packet: Source Port: HTTP (or whatever port you wish to forward) 
  • Translated Packet: Destination Interface: outside
  • Translated PacketSource Address: Interface
  • Translated Packet: Source Port:HTTP (or whatever port you wish to forward)
  • OK.

Solution (Step 2: Create an FTD Access Control Policy Rule)

Policies > Access Control > Add.

Set the access rule as follows;

  • Title: Give the access rule a title e.g. Webserver-Access
  • Source Zone: outside_zone
  • Source Networks:  any-ipv4
  • Source Ports: ANY
  • Destination Zone: inside_zone
  • Destination Networks:  The Object you created (above)
  • Destination: Ports/Protocols: HTTP
  • OK

You can expand the rule, and see a diagram version if you wish.

Pending Changes > Deploy Now.

Wait! The changes probably haven’t deployed yet, you can check progress by clicking the pending changes button again.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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