Enable Packet Capture Collection
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Focus
Device Security

Enable Packet Capture Collection

Table of Contents

Enable Packet Capture Collection

Authorize packet capture on firewalls for use by the Device Security Research Team.
Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
  • Device Security (Managed by Strata Cloud Manager)
  • (Legacy) IoT Security (Standalone portal)
One of the following subscriptions:
  • Device Security subscription for an advanced Device Security product (Enterprise, OT, or Medical)
  • Device Security X subscription
Enable on-demand packet capture (pcap) to help Palo Alto Networks significantly improve the accuracy and completeness of device identification and application recognition (App-ID) within your environment. When active, pcap collection allows our Device Security Research Team to securely perform targeted, temporary packet captures on your NGFW. Analyzing PCAPs helps us develop more precise identification signatures, providing enhanced security protections for you.

How Packet Capture Works & Security Controls

Our Device Security Research Team initiates packet captures using the same secure, remote channel established for firewall support and debugging. Packet captures don't impact firewall performance and don't grant any ability to modify your security policy rules or controls. Packet capture collection can’t be enabled in FedRAMP (moderate and high) environments or tenants based in the China region.
We prioritize your data security and privacy. All pcap files are encrypted both in transit and at rest. Furthermore, any personal information or customer identifying information that might be inadvertently collected in the packet capture will never leave your cloud region and will never be utilized by our research team. All packet capture files are automatically deleted after 120 days. You can also disable pcap collection and request the deletion of your data at any time by opening a support ticket.
For more information about the types of data that Device Security might collect, see the IoT/OT Security Privacy Datasheet.

Enable On-Demand Packet Capture

For the Device Security Research Team to use pcap collection to collect network traffic metadata, you must first authorize packet capturing for your tenant, and then install the OpenConfig plugin on your firewalls. Depending on the version of PAN-OS that your firewalls are running, they might already have the OpenConfig plugin installed.
To support packet capture on firewalls, they must be running:
  • PAN-OS 10.2.10 or later 10.2 releases
  • PAN-OS 11.1.0 or later
  1. Log in to PAN-OS and install the OpenConfig plugin.
    1. Select DevicePlugins and search for OpenConfig.
    2. Download version 2.1.0 or later and then Install it.
  2. Log in to Device Security with a user account with the right privileges.
    If you're using Device Security in Strata Cloud Manager, you need to have the superuser role.
    If you're using the Device Security standalone portal, the user account needs administrator or owner privileges.
  3. Navigate to On-Demand PCAP.
    Strata Cloud Manager Select AdministrationPrivacy SheetPCAP Collection.
    Device Security Select AdministrationAboutPrivacy SheetPCAP Collection.
  4. Select the toggle to authorize on-demand pcap for your tenant.
    If you want to deauthorize on-demand pcap, deselect the toggle.