Configure Interfaces and Zones
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Configure Interfaces and Zones

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Configure Interfaces and Zones

After you identify how you want to segment your network and the zones you will need to create to achieve the segmentation (as well as the interfaces to map to each zone), you can begin configuring the interfaces and zones on the firewall. Configure Interfaces on the firewall the to support the topology of each part of the network you are connecting to. The following workflow shows how to configure Layer 3 interfaces and assign them to zones. For details on integrating the firewall using a different type of interface deployments (for example as Virtual Wire Interfaces or as Layer 2 Interfaces), see Networking.
The firewall comes preconfigured with a default virtual wire interface between ports Ethernet 1/1 and Ethernet 1/2 (and a corresponding default security policy and virtual router). If you do not plan to use the default virtual wire, you must manually delete the configuration and commit the change before proceeding to prevent it from interfering with other settings you define. For instructions on how to delete the default virtual wire and its associated security policy and zones, see Step 3 in Set Up Network Access for External Services.
  1. Configure a default route to your Internet router.
    1. Select
      Network
      Virtual Router
      and then select the
      default
      link to open the Virtual Router dialog.
    2. Select the
      Static Routes
      tab and click
      Add
      . Enter a
      Name
      for the route and enter the route in the
      Destination
      field (for example, 0.0.0.0/0).
    3. Select the
      IP Address
      radio button in the
      Next Hop
      field and then enter the IP address and netmask for your Internet gateway (for example, 203.0.113.1).
    4. Click
      OK
      twice to save the virtual router configuration.
  2. Configure the external interface (the interface that connects to the Internet).
    1. Select
      Network
      Interfaces
      and then select the interface you want to configure. In this example, we are configuring Ethernet1/16 as the external interface.
    2. Select the
      Interface Type
      . Although your choice here depends on interface topology, this example shows the steps for
      Layer3
      .
    3. On the
      Config
      tab, select
      New Zone
      from the
      Security Zone
      drop-down. In the Zone dialog, define a
      Name
      for new zone, for example Internet, and then click
      OK
      .
    4. In the
      Virtual Router
      drop-down, select
      default
      .
    5. To assign an IP address to the interface, select the
      IPv4
      tab, click
      Add
      in the IP section, and enter the IP address and network mask to assign to the interface, for example 203.0.113.23/24.
    6. To enable you to ping the interface, select
      Advanced
      Other Info
      , expand the
      Management Profile
      drop-down, and select
      New Management Profile
      . Enter a
      Name
      for the profile, select
      Ping
      and then click
      OK
      .
    7. To save the interface configuration, click
      OK
      .
  3. Configure the interface that connects to your internal network.
    In this example, the interface connects to a network segment that uses private IP addresses. Because private IP addresses cannot be routed externally, you have to configure NAT.
    1. Select
      Network
      Interfaces
      and select the interface you want to configure. In this example, we are configuring Ethernet1/15 as the internal interface our users connect to.
    2. Select
      Layer3
      as the
      Interface Type
      .
    3. On the
      Config
      tab, expand the
      Security Zone
      drop-down and select
      New Zone
      . In the Zone dialog, define a
      Name
      for new zone, for example Users, and then click
      OK
      .
    4. Select the same Virtual Router you used previously, default in this example.
    5. To assign an IP address to the interface, select the
      IPv4
      tab, click
      Add
      in the IP section, and enter the IP address and network mask to assign to the interface, for example 192.168.1.4/24.
    6. To enable you to ping the interface, select the management profile that you just created.
    7. To save the interface configuration, click
      OK
      .
  4. Configure the interface that connects to your data center applications.
    Although this basic security policy example configuration depicts using a single zone for all of your data center applications, you should define more granular zones to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive applications or data and eliminate the possibility of malware moving laterally within your data center.
    1. Select the interface you want to configure.
    2. Select
      Layer3
      from the
      Interface Type
      drop-down. In this example, we are configuring Ethernet1/1 as the interface that provides access to your data center applications.
    3. On the
      Config
      tab, expand the
      Security Zone
      drop-down and select
      New Zone
      . In the Zone dialog, define a
      Name
      for new zone, for example Data Center Applications, and then click
      OK
      .
    4. Select the same Virtual Router you used previously, default in this example.
    5. To assign an IP address to the interface, select the
      IPv4
      tab, click
      Add
      in the IP section, and enter the IP address and network mask to assign to the interface, for example 10.1.1.1/24.
    6. To enable you to ping the interface, select the management profile that you created.
    7. To save the interface configuration, click
      OK
      .
  5. (
    Optional
    ) Create tags for each zone.
    Tags allow you to visually scan policy rules.
    1. Select
      Objects
      Tags
      and
      Add
      .
    2. Select a zone
      Name
      .
    3. Select a tag
      Color
      and click
      OK
      .
  6. Save the interface configuration.
    Click
    Commit
    .
  7. Cable the firewall.
    Attach straight through cables from the interfaces you configured to the corresponding switch or router on each network segment.
  8. Verify that the interfaces are active.
    Select
    Dashboard
    and verify that the interfaces you configured show as green in the Interfaces widget.

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