: Deploy Panorama with Dedicated Log Collectors
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Deploy Panorama with Dedicated Log Collectors

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Deploy Panorama with Dedicated Log Collectors

The following figures illustrate Panorama in a distributed log collection deployment. In these examples, the Panorama management server comprises two M-Series or Panorama virtual appliances in Panorama mode that are deployed in an active/passive high availability (HA) configuration. The firewalls send logs to Dedicated Log Collectors (M-Series or Panorama virtual appliances in Log Collector mode). This is the recommended configuration if the firewalls generate over 10,000 logs/second.
If you will assign more than one Log Collector to a Collector Group, see Caveats for a Collector Group with Multiple Log Collectors to understand the requirements, risks, and recommended mitigations.
Single Dedicated Log Collector Per Collector Group
Multiple Dedicated Log Collectors Per Collector Group
Perform the following steps to deploy Panorama with Dedicated Log Collectors. Skip any steps you have already performed (for example, the initial setup).
  1. Perform the initial setup of the Panorama management server (virtual appliances or M-Series appliances) and the Dedicated Log Collectors.
    For each M-Series appliance:
    1. Rack mount the M-Series appliance. Refer to the M-Series Hardware Reference Guide for instructions.
    2. Palo Alto Networks recommends reserving the management (MGT) interface for administrative access to Panorama and dedicating separate M-Series Appliance Interfaces to other Panorama services.
    3. Configure each array. This task is required to make the RAID disks available for logging. Optionally, you can add disks to Increase Storage on the M-Series Appliance.
    For each virtual appliance (if any):
    For the Panorama management server (virtual appliance or M-Series appliance), you must also Set Up HA on Panorama.
  2. Switch from Panorama mode to Log Collector mode on each Panorama management server that will be a Dedicated Log Collector.
    Switching the mode of an M-Series or Panorama virtual appliance deletes any existing log data and deletes all configurations except the management access settings. After the switch, the M-Series or Panorama virtual appliance retains CLI access but loses web interface access.
    1. Connect to Panorama in one of the following ways:
      • (
        M-Series appliances only
        ) Attach a serial cable from your computer to the Console port on the M-Series appliance. Then use terminal emulation software (9600-8-N-1) to connect.
      • Use terminal emulation software such as PuTTY to open an SSH session to the IP address that you specified for the MGT interface of the Panorama management server during initial configuration.
    2. Log in to the CLI when prompted. Use the default admin account and the password that you specified during initial configuration.
    3. Switch to Log Collector mode by entering the following command:
      >
      request system system-mode logger
    4. Enter
      Y
      to confirm the mode change. The Panorama management server reboots. If the reboot process terminates your terminal emulation software session, reconnect to Panorama to see the Panorama login prompt.
      If you see a
      CMS Login
      prompt, this means the Log Collector has not finished rebooting. Press Enter at the prompt without typing a username or password.
    5. Log back in to the CLI.
    6. Verify that the switch to Log Collector mode succeeded:
      >
      show system info | match system-mode
      If the mode change succeeded, the output displays:
      system-mode: logger
  3. Enable connectivity between each Log Collector and the Panorama management server.
    This step is required before you can enable logging disks on the Log Collectors.
    Enter the following commands at the CLI of each Log Collector.
    <IPaddress1>
    is for the MGT interface of the active Panorama and
    <IPaddress2>
    is for the MGT interface of the passive Panorama.
    >
    configure
    #
    set deviceconfig system panorama-server
    <IPaddress1>
    panorama-server-2
    <IPaddress2>
    #
    commit
    #
    exit
  4. Record the serial number of each Log Collector.
    You need the serial numbers to add the Log Collectors as managed collectors on the Panorama management server.
    1. At the CLI of each Log Collector, enter the following command to display its serial number.
      >
      show system info | match serial
    2. Record the serial number.
  5. Add each Log Collector as a managed collector.
    Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to Configure a Managed Collector:
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Managed Collectors
      and
      Add
      the managed collector.
    2. In the
      General
      tab, enter the serial number (
      Collector S/N
      ) you recorded for the Log Collector.
    3. Enter the IP address or FQDN of the active and passive Panorama HA peers in the
      Panorama Server IP
      field and
      Panorama Server IP 2
      field respectively. These fields are required.
    4. Select
      Interfaces
      , click
      Management
      , and configure one or both of the following field sets for the MGT interface based on the IP protocols of your network.
      If you configure a
      Public IP Address
      for the interface, Log Collectors in the Collector Group always use the public IP address for communication within the Collector Group. To ensure Log Collectors in a Collector use the private IP address to communicate, do not configure a public IP address.
      • IPv4—
        IP Address
        ,
        Netmask
        , and
        Default Gateway
      • IPv6—
        IPv6 Address/Prefix Length
        and
        Default IPv6 Gateway
    5. (
      Optional
      ) Select
      SNMP
      if you will use an SNMP manager to monitor Log Collector statistics.
      Using SNMP requires additional steps besides configuring the Log Collector (see Monitor Panorama and Log Collector Statistics Using SNMP).
    6. Click
      OK
      to save your changes.
    7. Select
      Commit
      Commit to Panorama
      and
      Commit
      your changes.
      This step is required before you can enable logging disks on the Log Collectors.
    8. Verify that the
      Panorama
      Managed Collectors
      page lists the Log Collector you added. The Connected column displays a check mark to indicate that the Log Collector is connected to Panorama. You might have to wait a few minutes before the page displays the updated connection status.
      At this point, the Configuration Status column displays Out of Sync and the Run Time Status column displays disconnected. The status will change to In Sync and connected after you configure a Collector Group (Step 9).
  6. Enable the logging disks on each Log Collector.
    Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to perform these steps:
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Managed Collectors
      and edit the Log Collector.
    2. Select
      Disks
      ,
      Add
      each disk pair, and click
      OK
      .
    3. Select
      Commit
      Commit to Panorama
      and
      Commit
      your changes.
  7. (
    Recommended
    ) Configure the
    Ethernet1
    ,
    Ethernet2
    ,
    Ethernet3
    ,
    Ethernet4
    , and
    Ethernet5
    interfaces if the Log Collector will use them for
    Device Log Collection
    (receiving logs from firewalls) and
    Collector Group Communication
    .
    By default, the Log Collector uses the MGT interface for log collection and Collector Group communication. Assigning other interfaces to these functions enables you to reserve the MGT interface for management traffic. In an environment with heavy log traffic, consider using the 10Gbps interfaces (
    Ethernet4
    and
    Ethernet5
    ) on the M-500 appliance for log collection and Collector Group communication. To load balance the logging traffic across interfaces, you can enable
    Device Log Collection
    on multiple interfaces.
    Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to perform these steps for each Log Collector:
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Managed Collectors
      , edit the Log Collector, and select
      Interfaces
      .
    2. Perform the following steps for each interface:
      1. Click the name of the interface to edit it.
      2. Select
        <interface-name>
        to enable the interface.
      3. Complete one or both of the following field sets based on the IP protocols of your network:
        IPv4
        IP Address
        ,
        Netmask
        , and
        Default Gateway
        IPv6
        IPv6 Address/Prefix Length
        and
        Default IPv6 Gateway
      4. Select the Device Management Services that the interface supports:
        Device Log Collection
        —You can assign one or more interfaces.
        Collector Group Communication
        —You can assign only one interface.
      5. Click
        OK
        to save your changes to the interface.
    3. Click
      OK
      to save your changes to the Log Collector.
    4. Select
      Commit
      Commit to Panorama
      and
      Commit
      your changes to the Panorama configuration.
  8. Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to perform this task for each firewall that will forward logs to Log Collectors.
  9. Configure the Collector Group.
    If each Collector Group will have one Log Collector, repeat this step for each Collector Group before continuing.
    If you will assign all the Log Collectors to one Collector Group, perform this step only once.
    Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to Configure a Collector Group:
    1. Select
      Panorama
      Collector Groups
      and
      Add
      the Collector Group.
    2. Enter a
      Name
      to identify the Collector Group.
    3. Add
      one or more Log Collectors to the Collector Group Members list.
      In any single Collector Group, all the Log Collectors must run on the same Panorama model: all M-600 appliances, all M-500 appliances, all M-200 appliances, all M-100 appliances, or all Panorama virtual appliances.
    4. (
      Best Practice
      )
      Enable log redundancy across collectors
      if you add multiple Log Collectors to a single Collector group. This option requires each Log Collector to have the same number of logging disks.
    5. (
      Optional
      ) Select
      Monitoring
      and configure the settings if you will use SNMP to monitor Log Collector statistics and traps.
    6. Select
      Device Log Forwarding
      and configure the Log Forwarding Preferences list. This list defines which firewalls forward logs to which Log Collectors. Assign firewalls according to the number of Log Collectors in this Collector Group:
    7. Click
      OK
      to save your changes to the Collector Group.
    8. Select
      Commit
      Commit and Push
      and then
      Commit and Push
      your changes to Panorama and to the Collector Groups you added.
    9. Select
      Panorama
      Managed Collectors
      to verify that the Log Collector configuration is synchronized with Panorama.
      The Configuration Status column should display In Sync and the Run Time Status column should display connected.
  10. Configure log forwarding from firewalls to Panorama.
    Use the web interface of the primary Panorama management server peer to:

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