Use Explicit Proxy to Secure Public Apps and GlobalProtect or a Third-Party VPN to Secure Private Apps
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Use Explicit Proxy to Secure Public Apps and GlobalProtect or a Third-Party VPN to Secure Private Apps

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Use Explicit Proxy to Secure Public Apps and GlobalProtect or a Third-Party VPN to Secure Private Apps

Learn how to configure Prisma Access Explicit Proxy to secure internet resources and use GlobalProtect or a third-party VPN, to secure private resources.
If you are using GlobalProtect in split tunnel mode to provide secure access to private apps only, you can add Prisma Access Explicit Proxy (Explicit Proxy) to your deployment to secure public apps, including internet and external SaaS applications.
In addition, if you are using a VPN client for access to data center and private applications, you can continue to use that client to secure access to private apps while you use Explicit Proxy and a PAC file to secure access to public apps. You can deploy Explicit Proxy in a location close to your mobile users, which eliminates the need to backhaul traffic to your data center for web security.
Use the following sections to see deployment examples and learn how to configure Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect or a third-party VPN.

Use Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect and Third-Party VPNs Examples

This section provides examples of adding Explicit Proxy to existing on-premise GlobalProtect, Prisma Access Mobile Users—GlobalProtect, and third-party VPN deployments.
The following figure shows a deployment using an on-premise or virtual GlobalProtect gateway along with Explicit Proxy. GlobalProtect routes the traffic using the GlobalProtect client to the Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewall. To configure this deployment, you create a split tunnel configuration in GlobalProtect, allowing private apps to be secured with GlobalProtect and public apps to be secured with Explicit Proxy. When configuration is complete, mobile users connect to the private apps in your organization’s data center using GlobalProtect and connect to private internet-based apps using Explicit Proxy.
If you have a third-party VPN, you can use it to connect to private apps in the data center, while securing public apps using Explicit Proxy, as shown in the following figure.

How Explicit Proxy Works With GlobalProtect

Before you decide what applications or traffic you should protect with Explicit Proxy and which applications you should protect with either GlobalProtect or a third-party VPN, you should understand how GlobalProtect and Prisma Access make their forwarding decisions based on the Explicit Proxy and VPN configuration. The examples in this section assume that you have already deployed Explicit Proxy and GlobalProtect into your organization’s network and have configured GlobalProtect split tunnel options. The following figure shows the process.
When a mobile user requests an private or internet-based resource or app, the request is evaluated by the Explicit Proxy PAC file on the endpoint.
  • A
    return "DIRECT";
    function in the PAC file causes the traffic specified in the expression to bypass Explicit Proxy processing.
    Explicit Proxy provides you with a sample PAC file that uses the
    return "DIRECT";
    function with IP addresses and URLs. See PAC File Guidelines and Requirements to see the contents of the PAC file and a description of how to use it.
  • A
    dnsresolve(host)
    function in the PAC file forces the endpoint to make a DNS query to resolve a hostname to an IP address. This query then follows the VPN policy (for example, split tunnel or split DNS) for forwarding the DNS request to the destination DNS server.
    The PAC file provided with Explicit Proxy uses
    dnsresolve(host)
    ,
    return "DIRECT";
    , and private IP addresses together in an expression. If, after a DNS lookup, the returned IP address is included with the private IP addresses in the expression, the traffic associated with the private IP address bypasses Explicit Proxy processing.
  • Traffic that is specified in the PAC file as
    return "PROXY
    sitename
    :8080";
    is forwarded to Explicit Proxy.
After the web request is evaluated based on the conditions in the PAC file, it is then sent to the GlobalProtect or third-party VPN configuration on the endpoint for processing and the traffic is evaluated in the GlobalProtect app for split tunnel configuration options. You can split traffic based on domain (URL) or application or subnet. If you have configured split DNS options in GlobalProtect, traffic is also evaluated based on those DNS options.
After the traffic is processed, it is then sent to GlobalProtect, direct to the internet, or to Explicit Proxy, based on the PAC file and VPN processing.
The following figure shows a mobile user attempting to access a private resource using the URL
internal-app.corp.com
.
  • The PAC file has the following configuration to allow
    internal-app.corp.com
    to bypass Explicit Proxy.
    /* Bypass internal URL */ if (shExpMatch(host, "*internal-app.corp.com")) return "DIRECT";
  • When the mobile user requests
    internal-app.corp.com
    from their browser, the browser evaluates the conditions in the PAC file. Based on that evaluation, the browser does not forward the request to the proxy and sends it directly to the GlobalProtect app.
  • GlobalProtect notes that
    internal-app.corp.com
    is listed in the
    Include Domain
    and sends it through the VPN tunnel.
  • GlobalProtect sends the request to the resource in
    internal-app.corp.com
    based on the configuration options in GlobalProtect.
You might want to configure some resources, such as login resources, so that they do not use either Explicit Proxy or the GlobalProtect or third-party VPN for processing. The following figure shows a user logging in to Microsoft Online by entering
login.microsoftonline.com
from their browser.
  • The PAC file has the following configuration to allow
    internal-app.corp.com
    to bypass Explicit Proxy traffic.
    /* Bypass internal URL */ if (shExpMatch(host, "login.microsoftonline.com")) return "DIRECT";
  • When the mobile user requests
    login.microsoftonline.com
    from their browser, the PAC file evaluates the request from the PAC file in the mobile user’s endpoint and then sends it to the GlobalProtect VPN configuration (GlobalProtect in this case) for processing.
  • The GlobalProtect app notes that
    login.microsoftonline.com
    is listed in the
    Exclude Domain
    .
  • GlobalProtect bypasses the VPN and sends the request direct to the internet, based on the configuration options in GlobalProtect.

Requirements and Recommendations for Using Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect and Third-Party VPNs

Before you start your configuration, make sure that you follow the requirements and recommendations that are required to deploy Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect or with a third-party VPN:
  • To use Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect, you must deploy GlobalProtect (either a Mobile Users—GlobalProtect deployment or a standalone GlobalProtect deployment that uses GlobalProtect gateways and portals.
    You configure a split tunnel configuration in GlobalProtect. The examples in this section show traffic being split based on a domain (URL) or application; however, you can also split traffic based on the access route.
    You can also configure split DNS options in GlobalProtect to configure which domains are resolved by the VPN assigned DNS servers and which domains are resolved by the local DNS servers.
  • To use Explicit Proxy with a third-party VPN, you must deploy the VPN solution.
  • Make a list of the applications that you want to secure with the Mobile Users—GlobalProtect or third-party VPN deployment.
    For example, if you are configuring Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect, you should configure GlobalProtect to secure all access to private apps or resources, while configuring the Explicit Proxy PAC file to secure public apps or SaaS applications. The configuration examples in this section have GlobalProtect resolving the internal domains and Explicit Proxy resolving external domains.
  • Configure authentication for Explicit Proxy and GlobalProtect or the third-party VPN.
    Palo Alto Networks recommends that you use the default browser on each mobile user’s endpoint for SAML authentication so you can take advantage of single sign-on (SSO) by editing the portal configuration as shown in Use Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect.
  • You must make sure that the browsers used by the mobile users honor the configuration in the PAC file. See Explicit Proxy System Guidelines and Requirements for Explicit Proxy browser restrictions.

Use Explicit Proxy with GlobalProtect

To implement GlobalProtect—Mobile Users with Explicit Proxy, complete the following steps.
These configuration steps make the following assumptions about your network environment; if your network environment is different, the configuration might be different:
  • Mobile users are able to reach and resolve the GlobalProtect portal hostname, gateway FQDNs, Explicit Proxy URL, and PAC File URL.
    • To find the gateway FQDNs, select
      Panorama
      Cloud Services
      Status
      Network Details
      Mobile Users—GlobalProtect
      Gateways
      .
    • To find the
      PAC File URL
      , select
      Panorama
      Cloud Services
      Configuration
      Mobile Users—Explicit Proxy
      PAC File URL
      .
  • Mobile Users are able to resolve internal domains from GlobalProtect.
  1. Plan your Mobile Users—Explicit Proxy deployment and your GlobalProtect deployment (either your Mobile Users—GlobalProtect or standalone GlobalProtect deployment).
  2. Decide which applications you want to send to GlobalProtect and which applications you want to send to Explicit Proxy.
    The following steps direct private applications hosted at your data center to GlobalProtect and requests to internet and public SaaS applications to Explicit Proxy.
  3. In the Panorama that manages Prisma Access, configure GlobalProtect portal settings.
    1. Select
      Network
      GlobalProtect
      Portals
      .
      Be sure that you are in the
      Mobile_Users_Template
      from the
      Template
      drop-down.
    2. Select
      GlobalProtect_Portal
      to edit the Prisma Access portal configuration.
    3. Select the
      Agent
      tab and select the
      DEFAULT
      configuration or
      Add
      a new one.
    4. Select the
      App
      tab.
    5. Make the following app configuration changes:
      • In
        Detect Proxy for Each Connection
        , select
        Yes
        .
      • In
        Set Up Tunnel Over Proxy (Windows & Mac Only)
        , select
        No
        .
      • In
        Use Default Browser for SAML Authentication
        , select
        Yes
        .
  4. Create a split tunnel in GlobalProtect that allows you to direct the internal traffic to GlobalProtect.
    The following example uses a split tunnel to direct traffic based on domain (FQDN); you could also configure a split tunnel based on the access route of traffic.
    1. While you are still in the GlobalProtect Agent configuration (
      Network
      GlobalProtect
      Gateways
      GlobalProtect External Gateway
      ), select
      Agent
      Client Settings
      .
    2. Select the
      DEFAULT
      configuration or
      Add
      a new one.
    3. Select
      Split Tunnel
      Domain and Application
      .
    4. Add
      the
      Include Domain
      and, optionally, the
      Ports
      to use with the domain.
      This example uses internal-app.corp.com as the URL you use to host apps in your data center. You add this URL and the SAML authentication URL in the
      Exclude Domain
      .
    5. Click
      OK
      to save your changes.
    6. Commit and Push
      your changes.
  5. Configure the PAC file to exclude the domains you entered for split tunnel.
    The following example shows a PAC file with the URL that hosts private apps (internal-app.corp.com) bypassing the internal proxy. The parameters in the following PAC file are all example values:
    • The portal hostname is
      splittunnel.gpcloudservice.com
      .
    • The mobile user gateways (
      Panorama
      Cloud Services
      Status
      Network Details
      Mobile Users—GlobalProtect
      Gateways
      ) are contained in the wildcard FQDN
      *examplegateways.gw.gpcloudservice.com
      .
    • The
      PAC File URL
      (
      Panorama
      Cloud Services
      Configuration
      Mobile Users—Explicit Proxy
      PAC File URL
      ) is
      https://pacfileurl.pac
      .
    • internal-app.corp.com
      is hosting the private apps that are being protected by Mobile Users—GlobalProtect.
    • Okta is being used for SAML authentication.
    • The Explicit Proxy URL is
      example.proxy.prismaacess.com
      .
    For more information about what PAC files do and how to create and modify them, see PAC File Guidelines and Requirements.
    function FindProxyForURL(url, host) { /* Bypass FTP */ if (url.substring(0,4) == "ftp:") return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass the Prisma Access Portal Hostname */ if (shExpMatch(host, "*.splittunnel.gpcloudservice.com")) return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass the Prisma Access Gateway */ if (shExpMatch(host, "*examplegateways.gw.gpcloudservice.com")) return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass the Prisma Access PAC File URL */ if (shExpMatch(host, "https://pacfileurl.pac")) return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass the URLs Being Sent to the GlobalProtect Portal */ if (shExpMatch(host, "*.internal-app.corp.com")) return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass ACS */ if (shExpMatch(host, "*.acs.prismaaccess.com")) return "DIRECT"; /* Forward to Prisma Access */ return "PROXY example.proxy.prismaaccess.com:8080"; }

Use Explicit Proxy with Third-Party VPNs

To use third-party VPNs with Explicit Proxy, you have be able to make the following changes in your network:
  • You must configure your third-party VPN to perform split tunneling to direct internet traffic to Explicit Proxy.
    For any assistance with configuring your third-party VPN, contact your third-party VPN vendor.
  • modify the PAC file to have Explicit Proxy bypass any of the following VPN components:
    • Any IP addresses associated with the third-party VPN
    • Any login URLs required for the third-party VPN
In the following example, you configured the PAC file so that Explicit Proxy bypasses internal resources using private IP addresses, as well as authentication traffic flows.
++++++++++++++++ function FindProxyForURL(url, host) { if (isPlainHostName(host) || shExpMatch(host, "*.local") || isInNet(dnsResolve(host), "10.0.0.0", "255.0.0.0") || isInNet(dnsResolve(host), "127.0.0.0", "255.255.255.0")) return "DIRECT"; /* Bypass SAML for AnyConnect Azure */ if (shExpMatch(host, "login.microsoftonline.com")) return "DIRECT"; if (shExpMatch(host, "login.windows.net")) return "DIRECT"; if (shExpMatch(host, "login.microsoft.com")) return "DIRECT"; /* Forward to Prisma Access */ return "PROXY example.proxy.prismaaccess.com:8080"; }

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