Learn about the initial setup and configuration needed for all NGFWs.
| Where Can I Use This? | What Do I Need? |
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- No prerequisites needed for initial setup
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Perform the initial configuration for your NGFW. You can perform these initial
configuration tasks either from the MGT interface, even if you do not plan to use
this interface for your NGFW management, or using a direct serial connection to the
console port on the device.
The initial configurations need to be completed before you can begin onboarding your
NGFW to your management system of choice.
The initial configurations for your NGFWs can be performed before you have
decided on the management style of choice and will need to be done before you
can proceed with onboarding.
For more information about what needs to be done before you can onboard to Strata
Cloud Manager or Panorama, see the cheat sheet
here.
By default, the PA-Series NGFW has:
- An IP address of 192.168.1.1
- A username/password of admin/admin
For security reasons, you must change these settings before continuing with other
NGFW configuration tasks.
Perform the Initial Setup and Configuration for NGFWs (Non-Air Gapped)
Perform the initial setup and configuration for a non-air gapped NGFW.
Install your NGFW and connect power to it.
If your NGFW model has dual power supplies, connect the second power
supply for redundancy. Refer to the
hardware reference guide for your model for
details.
Gather the required information from your network administrator.
- IP address and netmask (if the MGT port will have a static address)
- Default gateway (if the MGT port will have a static default gateway
address)
- DNS server address
Connect your computer to the NGFW.
You can connect to the device in one of the following ways:
- Connect a serial cable from your computer to the Console port and
connect to the firewall using terminal emulation software (9600-8-N-1).
Wait a few minutes for the boot-up sequence to complete; when the NGFW
is ready, the prompt changes to the name of the firewall, for example
PA-220 login.
- Connect an RJ-45 Ethernet cable from your computer to the MGT port on
the NGFW. From a browser, go to
https://192.168.1.1.
You may need to change the IP address on your computer to an address in
the 192.168.1.0/24 network, such as 192.168.1.2, to access this URL.
When prompted, log in to the NGFW.
You must log in using the default username and password (admin/admin). The
NGFW will begin to initialize.
Set a secure username and password for the admin account.
The predefined, default administrator password (admin) must be changed on
the first login on a device. The new password must be a minimum of eight
characters and include a minimum of one lowercase and one uppercase
character, as well as one number or special character. Although you
don’t have to configure a new username, it is a best practice to do so
and to use unique usernames and passwords for each administrator. The
login must include at least one alphabetical character or symbol
(underscore, period, or hyphen, although a hyphen cannot be the first
character in the username) and cannot be numbers only.
Select .
Select the
admin role.
Enter the current default password and the new password.
Click
OK to save your settings.
Configure the MGT interface.
Select and edit the
Management
interface.
Set the
Speed to
auto-negotiate.
Specify the
MTU in bytes for packets sent on
this interface.
Select
IPv4 or
IPv6.
To configure IPv4 address settings for the MGT interface, select an
address
Type:
To configure IPv6 address settings for the MGT interface,
Enable IPv6 and select an address
Type:
To prevent unauthorized access to the management interface, it is a
an administrative best
practice to
Add the
Permitted IP Addresses from which an
administrator can access the MGT interface.
Select which management services to allow on the interface.
Make sure Telnet and
HTTP aren't selected because these
services use plaintext and aren't as secure as the other
services; they could compromise administrator credentials.
Click
OK.
Specify the update server, and configure
DNS settings and proxy server
settings.
You must manually configure at least one DNS server on the NGFW or it
won't be able to resolve hostnames; it won't use DNS server settings
from another source, such as an ISP.
Select .
For multi-virtual system platforms, select
Global and edit the Services
section.
For single virtual system platforms, edit the Services
section.
On the
Services tab,
Update
Server represents the IP address or host name of the
server from which to download updates from Palo Alto Networks. The
current value is
updates.paloaltonetworks.com.
Don't change this setting unless instructed by technical support.
Select
Verify Update Server Identity.
It's a best practice to enable this option,
which causes the firewall or Panorama to verify that the server from
which the software or content package is downloaded has an SSL
certificate signed by a trusted authority.
For
DNS, select the way for the MGT interface to
get DNS services:
Click
OK.
Configure date and time (NTP) settings.
Select .
For multi-virtual system platforms, select
Global and edit the Services
section.
For single virtual system platforms, edit the Services
section.
On the
NTP tab, to use the virtual cluster of
time servers on the Internet, enter the hostname
pool.ntp.org as the
Primary NTP
Server or enter the IP address of your primary NTP
server.
(
Optional) Enter a
Secondary NTP Server
address.
(
Optional) To authenticate time updates from the NTP
server(s), for
Authentication Type, select one of
the following for each server:
None—(Default) Disables NTP
authentication.
Symmetric Key—NGFW uses symmetric key
exchange (shared secrets) to authenticate time updates.
Key ID—Enter the Key ID
(1-65534).
Algorithm—Select the algorithm
to use in NTP authentication:
MD5,
SHA1, (PAN-OS 12.1.2
& later) SHA256,
or SHA512.
Autokey—NGFW uses autokey (public key
cryptography) to authenticate time updates.
Click
OK.
(
Optional) Configure general NGFW settings as needed.
Select and edit the General Settings.
Enter a
Hostname for the NGFW and enter your
network
Domain name. The domain name is just a
label; it will not be used to join the domain.
Enter
Login Banner text that informs users who
are about to log in that they require authorization to access the NGFW
management functions.
As a best practice, avoid using welcoming verbiage. Additionally,
you should ask your legal department to review the banner
message to ensure it adequately warns that unauthorized access
is prohibited.
Enter the
Latitude and
Longitude to enable accurate placement of the
NGFW on the world map.
Click
OK.
Commit your changes.
When the configuration changes are saved, you lose connectivity to the
web interface because the IP address has changed.
Click Commit at the top right of the web interface.
The NGFW can take up to 90 seconds to save your changes.
Connect the NGFW to your network.
Disconnect the NGFW from your computer.
(
All NGFWs except for the PA-5450) Connect the MGT port to a
switch port on your management network using an RJ-45 Ethernet cable.
Make sure that the switch port you cable the device to is configured for
auto-negotiation.
(
PA-5450 only) Connect the MGT port to a switch port on your
management network using a Palo Alto Networks certified SFP/SFP+
transceiver and cable.
Open an SSH management session to the NGFW.
Using a terminal emulation software, such as PuTTY, launch an SSH session to
the firewall using the new IP address you assigned to it.
Verify network access to external services required for NGFW management, such
as the Palo Alto Networks Update Server.
You can do this in one of the following ways:
Use update server connectivity test to verify network connectivity to
the Palo Alto Networks Update server as shown in the following
example:
Select , and select Update Server
Connectivity from the Select Test
drop-down.
Execute the update server connectivity
test.
Use the following CLI command to retrieve information on the support
entitlement for the firewall from the Palo Alto Networks update
server:
request support
check
If you have connectivity, the update server will respond with the
support status for your NGFW. If your firewall is not yet
registered, the update server returns the following message:
Contact Us
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/company/contact-us.html
Support Home
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/support/tabs/overview.html
Device not found on this update server
Perform the Initial Setup and Configuration for NGFWs (Air Gapped)
Perform the initial setup and configuration for an air gapped NGFW.
The air gapped NGFW cannot connect to the Palo Alto Networks update server because an
outbound internet connection is required. To activate licenses, upgrade the PAN-OS
software version, and install dynamic content updates you must upload the relevant
files to the air gapped NGFW manually.
Gather the required information from your network administrator.
Install and power on the NGFW.
Connect to the NGFW.
You must log in using the default admin username. You
are immediately prompted to change the default
admin password before you can continue. The
new password must be a minimum of eight characters and include a minimum of
one lowercase and one uppercase character, as well as one number or special
character.
You can connect to the NGFW in one of the following ways:
- Connect a serial cable from your computer to the Console port and
connect to the device using terminal emulation software (9600-8-N-1).
Wait a few minutes for the boot-up sequence to complete; when the NGFW
is ready, the prompt changes to the name of the NGFW, for example
PA-220 login.
- Log in to the NGFW web interface by connecting an RJ-45 Ethernet cable
from your computer to the MGT interface on the NGFW. From a browser, go
to https://192.168.1.1.
You may need to change the IP address on your computer to an
address in the 192.168.1.0/24 network, such as 192.168.1.2, to
access this URL.
(
Best Practices) Disable
Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).
ZTP can only be disabled from the firewall CLI. The NGFW reboots after you
disable ZTP.
Continue to the next steps after the NGFW has rebooted and you can log back
in.
