Reference: HA Synchronization
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Reference:
HA Synchronization
If you have enabled configuration synchronization on both peers in an HA pair, most of the
configuration settings you configure on one peer will automatically sync to the other
peer upon commit. To avoid configuration conflicts, always make configuration changes on
the active (active/passive) or active-primary (active/active) peer and wait for the
changes to sync to the peer before making any additional configuration changes.
Only committed configurations synchronize between HA peers. Any configuration in the commit
queue at the time of an HA sync will not be synchronized.
What Doesn't Sync in Active/Passive HA?
The following table identifies which configuration settings don't synchronize in
active/passive HA. You must configure the settings on each firewall in the HA pair;
the settings do not sync from one peer to another.
Configuration Item | What Doesn’t Sync in Active/Passive? |
---|---|
Management Interface Settings | All management configuration settings must be configured
individually on each firewall, including:
|
Multi-vsys Capability | You must activate the Virtual Systems license on each firewall in
the pair to increase the number of virtual systems beyond the
base number provided by default on PA-400 Series, PA-3200
Series, PA-3400 Series, PA-5200 Series, PA-5400 Series, and
PA-7000 Series firewalls. You must also enable Multi Virtual System
Capability on each firewall (Device Setup Management General Settings |
Panorama Settings | Set the following Panorama settings on each firewall ( Device Setup Management Panorama Settings
|
SNMP | Device Setup Operations SNMP Setup |
Services | Device Setup Services |
Global Service Routes | Device Setup Services Service Route Configuration |
Data Protection | Device Setup Content-ID Manage Data Protection |
Jumbo Frames | Device Setup Session Session Settings Enable Jumbo Frame |
Packet Buffer Protection | Device Setup Session Session Settings Packet Buffer Protection Network Zones Enable Packet Buffer Protection |
Forward Proxy Server Certificate Settings | Device Setup Session Decryption Settings SSL Forward Proxy Settings |
Master Key Secured by HSM | Device Setup HSM Hardware Security Module Provider Master Key Secured by HSM |
Log Export Settings | Device Scheduled Log Export |
Software Updates | With software updates, you can either download and install them
separately on each firewall, or download them on one peer and
sync the update to the other peer. You must install the update
on each peer ( Device Software |
GlobalProtect Agent Package | With GlobalProtect app updates, you can either download and
install them separately on each firewall, or download them to
one peer and sync the update to the other peer. You must
activate separately on each peer ( Device GlobalProtect Client |
Content Updates | With content updates, you can either download and install them
separately on each firewall, or download them on one peer and
sync the update to the other peer. You must install the update
on each peer ( Device Dynamic Updates |
Licenses/Subscriptions | Device Licenses |
Support Subscription | Device Support |
Master Key | The master key must be identical on each firewall in the HA pair,
but you must manually enter it on each firewall ( Device Master Key and Diagnostics Before changing the master key, you must disable config sync on
both peers ( Device High Availability General Setup Enable Config
Sync check box) and then re-enable it after you
change the keys. |
Reports, logs, and Dashboard Settings | Log data, reports, and Dashboard data and settings (column
display, widgets) are not synced between peers. Report
configuration settings, however, are synced. |
HA settings | Device High Availability |
Decryption | After a failover, firewalls do not support HA sync for decrypted SSL
sessions. |
Rule Usage Data | Rule usage data, such as hit count, Created, and Modified Dates,
are not synced between peers. You need to log in to the each
firewall to view the policy rule hit count data for each
firewall or use Panorama to view information on the HA firewall
peers. |
Certificates for Device Management and Syslog Communication over
SSL only | Device Certificate Management Certificates Certificates used for device management or for syslog
communication over SSL don’t synchronize with an HA peer. Although the certificates used for the
management interface are not synchronized (and can be
different), the name of the certificate entry should be the same
for the active and passive devices. |
Certificates in a Certificate Profile | Device Certificate Management Certificate Profile |
SSL/TLS Service Profile for Device Management only | Device Certificate Management SSL/TLS Service Profile SSL/TLS Service Profile for Device Management doesn’t synchronize
with an HA peer. |
Device-ID and IoT Security | IP address-to-device mappings and policy rule recommendations
don’t synchronize with an HA peer. |
What Doesn't Sync in Active/Active HA?
The following table identifies which configuration settings don't synchronize in
active/active HA. You must configure the settings on each firewall in the HA pair;
the settings do not sync from one peer to another.
Configuration Item | What Doesn’t Sync in Active/Active? |
---|---|
Management Interface Settings | You must configure all management settings individually on each
firewall, including:
|
Multi-vsys Capability | You must activate the Virtual Systems license on each firewall in
the pair to increase the number of virtual systems beyond the
base number provided by default on PA-400 Series, PA-3200
Series, PA-3400 Series, PA-5200 Series, PA-5400 Series, and
PA-7000 Series firewalls. You must also enable Multi Virtual System
Capability on each firewall (Device Setup Management General Settings |
Panorama Settings | Set the following Panorama settings on each firewall ( Device Setup Management Panorama Settings
|
SNMP | Device Setup Operations SNMP Setup |
Services | Device Setup Services |
Global Service Routes | Device Setup Services Service Route Configuration |
Telemetry and Threat Intelligence Settings | Device Setup Telemetry and Threat Intelligence |
Data Protection | Device Setup Content-ID Manage Data Protection |
Jumbo Frames | Device Setup Session Session Settings Enable Jumbo Frame |
Packet Buffer Protection | Device Setup Session Session Settings Packet Buffer Protection Network Zones Enable Packet Buffer Protection |
Forward Proxy Server Certificate Settings | Device Setup Session Decryption Settings SSL Forward Proxy Settings |
HSM Configuration | Device Setup HSM |
Log Export Settings | Device Scheduled Log Export |
Software Updates | With software updates, you can either download and install them
separately on each firewall, or download them on one peer and
sync the update to the other peer. You must install the update
on each peer ( Device Software |
GlobalProtect Agent Package | With GlobalProtect app updates, you can either download and
install them separately on each firewall, or download them to
one peer and sync the update to the other peer. You must
activate separately on each peer ( Device GlobalProtect Client |
Content Updates | With content updates, you can either download and install them
separately on each firewall, or download them on one peer and
sync the update to the other peer. You must install the update
on each peer ( Device Dynamic Updates |
Licenses/Subscriptions | Device Licenses |
Support Subscription | Device Support |
Ethernet Interface IP Addresses | All Ethernet interface configuration settings sync except for the
IP address ( Network Interface Ethernet |
Loopback Interface IP Addresses | All Loopback interface configuration settings sync except for the
IP address ( Network Interface Loopback |
Tunnel Interface IP Addresses | All Tunnel interface configuration settings sync except for the
IP address ( Network Interface Tunnel |
LACP System Priority | Each peer must have a unique LACP System ID in an active/active
deployment ( Network Interface Ethernet Add Aggregate Group System Priority |
VLAN Interface IP Address | All VLAN interface configuration settings sync except for the IP
address ( Network Interface VLAN |
Virtual Routers | Virtual router configuration synchronizes only if you have
enabled VR Sync ( Device High Availability Active/Active Config Packet Forwarding |
IPSec Tunnels | IPSec tunnel configuration synchronization is dependent on
whether you have configured the Virtual Addresses to use
Floating IP addresses ( Device High Availability Active/Active Config Virtual Address |
GlobalProtect Portal Configuration | GlobalProtect portal configuration synchronization is dependent
on whether you have configured the Virtual Addresses to use
Floating IP addresses ( Network GlobalProtect Portals |
GlobalProtect Gateway Configuration | GlobalProtect gateway configuration synchronization is dependent
on whether you have configured the Virtual Addresses to use
Floating IP addresses ( Network GlobalProtect Gateways |
QoS | QoS configuration synchronizes only if you have enabled
QoS Sync (Device High Availability Active/Active Config Packet Forwarding |
LLDP | No LLDP state or individual firewall data is synchronized in an
active/active configuration ( Network Network Profiles LLDP |
BFD | No BFD configuration or BFD session data is synchronized in an
active/active configuration ( Network Network Profiles BFD Profile |
IKE Gateways | IKE gateway configuration synchronization is dependent on whether
you have configured the Virtual Addresses to use floating IP
addresses ( Network IKE Gateways |
Master Key | The master key must be identical on each firewall in the HA pair,
but you must manually enter it on each firewall ( Device Master Key and Diagnostics Before changing the master key, you must disable config sync on
both peers ( Device High Availability General Setup Enable Config
Sync check box) and then re-enable it after you
change the keys. |
Reports, logs, and Dashboard Settings | Log data, reports, and dashboard data and settings (column
display, widgets) are not synced between peers. Report
configuration settings, however, are synced. |
HA settings |
|
Decryption | After a failover, firewalls do not support HA sync for decrypted SSL
sessions. |
Rule Usage Data | Rule usage data, such as hit count, Created, and Modified Dates,
are not synced between peers. You need to log in to the each
firewall to view the policy rule hit count data for each
firewall or use Panorama to view information on the HA firewall
peers. |
Certificates for Device Management and Syslog Communication over
SSL only | Device Certificate Management Certificates Certificates used for device management or for syslog
communication over SSL don’t synchronize with an HA peer. |
Certificates in a Certificate Profile | Device Certificate Management Certificate Profile |
SSL/TLS Service Profile for Device Management only | Device Certificate Management SSL/TLS Service Profile SSL/TLS Service Profile for Device Management doesn’t synchronize
with an HA peer. |
Device-ID and IoT Security | IP address-to-device mappings and policy rule recommendations
don’t synchronize with an HA peer. |
System Runtime Information Synchronized Between HA Peers
The following table summarizes the system runtime information that is synchronized
between HA peers.
Runtime Information | Information Synced? | HA Link | Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A/P | A/A | |||
Management Plane | ||||
User to Group Mappings | Yes | Yes | HA1 | |
User Mappings across Virtual Systems | Yes | Yes | HA1 | |
User to IP Address Mappings | Yes | Yes | HA1 | In an A/A configuration, only the Active-Primary peer connects to
User-ID Servers or Agents, and not the Active-Secondary peer. If
the Active-Primary peer is Suspended or offline, the
Active-Secondary peer connects to the User-ID Servers or
Agents. |
DHCP Lease (as server) | Yes | Yes | HA1 | If the PAN-OS versions on the HA peers don’t match, the DHCP
Lease (as server) config information won’t sync. |
DNS Cache | No | No | N/A | |
FQDN Refresh | No | No | N/A | |
IKE SAs [Security Associations] (phase 1) | No | No | N/A | |
Forward Information Base (FIB) | Yes | No | HA1 | |
Multicast FIB (MFIB) | Yes | No | HA1 | |
PAN-DB URL Cache | Yes | No | HA1 | This is synchronized upon database backup to disk (every eight
hours, when URL database version updates), or when the firewall
reboots. |
Content (manual sync) | Yes | Yes | HA1 | |
PPPoE, PPPoE Lease | Yes | Yes | HA1 | |
DHCP Client Settings and Lease | Yes | Yes | HA1 | If the PAN-OS versions on the HA peers don’t match, the DHCP
Client Settings and Lease config information won’t sync. |
SSL VPN Logged in User List | Yes | Yes | HA1 | |
Dataplane | ||||
Session Table | Yes | Yes | HA2 |
|
ARP Table | Yes | No | HA2 | |
Multicast Session Table | Yes | No | HA2 | |
Neighbor Discovery (ND) Table | Yes | No | HA2 | |
MAC Table | Yes | No | HA2 | |
IPSec SAs [Security Associations] (phase 2) | Yes | Yes | HA2 | |
IPSec Sequence Number (anti-replay) | Yes | Yes | HA2 | |
DoS Block List Entries | No | No | N/A | |
Virtual MAC | Yes | Yes | HA2 | |
SCTP Associations | Yes | No | HA2 |
CLI Commands for HA Synchronization
You can use the following CLI operational command and options to synchronize HA
peers:
username@hostname>request high-availability sync-to-remote>candidate-config Sync candidate configuration to peer >clock Sync the local time and date to the peer >id-manager id-manager >running-config Sync running configuration to peer >ssh-key Sync ha ssh key to peer
A configuration pushed from Panorama isn't synchronized between firewalls. If you use
Panorama to manage firewalls, you could decide, for example, to use the no form of
the following CLI configuration command to disable configuration synchronization on
the firewalls:
username@hostname#set deviceconfig high-availability group configuration-synchronization enabledno no yes yes
Use the no form of the following CLI configuration command to disable state (session)
synchronization on the firewalls:
username@hostname#set deviceconfig high-availability group state-synchronization enabledno no yes yes
Reasons That Synchronization Doesn't Happen
Sessions won't synchronize for the following reasons:
- If you disable session (state) synchronization.
- If the HA2 link or connection is down.
The HA configurations won't synchronize for the following reasons:
- If you disabled configuration synchronization on either HA peer.
- If the PAN-OS versions are incompatible on HA peers.
- If configurations on HA peers are not already synchronized.
- If Multi Virtual System Capability is enabled on one HA peer and not the other.
- If GTP is enabled on one HA peer and not the other.
- If SCTP is enabled on one HA peer and not the other.
- If VPN is enabled on one HA peer and not the other.
- If the same features aren't enabled on both HA peers.
- If the dataplane and slots aren't ready on an HA peer.
- If the URL databases are incompatible on the HA peers.
- If the licenses aren't the same on the HA peers.
- Additionally, a plugin mismatch might (not always) prevent configurations from synchronizing.