Best Practices for Content Updates—Mission-Critical
Table of Contents
Expand All
|
Collapse All
Next-Generation Firewall Docs
-
PAN-OS 9.1 (EoL)
- Cloud Management of NGFWs
- PAN-OS 10.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 10.1
- PAN-OS 10.2
- PAN-OS 11.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 11.1 & Later
- PAN-OS 9.1 (EoL)
-
- Management Interfaces
-
- Launch the Web Interface
- Configure Banners, Message of the Day, and Logos
- Use the Administrator Login Activity Indicators to Detect Account Misuse
- Manage and Monitor Administrative Tasks
- Commit, Validate, and Preview Firewall Configuration Changes
- Export Configuration Table Data
- Use Global Find to Search the Firewall or Panorama Management Server
- Manage Locks for Restricting Configuration Changes
-
-
- Define Access to the Web Interface Tabs
- Provide Granular Access to the Monitor Tab
- Provide Granular Access to the Policy Tab
- Provide Granular Access to the Objects Tab
- Provide Granular Access to the Network Tab
- Provide Granular Access to the Device Tab
- Define User Privacy Settings in the Admin Role Profile
- Restrict Administrator Access to Commit and Validate Functions
- Provide Granular Access to Global Settings
- Provide Granular Access to the Panorama Tab
- Panorama Web Interface Access Privileges
-
- Reset the Firewall to Factory Default Settings
-
- Plan Your Authentication Deployment
- Configure SAML Authentication
- Configure Kerberos Single Sign-On
- Configure Kerberos Server Authentication
- Configure TACACS+ Authentication
- Configure RADIUS Authentication
- Configure LDAP Authentication
- Configure Local Database Authentication
- Configure an Authentication Profile and Sequence
- Test Authentication Server Connectivity
- Troubleshoot Authentication Issues
-
- Keys and Certificates
- Default Trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs)
- Certificate Deployment
- Configure the Master Key
- Export a Certificate and Private Key
- Configure a Certificate Profile
- Configure an SSL/TLS Service Profile
- Replace the Certificate for Inbound Management Traffic
- Configure the Key Size for SSL Forward Proxy Server Certificates
-
- HA Overview
-
- Prerequisites for Active/Active HA
- Configure Active/Active HA
-
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA with Route-Based Redundancy
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA with Floating IP Addresses
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA with ARP Load-Sharing
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA with Floating IP Address Bound to Active-Primary Firewall
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA with Source DIPP NAT Using Floating IP Addresses
- Use Case: Configure Separate Source NAT IP Address Pools for Active/Active HA Firewalls
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA for ARP Load-Sharing with Destination NAT
- Use Case: Configure Active/Active HA for ARP Load-Sharing with Destination NAT in Layer 3
- Refresh HA1 SSH Keys and Configure Key Options
- HA Firewall States
- Reference: HA Synchronization
-
- Use the Dashboard
- Monitor Applications and Threats
- Monitor Block List
-
- Report Types
- View Reports
- Configure the Expiration Period and Run Time for Reports
- Disable Predefined Reports
- Custom Reports
- Generate Custom Reports
- Generate the SaaS Application Usage Report
- Manage PDF Summary Reports
- Generate User/Group Activity Reports
- Manage Report Groups
- Schedule Reports for Email Delivery
- Manage Report Storage Capacity
- View Policy Rule Usage
- Use External Services for Monitoring
- Configure Log Forwarding
- Configure Email Alerts
-
- Configure Syslog Monitoring
-
- Traffic Log Fields
- Threat Log Fields
- URL Filtering Log Fields
- Data Filtering Log Fields
- HIP Match Log Fields
- IP-Tag Log Fields
- User-ID Log Fields
- Tunnel Inspection Log Fields
- SCTP Log Fields
- Authentication Log Fields
- Config Log Fields
- System Log Fields
- Correlated Events Log Fields
- GTP Log Fields
- Syslog Severity
- Custom Log/Event Format
- Escape Sequences
- Forward Logs to an HTTP/S Destination
- Firewall Interface Identifiers in SNMP Managers and NetFlow Collectors
-
- User-ID Overview
- Enable User-ID
- Map Users to Groups
- Enable User- and Group-Based Policy
- Enable Policy for Users with Multiple Accounts
- Verify the User-ID Configuration
-
- App-ID Overview
- App-ID and HTTP/2 Inspection
- Manage Custom or Unknown Applications
-
- Apply Tags to an Application Filter
- Create Custom Application Tags
- Workflow to Best Incorporate New and Modified App-IDs
- See the New and Modified App-IDs in a Content Release
- See How New and Modified App-IDs Impact Your Security Policy
- Ensure Critical New App-IDs are Allowed
- Monitor New App-IDs
- Disable and Enable App-IDs
- Safely Enable Applications on Default Ports
- Applications with Implicit Support
- Application Level Gateways
- Disable the SIP Application-level Gateway (ALG)
- Maintain Custom Timeouts for Data Center Applications
-
- Best Practices for Securing Your Network from Layer 4 and Layer 7 Evasions
- Set Up Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, and Vulnerability Protection
- Set Up File Blocking
- Prevent Brute Force Attacks
- Customize the Action and Trigger Conditions for a Brute Force Signature
- Enable Evasion Signatures
- Monitor Blocked IP Addresses
- Threat Signature Categories
- Create Threat Exceptions
- Custom Signatures
- Threat Prevention Resources
-
- Decryption Overview
-
- Keys and Certificates for Decryption Policies
- SSL Forward Proxy
- SSL Forward Proxy Decryption Profile
- SSL Inbound Inspection
- SSL Inbound Inspection Decryption Profile
- SSL Protocol Settings Decryption Profile
- SSH Proxy
- SSH Proxy Decryption Profile
- Decryption Profile for No Decryption
- SSL Decryption for Elliptical Curve Cryptography (ECC) Certificates
- Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) Support for SSL Decryption
- SSL Decryption and Subject Alternative Names (SANs)
- High Availability Support for Decrypted Sessions
- Decryption Mirroring
- Configure SSL Forward Proxy
- Configure SSL Inbound Inspection
- Configure SSH Proxy
- Configure Server Certificate Verification for Undecrypted Traffic
- Enable Users to Opt Out of SSL Decryption
- Temporarily Disable SSL Decryption
- Configure Decryption Port Mirroring
- Verify Decryption
-
- How Decryption Broker Works
- Layer 3 Security Chain Guidelines
- Configure Decryption Broker with One or More Layer 3 Security Chain
- Transparent Bridge Security Chain Guidelines
- Configure Decryption Broker with a Single Transparent Bridge Security Chain
- Configure Decryption Broker with Multiple Transparent Bridge Security Chains
- Activate Free Licenses for Decryption Features
-
- About Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering Solution
- How Advanced URL Filtering Works
- URL Filtering Use Cases
- Plan Your URL Filtering Deployment
- URL Filtering Best Practices
- Activate The Advanced URL Filtering Subscription
- Configure URL Filtering
- Test URL Filtering Configuration
- Log Only the Page a User Visits
- Create a Custom URL Category
- URL Category Exceptions
- Use an External Dynamic List in a URL Filtering Profile
- Allow Password Access to Certain Sites
- URL Filtering Response Pages
- Customize the URL Filtering Response Pages
- HTTP Header Logging
- Request to Change the Category for a URL
-
-
- Tap Interfaces
-
- Layer 2 and Layer 3 Packets over a Virtual Wire
- Port Speeds of Virtual Wire Interfaces
- LLDP over a Virtual Wire
- Aggregated Interfaces for a Virtual Wire
- Virtual Wire Support of High Availability
- Zone Protection for a Virtual Wire Interface
- VLAN-Tagged Traffic
- Virtual Wire Subinterfaces
- Configure Virtual Wires
- Configure an Aggregate Interface Group
- Use Interface Management Profiles to Restrict Access
- Virtual Routers
- Service Routes
- RIP
- Route Redistribution
-
- DNS Overview
- DNS Proxy Object
- DNS Server Profile
- Multi-Tenant DNS Deployments
- Configure a DNS Proxy Object
- Configure a DNS Server Profile
- Use Case 1: Firewall Requires DNS Resolution
- Use Case 2: ISP Tenant Uses DNS Proxy to Handle DNS Resolution for Security Policies, Reporting, and Services within its Virtual System
- Use Case 3: Firewall Acts as DNS Proxy Between Client and Server
- DNS Proxy Rule and FQDN Matching
- Dynamic DNS Overview
- Configure Dynamic DNS for Firewall Interfaces
-
- NAT Rule Capacities
- Dynamic IP and Port NAT Oversubscription
- Dataplane NAT Memory Statistics
-
- Translate Internal Client IP Addresses to Your Public IP Address (Source DIPP NAT)
- Enable Clients on the Internal Network to Access your Public Servers (Destination U-Turn NAT)
- Enable Bi-Directional Address Translation for Your Public-Facing Servers (Static Source NAT)
- Configure Destination NAT with DNS Rewrite
- Configure Destination NAT Using Dynamic IP Addresses
- Modify the Oversubscription Rate for DIPP NAT
- Reserve Dynamic IP NAT Addresses
- Disable NAT for a Specific Host or Interface
-
-
- Policy Types
- Policy Objects
- Track Rules Within a Rulebase
- Enforce Policy Rule Description, Tag, and Audit Comment
- Move or Clone a Policy Rule or Object to a Different Virtual System
-
- External Dynamic List
- Built-in External Dynamic Lists
- Configure the Firewall to Access an External Dynamic List
- Retrieve an External Dynamic List from the Web Server
- View External Dynamic List Entries
- Exclude Entries from an External Dynamic List
- Enforce Policy on an External Dynamic List
- Find External Dynamic Lists That Failed Authentication
- Disable Authentication for an External Dynamic List
- Register IP Addresses and Tags Dynamically
- Use Dynamic User Groups in Policy
- Use Auto-Tagging to Automate Security Actions
- CLI Commands for Dynamic IP Addresses and Tags
- Application Override Policy
- Test Policy Rules
-
PAN-OS 10.1
- PAN-OS 10.1
- PAN-OS 10.2
- PAN-OS 11.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 11.1 & Later
-
- Tap Interfaces
-
- Layer 2 and Layer 3 Packets over a Virtual Wire
- Port Speeds of Virtual Wire Interfaces
- LLDP over a Virtual Wire
- Aggregated Interfaces for a Virtual Wire
- Virtual Wire Support of High Availability
- Zone Protection for a Virtual Wire Interface
- VLAN-Tagged Traffic
- Virtual Wire Subinterfaces
- Configure Virtual Wires
- Configure an Aggregate Interface Group
- Configure Bonjour Reflector for Network Segmentation
- Use Interface Management Profiles to Restrict Access
-
- DNS Overview
- DNS Proxy Object
- DNS Server Profile
- Multi-Tenant DNS Deployments
- Configure a DNS Proxy Object
- Configure a DNS Server Profile
- Use Case 1: Firewall Requires DNS Resolution
- Use Case 2: ISP Tenant Uses DNS Proxy to Handle DNS Resolution for Security Policies, Reporting, and Services within its Virtual System
- Use Case 3: Firewall Acts as DNS Proxy Between Client and Server
- DNS Proxy Rule and FQDN Matching
-
- NAT Rule Capacities
- Dynamic IP and Port NAT Oversubscription
- Dataplane NAT Memory Statistics
-
- Translate Internal Client IP Addresses to Your Public IP Address (Source DIPP NAT)
- Enable Clients on the Internal Network to Access your Public Servers (Destination U-Turn NAT)
- Enable Bi-Directional Address Translation for Your Public-Facing Servers (Static Source NAT)
- Configure Destination NAT with DNS Rewrite
- Configure Destination NAT Using Dynamic IP Addresses
- Modify the Oversubscription Rate for DIPP NAT
- Reserve Dynamic IP NAT Addresses
- Disable NAT for a Specific Host or Interface
-
- Network Packet Broker Overview
- How Network Packet Broker Works
- Prepare to Deploy Network Packet Broker
- Configure Transparent Bridge Security Chains
- Configure Routed Layer 3 Security Chains
- Network Packet Broker HA Support
- User Interface Changes for Network Packet Broker
- Limitations of Network Packet Broker
- Troubleshoot Network Packet Broker
-
-
Cloud Management and AIOps for NGFW
- Cloud Management and AIOps for NGFW
- PAN-OS 10.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 10.1
- PAN-OS 10.2
- PAN-OS 11.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 11.1
- PAN-OS 11.2
- PAN-OS 8.1 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 9.0 (EoL)
- PAN-OS 9.1 (EoL)
End-of-Life (EoL)
Best Practices for Content Updates—Mission-Critical
Follow these best practices to deploying content updates
in a mission-critical network, where application availability is
top priority.
The Best Practices for Applications and Threats Content Updates help to
ensure seamless policy enforcement as new application and threat
signatures are released. Follow these best practices to deploy content
updates in a mission-critical network, where you have zero
tolerance for application downtime.
- Always review Content Release Notes for the list of newly-identified and modified application and threat signatures that the content release introduces. Content Release Notes also describe how the update might impact existing security policy enforcement and provides recommendations on how you can modify your security policy to best leverage what’s new.To subscribe to get notifications for new content updates, visit the Customer Support Portal, edit your Preferences, and select Subscribe to Content Update Emails.You can also review Content Release Notes for apps and threats on the Palo Alto Networks Support Portal or directly in the firewall web interface: select DeviceDynamic Updates and open the Release Note for a specific content release version.The Notes section of Content Release Notes highlights future updates that Palo Alto Networks has identified as possibly significantly impacting coverage: for example, new App-IDs or decoders. Check for these future updates, so that you can account for any policy impact in advance of the release.
- Create a security policy rule to always allow certain categories of new App-IDs, like authentication or software development applications on which critical business functions rely. This means that when a content release introduces or changes coverage for an important business application, the firewall continues to seamlessly allow the application without requiring you to update your security policy. This eliminates any potential availability impact for App-IDs in critical categories, and gives you thirty days (new App-IDs are released on a monthly basis) to adjust your security policy to allow the mission-critical App-ID(s).To do this, create an application filter for new App-IDs in critical categories(Objects > Application Filters), and add the application filter to a security policy rule.
- To mitigate any impact to security policy enforcement that is associated with enabling new application and threat signatures, stagger the roll-out of new content. Provide new content to locations with less business risk (fewer users in satellite offices) before deploying them to locations with more business risk (such as locations with critical applications). Confining the latest content updates to certain firewalls before deploying them across your network also makes it easier to troubleshoot any issues that arise. You can use Panorama to push staggered schedules and installation thresholds to firewalls and device groups based on organization or location (Use Panorama to Deploy Updates to Firewalls).
- Schedule content updates so that they download-and-install automatically. Then, set a Threshold that determines the amount of time the firewall waits before installing the latest content. In a mission-critical network, schedule up to a 48 hour threshold.The installation delay ensures that the firewall only installs content that has been available and functioning in customer environments for the specified amount of time. To schedule content updates, select DeviceDynamic UpdatesSchedule.
- Give yourself additional time to adjust your security policy based on new App-IDs before you install them. To do this, set an installation threshold that applies only to content updates that contain new App-IDs. Content updates with new App-IDs are released only once a month, and installation threshold triggers only at that time. Schedule content updates to configure a New App-ID Threshold (DeviceDynamic UpdatesSchedule).
- Always review the new and modified App-IDs that a content release introduces, in order to assess how the changes might impact your security policy. The following topic describes the options you can use to update your security policy both before and after installing new App-IDs: Manage New and Modified App-IDs.
- Set up log forwarding to send Palo Alto Networks critical content alerts to external services that you use for monitoring network and firewall activity. This allows you to ensure that the appropriate personnel is notified about critical content issues, so that they can take action as needed. Critical content alerts are logged as system log entries with the following Type and Event: (subtype eq dynamic-updates) and (eventid eq palo-alto-networks-message).PAN-OS 8.1.2 changed the log type for critical content alerts from general to dynamic-updates. If you’re using PAN-OS 8.1.0 or PAN-OS 8.1.1, critical content are logged as system log entries with the following Type and Event, and you should set up forwarding for these alerts using the following filter: (subtype eq general) and (eventid eq palo-alto-networks-message).
- Test new Applications and Threats content updates in a dedicated staging environment before enabling them in your production environment. The easiest way to test new applications and threats is to use a test firewall to tap into production traffic. Install the latest content on the test firewall and monitor the firewall as it processes the traffic copied from your production environment. You can also use test clients and a test firewall or packet captures (PCAPs) to simulate production traffic. Using PCAPs works well to simulate traffic for diverse deployments where firewall security policy varies depending on location.