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Device > Master Key and Diagnostics

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Device > Master Key and Diagnostics

DeviceMaster Key and Diagnostics
PanoramaMaster Key and Diagnostics

Edit the master key that encrypts all passwords and private keys on the firewall or Panorama (such as the RSA key for authenticating administrators who access the CLI). Encrypting passwords and keys improves security by ensuring their plaintext values are not exposed anywhere on the firewall or Panorama.

The only way to restore the default master key is to perform a factory reset

Palo Alto Networks recommends you configure a new master key instead of using the default key, store the key in a safe location, and periodically change it. For extra privacy, you can use a hardware security module to encrypt the master key (see Device > Setup > HSM). Configuring a unique master key on each firewall or Panorama management server ensures that an attacker who learns the master key for one appliance cannot access the passwords and private keys on any of your other appliances. However, you must use the same master key across multiple appliances in the following cases:

High availability (HA) configurations—If you deploy firewalls or Panorama in an HA configuration, use the same master key on both firewalls or Panorama management servers in the pair. Otherwise, HA synchronization does not work.
Panorama pushes configurations to firewalls—If you use Panorama to push configurations to managed firewalls, use the same master key on Panorama and the managed firewalls. Otherwise, push operations from Panorama will fail.

To configure a master key, edit the Master Key settings and use the following table to determine the appropriate values:

Master Key and Diagnostics Settings	Description
Master Key	Enable to configure a unique master key. Disable (clear) to use the default master key.
Current Master Key	Specify the key that is currently used to encrypt all of the private keys and passwords on the firewall.
New Master Key Confirm Master Key	To change the master key, enter a 16-character string and confirm the new key.
Life Time	Specify the number of Days and Hours after which the master key expires. Range is 1 to 438,000 days (50 years). You must configure a new master key before the current key expires. If the master key expires, the firewall or Panorama automatically reboots in Maintenance mode. You must then perform a factory reset .
Time for Reminder	Enter the number of Days and Hours before the master key expires when the firewall generates an expiration alarm. The firewall automatically opens the System Alarms dialog to display the alarm. To ensure the expiration alarm displays, select DeviceLog Settings, edit the Alarm Settings, and Enable Alarms.
Stored on HSM	Enable this option only if the master key is encrypted on a Hardware Security Module (HSM). You cannot use HSM on a dynamic interface such as a DHCP client or PPPoE. The HSM configuration is not synchronized between peer firewalls in HA mode. Therefore, each peer in an HA pair can connect to a different HSM source. If you are using Panorama and need to keep both peer configurations in sync, use Panorama templates to configure the HSM source on the managed firewalls. The PA-220 does not support HSM.
Auto Renew Master Key	Enable to automatically renew the master key for a specified number of days and hours. Disable (clear) to allow the master key to expire after the configured key life time. Auto Renew with Same Master Key by specifying the number of Days and Hours by which to extend the master key encryption (range is 1 hour to 730 days).
Common Criteria	In Common Criteria mode, additional options are available to run a cryptographic algorithm self-test and software integrity self-test. A scheduler is also included to specify the times at which the two self-tests will run.

Device > Support

Deploy Master Key