Configure a Template Stack

1. Plan the templates and their order in the stack.

   Add a Template you plan to assign to the template stack.

   When planning the priority order of templates within the stack (for overlapping settings), you must check the order to prevent misconfiguration. For example, consider a stack in which the ethernet1/1 interface is of type Layer 3 in Template_A but of type Layer 2 with a VLAN in Template_B. If Template_A has a higher priority, Panorama will push ethernet1/1 as type Layer 3 but assigned to a VLAN.

   Also note that a template configuration can’t reference a configuration in another template even if both templates are in the same stack. For example, a zone configuration in Template_A can’t reference a zone protection profile in Template_B.
2. Create a template stack.

   1. Select PanoramaTemplates and Add Stack.

      Panorama supports only Add Stack to create a new template stack. You cannot clone an existing template stack.
   2. Enter a unique Name to identify the stack.
   3. (Optional) Add a Description for the template stack.
   4. (Optional) Check (enable) Automatically push content when software device registers to Panorama.

      This setting is supported for VM-Series and CN-Series firewalls only. You must add the Panorama Public IP address to the Management Interface (PanoramaSetupInterfacesManagement) to automatically push the Antivirus and Application and Threats content versions to VM-Series and CN-Series firewalls.

      VM-Series firewalls deployed on NSX and hardware firewalls are not supported.

      Enable this setting to automatically push the Antivirus and Applications and Threats content versions installed on Panorama to your VM-Series and CN-Series firewalls on first connection to Panorama. Panorama attempts to push the installed dynamic content versions one time and does not attempt any subsequent pushes of the installed Antivirus and Application and Threats content versions if the initial push fails for any reason.

      For example, you add a VM-Series firewall to Panorama management and enable Auto Push on 1st Connect to automatically push the device group and template stack configuration to the VM-Series firewall on first connection. However, the template stack contains an invalid configuration and the push to the VM-Series firewall fails. In this scenario, the automatic content push to the VM-Series firewall also fails because the configuration push and dynamic content version push are included in the same push operation to the VM-Series firewall.

      When leveraging auto-scale, enabling this setting allows you to maintain existing images for VM-Series and CN-Series firewalls leveraging dynamic content in their configurations, such as in policies and AppID. This helps eliminate the operational overhead required to update VM-Series and CN-Series firewall images when new dynamic content update versions are introduced.
   5. For each of the templates the stack will combine (up to 8), Add and select the template. The dialog lists the added templates in order of priority with respect to duplicate settings, where values in the higher templates override those that are lower in the list. To change the order, select a template and Move Up or Move Down.

   6. In the Devices section, select firewalls to assign them to the stack. For firewalls with multiple virtual systems, you can’t assign individual virtual systems, only an entire firewall. You can assign any firewall to only one template stack.

      Whenever you add a new managed firewall to Panorama, you must assign it to the appropriate template stack; Panorama does not automatically assign new firewalls to a template or template stack. When you push configuration changes to a template, Panorama pushes the configuration to every firewall assigned to the template stack.
   7. (Optional) Select Group HA Peers to display a single check box for firewalls that are in a high availability (HA) configuration. Icons indicate the HA state: green for active and yellow for passive. The firewall name of the secondary peer is in parentheses.

      For active/passive HA, add both peers to the same template so that both will receive the configurations. For active/active HA, whether you add both peers to the same template depends on whether each peer requires the same configurations. For a list of the configurations that PAN-OS synchronizes between HA peers, see High Availability Synchronization.
   8. Click OK to save the template stack.
3. (Optional) Configure a Template or Template Stack Variable.
4. Edit the Network and Device settings, as necessary.

   Renaming a vsys is allowed only on the local firewall. If you rename a vsys on Panorama, the result is an entirely new vsys or the new vsys name gets mapped to the wrong vsys on the firewall.

   In an individual firewall context, you can override settings that Panorama pushes from a stack in the same way you override settings pushed from a template, see Override a Template or Template Stack Value.

   1. Filter the tabs to display only the mode-specific settings you want to edit:

      While Panorama pushes mode-specific settings only to firewalls that support those modes, this selective push doesn’t adjust mode-specific values. For example, if a template has firewalls in Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) mode and an IKE Crypto profile that uses non-FIPS algorithms, the template push will fail. To avoid such errors, use the Mode drop-down in the Network and Device tabs to filter mode-specific features and value options.

      • In the Mode drop-down, select or clear the Multi VSYS, Operational Mode, and VPN Mode filter options.
      • Set all the Mode options to reflect the mode configuration of a particular firewall by selecting it in the Device drop-down.
   2. Set up your interfaces and network connectivity. For example, Configure Zones and Interfaces to segment your network to manage and control traffic passing through your firewall.
   3. Edit the settings as needed.
   4. Select CommitCommit and Push, Edit Selections in the Push Scope, select Templates, select the firewalls assigned to the template stack, and then Commit and Push your changes to the Panorama configuration and to the template stack.
5. Verify that the template stack works as expected.

   1. Select a device assigned to the template stack from the Context drop-down.
   2. Select a tab to which you pushed configuration changes using the template stack.
   3. Values pushed from the template stack display a template icon (

      ) to indicate that settings in the section have values pushed from a template stack. Hover your mouse over the stack to view which template stack from which the value was pushed.

6. Troubleshoot Connectivity to Network Resources to verify your firewalls can access your network resources.