Set Up the M-Series Appliance as a Log Collector

Set up the Panorama management server that will manage the Log Collector if you have not already done so.
Perform one of the following tasks:
Set Up the Panorama Virtual Appliance
Set Up the M-Series Appliance
Record the management IP addresses of the Panorama management server.
If you deployed Panorama in a high availability (HA) configuration, you need the IP address of each HA peer.
Log in to the web interface of the Panorama management server.
Record the
IP Address
of the solitary (non-HA) or active (HA) Panorama by selecting
Panorama
Setup
Management
and checking the Management Interface Settings.
For an HA deployment, record the
Peer HA IP Address
of the passive Panorama by selecting
Panorama
High Availability
and checking the Setup section.
Set up the M-Series appliance that will serve as a Dedicated Log Collector.
If you previously deployed this appliance as a Panorama management server, you can skip this step because the MGT interface is already configured and the licenses and updates are already installed.
The M-Series appliance in Log Collector mode does not have a web interface for configuration tasks, only a CLI. Therefore, before changing the mode on the M-Series appliance, use the web interface in Panorama mode to:
Perform Initial Configuration of the M-Series Appliance.
Register Panorama and Install Licenses.
Install Content and Software Updates for Panorama.
Access the CLI of the M-Series appliance.
Connect to the M-Series appliance in one of the following ways:
Attach a serial cable from your computer to the Console port on the M-Series appliance. Then use terminal emulation software (9600-8-N-1) to connect.
Use terminal emulation software such as PuTTY to open an SSH session to the IP address that you specified for the MGT interface of the M-Series appliance during initial configuration.
Log in to the CLI when prompted. Use the default admin account and the password that you specified during initial configuration.
Switch from Panorama mode to Log Collector mode.
Switch to Log Collector mode by entering the following command:

> 
request system system-mode logger 

Enter

Y

to confirm the mode change. The M-Series appliance reboots. If the reboot process terminates your terminal emulation software session, reconnect to the M-Series appliance to see the Panorama login prompt.

If you see a

CMS Login

prompt, this means the Log Collector has not finished rebooting. Press Enter at the prompt without typing a username or password.

Log back in to the CLI.

Verify that the switch to Log Collector mode succeeded:

> 
show system info | match system-mode 

If the mode change succeeded, the output displays:

system-mode: logger
Configure the logging disks as RAID1 pairs.
If you previously deployed the appliance as a Panorama management server, you can skip this step because the disk pairs are already configured and available.
The time required to configure the drives varies from several minutes to a couple of hours, based on the amount of data on the drives.
Determine which disk pairs are present for configuring as RAID pairs on the M-Series appliance:

> 
show system raid detail 

Perform the remaining steps to configure each disk pair that has

present

disks. This example uses disk pair A1/A2.

To add the first disk in the pair, enter the following command and enter

y

when prompted to confirm the request:

> 
request system raid add A1 

Wait for the process to finish before adding the next disk in the pair. To monitor the progress of the RAID configuration, re-enter:

> 
show system raid detail 

After the process finishes for the first disk, the output displays the disk pair status as

Available

but

degraded

.

Add the second disk in the pair:

> 
request system raid add A2

Verify that the disk setup is complete:

> 
show system raid detail 

After the process finishes for the second disk, the output displays the disk pair status as

Available

and

clean

:

Disk Pair A      Available 
Status        clean 
Enable connectivity between the Log Collector and Panorama management server.
Enter the following commands at the Log Collector CLI, where
<IPaddress1>
is for the MGT interface of the solitary (non-HA) or active (HA) Panorama and
<IPaddress2>
is for the MGT interface of the passive (HA) Panorama, if applicable.
> 
configure  
# 
set deviceconfig system panorama-server 
<IPaddress1> panorama-server-2 
<IPaddress2>  
# 
commit  
# 
exit  
Record the serial number of the Log Collector.
You need the serial number to add the Log Collector as a managed collector on the Panorama management server.
At the Log Collector CLI, enter the following command to display its serial number.
> 
show system info | match serial 
Record the serial number.
Add the Log Collector as a managed collector to the Panorama management server.
Select
Panorama
Managed Collectors
and
Add
a managed collector.
In the
General
settings, enter the serial number (
Collector S/N
) you recorded for the Log Collector.
In the
Panorama Server IP
field, enter the IP address or FQDN of the solitary (non-HA) or active (HA) Panorama. For HA deployments, enter the IP address or FQDN of the passive Panorama peer in the
Panorama Server IP 2
field.
These IP addresses must specify a Panorama interface that has
Device Management and Device Log Collection
services enabled. By default, these services are enabled only on the MGT interface. However, you might have enabled the services on other interfaces when you Set Up the M-Series Appliance that is a Panorama management server.
Select
Interfaces
, click
Management
, and configure one or both of the following field sets for the MGT interface based on the IP protocols of your network.
IPv4—
IP Address
,
Netmask
, and
Default Gateway
IPv6—
IPv6 Address/Prefix Length
and
Default IPv6 Gateway
Click
OK
twice to save your changes to the Log Collector.
Select
Commit
Commit to Panorama
and
Commit
your changes to the Panorama configuration.
This step is required before you can enable logging disks.
Verify that
Panorama
Managed Collectors
lists the Log Collector you added. The Connected column displays a check mark to indicate that the Log Collector is connected to Panorama. You might have to wait a few minutes before the page displays the updated connection status.
At this point, the Configuration Status column displays Out of Sync and the Run Time Status column displays disconnected. The status will change to In Sync and connected after you configure a Collector Group (Step Assign the Log Collector to a Collector Group.).
Enable the logging disks.
Select
Panorama
Managed Collectors
and edit the Log Collector.
Select
Disks
and
Add
each RAID disk pair.
Click
OK
to save your changes.
Select
Commit
Commit to Panorama
and
Commit
your changes to the Panorama configuration.
(
Recommended
) Configure the
Ethernet1
,
Ethernet2
,
Ethernet3
,
Ethernet4
, and
Ethernet5
interfaces if the Panorama management server and Log Collector will use them for
Device Log Collection
(receiving logs from firewalls) and
Collector Group Communication
.
If you previously deployed the Log Collector as a Panorama management server and configured these interfaces, you must reconfigure them because switching to Log Collector mode (Switch from Panorama mode to Log Collector mode.) would have deleted all configurations except the management access settings.
Configure each interface on the Panorama management server (other than the MGT interface) if you haven’t already:
Select
Panorama
Setup
Interfaces
and click the Interface Name.
Select
<interface-name>
to enable the interface.
Complete one or both of the following field sets based on the IP protocols of your network:
IPv4—
IP Address
,
Netmask
, and
Default Gateway
IPv6—
IPv6 Address/Prefix Length
and
Default IPv6 Gateway
Select the Device Management Services that the interface supports:
Device Management and Device Log Collection
—You can assign one or more interfaces.
Collector Group Communication
—You can assign only one interface.
Device Deployment
(software and content updates)—You can assign only one interface.
Click
OK
to save your changes.
Configure each interface on the Log Collector (other than the MGT interface):
Select
Panorama
Managed Collectors
and edit the Log Collector.
Select
Interfaces
and click the name of the interface.
Select
<interface-name>
to enable the interface.
Complete one or both of the following field sets based on the IP protocols of your network:
IPv4—
IP Address
,
Netmask
, and
Default Gateway
IPv6—
IPv6 Address/Prefix Length
and
Default IPv6 Gateway
Select the Device Management Services that the interface supports:
Device Log Collection
—You can assign one or more interfaces.
Collector Group Communication
—You can assign only one interface.
Click
OK
to save your changes to the interface.
Click
OK
to save your changes to the Log Collector.
Select
Commit
Commit to Panorama
and
Commit
your changes to the Panorama configuration.
(
Optional
) If your deployment is using custom certificates for authentication between Panorama and managed devices, deploy the custom client device certificate. For more information, see Set Up Authentication Using Custom Certificates.
Select
Panorama
Certificate Management
Certificate Profile
and choose the certificate profile from the drop-down or click
New Certificate Profile
to create one.
Select
Panorama
Managed Collectors
Add
Communication
for a Log Collector.
Select the
Secure Client Communication
check box.
Select the type of device certificate the Type drop-down.
If you are using a local device certificate, select the
Certificate
and
Certificate Profile
from the respective drop-downs.
If you are using SCEP as the device certificate, select the
SCEP Profile
and
Certificate Profile
from the respective drop-downs.
Click
OK
.
(
Optional
) Configure Secure Server Communication on a Log Collector. For more information, see Set Up Authentication Using Custom Certificates.
Select
Panorama
Managed Collectors
Add
Communication
.
Verify that the
Custom Certificate Only
check box is not selected. This allows you to continue managing all devices while migrating to custom certificates.
When the Custom Certificate Only check box is selected, the Log Collector does not authenticate and cannot receive logs from devices using predefined certificates.
Select the SSL/TLS service profile from the
SSL/TLS Service Profile
drop-down. This SSL/TLS service profile applies to all SSL connections between the Log Collector and devices sending it logs.
Select the certificate profile from the
Certificate Profile
drop-down.
Select
Authorize Client Based on Serial Number
to have the server check clients against the serial numbers of managed devices. The client certificate must have the special keyword $UDID set as the CN to authorize based on serial numbers.
In
Disconnect Wait Time (min)
, enter the number of minutes Panorama should wait before breaking and reestablishing the connection with its managed devices. This field is blank by default and the range is 0 to 44,640 minutes.
The disconnect wait time does not begin counting down until you commit the new configuration.
(
Optional
) Configure an authorization list.
Click
Add
under Authorization List.
Select the
Subject
or
Subject Alt Name
as the Identifier type.
Enter an identifier of the selected type.
Click
OK
.
Select
Check Authorization List
to enforce the authorization list.
Click
OK
.
Select
Commit
Commit to Panorama
.
Assign the Log Collector to a Collector Group.
Configure a Collector Group. You must perform a Panorama commit and then a Collector Group commit to synchronize the Log Collector configuration with Panorama and to put the Eth1, Eth2, Eth3, Eth4, and Eth5 interfaces (if you configured them) in an operational state on the Log Collector.

In any single Collector Group, all the Log Collectors must run on the same Panorama model: all M-500 appliances, all M-100 appliances, or all Panorama virtual appliances.

As a best practice,

Enable log redundancy across collectors

if you add multiple Log Collectors to a single Collector group. This option requires each Log Collector to have the same number of logging disks.

Select

Panorama

Managed Collectors

to verify that the Log Collector configuration is synchronized with Panorama.

The Configuration Status column should display In Sync and the Run Time Status column should display connected.

Access the Log Collector CLI and enter the following command to verify that its interfaces are operational:

> 
show interface all

The output displays the

state

as

up

for each interface that is operational.

If the Collector Group has multiple Log Collectors, verify they can communicate with each other by running the following command for each interface that the Log Collectors use. For the

source

IP address, specify the interface of the Log Collector on which you run the command. For the

host

IP address, specify the matching interface of another Log Collector in the same Collector Group.

> 
ping source 
<IP-address> host 
<IP-address> 

For example, if a Collector Group contains Log Collector A with an MGT interface set to 192.0.2.1 and Log Collector B with an MGT interface set to 192.0.2.2, log in to Log Collector A and enter:

> 
ping source 192.0.2.1 host 192.0.2.2 

If the Log Collectors can communicate over their MGT interfaces, the output displays:

PING 192.0.2.2 (192.0.2.2) from 192.0.2.1 : 56(84) bytes of data.
Next steps...
To enable the Log Collector to receive firewall logs:
Configure Log Forwarding to Panorama.
Verify Log Forwarding to Panorama.