Perform Initial Configuration of the Panorama Virtual Appliance

1. Gather the required information from your network administrator.
   Collect the following information for the management (MGT) interface:

   • IP address for the management (MGT) interface
   • Netmask
   • Default gateway
   • DNS server IP address
     To complete the configuration of the MGT interface, you must specify the IP address, netmask (for IPv4) or prefix length (for IPv6), and default gateway. If you omit settings (such as the default gateway), you can access Panorama only through the console port for future configuration changes. As a best practice, always commit a complete MGT interface configuration.
2. Access the console of the Panorama virtual appliance.
   1. Access the console.
      On an ESXi server:

      1. Launch the VMware vSphere Client.
      2. Select the Console tab for the Panorama virtual appliance and press enter to access the login screen.
         On vCloud Air:

      1. Access the vCloud Air web console and select your Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand region.
      2. Select the Virtual Machines tab, right-click the Panorama virtual machine, and select Open In Console.
   2. Enter your username and password to log in (default is admin for both).
   On AWS, Azure, GCP, KVM, and Hyper-V:

   • Log in to the Panorama CLI.
3. Configure the network access settings for the MGT interface.
   Panorama uses the MGT interface for management traffic, high availability synchronization, log collection, and communication within Collector Groups.
   1. Enter the following commands, where <Panorama-IP> is the IP address you want to assign to the Panorama management interface, <netmask> is the subnet mask, <gateway-IP> is the IP address of the network gateway, and <DNS-IP> is the IP address of the DNS server:

      > configure  
      # set deviceconfig system ip-address <Panorama-IP> netmask <netmask> default-gateway <gateway-IP> dns-setting servers primary <DNS-IP>  
      # commit  
      # exit

   2. Troubleshoot Connectivity to Network Resources to verify network access to external services required for firewall management, such as the default gateway, DNS server, and the Palo Alto Networks Update Server, as shown in the following example:

      

4. Configure the general settings.
   1. Using a secure connection (HTTPS) from a web browser, log in to the Panorama web interface using the IP address and password you assigned to the management interface (https://<IP address>).
   2. Select PanoramaSetupManagement and edit the General Settings.
   3. Enter a Hostname for the server and enter the network Domain name. The domain name is just a label; Panorama doesn’t use it to join the domain.
   4. Align the clock on Panorama and the managed firewalls to use the same Time Zone, for example GMT or UTC. If you plan to use the Logging Service, you must configure NTP so that Panorama can stay in sync with the Logging Service.
      Timestamps are recorded when Panorama receives the logs and the managed firewalls generate the logs. Aligning the time zones on Panorama and the firewalls ensures that the timestamps are synchronized and the process of querying logs and generating reports on Panorama is harmonious.
   5. Enter the Latitude and Longitude to enable accurate placement of the Panorama management server on the world map.
   6. Enter the Serial Number you received in the order fulfillment email.
   7. Click OK to save your changes.
5. Change the default administrator password.
   To ensure that the management interface remains secure, configure the Minimum Password Complexity (PanoramaSetupManagement).
   1. Click the admin link on the left side of the web interface footer.
   2. Enter the Old Password and the New Password in the appropriate fields and record the new password in a safe location.
   3. Click OK.
6. (Optional) Modify the management interface settings.
   1. Select PanoramaSetupInterfaces and click Management.
   2. If your firewalls connect to the Panorama management server using a public IP address that is translated to a private IP address (NAT), enter the public IP in the Public IP Address field, and the private IP in the IP Address field to push both addresses to your firewalls.
   3. Select which Network Connectivity Services to allow on the interface (such as SSH access).
      Don’t select Telnet or HTTP. These services use plaintext and are less secure than the other services.
   4. Click OK to save your changes to the interface.
7. Commit your configuration changes.
   Select CommitCommit to Panorama and Commit your changes.
8. Next steps...
   1. If necessary, Expand Log Storage Capacity on the Panorama Virtual Appliance.
   2. (Best Practice) Replace the default certificate that Panorama uses to secure HTTPS traffic over the management (MGT) interface.
   3. Activate a Panorama Support License
   4. Activate/Retrieve a Firewall Management License when the Panorama Virtual Appliance is Internet-connected
   5. Install Content and Software Updates for Panorama.
   6. Set Up Administrative Access to Panorama.