Migrate a Panorama Virtual Appliance to a Different Hypervisor

1. Plan the migration.

   • Ensure the new Panorama is ready with a Device management and support license. These base licenses enable core functionalities of Panorama to operate successfully, such as onboarding firewalls, downloading threat and content updates, and generating OTPs for Panorama certificates.
   • Upgrade the software on the Panorama virtual appliance before the migration if the new Panorama virtual appliance requires a later release of the current software. For the minimum PAN-OS version for each hypervisor, see Panorama Hypervisor Support. For important details about software versions, see Panorama, Log Collector, Firewall, and WildFire Version Compatibility.
   • Schedule a maintenance window for the migration. Although firewalls can buffer logs after the Panorama virtual appliance goes offline and then forward the logs after the new Panorama virtual appliance comes online, completing the migration during a maintenance window minimizes the risk that logs will exceed the buffer capacities and be lost during the transition between hypervisors.
   • Consider whether to maintain access to the old Panorama virtual appliance after the migration to access existing logs. The most efficient approach is to assign a new IP address to the old Panorama virtual appliance and reuse its old IP address for the Panorama virtual appliance. This ensures that the old Panorama virtual appliance remains accessible and that firewalls can point to the new Panorama virtual appliance without you reconfiguring the Panorama IP address on each firewall.
     If you to intend to maintain access to the old Panorama virtual appliance, you must purchase a new device management license and support license for the new Panorama virtual appliance before you can complete the migration successfully.
   • Capture and export a fresh set of running configurations from your old Panorama.
   • If the new Panorama keeps the same IP address, you must migrate the migrate the SC3 security certificates to ensure that the managed firewalls onboarded using an auth key automatically reconnect (without requiring re-onboarding).

     Your old Panorama must be running PAN-OS 11.1.8 or a later 11.1 release, or PAN-OS 11.2.5 or a later release, to use the SC3 certificate migration feature.
   • (Prisma Access) Plan to transfer your Prisma Access licenses to the new target appliance.
   • (SD-WAN) Plan export the MongoDB database, in addition to your standard configuration snapshot, to the new Panorama.
     Contact Palo Alto Networks Customer Support for assistance with running database export commands.
2. Install the new Panorama virtual appliance.
3. Perform the initial setup of the new Panorama virtual appliance.

   1. Set Up the Panorama Virtual Appliance.
   2. Perform Initial Configuration of the Panorama Virtual Appliance to define the network connections required to activate licenses and install updates.
   3. Register Panorama.
   4. Activate a Panorama Support License.
   5. Activate/Retrieve a Firewall Management License when the Panorama Virtual Appliance is Internet-connected.
   6. (Optional) For Panorama-managed Prisma Access, ensure that you transfer the licenses to the new panorama appliance.
   7. Install Content and Software Updates for Panorama. Install the same versions as those on the M-Series appliance.

      This step is required before loading configuration from the old Panorama virtual appliance. Ensure that all required content updates are installed to avoid security outages.
   8. (PAN-OS 11.2.x and earlier releases) Select PanoramaPlugins and install all plugins that were installed on the old Panorama virtual appliance.
4. (Legacy mode only) On the old Panorama virtual appliance, set up a Panorama Virtual Appliance in Panorama Mode.

   This step is required to preserve the log settings (PanoramaLog Settings) on the old Panorama virtual appliance. If you export the Panorama configuration while in Legacy mode, these settings are lost.

   Continue to the next step if the Panorama virtual appliance is already in Panorama or Management Only mode.
5. Add the IP address of the new Panorama.

   On the old appliance, add the Public IP address of the new Panorama virtual appliance as the second Panorama Server to manage devices from the new Panorama management server. If the Panorama virtual appliance is deployed on Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Azure, GCP, or OCI, use the public IP address.

   1. Select DeviceSetup.
   2. In the Template context drop-down, select the template or template stack containing the Panorama server configuration.
   3. Edit the Panorama Settings.
   4. Enter the Panorama virtual appliance public IP address and click OK.
   5. Select CommitCommit and Push.
6. Export the Panorama configuration from the old Panorama virtual appliance.

   1. Log in to the Panorama web interface.
   2. Select PanoramaSetupOperations.
   3. (SD-WAN Only) Export the mongodump to your external SCP server by entering the following command: mongodump --db pl_sd_wan -o /opt/panlogs/ld1/mdbdump

      Contact Palo Alto Networks Customer Support for assistance with running database export commands.
   4. Click Export named Panorama configuration snapshot, select running-config.xml and click OK. Panorama exports the configuration to your client system as an XML file.
   5. Locate the running-config.xml file you exported and rename the XML file. This is required to import the configuration as Panorama does not support importing an XML file with the name running-config.xml.
7. Migrate the serial number of the old Panorama virtual appliance to the new Panorama virtual appliance.

   This step is required to migrate all subscriptions and the device management license tied to the Panorama serial number and only if you intend to shut down the old Panorama virtual appliance. If you do intend on maintaining access to the old Panorama virtual appliance, continue to the next step.

   You have up to 90 days to shut down the old Panorama virtual appliance. Running multiple Panorama virtual appliances with the same serial number violates the EULA.

   1. Log in to the Panorama web interface of the old Panorama virtual appliance.
   2. In the Dashboard, copy the Serial # of the old Panorama virtual appliance located in the General Information widget.
   3. Log in to the Panorama web interface of the new Panorama virtual appliance.
   4. Add the serial number of the old Panorama virtual appliance to the new Panorama virtual appliance.

      1. Select PanoramaSetupManagement and edit the General Settings.
      2. Enter (paste) the Serial Number and click OK.
      3. Select Commit and Commit to Panorama.
8. Power off the old Panorama virtual appliance if you won’t need to access to it after the migration or assign a new IP address to its management (MGT) interface if you will need access to it.

   To power off the Panorama virtual appliance, see the supported documentation for the hypervisor on which the old Panorama virtual appliance has been deployed.

   To change the IP address on the Panorama virtual appliance:

   1. On the web interface of the old Panorama virtual appliance, select PanoramaSetupManagement, and edit the Management Interface Settings.
   2. Enter the new IP Address and click OK.
   3. Select CommitCommit to Panorama and Commit All Changes.
9. Load the Panorama configuration snapshot that you exported from the old Panorama virtual appliance into the new Panorama virtual appliance.

   The Panorama Policy rule Creation and Modified dates are updated to reflect the date you commit the imported Panorama configuration on the new Panorama. The universially unique identifier (UUID) for each policy rule persists when you migrate the Panorama configuration.

   The Creation and Modified for managed firewalls are not impacted when you monitor policy rule usage for a managed firewall because this data is stored locally on the managed firewall and not on Panorama.

   1. Log in to the Panorama web interface of the new Panorama virtual appliance.
   2. Select PanoramaSetupOperations.
   3. Click Import named Panorama configuration snapshot, Browse to the Panorama configuration file you exported from the Panorama virtual appliance, and click OK.
   4. Click Load named Panorama configuration snapshot, select the Name of the configuration you just imported, leave the Decryption Key blank (empty), and click OK. Panorama overwrites its current candidate configuration with the loaded configuration. Panorama displays any errors that occur when loading the configuration file.
   5. (SD-WAN only) Import the mongodump, which you previously exported, from the SCP server and restore it to the new Panorama by using the following command. mongorestore --db pl_sd_wan pl_sd_wan

      Contact Palo Alto Networks Customer Support for assistance with running database export commands.
   6. If errors occurred, save them to a local file. Resolve each error to ensure the migrated configuration is valid.
10. Modify the configuration on the new Panorama virtual appliance.

    Required if the new Panorama virtual appliance will use different values than the old Panorama virtual appliance. If you will maintain access to the old Panorama virtual appliance to access its logs, use a different hostname and IP address for the new Panorama virtual appliance.

    1. Select PanoramaSetupManagement.
    2. Edit the General Settings, modify the Hostname, and click OK.
    3. Edit the Management Interface Settings, modify the values as necessary, and click OK.
    4. Select CommitCommit to Panorama and Commit All Changes to the Panorama configuration.
11. Add the default managed collector and Collector Group to the new Panorama virtual appliance.

    Loading the configuration from the old Panorama virtual appliance (Step 7) removes the default managed collector and Collector Group that are predefined on each Panorama virtual appliance in Panorama mode.

    1. To maintain access to logs stored on the old Panorama virtual appliance, change to Log Collector mode and add the Dedicated Log Collector to the new Panorama virtual appliance.

       1. Set Up The Panorama Virtual Appliance as a Log Collector.
       2. Configure a Managed Collector.
    2. Configure a Managed Collector that is local to the Panorama virtual appliance.
    3. Configure a Collector Group for the default managed collector.
    4. Select CommitCommit to Panorama and Commit All Changes to the Panorama configuration.
12. Synchronize the new Panorama virtual appliance with the firewalls to resume firewall management.

    Complete this step during a maintenance window to minimize network disruption.

    1. On the new Panorama virtual appliance, select PanoramaManaged Devices and verify that the Device State column displays Connected for the firewalls.

       At this point, the Shared Policy (device groups) and Template columns display Out of sync for the firewalls.
    2. Push your changes to device groups and templates:

       1. Select CommitPush to Devices and Edit Selections.
       2. Select Device Groups, select every device group, Include Device and Network Templates, and click OK.
       3. Push All Changes.
    3. In the PanoramaManaged Devices page, verify that the Shared Policy and Template columns display In sync for the firewalls.

    After you migrate to a different Panorama model, if there are connectivity issues between Panorama and the managed firewalls, recover the connectivity of the managed devices to Panorama to resolve the issues.
13. (HA only) Set up the Panorama HA peer.

    If the Panorama management servers are in a high availability configuration, perform the steps below on the HA peer.

    1. Perform Initial Configuration of the Panorama Virtual Appliance.
    2. Power off the old Panorama virtual appliance or assign a new IP address to the management (MGT) interface.
    3. Change to Log Collector mode and add the Dedicated Log Collector to the new Panorama virtual appliance.
14. (HA only) Modify the new Panorama virtual appliance HA peer configuration.

    1. On an HA peer, Log in to the Panorama web interface, select PanoramaHigh Availability and edit the Setup.
    2. In the Peer HA IP Address field, enter the new IP address of the HA peer and click OK.
    3. Select CommitCommit to Panorama and Commit your change
    4. Repeat these steps on the other peer in the HA peer.
15. (HA only) Synchronize the Panorama peers.

    1. Access the Dashboard on one of the HA peers and select WidgetsSystemHigh Availability to display the HA widget.
    2. Sync to peer, click Yes, and wait for the Running Config to display Synchronized.
    3. Access the Dashboard on the remaining HA peer and select WidgetsSystemHigh Availability to display the HA widget.
    4. Verify that the Running Config displays Synchronized.

    After you migrate to the new Panorama virtual appliance, if there are connectivity issues between Panorama and the managed firewalls, recover the connectivity of the managed devices to Panorama to resolve the issues.