1. Home
    2. VM-Series
    3. VM-Series Deployment Guide
    4. License the VM-Series Firewall
    5. Use Panorama-Based Software Firewall License Management

    Use Panorama-Based Software Firewall License Management

    Learn about how to use the Panorama Software Firewall License plugin to license VM-Series firewalls.
    The Panorama Software Firewall License plugin allows you to automatically license a VM-Series firewall when it connects to Panorama. If your VM-Series firewalls are located in the perimeter of your deployment and do not have connectivity to the Palo Alto Networks licensing server, the Software Firewall License plugin simplifies the license activation process by using Panorama to license the VM-Series firewall.
    Additionally, the Software Firewall License plugin simplifies the license activation and deactivation of VM-Series firewalls in environments that use auto-scaling and automation to deploy and delete firewalls to address changes in the cloud.
    Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) licenses are not supported for use with this plugin.
    Do not use the Software Firewall License plugin to license the VM-Series firewall for VMware NSX. The Panorama plugin for VMware NSX automatically licenses VM-Series firewalls deployed in NSX and NSX-T
    .
    Also, do not use this plugin to license firewalls deployed in device groups that include instances of the VM-Series firewall deployed in NSX-T.
    To install the Panorama Software Firewall License plugin, you must be using Panorama 10.0.0 or later and VM-Series plugin 2.0.4 or later. Your VM-Series firewalls must be running PAN-OS 9.1.0 or later.
    The VM-Series firewall for Azure requires VM-Series plugin 2.0.7 or later.
    If you have a standalone Panorama or two Panorama appliances installed in an HA pair with multiple plugins installed, plugins might not receive updated IP-tag information if one or more of the plugins is not configured. This occurs because Panorama will not forward IP-tag information to unconfigured plugins. Additionally, this issue can occur if one or more of the Panorama plugins is not in the Registered or Success state (positive state differs on each plugin). Ensure that your plugins are in the positive state before continuing or executing the commands described below.The commands described are not persistent across reboots and must be used again for any subsequent reboots. For Panorama in HA pair, the commands must be executed on each Panorama.
    If you encounter this issue, there are two workarounds:
    • Uninstall the unconfigured plugin or plugins. It is recommended that you do not install a plugin that you do not plan to configure right away
    • You can use the following commands to work around this issue. Execute the following command for each unconfigured plugin on each Panorama instance to prevent Panorama from waiting to send updates. If you do not, your firewalls may lose some IP-tag information.
      request plugins dau plugin-name <plugin-name> unblock-device-push yes
      You can cancel this command by executing:
      request plugins dau plugin-name <plugin-name> unblock-device-push no
    The commands described are not persistent across reboots and must be used again for any subsequent reboots. For Panorama in HA pair, the commands must be executed on each Panorama.
    1. Install the Software Firewall License Plugin for Panorama.
      1. Log in to the Panorama web interface.
      2. Select
        Panorama
        Plugins
        .
      3. Click
        Check Now
         to get the list of available plugins.
      4. Search for sw_fw_license to locate the plugin.
      5. Select
        Download
         and
        Install
         the Software Licensing plugin.
      After you successfully install, Panorama refreshes and the Software Licensing plugin displays on the
      Panorama
       tab.
    2. Configure a Bootstrap Definition.
      1. Select
        Panorama
        SW Firewall License
        Bootstrap Definitions
        .
      2. Click
        Add
        .
      3. Enter a descriptive
        Name
         to identify the Bootstrap Definition.
      4. (
        Optional
        ) Enter a
        Description
         of the Bootstrap Definition.
      5. Enter the
        Auth Code
         that Panorama will use to license the VM-Series firewall when it connects to Panorama.
      6. Click
        OK
        .
    3. Configure a License Manager.
      1. Select
        Panorama
        SW Firewall License
        License Managers
        .
      2. Click
        Add
        .
      3. Enter a descriptive
        Name
         to identify the License Manager.
      4. (
        Optional
        ) Enter a
        Description
         of the License Manager.
      5. Select a
        Device Group
         from the drop-down. When a VM-Series firewall bootstrapped using the license manager connects to Panorama, it is placed in the specified device group.
      6. Select a
        Template Stack
         from the drop-down. When a VM-Series firewall bootstrapped using the license manager connects to Panorama, it is placed in the specified template Stack.
      7. In the
        Auto Deactivate
         field, specify the amount of time, in hours, that Panorama waits before deactivating the license of a disconnected VM-Series firewall. When you select
        Never
        , Panorama does not deactivate a disconnected VM-Series firewall. Auto Deactivate is set to Never by default. You can set the deactivation time, in hours, from one to 24.
        When a Auto Deactivate interval, the plugin might deactivate the license of stopped VM-Series firewalls that are managed by the same license manager of firewalls that deactivate as expected.
      8. Select a
        Bootstrap Definition
         from the drop-down. The selected bootstrap definition specifies the auth code used by Panorama to license the VM-Series firewalls associated with the license manager.
      9. Click
        OK
        .
      10. Commit
         your changes.
    4. (
      Optional
      ) Create an
      init-cfg.txt
       file for bootstrap the VM-Series firewall. After configuring a license manager, you can copy and paste bootstrap parameters generated by Panorama when deploy your VM-Series firewalls. Depending on your deployment, the parameters displayed might be a subset of those shown in the image below. For example, if your Panorama appliance is deployed in a public cloud, the bootstrap parameters will not include the public IP address for Panorama. In that case, you must manually enter the public IP address in the
      init-cfg.txt
       file. Panorama will always generate the auth-key and
      plugin-op-commands=panorama-licensing-mode-on
       for use in your
      init-cfg.txt
      .
      The auth key displayed here is generated by Panorama and used to authenticate the VM-Series firewall connection to Panorama. Additionally, this auth key is used instead of the VM auth key that you might generate on Panorama and add to your init-cfg.txt file.
      If you use the auth key displayed here in your init-cfg.txt file, do not use a manually generated VM auth key.
      1. Select
        Panorama
        SW Firewall License
        License Managers
        .
      2. In the Action column of a given license manager, click
        Show Bootstrap Parameters
        .
      3. Copy the displayed information and paste it into a text editor to create an
        init-cfg.txt
         file for bootstrapping.
      4. Click
        Close
         when finished.
    5. (
      Optional
      ) View and deactivate a managed VM-Series firewall. From the
      Show Devices
       dialogue, you can view the devices associated with a given license manager. You can view the name, serial number, management IP address, connection status, and amount of time Panorama waits to deactivate a disconnected firewall. Additionally, you can manually deactivate the license of managed VM-Series firewall.
      1. Select
        Panorama
        SW Firewall License
        License Managers
        .
      2. In the Action column of a given license manager, click
        Show Devices
        .
      3. To manually deactivate a connected or disconnected (but not yet deactivated) managed VM-Series firewall, select a one or more listed VM-Series firewalls and click
        Deactivate
        .
    6. (
      Optional
      ) Verify that Panorama has completed the necessary API calls to license connected firewalls.
      1. Log in to the Panorama command line interface.
      2. Execute the following command.
        show plugins sw_fw_license panorama-api-requests

    Recommended For You