Prepare the Linux Server
Table of Contents
10.0 (EoL)
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- VM-Series Deployments
- VM-Series in High Availability
- Enable Jumbo Frames on the VM-Series Firewall
- Hypervisor Assigned MAC Addresses
- Custom PAN-OS Metrics Published for Monitoring
- Interface Used for Accessing External Services on the VM-Series Firewall
- PacketMMAP and DPDK Driver Support
- Enable ZRAM on the VM-Series Firewall
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- VM-Series Firewall Licensing
- Create a Support Account
- Serial Number and CPU ID Format for the VM-Series Firewall
- Install a License API Key
- Use Panorama-Based Software Firewall License Management
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- Maximum Limits Based on Memory
- Activate Credits
- Create a Deployment Profile
- Manage a Deployment Profile
- Register the VM-Series Firewall (Software NGFW Credits)
- Provision Panorama
- Migrate Panorama to a FW-Flex License
- Transfer Credits
- Renew Your Software NGFW Credit License
- Deactivate License (Software NGFW Credits)
- Create and Apply a Subscription-Only Auth Code
- Migrate to a Flexible VM-Series License
- What Happens When Licenses Expire?
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- Supported Deployments on VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)
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- Plan the Interfaces for the VM-Series for ESXi
- Provision the VM-Series Firewall on an ESXi Server
- Perform Initial Configuration on the VM-Series on ESXi
- Add Additional Disk Space to the VM-Series Firewall
- Use VMware Tools on the VM-Series Firewall on ESXi and vCloud Air
- Use vMotion to Move the VM-Series Firewall Between Hosts
- Use the VM-Series CLI to Swap the Management Interface on ESXi
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- VM-Series Firewall for NSX-V Deployment Checklist
- Install the VMware NSX Plugin
- Apply Security Policies to the VM-Series Firewall
- Steer Traffic from Guests that are not Running VMware Tools
- Dynamically Quarantine Infected Guests
- Migrate Operations-Centric Configuration to Security-Centric Configuration
- Add a New Host to Your NSX-V Deployment
- Use Case: Shared Compute Infrastructure and Shared Security Policies
- Use Case: Shared Security Policies on Dedicated Compute Infrastructure
- Dynamic Address Groups—Information Relay from NSX-V Manager to Panorama
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- Supported Deployments of the VM-Series Firewall on VMware NSX-T (North-South)
- Components of the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (North-South)
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- Install the Panorama Plugin for VMware NSX
- Enable Communication Between NSX-T Manager and Panorama
- Create Template Stacks and Device Groups on Panorama
- Configure the Service Definition on Panorama
- Deploy the VM-Series Firewall
- Direct Traffic to the VM-Series Firewall
- Apply Security Policy to the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T
- Use vMotion to Move the VM-Series Firewall Between Hosts
- Extend Security Policy from NSX-V to NSX-T
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- Components of the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (East-West)
- VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (East-West) Integration
- Supported Deployments of the VM-Series Firewall on VMware NSX-T (East-West)
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- Install the Panorama Plugin for VMware NSX
- Enable Communication Between NSX-T Manager and Panorama
- Create Template Stacks and Device Groups on Panorama
- Configure the Service Definition on Panorama
- Launch the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (East-West)
- Add a Service Chain
- Direct Traffic to the VM-Series Firewall
- Apply Security Policies to the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (East-West)
- Use vMotion to Move the VM-Series Firewall Between Hosts
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- Install the Panorama Plugin for VMware NSX
- Enable Communication Between NSX-T Manager and Panorama
- Create Template Stacks and Device Groups on Panorama
- Configure the Service Definition on Panorama
- Launch the VM-Series Firewall on NSX-T (East-West)
- Create Dynamic Address Groups
- Create Dynamic Address Group Membership Criteria
- Generate Steering Policy
- Generate Steering Rules
- Delete a Service Definition from Panorama
- Migrate from VM-Series on NSX-T Operation to Security Centric Deployment
- Extend Security Policy from NSX-V to NSX-T
- Use In-Place Migration to Move Your VM-Series from NSX-V to NSX-T
- Use Migration Coordinator to Move Your VM-Series from NSX-V to NSX-T
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- Deployments Supported on AWS
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- Planning Worksheet for the VM-Series in the AWS VPC
- Launch the VM-Series Firewall on AWS
- Launch the VM-Series Firewall on AWS Outpost
- Create a Custom Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
- Encrypt EBS Volume for the VM-Series Firewall on AWS
- Use the VM-Series Firewall CLI to Swap the Management Interface
- Enable CloudWatch Monitoring on the VM-Series Firewall
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- Use Case: Secure the EC2 Instances in the AWS Cloud
- Use Case: Use Dynamic Address Groups to Secure New EC2 Instances within the VPC
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- What Components Does the VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.0) Leverage?
- How Does the VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.0 and v2.1) Enable Dynamic Scaling?
- Plan the VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.0 and v2.1)
- Customize the Firewall Template Before Launch (v2.0 and v2.1)
- Launch the VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.0)
- SQS Messaging Between the Application Template and Firewall Template
- Stack Update with VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.0)
- Modify Administrative Account and Update Stack (v2.0)
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- Launch the Firewall Template (v2.1)
- Launch the Application Template (v2.1)
- Create a Custom Amazon Machine Image (v2.1)
- VM-Series Auto Scaling Template Cleanup (v2.1)
- SQS Messaging Between the Application Template and Firewall Template (v2.1)
- Stack Update with VM-Series Auto Scaling Template for AWS (v2.1)
- Modify Administrative Account (v2.1)
- Change Scaling Parameters and CloudWatch Metrics (v2.1)
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- Enable the Use of a SCSI Controller
- Verify PCI-ID for Ordering of Network Interfaces on the VM-Series Firewall
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- Deployments Supported on Azure
- Deploy the VM-Series Firewall from the Azure Marketplace (Solution Template)
- Deploy the VM-Series Firewall from the Azure China Marketplace (Solution Template)
- Create a Custom VM-Series Image for Azure
- Deploy the VM-Series Firewall on Azure Stack
- Enable Azure Application Insights on the VM-Series Firewall
- Set up Active/Passive HA on Azure
- Use the ARM Template to Deploy the VM-Series Firewall
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- About the VM-Series Firewall on Google Cloud Platform
- Supported Deployments on Google Cloud Platform
- Prepare to Set Up VM-Series Firewalls on Google Public Cloud
- Create a Custom VM-Series Firewall Image for Google Cloud Platform
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- Deploy the VM-Series Firewall from Google Cloud Platform Marketplace
- Management Interface Swap for Google Cloud Platform Load Balancing
- Use the VM-Series Firewall CLI to Swap the Management Interface
- Enable Google Stackdriver Monitoring on the VM Series Firewall
- Enable VM Monitoring to Track VM Changes on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Use Dynamic Address Groups to Secure Instances Within the VPC
- Use Custom Templates or the gcloud CLI to Deploy the VM-Series Firewall
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- Prepare Your ACI Environment for Integration
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- Create a Virtual Router and Security Zone
- Configure the Network Interfaces
- Configure a Static Default Route
- Create Address Objects for the EPGs
- Create Security Policy Rules
- Create a VLAN Pool and Domain
- Configure an Interface Policy for LLDP and LACP for East-West Traffic
- Establish the Connection Between the Firewall and ACI Fabric
- Create a VRF and Bridge Domain
- Create an L4-L7 Device
- Create a Policy-Based Redirect
- Create and Apply a Service Graph Template
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- Create a VLAN Pool and External Routed Domain
- Configure an Interface Policy for LLDP and LACP for North-South Traffic
- Create an External Routed Network
- Configure Subnets to Advertise to the External Firewall
- Create an Outbound Contract
- Create an Inbound Web Contract
- Apply Outbound and Inbound Contracts to the EPGs
- Create a Virtual Router and Security Zone for North-South Traffic
- Configure the Network Interfaces
- Configure Route Redistribution and OSPF
- Configure NAT for External Connections
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- Choose a Bootstrap Method
- VM-Series Firewall Bootstrap Workflow
- Bootstrap Package
- Bootstrap Configuration Files
- Generate the VM Auth Key on Panorama
- Create the bootstrap.xml File
- Prepare the Licenses for Bootstrapping
- Prepare the Bootstrap Package
- Bootstrap the VM-Series Firewall on AWS
- Bootstrap the VM-Series Firewall on Azure
- Bootstrap the VM-Series Firewall on Google Cloud Platform
- Verify Bootstrap Completion
- Bootstrap Errors
End-of-Life (EoL)
Prepare the Linux Server
Before you install the VM-Series
firewall on KVM, verify that you have a working Linux environment
and that your networking infrastructure supports the connectivity a
that your chosen deployment requires.
- Verify Linux Support
- Verify the Networking Infrastructure
- Install Mellanox Software Tools
- Enable Virtual Functions for Mellanox CX5 NICs on the VM-Series Firewall on KVM
- Verify the Host Configuration
Verify Linux Support
Verify that you have the correct environment to support
your installation.
- Check the Linux distribution version. For a list of supported versions, see VM-Series for KVM in the Compatibility Matrix.
- Verify that you have installed and configured KVM tools and packages that are required for creating and managing virtual machines, such as Libvirt.
- If you want to use a SCSI disk controller to access the disk to which the VM-Series firewall stores data, you must use virsh to attach the virtio-scsi controller to the VM-Series firewall. You can then edit the XML template of the VM-Series firewall to enable the use of the virtio-scsi controller. For instructions, see Enable the Use of a SCSI Controller.KVM on Ubuntu 12.04 does not support the virtio-scsi controller.
Verify the Networking Infrastructure
Verify that you have set up the networking infrastructure
for steering traffic between the guests and the VM-Series firewall
and ensure you have connectivity to an external server or the Internet.
The VM-Series firewall can connect using a Linux bridge, the Open
vSwitch, PCI passthrough, or SR-IOV capable network card.
- Make sure that the link state for each interface you plan to use is Up—sometimes you have to manually bring up the interface.
- If using a Linux bridge or OVS, verify that you have set up the bridges required to send/receive traffic to/from the firewall. If not, create bridge(s) and verify that they are up before you begin installing the firewall.
- If using SR-IOV or PCI-passthrough, verify the PCI ID of all the interfaces. To view the list, use the following command:Virsh nodedev-list –tree
- If using SR-IOV or PCI-passthrough, verify that the virtualization extensions (VT-d/IOMMU) are enabled in the BIOS. For example, to enable IOMMU, intel_iommu=on must be defined in /etc/grub.conf. Refer to the documentation provided by your system vendor for instructions.
- If using PCI-passthrough, ensure that the VM-Series firewall has exclusive access to the interface(s) that you plan to attach to it.To allow exclusive access, you must manually detach the interface(s) from the Linux server.Virsh nodedev-detach <pci id of interface>For example:Virsh nodedev-detach pci_0000_07_10_0In some cases, you might need to edit /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf and uncomment relaxed_acs_check = 1.
- If using SR-IOV, verify that the virtual function capability is enabled for each port that you plan to use on the network card. With SR-IOV, a single Ethernet port (physical function) can be split into multiple virtual functions. A guest can be mapped to one or more virtual functions.Enable virtual functions as follows:
- Create a new file in this location: /etc/modprobe.d/
- Use vi to edit the file to make the functions persistent:vim /etc/modprobe.d/igb.conf
- Enable the number of number of virtual functions required:options igb max_vfs=4In the above example, after you save the changes and reboot the Linux server, each interface (or physical function) will have 4 virtual functions.
Refer to the documentation provided by your network vendor for details on the actual number of virtual functions supported, and instructions to enable virtual functions.
Install Mellanox Software Tools
If you are using a Mellanox CX5 card, install
the Mellanox software tools on the host. Before installing, verify Linux support and your networking infrastructure.
- From the host, download the package for Mellanox OpenFabric Enterprise Distribution for Linux (MLNX_OFED) for your OS version from the following link:
- Run the
installation command:mlnxofedinstallIf you have all the prerequisite packages installed, the above command installs all the MLNX_OFED packages. Continue to Step 3.If your environment doesn’t have the required packages, the installer lists all the packages that you must install. After you install the packages, rerun the installation command and continue to Step 3.
- Reboot the host.
- Check the status of the Mellanox software tools.
# mst status MST modules: ------------------------------------------------------------------ MST PCI module is not loaded MST PCI configuration module loaded MST devices: ------------------------------------------------------------------ /dev/mst/mt4121_pciconf0 - PCI configuration cycles access. domain:bus:dev.fn=0000:3b:00.0 addr.reg=88 data.reg=92 Chip revision is: 00
- Ensure Mellanox is updated on the PCI list:
# lspci | grep Mellanox 3b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex] 3b:00.1 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex]
Enable Virtual Functions for Mellanox CX5 NICs on the VM-Series Firewall on KVM
- Ensure Mellanox Software Tools (mst) are started.
- Enable the number of number of virtual functions required.
For example:
mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt4121_pciconf0 set SRIOV_EN=1 NUM_OF_VFS=4
After you save the changes and reboot the Linux server, each interface (or physical function) in the above example will have 4 virtual functions. Refer to the documentation provided by your network vendor for details on the actual number of virtual functions supported, and the instructions to enable virtual functions.You might see the following error message the first time you enable virtual functions on Mellanox Cx5 NICs:[ 1429.841162] mlx5_core 0000:3b:00.1: mlx5_port_module_event:1025:(pid 0): Port module event[error]: module 1, Cable error, One or more network ports have been powered down due to insufficient/unadvertised power on the PCIe slot. Please refer to the card's user manual for power specifications or contact Mellanox support
To resolve the issue, enter the following command sequence on the Linux server:# mlxconfig -d <dev> set ADVANCED_POWER_SETTINGS=1 # mlxconfig -d <dev> set DISABLE_SLOT_POWER_LIMITER=1 # reboot
- Check the status of the virtual functions.
# cat /sys/class/net/enp59s0f1/device/sriov_numvfs
(Optional) If the virtual functions are not set correctly (the status is 0 or empty), run the following command:# echo 4 > /sys/class/net/enp59s0f1/device/sriov_numvfs
- List the PCI devices to accurately match the number of
virtual functions loaded on the respective physical function for
Mellanox:
# lspci | grep Mellanox 3b:00.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex] 3b:00.1 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex] 3b:00.2 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:00.3 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:00.4 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:00.5 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:00.6 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:00.7 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:01.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function] 3b:01.1 Ethernet controller: Mellanox Technologies MT28800 Family [ConnectX-5 Ex Virtual Function]
Verify the Host Configuration
Configure the host for maximum VM-Series performance.
Refer to Performance
Tuning of the VM-Series for KVM for information about configuring
each option below.
- Enable DPDK. DPDK allows the host to process packets faster by bypassing the Linux kernel. Instead, interactions with the NIC are performed using drivers and the DPDK libraries. Open vSwitch is required to use DPDK with the VM-Series firewall.
- Enable SR-IOV. Single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) allows a single PCIe physical device under a single root port to appear to be multiple separate physical devices to the hypervisor or guest.
- Enable multi-queue support for NICs. Multi-queue virtio-net allows network performance to scale with the number of vCPUs and allows for parallel packet processing by creating multiple TX and RX queues.
- Isolate CPU resources in a NUMA Node. You can improve performance of VM-Series on KVM by isolating the CPU resources of the guest VM to a single non-uniform memory access (NUMA) node.