Share User-ID Mappings Across Virtual Systems
Table of Contents
Share User-ID Mappings Across Virtual Systems
To share IP address-to-username mappings across virtual
systems, assign a virtual system as a User-ID hub.
To simplify User-ID™ source configuration
when you have multiple virtual systems, configure the User-ID sources
on a single virtual system to share
IP address-to-username mappings with all other virtual systems on
the firewall.
Configuring a single virtual system as a User-ID
hub simplifies user mapping by eliminating the need to configure
the sources on multiple virtual systems, especially if a user’s
traffic will pass through multiple virtual systems based on the
resources the user is trying to access (for example, in an academic
networking environment where a student will be accessing different
departments whose traffic is managed by different virtual systems).
To
map the user, the firewall uses the mapping table on the local virtual
system and applies the policy for that user. If the firewall does
not find the mapping for a user on the virtual system where that
user’s traffic originated, the firewall queries the hub to fetch
the IP address-to-username information for that user. If the firewall
locates the mapping on both the User-ID hub and the local virtual
system, the firewall uses the mapping it learns locally.
After
you configure the User-ID hub, the virtual system can use the mapping
table on the User-ID hub when it needs to identify a user for user-based
policy enforcement or to display the username in a log or report
but the source is not available locally. When you select a hub,
the firewall retains the mappings on other virtual systems so we
recommend consolidating the User-ID sources on the hub. However,
if you don’t want to share mappings from a specific source, you
can configure an individual virtual system to perform user mapping.
- Assign the virtual system as a User-ID hub.
- Select and then select the virtual system where you consolidated your User-ID sources.
- On the Resource tab, Make
this vsys a User-ID data hub and click Yes to
confirm. Then click OK.
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- Consolidate your User-ID sources and migrate them to
the virtual system that you want to use as a User-ID hub. This consolidates the User-ID configuration for operational simplicity. By configuring the hub to monitor servers and connect to agents that were previously monitored by other virtual systems, the hub collects the user mapping information instead of having each virtual system collect it independently. If you don’t want to share mappings from specific virtual systems, configure those mappings on a virtual system that will not be used as the hub.
- Remove any sources that are unnecessary or outdated.
- Identify all configurations for your Windows-based or integrated agents and
any sources that send user mappings using the XML API and copy them
to the virtual system you want to use as a User-ID hub.On the hub, you can configure any User-ID source that is currently configured on a virtual system. However, IP address-and-port-to-username mapping information from Terminal Server agents and group mappings are not shared between the User-ID hub and the connected virtual systems.
- Specify the subnetworks that User-ID should include in or exclude from mapping.
- Define the Ignore User List.
- On all other virtual systems, remove any sources that are on the User-ID hub.
- Commit the changes to enable the User-ID hub and begin collecting mappings for the consolidated sources.
- Confirm the User-ID hub is mapping the users.
- Use the show user ip-user-mapping all command to show the IP address-to-username mappings and which virtual system provides the mappings.
- Use the show user user-id-agent statistics command to show which virtual system is serving as the User-ID hub.
