How to Configure Cisco ASA and PIX Firewalls?1. How Firewall Builder works with Cisco ASA Firewalls2. Firewall Builder GUI Layout3. Example Cisco ASA Deployment4. Creating a Cisco ASA or PIX Firewall4.1. Network Zones5. Working With Objects6. Configuring Policy Rules (Access Lists)6.1. Additional Tips For Working with Rules7. Configuring NAT Rules8. Compile and Install

Firewall Builder is a configuration management application used to configure and manage firewall rules for multiple types of firewalls. This guide goes through the steps necessary to create a Cisco ASA firewall object in Firewall Builder, and then install rules created in Firewall Builder onto the firewall.

1. How Firewall Builder works with Cisco ASA Firewalls

Conceptually Firewall Builder works the same way no matter what type of firewall is being configured. Firewall Builder is based on the idea of using objects to represent rule elements, such as IP networks and Host addresses, and then using these objects to define firewall rules.

For Cisco ASA and Cisco PIX firewalls, after the firewall object rules creation Firewall Builder generates a configuration file containing all the Cisco CLI commands required to implement the defined security policy. This configuration file includes optional information required to configure interfaces, static routes, and other configuration options as needed.

Once the configuration file has been created, Firewall Builder can use the secure SSH and SCP protocols to transfer the configuration to the Cisco ASA or PIX firewall and activate the generated configuration, or users can manually copy-and-paste the generated configuration file into a command line session.

Figure 1. Basic Workflow for Configuring ASA Firewall with Firewall Builder

2. Firewall Builder GUI Layout

Before we get started configuring our example firewall, let's take a minute to orient ourselves with the Firewall Builder application. The GUI is comprised of three primary panels, shown in the screenshot below.

Figure 2. Firewall Builder GUI Layout

Object Panel. Objects in the active Library are displayed in an object tree in the Object Panel. Empty folders are defined for all possible object types that a user can create in the User library.

Rules Panel. When a Policy object is opened for editing it is displayed in the Rules Panel. Clicking on the green icon at the top of the panel creates a new rule.

Editor Panel. Double-clicking on objects opens them for editing in the Editor Panel. Changes to object attribute fields take effect immediately.

Panels open dynamically based on what activity the user is performing. For example, double-clicking an object to edit it will open the Editor Panel if it is not already open.

Now we are ready to get started configuring our firewall example.

3. Example Cisco ASA Deployment

This Getting Started Guide demonstrates how to configure a Cisco ASA 5505 to match the network deployment shown in the diagram below.

Figure 3. Example Cisco ASA Configuration

The goal of this Getting Started Guide is to familiarize users with the basic Firewall Builder steps needed to configure a Cisco ASA or PIX firewall object. There are many advanced features that won't be covered here, please refer to the Users Guide for a complete listing of all Firewall Builder features.

4. Creating a Cisco ASA or PIX Firewall

To create a firewall object to represent your Cisco ASA device, click on the “Create new firewall” icon in the main window of Firewall Builder, or right-click on the Firewalls system folder in the object tree and select "New Firewall". Either of these methods will launch a wizard that walks you through creating your firewall object.

Enter a name for the firewall object. In this example we will use asa-1. Change the drop down menu for the firewall software to read “Cisco ASA (PIX)”.Figure 4. New Firewall Dialog

Click the "Next >" button to continue to the next step in the wizard.

When creating a firewall object in Firewall Builder you have a choice of configuring interfaces manually, or using SNMP discovery to gather configuration details from a running firewall. SNMP discovery requires you to have SNMP enabled on your firewall and to know either the Read-Only or Read-Write community string. For this example we are going to configure the firewall interfaces manually.

Figure 5. Select Interface Configuration Method

Click the "Next >" button to continue to the next step.

The firewall object you create in Firewall Builder needs to match the Cisco ASA or PIX firewall that you want to deploy security policies on. This means that the interface names and IP addresses in the firewall object you create must exactly match what is configured on the ASA or PIX.

Click the green icon to add a new interface to the firewall object. Enter the name of the interface exactly as it is shown on the ASA or PIX command line when you run the "show interface" command. In this example interfaces Ethernet0/0 through Ethernet0/7 are available, but we are only going to use interfaces Ethernet0/0 and Ethernet0/1.

Set the interface name to Ethernet0/0 and set the label to outside. Click on the Add address button and set the IP address to 192.0.2.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.240.

Figure 6. Set Interface IP Address

Click the green icon to add another interface to the firewall object. Enter the information in to the wizard to match the second interface as follows:

Figure 7. Interface Tabs

Click the "Next >" button.

Firewall Builder will automatically set the security level of the interface based on the interface label and IP address. The outside interface is set to security level 0 and the inside interface is set to security level 100.

Figure 8. Interface Security Levels

Click the "Finish" button to create the firewall object.

After you create the firewall object representing the ASA or PIX, it is displayed in the object panel on the left side. The Policy object, where the access list rules are configured, is automatically opened in the main window.

Figure 9. Firewall Displayed in Object Tree

4.1. Network ZonesFirewall Builder uses a Network Zone concept to determine network topology and correctly create rules. Each firewall object interface has a corresponding Network Zone that must be set. The Network Zone represents the set of source IP networks sending traffic inbound to an interface.

Figure 10. Network Zones Define Topology

Note

Warning! If you do not set the Network Zone, Firewall Builder will generate an

error when you try to compile the firewall object to generate the configuration file.Outside Interface

For the "outside" interface, Ethernet0/0 in this example, you will typically set the Network Zone to "Any". "Any" is defined to be all IP networks that aren't associated with any other interfaces. To set the Network Zone double-click the Ethernet0/0 interface object of the firewall object and select the Network Zone "Any" from the dropdown list.

Figure 11. Setting Network Zone For The "outside" Interface

Inside InterfaceFor the "inside" interface, and all other interfaces on the firewall object, you need to select a Network Zone based on the your network topology. In our firewall example object the "inside" interface is attached to the 10.10.10.0/24 network. Firewall Builder comes with a predefined object called net-10.0.0.0 which represents the 10.0.0.0 network. We will use this network for the "inside" interface Network Zone.

Figure 12. Setting Network Zone For The "inside" Interface

NoteA Network Zone can be an individual Network object or a Group object that includes multiple Network objects. For example, you must set the Network Zone to a Group object if your internal network uses the 10.0.0.0/8 and 172.16.0.0/16 networks. In this case you create a Group object, include network objects for both of these IP networks, and use this Group object as your "inside" interface's Network Zone.

Before moving on you should save the data file containing the new firewall object just created. Do this by going to the "File -> Save As" menu item. Choose a name and location to save the file.

5. Working With Objects

Firewall Builder is based on the concept of objects. There are a variety of different object types used to define IP objects that can be used as the Source and Destination in your firewall rules. Two of the most common IP objects used in firewall rules are Networks and Addresses.

Network ObjectsTo create the example Network object representing the internal 10.10.10.0/24 network shown in the diagram on the previous page, go to the object tree on the left side of the screen and double-click the folder labeled Objects to expand it. Right click on the folder called Networks and select “New Network”. This creates a new network object. In the lower portion of your screen, called the Editor Panel, you can modify the properties of this new network object.

Change the object name to something matching the function. In this example we

name it “Internal Network” to represent the network connected to our "inside" interface. The address is set to 10.10.10.0 and the netmask is 255.255.255.0.

Figure 13. New Network Object

NoteWhen editing the attributes of an object there is no Apply or Submit button. Once you edit an attribute, as soon as you move away from the field you were editing the change immediately takes effect.

Address ObjectsTo create an object representing a single IP address, similar to the host parameter in a Cisco access list, go to the object tree, right-click on the Addresses folder, and select "New Address". In the Editor Panel change the name of the new address object to something that reflects its function, for example “POP3 Server”. Also set the IP address.

Figure 14. New Address Object

You may have noticed that we did not create any objects for the TCP services like HTTP and SSH needed for the firewall object rules shown in the example. This is

because Firewall Builder comes with hundreds of predefined objects for commonly used objects like TCP services.

6. Configuring Policy Rules (Access Lists)

After you have created a firewall object and network objects you can start to configure the firewall's rules. When you create a firewall object, for example asa-1 from our previous example, it is opened automatically in the object tree and its Policy object is opened in the main window for editing. The Policy object is where access list rules are configured.

To add a new rule to the Policy, click on the green icon at the top left of the main window. This creates a new rule with default values set to deny all.Figure 15. Default Rule

Every rule includes the following sections: Source - this can be one or more IP objects. The default value is Any which is

the same as the "any" parameter in a Cisco access list that matches all IP addresses.

Destination - this can be one or more IP objects. The default value is Any which is the same as the "any" parameter in a Cisco access list that matches all IP addresses.

Service - this can be one or more Service objects. Example services include TCP and UDP protocols like HTTP and DNS. The default value is Any which matches any IP service and is the same as the "ip" parameter in Cisco access lists.

Interface - this can be one or more interfaces configured on the firewall (router) object. The default value is All which means the rule will be applied as an access list to all configured interfaces.

Direction - options are Inbound, Outbound, and Both. This defines whether the resulting access-group will be applied to interfaces as "in" or "out". Both will generate an identical rule for "in" and "out". The default value is Both.

Action - options are Accept and Deny. This matches the Cisco access list parameters "permit" and "deny". The default value is Deny.

Options - options are Logging On and Logging Off. Setting Logging On matches the Cisco access list parameter "log". The default value is Logging On.

Configuring a RuleIn the example below, the fields in the rule will be set to the values that match the first rule from our example scenario (scenario rules shown in figure below). This first rule controls SSH access to the firewall itself.

Figure 16. Scenario Rules

Setting the SourceTo set the Source of a rule, drag-and-drop at least one IP object from the tree to the Source field of your rule. For example, drag the Network object called Internal Network that you created earlier to the Source column of the rule as shown below.

Figure 17. Setting the Source

After you drop the network object into the rule the Source field will change from Any to Internal Network.

Figure 18. After Source is Set

NoteYou can have more than one IP object in the Source and Destination fields. When Firewall Builder generates the Cisco command line access lists it will automatically split the rule into multiple lines if necessary.

Setting the DestinationSetting the Destination is exactly the same as setting the Source, except you drag-and-drop IP objects in to the Destination field of the rule. For our first example rule we want the Destination to be the "inside" interface of the firewall object. Drag-and-drop the Ethernet0/1 object from the object tree to the Destination column.

Figure 19. Setting the Destination

After you drop the interface object into the rule the Destination field will change from Any to "inside", the label of the Ethernet0/1 interface.

Figure 20. After Destination is Set

Setting the ServiceFirewall Builder comes with hundreds of predefined objects including Service objects for almost all standard protocols. To access these objects switch to the Standard library by selecting it from the drop down at the top of the Object tree window.

Figure 21. Switching Libraries

Services are located in the Services folder. In this rule we want to set the service to SSH, so you would navigate to the SSH service by opening the Services folder, then opening the TCP folder and scrolling down until you find the "ssh" object.

Once you find the ssh object, drag-and-drop from the tree on the left in to the Service section of the rule in the Rules window.

Figure 22. Setting the Service

NoteTo switch back to the User library, which contains objects you have created, click on the drop down menu that says Standard and select User from the list of libraries.

Setting the InterfaceIf desired, set the Interface for the rule by dragging-and-dropping an interface object from the firewall (router) object to the Interface section of the rule. This will explicitly define which interface on the router that the access list will be applied to as an "access-group".

Figure 23. Setting the Interface

Setting the DirectionThe direction of the rule is based on the traffic you want to filter. Traffic coming in to an interface should have the rule Direction set to Inbound and traffic going out of an interface should have the rule Direction set to Outbound. In our example the direction of the rule will be Inbound since it is controlling access to the firewall itself on the "inside" interface. Right-click and set the direction to Inbound.

The Direction, Network Zone and the Interface settings in a rule will determine which interfaces should have this rule applied.

NoteA word about Inbound vs. Outbound access lists: Older PIX versions did not support outbound access lists on interfaces, so by default Firewall Builder emulates this behavior. This means if you create an outbound rule on an interface, Firewall Builder will convert that to inbound rules on all other interfaces. You can change this

behavior by editing the Firewall Settings for the firewall object and clicking the checkbox next to "Generate outbound ACLs".

Setting the ActionThe action controls whether traffic matching the rule should be permitted or denied. Remember, all Cisco access lists have an implicit deny at the end of the list, so any traffic that has not matched a rule that permits the traffic will be dropped. Right-click and set the action to "Accept" to allow the SSH traffic from the local network to the firewall.

Setting the OptionsLogging for rule matches is set in the Options section. By default logging is turned on. To turn logging off, right-click in the Options section and select Logging Off.

Example of a Complete RuleThe following is the first rule from our example which allows traffic from the internal network to the firewall's inside interface that has a traffic type of SSH.

Figure 24. New Rule with Fields Set

6.1. Additional Tips For Working with RulesAdding a RuleTo add a new rule click the icon at the top of the Rules Editor window. This inserts a new rule above the current rule. To add a new rule below the current rule right-click on a rule and select "Add New Rule Below".

Figure 25. Adding Rules

Copy-and-PasteIn addition to drag-and-drop you can also copy-and-paste objects. For example, you can right-click on the Internal Network object in the first rule and select Copy. Navigate to the Source section of the new rule you just created and right-click and select Paste.

Using Filters to Find Objects

Filters provide a way to quickly find objects in the tree without having to open multiple folders and scroll. For example, if you wanted to use the POP3 protocol in a rule you could use the filter to find it.

The POP3 protocol object is located in the Standard library, so select it from the dropdown menu at the top of the Object Window. Type pop3 in to the filter field. This will display all objects in the current library that contain pop3.

Figure 26. Using Filter to Find Objects

NoteAfter you are done with the filtered object, clear the filter field by clicking the X to the right of the input box and then switch back to the User library by selecting it in the dropdown menu at the top of the object panel.

Example of Completed RulesFor our example we needed to create two firewall rules. The completed firewalll rules are shown in the diagram below.

Figure 27. Two Rules

7. Configuring NAT Rules

Now that the basic firewall rules are configured we need to define our NAT policy. Open the NAT object for editing by double-clicking on it in the object tree as shown in the diagram below.

Figure 28. Open the NAT Object for Editing

For this example we will create a single NAT rule that translates the source IP address of any traffic coming from the inside 10.10.10.0/24 network going to the Internet. The source IP should be translated to the IP address of the "outside" interface of the firewall.

To edit NAT rules we use the same concepts used to edit the firewall Policy rules. Start by clicking the green icon at the top of the Rules panel to add a new NAT rule.

Drag-and-drop the "Internal Network" object you created earlier to the Original Src column of the NAT rule. This identifies the traffic that will have its source IP address translated. Now, drag-and-drop the "outside" interface from the asa-1 firewall object to the Translated Src column of the rule. This field identifies the IP address that the traffic will be translated to. After you are done the NAT rule should like the diagram below.

Figure 29. Completed NAT Rule

That's it! Now we are ready to generate the configuration file and use the built-in installer to deploy it to the firewall.

8. Compile and Install

In Firewall Builder the process of converting the rules from the Firewall Builder GUI syntax to the target device commands is called compiling the configuration.

To compile, click on the Compile icon which looks like a hammer . If you haven’t

saved your configuration file yet you will be asked to do so. After you save your file, a wizard will be displayed that lets you select which firewall(s) you want to compile. In this example we are going to compile the firewall called asa-1 configured with the rules above.

If there aren’t any errors, you should see some messages scroll by in the main window and a message at the top left stating Success.

To view the output of the compile, click on the button that says Inspect Generated Files. This will open the file that contains the commands in Cisco command format. Note that any line that starts with “!” is a comment.

Figure 30. Example Compiler Output

The output from the compiler is automatically saved in a file in the same directory as the data file that was used to create it. The generated files are named with the firewall name and a .fw extension. In our example the generated configuration file is called asa-1.fw. You can copy and copy and paste the commands from this file to your ASA or PIX firewall or you can use the built-in Firewall Builder installer.

InstallingFirewall Builder can install the generated configuration file for you using SSH and SCP. To use the installer we need to identify one of the router interfaces as the “Management Interface”. This tells Firewall Builder which IP address to connect to on the router.

Do this by double-clicking the firewall object to expand it, and then double-clicking on the interface name that you want to assign as the management interface. In this example this is interface Ethernet0/1, the interface connected to the internal network.

Figure 31. Setting the Managment Interface

NoteAny time you change access lists on your router you face the risk of locking yourself out of the device. Please be careful to always inspect your access lists closely and make sure that you will be able to access the ASA / PIX after the access list is installed.

To install your access lists on the firewall, click on the install icon . This will bring up a wizard where you will select the firewall to install. Click Next > to install the selected firewall.

Figure 32. Setting Compile and Install Actions

Firewall Builder will compile your rules, converting them to Cisco access list command line format. After the compile completes successfully click Next >. Enter the firewall's username, password and enable password.

Figure 33. Install Dialog

After the access list configuration is installed you will see a message at the bottom of the main window and the status indicator in the upper left corner of the wizard will indicate if the installation was successful.

Figure 34. Successful Install

By default Firewall Builder uses SCP to copy the generated config file to the firewall. Once the file is copied to the firewall, Firewall Builder connects to it using SSH. It loads the transferred config file from memory using the "copy" command, merging the Firewall Builder generated command with the current running configuration.

Firewall Builder requires SSH version 2 to be enabled on the firewall.

---Reference from http://stage.fwbuilder.org/4.0/docs/gs/CiscoASA/asa_new_firewall.html

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