Knowledge Base

Getting Started

Once NP-View Server is installed, the application will start automatically. Note that NP-Live has been Rebranded to NP-View Server.  Several of the instructions still correctly refer to NP-Live as we migrate the installation services to the new product names.

If the Linux Administrator wishes to start and stop the application, two helper scripts have been included to aid in these tasks:

• Stop : sudo /opt/np-live/stop_NP-Live.sh
• Start : sudo /opt/np-live/start_NP-Live.sh

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Upon initial start, the Welcome screen shows the configuration wizard to guide the Administrator through the remaining configuration steps which include:

1. Authentication
2. Licensing
3. Users

Configure Authentication

The following authentication options are available to configure in NP-View Server.

• Active Directory / LDAP
• Radius
• Local

Active Directory or LDAP

For Active Directory or LDAP authentication we use LDAPv3 TLS over port 389.  If the communication returns an exception, we attempt unencrypted communication. We do not support LDAPS.  Before starting, note that setup requires a dedicated Credential Binding Account (LDAP Administrator). The Credentials Binding Account must be included in at least one of the system groups for NP-View Server to query and link the users.

An example of a properly configured LDAP screen on NP-View is below:

The setup page will allow for the definition of three system groups using a Distinguished Name.  A Distinguished Name (often referred to as a DN or FDN) is a string that uniquely identifies an entry in the Directory Information Tree. The format of a DN is: CN=groupname,OU=grouptype,DC=subdomain,DC=example,DC=com.  Your domain needs to match the DC specified in your DN. For an example DN like above, the domain would be: ‘subdomain.example.com’.

For example:

ldap_group_admin = 'CN=NP-Live Admin, OU=Permissions, DC=ad, DC=np, DC=test'
ldap_group_write = 'CN=NP-Live WorkspaceAdmin, OU=Permissions, DC=ad, DC=np, DC=test'
ldap_group_read = 'CN=NP-Live Viewer, OU=Permissions, DC=ad, DC=np, DC=test'

group_translation = {'Administrator' : ldap_group_admin,
'WorkspaceAdmin' : ldap_group_write,
'Viewer' : ldap_group_read}

Reminder:   The three CN names must be unique or roles will be overlapped in NP-View resulting in features being disabled.

To find the DN on Windows, open a Windows command prompt on your Active Directory server and type the command: dsquery group -name "known group name".

Users assigned to NP-View must login once to get setup within the NP-View database for sharing and transferring of workspaces.  No users exist until after the first login.

Troubleshooting Active Directory Setup

If an error is returned when configuring Active Directory, the steps to troubleshoot are:

Step 1: From your Active Directory server, type the command below in a terminal after replacing the “CN=…” portion with the Distinguished Name of the group you’d like to check:

dsget group "CN=groupname,OU=grouptype,DC=subdomain,DC=example,DC=com" -members

Verify that the output shows the expected list of user(s) in that group. If it doesn’t, check your Active Directory group and user configuration.

Step 2: From your Active Directory server, type the command below in a terminal after replacing the “CN=…” portion with the Distinguished Name of the group you’d like to check, and also replacing USERNAME with your actual username:

dsquery * -Filter "(&(objectClass=user)(memberOf:1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941:=CN=groupname,OU=grouptype,DC=subdomain,DC=example,DC=com)(sAMAccountName=USERNAME))"

If the output is empty, verify that your user in Active Directory has the attribute sAMAccountName set. If not, set it and try the command again. Verify also that the sAMAccountName value matches your AD username value. You can also try to enter the username in the NP-View Active Directory configuration form with the format USERNAME@DOMAIN.

If the output shows the expected list of groups for that user, but NP-View still generates an error, then contact the NP support team.

Radius

Radius authentication requires your server address and secret. Once input, the user can test their connection using their personal login credentials for verification.  Note that for Radius authentication, all users are assigned to the Administrator group.

Local Authentication

NP-View Server provides an internal mechanism for the administration of users.  During setup, the screen will require the user to setup the Administration account by inputting a user ID and password.  This account will be assigned to the Administrator role and will have access to all system features. An example of a properly configured Local Auth screen on NP-View is below:

User Management

NP-View Server provides a User Management function for users assigned to the the Administrator role. It can be accessed in the user menu at the top right of the screen either on the workspace page or from within a workspace.

User Management – Active Directory or LDAP

Clicking User Management will open a window that shows the LDAP setup information. The left half of the screen allows the user to change the NP-View LDAP settings.  LDAP Auth credentials are required to update the information.  The optional email field override is used as the default email address for the Notification Manager if no email address is provided as part of the LDAP credentials.

The right half of the user management screen allows for the testing of each LDAP user and will retrieve their LDAP settings for review.

User Management – Local Authentication

Clicking User Management will open a window that shows the user related information associated with this account, their account details, and their account permissions.

From this window Administrators can edit (pencil icon), delete (x icon) or add user accounts (create new user button).

A user’s ID should be the user’s email address (this will be used for notifications) and an administrator-defined password.  Each user will need to be assigned to a role which will provide the user with system wide access.

1. Administrator – Has access to all users, workspace and system administration functions including managing users and license functions.
2. WorkspaceAdmin – Has access to all workspace administration functions.
3. Viewer – Has read only access to the system.

Reset Authentication

The Administrator can also reset the authentication method entirely by selecting the “Reset authentication system” link. “Reset authentication” only resets the authentication and does not remove any workspaces or data.  Note that workspaces are assigned to user id’s.  If the authentication method (or user id format) is changed, the workspaces will no longer be available to users.  The administrator or workspace admin must utilize the transfer workspace function to assign the legacy workspace to the new user id’s.

Password Reset

• Workspace Admin or Viewer user groups:  Contact your Administrator who can manually reset your password through the User Management function on the system menu (upper right corner).
• Admins: connect through SSH to the NP-View server and remove the file db/auth_provider.cfg inside the NP-View application folder (by default: /opt/np-live).
• Refresh the NP-View web page to show the Welcome screen and reconfigure the authentication.

License and Terms

The Administrator can Show, Upgrade or Renew their license. Licensing terms and legal disclosures are available from the system menu where user management is found.

Configure License Key

After the authentication, the Welcome screen will guide the Administrator through reviewing the EULA and adding the license key. The license key should have been sent to you by email and also posted on the Network Perception portal. If you haven’t received a key, please send a request to support@network-perception.com. Renewed or upgraded license keys can only be installed from the home screen (not from within a workspace) by members of the Administrator group.

Additional Configuration Features

Configure Automatic Updates

NP-View Server can automatically download new releases and update itself if you select “Automatically check for updates”.  Alternatively, you can select “Update NP-View” from the upper right menu or update offline using the following steps:

1. Download the latest release from the Network Perception portal.
2. Copy the release file to the NP-View Server using SCP or WinSCP
3. Connect to the NP-View Server shell using SSH and execute the release file with the command sudo sh NP-View_server_installer.sh

Configure Shutdown and Startup Options

To speed performance on startup, NP-View terminates background processes that are running when the system is gracefully shutdown and clears out all tasks and jobs.  If any processes remain upon startup, they are also terminated. To change the configuration,

• stop the NP-View Server application.
• in the docker-compose.yml file for the manager change cancelTasksStartup=True to cancelTasksStartup=False
• in the docker-compose.yml file for the manager change clearRqStartup=True to clearRqStartup=False Note that the previous setting must also be set to True for this operation to work.
• start the NP-View Server application.

Configure User Timeout

The system can be configured automatically time out a user after a period of idle days.  The default is set to 30 days. To change the configuration,

• stop the NP-View Server application.
• in the docker-compose.yml file for the webserver\environment service, change sessionLengthDays=30 to any positive floating point number representing elapsed days. For Example:
  • 0.5 = 12 hrs
  • 1.5 = 36 hours
  • 30 = 720 hrs.
  • If set to 0, user timeout will default to 30 minutes.
• start the NP-View Server application.

Timeout for connectors is 1 day and cannot be changed. Also, the timeout value is not static and will be overwritten by the next software update. Prior to restarting after an update, the timeout needs to be reset to the value of choice.

Configure Devices within a Custom View

The system can be configured to allow for more devices within a custom view.  The default is set to 25 devices. To change the configuration:

• stop the NP-View Server application.
• in the docker-compose.yml file for the
  • services : manager : environment, change devCountLimit=25 to a positive integer.
  • services : bgmanager : environment, change devCountLimit=25 to a positive integer.
  • services : webserver : environment, change devCountLimit=25 to a positive integer.
• start the NP-View Server application.

Note: The limit is not static and will be overwritten by the next software update. Prior to restarting after an update, the limit needs to be reset to the value of choice. Note: NP has only tested the system to the default limit. Raising the limit is at the user’s risk as unintended consequences including data loss and the system exhausting system resources may occur.

Configure A Static IP Address on your Linux Server

To set a static IP address for your NP-View Server, follow the instructions in this document.

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This section describes how to update the NP-View Server application and the underlying components if the OVF was used for the initial installation.

Updating the NP-View Server Application

To update an existing NP-View Application, the steps are:

1. Download the latest release Linux Installer Release (not the .OVF) from the Dragos Portal and copy it onto your NP-view server using SCP (or WinSCP from a Windows client)
2. Login onto the NP-View server using SSH (or Putty from a Windows client)
3. Get root permissions using the command: sudo -i
4. Prior to installing the new version, it is recommended to make a backup of your database (see below)
5. Execute the new NP-View release file using the command: sh NP-View_installer.sh  (where NP-View_installer.sh is the name of the new release file downloaded in step 1).
6. Follow the guided steps of the installer, which will automatically start NP-View once the update is complete.
7. Connect to the user interface of NP-View using your web browser and check in the bottom-left corner of the home page that the version number matches the new release

Updating the NP-View Application to version 5 and above

Prerequisites

• Please update your current version of NP-View to version 4.3.5. Both Server and Desktop must be on this version before starting your upgrade.

For NP-View Server:

• Verify there is sufficient disk space for the upgrade (3x size of Redis db).
• If not follow log cleanup procedure listed in KB (~250MB possible).
• If still insufficient space, disk space will need to be added before upgrade.
• Verify all users are logged out of the system to not lose data during update.

Back-Up NP-View database

NP-View Desktop

1. Copy the 4.3.5 database folder to a safe location. This will allow you to keep a back up 4.3.5 in the case you would want to revert back to 4.3.5some text
   • C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\NP-View\db
2. Download NP-View from the portal and install.
3. Starting the application may take longer than usual as a one-time database maintenance operation is being performed.

NP-View Server

Option 1:

1. SSH as the root user to Terminal of NP-View server
   • ssh root@<ip-of-guest-os>
   • If needed sudo -i or sudo su will give you admin privileges once you are logged in.
2. Move to the NP-View (np-live) app directory
   • cd /opt/np-live
3. Stop NP-View
   • sh ./stop_NP-Live.sh
4. The db directory contains all of the NP-View data. Create a tarball of the directory
   • tar -czf np-view-v4.3.5-db-backup.tar.gz db
5. Move the file to a safe location.
   • Note: This file will allow you to revert back to 4.3.5.

Option 2 (This option is only available if your server is a VM):

• Your server admin can take a snapshot image of the server as a restore instance. This tends to be easier and quicker for most of the customers that we have worked with.

Once you have a back up and have updated to 4.3.5, please download version 5+ and follow the instructions listed in the above section "Updating the NP-View Server Application".

NP-View Server Migration

Prerequisites

• Follow the instructions above to update the NP-View CentOS server to the latest NP-View version.
• Create a VM using the latest version of the NP-View Server OVF.
• Both Servers need to be running to perform the migration.
• Users should be logged out of NP-View and close any active session before restoring.

CentOS Migration to Ubuntu for NP-View Server

1. Use backup and restore script.
   • sudo -i (This should take you to the root folder)
     • Enter credentials if prompted.
   • To run shell script: /opt/NP-Live/NP-View_backupand_restore.sh
     • There will be 3 options when using the script.
       • Backup
       • Restore
       • Exit
   • The script will check disk space when creating the backup.
   • The script will notify you if the storage is full and stop running.
2. Move the CentOS tar file to the Ubuntu server’s root directory.
   • sudo -i (This should take you to the root folder)
   • Enter credentials if prompted.
   • To run shell script: /opt/NP-Live/NP-View_backupand_restore.sh
     • Select restore
     • The script gives a final warning before running.
     • The script checks if the docker containers are running.
3. Once the script is completed it will notify you.
   • Connect to the web interface and verify data is transferred.
   • If you are unable to connect to the web interface restart NP-View service once the upgrade is complete.

Get Version API call

To check the version update your server URL to the following

https://<np-view_server_address>/version

Backing up the NP-View Server Database Manually

1. Stop the NP-View Server (you can use the script /opt/np-live/stop_nplive.sh)
2. From the NP-View Server folder (by default: /opt/np-live/, run the command: tar -zcf db_backup_$(date '+%Y_%m_%d').tgz db (this command may take few minutes to complete)
3. Run the new release installer, which will update the containers and then launch NP-View Server

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Updating Linux Ubuntu and Docker

(Version 5 and up installation with the OVF)

We will be providing update packages for Ubuntu and Docker. Please go to the following page for more information:

https://www.network-perception.com/kb/ubuntu-and-docker-update-packages

Updating Linux CentOS Ubuntu and Docker

‍CentOS is now EOL as of June 30, 2024. We highly recommend customers to transition to Ubuntu.

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If the OVF was used for the initial installation, that package included the CentOS 7 operating system and Docker. These applications must be updated separately from the NP-View Server Application using the below instructions. The instructions cover NP-View Servers that have internet access and those that do not have internet access.

Updating when the NP-View server has internet access:

– stop NP-View
cd /opt/np-live/
./stop_NP-Live.sh

– run all updates
yum update -y

– reboot server
reboot

Updating when the NP-View server does not have internet access:

If NP-View server is installed in an environment that does not have internet access, a separate Centos 7 server with Docker that has internet access is required to create the update package. All commands below are case sensitive.

Network-Perception uses this mirror for CentOS updates and this mirror for Docker updates

Centos 7 that is online:

– make sure you are root
sudo su -

– create packages directory
cd /root/
mkdir packages
cd packages

– download all packages
yum list installed | awk {'print $1; }' | tail -n +3 | xargs yumdownloader

– you should see docker included in the output list.

– compress archive (capital -C is important)
tar czf /root/packages.tar.gz *.rpm -C /root/packages/

– Copy packages.tar.gz to the offline server. The user can use the below command to scp:
scp packages.tar.gz root@ipAddress:/root/

Centos 7 that is offline running NP-View:

– make sure you are root
sudo su -
– stop NP-View
cd /opt/np-live/
./stop_NP-Live.sh

– create directory and extract the archive
cd /root/
mkdir packages/
mv packages.tar.gz packages/
cd packages/
tar -xf packages.tar.gz

– install all updates:
yum -y localinstall *.rpm

– reboot server
reboot

– now everything is up to date on the offline server.

If you get any docker swarm errors:

– make sure you are root
sudo su -

– leave and join swarm cluster
docker swarm leave --force && docker swarm init

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Change Management provides the Compliance Team (Compliance Officer, Compliance Analysts) with capabilities that allow for:

• Transitioning from point-in-time risk assessment to 24/7 with automated notification.
• Automating the change review process using ticketing system integration and sandboxing.
• Leveraging “time machine” to navigate through the network evolution and compare points in time.

Transition to 24×7 Monitoring

Connectors facilitate the configuration of connections to poll devices on a schedule, importing the latest configurations for analysis and automatically analyzing the information within selected workspaces to identify changes and potential risks.

Automated change review process

Change tracking automatically records configuration changes and provides the user with the ability to review changes made to the system and review the potential impact of the changes.

Network risks related to configuration changes are identified by best practices and user defined rules in the Policy manager.  When a potential risk is identified, it is logged in the “Risks and Warnings” table and assigned a criticality (High, Medium, Low) based on the identifying policy.

Notifications allow users to setup notifications based on complex rules and to have those notifications delivered to multiple services on a schedule to email, syslog or ticketing systems. Notifications can be triggered by configuration changes or network risks.

The Network Sandbox is an isolated workspace that aids network engineers and infrastructure managers with the evaluation of proposed changes to system configurations, operating system upgrades or hardware replacement without affecting the production network. Our network modeling platform provides the ability to evaluate proposed changes to network devices by importing modified configuration files, evaluating the changes against policies, best practices, and regulations, and reporting on risks and vulnerabilities. Additionally, changes can be reviewed and compared, paths and connectivity can be analyzed, compliance reports can be run and reviewed.

Comparison Analysis

Tracking changes over time provides a rich data source for analysis.  Comparison Analysis allows the user to review two points in time to identify changes across the system including assets, rules, objects, and paths.

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Vulnerability Prioritization provides the Network Security Team and Compliance Team with capabilities that allow users to:

• Align network architecture understanding and break silos through a single pane of glass
• Train first responders and harden defenses via realistic attack scenario simulation
• Prioritize vulnerability mitigation faster

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Network Architecture Understanding

Monitoring for indicators of compromise allows organizations to better detect and respond to security compromises. When the security team discovers a potential compromise, NP-View can assist with incident response by quickly identifying critical paths to the compromised system.

For example, critical host H-192.168.1.103-32, a database server on the network, is experiencing increased reads.

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Train First Responders

Users can be trained to use NP-View to quickly assess the situation. NP-View shows each host with the inbound and outbound paths. In this example, the inbound port, 443, is the likely target for the increased database activity.

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Prioritize Vulnerability Mitigation

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Stepping stones are hosts in a network which could be compromised and used by malicious attackers to perform lateral movements. Attackers hop from one compromised host to another to form a chain of stepping stones before launching an attack on the actual target host.

Using the stepping stone analysis, the security team can quickly identify the paths of concern and the number of steps away from the compromised system or other important assets and can quickly prioritize a remediation plan.

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Tutorials

• Product videos on our Marketing site
• Tutorial: NP-View Professional Server – Feature Demonstration with Palo Alto NGFW Devices
• Tutorial: NP-View Professional Server – Feature Demonstration with Fortinet Devices
• Tutorial: NP-View Professional Server – Feature Demonstration with CheckPoint R80

Webinars

Learn how NP-View can be leveraged to improve your compliance and security workflows through our collection of webinars.

• Webinar #1: Using NP-View at Home & Remote Network Access Verification
  • Video
  • Slides
• Webinar #2: NP-View Workflow for NERC CIP Audit
  • Video
  • Slides
• Webinar #3: How to Efficiently Organize & Update your NP-View Projects Over Time
  • Video
  • Slides
• Webinar #4: Towards Continuous Compliance with NP-View Server
  • Video
  • Slides
• Webinar #5: NP-View Use Cases Beyond NERC CIP Audit
  • Video
  • Slides
• Webinar #6: Cyber Resiliency: Thinking Differently about Cybersecurity
  • Slides

This section describes extended support for Layer 2 devices in NP-View. This support was added in 6.0.1

Layer 2 visibility

This feature adds baseline support for Layer 2 visibility.

Supported devices:

• Cisco IOS
• Cisco ASA

In addition to the layer 3 information inferred from ARP and Route tables, NP-View imports MAC and Interface tables to begin to support layer 2 interfaces. This data is automatically collected by the supported device connectors. Route and Interface data is loaded with the configuration file, while the ARP and MAC data can be added independently to views as auxiliary data.

If loading data manually, load only one configuration file at a time and include all auxiliary data on the same import for proper file association.

Layer 2 Capabilities:

• Control the map from Topology Settings to display or hide Layer 2 Nodes / Links.
• Control the map to expand or collapse Layer 2 Networks and attached hosts.
• Search function to locate, highlight, and open the info panel of a Layer 2 node.
• View VLAN information on the node info panel.
• View Layer 2 / VLAN data in the interface table.

Layer 2 connections are represented by a blue dotted line to a gateway.

To see the Layer 2 details, enable the 'Show Layer 2 Connections' from the topology settings.

Once enabled, Layer 2 networks will be displayed as teal clouds. Hosts / endpoints will be displayed as classic hosts.

Endpoints defined from Layer 2 communications will display the MAC Address where Layer 3 hosts will display a hostname or IP address. Only Layer 2 endpoints

with and IP address will be considered verified.

Clicking on the endpoint will display the info panel with the addition of the new VLAN section.

Note that Layer 2 topologies can get very complex very quickly.

Limitations:

• Duplicate L2 and L3 networks and endpoint may occur if there is no data tying them together.
• Layer 2 from Layer 3 can add a lot of data to the topology making navigation and topology save slower than usual.
• Path analysis does not apply to Layer 2.

Layer 2 connections manually-populated, user-generated files

There are cases where not all devices have a configuration file. This is common in Layer 2 switches. This feature adds baseline support for Layer 2 visibility using manually generated files.

Adding a Layer 2 Switch

The text file can be used to create a Layer 2 switch in NP-View.  This switch can be used in conjunction with the common data model file outlined below to add layer 2 devices and connected nodes to the topology.

Following is an example of the data that can be in the file. The text file should be a properly formatted YAML ending with .YAML or .YML or it won’t be classified correctly and the import will fail. Note that each manually created switch will use a device license.

The imported device will be interpreted as a layer 2 switch by the system. Be sure to not use special characters within the device name or the interface names. Stick with alphanumeric characters, underscores can be used as shown below.

# This first line must be present, and the identifier must be np_custom_device 
file_identifier: np_custom_device 
# The name of the device, will be represented as such in the app 
device_name: custom_l2_switch 
# Vendor string, merely a description of the device 
vendor: netgear 
# A list of interfaces on the device, you need at least one interface 
interfaces: 
  - name: eth0 
    mac_addr: 0000:1b2b:fefe 
    ip: 192.168.1.100 
    netmask: 255.255.255.0 
  - name: eth1 
    mac_addr: 0101:acdc:80ba 
    ip: 192.168.2.100 
    netmask: 255.255.255.0 

When the above .YAML file is loaded into NP-View, the following device will displayed in NP-View.

With the following interfaces:

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Adding Layer 2 Connectivity

To add layer 2 connections to any device, a Excel file, referred to as the Common Data Model or CDM can be created to add endpoints and connections to NP-View.

The format for the CDM is as follows:

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Coming Soon

Limitations:

• If the user makes input errors, the system will display what they typed.
• Users need to verify that the topology represents the data as they expect it. There is no way for NP-View to know the data is incorrect.
• This function allocated licenses to Layer 2 devices, if the user mistypes the device name licenses will still be used.
• Duplicate L2 and L3 networks and endpoint may occur if there is no data tying them together.
• No rules, objects or paths will exist for L2 switches.

Notification manager is used to configure services and rules for generating and sending system notifications about Workspaces. Select the system menu (top right corner) and then “Notification manager”

to display the Notifications menu:

Configure Services

Before rules can be configured in notification manger, the administrator is required to configure at least one notification service.  Services include: e-mail, STIX/TAXII, SIEM (Syslog), and select ticketing systems.

• SMTP configuration requires a server IP address, communication port, user id and password.  Note that a firewall port may need to be opened for NP-View to communicate with your SMTP server.
• Syslog configuration requires a server IP address and a communication port.
  • Information on configuring SPLUNK can be found here.
• ServiceNow configuration requires a server address, user name and password.
• TAXII configuration requires a server address, server port, data path and a destination collection name.

Service configuration can be found under “Notification manager -> Configure Services” tab.

Additional Email Configuration Details for LDAP/AD

When connected to LDAP or Active Directory, the user’s email addresses are extracted from the authentication server. They are typically stored within the LDAP/AD email field. The test button will pull the LDAP/AD information for inspection. If a field other than email is used, the field name should be added to the LDAP setup page replacing the default “email”. If the email field is missing, please contact your system administrator to have the email field added and populated for each user who wishes to receive automated notifications.

If your email server requires authentication to send emails, we recommend using a service account with a non-expiring password or notifications will stop sending when the password expires.

Add/Edit Rules

NP-View can automatically send information to the configured services for changes and activities impacting your workspaces. Select the system menu and then “Notification manager -> Add/Edit Rule” to setup rules.

Rules can be set to choose which activities and events are included in notifications.  When configuring the notification rule, the user will select a service to deliver the notification to, the workspace(s) to be monitored and frequency the report should be delivered.

Notification frequencies are:

• Instant
• Hourly
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

After that, the criterion for generating the report is selected. Activity types include:

For each Activity type, one or more activity status or  activity severity can be selected and the notification rule can be filtered by keywords.

Finally, the output can be sanitize to remove IP addresses and saved in the database for future viewing.

Note: If the save in database box is not checked, the report will not be viewable on the Your Reports tab.

Click Save Rule to save your configuration.

Your Rules

Once rules are created, they appear on the “Your Rules” tab. This tab shows each rule created.  Workspace Admins can only see their rules and Administrators can see all users rules.  From this tab. users can edit, delete or copy a rule.

Your Reports

Once rules triggered and the the “save for future viewing” function is active, a summary of each report generated will be displayed on the  reports tab.  The Workspace Admin can see and delete their own reports and the Administrator can see and delete all users reports.

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This article will focus on the Object Groups Report.

NP-View uses reports to present network information related to the open workspace.  These reports are available to all users and can be accessed from the main menu. For more information visit the Workspace Reports Overview article.

Object Groups – Defined

• Object Groups classify users, devices, or protocols into “groups” and apply those groups to Access Control Lists (ACLs), to create access control policies for those groups.
• The Object Groups report provides a summary of Network ACL Object Groups.
• These object groups may include: Host IP addresses, network address of group members, and nested object groups.
• Objects consist of several types including Address, Service, Binding, Interface, and Zone.

The Object Groups Report can be accessed in two ways. Each way presents a different data set.

1. From the main menu, the table will populate the table with all objects for all devices in the workspace, including globals.
2. From the topology, when clicking a Firewall/ Router/ Switch – its info panel will open – and the user can select Object Groups from the Data for this Device section. Only the objects for the selected device will be displayed in this case.

*main menu

       *info panel

Network Management System:

When data is loaded from a firewall vs Network Management system, the listing of object groups for addresses may vary.

• When viewing data from a network management system, globally defined groups may be available.
• When the data is loaded from the firewall, the global addresses may be presented as local addresses.

What Data is Present?

The list below the image details the data types available in the Object Groups Report.

Table Actions

There are a number of actions that can be taken in the Object Groups report, some are specific to Object Groups, others are universal to all Reports.

• Overflow Data: When there is more data in a Cell than can be presented in a column, the overflow data can be accessed by clicking the + icon in the cell.
• Object Group Details: The name column will show related object data details within the + popup.
• Columns can be displayed or hidden using the hamburger menu in the upper right corner of the report.
• Changes to the menu are automatically saved.
• Additionally, the table can be exported as displayed, with comment history or with object groups.
• Only visible columns will be displayed.
• Columns can be sorted, rearranged or resized and changes will be automatically saved.
• Column filters can be displayed.
• Filters applied to the table or column will automatically be saved.
• Filters can be reset from the hamburger menu.

*the Object Groups Report Menu

Comments

NP-View provides a simple and easy way for users to add comments to Object Groups, and to track the historical lineage of these comments in a workspace. Comments can be added, or viewed, but for for integrity purposes they cannot be edited or deleted by users.  If an Object Group is changed or removed from the system, the group and associated comments will be removed from the Object Group table.

Adding a Comment: Comments can be added to a row by double-clicking on the cell in the column “Comment”.  Comment text and status can be added and then saved with the save button. Once the comment is saved, the author and time stamp are automatically inserted.

*applying comment

*applying comment – closeup

Comment History: Additional comments can be added to a row to begin creating a lineage or history of comments. This history will be automatically available when more than one comment exists on a row and can be expanded by clicking the blue clock icon on the leftmost column of the table. If there is no history the icon will be disabled.

When viewing history, changes between lines are highlighted in blue.

Example: If Comment 1 is: “Check This” – ‘medium’ and Comment 2 is “Check This” – ‘low’ the criticality cell would be highlighted because there was a change – the comment text would not be highlighted because it remained the same.

*Viewing comment history

*Viewing comment history – closeup

Object Groups Hash

Object groups are uniquely tagged (Object ID) within NP-View for linkage to comments. More info in the expanded section below.

Additional Features

• The Compare button invokes a time series comparison function for the report.   Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Comments can be imported from an Excel file.  Additional details on this function can be found here.
• Conditional formatting can be applied to this table report.  Additional details on this function can be found here.

Comparison Report

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Access Rules and Object Groups have a Compare function to show historical differences in data that has been added or removed. The function can be engaged by clicking the “Compare” button located at the top of the page. This function is used to display changes over a period of days.

The user can select a time frame (7, 30, 90 or 356 days or a custom date range). The user can select one or more devices to include in the report and then show the history over the range. Once the parameters are selected, the “Show Comparison” button should be selected.

The comparison function will display all changes (Rule Adds, Rule Removal and Unchanged Rules) for the selected days. The data will be displayed using the column format of the selected table. The user can filter on added, removed or unchanged rules by clicking the jelly bean. Added rules will be highlighted in green, removed rules will be highlighted in red and unchanged rules will be highlighted in light blue.

Clicking the “Compare” button will revert to the normal table but will not clear the selections.

Clicking the “Reset” button will clear the selections and reset the table.

Expanded Object Groups

In the Access Rules table, Source, Destination and Service groups can be expanded to see the group details.  By clicking on the + icon within a cell, the expanded group information can be made visible.

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Through network access modeling, NP-View analyzes all possible connectivity paths in a network based on the firewall, router, and switch configuration files imported. The results are presented in:

• the Connectivity Paths table,
• the Compare Path History,
• the Connectivity Matrix for each device, and
• the Inbound Connectivity and Outbound Connectivity sections of the info panel for hosts, gateways, and networks.

Path analysis is only available in custom views that have been manually created using the “Manage Views” menu. This can be found in the default Home view in which only devices are shown (no network, no end points) does not include a path analysis.

NP-View provides two options for analysis; Internal and Internal + External. Internal analysis computes paths for all the devices and end points within the view. Internal + External analysis include devices and end points within the view and adds external end points that are listed as unmapped.

By default, new views are created using internal analysis. To include external hosts, select Internal + External from the dropdown.

Please note that the external path analysis will take more time to complete and will return a larger number of paths.

Why are there zero paths identified after analysis

In some workspaces customers are seeing zero paths after analysis.  To understand why, each ‘allow’ rule must be investigated.  In these cases, we found various reasons for not seeing any paths.  Some of these reasons are:

1. IP addresses of the firewall’s interfaces and of access rules’ sources and destinations do not overlap. Firewall’s interface addresses are in 124.x.y.z IP ranges. However, the source and destination objects for access rules are in 10.x.y.z IP ranges. Therefore, the traffic is dropped at the ingress of the firewall. This could be caused by (1) incorrect config export, (2) incorrect sanitization, or (3) incomplete config.
2. A zone contains two interfaces (tunnel.1 and tunnel.3), and it is anticipated that the intrazone paths would show up (due to default allow as well as specifically defined access rules). However, those tunnels are destined to gateways that are connected via layer-2 links (in the config). Therefore, our processing of layer-3 paths does not include those cases.

Why are there paths with no rule sequences

In some situations, the path sequence field may not be populated due to implied rules from tunnels or security levels. In these situations, the path sequence will be populated with text: ‘Access implied by tunnel or security level’

Why does Path Analysis not create paths for FWs where there are 2 defined default static routes

We use default gateways to route traffic to and from external addresses. In this context, we handle multiple default gateways differently depending on whether the paths are inbound or outbound.

For inbound paths, i.e., from external sources to the internal network, we process all default gateways. We process traffic through every default gateway and generate all paths as the access rules allow.

For outbound paths, i.e., from internal network to external sources, we select only one default gateway. We have implemented a set of rules grounded in routing principles that prioritize one route over others. However, if those rules find no clear winner, we break the tie by picking the route through the interface appearing first in alphabetical order. In any case, we end up picking one default route and generating a warning  message.

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The following table is a comprehensive list of supported devices. The instructions provided in the table can be used to manually extract data from the device for import. While we do our best to support the below devices, it is impossible for us to test the parsers with every possible device configuration combination. If errors occur during device import, Network Perception is committed to working with our customers to resolve their specific parsing issues.

Note that Network Perceptions device support policy follows that of the manufacturer.  When a manufacturer ends support for a product, so does Network Perception.  End of support devices are not removed from NP-View but will not be upgraded if issues arise.

Supported Devices with Vendor Partnership

The devices in this list are actively tested in our lab to support the most current versions of the manufacturer software. Network Perception has an active partnership with these vendors for software and support.

Supported Devices with no Vendor Partnership

The devices in this list are actively tested in our lab to support the most current versions of the manufacturer software.

Historical Devices

The devices in this list were developed based on customer provided configuration files.  We are no longer actively developing these parsers but they are supported for break/fix and require customers sanitized config files to assist with the debug of issues.

Additional Instructions

Palo Alto Panorama & NGFW

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Panorama

If Panorama is used to centrally manage policies, the access rules and object groups can be retrieved from these devices in XML format (we do not support the import of unstructured text files). If using the Panorama connector, the required files will automatically be downloaded:through 6.2 ended September 2023. Please note that no upgrades to these parsers will be made.

The Panorama file will only contain centrally managed access rules and object groups.

Locally defined access rules and object groups cannot be retrieved from Panorama and must be retrieved from each NGFW. Please follow the instructions below to export directly from the Next Gen FireWall using API.

Palo Alto Firewalls will ALWAYS have a V-sys even if one has not been configured it will default to vsys1.

The “mapping_config” file is required which can only be retrieved through the API using the “show devices connected” command.  The name of the file is “named_mapping_config.xml” where the named prefix needs to match the device name as shown in the UI when the running_config.xml is imported alone. All files should be imported at the same time. Please see instructions below:

The below links are to the Panorama documentation for the required commands with examples. The links provide you with commands to run directly in the Panorama CLI. The images we provided are for using Postman or web browser use.

Get API Key

Get Panorama and device bundle Configuration

Get device mapping config

Once both the “<panorama_server>_running_config.xml” and <panorama_server >_mapping_config.xml” are gathered, please import them together in NP-View.

Next Gen Firewall (NGFW)

If using the PanOS connector is used to download files, the required files will automatically be downloaded:

The configuration information from the NGFW may be contained in several .xml files, <device-name>_merged_config.xml and <device-name>.vsys(n)_pushed_policy.xml.  There can be one vsys file per virtual interface. The naming of these files is important for the parser to merge them during import.  All files from a single firewall must be imported at the same time and in .xml format (we do not support the import of unstructured text files).  If any of the files are missing, improperly named or formatted, an error message will state that ‘File parsed but ruleset and topology were empty, aborting’ meaning they could not be linked to the other associated files.

An example of properly named files is below:

• Chicago-IL-100-FW1_merged_config.xml
• Chicago-IL-100-FW1.vsys1_pushed_policy.xml
• Chicago-IL-100-FW1.vsys2_pushed_policy.xml

NOTE: If the NGFW is an unmanaged/standalone Palo Alto device it will not have a pushed_policy file. In this situation, the configuration .xml file can be downloaded directly from the firewall and loaded into NP-View.  The file name need not be changed when loading the file from a standalone firewall.

To manually export configuration files from an unmanaged firewall:

If the NGFW is managed by a Panorama, the API will be required to secure the necessary files:

Get API Key

Get PANos Firewall full configuration

Get Managed Firewall configuration

Virtual Routers (vrf) – Experimental Support

Virtual router (vrf) is a software-based routing framework in Palo Alto NGFW that allows the host machine to perform as a typical hardware router over a local area network. NP-View has added the experimental capability to detect Virtual Routers from Palo Alto devices (NGFW or Panorama) and present them in the Connector or Manual Import device selection screens. Virtual Routers will be treated the same as physical routers and will require a device license.

This feature is disabled by default and must be enabled prior to importing configurations containing virtual routers.

To enable the feature the NP-View Server admin will need to make a change to a system variable.

• Stop the NP-View Server application.
• in the docker-compose.yml file, change the enableVirtualRouters=False to enableVirtualRouters=True in three places within the file.
• start the NP-View Server application.

For Desktop

• Close the NP-View application.
• In the file C:\Users\<username >\AppData\Roaming\NP-View\config.ini add enableVirtualRouters=True
• Restart the NP-View application

Once enabled, the user will be presented with the option to select virtual routers from the connector in the device selection or upon manual import.

SonicWall

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We support .exp files as the default SonicWall file format for v5.9 and v6.X of the SonicOS.

The main UI allows for export of the encoded .exp file as such:

To extract the file via command line, then the command to export is

export current-config sonicos ftp ftp://[USERNAME]:[PASSWORD]@[FTP IP/URL]/sonicwall.exp

Where the username/password/FTP IP or URL must be changed. The file “sonicwall.exp” will then be saved at the FTP location. As this file is encoded, there’s no way to echo or cat the data.

Requesting Support for New Devices

The above list of supported hardware has been lab and field tested.  Newer versions generally work unless their is a major platform or API upgrade.  Please contact support@network-perception.com if you wish to get more information on parsers, request support for a particular device or are interested on co-developing a solution.

NP-View includes a utility to automatically retrieve network device configuration files on a schedule. The connector types supported in NP-View Server are below:

Configuration Managers

For retrieving config files from network management systems. For each connector, the user can select the devices to be uploaded for monitoring.

Direct Device Connection

For retrieving config files directly from the network device.

Volume Shares

For retrieving config files that are uploaded to a common collection repository.

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Additional Connector Information‍

Checkpoint

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For the connector to work CheckPoint devices, the API setting need to be enabled in the SmartConsole.  See the image below for settings and commands to restart the API.

Samba

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Network Perception suggests the following when setting up the SMB connection.

1. Create a read-only user in Active Directory or on the SMB server.
2. Determine the available share (Get-SMBShare” in Windows PowerShell) or create a new one.
3. Share the SMB folder containing the Configuration files with the read-only user. For example:

Configuration:

Lets assume that the server is at \\192.168.140.14\

• the shared folder is named 'share'
• and the files are in a sub folder of share called \test\NERC-CIP-EMS
• a UNC would look like this: \\192.168.140.14\share\test\NERC-CIP-EMS
• Per the above, the device name was set to LAB-SMB

When configuring the SMB connector, the screen would look like this:

If during the connector test, access is denied, the following settings should be verified and may need to be changed for the SMB to work as expected.

Running PowerShell as administrator

Input command Get-SmbServerConfiguration

Verify that EncryptData is set to false

If set to true, run command “Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EncryptData 0”

Verify SmbServerHardeningLevel is set to 0

If not set to 0, run command “Set-SmbServerConfiguration -SmbServerNameHardeningLevel 0”

Microsoft recommended default is off (0). More information about these settings can be found on the Microsoft website.

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If you have a system for which you need a connector or if you encounter a technical issue, please contact support@network-perception.com.

This document relates to NP-View Desktop and Server version 6.0 and later.

Connectors automate the secure retrieval of configuration files from firewalls, routers, switches, and network device configuration managers. NP-View Desktop and Server can host one or more connectors that securely retrieves configuration files manually (desktop and server) or at the specified frequency (server only).

To access the connector function, use the system menu in the upper right corner of NP-View and select 'Manage connectors'

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The connector function consists of several key features.

• Password manager to reuse and manage passwords across multiple connectors.
• Workflow for creating groups and connectors.
• Automated data collection and download.
• Flexible scheduling (Server only).
• Runtime and scheduling status (Server Only).

The connector function supports the files devices listed on the connectors page.

Add Credentials

To get started, the user must first create one or more credentials. Credentials are used to access the devices and can be used for one or more devices. This provides for the ability to manage multiple devices with one set of credentials. Click the 'Add New Credential button to display the input section. Credentials are segregated by device type. Select the device type and input the required fields.

Once filled in, select the save button and the credential will be saved and displayed in the 'Credentials' box. Clicking on the credential will allow the user to edit the credential.

At this time, Deleting a credential is not supported.

Create Groups

Once credentials have been created, the user can proceed to creating a Connector Group.

Select the '+' in the 'Groups' section to display the add groups function. Fill in the group name, notes and select a schedule (server only). For desktop, only the 'On Demand' function will be displayed.

Once saved, the user can click on the connector group name in the 'Groups' panel to enter edit mode or select the three dots to the right of the name for individual group options.

Pull to run all associated connectors and delete to remove the group. Note that only empty group can be deleted.

Scheduling Groups

Groups can retrieve data on a schedule, when setting up or editing a connector group, the user can set a schedule.

The user has multiple options for scheduling the connector; monthly, weekly, and daily with flexible day of week and time options. We recommend that connectors be run at night to provide maximum resources for processing the data. When a connector group is scheduled, the next run status will be presented in the 'Groups' panel

and on the 'Processes' tab

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Add Connectors

Once a group has been created, the user can add connectors to the group. In the connectors section, select the '+' to present the add connector function.

Proceed to select the connector type and fill in the required fields.

Next fill in the optional fields.

Filling in the name of a context will only fetch the data for that one context, leaving blank will fetch all contexts.

Selecting one ore more worspaces to deliver the fetched data. If left blank, the data will be retrieved for manual download.

The user can then test the connector to verify the credentials and/or save the connector.

Once saved, the user can click on the connector name in the 'Connectors' panel to invoke edit mode. Clicking on the tree dots next to the connector name provides individual connector options.

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Manual Data Pull

Data from individual connectors can be retrieved manually by selecting the 'pull' option from the menu above. When selecting pull, the connector status will proceed to 'in progress'

and the processes tab will also display the progress status.

Once data has been pulled, the user can selectively download the most current data set from the connector panel.

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Deleting Workspaces

If a connector is designated to deliver data to workspace and a user deletes the workspace, the connector will automatically be updated to reflect the workspace deletion.

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In version 6.0, a new connector function was introduced. for new connector users, it is recommended to use the new connector function. The connector access has been moved from the +Import function to the system menu.

Connectors automate the secure retrieval of configuration files from firewalls, routers, switches, and network device configuration managers. NP-View Server can host one or more connectors that securely retrieves configuration files at the specified frequency. By default, connectors are accessible through HTTPS on port TCP/8443 of the NP-View server and is isolated for security purposes.

The first time an administrator accesses the connectors, they are required to define a Connector group name and a secure passphrase. The Connector group name will be used to create the encrypted connector file store. Connector information is encrypted at rest and in transit using a passphrase protected PGP key. Only the connector owners know the passphrase and the passphrase is never stored. Once initiated, connectors run in the background collecting network information.  If the NP-View server is restarted, the connector owner is required to re-authenticate and restart the connectors. Connector owners can create multiple connector groups and each will require their own login. Once created, the user can select from the list of available connectors when logging in.

The connector page contains five main options.

The buttons from left to right are:

• + Add New Connector
• bulk start all connectors (see bulk start parameters below)
• bulk stop all connectors
• delete the connector (user must be logged into the connector group to delete)
• exit the connector group.

Add Connector

To add a new connector, select “+Add New Connector”  button and a list of available connectors is presented. Connector options are: Cloud Providers, Configuration Managers,  Direct Devices and Volume Shares

Upon selecting the Connector type to add, the user is requested to fill in connection information. Connector information varies by vendor.  The connector configuration for a Palo Alto device is as follows:

The user must enter a Connector name (no spaces), host name, and credentials.  The user can then verify the credentials are correct with the “Test credentials” button.  The user can setup the polling cycle and provide the workspaces to deliver the resultant information.

Polling Cycles are:

• On demand
• Daily
• Weekly
• Bi-Weekly
• Monthly

Configuration Management Systems

For Configuration Management Systems and file Shares, additional information may be required.  The user can retrieve a list of files from the device and filter the results.  To include specific files, put them in the include list field.  To exclude files, put them in the exclude list field.  If both lists are used, include list filter will be applied first and the exclude list filter to the results of the include list filter. If the share is PGP encrypted, a PGP Public key will be required.

Workspaces must be added to the connector for data to be transferred and displayed in the workspace.  If workspaces are added after a connector is setup, data will not be sent to the workspace until the next scheduled import and a configuration change is identified.  Creating workspaces before connectors facilitates faster visualization of data.

Connector Tile

Once the connector is added, a tile is added to the connectors home page.

Connector tiles are sorted by the characters in their names using standard Linux conventions:

1. whitespace
2. integer
3. special char
4. uppercase [A-Z]
5. underscore (possibly other special chars)
6. lowercase [a-z]

From the tile, the user can:

• manually activate the connector for a one time data pull
• run / pause the connector
• edit the connector
• copy the connector
• delete the connector.

The tile banner will show in three colors:

• red – connector failed
• blue – connector scheduled to run
• gray – connector paused

Click the start / pause button to restart a failed or paused connector, note that a connector may take several minutes to change the banner color.

Connectors + Samba (SMB) Access Error

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This error can be caused by two communication scenarios between Linux and Window. Either SMB encryption is enabled on the Server or SPN target name validation level is enabled (or both). To check which of these features is causing the issue, Run PowerShell on the Windows Server as administrator and run the following command:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration

If EncryptData = True, it can be disabled using:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EncryptData 0

If SmbServerNameHardeningLevel is set to any value other than the default of 0 run:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -SmbServerNameHardeningLevel 0

to restore the default.

NP-View releases are divided into two groups:

• Release Candidates introduce new features and go through the full QA process once a quarter.  The rollout of release candidates is staged to ensure product quality.
• General Releases are release candidates that have gone through field testing and any critical issues resolved before releasing to the general population. General releases typically lag release candidates by a month or more.

Release candidates generally following the below schedule: January, April, July and October

General releases do not follow a fixed schedule since they are driven by field testing and support requests.

Below is the list of releases and the features / fixes in each release. Only the most current release available to a customer will be posted on the portal.  

If you have any question, please contact us at support@network-perception.com.

The release notes are also available from within the NP-View application. By clicking the version number in the lower left hand corner of the workspace screen,

the release notes can be viewed.

NP-View Desktop and Server – 2024

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NP-View Desktop and Server – 2023

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NP-View Desktop and Server – 2022

For customers who have installed the Ubuntu version of the NP-View OVF, this package is designed to update Docker and Ubuntu to the following versions:

- Docker version 27.1.2, build d01f264

- Kernel version 5.15.0-118-generic

- Ubuntu version Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS

To see the complete package details, click here:

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Download the update package, click here

Verify the checksum: 7D510280D6901502B7210EADC284B351F49C0AE6F40D9030A99C5A6A17B6444F

Installation Instructions

Have all users log out of NP-View Server as the update will disrupt their system use.

SSH into the NP-View server

sudo su -

cd /root/

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Make an updates folder at the path of your choice.

mkdir updates

cd updates

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Copy update-packages-08-14-24.zip to the updates folder on the np-view server

unzip update-packages-08-14-24.zip

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Install all packages

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive && dpkg -i *.deb

reboot

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.zip and .deb files can be removed after reboot.

sudo su -

cd /root/

cd updates

rm *.deb *.zip

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When we improve a data or analysis feature or fix an issue, the improvement may not be visible until new data is ingested, or another action is taken.

New Data or Warnings identified during file parsing

When we improve a parser, upon next import, we will apply the new rules and import the new or corrected data. Only the workspace where the new file(s) are imported (manual or connector) will receive the new data. All views, in that workspace, that contain the imported device(s), will be updated with the new data.
No other workspaces will be impacted.

The impact of this is that some workspaces will have the new data, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across workspaces. Additionally, only the devices being imported will contain the new or updated data within a view.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing workspace. Alternatively the user can clone an existing connector to pull data into the workspace (Note: connectors perform a checksum to see if a file has already been imported and ignore it if we have imported it already.)

Data created during Merge / Analyze

When we improve merge (topology generation) or analyze (path creation), upon next import or the creation of a new view, we will apply the new rules. Only the views, in that workspace, that contain the new file(s), will be merged and analyzed.  All other views will not be impacted.

The impact is that some workspaces and views will have new analysis results, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across views and workspaces.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing views or create new views.

Risks and Warnings

When we improve risk alerts, upon next import, we will apply the new policies and requirements. Only the workspace where the new file(s) are imported (manual or connector) will receive updated risks. Upon import and after the views are updated, the risk alerts will be updated. No other workspaces will be impacted.

The impact is that some workspaces will have new risk alerts, some will not, resulting in data discrepancies across workspaces.

To ensure the entire workspace is current, users can manually re-import data into their existing views or users can reset the risks for any workspace in the Policy manager which will remove all current risks and rerun the risks for that workspace.

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Overview

This section provides a primer on how to review firewall rulesets from three vendors: Cisco,  Check Point, and Palo Alto.

Cisco Ruleset Overview

An access control list (ACL) is used to filter network traffic. For an ACL to take effect, it must be bound to an interface on the device. Packets are then matched against the ACLs bound to that interface to determine whether to forward or drop a packet. A MAC, IPv4 and IPv6 ACL can be bound to each interface. Multiple ACL of the same protocol cannot be bound to the same interface, they must be combined to accomplish the desired effect.

Object Groups for ACLs lets you classify users, devices, or protocols into groups and apply those groups to access control lists (ACLs) to create access control policies for those groups. This lets you use object groups instead of individual IP addresses, protocols, and ports, which are used in conventional ACLs.

The image below helps depict the interaction between Object Groups, Access Groups, Rules and Interfaces.

The Object Groups, Access Groups, Rules and Interfaces. are combined into a configuration file as shown below:

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

Check Point Ruleset Overview

Check Point segments security management into multiple virtual domains. Security policies can be created and privately maintained per Domain. The image below helps depict the high level interaction between domains and the domain server.

Some security rules can be enforced for all Domains. Global policies can serve as security templates with rules that are applied to many Domains, and their individualized security policies. The Security Gateway is the engine that enforces the organization\’s security policy, is an entry point to the LAN, and is managed by the Security Management Server.

The interaction between domain policies, global policies and the security gateway is depicted below. Note that Global Domain rules can be run before the local Domain rules or after the local Domain rules as cleanup.

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

Palo Alto Ruleset Overview

Device groups enables grouping based on network segmentation, geographic location, organizational function, or any other common aspect of firewalls that require similar policy configurations. Using device groups, the user can configure policy rules and the objects they reference. Devices can be organized hierarchically, with shared rules and objects at the top, and device group-specific rules and objects at subsequent levels. This enables the creation of a hierarchy of rules that enforce how firewalls handle traffic. The image below depicts the high level interaction between device groups, subgroups and firewalls.

This can be further broken down into the virtual system. A virtual system is an independent (virtual) firewall instance that can be separately managed within a physical firewall with its own Security policy, interfaces, and administrators.

Device Groups on Panorama allow you to centrally manage firewall policies. You create policies on Panorama either as Pre Rules or Post Rules; Pre Rules and Post Rules allow you to create a layered approach for implementing policy. You can define Pre rules and Post rules in a shared context, as shared policies for all managed firewalls, or in a device group context, to make the rules specific to a device group. Because you define Pre rules and Post Rules on Panorama and then push them from Panorama to the managed firewalls, you are able to view the rules on the managed firewalls but you can edit the Pre Rules and Post Rules only in Panorama.

• Pre Rules—Rules that are added to the top of the rule order and are evaluated first. You can use pre-rules to enforce the Acceptable Use Policy for an organization.
• Post Rules—Rules that are added at the bottom of the rule order and are evaluated after the pre-rules and rules that are locally defined on the firewall. Post-rules typically include rules to deny access to traffic based on the App-ID™, User-ID™, or Service.
• Default Rules—Rules that specify how the firewall handles traffic that does not match any Pre Rules, Post Rules, or local firewall rules.

NP-View reads device configuration files and can be used to review and verify the ruleset configuration using the Access Rules feature.  An example is below:

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