Chapter4.Firewall Management

Chapter 4. Firewall Management

Refer to the following sections for information about these topics:

• 4-1: Using Security Contexts to Make Virtual Firewalls Presents the configuration steps needed to make one physical firewall platform emulate multiple virtual firewalls.

• 4-2: Managing the Flash File System Explains the types of images that are stored in nonvolatile firewall memory and how to work with them.

• 4-3: Managing Configuration Files Presents the methods you can use to configure firewalls and manage their configuration files.

• 4-4: Managing Administrative Sessions Presents the configuration steps necessary to permit administrative users to access a firewall for configuration, monitoring, or troubleshooting.

• 4-5: Firewall Reloads and Crashes Discusses how to perform a controlled firewall reload or reboot. After an unexpected firewall crash, you can also examine "post mortem" information about the cause of the crash.

• 4-6: Monitoring a Firewall with SNMP Explains Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and how it can be used to obtain system information from a firewall.

Any firewall that is deployed in a network must also be managed. Firewall administrators need to be able to make configuration changes, define virtual firewall contexts for other entities, maintain the firewall operating system and configuration files, and monitor firewall operation.

This chapter presents the configuration steps and background information you need to perform these management functions.