Tag: nsx-t

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Understanding vDefend Firewall Directionality

A brief discussion about understanding directionality in vDefend Firewalls

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy! I have been playing around different options of implementing vDefend Distributed Firewalls. I see an option of Direction in the firewall rules (In-Out). Can you help me understand how does that work?

ITGuy: Sure! The direction in the rule is always with context to the VM(workload).

Rule Direction = In = Traffic will be allowed/disallowed to enter the VM = Ingress to the VM

Rule Direction = Out = Traffic will be allowed/disallowed to exit the VM = Egress from the VM

CuriousTechie: Then why do we have the default as In-Out?

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Understanding ALGs with vDefend Distributed Firewall

A brief discussion about Application Level Gateways and their use with vDefend Distributed Firewall

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy! I am implementing Distributed Firewall in my SDDC environment. I have created a DFW rule to allow FTP access on TCP port 21, users are able to login to FTP server but not able to move files around. Can you help me to troubleshoot this issue?

ITGuy: Sure! Can you show me the DFW rule you have created for the FTP access?

CuriousTechie: Here is the rule

ITGuy: The problem is evident! You are using a normal TCP port instead of an ALG.

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Demystifying Security Terminologies: Zero Trust, Micro Segmentation, and vDefend

A candid conversation about security terminologies in the buzz of current security industry.

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, I am just starting my journey in the IT security industry. I am confused about a few terminologies like Zero Trust, Micro Segmentation, vDefend, DFW, etc. Can you please help me to wrap my head around these to build a better understanding?

ITGuy: Sure, I can help you with that. Let’s follow a Top to Down approach to build the understanding.

CuriousTechie: Okay, what is actually the top layer of this security product?

ITGuy: All of these terms are NOT part of a single security product!!

Let’s start from Zero Trust, Zero Trust is NOT a security product! It is a Concept with various definitions and it is subject to interpretations. Let’s talk about the below definition!

“Zero Trust is a security model that ensures data and resources are inaccessible by default. Users can only access them on a limited basis under the right circumstances, known as least-privilege access.”

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Quick Steps: Viewing DFW Rule Creation/Modification Time – Browser API Calls

A short conversation on how to run API calls on Browser to check the time of DFW rule creation or modification time!

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, I need to check the time of creation and modification of a Distributed Firewall rule. Is there a quick way to check these details in the browser itself.

ITGuy: Yes it is doable but depends on the browser, what browser do you use?

CuriousTechie: Currently I am using Mozilla Firefox for this environment, will it be possible to get this data out of the box without any extension or plugins?

ITGuy: Yes sure, let’s login to your NSX manager UI and will show you how to get this information.

CuriousTechie: Here is my NSX manager Policy UI and I need to find the time of creation/modification details of rule number 2024.

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NSX Intelligence: Checking Applied Rules on a VM

A short conversation on how to check the applied Distributed Firewall Rules on a VM by using NSX Intelligence!!

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, during our last conversation here we discussed about three ways to check applied DFW rules but you did mention there is another way to check the rules, can we talk about that?

ITGuy: Sure ! You can leverage Security Intelligence aka NSX intelligence to validate the rules applied on a VM.

CuriousTechie: I have been using Security Intelligence to get flow information and recommendations but never seen how to check applied rules using it, can you show me?

ITGuy: Sure !

  1. Go to Plan & Troubleshoot
  2. Go to Discover & Take Action
  3. On the Top bar Select Computer -> Search and select the VM that you want to check the applied rules.
  4. Right click the VM -> Go to Related Firewall Rules
  5. You will see all the rules applied on that particular VM
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3 Ways to Verify Applied Distributed Firewall Rules on a VNIC

A short conversation on how to check the applied Distributed Firewall Rules on a vnic!!

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, I am working on a project to implement DFW rules in an environment and often need to check exactly what firewall rules are applied on a vnic, is there a way to do that?

ITGuy: Sure ! We can talk about three different ways to do that and we can talk about pro’s and con’s of each.

CuriousTechie: Okay cool!

ITGuy:

  • From NSX UI
  • From ESXi Host shell
  • From ARIA Operations for Networks aka vRNI
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AVI (NSX-ALB) Quick tip for troubleshooting network connectivity!

A short conversation on how to check and troubleshoot network connectivity from AVI Service Engines.

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, I am new to AVI and sometimes I get stuck in troubleshooting connectivity issues on service engines. Is there a way to check connectivity of the data nics from the service engines?

ITGuy: Sure there is a simple way! You may login to the network namespace of the data nic inside the service engine and check the connectivity.

CuriousTechie: Can you please show me how to do that? Here is my scenario!

I have NSX-T cloud with service engines running, I have created a virtual service but the Virtual Service is DOWN and the Pool is DOWN as well. Also I am not able to reach the SE data nics.

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NSX API: Quick Troubleshooting Trick

A conversation about using browser Developer tools to validate NSX API’s for quick troubleshooting in some cases.

CuriousTechie: Hello IT Guy, I am planning to upgrade my NSX but I see a problem with the upgrade status in UI and not sure where to start the troubleshoot process.

ITGuy: Okay sure! Let’s take a look at the problem then we can get some clue to move ahead.

CuriousTechie: My upgrade screen is stuck like this.

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Quick NSX D-IDPS validation

A conversation about basic validation of NSX Distributed Intrusion Detection and Prevention System

CuriousTechie: Hey IT Guy, I am doing a Green filed deployment and have enabled NSX distributed IDPS in the environment. It may take few days to setup a testing environment with Security testing tools to simulate attacks and validate if the NSX D-IDPS is actually working or not. Is there a way to quicky validate the basic intrusion detection and prevention functionality of the solution?

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