Mastering Palo Alto Networks : The Complete Journey to Firewall Mastery from Setup to Advanced Security.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

'reaper', Tom Piens aka.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Firewalls (Computer security).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (647 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham : Packt Publishing, Limited, 2025.

Summary:

Unlock the full potential of Palo Alto Networks firewalls with expert insights and hands-on strategies for mastering next-gen security Key Features Master Palo Alto Networks firewalls with hands-on labs and expert guidance Stay up to date with the latest features, including cloud and security enhancements Learn how to set up and leverage Strata Cloud Manager Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionMastering Palo Alto Networks is the ultimate guide for anyone looking to become proficient in configuring and managing Palo Alto firewalls. Written by a seasoned security consultant and author with 25 years of expertise in network security, this book provides a comprehensive approach to mastering Palo Alto Networks' firewalls. If you've struggled with managing firewall policies, setting up VPNs, or integrating cloud security, this book will provide clear solutions. You'll get to grips with the fundamentals, and go through the entire process step by step--from initial setup to advanced configurations, gaining a solid understanding of both on-premise and cloud-based security solutions. Packed with practical examples and expert tips, chapters show you how to deploy and optimize firewall policies, secure your network, and troubleshoot issues effectively. With a focus on real-world applications, this guide covers essential topics like traffic management, threat prevention, VPN setup, and integration with Prisma Access for cloud security. By the end of this book, you'll have the confidence and expertise to manage even the most complex network security environments, making this a must-have resource for anyone working with Palo Alto Networks. What you will learn Set up and configure Palo Alto firewalls from scratch Manage firewall policies for secure network traffic Implement VPNs and remote access solutions Optimize firewall performance and security settings Use threat prevention and traffic filtering features Troubleshoot common firewall issues effectively Integrate Palo Alto firewalls with cloud services Configure Strata Cloud Manager for network security management Who this book is for This book is perfect for network security professionals, IT administrators, and engineers looking to master Palo Alto firewalls. Whether you're new to network security or aiming to deepen your expertise, this guide will help you overcome configuration challenges and optimize security. Basic networking knowledge is required, but no prior experience with Palo Alto is necessary.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contributors

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Understanding the Core Technologies

Technical requirements

Understanding the zone-based firewall

Expected behavior when determining zones

Understanding App-ID and Content-ID

How App-ID gives more control

How Content-ID makes things safe

Inline evaluation

The management and data planes

Authenticating and authorizing users with User-ID

Summary

Chapter 2: Setting Up a New Device

Gaining access to the user interface

Accessing the management interface

Connecting to the web interface and CLI

Adding licenses and setting up dynamic updates

Creating a new account

Registering a new device

Activating licenses

Activating licenses via the customer support portal

Activating licenses via the web interface

Downloading and scheduling dynamic updates

Upgrading the firewall

Understanding the partitions

Upgrade considerations

Upgrading via the CLI

Upgrading via the web interface

Limiting access via an access list

Accessing internet resources from offline management

Admin accounts

Dynamic accounts

Role-based administrators

Password security

External authentication

The TACACS+ server profile

The LDAP server profile

The RADIUS server profile

The Kerberos server profile

The SAML server profile

The MFA profile

Setting up the authentication profile

Understanding the interface types

VWire

The Layer 3 interface

Exploring the interface

VR

The Layer 2 interface and VLANs

Tap interfaces

The Decryption Port Mirror interface

The loopback interface

The tunnel interface

Subinterfaces

HA interfaces

AE interfaces

Chapter 3: Building Strong Policies

Technical requirements.

Understanding and preparing security profiles

The Antivirus profile

The Anti-Spyware profile

The Vulnerability Protection profile

URL Filtering profile

Custom URL categories

Configuring the URL Filtering profile

URL Filtering priorities

The File Blocking profile

The WildFire Analysis profile

Custom objects

The Custom Spyware/Vulnerability objects

The custom data pattern

Security profile groups

Understanding and building security rules

Dropping "bad" traffic

Action options

Allowing applications

Application dependencies

Application-default versus manual service ports

Controlling logging and schedules

Address objects

Tags

Policy Optimizer

The Apps Seen column

Creating NAT rules

Inbound NAT

Outbound NAT

Hide NAT or one-to-many NAT

One-to-one NAT

U-turn or hairpin NAT

Enable DNS Rewrite

Chapter 4: Taking Control of Sessions

Controlling the bandwidth with quality-of-service policies

DSCP and ToS headers

QoS enforcement in the firewall

Creating QoS profiles

Creating QoS policies

Leveraging SSL decryption to look inside encrypted sessions

SSH proxy

SSL forward proxy

SSL Inbound Inspection

Forwarding sessions to an external device

Redirecting sessions over different paths using policy-based forwarding

Redirecting critical traffic

Load balancing

Policy based forwarding

IPSec redundancy via virtual routers

Equal cost multipath as an alternative

Chapter 5: Services and Operational Modes

Applying a DHCP client and DHCP server

DHCP client

DHCP server and relay

Configuring a DNS proxy

Setting up high availability

Active/Passive mode

Active/Active mode

Clustering

Firewall states

HA interfaces.

Setting up Active/Passive mode

Setting up Active/Active mode

HA1 encryption

Enabling virtual systems

Creating a new VSYS

Administrators in a multi-VSYS environment

Inter-VSYS routing

Creating a shared gateway

Managing certificates

Chapter 6: Identifying Users and Controlling Access

User-ID basics

Configuring WMI probes

Setting up a User-ID agent

Configuring the User-ID agent

Adding the User-ID agent to the firewall

Setting up a Terminal Server agent

Configuring the TS agent

Adding the TS agent to the firewall

Agentless User-ID

Configuring group mapping

The Cloud Identity Engine

Configuring Entra ID (Azure) enterprise applications

Setting up a captive portal

Authenticating users

Configuring the authentication portal

Using APIs for User-ID

User credential phishing prevention

Chapter 7: Managing Firewalls through Panorama

Setting up Panorama

Initial Panorama configuration

Panorama logging

Adding disks to Panorama

Log collection options

Deploying Log Collectors

Device groups

Adding managed devices

Preparing device groups

Creating policies and objects

Important things to know when creating objects in device groups

Setting up default attributes

Setting up templates and template stacks

Leveraging variables to customize common configurations

Panorama management

Device deployment

Migrating unmanaged to managed devices

Panorama HA

Replacing one device with another

Tips and tricks

Chapter 8: Managing Firewalls Through Strata Cloud Manager

Setting up Strata Logging Service

Activating Strata Cloud Manager

Creating a subtenant

Activating Strata Cloud Manager from the hub

Activating AIOps or Strata Cloud Manager for NGFW.

Configuring Strata Cloud Manager

Starting with the Manage tab

NGFW and Prisma Access

Security rules

Snippets

Security profiles

Access management

Associating devices to Strata Cloud Manager

Managing devices and device configuration through Workflows

Device Onboarding

Folder Management

Device Management

Device Settings and Global Settings

Exploring dashboards

Chapter 9: Upgrading Firewalls andPanorama

Documenting key aspects

Upgrade path

Preparing for the upgrade

The upgrade process

Upgrading a single Panorama instance

Upgrading a Panorama HA cluster

Upgrading log collectors (or firewalls) through Panorama

Upgrading a single firewall

Upgrading a firewall cluster

After the upgrade

The rollback procedure

The downgrade procedure

Special case for upgrading older hardware

Chapter 10: Logging and Reporting

Log storage

Configuring log collectors and log collector groups

Leveraging Strata Logging Service

Logging to an external syslog

Configuring log forwarding profiles

System logs

firewall logs

Filtering logs

Predefined reports and creating custom reports

Predefined reports

Custom reports

Using the Application Command Center

Chapter 11: Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Configuring GRE

Configuring the IPSec site-to-site VPN

Setting up a (phase 1) IKE Crypto profile

Setting up a (phase 2) IPSec Crypto profile

Setting up the IKE Gateway

Setting up the tunnel interface

Creating the IPSec tunnel

Configuring GlobalProtect

Setting up the portal

Clientless VPN

Setting up the gateway

HIP objects and profiles

Chapter 12: Advanced Protection

Creating custom applications and application overrides

Application override

Signature-based custom applications

Creating custom threat signatures

Implementing zone protection and DoS protection

System protection settings

Packet Buffer Protection

TCP settings

Configuring zone protection

Packet Buffer Protection and L3 &amp

L4 Header Inspection

Configuring DoS protection

Chapter 13: Troubleshooting Common Session Issues

Using the tools in the web interface

Log files

Packet captures

Configuring filters

Configuring capturing

Capturing packets on the management interface

Botnet reports

Interpreting session details

Understanding session states and types

Terminating and clearing sessions

Viewing session data from the CLI

Applying filters

Using the troubleshooting tool

Testing policies

Testing connectivity

Testing with traceroute

Using Maintenance Mode to resolve and recover from system issues

Chapter 14: A Deep Dive into Troubleshooting

Understanding global counters

Finding issues through counters

Analyzing session flows

Preparation

Execution

Cleanup

A practical example

Debugging processes

CLI troubleshooting commands cheat sheet

Chapter 15: Cloud-Based Firewall Deployment

Licensing a cloud firewall

Deploying a firewall in Azure

Bootstrapping a firewall

Creating a new storage account

Creating a bootstrap file share

The init-cfg.txt file

The bootstrap.xml file

Bootstrapping a firewall on Azure

Putting the firewall in line

Adding a new public IP address

Adding the Untrust subnet to an NSG

Creating a server subnet

Setting up routing

Forcing internal hosts to route over the firewall.

Setting up a load balancer.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-83664-480-9

OCLC:

1523375879

Publisher Number:

CIPO000183234