Juniper

Juniper SRX IPSec Quick Commands

Posted by Andy Millett

Juniper SRX IPSec Quick Commands

Over the last couple of years, the company I work for has become more and more involved in looking after customer SRX firewalls, either as a managed service, or simply on a remote technical support basis. Quite a lot of those customers have IPSec tunnels numbering in the hundreds (the biggest has 850+ on an SRX240 cluster, which is approaching the 1000 tunnel limit supported by the SRX240 platform), and whilst that isn’t a huge number where models like the SRX3xxx or SRX54xxx line is concerned, it’s still a huge number to have to parse through and diagnose issues. As a consequence, I started saving simple Linux command combinations for parsing the SRX output, so what follows are Juniper SRX IPSec quick commands, which I’ll add too as time goes on.

Show IPsec Tunnels Based on Index Value

OK, so you’ve got 850 tunnels, of which 250 are related to one customer. You need to show detailed information for a report, or log purposes. First, run ‘show security ipsec security-associations | match <remote_peer_ip>’ (1.2.3.4) in my example –

 <955 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 7adbd7ba 1723/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >955 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 c1a8e6d0 1723/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <963 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 c261b766 6461/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >963 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 9808343e 6461/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <969 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 b61ef91a 7901/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >969 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 d459398f 7901/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <472 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 1ee64eea 7696/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >472 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 116bae2f 7696/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <961 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 b95d7d52 3967/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >961 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 2181b470 3967/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <927 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 5b329b28 8232/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >927 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 818e8e95 8232/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <913 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f0c86d2b 6481/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >913 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 86e6ac9d 6481/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <849 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 44636b47 3327/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >849 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f0bb1e56 3327/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <959 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f7134e72 5356/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >959 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 ca7c6ca4 5356/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <919 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 a8d17b61 2110/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >919 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f1dba7f2 2110/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <925 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 a8656ce1 7193/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >925 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 7fac5d04 7193/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <479 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 c1e43feb 7300/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >479 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f40830b5 7300/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <847 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 9981358f 27442/unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >847 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 ee0041be 27442/unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <967 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 176837ff 8747/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >967 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 1ebfca2 8747/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <981 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 bc8158c1 6710/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >981 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 d47ddf1e 6710/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <915 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 deb2e014 8053/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >915 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 1552f027 8053/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <857 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 1f77087b 7264/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >857 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 bdcc90f 7264/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <923 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 2761d752 6389/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >923 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 59bcc562 6389/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <965 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 289fc4a1 8045/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >965 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 4ad83567 8045/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <853 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 b9dfde99 5515/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >853 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 63fe23a2 5515/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <973 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 ec3def97 5246/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >973 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 e7b6fd05 5246/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <917 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 30d89c7c 6650/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >917 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 6918cd5a 6650/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <987 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 16f1dd88 5762/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >987 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 8b0b08cc 5762/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <941 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 3875c290 9003/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >941 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 827e5a3 9003/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <1011 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 8cd1107d 8409/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >1011 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 d8d41c4a 8409/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <1009 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 378df4a 8684/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >1009 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 111a9b87 8684/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <991 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 a1b94904 6334/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >991 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 be9b3b07 6334/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <975 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 d9bdff5d 5147/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >975 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 d2b9a1c0 5147/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <855 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 f0cc56e0 8902/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >855 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 c8671fe 8902/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 <1005 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 33f7c862 4234/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4 
 >1005 ESP:aes-cbc-256/sha1 1ae9d135 4234/ unlim - root 500 1.2.3.4

Running ‘show security ipsec security-associations index <index value> detail’ against each of those will take AGES!! Try this instead –

cat << EOF | sed '/>/d' | awk '{print $1}' | sed 's/</show security ipsec security-associations index /' | sed 's/$/ detail/'

Once you hit enter, paste in the output from the SRX ‘show’ command, and type ‘EOF’ at the end. What you’ll get is –

show security ipsec security-associations index 955 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 963 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 969 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 472 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 961 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 927 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 913 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 849 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 959 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 919 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 925 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 479 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 847 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 967 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 981 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 915 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 857 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 923 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 965 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 853 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 973 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 917 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 987 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 941 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 1011 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 1009 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 991 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 975 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 855 detail
show security ipsec security-associations index 1005 detail

Awesome!

Basically, the command process is –

  • cat << EOF – Concatenate data into the cat buffer until you see ‘EOF’
  • sed ‘/>/d’ – Use Sed to remove any lines which start with a > character
  • awk ‘{print $1}’ – Use awk to print out the first column of the output (our IPSec SA ID)
  • sed ‘s/</security ipsec security-associations index /’ – Use sed to replace the < character with ‘show security ipsec security-associations index ‘
  • sed ‘s/$/ detail/’ – Use sed to add ‘ detail’ onto the end of each line.

Show IPsec Phase 2 Tunnels Based on VPN Name

Using the example above, here’s a similar process for getting the same output, but based on IPSec VPN name. Run ‘show configuration security ipsec | display set | match <value>’ to get the IPSec Phase 2 tunnel information. For example –

set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-ANTIVIR-237 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-P2PE-237 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-APPL2-237 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-WSUS-237 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-TERMSERV-237 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-234 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-234 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-234 establish-tunnels immediately
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-237 ike gateway SB-MG-VPN
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-237 ike ipsec-policy SB-MG-POLICY
set security ipsec vpn SB-MG-DNS-237 establish-tunnels immediately

Here’s the command to filter that into a show command for the index value –

cat << EOF | grep "ipsec-policy" | sed 's/set/show/' | sed 's/vpn/security-associations vpn-name/' | awk '{print $1,$2,$3,$4,$5,$6}' | sed 's/$/ detail/'

The logic of the above command is based on the fact that every IPSec VPN tunnel will ALWAYS have an ‘ipsec-policy’ defined.

The output becomes –

show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-ANTIVIR-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-ANTIVIR-237 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-P2PE-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-P2PE-237 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-APPL2-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-APPL2-237 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-WSUS-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-WSUS-237 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-TERMSERV-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-TERMSERV-237 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-DNS-234 detail
show security ipsec security-associations vpn-name SB-MG-DNS-237 detail

Neat. I can’t tell you how many times those commands have saved me hours of tedious typing in a terminal!

Clearing IPSec Tunnels

Finally, here’s a last one which refreshes IPSec Phase 2 tunnels. Be careful with this, as it’s possible to do damage and interrupt tunnel traffic. Use the ‘show security ipsec security-associations | match <peer_ip>’ output to filter against the remote peer concerned.

cat << EOF | sed '/>/d' | awk '{print $1}' | sed 's/</clear security ipsec security-associations index /'

Enjoy a nice cuppa with the time saved :)

Juniper EX Switch GRE Tunnels

Posted by Andy Millett

Juniper EX Switch GRE Tunnels

I recently had a need to establish a GRE tunnel between two sites. The reason being, we were deploying a Meru Wifi proof-of-concept where AP’s were on one site, and the controller on a remote site. Normally, the connectivity between AP’s the controller would go over the existing routed network (layer 3 mode in Meru-speak), but in this case, it wasn’t possible to get the new subnet assigned to the controller updated with the ISP providing the private links. As the customer was using Juniper EX switches and had a Juniper SRX firewall at the remote (controller) site, GRE allowed us to build the network without the need to involve the ISP.

The following topology was used –

EX_GRE_TOPOLOGY

GRE was added to the EX switch feature set in JunOS 12.1 (link here). In-order to use it, you need to allocate a physical port to be dedicated for tunnel services. For my example, I’ve used port ge-0/0/14 on the switch

set chassis fpc 0 pic 0 tunnel-port 14 tunnel-services

The JunOS 12.1 documentation above defines we allocate a port via it’s fpc and pic allocation. In my case, the switch was a single switch so the fpc was ‘0’. In a Virtual-Chassis environment, the fpc number would change. For example, if you wanted to use port 47 on switch 4, the command would be ‘set chassis fpc 4 pic 0 tunnel-port 47 tunnel-services’.

With the port allocated, we can then build the GRE configuration.

set interfaces gr-0/0/14 unit 0 tunnel source 10.11.3.101
set interfaces gr-0/0/14 unit 0 tunnel destination 10.44.128.1
set interfaces gr-0/0/14 unit 0 family inet address 10.11.12.1/24

On the SRX-side, the configuration is as follows.

set interfaces gr-0/0/0 unit 1 tunnel source 10.44.128.1
set interfaces gr-0/0/0 unit 1 tunnel destination 10.11.3.101
set interfaces gr-0/0/0 unit 1 family inet address 10.11.12.2/24

Each GRE interface has a tunnel source and destination set (this is the routed interface of the device at each end) and an inet address assigned to the interface which is used to establish the tunnel (10.11.12.1 and 10.11.12.2 in my case). I’ve used unit ‘1’ on my SRX, as I already have some GRE tunnels built to other destinations. A GRE interface uses the same unit assignment as a switch or inet port in JunOS, they can be used for different connection purposes.

GRE tunnels show ‘UP’ immediately, even if the configuration isn’t set correctly, so don’t assume as it’s UP, it’s going to work. Look closely at the Input/Output packet count to validate traffic flow.

Here’s the output of ‘show interfaces gr-0/0/14.0’ on the EX.

GRE-EX-INT

Now the output of ‘show interfaces gr-0/0/0.1’ on the SRX.

GRE-SRX-INT

Back on the EX switch, we set routing-options to send any 10.0.0.0/24 traffic through the GRE tunnel.

set routing-options static route 10.0.0.0/24 next-hop gr-0/0/14.0

On the SRX, we set the routing-options to send any 10.50.50.0/24 traffic in the same manner.

set routing-options static route 10.50.50.0/24 next-hop gr-0/0/0.1

As the SRX is a firewall, we need to perform some additional steps to allow traffic. This means creating a ‘zone’ to assign the GRE tunnel interface too, disabling any Network Address Translation rules, and some security policies to permit the traffic. Here’s what I’ve configured.

set security policies from-zone gretunnel to-zone trust policy allowall match source-address any
set security policies from-zone gretunnel to-zone trust policy allowall match destination-address any
set security policies from-zone gretunnel to-zone trust policy allowall match application any
set security policies from-zone gretunnel to-zone trust policy allowall then permit
set security policies from-zone trust to-zone gretunnel policy allowall match source-address any
set security policies from-zone trust to-zone gretunnel policy allowall match destination-address any
set security policies from-zone trust to-zone gretunnel policy allowall match application any
set security policies from-zone trust to-zone gretunnel policy allowall then permit
set security zones security-zone gretunnel host-inbound-traffic system-services ping
set security zones security-zone gretunnel host-inbound-traffic system-services traceroute
set security zones security-zone gretunnel interfaces gr-0/0/0.1
set security nat source rule-set trust-to-gre from zone trust
set security nat source rule-set trust-to-gre to zone gretunnel
set security nat source rule-set trust-to-gre rule source-nat-off match source-address 0.0.0.0/0
set security nat source rule-set trust-to-gre rule source-nat-off then source-nat off

Now we should be able to initiate a traceroute from the EX switch to our Meru Controller (10.0.0.3).

GRE-EX-TR

Looks good. We enter the GRE tunnel interface (10.11.12.2) and exit directly to the Meru Controller.

Load-Balancing Transparent Redirect with JunOS

Posted by Andy Millett

Load-Balancing Transparent Redirect with JunOS

Since setting up ‘Transparent Redirect with JunOS‘ some time ago I’ve been pleased with the way things have worked out. With a Blue Coat ProxySG appliance attached to my SRX210, intercepting is highly effective and when mixed with the excellent filtering capabilities of the ProxySG and Blue Coat’s ‘Web Pulse’ online rating system and their Web Filter database you get a very good level of protection from malware and malicious content.

Having gone through the Juniper Security course a while back, I’d spoken to the course instructor at the time about implementing load-balancing across multiple filtering devices to add capacity to the solution and perhaps enhance the speed with which content is retrieved. The course instructor had kindly given me a few tips on how to implement it, and so with some time to spare, I decided to try the setup.

As I only have one ProxySG to use, I decided to setup two Squid-Cache VM’s to test how to implement the solution. Admittedly, Squid-Cache doesn’t have the same level of filtering capabilities as the ProxySG, so instead, I mixed the load-balancing implementation with Blue Coat’s ThreatPulse cloud service. As a Blue Coat Blue Knight, I’m fortunate to have access to the TP Cloud service offered by Blue Coat, and one of the methods for accessing the service is using Proxy Forwarding (e.g it would work with ISA, Squid, ProxySG, etc or any other proxy solution which can forward to upstream servers). I won’t go into the ThreatPulse service setup here, however (maybe another time).

The topology is as follows –

LB-SRX2

All devices are in the Trust zone for my purposes, but there’s nothing to stop you putting them in separate zones if you wish.

First off, as with the single transparent intercept solution I’ve written about before, we setup a routing instance to deal with what to do with the traffic once the firewall filter has intercepted it.

Here’s my Squid ‘routing-instance’ setup –

SQUID-ROUTE-INSTANCE

Both static route destinations have a ‘qualified-next-hop’ with preference of 5.

Here that is in display set form.

set routing-instances SQUID instance-type forwarding
set routing-instances SQUID routing-options options syslog level info
set routing-instances SQUID routing-options options syslog level debug
set routing-instances SQUID routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.24.1.3 preference 5
set routing-instances SQUID routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.24.1.4 preference 5
set routing-instances SQUID forwarding-options load-balance per-prefix hash-seed 1

The key here, to make load-balancing work, it seems is to set the forwarding-options addition to the routing-instance. The per-prefix hash-seed value is what makes the Packet Forwarding Engine perform the load-balancing.

Next, the filter, which is similar to the previous filter setup for redirecting to a single host (it’s the routing-instance configuration which makes the difference).

SQUID-FIREWALL-FILTER

Here that is in display set format –

set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 172.16.129.10/32
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 172.16.129.29/32
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then count redirected-squid
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then routing-instance SQUID

You’ll notice my filter is called ‘proxysg-fbf’, this is because I’ve added the new filter term to redirect to the SQUID routing-instance into my existing filter-based forwarding configuration. I simply want to redirect two particular hosts to the SQUID instance for testing purposes, everything else would still go to the PROXYSG routing-instance. As with my previous example article, I’ve added a ‘count’ to the filter term to show me that traffic is matching.

For completeness, here’s the partially full filter including the use of both routing-instances (I’ve left out a filter term which has over 14,000 entries in it related to my article on ‘Dynamic Blocklists with Junos‘) –

set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 172.16.129.10/32
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 172.16.129.29/32
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then count redirected-squid
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then routing-instance SQUID
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from source-address 10.21.1.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from destination-address 10.11.3.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 then accept
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 from source-address 10.21.1.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 from source-address 172.16.129.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 then count redirected-proxysg
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t3 then routing-instance PROXYSG
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term default then accept

Term t1 – redirects to the Squid routing-instance

Term t2 – sets a bypass to term t3 if the source is 10.21.1.0/24 and the destination is 10.11.3.0/24

Term t3 – redirects to the ProxySG routing-instance.

Term default – accepts everything else. We need this, otherwise all other traffic would be dropped.

The firewall filter is assigned to an interface in the same way as before –

SQUID-FBF

Here, I’m assigning the filter to an ingress/egress vlan on my SRX, but you could just as easily assign it to the ingress interface of VLAN 11 per my topology above.

My Squid configuration is very straight-forward. Both Virtual Machines have the following –

http_port 3128 intercept
acl localnet src 10.21.1.0/24 172.16.129.0/24
http_access allow localnet
forwarded_for on
cache_peer proxy.threatpulse.com parent 8080 0 no-query default
never_direct allow all

With Squid, as I’m intercepting transparently, I also needed to set the following in IPTables –

iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-port 3128

In the Squid Access logs, we can observe the traffic matching the filter –

PROXY2 PROXY1

Notice that both Squid-Cache processes are forwarding to proxy.threatpulse.com as per the cache_peer directive.

You can also observe traffic matching the filter on the SRX itself. Note the ‘redirected-squid’ counter.

SQUID-FBF

So, after all this is done, how do I know I’m talking to a proxy, not the destination website from the clients perspective?

Well, one way is to do a ‘whats my ip’ type lookup. For example –

SQUID-WHATSMYIP

As you can see, we can detect whether a proxy is involved by using a lookup against request header values, like X-Forwarded-For. The IP also isn’t my home IP which I’d expect if I weren’t being sent to ThreatPulse.

I can also confirm I’m being filtered by ThreatPulse by attempting to visit a site which is blocked per my configured policy –

SQUID-PLAYBOY

So there it is. Load-balanced Transparent Redirection using JunOS, Squid, and the extra benefit of Blue Coat’s ThreatPulse Cloud service.

Transparent Proxy Redirection with JunOS

Posted by Andy Millett

Transparent Proxy Redirection with JunOS

I have to say, I love proxy servers. Transparent proxy is my preference. Of all the Proxy servers in the world, the best in my opinion is Blue Coat’s ProxySG appliance. With the Blue Coat ProxySG as your proxy in transparent mode, this allows us to inspect content, without the need for user input, and to direct the traffic to a proxy so you get all the benefits of Web Pulse, Web Filter, ProxyAV, Wan Optimisation and Flash Caching. Plus the use of CPL (Content Policy Language) to decide whether users should be allowed access to a site or not. With transparent proxy that responsibility is dealt with by the network, and quite right too. There are some applications which don’t, however, respond well to transparent proxy, especially those which don’t understand authentication (are you reading this Google, Apple and Adobe!!!) so they have to be handled on the ProxySG with some custom CPL, however these little issues shouldn’t’ stop you considering transparent proxy as an option if you are planning a Blue Coat deployment or any other proxy which supports transparent redirect.

As both EX and SRX use JunOS, the implementation on each is exactly the same and this is one of the great reasons to love JunOS. In order to do WCCP-like transparent redirect on EX switches or SRX firewalls, there are several configuration items to consider:

  • The Filter Based Forwarding entry
  • A Virtual Routing Instance
  • A RIB group entry to combine the routing-instances
  • Some failover monitoring in-case the proxy fails such as an RPM probe with Event Monitoring

In the PoC lab, the following subnets/VLANs were used:

  • VLAN1 – 10.11.20.0/24 – Egress route subnet (an SRX firewall is connected and the EX switch has a default route to it)
  • VLAN2 – 10.11.30.0/24 – Proxy subnet used for the routing-instance configuration. PROXYSG ip is 10.11.30.2. PROXYSG2 ip is 10.11.30.3
  • VLAN3 – 10.11.40.0/24 – Client subnet

 

Transparent_HTTP_with_EX

 

First off, we setup a firewall filter to assign to an interface. The interface can be either family inet interface, or a virtual (VLAN) interface. This filter redirects anything from source subnet 10.11.40.0/24 (the client subnet) destined for anywhere on port 80, 443 or 21 to the proxy on routing-instance ‘PROXYSG’.

family inet {
filter proxysg-fbf {
term t1 {
from {
source-address {
10.11.40.0/24;
}
destination-address {
0.0.0.0/0;
}
destination-port [ http ftp https ];
}
then {
count redirected;
routing-instance PROXYSG;
}
}

In display set form, that looks like;

set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 10.11.40.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port ftp
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port https
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then count redirected
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then routing-instance PROXYSG
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term default then accept

Next, we need to have some way of redirecting the traffic ‘off-path’ to the proxy server. This is handled by a routing-instance, in this case to proxy server 10.11.30.2.

PROXYSG {
instance-type virtual-router;
routing-options {
static {
route 0.0.0.0/0 {
qualified-next-hop 10.11.30.2 {
metric 5;
}
}
}
}
}
set routing-instances PROXYSG instance-type virtual-router
set routing-instances PROXYSG routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.30.2 metric 5
set routing-instances PROXYSG routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.20.2 metric 20

Next, in order to combine the two routing-instances, we create a rib-group entry.

interface-routes {
rib-group inet PROXYSG;
}
static {
route 0.0.0.0/0 next-hop 10.11.20.2;
}
rib-groups {
PROXYSG {
import-rib [ inet.0 PROXYSG.inet.0 ];
}
}
set routing-options interface-routes rib-group inet PROXYSG
set routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 next-hop 10.11.20.2
set routing-options rib-groups PROXYSG import-rib inet.0
set routing-options rib-groups PROXYSG import-rib PROXYSG.inet.0

Finally, the filter we created earlier is assigned to an interface, in this case, the ingress interface which client traffic appears from.

vlan {
unit 3 {
family inet {
filter {
input proxysg-fbf;
}
address 10.11.40.1/24;
}
}
}

In order to have some failover capabilities, were the proxy to fail, we can use event monitoring probes on the EX switch to force a configuration change on the forwarding filter in the event the proxy fails. This is done using a custom monitoring script which was originally designed for use with Juniper WXC appliances.

The WXC-Healthcheck.slax file can be downloaded from here

The script should be uploaded to the EX switch using FTP or SCP and placed into /config/db/scripts/event/ (or whichever is relevant to the JunOS version you are running – tested on 11.4R2.14). Once loaded, you can create the RPM probe and event policy actions.

The event probe is setup as follows under the ‘services’ stanza within the configuration.

rpm {
probe proxysg {
test proxy-ping {
probe-type icmp-ping;
target address 10.11.30.2;
probe-count 3;
probe-interval 1;
test-interval 10;
thresholds {
total-loss 1;
}
}
}
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-type icmp-ping
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping target address 10.11.30.2
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-count 3
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-interval 1
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping test-interval 10
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping thresholds total-loss 1

This will log either ‘PING_TEST_COMPLETED’ or ‘PING_TEST_FAILED’ in the ‘messages’ log on the switch.

Next, we create the event-options section to tell the switch what to do in the event of it seeing the ‘PING_TEST_COMPLETED’ or ‘PING_TEST_FAILED’ in the messages system log. The following two configuration options show what the EX switch will do in the event of each.

* In the event of a failure, disable the firewall filter.

policy rpm_down {
events PING_TEST_FAILED;
within 10 {
trigger on 1;
}
attributes-match {
PING_TEST_FAILED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$";
PING_TEST_FAILED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$";
}
then {
event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax {
arguments {
filter proxysg-fbf;
term t1;
action inactive;
}
}
}
}

* When the failure is fixed, re-enable the filter.

policy rpm_up {
events PING_TEST_COMPLETED;
within 20 {
trigger on 1;
}
attributes-match {
PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$";
PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$";
}
then {
event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax {
arguments {
filter proxysg-fbf;
term t1;
action active;
}
}
}
}
event-script {
file WXC-Healthcheck.slax;
}
traceoptions {
file wxc.out;
}

In display set for, that looks like;

set event-options policy rpm_down events PING_TEST_FAILED
set event-options policy rpm_down within 10 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm_down within 10 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$"
set event-options policy rpm_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t1
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action inactive
set event-options policy rpm_up events PING_TEST_COMPLETED
set event-options policy rpm_up within 20 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm_up within 20 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$"
set event-options policy rpm_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t1
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action active
set event-options event-script file WXC-Healthcheck.slax
set event-options traceoptions file wxc.out

If the proxy fails, the EX switch ‘event-options’ setting will see and act upon the following message log entry;

Apr 16 08:14:06 rmopd[992]: PING_TEST_FAILED: pingCtlOwnerIndex = proxysg, pingCtlTestName = proxy-ping

Every 20 seconds, it will re-check the message log, looking for the fail or success. If it sees a PING_TEST_COMPLETED, it will re-enable the filter.

Apr 16 08:21:13 rmopd[992]: PING_TEST_COMPLETED: pingCtlOwnerIndex = proxysg, pingCtlTestName = proxy-ping

You can view the filter counters to see traffic being redirected as we added a counter to the firewall filter term.

root> show firewall filter proxysg-fbf
Filter: proxysg-fbf
Counters:
Name Bytes Packets
redirected 68424 479

FAILOVER TO A SECOND PROXY
You can add failover to a second proxy by adding a second routing-instance and firewall filter term quite easily in order to ensure that traffic is always proxied (thus, your corporate AUP is always enforced).

For example, here term t2 is added after term t1 on the forwarding filter –

filter proxysg-fbf {
term t1 {
from {
source-address {
10.11.40.0/24;
}
destination-address {
0.0.0.0/0;
}
destination-port [ http ftp https ];
}
then {
count redirected;
routing-instance PROXYSG;
}
}
term t2 {
from {
source-address {
10.11.40.0/24;
}
destination-address {
0.0.0.0/0;
}
destination-port [ http ftp https ];
}
then {
count redirected2;
routing-instance PROXYSG2;
}
}
term default {
then accept;
}
}

The new routing instance looks like the following –

PROXYSG2 {
instance-type virtual-router;
routing-options {
static {
route 0.0.0.0/0 {
qualified-next-hop 10.11.30.3 {
metric 5;
}
qualified-next-hop 10.11.20.2 {
metric 20;
}
}
}
}
}

The RIB group is amended to add the second PROXYSG2 routing-instance.

rib-groups {
PROXYSG {
import-rib [ inet.0 PROXYSG.inet.0 PROXYSG2.inet.0 ];
}
}

Once this is done, the EX switch will continue to monitor the PROXYSG ip (10.11.30.2) and set it as inactive should it fail. If it does, the second term of the firewall filter (term t2) will become active.

family inet {
filter proxysg-fbf {
inactive: term t1 { <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
from {
source-address {
10.11.40.0/24;
}
destination-address {
0.0.0.0/0;
}
destination-port [ http ftp https ];
}
then {
count redirected;
routing-instance PROXYSG;
}
}
term t2 {
from {
source-address {
10.11.40.0/24;
}
destination-address {
0.0.0.0/0;
}
destination-port [ http ftp https ];
}
then {
count redirected2;
routing-instance PROXYSG2;
}
}
term default {
then accept;
}
}
}

You can, of course, setup a second event-option monitor to monitor the second PROXYSG2 proxy (10.11.30.3) so that it also is set as inactive were the proxy to fail.

Conclusion
So there it is, transparent redirect in a WCCP-like manner using JunOS. The implementation above has worked on both a test EX switch and an SRX. I’m still working on whether we can emulate the load-balancing functions available from WCCP, via JunOS but for now the above configuration would certainly give you failover if you were to have two proxies.

REFERENCES
WXC-Filter-Based-Forwarding

FULL SWITCH CONFIG

set version 11.4R2.14
set system root-authentication encrypted-password "REMOVED"
set system name-server 208.67.222.222
set system scripts op traceoptions file wxc.out
set system scripts op file WXC-Healthcheck.slax
set system services ssh protocol-version v2
set system syslog user * any emergency
set system syslog file messages any any
set system syslog file messages authorization info
set system syslog file interactive-commands interactive-commands any
set system ntp server 194.164.127.6
set interfaces ge-0/0/0 description EXTERNAL_INTERFACE
set interfaces ge-0/0/0 unit 0 family ethernet-switching port-mode access
set interfaces ge-0/0/0 unit 0 family ethernet-switching vlan members VLAN1
set interfaces ge-0/0/1 description INTERNAL_PROXY_INTERFACE
set interfaces ge-0/0/1 unit 0 family ethernet-switching port-mode access
set interfaces ge-0/0/1 unit 0 family ethernet-switching vlan members VLAN2
set interfaces ge-0/0/2 description INTERNAL_CLIENT_INTERFACE
set interfaces ge-0/0/2 unit 0 family ethernet-switching port-mode access
set interfaces ge-0/0/2 unit 0 family ethernet-switching vlan members VLAN3
set interfaces ge-0/0/3 description INTERNAL_PROXY2_INTERFACE
set interfaces ge-0/0/3 unit 0 family ethernet-switching port-mode access
set interfaces ge-0/0/3 unit 0 family ethernet-switching vlan members VLAN2
set interfaces ge-0/0/4 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/5 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/6 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/7 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/8 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/9 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/10 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/11 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/12 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/13 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/14 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/15 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/16 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/17 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/18 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/19 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/20 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/21 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/22 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/0/23 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/1/0 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces xe-0/1/0 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/1/1 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces xe-0/1/1 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/1/2 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces ge-0/1/3 unit 0 family ethernet-switching
set interfaces me0 unit 0 family inet
set interfaces vlan unit 0 family inet
set interfaces vlan unit 1 family inet address 10.11.20.1/24
set interfaces vlan unit 2 family inet address 10.11.30.1/24
set interfaces vlan unit 3 family inet filter input proxysg-fbf
set interfaces vlan unit 3 family inet address 10.11.40.1/24
set event-options policy rpm_down events PING_TEST_FAILED
set event-options policy rpm_down within 10 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm_down within 10 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$"
set event-options policy rpm_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t1
set event-options policy rpm_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action inactive
set event-options policy rpm_up events PING_TEST_COMPLETED
set event-options policy rpm_up within 20 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm_up within 20 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-owner matches "^proxysg$"
set event-options policy rpm_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-name matches "^proxy-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t1
set event-options policy rpm_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action active
set event-options policy rpm1_down events PING_TEST_FAILED
set event-options policy rpm1_down within 20 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm1_down within 20 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm1_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-owner matches "^proxysg1$"
set event-options policy rpm1_down attributes-match PING_TEST_FAILED.test-name matches "^proxy1-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm1_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm1_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t2
set event-options policy rpm1_down then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action inactive
set event-options policy rpm1_up events PING_TEST_COMPLETED
set event-options policy rpm1_up within 20 trigger on
set event-options policy rpm1_up within 20 trigger 1
set event-options policy rpm1_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-owner matches "^proxysg1$"
set event-options policy rpm1_up attributes-match PING_TEST_COMPLETED.test-name matches "^proxy1-ping$"
set event-options policy rpm1_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments filter proxysg-fbf
set event-options policy rpm1_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments term t2
set event-options policy rpm1_up then event-script WXC-Healthcheck.slax arguments action active
set event-options event-script file WXC-Healthcheck.slax
set event-options traceoptions file wxc.out
set routing-options interface-routes rib-group inet PROXYSG
set routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 next-hop 10.11.20.2
set routing-options rib-groups PROXYSG import-rib inet.0
set routing-options rib-groups PROXYSG import-rib PROXYSG.inet.0
set routing-options rib-groups PROXYSG import-rib PROXYSG2.inet.0
set protocols igmp-snooping vlan all
set protocols rstp
set protocols lldp interface all
set protocols lldp-med interface all
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from source-address 10.11.40.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port ftp
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 from destination-port https
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then count redirected
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t1 then routing-instance PROXYSG
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from source-address 10.11.40.0/24
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from destination-address 0.0.0.0/0
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from destination-port http
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from destination-port ftp
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 from destination-port https
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 then count redirected2
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term t2 then routing-instance PROXYSG2
set firewall family inet filter proxysg-fbf term default then accept
set routing-instances PROXYSG instance-type virtual-router
set routing-instances PROXYSG routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.30.2 metric 5
set routing-instances PROXYSG routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.20.2 metric 20
set routing-instances PROXYSG2 instance-type virtual-router
set routing-instances PROXYSG2 routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.30.3 metric 5
set routing-instances PROXYSG2 routing-options static route 0.0.0.0/0 qualified-next-hop 10.11.20.2 metric 20
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-type icmp-ping
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping target address 10.11.30.2
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-count 3
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping probe-interval 1
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping test-interval 10
set services rpm probe proxysg test proxy-ping thresholds total-loss 1
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping probe-type icmp-ping
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping target address 10.11.30.3
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping probe-count 3
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping probe-interval 1
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping test-interval 10
set services rpm probe proxysg1 test proxy1-ping thresholds total-loss 1
set ethernet-switching-options storm-control interface all
set vlans VLAN1 vlan-id 1
set vlans VLAN1 l3-interface vlan.1
set vlans VLAN2 vlan-id 2
set vlans VLAN2 l3-interface vlan.2
set vlans VLAN3 vlan-id 3
set vlans VLAN3 interface ge-0/0/2.0
set vlans VLAN3 l3-interface vlan.3
set vlans default l3-interface vlan.0
set poe interface all

Juniper SSL-VPN & Blue Coat’s ProxyClient

Posted by Andy Millett

Juniper SSL-VPN & Blue Coat’s ProxyClient

I posted this (via some contacts at Blue Coat) in it’s original form to the Blue Knights wiki. I thought the general population of Blue Coat users would find it useful too.

Requirement

The requirement was to provide automatically directed explicit internet access with no local break-out for Juniper SA clients. When users were disconnected from the corporate network, the requirement was to have BCWF categories blocked by default thus maintaining protection and control of access even when away from the network.

The most useful of those categories when users aren’t connected to the network are the Web Pulse categories – Spyware/Malware, Spyware/Malware Sources, Phishing and Suspicious. These categories and the Web Pulse dynamic ratings service are worth their salt and a good reason to install the client on corporate mobile devices.

In order to provide directed ‘explicit’ proxy access to the customers network when Juniper SA clients dial in, a PAC file can be distributed from the SA with the following type of configuration.

The customers environment already had two ProxySG’s, these were explicit proxies for the internal network. We added the ADN Client Concentrator functionality.

An SA2500 acted as the ‘dial in’ service for clients. A VIP (Virtual IP Address) was assigned to the ADN/Client Manager. The VIP is required because as we discovered, using the appliance’s normal explicit IP traffic wasn’t accelerated. The reason for this is that the ADN traffic needs to traverse the ADN tunnel and arrive at a device on the other side in order for the ProxySG/Client to accelerate. The VIP provides that function without the customer having to purchase a separate unit for Client Concentrator and Explicit proxy purposes.

With this information, we configure the PAC file on a host behind the SA2500. In it, we define that 127.0.0.0/8 should not be redirected, but all other traffic IS directed to ‘PROXY <proxy>:8080’.

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)

{
    if(isInNet(host, "127.0.0.0", "255.0.0.0"))
    {
        return "DIRECT";
    } else {
        return "PROXY <proxy>:8080; DIRECT";
    }
}

We bypass 127.0.0.0/8 because this would otherwise block the ProxyClient from functioning. Further tightening up could occur to avoid ‘Proxy Avoidance’ software from bypassing filtering.

Once this is done, we can configure our Network Connect connection profile.

First with no split-tunneling.

PC-VIP-SANCST

Then with the PAC file location.

PC-VIP-SANC-PACLOC

For the test, I setup a new role mapping so that my proxy settings matched the PAC requirements.

PC-VIP-SANC-ROLEMAP

With this done, we can open up the Network Connect client and connect to the network.

Third-party applications are blocked because no automated internet settings were provided.

PC-VIP-Timeout

Whereas IE is able to browse because it’s been configured to use the PAC file.

PC-VIP-Success

Using the VIP as our explicit proxy allows the Proxy Client to intercept and accelerate content which ordinarily can’t be cached. For example, if you were to watch your favourite You Tube video, clear the cache and reboot then connect to the SA again to watch the same video, the video should be byte-cached as in the example below.

Client side

ADN-PC-YouTube

ADN-PC-YouTube-1

ProxySG ADN Concentrator side

ADN-ProxyClient-Tunnel-Cached

So, with the capabilities of the ProxyClient from an acceleration perspective proven, how about that requirement for control of users internet access based on categories, even when they aren’t connected to the network? Well, this is handled from the CM (Client Manager) console. Here you can define the BCWF categories (along with Local Database one’s if you use a Local DB or even other 3rd-party databases like the Internet Watch Foundation) so that they are allowed or blocked. Safe-Search can be enforced here also, along with filtering of HTTPS connections.

PC-BCWF-1

The effect is, when a user isn’t connected to your corporate network, and they attempt to view a site falling within a blocked category they’re denied access.

PC-BCWF-2

The Block Page can be customised to make the URL more in-tune with your corporate identity.

The ProxyClient uses the same Web Pulse cloud service as Blue Coat’s K9 Web Protection client. URL requests are submitted to Web Pulse to validate the category. Unclassified URL’s are scanned and rated on-the-fly, returning a categorisation to the client in order to make a filtering decision.

This method for corporate access provides the following benefits.

  • Centralised policy control
  • Reporting per-user if you have Blue Coat Reporter in use.
  • Protection from malicious content via centrally published and controlled BCWF categories such as Phishing, Suspicious, Spyware\Malware Sources, and Spyware Effects when both inside AND outside the corporate extranet.
  • Caching of non-cacheable content in Byte-Cache for remote workers. This includes YouTube (as above) and other streaming service such as BBC iPlayer. Under normal circumstances, this traffic cannot be cached (Pragma: no-cache is returned) or can only be cached for a short period. Using the ProxySG’s Byte-Cache we can store this content.

The same deployment type could be used when installing appliances. If the customer requires a centrally managed explicit proxy but wants ADN acceleration also (on the same box) for remote users we can use the ProxySG Manager/Concentrator with a VIP configured so traffic can ‘exit’ the tunnel at the core and be accelerated. Non-cacheable content would be stored in byte-cache.

The ProxyClient provides some great functionality in the form of WAN Optimisation but when it’s coupled with the Web Pulse cloud service for dynamic rating of URL’s it adds amazing protection to a roaming corporate device that no other WAN Optimisation vendors client can. And best of all, it’s free! The only requirement being that you have a Blue Coat appliance and a Web filter license option.