Asa 95 General Config

CLI Book 1: Cisco ASA Series General Operations CLI Configuration
Guide, 9.5
First Published: March 20, 2015
Last Modified: March 20, 2015
Americas Headquarters
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-1706
USA
http://www.cisco.com
Tel: 408 526-4000
800 553-NETS (6387)
Fax: 408 527-0883
THE SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRODUCTS IN THIS MANUAL ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL STATEMENTS,
INFORMATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE BUT ARE PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USERS MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR APPLICATION OF ANY PRODUCTS.
THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR THE ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT ARE SET FORTH IN THE INFORMATION PACKET THAT SHIPPED WITH
THE PRODUCT AND ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY THIS REFERENCE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE SOFTWARE LICENSE OR LIMITED WARRANTY,
CONTACT YOUR CISCO REPRESENTATIVE FOR A COPY.
The Cisco implementation of TCP header compression is an adaptation of a program developed by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) as part of UCB's public domain version
of the UNIX operating system. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1981, Regents of the University of California.
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER WARRANTY HEREIN, ALL DOCUMENT FILES AND SOFTWARE OF THESE SUPPLIERS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS.
CISCO AND THE ABOVE-NAMED SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.
IN NO EVENT SHALL CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS MANUAL, EVEN IF CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS
HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network
topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional
and coincidental.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: http://
www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership
relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
© 2005-2015 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS
Preface About This Guide xlv

Document Objectives xlv
Related Documentation xlv
Document Conventions xlv
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request xlvii
PART I Getting Started with the ASA 1
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to the Cisco ASA 3

Hardware and Software Compatibility 3
VPN Compatibility 3
New Features 3
New Features in ASAv 9.5(2.200) 3
New Features in ASA 9.5(2.1) 4
New Features in ASA 9.5(2) 5
New Features in ASA 9.5(1.5) 9
New Features in ASAv 9.5(1.200) 9
New Features in ASA 9.5(1) 10
Firewall Functional Overview 13
Security Policy Overview 14
Permitting or Denying Traffic with Access Lists 14
Applying NAT 14
Protecting from IP Fragments 14
Applying HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP Filtering 14
Applying Application Inspection 14
Sending Traffic to Supported Hardware or Software Modules 14
Applying QoS Policies 15
CLI Book 1: Cisco ASA Series General Operations CLI Configuration Guide, 9.5
iii
Contents
Applying Connection Limits and TCP Normalization 15

Enabling Threat Detection 15
Firewall Mode Overview 15
Stateful Inspection Overview 16
VPN Functional Overview 17
Security Context Overview 17
ASA Clustering Overview 18
Special and Legacy Services 18
CHAPTER 2 Getting Started 19

Access the Console for Command-Line Interface 19
Access the Appliance Console 19
Access the ASA Services Module Console 20
About Connection Methods 20
Log Into the ASA Services Module 21
Log Out of a Console Session 23
Kill an Active Console Connection 23
Log Out of a Telnet Session 24
Access the Software Module Console 24
Access the ASA 5506W-X Wireless Access Point Console 25
Configure ASDM Access 25
Use the Factory Default Configuration for ASDM Access (Appliances, ASAv) 25
Customize ASDM Access 26
Configure ASDM Access for the ASA Services Module 28
Start ASDM 31
Factory Default Configurations 32
Restore the Factory Default Configuration 33
Restore the ASAv Deployment Configuration 33
ASA 5506-X, 5508-X, and 5516-X Default Configuration 34
ASA 5512-X, 5515-X, 5525-X and Above Default Configuration 35
ASA on the FXOS Chassis Default Configuration 36
ISA 3000 Default Configuration 36
ASAv Deployment Configuration 38
Work with the Configuration 39
Save Configuration Changes 40
iv
Contents
Save Configuration Changes in Single Context Mode 40

Save Configuration Changes in Multiple Context Mode 40
Save Each Context and System Separately 40
Save All Context Configurations at the Same Time 40
Copy the Startup Configuration to the Running Configuration 41
View the Configuration 42
Clear and Remove Configuration Settings 42
Create Text Configuration Files Offline 43
Apply Configuration Changes to Connections 43
Reload the ASA 44
CHAPTER 3 Product Authorization Key Licenses 45

Supported Feature Licenses Per Model 45
Licenses Per Model 45
ASA 5506-X and ASA 5506W-X License Features 46
ASA 5506H-X License Features 46
ASA 5508-X License Features 47
ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 License Features 53
ASA 5585-X with SSP-20 License Features 54
ASA 5585-X with SSP-40 and -60 License Features 55
ASASM License Features 56
ISA 3000 License Features 57
License Notes 58
About PAK Licenses 64
Preinstalled License 64
Permanent License 64
Time-Based Licenses 64
Time-Based License Activation Guidelines 64
How the Time-Based License Timer Works 65
v
Contents
How Permanent and Time-Based Licenses Combine 65

Stacking Time-Based Licenses 66
Time-Based License Expiration 66
Shared AnyConnect Premium Licenses (AnyConnect 3 and Earlier) 67
Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses 67
Failover License Requirements and Exceptions 67
ASA Cluster License Requirements and Exceptions 68
How Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses Combine 69
Loss of Communication Between Failover or ASA Cluster Units 70
Upgrading Failover Pairs 71
No Payload Encryption Models 71
Licenses FAQ 71
Guidelines for PAK Licenses 72
Configure PAK Licenses 74
Obtain an Activation Key 74
Activate or Deactivate Keys 75
Configure a Shared License (AnyConnect 3 and Earlier) 76
About Shared Licenses 76
About the Shared Licensing Server and Participants 76
Communication Issues Between Participant and Server 77
About the Shared Licensing Backup Server 77
Failover and Shared Licenses 78
Failover and Shared License Servers 78
Failover and Shared License Participants 79
Maximum Number of Participants 80
Configure the Shared Licensing Server 80
Configure the Shared Licensing Backup Server (Optional) 81
Configure the Shared Licensing Participant 82
Monitoring PAK Licenses 83
Viewing Your Current License 83
Monitoring the Shared License 92
History for PAK Licenses 94
CHAPTER 4 Smart Software Licensing for the ASAv and ASA on the FXOS Chassis 101
Licenses Per Model 101
vi
Contents
ASAv5 (9.5(1.200) and Later) 101

ASAv10 102
ASAv30 103
Firepower 9300 ASA Application 104
License Notes 105
About Smart Software Licensing 106
Smart Software Licensing for Applications on the FXOS Chassis 106
Smart Software Manager and Accounts 107
Online and Offline Management 107
Permanent License Reservation for the ASAv 107
Satellite Server for the FXOS Chassis 107
Licenses and Devices Managed per Virtual Account 108
Evaluation License (FXOS Chassis) 108
Smart Software Manager Communication 108
Device Registration and Tokens 108
Periodic Communication with the License Authority 109
Out-of-Compliance State 109
Smart Call Home Infrastructure 109
Smart License Certificate Management 110
Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses 110
Failover License Requirements and Exceptions 110
ASA Cluster License Requirements and Exceptions (ASA on the FXOS Chassis
Only) 110
How Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses Combine 111
Loss of Communication Between Failover or ASA Cluster Units 111
Prerequisites for Smart Software Licensing 111
Guidelines for Smart Software Licensing 112
Defaults for Smart Software Licensing 112
Configure Smart Software Licensing 112
ASAv: Configure Regular Smart Software Licensing 113
(Optional) Configure the HTTP Proxy on the ASAv 113
Set the ASAv Smart License Entitlement 113
Register the ASAv with the License Authority 114
(Optional) Deregister the ASAv 115
(Optional) Renew the ASAv ID Certificate or License Entitlement 115
vii
Contents
ASAv: Configure Permanent License Reservation 115

Install the ASAv Permanent License 116
(Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent License 117
ASA on the FXOS Chassis: Configure Smart Software Licensing 118
Monitoring Smart Software Licensing 120
Viewing Your Current License 120
Viewing Smart License Status 121
Viewing the UDI 123
Displaying ID Certificate Information 124
Debugging Smart Software Licensing 124
History for Smart Software Licensing 124
CHAPTER 5 Transparent or Routed Firewall Mode 127

About the Firewall Mode 127
About Routed Firewall Mode 127
About Transparent Firewall Mode 128
Using the Transparent Firewall in Your Network 128
Bridge Groups 128
Management Interface 129
Allowing Layer 3 Traffic 129
Allowed MAC Addresses 130
Passing Traffic Not Allowed in Routed Mode 130
Passing Traffic For Routed-Mode Features 130
BPDU Handling 130
MAC Address vs. Route Lookups 131
ARP Inspection 131
MAC Address Table 132
Default Settings 132
Guidelines for Firewall Mode 133
Set the Firewall Mode 134
Configure ARP Inspection for the Transparent Firewall 135
Add a Static ARP Entry 135
Enable ARP Inspection 136
Customize the MAC Address Table for the Transparent Firewall 136
Add a Static MAC Address 136
viii
Contents
Set the MAC Address Timeout 137

Disable MAC Address Learning 137
Monitoring the Transparent Firewall 138
Examples for Firewall Mode 138
How Data Moves Through the ASA in Routed Firewall Mode 138
An Inside User Visits a Web Server 139
An Outside User Visits a Web Server on the DMZ 140
An Inside User Visits a Web Server on the DMZ 141
An Outside User Attempts to Access an Inside Host 142
A DMZ User Attempts to Access an Inside Host 143
How Data Moves Through the Transparent Firewall 144
An Inside User Visits a Web Server 145
An Inside User Visits a Web Server Using NAT 146
An Outside User Visits a Web Server on the Inside Network 147
An Outside User Attempts to Access an Inside Host 148
History for the Firewall Mode 149
PART II High Availability and Scalability 151
CHAPTER 6 Multiple Context Mode 153

About Security Contexts 153
Common Uses for Security Contexts 153
Context Configuration Files 154
Context Configurations 154
System Configuration 154
Admin Context Configuration 154
How the ASA Classifies Packets 154
Valid Classifier Criteria 155
Unique Interfaces 155
Unique MAC Addresses 155
NAT Configuration 155
Classification Examples 156
Cascading Security Contexts 158
Management Access to Security Contexts 159
System Administrator Access 159
ix
Contents
Context Administrator Access 160

About Resource Management 160
Resource Classes 160
Resource Limits 160
Default Class 160
Use Oversubscribed Resources 161
Use Unlimited Resources 162
About MAC Addresses 163
Default MAC Address 163
Interaction with Manual MAC Addresses 163
Failover MAC Addresses 163
MAC Address Format 163
Licensing for Multiple Context Mode 164
Prerequisites for Multiple Context Mode 165
Guidelines for Multiple Context Mode 165
Defaults for Multiple Context Mode 166
Configure Multiple Contexts 166
Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode 167
Enable Multiple Context Mode 167
Restore Single Context Mode 167
Configure a Class for Resource Management 168
Configure a Security Context 172
Assign MAC Addresses to Context Interfaces Automatically 175
Change Between Contexts and the System Execution Space 176
Manage Security Contexts 176
Remove a Security Context 177
Change the Admin Context 177
Change the Security Context URL 178
Reload a Security Context 179
Reload by Clearing the Configuration 179
Reload by Removing and Re-adding the Context 180
Monitoring Security Contexts 180
View Context Information 180
View Resource Allocation 182
View Resource Usage 184
x
Contents
Monitor SYN Attacks in Contexts 186

View Assigned MAC Addresses 188
View MAC Addresses in the System Configuration 188
View MAC Addresses Within a Context 190
Examples for Multiple Context Mode 190
History for Multiple Context Mode 191
CHAPTER 7 Failover for High Availability 195

About Failover 195
Failover Modes 195
Failover System Requirements 196
Hardware Requirements 196
Software Requirements 196
License Requirements 197
Failover and Stateful Failover Links 197
Failover Link 197
Failover Link Data 197
Interface for the Failover Link 197
Connecting the Failover Link 198
Stateful Failover Link 198
Shared with the Failover Link 198
Dedicated Interface 199
Avoiding Interrupted Failover and Data Links 199
MAC Addresses and IP Addresses in Failover 201
Intra- and Inter-Chassis Module Placement for the ASA Services Module 202
Intra-Chassis Failover 202
Inter-Chassis Failover 203
Stateless and Stateful Failover 206
Stateless Failover 206
Stateful Failover 207
Supported Features 207
Unsupported Features 208
Transparent Firewall Mode Requirements for Failover 209
Transparent Mode Requirements for Appliances, ASAv 209
Transparent Mode Requirements for the ASA Services Module 209
xi
Contents
Failover Health Monitoring 210

Unit Health Monitoring 210
Interface Monitoring 211
Interface Tests 211
Interface Status 212
Failover Times 212
Configuration Synchronization 212
Running Configuration Replication 212
File Replication 213
Command Replication 213
About Active/Standby Failover 214
Primary/Secondary Roles and Active/Standby Status 214
Active Unit Determination at Startup 214
Failover Events 215
About Active/Active Failover 216
Active/Active Failover Overview 216
Primary/Secondary Roles and Active/Standby Status for a Failover Group 216
Active Unit Determination for Failover Groups at Startup 216
Failover Events 217
Licensing for Failover 218
Guidelines for Failover 219
Defaults for Failover 220
Configure Active/Standby Failover 220
Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Standby Failover 220
Configure the Secondary Unit for Active/Standby Failover 224
Configure Active/Active Failover 224
Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Active Failover 224
Configure the Secondary Unit for Active/Active Failover 228
Configure Optional Failover Parameters 229
Configure Failover Criteria and Other Settings 229
Configure Interface Monitoring 232
Configure Support for Asymmetrically Routed Packets (Active/Active Mode) 233
Manage Failover 236
Force Failover 236
Disable Failover 238
xii
Contents
Restore a Failed Unit 238

Re-Sync the Configuration 239
Test the Failover Functionality 239
Remote Command Execution 240
Send a Command 240
Change Command Modes 241
Security Considerations 242
Limitations of Remote Command Execution 242
Monitoring Failover 242
Failover Messages 242
Failover Syslog Messages 243
Failover Debug Messages 243
SNMP Failover Traps 243
Monitoring Failover Status 243
History for Failover 244
CHAPTER 8 ASA Cluster 247

About ASA Clustering 247
How the ASA Cluster Fits into Your Network 247
Performance Scaling Factor 248
Cluster Members 248
Bootstrap Configuration 248
Primary and Secondary Unit Roles 249
Primary Unit Election 249
Cluster Interfaces 250
Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended) 250
Individual Interfaces (Routed Firewall Mode Only) 250
Cluster Control Link 251
Cluster Control Link Traffic Overview 251
Cluster Control Link Interfaces and Network 252
Size the Cluster Control Link 252
Cluster Control Link Redundancy 253
Cluster Control Link Reliability 253
Cluster Control Link Failure 254
High Availability Within the ASA Cluster 254
xiii
Contents

Status After Failure 255
Rejoining the Cluster 255
Data Path Connection State Replication 256
Configuration Replication 256
ASA Cluster Management 256
Management Network 256
Primary Unit Management Vs. Secondary Unit Management 257
RSA Key Replication 257
ASDM Connection Certificate IP Address Mismatch 258
Load Balancing Methods 258
Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended) 258
Spanned EtherChannel Benefits 258
Guidelines for Maximum Throughput 258
Load Balancing 258
EtherChannel Redundancy 259
Connecting to a VSS or vPC 259
Policy-Based Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only) 262
Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only) 263
Nexus Intelligent Traffic Director (Routed Firewall Mode Only) 263
Inter-Site Clustering 263
Sizing the Data Center Interconnect 263
Site IDs and Site-Specific MAC Addresses 264
LISP Inspection for Flow Mobility 264
About LISP 265
ASA LISP Support 265
LISP Guidelines 265
ASA LISP Implementation 265
Inter-Site Clustering Guidelines 266
Inter-Site Examples 267
Individual Interface Routed Mode North-South Inter-Site Example 267
Spanned EtherChannel Routed Mode Example with Site-Specific MAC
Addresses 268
xiv
Contents
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example 269

Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode East-West Inter-Site Example 270
How the ASA Cluster Manages Connections 271
Connection Roles 271
New Connection Ownership 272
Sample Data Flow 272
Rebalancing New TCP Connections Across the Cluster 273
ASA Features and Clustering 273
Unsupported Features with Clustering 274
Centralized Features for Clustering 274
Features Applied to Individual Units 275
AAA for Network Access and Clustering 276
FTP and Clustering 276
Identity Firewall and Clustering 276
Multicast Routing and Clustering 276
Multicast Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode 276
Multicast Routing in Individual Interface Mode 277
NAT and Clustering 277
Dynamic Routing and Clustering 278
Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode 278
Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode 279
SCTP and Clustering 279
SIP Inspection and Clustering 280
SNMP and Clustering 280
Syslog and NetFlow and Clustering 280
Cisco TrustSec and Clustering 280
VPN and Clustering 280
Licensing for ASA Clustering 281
Prerequisites for ASA Clustering 281
Guidelines for ASA Clustering 282
Defaults for ASA Clustering 286
Configure ASA Clustering 286
Cable the Cluster Units and Configure Upstream and Downstream Equipment 287
Configure the Cluster Interface Mode on Each Unit 289
Configure Interfaces on the Primary Unit 290
xv
Contents
Configure Individual Interfaces (Recommended for the Management

Interface) 290
Configure Spanned EtherChannels 292
Configure the Primary Unit Bootstrap Settings 297
Configure Secondary Unit Bootstrap Settings 301
Customize the Clustering Operation 304
Configure ASA Cluster Parameters 304
Configure Health Monitoring and Auto-Rejoin Settings 304
Configure Connection Rebalancing and the Cluster TCP Replication Delay 306
Configure Cluster Flow Mobility 307
Manage ASA Cluster Members 309
Become an Inactive Member 310
Inactivate a Member 310
Leave the Cluster 311
Change the Primary Unit 312
Execute a Command Cluster-Wide 313
Monitoring the ASA Cluster 314
Monitoring Cluster Status 314
Capturing Packets Cluster-Wide 315
Monitoring Cluster Resources 315
Monitoring Cluster Traffic 315
Monitoring Cluster Routing 318
Configuring Logging for Clustering 318
Monitoring Cluster Interfaces 318
Debugging Clustering 319
Examples for ASA Clustering 319
Sample ASA and Switch Configuration 320
ASA Configuration 320
Cisco IOS Switch Configuration 321
Firewall on a Stick 322
Traffic Segregation 324
Spanned EtherChannel with Backup Links (Traditional 8 Active/8 Standby) 326
OTV Configuration for Routed Mode Inter-Site Clustering 332
History for ASA Clustering 334
xvi
Contents
CHAPTER 9 ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis 339

About Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 339
Performance Scaling Factor 340
Bootstrap Configuration 340
Cluster Members 340
Primary and Secondary Unit Roles 340
Primary Unit Election 341
Cluster Interfaces 341
Connecting to a VSS or vPC 341
Cluster Control Link 341
High Availability Within the Cluster 342
Chassis-Application Monitoring 342
Status After Failure 342
Rejoining the Cluster 343
Data Path Connection State Replication 343
Configuration Replication 344
ASA Cluster Management 344
Primary Unit Management Vs. Secondary Unit Management 345
RSA Key Replication 345
ASDM Connection Certificate IP Address Mismatch 345
Inter-Site Clustering 345
Sizing the Data Center Interconnect 345
Site IDs and Site-Specific MAC Addresses 346
LISP Inspection for Flow Mobility 346
About LISP 346
ASA LISP Support 347
LISP Guidelines 347
ASA LISP Implementation 347
Inter-Site Clustering Guidelines 348
Inter-Site Examples 348
xvii
Contents
Spanned EtherChannel Routed Mode Example with Site-Specific MAC

Addresses 348
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site
Example 349
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode East-West Inter-Site Example 350
How the Cluster Manages Connections 351
Connection Roles 351
New Connection Ownership 352
Sample Data Flow 352
ASA Features and Clustering 353
Unsupported Features with Clustering 353
Centralized Features for Clustering 354
Features Applied to Individual Units 355
AAA for Network Access and Clustering 355
FTP and Clustering 356
Identity Firewall and Clustering 356
Multicast Routing and Clustering 356
NAT and Clustering 356
SCTP and Clustering 358
SIP Inspection and Clustering 359
SNMP and Clustering 359
Syslog and NetFlow and Clustering 359
Cisco TrustSec and Clustering 359
VPN and Clustering 359
Licensing for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 360
Prerequisites for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 360
Guidelines for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 360
Defaults for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 361
Configure Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 361
Deploy the Cluster from the FXOS Chassis Supervisor 362
Customize the Cluster Configuration in the ASA 362
Configure Site IDs for an Inter-Site Deployment 362
Configure ASA Cluster Parameters 364
Configure Health Monitoring and Auto-Rejoin Settings 366
xviii
Contents
Configure Connection Rebalancing and the Cluster TCP Replication Delay 367
Configure Cluster Flow Mobility 368
Become an Inactive Member 371
Inactivate a Member 372
Change the Primary Unit 373
Execute a Command Cluster-Wide 373
Monitoring the ASA Cluster on the FXOS chassis 374
Monitoring Cluster Status 374
Capturing Packets Cluster-Wide 375
Monitoring Cluster Resources 375
Monitoring Cluster Traffic 375
Monitoring Cluster Routing 377
Configuring Logging for Clustering 378
Debugging Clustering 378
History for ASA Clustering on the FXOS Chassis 379
PART III Interfaces 381
CHAPTER 10 Basic Interface Configuration 383

About Basic Interface Configuration 383
Auto-MDI/MDIX Feature 384
Management Interface Overview 384
Management Slot/Port Interface 384
Use Any Interface for Management-Only Traffic 385
Management Interface for Transparent Mode 385
No Support for Redundant Management Interfaces 386
Management Interface Characteristics on All Models Except for the ASA 5585-X 386
Licensing for Basic Interface Configuration 386
Guidelines for Basic Interface Configuration 388
Default Settings for Basic Interface Configuration 388
Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters 389
Enable Jumbo Frame Support 391
Monitoring Interfaces 392
Examples for Basic Interfaces 392
xix
Contents
Physical Interface Parameters Example 392

Multiple Context Mode Example 392
History for Basic Interface Configuration 393
CHAPTER 11 EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces 395

About EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces 395
Redundant Interfaces 395
Redundant Interface MAC Address 396
EtherChannels 396
Channel Group Interfaces 396
Connecting to an EtherChannel on Another Device 396
Link Aggregation Control Protocol 397
Load Balancing 398
EtherChannel MAC Address 398
Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces 399
Default Settings for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces 400
Configure a Redundant Interface 401
Configure a Redundant Interface 401
Change the Active Interface 402
Configure an EtherChannel 403
Add Interfaces to the EtherChannel 403
Customize the EtherChannel 405
Monitoring EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces 406
Examples for EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces 407
History for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces 407
CHAPTER 12 VLAN Interfaces 409

About VLAN Interfaces 409
Licensing for VLAN Interfaces 410
Guidelines for VLAN Interfaces 411
Default Settings for VLAN Interfaces 411
Configure VLAN Subinterfaces and 802.1Q Trunking 411
Monitoring VLAN Interfaces 413
Examples for VLAN Interfaces 413
History for VLAN Interfaces 414
xx
Contents
CHAPTER 13 VXLAN Interfaces 415

About VXLAN Interfaces 415
VXLAN Encapsulation 415
VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint 416
VTEP Source Interface 416
VNI Interfaces 416
VXLAN Packet Processing 417
Peer VTEPs 417
VXLAN Use Cases 417
VXLAN Bridge or Gateway Overview 418
VXLAN Bridge (Transparent Mode) 418
VXLAN Gateway (Routed Mode) 418
Router Between VXLAN Domains 419
Guidelines for VXLAN Interfaces 420
Default Settings for VXLAN Interfaces 421
Configure VXLAN Interfaces 421
Configure the VTEP Source Interface 421
Configure the VNI Interface 422
(Optional) Change the VXLAN UDP Port 424
Monitoring VXLAN Interfaces 424
Examples for VXLAN Interfaces 426
Transparent VXLAN Gateway Example 427
VXLAN Routing Example 429
History for VXLAN Interfaces 430
CHAPTER 14 Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 431

About Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 431
Security Levels 431
Bridge Groups in Transparent Mode 432
Dual IP Stack (IPv4 and IPv6) 433
IPv6 433
IPv6 Addressing 433
Modified EUI-64 Interface IDs 433
Unsupported IPv6 Commands in Transparent Mode 434
xxi
Contents
Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 434

Defaults for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 435
Configure Routed Mode Interfaces 435
Configure General Routed Mode Interface Parameters 436
Configure PPPoE 438
Configure Transparent Mode Interfaces 439
Configure Bridge Groups 439
Configure General Transparent Mode Interface Parameters 440
Configure a Management Interface 442
Configure IPv6 Addressing 443
Monitoring Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 445
Interface Statistics 445
PPPoE 445
Examples for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 446
History for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 447
CHAPTER 15 Advanced Interface Configuration 449

About Advanced Interface Configuration 449
About MAC Addresses 449
About the MTU 450
Path MTU Discovery 450
Default MTU 450
MTU and Fragmentation 450
MTU and Jumbo Frames 451
About the TCP MSS 451
Default TCP MSS 451
Suggested Maximum TCP MSS Setting 452
Inter-Interface Communication 452
Intra-Interface Communication (Routed Firewall Mode) 452
Configure the MAC Address 453
Configure the MTU and TCP MSS 454
Allow Same Security Level Communication 455
CHAPTER 16 Traffic Zones 457

About Traffic Zones 457
xxii
Contents
Non-Zoned Behavior 457

Why Use Zones? 457
Asymmetric Routing 458
Lost Route 458
Load Balancing 459
Per-Zone Connection and Routing Tables 460
ECMP Routing 460
Non-Zoned ECMP Support 460
Zoned ECMP Support 461
How Connections Are Load-Balanced 461
Falling Back to a Route in Another Zone 461
Interface-Based Security Policy 461
Supported Services for Traffic Zones 461
Security Levels 462
Primary and Current Interface for the Flow 462
Joining or Leaving a Zone 462
Intra-Zone Traffic 462
To- and From-the-Box Traffic 462
Overlapping IP Addresses Within a Zone 463
Prerequisites for Traffic Zones 463
Guidelines for Traffic Zones 464
Configure a Traffic Zone 465
Monitoring Traffic Zones 466
Zone Information 466
Zone Connections 467
Zone Routing 468
Example for Traffic Zones 468
History for Traffic Zones 471
PART IV Basic Settings 473
CHAPTER 17 Basic Settings 475

Set the Hostname, Domain Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords 475
Recover Enable and Telnet Passwords 477
Recover Passwords on the ASA 477
xxiii
Contents
Recover Passwords on the ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X 479
Recover Passwords or Images on the ASAv 480
Disable Password Recovery 481
Set the Date and Time 482
Set the Time Zone and Daylight Savings Dates 482
Set the Date and Time Using an NTP Server 483
Set the Date and Time Manually 485
Configure the Master Passphrase 485
Add or Change the Master Passphrase 486
Disable the Master Passphrase 487
Remove the Master Passphrase 488
Configure the DNS Server 489
Configure the Hardware Bypass (Cisco ISA 3000) 490
Adjust ASP (Accelerated Security Path) Performance and Behavior 492
Choose a Rule Engine Transactional Commit Model 492
Enable ASP Load Balancing 493
Monitoring the DNS Cache 493
History for Basic Settings 494
CHAPTER 18 DHCP and DDNS Services 495

About DHCP and DDNS Services 495
About the DHCP Server 495
DHCP Options 495
About the DHCP Relay Agent 496
About DDNS 496
DDNS Update Configurations 497
UDP Packet Size 497
Guidelines for DHCP and DDNS Services 497
Configure the DHCP Server 498
Enable the DHCP Server 499
Configure Advanced DHCP Options 500
Configure the DHCPv4 Relay Agent 502
Configure the DHCPv6 Relay Agent 504
Configure DDNS 504
Update Both A and PTR RRs for Static IP Addresses 505
xxiv
Contents
Update Both the A and PTR RRs 505

Ignore Updates to Either RR 507
Update the PTR RR Only 508
Update a RR with the Client and a PTR RR with the Server 509
Monitoring DHCP and DDNS Services 510
Monitoring DHCP Services 510
Monitoring DDNS Status 511
History for DHCP and DDNS Services 511
CHAPTER 19 Digital Certificates 513

About Digital Certificates 513
Public Key Cryptography 514
Certificate Scalability 515
Key Pairs 515
Trustpoints 515
Certificate Enrollment 516
Proxy for SCEP Requests 516
Revocation Checking 516
Supported CA Servers 517
CRLs 517
OCSP 518
The Local CA 519
Storage for Local CA Files 519
The Local CA Server 519
Certificates and User Login Credentials 520
User Login Credentials 520
Certificates 520
Guidelines for Digital Certificates 521
Configure Digital Certificates 524
Configure Key Pairs 524
Configure Trustpoints 525
Configure CRLs for a Trustpoint 528
Export or Import a Trustpoint Configuration 531
Configure CA Certificate Map Rules 532
Obtain Certificates Manually 533
xxv
Contents
Obtain Certificates Automatically with SCEP 535

Configure Proxy Support for SCEP Requests 536
Configure the CA Certificate Lifetime 538
Configure the User Certificate Lifetime 539
Configure the CRL Lifetime 540
Configure the Server Keysize 540
How to Set Up Specific Certificate Types 541
CA Certificates 542
Configure the Local CA Server 542
CA Server Management 543
Delete the Local CA Server 543
Manage User Certificates 544
Enable the Local CA Server 544
Configure Auto Import of Trustpool Certificates 545
Show the State of the Trustpool Policy 546
Clear CA Trustpool 546
Customize the Local CA Server 546
Disable the Local CA Server 547
Set Up External Local CA File Storage 548
Download and Store CRLs 549
Enrollment and User Management 551
Set Up Enrollment Parameters 551
Add and Enroll Users 551
Renew Users 553
Restore Users 554
Remove Users 554
Revoke Certificates 555
Set a Certificate Expiration Alert (for Identity or CA Certificates) 555
Monitoring Digital Certificates 556
History for Certificate Management 558
PART V IP Routing 561
CHAPTER 20 Routing Overview 563

Path Determination 563
xxvi
Contents
Supported Route Types 564

Static Versus Dynamic 564
Single-Path Versus Multipath 564
Flat Versus Hierarchical 564
Link-State Versus Distance Vector 565
How Routing Behaves Within the ASA 565
Determining the Egress Interface 565
Next Hop Selection Process 566
ECMP Routing 567
Supported Internet Protocols for Routing 567
Routing Table 568
How the Routing Table Is Populated 568
Administrative Distances for Routes 568
Backup Routes 570
How Forwarding Decisions Are Made 570
Dynamic Routing and Failover 570
Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode 571
Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode 572
Dynamic Routing in Multiple Context Mode 572
Route Resource Management 573
Routing Table for Management Traffic 573
Management Interface Identification 573
Disable Proxy ARP Requests 574
Display the Routing Table 574
Reference 575
CHAPTER 21 Static and Default Routes 577

About Static and Default Routes 577
Default Route 577
Static Routes 577
Route to null0 Interface to “Black Hole” Unwanted Traffic 578
Route Priorities 578
Transparent Firewall Mode Routes 578
Static Route Tracking 578
xxvii
Contents
Guidelines for Static and Default Routes 579

Configure Default and Static Routes 579
Configure a Default Route 579
Configure a Static Route 580
Configure Static Route Tracking 581
Monitoring a Static or Default Route 583
Examples for Static or Default Routes 583
History for Static and Default Routes 584
CHAPTER 22 Policy Based Routing 585

About Policy Based Routing 585
Why Use Policy Based Routing? 585
Equal-Access and Source-Sensitive Routing 586
Quality of Service 586
Cost Saving 587
Load Sharing 587
Implementation of PBR 587
Guidelines for Policy Based Routing 587
Configure Policy Based Routing 588
Examples for Policy Based Routing 590
Examples for Route Map Configuration 590
Example Configuration for PBR 591
Policy Based Routing in Action 593
History for Policy Based Routing 596
CHAPTER 23 Route Maps 597

About Route Maps 597
Permit and Deny Clauses 598
Match and Set Clause Values 598
Guidelines for Route Maps 599
Define a Route Map 599
Customize a Route Map 599
Define a Route to Match a Specific Destination Address 599
Configure the Metric Values for a Route Action 600
Example for Route Maps 601
xxviii
Contents
History for Route Maps 602
CHAPTER 24 BGP 603

About BGP 603
When to Use BGP 603
Routing Table Changes 604
BGP Path Selection 605
Guidelines for BGP 605
Configure BGP 605
Enable BGP 606
Define the Best Path for a BGP Routing Process 607
Configure Policy Lists 608
Configure AS Path Filters 609
Configure Community Rules 610
Configure IPv4 Address Family Settings 611
Configure IPv4 Family General Settings 611
Configure IPv4 Family Aggregate Address Settings 613
Configure IPv4 Family Filtering Settings 614
Configure IPv4 Family BGP Neighbor Settings 615
Configure IPv4 Network Settings 620
Configure IPv4 Redistribution Settings 621
Configure IPv4 Route Injection Settings 622
Configure IPv6 Address Family Settings 623
Configure IPv6 Family General Settings 623
Configure IPv6 Family Aggregate Address Settings 624
Configure IPv6 Family BGP Neighbor Settings 625
Configure IPv6 Network Settings 631
Configure IPv6 Redistribution Settings 631
Configure IPv6 Route Injection Settings 633
Monitoring BGP 633
Example for BGP 636
History for BGP 638
CHAPTER 25 OSPF 641

About OSPF 641
xxix
Contents
OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets 643

Prerequisites for OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets 643
About OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets 643
OSPF Hello Interval and Dead Interval 643
OSPF Fast Hello Packets 643
Benefits of OSPF Fast Hello Packets 643
Implementation Differences Between OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 644
Guidelines for OSPF 644
Configure OSPFv2 645
Configure OSPF Fast Hello Packets 646
Customize OSPFv2 647
Redistribute Routes Into OSPFv2 647
Configure Route Summarization When Redistributing Routes Into OSPFv2 649
Add a Route Summary Address 649
Configure Route Summarization Between OSPFv2 Areas 649
Configure OSPFv2 Interface Parameters 650
Configure OSPFv2 Area Parameters 653
Configure an OSPFv2 NSSA 654
Configure an IP Address Pool for Clustering (OSPFv2 and OSPFv3) 655
Define Static OSPFv2 Neighbors 656
Configure Route Calculation Timers 656
Log Neighbors Going Up or Down 657
Configure OSPFv3 658
Enable OSPFv3 658
Configure OSPFv3 Interface Parameters 659
Configure OSPFv3 Router Parameters 664
Configure OSPFv3 Area Parameters 666
Configure OSPFv3 Passive Interfaces 668
Configure OSPFv3 Administrative Distance 669
Configure OSPFv3 Timers 670
Define Static OSPFv3 Neighbors 672
Reset OSPFv3 Default Parameters 672
Send Syslog Messages 673
Suppress Syslog Messages 674
Calculate Summary Route Costs 674
xxx
Contents
Generate a Default External Route into an OSPFv3 Routing Domain 675

Configure an IPv6 Summary Prefix 676
Redistribute IPv6 Routes 676
Configure Graceful Restart 678
Configure Capabilities 678
Configuring Graceful Restart for OSPFv2 679
Configure Cisco NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2 679
Configure IETF NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2 680
Configuring Graceful Restart for OSPFv3 680
Remove the OSPFv2 Configuration 681
Remove the OSPFv3 Configuration 681
Example for OSPFv2 682
Examples for OSPFv3 683
Monitoring OSPF 684
History for OSPF 687
CHAPTER 26 EIGRP 691

About EIGRP 691
Guidelines for EIGRP 692
Configure EIGRP 693
Enable EIGRP 693
Enable EIGRP Stub Routing 693
Customize EIGRP 694
Define a Network for an EIGRP Routing Process 695
Configure Interfaces for EIGRP 695
Configure Passive Interfaces 697
Configure the Summary Aggregate Addresses on Interfaces 698
Change the Interface Delay Value 699
Enable EIGRP Authentication on an Interface 699
Define an EIGRP Neighbor 701
Redistribute Routes Into EIGRP 702
Filter Networks in EIGRP 703
Customize the EIGRP Hello Interval and Hold Time 704
Disable Automatic Route Summarization 705
Configure Default Information in EIGRP 706
xxxi
Contents
Disable EIGRP Split Horizon 707

Restart the EIGRP Process 707
Monitoring for EIGRP 708
Example for EIGRP 709
History for EIGRP 709
CHAPTER 27 Multicast Routing 711

About Multicast Routing 711
Stub Multicast Routing 712
PIM Multicast Routing 712
PIM Source Specific Multicast Support 712
PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR) 712
PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR) Terminology 713
Multicast Group Concept 713
Multicast Addresses 713
Clustering 714
Guidelines for Multicast Routing 714
Enable Multicast Routing 714
Customize Multicast Routing 715
Configure Stub Multicast Routing and Forward IGMP Messages 715
Configure a Static Multicast Route 715
Configure IGMP Features 716
Disable IGMP on an Interface 717
Configure IGMP Group Membership 717
Configure a Statically Joined IGMP Group 717
Control Access to Multicast Groups 718
Limit the Number of IGMP States on an Interface 719
Modify the Query Messages to Multicast Groups 719
Change the IGMP Version 720
Configure PIM Features 720
Enable and Disable PIM on an Interface 721
Configure a Static Rendezvous Point Address 721
Configure the Designated Router Priority 722
Configure and Filter PIM Register Messages 722
Configure PIM Message Intervals 723
xxxii
Contents
Filter PIM Neighbors 723

Configure a Bidirectional Neighbor Filter 724
Configure the ASA as a Candidate BSR 725
Configure a Multicast Boundary 725
Monitoring for PIM 726
Example for Multicast Routing 727
History for Multicast Routing 727
CHAPTER 28 IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 729

About IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 729
Neighbor Solicitation Messages 729
Duplicate Address Detection 730
Router Advertisement Messages 730
Static IPv6 Neighbors 730
Prerequisites for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 730
Guidelines for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 730
Defaults for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 732
Configure IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 733
Enter Interface Configuration Mode 733
Configure the Neighbor Solicitation Message Interval 733
Configure the Neighbor Reachable Time 734
Configure the Router Advertisement Transmission Interval 734
Configure the Router Lifetime Value 735
Configure DAD Settings 735
Suppress Router Advertisement Messages 735
Configure Address Config Flags for IPv6 DHCP Relay 736
Configure the IPv6 Prefix in Router Advertisements 736
Configuring a Static IPv6 Neighbor 737
Monitoring IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 738
History for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 738
PART VI AAA Servers and the Local Database 741
CHAPTER 29 AAA and the Local Database 743

About AAA and the Local Database 743
xxxiii
Contents
Authentication 743
Authorization 744
Accounting 744
Interaction Between Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting 744
AAA Servers 744
AAA Server Groups 744
About the Local Database 745
Fallback Support 745
How Fallback Works with Multiple Servers in a Group 746
Guidelines for the Local Database 746
Add a User Account to the Local Database 746
Generate a Shared Key 749
Monitoring the Local Database 751
History for the Local Database 751
CHAPTER 30 RADIUS Servers for AAA 753

About RADIUS Servers for AAA 753
Supported Authentication Methods 753
User Authorization of VPN Connections 754
Supported Sets of RADIUS Attributes 754
Supported RADIUS Authorization Attributes 754
Supported IETF RADIUS Authorization Attributes 764
RADIUS Accounting Disconnect Reason Codes 765
Guidelines for RADIUS Servers for AAA 766
Configure RADIUS Servers for AAA 766
Configure RADIUS Server Groups 766
Add a RADIUS Server to a Group 769
Monitoring RADIUS Servers for AAA 772
History for RADIUS Servers for AAA 772
CHAPTER 31 TACACS+ Servers for AAA 775

About TACACS+ Servers for AAA 775
TACACS+ Attributes 775
Guidelines for TACACS+ Servers for AAA 777
Configure TACACS+ Servers 777
xxxiv
Contents
Configure TACACS+ Server Groups 777

Add a TACACS+ Server to a Group 779
Monitoring TACACS+ Servers for AAA 779
History for TACACS+ Servers for AAA 780
CHAPTER 32 LDAP Servers for AAA 781

About LDAP and the ASA 781
How Authentication Works with LDAP 781
LDAP Hierarchy 782
Search the LDAP Hierarchy 782
Bind to an LDAP Server 783
LDAP Attribute Maps 784
Guidelines for LDAP Servers for AAA 785
Configure LDAP Servers for AAA 785
Configure LDAP Attribute Maps 785
Configure LDAP Server Groups 787
Configure Authorization with LDAP for VPN 789
Monitoring LDAP Servers for AAA 791
History for LDAP Servers for AAA 791
PART VII System Administration 793
CHAPTER 33 Management Access 795

Configure Management Remote Access 795
Configure SSH Access 795
Exchange Keys in an SSH Session 798
Configure Telnet Access 798
Configure HTTPS Access for ASDM 799
Configure HTTP Redirect for ASDM Access or Clientless SSL VPN 801
Configure Management Access Over a VPN Tunnel 801
Change the Console Timeout 802
Customize a CLI Prompt 802
Configure a Login Banner 803
Set a Management Session Quota 804
Configure AAA for System Administrators 805
xxxv
Contents
About AAA for System Administrators 805

About SSH Authentication 805
About Telnet Authentication 805
About ASDM Authentication 805
About Enable Authentication 806
Sessions from the Switch to the ASA Services Module 806
Supported Command Authorization Methods 806
Security Contexts and Command Authorization 807
Command Privilege Levels 808
Configure Authentication for CLI and ASDM Access 808
Configure Enable Authentication (Privileged EXEC Mode) 809
Configure ASDM Certificate Authentication 810
Control CLI and ASDM Access with Management Authorization 811
Configure Command Authorization 813
Configure Local Command Authorization 814
Configure Commands on the TACACS+ Server 815
Configure TACACS+ Command Authorization 818
Configure a Password Policy for Local Database Users 819
Change Your Password 821
Configure Management Access Accounting 822
Recover from a Lockout 822
Monitoring Device Access 823
History for Management Access 825
CHAPTER 34 Software and Configurations 829

Upgrade the Software 829
Upgrade Path 829
View Your Current Version 830
Download the Software from Cisco.com 830
Upgrade a Standalone Unit 831
Upgrade a Failover Pair or ASA Cluster 832
Upgrade an Active/Standby Failover Pair 832
Upgrade an Active/Active Failover Pair 834
Upgrade an ASA Cluster 837
Use the ROMMON to Load an Image 839
xxxvi
Contents
Load an Image for the ASA 5500-X Series Using ROMMON 839
Load an Image for the ASASM Using ROMMON 840
Upgrade the ROMMON Image (ASA 5506-X, 5508-X, and 5516-X) 842
Recover and Load an Image for the ASA 5506W-X Wireless Access Point 843
Manage Files 843
View Files in Flash Memory 843
Delete Files from Flash Memory 844
Erase the Flash File System 844
Configure File Access 845
Configure the FTP Client Mode 845
Configure the ASA as a Secure Copy Server 845
Configure the ASA TFTP Client Path 847

Copy a File to the ASA 848
Copy a File to the Startup or Running Configuration 850
Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup Configuration 852
Back Up and Restore Configurations or Other Files 853
Perform a Complete System Backup or Restoration 854
Before You Begin Backup or Restore 854
Back Up the System 855
Restore the Backup 856
Back up the Single Mode Configuration or Multiple Mode System Configuration 857
Back Up a Context Configuration or Other File in Flash Memory 859
Back Up a Context Configuration within a Context 860
Copy the Configuration from the Terminal Display 860
Back Up Additional Files Using the Export and Import Commands 861
Use a Script to Back Up and Restore Files 861
Before You Begin Using Backup and Restore Scripts 862
Run the Script 862
Sample Script 862
Downgrade Your Software 867
About Activation Key Compatibility 867
Perform the Downgrade 867
Configure Auto Update 868
About Auto Update 868
Auto Update Client or Server 868
xxxvii
Contents
Auto Update Benefits 868

Auto Update Server Support in Failover Configurations 869
Auto Update Process Overview 869
Guidelines for Auto Update 870
Configure Communication with an Auto Update Server 870
Configure Client Updates as an Auto Update Server 872
Monitoring Auto Update 873
Monitoring the Auto Update Process 873
Monitoring Auto Update Status 874
History for Software and Configurations 875
CHAPTER 35 Response Automation for System Events 877

About the EEM 877
Supported Events 877
Actions on Event Manager Applets 878
Output Destinations 878
Guidelines for the EEM 878
Configure the EEM 879
Create an Event Manager Applet and Configure Events 879
Configure an Action and Destinations for Output from an Action 881
Run an Event Manager Applet 883
Track Memory Allocation and Memory Usage 883
Examples for the EEM 886
Monitoring the EEM 886
History for the EEM 887
CHAPTER 36 Testing and Troubleshooting 889

View Debugging Messages 889
Capture Packets 889
Capture Packets in a Clustering Environment 891
Guidelines for Capturing Packets 891
View the Crash Dump 893
View the Coredump 893
vCPU Usage in the ASAv 893
CPU Usage Example 894
xxxviii
Contents
VMware CPU Usage Reporting 894

ASAv and vCenter Graphs 894
Test Your Configuration 895
Test Basic Connectivity: Pinging Addresses 895
What You Can Test Using Ping 895
Choosing Between ICMP and TCP Ping 895
Enable ICMP 896
Ping Hosts 897
Test ASA Connectivity Systematically 898
Trace Routes to Hosts 901
Make the ASA Visible on Trace Routes 901
Determine Packet Routes 903
Tracing Packets to Test Policy Configuration 904
Monitoring Connections 906
PART VIII Logging, SNMP, and Smart Call Home 907
CHAPTER 37 Logging 909

About Logging 909
Logging in Multiple Context Mode 910
Syslog Message Analysis 910
Syslog Message Format 911
Severity Levels 911
Syslog Message Filtering 912
Syslog Message Classes 912
Custom Message Lists 914
Clustering 914
Guidelines for Logging 914
Configure Logging 915
Enable Logging 916
Configure an Output Destination 916
Send Syslog Messages to an External Syslog Server 916
Send Syslog Messages to the Internal Log Buffer 917
Send Syslog Messages to an E-mail Address 919
Send Syslog Messages to ASDM 920
xxxix
Contents
Send Syslog Messages to the Console Port 920

Send Syslog Messages to an SNMP Server 921
Send Syslog Messages to a Telnet or SSH Session 921
Create a Custom Event List 922
Generate Syslog Messages in EMBLEM Format to a Syslog Server 923
Generate Syslog Messages in EMBLEM Format to Other Output Destinations 923
Change the Amount of Internal Flash Memory Available for Logs 924
Configure the Logging Queue 924
Send All Syslog Messages in a Class to a Specified Output Destination 925
Enable Secure Logging 925
Include the Device ID in Non-EMBLEM Format Syslog Messages 926
Include the Date and Time in Syslog Messages 926
Disable a Syslog Message 927
Change the Severity Level of a Syslog Message 927
Block Syslog Messages on a Standby Unit 928
Limit the Rate of Syslog Message Generation 928
Show or Hide Invalid Usernames in Syslogs 928
Monitoring the Logs 929
Examples for Logging 929
History for Logging 930
CHAPTER 38 SNMP 933

About SNMP 933
SNMP Terminology 934
MIBs and Traps 934
SNMP Object Identifiers 936
Physical Vendor Type Values 941
Supported Tables and Objects in MIBs 950
Supported Traps (Notifications) 951
Interface Types and Examples 954
SNMP Version 3 Overview 955
Security Models 956
SNMP Groups 956
SNMP Users 956
SNMP Hosts 956
xl
Contents
Implementation Differences Between the ASA, ASA Services Module, and the Cisco
IOS Software 956
SNMP Syslog Messaging 957
Application Services and Third-Party Tools 957
Guidelines for SNMP 957
Configure SNMP 960
Enable the SNMP Agent and SNMP Server 960
Configure SNMP Traps 960
Configure a CPU Usage Threshold 962
Configure a Physical Interface Threshold 962
Configure Parameters for SNMP Version 1 or 2c 962
Configure Parameters for SNMP Version 3 964
Configure a Group of Users 966
Associate Users with a Network Object 967
Monitoring SNMP 967
Examples for SNMP 969
History for SNMP 969
CHAPTER 39 Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home 975

About Anonymous Reporting 975
DNS Requirement 976
About Smart Call Home 976
Subscribe to Alert Groups 977
Attributes of Alert Groups 977
Messages Sent to Cisco by Alert Groups 978
Message Severity Threshold 980
Subscription Profiles 981
Guidelines for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home 982
Configure Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home 983
Configure Anonymous Reporting 983
Configure Smart Call Home 984
Enable Smart Call Home 984
Declare and Authenticate a Certificate Authority Trust Point 985
Configure the Environment and Snapshot Alert Groups 986
Configure Alert Group Subscription 986
xli
Contents
Configure Customer Contact Information 987

Configure the Mail Server 989
Configure Traffic Rate Limiting 990
Send Smart Call Home Communications 990
Configure a Destination Profile 991
Copy a Destination Profile 992
Rename a Destination Profile 993
Monitoring Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home 994
Examples for Smart Call Home 994
History for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home 995
PART IX Reference 997
CHAPTER 40 Using the Command-Line Interface 999

Firewall Mode and Security Context Mode 999
Command Modes and Prompts 1000
Syntax Formatting 1001
Abbreviate Commands 1002
Command-Line Editing 1002
Command Completion 1002
Command Help 1002
View the Running Configuration 1003
Filter show and more Command Output 1003
Command Output Paging 1004
Add Comments 1004
Text Configuration Files 1004
How Commands Correspond with Lines in the Text File 1004
Command-Specific Configuration Mode Commands 1004
Automatic Text Entries 1005
Line Order 1005
Commands Not Included in the Text Configuration 1005
Passwords 1005
Multiple Security Context Files 1005
Supported Character Sets 1006
xlii
Contents
CHAPTER 41 Addresses, Protocols, and Ports 1007

IPv4 Addresses and Subnet Masks 1007
Classes 1007
Private Networks 1008
Subnet Masks 1008
Determine the Subnet Mask 1008
Determine the Address to Use with the Subnet Mask 1009
Class C-Size Network Address 1009
Class B-Size Network Address 1010
IPv6 Addresses 1011
IPv6 Address Format 1011
IPv6 Address Types 1012
Unicast Addresses 1012
Global Address 1012
Site-Local Address 1013
Link-Local Address 1013
IPv4-Compatible IPv6 Addresses 1013
Unspecified Address 1013
Loopback Address 1013
Interface Identifiers 1014
Multicast Address 1014
Anycast Address 1015
Required Addresses 1015
IPv6 Address Prefixes 1016
Protocols and Applications 1016
TCP and UDP Ports 1017
Local Ports and Protocols 1021
ICMP Types 1022
xliii
Contents
xliv
About This Guide
The following topics explain how to use this guide.
• Document Objectives, page xlv

• Related Documentation, page xlv
• Document Conventions, page xlv
• Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request, page xlvii
Document Objectives
The purpose of this guide is to help you configure general operations for the Cisco ASA series using the
command-line interface. This guide does not cover every feature, but describes only the most common
configuration scenarios.
You can also configure and monitor the ASA by using the Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), a
web-based GUI application. ASDM includes configuration wizards to guide you through some common
configuration scenarios, and online help for less common scenarios.
Throughout this guide, the term “ASA” applies generically to supported models, unless specified otherwise.
Related Documentation
For more information, see Navigating the Cisco ASA Series Documentation at http://www.cisco.com/go/
asadocs.
Document Conventions
This document adheres to the following text, display, and alert conventions.
xlv
About This Guide
Document Conventions
Text Conventions
Convention Indication
boldface Commands, keywords, button labels, field names, and user-entered text appear
in boldface. For menu-based commands, the full path to the command is shown.
italic Variables, for which you supply values, are presented in an italic typeface.
Italic type is also used for document titles, and for general emphasis.
monospace Terminal sessions and information that the system displays appear in monospace
type.
{x | y | z} Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical

bars.
[] Elements in square brackets are optional.
[x | y | z] Optional alternative keywords are grouped in square brackets and separated by

vertical bars.
[] Default responses to system prompts are also in square brackets.
<> Non-printing characters such as passwords are in angle brackets.
!, # An exclamation point (!) or a number sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code
indicates a comment line.
Reader Alerts
This document uses the following for reader alerts:
Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the
manual.
Tip Means the following information will help you solve a problem.
Caution Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage
or loss of data.
Timesaver Means the described action saves time. You can save time by performing the action described in the
paragraph.
xlvi
About This Guide
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Warning Means reader be warned. In this situation, you might perform an action that could result in bodily
injury.

For information on obtaining documentation, using the Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST), submitting a service
request, and gathering additional information, see What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, at: http://
www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html.
To receive new and revised Cisco technical content directly to your desktop, you can subscribe to the What's
New in Cisco Product Documentation RSS feed. RSS feeds are a free service.
xlvii
About This Guide
xlviii
PART I
Getting Started with the ASA
• Introduction to the Cisco ASA, page 3
• Getting Started, page 19
• Product Authorization Key Licenses, page 45
• Smart Software Licensing for the ASAv and ASA on the FXOS Chassis, page 101
• Transparent or Routed Firewall Mode, page 127
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to the Cisco ASA
The Cisco ASA provides advanced stateful firewall and VPN concentrator functionality in one device as
well as integrated services with add-on modules. The ASA includes many advanced features, such as multiple
security contexts (similar to virtualized firewalls), clustering (combining multiple firewalls into a single
firewall), transparent (Layer 2) firewall or routed (Layer 3) firewall operation, advanced inspection engines,
IPsec VPN, SSL VPN, and clientless SSL VPN support, and many more features.
• Hardware and Software Compatibility, page 3

• VPN Compatibility, page 3
• New Features, page 3
• Firewall Functional Overview, page 13
• VPN Functional Overview, page 17
• Security Context Overview, page 17
• ASA Clustering Overview, page 18
• Special and Legacy Services, page 18
Hardware and Software Compatibility

For a complete list of supported hardware and software, see Cisco ASA Compatibility.
VPN Compatibility
See Supported VPN Platforms, Cisco ASA Series.
New Features
New Features in ASAv 9.5(2.200)

Released: January 28, 2016
3
New Features
The following table lists the new features for ASAv Version 9.5(2.200).
Note This release supports only the ASAv.
Table 1: New Features for ASAv Version 9.5(2.200)
Feature Description
Platform Features
Microsoft Azure support The ASAv10 is supported on a Standard D3 virtual machine.
Licensing Features
Permanent License Reservation for For highly secure environments where communication with the Cisco Smart Software Manager
the ASAv is not allowed, you can request a permanent license for the ASAv.
We introduced the following commands: license smart reservation, license smart reservation
cancel, license smart reservation install, license smart reservation request universal,
license smart reservation return
Smart Agent Upgrade to v1.6 The smart agent was upgraded from Version 1.1 to Version 1.6. This upgrade supports
permanent license reservation and also supports setting the Strong Encryption (3DES/AES)
license entitlement according to the permission set in your license account.
Note If you downgrade from Version 9.5(2.200), the ASAv does not retain the licensing
registration state. You need to re-register with the license smart register idtoken
id_token force command; obtain the ID token from the Smart Software Manager.
We introduced the following commands: show license status, show license summary, show
license udi, show license usage
We modified the following commands: show license all, show tech-support license
We deprecated the following commands: show license cert, show license entitlement, show
license pool, show license registration
New Features in ASA 9.5(2.1)

Released: December 14, 2015
The following table lists the new features for ASA Version 9.5(2.1).
Note This release supports only the ASA on the Firepower 9300.
4
New Features
Table 2: New Features for ASA Version 9.5(2.1)
Feature Description
Platform Features
VPN support for the ASA on the With FXOS 1.1.3, you can now configure VPN features.
Firepower 9300
Firewall Features
Flow off-load for the ASA on the You can identify flows that should be off-loaded from the ASA and switched directly in the
Firepower 9300 NIC (on the Firepower 9300). This provides improved performance for large data flows in
data centers.
Also requires FXOS 1.1.3.
We added or modified the following commands: clear flow-offload, flow-offload enable,
set-connection advanced-options flow-offload, show conn detail, show flow-offload.
High Availability Features
Inter-chassis clustering for 6 With FXOS 1.1.3, you can now enable inter-chassis, and by extension inter-site clustering.
modules, and inter-site clustering for You can include up to 6 modules in up to 6 chassis.
the ASA on the Firepower 9300 We did not modify any commands.
Licensing Features
Strong Encryption (3DES) license For regular Cisco Smart Software Manager users, the Strong Encryption license is automatically
automatically applied for the ASA enabled for qualified customers when you apply the registration token on the Firepower 9300.
on the Firepower 9300 Note If you are using the Smart Software Manager satellite deployment, to use ASDM
and other strong encryption features, after you deploy the ASA you must enable the
Strong Encryption (3DES) license using the ASA CLI.
This feature requires FXOS 1.1.3.
We removed the following command for non-satellite configurations: feature
strong-encryption
New Features in ASA 9.5(2)

Released: November 30, 2015
The following table lists the new features for ASA Version 9.5(2).
Table 3: New Features for ASA Version 9.5(2)
Feature Description
Platform Features
5
New Features
Feature Description
Cisco ISA 3000 Support The Cisco ISA 3000 is a DIN Rail mounted, ruggedized, industrial security appliance. It is
low-power, fan-less, with Gigabit Ethernet and a dedicated management port. This model
comes with the ASA Firepower module pre-installed. Special features for this model include
a customized transparent mode default configuration, as well as a hardware bypass function
to allow traffic to continue flowing through the appliance when there is a loss of power.
We introduced the following command: hardware-bypass, hardware-bypass manual,
hardware-bypass boot-delay
Also in Version 9.4(1.225).
Firewall Features
DCERPC inspection improvements DCERPC inspection now supports NAT for OxidResolver ServerAlive2 opnum5 messages.
and UUID filtering You can also now filter on DCERPC message universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) to reset
or log particular message types. There is a new DCERPC inspection class map for UUID
filtering.
We introduced the following command: match [not] uuid. We modified the following
command: class-map type inspect.
Diameter inspection You can now inspect Diameter traffic. Diameter inspection requires the Carrier license.
We introduced or modified the following commands: class-map type inspect diameter,
diameter, inspect diameter, match application-id, match avp, match command-code,
policy-map type inspect diameter, show conn detail, show diameter, show service-policy
inspect diameter, unsupported.
SCTP inspection and access control You can now use the SCTP protocol and port specifications in service objects, access control
lists (ACLs) and access rules, and inspect SCTP traffic. SCTP inspection and access control
requires the Carrier license.
We introduced the following commands: access-list extended , clear conn protocol sctp,
inspect sctp, match ppid, nat static (object), policy-map type inspect sctp, service-object,
service, set connection advanced-options sctp-state-bypass, show conn protocol sctp,
show local-host connection sctp, show service-policy inspect sctp, timeout sctp.
Carrier Grade NAT enhancements For carrier-grade or large-scale PAT, you can allocate a block of ports for each host, rather
now supported in failover and ASA than have NAT allocate one port translation at a time (see RFC 6888). This feature is now
clustering supported in failover and ASA cluster deployments.
We modified the following command: show local-host
Captive portal for active The captive portal feature is required to enable active authentication using identity policies
authentication on ASA FirePOWER starting with ASA FirePOWER 6.0.
6.0. We introduced or modified the following commands: captive-portal, clear configure
captive-portal, show running-config captive-portal.
6
New Features
Feature Description
LISP Inspection for Inter-Site Flow Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) architecture separates the device identity from
Mobility its location into two different numbering spaces, making server migration transparent to clients.
The ASA can inspect LISP traffic for location changes and then use this information for
seamless clustering operation; the ASA cluster members inspect LISP traffic passing between
the first hop router and the egress tunnel router (ETR) or ingress tunnel router (ITR), and then
change the flow owner to be at the new site.
We introduced or modified the following commands: allowed-eid, clear cluster info
flow-mobility counters, clear lisp eid, cluster flow-mobility lisp, debug cluster
flow-mobility, debug lisp eid-notify-intercept, flow-mobility lisp, inspect lisp, policy-map
type inspect lisp, site-id, show asp table classify domain inspect-lisp, show cluster info
flow-mobility counters, show conn, show lisp eid, show service-policy, validate-key
ASA 5516-X support for clustering The ASA 5516-X now supports 2-unit clusters. Clustering for 2 units is enabled by default
in the base license.
We did not modify any commands.
Configurable level for clustering By default, all levels of clustering events are included in the trace buffer, including many low
trace entries level events. To limit the trace to higher level events, you can set the minimum trace level for
the cluster.
We introduced the following command: trace-level
Interface Features
Support to map Secondary VLANs You can now configure one or more secondary VLANs for a subinterface. When the ASA
to a Primary VLAN receives traffic on the secondary VLANs, it maps the traffic to the primary VLAN.
We introduced or modified the following commands: vlan secondary, show vlan mapping
Routing Features
PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR) support The ASA currently supports configuring static RPs to route multicast traffic for different
for multicast routing groups. For large complex networks where multiple RPs could exist, the ASA now supports
dynamic RP selection using PIM BSR to support mobility of RPs.
We introduced the following commands: clear pim group-map, debug pim bsr, pim
bsr-border, pim bsr-candidate, show pim bsr-router, show pim group-map rp-timers
Remote Access Features
7
New Features
Feature Description
Support for Remote Access VPN in You can now use the following remote access features in multiple context mode:
multiple context mode
• AnyConnect 3.x and later (SSL VPN only; no IKEv2 support)
• Centralized AnyConnect image configuration
• AnyConnect image upgrade
• Context Resource Management for AnyConnect connections
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple context mode; you cannot use
the default or legacy license.
We introduced the following commands: limit-resource vpn anyconnect, limit-resource
vpn burst anyconnect
Clientless SSL VPN offers SAML The ASA acts as a SAML Service Provider.
2.0-based Single Sign-On (SSO)
functionality
Clientless SSL VPN conditional You can debug logs by filtering, based on the filter condition sets, and can then better analyze
debugging them.
We introduced the following additions to the debug command:
• [no] debug webvpn condition user <user name>
• [no] debug webvpn condition group <group name>
• [no] debug webvpn condition p-ipaddress <ipv4> [subnet<mask>]
• [no] debug webvpn condition p-ipaddress <ipv6> [prefix<prefix>]
• debug webvpn condition reset
• show debug webvpn condition
• show webvpn debug-condition
Clientless SSL VPN cache disabled The clientless SSL VPN cache is now disabled by default. Disabling the clientless SSL VPN
by default cache provides better stability. If you want to enable the cache, you must manually enable it.
webvpn
cache
no disable
We modified the following command: cache
Licensing Features
8
New Features
Feature Description
Validation of the Smart Call Smart licensing uses the Smart Call Home infrastructure. When the ASA first configures
Home/Smart Licensing certificate if Smart Call Home anonymous reporting in the background, it automatically creates a trustpoint
the issuing hierarchy of the server containing the certificate of the CA that issued the Smart Call Home server certificate. The
certificate changes ASA now supports validation of the certificate if the issuing hierarchy of the server certificate
changes; you can enable the automatic update of the trustpool bundle at periodic intervals.
We introduced the following command: auto-import
New Carrier license The new Carrier license replaces the existing GTP/GPRS license, and also includes support
for SCTP and Diameter inspection. For the ASA on the Firepower 9300, the feature mobile-sp
command will automatically migrate to the feature carrier command.
We introduced or modified the following commands: feature carrier, show activation-key,
show license, show tech-support, show version
Monitoring Features
logging debug-trace persistence Formerly, when you enabled logging debug-trace to redirect debugs to a syslog server, if the
SSH connection were disconnected (due to network connectivity or timeout), then the debugs
were removed. Now, debugs persist for as long as the logging command is in effect.
We modified the following command: logging debug-trace
New Features in ASA 9.5(1.5)

Released: November 11, 2015
The following table lists the new features for ASA Version 9.5(1.5).
Table 4: New Features for ASA Version 9.5(1.5)
Feature Description
Platform Features
Support for ASA FirePOWER 6.0 The 6.0 software version for the ASA FirePOWER module is supported on all previously
supported device models.
Support for managing the ASA You can manage the ASA FirePOWER module using ASDM instead of using Firepower
FirePOWER module through ASDM Management Center (formerly FireSIGHT Management Center) when running version 6.0
for the 5512-X through 5585-X. on the module. You can still use ASDM to manage the module on the 5506-X, 5506H-X,
5506W-X, 5508-X, and 5516-X when running 6.0.
No new screens or commands were added.
New Features in ASAv 9.5(1.200)

Released: August 31, 2015
9
New Features
The following table lists the new features for ASAv Version 9.5(1.200).
Note This release supports only the ASAv.
Table 5: New Features for ASAv Version 9.5(1.200)
Feature Description
Platform Features
Microsoft Hyper-V supervisor Extends the hypervisor portfolio for the ASAv.
support
ASAv5 low memory support The ASAv5 now only requires 1 GB RAM to operate. Formerly, it required 2 GB. For
already-deployed ASAv5s, you should reduce the allocated memory to 1 GB or you will see
an error that you are using more memory than is licensed.
New Features in ASA 9.5(1)

Released: August 12, 2015
The following table lists the new features for ASA Version 9.5(1).
Note This version does not support the Firepower 9300 ASA security module or the ISA 3000.
Table 6: New Features for ASA Version 9.5(1)
Feature Description
Firewall Features
GTPv2 inspection and improvements GTP inspection can now handle GTPv2. In addition, GTP inspection for all versions now
to GTPv0/1 inspection supports IPv6 addresses.
We modified the following commands: clear service-policy inspect gtp statistics, clear
service-policy inspect gtp pdpmcb, clear service-policy inspect gtp request, match message
id, show service-policy inspect gtp pdpmcb, show service-policy inspect gtp request,
show service-policy inspect gtp statistics, timeout endpoint
We deprecated the following command: timeout gsn
10
New Features
Feature Description
IP Options inspection improvements IP Options inspection now supports all possible IP options. You can tune the inspection to
allow, clear, or drop any standard or experimental options, including those not yet defined.
You can also set a default behavior for options not explicitly defined in an IP options inspection
map.
We introduced the following commands: basic-security, commercial-security, default,
exp-flow-control, exp-measure, extended-security, imi-traffic-description, quick-start,
record-route, timestamp
Carrier Grade NAT enhancements For carrier-grade or large-scale PAT, you can allocate a block of ports for each host, rather
than have NAT allocate one port translation at a time (see RFC 6888).
We introduced the following commands: xlate block-allocation size, xlate block-allocation
maximum-per-host. We added the block-allocation keyword to the nat command.
Inter-site clustering support for You can now use inter-site clustering for Spanned EtherChannels in routed mode. To avoid
Spanned EtherChannel in Routed MAC address flapping, configure a site ID for each cluster member so that a site-specific
firewall mode MAC address for each interface can be shared among a site’s units.
We introduced or modified the following commands: site-id, mac-address site-id, show
cluster info, show interface
ASA cluster customization of the You can now customize the auto-rejoin behavior when an interface or the cluster control link
auto-rejoin behavior when an fails.
interface or the cluster control link We introduced the following command: health-check auto-rejoin
fails
The ASA cluster supports GTPv1 The ASA cluster now supports GTPv1 and GTPv2 inspection.
and GTPv2 We did not modify any commands.
Cluster replication delay for TCP This feature helps eliminate the “unnecessary work” related to short-lived flows by delaying
connections the director/backup flow creation.
We introduced the following command: cluster replication delay
Also available for the Firepower 9300 ASA security module in Version 9.4(1.152).
Disable health monitoring of a By default when using clustering, the ASA monitors the health of an installed hardware module
hardware module in ASA clustering such as the ASA FirePOWER module. If you do not want a hardware module failure to trigger
failover, you can disable module monitoring.
We modified the following command: health-check monitor-interface service-module
Enable use of the Management 1/1 On the ASA 5506H only, you can now configure the Management 1/1 interface as the failover
interface as the failover link on the link. This feature lets you use all other interfaces on the device as data interfaces. Note that
ASA 5506H if you use this feature, you cannot use the ASA Firepower module, which requires the
Management 1/1 interface to remain as a regular management interface.
We modified the following commands: failover lan interface, failover link
11
New Features
Feature Description
Routing Features
Support for IPv6 in Policy Based IPv6 addresses are now supported for Policy Based Routing.
Routing We introduced the following commands: set ipv6 next-hop, set default ipv6-next hop, set
ipv6 dscp
VXLAN support for Policy Based You can now enable Policy Based Routing on a VNI interface.
Routing We did not modify any commands.
Policy Based Routing support for You can configure Identity Firewall and Cisco TrustSec and then use Identity Firewall and
Identity Firewall and Cisco Trustsec Cisco TrustSec ACLs in Policy Based Routing route maps.
Separate routing table for To segregate and isolate management traffic from data traffic, the ASA now supports a separate
management-only interfaces routing table for management-only interfaces.
We introduced or modified the following commands: backup, clear ipv6 route
management-only, clear route management-only, configure http, configure net, copy,
enrollment source, name-server, restore, show asp table route-management-only, show
ipv6 route management-only show route management-only
Protocol Independent Multicast The ASA now allows PIM-SSM packets to pass through when you enable multicast routing,
Source-Specific Multicast unless the ASA is the Last-Hop Router. This feature allows greater flexibility in choosing a
(PIM-SSM) pass-through support multicast group while also protecting against different attacks; hosts only receive traffic from
explicitly-requested sources.
Remote Access Features
IPv6 VLAN Mapping ASA VPN code has been enhanced to support full IPv6 capabilities. No configuration change
is necessary for the administrator.
Clientless SSL VPN SharePoint Added support and a predefined application template for this new SharePoint version.
2013 Support
Dynamic Bookmarks for Clientless Added CSCO_WEBVPN_DYNAMIC_URL and CSCO_WEBVPN_MACROLIST to the

VPN list of macros when using bookmarks. These macros allow the administrator to configure a
single bookmark that can generate multiple bookmark links on the clientless user’s portal and
to statically configure bookmarks to take advantage of arbitrarily sized lists provided by LDAP
attribute maps.
VPN Banner Length Increase The overall banner length, which is displayed during post-login on the VPN remote client
portal, has increased from 500 to 4000.
We modified the following command: banner (group-policy).
12
Firewall Functional Overview
Feature Description
Cisco Easy VPN client on the ASA This release supports Cisco Easy VPN on the ASA 5506-X series and for the ASA 5508-X.
5506-X, 5506W-X, 5506H-X, and The ASA acts as a VPN hardware client when connecting to the VPN headend. Any devices
5508-X (computers, printers, and so on) behind the ASA on the Easy VPN port can communicate
over the VPN; they do not have to run VPN clients individually. Note that only one ASA
interface can act as the Easy VPN port; to connect multiple devices to that port, you need to
place a Layer 2 switch on the port, and then connect your devices to the switch.
We introduced the following commands: vpnclient enable, vpnclient server, vpnclient
mode, vpnclient username, vpnclient ipsec-over-tcp, vpnclient management, vpnclient
vpngroup, vpnclient trustpoint, vpnclient nem-st-autoconnect, vpnclient mac-exempt
Monitoring Features
Show invalid usernames in syslog You can now show invalid usernames in syslog messages for unsuccessful login attempts.
messages The default setting is to hide usernames when the username is invalid or if the validity is
unknown. If a user accidentally types a password instead of a username, for example, then it
is more secure to hide the “username” in the resultant syslog message. You might want to
show invalid usernames to help with troubleshooting login issues.
We introduced the following command: no logging hide username
This feature is also available in 9.2(4) and 9.3(3).
REST API Features
REST API Version 1.2.1 We added support for the REST API Version 1.2.1.

Firewalls protect inside networks from unauthorized access by users on an outside network. A firewall can
also protect inside networks from each other, for example, by keeping a human resources network separate
from a user network. If you have network resources that need to be available to an outside user, such as a web
or FTP server, you can place these resources on a separate network behind the firewall, called a
demilitarized zone (DMZ). The firewall allows limited access to the DMZ, but because the DMZ only includes
the public servers, an attack there only affects the servers and does not affect the other inside networks. You
can also control when inside users access outside networks (for example, access to the Internet), by allowing
only certain addresses out, by requiring authentication or authorization, or by coordinating with an external
URL filtering server.
When discussing networks connected to a firewall, the outside network is in front of the firewall, the inside
network is protected and behind the firewall, and a DMZ, while behind the firewall, allows limited access to
outside users. Because the ASA lets you configure many interfaces with varied security policies, including
many inside interfaces, many DMZs, and even many outside interfaces if desired, these terms are used in a
general sense only.
13
Security Policy Overview

A security policy determines which traffic is allowed to pass through the firewall to access another network.
By default, the ASA allows traffic to flow freely from an inside network (higher security level) to an outside
network (lower security level). You can apply actions to traffic to customize the security policy.
Permitting or Denying Traffic with Access Lists

You can apply an access list, also known as access rules, to limit traffic from inside to outside, or allow traffic
from outside to inside. For transparent firewall mode, you can also apply an EtherType access list to allow
non-IP traffic.
Applying NAT
Some of the benefits of NAT include the following:
• You can use private addresses on your inside networks. Private addresses are not routable on the Internet.
• NAT hides the local addresses from other networks, so attackers cannot learn the real address of a host.
• NAT can resolve IP routing problems by supporting overlapping IP addresses.
Protecting from IP Fragments

The ASA provides IP fragment protection. This feature performs full reassembly of all ICMP error messages
and virtual reassembly of the remaining IP fragments that are routed through the ASA. Fragments that fail
the security check are dropped and logged. Virtual reassembly cannot be disabled.
Applying HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP Filtering

Although you can use access lists to prevent outbound access to specific websites or FTP servers, configuring
and managing web usage this way is not practical because of the size and dynamic nature of the Internet.
You can configure Cloud Web Security on the ASA, or install an ASA module that provides URL and other
filtering services, such as ASA CX or ASA FirePOWER. You can also use the ASA in conjunction with an
external product such as the Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA).
Applying Application Inspection

Inspection engines are required for services that embed IP addressing information in the user data packet or
that open secondary channels on dynamically assigned ports. These protocols require the ASA to do a deep
packet inspection.
Sending Traffic to Supported Hardware or Software Modules

Some ASA models allow you to configure software modules, or to insert hardware modules into the chassis,
to provide advanced services. These modules provide additional traffic inspection and can block traffic based
on your configured policies. You can send traffic to these modules to take advantage of these advanced
services.
14
Applying QoS Policies

Some network traffic, such as voice and streaming video, cannot tolerate long latency times. QoS is a network
feature that lets you give priority to these types of traffic. QoS refers to the capability of a network to provide
better service to selected network traffic.
Applying Connection Limits and TCP Normalization

You can limit TCP and UDP connections and embryonic connections. Limiting the number of connections
and embryonic connections protects you from a DoS attack. The ASA uses the embryonic limit to trigger
TCP Intercept, which protects inside systems from a DoS attack perpetrated by flooding an interface with
TCP SYN packets. An embryonic connection is a connection request that has not finished the necessary
handshake between source and destination.
TCP normalization is a feature consisting of advanced TCP connection settings designed to drop packets that
do not appear normal.
Enabling Threat Detection

You can configure scanning threat detection and basic threat detection, and also how to use statistics to analyze
threats.
Basic threat detection detects activity that might be related to an attack, such as a DoS attack, and automatically
sends a system log message.
A typical scanning attack consists of a host that tests the accessibility of every IP address in a subnet (by
scanning through many hosts in the subnet or sweeping through many ports in a host or subnet). The scanning
threat detection feature determines when a host is performing a scan. Unlike IPS scan detection that is based
on traffic signatures, the ASA scanning threat detection feature maintains an extensive database that contains
host statistics that can be analyzed for scanning activity.
The host database tracks suspicious activity such as connections with no return activity, access of closed
service ports, vulnerable TCP behaviors such as non-random IPID, and many more behaviors.
You can configure the ASA to send system log messages about an attacker or you can automatically shun the
host.
Firewall Mode Overview

The ASA runs in two different firewall modes:
• Routed
• Transparent
In routed mode, the ASA is considered to be a router hop in the network.

In transparent mode, the ASA acts like a “bump in the wire,” or a “stealth firewall,” and is not considered a
router hop. The ASA connects to the same network on its inside and outside interfaces.
You might use a transparent firewall to simplify your network configuration. Transparent mode is also useful
if you want the firewall to be invisible to attackers. You can also use a transparent firewall for traffic that
would otherwise be blocked in routed mode. For example, a transparent firewall can allow multicast streams
using an EtherType access list.
15
Stateful Inspection Overview

All traffic that goes through the ASA is inspected using the Adaptive Security Algorithm and either allowed
through or dropped. A simple packet filter can check for the correct source address, destination address, and
ports, but it does not check that the packet sequence or flags are correct. A filter also checks every packet
against the filter, which can be a slow process.
Note The TCP state bypass feature allows you to customize the packet flow.
A stateful firewall like the ASA, however, takes into consideration the state of a packet:
• Is this a new connection?
If it is a new connection, the ASA has to check the packet against access lists and perform other tasks
to determine if the packet is allowed or denied. To perform this check, the first packet of the session
goes through the “session management path,” and depending on the type of traffic, it might also pass
through the “control plane path.”
The session management path is responsible for the following tasks:
◦Performing the access list checks
◦Performing route lookups
◦Allocating NAT translations (xlates)
◦Establishing sessions in the “fast path”
The ASA creates forward and reverse flows in the fast path for TCP traffic; the ASA also creates
connection state information for connectionless protocols like UDP, ICMP (when you enable ICMP
inspection), so that they can also use the fast path.
Note For other IP protocols, like SCTP, the ASA does not create reverse path flows. As a
result, ICMP error packets that refer to these connections are dropped.
Some packets that require Layer 7 inspection (the packet payload must be inspected or altered) are passed
on to the control plane path. Layer 7 inspection engines are required for protocols that have two or more
channels: a data channel, which uses well-known port numbers, and a control channel, which uses
different port numbers for each session. These protocols include FTP, H.323, and SNMP.
• Is this an established connection?
If the connection is already established, the ASA does not need to re-check packets; most matching
packets can go through the “fast” path in both directions. The fast path is responsible for the following
tasks:
◦IP checksum verification
◦Session lookup
◦TCP sequence number check
◦NAT translations based on existing sessions
16
VPN Functional Overview
◦Layer 3 and Layer 4 header adjustments
Data packets for protocols that require Layer 7 inspection can also go through the fast path.
Some established session packets must continue to go through the session management path or the
control plane path. Packets that go through the session management path include HTTP packets that
require inspection or content filtering. Packets that go through the control plane path include the control
packets for protocols that require Layer 7 inspection.
VPN Functional Overview

A VPN is a secure connection across a TCP/IP network (such as the Internet) that appears as a private
connection. This secure connection is called a tunnel. The ASA uses tunneling protocols to negotiate security
parameters, create and manage tunnels, encapsulate packets, transmit or receive them through the tunnel, and
unencapsulate them. The ASA functions as a bidirectional tunnel endpoint: it can receive plain packets,
encapsulate them, and send them to the other end of the tunnel where they are unencapsulated and sent to
their final destination. It can also receive encapsulated packets, unencapsulate them, and send them to their
final destination. The ASA invokes various standard protocols to accomplish these functions.
The ASA performs the following functions:
• Establishes tunnels
• Negotiates tunnel parameters
• Authenticates users
• Assigns user addresses
• Encrypts and decrypts data
• Manages security keys
• Manages data transfer across the tunnel
• Manages data transfer inbound and outbound as a tunnel endpoint or router
The ASA invokes various standard protocols to accomplish these functions.
Security Context Overview

You can partition a single ASA into multiple virtual devices, known as security contexts. Each context is an
independent device, with its own security policy, interfaces, and administrators. Multiple contexts are similar
to having multiple standalone devices. Many features are supported in multiple context mode, including
routing tables, firewall features, IPS, and management; however, some features are not supported. See the
feature chapters for more information.
In multiple context mode, the ASA includes a configuration for each context that identifies the security policy,
interfaces, and almost all the options you can configure on a standalone device. The system administrator
adds and manages contexts by configuring them in the system configuration, which, like a single mode
configuration, is the startup configuration. The system configuration identifies basic settings for the ASA.
The system configuration does not include any network interfaces or network settings for itself; rather, when
the system needs to access network resources (such as downloading the contexts from the server), it uses one
of the contexts that is designated as the admin context.
17
ASA Clustering Overview
The admin context is just like any other context, except that when a user logs into the admin context, then
that user has system administrator rights and can access the system and all other contexts.
ASA Clustering Overview

ASA Clustering lets you group multiple ASAs together as a single logical device. A cluster provides all the
convenience of a single device (management, integration into a network) while achieving the increased
throughput and redundancy of multiple devices.
You perform all configuration (aside from the bootstrap configuration) on the master unit only; the configuration
is then replicated to the member units.
Special and Legacy Services

For some services, documentation is located outside of the main configuration guides and online help.
Special Services Guides
Special services allow the ASA to interoperate with other Cisco products; for example, by providing
a security proxy for phone services (Unified Communications), or by providing Botnet traffic filtering
in conjunction with the dynamic database from the Cisco update server, or by providing WCCP services
for the Cisco Web Security Appliance. Some of these special services are covered in separate guides:
• Cisco ASA Botnet Traffic Filter Guide
• Cisco ASA NetFlow Implementation Guide
• Cisco ASA Unified Communications Guide
• Cisco ASA WCCP Traffic Redirection Guide
• SNMP Version 3 Tools Implementation Guide
Legacy Services Guide

Legacy services are still supported on the ASA, however there may be better alternative services that
you can use instead. Legacy services are covered in a separate guide:
Cisco ASA Legacy Feature Guide
This guide includes the following chapters:
• Configuring RIP
• AAA Rules for Network Access
• Using Protection Tools, which includes Preventing IP Spoofing (ip verify reverse-path),
Configuring the Fragment Size (fragment), Blocking Unwanted Connections (shun), Configuring
TCP Options (for ASDM), and Configuring IP Audit for Basic IPS Support (ip audit).
• Configuring Filtering Services
18
CHAPTER 2
Getting Started
This chapter describes how to get started with your Cisco ASA.
• Access the Console for Command-Line Interface, page 19

• Configure ASDM Access, page 25
• Start ASDM, page 31
• Factory Default Configurations, page 32
• Work with the Configuration, page 39
• Apply Configuration Changes to Connections, page 43
• Reload the ASA, page 44
Access the Console for Command-Line Interface

For initial configuration, access the CLI directly from the console port. Later, you can configure remote access
using Telnet or SSH according to Management Access, on page 795. If your system is already in multiple
context mode, then accessing the console port places you in the system execution space.
Note For ASAv console access, see the ASAv quick start guide.
Access the Appliance Console

Follow these steps to access the appliance console.
Procedure
Step 1 Connect a computer to the console port using the provided console cable, and connect to the console using a
terminal emulator set for 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control.
See the hardware guide for your ASA for more information about the console cable.
19
Step 2 Press the Enter key to see the following prompt:
ciscoasa>
This prompt indicates that you are in user EXEC mode. Only basic commands are available from user EXEC
mode.
Step 3 To access privileged EXEC mode, enter the following command:

ciscoasa> enable
The following prompt appears:
Password:
All non-configuration commands are available in privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter configuration
mode from privileged EXEC mode.
Step 4 Enter the enable password at the prompt.

By default, the password is blank, and you can press the Enter key to continue. See Set the Hostname, Domain
Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords, on page 475 to change the enable password.
The prompt changes to:
ciscoasa#
To exit privileged mode, enter the disable, exit, or quit command.
Step 5 To access global configuration mode, enter the following command:

ciscoasa# configure terminal
The prompt changes to the following:
ciscoasa(config)#
You can begin to configure the ASA from global configuration mode. To exit global configuration mode,
enter the exit, quit, or end command.
Access the ASA Services Module Console

For initial configuration, access the command-line interface by connecting to the switch (either to the console
port or remotely using Telnet or SSH) and then connecting to the ASASM. This section describes how to
access the ASASM CLI.
About Connection Methods

From the switch CLI, you can use two methods to connect to the ASASM:
• Virtual console connection—Using the service-module session command, you create a virtual console
connection to the ASASM, with all the benefits and limitations of an actual console connection.
Benefits include:
20
◦The connection is persistent across reloads and does not time out.
◦You can stay connected through ASASM reloads and view startup messages.
◦You can access ROMMON if the ASASM cannot load the image.
◦No initial password configuration is required.
Limitations include:
◦The connection is slow (9600 baud).
◦You can only have one console connection active at a time.
◦You cannot use this command in conjunction with a terminal server where Ctrl-Shift-6, x is the
escape sequence to return to the terminal server prompt. Ctrl-Shift-6, x is also the sequence to
escape the ASASM console and return to the switch prompt. Therefore, if you try to exit the
ASASM console in this situation, you instead exit all the way to the terminal server prompt. If you
reconnect the terminal server to the switch, the ASASM console session is still active; you can
never exit to the switch prompt. You must use a direct serial connection to return the console to
the switch prompt. In this case, either change the terminal server or switch escape character in
Cisco IOS software, or use the Telnet session command instead.
Note Because of the persistence of the console connection, if you do not properly log out of
the ASASM, the connection may exist longer than intended. If someone else wants to
log in, they will need to kill the existing connection.
• Telnet connection—Using the session command, you create a Telnet connection to the ASASM.
Note You cannot connect using this method for a new ASASM; this method requires you to
configure a Telnet login password on the ASASM (there is no default password). After
you set a password using the passwd command, you can use this method.
Benefits include:
◦You can have multiple sessions to the ASASM at the same time.
◦The Telnet session is a fast connection.
Limitations include:
◦The Telnet session is terminated when the ASASM reloads, and can time out.
◦You cannot access the ASASM until it completely loads; you cannot access ROMMON.
◦You must first set a Telnet login password; there is no default password.
Log Into the ASA Services Module

For initial configuration, access the command-line interface by connecting to the switch (either to the switch
console port or remotely using Telnet or SSH) and then connecting to the ASASM.
21
If your system is already in multiple context mode, then accessing the ASASM from the switch places you
in the system execution space.
Later, you can configure remote access directly to the ASASM using Telnet or SSH.
Procedure
Step 1 From the switch, perform one of the following:

• Available for initial access—From the switch CLI, enter this command to gain console access to the
ASASM:
service-module session [switch {1 | 2}] slot number
Example:
Router# service-module session slot 3

ciscoasa>
For a switch in a VSS, enter the switch argument.

To view the module slot numbers, enter the show module command at the switch prompt.
You access user EXEC mode.
• Available after you configure a login password—From the switch CLI, enter this command to Telnet
to the ASASM over the backplane:
session [switch {1 | | 2}] slot number processor 1
You are prompted for the login password:
ciscoasa passwd:
Example:
Router# session slot 3 processor 1

ciscoasa passwd: cisco
ciscoasa>
For a switch in a VSS, enter the switch argument.

The session slot processor 0 command, which is supported on other services modules, is not supported
on the ASASM; the ASASM does not have a processor 0.
To view the module slot numbers, enter the show module command at the switch prompt.
Enter the login password to the ASASM. Set the password using the passwd command. There is no
default password.
You access user EXEC mode.
Step 2 Access privileged EXEC mode, which is the highest privilege level:
enable
22
Example:
ciscoasa> enable
Password:
ciscoasa#
Enter the enable password at the prompt. By default, the password is blank.
To exit privileged EXEC mode, enter the disable, exit, or quit command.
Step 3 Access global configuration mode:

configure terminal
To exit global configuration mode, enter the disable, exit, or quit command.
Related Topics
Set the Hostname, Domain Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords, on page 475
Log Out of a Console Session

If you do not log out of the ASASM, the console connection persists; there is no timeout. To end the ASASM
console session and access the switch CLI, perform the following steps.
To kill another user’s active connection, which may have been unintentionally left open, see Kill an Active
Console Connection, on page 23.
Procedure
To return to the switch CLI, type the following:

Ctrl-Shift-6, x
You return to the switch prompt:
asasm# [Ctrl-Shift-6, x]
Router#
Note Shift-6 on US and UK keyboards issues the caret (^) character. If you have a different keyboard and
cannot issue the caret (^) character as a standalone character, you can temporarily or permanently
change the escape character to a different character. Use the terminal escape-character ascii_number
command (to change for this session) or the default escape-character ascii_number command (to
change permanently). For example, to change the sequence for the current session to Ctrl-w, x, enter
terminal escape-character 23.
Kill an Active Console Connection

Because of the persistence of a console connection, if you do not properly log out of the ASASM, the connection
may exist longer than intended. If someone else wants to log in, they will need to kill the existing connection.
23
Procedure
Step 1 From the switch CLI, show the connected users using the show users command. A console user is called
“con”. The Host address shown is 127.0.0.slot0, where slot is the slot number of the module.
show users
For example, the following command output shows a user “con” on line 0 on a module in slot 2:
Router# show users

Line User Host(s) Idle Location
* 0 con 0 127.0.0.20 00:00:02
Step 2 To clear the line with the console connection, enter the following command:
clear line number
For example:
Router# clear line 0
Log Out of a Telnet Session

To end the Telnet session and access the switch CLI, perform the following steps.
Procedure
To return to the switch CLI, type exit from the ASASM privileged or user EXEC mode. If you are in a
configuration mode, enter exit repeatedly until you exit the Telnet session.
You return to the switch prompt:
asasm# exit
Router#
Note You can alternatively escape the Telnet session using the escape sequence Ctrl-Shift-6, x; this escape
sequence lets you resume the Telnet session by pressing the Enter key at the switch prompt. To
disconnect your Telnet session from the switch, enter disconnect at the switch CLI. If you do not
disconnect the session, it will eventually time out according to the ASASM configuration.
Access the Software Module Console

If you have a software module installed, such as the ASA FirePOWER module on the ASA 5506-X, you can
session to the module console.
Note You cannot access the hardware module CLI over the ASA backplane using the session command.
24
Configure ASDM Access
Procedure
From the ASA CLI, session to the module:

session {sfr | cxsc | ips} console
Example:
ciscoasa# session sfr console
Opening console session with module sfr.
Connected to module sfr. Escape character sequence is 'CTRL-^X'.
Cisco ASA SFR Boot Image 5.3.1

asasfr login: admin
Password: Admin123
Access the ASA 5506W-X Wireless Access Point Console

To access the wireless access point console, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 From the ASA CLI, session to the access point:

session wlan console
Example:
ciscoasa# session wlan console
opening console session with module wlan
connected to module wlan. Escape character sequence is ‘CTRL-^X’
ap>
Step 2 See the Cisco IOS Configuration Guide for Autonomous Aironet Access Points for information about the
access point CLI.

This section describes how to access ASDM with a default configuration and how to configure access if you
do not have a default configuration.
Use the Factory Default Configuration for ASDM Access (Appliances, ASAv)
With a factory default configuration, ASDM connectivity is pre-configured with default network settings.
Procedure
Connect to ASDM using the following interface and network settings:
25
• The management interface depends on your model:

◦ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X—The interface to which you connect to ASDM is
GigabitEthernet 1/2.
◦ASA 5512-X and higher—The interface to which you connect to ASDM is Management 0/0.
◦ASAv—The interface to which you connect to ASDM is Management 0/0.
• The default management address is:

◦ASA appliances—192.168.1.1.
◦ASAv—You set the management interface IP address during deployment.
• The clients allowed to access ASDM:

◦ASA appliances—Clients must be on the 192.168.1.0/24 network. The default configuration enables
DHCP so that your management station can be assigned an IP address in this range.
◦ASAv—You set the management client IP address during deployment. The ASAv does not act as
the DHCP server for connected clients.
Note If you change to multiple context mode, you can access ASDM from the admin context using the
network settings above.
Related Topics
Factory Default Configurations, on page 32
Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode, on page 167
Start ASDM, on page 31
Customize ASDM Access

This procedure applies to all models except the ASA Services Module.
Use this procedure if one or more of the following conditions applies:
• You do not have a factory default configuration
• You want to change the management IP address
• You want to change to transparent firewall mode
• You want to change to multiple context mode
For routed, single mode, for quick and easy ASDM access, we recommend applying the factory default
configuration with the option to set your own management IP address. Use the procedure in this section only
if you have special needs such as setting transparent or multiple context mode, or if you have other configuration
that you need to preserve.
26
Note For the ASAv, you can configure transparent mode when you deploy, so this procedure is primarily useful
after you deploy if you need to clear your configuration, for example.
Procedure
Step 1 Access the CLI at the console port.

Step 2 (Optional) Enable transparent firewall mode:
This command clears your configuration.
firewall transparent
Step 3 Configure the management interface:
interface interface_id
nameif name
security-level level
no shutdown
ip address ip_address mask
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface management 0/0
ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif management
ciscoasa(config-if)# security-level 100
ciscoasa(config-if)# no shutdown
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
The security-level is a number between 1 and 100, where 100 is the most secure.
Step 4 (For directly-connected management hosts) Set the DHCP pool for the management network:
dhcpd address ip_address-ip_address interface_name

dhcpd enable interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd address 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.254 management
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd enable management
Make sure you do not include the interface address in the range.
Step 5 (For remote management hosts) Configure a route to the management hosts:
route management_ifc management_host_ip mask gateway_ip 1
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route management 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.50 1
Step 6 Enable the HTTP server for ASDM:

http server enable
27
Step 7 Allow the management host(s) to access ASDM:

http ip_address mask interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 management
Step 8 Save the configuration:

write memory
Step 9 (Optional) Set the mode to multiple mode:

mode multiple
When prompted, confirm that you want to convert the existing configuration to be the admin context. You
are then prompted to reload the ASA.
Examples
The following configuration converts the firewall mode to transparent mode, configures the Management 0/0
interface, and enables ASDM for a management host:
interface management 0/0
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0

nameif management
security-level 100
no shutdown
dhcpd address 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.254 management

dhcpd enable management
http server enable
http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 management
Related Topics
Restore the Factory Default Configuration, on page 33
Set the Firewall Mode, on page 134
Access the Appliance Console, on page 19
Start ASDM, on page 31
Configure ASDM Access for the ASA Services Module

Because the ASASM does not have physical interfaces, it does not come pre-configured for ASDM access;
you must configure ASDM access using the CLI on the ASASM. To configure the ASASM for ASDM access,
perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Assign a VLAN interface to the ASASM according to ASASM quick start guide.
28
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASASM and access global configuration mode.

Step 2 (Optional) Enable transparent firewall mode:
This command clears your configuration.
Step 3 Do one of the following to configure a management interface, depending on your mode:
• Routed mode—Configure an interface in routed mode:
interface vlan number

ip address ip_address [mask]
nameif name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface vlan 1

ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif inside
• Transparent mode—Configure a bridge virtual interface and assigns a management VLAN to the bridge
group:
interface bvi number

interface vlan number

bridge-group bvi_number
nameif name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface bvi 1


ciscoasa(config-if)# bridge-group 1
29
Step 4 (For directly-connected management hosts) Enable DHCP for the management host on the management
interface network:
dhcpd address ip_address-ip_address interface_name

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd address 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.254 inside
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd enable inside
Make sure you do not include the management address in the range.
Step 5 (For remote management hosts) Configure a route to the management hosts:
route management_ifc management_host_ip mask gateway_ip 1
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route management 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.50
Step 6 Enable the HTTP server for ASDM:

http server enable
Step 7 Allow the management host to access ASDM:

http ip_address mask interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 management

write memory
Step 9 (Optional) Set the mode to multiple mode:

mode multiple
When prompted, confirm that you want to convert the existing configuration to be the admin context. You
are then prompted to reload the ASASM.
Examples
The following routed mode configuration configures the VLAN 1 interface and enables ASDM for a
management host:
interface vlan 1
nameif inside
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
security-level 100
dhcpd address 192.168.1.3-192.168.1.254 inside

dhcpd enable inside
http server enable
http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 inside
30
Start ASDM
The following configuration converts the firewall mode to transparent mode, configures the VLAN 1 interface
and assigns it to BVI 1, and enables ASDM for a management host:
interface bvi 1
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface vlan 1
bridge-group 1
nameif inside
security-level 100

dhcpd enable inside
http server enable
http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 inside
Related Topics
Access the ASA Services Module Console, on page 20
Set the Firewall Mode, on page 134
Start ASDM
You can start ASDM using two methods:
• ASDM-IDM Launcher—The Launcher is an application downloaded from the ASA using a web browser
that you can use to connect to any ASA IP address. You do not need to re-download the launcher if you
want to connect to other ASAs. The Launcher also lets you run a virtual ASDM in Demo mode using
files downloaded locally.
• Java Web Start—For each ASA that you manage, you need to connect with a web browser and then
save or launch the Java Web Start application. You can optionally save the shortcut to your computer;
however you need separate shortcuts for each ASA IP address.
Within ASDM, you can choose a different ASA IP address to manage; the difference between the Launcher
and Java Web Start functionality rests primarily in how you initially connect to the ASA and launch ASDM.
This section describes how to connect to ASDM initially, and then launch ASDM using the Launcher or the
Java Web Start.
Procedure
Step 1 On the computer that you specified as the ASDM client, enter the following URL:
https://asa_ip_address/admin
The ASDM launch page appears with the following buttons:
• Install ASDM Launcher and Run ASDM
• Run ASDM
• Run Startup Wizard
Step 2 To download the Launcher:

a) Click Install ASDM Launcher and Run ASDM.
31
Factory Default Configurations
b) Leave the username and password fields empty (for a new installation), and click OK. With no HTTPS
authentication configured, you can gain access to ASDM with no username and the enable password,
which is blank by default. Note: If you enabled HTTPS authentication, enter your username and associated
password.
c) Save the installer to your computer, and then start the installer. The ASDM-IDM Launcher opens
automatically after installation is complete.
d) Enter the management IP address, leave the username and password blank (for a new installation), and
then click OK. Note: If you enabled HTTPS authentication, enter your username and associated password.
Step 3 To use Java Web Start:
a) Click Run ASDM or Run Startup Wizard.
b) Save the shortcut to your computer when prompted. You can optionally open it instead of saving it.
c) Start Java Web Start from the shortcut.
d) Accept any certificates according to the dialog boxes that appear. The Cisco ASDM-IDM Launcher appears.
e) Leave the username and password blank (for a new installation), and then click OK. Note: If you enabled
HTTPS authentication, enter your username and associated password.

The factory default configuration is the configuration applied by Cisco to new ASAs.
• ASA appliances—The factory default configuration configures an interface for management so that you
can connect to it using ASDM, with which you can then complete your configuration.
• Firepower 9300 ASA security module—When you deploy the standalone or cluster of ASAs, the factory
default configuration configures an interface for management so that you can connect to it using ASDM,
with which you can then complete your configuration.
• ASAv—Depending on your hypervisor, as part of deployment, the deployment configuration (the initial
virtual deployment settings) configures an interface for management so that you can connect to it using
ASDM, with which you can then complete your configuration. You can also configure failover IP
addresses. You can also apply a “factory default” configuration if desired.
• ASASM—No default configuration. See Access the ASA Services Module Console, on page 20 to
start configuration.
For appliances and the Firepower 9300 ASA security module, the factory default configuration is available
only for routed firewall mode and single context mode. For the ASAv, you can choose transparent or routed
mode at deployment.
Note In addition to the image files and the (hidden) default configuration, the following folders and files are
standard in flash memory: log/, crypto_archive/, and coredumpinfo/coredump.cfg. The date on these files
may not match the date of the image files in flash memory. These files aid in potential troubleshooting;
they do not indicate that a failure has occurred.
32
Restore the Factory Default Configuration

This section describes how to restore the factory default configuration. For the ASAv, this procedure erases
the deployment configuration and applies the same factory default configuration as for the ASA appliances.
Note On the ASASM, restoring the factory default configuration simply erases the configuration; there is no
factory default configuration. On the Firepower 9300 ASA security module, restoring the factory default
configuration simply erases the configuration; to restore the default configuration, you must re-deploy the
ASA from the supervisor.
Before You Begin

This feature is available only in routed firewall mode; transparent mode does not support IP addresses for
interfaces. In addition, this feature is available only in single context mode; an ASA with a cleared configuration
does not have any defined contexts to configure automatically using this feature.
Procedure
Step 1 Restore the factory default configuration:

configure factory-default [ip_address [mask]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# configure factory-default 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0
If you specify the ip_address, then you set the inside or management interface IP address, depending on your
model, instead of using the default IP address of 192.168.1.1. The http command uses the subnet you specify.
Similarly, the dhcpd address command range consists of addresses within the subnet that you specify.
This command also clears the boot system command, if present, along with the rest of the configuration. The
boot system command lets you boot from a specific image, including an image on the external flash memory
card. The next time you reload the ASA after restoring the factory configuration, it boots from the first image
in internal flash memory; if you do not have an image in internal flash memory, the ASA does not boot.
Step 2 Save the default configuration to flash memory:

write memory
This command saves the running configuration to the default location for the startup configuration, even if
you previously configured the boot config command to set a different location; when the configuration was
cleared, this path was also cleared.
Restore the ASAv Deployment Configuration

This section describes how to restore the ASAv deployment (Day 0) configuration.
33
Procedure
Step 1 For failover, power off the standby unit.

To prevent the standby unit from becoming active, you must power it off. If you leave it on, when you erase
the active unit configuration, then the standby unit becomes active. When the former active unit reloads and
reconnects over the failover link, the old configuration will sync from the new active unit, wiping out the
deployment configuration you wanted.
Step 2 Restore the deployment configuration after you reload. For failover, enter this command on the active unit:
write erase
Note The ASAv boots the current running image, so you are not reverted to the original boot image. To
use the original boot image, see the boot image command.
Do not save the configuration.
Step 3 Reload the ASAv and load the deployment configuration:
reload
Step 4 For failover, power on the standby unit.

After the active unit reloads, power on the standby unit. The deployment configuration will sync to the standby
unit.
ASA 5506-X, 5508-X, and 5516-X Default Configuration

The default factory configuration for the ASA 5506-X series, 5508-X, and 5516-X configures the following:
• inside --> outside traffic flow—GigabitEthernet 1/1 (outside), GigabitEthernet 1/2 (inside)
• outside IP address from DHCP, inside IP address—192.168.1.1
• (ASA 5506W-X) wifi <--> inside, wifi --> outside traffic flow—GigabitEthernet 1/9 (wifi)
• (ASA 5506W-X) wifi IP address—192.168.10.1
• DHCP for clients on inside and wifi. The access point itself and all its clients use the ASA as the DHCP
server.
• Management 1/1 interface is Up, but otherwise unconfigured. The ASA FirePOWER module can then
use this interface to access the ASA inside network and use the inside interface as the gateway to the
Internet.
• ASDM access—inside and wifi hosts allowed.
• NAT—Interface PAT for all traffic from inside, wfi, and management to outside.
The configuration consists of the following commands:
interface Management1/1
management-only
no nameif
no security-level
no ip address
no shutdown
interface GigabitEthernet1/1
34
nameif outside
security-level 0
ip address dhcp setroute
no shutdown
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
object network obj_any
subnet 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
nat (any,outside) dynamic interface
http server enable
http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 inside
dhcpd auto_config outside
dhcpd enable inside
logging asdm informational
For the ASA 5506W-X, the following commands are also included:
same-security-traffic permit inter-interface

interface GigabitEthernet 1/9
security-level 100
nameif wifi
ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
http 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0 wifi
dhcpd address 192.168.10.2-192.168.10.254 wifi
dhcpd enable wifi
ASA 5512-X, 5515-X, 5525-X and Above Default Configuration

The default factory configuration for the ASA 5512-X, 5515-X, 5525-X and above configures the following:
• Management interface—Management 0/0 (management).
• IP address—The management address is 192.168.1.1/24.
• DHCP server—Enabled for management hosts so that a computer connecting to the management interface
receives an address between 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.254.
• ASDM access—Management hosts allowed.

ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
nameif management
security-level 100
no shutdown
asdm logging informational 100
asdm history enable
http server enable
http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 management
dhcpd lease 3600
dhcpd ping_timeout 750
35
ASA on the FXOS Chassis Default Configuration

When you deploy the ASA on the FXOS chassis, you can pre-set many parameters that let you connect to the
Management interface using ASDM. A typical configuration includes the following settings:
• Management interface:
◦Management type interface of your choice defined on the FXOS Chassis supervisor
◦Named “management”
◦IP address of your choice
◦Security level 0
◦Management-only
• Default route through the management interface

• ASDM access—All hosts allowed.
The configuration for a standalone unit consists of the following commands. For additional configuration for
clustered units, see Deploy the Cluster from the FXOS Chassis Supervisor, on page 362.
interface <management_ifc>
management-only
ip address <ip_address> <mask>
ipv6 address <ipv6_address>
ipv6 enable
nameif management
security-level 0
no shutdown
http server enable
http 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 management
http ::/0 management
route management 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 <gateway_ip> 1
ipv6 route management ::/0 <gateway_ipv6>
ISA 3000 Default Configuration

The default factory configuration for the ISA 3000 configures the following:
• Transparent firewall mode—A transparent firewall is a Layer 2 firewall that acts like a “bump in the
wire,” or a “stealth firewall,” and is not seen as a router hop to connected devices.
• 1 Bridge Virtual Interface—All member interfaces are in the same network (IP address not
pre-configured; you must set to match your network): GigabitEthernet 1/1 (outside1), GigabitEthernet
1/2 (inside1), GigabitEthernet 1/3 (outside2), GigabitEthernet 1/4 (inside2)
• All inside and outside interfaces can communicate with each other.
• Management 1/1 interface—192.168.1.1/24 for ASDM access.
• DHCP for clients on management.
• ASDM access—Management hosts allowed.
• Hardware bypass is enabled for the following interface pairs: GigabitEthernet 1/1 & 1/2; GigabitEthernet
1/3 & 1/4
36
Note When the ISA 3000 loses power and goes into hardware bypass mode, only the above
interface pairs can communicate; inside1 and inside2, and outside1 and outside2 can no
longer communicate. Any existing connections between these interfaces will be lost.
When the power comes back on, there is a brief connection interruption as the ASA
takes over the flows.
• ASA Firepower module—All traffic is sent to the module in Inline Tap Monitor-Only Mode. This mode
sends a duplicate stream of traffic to the ASA Firepower module for monitoring purposes only.
bridge-group 1
nameif outside1
security-level 0
no shutdown
bridge-group 1
nameif inside1
security-level 100
no shutdown
bridge-group 1
nameif outside2
security-level 0
no shutdown
bridge-group 1
nameif inside2
security-level 100
no shutdown
management-only
no shutdown
nameif management
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
interface BVI1
no ip address
access-list allowAll extended permit ip any any

access-group allowAll in interface outside1
access-group allowAll in interface outside2
hardware-bypass GigabitEthernet 1/1-1/2

hardware-bypass GigabitEthernet 1/3-1/4
http server enable

http 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 management

access-list sfrAccessList extended permit ip any any

class-map sfrclass
match access-list sfrAccessList
policy-map global_policy
class sfrclass
sfr fail-open monitor-only
service-policy global_policy global
37
ASAv Deployment Configuration

When you deploy the ASAv, you can pre-set many parameters that let you connect to the Management 0/0
interface using ASDM. A typical configuration includes the following settings:
• Routed or Transparent firewall mode
• Management 0/0 interface:
◦Named “management”
◦IP address or DHCP
◦Security level 0
◦Management-only
Note For the ASAv on Microsoft Azure, the Management 0/0 interface allows through traffic,
so the Management-only setting is not enabled.
• Static route for the management host IP address (if it is not on the management subnet)
• HTTP server enabled or disabled
• HTTP access for the management host IP address
• (Optional) Failover link IP addresses for GigabitEthernet 0/8, and the Management 0/0 standby IP
address
• DNS server
• Smart licensing ID token
• Smart licensing Throughput Level and Standard Feature Tier
• (Optional) Smart Call Home HTTP Proxy URL and port
• (Optional) SSH management settings:
◦Client IP addresses
◦Local username and password
◦Authentication required for SSH using the LOCAL database
• (Optional) REST API enabled or disabled
Note To successfully register the ASAv with the Cisco Licensing Authority, the ASAv requires Internet access.
You might need to perform additional configuration after deployment to achieve Internet access and
successful license registration.
See the following sample configuration for a standalone unit:
38
Work with the Configuration
nameif management
security-level 0
ip address ip_address
management-only
no shutdown
http server enable
http managemment_host_IP mask management
route management management_host_IP mask gateway_ip 1
dns server-group DefaultDNS
name-server ip_address
call-home
http-proxy ip_address port port
license smart
feature tier standard
throughput level {100M | 1G | 2G}
license smart register idtoken id_token
aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL
username username password password
ssh source_IP_address mask management
rest-api image boot:/path
rest-api agent
See the following sample configuration for a primary unit in a failover pair:
nameif management
security-level 0
ip address ip_address standby standby_ip
management-only
no shutdown
route management management_host_IP mask gateway_ip 1
http server enable
http managemment_host_IP mask management
name-server ip_address
call-home
license smart
license smart register idtoken id_token
username username password password
ssh source_IP_address mask management
rest-api image boot:/path
rest-api agent
failover
failover lan unit primary
failover lan interface fover gigabitethernet0/8
failover link fover gigabitethernet0/8
failover interface ip fover primary_ip mask standby standby_ip

This section describes how to work with the configuration. The ASA loads the configuration from a text file,
called the startup configuration. This file resides by default as a hidden file in internal flash memory. You
can, however, specify a different path for the startup configuration.
When you enter a command, the change is made only to the running configuration in memory. You must
manually save the running configuration to the startup configuration for your changes to remain after a reboot.
The information in this section applies to both single and multiple security contexts, except where noted.
39
Save Configuration Changes

This section describes how to save your configuration.
Save Configuration Changes in Single Context Mode

To save the running configuration to the startup configuration, perform the following procedure.
Procedure
Save the running configuration to the startup configuration:

write memory
Note The copy running-config startup-config command is equivalent to the write memory command.
Save Configuration Changes in Multiple Context Mode

You can save each context (and system) configuration separately, or you can save all context configurations
at the same time.
Save Each Context and System Separately

Use the following procedure to save the system or context configuration.
Procedure
From within the context or the system, save the running configuration to the startup configuration:
write memory
For multiple context mode, context startup configurations can reside on external servers. In this case, the ASA
saves the configuration back to the server you identified in the context URL, except for an HTTP or HTTPS
URL, which do not let you save the configuration to the server.
Note The copy running-config startup-config command is equivalent to the write memory command.
Save All Context Configurations at the Same Time

Use the following procedure to save all context configurations at the same time, as well as the system
configuration.
Procedure
From the system execution space, save the running configuration to the startup configuration for all contexts
and the system configuration:
write memory all [/noconfirm]
If you do not enter the /noconfirm keyword, you see the following prompt:
Are you sure [Y/N]:
After you enter Y, the ASA saves the system configuration and each context. Context startup configurations
can reside on external servers. In this case, the ASA saves the configuration back to the server you identified
40
in the context URL, except for an HTTP or HTTPS URL, which do not let you save the configuration to the
server.
After the ASA saves each context, the following message appears:
‘Saving context ‘b’ ... ( 1/3 contexts saved ) ’
Sometimes, a context is not saved because of an error. See the following information for errors:
• For contexts that are not saved because of low memory, the following message appears:
The context 'context a' could not be saved due to Unavailability of resources
• For contexts that are not saved because the remote destination is unreachable, the following message
appears:
The context 'context a' could not be saved due to non-reachability of destination
• For contexts that are not saved because the context is locked, the following message appears:
Unable to save the configuration for the following contexts as these contexts are
locked.
context ‘a’ , context ‘x’ , context ‘z’ .
A context is only locked if another user is already saving the configuration or in the process of deleting
the context.
• For contexts that are not saved because the startup configuration is read-only (for example, on an HTTP
server), the following message report is printed at the end of all other messages:
Unable to save the configuration for the following contexts as these contexts have
read-only config-urls:
context ‘a’ , context ‘b’ , context ‘c’ .
• For contexts that are not saved because of bad sectors in the flash memory, the following message
appears:
The context 'context a' could not be saved due to Unknown errors
Copy the Startup Configuration to the Running Configuration

Use one of the following commands to copy a new startup configuration to the running configuration:
• copy startup-config running-config
Merges the startup configuration with the running configuration. A merge adds any new commands
from the new configuration to the running configuration. If the configurations are the same, no changes
41
occur. If commands conflict or if commands affect the running of the context, then the effect of the
merge depends on the command. You might get errors, or you might have unexpected results.
• reload
Reloads the ASA, which loads the startup configuration and discards the running configuration.
• clear configure all and then copy startup-config running-config
Loads the startup configuration and discards the running configuration without requiring a reload.
View the Configuration

The following commands let you view the running and startup configurations:
• show running-config
Views the running configuration.
• show running-config command
Views the running configuration of a specific command.
• show startup-config
Views the startup configuration.
Clear and Remove Configuration Settings

To erase settings, enter one of the following commands:
• clear configure configurationcommand [level2configurationcommand]
Clears all the configuration for a specified command. If you only want to clear the configuration for a
specific version of the command, you can enter a value for level2configurationcommand.
For example, to clear the configuration for all aaa commands, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# clear configure aaa
To clear the configuration for only aaa authentication commands, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# clear configure aaa authentication
• no configurationcommand [level2configurationcommand] qualifier

Disables the specific parameters or options of a command. In this case, you use the no command to
remove the specific configuration identified by qualifier.
For example, to remove a specific access-list command, enter enough of the command to identify it
uniquely; you may have to enter the entire command:
ciscoasa(config)# no access-list abc extended permit icmp any any object-group obj_icmp_1
• write erase
Erases the startup configuration.
42
Apply Configuration Changes to Connections
Note For the ASAv, this command restores the deployment configuration after a reload. To
erase the configuration completely, use the clear configure all command.
• clear configure all

Erases the running configuration.
Note In multiple context mode, if you enter clear configure all from the system configuration,
you also remove all contexts and stop them from running. The context configuration
files are not erased, and remain in their original location.
This command also clears the boot system command, if present, along with the rest of
the configuration. The boot system command lets you boot from a specific image,
including an image on the external flash memory card. The next time you reload the
ASA, it boots from the first image in internal flash memory; if you do not have an image
in internal flash memory, the ASA does not boot.
Create Text Configuration Files Offline

This guide describes how to use the CLI to configure the ASA; when you save commands, the changes are
written to a text file. Instead of using the CLI, however, you can edit a text file directly on your computer and
paste a configuration at the configuration mode command-line prompt in its entirety, or line by line.
Alternatively, you can download a text file to the ASA internal flash memory. See Software and Configurations,
on page 829 for information on downloading the configuration file to the ASA.
In most cases, commands described in this guide are preceded by a CLI prompt. The prompt in the following
example is “ciscoasa(config)#”:
ciscoasa(config)# context a
In the text configuration file you are not prompted to enter commands, so the prompt is omitted as follows:
context a
For additional information about formatting the file, see Using the Command-Line Interface, on page 999.
Apply Configuration Changes to Connections

When you make security policy changes to the configuration, all new connections use the new security policy.
Existing connections continue to use the policy that was configured at the time of the connection establishment.
show command output for old connections reflect the old configuration, and in some cases will not include
data about the old connections.
For example, if you remove a QoS service-policy from an interface, then re-add a modified version, then the
show service-policy command only displays QoS counters associated with new connections that match the
new service policy; existing connections on the old policy no longer show in the command output.
43
Reload the ASA
To ensure that all connections use the new policy, you need to disconnect the current connections so that they
can reconnect using the new policy.
To disconnect connections, enter one of the following commands:
• clear local-host [ip_address] [all]
This command reinitializes per-client run-time states such as connection limits and embryonic limits.
As a result, this command removes any connection that uses those limits. See the show local-host all
command to view all current connections per host.
With no arguments, this command clears all affected through-the-box connections. To also clear to-the-box
connections (including your current management session), use the all keyword. To clear connections to
and from a particular IP address, use the ip_address argument.
• clear conn [all] [protocol {tcp | udp}] [address src_ip [-src_ip] [netmask mask]] [port src_port
[-src_port]] [address dest_ip [-dest_ip] [netmask mask]] [port dest_port [-dest_port]]
This command terminates connections in any state. See the show conn command to view all current
connections.
With no arguments, this command clears all through-the-box connections. To also clear to-the-box
connections (including your current management session), use the all keyword. To clear specific
connections based on the source IP address, destination IP address, port, and/or protocol, you can specify
the desired options.
Reload the ASA

To reload the ASA, complete the following procedure.
Procedure
Reload the ASA:

reload
Note In multiple context mode, you can only reload from the system execution
space.
44
CHAPTER 3
Product Authorization Key Licenses
A license specifies the options that are enabled on a given Cisco ASA. This document describes product
authorization key (PAK) licenses for all physical ASAs. For the ASAv, see Smart Software Licensing for
the ASAv and ASA on the FXOS Chassis, on page 101.
• Supported Feature Licenses Per Model, page 45

• About PAK Licenses, page 64
• Guidelines for PAK Licenses, page 72
• Configure PAK Licenses, page 74
• Configure a Shared License (AnyConnect 3 and Earlier), page 76
• Monitoring PAK Licenses, page 83
• History for PAK Licenses, page 94
Supported Feature Licenses Per Model

This section describes the licenses available for each model as well as important notes about licenses.
Licenses Per Model

This section lists the feature licenses available for each model:
Items that are in italics are separate, optional licenses that can replace the Base (or Security Plus, and so on)
license version. You can mix and match optional licenses.
Note Some features are incompatible with each other. See the individual feature chapters for compatibility
information.
If you have a No Payload Encryption model, then some of the features below are not supported. See No
Payload Encryption Models, on page 71 for a list of unsupported features.
For detailed information about licenses, see License Notes, on page 58.
45
ASA 5506-X and ASA 5506W-X License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5506-X and ASA 5506W-X.
Licenses Base License Security Plus License

Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter No support No Support
Firewall Conns, Concurrent 20,000 50,000
Carrier No Support No Support
Total UC Proxy Sessions 160 160
VPN Licenses
AnyConnect peers Disabled Optional AnyConnect Plus or Disabled Optional AnyConnect Plus or
Apex license: 50 maximum Apex license: 50 maximum
Other VPN Peers 10 50
Total VPN Peers, combined 50 50

all types
VPN Load Balancing No support No support
General Licenses
Encryption Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES) Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES)
Failover No support Active/Standby
Security Contexts No support No support
Clustering No Support No Support
VLANs, Maximum 5 30
ASA 5506H-X License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5506H-X.
Licenses Base License

Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter No Support
46

Firewall Conns, Concurrent 50,000
Carrier No Support
Total UC Proxy Sessions 160
VPN Licenses
AnyConnect Plus or Apex 50

license (purchased separately),
maximum premium peers
Total VPN Peers, combined 50

all types
Other VPN Peers 50
VPN Load Balancing Enabled
General Licenses
Encryption Base (DES) Opt. lic.: Strong (3DES/AES)
Failover Active/Standby or Active/Active
Security Contexts No Support
Clustering No Support
VLANs, Maximum 30
ASA 5508-X License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5508-X.

Firewall Licenses
Carrier No Support
47

VPN Licenses
AnyConnect peers Disabled Optional AnyConnect Plus or Apex license: 100 maximum

all types
Other VPN Peers 100
General Licenses
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5
Clustering No Support
VLANs, Maximum 50


Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter Disabled Optional Time-based license: Disabled Optional Time-based license:
Available Available
Carrier No support No Support
Total UC Proxy Sessions 2 Optional licenses: 2 Optional licenses:
24 50 100 250 500 24 50 100 250 500
VPN Licenses
48


all types
VPN Load Balancing No support Enabled
General Licenses
Failover No support Active/Standby or Active/Active
Security Contexts No support 2 Optional licenses: 5
Clustering No Support 2
IPS Module Disabled Optional license: Available Disabled Optional license: Available
VLANs, Maximum 50 100


Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter Disabled Optional Time-based license: Available
Carrier No Support
Total UC Proxy Sessions 2 Optional licenses: 24 50 100 250 500
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 250

all types
49

General Licenses
Encryption Base (DES) Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES)
Clustering 2
IPS Module Disabled Optional license: Available
VLANs, Maximum 100


Firewall Licenses
Carrier No Support
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 300

all types
General Licenses
50

Clustering 2
VLANs, Maximum 150


Firewall Licenses
Carrier Disabled Optional license: Available
Total UC Proxy Sessions 2 Optional licenses: 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 750

all types
General Licenses
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20
Clustering 2
VLANs, Maximum 200
51


Firewall Licenses
Total UC Proxy Sessions 2 Optional licenses: 24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 2500

all types
General Licenses
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50
Clustering 2
VLANs, Maximum 300


Firewall Licenses
52

Firewall Conns, Concurrent 1,000,000
Total UC Proxy Sessions 2 Optional licenses:
24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000
VPN Licenses

all types
General Licenses
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 100
Clustering 2
VLANs, Maximum 500
ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5585-X with SSP-10.
You can use two SSPs of the same level in the same chassis. Mixed-level SSPs are not supported (for example,
an SSP-10 with an SSP-20 is not supported). Each SSP acts as an independent device, with separate
configurations and management. You can use the two SSPs as a failover pair if desired.
Licenses Base and Security Plus Licenses

Firewall Licenses
53

24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000
VPN Licenses

all types
General Licenses
10 GE I/O Base License: Disabled; fiber ifcs run at 1 GE Security Plus License: Enabled; fiber ifcs run at
10 GE
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 100
Clustering Disabled Optional license: Available for 16 units
VLANs, Maximum 1024
ASA 5585-X with SSP-20 License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5585-X with SSP-20.
Note With the 10,000-session UC license, the total combined sessions can be 10,000, but the maximum number
of Phone Proxy sessions is 5000.
54

Firewall Licenses
24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 5000 10,000
VPN Licenses
AnyConnect peers Disabled Optional AnyConnect Plus or Apex license: 10,000 maximum
Other VPN Peers 10,000
Total VPN Peers, combined 10,000

all types
General Licenses
10 GE I/O Base License: Disabled; fiber ifcs run at 1 GE Security Plus License: Enabled; fiber ifcs run at
10 GE
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 100 250
VLANs, Maximum 1024
ASA 5585-X with SSP-40 and -60 License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA 5585-X with SSP-40 and -60.
55

Firewall Licenses
Firewall Conns, Concurrent 5585-X with SSP-40: 4,000,000 5585-X with SSP-60: 10,000,000
24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 5000 10,000
VPN Licenses

all types
General Licenses
10 GE I/O Enabled; fiber ifcs run at 10 GE
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses: 5 10 20 50 100 250
VLANs, Maximum 1024
ASASM License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASA Services Module.
56

Firewall Licenses
24 50 100 250 500 750 1000 2000 3000 5000 10,000
VPN Licenses

all types
General Licenses
Security Contexts 2 Optional licenses:
5 10 20 50 100 250
Clustering No support
VLANs, Maximum 1000
ISA 3000 License Features

The following table shows the licensed features for the ISA 3000.
57

Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter No support No Support
Carrier No Support No Support
Total UC Proxy Sessions 160 160
VPN Licenses

all types
VPN Load Balancing No support No support
General Licenses
Failover No support Active/Standby
Security Contexts No support No Support
Clustering No Support No Support
VLANs, Maximum 5 25
License Notes
The following table includes additional information about licenses.
58
Table 7: License Notes
License Notes
Legacy VPN Licenses For pre-existing deployments, the legacy licenses are still supported, including the default license that
includes 2 AnyConnect premium sessions (4 sessions for the ASA 5506-X with Security Plus, 5508-X,
and 5516-X). However, you should upgrade to the AnyConnect Plus or Apex license for full
compatibility.
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple context mode; you cannot use the
default or legacy license.
AnyConnect Essentials
The AnyConnect Essentials sessions include the following VPN types:
• SSL VPN
• IPsec remote access VPN using IKEv2
This license does not support browser-based (clientless) SSL VPN access or Cisco Secure Desktop.
For these features, activate an AnyConnect Premium license instead of the AnyConnect Essentials
license.
Note With the AnyConnect Essentials license, VPN users can use a web browser to log in, and
download and start (WebLaunch) the AnyConnect client.
The AnyConnect client software offers the same set of client features, whether it is enabled by this
license or an AnyConnect Premium license.
The AnyConnect Essentials license cannot be active at the same time as the following licenses on a
given ASA: AnyConnect Premium license (all types) or the Advanced Endpoint Assessment license.
You can, however, run AnyConnect Essentials and AnyConnect Premium licenses on different ASAs
in the same network.
You can disable this license to use other licenses by using the webvpn, and then the no
anyconnect-essentials command or in ASDM, using the Configuration > Remote Access VPN >
Network (Client) Access > Advanced > AnyConnect Essentials pane.
AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone

In conjunction with an AnyConnect Premium license, this license enables access from hardware IP
phones that have built in AnyConnect compatibility.
59
License Notes
AnyConnect for Mobile
This license provides access to the AnyConnect Client for touch-screen mobile devices running
Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0, and 6.1. We recommend using this license if you want to support mobile
access to AnyConnect 2.3 and later versions. This license requires activation of one of the following
licenses to specify the total number of SSL VPN sessions permitted: AnyConnect Essentials or
AnyConnect Premium.
Mobile Posture Support
Enforcing remote access controls and gathering posture data from mobile devices requires an
AnyConnect Mobile license and either an AnyConnect Essentials or AnyConnect Premium license to
be installed on the ASA. Here is the functionality you receive based on the license you install.
• AnyConnect Premium License Functionality
◦Enforce DAP policies on supported mobile devices based on DAP attributes and any other
existing endpoint attributes. This includes allowing or denying remote access from a mobile
device.
• AnyConnect Essentials License Functionality

◦Enable or disable mobile device access on a per group basis and to configure that feature
using ASDM.
◦Display information about connected mobile devices via CLI or ASDM without having the
ability to enforce DAP policies or deny or allow remote access to those mobile devices.
AnyConnect Premium
AnyConnect Premium sessions include the following VPN types:
• SSL VPN
• Clientless SSL VPN
AnyConnect Premium Shared

A shared license lets the ASA act as a shared license server for multiple client ASAs. The shared
license pool is large, but the maximum number of sessions used by each individual ASA cannot exceed
the maximum number listed for permanent licenses.
60
License Notes
AnyConnect Plus and Apex The AnyConnect Plus or Apex license is a multi-use license that you can apply to multiple ASAs, all
of which share a user pool as specified by the license. See http://www.cisco.com/go/license, and assign
the PAK separately to each ASA. When you apply the resulting activation key to an ASA, it toggles
on the VPN features to the maximum allowed, but the actual number of unique users across all ASAs
sharing the license should not exceed the license limit. For more information, see:
• Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide
• AnyConnect Licensing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple context mode.
Botnet Traffic Filter Requires a Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License to download the dynamic database.
Carrier The Carrier license enables the following inspection features:

• Diameter
• GTP/GPRS
• SCTP
Encryption The DES license cannot be disabled. If you have the 3DES license installed, DES is still available. To
prevent the use of DES when you want to only use strong encryption, be sure to configure any relevant
commands to use only strong encryption.
Interfaces of all types, Max. The maximum number of combined interfaces; for example, VLANs, physical, redundant, bridge
group, and EtherChannel interfaces. Every interface command defined in the configuration counts
against this limit. For example, both of the following interfaces count even if the GigabitEthernet 0/0
interface is defined as part of port-channel 1:
interface gigabitethernet 0/0
and
interface port-channel 1
IPS module The IPS module license lets you run the IPS software module on the ASA. You also need the IPS
signature subscription on the IPS side.
See the following guidelines:
• To buy the IPS signature subscription you need to have the ASA with IPS pre-installed (the part
number must include “IPS”, for example ASA5515-IPS-K9); you cannot buy the IPS signature
subscription for a non-IPS part number ASA.
• For failover, you need the IPS signature subscription on both units; this subscription is not shared
in failover, because it is not an ASA license.
• For failover, the IPS signature subscription requires a unique IPS module license per unit. Like
other ASA licenses, the IPS module license is technically shared in the failover cluster license.
However, because of the IPS signature subscription requirements, you must buy a separate IPS
module license for each unit in failover.
61
License Notes
Other VPN Other VPN sessions include the following VPN types:
• IPsec site-to-site VPN using IKEv1
This license is included in the Base license.
Total VPN (sessions),

combined all types • Although the maximum VPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN AnyConnect and
Other VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you
exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the ASA, so be sure to size your network
appropriately.
• If you start a clientless SSL VPN session and then start an AnyConnect client session from the
portal, 1 session is used in total. However, if you start the AnyConnect client first (from a
standalone client, for example) and then log into the clientless SSL VPN portal, then 2 sessions
are used.
62
License Notes
Total UC Proxy Sessions Each TLS proxy session for Encrypted Voice Inspection is counted against the UC license limit.
Other applications that use TLS proxy sessions do not count toward the UC limit, for example, Mobility
Advantage Proxy (which does not require a license.
Some UC applications might use multiple sessions for a connection. For example, if you configure a
phone with a primary and backup Cisco Unified Communications Manager, there are 2 TLS proxy
connections, so 2 UC Proxy sessions are used.
You independently set the TLS proxy limit using the tls-proxy maximum-sessions command or in
ASDM, using the Configuration > Firewall > Unified Communications > TLS Proxy pane. To
view the limits of your model, enter the tls-proxy maximum-sessions ? command. When you apply
a UC license that is higher than the default TLS proxy limit, the ASA automatically sets the TLS proxy
limit to match the UC limit. The TLS proxy limit takes precedence over the UC license limit; if you
set the TLS proxy limit to be less than the UC license, then you cannot use all of the sessions in your
UC license.
Note For license part numbers ending in “K8” (for example, licenses under 250 users), TLS proxy
sessions are limited to 1000. For license part numbers ending in “K9” (for example, licenses
250 users or larger), the TLS proxy limit depends on the configuration, up to the model limit.
K8 and K9 refer to whether the license is restricted for export: K8 is unrestricted, and K9 is
restricted.
If you clear the configuration (using the clear configure all command, for example), then
the TLS proxy limit is set to the default for your model; if this default is lower than the UC
license limit, then you see an error message to use the tls-proxy maximum-sessions command
to raise the limit again (in ASDM, use the TLS Proxy pane). If you use failover and enter
the write standby command or in ASDM, use File > Save Running Configuration to
Standby Unit on the primary unit to force a configuration synchronization, the clear configure
all command is generated on the secondary unit automatically, so you may see the warning
message on the secondary unit. Because the configuration synchronization restores the TLS
proxy limit set on the primary unit, you can ignore the warning.
You might also use SRTP encryption sessions for your connections:
• For K8 licenses, SRTP sessions are limited to 250.
• For K9 licenses, there is not limit.
Note Only calls that require encryption/decryption for media are counted toward the SRTP limit;
if passthrough is set for the call, even if both legs are SRTP, they do not count toward the
limit.
Virtual CPU You must install a model license on the ASAv that sets the appropriate number of vCPUs. Until you
install a license, throughput is limited to 100 Kbps so that you can perform preliminary connectivity
tests. A model license is required for regular operation.
VLANs, Maximum For an interface to count against the VLAN limit, you must assign a VLAN to it. For example:
interface gigabitethernet 0/0.100

vlan 100
VPN Load Balancing VPN load balancing requires a Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License.
63
About PAK Licenses
About PAK Licenses

A license specifies the options that are enabled on a given ASA. It is represented by an activation key that is
a 160-bit (5 32-bit words or 20 bytes) value. This value encodes the serial number (an 11 character string)
and the enabled features.
Preinstalled License
By default, your ASA ships with a license already installed. This license might be the Base License, to which
you want to add more licenses, or it might already have all of your licenses installed, depending on what you
ordered and what your vendor installed for you.
Related Topics
Monitoring PAK Licenses, on page 83
Permanent License
You can have one permanent activation key installed. The permanent activation key includes all licensed
features in a single key. If you also install time-based licenses, the ASA combines the permanent and time-based
licenses into a running license.
Related Topics
How Permanent and Time-Based Licenses Combine, on page 65
Time-Based Licenses
In addition to permanent licenses, you can purchase time-based licenses or receive an evaluation license that
has a time-limit. For example, you might buy a time-based AnyConnect Premium license to handle short-term
surges in the number of concurrent SSL VPN users, or you might order a Botnet Traffic Filter time-based
license that is valid for 1 year.
Note The ASA 5506-X and ASA 5506W-X do not support time-based licenses.
Time-Based License Activation Guidelines

• You can install multiple time-based licenses, including multiple licenses for the same feature. However,
only one time-based license per feature can be active at a time. The inactive license remains installed,
and ready for use. For example, if you install a 1000-session AnyConnect Premium license, and a
2500-session AnyConnect Premium license, then only one of these licenses can be active.
• If you activate an evaluation license that has multiple features in the key, then you cannot also activate
another time-based license for one of the included features. For example, if an evaluation license includes
the Botnet Traffic Filter and a 1000-session AnyConnect Premium license, you cannot also activate a
standalone time-based 2500-session AnyConnect Premium license.
64
About PAK Licenses
How the Time-Based License Timer Works

• The timer for the time-based license starts counting down when you activate it on the ASA.
• If you stop using the time-based license before it times out, then the timer halts. The timer only starts
again when you reactivate the time-based license.
• If the time-based license is active, and you shut down the ASA, then the timer stops counting down.
The time-based license only counts down when the ASA is running. The system clock setting does not
affect the license; only ASA uptime counts towards the license duration.
How Permanent and Time-Based Licenses Combine

When you activate a time-based license, then features from both permanent and time-based licenses combine
to form the running license. How the permanent and time-based licenses combine depends on the type of
license. The following table lists the combination rules for each feature license.
Note Even when the permanent license is used, if the time-based license is active, it continues to count down.
Table 8: Time-Based License Combination Rules
Time-Based Feature Combined License Rule

AnyConnect Premium The higher value is used, either time-based or permanent. For example, if
Sessions the permanent license is 1000 sessions, and the time-based license is 2500
sessions, then 2500 sessions are enabled. Typically, you will not install a
time-based license that has less capability than the permanent license, but
if you do so, then the permanent license is used.
Unified Communications The time-based license sessions are added to the permanent sessions, up to
Proxy Sessions the platform limit. For example, if the permanent license is 2500 sessions,
and the time-based license is 1000 sessions, then 3500 sessions are enabled
for as long as the time-based license is active.
Security Contexts The time-based license contexts are added to the permanent contexts, up to
the platform limit. For example, if the permanent license is 10 contexts, and
the time-based license is 20 contexts, then 30 contexts are enabled for as
long as the time-based license is active.
Botnet Traffic Filter There is no permanent Botnet Traffic Filter license available; the time-based
license is used.
All Others The higher value is used, either time-based or permanent. For licenses that
have a status of enabled or disabled, then the license with the enabled status
is used. For licenses with numerical tiers, the higher value is used. Typically,
you will not install a time-based license that has less capability than the
permanent license, but if you do so, then the permanent license is used.
65
About PAK Licenses
Related Topics
Stacking Time-Based Licenses

In many cases, you might need to renew your time-based license and have a seamless transition from the old
license to the new one. For features that are only available with a time-based license, it is especially important
that the license not expire before you can apply the new license. The ASA allows you to stack time-based
licenses so that you do not have to worry about the license expiring or about losing time on your licenses
because you installed the new one early.
When you install an identical time-based license as one already installed, then the licenses are combined, and
the duration equals the combined duration.
For example:
1 You install a 52-week Botnet Traffic Filter license, and use the license for 25 weeks (27 weeks remain).
2 You then purchase another 52-week Botnet Traffic Filter license. When you install the second license, the
licenses combine to have a duration of 79 weeks (52 weeks plus 27 weeks).
Similarly:
1 You install an 8-week 1000-session AnyConnect Premium license, and use it for 2 weeks (6 weeks remain).
2 You then install another 8-week 1000-session license, and the licenses combine to be 1000-sessions for
14 weeks (8 weeks plus 6 weeks).
If the licenses are not identical (for example, a 1000-session AnyConnect Premium license vs. a 2500-session
license), then the licenses are not combined. Because only one time-based license per feature can be active,
only one of the licenses can be active.
Although non-identical licenses do not combine, when the current license expires, the ASA automatically
activates an installed license of the same feature if available.
Related Topics
Activate or Deactivate Keys, on page 75
Time-Based License Expiration, on page 66
Time-Based License Expiration

When the current license for a feature expires, the ASA automatically activates an installed license of the
same feature if available. If there are no other time-based licenses available for the feature, then the permanent
license is used.
If you have more than one additional time-based license installed for a feature, then the ASA uses the first
license it finds; which license is used is not user-configurable and depends on internal operations. If you prefer
to use a different time-based license than the one the ASA activated, then you must manually activate the
license you prefer.
For example, you have a time-based 2500-session AnyConnect Premium license (active), a time-based
1000-session AnyConnect Premium license (inactive), and a permanent 500-session AnyConnect Premium
license. While the 2500-session license expires, the ASA activates the 1000-session license. After the
1000-session license expires, the ASA uses the 500-session permanent license.
66
About PAK Licenses
Related Topics
Shared AnyConnect Premium Licenses (AnyConnect 3 and Earlier)
Note The shared license feature on the ASA is not supported with AnyConnect 4 and later licensing. AnyConnect
licenses are shared and no longer require a shared server or participant license.
A shared license lets you purchase a large number of AnyConnect Premium sessions and share the sessions
as needed among a group of ASAs by configuring one of the ASAs as a shared licensing server, and the rest
as shared licensing participants.
Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses

With some exceptions, failover and cluster units do not require the same license on each unit. For earlier
versions, see the licensing document for your version.
Failover License Requirements and Exceptions

Failover units do not require the same license on each unit. If you have licenses on both units, they combine
into a single running failover cluster license. There are some exceptions to this rule. See the following table
for precise licensing requirements for failover.
Model License Requirement

ASA 5506-X and ASA
• Active/Standby—Security Plus License.
5506W-X
• Active/Active—No Support.
Note Each unit must have the same encryption

license.
67
About PAK Licenses

ASA 5512-X through
ASA 5555-X • ASA 5512-X—Security Plus License.
• Other models—Base License.
Note Each unit must have the same encryption license; each unit must have the same IPS module license.
You also need the IPS signature subscription on the IPS side for both units. See the following
guidelines:
• To buy the IPS signature subscription you need to have the ASA with IPS pre-installed (the
part number must include “IPS”, for example ASA5515-IPS-K9); you cannot buy the IPS
signature subscription for a non-IPS part number ASA.
• You need the IPS signature subscription on both units; this subscription is not shared in
failover, because it is not an ASA license.
• The IPS signature subscription requires a unique IPS module license per unit. Like other
ASA licenses, the IPS module license is technically shared in the failover cluster license.
However, because of the IPS signature subscription requirements, you must buy a separate
IPS module license for each unit in.
ASAv
• Active/Standby—Standard License.
Note The standby unit requires the same model license as the primary unit; Each unit must have the
same encryption license.
All other models Base License or Standard License.
license.
Note A valid permanent key is required; in rare instances, your PAK authentication key can be removed. If
your key consists of all 0’s, then you need to reinstall a valid authentication key before failover can be
enabled.
ASA Cluster License Requirements and Exceptions

Cluster units do not require the same license on each unit. Typically, you buy a license only for the primary
unit; secondary units inherit the primary license. If you have licenses on multiple units, they combine into a
single running ASA cluster license.
There are exceptions to this rule. See the following table for precise licensing requirements for clustering.
68
About PAK Licenses

ASA 5585-X Cluster License, supports up to 16 units.
Note Each unit must have the same encryption license; each unit must have the same 10 GE I/O/Security
Plus license (ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 and -20).
ASA 5516-X Base license, supports 2 units.
license.
ASA 5512-X Security Plus license, supports 2 units.
license.
ASA 5515-X, Base License, supports 2 units.
ASA 5525-X, Note Each unit must have the same encryption
ASA 5545-X, license.
ASA 5555-X
ASA on the Firepower See ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis, on page 339.
9300
All other models No support.
How Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses Combine

For failover pairs or ASA clusters, the licenses on each unit are combined into a single running cluster license.
If you buy separate licenses for each unit, then the combined license uses the following rules:
• For licenses that have numerical tiers, such as the number of sessions, the values from each unit’s licenses
are combined up to the platform limit. If all licenses in use are time-based, then the licenses count down
simultaneously.
For example, for failover:
◦You have two ASAs with 10 AnyConnect Premium sessions installed on each; the licenses will
be combined for a total of 20 AnyConnect Premium sessions.
◦You have two ASA 5525-Xs with 500 AnyConnect Premium sessions each; because the platform
limit is 750, the combined license allows 750 AnyConnect Premium sessions.
Note In the above example, if the AnyConnect Premium licenses are time-based, you might
want to disable one of the licenses so that you do not “waste” a 500 session license from
which you can only use 250 sessions because of the platform limit.
◦You have two ASA 5545-X ASAs, one with 20 contexts and the other with 10 contexts; the
combined license allows 30 contexts. For Active/Active failover, the contexts are divided between
the two units. One unit can use 18 contexts and the other unit can use 12 contexts, for example,
for a total of 30.
69
About PAK Licenses
For example, for ASA clustering:

◦You have four ASA 5585-X ASAs with SSP-10, three units with 50 contexts each, and one unit
with the default 2 contexts. Because the platform limit is 100, the combined license allows a
maximum of 100 contexts. Therefore, you can configure up to 100 contexts on the master unit;
each slave unit will also have 100 contexts through configuration replication.
◦You have four ASA 5585-X ASAs with SSP-60, three units with 50 contexts each, and one unit
with the default 2 contexts. Because the platform limit is 250, the licenses will be combined for a
total of 152 contexts. Therefore, you can configure up to 152 contexts on the master unit; each
slave unit will also have 152 contexts through configuration replication.
• For licenses that have a status of enabled or disabled, then the license with the enabled status is used.
• For time-based licenses that are enabled or disabled (and do not have numerical tiers), the duration is
the combined duration of all licenses. The primary/master unit counts down its license first, and when
it expires, the secondary/slave unit(s) start counting down its license, and so on. This rule also applies
to Active/Active failover and ASA clustering, even though all units are actively operating.
For example, if you have 48 weeks left on the Botnet Traffic Filter license on two units, then the combined
duration is 96 weeks.
Related Topics
Loss of Communication Between Failover or ASA Cluster Units

If the units lose communication for more than 30 days, then each unit reverts to the license installed locally.
During the 30-day grace period, the combined running license continues to be used by all units.
If you restore communication during the 30-day grace period, then for time-based licenses, the time elapsed
is subtracted from the primary/master license; if the primary/master license becomes expired, only then does
the secondary/slave license start to count down.
If you do not restore communication during the 30-day period, then for time-based licenses, time is subtracted
from all unit licenses, if installed. They are treated as separate licenses and do not benefit from the combined
license. The time elapsed includes the 30-day grace period.
For example:
1 You have a 52-week Botnet Traffic Filter license installed on two units. The combined running license
allows a total duration of 104 weeks.
2 The units operate as a failover unit/ASA cluster for 10 weeks, leaving 94 weeks on the combined license
(42 weeks on the primary/master, and 52 weeks on the secondary/slave).
3 If the units lose communication (for example the primary/master unit fails), the secondary/slave unit
continues to use the combined license, and continues to count down from 94 weeks.
4 The time-based license behavior depends on when communication is restored:
• Within 30 days—The time elapsed is subtracted from the primary/master unit license. In this case,
communication is restored after 4 weeks. Therefore, 4 weeks are subtracted from the primary/master
license leaving 90 weeks combined (38 weeks on the primary, and 52 weeks on the secondary).
70
About PAK Licenses
• After 30 days—The time elapsed is subtracted from both units. In this case, communication is restored
after 6 weeks. Therefore, 6 weeks are subtracted from both the primary/master and secondary/slave
licenses, leaving 84 weeks combined (36 weeks on the primary/master, and 46 weeks on the
secondary/slave).
Upgrading Failover Pairs

Because failover pairs do not require the same license on both units, you can apply new licenses to each unit
without any downtime. If you apply a permanent license that requires a reload, then you can fail over to the
other unit while you reload. If both units require reloading, then you can reload them separately so that you
have no downtime.
Related Topics
No Payload Encryption Models

You can purchase some models with No Payload Encryption. For export to some countries, payload encryption
cannot be enabled on the Cisco ASA series. The ASA software senses a No Payload Encryption model, and
disables the following features:
• Unified Communications
• VPN
You can still install the Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) license for use with management connections. For
example, you can use ASDM HTTPS/SSL, SSHv2, Telnet and SNMPv3. You can also download the dynamic
database for the Botnet Traffic Filter (which uses SSL).
When you view the license, VPN and Unified Communications licenses will not be listed.
Related Topics
Licenses FAQ
Can I activate multiple time-based licenses, for example, AnyConnect Premium and Botnet Traffic
Filter?
Yes. You can use one time-based license per feature at a time.
Can I “stack” time-based licenses so that when the time limit runs out, it will automatically use the
next license?
Yes. For identical licenses, the time limit is combined when you install multiple time-based licenses.
For non-identical licenses (for example, a 1000-session AnyConnect Premium license and a 2500-session
license), the ASA automatically activates the next time-based license it finds for the feature.
Can I install a new permanent license while maintaining an active time-based license?
Yes. Activating a permanent license does not affect time-based licenses.
71
Guidelines for PAK Licenses
For failover, can I use a shared licensing server as the primary unit, and the shared licensing backup
server as the secondary unit?
No. The secondary unit has the same running license as the primary unit; in the case of the shared
licensing server, they require a server license. The backup server requires a participant license. The
backup server can be in a separate failover pair of two backup servers.
Do I need to buy the same licenses for the secondary unit in a failover pair?
No. Starting with Version 8.3(1), you do not have to have matching licenses on both units. Typically,
you buy a license only for the primary unit; the secondary unit inherits the primary license when it
becomes active. In the case where you also have a separate license on the secondary unit (for example,
if you purchased matching licenses for pre-8.3 software), the licenses are combined into a running
failover cluster license, up to the model limits.
Can I use a time-based or permanent AnyConnect Premium license in addition to a shared AnyConnect
Premium license?
Yes. The shared license is used only after the sessions from the locally installed license (time-based or
permanent) are used up.
Note On the shared licensing server, the permanent AnyConnect Premium license
is not used; you can however use a time-based license at the same time as the
shared licensing server license. In this case, the time-based license sessions
are available for local AnyConnect Premium sessions only; they cannot be
added to the shared licensing pool for use by participants.

Context Mode Guidelines
In multiple context mode, apply the activation key in the system execution space.
Failover Guidelines
See Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses, on page 67.
Model Guidelines
• Smart Licensing is supported on the ASAv only.
• Shared licenses are not supported on the ASAv, ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X.
• The ASA 5506-X and ASA 5506W-X do not support time-based licenses.
Upgrade and Downgrade Guidelines

Your activation key remains compatible if you upgrade to the latest version from any previous version.
However, you might have issues if you want to maintain downgrade capability:
72
• Downgrading to Version 8.1 or earlier—After you upgrade, if you activate additional feature licenses
that were introduced before 8.2, then the activation key continues to be compatible with earlier versions
if you downgrade. However if you activate feature licenses that were introduced in 8.2 or later, then the
activation key is not backwards compatible. If you have an incompatible license key, then see the
following guidelines:
◦If you previously entered an activation key in an earlier version, then the ASA uses that key (without
any of the new licenses you activated in Version 8.2 or later).
◦If you have a new system and do not have an earlier activation key, then you need to request a new
activation key compatible with the earlier version.
• Downgrading to Version 8.2 or earlier—Version 8.3 introduced more robust time-based key usage as
well as failover license changes:
◦If you have more than one time-based activation key active, when you downgrade, only the most
recently activated time-based key can be active. Any other keys are made inactive. If the last
time-based license is for a feature introduced in 8.3, then that license still remains the active license
even though it cannot be used in earlier versions. Reenter the permanent key or a valid time-based
key.
◦If you have mismatched licenses on a failover pair, then downgrading will disable failover. Even
if the keys are matching, the license used will no longer be a combined license.
◦If you have one time-based license installed, but it is for a feature introduced in 8.3, then after you
downgrade, that time-based license remains active. You need to reenter the permanent key to
disable the time-based license.
Additional Guidelines
• The activation key is not stored in your configuration file; it is stored as a hidden file in flash memory.
• The activation key is tied to the serial number of the device. Feature licenses cannot be transferred
between devices (except in the case of a hardware failure). If you have to replace your device due to a
hardware failure, and it is covered by Cisco TAC, contact the Cisco Licensing Team to have your existing
license transferred to the new serial number. The Cisco Licensing Team will ask for the Product
Authorization Key reference number and existing serial number.
• The serial number used for licensing is the one seen in the show version output. This serial number is
different from the chassis serial number printed on the outside of your hardware. The chassis serial
number is used for technical support, but not for licensing.
• Once purchased, you cannot return a license for a refund or for an upgraded license.
• On a single unit, you cannot add two separate licenses for the same feature together; for example, if you
purchase a 25-session SSL VPN license, and later purchase a 50-session license, you cannot use 75
sessions; you can use a maximum of 50 sessions. (You may be able to purchase a larger license at an
upgrade price, for example from 25 sessions to 75 sessions; this kind of upgrade should be distinguished
from adding two separate licenses together).
• Although you can activate all license types, some features are incompatible with each other. In the case
of the AnyConnect Essentials license, the license is incompatible with the following licenses: AnyConnect
Premium license, shared AnyConnect Premium license, and Advanced Endpoint Assessment license.
By default, if you install the AnyConnect Essentials license (if it is available for your model), it is used
73
Configure PAK Licenses
instead of the above licenses. You can disable the AnyConnect Essentials license in the configuration
to restore use of the other licenses using the webvpn, and then the no anyconnect-essentials command.

This section describes how to obtain an activation key and how to active it. You can also deactivate a key.
Obtain an Activation Key

To obtain an activation key, you need a Product Authorization Key, which you can purchase from your Cisco
account representative. You need to purchase a separate Product Authorization Key for each feature license.
For example, if you have the Base License, you can purchase separate keys for Advanced Endpoint Assessment
and for additional AnyConnect Premium sessions.
The serial number used for licensing is the one seen in the show version output. This serial number is different
from the chassis serial number printed on the outside of your hardware. The chassis serial number is used for
technical support, but not for licensing.
After obtaining the Product Authorization Keys, register them on Cisco.com by performing the following
steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Obtain the serial number for your ASA by entering the following command.
ciscoasa# show version | grep Serial
Step 2 If you are not already registered with Cisco.com, create an account.
Step 3 Go to the following licensing website:
http://www.cisco.com/go/license
Step 4 Enter the following information, when prompted:

• Product Authorization Key (if you have multiple keys, enter one of the keys first. You have to enter
each key as a separate process.)
• The serial number of your ASA
• Your e-mail address
An activation key is automatically generated and sent to the e-mail address that you provide. This key includes
all features you have registered so far for permanent licenses. For time-based licenses, each license has a
separate activation key.
Step 5 If you have additional Product Authorization Keys, repeat the process for each Product Authorization Key.
After you enter all of the Product Authorization Keys, the final activation key provided includes all of the
permanent features you registered.
74
Activate or Deactivate Keys

This section describes how to enter a new activation key, and how to activate and deactivate time-based keys.
Before You Begin

• If you are already in multiple context mode, enter the activation key in the system execution space.
• Some permanent licenses require you to reload the ASA after you activate them. The following table
lists the licenses that require reloading.
Table 9: Permanent License Reloading Requirements
Model License Action Requiring Reload

All models Downgrading the Encryption license.
ASAv Downgrading the vCPU license.
Procedure
Step 1 Apply an activation key to the ASA:

activation-key key [activate | deactivate]
Example:
ciscoasa# activation-key 0xd11b3d48 0xa80a4c0a 0x48e0fd1c 0xb0443480 0x843fc490
The key is a five-element hexadecimal string with one space between each element. The leading 0x specifier
is optional; all values are assumed to be hexadecimal.
You can install one permanent key, and multiple time-based keys. If you enter a new permanent key, it
overwrites the already installed one.
The activate and deactivate keywords are available for time-based keys only. If you do not enter any value,
activate is the default. The last time-based key that you activate for a given feature is the active one. To
deactivate any active time-based key, enter the deactivate keyword. If you enter a key for the first time, and
specify deactivate, then the key is installed on the ASA in an inactive state.
Step 2 (Might be required.) Reload the ASA:

reload
Some permanent licenses require you to reload the ASA after entering the new activation key. If you need to
reload, you will see the following message:
WARNING: The running activation key was not updated with the requested key.
The flash activation key was updated with the requested key, and will become
active after the next reload.
75
Configure a Shared License (AnyConnect 3 and Earlier)
Related Topics
Time-Based Licenses, on page 64
Note The shared license feature on the ASA is not supported with AnyConnect 4 and later licensing. AnyConnect
licenses are shared and no longer require a shared server or participant license.
This section describes how to configure the shared licensing server and participants.
About Shared Licenses

A shared license lets you purchase a large number of AnyConnect Premium sessions and share the sessions
as needed among a group of ASAs by configuring one of the ASAs as a shared licensing server, and the rest
as shared licensing participants.
About the Shared Licensing Server and Participants

The following steps describe how shared licenses operate:
1 Decide which ASA should be the shared licensing server, and purchase the shared licensing server license
using that device serial number.
2 Decide which ASAs should be shared licensing participants, including the shared licensing backup server,
and obtain a shared licensing participant license for each device, using each device serial number.
3 (Optional) Designate a second ASA as a shared licensing backup server. You can only specify one backup
server.
Note The shared licensing backup server only needs a participant license.
4 Configure a shared secret on the shared licensing server; any participants with the shared secret can use
the shared license.
5 When you configure the ASA as a participant, it registers with the shared licensing server by sending
information about itself, including the local license and model information.
Note The participant needs to be able to communicate with the server over the IP network; it does not have to
be on the same subnet.
6 The shared licensing server responds with information about how often the participant should poll the
server.
76
7 When a participant uses up the sessions of the local license, it sends a request to the shared licensing server
for additional sessions in 50-session increments.
8 The shared licensing server responds with a shared license. The total sessions used by a participant cannot
exceed the maximum sessions for the platform model.
Note The shared licensing server can also participate in the shared license pool. It does not need a participant
license as well as the server license to participate.
a If there are not enough sessions left in the shared license pool for the participant, then the server
responds with as many sessions as available.
b The participant continues to send refresh messages requesting more sessions until the server can
adequately fulfill the request.
9 When the load is reduced on a participant, it sends a message to the server to release the shared sessions.
Note The ASA uses SSL between the server and participant to encrypt all communications.
Communication Issues Between Participant and Server

See the following guidelines for communication issues between the participant and server:
• If a participant fails to send a refresh after 3 times the refresh interval, then the server releases the sessions
back into the shared license pool.
• If the participant cannot reach the license server to send the refresh, then the participant can continue to
use the shared license it received from the server for up to 24 hours.
• If the participant is still not able to communicate with a license server after 24 hours, then the participant
releases the shared license, even if it still needs the sessions. The participant leaves existing connections
established, but cannot accept new connections beyond the license limit.
• If a participant reconnects with the server before 24 hours expires, but after the server expired the
participant sessions, then the participant needs to send a new request for the sessions; the server responds
with as many sessions as can be reassigned to that participant.
About the Shared Licensing Backup Server

The shared licensing backup server must register successfully with the main shared licensing server before it
can take on the backup role. When it registers, the main shared licensing server syncs server settings as well
as the shared license information with the backup, including a list of registered participants and the current
license usage. The main server and backup server sync the data at 10 second intervals. After the initial sync,
the backup server can successfully perform backup duties, even after a reload.
When the main server goes down, the backup server takes over server operation. The backup server can operate
for up to 30 continuous days, after which the backup server stops issuing sessions to participants, and existing
sessions time out. Be sure to reinstate the main server within that 30-day period. Critical-level syslog messages
are sent at 15 days, and again at 30 days.
77
When the main server comes back up, it syncs with the backup server, and then takes over server operation.
When the backup server is not active, it acts as a regular participant of the main shared licensing server.
Note When you first launch the main shared licensing server, the backup server can only operate independently
for 5 days. The operational limit increases day-by-day, until 30 days is reached. Also, if the main server
later goes down for any length of time, the backup server operational limit decrements day-by-day. When
the main server comes back up, the backup server starts to increment again day-by-day. For example, if
the main server is down for 20 days, with the backup server active during that time, then the backup server
will only have a 10-day limit left over. The backup server “recharges” up to the maximum 30 days after
20 more days as an inactive backup. This recharging function is implemented to discourage misuse of the
shared license.
Failover and Shared Licenses

This section describes how shared licenses interact with failover.
Failover and Shared License Servers

This section describes how the main server and backup server interact with failover. Because the shared
licensing server is also performing normal duties as the ASA, including performing functions such as being
a VPN gateway and firewall, then you might need to configure failover for the main and backup shared
licensing servers for increased reliability.
Note The backup server mechanism is separate from, but compatible with, failover.
Shared licenses are supported only in single context mode, so Active/Active failover is not supported.
For Active/Standby failover, the primary unit acts as the main shared licensing server, and the standby unit
acts as the main shared licensing server after failover. The standby unit does not act as the backup shared
licensing server. Instead, you can have a second pair of units acting as the backup server, if desired.
For example, you have a network with 2 failover pairs. Pair #1 includes the main licensing server. Pair #2
includes the backup server. When the primary unit from Pair #1 goes down, the standby unit immediately
becomes the new main licensing server. The backup server from Pair #2 never gets used. Only if both units
in Pair #1 go down does the backup server in Pair #2 come into use as the shared licensing server. If Pair #1
78
remains down, and the primary unit in Pair #2 goes down, then the standby unit in Pair #2 comes into use as
the shared licensing server (see the following figure).
Figure 1: Failover and Shared License Servers
The standby backup server shares the same operating limits as the primary backup server; if the standby unit
becomes active, it continues counting down where the primary unit left off.
Related Topics
About the Shared Licensing Backup Server, on page 77
Failover and Shared License Participants

For participant pairs, both units register with the shared licensing server using separate participant IDs. The
active unit syncs its participant ID with the standby unit. The standby unit uses this ID to generate a transfer
request when it switches to the active role. This transfer request is used to move the shared sessions from the
previously active unit to the new active unit.
79
Maximum Number of Participants

The ASA does not limit the number of participants for the shared license; however, a very large shared network
could potentially affect the performance on the licensing server. In this case, you can increase the delay
between participant refreshes, or you can create two shared networks.
Configure the Shared Licensing Server

This section describes how to configure the ASA to be a shared licensing server.
Before You Begin

The server must have a shared licensing server key.
Procedure
Step 1 Set the shared secret:

license-server secret secret
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server secret farscape
The secret is a string between 4 and 128 ASCII characters. Any participant with this secret can use the licensing
server.
Step 2 (Optional) Set the refresh interval:

license-server refresh-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server refresh-interval 100
The interval is between 10 and 300 seconds; this value is provided to participants to set how often they should
communicate with the server. The default is 30 seconds.
Step 3 (Optional) Set the port on which the server listens for SSL connections from participants:
license-server port port
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server port 40000
The port is between 1 and 65535. The default is TCP port 50554.
Step 4 (Optional) Identify the backup server IP address and serial number:
license-server backup address backup-id serial_number [ha-backup-id ha_serial_number]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup 10.1.1.2 backup-id JMX0916L0Z4 ha-backup-id
80
JMX1378N0W3
If the backup server is part of a failover pair, identify the standby unit serial number as well. You can only
identify 1 backup server and its optional standby unit.
Step 5 Enable this unit to be the shared licensing server:

license-server enable interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server enable inside
Specify the interface on which participants contact the server. You can repeat this command for as many
interfaces as desired.
Examples
The following example sets the shared secret, changes the refresh interval and port, configures a backup server,
and enables this unit as the shared licensing server on the inside interface and dmz interface:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server secret farscape

ciscoasa(config)# license-server refresh-interval 100
ciscoasa(config)# license-server port 40000
ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup 10.1.1.2 backup-id JMX0916L0Z4 ha-backup-id
JMX1378N0W3
ciscoasa(config)# license-server enable inside
ciscoasa(config)# license-server enable dmz
Configure the Shared Licensing Backup Server (Optional)

This section enables a shared license participant to act as the backup server if the main server goes down.
Before You Begin

The backup server must have a shared licensing participant key.
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the shared licensing server IP address and shared secret:
license-server address address secret secret [port port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server address 10.1.1.1 secret farscape
If you changed the default port in the server configuration, set the port for the backup server to match.
Step 2 Enable this unit to be the shared licensing backup server:

license-server backup enable interface_name
81
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup enable inside
Specify the interface on which participants contact the server. You can repeat this command for as many
interfaces as desired.
Examples
The following example identifies the license server and shared secret, and enables this unit as the backup
shared license server on the inside interface and dmz interface:

ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup enable inside
ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup enable dmz
Configure the Shared Licensing Participant

This section configures a shared licensing participant to communicate with the shared licensing server.
Before You Begin

The participant must have a shared licensing participant key.
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the shared licensing server IP address and shared secret:
license-server address address secret secret [port port]
Example:
If you changed the default port in the server configuration, set the port for the participant to match.
Step 2 (Optional) If you configured a backup server, enter the backup server address:
license-server backup address address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup address 10.1.1.2
82
Monitoring PAK Licenses
Examples
The following example sets the license server IP address and shared secret, as well as the backup license
server IP address:

ciscoasa(config)# license-server backup address 10.1.1.2

This section describes how to view license information.
Viewing Your Current License

This section describes how to view your current license, and for time-based activation keys, how much time
the license has left.
Before You Begin

If you have a No Payload Encryption model, then you view the license, VPN and Unified Communications
licenses will not be listed. See No Payload Encryption Models, on page 71 for more information.
Procedure
Show the permanent license, active time-based licenses, and the running license, which is a combination of
the permanent license and active time-based licenses:
show activation-key [detail]
The detail keyword also shows inactive time-based licenses.
For failover or cluster units, this command also shows the “cluster” license, which is the combined keys of all
units.
Examples
Example 1: Standalone Unit Output for the show activation-key command

The following is sample output from the show activation-key command for a standalone unit that shows the
running license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses), as well as each active time-based
license:
ciscoasa# show activation-key
Serial Number: JMX1232L11M

Running Permanent Activation Key: 0xce06dc6b 0x8a7b5ab7 0xa1e21dd4 0xd2c4b8b8 0xc4594f9c
Running Timebased Activation Key: 0xa821d549 0x35725fe4 0xc918b97b 0xce0b987b 0x47c7c285
Running Timebased Activation Key: 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2
Licensed features for this platform:

Maximum Physical Interfaces : Unlimited perpetual
Maximum VLANs : 150 perpetual
Inside Hosts : Unlimited perpetual
Failover : Active/Active perpetual
VPN-DES : Enabled perpetual
VPN-3DES-AES : Enabled perpetual
83
Security Contexts : 10 perpetual

GTP/GPRS : Enabled perpetual
AnyConnect Premium Peers : 2 perpetual
AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled perpetual
Other VPN Peers : 750 perpetual
Total VPN Peers : 750 perpetual
Shared License : Enabled perpetual
Shared AnyConnect Premium Peers : 12000 perpetual
AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled perpetual
AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone : Disabled perpetual
Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled perpetual
UC Phone Proxy Sessions : 12 62 days
Total UC Proxy Sessions : 12 62 days
Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled 646 days
Intercompany Media Engine : Disabled perpetual
This platform has a Base license.
The flash permanent activation key is the SAME as the running permanent key.
Active Timebased Activation Key:

0xa821d549 0x35725fe4 0xc918b97b 0xce0b987b 0x47c7c285
0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2 0xyadayad2

Example 2: Standalone Unit Output for show activation-key detail

The following is sample output from the show activation-key detail command for a standalone unit that
shows the running license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses), as well as the permanent
license and each installed time-based license (active and inactive):
ciscoasa# show activation-key detail
Serial Number: 88810093382


Maximum Physical Interfaces : 8 perpetual
VLANs : 20 DMZ Unrestricted
Dual ISPs : Enabled perpetual
VLAN Trunk Ports : 8 perpetual
Failover : Active/Standby perpetual
UC Phone Proxy Sessions : 2 perpetual
Total UC Proxy Sessions : 2 perpetual
This platform has an ASA 5512-X Security Plus license.

VLANs : 20 DMZ Unrestricted
Dual ISPs : Enabled perpetual
VLAN Trunk Ports : 8 perpetual
84


Inactive Timebased Activation Key:

0xyadayada3 0xyadayada3 0xyadayada3 0xyadayada3 0xyadayada3
AnyConnect Premium Peers : 25 7 days
Example 3: Primary Unit Output in a Failover Pair for show activation-key detail
The following is sample output from the show activation-key detail command for the primary failover unit
that shows:
• The primary unit license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses).
• The “Failover Cluster” license, which is the combined licenses from the primary and secondary units.
This is the license that is actually running on the ASA. The values in this license that reflect the
combination of the primary and secondary licenses are in bold.
• The primary unit permanent license.
• The primary unit installed time-based licenses (active and inactive).
Serial Number: P3000000171


Shared License : Disabled perpetual
85
This platform has an ASA 5520 VPN Plus license.
Failover cluster licensed features for this platform:


VPN-3DES-AES : Disabled perpetual
GTP/GPRS : Disabled perpetual
Botnet Traffic Filter : Disabled perpetual

Inactive Timebased Activation Key:

Security Contexts : 2 7 days
AnyConnect Premium Peers : 100 7 days

Example 4: Secondary Unit Output in a Failover Pair for show activation-key detail
The following is sample output from the show activation-key detail command for the secondary failover
unit that shows:
86
• The secondary unit license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses).
• The secondary unit permanent license.
• The secondary installed time-based licenses (active and inactive). This unit does not have any time-based
licenses, so none display in this sample output.
Serial Number: P3000000011

Running Activation Key: 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1


Running Permanent Activation Key: 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1 0xyadayad1

87

Example 5: Standalone Unit Output for the ASAv without a License for show activation-key
The following output for a deployed 1 vCPU ASAv shows a blank activation key, an Unlicensed status, and
a message to install a 1 vCPU license.
Note The command output shows, “This platform has an ASAv VPN Premium license.” This message specifies
that the ASAv can perform payload encryption; it does not refer to the ASAv Standard vs. Premium
licenses.

Serial Number: 9APM1G4RV41
Running Permanent Activation Key: 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
ASAv Platform License State: Unlicensed

*Install 1 vCPU ASAv platform license for full functionality.
The Running Activation Key is not valid, using default settings:

Virtual CPUs : 0 perpetual
Encryption-DES : Enabled perpetual
Encryption-3DES-AES : Enabled perpetual
Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled perpetual
Cluster : Disabled perpetual
This platform has an ASAv VPN Premium license.
Failed to retrieve flash permanent activation key.
88
Example 6: Standalone Unit Output for the ASAv with a 4 vCPU Standard License for show activation-key
licenses.

Serial Number: 9ALQ8W1XCJ7
Running Permanent Activation Key: 0x0013e945 0x685a232c 0x1153fdac 0xeae8b068 0x4413f4ae
ASAv Platform License State: Compliant

Intercompany Media Engine : Enabled perpetual
Example 7: Standalone Unit Output for the ASAv with a 4 vCPU Premium License for show activation-key
licenses.

Serial Number: 9ALQ8W1XCJ7
Running Permanent Activation Key: 0x8224dd7d 0x943ed77c 0x9d71cdd0 0xd90474d0 0xcb04df82
ASAv Platform License State: Compliant

89

AnyConnect for Mobile : Enabled perpetual
AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone : Enabled perpetual
Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Enabled perpetual
Intercompany Media Engine : Enabled perpetual
ciscoasa#
Example 8: Primary Unit Output for the ASA Services Module in a Failover Pair for show activation-key
The following is sample output from the show activation-key command for the primary failover unit that
shows:
• The primary unit license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses).
• The primary unit installed time-based licenses (active and inactive).
erial Number: SAL144705BF

Running Permanent Activation Key: 0x4d1ed752 0xc8cfeb37 0xf4c38198 0x93c04c28 0x4a1c049a
Running Timebased Activation Key: 0xbc07bbd7 0xb15591e0 0xed68c013 0xd79374ff 0x44f87880

Maximum Interfaces : 1024 perpetual
DES : Enabled perpetual
3DES-AES : Enabled perpetual
This platform has an WS-SVC-ASA-SM1 No Payload Encryption license.

90

0xbc07bbd7 0xb15591e0 0xed68c013 0xd79374ff 0x44f87880
Example 9: Secondary Unit Output for the ASA Services Module in a Failover Pair for show activation-key
The following is sample output from the show activation-key command for the secondary failover unit that
shows:
• The secondary unit license (the combined permanent license and time-based licenses).
• The secondary installed time-based licenses (active and inactive). This unit does not have any time-based
licenses, so none display in this sample output.
Serial Number: SAD143502E3

Running Permanent Activation Key: 0xf404c46a 0xb8e5bd84 0x28c1b900 0x92eca09c 0x4e2a0683


Example 10: Output in a Cluster for show activation-key

Serial Number: JMX1504L2TD
Running Permanent Activation Key: 0x4a3eea7b 0x54b9f61a 0x4143a90c 0xe5849088 0x4412d4a9

91

Cluster : Enabled perpetual
This platform has an ASA 5585-X base license.

Cluster : Enabled perpetual
This platform has an ASA 5585-X base license.
Monitoring the Shared License

To monitor the shared license, enter one of the following commands.
• show shared license [detail | client [hostname] | backup]
Shows shared license statistics. Optional keywords are available only for the licensing server: the detail
keyword shows statistics per participant. To limit the display to one participant, use the client keyword.
The backup keyword shows information about the backup server.
To clear the shared license statistics, enter the clear shared license command.
The following is sample output from the show shared license command on the license participant:
ciscoasa> show shared license

Primary License Server : 10.3.32.20
Version : 1
Status : Inactive
Shared license utilization:

SSLVPN:
Total for network : 5000
92
Available : 5000
Utilized : 0
This device:
Platform limit : 250
Current usage : 0
High usage : 0
Messages Tx/Rx/Error:
Registration : 0 / 0 / 0
Get : 0 / 0 / 0
Release : 0 / 0 / 0
Transfer : 0 / 0 / 0
The following is sample output from the show shared license detail command on the license server:
ciscoasa> show shared license detail

Backup License Server Info:
Device ID : ABCD
Address : 10.1.1.2
Registered : NO
HA peer ID : EFGH
Registered : NO
Hello : 0 / 0 / 0
Sync : 0 / 0 / 0
Update : 0 / 0 / 0
Shared license utilization:

SSLVPN:
Total for network : 500
Available : 500
Utilized : 0
This device:
Platform limit : 250
Current usage : 0
High usage : 0
Get : 0 / 0 / 0
Release : 0 / 0 / 0
Client Info:
Hostname : 5540-A
Device ID : XXXXXXXXXXX
SSLVPN:
Current usage : 0
High : 0
Get : 0 / 0 / 0
Release : 0 / 0 / 0
...
• show activation-key
Shows the licenses installed on the ASA. The show version command also shows license information.
• show vpn-sessiondb
Shows license information about VPN sessions.
93
History for PAK Licenses

Feature Name Platform Description
Releases
Increased Connections and VLANs 7.0(5) Increased the following limits:
• ASA5510 Base license connections from 32000 to 5000;
VLANs from 0 to 10.
• ASA5510 Security Plus license connections from 64000
to 130000; VLANs from 10 to 25.
• ASA5520 connections from 130000 to 280000; VLANs
from 25 to 100.
• ASA5540 connections from 280000 to 400000; VLANs
from 100 to 200.
SSL VPN Licenses 7.1(1) SSL VPN licenses were introduced.
Increased SSL VPN Licenses 7.2(1) A 5000-user SSL VPN license was introduced for the ASA
5550 and above.
Increased interfaces for the Base license on the 7.2(2) For the Base license on the ASA 5510, the maximum number
ASA 5510 of interfaces was increased from 3 plus a management interface
to unlimited interfaces.
Increased VLANs 7.2(2) The maximum number of VLANs for the Security Plus license
on the ASA 5505 was increased from 5 (3 fully functional; 1
failover; one restricted to a backup interface) to 20 fully
functional interfaces. In addition, the number of trunk ports
was increased from 1 to 8. Now there are 20 fully functional
interfaces, you do not need to use the backup interface command
to cripple a backup ISP interface; you can use a fully functional
interface for it. The backup interface command is still useful
for an Easy VPN configuration.
VLAN limits were also increased for the ASA 5510 (from 10
to 50 for the Base license, and from 25 to 100 for the Security
Plus license), the ASA 5520 (from 100 to 150), the ASA 5550
(from 200 to 250).
94

Releases
Gigabit Ethernet Support for the ASA 5510 7.2(3) The ASA 5510 now supports Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps)
Security Plus License for the Ethernet 0/0 and 0/1 ports with the Security Plus license.
In the Base license, they continue to be used as Fast Ethernet
(100 Mbps) ports. Ethernet 0/2, 0/3, and 0/4 remain as Fast
Ethernet ports for both licenses.
Note The interface names remain Ethernet 0/0 and Ethernet
0/1.
Use the speed command to change the speed on the interface
and use the show interface command to see what speed is
currently configured for each interface.
Advanced Endpoint Assessment License 8.0(2) The Advanced Endpoint Assessment license was introduced.
As a condition for the completion of a Cisco AnyConnect or
clientless SSL VPN connections, the remote computer scans
for a greatly expanded collection of antivirus and antispyware
applications, firewalls, operating systems, and associated
updates. It also scans for any registry entries, filenames, and
process names that you specify. It sends the scan results to the
ASA. The ASA uses both the user login credentials and the
computer scan results to assign a Dynamic Access Policy
(DAP).
With an Advanced Endpoint Assessment License, you can
enhance Host Scan by configuring an attempt to update
noncompliant computers to meet version requirements.
Cisco can provide timely updates to the list of applications and
versions that Host Scan supports in a package that is separate
from Cisco Secure Desktop.
VPN Load Balancing for the ASA 5510 8.0(2) VPN load balancing is now supported on the ASA 5510 Security
Plus license.
AnyConnect for Mobile License 8.0(3) The AnyConnect for Mobile license was introduced. It lets
Windows mobile devices connect to the ASA using the
AnyConnect client.
Time-based Licenses 8.0(4)/8.1(2) Support for time-based licenses was introduced.
Increased VLANs for the ASA 5580 8.1(2) The number of VLANs supported on the ASA 5580 are
increased from 100 to 250.
95

Releases
Unified Communications Proxy Sessions license 8.0(4) The UC Proxy sessions license was introduced. Phone Proxy,
Presence Federation Proxy, and Encrypted Voice Inspection
applications use TLS proxy sessions for their connections. Each
TLS proxy session is counted against the UC license limit. All
of these applications are licensed under the UC Proxy umbrella,
and can be mixed and matched.
This feature is not available in Version 8.1.
Botnet Traffic Filter License 8.2(1) The Botnet Traffic Filter license was introduced. The Botnet
Traffic Filter protects against malware network activity by
tracking connections to known bad domains and IP addresses.
AnyConnect Essentials License 8.2(1) The AnyConnect Essentials License was introduced. This
license enables AnyConnect VPN client access to the ASA.
This license does not support browser-based SSL VPN access
or Cisco Secure Desktop. For these features, activate an
AnyConnect Premium license instead of the AnyConnect
Essentials license.
Note With the AnyConnect Essentials license, VPN users
can use a Web browser to log in, and download and
start (WebLaunch) the AnyConnect client.
The AnyConnect client software offers the same set of client
features, whether it is enabled by this license or an AnyConnect
Premium license.
The AnyConnect Essentials license cannot be active at the same
time as the following licenses on a given ASA: AnyConnect
Premium license (all types) or the Advanced Endpoint
Assessment license. You can, however, run AnyConnect
Essentials and AnyConnect Premium licenses on different ASAs
in the same network.
By default, the ASA uses the AnyConnect Essentials license,
but you can disable it to use other licenses by using the webvpn,
and then the no anyconnect-essentials command.
SSL VPN license changed to AnyConnect Premium 8.2(1) The SSL VPN license name was changed to the AnyConnect
SSL VPN Edition license Premium SSL VPN Edition license.
Shared Licenses for SSL VPN 8.2(1) Shared licenses for SSL VPN were introduced. Multiple ASAs
can share a pool of SSL VPN sessions on an as-needed basis.
Mobility Proxy application no longer requires 8.2(2) The Mobility Proxy no longer requires the UC Proxy license.
Unified Communications Proxy license
96

Releases
10 GE I/O license for the ASA 5585-X with 8.2(3) We introduced the 10 GE I/O license for the ASA 5585-X with
SSP-20 SSP-20 to enable 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds for the fiber ports.
The SSP-60 supports 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds by default.
Note The ASA 5585-X is not supported in
8.3(x).
10 GE I/O license for the ASA 5585-X with 8.2(4) We introduced the 10 GE I/O license for the ASA 5585-X with
SSP-10 SSP-10 to enable 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds for the fiber ports.
The SSP-40 supports 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds by default.
Note The ASA 5585-X is not supported in
8.3(x).
Non-identical failover licenses 8.3(1) Failover licenses no longer need to be identical on each unit.
The license used for both units is the combined license from
the primary and secondary units.
We modified the following commands: show activation-key
and show version.
Stackable time-based licenses 8.3(1) Time-based licenses are now stackable. In many cases, you
might need to renew your time-based license and have a
seamless transition from the old license to the new one. For
features that are only available with a time-based license, it is
especially important that the license not expire before you can
apply the new license. The ASA allows you to stack time-based
licenses so that you do not have to worry about the license
expiring or about losing time on your licenses because you
installed the new one early.
Intercompany Media Engine License 8.3(1) The IME license was introduced.
Multiple time-based licenses active at the same 8.3(1) You can now install multiple time-based licenses, and have one
time license per feature active at a time.
We modified the following commands: show activation-key
and show version.
Discrete activation and deactivation of time-based 8.3(1) You can now activate or deactivate time-based licenses using
licenses. a command.
We modified the following commands: activation-key [activate
| deactivate].
AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN Edition license 8.3(1) The AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN Edition license name was
changed to AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license changed to the AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license.
97

Releases
No Payload Encryption image for export 8.3(2) If you install the No Payload Encryption software on the ASA
5505 through 5550, then you disable Unified Communications,
strong encryption VPN, and strong encryption management
protocols.
Note This special image is only supported in 8.3(x); for No
Payload Encryption support in 8.4(1) and later, you
need to purchase a special hardware version of the
ASA.
Increased contexts for the ASA 5550, 5580, and 8.4(1) For the ASA 5550 and ASA 5585-X with SSP-10, the maximum
5585-X contexts was increased from 50 to 100. For the ASA 5580 and
5585-X with SSP-20 and higher, the maximum was increased
from 50 to 250.
Increased VLANs for the ASA 5580 and 5585-X 8.4(1) For the ASA 5580 and 5585-X, the maximum VLANs was
Increased connections for the ASA 5580 and 8.4(1) We increased the firewall connection limits:
5585-X
• ASA 5580-20—1,000,000 to 2,000,000.
• ASA 5580-40—2,000,000 to 4,000,000.
• ASA 5585-X with SSP-10: 750,000 to 1,000,000.
• ASA 5585-X with SSP-20: 1,000,000 to 2,000,000.
• ASA 5585-X with SSP-40: 2,000,000 to 4,000,000.
• ASA 5585-X with SSP-60: 2,000,000 to 10,000,000.
AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license changed 8.4(1) The AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN license name was changed
to AnyConnect Premium license to the AnyConnect Premium license. The license information
display was changed from “SSL VPN Peers” to “AnyConnect
Premium Peers.”
Increased AnyConnect VPN sessions for the ASA 8.4(1) The AnyConnect VPN session limit was increased from 5,000
5580 to 10,000.
Increased Other VPN sessions for the ASA 5580 8.4(1) The other VPN session limit was increased from 5,000 to
10,000.
98

Releases
IPsec remote access VPN using IKEv2 8.4(1) IPsec remote access VPN using IKEv2 was added to the
AnyConnect Essentials and AnyConnect Premium licenses.
Note The following limitation exists in our support for
IKEv2 on the ASA: We currently do not support
duplicate security associations.
IKEv2 site-to-site sessions were added to the Other VPN license
(formerly IPsec VPN). The Other VPN license is included in
the Base license.
No Payload Encryption hardware for export 8.4(1) For models available with No Payload Encryption (for example,
the ASA 5585-X), the ASA software disables Unified
Communications and VPN features, making the ASA available
for export to certain countries.
Dual SSPs for SSP-20 and SSP-40 8.4(2) For SSP-40 and SSP-60, you can use two SSPs of the same
level in the same chassis. Mixed-level SSPs are not supported
(for example, an SSP-40 with an SSP-60 is not supported).
Each SSP acts as an independent device, with separate
configurations and management. You can use the two SSPs as
a failover pair if desired. When using two SSPs in the chassis,
VPN is not supported; note, however, that VPN has not been
disabled.
IPS Module license for the ASA 5512-X through 8.6(1) The IPS SSP software module on the ASA 5512-X, ASA
ASA 5555-X 5515-X, ASA 5525-X, ASA 5545-X, and ASA 5555-X requires
the IPS module license.
Clustering license for the ASA 5580 and ASA 9.0(1) A clustering license was added for the ASA 5580 and ASA
5585-X. 5585-X.
Support for VPN on the ASASM 9.0(1) The ASASM now supports all VPN features.
Unified communications support on the ASASM 9.0(1) The ASASM now supports all Unified Communications
features.
ASA 5585-X Dual SSP support for the SSP-10 and 9.0(1) The ASA 5585-X now supports dual SSPs using all SSP models
SSP-20 (in addition to the SSP-40 and SSP-60); (you can use two SSPs of the same level in the same chassis).
VPN support for Dual SSPs VPN is now supported when using dual SSPs.
ASA 5500-X support for clustering 9.1(4) The ASA 5512-X, ASA 5515-X, ASA 5525-X, ASA 5545-X,
and ASA 5555-X now support 2-unit clusters. Clustering for 2
units is enabled by default in the base license; for the ASA
5512-X, you need the Security Plus license.
Support for 16 cluster members for the ASA 9.2(1) The ASA 5585-X now supports 16-unit clusters.
5585-X
99

Releases
ASAv4 and ASAv30 Standard and Premium model 9.2(1) The ASAv was introduced with a simple licensing scheme:
licenses introduced ASAv4 and ASAv30 permanent licenses in Standard or
Premium levels. No add-on licenses are available.
100
CHAPTER 4
Smart Software Licensing for the ASAv and ASA
on the FXOS Chassis
Cisco Smart Software Licensing lets you purchase and manage a pool of licenses centrally. Unlike product
authorization key (PAK) licenses, smart licenses are not tied to a specific serial number. You can easily
deploy or retire ASAs without having to manage each unit’s license key. Smart Software Licensing also lets
you see your license usage and needs at a glance.
Note Smart Software Licensing is only supported on the ASAv and the Firepower ASA application. Other
models use PAK licenses. See Product Authorization Key Licenses, on page 45.
• Licenses Per Model, page 101

• About Smart Software Licensing, page 106
• Prerequisites for Smart Software Licensing, page 111
• Guidelines for Smart Software Licensing, page 112
• Defaults for Smart Software Licensing, page 112
• Configure Smart Software Licensing, page 112
• Monitoring Smart Software Licensing, page 120
• History for Smart Software Licensing, page 124
Licenses Per Model

This section lists the license entitlements available for the ASAv and FXOS chassis ASA security module.
ASAv5 (9.5(1.200) and Later)

The following table shows the licensed features for the ASAv5.
101
Licenses Per Model
Licenses Standard License

Firewall Licenses
Carrier Enabled
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 50

all types
General Licenses
Throughput Level 100 Mbps
Encryption Base (DES) or Strong (3DES/AES), depending on the account's export compliance setting
Failover Active/Standby
Security Contexts No support
VLANs, Maximum 25
RAM, vCPUs 1 GB, 1 vCPU
ASAv10

Firewall Licenses
102
Licenses Per Model

Carrier Enabled
VPN Licenses
Other VPN Peers 250

all types
General Licenses
Throughput Level 1 Gbps
VLANs, Maximum 50
RAM, vCPUs 2 GB, 1 vCPU
ASAv30

Firewall Licenses
Carrier Enabled
VPN Licenses
103
Licenses Per Model

Other VPN Peers 750

all types
General Licenses
Throughput Level 2 Gbps
VLANs, Maximum 200
RAM, vCPUs 8 GB, 4 vCPUs
Firepower 9300 ASA Application

The following table shows the licensed features for the Firepower 9300 ASA application.

Firewall Licenses
Botnet Traffic Filter Enabled
Firewall Conns, Concurrent 30,000,000, up to 55,000,000 for a chassis with 3 modules
Carrier Disabled Optional License: Carrier
Total UC Proxy Sessions 15,000
VPN Licenses
AnyConnect peers Disabled Optional AnyConnect Plus or Apex license: 20,000

maximum
104
Licenses Per Model

all types
General Licenses
Security Contexts 10 Optional License: Maximum of 250, in increments

of 10
Clustering Enabled
VLANs, Maximum 1024
License Notes
The following table includes additional information about licenses.
License Notes
AnyConnect Plus and Apex The AnyConnect Plus or Apex license is a multi-use license that you can apply to multiple ASAs, all
of which share a user pool as specified by the license. For more information, see:
• Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide
• AnyConnect Licensing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple context mode.
Botnet Traffic Filter Requires a Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License to download the dynamic database.
Encryption The DES license cannot be disabled. Although the 3DES license is installed, DES is still available.
To prevent the use of DES when you want to only use strong encryption, be sure to configure any
relevant commands to use only strong encryption.
Interfaces of all types, Max. The maximum number of combined interfaces; for example, VLANs, physical, redundant, bridge
group, and EtherChannel interfaces. Every interface command defined in the configuration counts
against this limit. For example, both of the following interfaces count even if the GigabitEthernet 0/0
interface is defined as part of port-channel 1:
and
105
About Smart Software Licensing
License Notes
Carrier The Carrier license enables the following inspection features:
• Diameter
• GTP/GPRS
• SCTP
Other VPN Other VPN sessions include the following VPN types:
Total VPN (sessions),

combined all types • Although the maximum VPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN AnyConnect and
Other VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you
exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the ASA, so be sure to size your network
appropriately.
• If you start a clientless SSL VPN session and then start an AnyConnect client session from the
portal, 1 session is used in total. However, if you start the AnyConnect client first (from a
standalone client, for example) and then log into the clientless SSL VPN portal, then 2 sessions
are used.
VLANs, Maximum For an interface to count against the VLAN limit, you must assign a VLAN to it. For example:

vlan 100

This section describes how Smart Software Licensing works.
Smart Software Licensing for Applications on the FXOS Chassis

For the ASA application on the FXOS chassis, Smart Software Licensing configuration is split between the
FXOS chassis supervisor and the application.
• FXOS chassis—Configure all Smart Software Licensing infrastructure in the supervisor, including
parameters for communicating with the License Authority. The FXOS chassis itself does not require
any licenses to operate.
For offline licensing, you can deploy a Cisco Smart Software Manager satellite server that is accessible
to your local network, and that syncs with the License Authority on demand or on a schedule you set.
• ASA Application—Configure all license entitlements in the application.
106
Smart Software Manager and Accounts

When you purchase 1 or more licenses for the device, you manage them in the Cisco Smart Software Manager:
https://software.cisco.com/#module/SmartLicensing
The Smart Software Manager lets you create a master account for your organization.
Note If you do not yet have an account, click the link to set up a new account. The Smart Software Manager
lets you create a master account for your organization.
By default, your licenses are assigned to the Default Virtual Account under your master account. As the
account administrator, you can optionally create additional virtual accounts; for example, you can create
accounts for regions, departments, or subsidiaries. Multiple virtual accounts let you more easily manage large
numbers of licenses and devices.
Online and Offline Management

If your devices do not have Internet access, and cannot register with the License Authority, you can configure
offline licensing.
Permanent License Reservation for the ASAv

If your devices cannot access the Internet for security reasons, you can optionally request permanent licenses
for each ASAv. Permanent licenses do not require periodic access to the License Authority. Like PAK licenses,
you will purchase a license and install the license key on the ASAv. Unlike a PAK license, you obtain and
manage the licenses with the Smart Software Manager. You can easily switch between regular smart licensing
mode and permanent license reservation mode on the ASAv.
You can obtain a model-specific license that enables all ASAv features for your model:
• ASAv5
• ASAv10
• ASAv30
If you later want to change the model level of a unit, you will have to return the current license and request a
new license at the correct model level.
If you stop using a license, you must return the license by generating a return code on the ASAv, and then
entering that code into the Smart Software Manager. Make sure you follow the return process correctly so
you do not pay for unused licenses.
Permanent license reservation is not supported for Amazon Web Services or Azure hypervisors.
Satellite Server for the FXOS Chassis

If your devices cannot access the Internet for security reasons, you can optionally install a local Smart Software
Manager satellite server as a virtual machine (VM). The satellite provides a subset of Smart Software Manager
functionality, and allows you to provide essential licensing services for all your local devices. Only the satellite
107
needs to connect periodically to the main License Authority to sync your license usage. You can sync on a
schedule or you can sync manually.
See the FXOS chassis configuration guide for more information about using a satellite.
Licenses and Devices Managed per Virtual Account

Licenses and devices are managed per virtual account: only that virtual account’s devices can use the licenses
assigned to the account. If you need additional licenses, you can transfer an unused license from another
virtual account. You can also transfer devices between virtual accounts.
(For the ASA on the FXOS chassis) Only the FXOS chassis registers as a device, while the ASA applications
in the chassis request their own licenses. For example, for a Firepower 9300 chassis with 3 security modules,
the chassis counts as one device, but the modules use 3 separate licenses.
Evaluation License (FXOS Chassis)

The FXOS chassis supports two types of evaluation license:
• Chassis-level evaluation mode—Before the FXOS chassis registers with the Licensing Authority, it
operates for 90 days (total usage) in evaluation mode. Applications cannot request specific entitlements
in this mode; only default entitlements are enabled. When this period ends, the FXOS chassis becomes
out-of-compliance.
• Entitlement-based evaluation mode—After the FXOS chassis registers with the Licensing Authority,
you can obtain time-based evaluation licenses that can be assigned to applications. In the application,
you request entitlements as usual. When the time-based license expires, you need to either renew the
time-based license or obtain a permanent license.
Note You cannot receive an evaluation license for Strong Encryption (3DES/AES); only
permanent licenses support this entitlement.
Smart Software Manager Communication

This section describes how your device communicates with the Smart Software Manager.
Device Registration and Tokens

For each virtual account, you can create a registration token. This token is valid for 30 days by default. Enter
this token ID plus entitlement levels when you deploy each device, or when you register an existing device.
You can create a new token if an existing token is expired.
Note Device registration is configured in the FXOS chassis supervisor, not on the ASA security module.
At startup after deployment, or after you manually configure these parameters on an existing device, the device
registers with the Cisco License Authority. When the device registers with the token, the License Authority
108
issues an ID certificate for communication between the device and the License Authority. This certificate is
valid for 1 year, although it will be renewed every 6 months.
Periodic Communication with the License Authority

The device communicates with the License Authority every 30 days. If you make changes in the Smart Software
Manager, you can refresh the authorization on the device so the change takes place immediately. Or you can
wait for the device to communicate as scheduled.
You can optionally configure an HTTP proxy. Your devices must have Internet access either directly or
through an HTTP proxy at least every 90 days. Normal license communication occurs every 30 days, but with
the grace period, your device will operate for up to 90 days without calling home. You must contact the
Licensing Authority before 90 days have passed.
Note Offline licensing is not supported.
Out-of-Compliance State
The device can become out of compliance in the following situations:
• Over-utilization—When the device uses unavailable licenses.
• License expiration—When a time-based license expires.
• Lack of communication—When the device cannot reach the Licensing Authority for re-authorization.
To verify whether your account is in, or approaching, an Out-of-Compliance state, you must compare the
entitlements currently in use by your FXOS chassis against those in your Smart Account.
After 90 days of reauthorization attempts, the device will be limited in some way, depending on the application.
• ASAv—The ASAv will be severely rate-limited until you are able to successfully reauthorize.
• ASA on the FXOS chassis—You will not be able to make configuration changes to features requiring
special licenses, but operation is otherwise unaffected.
Smart Call Home Infrastructure

By default, a Smart Call Home profile exists in the configuration that specifies the URL for the Licensing
Authority. You cannot remove this profile. Note that the only configurable option for the License profile is
the destination address URL for the License Authority. Unless directed by Cisco TAC, you should not change
the License Authority URL.
Note For the FXOS chassis, Smart Call Home for licensing is configured in the FXOS chassis supervisor, not
on the ASA.
You cannot disable Smart Call Home for Smart Software Licensing. For example, even if you disable Smart
Call Home using the no service call-home command, Smart Software Licensing is not disabled.
Other Smart Call Home functions are not turned on unless you specifically configure them.
109
Smart License Certificate Management

The ASA automatically creates a trustpoint containing the certificate of the CA that issued the Smart Call
Home server certificate. To avoid service interruption if the issuing hierarchy of the server certificate changes,
configure the auto-update command on the Automatic Import area of the Configuration > Remote Access
VPN > Certificate Management > Trusted Certificate Pool > Edit Trusted Certificate Pool Policy screen
to enable the automatic update of the trustpool bundle at periodic intervals. See Digital Certificates, on page
513.
Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses

With some exceptions, failover and cluster units do not require the same license on each unit.
Failover License Requirements and Exceptions

Failover units do not require the same license on each unit. Typically, you buy a license only for the primary
unit; for Active/Standby failover, the secondary unit inherits the primary license when it becomes active.
License configuration completed on the primary unit is not replicated to the standby unit. If you have licenses
on both units, they combine into a single running failover cluster license. There are some exceptions to this
rule. See the following table for precise licensing requirements for failover.

ASAv The standby unit requires the same model license as the primary unit.
ASA on the FXOS chassis Each unit must have the same encryption license.
ASA Cluster License Requirements and Exceptions (ASA on the FXOS Chassis Only)
When you configure smart licensing on the primary unit, the license configuration for the Standard license
and the Context license are replicated to the secondary units, and then cached. Only the primary unit requests
these entitlements; each secondary unit caches the configuration in case it becomes the primary unit in the
future, and then needs to activate the licenses. Other entitlements, including the Carrier license and the Strong
Encryption (3DES) license (for a Cisco Smart Software Manager satellite deployment), are per-unit entitlements
that are replicated to the secondary units, and in this case, each secondary unit requests its own licenses from
the server.
If a new primary unit is elected, you should refrain from making configuration changes until the license
requests are completely processed. If a unit leaves the cluster, the cached configuration is removed, while the
per-unit entitlements are retained. In particular, you would need to re-request the Context license on non-cluster
units.
For Smart Software Manager satellite deployments, to use ASDM and other strong encryption features, after
you deploy the cluster you must enable the Strong Encryption (3DES) license on the primary unit using the
ASA CLI. This license is replicated to the secondary units. For regular Smart Software Manager users, the
Strong Encryption license is automatically enabled for qualified customers when you apply the registration
token on the FXOS chassis. The Strong Encryption (3DES) license is not available with any type of evaluation
license.
110
Prerequisites for Smart Software Licensing
How Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses Combine

For failover pairs or ASA clusters, the licenses on each unit are combined into a single running cluster license.
If you buy separate licenses for each unit, then the combined license uses the following rules:
• For licenses that have numerical tiers, such as the number of sessions, the values from each unit’s licenses
are combined up to the platform limit. If all licenses in use are time-based, then the licenses count down
simultaneously.
• For licenses that have a status of enabled or disabled, then the license with the enabled status is used.
• For time-based licenses that are enabled or disabled (and do not have numerical tiers), the duration is
the combined duration of all licenses. The primary/master unit counts down its license first, and when
it expires, the secondary/slave unit(s) start counting down its license, and so on. This rule also applies
to Active/Active failover and ASA clustering, even though all units are actively operating.
Loss of Communication Between Failover or ASA Cluster Units

If the units lose communication for more than 30 days, then each unit reverts to the license installed locally.
During the 30-day grace period, the combined running license continues to be used by all units.
If you restore communication during the 30-day grace period, then for time-based licenses, the time elapsed
is subtracted from the primary/master license; if the primary/master license becomes expired, only then does
the secondary/slave license start to count down.
If you do not restore communication during the 30-day period, then for time-based licenses, time is subtracted
from all unit licenses, if installed. They are treated as separate licenses and do not benefit from the combined
license. The time elapsed includes the 30-day grace period. For clustering, if the master unit fails, and does
not rejoin within 30 days, then the inherited licenses disappear from the slave units. You must then manually
configure the missing licenses on the new master unit.
Prerequisites for Smart Software Licensing

• Create a master account on the Cisco Smart Software Manager:
https://software.cisco.com/#module/SmartLicensing
If you do not yet have an account, click the link to set up a new account. The Smart Software Manager
lets you create a master account for your organization.
• Purchase 1 or more licenses from Cisco Software Central.
• ASAv: Ensure Internet access or HTTP proxy access from the device, so the device can contact the
Licensing Authority. Offline licensing is not supported.
• ASAv: Configure a DNS server so the device can resolve the name of the licensing authority server.
See Configure the DNS Server, on page 489.
• ASAv: Set the clock for the device. See Set the Date and Time Using an NTP Server, on page 483.
• ASAv: Permanent license reservation is not supported for Amazon Web Services or Azure hypervisors.
• FXOS chassis supervisor: Configure the Smart Software Licensing infrastructure on the FXOS chassis
supervisor before you configure the ASA licensing entitlements.
111
Guidelines for Smart Software Licensing
Guidelines for Smart Software Licensing

• Only Smart Software Licensing is supported. For older software on the ASAv, if you upgrade an existing
PAK-licensed ASAv, then the previously installed activation key will be ignored, but retained on the
device. If you downgrade the ASAv, the activation key will be reinstated.
• For permanent license reservation, you must return the license before you decommission the ASAv. If
you do not officially return the license, the license remains in a used state and cannot be reused for a
new ASAv. See (Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent License, on page 117.
Defaults for Smart Software Licensing

ASAv
• The ASAv default configuration includes a Smart Call Home profile called “License” that specifies the
URL for the Licensing Authority.
call-home
profile License
destination address http
https://tools.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService
• When you deploy the ASAv, you set the feature tier and throughput level. Only the standard level is
available at this time. For permanent license reservation, you do not need to set these parameters. When
you enable permanent license reservation, these command are removed from the configuration.
license smart
• Also during deployment, you can optionally configure an HTTP proxy.
call-home
ASA on the FXOS Chassis

There is no default configuration. You must manually enable the standard license tier and other optional
licenses.
Configure Smart Software Licensing

This section describes how to configure Smart Software Licensing for supported models.
112
ASAv: Configure Regular Smart Software Licensing

When you deploy the ASAv, the device registers with the License Authority, and Smart Software Licensing
is enabled according to the values you enter at deployment. If you need to change your license entitlement or
configure Smart Software Licensing for an existing ASAv, perform the following tasks.
Note For ASAv permanent license reservation, see ASAv: Configure Permanent License Reservation, on page
115.
For the ASA on the FXOS chassis, see ASA on the FXOS Chassis: Configure Smart Software Licensing,
on page 118.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Configure the HTTP Proxy on the ASAv, on page 113.
Step 2 Set the ASAv Smart License Entitlement, on page 113.
Step 3 Register the ASAv with the License Authority, on page 114.
(Optional) Configure the HTTP Proxy on the ASAv

If your network uses an HTTP proxy for Internet access, you must configure the proxy address for Smart
Software Licensing. This proxy is also used for Smart Call Home in general.
Procedure
Specify the HTTP Proxy URL:

call-home http-proxy ip_address port port
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# call-home
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# http-proxy 10.1.1.1 port 443
Set the ASAv Smart License Entitlement

To request the license entitlement, perform the following procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 Enter license smart configuration mode:

license smart
113
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license smart
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)#
Step 2 Set the feature tier:

Only the standard tier is available.
Step 3 Set the throughput level:

Example:
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)# throughput level 2G
Step 4 Exit license smart mode to apply your changes:

exit
Example:
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)# exit
ciscoasa(config)#
Your changes do not take effect until you exit the license smart configuration mode, either by explicitly exiting
the mode (exit or end) or by entering any command that takes you to a different mode.
Register the ASAv with the License Authority

When you register the ASAv, the License Authority issues an ID certificate for communication between the
ASAv and the License Authority. It also assigns the ASAv to the appropriate virtual account. Normally, this
procedure is a one-time instance. However, you might need to later re-register the ASAv if the ID certificate
expires because of a communication problem, for example.
Procedure
Step 1 In the Smart Software Manager, request and copy a registration token for the virtual account to which you
want to add this ASAv.
Step 2 Enter the registration token on the ASAv:
license smart register idtoken id_token [force]
Example:
ciscoasa# license smart register idtoken YjE3Njc5MzYtMGQzMi00OTA4
LWJhODItNzBhMGQ5NGRlYjUxLTE0MTQ5NDAy%0AODQzNzl8NXk2bzV3SDE0ZkgwQk
dYRmZ1NTNCNGlvRnBHUFpjcm02WTB4TU4w%0Ac2NnMD0%3D%0A
114
Use the force keyword to register an ASAv that is already registered, but that might be out of sync with the
License Authority. For example, use force if the ASAv was accidentally removed from the Smart Software
Manager.
The ASAv attempts to register with the License Authority and request authorization for the configured license
entitlements.
(Optional) Deregister the ASAv

Deregistering the ASAv removes the ASAv from your account. All license entitlements and certificates on
the ASAv are removed. You might want to deregister to free up a license for a new ASAv. Alternatively, you
can remove the ASAv from the Smart Software Manager.
Procedure
Deregister the ASAv:

license smart deregister
(Optional) Renew the ASAv ID Certificate or License Entitlement

By default, the ID certificate is automatically renewed every 6 months, and the license entitlement is renewed
every 30 days. You might want to manually renew the registration for either of these items if you have a
limited window for Internet access, or if you make any licensing changes in the Smart Software Manager, for
example.
Procedure
Step 1 Renew the ID certificate:

license smart renew id
Step 2 Renew the license entitlement:

license smart renew auth
ASAv: Configure Permanent License Reservation

You can assign a permanent license to an ASAv. This section also describes how to return a license if you
retire the ASAv or change model tiers and need a new license.
Procedure
Step 1 Install the ASAv Permanent License, on page 116

Step 2 (Optional) (Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent License, on page 117
115
Install the ASAv Permanent License

For ASAvs that do not have Internet access, you can request a permanent license from the Smart Software
Manager.
Note For permanent license reservation, you must return the license before you decommission the ASAv. If
you do not officially return the license, the license remains in a used state and cannot be reused for a new
ASAv. See (Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent License, on page 117.
Before You Begin

• Purchase permanent licenses so they are available in the Smart Software Manager. Not all accounts are
approved for permanent license reservation. Make sure you have approval from Cisco for this feature
before you attempt to configure it.
• You must request a permanent license after the ASAv starts up; you cannot install a permanent license
as part of the Day 0 configuration.
Procedure
Step 1 At the ASAv CLI, enable permanent license reservation:

license smart reservation
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# license smart reservation
ciscoasa (config)#
The following commands are removed:
license smart
To use regular smart licensing, use the no form of this command, and re-enter the above commands. Other
Smart Call Home configuration remains intact but unused, so you do not need to re-enter those commands.
Step 2 Request the license code to enter in the Smart Software Manager:
license smart reservation request universal
Example:
ciscoasa# license smart reservation request universal
Enter this request code in the Cisco Smart Software Manager portal:
ABP:ASAv,S:9AU5ET6UQHD{A8ug5/1jRDaSp3w8uGlfeQ{53C13E
ciscoasa#
The ASAv deployment determines which license (ASAv5/ASAv10/ASAv30) is requested.

If you re-enter this command, then the same code is displayed, even after a reload. If you have not yet entered
this code into the Smart Software Manager and want to cancel the request, enter:
116
license smart reservation cancel

If you disable permanent license reservation, then any pending requests are canceled. If you already entered
the code into the Smart Software Manager, then you must complete this procedure to apply the license to the
ASAv, after which point you can return the license if desired. See (Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent
License, on page 117.
Step 3 Go to the Smart Software Manager Inventory screen, and click the Licenses tab:
https://software.cisco.com/#SmartLicensing-Inventory
The Licenses tab displays all existing licenses related to your account, both regular and permanent.
Step 4 Click License Reservation, and type the ASAv code into the box. Click Reserve License.
The Smart Software Manager generates an authorization code. You can download the code or copy it to the
clipboard. At this point, the license is now in use according to the Smart Software Manager.
If you do not see the License Reservation button, then your account is not authorized for permanent license
reservation. In this case, you should disable permanent license reservation and re-enter the regular smart
license commands.
Step 5 On the ASAv, enter the authorization code:

license smart reservation install code
Example:
ciscoasa# license smart reservation install AAu3431rGRS00Ig5HQl2vpzg{MEYCIQCBw$
ciscoasa#
Your ASAv is now fully licensed.
(Optional) Return the ASAv Permanent License

If you no longer need a permanent license (for example, you are retiring an ASAv or changing its model level
so it needs a new license), you must officially return the license to the Smart Software Manager using this
procedure. If you do not follow all steps, then the license stays in a used state and cannot easily be freed up
for use elsewhere.
Procedure
Step 1 On the ASAv, generate a return code:

license smart reservation return
Example:
ciscoasa# license smart reservation return
Enter this return code in the Cisco Smart Software Manager portal:
Au3431rGRS00Ig5HQl2vpcg{uXiTRfVrp7M/zDpirLwYCaq8oSv60yZJuFDVBS2QliQ=
The ASAv immediately becomes unlicensed and moves to the Evaluation state. If you need to view this code
again, re-enter this command. Note that if you request a new permanent license (license smart reservation
117
request universal) or change the ASAv model level (by powering down and changing the vCPUs/RAM),
then you cannot re-display this code. Be sure to capture the code to complete the return.
Step 2 View the ASAv universal device identifier (UDI) so you can find this ASAv instance in the Smart Software
Manager:
show license udi
Example:
ciscoasa# show license udi
UDI: PID:ASAv,SN:9AHV3KJBEKE
ciscoasa#
Step 3 Go to the Smart Software Manager Inventory screen, and click the Product Instances tab:
https://software.cisco.com/#SmartLicensing-Inventory
The Product Instances tab displays all licensed products by the UDI.
Step 4 Find the ASAv you want to unlicense, choose Actions > Remove, and type the ASAv return code into the
box. Click Remove Product Instance.
The permanent license is returned to the available pool.
ASA on the FXOS Chassis: Configure Smart Software Licensing

When you deploy the ASA on the FXOS chassis, the Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) license is applied for
qualified customers. You must also request the standard tier license. Other optional licenses are available as
well.
Note For Smart Software Manager satellite users: The Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) license is not enabled
by default so you cannot use ASDM to configure your ASA until you request the Strong Encryption license
using the ASA CLI. Other strong encryption features are also not available until you do so, including
VPN.
Note For the ASAv, see ASAv: Configure Regular Smart Software Licensing, on page 113.
Before You Begin

For an ASA cluster, you need to access the primary unit for configuration. Check the Firepower Chassis
Manager to see which unit is the primary. You can also check from the ASA CLI, as shown in this procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 For CLI users and for satellite server ASDM users: Connect to the FXOS chassis CLI (console or SSH), and
then session to the ASA:
connect module slot console connect asa
118
Example:
Firepower> connect module 1 console
Firepower-module1> connect asa
asa>
The next time you connect to the ASA console, you go directly to the ASA; you do not need to enter connect
asa again.
For an ASA cluster, you only need to access the master unit for license configuration and other configuration.
Typically, the master unit is in slot 1, so you should connect to that module first.
Step 2 At the ASA CLI, enter global configuration mode. By default, the enable password is blank.
enable configure terminal
Example:
asa> enable
Password:
asa# configure terminal
asa(config)#
Step 3 If required, for an ASA cluster confirm that this unit is the primary unit:
show cluster info
Example:
asa(config)# show cluster info
Cluster stbu: On
This is "unit-1-1" in state SLAVE
ID : 0
Version : 9.5(2)
Serial No.: P3000000025
CCL IP : 127.2.1.1
CCL MAC : 000b.fcf8.c192
Last join : 17:08:59 UTC Sep 26 2015
Last leave: N/A
Other members in the cluster:
Unit "unit-1-2" in state SLAVE
ID : 1
Version : 9.5(2)
Serial No.: P3000000001
CCL IP : 127.2.1.2
Last join : 19:13:11 UTC Sep 23 2015
Last leave: N/A
Unit "unit-1-3" in state MASTER
ID : 2
Version : 9.5(2)
Serial No.: JAB0815R0JY
CCL IP : 127.2.1.3
CCL MAC : 000f.f775.541e
Last join : 19:13:20 UTC Sep 23 2015
Last leave: N/A
If a different unit is the primary unit, exit the connection and connect to the correct unit. See below for
information about exiting the connection.
Step 4 Enter license smart configuration mode:

license smart
119
Monitoring Smart Software Licensing
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# license smart
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)#
Step 5 Set the feature tier:

Only the standard tier is available. A tier license is a prerequisite for adding other feature licenses.
Step 6 Request one or more of the following features:

• For satellite server users only: Strong Encryption (3DES/AES)
feature strong-encryption
• Carrier (GTP/GPRS, Diameter, and SCTP inspection)
feature carrier
• Security Contexts
feature context <1-248>
Example:
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)# feature carrier
ciscoasa(config-smart-lic)# feature context 50
Step 7 To exit the ASA console, enter ~ at the prompt to exit to the Telnet application. Enter quit to exit back to the
supervisor CLI.

You can monitor the license features, status, and certificate, as well as enable debug messages.
Viewing Your Current License

See the following commands for viewing your license:
• show license features
The following example shows an ASAv with only a base license (no current license entitlement):
Serial Number: 9AAHGX8514R
ASAv Platform License State: Unlicensed

No active entitlement: no feature tier configured

120

• show license entitlement

This command was deprecated in 9.5(2.200).
Displays detailed information about each entitlement in use, its handle (i.e. integer id), its count, tag,
enforcement mode (e.g. in compliance, out of compliance, etc.), version and time at which the entitlement
was requested.
Viewing Smart License Status

See the following commands for viewing license status:
• show license all
Displays the state of Smart Software Licensing, Smart Agent version, UDI information, Smart Agent
state, global compliance status, the entitlements status, licensing certificate information, and scheduled
Smart Agent tasks.
The following example shows an ASAv license:
ciscoasa# show license all

Smart Licensing Status
======================
Smart Licensing is ENABLED
Registration:
Status: REGISTERED
Smart Account: ASA
Virtual Account: ASAv Internal Users
Export-Controlled Functionality: Not Allowed
Initial Registration: SUCCEEDED on Sep 21 20:26:29 2015 UTC
Last Renewal Attempt: None
Next Renewal Attempt: Mar 19 20:26:28 2016 UTC
Registration Expires: Sep 20 20:23:25 2016 UTC
License Authorization:
Status: AUTHORIZED on Sep 21 21:17:35 2015 UTC
Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED on Sep 21 21:17:35 2015 UTC
Next Communication Attempt: Sep 24 00:44:10 2015 UTC
Communication Deadline: Dec 20 21:14:33 2015 UTC
License Usage
==============
regid.2014-08.com.cisco.ASAv-STD-1G,1.0_4fd3bdbd-29ae-4cce-ad82-45ad3db1070c
(ASAv-STD-1G):
Description: This entitlement tag was created via Alpha Extension application
Count: 1
Version: 1.0
121
Status: AUTHORIZED
Product Information
===================
Agent Version
=============
Smart Agent for Licensing: 1.6_reservation/36
• show license registration

Displays the current Smart License registration status.
• show license pool
Displays the entitlement pool to which this device is assigned.
• show license status
Shows the smart license status.
The following example shows the status for an ASAv using regular smart software licensing:
ciscoasa# show license status
Registration:
Status: REGISTERED
Smart Account: ASA
Initial Registration: SUCCEEDED on Sep 21 20:26:29 2015 UTC
Registration Expires: Sep 20 20:23:25 2016 UTC
Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED on Sep 23 01:41:26 2015 UTC
Next Communication Attempt: Oct 23 01:41:26 2015 UTC
Communication Deadline: Dec 22 01:38:25 2015 UTC
The following example shows the status for an ASAv using permanent license reservation:
ciscoasa# show license status

License Reservation is ENABLED
Registration:
Status: REGISTERED - UNIVERSAL LICENSE RESERVATION
Export-Controlled Functionality: Allowed
Initial Registration: SUCCEEDED on Jan 28 16:42:45 2016 UTC
Status: AUTHORIZED - RESERVED on Jan 28 16:42:45 2016 UTC
Licensing HA configuration error:

No Reservation Ha config error
• show license summary
122
Shows a summary of smart license status and usage.

The following example shows the summary for an ASAv using regular smart software licensing:
ciscoasa# show license summary
Registration:
Status: REGISTERED
Smart Account: ASA
Status: AUTHORIZED
Last Communication Attempt: SUCCEEDED
Next Communication Attempt: Oct 23 01:41:26 2015 UTC
License Usage:
License Entitlement tag Count Status
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
regid.2014-08.com.ci... (ASAv-STD-1G) 1 AUTHORIZED
The following example shows the summary for an ASAv using permanent license reservation:
ciscoasa# show license summary
Registration:
Status: REGISTERED - UNIVERSAL LICENSE RESERVATION
Export-Controlled Functionality: Allowed
Status: AUTHORIZED - RESERVED
• show license usage

Shows the smart license usage.
The following example shows the usage for an ASAv:
ciscoasa# show license usage
regid.2014-08.com.cisco.ASAv-STD-1G,1.0_4fd3bdbd-29ae-4cce-ad82-45ad3db1070c
(ASAv-STD-1G):
Description: This entitlement tag was created via Alpha Extension application
Count: 1
Version: 1.0
Status: AUTHORIZED
Viewing the UDI

See the following commanf to view the universal product identifier (UDI):
show license udi
123
History for Smart Software Licensing
The following example shows the UDI for the ASAv:
ciscoasa# show license udi

ciscoasa#
Displaying ID Certificate Information

See the following command to view the license ID certificate:
• show license cert
Displays the ID certificate content, date issued, and the date it expires.
Debugging Smart Software Licensing

See the following commands for debugging clustering:
• debug license agent {error | trace | debug | all}
Turns on debugging from the Smart Agent.
• debug license level
Turns on various levels of Smart Software Licensing Manager debugs.

Releases
Cisco Smart Software Licensing for the ASAv 9.3(2) Smart Software Licensing lets you purchase and manage a pool
of licenses. Unlike PAK licenses, smart licenses are not tied to
a specific serial number. You can easily deploy or retire ASAvs
without having to manage each unit’s license key. Smart
Software Licensing also lets you see your license usage and
needs at a glance.
We introduced the following commands: clear configure
license, debug license agent, feature tier, http-proxy, license
smart, license smart deregister, license smart register,
license smart renew, show license, show running-config
license, throughput level
Cisco Smart Software Licensing for the ASA on 9.4(1.150) We introduced Smart Software Licensing for the ASA on the
the Firepower 9300 Firepower 9300.
We introduced the following commands: feature
strong-encryption, feature mobile-sp, feature context
124

Releases
Validation of the Smart Call Home/Smart 9.5(2) Smart licensing uses the Smart Call Home infrastructure. When
Licensing certificate if the issuing hierarchy of the the ASA first configures Smart Call Home anonymous reporting
server certificate changes in the background, it automatically creates a trustpoint
containing the certificate of the CA that issued the Smart Call
Home server certificate. The ASA now supports validation of
the certificate if the issuing hierarchy of the server certificate
changes; you can enable the automatic update of the trustpool
bundle at periodic intervals.
We introduced the following command: auto-import
New Carrier license 9.5(2) The new Carrier license replaces the existing GTP/GPRS
license, and also includes support for SCTP and Diameter
inspection. For the ASA on the Firepower 9300, the feature
mobile-sp command will automatically migrate to the feature
carrier command.
We introduced or modified the following commands: feature
carrier, show activation-key, show license, show
tech-support, show version
Strong Encryption (3DES) license automatically 9.5(2.1) For regular Cisco Smart Software Manager users, the Strong
applied for the ASA on the Firepower 9300 Encryption license is automatically enabled for qualified
customers when you apply the registration token on the
Firepower 9300.
Note If you are using the Smart Software Manager satellite
deployment, to use ASDM and other strong encryption
features, after you deploy the ASA you must enable
the Strong Encryption (3DES) license using the ASA
CLI.
This feature requires FXOS 1.1.3.
We removed the following command for non-satellite
configurations: feature strong-encryption
Permanent License Reservation for the ASAv 9.5(2.200) For highly secure environments where communication with the
Cisco Smart Software Manager is not allowed, you can request
a permanent license for the ASAv.
We introduced the following commands: license smart
reservation, license smart reservation cancel, license smart
reservation install, license smart reservation request
universal, license smart reservation return
125

Releases
Smart Agent Upgrade to v1.6 9.5(2.200) The smart agent was upgraded from Version 1.1 to Version
1.6. This upgrade supports permanent license reservation and
also supports setting the Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) license
entitlement according to the permission set in your license
account.
Note If you downgrade from Version 9.5(2.200), the ASAv
does not retain the licensing registration state. You
need to re-register with the license smart register
idtoken id_token force command; obtain the ID token
from the Smart Software Manager.
We introduced the following commands: show license status,
show license summary, show license udi, show license usage
We modified the following commands: show license all, show
tech-support license
We deprecated the following commands: show license cert,
show license entitlement, show license pool, show license
registration
126
CHAPTER 5
Transparent or Routed Firewall Mode
This chapter describes how to set the firewall mode to routed or transparent, as well as how the firewall
works in each firewall mode. This chapter also includes information about customizing the transparent
firewall operation.
You can set the firewall mode independently for each context in multiple context mode.
• About the Firewall Mode, page 127

• Default Settings, page 132
• Guidelines for Firewall Mode, page 133
• Set the Firewall Mode, page 134
• Configure ARP Inspection for the Transparent Firewall, page 135
• Customize the MAC Address Table for the Transparent Firewall, page 136
• Monitoring the Transparent Firewall, page 138
• Examples for Firewall Mode, page 138
• History for the Firewall Mode, page 149
About the Firewall Mode

The ASA supports two firewall modes: the Routed Firewall mode and the Transparent Firewall mode.
About Routed Firewall Mode

In routed mode, the ASA is considered to be a router hop in the network. Each interface is on a different
subnet. You can share interfaces between contexts.
The ASA acts as a router between connected networks, and each interface requires an IP address on a different
subnet. The ASA supports multiple dynamic routing protocols. However, we recommend using the advanced
routing capabilities of the upstream and downstream routers instead of relying on the ASA for extensive
routing needs.
127
About Transparent Firewall Mode

Traditionally, a firewall is a routed hop and acts as a default gateway for hosts that connect to one of its
screened subnets. A transparent firewall, on the other hand, is a Layer 2 firewall that acts like a “bump in the
wire,” or a “stealth firewall,” and is not seen as a router hop to connected devices. However, like any other
firewall, access control between interfaces is controlled, and all of the usual firewall checks are in place.
Using the Transparent Firewall in Your Network

The ASA connects the same network between its interfaces. Because the firewall is not a routed hop, you can
easily introduce a transparent firewall into an existing network.
The following figure shows a typical transparent firewall network where the outside devices are on the same
subnet as the inside devices. The inside router and hosts appear to be directly connected to the outside router.
Figure 2: Transparent Firewall Network
Bridge Groups
The inside and outside interfaces for the transparent firewall are grouped together into a bridge group. You
can create multiple bridge groups for separate networks. Bridge group traffic is isolated from other bridge
groups; traffic is not routed to another bridge group within the ASA, and traffic must exit the ASA before it
is routed by an external router back to another bridge group in the ASA. Although the bridging functions are
separate for each bridge group, many other functions are shared between all bridge groups. For example, all
bridge groups share a syslog server or AAA server configuration. For complete security policy separation,
use security contexts with one bridge group in each context.
You can include multiple interfaces per bridge group. See Guidelines for Firewall Mode, on page 133 for the
exact number of bridge groups and interfaces supported. If you use more than 2 interfaces per bridge group,
128
you can control communication between multiple segments on the same network, and not just between inside
and outside. For example, if you have three inside segments that you do not want to communicate with each
other, you can put each segment on a separate interface, and only allow them to communicate with the outside
interface. Or you can customize the access rules between interfaces to allow only as much access as desired.
The following figure shows two networks connected to the ASA, which has two bridge groups.
Figure 3: Transparent Firewall Network with Two Bridge Groups
Note Each bridge group requires a management IP address that you assign to the BVI interface. The ASA uses
this IP address as the source address for packets originating from the bridge group. The management IP
address must be on the same subnet as the connected network. For another method of management, see
Management Interface, on page 129.
The ASA does not support traffic on secondary networks; only traffic on the same network as the
management IP address is supported.
Management Interface
In addition to each bridge group management IP address, you can add a separate Management slot/port
interface that is not part of any bridge group, and that allows only management traffic to the ASA. For more
information, see Management Interface, on page 384.
Allowing Layer 3 Traffic

• Unicast IPv4 and IPv6 traffic is allowed through the transparent firewall automatically from a higher
security interface to a lower security interface, without an access rule.
129
• For Layer 3 traffic traveling from a low to a high security interface, an access rule is required on the
low security interface.
• ARPs are allowed through the transparent firewall in both directions without an access rule. ARP traffic
can be controlled by ARP inspection.
• IPv6 neighbor discovery and router solicitation packets can be passed using access rules.
• Broadcast and multicast traffic can be passed using access rules.
Allowed MAC Addresses

The following destination MAC addresses are allowed through the transparent firewall if allowed by your
access policy. Any MAC address not on this list is dropped.
• TRUE broadcast destination MAC address equal to FFFF.FFFF.FFFF
• IPv4 multicast MAC addresses from 0100.5E00.0000 to 0100.5EFE.FFFF
• IPv6 multicast MAC addresses from 3333.0000.0000 to 3333.FFFF.FFFF
• BPDU multicast address equal to 0100.0CCC.CCCD
• AppleTalk multicast MAC addresses from 0900.0700.0000 to 0900.07FF.FFFF
Passing Traffic Not Allowed in Routed Mode

In routed mode, some types of traffic cannot pass through the ASA even if you allow it in an access rule. The
transparent firewall, however, can allow almost any traffic through using either an access rule with an extended
ACL (for IP traffic) or an EtherType rule with an EtherType ACL (for non-IP traffic).
Non-IP traffic (for example AppleTalk, IPX, BPDUs, and MPLS) can be configured to go through using an
EtherType rule.
Note The transparent mode firewall does not pass CDP packets packets, or any packets that do not have a valid
EtherType greater than or equal to 0x600. An exception is made for BPDUs and IS-IS, which are supported.
Passing Traffic For Routed-Mode Features

For features that are not directly supported on the transparent firewall, you can allow traffic to pass through
so that upstream and downstream routers can support the functionality. For example, by using an access rule,
you can allow DHCP traffic (instead of the unsupported DHCP relay feature) or multicast traffic such as that
created by IP/TV. You can also establish routing protocol adjacencies through a transparent firewall; you can
allow OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, or BGP traffic through based on an access rule. Likewise, protocols like HSRP or
VRRP can pass through the ASA.
BPDU Handling
To prevent loops using the Spanning Tree Protocol, BPDUs are passed by default.To block BPDUs, you need
to configure an EtherType rule to deny them. If you are using failover, you might want to block BPDUs to
130
prevent the switch port from going into a blocking state when the topology changes. See Transparent Firewall
Mode Requirements for Failover, on page 209 for more information.
MAC Address vs. Route Lookups

When the ASA runs in transparent mode, the outgoing interface of a packet is determined by performing a
MAC address lookup instead of a route lookup.
Route lookups, however, are necessary for the following traffic types:
• Traffic originating on the ASA—For example, if your syslog server is located on a remote network, you
must use a static route so that the ASA can reach that subnet.
• Traffic that is at least one hop away from the ASA with NAT enabled—The ASA needs to perform a
route lookup to find the next hop gateway; you need to add a static route on the ASA for the real host
address.
• Voice over IP (VoIP) and DNS traffic with inspection enabled, and the endpoint is at least one hop away
from the ASA—For example, if you use the transparent firewall between a CCM and an H.323 gateway,
and there is a router between the transparent firewall and the H.323 gateway, then you need to add a
static route on the ASA for the H.323 gateway for successful call completion. If you enable NAT for
the inspected traffic, a static route is required to determine the egress interface for the real host address
that is embedded in the packet. Affected applications include:
◦CTIQBE
◦DNS
◦GTP
◦H.323
◦MGCP
◦RTSP
◦SIP
◦Skinny (SCCP)
ARP Inspection
By default, all ARP packets are allowed through the ASA when running in transparent mode. You can control
the flow of ARP packets by enabling ARP inspection.
ARP inspection prevents malicious users from impersonating other hosts or routers (known as ARP spoofing).
ARP spoofing can enable a “man-in-the-middle” attack. For example, a host sends an ARP request to the
gateway router; the gateway router responds with the gateway router MAC address. The attacker, however,
sends another ARP response to the host with the attacker MAC address instead of the router MAC address.
The attacker can now intercept all the host traffic before forwarding it on to the router.
ARP inspection ensures that an attacker cannot send an ARP response with the attacker MAC address, so
long as the correct MAC address and the associated IP address are in the static ARP table.
When you enable ARP inspection, the ASA compares the MAC address, IP address, and source interface in
all ARP packets to static entries in the ARP table, and takes the following actions:
131
Default Settings
• If the IP address, MAC address, and source interface match an ARP entry, the packet is passed through.
• If there is a mismatch between the MAC address, the IP address, or the interface, then the ASA drops
the packet.
• If the ARP packet does not match any entries in the static ARP table, then you can set the ASA to either
forward the packet out all interfaces (flood), or to drop the packet.
Note The dedicated Management interface never floods packets even if this parameter is set
to flood.
MAC Address Table

The ASA learns and builds a MAC address table in a similar way as a normal bridge or switch: when a device
sends a packet through the transparent firewall, the transparent firewall adds the MAC address to its table.
The table associates the MAC address with the source interface so that the transparent firewall knows to send
any packets addressed to the device out the correct interface.
Because the ASA is a firewall, if the destination MAC address of a packet is not in the table, the transparent
firewall does not flood the original packet on all interfaces as a normal bridge does. Instead, it generates the
following packets for directly connected devices or for remote devices:
• Packets for directly connected devices—The ASA generates an ARP request for the destination IP
address, so that it can learn which interface receives the ARP response.
• Packets for remote devices—The ASA generates a ping to the destination IP address so that it can learn
which interface receives the ping reply.
The original packet is dropped.
Default Settings
Default Mode
The default mode is routed mode.
Transparent Mode Defaults

• By default, all ARP packets are allowed through the ASA.
• If you enable ARP inspection, the default setting is to flood non-matching packets.
• The default timeout value for dynamic MAC address table entries is 5 minutes.
• By default, each interface automatically learns the MAC addresses of entering traffic, and the ASA adds
corresponding entries to the MAC address table.
132
Guidelines for Firewall Mode
Guidelines for Firewall Mode

Set the firewall mode per context.
Transparent Firewall Guidelines

• You can create up to 250 bridge groups, with 4 interfaces per bridge group.
• In transparent firewall mode, the Management interface updates the MAC address table in the same
manner as a data interface; therefore you should not connect both a Management and a data interface to
the same switch unless you configure one of the switch ports as a routed port (by default Catalyst switches
share a MAC address for all VLAN switch ports). Otherwise, if traffic arrives on the Management
interface from the physically-connected switch, then the ASA updates the MAC address table to use the
Management interface to access the switch, instead of the data interface. This action causes a temporary
traffic interruption; the ASA will not re-update the MAC address table for packets from the switch to
the data interface for at least 30 seconds for security reasons. Note that if the Management is unconfigured,
then you can connect the module management interface to the switch; it does not participate in the MAC
address table for the firewall.
• Each directly-connected network must be on the same subnet.
• Do not specify the bridge group management IP address as the default gateway for connected devices;
devices need to specify the router on the other side of the ASA as the default gateway.
• The default route for the transparent firewall, which is required to provide a return path for management
traffic, is only applied to management traffic from one bridge group network. This is because the default
route specifies an interface in the bridge group as well as the router IP address on the bridge group
network, and you can only define one default route. If you have management traffic from more than one
bridge group network, you need to specify a regular static route that identifies the network from which
you expect management traffic.
See Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, on page 434 for more guidelines.
IPv6 Guidelines
Supports IPv6.
Additional Guidelines and Limitations

• When you change firewall modes, the ASA clears the running configuration because many commands
are not supported for both modes. The startup configuration remains unchanged. If you reload without
saving, then the startup configuration is loaded, and the mode reverts back to the original setting. See
Set the Firewall Mode, on page 134 for information about backing up your configuration file.
• If you download a text configuration to the ASA that changes the mode with the firewall transparent
command, be sure to put the command at the top of the configuration; the ASA changes the mode as
soon as it reads the command and then continues reading the configuration you downloaded. If the
command appears later in the configuration, the ASA clears all the preceding lines in the configuration.
See Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup Configuration, on page 852 for information about
downloading text files.
133
Set the Firewall Mode
Unsupported Features in Transparent Mode

The following table lists the features are not supported in transparent mode.
Table 10: Unsupported Features in Transparent Mode
Feature Description
Dynamic DNS —
DHCP relay The transparent firewall can act as a DHCP server, but it does not support
the DHCP relay commands. DHCP relay is not required because you can
allow DHCP traffic to pass through using two extended ACLs: one that
allows DCHP requests from the inside interface to the outside, and one
that allows the replies from the server in the other direction.
Dynamic routing protocols You can, however, add static routes for traffic originating on the ASA.
You can also allow dynamic routing protocols through the ASA using an
extended ACL.
Multicast IP routing You can allow multicast traffic through the ASA by allowing it in an
extended ACL.
QoS —
VPN termination for through The transparent firewall supports site-to-site VPN tunnels for management
traffic connections only. It does not terminate VPN connections for traffic through
the ASA. You can pass VPN traffic through the ASA using an extended
ACL, but it does not terminate non-management connections. Clientless
SSL VPN is also not supported.
Unified Communications —
Set the Firewall Mode

This section describes how to change the firewall mode.
Note We recommend that you set the firewall mode before you perform any other configuration because changing
the firewall mode clears the running configuration.
Before You Begin

When you change modes, the ASA clears the running configuration (see Guidelines for Firewall Mode, on
page 133 for more information).
• If you already have a populated configuration, be sure to back up your configuration before changing
the mode; you can use this backup for reference when creating your new configuration. See Back Up
and Restore Configurations or Other Files, on page 853.
134
Configure ARP Inspection for the Transparent Firewall
• Use the CLI at the console port to change the mode. If you use any other type of session, including the
ASDM Command Line Interface tool or SSH, you will be disconnected when the configuration is cleared,
and you will have to reconnect to the ASA using the console port in any case.
• Set the mode within the context.
Note To set the firewall mode to transparent and also configure ASDM management access after the configuration
is cleared, see Configure ASDM Access, on page 25.
Procedure
Set the firewall mode to transparent:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# firewall transparent
To change the mode to routed, enter the no firewall transparent command.

Note You are not prompted to confirm the firewall mode change; the change occurs immediately.
Configure ARP Inspection for the Transparent Firewall

To configure ARP Inspection, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Add static ARP entries according to Add a Static ARP Entry, on page 135. ARP inspection compares ARP
packets with static ARP entries in the ARP table, so static ARP entries are required for this feature.
Step 2 Enable ARP inspection according to Enable ARP Inspection, on page 136.
Add a Static ARP Entry

By default, all ARP packets are allowed through the transparent mode ASA. You can control the flow of ARP
packets by enabling ARP inspection. ARP inspection compares ARP packets with static ARP entries in the
ARP table.
For routed mode, you can enter static ARP entries, but normally dynamic entries are sufficient. For routed
mode, the ARP table is used to deliver packets to directly-connected hosts. Although senders identify a packet
destination by an IP address, the actual delivery of the packet on Ethernet relies on the Ethernet MAC address.
When a router or host wants to deliver a packet on a directly connected network, it sends an ARP request
asking for the MAC address associated with the IP address, and then delivers the packet to the MAC address
according to the ARP response. The host or router keeps an ARP table so it does not have to send ARP requests
for every packet it needs to deliver. The ARP table is dynamically updated whenever ARP responses are sent
135
Customize the MAC Address Table for the Transparent Firewall
on the network, and if an entry is not used for a period of time, it times out. If an entry is incorrect (for example,
the MAC address changes for a given IP address), the entry needs to time out before it can be updated with
the new information.
For transparent mode, the ASA only uses dynamic ARP entries in the ARP table for traffic to and from the
ASA, such as management traffic.
Procedure
Add a static ARP entry:

arp interface_name ip_address mac_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# arp outside 10.1.1.1 0009.7cbe.2100
This allows ARP responses from the router at 10.1.1.1 with the MAC address 0009.7cbe.2100 on the outside
interface.
Enable ARP Inspection

This section describes how to enable ARP inspection.
Procedure
Enable ARP inspection:

arp-inspection interface_name enable [flood | no-flood]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# arp-inspection outside enable no-flood
The flood keyword forwards non-matching ARP packets out all interfaces, and no-flood drops non-matching
packets.
The default setting is to flood non-matching packets. To restrict ARP through the ASA to only static entries,
then set this command to no-flood.

This section describes how you can customize the MAC address table.
Add a Static MAC Address

Normally, MAC addresses are added to the MAC address table dynamically as traffic from a particular MAC
address enters an interface. You can add static MAC addresses to the MAC address table if desired. One
benefit to adding static entries is to guard against MAC spoofing. If a client with the same MAC address as
a static entry attempts to send traffic to an interface that does not match the static entry, then the ASA drops
136
the traffic and generates a system message. When you add a static ARP entry (see Add a Static ARP Entry,
on page 135), a static MAC address entry is automatically added to the MAC address table.
To add a static MAC address to the MAC address table,perform the following steps.
Procedure
Add a static MAC address entry:

mac-address-table static interface_name mac_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mac-address-table static inside 0009.7cbe.2100
The interface_name is the source interface.
Set the MAC Address Timeout

The default timeout value for dynamic MAC address table entries is 5 minutes, but you can change the timeout.
To change the timeout, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Set the MAC address entry timeout:

mac-address-table aging-time timeout_value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mac-address-table aging-time 10
The timeout_value (in minutes) is between 5 and 720 (12 hours). 5 minutes is the default.
Disable MAC Address Learning

By default, each interface automatically learns the MAC addresses of entering traffic, and the ASA adds
corresponding entries to the MAC address table. You can disable MAC address learning if desired, however,
unless you statically add MAC addresses to the table, no traffic can pass through the ASA.
To disable MAC address learning, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Disable MAC address learning:

mac-learn interface_name disable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mac-learn inside disable
The no form of this command reenables MAC address learning.
137
Monitoring the Transparent Firewall
The clear configure mac-learn command reenables MAC address learning on all interfaces.
Monitoring the Transparent Firewall

• show arp-inspection
Monitors ARP Inspection. Shows the current settings for ARP inspection on all interfaces.
• show mac-address-table [interface_name]
Monitors the MAC address table. You can view the entire MAC address table (including static and
dynamic entries for both interfaces), or you can view the MAC address table for an interface.
The following is sample output from the show mac-address-table command that shows the entire table:
ciscoasa# show mac-address-table

interface mac address type Time Left
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
outside 0009.7cbe.2100 static -
inside 0010.7cbe.6101 static -
inside 0009.7cbe.5101 dynamic 10
The following is sample output from the show mac-address-table command that shows the table for
the inside interface:
ciscoasa# show mac-address-table inside

interface mac address type Time Left
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
inside 0010.7cbe.6101 static -
inside 0009.7cbe.5101 dynamic 10
Examples for Firewall Mode

This section includes examples of how traffic moves through the ASA in the routed and transparent firewall
mode.
How Data Moves Through the ASA in Routed Firewall Mode

The following sections describe how data moves through the ASA in routed firewall mode in multiple scenarios.
138
An Inside User Visits a Web Server

The following figure shows an inside user accessing an outside web server.
Figure 4: Inside to Outside
The following steps describe how data moves through the ASA:
1 The user on the inside network requests a web page from www.example.com.
2 The ASA receives the packet and because it is a new session, it verifies that the packet is allowed according
to the terms of the security policy.
For multiple context mode, the ASA first classifies the packet to a context.
3 The ASA translates the real address (10.1.2.27) to the mapped address 209.165.201.10, which is on the
outside interface subnet.
The mapped address could be on any subnet, but routing is simplified when it is on the outside interface
subnet.
4 The ASA then records that a session is established and forwards the packet from the outside interface.
5 When www.example.com responds to the request, the packet goes through the ASA, and because the
session is already established, the packet bypasses the many lookups associated with a new connection.
The ASA performs NAT by untranslating the global destination address to the local user address, 10.1.2.27.
6 The ASA forwards the packet to the inside user.
139
An Outside User Visits a Web Server on the DMZ

The following figure shows an outside user accessing the DMZ web server.
Figure 5: Outside to DMZ
1 A user on the outside network requests a web page from the DMZ web server using the mapped address
of 209.165.201.3, which is on the outside interface subnet.
2 The ASA receives the packet and untranslates the mapped address to the real address 10.1.1.3.
3 Because it is a new session, the ASA verifies that the packet is allowed according to the terms of the
security policy.
4 The ASA then adds a session entry to the fast path and forwards the packet from the DMZ interface.
5 When the DMZ web server responds to the request, the packet goes through the ASA and because the
session is already established, the packet bypasses the many lookups associated with a new connection.
The ASA performs NAT by translating the real address to 209.165.201.3.
6 The ASA forwards the packet to the outside user.
140
An Inside User Visits a Web Server on the DMZ

The following figure shows an inside user accessing the DMZ web server.
Figure 6: Inside to DMZ
1 A user on the inside network requests a web page from the DMZ web server using the destination address
of 10.1.1.3.
2 The ASA receives the packet and because it is a new session, the ASA verifies that the packet is allowed
according to the terms of the security policy.
3 The ASA then records that a session is established and forwards the packet out of the DMZ interface.
4 When the DMZ web server responds to the request, the packet goes through the fast path, which lets the
packet bypass the many lookups associated with a new connection.
141
An Outside User Attempts to Access an Inside Host

The following figure shows an outside user attempting to access the inside network.
Figure 7: Outside to Inside
1 A user on the outside network attempts to reach an inside host (assuming the host has a routable IP address).
If the inside network uses private addresses, no outside user can reach the inside network without NAT.
The outside user might attempt to reach an inside user by using an existing NAT session.
2 The ASA receives the packet and because it is a new session, it verifies if the packet is allowed according
to the security policy.
3 The packet is denied, and the ASA drops the packet and logs the connection attempt.
If the outside user is attempting to attack the inside network, the ASA employs many technologies to
determine if a packet is valid for an already established session.
142
A DMZ User Attempts to Access an Inside Host

The following figure shows a user in the DMZ attempting to access the inside network.
Figure 8: DMZ to Inside
1 A user on the DMZ network attempts to reach an inside host. Because the DMZ does not have to route
the traffic on the Internet, the private addressing scheme does not prevent routing.
2 The ASA receives the packet and because it is a new session, it verifies if the packet is allowed according
to the security policy.
The packet is denied, and the ASA drops the packet and logs the connection attempt.
143
How Data Moves Through the Transparent Firewall

The following figure shows a typical transparent firewall implementation with an inside network that contains
a public web server. The ASA has an access rule so that the inside users can access Internet resources. Another
access rule lets the outside users access only the web server on the inside network.
Figure 9: Typical Transparent Firewall Data Path
The following sections describe how data moves through the ASA.
144
An Inside User Visits a Web Server

Figure 10: Inside to Outside
2 The ASA receives the packet and adds the source MAC address to the MAC address table, if required.
Because it is a new session, it verifies that the packet is allowed according to the terms of the security
policy.
3 The ASA records that a session is established.
4 If the destination MAC address is in its table, the ASA forwards the packet out of the outside interface.
The destination MAC address is that of the upstream router, 209.165.201.2.
If the destination MAC address is not in the ASA table, it attempts to discover the MAC address by sending
an ARP request or a ping. The first packet is dropped.
5 The web server responds to the request; because the session is already established, the packet bypasses
the many lookups associated with a new connection.
145
An Inside User Visits a Web Server Using NAT

Figure 11: Inside to Outside with NAT
policy.
For multiple context mode, the ASA first classifies the packet according to a unique interface.
3 The ASA translates the real address (10.1.2.27) to the mapped address 209.165.201.10.
Because the mapped address is not on the same network as the outside interface, then be sure the upstream
router has a static route to the mapped network that points to the ASA.
4 The ASA then records that a session is established and forwards the packet from the outside interface.
5 If the destination MAC address is in its table, the ASA forwards the packet out of the outside interface.
The destination MAC address is that of the upstream router, 10.1.2.1.
If the destination MAC address is not in the ASA table, then it attempts to discover the MAC address by
sending an ARP request and a ping. The first packet is dropped.
146
7 The ASA performs NAT by untranslating the mapped address to the real address, 10.1.2.27.
An Outside User Visits a Web Server on the Inside Network

The following figure shows an outside user accessing the inside web server.
1 A user on the outside network requests a web page from the inside web server.
policy.
3 The ASA records that a session is established.
4 If the destination MAC address is in its table, the ASA forwards the packet out of the inside interface. The
destination MAC address is that of the downstream router, 209.165.201.1.
If the destination MAC address is not in the ASA table, then it attempts to discover the MAC address by
sending an ARP request and a ping. The first packet is dropped.
147
6 The ASA forwards the packet to the outside user.
An Outside User Attempts to Access an Inside Host

The following figure shows an outside user attempting to access a host on the inside network.
1 A user on the outside network attempts to reach an inside host.
Because it is a new session, it verifies if the packet is allowed according to the terms of the security policy.
3 The packet is denied because there is no access rule permitting the outside host, and the ASA drops the
packet.
4 If the outside user is attempting to attack the inside network, the ASA employs many technologies to
determine if a packet is valid for an already established session.
148
History for the Firewall Mode

Table 11: Feature History for Firewall Mode
Feature Name Platform Feature Information

Releases
Transparent Firewall Mode 7.0(1) A transparent firewall is a Layer 2 firewall that acts like a “bump
in the wire,” or a “stealth firewall,” and is not seen as a router
hop to connected devices.
We introduced the following commands: firewall transparent,
show firewall.
ARP inspection 7.0(1) ARP inspection compares the MAC address, IP address, and
source interface in all ARP packets to static entries in the ARP
table.
We introduced the following commands: arp, arp-inspection,
and show arp-inspection.
MAC address table 7.0(1) Transparent firewall mode uses a MAC address table.
We introduced the following commands: mac-address-table
static, mac-address-table aging-time, mac-learn disable, and
show mac-address-table.
Transparent firewall bridge groups 8.4(1) If you do not want the overhead of security contexts, or want
to maximize your use of security contexts, you can group
interfaces together in a bridge group, and then configure
multiple bridge groups, one for each network. Bridge group
traffic is isolated from other bridge groups. You can configure
up to 8 bridge groups in single mode or per context in multiple
mode, with 4 interfaces maximum per bridge group.
Note Although you can configure multiple bridge groups
on the ASA 5505, the restriction of 2 data interfaces
in transparent mode on the ASA 5505 means you can
only effectively use 1 bridge group.
We introduced the following commands: interface bvi,
bridge-group, show bridge-group.
149

Releases
ARP cache additions for non-connected subnets 8.4(5)/9.1(2) The ASA ARP cache only contains entries from
directly-connected subnets by default. You can now enable the
ARP cache to also include non-directly-connected subnets. We
do not recommend enabling this feature unless you know the
security risks. This feature could facilitate denial of service
(DoS) attack against the ASA; a user on any interface could
send out many ARP replies and overload the ASA ARP table
with false entries.
You may want to use this feature if you use:
• Secondary subnets.
• Proxy ARP on adjacent routes for traffic forwarding.
We introduced the following command: arp

permit-nonconnected.
Mixed firewall mode support in multiple context 8.5(1)/9.0(1) You can set the firewall mode independently for each security
mode context in multiple context mode, so some can run in transparent
mode while others run in routed mode.
We modified the following command: firewall transparent.
Transparent mode bridge group maximum 9.3(1) The bridge group maximum was increased from 8 to 250 bridge
increased to 250 groups. You can configure up to 250 bridge groups in single
mode or per context in multiple mode, with 4 interfaces
maximum per bridge group.
We modified the following commands: interface bvi,
bridge-group.
150
PART II
High Availability and Scalability
• Multiple Context Mode, page 153
• Failover for High Availability, page 195
• ASA Cluster, page 247
• ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis, page 339
CHAPTER 6
Multiple Context Mode
This chapter describes how to configure multiple security contexts on the Cisco ASA.
• About Security Contexts, page 153

• Licensing for Multiple Context Mode, page 164
• Prerequisites for Multiple Context Mode, page 165
• Guidelines for Multiple Context Mode, page 165
• Defaults for Multiple Context Mode, page 166
• Configure Multiple Contexts, page 166
• Change Between Contexts and the System Execution Space, page 176
• Manage Security Contexts, page 176
• Monitoring Security Contexts, page 180
• Examples for Multiple Context Mode, page 190
• History for Multiple Context Mode, page 191
About Security Contexts

You can partition a single ASA into multiple virtual devices, known as security contexts. Each context acts
as an independent device, with its own security policy, interfaces, and administrators. Multiple contexts are
similar to having multiple standalone devices. For unsupported features in multiple context mode, see Guidelines
for Multiple Context Mode, on page 165.
This section provides an overview of security contexts.
Common Uses for Security Contexts

You might want to use multiple security contexts in the following situations:
• You are a service provider and want to sell security services to many customers. By enabling multiple
security contexts on the ASA, you can implement a cost-effective, space-saving solution that keeps all
customer traffic separate and secure, and also eases configuration.
153
• You are a large enterprise or a college campus and want to keep departments completely separate.
• You are an enterprise that wants to provide distinct security policies to different departments.
• You have any network that requires more than one ASA.
Context Configuration Files

This section describes how the ASA implements multiple context mode configurations.
Context Configurations
For each context, the ASA includes a configuration that identifies the security policy, interfaces, and all the
options you can configure on a standalone device. You can store context configurations in flash memory, or
you can download them from a TFTP, FTP, or HTTP(S) server.
System Configuration
The system administrator adds and manages contexts by configuring each context configuration location,
allocated interfaces, and other context operating parameters in the system configuration, which, like a single
mode configuration, is the startup configuration. The system configuration identifies basic settings for the
ASA. The system configuration does not include any network interfaces or network settings for itself; rather,
when the system needs to access network resources (such as downloading the contexts from the server), it
uses one of the contexts that is designated as the admin context. The system configuration does include a
specialized failover interface for failover traffic only.
Admin Context Configuration

The admin context is just like any other context, except that when a user logs in to the admin context, then
that user has system administrator rights and can access the system and all other contexts. The admin context
is not restricted in any way, and can be used as a regular context. However, because logging into the admin
context grants you administrator privileges over all contexts, you might need to restrict access to the admin
context to appropriate users. The admin context must reside on flash memory, and not remotely.
If your system is already in multiple context mode, or if you convert from single mode, the admin context is
created automatically as a file on the internal flash memory called admin.cfg. This context is named “admin.”
If you do not want to use admin.cfg as the admin context, you can change the admin context.
How the ASA Classifies Packets

Each packet that enters the ASA must be classified, so that the ASA can determine to which context to send
a packet.
Note If the destination MAC address is a multicast or broadcast MAC address, the packet is duplicated and
delivered to each context.
154
Valid Classifier Criteria

This section describes the criteria used by the classifier.
Note For management traffic destined for an interface, the interface IP address is used for classification.
The routing table is not used for packet classification.
Unique Interfaces
If only one context is associated with the ingress interface, the ASA classifies the packet into that context. In
transparent firewall mode, unique interfaces for contexts are required, so this method is used to classify packets
at all times.
Unique MAC Addresses

If multiple contexts share an interface, then the classifier uses unique MAC addresses assigned to the interface
in each context. An upstream router cannot route directly to a context without unique MAC addresses. You
can enable auto-generation of MAC addresses. You can also set the MAC addresses manually when you
configure each interface.
NAT Configuration
If you do not enable use of unique MAC addresses, then the ASA uses the mapped addresses in your NAT
configuration to classify packets. We recommend using MAC addresses instead of NAT, so that traffic
classification can occur regardless of the completeness of the NAT configuration.
155
Classification Examples
The following figure shows multiple contexts sharing an outside interface. The classifier assigns the packet
to Context B because Context B includes the MAC address to which the router sends the packet.
Figure 14: Packet Classification with a Shared Interface Using MAC Addresses
156
Note that all new incoming traffic must be classified, even from inside networks. The following figure shows
a host on the Context B inside network accessing the Internet. The classifier assigns the packet to Context B
because the ingress interface is Gigabit Ethernet 0/1.3, which is assigned to Context B.
Figure 15: Incoming Traffic from Inside Networks
157
For transparent firewalls, you must use unique interfaces. The following figure shows a packet destined to a
host on the Context B inside network from the Internet. The classifier assigns the packet to Context B because
the ingress interface is Gigabit Ethernet 1/0.3, which is assigned to Context B.
Figure 16: Transparent Firewall Contexts
Cascading Security Contexts

Placing a context directly in front of another context is called cascading contexts; the outside interface of one
context is the same interface as the inside interface of another context. You might want to cascade contexts
if you want to simplify the configuration of some contexts by configuring shared parameters in the top context.
Note Cascading contexts requires unique MAC addresses for each context interface. Because of the limitations
of classifying packets on shared interfaces without MAC addresses, we do not recommend using cascading
contexts without unique MAC addresses.
158
The following figure shows a gateway context with two contexts behind the gateway.
Figure 17: Cascading Contexts
Management Access to Security Contexts

The ASA provides system administrator access in multiple context mode as well as access for individual
context administrators. The following sections describe logging in as a system administrator or as a context
administrator:
System Administrator Access

You can access the ASA as a system administrator in two ways:
• Access the ASA console.
From the console, you access the system execution space, which means that any commands you enter
affect only the system configuration or the running of the system (for run-time commands).
• Access the admin context using Telnet, SSH, or ASDM.
As the system administrator, you can access all contexts.

When you change to a context from admin or the system, your username changes to the default “enable_15”
username. If you configured command authorization in that context, you need to either configure authorization
privileges for the “enable_15” user, or you can log in as a different name for which you provide sufficient
privileges. To log in with a new username, enter the login command. For example, you log in to the admin
context with the username “admin.” The admin context does not have any command authorization configuration,
but all other contexts include command authorization. For convenience, each context configuration includes
a user “admin” with maximum privileges. When you change from the admin context to context A, your
159
username is altered to enable_15, so you must log in again as “admin” by entering the login command. When
you change to context B, you must again enter the login command to log in as “admin.”
The system execution space does not support any AAA commands, but you can configure its own enable
password, as well as usernames in the local database to provide individual logins.
Context Administrator Access

You can access a context using Telnet, SSH, or ASDM. If you log in to a non-admin context, you can only
access the configuration for that context. You can provide individual logins to the context.
About Resource Management

By default, all security contexts have unlimited access to the resources of the ASA, except where maximum
limits per context are enforced; the only exception is VPN resources, which are disabled by default. If you
find that one or more contexts use too many resources, and they cause other contexts to be denied connections,
for example, then you can configure resource management to limit the use of resources per context. For VPN
resources, you must configure resource management to allow any VPN tunnels.
Resource Classes
The ASA manages resources by assigning contexts to resource classes. Each context uses the resource limits
set by the class. To use the settings of a class, assign the context to the class when you define the context. All
contexts belong to the default class if they are not assigned to another class; you do not have to actively assign
a context to default. You can only assign a context to one resource class. The exception to this rule is that
limits that are undefined in the member class are inherited from the default class; so in effect, a context could
be a member of default plus another class.
Resource Limits
You can set the limit for individual resources as a percentage (if there is a hard system limit) or as an absolute
value.
For most resources, the ASA does not set aside a portion of the resources for each context assigned to the
class; rather, the ASA sets the maximum limit for a context. If you oversubscribe resources, or allow some
resources to be unlimited, a few contexts can “use up” those resources, potentially affecting service to other
contexts. The exception is VPN resource types, which you cannot oversubscribe, so the resources assigned
to each context are guaranteed. To accommodate temporary bursts of VPN sessions beyond the amount
assigned, the ASA supports a “burst” VPN resource type, which is equal to the remaining unassigned VPN
sessions. The burst sessions can be oversubscribed, and are available to contexts on a first-come, first-served
basis.
Default Class
All contexts belong to the default class if they are not assigned to another class; you do not have to actively
assign a context to the default class.
If a context belongs to a class other than the default class, those class settings always override the default class
settings. However, if the other class has any settings that are not defined, then the member context uses the
default class for those limits. For example, if you create a class with a 2 percent limit for all concurrent
160
connections, but no other limits, then all other limits are inherited from the default class. Conversely, if you
create a class with a limit for all resources, the class uses no settings from the default class.
For most resources, the default class provides unlimited access to resources for all contexts, except for the
following limits:
• Telnet sessions—5 sessions. (The maximum per context.)
• SSH sessions—5 sessions. (The maximum per context.)
• IPsec sessions—5 sessions. (The maximum per context.)
• MAC addresses—65,535 entries. (The maximum per context.)
• AnyConnect peers—0 sessions. (You must manually configure the class to allow any AnyConnect peers.)
• VPN site-to-site tunnels—0 sessions. (You must manually configure the class to allow any VPN sessions.)
The following figure shows the relationship between the default class and other classes. Contexts A and C
belong to classes with some limits set; other limits are inherited from the default class. Context B inherits no
limits from default because all limits are set in its class, the Gold class. Context D was not assigned to a class,
and is by default a member of the default class.
Figure 18: Resource Classes
Use Oversubscribed Resources

You can oversubscribe the ASA by assigning more than 100 percent of a resource across all contexts (with
the exception of non-burst VPN resources). For example, you can set the Bronze class to limit connections
161
to 20 percent per context, and then assign 10 contexts to the class for a total of 200 percent. If contexts
concurrently use more than the system limit, then each context gets less than the 20 percent you intended.
Figure 19: Resource Oversubscription
Use Unlimited Resources

The ASA lets you assign unlimited access to one or more resources in a class, instead of a percentage or
absolute number. When a resource is unlimited, contexts can use as much of the resource as the system has
available. For example, Context A, B, and C are in the Silver Class, which limits each class member to 1
percent of the connections, for a total of 3 percent; but the three contexts are currently only using 2 percent
combined. Gold Class has unlimited access to connections. The contexts in the Gold Class can use more than
the 97 percent of “unassigned” connections; they can also use the 1 percent of connections not currently in
use by Context A, B, and C, even if that means that Context A, B, and C are unable to reach their 3 percent
combined limit. Setting unlimited access is similar to oversubscribing the ASA, except that you have less
control over how much you oversubscribe the system.
Figure 20: Unlimited Resources
162
About MAC Addresses

To allow contexts to share interfaces, you should enable aut-generation of virtual MAC addresses to each
shared context interface. On the ASASM, auto-generation is enabled by default.
The MAC address is used to classify packets within a context. If you share an interface, but do not have unique
MAC addresses for the interface in each context, then other classification methods are attempted that might
not provide full coverage.
In the rare circumstance that the generated MAC address conflicts with another private MAC address in your
network, you can manually set the MAC address for the interface within the context.
Default MAC Address

Automatic MAC address generation is disabled by default, except for the ASASM, where it is enabled by
default. When enabled, the ASA autogenerates the prefix based on the last two bytes of the interface (ASA
5500-X) or backplane (ASASM) MAC address. You can customize the prefix if desired.
If you disable MAC address generation, see the following default MAC addresses:
• For the ASA 5500-X series appliances—The physical interface uses the burned-in MAC address, and
all subinterfaces of a physical interface use the same burned-in MAC address.
• For the ASASM—All VLAN interfaces use the same MAC address, derived from the backplane MAC
address.
Interaction with Manual MAC Addresses

If you manually assign a MAC address and also enable auto-generation, then the manually assigned MAC
address is used. If you later remove the manual MAC address, the auto-generated address is used.
Because auto-generated addresses (when using a prefix) start with A2, you cannot start manual MAC addresses
with A2 if you also want to use auto-generation.
Failover MAC Addresses

For use with failover, the ASA generates both an active and standby MAC address for each interface. If the
active unit fails over and the standby unit becomes active, the new active unit starts using the active MAC
addresses to minimize network disruption.
MAC Address Format

The ASA generates the MAC address using the following format:
A2xx.yyzz.zzzz
Where xx.yy is a user-defined prefix or an autogenerated prefix based on the last two bytes of the interface
(ASA 5500-X) or backplane (ASASM) MAC address, and zz.zzzz is an internal counter generated by the ASA.
For the standby MAC address, the address is identical except that the internal counter is increased by 1.
For an example of how the prefix is used, if you set a prefix of 77, then the ASA converts 77 into the
hexadecimal value 004D (yyxx). When used in the MAC address, the prefix is reversed (xxyy) to match the
ASA native form:
163
Licensing for Multiple Context Mode
A24D.00zz.zzzz
For a prefix of 1009 (03F1), the MAC address is:
A2F1.03zz.zzzz
Note The MAC address format without a prefix is a legacy version not supported on newer ASA versions. See
the mac-address auto command in the command reference for more information about the legacy format.
Licensing for Multiple Context Mode

ASA 5506-X No support.
ASA 5508-X Security Plus License: 2 contexts.

Optional license: 5 contexts.
ASA 5512-X
• Base License: No support.
• Security Plus License: 2 contexts.
ASA 5515-X Base License: 2 contexts.

ASA 5516-X Security Plus License: 2 contexts.


Optional licenses: 5, 10, or 20 contexts.

Optional licenses: 5, 10, 20, or 50 contexts.

Optional licenses: 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 contexts.
ASA 5585-X with Base License: 2 contexts.

SSP-10
Optional licenses: 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 contexts.
ASA 5585-X with Base License: 2 contexts.

SSP-20, -40, and -60
Optional licenses: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, or 250 contexts.
164
Prerequisites for Multiple Context Mode

ASASM Base License: 2 contexts.
Optional licenses: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, or 250 contexts.
ASA on the Firepower Base License: 10 contexts.

9300
Optional licenses: up to 250 contexts, in increments of 10.
ISA 3000 No support.
ASAv No support.
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple context mode; you cannot use the default or legacy
license.
Prerequisites for Multiple Context Mode

After you are in multiple context mode, connect to the system or the admin context to access the system
configuration. You cannot configure the system from a non-admin context. By default, after you enable
multiple context mode, you can connect to the admin context by using the default management IP address.
Guidelines for Multiple Context Mode

Failover
Active/Active mode failover is only supported in multiple context mode.
IPv6
Cross-context IPv6 routing is not supported.
Unsupported Features
Multiple context mode does not support the following features:
• RIP
• OSPFv3. (OSPFv2 is supported.)
• Multicast routing
• Threat Detection
• Unified Communications
• QoS
165
Defaults for Multiple Context Mode
Multiple context mode does not currently support the following features for remote access VPN:
• IKEv2, IKEv1
• Stateful failover
• Flash virtualization
• AnyConnect image configuration per context
• WebLaunch
• Client profile download
• DAP and CoA
• CSD/HostScan
• VPN load balancing
• Username-from-certificate and prefill-username
• Customization/Localization
• The context mode (single or multiple) is not stored in the configuration file, even though it does endure
reboots. If you need to copy your configuration to another device, set the mode on the new device to
match.
• If you store context configurations in the root directory of flash memory, on some models you might
run out of room in that directory, even though there is available memory. In this case, create a subdirectory
for your configuration files. Background: some models, such as the ASA 5585-X, use the FAT 16 file
system for internal flash memory, and if you do not use 8.3-compliant short names, or use uppercase
characters, then fewer than 512 files and folders can be stored because the file system uses up slots to
store long file names (see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/120138/en-us).
Defaults for Multiple Context Mode

• By default, the ASA is in single context mode.
• See Default Class, on page 160.
• See Default MAC Address, on page 163.
Configure Multiple Contexts

Procedure
Step 1 Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode, on page 167.

Step 2 (Optional) Configure a Class for Resource Management, on page 168.
Note For VPN support, you must configure VPN resources in a resource class; the default class does not
allow VPN.
166
Step 3 Configure interfaces in the system execution space.

• ASA 5500-X—Basic Interface Configuration, on page 383.
• ASASM—ASASM quick start guide.
Step 4 Configure a Security Context, on page 172.

Step 5 (Optional) Assign MAC Addresses to Context Interfaces Automatically, on page 175.
Step 6 Complete interface configuration in the context. See Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, on page 431.
Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode

Your ASA might already be configured for multiple security contexts depending on how you ordered it from
Cisco. If you need to convert from single mode to multiple mode, follow the procedures in this section.
Enable Multiple Context Mode

When you convert from single mode to multiple mode, the ASA converts the running configuration into two
files: a new startup configuration that comprises the system configuration, and admin.cfg that comprises the
admin context (in the root directory of the internal flash memory). The original running configuration is saved
as old_running.cfg (in the root directory of the internal flash memory). The original startup configuration is
not saved. The ASA automatically adds an entry for the admin context to the system configuration with the
name “admin.”
Before You Begin

Back up your startup configuration. When you convert from single mode to multiple mode, the ASA converts
the running configuration into two files. The original startup configuration is not saved. See Back Up and
Restore Configurations or Other Files, on page 853.
Procedure
Change to multiple context mode:

mode multiple
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mode multiple
You are prompted to reboot the ASA.
Restore Single Context Mode

To copy the old running configuration to the startup configuration and to change the mode to single mode,
perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Perform this procedure in the system execution space.
167
Procedure
Step 1 Copy the backup version of your original running configuration to the current startup configuration:
copy disk0:old_running.cfg startup-config
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# copy disk0:old_running.cfg startup-config
Step 2 Set the mode to single mode:

mode single
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mode single
You are prompted to reboot the ASA.
Configure a Class for Resource Management

To configure a class in the system configuration, perform the following steps. You can change the value of a
particular resource limit by reentering the command with a new value.
Before You Begin

• Perform this procedure in the system execution space.
• The following table lists the resource types and the limits. See also the show resource types command.
Table 12: Resource Names and Limits
Minimum and
Maximum
Rate or Number per
Resource Name Concurrent Context System LimitFootnote. Description
asdm Concurrent 1 minimum 32 ASDM management sessions.
5 maximum ASDM sessions use two HTTPS
connections: one for monitoring that
is always present, and one for making
configuration changes that is present
only when you make changes. For
example, the system limit of 32
ASDM sessions represents a limit of
64 HTTPS sessions.
168
Minimum and
Maximum
Rate or Number per
conns Concurrent or N/A Concurrent connections: TCP or UDP connections between any
Rate See Supported Feature two hosts, including connections
Footnote.
Licenses Per Model, on between one host and multiple other
page 45 for the connection hosts.
limit available for your
model.
Rate: N/A
hosts Concurrent N/A N/A Hosts that can connect through the
ASA.
inspects Rate N/A N/A Application inspections per second.
mac-addresses Concurrent N/A 65,535 For transparent firewall mode, the

number of MAC addresses allowed
in the MAC address table.
Routes Concurrent N/A N/A Dynamic routes.

routes
vpn burst Concurrent N/A The AnyConnect Premium The number of AnyConnect sessions
anyconnect Peers for your model minus allowed beyond the amount assigned
the sum of the sessions to a context with vpn anyconnect.
assigned to all contexts for For example, if your model supports
vpn anyconnect. 5000 peers, and you assign 4000 peers
across all contexts with vpn
anyconnect, then the remaining 1000
sessions are available for vpn burst
anyconnect. Unlike vpn anyconnect,
which guarantees the sessions to the
context, vpn burst anyconnect can
be oversubscribed; the burst pool is
available to all contexts on a
first-come, first-served basis.
vpn anyconnect Concurrent N/A See Supported Feature AnyConnect peers. You cannot
Licenses Per Model, on oversubscribe this resource; all
page 45 for the context assignments combined cannot
AnyConnect Premium Peers exceed the model limit. The peers you
available for your model. assign for this resource are guaranteed
to the context.
169
Minimum and
Maximum
Rate or Number per
vpn burst other Concurrent N/A The Other VPN session The number of site-to-site VPN
amount for your model sessions allowed beyond the amount
minus the sum of the assigned to a context with vpn other.
sessions assigned to all For example, if your model supports
contexts for vpn other. 5000 sessions, and you assign 4000
sessions across all contexts with vpn
other, then the remaining 1000
sessions are available for vpn burst
other. Unlike vpn other, which
guarantees the sessions to the context,
vpn burst other can be
oversubscribed; the burst pool is
available to all contexts on a
first-come, first-served basis.
vpn other Concurrent N/A See Supported Feature Site-to-site VPN sessions. You cannot
Licenses Per Model, on oversubscribe this resource; all
page 45 for the Other VPN context assignments combined cannot
sessions available for your exceed the model limit. The sessions
model. you assign for this resource are
guaranteed to the context.
ikev1 Concurrent N/A A percentage of the Other Incoming IKEv1 SA negotiations, as

in-negotiation (percentage only) VPN sessions assigned to a percentage of the context Other
this context. See the vpn VPN limit.
other resources to assign
sessions to the context.
ssh Concurrent 1 minimum 100 SSH sessions.

5 maximum
syslogs Rate N/A N/A Syslog messages per second.
telnet Concurrent 1 minimum 100 Telnet sessions.

5 maximum
xlatesFootnote. Concurrent N/A N/A Network address translations.
12
1 (1) If this column value is N/A, then you cannot set a percentage of the resource because there is no hard system limit for the resource.
2 (2) Syslog messages are generated for whichever limit is lower, xlates or conns. For example, if you set the xlates limit to 7 and the conns to 9, then the ASA
only generates syslog message 321001 (“Resource 'xlates' limit of 7 reached for context 'ctx1'”) and not 321002 (“Resource 'conn rate' limit of 5 reached for
context 'ctx1'”).
170
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the class name and enter the class configuration mode:
class name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# class gold
The name is a string up to 20 characters long. To set the limits for the default class, enter default for the name.
Step 2 Set the resource limit for a resource type:

limit-resource [rate] resource_name number[%]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource rate inspects 10
• See the preceding table for a list of resource types. If you specify all, then all resources are configured
with the same value. If you also specify a value for a particular resource, the limit overrides the limit
set for all.
• Enter the rate argument to set the rate per second for certain resources.
• For most resources, specify 0 for the number to set the resource to be unlimited or to be the system limit,
if available. For VPN resources, 0 sets the limit to none.
• For resources that do not have a system limit, you cannot set the percentage (%); you can only set an
absolute value.
Example
For example, to set the default class limit for conns to 10 percent instead of unlimited, and to allow 5 site-to-site
VPN tunnels with 2 tunnels allowed for VPN burst, enter the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# class default

ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource conns 10%
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource vpn other 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource vpn burst other 2
All other resources remain at unlimited.
To add a class called gold, enter the following commands:

ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource mac-addresses 10000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource rate conns 1000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource hosts 9000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource asdm 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource ssh 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource rate syslogs 5000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource telnet 5
171
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource xlates 36000

ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource routes 5000
When a context is configured with a resource class, a check is made. A warning is generated if the proper
licenses were not installed prior to attempting VPN remote-access connections. The administrator must then
obtain an AnyConnect Apex license. For example, a warning like the following may appear:
ciscoasa(config)# class vpn
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource vpn anyconnect 10.0%
ciscoasa(config-class)# context test
Creating context 'text'...Done. (3)
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# member vpn
WARNING: Multi-mode remote access VPN support requires an AnyConnect Apex license.
Warning: An Access Context license is required for remote-access VPN support in multi-mode.
ciscoasa(config-ctx)#
Configure a Security Context

The security context definition in the system configuration identifies the context name, configuration file
URL, interfaces that a context can use, and other settings.
Before You Begin

• For the ASASM, assign VLANs to the ASASM on the switch according to the ASASM quick start
guide.
• For the ASA 5500-X, configure physical interface parameters, VLAN subinterfaces, EtherChannels,
and redundant interfaces according to Basic Interface Configuration, on page 383.
• If you do not have an admin context (for example, if you clear the configuration) then you must first
specify the admin context name by entering the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# admin-context name

Although this context does not exist yet in your configuration, you can subsequently enter the context
name command to continue the admin context configuration.
Procedure
Step 1 Add or modify a context:

context name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# context administrator
The name is a string up to 32 characters long. This name is case sensitive, so you can have two contexts named
“customerA” and “CustomerA,” for example. You can use letters, digits, or hyphens, but you cannot start or
end the name with a hyphen.
Note “System” or “Null” (in upper or lower case letters) are reserved names, and cannot be
used.
Step 2 (Optional) Add a description for this context:
description text
172
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# description Administrator Context
Step 3 Specify the interfaces you can use in the context:

To allocate an interface:
allocate-interface interface_id [mapped_name] [visible | invisible]
To allocate one or more subinterfaces:
allocate-interface interface_id.subinterface[-interface_id.subinterface] [mapped_name[-mapped_name]]
[visible | invisible]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# allocate-interface gigabitethernet0/1.100 int1
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# allocate-interface gigabitethernet0/2.300-gigabitethernet0/2.305
int3-int8
Note Do not include a space between the interface type and the port number.
• Enter these commands multiple times to specify different ranges. If you remove an allocation with the
no form of this command, then any context commands that include this interface are removed from the
running configuration.
• Transparent firewall mode allows a limited number of interfaces to pass through traffic; however, you
can use a dedicated management interface, Management slot/port (physical, subinterface, redundant, or
EtherChannel), as an additional interface for management traffic. A separate management interface is
not available for the ASASM.
• You can assign the same interfaces to multiple contexts in routed mode, if desired. Transparent mode
does not allow shared interfaces.
• The mapped_name is an alphanumeric alias for the interface that can be used within the context instead
of the interface ID. If you do not specify a mapped name, the interface ID is used within the context.
For security purposes, you might not want the context administrator to know which interfaces the context
is using. A mapped name must start with a letter, end with a letter or digit, and have as interior characters
only letters, digits, or an underscore. For example, you can use the following names: int0, inta, int_0.
• If you specify a range of subinterfaces, you can specify a matching range of mapped names. Follow
these guidelines for ranges:
◦The mapped name must consist of an alphabetic portion followed by a numeric portion. The
alphabetic portion of the mapped name must match for both ends of the range. For example, enter
the following range: int0-int10. If you enter gig0/1.1-gig0/1.5 happy1-sad5, for example, the
command fails.
◦The numeric portion of the mapped name must include the same quantity of numbers as the
subinterface range. For example, both ranges include 100
interfaces:gigabitethernet0/0.100-gigabitethernet0/0.199 int1-int100. If you enter
gig0/0.100-gig0/0.199 int1-int15, for example, the command fails.
• Specify visible to see the real interface ID in the show interface command if you set a mapped name.
The default invisible keyword shows only the mapped name.
173
Step 4 Identify the URL from which the system downloads the context configuration:
config-url url
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# config-url ftp://user1:[email protected]/configlets/test.cfg
Step 5 (Optional) Assign the context to a resource class:

If you do not specify a class, the context belongs to the default class. You can only assign a context to one
resource class.
member class_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# member gold
Step 6 (Optional) Assign an IPS virtual sensor to this context if you have the IPS module installed:
allocate-ips sensor_name [mapped_name] [default]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# allocate-ips sensor1 highsec
See the IPS quick start guide for detailed information about virtual sensors.
• When you add a context URL, the system immediately loads the context so that it is running, if the
configuration is available.
• Enter the allocate-interface commands before you enter the config-url command. If you enter the
config-url command first, the ASA loads the context configuration immediately. If the context contains
any commands that refer to (not yet configured) interfaces, those commands fail.
• The filename does not require a file extension, although we recommend using “.cfg”. The server must
be accessible from the admin context. If the configuration file is not available, you see the following
warning message:
WARNING: Could not fetch the URL url

INFO: Creating context with default config
• For non-HTTP(S) URL locations, after you specify the URL, you can then change to the context,
configure it at the CLI, and enter the write memory command to write the file to the URL location.
(HTTP(S) is read only).
• The admin context file must be stored on the internal flash memory.
• Available URL types include: disknumber (for flash memory), ftp, http, https, or tftp.
• To change the URL, reenter the config-url command with a new URL.
Step 7 (Optional) Assign a context to a failover group in Active/Active failover:

join-failover-group {1 | 2)
174
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# join-failover-group 2
By default, contexts are in group 1. The admin context must always be in group 1.
Step 8 (Optional) Enable Cloud Web Security for this context:

scansafe [license key]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# scansafe
If you do not specify a license, the context uses the license configured in the system configuration. The ASA
sends the authentication key to the Cloud Web Security proxy servers to indicate from which organization
the request comes. The authentication key is a 16-byte hexidecimal number.
See the firewall configuration guide for detailed information about ScanSafe.
Example
The following example sets the admin context to be “administrator,” creates a context called “administrator”
on the internal flash memory, and then adds two contexts from an FTP server:
ciscoasa(config)# admin-context administrator

ciscoasa(config-ctx)# allocate-interface gigabitethernet0/0.1
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# config-url disk0:/admin.cfg
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# context test

int3-int8
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# context sample

int3-int8
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# config-url ftp://user1:[email protected]/configlets/sample.cfg
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# member silver
Assign MAC Addresses to Context Interfaces Automatically

This section describes how to configure auto-generation of MAC addresses. The MAC address is used to
classify packets within a context.
Before You Begin

• When you configure a nameif command for the interface in a context, the new MAC address is generated
immediately. If you enable this feature after you configure context interfaces, then MAC addresses are
175
Change Between Contexts and the System Execution Space
generated for all interfaces immediately after you enable it. If you disable this feature, the MAC address
for each interface reverts to the default MAC address. For example, subinterfaces of GigabitEthernet
0/1 revert to using the MAC address of GigabitEthernet 0/1.
• In the rare circumstance that the generated MAC address conflicts with another private MAC address
in your network, you can manually set the MAC address for the interface within the context.
Procedure
Automatically assign private MAC addresses to each context interface:

mac-address auto [prefix prefix]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mac-address auto prefix 19
If you do not enter a prefix, then the ASA autogenerates the prefix based on the last two bytes of the interface
(ASA 5500-X) or backplane (ASASM) MAC address.
If you manually enter a prefix, then the prefix is a decimal value between 0 and 65535. This prefix is converted
to a four-digit hexadecimal number, and used as part of the MAC address.
Change Between Contexts and the System Execution Space

If you log in to the system execution space (or the admin context), you can change between contexts and
perform configuration and monitoring tasks within each context. The running configuration that you edit in
a configuration mode, or that is used in the copy or write commands, depends on your location. When you
are in the system execution space, the running configuration consists only of the system configuration; when
you are in a context, the running configuration consists only of that context. For example, you cannot view
all running configurations (system plus all contexts) by entering the show running-config command. Only
the current configuration displays.
Procedure
Step 1 Change to a context:

changeto context name
The prompt changes to ciscoasa/name#
Step 2 Change to the system execution space:

changeto system
The prompt changes to ciscoasa#
Manage Security Contexts

This section describes how to manage security contexts.
176
Remove a Security Context

You cannot remove the current admin context, unless you remove all contexts using the clear context command.
Note If you use failover, there is a delay between when you remove the context on the active unit and when the
context is removed on the standby unit. You might see an error message indicating that the number of
interfaces on the active and standby units are not consistent; this error is temporary and can be ignored.
Before You Begin

Perform this procedure in the system execution space.
Procedure
Step 1 Remove a single context:

no context name
All context commands are also removed. The context configuration file is not removed from the config URL
location.
Step 2 Remove all contexts (including the admin context):

clear context
The context configuration files are not removed from the config URL locations.
Change the Admin Context

The system configuration does not include any network interfaces or network settings for itself; rather, when
the system needs to access network resources (such as downloading the contexts from the server), it uses one
of the contexts that is designated as the admin context.
The admin context is just like any other context, except that when a user logs in to the admin context, then
that user has system administrator rights and can access the system and all other contexts. The admin context
is not restricted in any way, and can be used as a regular context. However, because logging into the admin
context grants you administrator privileges over all contexts, you might need to restrict access to the admin
context to appropriate users.
Before You Begin

• You can set any context to be the admin context, as long as the configuration file is stored in the internal
flash memory.
Procedure
Set the admin context:
177
admin-context context_name
Example:
Any remote management sessions, such as Telnet, SSH, or HTTPS, that are connected to the admin context
are terminated. You must reconnect to the new admin context.
A few system configuration commands, including ntp server, identify an interface name that belongs to the
admin context. If you change the admin context, and that interface name does not exist in the new admin
context, be sure to update any system commands that refer to the interface.
Change the Security Context URL

This section describes how to change the context URL.
Before You Begin

• You cannot change the security context URL without reloading the configuration from the new URL.
The ASA merges the new configuration with the current running configuration.
• Reentering the same URL also merges the saved configuration with the running configuration.
• A merge adds any new commands from the new configuration to the running configuration.
◦If the configurations are the same, no changes occur.
◦If commands conflict or if commands affect the running of the context, then the effect of the merge
depends on the command. You might get errors, or you might have unexpected results. If the
running configuration is blank (for example, if the server was unavailable and the configuration
was never downloaded), then the new configuration is used.
• If you do not want to merge the configurations, you can clear the running configuration, which disrupts
any communications through the context, and then reload the configuration from the new URL.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional, if you do not want to perform a merge) Change to the context and clear configuration:
clear configure all
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# changeto context ctx1
ciscoasa/ctx1(config)# clear configure all
If you want to perform a merge, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 Change to the system execution space:
178
changeto system
Example:
ciscoasa/ctx1(config)# changeto system
ciscoasa(config)#
Step 3 Enter the context configuration mode for the context you want to change.
context name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# context ctx1
Step 4 Enter the new URL. The system immediately loads the context so that it is running.
config-url new_url
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# config-url ftp://user1:[email protected]/configlets/ctx1.cfg
Reload a Security Context

You can reload the context in two ways:
• Clear the running configuration and then import the startup configuration.
This action clears most attributes associated with the context, such as connections and NAT tables.
• Remove the context from the system configuration.
This action clears additional attributes, such as memory allocation, which might be useful for
troubleshooting. However, to add the context back to the system requires you to respecify the URL and
interfaces.
Reload by Clearing the Configuration
Procedure
Step 1 Change to the context that you want to reload:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# changeto context ctx1
ciscoasa/ctx1(comfig)#
Step 2 Clear the running configuration:
179
Monitoring Security Contexts
clear configure all

This command clears all connections.
Step 3 Reload the configuration:

copy startup-config running-config
Example:
ciscoasa/ctx1(config)# copy startup-config running-config
The ASA copies the configuration from the URL specified in the system configuration. You cannot change
the URL from within a context.
Reload by Removing and Re-adding the Context

To reload the context by removing the context and then re-adding it, perform the steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Remove a Security Context, on page 177. Also delete config URL file from the disk
Step 2 Configure a Security Context, on page 172

This section describes how to view and monitor context information.
View Context Information

From the system execution space, you can view a list of contexts including the name, allocated interfaces,
and configuration file URL.
Procedure
Show all contexts:

show context [name | detail| count]
If you want to show information for a particular context, specify the name.
The detail option shows additional information. See the following sample outputs below for more information.
The count option shows the total number of contexts.
180
The following is sample output from the show context command. The following sample output shows three
contexts:
ciscoasa# show context
Context Name Interfaces URL

*admin GigabitEthernet0/1.100 disk0:/admin.cfg
GigabitEthernet0/1.101
contexta GigabitEthernet0/1.200 disk0:/contexta.cfg
contextb GigabitEthernet0/1.300 disk0:/contextb.cfg
Total active Security Contexts: 3
The following table shows each field description.
Table 13: show context Fields
Field Description
Context Name Lists all context names. The context name with the asterisk (*) is the admin context.
Interfaces The interfaces assigned to the context.
URL The URL from which the ASA loads the context configuration.
The following is sample output from the show context detail command:
ciscoasa# show context detail
Context "admin", has been created, but initial ACL rules not complete
Config URL: disk0:/admin.cfg
Real Interfaces: Management0/0
Mapped Interfaces: Management0/0
Flags: 0x00000013, ID: 1
Context "ctx", has been created, but initial ACL rules not complete
Config URL: ctx.cfg
Real Interfaces: GigabitEthernet0/0.10, GigabitEthernet0/1.20,
Mapped Interfaces: int1, int2, int3
Flags: 0x00000011, ID: 2
Context "system", is a system resource

Config URL: startup-config
Real Interfaces:
Mapped Interfaces: Control0/0, GigabitEthernet0/0,
GigabitEthernet0/0.10, GigabitEthernet0/1, GigabitEthernet0/1.10,
GigabitEthernet0/1.20, GigabitEthernet0/2, GigabitEthernet0/2.30,
GigabitEthernet0/3, Management0/0, Management0/0.1
Flags: 0x00000019, ID: 257
Context "null", is a system resource

Config URL: ... null ...
Real Interfaces:
Mapped Interfaces:
Flags: 0x00000009, ID: 258
See the command reference for more information about the detail output.
The following is sample output from the show context count command:
ciscoasa# show context count
181
Total active contexts: 2
View Resource Allocation

From the system execution space, you can view the allocation for each resource across all classes and class
members.
Procedure
Show the resource allocation:

show resource allocation [detail]
This command shows the resource allocation, but does not show the actual resources being used. See View
Resource Usage, on page 184 for more information about actual resource usage.
The detail argument shows additional information. See the following sample outputs for more information.
The following sample output shows the total allocation of each resource as an absolute value and as a percentage
of the available system resources:
ciscoasa# show resource allocation

Resource Total % of Avail
Conns [rate] 35000 N/A
Inspects [rate] 35000 N/A
Syslogs [rate] 10500 N/A
Conns 305000 30.50%
Hosts 78842 N/A
SSH 35 35.00%
Routes 5000 N/A
Telnet 35 35.00%
Xlates 91749 N/A
AnyConnect 1000 10%
AnyConnectBurst 200 2%
Other VPN Sessions 20 2.66%
Other VPN Burst 20 2.66%
All unlimited
Table 14: show resource allocation Fields
Field Description
Resource The name of the resource that you can limit.
Total The total amount of the resource that is allocated across all contexts. The amount is an
absolute number of concurrent instances or instances per second. If you specified a
percentage in the class definition, the ASA converts the percentage to an absolute number
for this display.
% of Avail The percentage of the total system resources that is allocated across all contexts, if the
resource has a hard system limit. If a resource does not have a system limit, this column
shows N/A.
182
The following is sample output from the show resource allocation detail command:
ciscoasa# show resource allocation detail

Resource Origin:
A Value was derived from the resource 'all'
C Value set in the definition of this class
D Value set in default class
Resource Class Mmbrs Origin Limit Total Total %
Conns [rate] default all CA unlimited
gold 1 C 34000 34000 N/A
silver 1 CA 17000 17000 N/A
bronze 0 CA 8500
All Contexts: 3 51000 N/A
Inspects [rate] default all CA unlimited

gold 1 DA unlimited
silver 1 CA 10000 10000 N/A
bronze 0 CA 5000
Syslogs [rate] default all CA unlimited

gold 1 C 6000 6000 N/A
silver 1 CA 3000 3000 N/A
bronze 0 CA 1500
Conns default all CA unlimited

gold 1 C 200000 200000 20.00%
silver 1 CA 100000 100000 10.00%
bronze 0 CA 50000
All Contexts: 3 300000 30.00%
Hosts default all CA unlimited

gold 1 DA unlimited
silver 1 CA 26214 26214 N/A
bronze 0 CA 13107
SSH default all C 5

gold 1 D 5 5 5.00%
silver 1 CA 10 10 10.00%
bronze 0 CA 5
All Contexts: 3 20 20.00%
Telnet default all C 5

gold 1 D 5 5 5.00%
silver 1 CA 10 10 10.00%
bronze 0 CA 5
All Contexts: 3 20 20.00%
Routes default all C unlimited N/A

gold 1 D unlimited 5 N/A
silver 1 CA 10 10 N/A
bronze 0 CA 5 N/A
Xlates default all CA unlimited

gold 1 DA unlimited
silver 1 CA 23040 23040 N/A
bronze 0 CA 11520
mac-addresses default all C 65535

gold 1 D 65535 65535 100.00%
silver 1 CA 6553 6553 9.99%
bronze 0 CA 3276
All Contexts: 3 137623 209.99%
183
Table 15: show resource allocation detail Fields
Field Description
Resource The name of the resource that you can limit.
Class The name of each class, including the default class.

The All contexts field shows the total values across all classes.
Mmbrs The number of contexts assigned to each class.
Origin The origin of the resource limit, as follows:

• A—You set this limit with the all option, instead of as an individual resource.
• C—This limit is derived from the member class.
• D—This limit was not defined in the member class, but was derived from the
default class. For a context assigned to the default class, the value will be “C”
instead of “D.”
The ASA can combine “A” with “C” or “D.”
Limit The limit of the resource per context, as an absolute number. If you specified a percentage
in the class definition, the ASA converts the percentage to an absolute number for this
display.
Total The total amount of the resource that is allocated across all contexts in the class. The
amount is an absolute number of concurrent instances or instances per second. If the
resource is unlimited, this display is blank.
% of Avail The percentage of the total system resources that is allocated across all contexts in the
class. If the resource is unlimited, this display is blank. If the resource does not have a
system limit, then this column shows N/A.
View Resource Usage

From the system execution space, you can view the resource usage for each context and display the system
resource usage.
Procedure
View resource usage for each context:

show resource usage [context context_name | top n | all | summary | system] [resource {resource_name |
all} | detail] [counter counter_name [count_threshold]]
• By default, all context usage is displayed; each context is listed separately.
• Enter the top n keyword to show the contexts that are the top n users of the specified resource. You must
specify a single resource type, and not resource all, with this option.
184
• The summary option shows all context usage combined.

• The system option shows all context usage combined, but shows the system limits for resources instead
of the combined context limits.
• For the resource resource_name, see Configure a Class for Resource Management, on page 168 for
available resource names. See also the show resource type command. Specify all (the default) for all
types.
• The detail option shows the resource usage of all resources, including those you cannot manage. For
example, you can view the number of TCP intercepts.
• The counter counter_name is one of the following keywords:
◦current—Shows the active concurrent instances or the current rate of the resource.
◦denied—Shows the number of instances that were denied because they exceeded the resource limit
shown in the Limit column.
◦peak—Shows the peak concurrent instances, or the peak rate of the resource since the statistics
were last cleared, either using the clear resource usage command or because the device rebooted.
◦all—(Default) Shows all statistics.
• The count_threshold sets the number above which resources are shown. The default is 1. If the usage
of the resource is below the number you set, then the resource is not shown. If you specify all for the
counter name, then the count_threshold applies to the current usage.
• To show all resources, set the count_threshold to 0.
Examples
The following is sample output from the show resource usage context command, which shows the resource
usage for the admin context:
ciscoasa# show resource usage context admin
Resource Current Peak Limit Denied Context

Telnet 1 1 5 0 admin
Conns 44 55 N/A 0 admin
Hosts 45 56 N/A 0 admin
The following is sample output from the show resource usage summary command, which shows the resource
usage for all contexts and all resources. This sample shows the limits for six contexts.
ciscoasa# show resource usage summary

Syslogs [rate] 1743 2132 N/A 0 Summary
Conns 584 763 280000(S) 0 Summary
Xlates 8526 8966 N/A 0 Summary
Hosts 254 254 N/A 0 Summary
Conns [rate] 270 535 N/A 1704 Summary
Inspects [rate] 270 535 N/A 0 Summary
AnyConnect 2 25 1000 0 Summary
AnyConnectBurst 0 0 200 0 Summary
Other VPN Sessions 0 10 10 740 Summary
Other VPN Burst 0 10 10 730 Summary
185
S = System: Combined context limits exceed the system limit; the system limit is shown.
The following is sample output from the show resource usage summary command, which shows the limits
for 25 contexts. Because the context limit for Telnet and SSH connections is 5 per context, then the combined
limit is 125. The system limit is only 100, so the system limit is shown.
ciscoasa# show resource usage summary

Telnet 1 1 100[S] 0 Summary
SSH 2 2 100[S] 0 Summary
Conns 56 90 130000(S) 0 Summary
Hosts 89 102 N/A 0 Summary
S = System: Combined context limits exceed the system limit; the system limit is shown.
The following is sample output from the show resource usage system command, which shows the resource
usage for all contexts, but it shows the system limit instead of the combined context limits. The counter all
0 option is used to show resources that are not currently in use. The Denied statistics indicate how many times
the resource was denied due to the system limit, if available.
ciscoasa# show resource usage system counter all 0

Telnet 0 0 100 0 System
SSH 0 0 100 0 System
ASDM 0 0 32 0 System
Routes 0 0 N/A 0 System
IPSec 0 0 5 0 System
Syslogs [rate] 1 18 N/A 0 System
Conns 0 1 280000 0 System
Xlates 0 0 N/A 0 System
Hosts 0 2 N/A 0 System
Conns [rate] 1 1 N/A 0 System
Inspects [rate] 0 0 N/A 0 System
AnyConnect 2 25 10000 0 System
AnyConnectBurst 0 0 200 0 System
Other VPN Sessions 0 10 750 740 System
Other VPN Burst 0 10 750 730 System
Monitor SYN Attacks in Contexts

The ASA prevents SYN attacks using TCP Intercept. TCP Intercept uses the SYN cookies algorithm to prevent
TCP SYN-flooding attacks. A SYN-flooding attack consists of a series of SYN packets usually originating
from spoofed IP addresses. The constant flood of SYN packets keeps the server SYN queue full, which
prevents it from servicing connection requests. When the embryonic connection threshold of a connection is
crossed, the ASA acts as a proxy for the server and generates a SYN-ACK response to the client SYN request.
When the ASA receives an ACK back from the client, it can then authenticate the client and allow the
connection to the server.
Procedure
Step 1 Monitor the rate of attacks for individual contexts:

show perfmon
Step 2 Monitor the amount of resources being used by TCP intercept for individual contexts:
show resource usage detail
Step 3 Monitor the resources being used by TCP intercept for the entire system:
186
show resource usage summary detail
Examples
The following is sample output from the show perfmon command that shows the rate of TCP intercepts for
a context called admin.
ciscoasa/admin# show perfmon
Context:admin
PERFMON STATS: Current Average
Xlates 0/s 0/s
Connections 0/s 0/s
TCP Conns 0/s 0/s
UDP Conns 0/s 0/s
URL Access 0/s 0/s
URL Server Req 0/s 0/s
WebSns Req 0/s 0/s
TCP Fixup 0/s 0/s
HTTP Fixup 0/s 0/s
FTP Fixup 0/s 0/s
AAA Authen 0/s 0/s
AAA Author 0/s 0/s
AAA Account 0/s 0/s
TCP Intercept 322779/s 322779/s
The following is sample output from the show resource usage detail command that shows the amount of
resources being used by TCP Intercept for individual contexts. (Sample text in bold shows the TCP intercept
information.)
ciscoasa(config)# show resource usage detail

memory 843732 847288 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:channels 14 15 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:fixup 15 15 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:hole 1 1 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:ip-users 10 10 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:list-elem 21 21 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:list-hdr 3 4 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:route 2 2 unlimited 0 admin
chunk:static 1 1 unlimited 0 admin
tcp-intercepts 328787 803610 unlimited 0 admin
np-statics 3 3 unlimited 0 admin
statics 1 1 unlimited 0 admin
ace-rules 1 1 unlimited 0 admin
console-access-rul 2 2 unlimited 0 admin
fixup-rules 14 15 unlimited 0 admin
memory 959872 960000 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:channels 15 16 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:dbgtrace 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:fixup 15 15 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:global 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:hole 2 2 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:ip-users 10 10 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:udp-ctrl-blk 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:list-elem 24 24 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:list-hdr 5 6 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:nat 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:route 2 2 unlimited 0 c1
chunk:static 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
tcp-intercept-rate 16056 16254 unlimited 0 c1
globals 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
np-statics 3 3 unlimited 0 c1
statics 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
187
nats 1 1 unlimited 0 c1
ace-rules 2 2 unlimited 0 c1
console-access-rul 2 2 unlimited 0 c1
fixup-rules 14 15 unlimited 0 c1
memory 232695716 232020648 unlimited 0 system
chunk:channels 17 20 unlimited 0 system
chunk:dbgtrace 3 3 unlimited 0 system
chunk:fixup 15 15 unlimited 0 system
chunk:ip-users 4 4 unlimited 0 system
chunk:list-elem 1014 1014 unlimited 0 system
chunk:list-hdr 1 1 unlimited 0 system
chunk:route 1 1 unlimited 0 system
block:16384 510 885 unlimited 0 system
block:2048 32 34 unlimited 0 system
The following sample output shows the resources being used by TCP intercept for the entire system. (Sample
text in bold shows the TCP intercept information.)
ciscoasa(config)# show resource usage summary detail

memory 238421312 238434336 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:channels 46 48 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:dbgtrace 4 4 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:fixup 45 45 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:global 1 1 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:hole 3 3 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:ip-users 24 24 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:udp-ctrl-blk 1 1 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:list-elem 1059 1059 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:list-hdr 10 11 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:nat 1 1 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:route 5 5 unlimited 0 Summary
chunk:static 2 2 unlimited 0 Summary
block:16384 510 885 unlimited 0 Summary
block:2048 32 35 unlimited 0 Summary
tcp-intercept-rate 341306 811579 unlimited 0 Summary
globals 1 1 unlimited 0 Summary
np-statics 6 6 unlimited 0 Summary
statics 2 2 N/A 0 Summary
nats 1 1 N/A 0 Summary
ace-rules 3 3 N/A 0 Summary
console-access-rul 4 4 N/A 0 Summary
fixup-rules 43 44 N/A 0 Summary
View Assigned MAC Addresses

You can view auto-generated MAC addresses within the system configuration or within the context.
View MAC Addresses in the System Configuration

This section describes how to view MAC addresses in the system configuration.
Before You Begin

If you manually assign a MAC address to an interface, but also have auto-generation enabled, the auto-generated
address continues to show in the configuration even though the manual MAC address is the one that is in use.
If you later remove the manual MAC address, the auto-generated one shown will be used.
Procedure
Show the assigned MAC addresses from the system execution space:
show running-config all context [name]
188
The all option is required to view the assigned MAC addresses. Although the mac-address auto command
is user-configurable in global configuration mode only, the command appears as a read-only entry in context
configuration mode along with the assigned MAC address. Only allocated interfaces that are configured with
a nameif command within the context have a MAC address assigned.
Examples
The following output from the show running-config all context admin command shows the primary and
standby MAC address assigned to the Management0/0 interface:
ciscoasa# show running-config all context admin
context admin
allocate-interface Management0/0
mac-address auto Management0/0 a24d.0000.1440 a24d.0000.1441
config-url disk0:/admin.cfg
The following output from the show running-config all context command shows all the MAC addresses
(primary and standby) for all context interfaces. Note that because the GigabitEthernet0/0 and
GigabitEthernet0/1 main interfaces are not configured with a nameif command inside the contexts, no MAC
addresses have been generated for them.
ciscoasa# show running-config all context
admin-context admin
context admin
allocate-interface Management0/0
mac-address auto Management0/0 a2d2.0400.125a a2d2.0400.125b
config-url disk0:/admin.cfg
!
context CTX1
allocate-interface GigabitEthernet0/0
allocate-interface GigabitEthernet0/0.1-GigabitEthernet0/0.5
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.1 a2d2.0400.11bc a2d2.0400.11bd
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.2 a2d2.0400.11c0 a2d2.0400.11c1
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.5 a2d2.0400.11cc a2d2.0400.11cd
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/1.1 a2d2.0400.120c a2d2.0400.120d
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/1.2 a2d2.0400.1210 a2d2.0400.1211
config-url disk0:/CTX1.cfg
!
context CTX2
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.1 a2d2.0400.11ba a2d2.0400.11bb
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.2 a2d2.0400.11be a2d2.0400.11bf
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/0.5 a2d2.0400.11ca a2d2.0400.11cb
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/1.1 a2d2.0400.120a a2d2.0400.120b
mac-address auto GigabitEthernet0/1.2 a2d2.0400.120e a2d2.0400.120f
config-url disk0:/CTX2.cfg
!
189
Examples for Multiple Context Mode
View MAC Addresses Within a Context

This section describes how to view MAC addresses within a context.
Procedure
Show the MAC address in use by each interface within the context:
show interface | include (Interface)|(MAC)
For example:
ciscoasa/context# show interface | include (Interface)|(MAC)
Interface GigabitEthernet1/1.1 "g1/1.1", is down, line protocol is down

MAC address a201.0101.0600, MTU 1500
MAC address a201.0102.0600, MTU 1500
MAC address a201.0103.0600, MTU 1500
...
Note The show interface command shows the MAC address in use; if you manually assign a MAC address
and also have auto-generation enabled, then you can only view the unused auto-generated address from
within the system configuration.
Examples for Multiple Context Mode

The following example:
• Automatically sets the MAC addresses in contexts with a custom prefix.
• Sets the default class limit for conns to 10 percent instead of unlimited, and sets the VPN other sessions
to 10, with a burst of 5.
• Creates a gold resource class.
• Sets the admin context to be “administrator.”
• Creates a context called “administrator” on the internal flash memory to be part of the default resource
class.
• Adds two contexts from an FTP server as part of the gold resource class.
ciscoasa(config)# mac-address auto prefix 19
ciscoasa(config)# class default


ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource mac-addresses 10000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource rate conns 1000
190
History for Multiple Context Mode
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource hosts 9000

ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource asdm 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource ssh 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource rate syslogs 5000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource telnet 5
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource xlates 36000
ciscoasa(config-class)# limit-resource routes 700

ciscoasa(config-ctx)# config-url disk0:/admin.cfg
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# context test

int3-int8
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# context sample

int3-int8
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# config-url ftp://user1:[email protected]/configlets/sample.cfg

Table 16: History for Multiple Context Mode

Releases
Multiple security contexts 7.0(1) Multiple context mode was introduced.
We introduced the following commands: context, mode, and
class.
Automatic MAC address assignment 7.2(1) Automatic assignment of MAC address to context interfaces
was introduced.
We introduced the following command: mac-address auto.
Resource management 7.2(1) Resource management was introduced.

We introduced the following commands: class, limit-resource,
and member.
191

Releases
Virtual sensors for IPS 8.0(2) The AIP SSM running IPS software Version 6.0 and above can
run multiple virtual sensors, which means you can configure
multiple security policies on the AIP SSM. You can assign each
context or single mode ASA to one or more virtual sensors, or
you can assign multiple security contexts to the same virtual
sensor.
We introduced the following command: allocate-ips.
Automatic MAC address assignment enhancements 8.0(5)/8.2(2) The MAC address format was changed to use a prefix, to use
a fixed starting value (A2), and to use a different scheme for
the primary and secondary unit MAC addresses in a failover
pair. The MAC addresses are also now persistent across reloads.
The command parser now checks if auto-generation is enabled;
if you want to also manually assign a MAC address, you cannot
start the manual MAC address with A2.
We modified the following command: mac-address auto
prefix.
Maximum contexts increased for the ASA 5550 8.4(1) The maximum security contexts for the ASA 5550 was
and 5580 increased from 50 to 100. The maximum for the ASA 5580
was increased from 50 to 250.
Automatic MAC address assignment enabled by 8.5(1) Automatic MAC address assignment is now enabled by default.
default We modified the following command: mac-address auto.
192

Releases
Automatic generation of a MAC address prefix 8.6(1) In multiple context mode, the ASA now converts the automatic
MAC address generation configuration to use a default prefix.
The ASA auto-generates the prefix based on the last two bytes
of the interface (ASA 5500-X) or backplane (ASASM) MAC
address. This conversion happens automatically when you
reload, or if you reenable MAC address generation. The prefix
method of generation provides many benefits, including a better
guarantee of unique MAC addresses on a segment. You can
view the auto-generated prefix by entering the show
running-config mac-address command. If you want to change
the prefix, you can reconfigure the feature with a custom prefix.
The legacy method of MAC address generation is no longer
available.
Note To maintain hitless upgrade for failover pairs, the ASA
does not convert the MAC address method in an
existing configuration upon a reload if failover is
enabled. However, we strongly recommend that you
manually change to the prefix method of generation
when using failover, especially for the ASASM.
Without the prefix method, ASASMs installed in
different slot numbers experience a MAC address
change upon failover, and can experience traffic
interruption. After upgrading, to use the prefix method
of MAC address generation, reenable MAC address
generation to use the default prefix.
We modified the following command: mac-address auto.
Automatic MAC address assignment disabled by 9.0(1) Automatic MAC address assignment is now disabled by default
default on all models except for the ASASM except for the ASASM.
We modified the following command: mac-address auto.
Dynamic routing in Security Contexts 9.0(1) EIGRP and OSPFv2 dynamic routing protocols are now
supported in multiple context mode. OSPFv3, RIP, and
multicast routing are not supported.
New resource type for routing table entries 9.0(1) A new resource type, routes, was created to set the maximum
number of routing table entries in each context.
We modified the following commands: limit-resource, show
resource types, show resource usage, show resource
allocation.
Site-to-Site VPN in multiple context mode 9.0(1) Site-to-site VPN tunnels are now supported in multiple context
mode.
193

Releases
New resource type for site-to-site VPN tunnels 9.0(1) New resource types, vpn other and vpn burst other, were created
to set the maximum number of site-to-site VPN tunnels in each
context.
allocation.
New resource type for IKEv1 SA negotiations 9.1(2) New resource type, ikev1 in-negotiation, was created to set the
maximum percentage of IKEv1 SA negotiations in each context
to prevent overwhelming the CPU and crypto engines. Under
certain conditions (large certificates, CRL checking), you might
want to restrict this resource.
allocation.
Support for Remote Access VPN in multiple 9.5(2) You can now use the following remote access features in
context mode multiple context mode:
• AnyConnect 3.x and later (SSL VPN only; no IKEv2
support)
• Centralized AnyConnect image configuration
• AnyConnect image upgrade
• Context Resource Management for AnyConnect
connections
Note The AnyConnect Apex license is required for multiple

context mode; you cannot use the default or legacy
license.
We introduced the following commands: limit-resource vpn
anyconnect, limit-resource vpn burst anyconnect
194
CHAPTER 7
Failover for High Availability
This chapter describes how to configure Active/Standby or Active/Active failover to accomplish high
availability of the Cisco ASA.
• About Failover, page 195

• Licensing for Failover, page 218
• Guidelines for Failover, page 219
• Defaults for Failover, page 220
• Configure Active/Standby Failover, page 220
• Configure Active/Active Failover, page 224
• Configure Optional Failover Parameters, page 229
• Manage Failover, page 236
• Monitoring Failover, page 242
• History for Failover, page 244
About Failover
Configuring failover requires two identical ASAs connected to each other through a dedicated failover link
and, optionally, a state link. The health of the active units and interfaces is monitored to determine if specific
failover conditions are met. If those conditions are met, failover occurs.
Failover Modes
The ASA supports two failover modes, Active/Active failover and Active/Standby failover. Each failover
mode has its own method for determining and performing failover.
• In Active/Standby failover, one unit is the active unit. It passes traffic. The standby unit does not actively
pass traffic. When a failover occurs, the active unit fails over to the standby unit, which then becomes
active. You can use Active/Standby failover for ASAs in single or multiple context mode.
195
About Failover
• In an Active/Active failover configuration, both ASAs can pass network traffic. Active/Active failover
is only available to ASAs in multiple context mode. In Active/Active failover, you divide the security
contexts on the ASA into 2 failover groups. A failover group is simply a logical group of one or more
security contexts. One group is assigned to be active on the primary ASA, and the other group is assigned
to be active on the secondary ASA. When a failover occurs, it occurs at the failover group level.
Both failover modes support stateful or stateless failover.
Failover System Requirements

This section describes the hardware, software, and license requirements for ASAs in a Failover configuration.
Hardware Requirements
The two units in a Failover configuration must:
• Be the same model.
• Have the same number and types of interfaces.
• Have the same modules installed (if any)
• Have the same RAM installed.
If you are using units with different flash memory sizes in your Failover configuration, make sure the unit
with the smaller flash memory has enough space to accommodate the software image files and the configuration
files. If it does not, configuration synchronization from the unit with the larger flash memory to the unit with
the smaller flash memory will fail.
Software Requirements
The two units in a Failover configuration must:
• Be in the same firewall mode (routed or transparent).
• Be in the same context mode (single or multiple).
• Have the same major (first number) and minor (second number) software version. However, you can
temporarily use different versions of the software during an upgrade process; for example, you can
upgrade one unit from Version 8.3(1) to Version 8.3(2) and have failover remain active. We recommend
upgrading both units to the same version to ensure long-term compatibility.
• Have the same AnyConnect images. If the failover pair has mismatched images when a hitless upgrade
is performed, then the clientless SSL VPN connection terminates in the final reboot step of the upgrade
process, the database shows an orphaned session, and the IP pool shows that the IP address assigned to
the client is “in use.”
Related Topics
Upgrade a Failover Pair or ASA Cluster, on page 832
196
About Failover
License Requirements
The two units in a failover configuration do not need to have identical licenses; the licenses combine to make
a failover cluster license.
Related Topics
Failover or ASA Cluster Licenses, on page 67
Failover and Stateful Failover Links

The failover link and the optional stateful failover link are dedicated connections between the two units.
Caution All information sent over the failover and state links is sent in clear text unless you secure the
communication with an IPsec tunnel or a failover key. If the ASA is used to terminate VPN tunnels, this
information includes any usernames, passwords and preshared keys used for establishing the tunnels.
Transmitting this sensitive data in clear text could pose a significant security risk. We recommend securing
the failover communication with an IPsec tunnel or a failover key if you are using the ASA to terminate
VPN tunnels.
Failover Link
The two units in a failover pair constantly communicate over a failover link to determine the operating status
of each unit.
Failover Link Data

The following information is communicated over the failover link:
• The unit state (active or standby)
• Hello messages (keep-alives)
• Network link status
• MAC address exchange
• Configuration replication and synchronization
Interface for the Failover Link

You can use any unused data interface (physical, redundant, or EtherChannel) as the failover link; however,
you cannot specify an interface that is currently configured with a name. The failover link interface is not
configured as a normal networking interface; it exists for failover communication only. This interface can
only be used for the failover link (and also for the state link). The ASA does not support sharing interfaces
between user data and the failover link even if different subinterfaces are configured for user data and failover.
A separate physical, EtherChannel, or redundant interface must be used for the failover link.
See the following guidelines for the failover link:
• 5506-X through 5555-X—You cannot use the Management interface as the failover link; you must use
a data interface. The only exception is for the 5506H-X, where you can use the management interface
as the failover link.
197
About Failover
• 5506H-X—You can use the Management 1/1 interface as the failover link. If you configure it for failover,
you must reload the device for the change to take effect. In this case, you cannot also use the ASA
Firepower module, because it requires the Management interface for management purposes.
• 5585-X—Do not use the Management 0/0 interface, even though it can be used as a data interface. It
does not support the necessary performance for this use.
• Firepower 9300 ASA security module—You can use either a management type or data type interface
as the failover link. To conserve interfaces and to share a failover link between modules in the same
chassis, use a management type interface. For example, you have 2 chassis, each with 3 ASA security
modules. You can create 3 failover pairs between the chassis. You can use a single 10 GigabitEthernet
management interface between the chassis to act as the failover link. Just configure a unique VLAN
subinterface within each module.
• All models—1 GB interface is large enough for a combined failover and state link.
For a redundant interface used as the failover link, see the following benefits for added redundancy:
• When a failover unit boots up, it alternates between the member interfaces to detect an active unit.
• If a failover unit stops receiving keepalive messages from its peer on one of the member interfaces, it
switches to the other member interface.
For an EtherChannel used as the failover link, to prevent out-of-order packets, only one interface in the
EtherChannel is used. If that interface fails, then the next interface in the EtherChannel is used. You cannot
alter the EtherChannel configuration while it is in use as a failover link.
Connecting the Failover Link

Connect the failover link in one of the following two ways:
• Using a switch, with no other device on the same network segment (broadcast domain or VLAN) as the
failover interfaces of the ASA.
• Using an Ethernet cable to connect the units directly, without the need for an external switch.
If you do not use a switch between the units, if the interface fails, the link is brought down on both peers. This
condition may hamper troubleshooting efforts because you cannot easily determine which unit has the failed
interface and caused the link to come down.
The ASA supports Auto-MDI/MDIX on its copper Ethernet ports, so you can either use a crossover cable or
a straight-through cable. If you use a straight-through cable, the interface automatically detects the cable and
swaps one of the transmit/receive pairs to MDIX.
Stateful Failover Link

To use Stateful Failover, you must configure a Stateful Failover link (also known as the state link) to pass
connection state information.
Shared with the Failover Link

Sharing a failover link is the best way to conserve interfaces. If you experience performance problems on that
interface, consider dedicating a separate interface for the state link.
198
About Failover
Dedicated Interface
You can use a dedicated data interface (physical, redundant, or EtherChannel) for the state link. For an
EtherChannel used as the state link, to prevent out-of-order packets, only one interface in the EtherChannel
is used. If that interface fails, then the next interface in the EtherChannel is used.
Connect a dedicated state link in one of the following two ways:
• Using a switch, with no other device on the same network segment (broadcast domain or VLAN) as the
failover interfaces of the ASA device.
• Using an Ethernet cable to connect the appliances directly, without the need for an external switch.
If you do not use a switch between the units, if the interface fails, the link is brought down on both peers.
This condition may hamper troubleshooting efforts because you cannot easily determine which unit has
the failed interface and caused the link to come down.
The ASA supports Auto-MDI/MDIX on its copper Ethernet ports, so you can either use a crossover
cable or a straight-through cable. If you use a straight-through cable, the interface automatically detects
the cable and swaps one of the transmit/receive pairs to MDIX.
For optimum performance when using long distance failover, the latency for the state link should be less than
10 milliseconds and no more than 250 milliseconds. If latency is more than 10 milliseconds, some performance
degradation occurs due to retransmission of failover messages.
Avoiding Interrupted Failover and Data Links

We recommend that failover links and data interfaces travel through different paths to decrease the chance
that all interfaces fail at the same time. If the failover link is down, the ASA can use the data interfaces to
determine if a failover is required. Subsequently, the failover operation is suspended until the health of the
failover link is restored.
See the following connection scenarios to design a resilient failover network.
Scenario 1—Not Recommended

If a single switch or a set of switches are used to connect both failover and data interfaces between two ASAs,
then when a switch or inter-switch-link is down, both ASAs become active. Therefore, the following two
connection methods shown in the following figures are NOT recommended.
Figure 21: Connecting with a Single Switch—Not Recommended
Figure 22: Connecting with a Double-Switch—Not Recommended
199
About Failover
Scenario 2—Recommended
We recommend that failover links NOT use the same switch as the data interfaces. Instead, use a different
switch or use a direct cable to connect the failover link, as shown in the following figures.
Figure 23: Connecting with a Different Switch
Figure 24: Connecting with a Cable
If the ASA data interfaces are connected to more than one set of switches, then a failover link can be connected
to one of the switches, preferably the switch on the secure (inside) side of network, as shown in the following
figure.
Figure 25: Connecting with a Secure Switch
200
About Failover
The most reliable failover configurations use a redundant interface on the failover link, as shown in the
following figures.
Figure 26: Connecting with Redundant Interfaces
Figure 27: Connecting with Inter-switch Links
MAC Addresses and IP Addresses in Failover

When you configure your interfaces, you must specify an active IP address and a standby IP address on the
same network.
201
About Failover
1 When the primary unit or failover group fails over, the secondary unit assumes the IP addresses and MAC
addresses of the primary unit and begins passing traffic.
2 The unit that is now in standby state takes over the standby IP addresses and MAC addresses.
Because network devices see no change in the MAC to IP address pairing, no ARP entries change or time out
anywhere on the network.
If the secondary unit boots without detecting the primary unit, the secondary unit becomes the active unit and
uses its own MAC addresses, because it does not know the primary unit MAC addresses. However, when the
primary unit becomes available, the secondary (active) unit changes the MAC addresses to those of the primary
unit, which can cause an interruption in your network traffic. Similarly, if you swap out the primary unit with
new hardware, a new MAC address is used.
Virtual MAC addresses guard against this disruption because the active MAC addresses are known to the
secondary unit at startup, and remain the same in the case of new primary unit hardware. In multiple context
mode, you can configure the ASA to generate virtual active and standby MAC addresses automatically. In
single context mode, you can manually configure virtual MAC addresses.
If you do not configure virtual MAC addresses, you might need to clear the ARP tables on connected routers
to restore traffic flow. The ASA does not send gratuitous ARPs for static NAT addresses when the MAC
address changes, so connected routers do not learn of the MAC address change for these addresses.
The IP address and MAC address for the state link do not change at failover; the only exception is if the state
link is configured on a regular data interface.
Related Topics
About MAC Addresses, on page 163
Configure Active/Active Failover, on page 224
Intra- and Inter-Chassis Module Placement for the ASA Services Module
You can place the primary and secondary ASASMs within the same switch or in two separate switches.
Intra-Chassis Failover
If you install the secondary ASASM in the same switch as the primary ASASM, you protect against
module-level failure.
Even though both ASASMs are assigned the same VLANs, only the active module takes part in networking.
The standby module does not pass any traffic.
202
About Failover
The following figure shows a typical intra-switch configuration.
Figure 28: Intra-Switch Failover
Inter-Chassis Failover
To protect against switch-level failure, you can install the secondary ASASM in a separate switch. The ASASM
does not coordinate failover directly with the switch, but it works harmoniously with the switch failover
operation. See the switch documentation to configure failover for the switch.
For the best reliability of failover communications between ASASMs, we recommend that you configure an
EtherChannel trunk port between the two switches to carry the failover and state VLANs.
For other VLANs, you must ensure that both switches have access to all firewall VLANs, and that monitored
VLANs can successfully pass hello packets between both switches.
The following figure shows a typical switch and ASASM redundancy configuration. The trunk between the
two switches carries the failover ASASM VLANs (VLANs 10 and 11).
203
About Failover
Note ASASM failover is independent of the switch failover operation; however, ASASM works in any switch
failover scenario.
Figure 29: Normal Operation
204
About Failover
If the primary ASASM fails, then the secondary ASASM becomes active and successfully passes the firewall
VLANs.
Figure 30: ASASM Failure
205
About Failover
If the entire switch fails, as well as the ASASM (such as in a power failure), then both the switch and the
ASASM fail over to their secondary units.
Figure 31: Switch Failure
Stateless and Stateful Failover

The ASA supports two types of failover, stateless and stateful for both the Active/Standby and Active/Active
modes.
Note Some configuration elements for clientless SSL VPN (such as bookmarks and customization) use the VPN
failover subsystem, which is part of Stateful Failover. You must use Stateful Failover to synchronize these
elements between the members of the failover pair. Stateless failover is not recommended for clientless
SSL VPN.
Stateless Failover
When a failover occurs, all active connections are dropped. Clients need to reestablish connections when the
new active unit takes over.
206
About Failover
Note Some configuration elements for clientless SSL VPN (such as bookmarks and customization) use the VPN
failover subsystem, which is part of Stateful Failover. You must use Stateful Failover to synchronize these
elements between the members of the failover pair. Stateless (regular) failover is not recommended for
clientless SSL VPN.
Stateful Failover
When Stateful Failover is enabled, the active unit continually passes per-connection state information to the
standby unit, or in Active/Active failover, between the active and standby failover groups. After a failover
occurs, the same connection information is available at the new active unit. Supported end-user applications
are not required to reconnect to keep the same communication session.
Supported Features
The following state information is passed to the standby ASA when Stateful Failover is enabled:
• NAT translation table
• TCP connection states
• UDP connection states
• The ARP table
• The Layer 2 bridge table (when running in transparent firewall mode)
• The HTTP connection states (if HTTP replication is enabled)—By default, the ASA does not replicate
HTTP session information when Stateful Failover is enabled. Because HTTP sessions are typically
short-lived, and because HTTP clients typically retry failed connection attempts, not replicating HTTP
sessions increases system performance without causing serious data or connection loss.
• The ISAKMP and IPsec SA table
• GTP PDP connection database
• SIP signalling sessions
• ICMP connection state—ICMP connection replication is enabled only if the respective interface is
assigned to an asymmetric routing group.
• Dynamic Routing Protocols—Stateful Failover participates in dynamic routing protocols, like OSPF
and EIGRP, so routes that are learned through dynamic routing protocols on the active unit are maintained
in a Routing Information Base (RIB) table on the standby unit. Upon a failover event, packets travel
normally with minimal disruption to traffic because the active secondary ASA initially has rules that
mirror the primary ASA. Immediately after failover, the re-convergence timer starts on the newly Active
unit. Then the epoch number for the RIB table increments. During re-convergence, OSPF and EIGRP
routes become updated with a new epoch number. Once the timer is expired, stale route entries (determined
by the epoch number) are removed from the table. The RIB then contains the newest routing protocol
forwarding information on the newly Active unit.
207
About Failover
Note Routes are synchronized only for link-up or link-down events on an active unit. If the
link goes up or down on the standby unit, dynamic routes sent from the active unit may
be lost. This is normal, expected behavior.
• Cisco IP SoftPhone sessions—If a failover occurs during an active Cisco IP SoftPhone session, the call
remains active because the call session state information is replicated to the standby unit. When the call
is terminated, the IP SoftPhone client loses connection with the Cisco Call Manager. This connection
loss occurs because there is no session information for the CTIQBE hangup message on the standby
unit. When the IP SoftPhone client does not receive a response back from the Call Manager within a
certain time period, it considers the Call Manager unreachable and unregisters itself.
• VPN—VPN end-users do not have to reauthenticate or reconnect the VPN session after a failover.
However, applications operating over the VPN connection could lose packets during the failover process
and not recover from the packet loss.
Unsupported Features
The following state information is not passed to the standby ASA when Stateful Failover is enabled:
• The HTTP connection table (unless HTTP replication is enabled)
• The user authentication (uauth) table
• Application inspections that are subject to advanced TCP-state tracking—The TCP state of these
connections is not automatically replicated. While these connections are replicated to the standby unit,
there is a best-effort attempt to re-establish a TCP state.
• TCP state bypass connections
• DHCP client
• DHCP server address leases
• Multicast routing
• State information for modules, such as the ASA FirePOWER module.
• Phone proxy connections—When the active unit goes down, the call fails, media stops flowing, and the
phone should unregister from the failed unit and reregister with the active unit. The call must be
re-established.
• Selected clientless SSL VPN features:
◦Smart Tunnels
◦Port Forwarding
◦Plugins
◦Java Applets
◦IPv6 clientless or Anyconnect sessions
◦Citrix authentication (Citrix users must reauthenticate after failover)
208
About Failover
Transparent Firewall Mode Requirements for Failover

There are special considerations for failover when using transparent firewall mode.
Transparent Mode Requirements for Appliances, ASAv

When the active unit fails over to the standby unit, the connected switch port running Spanning Tree Protocol
(STP) can go into a blocking state for 30 to 50 seconds when it senses the topology change. To avoid traffic
loss while the port is in a blocking state, you can configure one of the following workarounds depending on
the switch port mode:
• Access mode—Enable the STP PortFast feature on the switch:
spanning-tree portfast
The PortFast feature immediately transitions the port into STP forwarding mode upon linkup. The port
still participates in STP. So if the port is to be a part of the loop, the port eventually transitions into STP
blocking mode.
• Trunk mode—Block BPDUs on the ASA on both the inside and outside interfaces with an EtherType
access rule.
access-list id ethertype deny bpdu

access-group id in interface inside_name
access-group id in interface outside_name
Blocking BPDUs disables STP on the switch. Be sure not to have any loops involving the ASA in your
network layout.
If neither of the above options are possible, then you can use one of the following less desirable workarounds
that impacts failover functionality or STP stability:
• Disable interface monitoring.
• Increase interface holdtime to a high value that will allow STP to converge before the ASAs fail over.
• Decrease STP timers to allow STP to converge faster than the interface holdtime.
Transparent Mode Requirements for the ASA Services Module

To avoid loops when you use failover in transparent mode, you should allow BPDUs to pass (the default),
and you must use switch software that supports BPDU forwarding.
Loops can occur if both modules are active at the same time, such as when both modules are discovering each
other’s presence, or due to a bad failover link. Because the ASASMs bridge packets between the same two
VLANs, loops can occur when inside packets destined for the outside get endlessly replicated by both ASASMs.
209
About Failover
The spanning tree protocol can break such loops if there is a timely exchange of BPDUs. To break the loop,
BPDUs sent between VLAN 200 and VLAN 201 need to be bridged.
Figure 32: Transparent Mode Loop
Failover Health Monitoring

The ASA monitors each unit for overall health and for interface health. This section includes information
about how the ASA performs tests to determine the state of each unit.
Unit Health Monitoring

The ASA determines the health of the other unit by monitoring the failover link with hello messages. When
a unit does not receive three consecutive hello messages on the failover link, the unit sends LANTEST messages
on each data interface, including the failover link, to validate whether or not the peer is responsive. The action
that the ASA takes depends on the response from the other unit. See the following possible actions:
• If the ASA receives a response on the failover link, then it does not fail over.
• If the ASA does not receive a response on the failover link, but it does receive a response on a data
interface, then the unit does not failover. The failover link is marked as failed. You should restore the
failover link as soon as possible because the unit cannot fail over to the standby while the failover link
is down.
• If the ASA does not receive a response on any interface, then the standby unit switches to active mode
and classifies the other unit as failed.
210
About Failover
Interface Monitoring
You can monitor up to 250 interfaces (in multiple mode, divided between all contexts). You should monitor
important interfaces. For example in multiple mode, you might configure one context to monitor a shared
interface: because the interface is shared, all contexts benefit from the monitoring.
When a unit does not receive hello messages on a monitored interface for 2 polling periods, it runs interface
tests. If all interface tests fail for an interface, but this same interface on the other unit continues to successfully
pass traffic, then the interface is considered to be failed. If the threshold for failed interfaces is met, then a
failover occurs. If the other unit interface also fails all the network tests, then both interfaces go into the
“Unknown” state and do not count towards the failover limit.
An interface becomes operational again if it receives any traffic. A failed ASA returns to standby mode if the
interface failure threshold is no longer met.
If you have a services module, such as the ASA FirePOWER SSP, then the ASA also monitors the health of
the module over the backplane interface. Failure of the module is considered a unit failure and will trigger
failover. This setting is configurable.
If an interface has IPv4 and IPv6 addresses configured on it, the ASA uses the IPv4 addresses to perform the
health monitoring.
If an interface has only IPv6 addresses configured on it, then the ASA uses IPv6 neighbor discovery instead
of ARP to perform the health monitoring tests. For the broadcast ping test, the ASA uses the IPv6 all nodes
address (FE02::1).
Note If a failed unit does not recover and you believe it should not be failed, you can reset the state by entering
the failover reset command. If the failover condition persists, however, the unit will fail again.
Interface Tests
The ASA uses the following interface tests:
1 Link Up/Down test—A test of the interface status. If the Link Up/Down test indicates that the interface
is down, then the ASA considers it failed. If the status is Up, then the ASA performs the Network Activity
test.
2 Network Activity test—A received network activity test. The purpose of this test is to generate network
traffic using LANTEST messages to determine which (if either) unit has failed. At the start of the test,
each unit clears its received packet count for its interfaces. As soon as a unit receives any packets during
the test (up to 5 seconds), then the interface is considered operational. If one unit receives traffic and the
other unit does not, then the unit that received no traffic is considered failed. If neither unit received traffic,
then the ASA starts the ARP test.
3 ARP test—A reading of the unit ARP cache for the 10 most recently acquired entries. One at a time, the
unit sends ARP requests to these machines, attempting to stimulate network traffic. After each request,
the unit counts all received traffic for up to 5 seconds. If traffic is received, the interface is considered
operational. If no traffic is received, an ARP request is sent to the next machine. If at the end of the list
no traffic has been received, the ASA starts the ping test.
4 Broadcast Ping test—A ping test that consists of sending out a broadcast ping request. The unit then counts
all received packets for up to 5 seconds. If any packets are received at any time during this interval, the
interface is considered operational and testing stops. If no traffic is received, the testing starts over again
with the ARP test.
211
About Failover
Interface Status
Monitored interfaces can have the following status:
• Unknown—Initial status. This status can also mean the status cannot be determined.
• Normal—The interface is receiving traffic.
• Testing—Hello messages are not heard on the interface for five poll times.
• Link Down—The interface or VLAN is administratively down.
• No Link—The physical link for the interface is down.
• Failed—No traffic is received on the interface, yet traffic is heard on the peer interface.
Failover Times
The following table shows the minimum, default, and maximum failover times.
Table 17: ASA
Failover Condition Minimum Default Maximum

Active unit loses power or stops normal operation. 800 milliseconds 15 seconds 45 seconds
Active unit main board interface link down. 500 milliseconds 5 seconds 15 seconds
Active unit 4GE module interface link down. 2 seconds 5 seconds 15 seconds
Active unit IPS or CSC module fails. 2 seconds 2 seconds 2 seconds
Configuration Synchronization
Failover includes various types of configuration synchronization.
Running Configuration Replication

Running configuration replication occurs when one or both devices in the failover pair boot. Configurations
are always synchronized from the active unit to the standby unit. When the standby unit completes its initial
startup, it clears its running configuration (except for the failover commands needed to communicate with the
active unit), and the active unit sends its entire configuration to the standby unit.
When the replication starts, the ASA console on the active unit displays the message “Beginning configuration
replication: Sending to mate,” and when it is complete, the ASA displays the message “End Configuration
Replication to mate.” Depending on the size of the configuration, replication can take from a few seconds to
several minutes.
On the standby unit, the configuration exists only in running memory. You should save the configuration to
flash memory according to Save Configuration Changes, on page 40.
212
About Failover
Note During replication, commands entered on the active unit may not replicate properly to the standby unit,
and commands entered on the standby unit may be overwritten by the configuration being replicated from
the active unit. Avoid entering commands on either unit during the configuration replication process.
Note The crypto ca server command and related sub commands are not synchronized to the failover peer.
File Replication
Configuration syncing does not replicate the following files and configuration components, so you must copy
these files manually so they match:
• AnyConnect images
• CSD images
• AnyConnect profiles
The ASA uses a cached file for the AnyConnect client profile stored in cache:/stc/profiles, and not the
file stored in the flash file system. To replicate the AnyConnect client profile to the standby unit, perform
one of the following:
◦Enter the write standby command on the active unit.
◦Reapply the profile on the active unit.
◦Reload the standby unit.
• Local Certificate Authorities (CAs)

• ASA images
• ASDM images
Command Replication
After startup, commands that you enter on the active unit are immediately replicated to the standby unit. You
do not have to save the active configuration to flash memory to replicate the commands.
In Active/Active failover, commands entered in the system execution space are replicated from the unit on
which failover group 1 is in the active state.
Failure to enter the commands on the appropriate unit for command replication to occur causes the
configurations to be out of synchronization. Those changes may be lost the next time the initial configuration
synchronization occurs.
The following commands are replicated to the standby ASA:
• All configuration commands except for mode, firewall, and failover lan unit
• copy running-config startup-config
• delete
213
About Failover
• mkdir
• rename
• rmdir
• write memory
The following commands are not replicated to the standby ASA:

• All forms of the copy command except for copy running-config startup-config
• All forms of the write command except for write memory
• debug
• failover lan unit
• firewall
• show
• terminal pager and pager
About Active/Standby Failover

Active/Standby failover lets you use a standby ASA to take over the functionality of a failed unit. When the
active unit fails, it changes to the standby state while the standby unit changes to the active state.
Note For multiple context mode, the ASA can fail over the entire unit (including all contexts) but cannot fail
over individual contexts separately.
Primary/Secondary Roles and Active/Standby Status

The main differences between the two units in a failover pair are related to which unit is active and which
unit is standby, namely which IP addresses to use and which unit actively passes traffic.
However, a few differences exist between the units based on which unit is primary (as specified in the
configuration) and which unit is secondary:
• The primary unit always becomes the active unit if both units start up at the same time (and are of equal
operational health).
• The primary unit MAC addresses are always coupled with the active IP addresses. The exception to this
rule occurs when the secondary unit becomes active and cannot obtain the primary unit MAC addresses
over the failover link. In this case, the secondary unit MAC addresses are used.
Active Unit Determination at Startup

The active unit is determined by the following:
• If a unit boots and detects a peer already running as active, it becomes the standby unit.
• If a unit boots and does not detect a peer, it becomes the active unit.
214
About Failover
• If both units boot simultaneously, then the primary unit becomes the active unit, and the secondary unit
becomes the standby unit.
Failover Events
In Active/Standby failover, failover occurs on a unit basis. Even on systems running in multiple context mode,
you cannot fail over individual or groups of contexts.
The following table shows the failover action for each failure event. For each failure event, the table shows
the failover policy (failover or no failover), the action taken by the active unit, the action taken by the standby
unit, and any special notes about the failover condition and actions.
Table 18: Failover Events
Standby Group
Failure Event Policy Active Group Action Action Notes
Active unit failed (power or Failover n/a Become active No hello messages are received on
hardware) Mark active as failed any monitored interface or the
failover link.
Formerly active unit recovers No failover Become standby No action None.
Standby unit failed (power or No failover Mark standby as n/a When the standby unit is marked as
hardware) failed failed, then the active unit does not
attempt to fail over, even if the
interface failure threshold is
surpassed.
Failover link failed during No failover Mark failover link as Mark failover link as You should restore the failover link
operation failed failed as soon as possible because the unit
cannot fail over to the standby unit
while the failover link is down.
Failover link failed at startup No failover Mark failover link as Become active If the failover link is down at startup,
failed both units become active.
State link failed No failover No action No action State information becomes out of
date, and sessions are terminated if a
failover occurs.
Interface failure on active unit Failover Mark active as failed Become active None.
above threshold
Interface failure on standby unit No failover No action Mark standby as When the standby unit is marked as
above threshold failed failed, then the active unit does not
attempt to fail over even if the
interface failure threshold is
surpassed.
215
About Failover
About Active/Active Failover

This section describes Active/Active failover.
Active/Active Failover Overview

In an Active/Active failover configuration, both ASAs can pass network traffic. Active/Active failover is only
available to ASAs in multiple context mode. In Active/Active failover, you divide the security contexts on
the ASA into a maximum of 2 failover groups.
A failover group is simply a logical group of one or more security contexts. You can assign failover group to
be active on the primary ASA, and failover group 2 to be active on the secondary ASA. When a failover
occurs, it occurs at the failover group level. For example, depending on interface failure patterns, it is possible
for failover group 1 to fail over to the secondary ASA, and subsequently failover group 2 to fail over to the
primary ASA. This event could occur if the interfaces in failover group 1 are down on the primary ASA but
up on the secondary ASA, while the interfaces in failover group 2 are down on the secondary ASA but up on
the primary ASA.
The admin context is always a member of failover group 1. Any unassigned security contexts are also members
of failover group 1 by default. If you want Active/Active failover, but are otherwise uninterested in multiple
contexts, the simplest configuration would be to add one additional context and assign it to failover group 2.
Note When configuring Active/Active failover, make sure that the combined traffic for both units is within the
capacity of each unit.
Note You can assign both failover groups to one ASA if desired, but then you are not taking advantage of having
two active ASAs.
Primary/Secondary Roles and Active/Standby Status for a Failover Group

As in Active/Standby failover, one unit in an Active/Active failover pair is designated the primary unit, and
the other unit the secondary unit. Unlike Active/Standby failover, this designation does not indicate which
unit becomes active when both units start simultaneously. Instead, the primary/secondary designation does
two things:
• The primary unit provides the running configuration to the pair when they boot simultaneously.
• Each failover group in the configuration is configured with a primary or secondary unit preference.
Active Unit Determination for Failover Groups at Startup

The unit on which a failover group becomes active is determined as follows:
• When a unit boots while the peer unit is not available, both failover groups become active on the unit.
• When a unit boots while the peer unit is active (with both failover groups in the active state), the failover
groups remain in the active state on the active unit regardless of the primary or secondary preference of
the failover group until one of the following occurs:
216
About Failover
◦A failover occurs.
◦You manually force a failover.
◦You configured preemption for the failover group, which causes the failover group to automatically
become active on the preferred unit when the unit becomes available.
• When both units boot at the same time, each failover group becomes active on its preferred unit after
the configurations have been synchronized.
Failover Events
In an Active/Active failover configuration, failover occurs on a failover group basis, not a system basis. For
example, if you designate both failover groups as active on the primary unit, and failover group 1 fails, then
failover group 2 remains active on the primary unit while failover group 1 becomes active on the secondary
unit.
Because a failover group can contain multiple contexts, and each context can contain multiple interfaces, it
is possible for all interfaces in a single context to fail without causing the associated failover group to fail.
The following table shows the failover action for each failure event. For each failure event, the policy (whether
or not failover occurs), actions for the active failover group, and actions for the standby failover group are
given.
Table 19: Failover Events
Active Group Standby Group

Failure Event Policy Action Action Notes
A unit experiences a power or software Failover Become standby Become active When a unit in a failover pair fails,
failure Mark as failed any active failover groups on that unit
Mark active as
are marked as failed and become
failed
active on the peer unit.
Interface failure on active failover group Failover Mark active Become active None.
above threshold group as failed
Interface failure on standby failover No failover No action Mark standby When the standby failover group is
group above threshold group as failed marked as failed, the active failover
group does not attempt to fail over,
even if the interface failure threshold
is surpassed.
Formerly active failover group recovers No failover No action No action Unless failover group preemption is
configured, the failover groups remain
active on their current unit.
Failover link failed at startup No failover Become active Become active If the failover link is down at startup,
both failover groups on both units
become active.
217
Licensing for Failover
Active Group Standby Group

Failure Event Policy Action Action Notes
State link failed No failover No action No action State information becomes out of date,
and sessions are terminated if a
failover occurs.
Failover link failed during operation No failover n/a n/a Each unit marks the failover link as
failed. You should restore the failover
link as soon as possible because the
unit cannot fail over to the standby
unit while the failover link is down.
Licensing for Failover

Failover units do not require the same license on each unit. If you have licenses on both units, they combine
into a single running failover cluster license. There are some exceptions to this rule. See the following table
for precise licensing requirements for failover.

ASA 5506-X and ASA
• Active/Standby—Security Plus License.
5506W-X

license.
ASA 5512-X through
ASA 5555-X • ASA 5512-X—Security Plus License.
• Other models—Base License.
Note Each unit must have the same encryption license; each unit must have the same IPS module license.
You also need the IPS signature subscription on the IPS side for both units. See the following
guidelines:
• To buy the IPS signature subscription you need to have the ASA with IPS pre-installed (the
part number must include “IPS”, for example ASA5515-IPS-K9); you cannot buy the IPS
signature subscription for a non-IPS part number ASA.
• You need the IPS signature subscription on both units; this subscription is not shared in
failover, because it is not an ASA license.
• The IPS signature subscription requires a unique IPS module license per unit. Like other
ASA licenses, the IPS module license is technically shared in the failover cluster license.
However, because of the IPS signature subscription requirements, you must buy a separate
IPS module license for each unit in.
218
Guidelines for Failover

ASAv
• Active/Standby—Standard License.
Note The standby unit requires the same model license as the primary unit; Each unit must have the
same encryption license.
All other models Base License or Standard License.
license.
Note A valid permanent key is required; in rare instances, your PAK authentication key can be removed. If
your key consists of all 0’s, then you need to reinstall a valid authentication key before failover can be
enabled.
Guidelines for Failover

Context Mode
• Active/Active mode is supported only in multiple context mode.
• For multiple context mode, perform all steps in the system execution space unless otherwise noted.
• ASA failover replication fails if you try to make a configuration change in two or more contexts at the
same time. The workaround is to make configuration changes in each context sequentially.
Model Support
• ASA 5506W-X—You must disable interface monitoring for the internal GigabitEthernet 1/9 interface.
These interfaces will not be able to communicate to perform the default interface monitoring checks,
resulting in a switch from active to standby and back again because of expected interface communication
failures.
• ASA on the Firepower 9300—We recommend that you use inter-chasss failover for the best redundancy.
• Configuring port security on the switch(es) connected to an ASA failover pair can cause communication
problems when a failover event occurs. This problem occurs when a secure MAC address configured
or learned on one secure port moves to another secure port, a violation is flagged by the switch port
security feature.
• You can monitor up to 250 interfaces on a unit, across all contexts.
219
Defaults for Failover
• For Active/Active failover, no two interfaces in the same context should be configured in the same ASR
group.
• For Active/Active failover, you can define a maximum of two failover groups.
• For Active/Active failover, when removing failover groups, you must remove failover group 1 last.
Failover group1 always contains the admin context. Any context not assigned to a failover group defaults
to failover group 1. You cannot remove a failover group that has contexts explicitly assigned to it.
Related Topics
Auto Update Server Support in Failover Configurations, on page 869
Defaults for Failover

By default, the failover policy consists of the following:
• No HTTP replication in Stateful Failover.
• A single interface failure causes failover.
• The interface poll time is 5 seconds.
• The interface hold time is 25 seconds.
• The unit poll time is 1 second.
• The unit hold time is 15 seconds.
• Virtual MAC addresses are disabled in multiple context mode, except for the ASASM, where they are
enabled by default.
• Monitoring on all physical interfaces, or for the ASASM, all VLAN interfaces.
Configure Active/Standby Failover

To configure Active/Standby failover, configure basic failover settings on both the primary and secondary
units. All other configuration occurs only on the primary unit, and is then synched to the secondary unit.
Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Standby Failover

Follow the steps in this section to configure the primary in an Active/Standby failover configuration. These
steps provide the minimum configuration needed to enable failover on the primary unit.
Before You Begin

• Configure standby IP addresses for all interfaces except for the failover and state links.
• Do not configure a nameif for the failover and state links.
• For multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the system execution space. To change from the
context to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
220
Procedure
Step 1 Designate this unit as the primary unit:

Step 2 Specify the interface to be used as the failover link:

failover lan interface if_name interface_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover lan interface folink gigabitethernet0/3
This interface cannot be used for any other purpose (except, optionally, the state link).
The if_name argument assigns a name to the interface.
The interface_id argument can be a data physical interface, subinterface, redundant interface, or EtherChannel
interface ID. On the ASASM, the interface_id specifies a VLAN ID. For the ASA 5506H-X only, you can
specify the Management 1/1 interface as the failover link. If you do so, you must save the configuration with
write memory, and then reload the device. You then cannot use this interface for failover and also use the
ASA Firepower module; the module requires the interface for management, and you can only use it for one
function. For the Firepower 9300 ASA security module, you can use any data or management type interface.
Step 3 Assign the active and standby IP addresses to the failover link:
failover interface ip failover_if_name {ip_address mask | ipv6_address / prefix} standby ip_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip folink 172.27.48.1 255.255.255.0 standby 172.27.48.2
Or:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip folink 2001:a0a:b00::a0a:b70/64 standby

2001:a0a:b00::a0a:b71
This address should be on an unused subnet.

The standby IP address must be in the same subnet as the active IP address.
Step 4 Enable the failover link:

interface failover_interface_id
no shutdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface gigabitethernet 0/3
Step 5 (Optional) Specify the interface you want to use as the state link:
failover link if_name interface_id
221
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover link folink gigabitethernet0/3
You can share the failover link with the statelink.

The interface_id argument can be a physical interface, subinterface, redundant interface, or EtherChannel
interface ID. On the ASASM, the interface_id specifies a VLAN ID.
Step 6 If you specified a separate state link, assign the active and standby IP addresses to the state link:
failover interface ip state_if_name {ip_address mask | ipv6_address/prefix} standby ip_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip statelink 172.27.49.1 255.255.255.0 standby
172.27.49.2
Or:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip statelink 2001:a0a:b00:a::a0a:b70/64 standby

2001:a0a:b00:a::a0a:b71
This address should be on an unused subnet, different from the failover link.
Skip this step if you are sharing the state link.
Step 7 If you specified a separate state link, enable the state link.
interface state_interface_id
no shutdown
Example:
Step 8 (Optional) Do one of the following to encrypt communications on the failover and state links:
• (Preferred) Establish IPsec LAN-to-LAN tunnels on the failover and state links between the units to
encrypt all failover communications:
failover ipsec pre-shared-key [0 | 8] key
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover ipsec pre-shared-key a3rynsun
The key can be up to 128 characters in length. Identify the same key on both units. The key is used by
IKEv2 to establish the tunnels.
If you use a master passphrase (see Configure the Master Passphrase, on page 485), then the key is
encrypted in the configuration. If you are copying from the configuration (for example, from more
222
system:running-config output), specify that the key is encrypted by using the 8 keyword. 0 is used by
default, specifying an unencrypted password.
The failover ipsec pre-shared-key shows as ***** in show running-config output; this obscured key
is not copyable.
If you do not configure failover and state link encryption, failover communication, including any
passwords or keys in the configuration that are sent during command replication, will be in clear text.
You cannot use both IPsec encryption and the legacy failover key encryption. If you configure both
methods, IPsec is used. However, if you use the master passphrase, you must first remove the failover
key using the no failover key command before you configure IPsec encryption.
Failover LAN-to-LAN tunnels do not count against the IPsec (Other VPN) license.
• (Optional) Encrypt failover communication on the failover and state links:
failover key [0 | 8] {hex key | shared_secret}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover key johncr1cht0n
Use a shared_secret from 1 to 63 characters or a 32-character hex key. For the shared_secret, you can
use any combination of numbers, letters, or punctuation. The shared secret or hex key is used to generate
the encryption key. Identify the same key on both units.
If you use a master passphrase (see Configure the Master Passphrase, on page 485), then the shared
secret or hex key is encrypted in the configuration. If you are copying from the configuration (for
example, from more system:running-config output), specify that the shared secret or hex key is encrypted
by using the 8 keyword. 0 is used by default, specifying an unencrypted password.
The failover key shared secret shows as ***** in show running-config output; this obscured key is
not copyable.
Step 9 Enable failover:

failover
Step 10 Save the system configuration to flash memory:

write memory
Examples
The following example configures the failover parameters for the primary unit:

failover lan interface folink gigabitethernet0/3
failover interface ip folink 172.27.48.1 255.255.255.0 standby 172.27.48.2
no shutdown
failover link folink gigabitethernet0/3
failover ipsec pre-shared-key a3rynsun
failover
223
Configure Active/Active Failover
Configure the Secondary Unit for Active/Standby Failover

The only configuration required on the secondary unit is for the failover link. The secondary unit requires
these commands to communicate initially with the primary unit. After the primary unit sends its configuration
to the secondary unit, the only permanent difference between the two configurations is the failover lan unit
command, which identifies each unit as primary or secondary.
Before You Begin

Procedure
Step 1 Re-enter the exact same commands as on the primary unit except for the failover lan unit primary command.
You can optionally replace it with the failover lan unit secondary command, but it is not necessary because
secondary is the default setting. See Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Standby Failover, on page 220.
For example:

INFO: Non-failover interface config is cleared on GigabitEthernet0/3 and its sub-interfaces
ciscoasa(config-ifc)# no shutdown
ciscoasa(config-ifc)# failover link folink gigabitethernet0/3
ciscoasa(config)# failover
Step 2 After the failover configuration syncs, save the configuration to flash memory:
ciscoasa(config)# write memory

This section tells how to configure Active/Active failover.
Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Active Failover

Follow the steps in this section to configure the primary unit in an Active/Active failover configuration. These
steps provide the minimum configuration needed to enable failover on the primary unit.
Before You Begin

• Enable multiple context mode according to Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode, on page 167.
224
• Configure standby IP addresses for all interfaces except for the failover and state links according to
Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, on page 431.
• Complete this procedure in the system execution space. To change from the context to the system
execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure
Step 1 Designate this unit as the primary unit:

Step 2 Specify the interface to be used as the failover link:

failover lan interface if_name interface_id
Example:
This interface cannot be used for any other purpose (except, optionally, the state link).
Step 3 Assign the active and standby IP addresses to the failover link:
standby failover interface ip if_name {ip_address mask | ipv6_address/prefix } standby ip_address
Example:
Or:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip folink 2001:a0a:b00::a0a:b70/64 standby

2001:a0a:b00::a0a:b71
This address should be on an unused subnet.

Step 4 Enable the failover link:

interface failover_interface_id
no shutdown
Example:
Step 5 (Optional) Specify the interface you want to use as the state link:
failover link if_name interface_id
225
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover link statelink gigabitethernet0/4
We recommend specifying a separate interface from the failover link or data interfaces.
Step 6 If you specified a separate state link, assign the active and standby IP addresses to the state link:
This address should be on an unused subnet, different from the failover link.
failover interface ip state if_name {ip_address mask | ipv6_address/prefix} standby ip_address
Example:
172.27.49.2
Or:
ciscoasa(config)# failover interface ip statelink 2001:a0a:b00:a::a0a:b70/64 standby

2001:a0a:b00:a::a0a:b71
Step 7 If you specified a separate state link, enable the state link:
interface state_interface_id
no shutdown
Example:
Step 8 (Optional) Do one of the following to encrypt communications on the failover and state links:
• (Preferred) Establish IPsec LAN-to-LAN tunnels on the failover and state links between the units to
encrypt all failover communications:
failover ipsec pre-shared-key [0 | 8] key
The key can be up to 128 characters in length. Identify the same key on both units. The key is used by
IKEv2 to establish the tunnels.
If you use a master passphrase (see Configure the Master Passphrase, on page 485), then the key is
encrypted in the configuration. If you are copying from the configuration (for example, from more
system:running-config output), specify that the key is encrypted by using the 8 keyword. 0 is used by
default, specifying an unencrypted password.
226
The failover ipsec pre-shared-key shows as ***** in show running-config output; this obscured key
is not copyable.
You cannot use both IPsec encryption and the legacy failover key encryption. If you configure both
methods, IPsec is used. However, if you use the master passphrase, you must first remove the failover
key using the no failover key command before you configure IPsec encryption.
Failover LAN-to-LAN tunnels do not count against the IPsec (Other VPN) license.
• (Optional) Encrypt failover communication on the failover and state links:
failover key [0 | 8] {hex key | shared_secret}
ciscoasa(config)# failover key johncr1cht0n
Use a shared_secret, from 1 to 63 characters, or a 32-character hex key.

For the shared_secret, you can use any combination of numbers, letters, or punctuation. The shared
secret or hex key is used to generate the encryption key. Identify the same key on both units.
If you use a master passphrase (see Configure the Master Passphrase, on page 485), then the shared
secret or hex key is encrypted in the configuration. If you are copying from the configuration (for
example, from more system:running-config output), specify that the shared secret or hex key is encrypted
by using the 8 keyword. 0 is used by default, specifying an unencrypted password.
The failover key shared secret shows as ***** in show running-config output; this obscured key is
not copyable.
Step 9 Create failover group 1:

failover group 1
By default, this group is assigned to the primary unit. Typically, you assign group 1 to the primary unit, and
group 2 to the secondary unit. If you want a non-standard configuration, you can specify different unit
preferences if desired using the primary or secondary subcommands.
Step 10 Create failover group 2 and assigns it to the secondary unit:

failover group 2
secondary
Step 11 Enter the context configuration mode for a given context, and assign the context to a failover group:
context name
join-failover-group {1 | 2}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# context Eng
ciscoasa(config-ctx)# join-failover-group 2
Repeat this command for each context.
227
Any unassigned contexts are automatically assigned to failover group 1. The admin context is always a member
of failover group 1; you cannot assign it to group 2.
Step 12 Enable failover:

failover
Step 13 Save the system configuration to flash memory:

write memory
Examples
The following example configures the failover parameters for the primary unit:

failover lan interface folink gigabitethernet0/3
no shutdown
failover link statelink gigabitethernet0/4
failover interface ip statelink 172.27.49.1 255.255.255.0 standby 172.27.49.2
no shutdown
failover group 1
failover group 2
secondary
context admin
join-failover-group 1
failover ipsec pre-shared-key a3rynsun
failover
Configure the Secondary Unit for Active/Active Failover

The only configuration required on the secondary unit is for the failover link. The secondary unit requires
these commands to communicate initially with the primary unit. After the primary unit sends its configuration
to the secondary unit, the only permanent difference between the two configurations is the failover lan unit
command, which identifies each unit as primary or secondary.
Before You Begin

• Enable multiple context mode according to Enable or Disable Multiple Context Mode, on page 167.
• Complete this procedure in the system execution space. To change from the context to the system
execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure
Step 1 Re-enter the exact same commands as on the primary unit except for the failover lan unit primary command.
You can optionally replace it with the failover lan unit secondary command, but it is not necessary because
secondary is the default setting. You also do not need to enter the failover group and join-failover-group
commands, as they are replicated from the primary unit. See Configure the Primary Unit for Active/Active
Failover, on page 224.
228
Configure Optional Failover Parameters
For example:

no shutdown
ciscoasa(config)# failover link statelink gigabitethernet0/4
172.27.49.2
no shutdown
ciscoasa(config)# failover
Step 2 After the failover configuration syncs from the primary unit, save the configuration to flash memory:
Step 3 If necessary, force failover group 2 to be active on the secondary unit:

failover active group 2

You can customize failover settings as desired.
Configure Failover Criteria and Other Settings

See Defaults for Failover, on page 220 for the default settings for many parameters that you can change in
this section. For Active/Active mode, you set most criteria per failover group.
Before You Begin

Configure these settings in the system execution space in multiple context mode.
Procedure
Step 1 Change the unit poll and hold times:

In Active/Active mode, you set this rate for the system; you cannot set this rate per failover group.
You cannot enter a holdtime value that is less than 3 times the unit poll time. With a faster poll time, the ASA
can detect failure and trigger failover faster. However, faster detection can cause unnecessary switchovers
when the network is temporarily congested.
If a unit does not hear hello packet on the failover communication interface for one polling period, additional
testing occurs through the remaining interfaces. If there is still no response from the peer unit during the hold
time, the unit is considered failed and, if the failed unit is the active unit, the standby unit takes over as the
active unit.
229
failover polltime [unit] [msec] poll_time [holdtime [msec] time]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover polltime unit msec 200 holdtime msec 800
Step 2 Set the HTTP replication rate in connections per second:

Set the rate between 8341 and 50000. The default is 50000. In Active/Active mode, you set this rate for the
system; you cannot set this rate per failover group.
failover replication rate conns
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover replication rate 20000
Step 3 Disable the ability to make any configuration changes directly on the standby unit or context:
By default, configurations on the standby unit/context are allowed with a warning message.
failover standby config-lock
Step 4 (Active/Active mode only) Specify the failover group you want to customize:
failover group {1 | 2}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover group 1
ciscoasa(config-fover-group)#
Step 5 (Active/Active mode only) Configure failover group preemption for failover group 1:
preempt [delay]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-fover-group)# preempt 1200
If one unit boots before the other, then both failover groups become active on that unit, despite the primary
or secondary setting. This command causes the failover group to become active on the designated unit
automatically when that unit becomes available.
You can enter an optional delay value, which specifies the number of seconds the failover group remains
active on the current unit before automatically becoming active on the designated unit. Valid values are from
1 to 1200.
If Stateful Failover is enabled, the preemption is delayed until the connections are replicated from the unit on
which the failover group is currently active.
Step 6 Enable HTTP state replication:

• For Active/Standby mode:
failover replication http
• For Active/Active mode:
replication http
230
To allow HTTP connections to be included in the state information replication, you need to enable HTTP
replication. Because HTTP connections are typically short-lived, and because HTTP clients typically retry
failed connection attempts, HTTP connections are not automatically included in the replicated state information.
Step 7 Set the threshold for failover when interfaces fail:

failover interface-policy num [%]
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# failover interface-policy 20%

interface-policy num [%]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-fover-group)# interface-policy 20%
By default, one interface failure causes failover.

When specifying a specific number of interfaces, the num argument can be from 1 to 250.
When specifying a percentage of interfaces, the num argument can be from 1 to 100.
Step 8 Change the interface poll and hold times:

failover polltime interface [msec] time [holdtime time]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover polltime interface msec 500 holdtime 5

polltime interface [msec] time [holdtimetime]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-fover-group)# polltime interface msec 500 holdtime 5
Valid values for poll time are from 1 to 15 seconds or, if the optional msec keyword is used, from 500 to 999
milliseconds. The hold time determines how long it takes from the time a hello packet is missed to when the
interface is marked as failed. Valid values for the hold time are from 5 to 75 seconds. You cannot enter a hold
time that is less than 5 times the poll time.
If the interface link is down, interface testing is not conducted and the standby unit could become active in
just one interface polling period if the number of failed interfaces meets or exceeds the configured failover
criteria.
231
Step 9 Configure the virtual MAC address for an interface:

failover mac address phy_if active_mac standby_mac
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover mac address gigabitethernet0/2 00a0.c969.87c8 00a0.c918.95d8

mac address phy_if active_mac standby_mac
Example:
ciscoasa(config-fover-group)# mac address gigabitethernet0/2 00a0.c969.87c8

00a0.c918.95d8
The phy_if argument is the physical name of the interface, such as gigabitethernet0/1.
The active_mac and standby_mac arguments are MAC addresses in H.H.H format, where H is a 16-bit
hexadecimal digit. For example, the MAC address 00-0C-F1-42-4C-DE would be entered as 000C.F142.4CDE.
The active_mac address is associated with the active IP address for the interface, and the standby_mac is
associated with the standby IP address for the interface.
You can also set the MAC address using other commands or methods, but we recommend using only one
method. If you set the MAC address using multiple methods, the MAC address used depends on many variables,
and might not be predictable.
Use the show interface command to display the MAC address used by an interface.
Step 10 (Active/Active mode only) Repeat this procedure for the other failover group, if desired.
Configure Interface Monitoring

By default, monitoring is enabled on all physical interfaces, or for the ASASM, all VLAN interfaces, and on
any hardware or software modules installed on the ASA, such as the ASA FirePOWER module. You might
want to exclude interfaces attached to less critical networks from affecting your failover policy.
Before You Begin

• You can monitor up to 250 interfaces on a unit (across all contexts in multiple context mode).
• In multiple context mode, configure interfaces within each context.
Procedure
Enable or disable health monitoring for an interface:

[no] monitor-interface {if_name | service-module}
232
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# monitor-interface inside
ciscoasa(config)# no monitor-interface eng1
If you do not want a hardware or software module failure, such as the ASA FirePOWER module, to trigger
failover, you can disable module monitoring using the no monitor-interface service-module command. Note
that for the ASA 5585-X, if you disable monitoring of the service module, you may also want to disable
monitoring of the interfaces on the module, which are monitored separately.
Configure Support for Asymmetrically Routed Packets (Active/Active Mode)

When running in Active/Active failover, a unit might receive a return packet for a connection that originated
through its peer unit. Because the ASA that receives the packet does not have any connection information for
the packet, the packet is dropped. This drop most commonly occurs when the two ASAs in an Active/Active
failover pair are connected to different service providers and the outbound connection does not use a NAT
address.
When running in Active/Active failover, a unit might receive a return packet for a connection that originated
through its peer unit. Because the ASA that receives the packet does not have any connection information for
the packet, the packet is dropped. This drop most commonly occurs when the two ASAs in an Active/Active
failover pair are connected to different service providers and the outbound connection does not use a NAT
address.
You can prevent the return packets from being dropped by allowing asymmetrically routed packets. To do
so, you assign the similar interfaces on each ASA to the same ASR group. For example, both ASAs connect
to the inside network on the inside interface, but connect to separate ISPs on the outside interface. On the
primary unit, assign the active context outside interface to ASR group 1; on the secondary unit, assign the
active context outside interface to the same ASR group 1. When the primary unit outside interface receives
a packet for which it has no session information, it checks the session information for the other interfaces in
standby contexts that are in the same group; in this case, ASR group 1. If it does not find a match, the packet
is dropped. If it finds a match, then one of the following actions occurs:
• If the incoming traffic originated on a peer unit, some or all of the layer 2 header is rewritten and the
packet is redirected to the other unit. This redirection continues as long as the session is active.
• If the incoming traffic originated on a different interface on the same unit, some or all of the layer 2
header is rewritten and the packet is reinjected into the stream.
Note This feature does not provide asymmetric routing; it restores asymmetrically routed packets to the correct
interface.
233
The following figure shows an example of an asymmetrically routed packet.
Figure 33: ASR Example
1 An outbound session passes through the ASA with the active SecAppA context. It exits interface outside
ISP-A (192.168.1.1).
2 Because of asymmetric routing configured somewhere upstream, the return traffic comes back through
the interface outsideISP-B (192.168.2.2) on the ASA with the active SecAppB context.
3 Normally the return traffic would be dropped because there is no session information for the traffic on
interface 192.168.2.2. However, the interface is configured as part of ASR group 1. The unit looks for the
session on any other interface configured with the same ASR group ID.
4 The session information is found on interface outsideISP-A (192.168.1.2), which is in the standby state
on the unit with SecAppB. Stateful Failover replicated the session information from SecAppA to SecAppB.
5 Instead of being dropped, the layer 2 header is rewritten with information for interface 192.168.1.1 and
the traffic is redirected out of the interface 192.168.1.2, where it can then return through the interface on
the unit from which it originated (192.168.1.1 on SecAppA). This forwarding continues as needed until
the session ends.
Before You Begin

• Stateful Failover—Passes state information for sessions on interfaces in the active failover group to the
standby failover group.
• Replication HTTP—HTTP session state information is not passed to the standby failover group, and
therefore is not present on the standby interface. For the ASA to be able to re-route asymmetrically
routed HTTP packets, you need to replicate the HTTP state information.
234
• Perform this procedure within each active context on the primary and secondary units.
• You cannot configure both ASR groups and traffic zones within a context. If you configure a zone in a
context, none of the context interfaces can be part of an ASR group.
Procedure
Step 1 On the primary unit, specify the interface for which you want to allow asymmetrically routed packets:
interface phy_if
Example:
primary/admin(config)# interface gigabitethernet 0/0
Step 2 Set the ASR group number for the interface:

asr-group num
Example:
primary/admin(config-ifc)# asr-group 1
Valid values for num range from 1 to 32.
Step 3 On the secondary unit, specify the similar interface for which you want to allow asymmetrically routed packets:
interface phy_if
Example:
secondary/ctx1(config)# interface gigabitethernet 0/1
Step 4 Set the ASR group number for the interface to match the primary unit interface:
asr-group num
Example:
secondary/ctx1(config-ifc)# asr-group 1
Examples
The two units have the following configuration (configurations show only the relevant commands). The device
labeled SecAppA in the diagram is the primary unit in the failover pair.
Primary Unit System Configuration
description LAN/STATE Failover Interface
no shutdown
no shutdown
235
Manage Failover
no shutdown
no shutdown
failover
failover lan interface folink GigabitEthernet0/1
failover link folink
failover group 1
primary
failover group 2
secondary
admin-context SecAppA
context admin
config-url flash:/admin.cfg
context SecAppB
config-url flash:/ctx1.cfg
SecAppA Context Configuration
nameif outsideISP-A
security-level 0
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby 192.168.1.2
asr-group 1
nameif inside
security-level 100
monitor-interface outside
SecAppB Context Configuration
nameif outsideISP-B
security-level 0
asr-group 1
nameif inside
security-level 100
Manage Failover
This section describes how to manage failover units after you enable failover, including how to change the
failover setup and how to force failover from one unit to another.
Related Topics
Configure Optional Failover Parameters, on page 229
Force Failover
To force the standby unit to become active, perform the following procedure.
236
Manage Failover
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, perform this procedure in the System execution space.
Procedure
Step 1 Force a failover when entered on the standby unit. The standby unit becomes the active unit.
If you specify the group group_id, then this command forces a failover when entered on the standby unit for
the specified Active/Active failover group. The standby unit becomes the active unit for the failover group.
• For Active/Standby mode on the standby unit:
failover active
• For Active/Active mode on the standby unit:
failover active [group group_id]
Example:
standby# failover active group 1
Step 2 Force a failover when entered on the active unit. The active unit becomes the standby unit.
If you specify the group group_id, then this command forces a failover when entered on the active unit for
the specified failover group. The active unit becomes the standby unit for the failover group.
• For Active/Standby mode on the active unit:
no failover active
• For Active/Active mode on the active unit:
no failover active [group group_id]
Example:
active# no failover active group 1
Step 3 (Active/Active mode only) To force failover at the failover group level:
a) In the System choose Monitoring > Failover > Failover Group #, where # is the number of the failover
group you want to control.
b) Click one of the following buttons
• Click Make Active to make the failover group active on this unit.
• Click Make Standby to make the failover group active on the other unit.
237
Manage Failover
Disable Failover
Disabling failover on one or both units causes the active and standby state of each unit to be maintained until
you reload. For an Active/Active failover pair, the failover groups remain in the active state on whichever
unit they are active, no matter which unit they are configured to prefer.
See the following characteristics when you disable failover:
• The standby unit/context remains in standby mode so that both units do not start passing traffic (this is
called a pseudo-standby state).
• The standby unit/context continues to use its standby IP addresses even though it is no longer connected
to an active unit/context.
• The standby unit/context continues to listen for a connection on the failover link. If failover is re-enabled
on the active unit/context, then the standby unit/context resumes ordinary standby status after
re-synchronizing the rest of its configuration.
• To truly disable failover, save the no failover configuration to the startup configuration, and then reload.
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, perform this procedure in the system execution space.
Procedure
Step 1 Disable failover:

no failover
Step 2 To completely disable failover, save the configuration and reload:

write memory
reload
Restore a Failed Unit

To restore a failed unit to an unfailed state, perform the following procedure.
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, perform this procedure in the System execution space.
Procedure
Step 1 Restore a failed unit to an unfailed state:

failover reset
238
Manage Failover
failover reset [group group_id]

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# failover reset group 1
Restoring a failed unit to an unfailed state does not automatically make it active; restored units remain in the
standby state until made active by failover (forced or natural). An exception is a failover group (Active/Active
mode only) configured with failover preemption. If previously active, a failover group becomes active if it is
configured with preemption and if the unit on which it failed is the preferred unit.
If you specify the group group_id, this command restores a failed Active/Active failover group to an unfailed
state.
Step 2 (Active/Active mode only) To reset failover at the failover group level:
a) In the System choose Monitoring > Failover > Failover Group #, where # is the number of the failover
group you want to control.
b) Click Reset Failover.
Re-Sync the Configuration

If you enter the write standby command on the active unit, the standby unit clears its running configuration
(except for the failover commands used to communicate with the active unit), and the active unit sends its
entire configuration to the standby unit.
For multiple context mode, when you enter the write standby command in the system execution space, all
contexts are replicated. If you enter the write standby command within a context, the command replicates
only the context configuration.
Replicated commands are stored in the running configuration.
Test the Failover Functionality

To test failover functionality, perform the following procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 Test that your active unit is passing traffic as expected by using FTP (for example) to send a file between
hosts on different interfaces.
Step 2 Force a failover by entering the following command on the active unit:
Active/Standby mode:
ciscoasa(config)# no failover active
Active/Active mode:
ciscoasa(config)# no failover active group group_id
239
Manage Failover
Step 3 Use FTP to send another file between the same two hosts.
Step 4 If the test was not successful, enter the show failover command to check the failover status.
Step 5 When you are finished, you can restore the unit to active status by enter the following command on the newly
active unit:
Active/Standby mode:
ciscoasa(config)# no failover active
Active/Active mode:
ciscoasa(config)# failover active group group_id
Note When an ASA interface goes down, for failover it is still considered to be a unit issue. If the ASA
detects that an interface is down, failover occurs immediately, without waiting for the interface
holdtime. The interface holdtime is only useful when the ASA considers its status to be OK, although
it is not receiving hello packets from the peer. To simulate interface holdtime, shut down the VLAN
on the switch to prevent peers from receiving hello packets from each other.
Remote Command Execution

Remote command execution lets you send commands entered at the command line to a specific failover peer.
Send a Command
Because configuration commands are replicated from the active unit or context to the standby unit or context,
you can use the failover exec command to enter configuration commands on the correct unit, no matter which
unit you are logged in to. For example, if you are logged in to the standby unit, you can use the failover exec
active command to send configuration changes to the active unit. Those changes are then replicated to the
standby unit. Do not use the failover exec command to send configuration commands to the standby unit or
context; those configuration changes are not replicated to the active unit and the two configurations will no
longer be synchronized.
Output from configuration, exec, and show commands is displayed in the current terminal session, so you
can use the failover exec command to issue show commands on a peer unit and view the results in the current
terminal.
You must have sufficient privileges to execute a command on the local unit to execute the command on the
peer unit.
Procedure
Step 1 If you are in multiple context mode, use the changeto contextname command to change to the context you
want to configure. You cannot change contexts on the failover peer with the failover exec command.
Step 2 Use the following command to send commands to he specified failover unit:
ciscoasa(config)# failover exec {active | mate | standby}
Use the active or standby keyword to cause the command to be executed on the specified unit, even if that
unit is the current unit. Use the mate keyword to cause the command to be executed on the failover peer.
240
Manage Failover
Commands that cause a command mode change do not change the prompt for the current session. You must
use the show failover exec command to display the command mode the command is executed in. See Change
Command Modes for more information.
Change Command Modes

The failover exec command maintains a command mode state that is separate from the command mode of
your terminal session. By default, the failover exec command mode starts in global configuration mode for
the specified device. You can change that command mode by sending the appropriate command (such as the
interface command) using the failover exec command. The session prompt does not change when you change
modes using failover exec.
For example, if you are logged in to global configuration mode of the active unit of a failover pair, and you
use the failover exec active command to change to interface configuration mode, the terminal prompt remains
in global configuration mode, but commands entered using failover exec are entered in interface configuration
mode.
The following examples show the difference between the terminal session mode and the failover exec command
mode. In the example, the administrator changes the failover exec mode on the active unit to interface
configuration mode for the interface GigabitEthernet0/1. After that, all commands entered using failover exec
active are sent to interface configuration mode for interface GigabitEthernet0/1. The administrator then uses
failover exec active to assign an IP address to that interface. Although the prompt indicates global configuration
mode, the failover exec active mode is in interface configuration mode.
ciscoasa(config)# failover exec active interface GigabitEthernet0/1

ciscoasa(config)# failover exec active ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby
192.168.1.2
ciscoasa(config)# router rip
ciscoasa(config-router)#
Changing commands modes for your current session to the device does not affect the command mode used
by the failover exec command. For example, if you are in interface configuration mode on the active unit,
and you have not changed the failover exec command mode, the following command would be executed in
global configuration mode. The result would be that your session to the device remains in interface configuration
mode, while commands entered using failover exec active are sent to router configuration mode for the
specified routing process.
ciscoasa(config-if)# failover exec active router ospf 100

ciscoasa(config-if)#
Use the show failover exec command to display the command mode on the specified device in which commands
sent with the failover exec command are executed. The show failover exec command takes the same keywords
as the failover exec command: active, mate, or standby. The failover exec mode for each device is tracked
separately.
For example, the following is sample output from the show failover exec command entered on the standby
unit:
ciscoasa(config)# failover exec active interface GigabitEthernet0/1

ciscoasa(config)# sh failover exec active
Active unit Failover EXEC is at interface sub-command mode
ciscoasa(config)# sh failover exec standby

Standby unit Failover EXEC is at config mode
241
Monitoring Failover
ciscoasa(config)# sh failover exec mate

Active unit Failover EXEC is at interface sub-command mode
Security Considerations
The failover exec command uses the failover link to send commands to and receive the output of the command
execution from the peer unit. You should enable encryption on the failover link to prevent eavesdropping or
man-in-the-middle attacks.
Limitations of Remote Command Execution

When you use remote commands you face the following limitations:
• If you upgrade one unit using the zero-downtime upgrade procedure and not the other, both units must
be running software that supports the failover exec command for the command to work.
• Command completion and context help is not available for the commands in the cmd_string argument.
• In multiple context mode, you can only send commands to the peer context on the peer unit. To send
commands to a different context, you must first change to that context on the unit to which you are
logged in.
• You cannot use the following commands with the failover exec command:
◦changeto
◦debug (undebug)
• If the standby unit is in the failed state, it can still receive commands from the failover exec command
if the failure is due to a service card failure; otherwise, the remote command execution will fail.
• You cannot use the failover exec command to switch from privileged EXEC mode to global configuration
mode on the failover peer. For example, if the current unit is in privileged EXEC mode, and you enter
failover exec mate configure terminal, the show failover exec mate output will show that the failover
exec session is in global configuration mode. However, entering configuration commands for the peer
unit using failover exec will fail until you enter global configuration mode on the current unit.
• You cannot enter recursive failover exec commands, such as failover exec mate failover exec mate
command.
• Commands that require user input or confirmation must use the /nonconfirm option.
Monitoring Failover
This section lets you monitor the failover status.
Failover Messages
When a failover occurs, both ASAs send out system messages.
242
Monitoring Failover
Failover Syslog Messages

The ASA issues a number of syslog messages related to failover at priority level 2, which indicates a critical
condition. To view these messages, see the syslog messages guide.
Note During a fail over, failover logically shuts down and then bring up interfaces, generating syslog messages
411001 and 411002. This is normal activity.
Failover Debug Messages

To see debug messages, enter the debug fover command. See the command reference for more information.
Note Because debugging output is assigned high priority in the CPU process, it can drastically affect system
performance. For this reason, use the debug fover commands only to troubleshoot specific problems or
during troubleshooting sessions with Cisco TAC.
SNMP Failover Traps

To receive SNMP syslog traps for failover, configure the SNMP agent to send SNMP traps to SNMP
management stations, define a syslog host, and compile the Cisco syslog MIB into your SNMP management
station.
Monitoring Failover Status

To monitor failover status, enter one of the following commands:
• show failover
Displays information about the failover state of the unit.
• show failover group
Displays information about the failover state of the failover group. The information displayed is similar
to that of the show failover command but limited to the specified group.
• show monitor-interface
Displays information about the monitored interface.
• show running-config failover
Displays the failover commands in the running configuration.
243
History for Failover

Feature Name Releases Feature Information
Active/Standby failover 7.0(1) This feature was introduced.
Active/Active failover 7.0(1) This feature was introduced.
Support for a hex value for the failover key 7.0(4) You can now specify a hex value for failover link encryption.
We modified the following command: failover key hex.
Support for the master passphrase for the failover 8.3(1) The failover key now supports the master passphrase, which
key encrypts the shared key in the running and startup configuration.
If you are copying the shared secret from one ASA to another,
for example from the more system:running-config command,
you can successfully copy and paste the encrypted shared key.
Note The failover key shared secret shows as ***** in show
running-config output; this obscured key is not
copyable.
We modified the following command: failover key [0 | 8].
IPv6 support for failover added. 8.2(2) We modified the following commands: failover interface ip,
show failover, ipv6 address, show monitor-interface.
Support for IPsec LAN-to-LAN tunnels to encrypt 9.1(2) Instead of using the proprietary encryption for the failover key
failover and state link communications (the failover key command), you can now use an IPsec
LAN-to-LAN tunnel for failover and state link encryption.
Note Failover LAN-to-LAN tunnels do not count against
the IPsec (Other VPN) license.
We introduced or modified the following commands: failover
ipsec pre-shared-key, show vpn-sessiondb.
Disable health monitoring of a hardware module 9.3(1) By default, the ASA monitors the health of an installed
hardware module such as the ASA FirePOWER module. If you
do not want a hardware module failure to trigger failover, you
can disable module monitoring.
We modified the following command: monitor-interface
service-module
Lock configuration changes on the standby unit or 9.3(2) You can now lock configuration changes on the standby unit
standby context in a failover pair (Active/Standby failover) or the standby context (Active/Active
failover) so you cannot make changes on the standby unit
outside normal configuration syncing.
We introduced the following command: failover standby
config-lock
244

Enable use of the Management 1/1 interface as the 9.5(1) On the ASA 5506H only, you can now configure the
failover link on the ASA 5506H Management 1/1 interface as the failover link. This feature lets
you use all other interfaces on the device as data interfaces.
Note that if you use this feature, you cannot use the ASA
Firepower module, which requires the Management 1/1 interface
to remain as a regular management interface.
We modified the following commands: failover lan interface,
failover link
Carrier Grade NAT enhancements now supported 9.5(2) For carrier-grade or large-scale PAT, you can allocate a block
in failover and ASA clustering of ports for each host, rather than have NAT allocate one port
translation at a time (see RFC 6888). This feature is now
supported in failover and ASA cluster deployments.
We modified the following command: show local-host
245
246
CHAPTER 8
ASA Cluster
Clustering lets you group multiple ASAs together as a single logical device. A cluster provides all the
convenience of a single device (management, integration into a network) while achieving the increased
throughput and redundancy of multiple devices.
Note Some features are not supported when using clustering. See Unsupported Features with Clustering, on
page 274.
• About ASA Clustering, page 247

• Licensing for ASA Clustering, page 281
• Prerequisites for ASA Clustering, page 281
• Guidelines for ASA Clustering, page 282
• Defaults for ASA Clustering, page 286
• Configure ASA Clustering, page 286
• Manage ASA Cluster Members, page 309
• Monitoring the ASA Cluster, page 314
• Examples for ASA Clustering, page 319
• History for ASA Clustering, page 334
About ASA Clustering

This section describes the clustering architecture and how it works.
How the ASA Cluster Fits into Your Network

The cluster consists of multiple ASAs acting as a single unit. To act as a cluster, the ASAs need the following
infrastructure:
247
• Isolated, high-speed backplane network for intra-cluster communication, known as the cluster control
link.
• Management access to each ASA for configuration and monitoring.
When you place the cluster in your network, the upstream and downstream routers need to be able to
load-balance the data coming to and from the cluster using one of the following methods:
• Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended)—Interfaces on multiple members of the cluster are grouped
into a single EtherChannel; the EtherChannel performs load balancing between units.
• Policy-Based Routing (Routed firewall mode only)—The upstream and downstream routers perform
load balancing between units using route maps and ACLs.
• Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing (Routed firewall mode only)—The upstream and downstream routers
perform load balancing between units using equal cost static or dynamic routes.
Related Topics
Licensing for ASA Clustering, on page 281
Cluster Control Link, on page 251
ASA Cluster Management, on page 256
Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended), on page 250
Policy-Based Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only), on page 262
Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only), on page 263
Performance Scaling Factor

When you combine multiple units into a cluster, you can expect a performance of approximately:
• 70% of the combined throughput
• 60% of maximum connections
• 50% of connections per second
For example, for throughput, the ASA 5585-X with SSP-40 can handle approximately 10 Gbps of real world
firewall traffic when running alone. For a cluster of 8 units, the maximum combined throughput will be
approximately 70% of 80 Gbps (8 units x 10 Gbps): 56 Gbps.
Cluster Members
Cluster members work together to accomplish the sharing of the security policy and traffic flows. This section
describes the nature of each member role.
Bootstrap Configuration
On each device, you configure a minimal bootstrap configuration including the cluster name, cluster control
link interface, and other cluster settings. The first unit on which you enable clustering typically becomes the
primary unit. When you enable clustering on subsequent units, they join the cluster as secondaries.
248
Primary and Secondary Unit Roles

One member of the cluster is the primary unit. The primary unit is determined by the priority setting in the
bootstrap configuration; the priority is set between 1 and 100, where 1 is the highest priority. All other members
are secondary units. Typically, when you first create a cluster, the first unit you add becomes the primary unit
simply because it is the only unit in the cluster so far.
You must perform all configuration (aside from the bootstrap configuration) on the primary unit only; the
configuration is then replicated to the secondary units. In the case of physical assets, such as interfaces, the
configuration of the primary unit is mirrored on all secondary units. For example, if you configure
GigabitEthernet 0/1 as the inside interface and GigabitEthernet 0/0 as the outside interface, then these interfaces
are also used on the secondary units as inside and outside interfaces.
Some features do not scale in a cluster, and the primary unit handles all traffic for those features.
Related Topics
Centralized Features for Clustering, on page 274
Primary Unit Election

Members of the cluster communicate over the cluster control link to elect a primary unit as follows:
1 When you enable clustering for a unit (or when it first starts up with clustering already enabled), it broadcasts
an election request every 3 seconds.
2 Any other units with a higher priority respond to the election request; the priority is set between 1 and
100, where 1 is the highest priority.
3 If after 45 seconds, a unit does not receive a response from another unit with a higher priority, then it
becomes primary.
Note If multiple units tie for the highest priority, the cluster unit name and then the serial number is used to
determine the primary.
4 If a unit later joins the cluster with a higher priority, it does not automatically become the primary unit;
the existing primary unit always remains as the primary unless it stops responding, at which point a new
primary unit is elected.
Note You can manually force a unit to become the primary. For centralized features, if you force a primary unit
change, then all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish the connections on the new primary
unit.
Related Topics
249
Cluster Interfaces
You can configure data interfaces as either Spanned EtherChannels or as Individual interfaces. All data
interfaces in the cluster must be one type only.
Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended)

You can group one or more interfaces per chassis into an EtherChannel that spans all chassis in the cluster.
The EtherChannel aggregates the traffic across all the available active interfaces in the channel. A Spanned
EtherChannel can be configured in both routed and transparent firewall modes. In routed mode, the
EtherChannel is configured as a routed interface with a single IP address. In transparent mode, the IP address
is assigned to the bridge group, not to the interface. The EtherChannel inherently provides load balancing as
part of basic operation.
Individual Interfaces (Routed Firewall Mode Only)

Individual interfaces are normal routed interfaces, each with their own Local IP address. Because interface
configuration must be configured only on the primary unit, the interface configuration lets you set a pool of
IP addresses to be used for a given interface on the cluster members, including one for the primary. The Main
cluster IP address is a fixed address for the cluster that always belongs to the current primary unit. The Main
cluster IP address is a secondary IP address for the primary unit; the Local IP address is always the primary
address for routing. The Main cluster IP address provides consistent management access to an address; when
a primary unit changes, the Main cluster IP address moves to the new primary unit, so management of the
250
cluster continues seamlessly. Load balancing, however, must be configured separately on the upstream switch
in this case.
Note We recommend Spanned EtherChannels instead of Individual interfaces because Individual interfaces
rely on routing protocols to load-balance traffic, and routing protocols often have slow convergence during
a link failure.
Related Topics
Load Balancing Methods, on page 258
Cluster Control Link

Each unit must dedicate at least one hardware interface as the cluster control link.
Cluster Control Link Traffic Overview

Cluster control link traffic includes both control and data traffic.
Control traffic includes:
• Primary election.
• Configuration replication.
251
• Health monitoring.
Data traffic includes:

• State replication.
• Connection ownership queries and data packet forwarding.
Related Topics
Cluster Members, on page 248
Configuration Replication, on page 256
Unit Health Monitoring, on page 254
Data Path Connection State Replication, on page 256
Rebalancing New TCP Connections Across the Cluster, on page 273
Cluster Control Link Interfaces and Network

You can use any data interface(s) for the cluster control link, with the following exceptions:
• You cannot use a VLAN subinterface as the cluster control link.
• You cannot use a Management x/x interface as the cluster control link, either alone or as an EtherChannel.
• For the ASA 5585-X with an ASA IPS module, you cannot use the module interfaces for the cluster
control link; you can, however, use interfaces on the ASA 5585-X Network Module.
You can use an EtherChannel or redundant interface.

For the ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 and SSP-20, which include two Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, we
recommend using one interface for the cluster control link, and the other for data (you can use subinterfaces
for data). Although this setup does not accommodate redundancy for the cluster control link, it does satisfy
the need to size the cluster control link to match the size of the data interfaces.
Each cluster control link has an IP address on the same subnet. This subnet should be isolated from all other
traffic, and should include only the ASA cluster control link interfaces.
For a 2-member cluster, do not directly-connect the cluster control link from one ASA to the other ASA. If
you directly connect the interfaces, then when one unit fails, the cluster control link fails, and thus the remaining
healthy unit fails. If you connect the cluster control link through a switch, then the cluster control link remains
up for the healthy unit.
Related Topics
Cluster Control Link Redundancy, on page 253
Size the Cluster Control Link, on page 252
Size the Cluster Control Link

If possible, you should size the cluster control link to match the expected throughput of each chassis so the
cluster-control link can handle the worst-case scenarios. For example, if you have the ASA 5585-X with
SSP-60, which can pass 14 Gbps per unit maximum in a cluster, then you should also assign interfaces to the
cluster control link that can pass at least 14 Gbps. In this case, you could use 2 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
in an EtherChannel for the cluster control link, and use the rest of the interfaces as desired for data links.
252
Cluster control link traffic is comprised mainly of state update and forwarded packets. The amount of traffic
at any given time on the cluster control link varies. The amount of forwarded traffic depends on the
load-balancing efficacy or whether there is a lot of traffic for centralized features. For example:
• NAT results in poor load balancing of connections, and the need to rebalance all returning traffic to the
correct units.
• AAA for network access is a centralized feature, so all traffic is forwarded to the primary unit.
• When membership changes, the cluster needs to rebalance a large number of connections, thus temporarily
using a large amount of cluster control link bandwidth.
A higher-bandwidth cluster control link helps the cluster to converge faster when there are membership changes
and prevents throughput bottlenecks.
Note If your cluster has large amounts of asymmetric (rebalanced) traffic, then you should increase the cluster
control link size.
Related Topics
Inter-Site Clustering, on page 263
Cluster Control Link Redundancy

We recommend using an EtherChannel for the cluster control link, so that you can pass traffic on multiple
links in the EtherChannel while still achieving redundancy.
The following diagram shows how to use an EtherChannel as a cluster control link in a Virtual Switching
System (VSS) or Virtual Port Channel (vPC) environment. All links in the EtherChannel are active. When
the switch is part of a VSS or vPC, then you can connect ASA interfaces within the same EtherChannel to
separate switches in the VSS or vPC. The switch interfaces are members of the same EtherChannel port-channel
interface, because the separate switches act like a single switch. Note that this EtherChannel is device-local,
not a Spanned EtherChannel.
Cluster Control Link Reliability

To ensure cluster control link functionality, be sure the round-trip time (RTT) between units is less than 20
ms. This maximum latency enhances compatibility with cluster members installed at different geographical
sites. To check your latency, perform a ping on the cluster control link between units.
253
The cluster control link must be reliable, with no out-of-order or dropped packets; for example, for inter-site
deployment, you should use a dedicated link.
Cluster Control Link Failure

If the cluster control link line protocol goes down for a unit, then clustering is disabled; data interfaces are
shut down. After you fix the cluster control link, you must manually rejoin the cluster by re-enabling clustering.
Note When the ASA becomes inactive, all data interfaces are shut down; only the management-only interface
can send and receive traffic. The management interface remains up using the IP address the unit received
from the cluster IP pool. However if you reload, and the unit is still inactive in the cluster, the management
interface is not accessible (because it then uses the Main IP address, which is the same as the primary
unit). You must use the console port for any further configuration.
Related Topics
Rejoining the Cluster, on page 255
High Availability Within the ASA Cluster

ASA Clustering provides high availability by monitoring unit and interface health and by replicating connection
states between units.

The primary unit monitors every secondary unit by sending keepalive messages over the cluster control link
periodically (the period is configurable). Each secondary unit monitors the primary unit using the same
mechanism. If the unit health check fails, the unit is removed from the cluster.
Each unit monitors the link status of all named hardware interfaces in use, and reports status changes to the
primary unit.
• Spanned EtherChannel—Uses cluster Link Aggregation Control Protocol (cLACP). Each unit monitors
the link status and the cLACP protocol messages to determine if the port is still active in the EtherChannel.
The status is reported to the primary unit.
• Individual interfaces (Routed mode only)—Each unit self-monitors its interfaces and reports interface
status to the primary unit.
When you enable health monitoring, all physical interfaces (including the main EtherChannel and redundant
interface types) are monitored by default; you can optionally disable monitoring per interface. Only named
interfaces can be monitored. For example, the named EtherChannel must fail to be considered failed, which
means all member ports of an EtherChannel must fail to trigger cluster removal (depending on your minimum
port bundling setting).
A unit is removed from the cluster if its monitored interfaces fail. The amount of time before the ASA removes
a member from the cluster depends on the type of interface and whether the unit is an established member or
is joining the cluster. For EtherChannels (spanned or not), if the interface is down on an established member,
254
then the ASA removes the member after 9 seconds. The ASA does not monitor interfaces for the first 90
seconds that a unit joins the cluster. Interface status changes during this time will not cause the ASA to be
removed from the cluster. For non-EtherChannels, the unit is removed after 500 ms, regardless of the member
state.
Status After Failure

When a unit in the cluster fails, the connections hosted by that unit are seamlessly transferred to other units;
state information for traffic flows is shared over the control cluster link.
If the primary unit fails, then another member of the cluster with the highest priority (lowest number) becomes
the primary.
The ASA automatically tries to rejoin the cluster, depending on the failure event.
Note When the ASA becomes inactive and fails to automatically rejoin the cluster, all data interfaces are shut
down; only the management-only interface can send and receive traffic. The management interface remains
up using the IP address the unit received from the cluster IP pool. However if you reload, and the unit is
still inactive in the cluster, the management interface is disabled. You must use the console port for any
further configuration.
Related Topics
Rejoining the Cluster, on page 255
Rejoining the Cluster

After a cluster member is removed from the cluster, how it can rejoin the cluster depends on why it was
removed:
• Failed cluster control link when initially joining—After you resolve the problem with the cluster control
link, you must manually rejoin the cluster by re-enabling clustering at the console port by entering cluster
group name, and then enable.
• Failed cluster control link after joining the cluster—The ASA automatically tries to rejoin every 5
minutes, indefinitely. This behavior is configurable.
• Failed data interface—The ASA automatically tries to rejoin at 5 minutes, then at 10 minutes, and finally
at 20 minutes. If the join is not successful after 20 minutes, then the ASA disables clustering. After you
resolve the problem with the data interface, you have to manually enable clustering at the console port
by entering cluster group name, and then enable. This behavior is configurable.
• Failed unit—If the unit was removed from the cluster because of a unit health check failure, then rejoining
the cluster depends on the source of the failure. For example, a temporary power failure means the unit
will rejoin the cluster when it starts up again as long as the cluster control link is up and clustering is
still enabled with the enable command. The ASA attempts to rejoin the cluster every 5 seconds.
See Configure the Primary Unit Bootstrap Settings, on page 297.
255
Data Path Connection State Replication

Every connection has one owner and at least one backup owner in the cluster. The backup owner does not
take over the connection in the event of a failure; instead, it stores TCP/UDP state information, so that the
connection can be seamlessly transferred to a new owner in case of a failure.
If the owner becomes unavailable, the first unit to receive packets from the connection (based on load balancing)
contacts the backup owner for the relevant state information so it can become the new owner.
Some traffic requires state information above the TCP or UDP layer. See the following table for clustering
support or lack of support for this kind of traffic.
Table 20: Features Replicated Across the Cluster
Traffic State Support Notes

Up time Yes Keeps track of the system up time.
ARP Table Yes Transparent mode only.
MAC address table Yes Transparent mode only.
User Identity Yes Includes AAA rules (uauth) and identity firewall.
IPv6 Neighbor database Yes —
Dynamic routing Yes —
SNMP Engine ID No —
VPN (Site-to-Site) No VPN sessions will be disconnected if the primary

unit fails.
Configuration Replication
All units in the cluster share a single configuration. You can only make configuration changes on the primary
unit, and changes are automatically synced to all other units in the cluster.
ASA Cluster Management

One of the benefits of using ASA clustering is the ease of management. This section describes how to manage
the cluster.
Management Network
We recommend connecting all units to a single management network. This network is separate from the cluster
control link.
256
For the management interface, we recommend using one of the dedicated management interfaces. You can
configure the management interfaces as Individual interfaces (for both routed and transparent modes) or as a
Spanned EtherChannel interface.
We recommend using Individual interfaces for management, even if you use Spanned EtherChannels for your
data interfaces. Individual interfaces let you connect directly to each unit if necessary, while a Spanned
EtherChannel interface only allows remote connection to the current primary unit.
Note If you use Spanned EtherChannel interface mode, and configure the management interface as an Individual
interface, you cannot enable dynamic routing for the management interface. You must use a static route.
For an Individual interface, the Main cluster IP address is a fixed address for the cluster that always belongs
to the current primary unit. For each interface, you also configure a range of addresses so that each unit,
including the current primary, can use a Local address from the range. The Main cluster IP address provides
consistent management access to an address; when a primary unit changes, the Main cluster IP address moves
to the new primary unit, so management of the cluster continues seamlessly. The Local IP address is used for
routing, and is also useful for troubleshooting.
For example, you can manage the cluster by connecting to the Main cluster IP address, which is always
attached to the current primary unit. To manage an individual member, you can connect to the Local IP address.
For outbound management traffic such as TFTP or syslog, each unit, including the primary unit, uses the
Local IP address to connect to the server.
For a Spanned EtherChannel interface, you can only configure one IP address, and that IP address is always
attached to the primary unit. You cannot connect directly to a secondary unit using the EtherChannel interface;
we recommend configuring the management interface as an Individual interface so that you can connect to
each unit. Note that you can use a device-local EtherChannel for management.
Primary Unit Management Vs. Secondary Unit Management

All management and monitoring can take place on the primary unit. From the primary unit, you can check
runtime statistics, resource usage, or other monitoring information of all units. You can also issue a command
to all units in the cluster, and replicate the console messages from secondary units to the primary unit.
You can monitor secondary units directly if desired. Although also available from the primary unit, you can
perform file management on secondary units (including backing up the configuration and updating images).
The following functions are not available from the primary unit:
• Monitoring per-unit cluster-specific statistics.
• Syslog monitoring per unit (except for syslogs sent to the console when console replication is enabled).
• SNMP
• NetFlow
RSA Key Replication

When you create an RSA key on the primary unit, the key is replicated to all secondary units. If you have an
SSH session to the Main cluster IP address, you will be disconnected if the primary unit fails. The new primary
257
unit uses the same key for SSH connections, so that you do not need to update the cached SSH host key when
you reconnect to the new primary unit.
ASDM Connection Certificate IP Address Mismatch

By default, a self-signed certificate is used for the ASDM connection based on the Local IP address. If you
connect to the Main cluster IP address using ASDM, then a warning message about a mismatched IP address
appears because the certificate uses the Local IP address, and not the Main cluster IP address. You can ignore
the message and establish the ASDM connection. However, to avoid this type of warning, you can enroll a
certificate that contains the Main cluster IP address and all the Local IP addresses from the IP address pool.
You can then use this certificate for each cluster member.
Load Balancing Methods

Available load balancing methods depend on the firewall mode and interface type.
Spanned EtherChannel (Recommended)

You can group one or more interfaces per unit into an EtherChannel that spans all units in the cluster. The
EtherChannel aggregates the traffic across all the available active interfaces in the channel.
Spanned EtherChannel Benefits

The EtherChannel method of load-balancing is recommended over other methods for the following benefits:
• Faster failure discovery.
• Faster convergence time. Individual interfaces rely on routing protocols to load-balance traffic, and
routing protocols often have slow convergence during a link failure.
• Ease of configuration.
Related Topics
EtherChannels, on page 396
Guidelines for Maximum Throughput

To achieve maximum throughput, we recommend the following:
• Use a load balancing hash algorithm that is “symmetric,” meaning that packets from both directions will
have the same hash, and will be sent to the same ASA in the Spanned EtherChannel. We recommend
using the source and destination IP address (the default) or the source and destination port as the hashing
algorithm.
• Use the same type of line cards when connecting the ASAs to the switch so that hashing algorithms
applied to all packets are the same.
Load Balancing
The EtherChannel link is selected using a proprietary hash algorithm, based on source or destination IP
addresses and TCP and UDP port numbers.
258
Note On the ASA, do not change the load-balancing algorithm from the default. On the switch, we recommend
that you use one of the following algorithms: source-dest-ip or source-dest-ip-port (see the Cisco Nexus
OS or Cisco IOS port-channel load-balance command). Do not use a vlan keyword in the load-balance
algorithm because it can cause unevenly distributed traffic to the ASAs in a cluster.
The number of links in the EtherChannel affects load balancing.

Symmetric load balancing is not always possible. If you configure NAT, then forward and return packets will
have different IP addresses and/or ports. Return traffic will be sent to a different unit based on the hash, and
the cluster will have to redirect most returning traffic to the correct unit.
Related Topics
Customize the EtherChannel, on page 405
NAT and Clustering, on page 277
EtherChannel Redundancy
The EtherChannel has built-in redundancy. It monitors the line protocol status of all links. If one link fails,
traffic is re-balanced between remaining links. If all links in the EtherChannel fail on a particular unit, but
other units are still active, then the unit is removed from the cluster.
Connecting to a VSS or vPC

You can include multiple interfaces per ASA in the Spanned EtherChannel. Multiple interfaces per ASA are
especially useful for connecting to both switches in a VSS or vPC.
Depending on your switches, you can configure up to 32 active links in the spanned EtherChannel. This feature
requires both switches in the vPC to support EtherChannels with 16 active links each (for example the Cisco
Nexus 7000 with F2-Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module).
For switches that support 8 active links in the EtherChannel, you can configure up to 16 active links in the
spanned EtherChannel when connecting to two switches in a VSS/vPC.
If you want to use more than 8 active links in a spanned EtherChannel, you cannot also have standby links;
the support for 9 to 32 active links requires you to disable cLACP dynamic port priority that allows the use
of standby links. You can still use 8 active links and 8 standby links if desired, for example, when connecting
to a single switch.
The following figure shows a 32 active link spanned EtherChannel in an 8-ASA cluster and a 16-ASA cluster.
259
The following figure shows a 16 active link spanned EtherChannel in a 4-ASA cluster and an 8-ASA cluster.
260
The following figure shows a traditional 8 active/8 standby link spanned EtherChannel in a 4-ASA cluster
and an 8-ASA cluster. The active links are shown as solid lines, while the inactive links are dotted. cLACP
load-balancing can automatically choose the best 8 links to be active in the EtherChannel. As shown, cLACP
helps achieve load balancing at the link level.
261
Policy-Based Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only)

When using Individual interfaces, each ASA interface maintains its own IP address and MAC address. One
method of load balancing is Policy-Based Routing (PBR).
We recommend this method if you are already using PBR, and want to take advantage of your existing
infrastructure. This method might offer additional tuning options vs. Spanned EtherChannel as well.
PBR makes routing decisions based on a route map and ACL. You must manually divide traffic between all
ASAs in a cluster. Because PBR is static, it may not achieve the optimum load balancing result at all times.
To achieve the best performance, we recommend that you configure the PBR policy so that forward and return
packets of a connection are directed to the same physical ASA. For example, if you have a Cisco router,
redundancy can be achieved by using Cisco IOS PBR with Object Tracking. Cisco IOS Object Tracking
monitors each ASA using ICMP ping. PBR can then enable or disable route maps based on reachability of a
particular ASA. See the following URLs for more details:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/intelligent-traffic-director/index.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6599/products_white_paper09186a00800a4409.shtml
Note If you use this method of load-balancing, you can use a device-local EtherChannel as an Individual
interface.
262
Equal-Cost Multi-Path Routing (Routed Firewall Mode Only)

When using Individual interfaces, each ASA interface maintains its own IP address and MAC address. One
method of load balancing is Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing.
We recommend this method if you are already using ECMP, and want to take advantage of your existing
infrastructure. This method might offer additional tuning options vs. Spanned EtherChannel as well.
ECMP routing can forward packets over multiple “best paths” that tie for top place in the routing metric. Like
EtherChannel, a hash of source and destination IP addresses and/or source and destination ports can be used
to send a packet to one of the next hops. If you use static routes for ECMP routing, then an ASA failure can
cause problems; the route continues to be used, and traffic to the failed ASA will be lost. If you use static
routes, be sure to use a static route monitoring feature such as Object Tracking. We recommend using dynamic
routing protocols to add and remove routes, in which case, you must configure each ASA to participate in
dynamic routing.
Note If you use this method of load-balancing, you can use a device-local EtherChannel as an Individual
interface.
Nexus Intelligent Traffic Director (Routed Firewall Mode Only)

When using Individual interfaces, each ASA interface maintains its own IP address and MAC address.
Intelligent Traffic Director (ITD) is a high-speed hardware load-balancing solution for Nexus 5000, 6000,
7000, and 9000 switch series. In addition to fully covering the functional capabilities of traditional PBR, it
offers a simplified configuration workflow and multiple additional features for a more granular load distribution.
ITD supports IP stickiness, consistent hashing for bi-directional flow symmetry, virtual IP addressing, health
monitoring, sophisticated failure handling policies with N+M redundancy, weighted load-balancing, and
application IP SLA probes including DNS. Due to the dynamic nature of load-balancing, it achieves a more
even traffic distribution across all cluster members as compared to PBR. In order to achieve bi-directional
flow symmetry, we recommend configuring ITD such that forward and return packets of a connection are
directed to the same physical ASA. See the following URL for more details:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/intelligent-traffic-director/index.html
Inter-Site Clustering
For inter-site installations, you can take advantage of ASA clustering as long as you follow these guidelines.
Sizing the Data Center Interconnect

You should reserve bandwidth on the data center interconnect (DCI) for cluster control link traffic equivalent
to the following calculation:
If the number of members differs at each site, use the larger number for your calculation. The minimum
bandwidth for the DCI should not be less than the size of the cluster control link for one member.
263
For example:
• For 4 members at 2 sites:
◦4 cluster members total
◦2 members at each site
◦5 Gbps cluster control link per member
Reserved DCI bandwidth = 5 Gbps (2/2 x 5 Gbps).

• For 6 members at 3 sites, the size increases:
◦3 members at site 1, 2 members at site 2, and 1 member at site 3

◦1 member at each site
Reserved DCI bandwidth = 10 Gbps (1/2 x 10 Gbps = 5 Gbps; but the minimum bandwidth should not
be less than the size of the cluster control link (10 Gbps)).

Site IDs and Site-Specific MAC Addresses

You can configure each cluster chassis to belong to a separate site ID.
Site IDs work with site-specific MAC addresses. Packets sourced from the ASA cluster use a site-specific
MAC address, while packets received by the cluster use a global MAC address. This feature prevents the
switches from learning the same global MAC address from both sites on two different ports, which causes
MAC flapping; instead, they only learn the site MAC address. Site-specific MAC addresses are supported for
routed mode using Spanned EtherChannels only.
Site IDs are also used to enable flow mobility using LISP inspection.
LISP Inspection for Flow Mobility

You can inspect LISP traffic to enable flow mobility between sites.
264
About LISP
Data center virtual machine mobility such as VMware VMotion enables servers to migrate between data
centers while maintaining connections to clients. To support such data center server mobility, routers need to
be able to update the ingress route towards the server when it moves. Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol
(LISP) architecture separates the device identity, or endpoint identifier (EID), from its location, or routing
locator (RLOC), into two different numbering spaces, making server migration transparent to clients. For
example, when a server moves to a new site and a client sends traffic to the server, the router redirects traffic
to the new location.
LISP requires routers and servers in certain roles, such as the LISP egress tunnel router (ETR), ingress tunnel
router (ITR), first hop routers, map resolver (MR), and map server (MS). When the first hop router for the
server senses that the server is connected to a different router, it updates all of the other routers and databases
so that the ITR connected to the client can intercept, encapsulate, and send traffic to the new server location.
ASA LISP Support

The ASA does not run LISP itself; it can, however, inspect LISP traffic for location changes and then use this
information for seamless clustering operation. Without LISP integration, when a server moves to a new site,
traffic comes to an ASA cluster member at the new site instead of to the original flow owner. The new ASA
forwards traffic to the ASA at the old site, and then the old ASA has to send traffic back to the new site to
reach the server. This traffic flow is sub-optimal and is known as “tromboning” or “hair-pinning.”
With LISP integration, the ASA cluster members can inspect LISP traffic passing between the first hop router
and the ETR or ITR, and can then change the flow owner to be at the new site.
LISP Guidelines
• The ASA cluster members must reside between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR for the site. The
ASA cluster itself cannot be the first hop router for an extended segment.
• Only fully-distributed flows are supported; centralized flows, semi-distributed flows, or flows belonging
to individual units are not moved to new owners. Semi-distributed flows include applications, such as
SIP, where all child flows are owned by the same ASA that owns the parent flow.
• The cluster only moves Layer 3 and 4 flow states; some application data might be lost.
• For short-lived flows or non-business-critical flows, moving the owner may not be worthwhile. You
can control the types of traffic that are supported with this feature when you configure the inspection
policy, and should limit flow mobility to essential traffic.
ASA LISP Implementation

This feature includes several inter-related configurations (all of which are described in this chapter):
1 (Optional) Limit inspected EIDs based on the host or server IP address—The first hop router might send
EID-notify messages for hosts or networks the ASA cluster is not involved with, so you can limit the EIDs
to only those servers or networks relevant to your cluster. For example, if the cluster is only involved with
2 sites, but LISP is running on 3 sites, you should only include EIDs for the 2 sites involved with the
cluster.
2 LISP traffic inspection—The ASA inspects LISP traffic on UDP port 4342 for the EID-notify message
sent between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR. The ASA maintains an EID table that correlates the
EID and the site ID. For example, you should inspect LISP traffic with a source IP address of the first hop
router and a destination address of the ITR or ETR. Note that LISP traffic is not assigned a director, and
LISP traffic itself does not participate in cluster state sharing.
265
3 Service Policy to enable flow mobility on specified traffic—You should enable flow mobility on
business-critical traffic. For example, you can limit flow mobility to only HTTPS traffic, and/or to traffic
to specific servers.
4 Site IDs—The ASA uses the site ID for each cluster unit to determine the new owner.
5 Cluster-level configuration to enable flow mobility—You must also enable flow mobility at the cluster
level. This on/off toggle lets you easily enable or disable flow mobility for a particular class of traffic or
applications.
Inter-Site Clustering Guidelines

See the following guidelines for inter-site clustering:
• Supports inter-site clustering in the following interface and firewall modes:
Interface Mode Firewall Mode

Routed Transparent
Individual Interface Yes N/A
Spanned EtherChannel Yes Yes
• For individual interface mode, when using ECMP towards a multicast Rendezvous Point (RP), we
recommend that you use a static route for the RP IP address using the Main cluster IP address as the
next hop. This static route prevents sending unicast PIM register packets to secondary units. If a secondary
unit receives a PIM register packet, then the packet is dropped, and the multicast stream cannot be
registered.
• The cluster control link latency must be less than 20 ms round-trip time (RTT).
• The cluster control link must be reliable, with no out-of-order or dropped packets; for example, you
should use a dedicated link.
• Do not configure connection rebalancing; you do not want connections rebalanced to cluster members
at a different site.
• The cluster implementation does not differentiate between members at multiple sites for incoming
connections; therefore, connection roles for a given connection may span across sites. This is expected
behavior.
• For transparent mode, if the cluster is placed between a pair of inside and outside routers (AKA
North-South insertion), you must ensure that both inside routers share a MAC address, and also that
both outside routers share a MAC address. When a cluster member at site 1 forwards a connection to a
member at site 2, the destination MAC address is preserved. The packet will only reach the router at site
2 if the MAC address is the same as the router at site 1.
• For transparent mode, if the cluster is placed between data networks and the gateway router at each site
for firewalling between internal networks (AKA East-West insertion), then each gateway router should
use a First Hop Redundancy Protocol (FHRP) such as HSRP to provide identical virtual IP and MAC
address destinations at each site. The data VLANs are extended across the sites using Overlay Transport
Virtualization (OTV), or something similar. You need to create filters to prevent traffic that is destined
266
to the local gateway router from being sent over the DCI to the other site. If the gateway router becomes
unreachable at one site, you need to remove any filters so traffic can successfully reach the other site’s
gateway.
• For routed mode using Spanned EtherChannel, configure site-specific MAC addresses. Extend the data
VLANs across the sites using OTV, or something similar. You need to create filters to prevent traffic
that is destined to the global MAC address from being sent over the DCI to the other site. If the cluster
becomes unreachable at one site, you need to remove any filters so traffic can successfully reach the
other site’s cluster units. Dynamic routing is not supported when an inter-site cluster acts as the first hop
router for an extended segment.
Related Topics
Connection Roles, on page 271
Inter-Site Examples
The following examples show supported cluster deployments.
Individual Interface Routed Mode North-South Inter-Site Example

The following example shows 2 ASA cluster members at each of 2 data centers placed between inside and
outside routers (North-South insertion). The cluster members are connected by the cluster control link over
the DCI. The inside and outside routers at each data center use OSPF and PBR or ECMP to load balance the
traffic between cluster members. By assigning a higher cost route across the DCI, traffic stays within each
data center unless all ASA cluster members at a given site go down. In the event of a failure of all cluster
members at one site, traffic goes from each router over the DCI to the ASA cluster members at the other site.
267
Spanned EtherChannel Routed Mode Example with Site-Specific MAC Addresses

The following example shows 2 cluster members at each of 2 data centers placed between the gateway router
and an inside network at each site (East-West insertion). The cluster members are connected by the cluster
control link over the DCI. The cluster members at each site connect to the local switches using spanned
EtherChannels for both the inside and outside networks. Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in
the cluster.
The data VLANs are extended between the sites using Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) (or something
similar). You must add filters blocking the global MAC address to prevent traffic from traversing the DCI to
the other site when the traffic is destined for the cluster. If the cluster units at one site become unreachable,
you must remove the filters so traffic can be sent to the other site’s cluster units.
The cluster acts as the gateway for the inside networks. The global virtual MAC, which is shared across all
cluster units, is used only to receive packets. Outgoing packets use a site-specific MAC address from each
DC cluster. This feature prevents the switches from learning the same global MAC address from both sites
on two different ports, which causes MAC flapping; instead, they only learn the site MAC address.
In this scenario:
• All egress packets sent from the cluster use the site MAC address and are localized at the data center.
• All ingress packets to the cluster are sent using the global MAC address, so they can be received by any
of the units at both sites; filters at the OTV localize the traffic within the data center.
268
For a sample OTV configuration and best practices, see OTV Configuration for Routed Mode Inter-Site
Clustering, on page 332.
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example

The following example shows 2 cluster members at each of 2 data centers placed between inside and outside
routers (North-South insertion). The cluster members are connected by the cluster control link over the DCI.
The cluster members at each site connect to the local switches using spanned EtherChannels for the inside
and outside. Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in the cluster.
The inside and outside routers at each data center use OSPF, which is passed through the transparent ASAs.
Unlike MACs, router IPs are unique on all routers. By assigning a higher cost route across the DCI, traffic
stays within each data center unless all cluster members at a given site go down. The lower cost route through
the ASAs must traverse the same bridge group at each site for the cluster to maintain asymmetric connections.
In the event of a failure of all cluster members at one site, traffic goes from each router over the DCI to the
cluster members at the other site.
The implementation of the switches at each site can include:
• Inter-site VSS/vPC—In this scenario, you install one switch at Data Center 1, and the other at Data
Center 2. One option is for the cluster units at each Data Center to only connect to the local switch, while
the VSS/vPC traffic goes across the DCI. In this case, connections are for the most part kept local to
each datacenter. You can optionally connect each unit to both switches across the DCI if the DCI can
handle the extra traffic. In this case, traffic is distributed across the data centers, so it is essential for the
DCI to be very robust.
269
• Local VSS/vPC at each site—For better switch redundancy, you can install 2 separate VSS/vPC pairs
at each site. In this case, although the cluster units still have a spanned EtherChannel with Data Center
1 chassis connected only to both local switches, and Data Center 2 chassis connected to those local
switches, the spanned EtherChannel is essentially “split.” Each local VSS/vPC sees the spanned
EtherChannel as a site-local EtherChannel.
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode East-West Inter-Site Example

and two inside networks at each site, the App network and the DB network (East-West insertion). The cluster
members are connected by the cluster control link over the DCI. The cluster members at each site connect to
the local switches using spanned EtherChannels for both the App and DB networks on the inside and outside.
Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in the cluster.
The gateway router at each site uses an FHRP such as HSRP to provide the same destination virtual MAC
and IP addresses at each site. A good practice to avoid unintended MAC address flapping is to statically add
the gateway routers real MAC addresses to the ASA MAC address table using the mac-address-table static
outside_interface mac_address command. Without these entries, if the gateway at site 1 communicates with
the gateway at site 2, that traffic might pass through the ASA and attempt to reach site 2 from the inside
interface and cause problems. The data VLANs are extended between the sites using Overlay Transport
Virtualization (OTV) (or something similar). You must add filters to prevent traffic from traversing the DCI
to the other site when the traffic is destined for the gateway router. If the gateway router at one site becomes
unreachable, you must remove the filters so traffic can be sent to the other site’s gateway router.
270
See Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example, on page 269 for information
about vPC/VSS options.
How the ASA Cluster Manages Connections

Connections can be load-balanced to multiple members of the cluster. Connection roles determine how
connections are handled in both normal operation and in a high availability situation.
Connection Roles
There are 3 different roles defined for each connection:
• Owner—The unit that initially receives the connection. The owner maintains the TCP state and processes
packets. A connection has only one owner.
• Director—The unit that handles owner lookup requests from forwarders and also maintains the connection
state to serve as a backup if the owner fails. When the owner receives a new connection, it chooses a
director based on a hash of the source/destination IP address and TCP ports, and sends a message to the
director to register the new connection. If packets arrive at any unit other than the owner, the unit queries
the director about which unit is the owner so it can forward the packets. A connection has only one
director.
• Forwarder—A unit that forwards packets to the owner. If a forwarder receives a packet for a connection
it does not own, it queries the director for the owner, and then establishes a flow to the owner for any
other packets it receives for this connection. The director can also be a forwarder. Note that if a forwarder
271
receives the SYN-ACK packet, it can derive the owner directly from a SYN cookie in the packet, so it
does not need to query the director. (If you disable TCP sequence randomization, the SYN cookie is not
used; a query to the director is required.) For short-lived flows such as DNS and ICMP, instead of
querying, the forwarder immediately sends the packet to the director, which then sends them to the
owner. A connection can have multiple forwarders; the most efficient throughput is achieved by a good
load-balancing method where there are no forwarders and all packets of a connection are received by
the owner.
When a connection uses Port Address Translation (PAT), then the PAT type (per-session or multi-session)
influences which member of the cluster becomes the owner of a new connection:
• Per-session PAT—The owner is the unit that receives the initial packet in the connection.
By default, TCP and DNS UDP traffic use per-session PAT.
• Multi-session PAT—The owner is always the primary unit. If a multi-session PAT connection is initially
received by a secondary unit, then the secondary unit forwards the connection to the primary unit.
By default, UDP (except for DNS UDP) and ICMP traffic use multi-session PAT, so these connections
are always owned by the primary unit.
You can change the per-session PAT defaults for TCP and UDP so connections for these protocols are handled
per-session or multi-session depending on the configuration. For ICMP, you cannot change from the default
multi-session PAT. For more information about per-session PAT, see the firewall configuration guide.
New Connection Ownership

When a new connection is directed to a member of the cluster via load balancing, that unit owns both directions
of the connection. If any connection packets arrive at a different unit, they are forwarded to the owner unit
over the cluster control link. For best performance, proper external load balancing is required for both directions
of a flow to arrive at the same unit, and for flows to be distributed evenly between units. If a reverse flow
arrives at a different unit, it is redirected back to the original unit.
Related Topics
Sample Data Flow

The following example shows the establishment of a new connection.
272
1 The SYN packet originates from the client and is delivered to one ASA (based on the load balancing
method), which becomes the owner. The owner creates a flow, encodes owner information into a SYN
cookie, and forwards the packet to the server.
2 The SYN-ACK packet originates from the server and is delivered to a different ASA (based on the load
balancing method). This ASA is the forwarder.
3 Because the forwarder does not own the connection, it decodes owner information from the SYN cookie,
creates a forwarding flow to the owner, and forwards the SYN-ACK to the owner.
4 The owner sends a state update to the director, and forwards the SYN-ACK to the client.
5 The director receives the state update from the owner, creates a flow to the owner, and records the TCP
state information as well as the owner. The director acts as the backup owner for the connection.
6 Any subsequent packets delivered to the forwarder will be forwarded to the owner.
7 If packets are delivered to any additional units, it will query the director for the owner and establish a flow.
8 Any state change for the flow results in a state update from the owner to the director.
Rebalancing New TCP Connections Across the Cluster

If the load balancing capabilities of the upstream or downstream routers result in unbalanced flow distribution,
you can configure overloaded units to redirect new TCP flows to other units. No existing flows will be moved
to other units.
ASA Features and Clustering

Some ASA features are not supported with ASA clustering, and some are only supported on the primary unit.
Other features might have caveats for proper usage.
273
Unsupported Features with Clustering

These features cannot be configured with clustering enabled, and the commands will be rejected.
• Unified Communication features that rely on TLS Proxy
• Remote access VPN (SSL VPN and IPsec VPN)
• The following application inspections:
◦CTIQBE
◦H323, H225, and RAS
◦IPsec passthrough
◦MGCP
◦MMP
◦RTSP
◦SCCP (Skinny)
◦WAAS
◦WCCP
• Botnet Traffic Filter

• Auto Update Server
• DHCP client, server, and proxy. DHCP relay is supported.
• Failover
• ASA CX module
Centralized Features for Clustering

The following features are only supported on the primary unit, and are not scaled for the cluster. For example,
you have a cluster of eight units (5585-X with SSP-60). The Other VPN license allows a maximum of 10,000
site-to-site IPsec tunnels for one ASA 5585-X with SSP-60. For the entire cluster of eight units, you can only
use 10,000 tunnels; the feature does not scale.
Note Traffic for centralized features is forwarded from member units to the primary unit over the cluster control
link.
If you use the rebalancing feature, traffic for centralized features may be rebalanced to non-primary units
before the traffic is classified as a centralized feature; if this occurs, the traffic is then sent back to the
primary unit.
For centralized features, if the primary unit fails, all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish
the connections on the new primary unit.
274
• Site-to-site VPN
◦DCERPC
◦NetBIOS
◦PPTP
◦RADIUS
◦RSH
◦SUNRPC
◦TFTP
◦XDMCP
• Dynamic routing (Spanned EtherChannel mode only)

• Multicast routing (Individual interface mode only)
• Static route monitoring
• IGMP multicast control plane protocol processing (data plane forwarding is distributed across the cluster)
• PIM multicast control plane protocol processing (data plane forwarding is distributed across the cluster)
• Authentication and Authorization for network access. Accounting is decentralized.
• Filtering Services
Related Topics
Features Applied to Individual Units

These features are applied to each ASA unit, instead of the cluster as a whole or to the primary unit.
• QoS—The QoS policy is synced across the cluster as part of configuration replication. However, the
policy is enforced on each unit independently. For example, if you configure policing on output, then
the conform rate and conform burst values are enforced on traffic exiting a particular ASA. In a cluster
with 3 units and with traffic evenly distributed, the conform rate actually becomes 3 times the rate for
the cluster.
• Threat detection—Threat detection works on each unit independently; for example, the top statistics is
unit-specific. Port scanning detection, for example, does not work because scanning traffic will be
load-balanced between all units, and one unit will not see all traffic.
• Resource management—Resource management in multiple context mode is enforced separately on each
unit based on local usage.
• LISP traffic—LISP traffic on UDP port 4342 is inspected by each receiving unit, but is not assigned a
director. Each unit adds to the EID table that is shared across the cluster, but the LISP traffic itself does
not participate in cluster state sharing.
275
• ASA Firepower module—There is no configuration sync or state sharing between ASA Firepower
modules. You are responsible for maintaining consistent policies on the ASA Firepower modules in the
cluster using Firepower Management Center. Do not use different ASA-interface-based zone definitions
for devices in the cluster.
• ASA IPS module—There is no configuration sync or state sharing between IPS modules. Some IPS
signatures require IPS to keep the state across multiple connections. For example, the port scanning
signature is used when the IPS module detects that someone is opening many connections to one server
but with different ports. In clustering, those connections will be balanced between multiple ASA devices,
each of which has its own IPS module. Because these IPS modules do not share state information, the
cluster may not be able to detect port scanning as a result.
AAA for Network Access and Clustering

AAA for network access consists of three components: authentication, authorization, and accounting.
Authentication and accounting are implemented as centralized features on the clustering primary with replication
of the data structures to the cluster secondaries. If a primary is elected, the new primary will have all the
information it needs to continue uninterrupted operation of the established authenticated users and their
associated authorizations. Idle and absolute timeouts for user authentications are preserved when a primary
unit change occurs.
Accounting is implemented as a distributed feature in a cluster. Accounting is done on a per-flow basis, so
the cluster unit owning a flow will send accounting start and stop messages to the AAA server when accounting
is configured for a flow.
FTP and Clustering

• If FTP data channel and control channel flows are owned by different cluster members, the data channel
owner will periodically send idle timeout updates to the control channel owner and update the idle
timeout value. However, if the control flow owner is reloaded, and the control flow is re-hosted, the
parent/child flow relationship will not longer be maintained; the control flow idle timeout will not be
updated.
• If you use AAA for FTP access, then the control channel flow is centralized on the primary unit.
Identity Firewall and Clustering

Only the primary unit retrieves the user-group from the AD and the user-ip mapping from the AD agent. The
primary unit then populates the user information to secondaries, and secondaries can make a match decision
for user identity based on the security policy.
Multicast Routing and Clustering

Multicast routing behaves differently depending on the interface mode.
Multicast Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode

In Spanned EtherChannel mode, the primary unit handles all multicast routing packets and data packets until
fast-path forwarding is established. After the connection is established, each secondary can forward multicast
data packets.
276
Multicast Routing in Individual Interface Mode

In Individual interface mode, units do not act independently with multicast. All data and routing packets are
processed and forwarded by the primary unit, thus avoiding packet replication.
NAT and Clustering

NAT can impact the overall throughput of the cluster. Inbound and outbound NAT packets can be sent to
different ASA in the cluster because the load balancing algorithm relies on IP addresses and ports, and NAT
causes inbound and outbound packets to have different IP addresses and/or ports. When a packet arrives at
the ASA that is not the connection owner, it is forwarded over the cluster control link to the owner, causing
large amounts of traffic on the cluster control link.
If you still want to use NAT in clustering, then consider the following guidelines:
• No Proxy ARP—For Individual interfaces, a proxy ARP reply is never sent for mapped addresses. This
prevents the adjacent router from maintaining a peer relationship with an ASA that may no longer be in
the cluster. The upstream router needs a static route or PBR with Object Tracking for the mapped
addresses that points to the Main cluster IP address. This is not an issue for a Spanned EtherChannel,
because there is only one IP address associated with the cluster interface.
• No interface PAT on an Individual interface—Interface PAT is not supported for Individual interfaces.
• No PAT with Port Block Allocation—This feature is not supported for the cluster.
• PAT with Port Block Allocation—See the following guidelines for this feature:
◦Maximum-per-host limit is not a cluster-wide limit, and is enforced on each unit individually.
Thus, in a 3-node cluster with the maximum-per-host limit configured as 1, if the traffic from a
host is load-balanced across all 3 units, then it can get allocated 3 blocks with 1 in each unit.
◦Port blocks created on the backup unit from the backup pools are not accounted for when enforcing
the maximum-per-host limit.
◦When a PAT IP address owner goes down, the backup unit will own the PAT IP address,
corresponding port blocks, and xlates. But it will not use these blocks to service new requests. As
the connections eventually time out, the blocks get freed.
◦On-the-fly PAT rule modifications, where the PAT pool is modified with a completely new range
of IP addresses, will result in xlate backup creation failures for the xlate backup requests that were
still in transit while the new pool became effective. This behavior is not specific to the port block
allocation feature, and is a transient PAT pool issue seen only in cluster deployments where the
pool is distributed and traffic is load-balanced across the cluster units.
• NAT pool address distribution for dynamic PAT—The primary unit evenly pre-distributes addresses
across the cluster. If a member receives a connection and they have no addresses left, the connection is
dropped, even if other members still have addresses available. Make sure to include at least as many
NAT addresses as there are units in the cluster to ensure that each unit receives an address. Use the show
nat pool cluster command to see the address allocations.
• No round-robin—Round-robin for a PAT pool is not supported with clustering.
• Dynamic NAT xlates managed by the primary unit—The primary unit maintains and replicates the xlate
table to secondary units. When a secondary unit receives a connection that requires dynamic NAT, and
the xlate is not in the table, it requests the xlate from the primary unit. The secondary unit owns the
connection.
277
• Per-session PAT feature—Although not exclusive to clustering, the per-session PAT feature improves
the scalability of PAT and, for clustering, allows each secondary unit to own PAT connections; by
contrast, multi-session PAT connections have to be forwarded to and owned by the primary unit. By
default, all TCP traffic and UDP DNS traffic use a per-session PAT xlate, whereas ICMP and all other
UDP traffic uses multi-session. You can configure per-session NAT rules to change these defaults for
TCP and UDP, but you cannot configure per-session PAT for ICMP. For traffic that benefits from
multi-session PAT, such as H.323, SIP, or Skinny, you can disable per-session PAT for the associated
TCP ports (the UDP ports for those H.323 and SIP are already multi-session by default). For more
information about per-session PAT, see the firewall configuration guide.
• No static PAT for the following inspections—
◦FTP
◦PPTP
◦RSH
◦SQLNET
◦TFTP
◦XDMCP
◦SIP
Dynamic Routing and Clustering

This section describes how to use dynamic routing with clustering.
Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode

In Spanned EtherChannel mode: The routing process only runs on the primary unit, and routes are learned
through the primary unit and replicated to secondaries. If a routing packet arrives at a secondary, it is redirected
to the primary unit.
Figure 34: Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode
278
After the secondary members learn the routes from the primary unit, each unit makes forwarding decisions
independently.
The OSPF LSA database is not synchronized from the primary unit to secondary units. If there is a primary
unit switchover, the neighboring router will detect a restart; the switchover is not transparent. The OSPF
process picks an IP address as its router ID. Although not required, you can assign a static router ID to ensure
a consistent router ID is used across the cluster. See the OSPF Non-Stop Forwarding feature to address the
interruption.
Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode

In Individual interface mode, each unit runs the routing protocol as a standalone router, and routes are learned
by each unit independently.
Figure 35: Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode
In the above diagram, Router A learns that there are 4 equal-cost paths to Router B, each through an ASA.
ECMP is used to load balance traffic between the 4 paths. Each ASA picks a different router ID when talking
to external routers.
You must configure a cluster pool for the router ID so that each unit has a separate router ID.
SCTP and Clustering

When you enable clustering, the following SCTP features are not available:
• SCTP Layer 4 stateful inspection, including protocol validation and state tracking.
• You cannot configure NAT for SCTP traffic.
• You cannot configure SCTP state bypass.
• You cannot implement Diameter application layer inspection on SCTP traffic. However, Diameter
inspection of TCP traffic is supported.
You can use the following SCTP features with clustering enabled:
279
• SCTP protocol/port specifications in access rules, extended ACLs, and service objects and groups.
• SCTP application layer inspection, including payload protocol identifier (PPID) filtering.
SIP Inspection and Clustering

A control flow can be created on any unit (due to load balancing), but its child data flows must reside on the
same unit.
TLS Proxy configuration is not supported.
SNMP and Clustering

An SNMP agent polls each individual ASA by its Local IP address. You cannot poll consolidated data for
the cluster.
You should always use the Local address, and not the Main cluster IP address for SNMP polling. If the SNMP
agent polls the Main cluster IP address, if a new primary is elected, the poll to the new primary unit will fail.
Syslog and NetFlow and Clustering

• Syslog—Each unit in the cluster generates its own syslog messages. You can configure logging so that
each unit uses either the same or a different device ID in the syslog message header field. For example,
the hostname configuration is replicated and shared by all units in the cluster. If you configure logging
to use the hostname as the device ID, syslog messages generated by all units look as if they come from
a single unit. If you configure logging to use the local-unit name that is assigned in the cluster bootstrap
configuration as the device ID, syslog messages look as if they come from different units.
• NetFlow—Each unit in the cluster generates its own NetFlow stream. The NetFlow collector can only
treat each ASA as a separate NetFlow exporter.
Related Topics
Include the Device ID in Non-EMBLEM Format Syslog Messages, on page 926
Cisco TrustSec and Clustering

Only the primary unit learns security group tag (SGT) information. The primary unit then populates the SGT
to secondaries, and secondaries can make a match decision for SGT based on the security policy.
VPN and Clustering

Site-to-site VPN is a centralized feature; only the primary unit supports VPN connections.
Note Remote access VPN is not supported with clustering.
VPN functionality is limited to the primary unit and does not take advantage of the cluster high availability
capabilities. If the primary unit fails, all existing VPN connections are lost, and VPN users will see a disruption
in service. When a new primary is elected, you must reestablish the VPN connections.
280
Licensing for ASA Clustering
When you connect a VPN tunnel to a Spanned EtherChannel address, connections are automatically forwarded
to the primary unit. For connections to an Individual interface when using PBR or ECMP, you must always
connect to the Main cluster IP address, not a Local address.
VPN-related keys and certificates are replicated to all units.
Licensing for ASA Clustering

Cluster units do not require the same license on each unit. Typically, you buy a license only for the primary
unit; secondary units inherit the primary license. If you have licenses on multiple units, they combine into a
single running ASA cluster license.
There are exceptions to this rule. See the following table for precise licensing requirements for clustering.

ASA 5585-X Cluster License, supports up to 16 units.
Note Each unit must have the same encryption license; each unit must have the same 10 GE I/O/Security
Plus license (ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 and -20).
ASA 5516-X Base license, supports 2 units.
license.
ASA 5512-X Security Plus license, supports 2 units.
license.
ASA 5515-X, Base License, supports 2 units.
ASA 5525-X, Note Each unit must have the same encryption
ASA 5545-X, license.
ASA 5555-X
ASA on the Firepower See ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis, on page 339.
9300
All other models No support.
Prerequisites for ASA Clustering

ASA Hardware and Software Requirements
All units in a cluster:
• Must be the same model with the same DRAM. You do not have to have the same amount of flash
memory.
• Must run the identical software except at the time of an image upgrade. Hitless upgrade is supported.
• Must be in the same security context mode, single or multiple.
281
Guidelines for ASA Clustering
• (Single context mode) Must be in the same firewall mode, routed or transparent.
• New cluster members must use the same SSL encryption setting (the ssl encryption command) as the
primary unit for initial cluster control link communication before configuration replication.
• Must have the same cluster, encryption and, for the ASA 5585-X, 10 GE I/O licenses.
Switch Prerequisites
• Be sure to complete the switch configuration before you configure clustering on the ASAs.
• For a list of supported switches, see Cisco ASA Compatibility.
ASA Prerequisites
• Provide each unit with a unique IP address before you join them to the management network.
◦See the Getting Started chapter for more information about connecting to the ASA and setting the
management IP address.
◦Except for the IP address used by the primary unit (typically the first unit you add to the cluster),
these management IP addresses are for temporary use only.
◦After a secondary joins the cluster, its management interface configuration is replaced by the one
replicated from the primary unit.
• To use jumbo frames on the cluster control link (recommended), you must enable Jumbo Frame
Reservation before you enable clustering.
Other Prerequisites
We recommend using a terminal server to access all cluster member unit console ports. For initial setup, and
ongoing management (for example, when a unit goes down), a terminal server is useful for remote management.
Related Topics
Guidelines for ASA Clustering, on page 282
Enable Jumbo Frame Support, on page 391
Bootstrap Configuration, on page 248

Context Mode
The mode must match on each member unit.
Firewall Mode
For single mode, the firewall mode must match on all units.
Failover
Failover is not supported with clustering.
282
IPv6
The cluster control link is only supported using IPv4.
Models
Supported on:
• ASA 5585-X
For the ASA 5585-X with SSP-10 and SSP-20, which include two Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, we
recommend using one interface for the cluster control link, and the other for data (you can use
subinterfaces for data). Although this setup does not accommodate redundancy for the cluster control
link, it does satisfy the need to size the cluster control link to match the size of the data interfaces.
• ASA 5516-X
• ASA 5512-X, ASA 5515-X, ASA 5525-X, ASA 5545-X, and ASA 5555-X
Switches
• For the ASR 9006, if you want to set a non-default MTU, set the ASR interface MTU to be 14 bytes
higher than the ASA MTU. Otherwise, OSPF adjacency peering attempts may fail unless the mtu-ignore
option is used. Note that the ASA MTU should match the ASR IPv4 MTU.
• On the switch(es) for the cluster control link interfaces, you can optionally enable Spanning Tree PortFast
on the switch ports connected to the cluster unit to speed up the join process for new units.
• When you see slow bundling of a Spanned EtherChannel on the switch, you can enable LACP rate fast
for an Individual interface on the switch.
• On the switch, we recommend that you use one of the following EtherChannel load-balancing algorithms:
source-dest-ip or source-dest-ip-port (see the Cisco Nexus OS and Cisco IOS port-channel
load-balance command). Do not use a vlan keyword in the load-balance algorithm because it can cause
unevenly distributed traffic to the ASAs in a cluster. Do not change the load-balancing algorithm from
the default on the ASA (in the port-channel load-balance command).
• If you change the load-balancing algorithm of the EtherChannel on the switch, the EtherChannel interface
on the switch temporarily stops forwarding traffic, and the Spanning Tree Protocol restarts. There will
be a delay before traffic starts flowing again.
• You should disable the LACP Graceful Convergence feature on all cluster-facing EtherChannel interfaces
for Cisco Nexus switches.
• Some switches do not support dynamic port priority with LACP (active and standby links). You can
disable dynamic port priority to provide better compatibility with spanned EtherChannels.
• Network elements on the cluster control link path should not verify the L4 checksum. Redirected traffic
over the cluster control link does not have a correct L4 checksum. Switches that verify the L4 checksum
could cause traffic to be dropped.
• Port-channel bundling downtime should not exceed the configured keepalive interval.
• On Supervisor 2T EtherChannels, the default hash distribution algorithm is adaptive. To avoid asymmetric
traffic in a VSS design, change the hash algorithm on the port-channel connected to the ASA to fixed:
router(config)# port-channel id hash-distribution fixed
283
Do not change the algorithm globally; you may want to take advantage of the adaptive algorithm for the
VSS peer link.
EtherChannels
• In Catalyst 3750-X Cisco IOS software versions earlier than 15.1(1)S2, the cluster unit did not support
connecting an EtherChannel to a switch stack. With default switch settings, if the cluster unit EtherChannel
is connected cross stack, and if the master switch is powered down, then the EtherChannel connected
to the remaining switch will not come up. To improve compatibility, set the stack-mac persistent timer
command to a large enough value to account for reload time; for example, 8 minutes or 0 for indefinite.
Or, you can upgrade to more a more stable switch software version, such as 15.1(1)S2.
• Spanned vs. Device-Local EtherChannel Configuration—Be sure to configure the switch appropriately
for Spanned EtherChannels vs. Device-local EtherChannels.
◦Spanned EtherChannels—For cluster unit Spanned EtherChannels, which span across all members
of the cluster, the interfaces are combined into a single EtherChannel on the switch. Make sure
each interface is in the same channel group on the switch.
◦Device-local EtherChannels—For cluster unit Device-local EtherChannels including any

EtherChannels configured for the cluster control link, be sure to configure discrete EtherChannels
284
on the switch; do not combine multiple cluster unit EtherChannels into one EtherChannel on the
switch.
• When significant topology changes occur (such as adding or removing an EtherChannel interface,
enabling or disabling an interface on the ASA or the switch, adding an additional switch to form a VSS
or vPC) you should disable the health check feature. When the topology change is complete, and the
configuration change is synced to all units, you can re-enable the health check feature.
• When adding a unit to an existing cluster, or when reloading a unit, there will be a temporary, limited
packet/connection drop; this is expected behavior. In some cases, the dropped packets can hang your
connection; for example, dropping a FIN/ACK packet for an FTP connection will make the FTP client
hang. In this case, you need to reestablish the FTP connection.
• If you use a Windows 2003 server connected to a Spanned EtherChannel, when the syslog server port
is down and the server does not throttle ICMP error messages, then large numbers of ICMP messages
are sent back to the ASA cluster. These messages can result in some units of the ASA cluster experiencing
high CPU, which can affect performance. We recommend that you throttle ICMP error messages.
• We do not support VXLAN in Individual Interface mode. Only Spanned EtherChannel mode supports
VXLAN.
285
Defaults for ASA Clustering
Related Topics
Bootstrap Configuration, on page 248
Unsupported Features with Clustering, on page 274
Configure an EtherChannel, on page 403
Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, on page 399
Defaults for ASA Clustering

• When using Spanned EtherChannels, the cLACP system ID is auto-generated and the system priority
is 1 by default.
• The cluster health check feature is enabled by default with the holdtime of 3 seconds. Interface health
monitoring is enabled on all interfaces by default.
• The cluster auto-rejoin feature for a failed cluster control link is unlimited attempts every 5 minutes.
• The cluster auto-rejoin feature for a failed data interface is 3 attempts every 5 minutes, with the increasing
interval set to 2.
• Connection rebalancing is disabled by default. If you enable connection rebalancing, the default time
between load information exchanges is 5 seconds.
• Connection replication delay of 5 seconds is enabled by default for HTTP traffic.
Configure ASA Clustering

To configure clustering, perform the following tasks:
Note To enable or disable clustering, you must use a console connection (for CLI) or an ASDM connection.
286
Procedure
Step 1 Complete all pre-configuration on the switches and ASAs according to Prerequisites for ASA Clustering, on
page 281 and Guidelines for ASA Clustering, on page 282.
Step 2 Cable the Cluster Units and Configure Upstream and Downstream Equipment, on page 287.
Step 3 Configure the Cluster Interface Mode on Each Unit, on page 289. You can only configure one type of interface
for clustering: Spanned EtherChannels or Individual interfaces.
Step 4 Configure Interfaces on the Primary Unit, on page 290. You cannot enable clustering if the interfaces are not
cluster-ready.
Step 5 Configure the Primary Unit Bootstrap Settings, on page 297.
Step 6 Configure Secondary Unit Bootstrap Settings, on page 301.
Step 7 (Optional) Customize the Clustering Operation, on page 304
Step 8 Configure the security policy on the primary unit. See the chapters in this guide to configure supported features
on the primary unit. The configuration is replicated to the secondary units.
Cable the Cluster Units and Configure Upstream and Downstream Equipment
Before configuring clustering, cable the cluster control link network, management network, and data networks.
Note At a minimum, an active cluster control link network is required before you configure the units to join
the cluster.
You should also configure the upstream and downstream equipment. For example, if you use EtherChannels,
then you should configure the upstream and downstream equipment for the EtherChannels.
Examples
Note This example uses EtherChannels for load-balancing. If you are using PBR or ECMP, your switch
configuration will differ.
For example on each of 4 ASA 5585-Xs, you want to use:

• 2 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces in a device-local EtherChannel for the cluster control link.
• 2 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces in a Spanned EtherChannel for the inside and outside network; each
interface is a VLAN subinterface of the EtherChannel. Using subinterfaces lets both inside and outside
interfaces take advantage of the benefits of an EtherChannel.
• 1 Management interface.
You have one switch for both the inside and outside networks.
287
Purpose Connect Interfaces on each of 4 ASAs To Switch Ports

Cluster control link TenGigabitEthernet 0/6 and 8 ports total
TenGigabitEthernet 0/7 For each TenGigabitEthernet 0/6
and TenGigabitEthernet 0/7 pair,
configure 4 EtherChannels (1 EC
for each ASA).
These EtherChannels must all be
on the same isolated cluster control
VLAN, for example VLAN 101.
Inside and outside interfaces TenGigabitEthernet 0/8 and 8 ports total

TenGigabitEthernet 0/9 Configure a single EtherChannel
(across all ASAs).
On the switch, configure these
VLANs and networks now; for
example, a trunk including VLAN
200 for the inside and VLAN 201
for the outside.
Management interface Management 0/0 4 ports total

Place all interfaces on the same
isolated management VLAN, for
example VLAN 100.
288
Related Topics
Leave the Cluster, on page 311
Configure Spanned EtherChannels, on page 292
Cluster Interfaces, on page 250
Configure the Cluster Interface Mode on Each Unit

You can only configure one type of interface for clustering: Spanned EtherChannels or Individual interfaces;
you cannot mix interface types in a cluster.
Before You Begin

• You must set the mode separately on each ASA that you want to add to the cluster.
• You can always configure the management-only interface as an Individual interface (recommended),
even in Spanned EtherChannel mode. The management interface can be an Individual interface even in
transparent firewall mode.
• In Spanned EtherChannel mode, if you configure the management interface as an Individual interface,
you cannot enable dynamic routing for the management interface. You must use a static route.
• In multiple context mode, you must choose one interface type for all contexts. For example, if you have
a mix of transparent and routed mode contexts, you must use Spanned EtherChannel mode for all contexts
because that is the only interface type allowed for transparent mode.
Procedure
Step 1 Show any incompatible configuration so that you can force the interface mode and fix your configuration
later; the mode is not changed with this command:
cluster interface-mode {individual | spanned} check-details
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster interface-mode spanned check-details
Step 2 Set the interface mode for clustering:

cluster interface-mode {individual | spanned} force
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster interface-mode spanned force
There is no default setting; you must explicitly choose the mode. If you have not set the mode, you cannot
enable clustering.
The force option changes the mode without checking your configuration for incompatible settings. You need
to manually fix any configuration issues after you change the mode. Because any interface configuration can
only be fixed after you set the mode, we recommend using the force option so that you can at least start from
the existing configuration. You can re-run the check-details option after you set the mode for more guidance.
289
Without the force option, if there is any incompatible configuration, you are prompted to clear your
configuration and reload, thus requiring you to connect to the console port to reconfigure your management
access. If your configuration is compatible (rare), the mode is changed and the configuration is preserved. If
you do not want to clear your configuration, you can exit the command by typing n.
To remove the interface mode, enter the no cluster interface-mode command.
Configure Interfaces on the Primary Unit

You must modify any interface that is currently configured with an IP address to be cluster-ready before you
enable clustering. For other interfaces, you can configure them before or after you enable clustering; we
recommend pre-configuring all of your interfaces so that the complete configuration is synced to new cluster
members.
This section describes how to configure interfaces to be compatible with clustering. You can configure data
interfaces as either Spanned EtherChannels or as Individual interfaces. Each method uses a different
load-balancing mechanism. You cannot configure both types in the same configuration, with the exception
of the management interface, which can be an Individual interface even in Spanned EtherChannel mode.
Configure Individual Interfaces (Recommended for the Management Interface)

Individual interfaces are normal routed interfaces, each with their own IP address taken from a pool of IP
addresses. The Main cluster IP address is a fixed address for the cluster that always belongs to the current
primary unit.
In Spanned EtherChannel mode, we recommend configuring the management interface as an Individual
interface. Individual management interfaces let you connect directly to each unit if necessary, while a Spanned
EtherChannel interface only allows connection to the current primary unit.
Before You Begin

• Except for the management-only interface, you must be in Individual interface mode.
• For multiple context mode, perform this procedure in each context. If you are not already in the context
configuration mode, enter the changeto context name command.
• Individual interfaces require you to configure load balancing on neighbor devices. External load balancing
is not required for the management interface.
• (Optional) Configure the interface as a device-local EtherChannel interface, a redundant interface, and/or
configure subinterfaces.
◦For an EtherChannel, this EtherChannel is local to the unit, and is not a Spanned EtherChannel.
◦Management-only interfaces cannot be redundant interfaces.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure a pool of Local IP addresses (IPv4 and/or IPv6), one of which will be assigned to each cluster unit
for the interface:
(IPv4)
290
ip local pool poolname first-address — last-address [mask mask]

(IPv6)
ipv6 local pool poolname ipv6-address/prefix-length number_of_addresses
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ip local pool ins 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.9
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 local pool insipv6 2001:DB8::1002/32 8
Include at least as many addresses as there are units in the cluster. If you plan to expand the cluster, include
additional addresses. The Main cluster IP address that belongs to the current primary unit is not a part of this
pool; be sure to reserve an IP address on the same network for the Main cluster IP address.
You cannot determine the exact Local address assigned to each unit in advance; to see the address used on
each unit, enter the show ip[v6] local pool poolname command. Each cluster member is assigned a member
ID when it joins the cluster. The ID determines the Local IP used from the pool.
Step 2 Enter interface configuration mode:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface tengigabitethernet 0/8
Step 3 (Management interface only) Set an interface to management-only mode so that it does not pass through
traffic:
management-only
By default, Management type interfaces are configured as management-only. In transparent mode, this
command is always enabled for a Management type interface.
This setting is required if the cluster interface mode is Spanned.
Step 4 Name the interface:

nameif name
Example:
The name is a text string up to 48 characters, and is not case-sensitive. You can change the name by reentering
this command with a new value.
Step 5 Set the Main cluster IP address and identify the cluster pool:
(IPv4)
ip address ip_address [mask] cluster-pool poolname
(IPv6)
ipv6 address ipv6-address/prefix-length cluster-pool poolname
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 cluster-pool ins
291
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:DB8::1002/32 cluster-pool insipv6
This IP address must be on the same network as the cluster pool addresses, but not be part of the pool. You
can configure an IPv4 and/or an IPv6 address.
DHCP, PPPoE, and IPv6 autoconfiguration are not supported; you must manually configure the IP addresses.
Step 6 Set the security level, where number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest):
security-level number
Example:
Step 7 Enable the interface:

no shutdown
Examples
The following example configures the Management 0/0 and Management 0/1 interfaces as a device-local
EtherChannel, and then configures the EtherChannel as an Individual interface:
ip local pool mgmt 10.1.1.2-10.1.1.9

ipv6 local pool mgmtipv6 2001:DB8:45:1002/64 8
channel-group 1 mode active

no shutdown

no shutdown
nameif management
ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 cluster-pool mgmt
ipv6 address 2001:DB8:45:1001/64 cluster-pool mgmtipv6
security-level 100
management-only
Related Topics
Management Interface, on page 257
Cable the Cluster Units and Configure Upstream and Downstream Equipment, on page 287
Enable Jumbo Frame Support, on page 391
Configure Spanned EtherChannels, on page 292
Configure Spanned EtherChannels

A Spanned EtherChannel spans all ASAs in the cluster, and provides load balancing as part of the EtherChannel
operation.
292
Before You Begin

• You must be in Spanned EtherChannel interface mode.
• For multiple context mode, start this procedure in the system execution space. If you are not already in
the System configuration mode, enter the changeto system command.
• For transparent mode, configure the bridge group.
• Do not specify the maximum and minimum links in the EtherChannel—We recommend that you do not
specify the maximum and minimum links in the EtherChannel (The lacp max-bundle and port-channel
min-bundle commands) on either the ASA or the switch. If you need to use them, note the following:
◦The maximum links set on the ASA is the total number of active ports for the whole cluster. Be
sure the maximum links value configured on the switch is not larger than the ASA value.
◦The minimum links set on the ASA is the minimum active ports to bring up a port-channel interface
per unit. On the switch, the minimum links is the minimum links across the cluster, so this value
will not match the ASA value.
• Do not change the load-balancing algorithm from the default (see the port-channel load-balance
command). On the switch, we recommend that you use one of the following algorithms: source-dest-ip
or source-dest-ip-port (see the Cisco Nexus OS and Cisco IOS port-channel load-balance command).
Do not use a vlan keyword in the load-balance algorithm because it can cause unevenly distributed
traffic to the ASAs in a cluster.
• The lacp port-priority and lacp system-priority commands are not used for a Spanned EtherChannel.
• When using Spanned EtherChannels, the port-channel interface will not come up until clustering is fully
enabled. This requirement prevents traffic from being forwarded to a unit that is not an active unit in
the cluster.
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the interface you want to add to the channel group:
interface physical_interface
Example:
The physical_interface ID includes the type, slot, and port number as type slot/port. This first interface in the
channel group determines the type and speed for all other interfaces in the group.
Step 2 Assign this interface to an EtherChannel:

channel-group channel_id mode active [vss-id {1 | 2}]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# channel-group 1 mode active
The channel_id is between 1 and 48. If the port-channel interface for this channel ID does not yet exist in the
configuration, one will be added automatically:
293
interface port-channel channel_id

Only active mode is supported for Spanned EtherChannels.
If you are connecting the ASA to two switches in a VSS or vPC, then configure the vss-id keyword to identify
to which switch this interface is connected (1 or 2). You must also use the port-channel span-cluster
vss-load-balance command for the port-channel interface in Step 6.

no shutdown
Step 4 (Optional) Add additional interfaces to the EtherChannel by repeating the process.
Example:
Multiple interfaces in the EtherChannel per unit are useful for connecting to switches in a VSS or vPC. Keep
in mind that by default, a spanned EtherChannel can have only 8 active interfaces out of 16 maximum across
all members in the cluster; the remaining 8 interfaces are on standby in case of link failure. To use more than
8 active interfaces (but no standby interfaces), disable dynamic port priority using the clacp static-port-priority
command. When you disable dynamic port priority, you can use up to 32 active links across the cluster. For
example, for a cluster of 16 ASAs, you can use a maximum of 2 interfaces on each ASA, for a total of 32
interfaces in the spanned EtherChannel.
Step 5 Specify the port-channel interface:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface port-channel 1
This interface was created automatically when you added an interface to the channel group.
Step 6 Set this EtherChannel as a Spanned EtherChannel:

port-channel span-cluster [vss-load-balance]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# port-channel span-cluster
If you are connecting the ASA to two switches in a VSS or vPC, then you should enable VSS load balancing
by using the vss-load-balance keyword. This feature ensures that the physical link connections between the
ASAs to the VSS (or vPC) pair are balanced. You must configure the vss-id keyword in the channel-group
command for each member interface before enabling load balancing (see Step 2).
Step 7 (Optional) You can set the Ethernet properties for the port-channel interface to override the properties set on
the Individual interfaces.
This method provides a shortcut to set these parameters because these parameters must match for all interfaces
in the channel group.
Step 8 (Optional) If you are creating VLAN subinterfaces on this EtherChannel, do so now.
294
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface port-channel 1.10
ciscoasa(config-if)# vlan 10
The rest of this procedure applies to the subinterfaces.
Step 9 (Multiple Context Mode) Allocate the interface to a context. Then enter:
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# context admin
ciscoasa(config)# allocate-interface port-channel1
ciscoasa(config)# changeto context admin
ciscoasa(config-if)# interface port-channel 1
For multiple context mode, the rest of the interface configuration occurs within each context.

nameif name
Example:
this command with a new value.
Step 11 Perform one of the following, depending on the firewall mode.

• Routed Mode—Set the IPv4 and/or IPv6 address:
(IPv4)
(IPv6)
ipv6 address ipv6-prefix/prefix-length
Example:

ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:DB8::1001/32
DHCP, PPPoE, and IPv6 autoconfig are not supported.

• Transparent Mode—Assign the interface to a bridge group:
bridge-group number
Example:
295
Where number is an integer between 1 and 100. You can assign up to four interfaces to a bridge group.
You cannot assign the same interface to more than one bridge group. Note that the BVI configuration
includes the IP address.
Step 12 Set the security level:

Example:
Where number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).
Step 13 Configure a global MAC address for a Spanned EtherChannel to avoid potential network connectivity problems:
mac-address mac_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address 000C.F142.4CDE
With a manually-configured MAC address, the MAC address stays with the current primary unit. In multiple
context mode, if you share an interface between contexts, you should enable auto-generation of MAC addresses
so that you only need to set the MAC address manually for a shared interface if you disable auto-generation.
Note that you must manually configure the MAC address for non-shared interfaces.
The mac_address is in H.H.H format, where H is a 16-bit hexadecimal digit. For example, the MAC address
00-0C-F1-42-4C-DE is entered as 000C.F142.4CDE.
The first two bytes of a manual MAC address cannot be A2 if you also want to use auto-generated MAC
addresses.
Step 14 (Routed mode) For inter-site clustering, configure a site-specific MAC address for each site:
mac-address mac_address site-id number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.1234
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.aaaa site-id 1
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.bbbb site-id 2
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.cccc site-id 3
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.dddd site-id 4
The site-specific MAC address used by a unit depends on the site ID you specify in each unit’s bootstrap
configuration.
Related Topics
Configure the Cluster Interface Mode on Each Unit, on page 289
Configure Bridge Groups, on page 439
Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, on page 399
Connecting to a VSS or vPC, on page 259
296
Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters, on page 389
Configure a Security Context, on page 172
Configure the Primary Unit Bootstrap Settings

Each unit in the cluster requires a bootstrap configuration to join the cluster. Typically, the first unit you
configure to join the cluster will be the primary unit. After you enable clustering, after an election period, the
cluster elects a primary unit. With only one unit in the cluster initially, that unit will become the primary unit.
Subsequent units that you add to the cluster will be secondary units.
Before You Begin

• Back up your configurations in case you later want to leave the cluster, and need to restore your
configuration.
• For multiple context mode, complete these procedures in the system execution space. To change from
the context to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
• We recommend enabling jumbo frame reservation for use with the cluster control link.
• You must use the console port to enable or disable clustering. You cannot use Telnet or SSH.
• With the exception of the cluster control link, any interfaces in your configuration must be configured
with a cluster IP pool or as a Spanned EtherChannel before you enable clustering, depending on your
interface mode. If you have pre-existing interface configuration, you can either clear the interface
configuration (clear configure interface), or convert your interfaces to cluster interfaces before you
enable clustering.
• When you add a unit to a running cluster, you may see temporary, limited packet/connection drops; this
is expected behavior.
• Pre-determine the size of the cluster control link. See Size the Cluster Control Link, on page 252.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the cluster control link interface before you join the cluster.
You will later identify this interface as the cluster control link when you enable clustering.
We recommend that you combine multiple cluster control link interfaces into an EtherChannel if you have
enough interfaces. The EtherChannel is local to the ASA, and is not a Spanned EtherChannel.
The cluster control link interface configuration is not replicated from the primary unit to secondary units;
however, you must use the same configuration on each unit. Because this configuration is not replicated, you
must configure the cluster control link interfaces separately on each unit.
• You cannot use a VLAN subinterface as the cluster control link.
• You cannot use a Management x/x interface as the cluster control link, either alone or as an EtherChannel.
• For the ASA 5585-X with an ASA IPS module, you cannot use the module interfaces for the cluster
control link.
a) Enter interface configuration mode:

297
Example:
b) (Optional, for an EtherChannel) Assign this physical interface to an EtherChannel:

channel-group channel_id mode on
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# channel-group 1 mode on
The channel_id is between 1 and 48. If the port-channel interface for this channel ID does not yet exist in
the configuration, one will be added automatically:
We recommend using the On mode for cluster control link member interfaces to reduce unnecessary traffic
on the cluster control link. The cluster control link does not need the overhead of LACP traffic because it
is an isolated, stable network. Note: We recommend setting data EtherChannels to Active mode.
c) Enable the interface:
no shutdown
You only need to enable the interface; do not configure a name for the interface, or any other parameters.
d) (For an EtherChannel) Repeat for each additional interface you want to add to the EtherChannel:
Example:
Step 2 (Optional) Specify the maximum transmission unit for the cluster control link interface:
mtu cluster bytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mtu cluster 9000
Set the MTU between 64 and 9198 bytes. The default MTU is 1500 bytes.
We suggest setting the MTU to 1600 bytes or greater, which requires you to enable jumbo frame reservation
before continuing with this procedure. Jumbo frame reservation requires a reload of the ASA.
This command is a global configuration command, but is also part of the bootstrap configuration that is not
replicated between units.
Step 3 Name the cluster and enter cluster configuration mode:

cluster group name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster group pod1
298
The name must be an ASCII string from 1 to 38 characters. You can only configure one cluster group per
unit. All members of the cluster must use the same name.
Step 4 Name this member of the cluster:

local-unit unit_name
Use a unique ASCII string from 1 to 38 characters. Each unit must have a unique name. A unit with a duplicated
name will be not be allowed in the cluster.
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# local-unit unit1
Step 5 Specify the cluster control link interface, preferably an EtherChannel:

cluster-interface interface_id ip ip_address mask
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# cluster-interface port-channel2 ip 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
INFO: Non-cluster interface config is cleared on Port-Channel2
Subinterfaces and Management interfaces are not allowed.

Specify an IPv4 address for the IP address; IPv6 is not supported for this interface. This interface cannot have
a nameif configured.
For each unit, specify a different IP address on the same network.
Step 6 If you use inter-site clustering, set the site ID for this unit so it uses a site-specific MAC address:
site-id number
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# site-id 1
The number is between 1 and 8.
Step 7 Set the priority of this unit for primary unit elections:
priority priority_number
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# priority 1
The priority is between 1 and 100, where 1 is the highest priority.
Step 8 (Optional) Set an authentication key for control traffic on the cluster control link:
key shared_secret
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# key chuntheunavoidable
The shared secret is an ASCII string from 1 to 63 characters. The shared secret is used to generate the key.
This command does not affect datapath traffic, including connection state update and forwarded packets,
which are always sent in the clear.
299
Step 9 (Optional) Disable dynamic port priority in LACP:

clacp static-port-priority
Some switches do not support dynamic port priority, so this command improves switch compatibility. Moreover,
it enables support of more than 8 active spanned EtherChannel members, up to 32 members. Without this
command, only 8 active members and 8 standby members are supported. If you enable this command, then
you cannot use any standby members; all members are active.
Step 10 (Optional) Manually specify the cLACP system ID and system priority:
clacp system-mac {mac_address | auto} [system-priority number]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# clacp system-mac 000a.0000.aaaa
When using Spanned EtherChannels, the ASA uses cLACP to negotiate the EtherChannel with the neighbor
switch. ASAs in a cluster collaborate in cLACP negotiation so that they appear as a single (virtual) device to
the switch. One parameter in cLACP negotiation is a system ID, which is in the format of a MAC address.
All ASAs in the cluster use the same system ID: auto-generated by the primary unit (the default) and replicated
to all secondaries; or manually specified in this command in the form H.H.H, where H is a 16-bit hexadecimal
digit. (For example, the MAC address 00-0A-00-00-AA-AA is entered as 000A.0000.AAAA.) You might
want to manually configure the MAC address for troubleshooting purposes, for example, so that you can use
an easily identified MAC address. Typically, you would use the auto-generated MAC address.
The system priority, between 1 and 65535, is used to decide which unit is in charge of making a bundling
decision. By default, the ASA uses priority 1, which is the highest priority. The priority needs to be higher
than the priority on the switch.
This command is not part of the bootstrap configuration, and is replicated from the primary unit to the secondary
units. However, you cannot change this value after you enable clustering.
Step 11 Enable clustering:

enable [noconfirm]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# enable
INFO: Clustering is not compatible with following commands:
class inspection_default
inspect skinny
inspect sip
Would you like to remove these commands? [Y]es/[N]o:Y
INFO: Removing incompatible commands from running configuration...

Cryptochecksum (changed): f16b7fc2 a742727e e40bc0b0 cd169999
INFO: Done
When you enter the enable command, the ASA scans the running configuration for incompatible commands
for features that are not supported with clustering, including commands that may be present in the default
configuration. You are prompted to delete the incompatible commands. If you respond No, then clustering is
not enabled. Use the noconfirm keyword to bypass the confirmation and delete incompatible commands
automatically.
300
For the first unit enabled, a primary unit election occurs. Because the first unit should be the only member of
the cluster so far, it will become the primary unit. Do not perform any configuration changes during this
period.
To disable clustering, enter the no enable command.
Note If you disable clustering, all data interfaces are shut down, and only the management-only interface
is active.
Examples
The following example configures a management interface, configures a device-local EtherChannel for the
cluster control link, and then enables clustering for the ASA called “unit1,” which will become the primary
unit because it is added to the cluster first:

ipv6 local pool mgmtipv6 2001:DB8::1002/32 8
nameif management
ipv6 address 2001:DB8::1001/32 cluster-pool mgmtipv6
security-level 100
management-only
no shutdown
interface tengigabitethernet 0/6

channel-group 1 mode on
no shutdown

no shutdown
cluster group pod1

local-unit unit1
cluster-interface port-channel1 ip 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
priority 1
key chuntheunavoidable
enable noconfirm
Configure Secondary Unit Bootstrap Settings

Perform the following procedure to configure the secondary units.
Before You Begin

• You must use the console port to enable or disable clustering. You cannot use Telnet or SSH.
• Back up your configurations in case you later want to leave the cluster, and need to restore your
configuration.
• We recommend enabling jumbo frame reservation for use with the cluster control link.
• If you have any interfaces in your configuration that have not been configured for clustering (for example,
the default configuration Management 0/0 interface), you can join the cluster as a secondary unit (with
no possibility of becoming the primary in a current election).
301
• When you add a unit to a running cluster, you may see temporary, limited packet/connection drops; this
is expected behavior.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the same cluster control link interface as you configured for the primary unit.
Example:
Step 2 Specify the same MTU that you configured for the primary unit:
Example:
Step 3 Identify the same cluster name that you configured for the primary unit:
Example:
Step 4 Name this member of the cluster with a unique string:

local-unit unit_name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# local-unit unit2
Specify an ASCII string from 1 to 38 characters.

Each unit must have a unique name. A unit with a duplicated name will be not be allowed in the cluster.
Step 5 Specify the same cluster control link interface that you configured for the primary unit, but specify a different
IP address on the same network for each unit:
cluster-interface interface_id ip ip_address mask
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# cluster-interface port-channel2 ip 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
INFO: Non-cluster interface config is cleared on Port-Channel2
Specify an IPv4 address for the IP address; IPv6 is not supported for this interface. This interface cannot have
a nameif configured.
Each unit must have a unique name. A unit with a duplicated name will not be allowed in the cluster.
Step 6 If you use inter-site clustering, set the site ID for this unit so it uses a site-specific MAC address:
site-id number
302
Example:
Step 7 Set the priority of this unit for primary unit elections, typically to a higher value than the primary unit:
priority priority_number
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# priority 2
Set the priority between 1 and 100, where 1 is the highest priority.
Step 8 Set the same authentication key that you set for the primary unit:
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# key chuntheunavoidable
Step 9 Enable clustering:

enable as-slave
You can avoid any configuration incompatibilities (primarily the existence of any interfaces not yet configured
for clustering) by using the enable as-slave command. This command ensures the secondary joins the cluster
with no possibility of becoming the primary in any current election. Its configuration is overwritten with the
one synced from the primary unit.
To disable clustering, enter the no enable command.
Note If you disable clustering, all data interfaces are shut down, and only the management interface is
active.
Examples
The following example includes the configuration for a secondary unit, unit2:
no shutdown
no shutdown
cluster group pod1
local-unit unit2
priority 2
enable as-slave
303
Customize the Clustering Operation

You can customize clustering health monitoring, TCP connection replication delay, flow mobility and other
optimizations.
Before You Begin

Perform these procedures on the primary unit.
Configure ASA Cluster Parameters

You can customize cluster settings on the primary unit.
Before You Begin

• For multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the system execution space on the primary unit.
To change from the context to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure
Step 1 Enter cluster configuration mode:

cluster group name
Step 2 (Optional) Enable console replication from secondary units to the primary unit:
console-replicate
This feature is disabled by default. The ASA prints out some messages directly to the console for certain
critical events. If you enable console replication, secondary units send the console messages to the primary
unit so that you only need to monitor one console port for the cluster.
Step 3 Set the minimum trace level for clustering events:

trace-level level
Set the minimum level as desired:
• critical—Critical events (severity=1)
• warning—Warnings (severity=2)
• informational—Informational events (severity=3)
• debug—Debugging events (severity=4)
Configure Health Monitoring and Auto-Rejoin Settings

This procedure configures unit and interface health monitoring.
You might want to disable health monitoring of non-essential interfaces, for example, the management
interface. You can monitor any port-channel ID, redundant ID, or single physical interface ID, or the software
or hardware module, such as the ASA Firepower module. Health monitoring is not performed on VLAN
subinterfaces or virtual interfaces such as VNIs or BVIs. You cannot configure monitoring for the cluster
control link; it is always monitored.
304
Procedure
Step 1 Customize the cluster health check feature, which includes unit health monitoring and interface health
monitoring:
health-check [holdtime timeout] [vss-enabled]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# health-check holdtime 5
The holdime determines the amount of time between unit keepalive status messages, between .8 and 45
seconds; The default is 3 seconds. Note that the holdtime value only affects the unit health check; for interface
health, the ASA uses the interface status (up or down).
To determine unit health, the ASA cluster units send keepalive messages on the cluster control link to other
units. If a unit does not receive any keepalive messages from a peer unit within the holdtime period, the peer
unit is considered unresponsive or dead. If you configure the cluster control link as an EtherChannel
(recommended), and it is connected to a VSS or vPC pair, then you might need to enable the vss-enabled
option. For some switches, when one unit in the VSS/vPC is shutting down or booting up, EtherChannel
member interfaces connected to that switch may appear to be Up to the ASA, but they are not passing traffic
on the switch side. The ASA can be erroneously removed from the cluster if you set the ASA holdtime timeout
to a low value (such as .8 seconds), and the ASA sends keepalive messages on one of these EtherChannel
interfaces. When you enable vss-enabled, the ASA floods the keepalive messages on all EtherChannel
interfaces in the cluster control link to ensure that at least one of the switches can receive them.
The interface health check monitors for link failures. If all physical ports for a given logical interface fail on
a particular unit, but there are active ports under the same logical interface on other units, then the unit is
removed from the cluster. The amount of time before the ASA removes a member from the cluster depends
on the type of interface and whether the unit is an established member or is joining the cluster.
Health check is enabled by default for all interfaces. You can disable it using the no form of this command.
To disable monitoring per interface, see the no health-check monitor-interface command.
When any topology changes occur (such as adding or removing a data interface, enabling or disabling an
interface on the ASA or the switch, or adding an additional switch to form a VSS or vPC) you should disable
the health check feature. When the topology change is complete, and the configuration change is synced to
all units, you can re-enable the health check feature.
Step 2 Customize the auto-rejoin cluster settings after a health check failure:
health-check {data-interface | cluster-interface} auto-rejoin [unlimited | auto_rejoin_max]
auto_rejoin_interval auto_rejoin_interval_variation
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# health-check data-interface auto-rejoin 10 3 3
Define the number of attempts at rejoining the cluster by setting unlimited or the auto-rejoin-max between
0 and 65535. 0 disables auto-rejoining. The default value is unlimited for the cluster-interface and 3 for the
data-interface.
Define the interval duration in minutes between rejoin attempts by setting the auto_rejoin_interval between
2 and 60. The default value is 5 minutes. The maximum total time that the unit attempts to rejoin the cluster
is limited to 14400 minutes (10 days) from the time of last failure.
305
Define if the interval duration increases by setting the auto_rejoin_interval_variation between 1 and 3: 1 (no
change); 2 (2 x the previous duration), or 3 (3 x the previous duration). For example, if you set the interval
duration to 5 minutes, and set the variation to 2, then the first attempt is after 5 minutes; the 2nd attempt is
10 minutes (2 x 5); the 3rd attempt 20 minutes (2 x 10), and so on. The default value is 1 for the cluster-interface
and 2 for the data-interface.
Step 3 Disable the interface health check on an interface:

no health-check monitor-interface [interface_id | service-module]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# no health-check monitor-interface management0/0
interface. You can specify any port-channel ID, redundant ID, or single physical interface ID, or the
service-module keyword for a hardware or software module, such as the ASA Firepower module. Note that
for the ASA 5585-X, if you disable monitoring of the service module, you may also want to disable monitoring
of the interfaces on the module, which are monitored separately.. Health monitoring is not performed on
VLAN subinterfaces or virtual interfaces such as VNIs or BVIs. You cannot configure monitoring for the
cluster control link; it is always monitored.
Configure Connection Rebalancing and the Cluster TCP Replication Delay

You can configure connection rebalancing. Enable the cluster replication delay for TCP connections to help
eliminate the “unnecessary work” related to short-lived flows by delaying the director/backup flow creation.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Enable connection rebalancing for TCP traffic:

conn-rebalance [frequency seconds]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# conn-rebalance frequency 60
This command is disabled by default. If enabled, ASAs exchange load information periodically, and offload
new connections from more loaded devices to less loaded devices. The frequency, between 1 and 360 seconds,
specifies how often the load information is exchanged. The default is 5 seconds.
Do not configure connection rebalancing for inter-site topologies; you do not want connections rebalanced
to cluster members at a different site.
Step 2 Enable the cluster replication delay for TCP connections:

cluster replication delay seconds {http | match tcp {host ip_address | ip_address mask | any | any4 | any6}
[{eq | lt | gt} port] {host ip_address | ip_address mask | any | any4 | any6} [{eq | lt | gt} port]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster replication delay 15 match tcp any any eq ftp
306
ciscoasa(config)# cluster replication delay 15 http
Set the seconds between 1 and 15. The http delay is enabled by default for 5 seconds.
Configure Cluster Flow Mobility

You can inspect LISP traffic to enable flow mobility when a server moves between sites.
Before You Begin

• Assign each cluster unit to a site ID according to Configure the Primary Unit Bootstrap Settings, on
page 297 and Configure Secondary Unit Bootstrap Settings, on page 301.
• LISP traffic is not included in the default-inspection-traffic class, so you must configure a separate class
for LISP traffic as part of this procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Configure a LISP inspection map to limit inspected EIDs based on IP address, and to configure
the LISP pre-shared key:
a) Create an extended ACL; only the destination IP address is matched to the EID embedded address:
access list eid_acl_name extended permit ip source_address mask destination_address mask
Both IPv4 and IPv6 ACLs are accepted. See the command reference for exact access-list extended syntax.
b) Create the LISP inspection map, and enter parameters mode:
policy-map type inspect lisp inspect_map_name
parameters
c) Define the allowed EIDs by identifying the ACL you created:
allowed-eid access-list eid_acl_name
The first hop router or ITR/ETR might send EID-notify messages for hosts or networks that the ASA
cluster is not involved with, so you can limit the EIDs to only those servers or networks relevant to your
cluster. For example, if the cluster is only involved with 2 sites, but LISP is running on 3 sites, you should
only include EIDs for the 2 sites involved with the cluster.
d) If necessary, enter the pre-shared key:
validate-key key
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP extended permit ip any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
ciscoasa(config)# policy-map type inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# parameters
ciscoasa(config-pmap-p)# allowed-eid access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP
ciscoasa(config-pmap-p)# validate-key MadMaxShinyandChrome
Step 2 Configure LISP inspection for UDP traffic between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR on port 4342:
a) Configure the extended ACL to identify LISP traffic:
access list inspect_acl_name extended permit udp source_address mask destination_address mask eq
4342
307
You must specify UDP port 4342. Both IPv4 and IPv6 ACLs are accepted. See the command reference
for exact access-list extended syntax.
b) Create a class map for the ACL:
class-map inspect_class_name
match access-list inspect_acl_name
c) Specify the policy map, the class map, enable inspection using the optional LISP inspection map, and
apply the service policy to an interface (if new):
policy-map policy_map_name
class inspect_class_name
inspect lisp [inspect_map_name]
service-policy policy_map_name {global | interface ifc_name}
If you have an existing service policy, specify the existing policy map name. By default, the ASA includes
a global policy called global_policy, so for a global policy, specify that name. You can also create one
service policy per interface if you do not want to apply the policy globally. LISP inspection is applied to
traffic bidirectionally so you do not need to apply the service policy on both the source and destination
interfaces; all traffic that enters or exits the interface to which you apply the policy map is affected if the
traffic matches the class map for both directions.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list LISP_ACL extended permit udp host 192.168.50.89 host
192.168.10.8 eq 4342
ciscoasa(config)# class-map LISP_CLASS
ciscoasa(config-cmap)# match access-list LISP_ACL
ciscoasa(config-cmap)# policy-map INSIDE_POLICY
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class LISP_CLASS
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
ciscoasa(config)# service-policy INSIDE_POLICY interface inside
The ASA inspects LISP traffic for the EID-notify message sent between the first hop router and the ITR or
ETR. The ASA maintains an EID table that correlates the EID and the site ID.
Step 3 Enable Flow Mobility for a traffic class:

a) Configure the extended ACL to identify business critical traffic that you want to re-assign to the most
optimal site when servers change sites:
access list flow_acl_name extended permit udp source_address mask destination_address mask eq port
You should enable flow mobility on business-critical traffic. For example, you can limit flow mobility to
only HTTPS traffic, and/or to traffic to specific servers.
class-map flow_map_name
match access-list flow_acl_name
c) Specify the same policy map on which you enabled LISP inspection, the flow class map, and enable flow
mobility:
class flow_map_name
cluster flow-mobility lisp
308
Manage ASA Cluster Members
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS extended permit tcp any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
eq https
ciscoasa(config)# class-map IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
ciscoasa(config)# match access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# cluster flow-mobility lisp
Step 4 Enter cluster group configuration mode, and enable flow mobility for the cluster:
cluster group name
flow-mobility lisp
This on/off toggle lets you easily enable or disable flow mobility.
Examples
• Limits EIDs to those on the 10.10.10.0/24 network
• Inspects LISP traffic (UDP 4342) between a LISP router at 192.168.50.89 (on inside) and an ITR or
ETR router (on another ASA interface) at 192.168.10.8
• Enables flow mobility for all inside traffic going to a server on 10.10.10.0/24 using HTTPS.
• Enables flow mobility for the cluster.
access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP extended permit ip any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0

policy-map type inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
parameters
allowed-eid access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP
validate-key MadMaxShinyandChrome
!
access-list LISP_ACL extended permit udp host 192.168.50.89 host 192.168.10.8 eq 4342
class-map LISP_CLASS
match access-list LISP_ACL
policy-map INSIDE_POLICY
class LISP_CLASS
inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
service-policy INSIDE_POLICY interface inside
!
access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS extended permit tcp any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 eq https
class-map IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
match access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS
class IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
!
cluster group cluster1
flow-mobility lisp

After you deploy the cluster, you can change the configuration and manage cluster members.
309
Become an Inactive Member

To become an inactive member of the cluster, disable clustering on the unit while leaving the clustering
configuration intact.
Note When an ASA becomes inactive (either manually or through a health check failure), all data interfaces
are shut down; only the management-only interface can send and receive traffic. To resume traffic flow,
re-enable clustering; or you can remove the unit altogether from the cluster. The management interface
remains up using the IP address the unit received from the cluster IP pool. However if you reload, and the
unit is still inactive in the cluster, the management interface is disabled. You must use the console port
for any further configuration.
Before You Begin

• You must use the console port; you cannot enable or disable clustering from a remote CLI connection.
• For multiple context mode, perform this procedure in the system execution space. If you are not already
in the System configuration mode, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure

cluster group name
Example:
Step 2 Disable clustering:

no enable
If this unit was the primary unit, a new primary election takes place, and a different member becomes the
primary unit.
The cluster configuration is maintained, so that you can enable clustering again later.
Related Topics
Leave the Cluster, on page 311
Inactivate a Member
To inactivate a member from any unit, perform the following steps.
310
Note When an ASA becomes inactive, all data interfaces are shut down; only the management-only interface
can send and receive traffic. To resume traffic flow, re-enable clustering; or you can remove the unit
altogether from the cluster. The management interface remains up using the IP address the unit received
interface is disabled. You must use the console port for any further configuration.
Before You Begin

For multiple context mode, perform this procedure in the system execution space. If you are not already in
Procedure
Remove the unit from the cluster:

cluster remove unit unit_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster remove unit ?
Current active units in the cluster:

asa2
ciscoasa(config)# cluster remove unit asa2

WARNING: Clustering will be disabled on unit asa2. To bring it back
to the cluster please logon to that unit and re-enable clustering
The bootstrap configuration remains intact, as well as the last configuration synched from the primary unit,
so that you can later re-add the unit without losing your configuration. If you enter this command on a secondary
unit to remove the primary unit, a new primary unit is elected.
To view member names, enter cluster remove unit ?, or enter the show cluster info command.
Leave the Cluster

If you want to leave the cluster altogether, you need to remove the entire cluster bootstrap configuration.
Because the current configuration on each member is the same (synced from the primary unit), leaving the
cluster also means either restoring a pre-clustering configuration from backup, or clearing your configuration
and starting over to avoid IP address conflicts.
Before You Begin

You must use the console port; when you remove the cluster configuration, all interfaces are shut down,
including the management interface and cluster control link. Moreover, you cannot enable or disable clustering
from a remote CLI connection.
Procedure
Step 1 For a secondary unit, disable clustering:

cluster group cluster_name no enable
311
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster group cluster1
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# no enable
You cannot make configuration changes while clustering is enabled on a secondary unit.
Step 2 Clear the cluster configuration:

clear configure cluster
The ASA shuts down all interfaces including the management interface and cluster control link.
Step 3 Disable cluster interface mode:

no cluster interface-mode
The mode is not stored in the configuration and must be reset manually.
Step 4 If you have a backup configuration, copy the backup configuration to the running configuration:
copy backup_cfg running-config
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# copy backup_cluster.cfg running-config
Source filename [backup_cluster.cfg]?
Destination filename [running-config]?

ciscoasa(config)#
Step 5 Save the configuration to startup:

write memory
Step 6 If you do not have a backup configuration, reconfigure management access. Be sure to change the interface
IP addresses, and restore the correct hostname, for example.
Change the Primary Unit
Caution The best method to change the primary unit is to disable clustering on the primary unit, waiting for a new
primary election, and then re-enabling clustering. If you must specify the exact unit you want to become
the primary, use the procedure in this section. Note, however, that for centralized features, if you force a
primary unit change using this procedure, then all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish
To change the primary unit, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

312
Procedure
Set a new unit as the primary unit:

cluster master unit unit_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster master unit asa2
You will need to reconnect to the Main cluster IP address.

To view member names, enter cluster master unit ? (to see all names except the current unit), or enter the
show cluster info command.
Related Topics
Become an Inactive Member, on page 310
Execute a Command Cluster-Wide

To send a command to all members in the cluster, or to a specific member, perform the following steps.
Sending a show command to all members collects all output and displays it on the console of the current unit.
Other commands, such as capture and copy, can also take advantage of cluster-wide execution.
Procedure
Send a command to all members, or if you specify the unit name, a specific member:
cluster exec [unit unit_name] command
Example:
ciscoasa# cluster exec show xlate
To view member names, enter cluster exec unit ? (to see all names except the current unit), or enter the show
cluster info command.
Examples
To copy the same capture file from all units in the cluster at the same time to a TFTP server, enter the following
command on the primary unit:
ciscoasa# cluster exec copy /pcap capture: tftp://10.1.1.56/capture1.pcap
Multiple PCAP files, one from each unit, are copied to the TFTP server. The destination capture file name is
automatically attached with the unit name, such as capture1_asa1.pcap, capture1_asa2.pcap, and so on. In
this example, asa1 and asa2 are cluster unit names.
313
Monitoring the ASA Cluster
The following sample output for the cluster exec show port-channel summary command shows EtherChannel
information for each member in the cluster:
ciscoasa# cluster exec show port-channel summary

primary(LOCAL):***********************************************************
Number of channel-groups in use: 2
Group Port-channel Protocol Span-cluster Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------
1 Po1 LACP Yes Gi0/0(P)
secondary:******************************************************************
Number of channel-groups in use: 2
Group Port-channel Protocol Span-cluster Ports
------+-------------+-----------+-----------------------------------------------

You can monitor and troubleshoot cluster status and connections.
Monitoring Cluster Status

See the following commands for monitoring cluster status:
• show cluster info [health]
With no keywords, the show cluster info command shows the status of all members of the cluster.
The show cluster info health command shows the current health of interfaces, units, and the cluster
overall.
See the following output for the show cluster info command:
ciscoasa# show cluster info

Cluster stbu: On
This is "C" in state SLAVE
ID : 0
Site ID : 1
Version : 9.4(1)
Serial No.: P3000000025
CCL IP : 10.0.0.3
Last join : 17:08:59 UTC Sep 26 2011
Last leave: N/A
Unit "D" in state SLAVE
ID : 1
Site ID : 1
Version : 9.4(1)
Serial No.: P3000000001
CCL IP : 10.0.0.4
Last join : 19:13:11 UTC Sep 23 2011
Last leave: N/A
Unit "A" in state MASTER
ID : 2
Site ID : 2
Version : 9.4(1)
Serial No.: JAB0815R0JY
CCL IP : 10.0.0.1
CCL MAC : 000f.f775.541e
Last join : 19:13:20 UTC Sep 23 2011
314
Last leave: N/A

Unit "B" in state SLAVE
ID : 3
Site ID : 2
Version : 9.4(1)
Serial No.: P3000000191
CCL IP : 10.0.0.2
CCL MAC : 000b.fcf8.c61e
Last join : 19:13:50 UTC Sep 23 2011
Last leave: 19:13:36 UTC Sep 23 2011
• show cluster history

Shows the cluster history.
Capturing Packets Cluster-Wide

See the following command for capturing packets in a cluster:
cluster exec capture
To support cluster-wide troubleshooting, you can enable capture of cluster-specific traffic on the primary unit
using the cluster exec capture command, which is then automatically enabled on all of the secondary units
in the cluster.
Monitoring Cluster Resources

See the following command for monitoring cluster resources:
show cluster {cpu | memory | resource} [options]
Displays aggregated data for the entire cluster. The options available depends on the data type.
Monitoring Cluster Traffic

See the following commands for monitoring cluster traffic:
• show conn [detail], cluster exec show conn
The show conn command shows whether a flow is a director, backup, or forwarder flow. Use the cluster
exec show conn command on any unit to view all connections. This command can show how traffic for
a single flow arrives at different ASAs in the cluster. The throughput of the cluster is dependent on the
efficiency and configuration of load balancing. This command provides an easy way to view how traffic
for a connection is flowing through the cluster, and can help you understand how a load balancer might
affect the performance of a flow.
The show conn detail command also shows which flows are subject to flow mobility.
The following is sample output for the show conn detail command:
ciscoasa/ASA2/slave# show conn detail

12 in use, 13 most used
Cluster stub connections: 0 in use, 46 most used
Flags: A - awaiting inside ACK to SYN, a - awaiting outside ACK to SYN,
B - initial SYN from outside, b - TCP state-bypass or nailed,
C - CTIQBE media, c - cluster centralized,
D - DNS, d - dump, E - outside back connection, e - semi-distributed,
F - outside FIN, f - inside FIN,
G - group, g - MGCP, H - H.323, h - H.225.0, I - inbound data,
i - incomplete, J - GTP, j - GTP data, K - GTP t3-response
315
k - Skinny media, L - LISP triggered flow owner mobility,

M - SMTP data, m - SIP media, n - GUP
O - outbound data, o - offloaded,
P - inside back connection,
Q - Diameter, q - SQL*Net data,
R - outside acknowledged FIN,
R - UDP SUNRPC, r - inside acknowledged FIN, S - awaiting inside SYN,
s - awaiting outside SYN, T - SIP, t - SIP transient, U - up,
V - VPN orphan, W - WAAS,
w - secondary domain backup,
X - inspected by service module,
x - per session, Y - director stub flow, y - backup stub flow,
Z - Scansafe redirection, z - forwarding stub flow
ESP outside: 10.1.227.1/53744 NP Identity Ifc: 10.1.226.1/30604, , flags c, idle 0s,
uptime
1m21s, timeout 30s, bytes 7544, cluster sent/rcvd bytes 0/0, owners (0,255) Traffic
received
at interface outside Locally received: 7544 (93 byte/s) Traffic received at interface
NP
Identity Ifc Locally received: 0 (0 byte/s) UDP outside: 10.1.227.1/500 NP Identity
Ifc:
10.1.226.1/500, flags -c, idle 1m22s, uptime 1m22s, timeout 2m0s, bytes 1580, cluster
sent/rcvd bytes 0/0, cluster sent/rcvd total bytes 0/0, owners (0,255) Traffic received
at
interface outside Locally received: 864 (10 byte/s) Traffic received at interface NP
Identity
Ifc Locally received: 716 (8 byte/s)
To troubleshoot the connection flow, first see connections on all units by entering the cluster exec show
conn command on any unit. Look for flows that have the following flags: director (Y), backup (y), and
forwarder (z). The following example shows an SSH connection from 172.18.124.187:22 to
192.168.103.131:44727 on all three ASAs; ASA 1 has the z flag showing it is a forwarder for the
connection, ASA3 has the Y flag showing it is the director for the connection, and ASA2 has no special
flags showing it is the owner. In the outbound direction, the packets for this connection enter the inside
interface on ASA2 and exit the outside interface. In the inbound direction, the packets for this connection
enter the outside interface on ASA 1 and ASA3, are forwarded over the cluster control link to ASA2,
and then exit the inside interface on ASA2.
ciscoasa/ASA1/master# cluster exec show conn

ASA1(LOCAL):**********************************************************
TCP outside 172.18.124.187:22 inside 192.168.103.131:44727, idle 0:00:00, bytes
37240828, flags z
ASA2:*****************************************************************
TCP outside 172.18.124.187:22 inside 192.168.103.131:44727, idle 0:00:00, bytes
37240828, flags UIO
ASA3:*****************************************************************
TCP outside 172.18.124.187:22 inside 192.168.103.131:44727, idle 0:00:03, bytes 0,
flags Y
• show cluster info [conn-distribution | packet-distribution | loadbalance | flow-mobility counters]

The show cluster info conn-distribution and show cluster info packet-distribution commands show
traffic distribution across all cluster units. These commands can help you to evaluate and adjust the
external load balancer.
The show cluster info loadbalance command shows connection rebalance statistics.
316
The show cluster info flow-mobility counters command shows EID movement and flow owner
movement information. See the following output for show cluster info flow-mobility counters:
ciscoasa# show cluster info flow-mobility counters

EID movement notification received : 4
EID movement notification processed : 4
Flow owner moving requested : 2
• show cluster {access-list | conn | traffic | user-identity | xlate} [options]

See the following output for the show cluster access-list command:
ciscoasa# show cluster access-list

hitcnt display order: cluster-wide aggregated result, unit-A, unit-B, unit-C, unit-D
access-list cached ACL log flows: total 0, denied 0 (deny-flow-max 4096) alert-interval
300
access-list 101; 122 elements; name hash: 0xe7d586b5
access-list 101 line 1 extended permit tcp 192.168.143.0 255.255.255.0 any eq www
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x207a2b7d
access-list 101 line 2 extended permit tcp any 192.168.143.0 255.255.255.0 (hitcnt=0,
0, 0, 0, 0) 0xfe4f4947
access-list 101 line 3 extended permit tcp host 192.168.1.183 host 192.168.43.238
(hitcnt=1, 0, 0, 0, 1) 0x7b521307
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x5795c069
(hitcnt=1, 0, 0, 1, 0) 0x51bde7ee
access list 101 line 6 extended permit tcp host 192.168.1.177 host 192.168.43.13
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x1e68697c
(hitcnt=2, 0, 0, 1, 1) 0xc1ce5c49
(hitcnt=3, 0, 1, 1, 1) 0xb6f59512
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0xdc104200
(hitcnt=429, 109, 107, 109, 104)
0xce4f281d
(hitcnt=3, 1, 0, 0, 2) 0x4143a818
(hitcnt=2, 0, 1, 0, 1) 0xb18dfea4
(hitcnt=1, 1, 0, 0, 0) 0x21557d71
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x7316e016
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x013fd5b8
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x2c7dba0d
To display the aggregated count of in-use connections for all units, enter:
ciscoasa# show cluster conn count

Usage Summary In Cluster:*********************************************
200 in use (cluster-wide aggregated)
cl2(LOCAL):***********************************************************
cl1:******************************************************************
• show asp cluster counter

This command is useful for datapath troubleshooting.
317
Monitoring Cluster Routing

See the following commands for cluster routing:
• show route cluster
• debug route cluster
Shows cluster information for routing.
• show lisp eid

Shows the ASA EID table showing EIDs and site IDs.
See the following output from the cluster exec show lisp eid command.
ciscoasa# cluster exec show lisp eid

L1(LOCAL):************************************************************
LISP EID Site ID
33.44.33.105 2
33.44.33.201 2
11.22.11.1 4
11.22.11.2 4
L2:*******************************************************************
LISP EID Site ID
33.44.33.105 2
33.44.33.201 2
11.22.11.1 4
11.22.11.2 4
• show asp table classify domain inspect-lisp

This command is useful for troubleshooting.
Configuring Logging for Clustering

See the following command for configuring logging for clustering:
logging device-id
Each unit in the cluster generates syslog messages independently. You can use the logging device-id command
to generate syslog messages with identical or different device IDs to make messages appear to come from the
same or different units in the cluster.
Related Topics
Include the Device ID in Non-EMBLEM Format Syslog Messages, on page 926
Monitoring Cluster Interfaces

See the following commands for monitoring cluster interfaces:
• show cluster interface-mode
Shows the cluster interface mode.
• show port-channel
Includes information about whether a port-channel is spanned.
318
Examples for ASA Clustering
• show lacp cluster {system-mac | system-id}

Shows the cLACP system ID and priority.
• debug lacp cluster [all | ccp | misc | protocol]
Shows debug messages for cLACP.
• show interface
Shows the use of the site MAC address when in use:
ciscoasa# show interface port-channel1.3151

Interface Port-channel1.3151 "inside", is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is EtherChannel/LACP, BW 1000 Mbps, DLY 10 usec
VLAN identifier 3151
MAC address aaaa.1111.1234, MTU 1500
Site Specific MAC address aaaa.1111.aaaa
IP address 10.3.1.1, subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Traffic Statistics for "inside":
132269 packets input, 6483425 bytes
1062 packets output, 110448 bytes
98530 packets dropped
Debugging Clustering
• debug cluster [ccp | datapath | fsm | general | hc | license | rpc | transport]
Shows debug messages for clustering.
• debug cluster flow-mobility
Shows events related to clustering flow mobility.
• debug lisp eid-notify-intercept
Shows events when the eid-notify message is intercepted.
• show cluster info trace
The show cluster info trace command shows the debug information for further troubleshooting.
See the following output for the show cluster info trace command:
ciscoasa# show cluster info trace

Feb 02 14:19:47.456 [DBUG]Receive CCP message: CCP_MSG_LOAD_BALANCE
Feb 02 14:19:47.456 [DBUG]Send CCP message to all: CCP_MSG_KEEPALIVE from 80-1 at
MASTER

These examples include all cluster-related ASA configuration for typical deployments.
319
Sample ASA and Switch Configuration

The following sample configurations connect the following interfaces between the ASA and the switch:
ASA Interface Switch Interface

GigabitEthernet 0/2 GigabitEthernet 1/0/15
ASA Configuration
Interface Mode on Each Unit
cluster interface-mode spanned force
ASA1 Primary Bootstrap Configuration
no shutdown
!
no shutdown
!
interface Port-channel1
description Clustering Interface
!
cluster group Moya
local-unit A
cluster-interface Port-channel1 ip 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.0
priority 10
key emphyri0
enable noconfirm
ASA2 Secondary Bootstrap Configuration
no shutdown
!
no shutdown
!
description Clustering Interface
!
cluster group Moya
local-unit B
320
cluster-interface Port-channel1 ip 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0

priority 11
key emphyri0
enable as-slave
Primary Interface Configuration
ip local pool mgmt-pool 10.53.195.231-10.53.195.232
no shutdown
!
no shutdown
!
no shutdown
!
no shutdown
!
management-only
nameif management
ip address 10.53.195.230 cluster-pool mgmt-pool
security-level 100
no shutdown
!
port-channel span-cluster
mac-address aaaa.bbbb.cccc
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 209.165.200.225 255.255.255.224
!
mac-address aaaa.dddd.cccc
nameif outside
security-level 0
ip address 209.165.201.1 255.255.255.224
Cisco IOS Switch Configuration
interface GigabitEthernet1/0/15
switchport access vlan 201
switchport mode access
!
!
!
321
Firewall on a Stick
Data traffic from different security domains are associated with different VLANs, for example, VLAN 10 for
the inside network and VLAN 20 for the outside network. Each ASA has a single physical port connected to
the external switch or router. Trunking is enabled so that all packets on the physical link are 802.1q
encapsulated. The ASA is the firewall between VLAN 10 and VLAN 20.
When using Spanned EtherChannels, all data links are grouped into one EtherChannel on the switch side. If
an ASA becomes unavailable, the switch will rebalance traffic between the remaining units.
322
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa1
cluster-interface tengigabitethernet0/8 ip 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
priority 1
enable noconfirm
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa2
priority 2
enable as-slave
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa3
priority 3
enable as-slave

nameif management
security-level 100
management-only
no shutdown
323

no shutdown
interface port-channel 2.10
vlan 10
nameif inside
ip address 10.10.10.5 255.255.255.0
ipv6 address 2001:DB8:1::5/64
mac-address 000C.F142.4CDE
interface port-channel 2.20
vlan 20
nameif outside
ip address 209.165.201.1 255.255.255.224
Traffic Segregation
You may prefer physical separation of traffic between the inside and outside network.
As shown in the diagram above, there is one Spanned EtherChannel on the left side that connects to the inside
switch, and the other on the right side to outside switch. You can also create VLAN subinterfaces on each
EtherChannel if desired.
324
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa1
priority 1
enable noconfirm
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa2
priority 2
enable as-slave
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
325
local-unit asa3
priority 3
enable as-slave

nameif management
security-level 100
management-only
no shutdown

no shutdown
nameif inside
ip address 10.10.10.5 255.255.255.0

no shutdown
nameif outside
ip address 209.165.201.1 255.255.255.224
Spanned EtherChannel with Backup Links (Traditional 8 Active/8 Standby)

The maximum number of active ports in a traditional EtherChannel is limited to 8 from the switch side. If
you have an 8-ASA cluster, and you allocate 2 ports per unit to the EtherChannel, for a total of 16 ports total,
then 8 of them have to be in standby mode. The ASA uses LACP to negotiate which links should be active
or standby. If you enable multi-switch EtherChannel using VSS or vPC, you can achieve inter-switch
redundancy. On the ASA, all physical ports are ordered first by the slot number then by the port number. In
the following figure, the lower ordered port is the “primary” port (for example, GigabitEthernet 0/0), and the
other one is the “secondary” port (for example, GigabitEthernet 0/1). You must guarantee symmetry in the
hardware connection: all primary links must terminate on one switch, and all secondary links must terminate
on another switch if VSS/vPC is used. The following diagram shows what happens when the total number of
links grows as more units join the cluster:
326
The principle is to first maximize the number of active ports in the channel, and secondly keep the number
of active primary ports and the number of active secondary ports in balance. Note that when a 5th unit joins
the cluster, traffic is not balanced evenly between all units.
Link or device failure is handled with the same principle. You may end up with a less-than-perfect load
balancing situation. The following figure shows a 4-unit cluster with a single link failure on one of the units.
327
There could be multiple EtherChannels configured in the network. The following diagram shows an
EtherChannel on the inside and one on the outside. An ASA is removed from the cluster if both primary and
secondary links in one EtherChannel fail. This prevents the ASA from receiving traffic from the outside
network when it has already lost connectivity to the inside network.
328
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
329
description CCL
local-unit asa1
priority 1
enable noconfirm
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa2
priority 2
enable as-slave
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
330
local-unit asa3
priority 3
enable as-slave
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
no shutdown
description CCL
local-unit asa4
priority 4
enable as-slave


no shutdown

no shutdown
nameif management
security-level 100
management-only
channel-group 3 mode active vss-id 1

no shutdown

no shutdown
331
port-channel span-cluster vss-load-balance
nameif inside
ip address 10.10.10.5 255.255.255.0

no shutdown

no shutdown
port-channel span-cluster vss-load-balance
nameif outside
ip address 209.165.201.1 255.255.255.224
OTV Configuration for Routed Mode Inter-Site Clustering

The success of inter-site clustering for routed mode with Spanned EtherChannels depends on the proper
configuration and monitoring of OTV. OTV plays a major role by forwarding the packets across the DCI.
OTV forwards unicast packets across the DCI only when it learns the MAC address in its forwarding table.
If the MAC address is not learned in the OTV forwarding table, it will drop the unicast packets.
Sample OTV Configuration
//Sample OTV config:

//3151 – Inside VLAN, 3152 – Outside VLAN, 202 – CCL VLAN
//aaaa.1111.1234 – ASA inside interface global vMAC
//0050.56A8.3D22 – Server MAC
feature ospf
feature otv
mac access-list ALL_MACs

10 permit any any
mac access-list HSRP_VMAC
10 permit aaaa.1111.1234 0000.0000.0000 any
20 permit aaaa.2222.1234 0000.0000.0000 any
30 permit any aaaa.1111.1234 0000.0000.0000
40 permit any aaaa.2222.1234 0000.0000.0000
vlan access-map Local 10
match mac address HSRP_VMAC
action drop
vlan access-map Local 20
match mac address ALL_MACs
action forward
vlan filter Local vlan-list 3151-3152
no ip igmp snooping optimise-multicast-flood

vlan 1,202,1111,2222,3151-3152
otv site-vlan 2222

mac-list GMAC_DENY seq 10 deny aaaa.aaaa.aaaa ffff.ffff.ffff
mac-list GMAC_DENY seq 20 deny aaaa.bbbb.bbbb ffff.ffff.ffff
mac-list GMAC_DENY seq 30 permit 0000.0000.0000 0000.0000.0000
route-map stop-GMAC permit 10
match mac-list GMAC_DENY
interface Overlay1
otv join-interface Ethernet8/1
otv control-group 239.1.1.1
332
otv data-group 232.1.1.0/28

otv extend-vlan 202, 3151
otv arp-nd timeout 60
no shutdown
interface Ethernet8/1
description uplink_to_OTV_cloud
mtu 9198
ip address 10.4.0.18/24
ip igmp version 3
no shutdown
description back_to_default_vdc_e6/39
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan 202,2222,3151-3152
mac packet-classify
no shutdown
otv-isis default
vpn Overlay1
redistribute filter route-map stop-GMAC
otv site-identifier 0x2
otv flood mac 0050.56A8.3D22 vlan 3151
OTV Filter Modifications Required Because of Site Failure

If a site goes down, the filters need to be removed from OTV because you do not want to block the global
MAC address anymore. There are some additional configurations required.
You need to add a static entry for the ASA global MAC address on the OTV switch in the site that is functional.
This entry will let the OTV at the other end add these entries on the overlay interface. This step is required
because if the server and client already have the ARP entry for the ASA, which is the case for existing
connections, then they will not send the ARP again. Therefore, OTV will not get a chance to learn the ASA
global MAC address in its forwarding table. Because OTV does not have the global MAC address in its
forwarding table, and per OTV design it will not flood unicast packets over the overlay interface, then it will
drop the unicast packets to the global MAC address from the server, and the existing connections will break.
//OTV filter configs when one of the sites is down
mac-list GMAC_A seq 10 permit 0000.0000.0000 0000.0000.0000

route-map a-GMAC permit 10
match mac-list GMAC_A
otv-isis default
vpn Overlay1
redistribute filter route-map a-GMAC
no vlan filter Local vlan-list 3151
mac address-table static aaaa.1111.1234 vlan 3151 interface Ethernet8/3

//Static entry required only in the OTV in the functioning Site
When the other site is restored, you need to add the filters back again and remove this static entry on the OTV.
It is very important to clear the dynamic MAC address table on both the OTVs to clear the overlay entry for
the global MAC address.
333
History for ASA Clustering
MAC Address Table Clearing

When a site goes down, and a static entry for the global MAC address is added to OTV, you need to let the
other OTV learn the global MAC address on the overlay interface. After the other site comes up, these entries
should be cleared. Make sure to clear the mac address table to make sure OTV does not have these entries in
its forwarding table.
cluster-N7k6-OTV# show mac address-table

Legend:
* - primary entry, G - Gateway MAC, (R) - Routed MAC, O - Overlay MAC
age - seconds since last seen,+ - primary entry using vPC Peer-Link,
(T) - True, (F) - False
VLAN MAC Address Type age Secure NTFY Ports/SWID.SSID.LID
---------+-----------------+--------+---------+------+----+------------------
G - d867.d900.2e42 static - F F sup-eth1(R)
O 202 885a.92f6.44a5 dynamic - F F Overlay1
* 202 885a.92f6.4b8f dynamic 5 F F Eth8/3
O 3151 0050.5660.9412 dynamic - F F Overlay1
* 3151 aaaa.1111.1234 dynamic 50 F F Eth8/3
OTV ARP Cache Monitoring

OTV maintains an ARP cache to proxy ARP for IP addresses that it learned across the OTV interface.
cluster-N7k6-OTV# show otv arp-nd-cache

OTV ARP/ND L3->L2 Address Mapping Cache
Overlay Interface Overlay1

VLAN MAC Address Layer-3 Address Age Expires In
3151 0050.5660.9412 10.0.0.2 1w0d 00:00:31
cluster-N7k6-OTV#

Releases
ASA Clustering for the 9.0(1) ASA Clustering lets you group multiple ASAs together as a single logical device. A cluster
ASA 5580 and 5585-X provides all the convenience of a single device (management, integration into a network) while
achieving the increased throughput and redundancy of multiple devices. ASA clustering is
supported for the ASA 5580 and the ASA 5585-X; all units in a cluster must be the same model
with the same hardware specifications. See the configuration guide for a list of unsupported
features when clustering is enabled.
We introduced or modified the following commands: channel-group, clacp system-mac,
clear cluster info, clear configure cluster, cluster exec, cluster group, cluster
interface-mode, cluster-interface, conn-rebalance, console-replicate, cluster master unit,
cluster remove unit, debug cluster, debug lacp cluster, enable (cluster group), health-check,
ip address, ipv6 address, key (cluster group), local-unit, mac-address (interface),
mac-address pool, mtu cluster, port-channel span-cluster, priority (cluster group), prompt
cluster-unit, show asp cluster counter, show asp table cluster chash-table, show cluster,
show cluster info, show cluster user-identity, show lacp cluster, and show running-config
cluster.
334

Releases
ASA 5500-X support for 9.1(4) The ASA 5512-X, ASA 5515-X, ASA 5525-X, ASA 5545-X, and ASA 5555-X now support
clustering 2-unit clusters. Clustering for 2 units is enabled by default in the base license; for the ASA
5512-X, you need the Security Plus license.
Improved VSS and vPC 9.1(4) If you configure the cluster control link as an EtherChannel (recommended), and it is connected
support for health check to a VSS or vPC pair, you can now increase stability with health check monitoring. For some
monitoring switches, such as the Cisco Nexus 5000, when one unit in the VSS/vPC is shutting down or
booting up, EtherChannel member interfaces connected to that switch may appear to be Up to
the ASA, but they are not passing traffic on the switch side. The ASA can be erroneously
removed from the cluster if you set the ASA holdtime timeout to a low value (such as .8
seconds), and the ASA sends keepalive messages on one of these EtherChannel interfaces.
When you enable the VSS/vPC health check feature, the ASA floods the keepalive messages
on all EtherChannel interfaces in the cluster control link to ensure that at least one of the
switches can receive them.
We modified the following command: health-check [vss-enabled].
Support for cluster 9.1(4) You can now place cluster members at different geographical locations when using Individual
members at different Interface mode.
geographical locations We did not modify any commands.
(inter-site); Individual
Interface mode only
Support for cluster 9.2(1) You can now place cluster members at different geographical locations when using Spanned
members at different EtherChannel mode in transparent firewall mode. Inter-site clustering with spanned
geographical locations EtherChannels in routed firewall mode is not supported.
(inter-site) for We did not modify any commands.
transparent mode
Static LACP port 9.2(1) Some switches do not support dynamic port priority with LACP (active and standby links).
priority support for You can now disable dynamic port priority to provide better compatibility with spanned
clustering EtherChannels. You should also follow these guidelines:
• Network elements on the cluster control link path should not verify the L4 checksum.
Redirected traffic over the cluster control link does not have a correct L4 checksum.
Switches that verify the L4 checksum could cause traffic to be dropped.
• Port-channel bundling downtime should not exceed the configured keepalive interval.
We introduced the following command: clacp static-port-priority.
335

Releases
Support for 32 active 9.2(1) ASA EtherChannels now support up to 16 active links. With spanned EtherChannels, that
links in a spanned functionality is extended to support up to 32 active links across the cluster when used with
EtherChannel two switches in a vPC and when you disable dynamic port priority. The switches must support
EtherChannels with 16 active links, for example, the Cisco Nexus 7000 with F2-Series 10
Gigabit Ethernet Module.
For switches in a VSS or vPC that support 8 active links, you can now configure 16 active
links in the spanned EtherChannel (8 connected to each switch). Previously, the spanned
EtherChannel only supported 8 active links and 8 standby links, even for use with a VSS/vPC.
Note If you want to use more than 8 active links in a spanned EtherChannel, you cannot
also have standby links; the support for 9 to 32 active links requires you to disable
cLACP dynamic port priority that allows the use of standby links.
We introduced the following command: clacp static-port-priority.
Support for 16 cluster 9.2(1) The ASA 5585-X now supports 16-unit clusters.
members for the ASA We did not modify any commands.
5585-X
BGP support for ASA 9.3(1) We added support for BGP with ASA clustering.
clustering We introduced the following command: bgp router-id clusterpool.
Inter-site deployment in 9.3(2) You can now deploy a cluster in transparent mode between inside networks and the gateway
transparent mode with router at each site (AKA East-West insertion), and extend the inside VLANs between sites.
the ASA cluster We recommend using Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV), but you can use any method
firewalling between that ensures that the overlapping MAC Addresses and IP addresses of the gateway router do
inside networks not leak between sites. Use a First Hop Redundancy Protocol (FHRP) such as HSRP to provide
the same virtual MAC and IP addresses to the gateway routers.
Enable and disable ASA 9.4(1) You can now enable or disable health monitoring per interface. Health monitoring is enabled
cluster health monitoring by default on all port-channel, redundant, and single physical interfaces. Health monitoring is
per interface not performed on VLAN subinterfaces or virtual interfaces such as VNIs or BVIs. You cannot
configure monitoring for the cluster control link; it is always monitored. You might want to
disable health monitoring of non-essential interfaces, for example, the management interface.
We introduced the following command: health-check monitor-interface.
ASA clustering support 9.4(1) You can now configure DHCP relay on the ASA cluster. Client DHCP requests are
for DHCP relay load-balanced to the cluster members using a hash of the client MAC address. DHCP client
and server functions are still not supported.
SIP inspection support 9.4(1) You can now configure SIP inspection on the ASA cluster. A control flow can be created on
in ASA clustering any unit (due to load balancing), but its child data flows must reside on the same unit. TLS
Proxy configuration is not supported.
We introduced the following command: show cluster service-policy.
336

Releases
Site-specific MAC 9.5(1) You can now use inter-site clustering for Spanned EtherChannels in routed mode. To avoid
addresses for inter-site MAC address flapping, configure a site ID for each cluster member so that a site-specific MAC
clustering support for address for each interface can be shared among a site’s units.
Spanned EtherChannel
in Routed firewall mode
ASA cluster 9.5(1) You can now customize the auto-rejoin behavior when an interface or the cluster control link
customization of the fails.
auto-rejoin behavior We introduced the following command: health-check auto-rejoin
when an interface or the
cluster control link fails
The ASA cluster 9.5(1) The ASA cluster now supports GTPv1 and GTPv2 inspection.
supports GTPv1 and We did not modify any commands.
GTPv2
Disable health 9.5(1) By default when using clustering, the ASA monitors the health of an installed hardware module
monitoring of a such as the ASA FirePOWER module. If you do not want a hardware module failure to trigger
hardware module in failover, you can disable module monitoring.
ASA clustering We modified the following command: health-check monitor-interface service-module
Cluster replication delay 9.5(1) This feature helps eliminate the “unnecessary work” related to short-lived flows by delaying
for TCP connections the director/backup flow creation.
ASA 5516-X support for 9.5(2) The ASA 5516-X now supports 2-unit clusters. Clustering for 2 units is enabled by default in
clustering the base license.
LISP Inspection for 9.5(2) Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) architecture separates the device identity from
Inter-Site Flow Mobility its location into two different numbering spaces, making server migration transparent to clients.
Carrier Grade NAT 9.5(2) For carrier-grade or large-scale PAT, you can allocate a block of ports for each host, rather
enhancements now than have NAT allocate one port translation at a time (see RFC 6888). This feature is now
supported in failover and supported in failover and ASA cluster deployments.
ASA clustering We modified the following command: show local-host
337

Releases
Configurable level for 9.5(2) By default, all levels of clustering events are included in the trace buffer, including many low
clustering trace entries level events. To limit the trace to higher level events, you can set the minimum trace level for
the cluster.
338
CHAPTER 9
ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis
Clustering lets you group multiple FXOS chassis ASAs together as a single logical device. The FXOS chassis
series includes the Firepower 9300. A cluster provides all the convenience of a single device (management,
integration into a network) while achieving the increased throughput and redundancy of multiple devices.
Note Some features are not supported when using clustering. See Unsupported Features with Clustering, on
page 353.
• About Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 339

• Licensing for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 360
• Prerequisites for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 360
• Guidelines for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 360
• Defaults for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 361
• Configure Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 361
• Monitoring the ASA Cluster on the FXOS chassis, page 374
• History for ASA Clustering on the FXOS Chassis, page 379
About Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

The cluster consists of multiple devices acting as a single unit. When you deploy a cluster on the FXOS
chassis, it does the following:
• Creates a cluster-control link (port-channel 48) for unit-to-unit communication. For intra-chassis
clustering, this link utilizes the Firepower 9300 backplane for cluster communications. For inter-chassis
clustering, where supported, you need to manually assign physical interface(s) to this EtherChannel for
communications between chassis.
• Creates the cluster bootstrap configuration within the application.
When you deploy the cluster, the FXOS chassis supervisor pushes a minimal bootstrap configuration
to each unit that includes the cluster name, cluster control link interface, and other cluster settings. Some
339
parts of the bootstrap configuration may be user-configurable within the application if you want to
customize your clustering environment.
• Assigns data interfaces to the cluster as Spanned interfaces.
For intra-chassis clustering, spanned interfaces are not limited to EtherChannels, like it is for inter-chassis
clustering.The Firepower 9300 supervisor uses EtherChannel technology internally to load-balance
traffic to multiple modules on a shared interface, so any data interface type works for Spanned mode.
For inter-chassis clustering, you must use Spanned EtherChannels for all data interfaces.
Note Individual interfaces are not supported, with the exception of a management interface.
• Assigns a management interface to all units in the cluster.
The following sections provide more detail about clustering concepts and implementation.
Performance Scaling Factor

When you combine multiple units into a cluster, you can expect the total cluster performance to be
approximately:
• TCP or CPS throughput—0.8 x number_of_units
• UDP throughput—0.9 x number_of_units
• Ethernet MIX (EMIX) throughput—0.6 x number_of_units, depending on the traffic mix
Bootstrap Configuration
When you deploy the cluster, the FXOS chassis supervisor pushes a minimal bootstrap configuration to each
unit that includes the cluster name, cluster control link interface, and other cluster settings. Some parts of the
bootstrap configuration are user-configurable if you want to customize your clustering environment.
Cluster Members
Cluster members work together to accomplish the sharing of the security policy and traffic flows. This section
describes the nature of each member role.
Primary and Secondary Unit Roles

One member of the cluster is the primary unit. The primary unit is determined automatically. All other members
are secondary units.
You must perform all configuration on the primary unit only; the configuration is then replicated to the
secondary units.
Some features do not scale in a cluster, and the primary unit handles all traffic for those features. See Centralized
Features for Clustering, on page 354.
340
Primary Unit Election

Members of the cluster communicate over the cluster control link to elect a primary unit as follows:
1 When you deploy the cluster, each unit broadcasts an election request every 3 seconds.
2 Any other units with a higher priority respond to the election request; the priority is set when you deploy
the cluster and is not configurable.
3 If after 45 seconds, a unit does not receive a response from another unit with a higher priority, then it
becomes primary.
4 If a unit later joins the cluster with a higher priority, it does not automatically become the primary unit;
the existing primary unit always remains as the primary unless it stops responding, at which point a new
primary unit is elected.
Note You can manually force a unit to become the primary. For centralized features, if you force a primary unit
change, then all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish the connections on the new primary
unit.
Cluster Interfaces
For intra-chassis clustering, you can assign both physical interfaces or EtherChannels (also known as port
channels) to the cluster. Interfaces assigned to the cluster are Spanned interfaces that load-balance traffic
across all members of the cluster.
For inter-chassis clustering, you can only assign data EtherChannels to the cluster. These Spanned
EtherChannels include the same member interfaces on each chassis; on the upstream switch, all of these
interfaces are included in a single EtherChannel, so the switch does not know that it is connected to multiple
devices.
Individual interfaces are not supported, with the exception of a management interface.
Connecting to a VSS or vPC

We recommend connecting EtherChannels to a VSS or vPC to provide redundancy for your interfaces.
Cluster Control Link

The cluster-control link is an EtherChannel (port-channel 48) for unit-to-unit communication. For intra-chassis
clustering, this link utilizes the Firepower 9300 backplane for cluster communications. For inter-chassis
clustering, you need to manually assign physical interface(s) to this EtherChannel on the FXOS chassis for
communications between chassis.
Cluster control link traffic includes both control and data traffic.
Control traffic includes:
• Primary election.
• Configuration replication.
341
• Health monitoring.
Data traffic includes:

• State replication.
• Connection ownership queries and data packet forwarding.
High Availability Within the Cluster

Clustering provides high availability by monitoring chassis, unit, and interface health and by replicating
connection states between units.
Chassis-Application Monitoring
Chassis-application health monitoring is always enabled. The FXOS chassis supervisor checks the ASA
application periodically (every second). If the ASA is up and cannot communicate with the FXOS chassis
supervisor for 3 seconds, the ASA generates a syslog message and leaves the cluster.
If the FXOS chassis supervisor cannot communicate with the application after 45 seconds, it reloads the ASA.
If the ASA cannot communicate with the supervisor, it removes itself from the cluster.

The primary unit monitors every secondary unit by sending keepalive messages over the cluster control link
periodically (the period is configurable). Each secondary unit monitors the primary unit using the same
mechanism. If the unit health check fails, the unit is removed from the cluster.
Each unit monitors the link status of all hardware interfaces in use, and reports status changes to the primary
unit. For inter-chassis clustering, Spanned EtherChannels use the cluster Link Aggregation Control Protocol
(cLACP). Each chassis monitors the link status and the cLACP protocol messages to determine if the port is
still active in the EtherChannel, and informs the ASA application if the interface is down. When you enable
health monitoring, all physical interfaces are monitored by default (including the main EtherChannel). Only
named interfaces that are up can be monitored. For example, the named EtherChannel must fail to be considered
failed, which means all member ports of an EtherChannel must fail to trigger cluster removal (depending on
your minimum port bundling setting). You can optionally disable monitoring per interface.
If a monitored interface fails on a particular unit, but it is active on other units, then the unit is removed from
the cluster. The amount of time before the ASA removes a member from the cluster depends on whether the
unit is an established member or is joining the cluster. The ASA does not monitor interfaces for the first 90
seconds that a unit joins the cluster. Interface status changes during this time will not cause the ASA to be
removed from the cluster. For an established member, the unit is removed after 500 ms.
For inter-chassis clustering, if you add or delete an EtherChannel from the cluster, interface health-monitoring
is suspended for 95 seconds to ensure that you have time to make the changes on each chassis.
Status After Failure

When a unit in the cluster fails, the connections hosted by that unit are seamlessly transferred to other units;
state information for traffic flows is shared over the control cluster link.
342
If the primary unit fails, then another member of the cluster with the highest priority (lowest number) becomes
the primary.
The ASA automatically tries to rejoin the cluster, depending on the failure event.
Note When the ASA becomes inactive and fails to automatically rejoin the cluster, all data interfaces are shut
down; only the management-only interface can send and receive traffic. The management interface remains
up using the IP address the unit received from the cluster IP pool. However if you reload, and the unit is
still inactive in the cluster, the management interface is disabled. You must use the console port for any
further configuration.
Rejoining the Cluster

After a cluster member is removed from the cluster, how it can rejoin the cluster depends on why it was
removed:
• Failed cluster control link when initially joining—After you resolve the problem with the cluster control
link, you must manually rejoin the cluster by re-enabling clustering at the ASA console port by entering
cluster group name, and then enable.
• Failed cluster control link after joining the cluster—The ASA automatically tries to rejoin every 5
minutes, indefinitely. This behavior is configurable.
• Failed data interface—The ASA automatically tries to rejoin at 5 minutes, then at 10 minutes, and finally
at 20 minutes. If the join is not successful after 20 minutes, then the ASA disables clustering. After you
resolve the problem with the data interface, you have to manually enable clustering at the ASA console
port by entering cluster group name, and then enable.This behavior is configurable.
• Failed unit—If the unit was removed from the cluster because of a unit health check failure, then rejoining
the cluster depends on the source of the failure. For example, a temporary power failure means the unit
will rejoin the cluster when it starts up again as long as the cluster control link is up. The unit attempts
to rejoin the cluster every 5 seconds.
• Failed Chassis-Application Communication—When the ASA detects that the chassis-application health
has recovered, the ASA tries to rejoin the cluster automatically.
Data Path Connection State Replication

Every connection has one owner and at least one backup owner in the cluster. The backup owner does not
take over the connection in the event of a failure; instead, it stores TCP/UDP state information, so that the
connection can be seamlessly transferred to a new owner in case of a failure.
If the owner becomes unavailable, the first unit to receive packets from the connection (based on load balancing)
contacts the backup owner for the relevant state information so it can become the new owner.
Some traffic requires state information above the TCP or UDP layer. See the following table for clustering
support or lack of support for this kind of traffic.
343
Table 21: Features Replicated Across the Cluster
Traffic State Support Notes

Up time Yes Keeps track of the system up time.
ARP Table Yes Transparent mode only.
MAC address table Yes Transparent mode only.
User Identity Yes Includes AAA rules (uauth) and identity firewall.
IPv6 Neighbor database Yes —
Dynamic routing Yes —
SNMP Engine ID No —
VPN (Site-to-Site) No VPN sessions will be disconnected if the primary

unit fails.
Configuration Replication
All units in the cluster share a single configuration. You can only make configuration changes on the primary
unit, and changes are automatically synced to all other units in the cluster.
ASA Cluster Management

One of the benefits of using ASA clustering is the ease of management. This section describes how to manage
the cluster.
You must assign a Management type interface to the cluster. This interface is a special individual interface
as opposed to a Spanned interface. The management interface lets you connect directly to each unit.
The Main cluster IP address is a fixed address for the cluster that always belongs to the current primary unit.
You also configure a range of addresses so that each unit, including the current primary, can use a Local
address from the range. The Main cluster IP address provides consistent management access to an address;
when a primary unit changes, the Main cluster IP address moves to the new primary unit, so management of
the cluster continues seamlessly.
For example, you can manage the cluster by connecting to the Main cluster IP address, which is always
attached to the current primary unit. To manage an individual member, you can connect to the Local IP address.
For outbound management traffic such as TFTP or syslog, each unit, including the primary unit, uses the
Local IP address to connect to the server.
344
Primary Unit Management Vs. Secondary Unit Management

All management and monitoring can take place on the primary unit. From the primary unit, you can check
runtime statistics, resource usage, or other monitoring information of all units. You can also issue a command
to all units in the cluster, and replicate the console messages from secondary units to the primary unit.
You can monitor secondary units directly if desired. Although also available from the primary unit, you can
perform file management on secondary units (including backing up the configuration and updating images).
The following functions are not available from the primary unit:
• Monitoring per-unit cluster-specific statistics.
• Syslog monitoring per unit (except for syslogs sent to the console when console replication is enabled).
• SNMP
• NetFlow
RSA Key Replication

When you create an RSA key on the primary unit, the key is replicated to all secondary units. If you have an
SSH session to the Main cluster IP address, you will be disconnected if the primary unit fails. The new primary
unit uses the same key for SSH connections, so that you do not need to update the cached SSH host key when
you reconnect to the new primary unit.
ASDM Connection Certificate IP Address Mismatch

By default, a self-signed certificate is used for the ASDM connection based on the Local IP address. If you
connect to the Main cluster IP address using ASDM, then a warning message about a mismatched IP address
appears because the certificate uses the Local IP address, and not the Main cluster IP address. You can ignore
the message and establish the ASDM connection. However, to avoid this type of warning, you can enroll a
certificate that contains the Main cluster IP address and all the Local IP addresses from the IP address pool.
You can then use this certificate for each cluster member.
Inter-Site Clustering
For inter-site installations, you can take advantage of ASA clustering as long as you follow these guidelines.
Sizing the Data Center Interconnect

You should reserve bandwidth on the data center interconnect (DCI) for cluster control link traffic equivalent
to the following calculation:
If the number of members differs at each site, use the larger number for your calculation. The minimum
bandwidth for the DCI should not be less than the size of the cluster control link for one member.
For example:
345


• For 6 members at 3 sites, the size increases:
◦3 members at site 1, 2 members at site 2, and 1 member at site 3

◦1 member at each site
Reserved DCI bandwidth = 10 Gbps (1/2 x 10 Gbps = 5 Gbps; but the minimum bandwidth should not
be less than the size of the cluster control link (10 Gbps)).
Site IDs and Site-Specific MAC Addresses

You can configure each cluster chassis to belong to a separate site ID.
Site IDs work with site-specific MAC addresses. Packets sourced from the ASA cluster use a site-specific
MAC address, while packets received by the cluster use a global MAC address. This feature prevents the
switches from learning the same global MAC address from both sites on two different ports, which causes
MAC flapping; instead, they only learn the site MAC address. Site-specific MAC addresses are supported for
routed mode using Spanned EtherChannels only.
Site IDs are also used to enable flow mobility using LISP inspection.
LISP Inspection for Flow Mobility

You can inspect LISP traffic to enable flow mobility between sites.
About LISP
Data center virtual machine mobility such as VMware VMotion enables servers to migrate between data
centers while maintaining connections to clients. To support such data center server mobility, routers need to
be able to update the ingress route towards the server when it moves. Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol
(LISP) architecture separates the device identity, or endpoint identifier (EID), from its location, or routing
locator (RLOC), into two different numbering spaces, making server migration transparent to clients. For
example, when a server moves to a new site and a client sends traffic to the server, the router redirects traffic
to the new location.
346
LISP requires routers and servers in certain roles, such as the LISP egress tunnel router (ETR), ingress tunnel
router (ITR), first hop routers, map resolver (MR), and map server (MS). When the first hop router for the
server senses that the server is connected to a different router, it updates all of the other routers and databases
so that the ITR connected to the client can intercept, encapsulate, and send traffic to the new server location.
ASA LISP Support

The ASA does not run LISP itself; it can, however, inspect LISP traffic for location changes and then use this
information for seamless clustering operation. Without LISP integration, when a server moves to a new site,
traffic comes to an ASA cluster member at the new site instead of to the original flow owner. The new ASA
forwards traffic to the ASA at the old site, and then the old ASA has to send traffic back to the new site to
reach the server. This traffic flow is sub-optimal and is known as “tromboning” or “hair-pinning.”
With LISP integration, the ASA cluster members can inspect LISP traffic passing between the first hop router
and the ETR or ITR, and can then change the flow owner to be at the new site.
LISP Guidelines
• The ASA cluster members must reside between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR for the site. The
ASA cluster itself cannot be the first hop router for an extended segment.
• Only fully-distributed flows are supported; centralized flows, semi-distributed flows, or flows belonging
to individual units are not moved to new owners. Semi-distributed flows include applications, such as
SIP, where all child flows are owned by the same ASA that owns the parent flow.
• The cluster only moves Layer 3 and 4 flow states; some application data might be lost.
• For short-lived flows or non-business-critical flows, moving the owner may not be worthwhile. You
can control the types of traffic that are supported with this feature when you configure the inspection
policy, and should limit flow mobility to essential traffic.
ASA LISP Implementation

This feature includes several inter-related configurations (all of which are described in this chapter):
1 (Optional) Limit inspected EIDs based on the host or server IP address—The first hop router might send
EID-notify messages for hosts or networks the ASA cluster is not involved with, so you can limit the EIDs
to only those servers or networks relevant to your cluster. For example, if the cluster is only involved with
2 sites, but LISP is running on 3 sites, you should only include EIDs for the 2 sites involved with the
cluster.
2 LISP traffic inspection—The ASA inspects LISP traffic on UDP port 4342 for the EID-notify message
sent between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR. The ASA maintains an EID table that correlates the
EID and the site ID. For example, you should inspect LISP traffic with a source IP address of the first hop
router and a destination address of the ITR or ETR. Note that LISP traffic is not assigned a director, and
LISP traffic itself does not participate in cluster state sharing.
3 Service Policy to enable flow mobility on specified traffic—You should enable flow mobility on
business-critical traffic. For example, you can limit flow mobility to only HTTPS traffic, and/or to traffic
to specific servers.
4 Site IDs—The ASA uses the site ID for each cluster unit to determine the new owner.
5 Cluster-level configuration to enable flow mobility—You must also enable flow mobility at the cluster
level. This on/off toggle lets you easily enable or disable flow mobility for a particular class of traffic or
applications.
347
Inter-Site Clustering Guidelines

See the following guidelines for inter-site clustering:
• The cluster control link latency must be less than 20 ms round-trip time (RTT).
• The cluster control link must be reliable, with no out-of-order or dropped packets; for example, you
should use a dedicated link.
• Do not configure connection rebalancing; you do not want connections rebalanced to cluster members
at a different site.
• The cluster implementation does not differentiate between members at multiple sites for incoming
connections; therefore, connection roles for a given connection may span across sites. This is expected
behavior.
• For transparent mode, if the cluster is placed between a pair of inside and outside routers (AKA
North-South insertion), you must ensure that both inside routers share a MAC address, and also that
both outside routers share a MAC address. When a cluster member at site 1 forwards a connection to a
member at site 2, the destination MAC address is preserved. The packet will only reach the router at site
2 if the MAC address is the same as the router at site 1.
• For transparent mode, if the cluster is placed between data networks and the gateway router at each site
for firewalling between internal networks (AKA East-West insertion), then each gateway router should
use a First Hop Redundancy Protocol (FHRP) such as HSRP to provide identical virtual IP and MAC
address destinations at each site. The data VLANs are extended across the sites using Overlay Transport
Virtualization (OTV), or something similar. You need to create filters to prevent traffic that is destined
to the local gateway router from being sent over the DCI to the other site. If the gateway router becomes
unreachable at one site, you need to remove any filters so traffic can successfully reach the other site’s
gateway.
• For routed mode using Spanned EtherChannel, configure site-specific MAC addresses. Extend the data
VLANs across the sites using OTV, or something similar. You need to create filters to prevent traffic
that is destined to the global MAC address from being sent over the DCI to the other site. If the cluster
becomes unreachable at one site, you need to remove any filters so traffic can successfully reach the
other site’s cluster units. Dynamic routing is not supported when an inter-site cluster acts as the first hop
router for an extended segment.
Inter-Site Examples
The following examples show supported cluster deployments.
Spanned EtherChannel Routed Mode Example with Site-Specific MAC Addresses

and an inside network at each site (East-West insertion). The cluster members are connected by the cluster
control link over the DCI. The cluster members at each site connect to the local switches using spanned
EtherChannels for both the inside and outside networks. Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in
the cluster.
The data VLANs are extended between the sites using Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) (or something
similar). You must add filters blocking the global MAC address to prevent traffic from traversing the DCI to
the other site when the traffic is destined for the cluster. If the cluster units at one site become unreachable,
you must remove the filters so traffic can be sent to the other site’s cluster units.
348
The cluster acts as the gateway for the inside networks. The global virtual MAC, which is shared across all
cluster units, is used only to receive packets. Outgoing packets use a site-specific MAC address from each
DC cluster. This feature prevents the switches from learning the same global MAC address from both sites
on two different ports, which causes MAC flapping; instead, they only learn the site MAC address.
In this scenario:
• All egress packets sent from the cluster use the site MAC address and are localized at the data center.
• All ingress packets to the cluster are sent using the global MAC address, so they can be received by any
of the units at both sites; filters at the OTV localize the traffic within the data center.
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example

The following example shows 2 cluster members at each of 2 data centers placed between inside and outside
routers (North-South insertion). The cluster members are connected by the cluster control link over the DCI.
The cluster members at each site connect to the local switches using spanned EtherChannels for the inside
and outside. Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in the cluster.
The inside and outside routers at each data center use OSPF, which is passed through the transparent ASAs.
Unlike MACs, router IPs are unique on all routers. By assigning a higher cost route across the DCI, traffic
stays within each data center unless all cluster members at a given site go down. The lower cost route through
the ASAs must traverse the same bridge group at each site for the cluster to maintain asymmetric connections.
In the event of a failure of all cluster members at one site, traffic goes from each router over the DCI to the
cluster members at the other site.
349
The implementation of the switches at each site can include:

• Inter-site VSS/vPC—In this scenario, you install one switch at Data Center 1, and the other at Data
Center 2. One option is for the cluster units at each Data Center to only connect to the local switch, while
the VSS/vPC traffic goes across the DCI. In this case, connections are for the most part kept local to
each datacenter. You can optionally connect each unit to both switches across the DCI if the DCI can
handle the extra traffic. In this case, traffic is distributed across the data centers, so it is essential for the
DCI to be very robust.
• Local VSS/vPC at each site—For better switch redundancy, you can install 2 separate VSS/vPC pairs
at each site. In this case, although the cluster units still have a spanned EtherChannel with Data Center
1 chassis connected only to both local switches, and Data Center 2 chassis connected to those local
switches, the spanned EtherChannel is essentially “split.” Each local VSS/vPC sees the spanned
EtherChannel as a site-local EtherChannel.
Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode East-West Inter-Site Example

and two inside networks at each site, the App network and the DB network (East-West insertion). The cluster
members are connected by the cluster control link over the DCI. The cluster members at each site connect to
the local switches using spanned EtherChannels for both the App and DB networks on the inside and outside.
Each EtherChannel is spanned across all chassis in the cluster.
The gateway router at each site uses an FHRP such as HSRP to provide the same destination virtual MAC
and IP addresses at each site. A good practice to avoid unintended MAC address flapping is to statically add
the gateway routers real MAC addresses to the ASA MAC address table using the mac-address-table static
outside_interface mac_address command. Without these entries, if the gateway at site 1 communicates with
the gateway at site 2, that traffic might pass through the ASA and attempt to reach site 2 from the inside
350
interface and cause problems. The data VLANs are extended between the sites using Overlay Transport
Virtualization (OTV) (or something similar). You must add filters to prevent traffic from traversing the DCI
to the other site when the traffic is destined for the gateway router. If the gateway router at one site becomes
unreachable, you must remove the filters so traffic can be sent to the other site’s gateway router.
See Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example, on page 269 for information
about vPC/VSS options.
How the Cluster Manages Connections

Connections can be load-balanced to multiple members of the cluster. Connection roles determine how
connections are handled in both normal operation and in a high availability situation.
Connection Roles
There are 3 different roles defined for each connection:
• Owner—The unit that initially receives the connection. The owner maintains the TCP state and processes
packets. A connection has only one owner.
• Director—The unit that handles owner lookup requests from forwarders and also maintains the connection
state to serve as a backup if the owner fails. When the owner receives a new connection, it chooses a
director based on a hash of the source/destination IP address and TCP ports, and sends a message to the
director to register the new connection. If packets arrive at any unit other than the owner, the unit queries
the director about which unit is the owner so it can forward the packets. A connection has only one
director.
• Forwarder—A unit that forwards packets to the owner. If a forwarder receives a packet for a connection
it does not own, it queries the director for the owner, and then establishes a flow to the owner for any
351
other packets it receives for this connection. The director can also be a forwarder. Note that if a forwarder
receives the SYN-ACK packet, it can derive the owner directly from a SYN cookie in the packet, so it
does not need to query the director. (If you disable TCP sequence randomization, the SYN cookie is not
used; a query to the director is required.) For short-lived flows such as DNS and ICMP, instead of
querying, the forwarder immediately sends the packet to the director, which then sends them to the
owner. A connection can have multiple forwarders; the most efficient throughput is achieved by a good
load-balancing method where there are no forwarders and all packets of a connection are received by
the owner.
When a connection uses Port Address Translation (PAT), then the PAT type (per-session or multi-session)
influences which member of the cluster becomes the owner of a new connection:
• Per-session PAT—The owner is the unit that receives the initial packet in the connection.
By default, TCP and DNS UDP traffic use per-session PAT.
• Multi-session PAT—The owner is always the primary unit. If a multi-session PAT connection is initially
received by a secondary unit, then the secondary unit forwards the connection to the primary unit.
By default, UDP (except for DNS UDP) and ICMP traffic use multi-session PAT, so these connections
are always owned by the primary unit.
You can change the per-session PAT defaults for TCP and UDP so connections for these protocols are handled
per-session or multi-session depending on the configuration. For ICMP, you cannot change from the default
multi-session PAT. For more information about per-session PAT, see the firewall configuration guide.
For inter-chassis clustering, if the director for a flow is in the same chassis as the owner, then an additional
director is chosen on a different chassis to act as the director's backup in case the owner's chassis fails. If the
director is already on a different chassis, then no additional directors are required.
New Connection Ownership

When a new connection is directed to a member of the cluster via load balancing, that unit owns both directions
of the connection. If any connection packets arrive at a different unit, they are forwarded to the owner unit
over the cluster control link. If a reverse flow arrives at a different unit, it is redirected back to the original
unit.
Sample Data Flow

The following example shows the establishment of a new connection.
352
1 The SYN packet originates from the client and is delivered to one ASA (based on the load balancing
method), which becomes the owner. The owner creates a flow, encodes owner information into a SYN
cookie, and forwards the packet to the server.
2 The SYN-ACK packet originates from the server and is delivered to a different ASA (based on the load
balancing method). This ASA is the forwarder.
3 Because the forwarder does not own the connection, it decodes owner information from the SYN cookie,
creates a forwarding flow to the owner, and forwards the SYN-ACK to the owner.
4 The owner sends a state update to the director, and forwards the SYN-ACK to the client.
5 The director receives the state update from the owner, creates a flow to the owner, and records the TCP
state information as well as the owner. The director acts as the backup owner for the connection.
6 Any subsequent packets delivered to the forwarder will be forwarded to the owner.
7 If packets are delivered to any additional units, it will query the director for the owner and establish a flow.
8 Any state change for the flow results in a state update from the owner to the director.
ASA Features and Clustering

Some ASA features are not supported with ASA clustering, and some are only supported on the primary unit.
Other features might have caveats for proper usage.
Unsupported Features with Clustering

These features cannot be configured with clustering enabled, and the commands will be rejected.
• Unified Communication features that rely on TLS Proxy
• Remote access VPN (SSL VPN and IPsec VPN)
353
◦CTIQBE
◦H323, H225, and RAS
◦IPsec passthrough
◦MGCP
◦MMP
◦RTSP
◦SCCP (Skinny)
◦WAAS
◦WCCP
• Botnet Traffic Filter

• Auto Update Server
• DHCP client, server, and proxy. DHCP relay is supported.
• Failover
Centralized Features for Clustering

The following features are only supported on the primary unit, and are not scaled for the cluster. For example,
you have a cluster of three units. The Other VPN license allows a maximum of 20,000 site-to-site IPsec
tunnels. For the entire cluster of three units, you can only use 20,000 tunnels; the feature does not scale.
Note Traffic for centralized features is forwarded from member units to the primary unit over the cluster control
link.
If you use the rebalancing feature, traffic for centralized features may be rebalanced to non-primary units
before the traffic is classified as a centralized feature; if this occurs, the traffic is then sent back to the
primary unit.
For centralized features, if the primary unit fails, all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish
• Site-to-site VPN
◦DCERPC
◦NetBIOS
◦PPTP
◦RADIUS
◦RSH
354
◦SUNRPC
◦TFTP
◦XDMCP
• Dynamic routing
• Static route monitoring
• IGMP multicast control plane protocol processing (data plane forwarding is distributed across the cluster)
• PIM multicast control plane protocol processing (data plane forwarding is distributed across the cluster)
• Authentication and Authorization for network access. Accounting is decentralized.
• Filtering Services
Features Applied to Individual Units

These features are applied to each ASA unit, instead of the cluster as a whole or to the primary unit.
• QoS—The QoS policy is synced across the cluster as part of configuration replication. However, the
policy is enforced on each unit independently. For example, if you configure policing on output, then
the conform rate and conform burst values are enforced on traffic exiting a particular ASA. In a cluster
with 3 units and with traffic evenly distributed, the conform rate actually becomes 3 times the rate for
the cluster.
• Threat detection—Threat detection works on each unit independently; for example, the top statistics is
unit-specific. Port scanning detection, for example, does not work because scanning traffic will be
load-balanced between all units, and one unit will not see all traffic.
• Resource management—Resource management in multiple context mode is enforced separately on each
unit based on local usage.
• LISP traffic—LISP traffic on UDP port 4342 is inspected by each receiving unit, but is not assigned a
director. Each unit adds to the EID table that is shared across the cluster, but the LISP traffic itself does
not participate in cluster state sharing.
AAA for Network Access and Clustering

AAA for network access consists of three components: authentication, authorization, and accounting.
Authentication and accounting are implemented as centralized features on the clustering primary with replication
of the data structures to the cluster secondaries. If a primary is elected, the new primary will have all the
information it needs to continue uninterrupted operation of the established authenticated users and their
associated authorizations. Idle and absolute timeouts for user authentications are preserved when a primary
unit change occurs.
Accounting is implemented as a distributed feature in a cluster. Accounting is done on a per-flow basis, so
the cluster unit owning a flow will send accounting start and stop messages to the AAA server when accounting
is configured for a flow.
355
FTP and Clustering

• If FTP data channel and control channel flows are owned by different cluster members, the data channel
owner will periodically send idle timeout updates to the control channel owner and update the idle
timeout value. However, if the control flow owner is reloaded, and the control flow is re-hosted, the
parent/child flow relationship will not longer be maintained; the control flow idle timeout will not be
updated.
• If you use AAA for FTP access, then the control channel flow is centralized on the primary unit.
Identity Firewall and Clustering

Only the primary unit retrieves the user-group from the AD and the user-ip mapping from the AD agent. The
primary unit then populates the user information to secondaries, and secondaries can make a match decision
for user identity based on the security policy.
Multicast Routing and Clustering

The primary unit handles all multicast routing packets and data packets until fast-path forwarding is established.
After the connection is established, each slave can forward multicast data packets.
NAT and Clustering

NAT can impact the overall throughput of the cluster. Inbound and outbound NAT packets can be sent to
different ASA in the cluster because the load balancing algorithm relies on IP addresses and ports, and NAT
causes inbound and outbound packets to have different IP addresses and/or ports. When a packet arrives at
the ASA that is not the connection owner, it is forwarded over the cluster control link to the owner, causing
large amounts of traffic on the cluster control link.
If you still want to use NAT in clustering, then consider the following guidelines:
• No PAT with Port Block Allocation—This feature is not supported for the cluster.
• PAT with Port Block Allocation—See the following guidelines for this feature:
◦Maximum-per-host limit is not a cluster-wide limit, and is enforced on each unit individually.
Thus, in a 3-node cluster with the maximum-per-host limit configured as 1, if the traffic from a
host is load-balanced across all 3 units, then it can get allocated 3 blocks with 1 in each unit.
◦Port blocks created on the backup unit from the backup pools are not accounted for when enforcing
the maximum-per-host limit.
◦When a PAT IP address owner goes down, the backup unit will own the PAT IP address,
corresponding port blocks, and xlates. But it will not use these blocks to service new requests. As
the connections eventually time out, the blocks get freed.
◦On-the-fly PAT rule modifications, where the PAT pool is modified with a completely new range
of IP addresses, will result in xlate backup creation failures for the xlate backup requests that were
still in transit while the new pool became effective. This behavior is not specific to the port block
allocation feature, and is a transient PAT pool issue seen only in cluster deployments where the
pool is distributed and traffic is load-balanced across the cluster units.
356
• NAT pool address distribution for dynamic PAT—The primary unit evenly pre-distributes addresses
across the cluster. If a member receives a connection and they have no addresses left, the connection is
dropped, even if other members still have addresses available. Make sure to include at least as many
NAT addresses as there are units in the cluster to ensure that each unit receives an address. Use the show
nat pool cluster command to see the address allocations.
• No round-robin—Round-robin for a PAT pool is not supported with clustering.
• Dynamic NAT xlates managed by the primary unit—The primary unit maintains and replicates the xlate
table to secondary units. When a secondary unit receives a connection that requires dynamic NAT, and
the xlate is not in the table, it requests the xlate from the primary unit. The secondary unit owns the
connection.
• Per-session PAT feature—Although not exclusive to clustering, the per-session PAT feature improves
the scalability of PAT and, for clustering, allows each secondary unit to own PAT connections; by
contrast, multi-session PAT connections have to be forwarded to and owned by the primary unit. By
default, all TCP traffic and UDP DNS traffic use a per-session PAT xlate, whereas ICMP and all other
UDP traffic uses multi-session. You can configure per-session NAT rules to change these defaults for
TCP and UDP, but you cannot configure per-session PAT for ICMP. For traffic that benefits from
multi-session PAT, such as H.323, SIP, or Skinny, you can disable per-session PAT for the associated
TCP ports (the UDP ports for those H.323 and SIP are already multi-session by default). For more
information about per-session PAT, see the firewall configuration guide.
• No static PAT for the following inspections—
◦FTP
◦PPTP
◦RSH
◦SQLNET
◦TFTP
◦XDMCP
◦SIP
357

The routing process only runs on the primary unit, and routes are learned through the primary unit and replicated
to secondaries. If a routing packet arrives at a secondary, it is redirected to the primary unit.
Figure 36: Dynamic Routing
independently.
interruption.
SCTP and Clustering

When you enable clustering, the following SCTP features are not available:
• SCTP Layer 4 stateful inspection, including protocol validation and state tracking.
• You cannot configure NAT for SCTP traffic.
• You cannot configure SCTP state bypass.
• You cannot implement Diameter application layer inspection on SCTP traffic. However, Diameter
inspection of TCP traffic is supported.
You can use the following SCTP features with clustering enabled:
• SCTP protocol/port specifications in access rules, extended ACLs, and service objects and groups.
• SCTP application layer inspection, including payload protocol identifier (PPID) filtering.
358
SIP Inspection and Clustering

A control flow can be created on any unit (due to load balancing), but its child data flows must reside on the
same unit.
TLS Proxy configuration is not supported.
SNMP and Clustering

An SNMP agent polls each individual ASA by its Local IP address. You cannot poll consolidated data for
the cluster.
You should always use the Local address, and not the Main cluster IP address for SNMP polling. If the SNMP
agent polls the Main cluster IP address, if a new primary is elected, the poll to the new primary unit will fail.
Syslog and NetFlow and Clustering

• Syslog—Each unit in the cluster generates its own syslog messages. You can configure logging so that
each unit uses either the same or a different device ID in the syslog message header field. For example,
the hostname configuration is replicated and shared by all units in the cluster. If you configure logging
to use the hostname as the device ID, syslog messages generated by all units look as if they come from
a single unit. If you configure logging to use the local-unit name that is assigned in the cluster bootstrap
configuration as the device ID, syslog messages look as if they come from different units.
• NetFlow—Each unit in the cluster generates its own NetFlow stream. The NetFlow collector can only
treat each ASA as a separate NetFlow exporter.
Cisco TrustSec and Clustering

Only the primary unit learns security group tag (SGT) information. The primary unit then populates the SGT
to secondaries, and secondaries can make a match decision for SGT based on the security policy.
VPN and Clustering

Site-to-site VPN is a centralized feature; only the primary unit supports VPN connections.
Note Remote access VPN is not supported with clustering.
VPN functionality is limited to the primary unit and does not take advantage of the cluster high availability
capabilities. If the primary unit fails, all existing VPN connections are lost, and VPN users will see a disruption
in service. When a new primary is elected, you must reestablish the VPN connections.
When you connect a VPN tunnel to a Spanned interface address, connections are automatically forwarded to
the primary unit.
VPN-related keys and certificates are replicated to all units.
359
Licensing for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis
Licensing for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

When you configure smart licensing on the primary unit, the license configuration for the Standard license
and the Context license are replicated to the secondary units, and then cached. Only the primary unit requests
these entitlements; each secondary unit caches the configuration in case it becomes the primary unit in the
future, and then needs to activate the licenses. Other entitlements, including the Carrier license and the Strong
Encryption (3DES) license (for a Cisco Smart Software Manager satellite deployment), are per-unit entitlements
that are replicated to the secondary units, and in this case, each secondary unit requests its own licenses from
the server.
If a new primary unit is elected, you should refrain from making configuration changes until the license
requests are completely processed. If a unit leaves the cluster, the cached configuration is removed, while the
per-unit entitlements are retained. In particular, you would need to re-request the Context license on non-cluster
units.
For Smart Software Manager satellite deployments, to use ASDM and other strong encryption features, after
you deploy the cluster you must enable the Strong Encryption (3DES) license on the primary unit using the
ASA CLI. This license is replicated to the secondary units. For regular Smart Software Manager users, the
Strong Encryption license is automatically enabled for qualified customers when you apply the registration
token on the FXOS chassis. The Strong Encryption (3DES) license is not available with any type of evaluation
license.
Prerequisites for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

Hardware and Software Requirements for Inter-Chassis Clustering
All units in a cluster:
• Must be the same model.
• Must run the identical FXOS software version except at the time of an image upgrade.
Switch Prerequisites
• Be sure to complete the switch configuration before you configure clustering on the ASA.
• For a list of supported switches, see Cisco FXOS Compatibility.
Guidelines for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

Failover
Failover is not supported with clustering.
• You can include up to 6 modules in the cluster in up to 6 chassis.
• When significant topology changes occur (such as adding or removing an EtherChannel interface,
enabling or disabling an interface on the FXOS chassis or the switch, adding an additional switch to
360
Defaults for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis
form a VSS or vPC) you should disable the health check feature. When the topology change is complete,
and the configuration change is synced to all units, you can re-enable the health check feature.
• When adding a unit to an existing cluster, or when reloading a unit, there will be a temporary, limited
packet/connection drop; this is expected behavior. In some cases, the dropped packets can hang your
connection; for example, dropping a FIN/ACK packet for an FTP connection will make the FTP client
hang. In this case, you need to reestablish the FTP connection.
• If you use a Windows 2003 server connected to a Spanned interface, when the syslog server port is down
and the server does not throttle ICMP error messages, then large numbers of ICMP messages are sent
back to the cluster. These messages can result in some units of the cluster experiencing high CPU, which
can affect performance. We recommend that you throttle ICMP error messages.
Defaults for Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

• The cluster health check feature is enabled by default with the holdtime of 3 seconds. Interface health
monitoring is enabled on all interfaces by default.
• Connection rebalancing is disabled by default. If you enable connection rebalancing, the default time
between load information exchanges is 5 seconds.
• The cluster auto-rejoin feature for a failed cluster control link is unlimited attempts every 5 minutes.
• The cluster auto-rejoin feature for a failed data interface is 3 attempts every 5 minutes, with the increasing
interval set to 2.
Configure Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

You can easily deploy the cluster from the FXOS chassis supervisor. All initial configuration is automatically
generated for each unit. This section describes the default bootstrap configuration and optional customization
you can perform on the ASA. This section also describes how to manage cluster members from within the
ASA. You can also manage cluster membership from the FXOS chassis. See the FXOS chassis documentation
for more information.
Procedure
Step 1 Deploy the Cluster from the FXOS Chassis Supervisor, on page 362
Step 2 Customize the Cluster Configuration in the ASA, on page 362
Step 3 Become an Inactive Member, on page 371
Step 4 Inactivate a Member, on page 372
Step 5 Change the Primary Unit, on page 373
Step 6 Execute a Command Cluster-Wide, on page 373
361
Deploy the Cluster from the FXOS Chassis Supervisor

For detailed steps to configure clustering, see the FXOS chassis documentation.
When you add a logical device to the FXOS chassis, you can choose to deploy a standalone unit or a cluster;
for a cluster, you can create a new cluster, or join an existing cluster (inter-chassis clustering). For inter-chassis
clustering using the Firepower Chassis Manager, after you deploy the first chassis, you can copy the basic
settings to your clipboard so that when you go to deploy the next chassis by joining an existing cluster, you
can copy the configuration into the Firepower Chassis Manager. You only need to set a unique chassis ID for
each additional chassis. When you deploy a cluster, the FXOS chassis supervisor configures each ASA
application with the following bootstrap configuration. You can later modify parts of the bootstrap configuration
from the ASA, if desired (shown in Bold text).
cluster interface-mode spanned

cluster group <service_type_name>
local-unit unit-<chassis#-module#>
cluster-interface port-channel48 ip 127.2.<chassis#>.<module#> 255.255.255.0
priority <auto>
health-check holdtime 3
key <secret>
enable
ip local pool cluster_ipv4_pool <ip_address>-<ip_address> mask <mask>
interface <management_ifc>
management-only individual
nameif management
ip address <ip_address> <mask> cluster-pool cluster_ipv4_pool
security-level 0
no shutdown
http server enable

http <management_host_ip> <mask> management
route management <management_host_ip> <mask> <gateway_ip> 1
Note The local-unit name can only be changed if you disable clustering.
Customize the Cluster Configuration in the ASA

If you want to change bootstrap settings after you deploy the cluster or configure additional options, you can
do so on the primary unit.
Configure Site IDs for an Inter-Site Deployment

For inter-site clustering, configure the site ID on each logical device. For routed mode, you can configure a
site-specific MAC address for each site on the primary unit. For both routed and transparent mode, you can
use the site ID if you enable LISP inspection for flow mobility.
Before You Begin

• Setting the site ID requires you to disable clustering on each unit, set the site ID, and then re-enable
clustering. Be sure to set the same site ID for all logical devices within a chassis. For example, chassis
1 devices should all use site ID 1; while chassis 2 devices use site ID 2.
362
Procedure
Step 1 Access the ASA console on one of the units in the cluster.
Step 2 Check the cluster name and application status; we suggest that you change the site ID on each secondary unit
and then lastly on the primary unit to limit the primary re-election to a single instance.
show cluster info
Example:

Cluster cluster1: On
Interface mode: spanned
This is "unit-1-2" in state MASTER
ID : 2
Version : 9.5(2)
Serial No.: FCH183770GD
CCL IP : 127.2.1.2
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.019f
Last join : 01:18:34 UTC Nov 4 2015
Last leave: N/A
ID : 4
Version : 9.5(2)
Serial No.: FCH19057ML0
CCL IP : 127.2.1.3
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.018f
Last leave: 20:24:55 UTC Nov 4 2015
ID : 1
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.017f
ID : 3
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.2.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.020f
If this device is the primary unit, exit the connection and connect to the correct slot number.
Step 3 On each secondary unit, disable clustering:

cluster group name
no enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster group cluster1
363
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# no enable
Step 4 Set the site ID for this unit:

site-id number
Example:
Step 5 Reenable clustering:

enable

write memory
Step 7 Repeat for all secondary units, and then finally for the primary unit.
Step 8 (Routed mode only) On the primary unit, set the site-specific MAC addresses:
a) Specify the port-channel interface:
Example:
b) Configure a site-specific MAC address for each site:

mac-address mac_address site-id number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.1234
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.aaaa site-id 1
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.bbbb site-id 2
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.cccc site-id 3
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address aaaa.1111.dddd site-id 4
The site-specific MAC address used by a unit depends on the site ID you specify in each unit’s bootstrap
configuration.
Configure ASA Cluster Parameters

You can customize cluster settings on the primary unit.
Before You Begin

• For multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the system execution space on the primary unit.
To change from the context to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
• The local-unit name can only be changed if you disable clustering, so it is not included in the following
procedure. To disable clustering, see Become an Inactive Member, on page 371.
364
Procedure
Step 1 Confirm that this module is the primary unit:

show cluster info
Example:

ID : 2
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.2
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.019f
Last leave: N/A
ID : 4
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.3
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.018f
ID : 1
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.017f
ID : 3
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.2.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.020f
If a different module is the primary unit, exit the connection and connect to the correct module. See the
Firepower 9300 ASA Security Module Quick Start Guide for information about accessing the ASA console.
Step 2 Specify the maximum transmission unit for the cluster control link interface:
mtu cluster bytes
Example:
We suggest setting the MTU to the maximum of 9000 bytes.

cluster group name
Step 4 (Optional) Enable console replication from secondary units to the primary unit:
console-replicate
365
This feature is disabled by default. The ASA prints out some messages directly to the console for certain
critical events. If you enable console replication, secondary units send the console messages to the primary
unit so that you only need to monitor one console port for the cluster.
Step 5 Set the minimum trace level for clustering events:

trace-level level
Set the minimum level as desired:
• critical—Critical events (severity=1)
• warning—Warnings (severity=2)
• informational—Informational events (severity=3)
• debug—Debugging events (severity=4)
Configure Health Monitoring and Auto-Rejoin Settings

This procedure configures unit and interface health monitoring.
interface. You can monitor any port-channel ID or single physical interface ID. Health monitoring is not
performed on VLAN subinterfaces or virtual interfaces such as VNIs or BVIs. You cannot configure monitoring
for the cluster control link; it is always monitored.
Procedure
Step 1 Customize the cluster health check feature, which includes unit health monitoring and interface health
monitoring:
health-check [holdtime timeout]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# health-check holdtime 5
The holdime determines the amount of time between unit keepalive status messages, between .8 and 45
seconds; The default is 3 seconds. Note that the holdtime value only affects the unit health check; for interface
health, the ASA uses the interface status (up or down).
To determine unit health, the ASA cluster units send keepalive messages on the cluster control link to other
units. If a unit does not receive any keepalive messages from a peer unit within the holdtime period, the peer
unit is considered unresponsive or dead.
The interface health check monitors for link failures. If all physical ports for a given logical interface fail on
a particular unit, but there are active ports under the same logical interface on other units, then the unit is
removed from the cluster. The amount of time before the ASA removes a member from the cluster depends
on the type of interface and whether the unit is an established member or is joining the cluster.
Health check is enabled by default for all interfaces. You can disable it using the no form of this command.
To disable monitoring per interface, see the no health-check monitor-interface command.
366
When any topology changes occur (such as adding or removing a data interface, enabling or disabling an
interface on the ASA, FXOS chassis, or the switch, or adding an additional switch to form a VSS or vPC)
you should disable the health check feature. When the topology change is complete, and the configuration
change is synced to all units, you can re-enable the health check feature.
Step 2 Customize the auto-rejoin cluster settings after a health check failure:
health-check {data-interface | cluster-interface} auto-rejoin [unlimited | auto_rejoin_max]
auto_rejoin_interval auto_rejoin_interval_variation
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# health-check data-interface auto-rejoin 10 3 3
Define the number of attempts at rejoining the cluster by setting unlimited or the auto-rejoin-max between
0 and 65535. 0 disables auto-rejoining. The default value is unlimited for the cluster-interface and 3 for the
data-interface.
Define the interval duration in minutes between rejoin attempts by setting the auto_rejoin_interval between
2 and 60. The default value is 5 minutes. The maximum total time that the unit attempts to rejoin the cluster
is limited to 14400 minutes (10 days) from the time of last failure.
Define if the interval duration increases by setting the auto_rejoin_interval_variation between 1 and 3: 1 (no
change); 2 (2 x the previous duration), or 3 (3 x the previous duration). For example, if you set the interval
duration to 5 minutes, and set the variation to 2, then the first attempt is after 5 minutes; the 2nd attempt is
10 minutes (2 x 5); the 3rd attempt 20 minutes (2 x 10), and so on. The default value is 1 for the cluster-interface
and 2 for the data-interface.
Step 3 Disable the interface health check on an interface:

no health-check monitor-interface [interface_id ]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# no health-check monitor-interface port-channel1
interface. Health monitoring is not performed on VLAN subinterfaces or virtual interfaces such as VNIs or
BVIs. You cannot configure monitoring for the cluster control link; it is always monitored.
Configure Connection Rebalancing and the Cluster TCP Replication Delay

You can configure connection rebalancing. You can enable the cluster replication delay for TCP connections
to help eliminate the “unnecessary work” related to short-lived flows by delaying the director/backup flow
creation.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Enable connection rebalancing for TCP traffic:

conn-rebalance [frequency seconds]
367
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)# conn-rebalance frequency 60
This command is disabled by default. If enabled, ASAs exchange load information periodically, and offload
new connections from more loaded devices to less loaded devices. The frequency, between 1 and 360 seconds,
specifies how often the load information is exchanged. The default is 5 seconds.
Do not configure connection rebalancing for inter-site topologies; you do not want connections rebalanced
to cluster members at a different site.
Step 2 Enable the cluster replication delay for TCP connections:

cluster replication delay seconds {http | match tcp {host ip_address | ip_address mask | any | any4 | any6}
[{eq | lt | gt} port] {host ip_address | ip_address mask | any | any4 | any6} [{eq | lt | gt} port]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster replication delay 15 match tcp any any eq ftp
ciscoasa(config)# cluster replication delay 15 http
Set the seconds between 1 and 15. The http delay is enabled by default for 5 seconds.
Configure Cluster Flow Mobility

You can inspect LISP traffic to enable flow mobility when a server moves between sites.
Before You Begin

• Assign each cluster unit to a site ID according to Configure ASA Cluster Parameters, on page 364.
• LISP traffic is not included in the default-inspection-traffic class, so you must configure a separate class
for LISP traffic as part of this procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Configure a LISP inspection map to limit inspected EIDs based on IP address, and to configure
the LISP pre-shared key:
a) Create an extended ACL; only the destination IP address is matched to the EID embedded address:
access list eid_acl_name extended permit ip source_address mask destination_address mask
b) Create the LISP inspection map, and enter parameters mode:
policy-map type inspect lisp inspect_map_name
parameters
c) Define the allowed EIDs by identifying the ACL you created:
allowed-eid access-list eid_acl_name
368
The first hop router or ITR/ETR might send EID-notify messages for hosts or networks the ASA cluster
is not involved with, so you can limit the EIDs to only those servers or networks relevant to your cluster.
For example, if the cluster is only involved with 2 sites, but LISP is running on 3 sites, you should only
include EIDs for the 2 sites involved with the cluster.
d) If necessary, enter the pre-shared key:
validate-key key
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP extended permit ip any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
ciscoasa(config)# policy-map type inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# parameters
ciscoasa(config-pmap-p)# allowed-eid access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP
ciscoasa(config-pmap-p)# validate-key MadMaxShinyandChrome
Step 2 Configure LISP inspection for UDP traffic between the first hop router and the ITR or ETR on port 4342:
a) Configure the extended ACL to identify LISP traffic:
access list inspect_acl_name extended permit udp source_address mask destination_address mask eq
4342
You must specify UDP port 4342. Both IPv4 and IPv6 ACLs are accepted. See the command reference
for exact access-list extended syntax.
class-map inspect_class_name
match access-list inspect_acl_name
c) Specify the policy map, the class map, enable inspection using the optional LISP inspection map, and
apply the service policy to an interface (if new):
class inspect_class_name
inspect lisp [inspect_map_name]
service-policy policy_map_name {global | interface ifc_name}
If you have an existing service policy, specify the existing policy map name. By default, the ASA includes
a global policy called global_policy, so for a global policy, specify that name. You can also create one
service policy per interface if you do not want to apply the policy globally. LISP inspection is applied to
traffic bidirectionally so you do not need to apply the service policy on both the source and destination
interfaces; all traffic that enters or exits the interface to which you apply the policy map is affected if the
traffic matches the class map for both directions.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list LISP_ACL extended permit udp host 192.168.50.89 host
192.168.10.8 eq 4342
ciscoasa(config)# class-map LISP_CLASS
ciscoasa(config-cmap)# match access-list LISP_ACL
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class LISP_CLASS
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
ciscoasa(config)# service-policy INSIDE_POLICY interface inside
369
The ASA inspects LISP traffic for the EID-notify message sent between the first hop router and the ITR or
ETR. The ASA maintains an EID table that correlates the EID and the site ID.
Step 3 Enable Flow Mobility for a traffic class:

a) Configure the extended ACL to identify business critical traffic that you want to re-assign to the most
optimal site when servers change sites:
access list flow_acl_name extended permit udp source_address mask destination_address mask eq port
You should enable flow mobility on business-critical traffic. For example, you can limit flow mobility to
only HTTPS traffic, and/or to traffic to specific servers.
class-map flow_map_name
match access-list flow_acl_name
c) Specify the same policy map on which you enabled LISP inspection, the flow class map, and enable flow
mobility:
class flow_map_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS extended permit tcp any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0
eq https
ciscoasa(config)# class-map IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
ciscoasa(config)# match access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# cluster flow-mobility lisp
Step 4 Enter cluster group configuration mode, and enable flow mobility for the cluster:
cluster group name
flow-mobility lisp
This on/off toggle lets you easily enable or disable flow mobility.
Examples
• Limits EIDs to those on the 10.10.10.0/24 network
• Inspects LISP traffic (UDP 4342) between a LISP router at 192.168.50.89 (on inside) and an ITR or
ETR router (on another ASA interface) at 192.168.10.8
• Enables flow mobility for all inside traffic going to a server on 10.10.10.0/24 using HTTPS.
• Enables flow mobility for the cluster.
access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP extended permit ip any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0

policy-map type inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
370
parameters
allowed-eid access-list TRACKED_EID_LISP
validate-key MadMaxShinyandChrome
!
access-list LISP_ACL extended permit udp host 192.168.50.89 host 192.168.10.8 eq 4342
class-map LISP_CLASS
match access-list LISP_ACL
class LISP_CLASS
inspect lisp LISP_EID_INSPECT
service-policy INSIDE_POLICY interface inside
!
access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS extended permit tcp any 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 eq https
class-map IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
match access-list IMPORTANT-FLOWS
class IMPORTANT-FLOWS-MAP
!
flow-mobility lisp
Become an Inactive Member

To become an inactive member of the cluster, disable clustering on the unit while leaving the clustering
configuration intact.
Note When an ASA becomes inactive (either manually or through a health check failure), all data interfaces
are shut down; only the management-only interface can send and receive traffic. To resume traffic flow,
re-enable clustering; or you can remove the unit altogether from the cluster. The management interface
remains up using the IP address the unit received from the cluster IP pool. However if you reload, and the
unit is still inactive in the cluster, the management interface is disabled. You must use the console port
for any further configuration.
Before You Begin

Procedure

cluster group name
Example:
Step 2 Disable clustering:

no enable
371
If this unit was the primary unit, a new primary election takes place, and a different member becomes the
primary unit.
The cluster configuration is maintained, so that you can enable clustering again later.
Inactivate a Member
To inactivate a member from any unit, perform the following steps.
Note When an ASA becomes inactive, all data interfaces are shut down; only the management-only interface
can send and receive traffic. To resume traffic flow, re-enable clustering; or you can remove the unit
altogether from the cluster. The management interface remains up using the IP address the unit received
interface is disabled. You must use the console port for any further configuration.
Before You Begin

Procedure
Remove the unit from the cluster:

cluster remove unit unit_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster remove unit ?
Current active units in the cluster:

asa2
ciscoasa(config)# cluster remove unit asa2

WARNING: Clustering will be disabled on unit asa2. To bring it back
to the cluster please logon to that unit and re-enable clustering
The bootstrap configuration remains intact, as well as the last configuration synched from the primary unit,
so that you can later re-add the unit without losing your configuration. If you enter this command on a secondary
unit to remove the primary unit, a new primary unit is elected.
To view member names, enter cluster remove unit ?, or enter the show cluster info command.
372
Change the Primary Unit
Caution The best method to change the primary unit is to disable clustering on the primary unit, waiting for a new
primary election, and then re-enabling clustering. If you must specify the exact unit you want to become
the primary, use the procedure in this section. Note, however, that for centralized features, if you force a
primary unit change using this procedure, then all connections are dropped, and you have to re-establish
To change the primary unit, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Procedure
Set a new unit as the primary unit:

cluster master unit unit_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# cluster master unit asa2
You will need to reconnect to the Main cluster IP address.

To view member names, enter cluster master unit ? (to see all names except the current unit), or enter the
show cluster info command.
Execute a Command Cluster-Wide

To send a command to all members in the cluster, or to a specific member, perform the following steps.
Sending a show command to all members collects all output and displays it on the console of the current unit.
(Note that alternatively there are show commands that you can enter on the primary unit to view cluster-wide
statistics.) Other commands, such as capture and copy, can also take advantage of cluster-wide execution.
Procedure
Send a command to all members, or if you specify the unit name, a specific member:
cluster exec [unit unit_name] command
Example:
ciscoasa# cluster exec show xlate
To view member names, enter cluster exec unit ? (to see all names except the current unit), or enter the show
373
Monitoring the ASA Cluster on the FXOS chassis
Examples
To copy the same capture file from all units in the cluster at the same time to a TFTP server, enter the following
command on the primary unit:
ciscoasa# cluster exec copy /pcap capture: tftp://10.1.1.56/capture1.pcap
Multiple PCAP files, one from each unit, are copied to the TFTP server. The destination capture file name is
automatically attached with the unit name, such as capture1_asa1.pcap, capture1_asa2.pcap, and so on. In
this example, asa1 and asa2 are cluster unit names.
The following sample output for the cluster exec show memory command shows memory information for
each member in the cluster:
ciscoasa# cluster exec show memory

unit-1-1(LOCAL):******************************************************
Free memory: 108724634538 bytes (92%)
Used memory: 9410087158 bytes ( 8%)
------------- ------------------
Total memory: 118111600640 bytes (100%)
unit-1-3:*************************************************************
------------- ------------------
unit-1-2:*************************************************************
------------- ------------------

You can monitor and troubleshoot cluster status and connections.
Monitoring Cluster Status

See the following commands for monitoring cluster status:
• show cluster info [health], show cluster chassis info
With no keywords, the show cluster info command shows the status of all members of the cluster.
The show cluster info health command shows the current health of interfaces, units, and the cluster
overall.
See the following output for the show cluster info command:

ID : 2
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.2
374
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.019f

Last leave: N/A
ID : 4
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.3
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.018f
ID : 1
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.1.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.017f
ID : 3
Version : 9.5(2)
CCL IP : 127.2.2.1
CCL MAC : 0015.c500.020f
• show cluster history

Shows the cluster history.
Capturing Packets Cluster-Wide

See the following command for capturing packets in a cluster:
cluster exec capture
To support cluster-wide troubleshooting, you can enable capture of cluster-specific traffic on the primary unit
using the cluster exec capture command, which is then automatically enabled on all of the secondary units
in the cluster.
Monitoring Cluster Resources

See the following command for monitoring cluster resources:
show cluster {cpu | memory | resource} [options], show cluster chassis [cpu | memory | resource usage]
Monitoring Cluster Traffic

See the following command for monitoring cluster traffic:
• show conn [detail | count], cluster exec show conn
The show conn command shows whether a flow is a director, backup, or forwarder flow. Use the cluster
exec show conn command on any unit to view all connections. This command can show how traffic for
a single flow arrives at different ASAs in the cluster. The throughput of the cluster is dependent on the
efficiency and configuration of load balancing. This command provides an easy way to view how traffic
375
for a connection is flowing through the cluster, and can help you understand how a load balancer might
affect the performance of a flow.
The following is sample output for the show conn detail command:
ciscoasa/ASA2/slave# show conn detail

Cluster:
fwd connections: 0 in use, 0 most used
dir connections: 0 in use, 0 most used
centralized connections: 0 in use, 44 most used
Flags: A - awaiting inside ACK to SYN, a - awaiting outside ACK to SYN,
B - initial SYN from outside, b - TCP state-bypass or nailed,
C - CTIQBE media, c - cluster centralized,
D - DNS, d - dump, E - outside back connection, e - semi-distributed,
F - outside FIN, f - inside FIN,
G - group, g - MGCP, H - H.323, h - H.225.0, I - inbound data,
i - incomplete, J - GTP, j - GTP data, K - GTP t3-response
k - Skinny media, L - LISP triggered flow owner mobility
M - SMTP data, m - SIP media, n - GUP
N - inspected by Snort
O - outbound data, o - offloaded,
P - inside back connection,
Q - Diameter, q - SQL*Net data,
R - outside acknowledged FIN,
R - UDP SUNRPC, r - inside acknowledged FIN, S - awaiting inside SYN,
s - awaiting outside SYN, T - SIP, t - SIP transient, U - up,
V - VPN orphan, W - WAAS,
w - secondary domain backup,
X - inspected by service module,
x - per session, Y - director stub flow, y - backup stub flow,
Z - Scansafe redirection, z - forwarding stub flow
Cluster units to ID mappings:

ID 0: unit-2-1
ID 1: unit-1-1
ID 2: unit-1-2
ID 3: unit-2-2
ID 4: unit-2-3
ID 255: The default cluster member ID which indicates no ownership or affiliation
with an existing cluster member
• show cluster info [conn-distribution | packet-distribution | loadbalance]

The show cluster info conn-distribution and show cluster info packet-distribution commands show
traffic distribution across all cluster units. These commands can help you to evaluate and adjust the
external load balancer.
The show cluster info loadbalance command shows connection rebalance statistics.
• show cluster {access-list | conn [count] | traffic | user-identity | xlate} [options], show cluster chassis
{access-list | conn | traffic | user-identity | xlate count}
See the following output for the show cluster access-list command:
ciscoasa# show cluster access-list

hitcnt display order: cluster-wide aggregated result, unit-A, unit-B, unit-C, unit-D
access-list cached ACL log flows: total 0, denied 0 (deny-flow-max 4096) alert-interval
300
access-list 101; 122 elements; name hash: 0xe7d586b5
access-list 101 line 1 extended permit tcp 192.168.143.0 255.255.255.0 any eq www
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x207a2b7d
access-list 101 line 2 extended permit tcp any 192.168.143.0 255.255.255.0 (hitcnt=0,
0, 0, 0, 0) 0xfe4f4947
376
(hitcnt=1, 0, 0, 0, 1) 0x7b521307
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x5795c069
(hitcnt=1, 0, 0, 1, 0) 0x51bde7ee
access list 101 line 6 extended permit tcp host 192.168.1.177 host 192.168.43.13
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x1e68697c
(hitcnt=2, 0, 0, 1, 1) 0xc1ce5c49
(hitcnt=3, 0, 1, 1, 1) 0xb6f59512
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0xdc104200
(hitcnt=429, 109, 107, 109, 104)
0xce4f281d
(hitcnt=3, 1, 0, 0, 2) 0x4143a818
(hitcnt=2, 0, 1, 0, 1) 0xb18dfea4
(hitcnt=1, 1, 0, 0, 0) 0x21557d71
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x7316e016
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x013fd5b8
(hitcnt=0, 0, 0, 0, 0) 0x2c7dba0d
To display the aggregated count of in-use connections for all units, enter:
ciscoasa# show cluster conn count

Usage Summary In Cluster:*********************************************
124 in use, fwd connection 0 in use, dir connection 0 in use, centralized connection
0 in use (Cluster-wide aggregated)
unit-1-1(LOCAL):******************************************************
40 in use, 48 most used, fwd connection 0 in use, 0 most used, dir connection 0 in use,
0 most used, centralized connection 0 in use, 46 most used
unit-2-2:*************************************************************
18 in use, 40 most used, fwd connection 0 in use, 0 most used, dir connection 0 in use,
0 most used, centralized connection 0 in use, 45 most used
• show asp cluster counter

This command is useful for datapath troubleshooting.
Monitoring Cluster Routing

See the following commands for cluster routing:
• debug route cluster
Shows cluster information for routing.
• show lisp eid

Shows the ASA EID table showing EIDs and site IDs.
See the following output from the cluster exec show lisp eid command.
ciscoasa# cluster exec show lisp eid

L1(LOCAL):************************************************************
377
LISP EID Site ID

33.44.33.105 2
33.44.33.201 2
11.22.11.1 4
11.22.11.2 4
L2:*******************************************************************
LISP EID Site ID
33.44.33.105 2
33.44.33.201 2
11.22.11.1 4
11.22.11.2 4
• show asp table classify domain inspect-lisp

This command is useful for troubleshooting.
Configuring Logging for Clustering

See the following command for configuring logging for clustering:
logging device-id
Each unit in the cluster generates syslog messages independently. You can use the logging device-id command
to generate syslog messages with identical or different device IDs to make messages appear to come from the
same or different units in the cluster.
Debugging Clustering
• debug cluster [ccp | datapath | fsm | general | hc | license | rpc | service-module | transport]
Shows debug messages for clustering.
• debug service-module
Shows debug messages for blade level issues including health check issues between the supervisor and
the application.
• show cluster info trace
The show cluster info trace command shows the debug information for further troubleshooting.
See the following output for the show cluster info trace command:
ciscoasa# show cluster info trace

Feb 02 14:19:47.456 [DBUG]Send CCP message to all: CCP_MSG_KEEPALIVE from 80-1 at
MASTER
378
History for ASA Clustering on the FXOS Chassis

Releases
Intra-chassis ASA 9.4(1.150) You can cluster up to 3 security modules within the Firepower 9300 chassis. All modules in
Clustering for the the chassis must belong to the cluster.
Firepower 9300 We introduced the following commands: cluster replication delay, debug service-module,
management-only individual, show cluster chassis
Site-specific MAC 9.5(2) You can now use inter-site clustering for Spanned EtherChannels in routed mode. To avoid
addresses for inter-site MAC address flapping, configure a site ID for each cluster member so that a site-specific MAC
clustering support for address for each interface can be shared among a site’s units.
Spanned EtherChannel
in Routed firewall mode
ASA cluster 9.5(2) You can now customize the auto-rejoin behavior when an interface or the cluster control link
customization of the fails.
auto-rejoin behavior We introduced the following command: health-check auto-rejoin
when an interface or the
cluster control link fails
The ASA cluster 9.5(2) The ASA cluster now supports GTPv1 and GTPv2 inspection.
supports GTPv1 and We did not modify any commands.
GTPv2
Cluster replication delay 9.5(2) This feature helps eliminate the “unnecessary work” related to short-lived flows by delaying
for TCP connections the director/backup flow creation.
LISP Inspection for 9.5(2) Cisco Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) architecture separates the device identity from
Inter-Site Flow Mobility its location into two different numbering spaces, making server migration transparent to clients.
Carrier Grade NAT 9.5(2) For carrier-grade or large-scale PAT, you can allocate a block of ports for each host, rather
enhancements now than have NAT allocate one port translation at a time (see RFC 6888). This feature is now
supported in failover and supported in failover and ASA cluster deployments.
ASA clustering We modified the following command: show local-host
379

Releases
Configurable level for 9.5(2) By default, all levels of clustering events are included in the trace buffer, including many low
clustering trace entries level events. To limit the trace to higher level events, you can set the minimum trace level for
the cluster.
Inter-chassis clustering 9.5(2.1) With FXOS 1.1.3, you can now enable inter-chassis, and by extension inter-site clustering.
for 6 modules, and You can include up to 6 modules in up to 6 chassis.
inter-site clustering for We did not modify any commands.
the Firepower 9300 ASA
application
380
PART III
Interfaces
• Basic Interface Configuration, page 383
• EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces, page 395
• VLAN Interfaces, page 409
• VXLAN Interfaces, page 415
• Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 431
• Advanced Interface Configuration, page 449
• Traffic Zones, page 457
CHAPTER 10
Basic Interface Configuration
This chapter includes basic interface configuration including Ethernet settings and Jumbo frame configuration.
Note For multiple context mode, complete all tasks in this section in the system execution space. To change
from the context to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Note For the ASA Services Module interfaces, see the ASA Services Module quick start guide.
For the ASA on the FXOS chassis, you configure basic interface settings on the FXOS chassis supervisor.
See the quick start guide for your chassis for more information.
• About Basic Interface Configuration, page 383

• Licensing for Basic Interface Configuration, page 386
• Guidelines for Basic Interface Configuration, page 388
• Default Settings for Basic Interface Configuration, page 388
• Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters, page 389
• Enable Jumbo Frame Support, page 391
• Monitoring Interfaces, page 392
• Examples for Basic Interfaces, page 392
• History for Basic Interface Configuration, page 393
About Basic Interface Configuration

This section describes interface features and special interfaces.
383
Auto-MDI/MDIX Feature
For RJ-45 interfaces, the default auto-negotiation setting also includes the Auto-MDI/MDIX feature.
Auto-MDI/MDIX eliminates the need for crossover cabling by performing an internal crossover when a
straight cable is detected during the auto-negotiation phase. Either the speed or duplex must be set to
auto-negotiate to enable Auto-MDI/MDIX for the interface. If you explicitly set both the speed and duplex
to a fixed value, thus disabling auto-negotiation for both settings, then Auto-MDI/MDIX is also disabled. For
Gigabit Ethernet, when the speed and duplex are set to 1000 and full, then the interface always auto-negotiates;
therefore Auto-MDI/MDIX is always enabled and you cannot disable it.
The management interface, depending on your model, is a separate interface just for management traffic.
Management Interface Overview

You can manage the ASA by connecting to:
• Any through-traffic interface
• A dedicated Management Slot/Port interface (if available for your model)
You may need to configure management access to the interface according to Management Access, on page
795.
Management Slot/Port Interface

The following table shows the Management interfaces per model.
Table 22: Management Interfaces Per Model
Configurable for Subinterfaces

Model Management 0/0 Management 0/1 Management 1/0 Management 1/1 Through Traffic Allowed
ASA 5506-X No No No Yes No No
ASA 5512-X Yes No No No No No
384
Configurable for Subinterfaces

Model Management 0/0 Management 0/1 Management 1/0 Management 1/1 Through Traffic Allowed
ASA 5585-X Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
If you installed an
SSP in slot 1, then
Management 1/0
and 1/1 provide
management
access to the SSP
in slot 1 only.
ASA on the No No No No N/A N/A

FXOS chassis
ASASM No No No No N/A N/A
ASAv Yes No No No No No
ASAv on Yes No No No Yes No

Microsoft
Azure
Note If you installed a module, then the module management interface(s) provides management access for the
module only. For models with software modules, the software module uses the same physical Management
interface as the ASA.
Use Any Interface for Management-Only Traffic

You can use any interface as a dedicated management-only interface by configuring it for management traffic,
including an EtherChannel interface (see the management-only command).
Management Interface for Transparent Mode

In transparent firewall mode, in addition to the maximum allowed through-traffic interfaces, you can also use
the Management interface (either the physical interface, a subinterface (if supported for your model), or an
EtherChannel interface comprised of Management interfaces (if you have multiple Management interfaces))
as a separate management interface. You cannot use any other interface types as management interfaces.
In multiple context mode, you cannot share any interfaces, including the Management interface, across contexts.
To provide management per context, you can create subinterfaces of the Management interface and allocate
a Management subinterface to each context. Note that the ASA 5555-X and lower do not allow subinterfaces
on the Management interface, so for per-context management, you must connect to a data interface.
The management interface is not part of a normal bridge group. Note that for operational purposes, it is part
of a non-configurable bridge group.
385
Licensing for Basic Interface Configuration
Note In transparent firewall mode, the management interface updates the MAC address table in the same manner
as a data interface; therefore you should not connect both a management and a data interface to the same
switch unless you configure one of the switch ports as a routed port (by default Catalyst switches share a
MAC address for all VLAN switch ports). Otherwise, if traffic arrives on the management interface from
the physically-connected switch, then the ASA updates the MAC address table to use the management
interface to access the switch, instead of the data interface. This action causes a temporary traffic
interruption; the ASA will not re-update the MAC address table for packets from the switch to the data
interface for at least 30 seconds for security reasons.
No Support for Redundant Management Interfaces

Redundant interfaces do not support Management slot/port interfaces as members. You can, however, set a
redundant interface comprised of non-Management interfaces as management-only.
Management Interface Characteristics on All Models Except for the ASA 5585-X
The Management interface has the following characteristics:
• No through traffic support
• No subinterface support
• No priority queue support
• No multicast MAC support
• The software module shares the Management interface. Separate MAC addresses and IP addresses are
supported for the ASA and module. You must perform configuration of the module IP address within
the module operating system. However, physical characteristics (such as enabling the interface) are
configured on the ASA.

ASA 5506-X Interfaces of all types:
ASA 5506W-X • Base License: 536
ASA 5506H-X • Security Plus License: 636

• Base License: 716
386

• Security Plus License: 916





ASA 5585-X Interface Speed for SSP-10 and SSP-20:

• Base License—1-Gigabit Ethernet for fiber interfaces
• 10 GE I/O License (Security Plus)—10-Gigabit Ethernet for fiber interfaces
• (SSP-40 and SSP-60 support 10-Gigabit Ethernet by default.)
Interfaces of all types:

• Base and Security Plus License: 4612
ASAv5 and ASAv10 Interfaces of all types:

• Standard and Premium License: 716
ASAv30 Interfaces of all types:

• Standard and Premium License: 1316
387
Guidelines for Basic Interface Configuration
Note Interfaces of all types comprise the maximum number of combined interfaces; for example, VLANs,
VXLANs, physical, redundant, bridge group, and EtherChannel interfaces. Every interface command
defined in the configuration counts against this limit. For example, both of the following interfaces count
even if the GigabitEthernet 0/0 interface is defined as part of port-channel 1: interface gigabitethernet
0/0 and interface port-channel 1
Guidelines for Basic Interface Configuration

Firewall Mode
For multiple context, transparent mode, each context must use different interfaces; you cannot share an interface
across contexts.
Failover
You cannot share a failover or state interface with a data interface.
Some management-related services are not available until a non-management interface is enabled, and the
the ASA achieves a “System Ready” state. The ASA generates the following syslog message when it is in a
“System Ready” state:
%ASA-6-199002: Startup completed. Beginning operation.
Default Settings for Basic Interface Configuration

This section lists default settings for interfaces if you do not have a factory default configuration.
Default State of Interfaces

The default state of an interface depends on the type and the context mode.
In multiple context mode, all allocated interfaces are enabled by default, no matter what the state of the
interface is in the system execution space. However, for traffic to pass through the interface, the interface also
has to be enabled in the system execution space. If you shut down an interface in the system execution space,
then that interface is down in all contexts that share it.
In single mode or in the system execution space, interfaces have the following default states:
• Physical interfaces—Disabled.
• Redundant Interfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the redundant interface, the member
physical interfaces must also be enabled.
• VLAN subinterfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the subinterface, the physical
interface must also be enabled.
• VXLAN VNI interfaces—Enabled.
388
Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters
• EtherChannel port-channel interfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the EtherChannel,
the channel group physical interfaces must also be enabled.
Default Speed and Duplex

• By default, the speed and duplex for copper (RJ-45) interfaces are set to auto-negotiate.
• For fiber interfaces for the 5585-X, the speed is set for automatic link negotiation.
Default Connector Type

Some models include two connector types: copper RJ-45 and fiber SFP. RJ-45 is the default. You can configure
the ASA to use the fiber SFP connectors.
Default MAC Addresses

By default, the physical interface uses the burned-in MAC address, and all subinterfaces of a physical interface
use the same burned-in MAC address.

This section describes how to:
• Enable the physical interface
• Set a specific speed and duplex (if available)
• Enable pause frames for flow control
Before You Begin

For multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the system execution space. To change from the context
to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the interface you want to configure:

Example:
The physical_interface ID includes the type, slot, and port number as type[slot/]port.
The physical interface types include the following:
• gigabitethernet
• tengigabitethernet
• management
389
Enter the type followed by slot/port, for example, gigabitethernet0/1. A space is optional between the type
and the slot/port.
Step 2 (Optional) Set the media type to SFP, if available for your model:
media-type sfp
To restore the default RJ-45, enter the media-type rj45 command.
Step 3 (Optional) Set the speed:

speed {auto | 10 | 100 | 1000 | nonegotiate}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# speed 100
For RJ-45 interfaces, the default setting is auto.

For SFP interfaces, the default setting is no speed nonegotiate, which sets the speed to the maximum speed
and enables link negotiation for flow-control parameters and remote fault information. The nonegotiate
keyword is the only keyword available for SFP interfaces. The speed nonegotiate command disables link
negotiation.
Step 4 (Optional) Set the duplex for RJ-45 interfaces:

duplex {auto | full | half}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# duplex full
The auto setting is the default. The duplex setting for an EtherChannel interface must be full or auto.
Step 5 (Optional) Enable pause (XOFF) frames for flow control on GigabitEthernet and TenGigabitEthernet interfaces:
flowcontrol send on [low_water high_water pause_time] [noconfirm]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# flowcontrol send on 95 200 10000
If you have a traffic burst, dropped packets can occur if the burst exceeds the buffering capacity of the FIFO
buffer on the NIC and the receive ring buffers. Enabling pause frames for flow control can alleviate this issue.
Pause (XOFF) and XON frames are generated automatically by the NIC hardware based on the FIFO buffer
usage. A pause frame is sent when the buffer usage exceeds the high-water mark. The default high_water
value is 128 KB (10 GigabitEthernet) and 24 KB (1 GigabitEthernet); you can set it between 0 and 511 (10
GigabitEthernet) or 0 and 47 KB (1 GigabitEthernet). After a pause is sent, an XON frame can be sent when
the buffer usage is reduced below the low-water mark. By default, the low_water value is 64 KB (10
GigabitEthernet) and 16 KB (1 GigabitEthernet); you can set it between 0 and 511 (10 GigabitEthernet) or 0
and 47 KB (1 GigabitEthernet). The link partner can resume traffic after receiving an XON, or after the XOFF
expires, as controlled by the timer value in the pause frame. The default pause_time value is 26624; you can
set it between 0 and 65535. If the buffer usage is consistently above the high-water mark, pause frames are
sent repeatedly, controlled by the pause refresh threshold value.
When you use this command, you see the following warning:
Changing flow-control parameters will reset the interface. Packets may be lost during the
reset.
390
Enable Jumbo Frame Support
Proceed with flow-control changes?
To change the parameters without being prompted, use the noconfirm keyword.
Note Only flow control frames defined in 802.3x are supported. Priority-based flow control is not supported.

no shutdown
Example:
To disable the interface, enter the shutdown command. If you enter the shutdown command, you also shut
down all subinterfaces. If you shut down an interface in the system execution space, then that interface is shut
down in all contexts that share it.
Enable Jumbo Frame Support

A jumbo frame is an Ethernet packet larger than the standard maximum of 1518 bytes (including Layer 2
header and VLAN header), up to 9216 bytes. You can enable support for jumbo frames for all interfaces by
increasing the amount of memory to process Ethernet frames. Assigning more memory for jumbo frames
might limit the maximum use of other features, such as ACLs. Note that the ASA MTU sets the payload size
not including the Layer 2 (14 bytes) and VLAN header (4 bytes), so the maximum MTU is 9198, depending
on your model.
Before You Begin

• In multiple context mode, set this option in the system execution space.
• Changes in this setting require you to reload the ASA.
• Be sure to set the MTU for each interface that needs to transmit jumbo frames to a higher value than the
default 1500; for example, set the value to 9198 using the mtu command. In multiple context mode, set
the MTU within each context.
• Be sure to adjust the TCP MSS, either to disable it for non-IPsec traffic (use the sysopt connection
tcpmss 0 command), or to increase it in accord with the MTU.
Procedure
Enable jumbo frame support:

jumbo-frame reservation
Examples
The following example enables jumbo frame reservation, saves the configuration, and reloads the ASA:
ciscoasa(config)# jumbo-frame reservation
391
Monitoring Interfaces
WARNING: this command will take effect after the running-config is saved
and the system has been rebooted. Command accepted.

Building configuration...
Cryptochecksum: 718e3706 4edb11ea 69af58d0 0a6b7cb5
70291 bytes copied in 3.710 secs (23430 bytes/sec)

[OK]
ciscoasa(config)# reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm] Y
Monitoring Interfaces
See the following commands:
• show interface
Displays interface statistics.
• show interface ip brief
Displays interface IP addresses and status.
Examples for Basic Interfaces

See the following configuration examples.
Physical Interface Parameters Example

The following example configures parameters for the physical interface in single mode:

speed 1000
duplex full
no shutdown
Multiple Context Mode Example

The following example configures interface parameters in multiple context mode for the system configuration,
and allocates the gigabitethernet 0/1.1 subinterface to contextA:

speed 1000
duplex full
no shutdown
vlan 101
context contextA
allocate-interface gigabitethernet 0/1.1
392
History for Basic Interface Configuration

Table 23: History for Interfaces

Increased interfaces for the Base license on the 7.2(2) For the Base license on the ASA 5510, the maximum number
ASA 5510 of interfaces was increased from 3 plus a management interface
to unlimited interfaces.
Gigabit Ethernet Support for the ASA 5510 7.2(3) The ASA 5510 now supports GE (Gigabit Ethernet) for port 0
Security Plus License and 1 with the Security Plus license. If you upgrade the license
from Base to Security Plus, the capacity of the external
Ethernet0/0 and Ethernet0/1 ports increases from the original
FE (Fast Ethernet) (100 Mbps) to GE (1000 Mbps). The
interface names will remain Ethernet 0/0 and Ethernet 0/1. Use
the speed command to change the speed on the interface and
use the show interface command to see what speed is currently
configured for each interface.
Jumbo packet support for the ASA 5580 8.1(1) The Cisco ASA 5580 supports jumbo frames. A jumbo frame
is an Ethernet packet larger than the standard maximum of 1518
bytes (including Layer 2 header and FCS), up to 9216 bytes.
You can enable support for jumbo frames for all interfaces by
increasing the amount of memory to process Ethernet frames.
Assigning more memory for jumbo frames might limit the
maximum use of other features, such as ACLs.
This feature is also supported on the ASA 5585-X.
We introduced the following command: jumbo-frame
reservation.
Support for Pause Frames for Flow Control on the 8.2(2) You can now enable pause (XOFF) frames for flow control.
ASA 5580 Ten Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces This feature is also supported on the ASA 5585-X.
We introduced the following command: flowcontrol.
Support for Pause Frames for Flow Control on 8.2(5)/8.4(2) You can now enable pause (XOFF) frames for flow control for
Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces Gigabit Ethernet interfaces on all models.
We modified the following command: flowcontrol.
393
394
CHAPTER 11
EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces
This chapter tells how to configure EtherChannels and redundant interfaces.
For ASA cluster interfaces, which have special requirements, see ASA Cluster, on page 247.
Note For the Firepower 9300 ASA security module, EtherChannel interfaces are configured on the Firepower
9300 supervisor. Redundant interafces are not supported. See the Firepower 9300 configuration guide.
• About EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, page 395

• Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, page 399
• Default Settings for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, page 400
• Configure a Redundant Interface, page 401
• Configure an EtherChannel, page 403
• Monitoring EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces, page 406
• Examples for EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces, page 407
• History for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces, page 407
About EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces

This section describes EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces.
Redundant Interfaces
A logical redundant interface consists of a pair of physical interfaces: an active and a standby interface. When
the active interface fails, the standby interface becomes active and starts passing traffic. You can configure a
395
redundant interface to increase the ASA reliability. This feature is separate from device-level failover, but
you can configure redundant interfaces as well as device-level failover if desired.
You can configure up to 8 redundant interface pairs.
Redundant Interface MAC Address

The redundant interface uses the MAC address of the first physical interface that you add. If you change the
order of the member interfaces in the configuration, then the MAC address changes to match the MAC address
of the interface that is now listed first. Alternatively, you can assign a manual MAC address to the redundant
interface, which is used regardless of the member interface MAC addresses. When the active interface fails
over to the standby, the same MAC address is maintained so that traffic is not disrupted.
Related Topics
Configure the MTU and TCP MSS, on page 454
Configure Multiple Contexts, on page 166
EtherChannels
An 802.3ad EtherChannel is a logical interface (called a port-channel interface) consisting of a bundle of
individual Ethernet links (a channel group) so that you increase the bandwidth for a single network. A port
channel interface is used in the same way as a physical interface when you configure interface-related features.
You can configure up to 48 EtherChannels.
Channel Group Interfaces

Each channel group can have up to 16 active interfaces. For switches that support only 8 active interfaces,
you can assign up to 16 interfaces to a channel group: while only 8 interfaces can be active, the remaining
interfaces can act as standby links in case of interface failure. For 16 active interfaces, be sure that your switch
supports the feature (for example, the Cisco Nexus 7000 with F2-Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module).
All interfaces in the channel group must be the same type and speed. The first interface added to the channel
group determines the correct type and speed.
The EtherChannel aggregates the traffic across all the available active interfaces in the channel. The interface
is selected using a proprietary hash algorithm, based on source or destination MAC addresses, IP addresses,
TCP and UDP port numbers and VLAN numbers.
Connecting to an EtherChannel on Another Device

The device to which you connect the ASA EtherChannel must also support 802.3ad EtherChannels; for
example, you can connect to the Catalyst 6500 switch or the Cisco Nexus 7000.
When the switch is part of a Virtual Switching System (VSS) or Virtual Port Channel (vPC), then you can
connect ASA interfaces within the same EtherChannel to separate switches in the VSS/vPC. The switch
396
interfaces are members of the same EtherChannel port-channel interface, because the separate switches act
like a single switch.
Figure 37: Connecting to a VSS/vPC
If you use the ASA in an Active/Standby failover deployment, then you need to create separate EtherChannels
on the switches in the VSS/vPC, one for each ASA. On each ASA, a single EtherChannel connects to both
switches. Even if you could group all switch interfaces into a single EtherChannel connecting to both ASA
(in this case, the EtherChannel will not be established because of the separate ASA system IDs), a single
EtherChannel would not be desirable because you do not want traffic sent to the standby ASA.
Figure 38: Active/Standby Failover and VSS/vPC
Link Aggregation Control Protocol

The Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) aggregates interfaces by exchanging the Link Aggregation
Control Protocol Data Units (LACPDUs) between two network devices.
You can configure each physical interface in an EtherChannel to be:
• Active—Sends and receives LACP updates. An active EtherChannel can establish connectivity with
either an active or a passive EtherChannel. You should use the active mode unless you need to minimize
the amount of LACP traffic.
397
• Passive—Receives LACP updates. A passive EtherChannel can only establish connectivity with an
active EtherChannel.
• On—The EtherChannel is always on, and LACP is not used. An “on” EtherChannel can only establish
a connection with another “on” EtherChannel.
LACP coordinates the automatic addition and deletion of links to the EtherChannel without user intervention.
It also handles misconfigurations and checks that both ends of member interfaces are connected to the correct
channel group. “On” mode cannot use standby interfaces in the channel group when an interface goes down,
and the connectivity and configurations are not checked.
Load Balancing
The ASA distributes packets to the interfaces in the EtherChannel by hashing the source and destination IP
address of the packet (this criteria is configurable). The resulting hash is divided by the number of active links
in a modulo operation where the resulting remainder determines which interface owns the flow. All packets
with a hash_value mod active_links result of 0 go to the first interface in the EtherChannel, packets with a
result of 1 go to the second interface, packets with a result of 2 go to the third interface, and so on. For example,
if you have 15 active links, then the modulo operation provides values from 0 to 14. For 6 active links, the
values are 0 to 5, and so on.
For a spanned EtherChannel in clustering, load balancing occurs on a per ASA basis. For example, if you
have 32 active interfaces in the spanned EtherChannel across 8 ASAs, with 4 interfaces per ASA in the
EtherChannel, then load balancing only occurs across the 4 interfaces on the ASA.
If an active interface goes down and is not replaced by a standby interface, then traffic is rebalanced between
the remaining links. The failure is masked from both Spanning Tree at Layer 2 and the routing table at Layer
3, so the switchover is transparent to other network devices.
Related Topics
EtherChannel MAC Address

All interfaces that are part of the channel group share the same MAC address. This feature makes the
EtherChannel transparent to network applications and users, because they only see the one logical connection;
they have no knowledge of the individual links.
The port-channel interface uses the lowest numbered channel group interface MAC address as the port-channel
MAC address. Alternatively you can manually configure a MAC address for the port-channel interface. In
multiple context mode, you can automatically assign unique MAC addresses to interfaces, including an
EtherChannel port interface. We recommend manually, or in multiple context mode, automatically configuring
a unique MAC address in case the group channel interface membership changes. If you remove the interface
that was providing the port-channel MAC address, then the port-channel MAC address changes to the next
lowest numbered interface, thus causing traffic disruption.
398
Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces
Guidelines for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces

Failover
• When you use a redundant or EtherChannel interface as a failover link, it must be pre-configured on
both units in the failover pair; you cannot configure it on the primary unit and expect it to replicate to
the secondary unit because the failover link itself is required for replication.
• If you use a redundant or EtherChannel interface for the state link, no special configuration is required;
the configuration can replicate from the primary unit as normal.
• You can monitor redundant or EtherChannel interfaces for failover using the monitor-interface command;
be sure to reference the logical redundant interface name. When an active member interface fails over
to a standby interface, this activity does not cause the redundant or EtherChannel interface to appear to
be failed when being monitored for device-level failover. Only when all physical interfaces fail does
the redundant or EtherChannel interface appear to be failed (for an EtherChannel interface, the number
of member interfaces allowed to fail is configurable).
• If you use an EtherChannel interface for a failover or state link, then to prevent out-of-order packets,
only one interface in the EtherChannel is used. If that interface fails, then the next interface in the
EtherChannel is used. You cannot alter the EtherChannel configuration while it is in use as a failover
link. To alter the configuration, you need to either shut down the EtherChannel while you make changes,
or temporarily disable failover; either action prevents failover from occurring for the duration.
Model Support
• EtherChannels are supported on ASA appliances only; they are not supported on the ASAv or the
ASASM.
• For the Firepower 9300, you configure EtherChannels in the Firepower Chassis Manager, not in the
module OS.
• Redundant interfaces are not supported on the Firepower 9300 and ASASM.
Clustering
• When you use a redundant or EtherChannel interface as the cluster control link, it must be pre-configured
on all units in the cluster; you cannot configure it on the primary unit and expect it to replicate to member
units because the cluster control link itself is required for replication.
• To configure a spanned EtherChannel or an individual cluster interface, see the clustering chapter.
Redundant Interfaces
• You can configure up to 8 redundant interface pairs.
• All ASA configuration refers to the logical redundant interface instead of the member physical interfaces.
• You cannot use a redundant interface as part of an EtherChannel, nor can you use an EtherChannel as
part of a redundant interface. You cannot use the same physical interfaces in a redundant interface and
an EtherChannel interface. You can, however, configure both types on the ASA if they do not use the
same physical interfaces.
399
Default Settings for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces
• If you shut down the active interface, then the standby interface becomes active.
• Redundant interfaces do not support Management slot/port interfaces as members. You can, however,
set a redundant interface comprised of non-Management interfaces as management-only.
EtherChannels
• EtherChannels are not supported on the ASAv.
• You can configure up to 48 EtherChannels.
• Each channel group can have up to 16 active interfaces. For switches that support only 8 active interfaces,
you can assign up to 16 interfaces to a channel group: while only eight interfaces can be active, the
remaining interfaces can act as standby links in case of interface failure.
• All interfaces in the channel group must be the same type and speed. The first interface added to the
channel group determines the correct type and speed.
• The device to which you connect the ASA EtherChannel must also support 802.3ad EtherChannels; for
example, you can connect to the Catalyst 6500 switch or Cisco Nexus 7000 switch.
• The ASA does not support LACPDUs that are VLAN-tagged. If you enable native VLAN tagging on
the neighboring switch using the Cisco IOS vlan dot1Q tag native command, then the ASA will drop
the tagged LACPDUs. Be sure to disable native VLAN tagging on the neighboring switch. In multiple
context mode, these messages are not included in a packet capture, so that you cannot diagnose the issue
easily.
• In Catalyst 3750-X Cisco IOS software versions earlier than 15.1(1)S2, the ASA did not support
connecting an EtherChannel to a switch stack. With default switch settings, if the ASA EtherChannel
is connected cross stack, and if the master switch is powered down, then the EtherChannel connected
to the remaining switch will not come up. To improve compatibility, set the stack-mac persistent timer
command to a large enough value to account for reload time; for example, 8 minutes or 0 for indefinite.
Or, you can upgrade to more a more stable switch software version, such as 15.1(1)S2.
• All ASA configuration refers to the logical EtherChannel interface instead of the member physical
interfaces.
• You cannot use a redundant interface as part of an EtherChannel, nor can you use an EtherChannel as
part of a redundant interface. You cannot use the same physical interfaces in a redundant interface and
an EtherChannel interface. You can, however, configure both types on the ASA if they do not use the
same physical interfaces.
Default Settings for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces


400
Configure a Redundant Interface
• Redundant Interfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the redundant interface, the member
physical interfaces must also be enabled.
• EtherChannel port-channel interfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the EtherChannel,
the channel group physical interfaces must also be enabled.

A logical redundant interface consists of a pair of physical interfaces: an active and a standby interface. When
the active interface fails, the standby interface becomes active and starts passing traffic. You can configure a
redundant interface to increase the ASA reliability. This feature is separate from device-level failover, but
you can configure redundant interfaces as well as failover if desired.
This section describes how to configure redundant interfaces.

This section describes how to create a redundant interface. By default, redundant interfaces are enabled.
Before You Begin

• You can configure up to 8 redundant interface pairs.
• Redundant interface delay values are configurable, but by default the ASA inherits the default delay
values based on the physical type of its member interfaces.
• Both member interfaces must be of the same physical type. For example, both must be GigabitEthernet.
• You cannot add a physical interface to the redundant interface if you configured a name for it. You must
first remove the name using the no nameif command.
Caution If you are using a physical interface already in your configuration, removing the name will clear any
configuration that refers to the interface.
Procedure
Step 1 Add the logical redundant interface:

interface redundant number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface redundant 1
401
The number argument is an integer between 1 and 8.

You need to add at least one member interface to the redundant interface before you can configure logical
parameters for it such as a name.
Step 2 Add the first member interface to the redundant interface:

member-interface physical_interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# member-interface gigabitethernet 0/0
Redundant interfaces do not support Management slot/port interfaces as members.

After you add the interface, any configuration for it (such as an IP address) is removed.
Step 3 Add the second member interface to the redundant interface:

member-interface physical_interface
Example:
Make sure the second interface is the same physical type as the first interface.
To remove a member interface, enter the no member-interface physical_interface command. You cannot
remove both member interfaces from the redundant interface; the redundant interface requires at least one
member interface.
Examples
The following example creates two redundant interfaces:
ciscoasa(config)# interface redundant 1

ciscoasa(config-if)# interface redundant 2
Change the Active Interface

By default, the active interface is the first interface listed in the configuration, if it is available.
Procedure
Step 1 To view which interface is active, enter the following command :

show interface redundant number detail | grep Member
402
Configure an EtherChannel
Example:
ciscoasa# show interface redundant1 detail | grep Member

Members GigabitEthernet0/3(Active), GigabitEthernet0/2
Step 2 Change the active interface:

redundant-interface redundant number active-member physical_interface
The redundantnumber argument is the redundant interface ID, such as redundant1.
The physical_interface is the member interface ID that you want to be active.
This section describes how to create an EtherChannel port-channel interface, assign interfaces to the
EtherChannel, and customize the EtherChannel.
Add Interfaces to the EtherChannel

This section describes how to create an EtherChannel port-channel interface and assign interfaces to the
EtherChannel. By default, port-channel interfaces are enabled.
Before You Begin

• You can configure up to 48 EtherChannels.
• Each channel group can have up to 16 active interfaces. For switches that support only 8 active interfaces,
you can assign up to 16 interfaces to a channel group: while only eight interfaces can be active, the
remaining interfaces can act as standby links in case of interface failure.
• To configure a spanned EtherChannel for clustering, see the clustering chapter instead of this procedure.
• All interfaces in the channel group must be the same type, speed, and duplex. Half duplex is not supported.
• You cannot add a physical interface to the channel group if you configured a name for it. You must first
remove the name using the no nameif command.
Caution If you are using a physical interface already in your configuration, removing the name will clear any
configuration that refers to the interface.
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the interface you want to add to the channel group:
403
Example:
The physical_interface ID includes the type, slot, and port number as type[slot/]port. This first interface in
the channel group determines the type and speed for all other interfaces in the group.
In transparent mode, if you create a channel group with multiple Management interfaces, then you can use
this EtherChannel as the management-only interface.
Step 2 Assign this physical interface to an EtherChannel:

channel-group channel_id mode {active | passive | on}
Example:
The channel_id is an integer between 1 and 48. If the port-channel interface for this channel ID does not yet
exist in the configuration, one will be added:
We recommend using active mode.
Step 3 (Optional) Set the priority for a physical interface in the channel group:
lacp port-priority number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# lacp port-priority 12345
The priority number is an integer between 1 and 65535. The default is 32768. The higher the number, the
lower the priority. The ASA uses this setting to decide which interfaces are active and which are standby if
you assign more interfaces than can be used. If the port priority setting is the same for all interfaces, then the
priority is determined by the interface ID (slot/port). The lowest interface ID is the highest priority. For
example, GigabitEthernet 0/0 is a higher priority than GigabitEthernet 0/1.
If you want to prioritize an interface to be active even though it has a higher interface ID, then set this command
to have a lower value. For example, to make GigabitEthernet 1/3 active before GigabitEthernet 0/7, then make
the lacp port-priority value be 12345 on the 1/3 interface vs. the default 32768 on the 0/7 interface.
If the device at the other end of the EtherChannel has conflicting port priorities, the system priority is used
to determine which port priorities to use. See the lacp system-priority command.
Step 4 Repeat Steps 1 through 3 for each interface you want to add to the channel group.
Each interface in the channel group must be the same type and speed. Half duplex is not supported. If you
add an interface that does not match, it will be placed in a suspended state.
Related Topics
Link Aggregation Control Protocol, on page 397
404
Customize the EtherChannel

This section describes how to set the maximum number of interfaces in the EtherChannel, the minimum
number of operating interfaces for the EtherChannel to be active, the load balancing algorithm, and other
optional parameters.
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the port-channel interface:

Example:
This interface was created automatically when you added an interface to the channel group. If you have not
yet added an interface, then this command creates the port-channel interface.
You need to add at least one member interface to the port-channel interface before you can configure logical
parameters for it such as a name.
Step 2 Specify the maximum number of active interfaces allowed in the channel group:
lacp max-bundle number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# lacp max-bundle 6
The number is between 1 and 16. The default is 16. If your switch does not support 16 active interfaces, be
sure to set this command to 8 or fewer.
Step 3 Specify the minimum number of active interfaces required for the port-channel interface to become active:
port-channel min-bundle number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# port-channel min-bundle 2
The number is between 1 and 16. The default is 1. If the active interfaces in the channel group falls below
this value, then the port-channel interface goes down, and could trigger a device-level failover.
Step 4 Configure the load-balancing algorithm:

port-channel load-balance {dst-ip | dst-ip-port | dst-mac | dst-port | src-dst-ip | src-dst-ip-port | src-dst-mac
| src-dst-port | src-ip | src-ip-port | src-mac | src-port | vlan-dst-ip | vlan-dst-ip-port | vlan-only |
vlan-src-dst-ip | vlan-src-dst-ip-port | vlan-src-ip | vlan-src-ip-port}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# port-channel load-balance src-dst-mac
By default, the ASA balances the packet load on interfaces according to the source and destination IP address
(src-dst-ip) of the packet. If you want to change the properties on which the packet is categorized, use this
405
Monitoring EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces
command. For example, if your traffic is biased heavily towards the same source and destination IP addresses,
then the traffic assignment to interfaces in the EtherChannel will be unbalanced. Changing to a different
algorithm can result in more evenly distributed traffic.
Step 5 Set the LACP system priority:

lacp system-priority number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# lacp system-priority 12345
The number is between 1 and 65535. The default is 32768. The higher the number, the lower the priority.
This command is global for the ASA.
If the device at the other end of the EtherChannel has conflicting port priorities, the system priority is used
to determine which port priorities to use. For interface priorities within an EtherChannel, see the lacp
port-priority command.
Step 6 (Optional) Set the Ethernet properties for the port-channel interface to override the properties set on the
individual interfaces.
See Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters, on page 389 for Ethernet commands.
This method provides a shortcut to set these parameters because these parameters must match for all interfaces
in the channel group.
Related Topics
Load Balancing, on page 398
Add Interfaces to the EtherChannel, on page 403
Monitoring EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces

• show interface
• show lacp {[channel_group_number] {counters | internal | neighbor} | sys-id}
For EtherChannel, displays LACP information such as traffic statistics, system identifier and neighbor
details.
• show port-channel [channel_group_number] [brief | detail | port | protocol | summary]
For EtherChannel, displays EtherChannel information in a detailed and one-line summary form. This
command also displays the port and port-channel information.
• show port-channel channel_group_number load-balance [hash-result {ip | ipv6 | l4port | mac | mixed
| vlan-only} parameters]
406
Examples for EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces
For EtherChannel, displays port-channel load-balance information along with the hash result and member
interface selected for a given set of parameters.
Examples for EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces

The following example configures three interfaces as part of an EtherChannel. It also sets the system priority
to be a higher priority, and GigabitEthernet 0/2 to be a higher priority than the other interfaces in case more
than eight interfaces are assigned to the EtherChannel.
lacp system-priority 1234

lacp port-priority 1234
channel-group 1 mode passive
lacp max-bundle 4
port-channel min-bundle 2
port-channel load-balance dst-ip
History for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces

Table 24: History for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces

Redundant interfaces 8.0(2) A logical redundant interface pairs an active and a standby
physical interface. When the active interface fails, the standby
interface becomes active and starts passing traffic. You can
configure a redundant interface to increase the ASA reliability.
This feature is separate from device-level failover, but you can
configure redundant interfaces as well as failover if desired.
You can configure up to eight redundant interface pairs.
EtherChannel support 8.4(1) You can configure up to 48 802.3ad EtherChannels of eight

active interfaces each.
We introduced the following commands: channel-group, lacp
port-priority, interface port-channel, lacp max-bundle,
port-channel min-bundle, port-channel load-balance, lacp
system-priority, clear lacp counters, show lacp, show
port-channel.
Note EtherChannel is not supported on the ASA
5505.
407
History for EtherChannels and Redundant Interfaces

Support for 16 active links in an EtherChannel 9.2(1) You can now configure up to 16 active links in an EtherChannel.
Previously, you could have 8 active links and 8 standby links.
Be sure that your switch can support 16 active links (for
example the Cisco Nexus 7000 with F2-Series 10 Gigabit
Ethernet Module).
Note If you upgrade from an earlier ASA version, the
maximum active interfaces is set to 8 for compatibility
purposes (the lacp max-bundle command).
We modified the following commands: lacp max-bundle and
port-channel min-bundle.
408
CHAPTER 12
VLAN Interfaces
This chapter tells how to configure VLAN subinterfaces.
• About VLAN Interfaces, page 409

• Licensing for VLAN Interfaces, page 410
• Guidelines for VLAN Interfaces, page 411
• Default Settings for VLAN Interfaces, page 411
• Configure VLAN Subinterfaces and 802.1Q Trunking, page 411
• Monitoring VLAN Interfaces, page 413
• Examples for VLAN Interfaces, page 413
• History for VLAN Interfaces, page 414
About VLAN Interfaces

VLAN subinterfaces let you divide a physical, redundant, or EtherChannel interface into multiple logical
interfaces that are tagged with different VLAN IDs. An interface with one or more VLAN subinterfaces is
automatically configured as an 802.1Q trunk. Because VLANs allow you to keep traffic separate on a given
physical interface, you can increase the number of interfaces available to your network without adding
additional physical interfaces or ASAs. This feature is particularly useful in multiple context mode so that
you can assign unique interfaces to each context.
You can configure a primary VLAN, as well as one or more secondary VLANs. When the ASA receives
traffic on the secondary VLANs, it maps it to the primary VLAN.
409
Licensing for VLAN Interfaces
Licensing for VLAN Interfaces

ASA 5506-X Base License: 5
ASA 5506W-X Security Plus License: 30
ASA 5506H-X

Security Plus License: 100
ASA 5585-X Base and Security Plus License: 1024
ASA on the Standard License: 1024

Firepower 9300
ISA 3000 Base License: 5

Security Plus License: 25
ASAv5 Standard License: 50

ASAv10
ASAv30 Standard License: 200
Note For an interface to count against the VLAN limit, you must assign a VLAN to it. For example:

vlan 100
410
Guidelines for VLAN Interfaces
Guidelines for VLAN Interfaces

Model Support
VLAN subinterfaces are not supported on the ASASM; ASASM interfaces are already VLAN interfaces
assigned from the switch.
• Preventing untagged packets on the physical interface—If you use subinterfaces, you typically do not
also want the physical interface to pass traffic, because the physical interface passes untagged packets.
This property is also true for the active physical interface in a redundant interface pair and for
EtherChannel links. Because the physical, redundant, or EtherChannel interface must be enabled for the
subinterface to pass traffic, ensure that the physical, redundant, or EtherChannel interface does not pass
traffic by leaving out the nameif command. If you want to let the physical, redundant, or EtherChannel
interface pass untagged packets, you can configure the nameif command as usual.
• (All models except for the ASA 5585-X) You cannot configure subinterfaces on the Management
interface.
• The ASA does not support the Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), so you must configure the connected
switch port to trunk unconditionally.
Default Settings for VLAN Interfaces


• VLAN subinterfaces—Enabled. However, for traffic to pass through the subinterface, the physical
interface must also be enabled.
Configure VLAN Subinterfaces and 802.1Q Trunking

Add a VLAN subinterface to a physical, redundant, or EtherChannel interface.
Before You Begin

For multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the system execution space. To change from the context
to the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
411
Configure VLAN Subinterfaces and 802.1Q Trunking
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the new subinterface:

interface {physical_interface | redundant number | port-channel number}.subinterface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface gigabitethernet 0/1.100
The redundant number argument is the redundant interface ID, such as redundant 1.
The port-channel number argument is the EtherChannel interface ID, such as port-channel 1.
The subinterface ID is an integer between 1 and 4294967293.
Step 2 Specify the VLAN for the subinterface:

vlan vlan_id [secondary vlan_range]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-subif)# vlan 101 secondary 52 64,66-74
The vlan_id is an integer between 1 and 4094. Some VLAN IDs might be reserved on connected switches,
so check the switch documentation for more information.
The secondary VLANs can be separated by spaces, commas, and dashes (for a contiguous range). When the
ASA receives traffic on the secondary VLANs, it maps the traffic to the primary VLAN.
You cannot assign the same VLAN to multiple subinterfaces. You cannot assign a VLAN to the physical
interface. Each subinterface must have a VLAN ID before it can pass traffic. To change a VLAN ID, you do
not need to remove the old VLAN ID with the no option; you can enter the vlan command with a different
VLAN ID, and the ASA changes the old ID. To remove some secondary VLANs from the list, you can use
the no command and only list the VLANs to remove. You can only selectively remove listed VLANs; you
cannot remove a single VLAN in a range, for example.
Examples
The following example maps a set of secondary VLANs to VLAN 200:

vlan 200 secondary 500 503 600-700
The following example removes secondary VLAN 503 from the list:
no vlan 200 secondary 503

show running-config interface gigabitethernet0/6.200
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/6.200
vlan 200 secondary 500 600-700
no nameif
no security-level
no ip address
412
Monitoring VLAN Interfaces
Related Topics
Licensing for VLAN Interfaces, on page 410
Monitoring VLAN Interfaces

• show interface
• show vlan mapping
Shows the interface, secondary VLANs, and the primary VLANs to which they are mapped.
Examples for VLAN Interfaces

The following example configures parameters for a subinterface in single mode:

no nameif
no security-level
no ip address
no shutdown
vlan 101
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.6.6 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
The following example shows how VLAN mapping works with the Catalyst 6500. Consult the Catalyst 6500
configuration guide on how to connect nodes to PVLANS.
ASA Configuration
description Connected to Switch GigabitEthernet1/5
no nameif
no security-level
no ip address
no shutdown
!
interface GigabitEthernet1/1.70
vlan 70 secondary 71 72
nameif vlan_map1
security-level 50
ip address 10.11.1.2 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
!
nameif outside
security-level 0
ip address 172.16.171.31 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
Catalyst 6500 Configuration
413
History for VLAN Interfaces
vlan 70
private-vlan primary
private-vlan association 71-72
!
vlan 71
private-vlan community
!
vlan 72
private-vlan isolated
!
description Connected to ASA GigabitEthernet1/1
switchport
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
switchport trunk allowed vlan 70-72
switchport mode trunk
!
History for VLAN Interfaces

Table 25: History for VLAN Interfaces

Increased VLANs 7.0(5) Increased the following limits:
• ASA5510 Base license VLANs from 0 to 10.
• ASA5510 Security Plus license VLANs from 10 to 25.
• ASA5520 VLANs from 25 to 100.
• ASA5540 VLANs from 100 to 200.
Increased VLANs 7.2(2) VLAN limits were increased for the ASA 5510 (from 10 to 50
for the Base license, and from 25 to 100 for the Security Plus
license), the ASA 5520 (from 100 to 150), the ASA 5550 (from
200 to 250).
Increased VLANs for the ASA 5580 8.1(2) The number of VLANs supported on the ASA 5580 are
Support to map a Secondary VLANs to a Primary 9.5(2) You can now configure one or more secondary VLANs for a
VLAN subinterface. When the ASA receives traffic on the secondary
VLANs, it maps it to the primary VLAN.
We introduced or modified the following commands: vlan
secondary, show vlan mapping
414
CHAPTER 13
VXLAN Interfaces
This chapter tells how to configure Virtual eXtensible LAN (VXLAN) interfaces. VXLANs act as Layer 2
virtual networks over Layer 3 physical networks to stretch Layer 2 networks.
• About VXLAN Interfaces, page 415

• Guidelines for VXLAN Interfaces, page 420
• Default Settings for VXLAN Interfaces, page 421
• Configure VXLAN Interfaces, page 421
• Monitoring VXLAN Interfaces, page 424
• Examples for VXLAN Interfaces, page 426
• History for VXLAN Interfaces, page 430
About VXLAN Interfaces

VXLAN provides the same Ethernet Layer 2 network services as VLAN does, but with greater extensibility
and flexibility. Compared to VLAN, VXLAN offers the following benefits:
• Flexible placement of multitenant segments throughout the data center.
• Higher scalability to address more Layer 2 segments: up to 16 million VXLAN segments.
This section describes how VXLAN works. For detailed information, see RFC 7348.
VXLAN Encapsulation
VXLAN is a Layer 2 overlay scheme on a Layer 3 network. It uses MAC Address-in-User Datagram Protocol
(MAC-in-UDP) encapsulation. The original Layer 2 frame has a VXLAN header added and is then placed in
a UDP-IP packet.
415
VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint

VXLAN tunnel endpoint (VTEP) devices perform VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation. Each VTEP
has two interface types: one or more virtual interfaces called VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) interfaces to
which you apply your security policy, and a regular interface called the VTEP source interface that tunnels
the VNI interfaces between VTEPs. The VTEP source interface is attached to the transport IP network for
VTEP-to-VTEP communication.
The following figure shows two ASAs and Virtual Server 2 acting as VTEPs across a Layer 3 network,
extending the VNI 1, 2, and 3 networks between sites. The ASAs act as bridges or gateways between VXLAN
and non-VXLAN networks.
The underlying IP network between VTEPs is independent of the VXLAN overlay. Encapsulated packets are
routed based on the outer IP address header, which has the initiating VTEP as the source IP address and the
terminating VTEP as the destination IP address. The destination IP address can be a multicast group when
the remote VTEP is not known. The destination port is UDP port 4789 by default (user configurable).
VTEP Source Interface

The VTEP source interface is a regular ASA interface (physical, redundant, EtherChannel, or even VLAN)
with which you plan to associate all VNI interfaces. You can configure one VTEP source interface per
ASA/security context.
The VTEP source interface can be devoted wholly to VXLAN traffic, although it is not restricted to that use.
If desired, you can use the interface for regular traffic and apply a security policy to the interface for that
traffic. For VXLAN traffic, however, all security policy must be applied to the VNI interfaces. The VTEP
interface serves as a physical port only.
In transparent firewall mode, the VTEP source interface is not part of a BVI, and you do configure an IP
address for it, similar to the way the management interface is treated.
VNI Interfaces
VNI interfaces are similar to VLAN interfaces: they are virtual interfaces that keep network traffic separated
on a given physical interface by using tagging. You apply your security policy directly to each VNI interface.
All VNI interfaces are associated with the same VTEP interface.
416
VXLAN Packet Processing

Traffic entering and exiting the VTEP source interface is subject to VXLAN processing, specifically
encapsulation or decapsulation.
Encapsulation processing includes the following tasks:
• The VTEP source interface encapsulates the inner MAC frame with the VXLAN header.
• The UDP checksum field is set to zero.
• The Outer frame source IP is set to the VTEP interface IP.
• The Outer frame destination IP is decided by a remote VTEP IP lookup.
Decapsulation; the ASA only decapsulates a VXLAN packet if:

• It is a UDP packet with the destination port set to 4789 (this value is user configurable).
• The ingress interface is the VTEP source interface.
• The ingress interface IP address is the same as the destination IP address.
• The VXLAN packet format is compliant with the standard.
Peer VTEPs
When the ASA sends a packet to a device behind a peer VTEP, the ASA needs two important pieces of
information:
• The destination MAC address of the remote device
• The destination IP address of the peer VTEP
There are two ways in which the ASA can find this information:
• A single peer VTEP IP address can be statically configured on the ASA.
You cannot manually define multiple peers.
The ASA then sends a VXLAN-encapsulated ARP broadcast to the VTEP to learn the end node MAC
address.
• A multicast group can be configured on each VNI interface (or on the VTEP as a whole).
The ASA sends a VXLAN-encapsulated ARP broadcast packet within an IP multicast packet through
the VTEP source interface. The response to this ARP request enables the ASA to learn both the remote
VTEP IP address along with the destination MAC address of the remote end node.
The ASA maintains a mapping of destination MAC addresses to remote VTEP IP addresses for the VNI
interfaces.
VXLAN Use Cases

This section describes the use cases for implementing VXLAN on the ASA.
417
VXLAN Bridge or Gateway Overview

Each ASA VTEP acts as a bridge or gateway between end nodes such as VMs, servers, and PCs and the
VXLAN overlay network. For incoming frames received with VXLAN encapsulation over the VTEP source
interface, the ASA strips out the VXLAN header and forwards it to a physical interface connected to a
non-VXLAN network based on the destination MAC address of the inner Ethernet frame.
The ASA always processes VXLAN packets; it does not just forward VXLAN packets untouched between
two other VTEPs.
VXLAN Bridge (Transparent Mode)

In transparent firewall mode, the ASA can serve as a VXLAN bridge between a (remote) VXLAN segment
and a local segment where both are in the same network. In this case, one member of the bridge virtual interface
(BVI) is a regular interface while the other member is a VNI interface.
VXLAN Gateway (Routed Mode)

The ASA can serve as a router between VXLAN and non-VXLAN domains, connecting devices on different
networks.
418
Router Between VXLAN Domains

With a VXLAN-stretched Layer 2 domain, a VM can point to an ASA as its gateway while the ASA is not
on the same rack, or even when the ASA is far away over the Layer 3 network.
419
Guidelines for VXLAN Interfaces
See the following notes about this scenario:

1 For packets from VM3 to VM1, the destination MAC address is the ASA MAC address, because the ASA
is the default gateway.
2 The VTEP source interface on Virtual Server 2 receives packets from VM3, then encapsulates the packets
with VNI 3’s VXLAN tag and sends them to the ASA.
3 When the ASA receives the packets, it decapsulates the packets to get the inner frames.
4 The ASA uses the inner frames for route lookup, then finds that the destination is on VNI 2. If it does not
already have a mapping for VM1, the ASA sends an encapsulated ARP broadcast on the multicast group
IP on VNI 2.
Note The ASA must use dynamic VTEP peer discovery because it has multiple VTEP peers in this scenario.
5 The ASA encapsulates the packets again with the VXLAN tag for VNI 2 and sends the packets to Virtual
Server 1. Before encapsulation, the ASA changes the inner frame destination MAC address to be the MAC
of VM1 (multicast-encapsulated ARP might be needed for the ASA to learn the VM1 MAC address).
6 When Virtual Server 1 receives the VXLAN packets, it decapsulates the packets and delivers the inner
frames to VM1.
Guidelines for VXLAN Interfaces

IPv6
• The VNI interface supports IPv6 traffic, but the VTEP source interface IP address only supports IPv4.
• IPv6 OSPF interface settings are not supported.
Clustering
ASA clustering does not support VXLAN in Individual Interface mode. Only Spanned EtherChannel mode
supports VXLAN.
Routing
• Only static routing or Policy Based Routing is supported on the VNI interface; dynamic routing protocols
are not supported.
MTU
If the source interface MTU is less than 1554 bytes, then the ASA automatically raises the MTU to 1554
bytes. In this case, the entire Ethernet datagram is being encapsulated, so the new packet is larger and requires
a larger MTU. If the MTU used by other devices is larger, then you should set the source interface MTU to
be the network MTU + 54 bytes. This MTU requires you to enable jumbo frame reservation; see Enable Jumbo
Frame Support, on page 391.
420
Default Settings for VXLAN Interfaces
Default Settings for VXLAN Interfaces

VNI interfaces are enabled by default.
Configure VXLAN Interfaces

To configure VXLAN, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the VTEP Source Interface, on page 421.

Step 2 Configure the VNI Interface, on page 422
Step 3 (Optional) Change the VXLAN UDP Port, on page 424.
Configure the VTEP Source Interface

You can configure one VTEP source interface per ASA or per security context. The VTEP is defined as a
Network Virtualization Endpoint (NVE); VXLAN VTEP is the only supported NVE at this time.
Before You Begin

For multiple context mode, complete the tasks in this section in the context execution space. Enter the changeto
context name command to change to the context you want to configure.
Procedure
Step 1 (Transparent mode) Specify that the source interface is NVE-only:

interface id
nve-only
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# nve-only
This setting lets you configure an IP address for the interface. This command is optional for routed mode
where this setting restricts traffic to VXLAN and common management traffic only on this interface.
Step 2 Configure the source interface name and IPv4 address.
Example:
(Routed Mode)

ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif outside
421
Example:
(Transparent Mode)

ciscoasa(config-if)# nve-only
Step 3 Specify the NVE instance:

nve 1
You can only specify one NVE instance, with the ID 1.
Note The encapsulation vxlan command is added by default for the NVE instance; you do not need to
explicitly add it.
Step 4 Specify the source interface name that you configured in Step 2:
source-interface interface-name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-nve)# source-interface outside
Note If the source interface MTU is less than 1554 bytes, then the ASA automatically raises the MTU to
1554 bytes.
Step 5 (Multiple context mode; Optional for single mode) Manually specify the peer VTEP IP address:
peer ip ip_address
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-nve)# peer ip 10.1.1.2
If you specify the peer IP address, you cannot use multicast group discovery. Multicast is not supported in
multiple context mode, so manual configuration is the only option. You can only specify one peer for the
VTEP.
Step 6 (Optional; single mode only) Specify a default multicast group for all associated VNI interfaces:
default-mcast-group mcast_ip
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-nve)# default-mcast-group 236.0.0.100
If you do not configure the multicast group per VNI interface, then this group is used. If you configure a group
at the VNI interface level, then that group overrides this setting.
Configure the VNI Interface

Add a VNI interface, associate it with the VTEP source interface, and configure basic interface parameters.
422
Procedure
Step 1 Create the VNI interface:

interface vni vni_num
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface vni 1
Set the ID between 1 and 10000. This ID is only an internal interface identifier.
Step 2 Specify the VXLAN segment ID:

segment-id id
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# segment-id 1000
Set the ID between 1 and 16777215. The segment ID is used for VXLAN tagging.
Step 3 (Transparent mode) Specify the bridge group to which you want to associate this interface:
bridge-group number
Example:
See Configure Transparent Mode Interfaces, on page 439 to configure the BVI interface and associate regular
interfaces to this bridge group.
Step 4 Associate this interface with the VTEP source interface:

vtep-nve 1

nameif vni_interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif vxlan1000
this command with a new value. Do not enter the no form, because that command causes all commands that
refer to that name to be deleted.
Step 6 (Routed mode) Assign an IPv4 and/or IPv6 address:

ip address {ip_address [mask] [standby ip_address] | dhcp [setroute] | pppoe [setroute]}
ipv6 address {autoconfig | ipv6-address/prefix-length [standby ipv6-address]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby 10.1.1.2
423
Monitoring VXLAN Interfaces
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:0DB8::BA98:0:3210/48

Example:
Where number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).
Step 8 (Single mode) Set the multicast group address:

mcast-group multicast_ip
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# mcast-group 236.0.0.100
If you do not set the multicast group for the VNI interface, the default group from the VTEP source interface
configuration is used, if available. If you manually set a VTEP peer IP for the VTEP source interface, you
cannot specify a multicast group for the VNI interface. Multicast is not supported in multiple context mode.
(Optional) Change the VXLAN UDP Port

By default, the VTEP source interface accepts VXLAN traffic to UDP port 4789. If your network uses a
non-standard port, you can change it.
Before You Begin

For multiple context mode, complete this task in the system execution space. To change from the context to
the system execution space, enter the changeto system command.
Procedure
Set the VXLAN UDP port:

vxlan port number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# vxlan port 5678

See the following commands to monitor VTEP and VNI interfaces.
• show nve [id] [summary]
This command shows the parameters, status and statistics of a NVE interface, status of its carrier interface
(source-interface), IP address of the carrier interface, VNIs that use this NVE as the VXLAN VTEP,
424
and peer VTEP IP addresses associated with this NVE interface. With the summary option, this command
only shows the status of the NVE interface, number of VNIs behind the NVE interface, and number of
VTEPs discovered.
See the following output for the show nve 1 command:
ciscoasa# show nve 1

ciscoasa(config-if)# show nve
nve 1, source-interface "inside" is up
Encapsulation: vxlan
Encapsulated traffic statistics:
1 packets dropped
Number of configured static peer VTEPs: 0
Number of discovered peer VTEPs: 1
Discovered peer VTEPs:
IP address 15.1.2.3
Number of VNIs attached to nve 1: 2
VNIs attached:
vni 2: segment-id 5002, mcast-group 239.1.2.3
vni 1: segment-id 5001, mcast-group 239.1.2.3
See the following output for the show nve 1 summary command:
ciscoasa# show nve 1 summary

nve 1, source-interface "inside" is up
Encapsulation: vxlan
Number of configured static peer VTEPs: 0
Number of discovered peer VTEPs: 1
Default multicast group: 239.1.2.3
Number of VNIs attached to nve 1: 2
• show interface vni id [summary]

This command shows the parameters, status and statistics of a VNI interface, status of its bridged interface
(if configured), and NVE interface it is associated with. The summary option shows only the VNI
interface parameters.
See the following output for the show interface vni 1 command:
ciscoasa# show interface vni 1

Interface vni1 "vni-inside", is up, line protocol is up
VTEP-NVE 1
Segment-id 5001
Tag-switching: disabled
MTU: 1500
MAC: aaaa.bbbb.1234
Multicast group 239.1.3.3
Traffic Statistics for "vni-inside":
14 packets dropped
1 minute input rate 0 pkts/sec, 0 bytes/sec
1 minute output rate 0 pkts/sec, 2 bytes/sec
1 minute drop rate, 0 pkts/sec
5 minute input rate 0 pkts/sec, 0 bytes/sec
5 minute output rate 0 pkts/sec, 0 bytes/sec
5 minute drop rate, 0 pkts/sec
See the following output for the show interface vni 1 summary command:
ciscoasa# show interface vni 1 summary

Interface vni1 "vni-inside", is up, line protocol is up
425
Examples for VXLAN Interfaces
VTEP-NVE 1
Segment-id 5001
Tag-switching: disabled
MTU: 1500
MAC: aaaa.bbbb.1234
Multicast group not configured
• show vni vlan-mapping

This command shows the mapping between VNI segment IDs and VLAN interfaces or physical interfaces.
This command is only valid in transparent firewall mode because in routed mode, the mapping between
VXLANs and VLANs can include too many values to show.
See the following output for the show vni vlan-mapping command:
ciscoasa# show vni vlan-mapping

vni1: segment-id: 6000, interface: 'g0110', vlan 10, interface: 'g0111', vlan 11
vni2: segment_id: 5000, interface: 'g01100', vlan 1, interface: 'g111', vlan 3,
interface: 'g112', vlan 4
• show arp vtep-mapping

This command displays MAC addresses cached on the VNI interface for IP addresses located in the
remote segment domain and the remote VTEP IP addresses.
See the following output for the show arp vtep-mapping command:
ciscoasa# show arp vtep-mapping

vni-outside 192.168.1.4 0012.0100.0003 577 15.1.2.3
vni-inside 192.168.0.4 0014.0100.0003 577 15.1.2.3
• show mac-address-table vtep-mapping

This command displays the Layer 2 forwarding table (MAC address table) on the VNI interface with
the remote VTEP IP addresses.
See the following output for the show mac-address-table vtep-mapping command:
ciscoasa# show mac-address-table vtep-mapping

interface mac address type Age(min) bridge-group VTEP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vni-outside 00ff.9200.0000 dynamic 5 1 10.9.1.3
vni-inside 0041.9f00.0000 dynamic 5 1 10.9.1.3

See the following configuration examples for VXLAN.
426
Transparent VXLAN Gateway Example
See the following description of this example:

• The outside interface on GigabitEthernet 0/0 is used as the VTEP source interface, and it is connected
to the Layer 3 network.
• The insidevm100 VLAN subinterface on GigabitEthernet 0/1.100 is connected to the 10.10.10.0/24
network, on which VM3 resides. When VM3 communicates with VM1 (not shown; both have
10.10.10.0/24 IP addresses), the ASA uses VXLAN tag 6000.
• The insidevm200 VLAN subinterface on GigabitEthernet 0/1.200 is connected to the 10.20.20.0/24
network, on which VM2 resides. When VM2 communicates with VM4 (not shown; both have
10.20.20.0/24 IP addresses), the ASA uses VXLAN tag 8000.
• The insidepc interface on GigabitEthernet 0/2 is connected to the 10.30.30.0/24 network on which a few
PCs reside. When those PCs communicate with VMs/PCs (not shown) behind a remote VTEP that
belongs to same network (all have 10.30.30.0/24 IP addresses), the ASA uses VXLAN tag 10000.
ASA Configuration
vxlan port 8427
!
interface gigabitethernet0/0
nve-only
nameif outside
ip address 192.168.1.30 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
!
nve 1
encapsulation vxlan
source-interface outside
!
interface vni1
segment-id 6000
nameif vxlan6000
security-level 0
bridge-group 1
427
vtep-nve 1
mcast-group 235.0.0.100
!
interface vni2
segment-id 8000
nameif vxlan8000
security-level 0
bridge-group 2
vtep-nve 1
!
interface vni3
segment-id 10000
nameif vxlan10000
security-level 0
bridge-group 3
vtep-nve 1
!
interface gigabitethernet0/1.100
nameif insidevm100
security-level 100
bridge-group 1
!
nameif insidevm200
security-level 100
bridge-group 2
!
nameif insidepc
security-level 100
bridge-group 3
!
interface bvi 1
ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface bvi 2
ip address 10.20.20.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface bvi 3
ip address 10.30.30.1 255.255.255.0
Notes
• For VNI interfaces vni1 and vni2, the inner VLAN tag is removed during encapsulation.
• VNI interfaces vni2 and vni3 share the same multicast IP address for encapsulated ARP over multicast.
This sharing is allowed.
• The ASA bridges the VXLAN traffic to non-VXLAN-supported interfaces based on the above BVIs
and bridge group configurations. For each of the stretched Layer 2 network segments (10.10.10.0/24,
10.20.20.0/24 and 10.30.30.0/24), the ASA serves as a bridge.
• It is allowed to have more than one VNI or more than one regular interface (VLAN or just physical
interface) in a bridge group. The forwarding or association between VXLAN segment ID to the VLAN
ID (or a physical interface) is decided by the destination MAC address and which interface connects to
the destination.
• The VTEP source-interface is a Layer 3 interface in transparent firewall mode indicated by nve-only in
the interface configuration. The VTEP source interface is not a BVI interface or a management interface,
but it has an IP address and uses the routing table.
428
VXLAN Routing Example
See the following description of this example:

• VM1 (10.10.10.10) is hosted on Virtual Server 1, and VM2 (10.20.20.20) is hosted on Virtual Server
2.
• The default gateway for VM1 is the ASA, which is not in the same pod as Virtual Server 1, but VM1
is not aware of it. VM1 only knows that its default gateway IP address is 10.10.10.1. Similarly, VM2
only knows that its default gateway IP address is 10.20.20.1.
• The VTEP-supported hypervisors on Virtual Server 1 and 2 are able to communicate with the ASA over
the same subnet or through a Layer 3 network (not shown; in which case, the ASA and uplinks of virtual
servers have different network addresses).
• VM1’s packet will be encapsulated by its hypervisor’s VTEP and sent to its default gateway over VXLAN
tunneling.
• When VM1 sends a packet to VM2, the packet will be sent through default gateway 10.10.10.1 from its
perspective. Virtual Server1 knows 10.10.10.1 is not local, so the VTEP encapsulates the packet over
VXLAN and sends it to ASA’s VTEP.
• On the ASA, the packet is decapsulated. The VXLAN segment ID is learned during decapsulation. The
ASA then re-injects the inner frame to the corresponding VNI interface (vni1) based on the VXLAN
segment ID. The ASA then conducts a route lookup and sends the inner packet through another VNI
interface, vni2. All egressing packets through vni2 are encapsulated with VXLAN segment 8000 and
sent through the VTEP to outside.
• Eventually the encapsulated packet is received by the VTEP of Virtual Server 2, which decapsulates it
and forwards it to VM2.
ASA Configuration
nameif outside
ip address 192.168.1.30 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
429
History for VXLAN Interfaces
!
nve 1
encapsulation vxlan
source-interface outside
default-mcast-group 235.0.0.100
!
interface vni1
segment-id 6000
nameif vxlan6000
security-level 0
vtep-nve 1
ip address 10.20.20.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface vni2
segment-id 8000
nameif vxlan8000
security-level 0
vtep-nve 1
ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0
!
History for VXLAN Interfaces

Table 26: History for VXLAN Interfaces

VXLAN support 9.4(1) VXLAN support was added, including VXLAN tunnel endpoint
(VTEP) support. You can define one VTEP source interface
per ASA or security context.
We introduced the following commands: debug vxlan,
default-mcast-group, encapsulation vxlan, inspect vxlan,
interface vni, mcast-group, nve, nve-only, peer ip,
segment-id, show arp vtep-mapping, show interface vni,
show mac-address-table vtep-mapping, show nve, show vni
vlan-mapping, source-interface, vtep-nve, vxlan port
430
CHAPTER 14
Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces
This chapter includes tasks to complete the interface configuration for all models in routed or transparent
firewall mode.
Note For multiple context mode, complete the tasks in this section in the context execution space. Enter the
changeto context name command to change to the context you want to configure.
• About Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 431

• Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 434
• Defaults for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 435
• Configure Routed Mode Interfaces, page 435
• Configure Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 439
• Configure IPv6 Addressing, page 443
• Monitoring Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 445
• Examples for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 446
• History for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces, page 447
About Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

When the ASA is in routed firewall mode, each interface is a Layer 3 routed interface for which you need to
set an IP address on a unique subnet. All transparent mode interfaces belong to bridge groups.
Security Levels
Each interface must have a security level from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest). For example, you should assign
your most secure network, such as the inside host network, to level 100. While the outside network connected
to the Internet can be level 0. Other networks, such as DMZs can be in between. You can assign interfaces to
the same security level.
431
The level controls the following behavior:

• Network access—By default, there is an implicit permit from a higher security interface to a lower
security interface (outbound). Hosts on the higher security interface can access any host on a lower
security interface. You can limit access by applying an ACL to the interface.
If you enable communication for same security interfaces, there is an implicit permit for interfaces to
access other interfaces on the same security level or lower.
• Inspection engines—Some application inspection engines are dependent on the security level. For same
security interfaces, inspection engines apply to traffic in either direction.
◦NetBIOS inspection engine—Applied only for outbound connections.
◦SQL*Net inspection engine—If a control connection for the SQL*Net (formerly OraServ) port
exists between a pair of hosts, then only an inbound data connection is permitted through the ASA.
• Filtering—HTTP(S) and FTP filtering applies only for outbound connections (from a higher level to a
lower level).
If you enable communication for same security interfaces, you can filter traffic in either direction.
• established command—This command allows return connections from a lower security host to a higher
security host if there is already an established connection from the higher level host to the lower level
host.
If you enable communication for same security interfaces, you can configure established commands
for both directions.
Bridge Groups in Transparent Mode

The inside and outside interfaces for the transparent firewall are grouped together into a bridge group. You
can create multiple bridge groups for separate networks. Bridge group traffic is isolated from other bridge
groups; traffic is not routed to another bridge group within the ASA, and traffic must exit the ASA before it
is routed by an external router back to another bridge group in the ASA. Although the bridging functions are
separate for each bridge group, many other functions are shared between all bridge groups. For example, all
bridge groups share a syslog server or AAA server configuration. For complete security policy separation,
use security contexts with one bridge group in each context.
You can include multiple interfaces per bridge group. See Guidelines for Firewall Mode, on page 133 for the
exact number of bridge groups and interfaces supported. If you use more than 2 interfaces per bridge group,
you can control communication between multiple segments on the same network, and not just between inside
and outside. For example, if you have three inside segments that you do not want to communicate with each
other, you can put each segment on a separate interface, and only allow them to communicate with the outside
interface. Or you can customize the access rules between interfaces to allow only as much access as desired.
Each bridge group requires a management IP address that you assign to the bridge virtual interface (BVI)
interface. The ASA uses this IP address as the source address for packets originating from the bridge group.
The management IP address must be on the same subnet as the connected network. For another method of
management, see Management Interface, on page 129.
The ASA does not support traffic on secondary networks; only traffic on the same network as the management
IP address is supported.
432
Dual IP Stack (IPv4 and IPv6)

The ASA supports both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses on an interface. Make sure you configure a default route for
both IPv4 and IPv6.
IPv6
This section includes information about how to configure IPv6.
IPv6 Addressing
You can configure two types of unicast addresses for IPv6:
• Global—The global address is a public address that you can use on the public network. For transparent
mode, this address needs to be configured for each bridge group, and not per-interface. You can also
configure a global IPv6 address for the management interface.
• Link-local—The link-local address is a private address that you can only use on the directly-connected
network. Routers do not forward packets using link-local addresses; they are only for communication
on a particular physical network segment. They can be used for address configuration or for the ND
functions such as address resolution and neighbor discovery. In transparent mode, because the link-local
address is only available on a segment, and is tied to the interface MAC address, you need to configure
the link-local address per interface.
At a minimum, you need to configure a link-local address for IPv6 to operate. If you configure a global address,
a link-local address is automatically configured on the interface, so you do not also need to specifically
configure a link-local address. If you do not configure a global address, then you need to configure the link-local
address, either automatically or manually.
Note If you want to only configure the link-local addresses, see the ipv6 enable (to auto-configure) or ipv6
address link-local (to manually configure) command in the command reference.
Modified EUI-64 Interface IDs

RFC 3513: Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Addressing Architecture requires that the interface identifier
portion of all unicast IPv6 addresses, except those that start with binary value 000, be 64 bits long and be
constructed in Modified EUI-64 format. The ASA can enforce this requirement for hosts attached to the local
link.
When this feature is enabled on an interface, the source addresses of IPv6 packets received on that interface
are verified against the source MAC addresses to ensure that the interface identifiers use the Modified EUI-64
format. If the IPv6 packets do not use the Modified EUI-64 format for the interface identifier, the packets are
dropped and the following system log message is generated:
325003: EUI-64 source address check failed.
The address format verification is only performed when a flow is created. Packets from an existing flow are
not checked. Additionally, the address verification can only be performed for hosts on the local link. Packets
433
Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces
received from hosts behind a router will fail the address format verification, and be dropped, because their
source MAC address will be the router MAC address and not the host MAC address.
Unsupported IPv6 Commands in Transparent Mode

The following IPv6 commands are not supported in transparent firewall mode, because they require router
capabilities:
• ipv6 address autoconfig
• ipv6 nd prefix
• ipv6 nd ra-interval
• ipv6 nd ra-lifetime
• ipv6 nd suppress-ra
Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

Context Mode
• In multiple context mode, you can only configure context interfaces that you already assigned to the
context in the system configuration according to Configure Multiple Contexts, on page 166.
• PPPoE is not supported in multiple context mode.
• For multiple context mode in transparent mode, each context must use different interfaces; you cannot
share an interface across contexts.
• For multiple context mode in transparent mode, each context typically uses a different subnet. You can
use overlapping subnets, but your network topology requires router and NAT configuration to make it
possible from a routing standpoint.
Failover
Do not configure failover interfaces with the procedures in this chapter. See Failover for High Availability,
on page 195 to configure the failover and state links.
IPv6
IPv6 is supported on all interfaces.
The ASA does not support IPv6 anycast addresses.
Model Support
PPPoE and DHCP are not supported on the ASASM.
VLAN IDs for the ASASM

You can add any VLAN ID to the configuration, but only VLANs that are assigned to the ASA by the switch
can pass traffic. To view all VLANs assigned to the ASA, use the show vlan command.
434
Defaults for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces
If you add an interface for a VLAN that is not yet assigned to the ASA by the switch, the interface will be in
the down state. When you assign the VLAN to the ASA, the interface changes to an up state. See the show
interface command for more information about interface states.
Transparent Mode Guidelines

• You can configure up to 250 bridge groups in single mode or per context in multiple mode. Note that
you must use at least 1 bridge group; data interfaces must belong to a bridge group.
• Each bridge group can include up to 4 interfaces.
• For IPv4, a management IP address for the BVI is required for each bridge group for both management
traffic and for traffic to pass through the ASA. IPv6 addresses are supported, but not required for the
BVI.
• The BVI management IP address must be on the same subnet as the connected network. You cannot set
the subnet to a host subnet (255.255.255.255).
• The ASA does not support traffic on secondary networks; only traffic on the same network as the BVI
IP address is supported.
• PPPoE is not supported for the Management interface in transparent mode.
Defaults for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

Default Security Level
The default security level is 0. If you name an interface “inside,” and you do not set the security level explicitly,
then the ASA sets the security level to 100.
Note If you change the security level of an interface, and you do not want to wait for existing connections to
time out before the new security information is used, you can clear the connections using the clear local-host
command.
Configure Routed Mode Interfaces

To configure routed mode interfaces, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure General Routed Mode Interface Parameters, on page 436.

Step 2 Configure PPPoE, on page 438.
Step 3 Configure a Global IPv6 Address.
435
Configure General Routed Mode Interface Parameters

This procedure describes how to set the name, security level, IPv4 address, and other options.
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the context execution space. To change from the system
to a context configuration, enter the changeto context name command.
Procedure

interface id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface gigabithethernet 0/0
The interface ID can be:

• redundant
• port-channel
• physical—For example, ethernet, gigabitethernet, tengigabitethernet, management. Refer to the
hardware installation guide for your model for interface names.
• physical.subinterface—For example, gigabitethernet0/0.100.
• vni
• vlan
• mapped_name—For multiple context mode.

nameif name
Example:
Step 3 Set the IP address using one of the following methods.

• Set the IP address manually:
ip address ip_address [mask] [standby ip_address]
436
Example:
Note If you use failover, you must set the IP address and standby address manually; DHCP and
PPPoE are not supported.
The standby ip_address argument is used for failover.
The ip_address and mask arguments set the interface IP address and subnet mask.
• Obtain an IP address from a DHCP server:
ip address dhcp [setroute]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address dhcp
The setroute keyword lets the ASA use the default route supplied by the DHCP server.
Reenter this command to reset the DHCP lease and request a new lease.
If you do not enable the interface using the no shutdown command before you enter the ip address dhcp
command, some DHCP requests might not be sent.
• Obtain an IP address from a PPPoE server:
ip address pppoe [setroute]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address pppoe setroute
You can alternatively enable PPPoE by manually entering the IP address:

ip address ip_address mask pppoe
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address 10.1.1.78 255.255.255.0 pppoe
The setroute option sets the default routes when the PPPoE client has not yet established a connection.
When using the setroute option, you cannot have a statically defined route in the configuration.
Note If PPPoE is enabled on two interfaces (such as a primary and backup interface), and you do not
configure dual ISP support, then the ASA can only send traffic through the first interface to
acquire an IP address.

Example:
The number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest)..
437
Step 5 (Optional) Set an interface to management-only mode so that it does not pass through traffic:
management-only
By default, Management interfaces are configured as management-only. Except for the ASA 5585-X, you
cannot disable management-only on the Management interface.
Examples
The following example configures parameters for VLAN 101:

The following example configures parameters in multiple context mode for the context configuration. The
interface ID is a mapped name.
ciscoasa/contextA(config)# interface int1

ciscoasa/contextA(config-if)# nameif outside
ciscoasa/contextA(config-if)# security-level 100
ciscoasa/contextA(config-if)# ip address 10.1.2.1 255.255.255.0
Related Topics
Configure IPv6 Addressing, on page 443
Enable the Physical Interface and Configure Ethernet Parameters, on page 389
Configure PPPoE, on page 438
Configure PPPoE
If the interface is connected to a DSL, cable modem, or other connection to your ISP, and your ISP uses
PPPoE to provide your IP address, configure the following parameters.
Procedure
Step 1 Define the VPDN group name of your choice to represent this connection:
vpdn group group_name request dialout pppoe
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# vpdn group pppoe-sbc request dialout pppoe
Step 2 If your ISP requires authentication, select an authentication protocol:

vpdn group group_name ppp authentication {chap | mschap | pap}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# vpdn group pppoe-sbc ppp authentication chap
438
Configure Transparent Mode Interfaces
Enter the appropriate keyword for the type of authentication used by your ISP.
When using CHAP or MS-CHAP, the username may be referred to as the remote system name, while the
password may be referred to as the CHAP secret.
Step 3 Associate the username assigned by your ISP to the VPDN group:
vpdn group group_name localname username
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# vpdn group pppoe-sbc localname johncrichton
Step 4 Create a username and password pair for the PPPoE connection:
vpdn username usernamepassword password [store-local]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# vpdn username johncrichton password moya
The store-local option stores the username and password in a special location of NVRAM on the ASA. If an
Auto Update Server sends a clear config command to the ASA and the connection is then interrupted, the
ASA can read the username and password from NVRAM and re-authenticate to the Access Concentrator.

To configure bridge groups and associated interfaces, perform these steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure Bridge Groups, on page 439.

Step 2 Configure General Transparent Mode Interface Parameters, on page 440.
Step 3 Configure General Transparent Mode Interface Parameters, on page 440.
Step 4 Configure IPv6 Addressing, on page 443.
Configure Bridge Groups

Each bridge group requires a management IP address. The ASA uses this IP address as the source address for
packets originating from the bridge group. The management IP address must be on the same subnet as the
connected network. For IPv4 traffic, the management IP address is required to pass any traffic. For IPv6
traffic, you must, at a minimum, configure the link-local addresses to pass traffic, but a global management
address is recommended for full functionality, including remote management and other management operations.
Note For a separate management interface (for supported models), a non-configurable bridge group (ID 301)
is automatically added to your configuration. This bridge group is not included in the bridge group limit.
439
Procedure
Step 1 Create a bridge group:

interface bvi bridge_group_number
Example:
The bridge_group_number is an integer between 1 and 250.
Step 2 Specify the management IP address for the bridge group:

Example:
Do not assign a host address (/32 or 255.255.255.255) to the bridge group. Also, do not use other subnets that
contain fewer than 3 host addresses (one each for the upstream router, downstream router, and transparent
firewall) such as a /30 subnet (255.255.255.252). The ASA drops all ARP packets to or from the first and last
addresses in a subnet. Therefore, if you use a /30 subnet and assign a reserved address from that subnet to the
upstream router, then the ASA drops the ARP request from the downstream router to the upstream router.
The standby keyword and address is used for failover.
Example
The following example sets the management address and standby address of bridge group 1:

Configure General Transparent Mode Interface Parameters

This procedure describes how to set the name, security level, and bridge group for each transparent interface.
Before You Begin

• In multiple context mode, complete this procedure in the context execution space. To change from the
system to a context configuration, enter the changeto context name command.
• Do not use this procedure for Management interfaces; see Configure a Management Interface, on page
442 to configure the Management interface.
Procedure
440
interface id
Example:
The interface ID can be:

• redundant
• port-channel
• physical—For example, ethernet, gigabitethernet, tengigabitethernet, management. Refer to the
hardware installation guide for your model for interface names.
• physical.subinterface—For example, gigabitethernet0/0.100.
• vni
• vlan
• mapped_name—For multiple context mode.
Step 2 Assign the interface to a bridge group:

bridge-group number
Example:
The number is an integer between 1 and 100. You can assign up to four interfaces to a bridge group. You
cannot assign the same interface to more than one bridge group.

nameif name
Example:

Example:
The number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest)..
441
Related Topics
Configure the MTU and TCP MSS, on page 454
Configure a Management Interface

You can configure one management interface separate from the bridge group interfaces in single mode or per
context.
Before You Begin

• Do not assign this interface to a bridge group; a non-configurable bridge group (ID 301) is automatically
added to your configuration. This bridge group is not included in the bridge group limit.
• If your model does not include a Management interface, you must manage the transparent firewall from
a data interface; skip this procedure. (For example, on the ASASM.)
• In multiple context mode, you cannot share any interfaces, including the Management interface, across
contexts. You must connect to a data interface.
Procedure

interface {{port-channel number | management slot/port}[. subinterface] | mapped_name}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface management 0/0.1
The port-channel number argument is the EtherChannel interface ID, such as port-channel 1. The
EtherChannel interface must have only Management member interfaces.
Redundant interfaces do not support Management slot/port interfaces as members. You can, however, set a
redundant interface comprised of non-Management interfaces as management-only.
In multiple context mode, enter the mapped_name if one was assigned using the allocate-interface command.

nameif name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif management

• Set the IP address manually:
442
Configure IPv6 Addressing
For use with failover, you must set the IP address and standby address manually; DHCP is not supported.
The ip_address and mask arguments set the interface IP address and subnet mask.
The standby ip_address argument is used for failover.
Example:
• Obtain an IP address from a DHCP server:

ip address dhcp [setroute]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ip address dhcp
The setroute keyword lets the ASA use the default route supplied by the DHCP server.
Reenter this command to reset the DHCP lease and request a new lease.
If you do not enable the interface using the no shutdown command before you enter the ip address dhcp
command, some DHCP requests might not be sent.

Example:
The number is an integer between 0 (lowest) and 100 (highest).

To configure a global IPv6 address for any routed mode interface and for the transparent mode bridge group
interface and management interface, perform the following steps.
Note Configuring the global address automatically configures the link-local address, so you do not need to
configure it separately.
Note See IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, on page 729 to configure IPv6 neighbor discovery.
443
Before You Begin

Procedure

interface id
Example:
In transparent mode, specify the bridge group or the management interface.
Example:

• (Routed mode only) Enable stateless autoconfiguration on the interface:
ipv6 address autoconfig
Enabling stateless autoconfiguration on the interface configures IPv6 addresses based on prefixes received
in Router Advertisement messages. A link-local address, based on the Modified EUI-64 interface ID,
is automatically generated for the interface when stateless autoconfiguration is enabled.
Note Although RFC 4862 specifies that hosts configured for stateless autoconfiguration do not send
Router Advertisement messages, the ASA does send Router Advertisement messages in this
case. See the ipv6 nd suppress-ra command to suppress messages.
• Assign a global address to the interface:
ipv6 address ipv6-address/prefix-length [standby ipv6-address]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:0DB8::BA98:0:3210/48
When you assign a global address, the link-local address is automatically created for the interface.
standby specifies the interface address used by the secondary unit or failover group in a failover pair.
• (Routed mode only) Assign a global address to the interface by combining the specified prefix with an
interface ID generated from the interface MAC address using the Modified EUI-64 format:
ipv6 address ipv6-prefix/prefix-length eui-64
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 address 2001:0DB8::BA98::/48 eui-64
When you assign a global address, the link-local address is automatically created for the interface.
444
Monitoring Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces
You do not need to specify the standby address; the interface ID will be generated automatically.
Step 3 (Optional) Enforce the use of Modified EUI-64 format interface identifiers in IPv6 addresses on a local link:
ipv6 enforce-eui64 if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 enforce-eui64 inside
The if_name argument is the name of the interface, as specified by the nameif command, on which you are
enabling the address format enforcement.
Monitoring Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

You can monitor interface statistics, status, PPPoE.
Interface Statistics
• show interface
PPPoE
• show ip address interface_name pppoe
Displays the current PPPoE client configuration information.
• debug pppoe {event | error | packet}
Enables debugging for the PPPoE client.
• show vpdn session [l2tp | pppoe] [id sess_id | packets | state | window]
Views the status of PPPoE sessions.
The following examples show information provided by this command:
ciscoasa# show vpdn
Tunnel id 0, 1 active sessions

time since change 65862 secs
Remote Internet Address 10.0.0.1
Local Internet Address 199.99.99.3
6 packets sent, 6 received, 84 bytes sent, 0 received
Remote Internet Address is 10.0.0.1
Session state is SESSION_UP
Time since event change 65865 secs, interface outside
PPP interface id is 1
445
Examples for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces
ciscoasa#
ciscoasa# show vpdn session
PPPoE Session Information (Total tunnels=1 sessions=1)
Remote Internet Address is 10.0.0.1
Session state is SESSION_UP
Time since event change 65887 secs, interface outside
PPP interface id is 1
ciscoasa#
ciscoasa# show vpdn tunnel
PPPoE Tunnel Information (Total tunnels=1 sessions=1)
Tunnel id 0, 1 active sessions
time since change 65901 secs
Remote Internet Address 10.0.0.1
Local Internet Address 199.99.99.3
ciscoasa#
Examples for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

The following example for transparent mode includes two bridge groups of three interfaces each, plus a
management-only interface:

nameif inside1
security-level 100
bridge-group 1
no shutdown
nameif outside1
security-level 0
bridge-group 1
no shutdown
nameif dmz1
security-level 50
bridge-group 1
no shutdown
interface bvi 1

nameif inside2
security-level 100
bridge-group 2
no shutdown
nameif outside2
security-level 0
bridge-group 2
no shutdown
nameif dmz2
security-level 50
bridge-group 2
no shutdown
interface bvi 2

nameif mgmt
security-level 100
no shutdown
446
History for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces

Releases
IPv6 support for transparent mode 8.2(1) IPv6 support was introduced for transparent firewall mode.
Bridge groups for transparent mode 8.4(1) If you do not want the overhead of security contexts, or want
to maximize your use of security contexts, you can group
interfaces together in a bridge group, and then configure
multiple bridge groups, one for each network. Bridge group
traffic is isolated from other bridge groups. You can configure
up to eight bridge groups of four interfaces each in single mode
or per context.
We introduced the following commands: interface bvi, show
bridge-group.
Transparent mode bridge group maximum 9.3(1) The bridge group maximum was increased from 8 to 250 bridge
increased to 250 groups. You can configure up to 250 bridge groups in single
mode or per context in multiple mode, with 4 interfaces
maximum per bridge group.
We modified the following commands: interface bvi,
bridge-group.
447
448
CHAPTER 15
Advanced Interface Configuration
This chapter describes how to configure MAC addresses for interfaces, how to set the maximum transmission
unit (MTU), and set the TCP maximum segment size (TCP MSS), and how to allow same security level
communication. Setting the correct MTU and maximum TCP segment size is essential for the best network
performance.
Note For multiple context mode, complete the tasks in this section in the context execution space. Enter the
changeto contextname command to change to the context you want to configure.
• About Advanced Interface Configuration, page 449

• Configure the MAC Address, page 453
• Configure the MTU and TCP MSS, page 454
• Allow Same Security Level Communication, page 455
About Advanced Interface Configuration

This section describes advanced interface settings.
About MAC Addresses

By default, the physical interface uses the burned-in MAC address, and all subinterfaces of a physical interface
use the same burned-in MAC address.
For the ASASM, all VLANs use the same MAC address provided by the backplane.
A redundant interface uses the MAC address of the first physical interface that you add. If you change the
order of the member interfaces in the configuration, then the MAC address changes to match the MAC address
of the interface that is now listed first. If you assign a MAC address to the redundant interface using this
command, then it is used regardless of the member interface MAC addresses.
For an EtherChannel, all interfaces that are part of the channel group share the same MAC address. This
feature makes the EtherChannel transparent to network applications and users, because they only see the one
logical connection; they have no knowledge of the individual links. The port-channel interface uses the lowest
449
numbered channel group interface MAC address as the port-channel MAC address. Alternatively you can
manually configure a MAC address for the port-channel interface. In multiple context mode, you can
automatically assign unique MAC addresses to interfaces, including an EtherChannel port interface. We
recommend manually, or in multiple context mode, automatically configuring a unique MAC address in case
the group channel interface membership changes. If you remove the interface that was providing the
port-channel MAC address, then the port-channel MAC address changes to the next lowest numbered interface,
thus causing traffic disruption.
In multiple context mode, if you share an interface between contexts, you can assign a unique MAC address
to the interface in each context. This feature lets the ASA easily classify packets into the appropriate context.
Using a shared interface without unique MAC addresses is possible, but has some limitations. You can assign
each MAC address manually, or you can automatically generate MAC addresses for shared interfaces in
contexts. If you automatically generate MAC addresses, you can use this procedure to override the generated
address.
You might want to assign unique MAC addresses to subinterfaces. For example, your service provider might
perform access control based on the MAC address.
Related Topics
How the ASA Classifies Packets, on page 154
Assign MAC Addresses to Context Interfaces Automatically, on page 175
About the MTU

The MTU specifies the maximum frame payload size that the ASA can transmit on a given Ethernet interface.
The MTU value is the frame size without Ethernet headers or VLAN tagging. The Ethernet header is 14 bytes
and the VLAN tagging is 4 bytes. When you set the MTU to 1500, the expected frame size is 1518 bytes
including the headers. Do not set the MTU value higher to accommodate these headers.
Path MTU Discovery

The ASA supports Path MTU Discovery (as defined in RFC 1191), which lets all devices in a network path
between two hosts coordinate the MTU so they can standardize on the lowest MTU in the path.
Default MTU
The default MTU on the ASA is 1500 bytes. This value does not include the 18 bytes for the Ethernet header
or VLAN tagging.
When you enable VXLAN on the VTEP source interface, if the MTU is less than 1554 bytes, then the ASA
automatically raises the MTU to 1554 bytes. In this case, the entire Ethernet datagram is being encapsulated,
so the new packet is larger and requires a larger MTU. If the MTU used by other devices is larger, then you
should set the source interface MTU to be the network MTU + 54 bytes.
MTU and Fragmentation

For IPv4, if an outgoing IP packet is larger than the specified MTU, it is fragmented into 2 or more frames.
Fragments are reassembled at the destination (and sometimes at intermediate hops), and fragmentation can
cause performance degradation. For IPv6, packets are typically not allowed to be fragmented at all. Therefore,
your IP packets should fit within the MTU size to avoid fragmentation.
450
For TCP packets, the endpoints typically use their MTU to determine the TCP maximum segment size (MTU
- 40, for example). If additional TCP headers are added along the way, for example for site-to-site VPN
tunnels, then the TCP MSS might need to be adjusted down by the tunneling entity. See About the TCP MSS,
on page 451.
For UDP or ICMP, the application should take the MTU into account to avoid fragmentation.
Note The ASA can receive frames larger than the configured MTU as long as there is room in memory.
MTU and Jumbo Frames

A larger MTU lets you send larger packets. Larger packets might be more efficient for your network. See the
following guidelines:
• Matching MTUs on the traffic path—We recommend that you set the MTU on all ASA interfaces and
other device interfaces along the traffic path to be the same. Matching MTUs prevents intermediate
devices from fragmenting the packets.
• Accommodating jumbo frames—You can set the MTU up to 9198 bytes when you enable jumbo frames;
for the ASAv and the ASA on the FXOS chassis, the maximum is 9000.
About the TCP MSS

The TCP maximum segment size (MSS) is the size of the TCP payload before any TCP and IP headers are
added. UDP packets are not affected. The client and the server exchange TCP MSS values during the three-way
handshake when establishing the connection.
You can set the TCP MSS on the ASA for through traffic; by default, the maximum TCP MSS is set to 1380
bytes. This setting is useful when the ASA needs to add to the size of the packet for IPsec VPN encapsulation.
However, for non-IPsec endpoints, you should disable the maximum TCP MSS on the ASA.
If you set a maximum TCP MSS, if either endpoint of a connection requests a TCP MSS that is larger than
the value set on the ASA, then the ASA overwrites the TCP MSS in the request packet with the ASA maximum.
If the host or server does not request a TCP MSS, then the ASA assumes the RFC 793-default value of 536
bytes (IPv4) or 1220 bytes (IPv6), but does not modify the packet. For example, you leave the default MTU
as 1500 bytes. A host requests an MSS of 1500 minus the TCP and IP header length, which sets the MSS to
1460. If the ASA maximum TCP MSS is 1380 (the default), then the ASA changes the MSS value in the TCP
request packet to 1380. The server then sends packets with 1380-byte payloads. The ASA can then add up to
120 bytes of headers to the packet and still fit in the MTU size of 1500.
You can also configure the minimum TCP MSS; if a host or server requests a very small TCP MSS, the ASA
can adjust the value up. By default, the minimum TCP MSS is not enabled.
For to-the-box traffic, including for SSL VPN connections, this setting does not apply. The ASA uses the
MTU to derive the TCP MSS: MTU - 40 (IPv4) or MTU - 60 (IPv6).
Default TCP MSS

By default, the maximum TCP MSS on the ASA is 1380 bytes. This default accommodates IPv4 IPsec VPN
connections where the headers can equal up to 120 bytes; this value fits within the default MTU of 1500 bytes.
451
Suggested Maximum TCP MSS Setting

The default TCP MSS assumes the ASA acts as an IPv4 IPsec VPN endpoint and has an MTU of 1500. When
the ASA acts as an IPv4 IPsec VPN endpoint, it needs to accommodate up to 120 bytes for TCP and IP headers.
If you change the MTU value, use IPv6, or do not use the ASA as an IPsec VPN endpoint, then you should
change the TCP MSS setting. See the following guidelines:
• Normal traffic—Disable the TCP MSS limit and accept the value established between connection
endpoints. Because connection endpoints typically derive the TCP MSS from the MTU, non-IPsec
packets usually fit this TCP MSS.
• IPv4 IPsec endpoint traffic—Set the maximum TCP MSS to the MTU - 120. For example, if you use
jumbo frames and set the MTU to 9000, then you need to set the TCP MSS to 8880 to take advantage
of the new MTU.
• IPv6 IPsec endpoint traffic—Set the maximum TCP MSS to the MTU - 140.
Inter-Interface Communication
Allowing interfaces on the same security level to communicate with each other provides the following benefits:
• You can configure more than 101 communicating interfaces.
If you use different levels for each interface and do not assign any interfaces to the same security level,
you can configure only one interface per level (0 to 100).
• You want traffic to flow freely between all same security interfaces without ACLs.
If you enable same security interface communication, you can still configure interfaces at different security
levels as usual.
Intra-Interface Communication (Routed Firewall Mode)

Intra-interface communication might be useful for VPN traffic that enters an interface, but is then routed out
the same interface. The VPN traffic might be unencrypted in this case, or it might be reencrypted for another
VPN connection. For example, if you have a hub and spoke VPN network, where the ASA is the hub, and
remote VPN networks are spokes, for one spoke to communicate with another spoke, traffic must go into the
ASA and then out again to the other spoke.
Note All traffic allowed by this feature is still subject to firewall rules. Be careful not to create an asymmetric
routing situation that can cause return traffic not to traverse the ASA.
For the ASASM, before you can enable this feature, you must first correctly configure the MSFC so that
packets are sent to the ASA MAC address instead of being sent directly through the switch to the destination
host. The following figure shows a network where hosts on the same interface need to communicate.
452
Configure the MAC Address
The following sample configuration shows the Cisco IOS route-map commands used to enable policy routing
in the network shown in the figure:
route-map intra-inter3 permit 0

match ip address 103
set interface Vlan20
set ip next-hop 10.6.34.7
!
!
Configure the MAC Address

If you need to manually assign the MAC address, you can do so using this procedure.
Before You Begin

Procedure
453
Configure the MTU and TCP MSS
interface id
Example:
Step 2 Assign a private MAC address to this interface:

mac-address mac_address [standby mac_address]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# mac-address 000C.F142.4CDE
The mac_address is in H.H.H format, where H is a 16-bit hexadecimal digit. For example, the MAC address
00-0C-F1-42-4C-DE is entered as 000C.F142.4CDE.
The first two bytes of a manual MAC address cannot be A2 if you also want to use auto-generated MAC
addresses.
For use with failover, set the standby MAC address. If the active unit fails over and the standby unit becomes
active, the new active unit starts using the active MAC addresses to minimize network disruption, while the
old active unit uses the standby address.
Configure the MTU and TCP MSS

Before You Begin
• To increase the MTU above 1500, enable jumbo frames according to Enable Jumbo Frame Support, on
page 391. Jumbo frames are supported by default on the ASASM; you do not need to enable them.
Procedure
Step 1 Set the MTU between 300 and 9198 bytes (9000 for the ASAv and Firepower 9300 ASA security module):
mtu interface_name bytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mtu inside 9000
The default is 1500 bytes.

Note When you set the MTU for a redundant or port-channel interface, the ASA applies the setting to all
member interfaces.
For models that support jumbo frames, if you enter a value for any interface that is greater than 1500, then
you need to enable jumbo frame support. See Enable Jumbo Frame Support, on page 391.
454
Allow Same Security Level Communication
Step 2 Set the maximum TCP segment size in bytes, between 48 and any maximum number:
sysopt connection tcpmss [minimum] bytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# sysopt connection tcpmss 8500
ciscoasa(config)# sysopt connection tcpmss minimum 1290
The default value is 1380 bytes. You can disable this feature by setting bytes to 0.
For the minimum keyword, sets the maximum segment size to be no less than bytes, between 48 and 65535.
The minimum feature is disabled by default (set to 0).
Step 3 For ASA Cluster settings, see Configure Interfaces on the Primary Unit, on page 290.
Examples
The following example enables jumbo frames, increases the MTU on all interfaces, and disables the TCP
MSS for non-VPN traffic (by setting the TCP MSS to 0, which means there is no limit):
jumbo frame-reservation
mtu inside 9198
mtu outside 9198
sysopt connection tcpmss 0
The following example enables jumbo frames, increases the MTU on all interfaces, and changes the TCP
MSS for VPN traffic to 9078 (the MTU minus 120):
jumbo frame-reservation
mtu inside 9198
mtu outside 9198
sysopt connection tcpmss 9078

By default, interfaces on the same security level cannot communicate with each other, and packets cannot
enter and exit the same interface. This section describes how to enable inter-interface communication when
interfaces are on the same security level, and how to enable intra-interface communication.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable interfaces on the same security level so that they can communicate with each other:
Step 2 Enable communication between hosts connected to the same interface:

same-security-traffic permit intra-interface
455
456
CHAPTER 16
Traffic Zones
You can assign multiple interfaces to a traffic zone, which lets traffic from an existing flow exit or enter the
ASA on any interface within the zone. This capability allows Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing on the
ASA as well as external load balancing of traffic to the ASA across multiple interfaces.
• About Traffic Zones, page 457

• Prerequisites for Traffic Zones, page 463
• Guidelines for Traffic Zones, page 464
• Configure a Traffic Zone, page 465
• Monitoring Traffic Zones, page 466
• Example for Traffic Zones, page 468
• History for Traffic Zones, page 471
About Traffic Zones

This section describes how you should use traffic zones in your network.
Non-Zoned Behavior
The Adaptive Security Algorithm takes into consideration the state of a packet when deciding to permit or
deny the traffic. One of the enforced parameters for the flow is that traffic enters and exits the same interface.
Any traffic for an existing flow that enters a different interface is dropped by the ASA.
Traffic zones let you group multiple interfaces together so that traffic entering or exiting any interface in the
zone fulfills the Adaptive Security Algorithm security checks.
Related Topics
Stateful Inspection Overview, on page 16
Why Use Zones?

You can use zones to accommodate several routing scenarios.
457
About Traffic Zones
Asymmetric Routing
In the following scenario, a connection was established between an inside host and an outside host through
ISP 1 on the Outside1 interface. Due to asymmetric routing on the destination network, return traffic arrived
from ISP 2 on the Outside2 interface.
Non-Zoned Problem: The ASA maintains the connection tables on a per-interface basis. When the returning
traffic arrives at Outside2, it will not match the connection table and will be dropped.
Zoned Solution: The ASA maintains connection tables on a per-zone basis. If you group Outside1 and
Outside2 into a zone, then when the returning traffic arrives at Outside2, it will match the per-zone connection
table, and the connection will be allowed.
Lost Route
ISP 1 on the Outside1 interface. Due to a lost or moved route between Outside1 and ISP 1, traffic needs to
take a different route through ISP 2.
458
About Traffic Zones
Non-Zoned Problem: The connection between the inside and outside host will be deleted; a new connection
must be established using a new next-best route. For UDP, the new route will be used after a single packet
drop, but for TCP, a new connection has to be reestablished.
Zoned Solution: The ASA detects the lost route and switches the flow to the new path through ISP 2. Traffic
will be seamlessly forwarded without any packet drops.
Load Balancing
ISP 1 on the Outside1 interface. A second connection was established through an equal cost route through
ISP 2 on Outside2.
459
About Traffic Zones
Non-Zoned Problem: Load-balancing across interfaces is not possible; you can only load-balance with equal
cost routes on one interface.
Zoned Solution: The ASA load-balances connections across up to eight equal cost routes on all the interfaces
in the zone.
Per-Zone Connection and Routing Tables

The ASA maintains a per-zone connection table so that traffic can arrive on any of the zone interfaces. The
ASA also maintains a per-zone routing table for ECMP support.
ECMP Routing
The ASA supports Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing.
Non-Zoned ECMP Support

Without zones, you can have up to 3 equal cost static or dynamic routes per interface. For example, you can
configure three default routes on the outside interface that specify different gateways:
route outside 0 0 10.1.1.2

In this case, traffic is load-balanced on the outside interface between 10.1.1.2, 10.1.1.3, and 10.1.1.4. Traffic
is distributed among the specified gateways based on an algorithm that hashes the source and destination IP
addresses.
460
About Traffic Zones
ECMP is not supported across multiple interfaces, so you cannot define a route to the same destination on a
different interface. The following route is disallowed when configured with any of the routes above:
route outside2 0 0 10.2.1.1
Zoned ECMP Support

With zones, you can have up to 8 equal cost static or dynamic routes across up to 8 interfaces within a zone.
For example, you can configure three default routes across three interfaces in the zone:

Similarly, your dynamic routing protocol can automatically configure equal cost routes. The ASA load-balances
traffic across the interfaces with a more robust load balancing mechanism.
When a route is lost, the ASA seamlessly moves the flow to a different route.
How Connections Are Load-Balanced

The ASA load balances connections across equal cost routes using a hash made from the packet 6-tuple (source
and destination IP address, source and destination port, protocol, and ingress interface). Unless the route is
lost, a connection will stay on the chosen interface for its duration.
Packets within a connection are not load-balanced across routes; a connection uses a single route unless that
route is lost.
The ASA does not consider the interface bandwidth or other parameters when load balancing. You should
make sure all interfaces within the same zone have the same characteristics such as MTU, bandwidth, and so
on.
The load-balancing algorithm is not user configurable.
Falling Back to a Route in Another Zone

When a route is lost on an interface, if there are no other routes available within the zone, then the ASA will
use a route from a different interface/zone. If this backup route is used, then you may experience packet drops
as with non-zoned routing support.
Interface-Based Security Policy

Zones allow traffic to and from any interface in the zone, but the security policy itself (access rules, NAT,
and so on) is still applied per interface, not per zone. If you configure the same security policy for all interfaces
within the zone, then you can successfully implement ECMP and load balancing for that traffic. For more
information about required parallel interface configuration, see Prerequisites for Traffic Zones, on page 463.
Supported Services for Traffic Zones

The following services are supported with zones:
• Access Rules
461
About Traffic Zones
• NAT
• Service Rules, except for QoS traffic policing.
• Routing
You can also configure to- and from-the-box services listed in To- and From-the-Box Traffic, on page 462,
although full zoned support is not available.
Do not configure other services (such as VPN or Botnet Traffic Filter) for interfaces in a traffic zone; they
may not function or scale as expected.
Note For detailed information about how to configure the security policy, see Prerequisites for Traffic Zones,
on page 463.
Security Levels
The first interface that you add to a zone determines the security level of the zone. All additional interfaces
must have the same security level. To change the security level for interfaces in a zone, you must remove all
but one interface, and then change the security levels, and re-add the interfaces.
Primary and Current Interface for the Flow

Each connection flow is built based on the initial ingress and egress interfaces. These interfaces are the primary
interfaces.
If a new egress interface is used because of route changes or asymmetric routing, then the new interfaces are
the current interfaces.
Joining or Leaving a Zone

When you assign an interface to a zone, any connections on that interface are deleted. The connections must
be reestablished.
If you remove an interface from a zone, any connections that have the interface as the primary interface are
deleted. The connections must be reestablished. If the interface is the current interface, the ASA moves the
connections back to the primary interface. The zone route table is also refreshed.
Intra-Zone Traffic
To allow traffic to enter one interface and exit another in the same zone, enable the same-security permit
intra-interface command, which allows traffic to enter and exit the same interface, as well as the same-security
permit inter-interface command, which allows traffic between same-security interfaces. Otherwise, a flow
cannot be routed between two interfaces in the same zone.
To- and From-the-Box Traffic

• You cannot add management-only or management-access interfaces to a zone.
462
Prerequisites for Traffic Zones
• For management traffic on regular interfaces in a zone, only asymmetric routing on existing flows is
supported; there is no ECMP support.
• You can configure a management service on only one zone interface, but to take advantage of asymmetric
routing support, you need to configure it on all interfaces. Even when the configurations are parallel on
all interfaces, ECMP is not supported.
• The ASA supports the following to- and from-the-box services in a zone:
◦Telnet
◦SSH
◦HTTPS
◦SNMP
◦Syslog
Overlapping IP Addresses Within a Zone

For non-zoned interfaces, the ASA supports overlapping IP address networks on interfaces so long as you
configure NAT properly. However, overlapping networks are not supported on interfaces in the same zone.
Prerequisites for Traffic Zones

• Configure all interface parameters including the name, IP address, and security level. Note that the
security level must match for all interfaces in the zone. You should plan to group together like interfaces
in terms of bandwidth and other Layer 2 properties.
• Configure the following services to match on all zone interfaces:
◦Access Rules—Apply the same access rule to all zone member interfaces, or use a global access
rule.
For example:
access-list ZONE1 extended permit tcp any host WEBSERVER1 eq 80

access-group ZONE1 in interface outside1
◦NAT—Configure the same NAT policy on all member interfaces of the zone or use a global NAT
rule (in other words, use “any” to represent the zone interfaces in the NAT rule).
Interface PAT is not supported.
For example:
object network WEBSERVER1

host 10.9.9.9 255.255.255.255
nat (inside,any) static 209.165.201.9
463
Guidelines for Traffic Zones
Note When you use interface-specific NAT and PAT pools, the ASA cannot switch connections
over in case of the original interface failure.
If you use interface-specific PAT pools, multiple connections from the same host might
load-balance to different interfaces and use different mapped IP addresses. Internet
services that use multiple concurrent connections may not work correctly in this case.
◦Service Rules—Use the global service policy, or assign the same policy to each interface in a zone.
QoS traffic policing is not supported.
For example:
service-policy outside_policy interface outside1

Note For VoIP inspections, zone load balancing can cause increased out-of-order packets.
This situation can occur because later packets might reach the ASA before earlier packets
that take a different path. Symptoms of out-of-order packets include:
• Higher memory utilization at intermediate nodes (firewall and IDS) and the
receiving end nodes if queuing is used.
• Poor video or voice quality.
To mitigate these effects, we recommend that you use IP addresses only for load
distribution for VoIP traffic.
• Configure routing with ECMP zone capabilities in mind.
Guidelines for Traffic Zones

Firewall Mode
Supported in routed firewall mode only. Does not support transparent firewall mode.
Failover
• You cannot add the failover or state link to a zone.
• In Active/Active failover mode, you can assign an interface in each context to an asymmetrical routing
(ASR) group. This service allows traffic returning on a similar interface on the peer unit to be restored
to the original unit. You cannot configure both ASR groups and traffic zones within a context. If you
configure a zone in a context, none of the context interfaces can be part of an ASR group. See Configure
Support for Asymmetrically Routed Packets (Active/Active Mode), on page 233 for more information
about ASR groups.
464
Configure a Traffic Zone
• Only the primary interfaces for each connection are replicated to the standby unit; current interfaces are
not replicated. If the standby unit becomes active, it will assign a new current interface if necessary.
Clustering
• You cannot add the cluster control link to a zone.
• You can create a maximum of 256 zones.
• You can add the following types of interfaces to a zone:
◦Physical
◦VLAN
◦EtherChannel
◦Redundant
• You cannot add the following types of interfaces:

◦Management-only
◦Management-access
◦Failover or state link
◦Cluster control link
◦Member interfaces in an EtherChannel or redundant interface
◦VNI; also, if a regular data interface is marked as nve-only, it cannot be a member of a zone.
• An interface can be a member of only one zone.

• You can include up to 8 interfaces per zone.
• For ECMP, you can add up to 8 equal cost routes per zone, across all zone interfaces. You can also
configure multiple routes on a single interface as part of the 8 route limit.
Configure a Traffic Zone

Configure a named zone, and assign interfaces to the zone.
Procedure
Step 1 Add the zone:

zone name
465
Monitoring Traffic Zones
Example:
zone outside
The zone name can be up to 48 characters in length.
Step 2 Add an interface to the zone:

interface id zone-member zone_name
Example:
zone-member outside
Step 3 Add more interfaces to the zone; ensure they have the same security level as the first interface you added.
Example:
zone-member outside
zone-member outside
zone-member outside
Examples
The following example configures an outside zone with 4 member interfaces:
zone outside
zone-member outside
zone-member outside
zone-member outside
zone-member outside

This section describes how to monitor traffic zones.
Zone Information
• show zone [name]
Shows zone ID, context, security level, and members.
See the following output for the show zone command:
ciscoasa# show zone outside-zone
466
Zone: zone-outside id: 2

Security-level: 0
Context: test-ctx
Zone Member(s) : 2
outside1 GigabitEthernet0/0
outside2 GigabitEthernet0/1
• show nameif zone

Shows the interface names and zone names.
See the following output for the show nameif zone command:
ciscoasa# show nameif zone

Interface Name zone-name Security
GigabitEthernet0/0 inside-1 inside-zone 100
GigabitEthernet0/1.21 inside inside-zone 100
GigabitEthernet0/1.31 4 0
GigabitEthernet0/2 outside outside-zone 0
Management0/0 lan 0
Zone Connections
• show conn [long | detail] [zone zone_name [zone zone_name] [...]]
The show conn zone command displays connections for a zone. The long and detail keywords show
the primary interface on which the connection was built and the current interface used to forward the
traffic.
See the following output for the show conn long zone command:
ciscoasa# show conn long zone zone-inside zone zone-outside
TCP outside-zone:outside1(outside2): 10.122.122.1:1080

inside-zone:inside1(inside2): 10.121.121.1:34254, idle 0:00:02, bytes 10, flags UO
• show asp table zone

Shows the accelerated security path tables for debugging purposes.
• show local-host [zone zone_name [zone zone_name] [...]]
Shows the network states of local hosts within a zone.
See the following output for the show local-host zone command. The primary interface is listed first,
and the current interface is in parentheses.
ciscoasa# show local-host zone outside-zone
Zone:outside-zone: 4 active, 5 maximum active, 0 denied

local host: <10.122.122.1>,
TCP flow count/limit = 3/unlimited
TCP embryonic count to host = 0
TCP intercept watermark = unlimited
UDP flow count/limit = 0/unlimited
Conn:
TCP outside-zone:outside1(outside2): 10.122.122.1:1080
inside-zone:inside1(inside2): 10.121.121.1:34254, idle 0:00:02, bytes 10, flags UO
467
Example for Traffic Zones
Zone Routing
• show route zone
Shows the routes for zone interfaces.
See the following output for the show route zone command:
ciscoasa# show route zone
Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, ia - IS-IS inter area
* - candidate default, U - per-user static route, o - ODR
P - periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is not set
S 192.168.105.1 255.255.255.255 [1/0] via 172.16.1.1, outside-zone:outside1

C 192.168.212.0 255.255.255.0 is directly connected, lan-zone:inside,
C 172.16.1.0 255.255.255.0 is directly connected, wan-zone:outside2
S 10.5.5.0 255.255.255.0 [1/0] via 172.16.1.1, wan-zone:outside2
O 10.2.2.1 255.255.255.255 [110/11] via 192.168.212.3, 2:09:24, lan-zone:inside
O 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.255 [110/11] via 192.168.212.2, 2:09:24, lan-zone:inside
• show asp table routing

Shows the accelerated security path tables for debugging purposes, and shows the zone associated with
each route.
See the following output for the show asp table routing command:
ciscoasa# show asp table routing

route table timestamp: 60
in 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.1.0.1 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.2.0.1 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.6.6.4 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.4.4.4 255.255.255.255 via 10.4.0.10 (unresolved, timestamp: 49)
in 172.0.0.67 255.255.255.255 identity
in 172.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 wan-zone:outside2
in 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 mgmt
in 192.168.1.0 255.255.0.0 lan-zone:inside
out 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 mgmt
out 172.0.0.67 255.255.255.255 mgmt
out 172.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 mgmt
out 10.4.0.0 240.0.0.0 mgmt
out 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 lan-zone:inside

The following example assigns 4 VLAN interfaces to the outside zone, and configures 4 equal cost default
routes. PAT is configured for the inside interface, and a web server is available on a DMZ interface using
static NAT.
468
no shutdown
description outside switch 1
no shutdown
description outside switch 2
no shutdown
description inside switch
zone outside
vlan 101
nameif outside1
security-level 0
ip address 209.165.200.225 255.255.255.224
zone-member outside
no shutdown
vlan 102
nameif outside2
security-level 0
ip address 209.165.201.1 255.255.255.224
zone-member outside
no shutdown
vlan 201
nameif outside3
security-level 0
ip address 198.51.100.1 255.255.255.0
zone-member outside
no shutdown
vlan 202
nameif outside4
security-level 0
ip address 203.0.113.1 255.255.255.0
469
zone-member outside
no shutdown
vlan 301
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.9.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
vlan 302
nameif dmz
security-level 50
ip address 10.3.5.1 255.255.255.0
no shutdown
# Static NAT for DMZ web server on any destination interface

object network WEBSERVER
host 10.3.5.9 255.255.255.255
nat (dmz,any) static 209.165.202.129 dns
# Dynamic PAT for inside network on any destination interface

object network INSIDE
subnet 192.168.9.0 255.255.255.0
nat (inside,any) dynamic 209.165.202.130
# Global access rule for DMZ web server

access-list WEB-SERVER extended permit tcp any host WEBSERVER eq 80
access-group WEB-SERVER global
# 4 equal cost default routes for outside interfaces

route outside1 0 0 209.165.200.230
route outside2 0 0 209.165.201.10
route outside3 0 0 198.51.100.99
route outside4 0 0 203.0.113.87
# Static routes for NAT addresses - see redistribute static command
route dmz 209.165.202.129 255.255.255.255 10.3.5.99
route inside 209.165.202.130 255.255.255.255 192.168.9.99
# The global service policy

class-map inspection_default
match default-inspection-traffic
policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map
parameters
message-length maximum client auto
message-length maximum 512
dns-guard
protocol-enforcement
nat-rewrite
inspect dns preset_dns_map
inspect ftp
inspect h323 h225 _default_h323_map
inspect h323 ras _default_h323_map
inspect ip-options _default_ip_options_map
inspect netbios
inspect rsh
inspect rtsp
inspect skinny
inspect esmtp _default_esmtp_map
inspect sqlnet
inspect sunrpc
inspect tftp
inspect sip
inspect xdmcp
service-policy global_policy global
470
History for Traffic Zones

Releases
Traffic Zones 9.3(2) You can group interfaces together into a traffic zone to
accomplish traffic load balancing (using Equal Cost Multi-Path
(ECMP) routing), route redundancy, and asymmetric routing
across multiple interfaces.
Note You cannot apply a security policy to a named zone;
the security policy is interface-based. When interfaces
in a zone are configured with the same access rule,
NAT, and service policy, then load-balancing and
asymmetric routing operate correctly.
We introduced or modified the following commands: zone,
zone-member, show running-config zone, clear configure
zone, show zone, show asp table zone, show nameif zone,
show conn long, show local-host zone, show route zone, show
asp table routing, clear conn zone, clear local-host zone.
471
472
PART IV
Basic Settings
• Basic Settings, page 475
• DHCP and DDNS Services, page 495
• Digital Certificates, page 513
CHAPTER 17
Basic Settings
This chapter describes how to configure basic settings on the ASA that are typically required for a functioning
configuration.
• Set the Hostname, Domain Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords, page 475
• Recover Enable and Telnet Passwords, page 477
• Set the Date and Time, page 482
• Configure the Master Passphrase, page 485
• Configure the DNS Server, page 489
• Configure the Hardware Bypass (Cisco ISA 3000), page 490
• Adjust ASP (Accelerated Security Path) Performance and Behavior, page 492
• Monitoring the DNS Cache, page 493
• History for Basic Settings, page 494
Set the Hostname, Domain Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords
To set the hostname, domain name, and the enable and Telnet passwords, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Before you set the hostname, domain name, and the enable and Telnet passwords, check the following
requirements:
• In multiple context mode, you can configure the hostname and domain name in both the system and
context execution spaces.
• For the enable and Telnet passwords, set them in each context; they are not available in the system.
When you session to the ASASM from the switch in multiple context mode, the ASASM uses the login
password you set in the admin context.
• To change from the system to a context configuration, enter the changeto context name command.
475
Set the Hostname, Domain Name, and the Enable and Telnet Passwords
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the hostname for the ASA or for a context. The default hostname is “asa.”
hostname name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hostname myhostnamexample12345
This name can be up to 63 characters. The hostname must start and end with a letter or digit, and have only
letters, digits, or a hyphen.
When you set a hostname for the ASA, that name appears in the command line prompt. If you establish
sessions to multiple devices, the hostname helps you keep track of where you enter commands.
For multiple context mode, the hostname that you set in the system execution space appears in the command
line prompt for all contexts. The hostname that you optionally set within a context does not appear in the
command line, but can be used by the banner command $(hostname) token.
Step 2 Specify the domain name for the ASA. The default domain name is default.domain.invalid.
domain-name name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# domain-name example.com
The ASA appends the domain name as a suffix to unqualified names. For example, if you set the domain
name to “example.com” and specify a syslog server by the unqualified name of “jupiter,” then the ASA qualifies
the name to “jupiter.example.com.”
Step 3 Change the enable password. By default, the enable password is blank.
The enable password lets you enter privileged EXEC mode if you do not configure enable authentication.
The enable password also lets you log into ASDM with a blank username if you do not configure HTTP
authentication.
enable password password
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# enable passwd Pa$$w0rd
The password argument is a case-sensitive password of up to 16 alphanumeric and special characters. You
can use any character in the password except a question mark or a space.
This command changes the password for the highest privilege level (15). If you configure local command
authorization, you can set enable passwords for each privilege level from 0 to 15 using the following syntax:
enable password password level number
The password is saved in the configuration in encrypted form, so you cannot view the original password after
you enter it. Enter the enable password command without a password to set the password to the default,
which is blank.
Step 4 Set the login password for Telnet access. There is no default password.
476
Recover Enable and Telnet Passwords
The login password is used for Telnet access when you do not configure Telnet authentication. You also use
this password when accessing the ASASM from the switch with the session command.
{passwd | password} password [encrypted]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password cisco12345
You can enter passwd or password. The password is a case-sensitive password of up to 16 alphanumeric and
special characters. You can use any character in the password except a question mark or a space.
The password is saved in the configuration in encrypted form, so you cannot view the original password after
you enter it. If for some reason you need to copy the password to another ASA but do not know the original
password, you can enter the passwd command with the encrypted password and the encrypted keyword.
Normally, you only see this keyword when you enter the show running-config passwd command.

If you forget the enable or Telnet passwords, you can recover them. The procedure differs by device type.
You must perform the task using the CLI.
Recover Passwords on the ASA

To recover passwords for the ASA, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port.

Step 2 Power off the ASA, then power it on.
Step 3 After startup, press the Escape key when you are prompted to enter ROMMON mode.
Step 4 To update the configuration register value, enter the following command:
rommon #1> confreg 0x41

Update Config Register (0x41) in NVRAM...
Step 5 To set the ASA to ignore the startup configuration, enter the following command:
rommon #1> confreg
The ASA displays the current configuration register value, and asks whether you want to change it:
Current Configuration Register: 0x00000041

Configuration Summary:
boot default image from Flash
ignore system configuration
477
Do you wish to change this configuration? y/n [n]: y
Step 6 Record the current configuration register value, so you can restore it later.
Step 7 At the prompt, enter Y to change the value.
The ASA prompts you for new values.
Step 8 Accept the default values for all settings, except for the "disable system configuration?" value.
Step 9 At the prompt, enter Y.
Step 10 Reload the ASA by entering the following command:
rommon #2> boot

Launching BootLoader...
Boot configuration file contains 1 entry.
Loading disk0:/asa800-226-k8.bin... Booting...Loading...
The ASA loads the default configuration instead of the startup configuration.
Step 11 Access the privileged EXEC mode by entering the following command:
ciscoasa# enable
Step 12 When prompted for the password, press Enter.

The password is blank.
Step 13 Load the startup configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa# copy startup-config running-config
Step 14 Access the global configuration mode by entering the following command:
Step 15 Change the passwords, as required, in the default configuration by entering the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# password password

ciscoasa(config)# enable password password
ciscoasa(config)# username name password password
Step 16 Load the default configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# no config-register
The default configuration register value is 0x1. See the command reference for more information about the
configuration register.
Step 17 Save the new passwords to the startup configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# copy running-config startup-config
478
Recover Passwords on the ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X
To recover passwords for the ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port.

Step 3 After startup, press the Escape key when you are prompted to enter ROMMON mode.
Step 4 To update the configuration register value, enter the following command:
rommon #1> confreg 0x41
You must reset or power cycle for new config to take effect
The ASA displays the current configuration register value and a list of configuration options. Record the
current configuration register value, so you can restore it later.
Configuration Register: 0x00000041
Configuration Summary
[ 0 ] password recovery
[ 1 ] display break prompt
[ 2 ] ignore system configuration
[ 3 ] auto-boot image in disks
[ 4 ] console baud: 9600
boot: ...... auto-boot index 1 image in disks
Step 5 Reload the ASA by entering the following command:
rommon #2> boot

Launching BootLoader...
Boot configuration file contains 1 entry.
Loading disk0:/asa932-226-k8.bin... Booting...Loading...
The ASA loads the default configuration instead of the startup configuration.
Step 6 Access the privileged EXEC mode by entering the following command:
ciscoasa# enable
Step 7 When prompted for the password, press Enter.

The password is blank.
Step 8 Load the startup configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa# copy startup-config running-config
479
Step 9 Access the global configuration mode by entering the following command:
Step 10 Change the passwords, as required, in the default configuration by entering the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# password password

ciscoasa(config)# enable password password
ciscoasa(config)# username name password password
Step 11 Load the default configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# no config-register
The default configuration register value is 0x1. See the command reference for more information about the
configuration register.
Step 12 Save the new passwords to the startup configuration by entering the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# copy running-config startup-config
Recover Passwords or Images on the ASAv

To recover passwords or images on the ASAv, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Copy the running configuration to a backup file on the ASAv:

copy running-config filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy running-config backup.cfg
Step 2 Restart the ASAv:

reload
Step 3 From the GNU GRUB menu, press the down arrow, choose the <filename> with no configuration load
option, then press Enter. The filename is the default boot image filename on the ASAv. The default boot
image is never automatically booted through the fallback command. Then load the selected boot image.
GNU GRUB version 2.0(12)4

bootflash:/asa100123-20-smp-k8.bin
bootflash: /asa100123-20-smp-k8.bin with no configuration load
480
Example:
GNU GRUB version 2.0(12)4
bootflash: /asa100123-20-smp-k8.bin with no configuration load
Step 4 Copy the backup configuration file to the running configuration.

copy filename running-config
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# copy backup.cfg running-config
Step 5 Reset the password.

enable password
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# enable password cisco123
Step 6 Save the new configuration.

write memory
Example:
Disable Password Recovery
Note You cannot disable password recovery on the ASAv.
To disable password recovery to ensure that unauthorized users cannot use the password recovery mechanism
to compromise the ASA, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

On the ASA, the no service password-recovery command prevents you from entering ROMMON mode
with the configuration intact. When you enter ROMMON mode, the ASA prompts you to erase all Flash file
systems. You cannot enter ROMMON mode without first performing this erasure. If you choose not to erase
the Flash file system, the ASA reloads. Because password recovery depends on using ROMMON mode and
maintaining the existing configuration, this erasure prevents you from recovering a password. However,
disabling password recovery prevents unauthorized users from viewing the configuration or inserting different
passwords. In this case, to restore the system to an operating state, load a new image and a backup configuration
file, if available.
The service password-recovery command appears in the configuration file for information only. When you
enter the command at the CLI prompt, the setting is saved in NVRAM. The only way to change the setting
is to enter the command at the CLI prompt. Loading a new configuration with a different version of the
481
Set the Date and Time
command does not change the setting. If you disable password recovery when the ASA is configured to ignore
the startup configuration at startup (in preparation for password recovery), then the ASA changes the setting
to load the startup configuration as usual. If you use failover, and the standby unit is configured to ignore the
startup configuration, then the same change is made to the configuration register when the no service password-
recovery command replicates to the standby unit.
Procedure
Disable password recovery.

no service password-recovery
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# no service password-recovery
Note Do not set the date and time for the ASASM or the Firepower 9300 ASA security module; they receive
these settings from the host device.
Set the Time Zone and Daylight Savings Dates

To set the time zone and date range, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Set the time zone. By default, the time zone is UTC and the daylight saving time date range is from 2:00 a.m.
on the first Sunday in April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
clock timezone zone [-]hours [minutes]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clock timezone PST -8
The zone argument specifies the time zone as a string, for example, PST for Pacific Standard Time.
The [-]hours value sets the number of hours of offset from UTC. For example, PST is -8 hours.
The minutes value sets the number of minutes of offset from UTC.
Step 2 Enter one of the following commands to change the date range for daylight saving time from the default. The
default recurring date range is from 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March to 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday
in November.
• Set the start and end dates for daylight saving time as a specific date in a specific year. If you use this
command, you need to reset the dates every year.
482
clock summer-time zone date {day month | month day} year hh:mm {day month | month day} year
hh:mm [offset]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clock summer-time PDT 1 April 2010 2:00 60
The zone value specifies the time zone as a string, for example, PDT for Pacific Daylight Time.
The day value sets the day of the month, from 1 to 31. You can enter the day and month as April 1 or
as 1 April, for example, depending on your standard date format.
The month value sets the month as a string. You can enter the day and month as April 1 or as 1 April,
depending on your standard date format.
The year value sets the year using four digits, for example, 2004. The year range is 1993 to 2035.
The hh:mm value sets the hour and minutes in 24-hour time.
The offset value sets the number of minutes to change the time for daylight saving time. By default, the
value is 60 minutes.
• Specify the start and end dates for daylight saving time, in the form of a day and time of the month, and
not a specific date in a year. This command enables you to set a recurring date range that you do not
need to change yearly.
clock summer-time zone recurring [week weekday month hh:mm week weekday month hh:mm] [offset]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clock summer-time PDT recurring first Monday April 2:00 60
The zone value specifies the time zone as a string, for example, PDT for Pacific Daylight Time.
The week value specifies the week of the month as an integer between 1 and 4 or as the words first or
last. For example, if the day might fall in the partial fifth week, then specify last.
The weekday value specifies the day of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on.
The month value sets the month as a string.
The hh:mm value sets the hour and minutes in 24-hour time.
The offset value sets the number of minutes to change the time for daylight savings time. By default,
the value is 60 minutes.
Set the Date and Time Using an NTP Server

NTP is used to implement a hierarchical system of servers that provide a precisely synchronized time among
network systems. This kind of accuracy is required for time-sensitive operations, such as validating CRLs,
which include a precise time stamp. You can configure multiple NTP servers. The ASA chooses the server
with the lowest stratum—a measure of how reliable the data is.
Time derived from an NTP server overrides any time set manually.
483
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, you can set the time in the system configuration only.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable authentication with an NTP server.

ntp authenticate
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ntp authenticate
Step 2 Specify an authentication key ID to be a trusted key, which is required for authentication with an NTP server.
ntp trusted-key key_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ntp trusted-key 1
The key_id argument is a value between 1 and 4294967295. You can enter multiple trusted keys for use with
multiple servers.
Step 3 Set a key to authenticate with an NTP server.

ntp authentication-key key_id md5 key
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ntp authentication-key 1 md5 aNiceKey
The key_id argument is the ID that you set using the ntp trusted-key command, and the key argument is a
string up to 32 characters long.
Step 4 Identify an NTP server.

ntp server ip_address [key key_id] [source interface_name] [prefer]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ntp server 10.1.1.1 key 1 prefer
The key_id argument is the ID that you set using the ntp trusted-key command.
The source interface_name keyword-argument pair identifies the outgoing interface for NTP packets if you
do not want to use the default interface in the routing table. Because the system does not include any interfaces
in multiple context mode, specify an interface name defined in the admin context.
The prefer keyword sets this NTP server as the preferred server if multiple servers have similar accuracy.
NTP uses an algorithm to determine which server is the most accurate and synchronizes to that one. If servers
are of similar accuracy, then the prefer keyword specifies which of those servers to use. However, if a server
is significantly more accurate than the preferred one, the ASA uses the more accurate one. For example, the
ASA uses a server of stratum 2 over a server of stratum 3 that is preferred.
You can identify multiple servers; the ASA uses the most accurate server.
484
Configure the Master Passphrase
Set the Date and Time Manually

To set the date and time manually, perform the following steps:
Before You Begin

In multiple context mode, you can set the time in the system configuration only.
Procedure
Set the date time manually.

clock set hh:mm:ss {month day | day month} year
Example:
ciscoasa# clock set 20:54:00 april 1 2004
The hh:mm:ss argument sets the hour, minutes, and seconds in 24-hour time. For example, enter 20:54:00 for
8:54 pm.
The day value sets the day of the month, from 1 to 31. You can enter the day and month as april 1 or as 1
april, for example, depending on your standard date format.
The month value sets the month. Depending on your standard date format, you can enter the day and month
as april 1 or as 1 april.
The year value sets the year using four digits, for example, 2004. The year range is from 1993 to 2035.
The default time zone is UTC. If you change the time zone after you enter the clock set command using the
clock timezone command, the time automatically adjusts to the new time zone.
This command sets the time in the hardware chip, and does not save the time in the configuration file. This
time endures reboots. Unlike the other clock commands, this command is a privileged EXEC command. To
reset the clock, you need to set a new time with the clock set command.

The master passphrase allows you to securely store plain text passwords in encrypted format and provides a
key that is used to universally encrypt or mask all passwords, without changing any functionality. Features
that use the master passphrase include the following:
• OSPF
• EIGRP
• VPN (remote access and site-to-site)
• Failover
• AAA servers
485
• Logging
• Shared licenses
Note If failover is enabled but no failover shared key is set, an error message appears if you change the master
passphrase, informing you that you must enter a failover shared key to protect the master passphrase
changes from being sent as plain text.
Add or Change the Master Passphrase

To add or change the master passphrase, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

This procedure will only be accepted in a secure session, for example by console, SSH, or ASDM via HTTPS.
Procedure
Step 1 Set the passphrase used for generating the encryption key. The passphrase must be between 8 and 128 characters
long. All characters except a backspace and double quotes are accepted for the passphrase. If you do not enter
the new passphrase in the command, you are prompted for it. To change the passphrase, you must enter the
old passphrase.
key config-key password-encryption [new_passphrase [old_passphrase]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# key config-key password-encryption
Old key: bumblebee
New key: haverford
Confirm key: haverford
Note Use the interactive prompts to enter passwords to avoid having the passwords logged in the command
history buffer.
Use the no key config-key password-encrypt command with caution, because it changes the encrypted
passwords into plain text passwords. You may use the no form of this command when downgrading to a
software version that does not support password encryption.
Step 2 Enable password encryption.

password encryption aes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password encryption aes
As soon as password encryption is enabled and the master passphrase is available, all the user passwords will
be encrypted. The running configuration will show the passwords in the encrypted format.
If the passphrase is not configured at the time that password encryption is enabled, the command will succeed
in anticipation that the passphrase will be available in the future.
486
If you later disable password encryption using the no password encryption aes command, all existing
encrypted passwords are left unchanged, and as long as the master passphrase exists, the encrypted passwords
will be decrypted, as required by the application.
Step 3 Save the runtime value of the master passphrase and the resulting configuration.
write memory
Example:
If you do not enter this command, passwords in startup configuration may still be visible if they were not
saved with encryption previously. In addition, in multiple context mode the master passphrase is changed in
the system context configuration. As a result, the passwords in all contexts will be affected. If the write memory
command is not entered in the system context mode, but not in all user contexts, then the encrypted passwords
in user contexts may be stale. Alternatively, use the write memory all command in the system context to save
all configurations.
Examples
The following example shows that no previous key was present:
ciscoasa(config)# key config-key password-encryption 12345678
The following example shows that a key already exists:
ciscoasa(config)# key config-key password-encryption 23456789

Old key: 12345678
In the following example, you enter the command without parameters so that you will be prompted for keys.
Because a key already exists, you are prompted for it.

Old key: 12345678
New key: 23456789
Confirm key: 23456789
In the following example, there is no existing key, so you are not prompted to supply it.

New key: 12345678
Confirm key: 12345678
Disable the Master Passphrase

Disabling the master passphrase reverts encrypted passwords into plain text passwords. Removing the passphrase
might be useful if you downgrade to a previous software version that does not support encrypted passwords.
Before You Begin

• You must know the current master passphrase to disable it. See Remove the Master Passphrase, on page
488 if you do not know the passphrase.
487
• This procedure works only in a secure session; that is, by Telnet, SSH, or ASDM via HTTPS.
To disable the master passphrase, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Remove the master passphrase. If you do not enter the passphrase in the command, you are prompted for it.
no key config-key password-encryption [old_passphrase]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# no key config-key password-encryption
Warning! You have chosen to revert the encrypted passwords to plain text.
This operation will expose passwords in the configuration and therefore
exercise caution while viewing, storing, and copying configuration.
Old key: bumblebee
Step 2 Save the runtime value of the master passphrase and the resulting configuration.
write memory
Example:
The non-volatile memory containing the passphrase will be erased and overwritten with the 0xFF pattern.
In multiple mode, the master passphrase is changed in the system context configuration. As a result, the
passwords in all contexts will be affected. If the write memory command is entered in the system context
mode, but not in all user contexts, then the encrypted passwords in user contexts may be stale. Alternatively,
use the write memory all command in the system context to save all configurations.
Remove the Master Passphrase

You cannot recover the master passphrase. If the master passphrase is lost or unknown, you can remove it.
To remove the master passphrase, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Remove the master key and the configuration that includes the encrypted passwords.
write erase
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# write erase
Step 2 Reload the ASA with the startup configuration, without any master key or encrypted passwords.
488
Configure the DNS Server
reload
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# reload
Configure the DNS Server

You need to configure DNS servers so that the ASA can resolve host names to IP addresses. You also must
configure DNS servers to use fully qualified domain names (FQDN) network objects in access rules.
Some ASA features require use of a DNS server to access external servers by domain name; for example, the
Botnet Traffic Filter feature requires a DNS server to access the dynamic database server and to resolve entries
in the static database. Other features, such as the ping or traceroute command, let you enter a name that you
want to ping or traceroute, and the ASA can resolve the name by communicating with a DNS server. Many
SSL VPN and certificate commands also support names.
Note The ASA has limited support for using the DNS server, depending on the feature. For example, most
commands require you to enter an IP address and can only use a name when you manually configure the
name command to associate a name with an IP address and enable use of the names using the names
command.
Before You Begin

Make sure that you configure the appropriate routing and access rules for any interface on which you enable
DNS domain lookup so you can reach the DNS server.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the ASA to send DNS requests to a DNS server to perform a name lookup for supported commands.
dns domain-lookup interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dns domain-lookup inside
Step 2 Specify the DNS server group that the ASA uses for outgoing requests.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dns server-group DefaultDNS
Other DNS server groups can be configured for VPN tunnel groups. See the tunnel-group command in the
command reference for more information.
489
Configure the Hardware Bypass (Cisco ISA 3000)
Step 3 Specify one or more DNS servers. You may enter all six IP addresses in the same command, separated by
spaces, or you can enter each command separately. The ASA tries each DNS server in order until it receives
a response.
name-server ip_address [ip_address2] [...] [ip_address6] [interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-dns-server-group)# name-server 10.1.1.5 192.168.1.67 209.165.201.6 dmz
(Optional) Specify the interface_name through which the ASA communicates with the server. If you do not
specify the interface, the ASA checks the management-only routing table; if there are no matches, it then
checks the data routing table.
Step 4 (Optional.) Configure additional properties of the DNS server group.

Use the following commands to change the characteristics of the group, if the default settings are not appropriate
for your network.
• timeout seconds—The number of seconds, from 1 to 30, to wait before trying the next DNS server. The
default is 2 seconds. Each time the ASA retries the list of servers, this timeout doubles.
• retries number—The number of times, from 0 to 10, to retry the list of DNS servers when the ASA does
not receive a response.
• expire-entry-timer minutes number—The number of minutes after a DNS entry expires (that is, the
TTL has passed) that the entry is removed from the DNS lookup table. Removing an entry requires that
the table be recompiled, so frequent removals can increase the processing load on the device. Because
some DNS entries can have very short TTL (as short as three seconds), you can use this setting to virtually
extend the TTL. The default is 1 minute (that is, the entry is removed one minute after the TTL has
passed). The range is 1 to 65535 minutes. This option is used when resolving FQDN network objects
only.
• poll-timer minutes number—The time, in minutes, of the polling cycle used to resolve FQDN
network/host objects to IP addresses. FQDN objects are resolved only if they are used in a firewall
policy. The timer determines the maximum time between resolutions; the DNS entry's time-to-live (TTL)
value is also used to determine when to update to IP address resolution, so individual FQDNs might be
resolved more frequently than the polling cycle. The default is 240 (four hours). The range is 1 to 65535
minutes.

You can enable the hardware bypass so that traffic continues to flow between an interface pair during a power
outage. Supported interface pairs are copper GigabitEthernet 1/1 & 1/2; and GigabitEthernet 1/3 & 1/4. When
the hardware bypass is active, no firewall functions are in place, so make sure you understand the risks of
allowing traffic through.
Before You Begin

• This feature is only available on the Cisco ISA 3000 appliance.
490
• If you have a fiber Ethernet model, only the copper Ethernet pair (GigabitEthernet 1/1 & 1/2) supports
hardware bypass.
• We suggest that you disable TCP sequence randomization (as described in this procedure). If
randomization is enabled (the default), then when the hardware bypass is activated, TCP sessions will
need to be re-established. Bt default, the ISA 3000 rewrites the initial sequence number (ISN) of TCP
connections passing through it to a random number. When the hardware bypass is activated, the ISA
3000 is no longer in the data path and does not translate the sequence numbers; the receiving client
receives an unexpected sequence number and drops the connection. Even with TCP sequence
randomization disabled, some TCP connections will have to be re-established because of the link that
is temporarily down during the switchover.
• When the hardware bypass is deactivated and traffic resumes going through the ISA 3000 data path,
some existing TCP sessions need to be re-established because of the link that is temporarily down during
the switchover.
• When the ISA 3000 loses power and goes into hardware bypass mode, only the above interface pairs
can communicate; when using the default configuration, inside1 <---> inside2, and outside1 <--->
outside2 can no longer communicate. Any existing connections between these interfaces will be lost.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the hardware bypass to activate during a power failure:

hardware-bypass GigabitEthernet {1/1-1/2 | 1/3-1/4} [sticky]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hardware-bypass GigabitEthernet 1/1-1/2
ciscoasa(config)# hardware-bypass GigabitEthernet 1/3-1/4
The sticky keyword keeps the appliance in hardware bypass mode after the power comes back and the appliance
boots up. In this case, you need to manually turn off the hardware bypass when you are ready; this option lets
you control when the brief interruption in traffic occurs.
Step 2 Manually activate or deactivate the hardware bypass:

[no] hardware-bypass manual GigabitEthernet {1/1-1/2 | 1/3-1/4}
Example:
ciscoasa# hardware-bypass manual GigabitEthernet 1/1-1/2
ciscoasa# no hardware-bypass manual GigabitEthernet 1/1-1/2
Step 3 (Optional) Configure the hardware bypass to remain active until after the ASA FirePOWER module boots
up:
hardware-bypass boot-delay module-up sfr
You must enable hardware bypass without the sticky option for the boot delay to operate. Without the
hardware-bypass boot-delay command, the hardware bypass is likely to become inactive before the ASA
FirePOWER module finishes booting up. This scenario can cause traffic to be dropped if you configured the
module to fail-close, for example.
Step 4 Disable TCP sequence randomization. This example shows how to disable randomization for all traffic by
adding the setting to the default configuration.
491
Adjust ASP (Accelerated Security Path) Performance and Behavior
class sfrclass
set connection random-sequence-number disable
If you later decide to turn it back on, replace "disable" with enable.
Adjust ASP (Accelerated Security Path) Performance and Behavior

The ASP is an implementation layer that puts your policies and configurations into action. It is not of direct
interest except during troubleshooting with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center. However, there are a few
behaviors related to performance and reliability that you can adjust.
Choose a Rule Engine Transactional Commit Model

By default, when you change a rule-based policy (such as access rules), the changes become effective
immediately. However, this immediacy comes with a slight cost in performance. The performance cost is
more noticeable for very large rule lists in a high connections-per-second environment, for example, when
you change a policy with 25,000 rules while the ASA is handling 18,000 connections per second.
The performance is affected because the rule engine compiles rules to enable faster rule lookup. By default,
the system also searches uncompiled rules when evaluating a connection attempt so that new rules can be
applied; because the rules are not compiled, the search takes longer.
You can change this behavior so that the rule engine uses a transactional model when implementing rule
changes, continuing to use the old rules until the new rules are compiled and ready for use. With the
transactional model, performance should not drop during the rule compilation. The following table clarifies
the behavioral difference.
Model Before Compilation During Compilation After Compilation

Default Matches old rules. Match new rules. Matches new rules.
(The rate for connections per second
decreases.)
Transactional Matches old rules. Match old rules. Matches new rules.
(The rate for connections per second
is unaffected.)
An additional benefit of the transactional model is that, when replacing an ACL on an interface, there is no
gap between deleting the old ACL and applying the new one. This feature reduces the chances that acceptable
connections may be dropped during the operation.
Tip If you enable the transactional model for a rule type, syslogs to mark the beginning and the end of the
compilation are generated. These syslogs are numbered 780001 through 780004.
Use the following procedure to enable the transactional commit model for the rule engine.
492
Monitoring the DNS Cache
Procedure
Enable the transactional commit model for the rule engine:

asp rule-engine transactional-commit option
Where the options are:
• access-group—Access rules applied globally or to interfaces.
• nat—Network Address Translation rules.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# asp rule-engine transactional-commit access-group
Enable ASP Load Balancing

The ASP load balancing mechanism helps avoid the following issues:
• Overruns caused by sporadic traffic spikes on flows
• Overruns caused by bulk flows oversubscribing specific interface receive rings
• Overruns caused by relatively heavily overloaded interface receive rings, in which a single core cannot
sustain the load.
The asp load-balance per-packet command allows multiple cores to work simultaneously on packets that
were received from a single interface receive ring. If the system drops packets, and the show cpu command
output is far less than 100%, then this command may help your throughput if the packets belong to many
unrelated connections. The auto option enables the ASA to automatically switch per-packet load balancing
on and off.
To enable the automatic switching on and off of per-packet load balancing, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# asp load-balance per-packet auto
Monitoring the DNS Cache

The ASA provides a local cache of DNS information from external DNS queries that are sent for certain
clientless SSL VPN and certificate commands. Each DNS translation request is first looked for in the local
cache. If the local cache has the information, the resulting IP address is returned. If the local cache can not
resolve the request, a DNS query is sent to the various DNS servers that have been configured. If an external
DNS server resolves the request, the resulting IP address is stored in the local cache with its corresponding
hostname.
See the following command for monitoring the DNS cache:
• show dns-hosts
This command shows the DNS cache, which includes dynamically learned entries from a DNS server
as well as manually entered name and IP addresses using the name command.
493
History for Basic Settings
History for Basic Settings

Releases
Master Passphrase 8.3(1) We introduced this feature. The master passphrase allows you
to securely store plain text passwords in encrypted format and
provides a key that is used to universally encrypt or mask all
passwords, without changing any functionality.
We introduced the following commands: key config-key
password-encryption, password encryption aes, clear
configure password encryption aes, show running-config
password encryption aes, show password encryption.
Password Encryption Visibility 8.4(1) We modified the show password encryption command.
Removal of the default Telnet password 9.0(2)/9.1(2) To improve security for management access to the ASA, the
default login password for Telnet was removed; you must
manually set the password before you can log in using Telnet.
Note The login password is only used for Telnet if you do
not configure Telnet user authentication (the aaa
authentication telnet console command).
Previously, when you cleared the password, the ASA restored
the default of “cisco.” Now when you clear the password, the
password is removed.
The login password is also used for Telnet sessions from the
switch to the ASASM (see the session command). For initial
ASASM access, you must use the service-module session
command, until you set a login password.
We modified the following command: passwd.
ASP Load Balancing 9.3(2) We introduced this feature. The ASP load balancing mechanism
reduces packet drop and improves throughput by allowing
multiple cores of the CPU to receive packets from an interface
receive ring and work on them independently.
We introduced the following command: asp load-balance
per-packet-auto.
ISA 3000 hardware bypass 9.4(1.225) The ISA 3000 supports a hardware bypass function to allow
traffic to continue flowing through the appliance when there is
a loss of power.
We introduced the following commands: hardware-bypass,
hardware-bypass manual, hardware-bypass boot-delay,
show hardware-bypass
This feature is not available in Version 9.5(1).
494
CHAPTER 18
DHCP and DDNS Services
This chapter describes how to configure the DHCP server or DHCP relay as well as dynamic DNS (DDNS)
update methods.
• About DHCP and DDNS Services, page 495

• Guidelines for DHCP and DDNS Services, page 497
• Configure the DHCP Server, page 498
• Configure DDNS, page 504
• Monitoring DHCP and DDNS Services, page 510
• History for DHCP and DDNS Services, page 511
About DHCP and DDNS Services

The following topics describe the DHCP server, DHCP relay agent, and DDNS update.
About the DHCP Server

DHCP provides network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses, to DHCP clients. The ASA can
provide a DHCP server to DHCP clients attached to ASA interfaces. The DHCP server provides network
configuration parameters directly to DHCP clients.
An IPv4 DHCP client uses a broadcast rather than a multicast address to reach the server. The DHCP client
listens for messages on UDP port 68; the DHCP server listens for messages on UDP port 67.
The DHCP server for IPv6 is not supported; you can, however, enable DHCP relay for IPv6 traffic.
DHCP Options
DHCP provides a framework for passing configuration information to hosts on a TCP/IP network. The
configuration parameters are carried in tagged items that are stored in the Options field of the DHCP message
and the data are also called options. Vendor information is also stored in Options, and all of the vendor
information extensions can be used as DHCP options.
495
About DHCP and DDNS Services
For example, Cisco IP Phones download their configuration from a TFTP server. When a Cisco IP Phone
starts, if it does not have both the IP address and TFTP server IP address preconfigured, it sends a request
with option 150 or 66 to the DHCP server to obtain this information.
• DHCP option 150 provides the IP addresses of a list of TFTP servers.
• DHCP option 66 gives the IP address or the hostname of a single TFTP server.
• DHCP option 3 sets the default route.
A single request might include both options 150 and 66. In this case, the ASA DHCP server provides values
for both options in the response if they are already configured on the ASA.
You can use advanced DHCP options to provide DNS, WINS, and domain name parameters to DHCP clients;
DHCP option 15 is used for the DNS domain suffix.You can also use the DHCP automatic configuration
setting to obtain these values or define them manually. When you use more than one method to define this
information, it is passed to DHCP clients in the following sequence:
1 Manually configured settings.
2 Advanced DHCP options settings.
3 DHCP automatic configuration settings.
For example, you can manually define the domain name that you want the DHCP clients to receive and then
enable DHCP automatic configuration. Although DHCP automatic configuration discovers the domain together
with the DNS and WINS servers, the manually defined domain name is passed to DHCP clients with the
discovered DNS and WINS server names, because the domain name discovered by the DHCP automatic
configuration process is superseded by the manually defined domain name.
About the DHCP Relay Agent

You can configure a DHCP relay agent to forward DHCP requests received on an interface to one or more
DHCP servers. DHCP clients use UDP broadcasts to send their initial DHCPDISCOVER messages because
they do not have information about the network to which they are attached. If the client is on a network
segment that does not include a server, UDP broadcasts normally are not forwarded by the ASA because it
does not forward broadcast traffic. The DHCP relay agent lets you configure the interface of the ASA that is
receiving the broadcasts to forward DHCP requests to a DHCP server on another interface.
About DDNS
DDNS update integrates DNS with DHCP. The two protocols are complementary: DHCP centralizes and
automates IP address allocation; DDNS update automatically records the association between assigned
addresses and hostnames at predefined intervals. DDNS allows frequently changing address-hostname
associations to be updated frequently. Mobile hosts, for example, can then move freely on a network without
user or administrator intervention. DDNS provides the necessary dynamic update and synchronization of the
name-to-address mapping and address-to-name mapping on the DNS server.
The DDNS name and address mapping is held on the DHCP server in two resource records (RRs): the A RR
includes the name-to-IP address mapping, while the PTR RR maps addresses to names. Of the two methods
for performing DDNS updates—the IETF standard defined by RFC 2136 and a generic HTTP method—the
ASA supports the IETF method.
496
Guidelines for DHCP and DDNS Services
Note DDNS is not supported in transparent firewall mode.
DDNS Update Configurations

The two most common DDNS update configurations are the following:
• The DHCP client updates the A RR, while the DHCP server updates the PTR RR.
• The DHCP server updates both the A RR and PTR RR.
In general, the DHCP server maintains DNS PTR RRs on behalf of clients. Clients may be configured to
perform all desired DNS updates. The server may be configured to honor these updates or not. The DHCP
server must know the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the client to update the PTR RR. The client
provides an FQDN to the server using a DHCP option called Client FQDN.
UDP Packet Size

DDNS allows DNS requesters to advertise the size of their UDP packets and facilitates the transfer of packets
larger than 512 octets. When a DNS server receives a request over UDP, it identifies the size of the UDP
packet from the OPT RR and scales its response to contain as many resource records as are allowed in the
maximum UDP packet size specified by the requester. The size of the DNS packets can be up to 4096 bytes
for BIND or 1280 bytes for the Windows 2003 DNS Server.
Several additional message-length maximum commands are available:
• The existing global limit: message-length maximum 512
• A client or server specific limit: message-length maximum client 4096 and message-length maximum
server 4096
• The dynamic value specified in the OPT RR field: message-length maximum client auto
If the three commands are present at the same time, the ASA allows the automatically configured length up
to the configured client or server maximum. For all other DNS traffic, the message-length maximum is used.
Guidelines for DHCP and DDNS Services

This section includes guidelines and limitations that you should check before configuring DHCP and DDNS
services.
Firewall Mode
DHCP Relay is not supported in transparent firewall mode; DHCP Server is supported in transparent firewall
mode.
DDNS is not supported in transparent firewall mode.
IPv6
Does not support IPv6 for DHCP server; IPv6 for DHCP relay is supported.
497
Configure the DHCP Server
DHCP Server
• The maximum available DHCP pool is 256 addresses.
• You can configure only one DHCP server on each interface. Each interface can have its own pool of
addresses to use. However the other DHCP settings, such as DNS servers, domain name, options, ping
timeout, and WINS servers, are configured globally and used by the DHCP server on all interfaces.
• You cannot configure a DHCP client or DHCP relay service on an interface on which the server is
enabled. Additionally, DHCP clients must be directly connected to the interface on which the server is
enabled.
• ASA does not support QIP DHCP servers for use with the DHCP proxy service.
• The relay agent cannot be enabled if the DHCP server is also enabled.
• The DHCP server does not support BOOTP requests.
DHCP Relay
• You can configure a maximum of 10 DHCPv4 relay servers in single mode and per context, global and
interface-specific servers combined, with a maximum of 4 servers per interface.
• You can configure a maximum of 10 DHCPv6 relay servers in single mode and per context.
Interface-specific servers for IPv6 are not supported.
• The relay agent cannot be enabled if the DHCP server feature is also enabled.
• DHCP relay services are not available in transparent firewall mode. You can, however, allow DHCP
traffic through using an access rule. To allow DHCP requests and replies through the ASA in transparent
mode, you need to configure two access rules, one that allows DCHP requests from the inside interface
to the outside (UDP destination port 67), and one that allows the replies from the server in the other
direction (UDP destination port 68).
• For IPv4, clients must be directly-connected to the ASA and cannot send requests through another relay
agent or a router. For IPv6, the ASA supports packets from another relay server.
• The DHCP clients must be on different interfaces from the DHCP servers to which the ASA relays
requests.

This section describes how to configure a DHCP server provided by the ASA.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the DHCP Server. See Enable the DHCP Server, on page 499.
Step 2 Configure advanced DHCP options. See Configure Advanced DHCP Options.
Step 3 Configure either a DHCPv4 relay agent or a DHCPv6 relay agent. See Configure the DHCPv4 Relay Agent,
on page 502 or Configure the DHCPv6 Relay Agent, on page 504.
498
Enable the DHCP Server

To enable the DHCP server on an ASA interface, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create a DHCP address pool. The ASA assigns a client one of the addresses from this pool to use for a given
period of time. These addresses are the local, untranslated addresses for the directly connected network.
dhcpd address ip_address if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd address 10.0.1.101-10.0.1.110 inside
The address pool must be on the same subnet as the ASA interface.
Step 2 (Optional) Specify the IP address(es) of the DNS server(s).

dhcpd dns dns1 [dns2]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd dns 209.165.201.2 209.165.202.129
Step 3 (Optional) Specify the IP address(es) of the WINS server(s). You may specify up to two WINS servers.
dhcpd wins wins1 [wins2]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd wins 209.165.201.5
Step 4 (Optional) Change the lease length to be granted to the client. The lease length equals the amount of time in
seconds that the client can use its allocated IP address before the lease expires. Enter a value from 0 to
1,048,575. The default value is 3600 seconds.
dhcpd lease lease_length
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd lease 3000
Step 5 (Optional) Configure the domain name.

dhcpd domain domain_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd domain example.com
Step 6 (Optional) Configure the DHCP ping timeout value for ICMP packets. To avoid address conflicts, the ASA
sends two ICMP ping packets to an address before assigning that address to a DHCP client.
dhcpd ping timeout milliseconds
499
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd ping timeout 20
Step 7 Define a default gateway that is sent to DHCP clients. If you do not use the dhcpd option 3 command to
define the default gateway, DHCP clients use the ASA interface IP address that is closest to the DHCP clients
by default; the ASA does not use the management interface IP address. As a result, the DHCP ACK does not
include this option.
dhcpd option 3 ip gateway_ip
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd option 3 ip 10.10.1.1
Step 8 Enable the DHCP daemon within the ASA to listen for DHCP client requests on the enabled interface.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd enable outside
Configure Advanced DHCP Options

The ASA supports the DHCP options listed in RFC 2132, RFC 2562, and RFC 5510 to send information. All
DHCP options (1 through 255) are supported except for 1, 12, 50–54, 58–59, 61, 67, and 82.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure a DHCP option that returns one or two IP addresses:

dhcpd option code ip addr_1 [addr_2]
Example:
Option 150 provides the IP address or names of one or two TFTP servers for use with Cisco IP phones. Option
3 sets the default route for Cisco IP phones.
Step 2 Configure a DHCP option that returns a text string:

dhcpd option code ascii text
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd option 66 ascii exampleserver
Option 66 provides the IP address or name of a TFTP server for use with Cisco IP phones.
500
Step 3 Configure a DHCP option that returns a hexadecimal value.

dhcpd option code hex value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcpd option 2 hex 22.0011.01.FF1111.00FF.0000.AAAA.1111.1111.1111.11
Note The ASA does not verify that the option type and value that you provide match the expected type
and value for the option code as defined in RFC 2132. For example, you can enter the dhcpd option
46 ascii hello command, and the ASA accepts the configuration, although option 46 is defined in
RFC 2132 to expect a single-digit, hexadecimal value. For more information about option codes and
their associated types and expected values, see RFC 2132.
The following table shows the DHCP options that are not supported by the dhcpd option command.
Table 27: Unsupported DHCP Options
Option Code Description

0 DHCPOPT_PAD
1 HCPOPT_SUBNET_MASK
12 DHCPOPT_HOST_NAME
50 DHCPOPT_REQUESTED_ADDRESS
51 DHCPOPT_LEASE_TIME
52 DHCPOPT_OPTION_OVERLOAD
53 DHCPOPT_MESSAGE_TYPE
54 DHCPOPT_SERVER_IDENTIFIER
58 DHCPOPT_RENEWAL_TIME
59 DHCPOPT_REBINDING_TIME
61 DHCPOPT_CLIENT_IDENTIFIER
67 DHCPOPT_BOOT_FILE_NAME
82 DHCPOPT_RELAY_INFORMATION
255 DHCPOPT_END
501
Configure the DHCPv4 Relay Agent

When a DHCP request enters an interface, the DHCP servers to which the ASA relays the request depends
on your configuration. You may configure the following types of servers:
• Interface-specific DHCP servers—When a DHCP request enters a particular interface, then the ASA
relays the request only to the interface-specific servers.
• Global DHCP servers—When a DHCP request enters an interface that does not have interface-specific
servers configured, the ASA relays the request to all global servers. If the interface has interface-specific
servers, then the global servers are not used.
Procedure
Step 1 Do one or both of the following:

• Specify a global DHCP server IP address and the interface through which it is reachable.
dhcprelay server ip_address if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay server 209.165.201.5 outside

ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay server 209.165.201.8 outside
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay server 209.165.202.150 it
• Specify the interface ID connected to the DHCP client network, and the DHCP server IP address to be
used for DHCP requests that enter that interface.
dhcprelay server ip_address
Example:

ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay server 209.165.201.6
Note that you do not specify the egress interface for the requests, as in the global dhcprelay server
command; instead, the ASA uses the routing table to determine the egress interface.
Step 2 Enable the DHCP relay service on the interface connected to the DHCP clients. You may enable DHCP relay
on multiple interfaces.
dhcprelay enable interface
502
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay enable inside
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay enable dmz
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay enable eng1
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay enable eng2
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay enable mktg
Step 3 (Optional) Set the number of seconds allowed for DHCP relay address handling.
dhcprelay timeout seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay timeout 25
Step 4 (Optional) Change the first default router address in the packet sent from the DHCP server to the address of
the ASA interface.
dhcprelay setroute interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay setroute inside
This action allows the client to set its default route to point to the ASA even if the DHCP server specifies a
different router.
If there is no default router option in the packet, the ASA adds one containing the interface address.
Step 5 (Optional) Do one of the following:

• Specify a DHCP client interface that you want to trust.
dhcprelay information trusted
Example:

ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcprelay information trusted
You can configure interfaces as trusted interfaces to preserve DHCP Option 82. DHCP Option 82 is
used by downstream switches and routers for DHCP snooping and IP Source Guard. Normally, if the
ASA DHCP relay agent receives a DHCP packet with Option 82 already set, but the giaddr field (which
specifies the DHCP relay agent address that is set by the relay agent before it forwards the packet to the
server) is set to 0, then the ASA will drop that packet by default. You can now preserve Option 82 and
forward the packet by identifying an interface as a trusted interface.
• Configure all client interfaces as trusted.
dhcprelay information trust-all
503
Configure DDNS
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcprelay information trust-all
Configure the DHCPv6 Relay Agent

When a DHCPv6 request enters an interface, then the ASA relays the request to all DHCPv6 global servers.
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the IPv6 DHCP server destination address to which client messages are forwarded.
ipv6 dhcprelay server ipv6_address [interface]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 dhcprelay server 3FFB:C00:C18:6:A8BB:CCFF:FE03:2701
The ipv6-address argument can be a link-scoped unicast, multicast, site-scoped unicast, or global IPv6 address.
Unspecified, loopback, and node-local multicast addresses are not allowed as the relay destination. The optional
interface argument specifies the egress interface for a destination. Client messages are forwarded to the
destination address through the link to which the egress interface is connected. If the specified address is a
link-scoped address, then you must specify the interface.
Step 2 Enable DHCPv6 relay service on a client interface.

ipv6 dhcprelay enable interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 dhcprelay enable inside
Step 3 (Optional) Specify the amount of time in seconds that is allowed for responses from the DHCPv6 server to
pass to the DHCPv6 client through the relay binding for relay address handling.
ipv6 dhcprelay timeout seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 dhcprelay timeout 25
Valid values for the seconds argument range from 1 to 3600. The default is 60 seconds.
Configure DDNS
This section describes how to configure DDNS.
504
Configure DDNS
Update Both A and PTR RRs for Static IP Addresses

To configure the client to request that it update both A and PTR RRs for static IP addresses, perform the
following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create a DDNS update method that dynamically updates DNS RRs.
ddns update method name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ddns update method ddns-2
Step 2 Specify that the client update both the DNS A and PTR RRs.
ddns both
Example:
ciscoasa(DDNS-update-method)# ddns both
Step 3 Configure an interface and enter interface configuration mode.

interface mapped_name
Example:
ciscoasa(DDNS-update-method)# interface eth1
Step 4 Associate the DDNS method with the interface and an update hostname.
ddns update [method-name | hostname hostname]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ddns update ddns-2
ciscoasa(config-if)# ddns update hostname asa.example.com
Step 5 Configure a static IP address for the interface.

Example:
Update Both the A and PTR RRs

To configure the DHCP client to request that it update both the A and PTR RRs and that the DHCP server
honor these requests, perform the following steps:
505
Configure DDNS
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the DHCP client to request that the DHCP server perform no updates.
dhcp-client update dns [server {both | none}]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcp-client update dns server none
Example:
Step 3 Specify that the client update both the DNS A and PTR RRs.
ddns both
Example:
Example:

Example:
ciscoasa(DDNS-update-method)# interface Ethernet0
Example:
Step 6 Use DHCP to obtain an IP address for the interface.

ip address dhcp
Example:
ciscoasa(if-config)# ip address dhcp
Step 7 Configure the DHCP server to perform DDNS updates.

dhcpd update dns [both] [override] [interface srv_ifc_name]
506
Configure DDNS
Example:
ciscoasa(if-config)# dhcpd update dns
Ignore Updates to Either RR

To configure the DHCP client to include the FQDN option that instructs the DHCP server not to honor either
the A or PTR updates, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Example:
Step 2 Specify that the client updates both the DNS A and PTR RRs.
ddns both
Example:

Example:
Example:
Step 5 Configure the DHCP client to request that the DHCP server perform no updates.
507
Configure DDNS
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# dhcp-client update dns server none
Step 6 Use DHCP to obtain an IP address for the interface.

ip address dhcp
Example:
ciscoasa(if-config)# ip address dhcp
Step 7 Configure the DHCP server to override the client update requests.
Example:
ciscoasa(if-config)# dhcpd update dns both override
Update the PTR RR Only

To configure the server to perform only PTR RR updates by default, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Configure an interface.

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface Ethernet0
Step 2 Request that the DHCP server update both the DNS A and PTR RRs.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcp-client update dns both
Step 3 Configure the DHCP client on the configured interface.

Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ddns update hostname asa
508
Configure DDNS
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcpd update dns
Step 5 Define the DNS domain name for DHCP clients.
dhcpd domain domain_name [interface if_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcpd domain example.com
Update a RR with the Client and a PTR RR with the Server

To configure the client to update the A resource record and to configure the server to update the PTR records,
perform the following steps:
Procedure
Example:
Step 2 Specify a DDNS update method.

ddns both
Example:
Step 3 Configure an interface.

Example:
Step 4 Configure the update parameters that the DHCP client passes to the DHCP server.
509
Monitoring DHCP and DDNS Services
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcp-client update dns
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ddns update hostname asa

Example:
ciscoasa(if-config)# dhcpd update dns
Step 7 Define the DNS domain name for DHCP clients.

dhcpd domain domain_name [interface if_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# dhcpd domain example.com
Monitoring DHCP and DDNS Services

This section includes the procedures to monitor both DHCP and DDNS services.
Monitoring DHCP Services

See the following commands for monitoring DHCP services:
• show running-config dhcpd
This command shows the current DHCP configuration.
• show running-config dhcprelay
This command shows the current DHCP relay service status.
• show ipv6 dhcprelay binding
This command shows the relay binding entries that were created by the relay agent.
• show ipv6 dhcprelay statistics
This command shows DHCP relay agent statistics for IPv6.
• clear config ipv6 dhcprelay
510
History for DHCP and DDNS Services
This command clears the IPv6 DHCP relay configuration.
Monitoring DDNS Status

See the following commands for monitoring DDNS status.
• show running-config ddns
This command shows the current DDNS configuration.
• show running-config dns server-group
This command shows the current DNS server group status.

Table 28: History for DHCP and DDNS Services

Releases
DHCP 7.0(1) The ASA can provide a DHCP server or DHCP relay services to DHCP clients attached
to ASA interfaces.
We introduced the following commands: dhcp client update dns, dhcpd address, dhcpd
domain, dhcpd enable, dhcpd lease, dhcpd option, dhcpd ping timeout, dhcpd update
dns, dhcpd wins, dhcp-network-scope, dhcprelay enable, dhcprelay server, dhcprelay
setroute, dhcp-server. show running-config dhcpd, and show running-config dhcprelay.
DDNS 7.0(1) We introduced this feature.

We introduced the following commands: ddns, ddns update, dhcp client update dns,
dhcpd update dns, show running-config ddns, and show running-config dns
server-group.
DHCP relay for IPv6 9.0(1) DHCP relay support for IPv6 was added.
(DHCPv6) We introduced the following commands: ipv6 dhcprelay server, ipv6 dhcprelay enable,
ipv6 dhcprelay timeout, clear config ipv6 dhcprelay, ipv6 nd managed-config-flag,
ipv6 nd other-config-flag, debug ipv6 dhcp, debug ipv6 dhcprelay, show ipv6 dhcprelay
binding, clear ipv6 dhcprelay binding, show ipv6 dhcprelay statistics, and clear ipv6
dhcprelay statistics.
DHCP relay servers per 9.1(2) You can now configure DHCP relay servers per-interface, so requests that enter a given
interface (IPv4 only) interface are relayed only to servers specified for that interface. IPv6 is not supported for
per-interface DHCP relay.
We introduced or modified the following commands: dhcprelay server (interface config
mode), clear configure dhcprelay, show running-config dhcprelay.
511

Releases
DHCP trusted interfaces 9.1(2) You can now configure interfaces as trusted interfaces to preserve DHCP Option 82. DHCP
Option 82 is used by downstream switches and routers for DHCP snooping and IP Source
Guard. Normally, if the ASA DHCP relay agent receives a DHCP packet with Option 82
already set, but the giaddr field (which specifies the DHCP relay agent address that is set
by the relay agent before it forwards the packet to the server) is set to 0, then the ASA will
drop that packet by default. You can now preserve Option 82 and forward the packet by
identifying an interface as a trusted interface.
We introduced or modified the following commands: dhcprelay information trusted,
dhcprelay information trust-all, show running-config dhcprelay.
DHCP rebind function 9.1(4) During the DHCP rebind phase, the client now tries to rebind to other DHCP servers in
the tunnel group list. Before this release, the client did not rebind to an alternate server
when the DHCP lease fails to renew.
We did not introduce or modify any commands.
DHCP Relay server 9.2(4)/ 9.3(3) If the ASA DHCP relay server receives a reply from an incorrect DHCP server, it now
validates the DHCP verifies that the reply is from the correct server before acting on the reply. We did not
Server identifier for introduce or modify any commands. We did not modify any ASDM screens.
replies We did not introduce or modify any commands.
DHCPv6 monitoring 9.4(1) You can now monitor DHCP statistics for IPv6 and DHCP bindings for IPv6.
512
CHAPTER 19
Digital Certificates
This chapter describes how to configure digital certificates.
• About Digital Certificates, page 513

• Guidelines for Digital Certificates, page 521
• Configure Digital Certificates, page 524
• How to Set Up Specific Certificate Types, page 541
• Set a Certificate Expiration Alert (for Identity or CA Certificates), page 555
• Monitoring Digital Certificates, page 556
• History for Certificate Management, page 558
About Digital Certificates

Digital certificates provide digital identification for authentication. A digital certificate includes information
that identifies a device or user, such as the name, serial number, company, department, or IP address. CAs
are trusted authorities that “sign” certificates to verify their authenticity, thereby guaranteeing the identity of
the device or user. CAs issue digital certificates in the context of a PKI, which uses public-key or private-key
encryption to ensure security.
For authentication using digital certificates, at least one identity certificate and its issuing CA certificate must
exist on an ASA. This configuration allows multiple identities, roots, and certificate hierarchies. The ASA
evaluates third-party certificates against CRLs, also called authority revocation lists, all the way from the
identity certificate up the chain of subordinate certificate authorities.
Descriptions of several different types of available digital certificates follow:
• A CA certificate is used to sign other certificates. It is self-signed and called a root certificate. A certificate
that is issued by another CA certificate is called a subordinate certificate.
• CAs also issue identity certificates, which are certificates for specific systems or hosts.
• Code-signer certificates are special certificates that are used to create digital signatures to sign code,
with the signed code itself revealing the certificate origin.
513
The local CA integrates an independent certificate authority feature on the ASA, deploys certificates, and
provides secure revocation checking of issued certificates. The local CA provides a secure, configurable,
in-house authority for certificate authentication with user enrollment through a website login page.
Note CA certificates and identity certificates apply to both site-to-site VPN connections and remote access VPN
connections. Procedures in this document refer to remote access VPN use in the ASDM GUI.
Digital certificates provide digital identification for authentication. A digital certificate includes information
that identifies a device or user, such as the name, serial number, company, department, or IP address. CAs
are trusted authorities that “sign” certificates to verify their authenticity, thereby guaranteeing the identity of
the device or user. CAs issue digital certificates in the context of a PKI, which uses public-key or private-key
encryption to ensure security.
For authentication using digital certificates, at least one identity certificate and its issuing CA certificate must
exist on an ASA. This configuration allows multiple identities, roots, and certificate hierarchies. Descriptions
of several different types of available digital certificates follow:
• A CA certificate is used to sign other certificates. It is self-signed and called a root certificate.
• A certificate that is issued by another CA certificate is called a subordinate certificate.
CAs are responsible for managing certificate requests and issuing digital certificates. A digital certificate
includes information that identifies a user or device, such as a name, serial number, company, department, or
IP address. A digital certificate also includes a copy of the public key for the user or device. A CA can be a
trusted third party, such as VeriSign, or a private (in-house) CA that you establish within your organization.
Tip For an example of a scenario that includes certificate configuration and load balancing, see the following
URL: https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-5964.
Public Key Cryptography

Digital signatures, enabled by public key cryptography, provide a way to authenticate devices and users. In
public key cryptography, such as the RSA encryption system, each user has a key pair containing both a public
and a private key. The keys act as complements, and anything encrypted with one of the keys can be decrypted
with the other.
In simple terms, a signature is formed when data is encrypted with a private key. The signature is attached to
the data and sent to the receiver. The receiver applies the public key of the sender to the data. If the signature
sent with the data matches the result of applying the public key to the data, the validity of the message is
established.
This process relies on the receiver having a copy of the public key of the sender and a high degree of certainty
that this key belongs to the sender, not to someone pretending to be the sender.
Obtaining the public key of a sender is normally handled externally or through an operation performed at
installation. For example, most web browsers are configured with the root certificates of several CAs by
default. For VPN, the IKE protocol, a component of IPsec, can use digital signatures to authenticate peer
devices before setting up security associations.
514
Certificate Scalability
Without digital certificates, you must manually configure each IPsec peer for each peer with which it
communicates; as a result, each new peer that you add to a network would require a configuration change on
each peer with which it needs to communicate securely.
When you use digital certificates, each peer is enrolled with a CA. When two peers try to communicate, they
exchange certificates and digitally sign data to authenticate each other. When a new peer is added to the
network, you enroll that peer with a CA and none of the other peers need modification. When the new peer
attempts an IPsec connection, certificates are automatically exchanged and the peer can be authenticated.
With a CA, a peer authenticates itself to the remote peer by sending a certificate to the remote peer and
performing some public key cryptography. Each peer sends its unique certificate, which was issued by the
CA. This process works because each certificate encapsulates the public key for the associated peer, each
certificate is authenticated by the CA, and all participating peers recognize the CA as an authenticating
authority. The process is called IKE with an RSA signature.
The peer can continue sending its certificate for multiple IPsec sessions, and to multiple IPsec peers, until the
certificate expires. When its certificate expires, the peer administrator must obtain a new one from the CA.
CAs can also revoke certificates for peers that no longer participate in IPsec. Revoked certificates are not
recognized as valid by other peers. Revoked certificates are listed in a CRL, which each peer may check before
accepting a certificate from another peer.
Some CAs have an RA as part of their implementation. An RA is a server that acts as a proxy for the CA, so
that CA functions can continue when the CA is unavailable.
Key Pairs
Key pairs are RSA keys, which have the following characteristics:
• RSA keys can be used for SSH or SSL.
• SCEP enrollment supports the certification of RSA keys.
• For the purposes of generating keys, the maximum key modulus for RSA keys is 2048 bits. The default
size is 1024. Many SSL connections using identity certificates with RSA key pairs that exceed 1024
bits can cause a high CPU usage on the ASA and rejected clientless logins.
• For signature operations, the supported maximum key size is 4096 bits. We recommend using a key size
of at least 2048.
• You can generate a general purpose RSA key pair, used for both signing and encryption, or you can
generate separate RSA key pairs for each purpose. Separate signing and encryption keys help to reduce
exposure of the keys, because SSL uses a key for encryption but not signing. However, IKE uses a key
for signing but not encryption. By using separate keys for each, exposure of the keys is minimized.
Trustpoints
Trustpoints let you manage and track CAs and certificates. A trustpoint is a representation of a CA or identity
pair. A trustpoint includes the identity of the CA, CA-specific configuration parameters, and an association
with one, enrolled identity certificate.
After you have defined a trustpoint, you can reference it by name in commands requiring that you specify a
CA. You can configure many trustpoints.
515
Note If the Cisco ASA has multiple trustpoints that share the same CA, only one of these trustpoints sharing
the CA can be used to validate user certificates. To control which trustpoint sharing a CA is used for
validation of user certificates issued by that CA, use the support-user-cert-validation command.
For automatic enrollment, a trustpoint must be configured with an enrollment URL, and the CA that the
trustpoint represents must be available on the network and must support SCEP.
You can export and import the keypair and issued certificates associated with a trustpoint in PKCS12 format.
This format is useful to manually duplicate a trustpoint configuration on a different ASA.
Certificate Enrollment
The ASA needs a CA certificate for each trustpoint and one or two certificates for itself, depending upon the
configuration of the keys used by the trustpoint. If the trustpoint uses separate RSA keys for signing and
encryption, the ASA needs two certificates, one for each purpose. In other key configurations, only one
certificate is needed.
The ASA supports automatic enrollment with SCEP and with manual enrollment, which lets you paste a
base-64-encoded certificate directly into the terminal. For site-to-site VPNs, you must enroll each ASA. For
remote access VPNs, you must enroll each ASA and each remote access VPN client.
Proxy for SCEP Requests

The ASA can proxy SCEP requests between AnyConnect and a third-party CA. The CA only needs to be
accessible to the ASA if it is acting as the proxy. For the ASA to provide this service, the user must authenticate
using any of the methods supported by AAA before the ASA sends an enrollment request. You can also use
host scan and dynamic access policies to enforce rules of eligibility to enroll.
The ASA supports this feature only with an AnyConnect SSL or IKEv2 VPN session. It supports all
SCEP-compliant CAs, including Cisco IOS CS, Windows Server 2003 CA, and Windows Server 2008 CA.
Clientless (browser-based) access does not support SCEP proxy, although WebLaunch—clientless-initiated
AnyConnect—does support it.
The ASA does not support polling for certificates.
The ASA supports load balancing for this feature.
Revocation Checking
When a certificate is issued, it is valid for a fixed period of time. Sometimes a CA revokes a certificate before
this time period expires; for example, because of security concerns or a change of name or association. CAs
periodically issue a signed list of revoked certificates. Enabling revocation checking forces the ASA to check
that the CA has not revoked a certificate each time that it uses the certificate for authentication.
When you enable revocation checking, the ASA checks certificate revocation status during the PKI certificate
validation process, which can use either CRL checking, OCSP, or both. OCSP is only used when the first
method returns an error (for example, indicating that the server is unavailable).
With CRL checking, the ASA retrieves, parses, and caches CRLs, which provide a complete list of revoked
(and unrevoked) certificates with their certificate serial numbers. The ASA evaluates certificates according
to CRLs, also called authority revocation lists, from the identity certificate up the chain of subordinate certificate
authorities.
516
OCSP offers a more scalable method of checking revocation status in that it localizes certificate status through
a validation authority, which it queries for status of a specific certificate.
Supported CA Servers
The ASA supports the following CA servers:
Cisco IOS CS, ASA Local CA, and third-party X.509 compliant CA vendors including, but not limited to:
• Baltimore Technologies
• Entrust
• Digicert
• Geotrust
• GoDaddy
• iPlanet/Netscape
• Microsoft Certificate Services
• RSA Keon
• Thawte
• VeriSign
CRLs
CRLs provide the ASA with one way of determining whether a certificate that is within its valid time range
has been revoked by the issuing CA. CRL configuration is part of configuration of a trustpoint.
You can configure the ASA to make CRL checks mandatory when authenticating a certificate by using the
revocation-check crl command. You can also make the CRL check optional by using the revocation-check
crl none command, which allows the certificate authentication to succeed when the CA is unavailable to
provide updated CRL data.
The ASA can retrieve CRLs from CAs using HTTP, SCEP, or LDAP. CRLs retrieved for each trustpoint are
cached for a configurable amount of time for each trustpoint.
When the ASA has cached a CRL for longer than the amount of time it is configured to cache CRLs, the ASA
considers the CRL too old to be reliable, or “stale.” The ASA tries to retrieve a newer version of the CRL the
next time that a certificate authentication requires a check of the stale CRL.
The ASA caches CRLs for an amount of time determined by the following two factors:
• The number of minutes specified with the cache-time command. The default value is 60 minutes.
• The NextUpdate field in the CRLs retrieved, which may be absent from CRLs. You control whether the
ASA requires and uses the NextUpdate field with the enforcenextupdate command.
The ASA uses these two factors in the following ways:

• If the NextUpdate field is not required, the ASA marks CRLs as stale after the length of time defined
by the cache-time command.
517
• If the NextUpdate field is required, the ASA marks CRLs as stale at the sooner of the two times specified
by the cache-time command and the NextUpdate field. For example, if the cache-time command is set
to 100 minutes and the NextUpdate field specifies that the next update is 70 minutes away, the ASA
marks CRLs as stale in 70 minutes.
If the ASA has insufficient memory to store all CRLs cached for a given trustpoint, it deletes the least recently
used CRL to make room for a newly retrieved CRL.
OCSP
OCSP provides the ASA with a way of determining whether a certificate that is within its valid time range
has been revoked by the issuing CA. OCSP configuration is part of trustpoint configuration.
OCSP localizes certificate status on a validation authority (an OCSP server, also called the responder) which
the ASA queries for the status of a specific certificate. This method provides better scalability and more
up-to-date revocation status than does CRL checking, and helps organizations with large PKI installations
deploy and expand secure networks.
Note The ASA allows a five-second time skew for OCSP responses.
You can configure the ASA to make OCSP checks mandatory when authenticating a certificate by using the
revocation-check ocsp command. You can also make the OCSP check optional by using the revocation-check
ocsp none command, which allows the certificate authentication to succeed when the validation authority is
unavailable to provide updated OCSP data.
OCSP provides three ways to define the OCSP server URL. The ASA uses these servers in the following
order:
1 The OCSP URL defined in a match certificate override rule by using the match certificate command).
2 The OCSP URL configured by using the ocsp url command.
3 The AIA field of the client certificate.
Note To configure a trustpoint to validate a self-signed OCSP responder certificate, you import the self-signed
responder certificate into its own trustpoint as a trusted CA certificate. Then you configure the match
certificate command in the client certificate validating trustpoint to use the trustpoint that includes the
self-signed OCSP responder certificate to validate the responder certificate. Use the same procedure for
configuring validating responder certificates external to the validation path of the client certificate.
The OCSP server (responder) certificate usually signs the OCSP response. After receiving the response,
the ASA tries to verify the responder certificate. The CA normally sets the lifetime of the OCSP responder
certificate to a relatively short period to minimize the chance of being compromised. The CA usually also
includes an ocsp-no-check extension in the responder certificate, which indicates that this certificate does
not need revocation status checking. However, if this extension is not present, the ASA tries to check
revocation status using the same method specified in the trustpoint. If the responder certificate is not
verifiable, revocation checks fail. To avoid this possibility, use the revocation-check none command to
configure the responder certificate validating trustpoint, and use the revocation-check ocsp command to
configure the client certificate.
518
The Local CA
The local CA performs the following tasks:
• Integrates basic certificate authority operation on the ASA.
• Deploys certificates.
• Provides secure revocation checking of issued certificates.
• Provides a certificate authority on the ASA for use with browser-based and client-based SSL VPN
connections.
• Provides trusted digital certificates to users, without the need to rely on external certificate authorization.
• Provides a secure, in-house authority for certificate authentication and offers straightforward user
enrollment by means of a website login.
Storage for Local CA Files

The ASA accesses and implements user information, issued certificates, and revocation lists using a local CA
database. This database resides in local flash memory by default, or can be configured to reside on an external
file system that is mounted and accessible to the ASA.
No limits exist on the number of users that can be stored in the local CA user database; however, if flash
memory storage issues arise, syslogs are generated to alert the administrator to take action, and the local CA
could be disabled until the storage issues are resolved. Flash memory can store a database with 3500 users or
less; however, a database of more than 3500 users requires external storage.
The Local CA Server

After you configure a local CA server on the ASA, users can enroll for a certificate by logging into a website
and entering a username and a one-time password that is provided by the local CA administrator to validate
their eligibility for enrollment.
The following figure shows that the local CA server resides on the ASA and handles enrollment requests from
website users and CRL inquiries coming from other certificate validating devices and ASAs. Local CA database
519
and configuration files are maintained either on the ASA flash memory (default storage) or on a separate
storage device.
Figure 39: The Local CA
Certificates and User Login Credentials

The following section describes the different methods of using certificates and user login credentials (username
and password) for authentication and authorization. These methods apply to IPsec, AnyConnect, and Clientless
SSL VPN.
In all cases, LDAP authorization does not use the password as a credential. RADIUS authorization uses either
a common password for all users or the username as a password.
User Login Credentials

The default method for authentication and authorization uses the user login credentials.
• Authentication
◦Enabled by the authentication server group setting in the tunnel group (also called ASDM
Connection Profile)
◦Uses the username and password as credentials
• Authorization
◦Enabled by the authorization server group setting in the tunnel group (also called ASDM Connection
Profile)
◦Uses the username as a credential
Certificates
If user digital certificates are configured, the ASA first validates the certificate. It does not, however, use any
of the DNs from certificates as a username for the authentication.
520
Guidelines for Digital Certificates
If both authentication and authorization are enabled, the ASA uses the user login credentials for both user
authentication and authorization.
• Authentication
◦Enabled by the authentication server group setting
◦Uses the username and password as credentials
• Authorization
◦Enabled by the authorization server group setting
◦Uses the username as a credential
If authentication is disabled and authorization is enabled, the ASA uses the primary DN field for authorization.
• Authentication
◦DISABLED (set to None) by the authentication server group setting
◦No credentials used
• Authorization
◦Enabled by the authorization server group setting
◦Uses the username value of the certificate primary DN field as a credential
Note If the primary DN field is not present in the certificate, the ASA uses the secondary DN field value as the
username for the authorization request.
For example, consider a user certificate that includes the following Subject DN fields and values:
Cn=anyuser,OU=sales;O=XYZCorporation;L=boston;S=mass;C=us;[email protected]
If the Primary DN = EA (E-mail Address) and the Secondary DN = CN (Common Name), then the username
used in the authorization request would be [email protected].

This section includes guidelines and limitations that you should check before configuring digital certificates.

• Supported in single context mode only for third-party CAs.
Failover Guidelines
• Does not support replicating sessions in Stateful Failover.
• Does not support failover for local CAs.
521
IPv6 Guidelines
Does not support IPv6.
Local CA Certificates
• Make sure that the ASA is configured correctly to support certificates. An incorrectly configured ASA
can cause enrollment to fail or request a certificate that includes inaccurate information.
• Make sure that the hostname and domain name of the ASA are configured correctly. To view the currently
configured hostname and domain name, enter the show running-config command.
• Make sure that the ASA clock is set accurately before configuring the CA. Certificates have a date and
time that they become valid and expire. When the ASA enrolls with a CA and obtains a certificate, the
ASA checks that the current time is within the valid range for the certificate. If it is outside that range,
enrollment fails.
• Thirty days before the local CA certificate expires, a rollover replacement certificate is generated, and
a syslog message informs the administrator that it is time for local CA rollover. The new local CA
certificate must be imported onto all necessary devices before the current certificate expires. If the
administrator does not respond by installing the rollover certificate as the new local CA certificate,
validations may fail.
• The local CA certificate rolls over automatically after expiration using the same keypair. The rollover
certificate is available for export in base 64 format.
The following example shows a base 64 encoded local CA certificate:
MIIXlwIBAzCCF1EGCSqGSIb3DQEHAaCCF0IEghc+MIIXOjCCFzYGCSqGSIb3DQEHBqCCFycwghcjAgEAMIIXHA
YJKoZIhvcNAQcBMBsGCiqGSIb3DQEMAQMwDQQIjph4SxJoyTgCAQGAghbw3v4bFy+GGG2dJnB4OLphsUM+IG3S
DOiDwZG9n1SvtMieoxd7Hxknxbum06JDrujWKtHBIqkrm+td34qlNE1iGeP2YC94/NQ2z+4kS+uZzwcRhl1KEZ
TS1E4L0fSaC3uMTxJq2NUHYWmoc8pi4CIeLj3h7VVMy6qbx2AC8I+q57+QG5vG5l5Hi5imwtYfaWwPEdPQxaWZ
PrzoG1J8BFqdPa1jBGhAzzuSmElm3j/2dQ3Atro1G9nIsRHgV39fcBgwz4fEabHG7/Vanb+fj81d5nlOiJjDYY
bP86tvbZ2yOVZR6aKFVI0b2AfCr6PbwfC9U8Z/aF3BCyM2sN2xPJrXva94CaYrqyotZdAkSYA5KWScyEcgdqmu
BeGDKOncTknfgy0XM+fG5rb3qAXy1GkjyFI5Bm9Do6RUROoG1DSrQrKeq/hj….
END OF CERTIFICATE
SCEP Proxy Support

• Ensure that the ASA and the Cisco ISE Policy Service Nodes are synchronized using the same NTP
server.
• AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 3.0 or later must be running at the endpoint.
• The authentication method, configured in the connection profile for your group policy, must be set to
use both AAA and certificate authentication.
• An SSL port must be open for IKEv2 VPN connections.
• The CA must be in auto-grant mode.
Local CA Certificate Database

To maintain the local CA certificate database, make sure that you save the certificate database file,
LOCAL-CA-SERVER.cdb, with the write memory command each time that a change to the database occurs.
The local CA certificate database includes the following files:
522
• The LOCAL-CA-SERVER.p12 file is the archive of the local CA certificate and keypair that is generated
when the local CA server is initially enabled.
• The LOCAL-CA-SERVER.crl file is the actual CRL.
• The LOCAL-CA-SERVER.ser file keeps track of the issued certificate serial numbers.
• For ASAs that are configured as CA servers or clients, limit the validity period of the certificate to less
than the recommended end date of 03:14:08 UTC, January 19, 2038. This guideline also applies to
imported certificates from third-party vendors.
• You cannot configure the local CA when failover is enabled. You can only configure the local CA server
for standalone ASAs without failover. For more information, see CSCty43366.
• When a certificate enrollment is completed, the ASA stores a PKCS12 file containing the user's keypair
and certificate chain, which requires about 2 KB of flash memory or disk space per enrollment. The
actual amount of disk space depends on the configured RSA key size and certificate fields. Keep this
guideline in mind when adding a large number of pending certificate enrollments on an ASA with a
limited amount of available flash memory, because these PKCS12 files are stored in flash memory for
the duration of the configured enrollment retrieval timeout. We recommend using a key size of at least
2048.
• The lifetime ca-certificate command takes effect when the local CA server certificate is first generated
(that is, when you initially configure the local CA server and issue the no shutdown command). When
the CA certificate expires, the configured lifetime value is used to generate the new CA certificate. You
cannot change the lifetime value for existing CA certificates.
• You should configure the ASA to use an identity certificate to protect ASDM traffic and HTTPS traffic
to the management interface. Identity certificates that are automatically generated with SCEP are
regenerated after each reboot, so make sure that you manually install your own identity certificates. For
an example of this procedure that applies only to SSL, see the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/
en/US/products/ps6120/products_configuration_example09186a00809fcf91.shtml.
• The ASA and the AnyConnect clients can only validate certificates in which the X520Serialnumber
field (the serial number in the Subject Name) is in PrintableString format. If the serial number format
uses encoding such as UTF8, the certificate authorization will fail.
• Use only valid characters and values for certificate parameters when you import them on the ASA.
• To use a wildcard (*) symbol, make sure that you use encoding on the CA server that allows this character
in the string value. Although RFC 5280 recommends using either a UTF8String or PrintableString, you
should use UTF8String because PrintableString does not recognize the wildcard as a valid character.
The ASA rejects the imported certificate if an invalid character or value is found during the import. For
example:
ERROR: Failed to parse or verify imported certificate ciscoasa(config)# Read 162*H÷ytes

as CA certificate:0U0= \Ivr"phÕV°3é¼þ0 CRYPTO_PKI(make trustedCerts list)
CERT-C: E ../cert-c/source/certlist.c(302): Error #711h
CRYPTO_PKI: Failed to verify the ID certificate using the CA certificate in trustpoint
mm.
CERT-C: E ../cert-c/source/p7contnt.c(169): Error #703h
crypto_certc_pkcs7_extract_certs_and_crls failed (1795):
crypto_certc_pkcs7_extract_certs_and_crls failed
CRYPTO_PKI: status = 1795: failed to verify or insert the cert into storage
523
Configure Digital Certificates

The following topics explain how to configure digital certificates.
Configure Key Pairs

To create or remove key pairs, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Generate one, general-purpose RSA key pair.

crypto key generate rsa
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# crypto key generate rsa
The default key modulus is 1024. To specify other modulus sizes, use the modulus keyword.
Note Many SSL connections using identity certificates with RSA key pairs that exceed 1024 bits can cause
high CPU usage on the ASA and rejected clientless logins.
Step 2 (Optional) Assign a label to each key pair.
crypto key generate rsa label key-pair-label
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# crypto key generate rsa label exchange
The label is referenced by the trustpoint that uses the key pair. If you do not assign a label, the key pair is
automatically labeled, Default-RSA-Key.
Step 3 Verify key pairs that you have generated.

show crypto key name of key
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# show crypto key examplekey
Step 4 Save the key pair that you have generated.

write memory
Example:
Step 5 If necessary, remove existing key pairs so that you can generate new ones.
crypto key zeroize rsa
524
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto key zeroize rsa
Step 6 (Optional) Archive the local CA server certificate and key pair.
copy
Example:
ciscoasa# copy LOCAL-CA-SERVER_0001.pl2 tftp://10.1.1.22/user6/
This command copies the local CA server certificate and key pair and all files from the ASA using either FTP
or TFTP.
Note Make sure that you back up all local CA files as often as possible.
Example
The following example shows how to remove key pairs:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto key zeroize rsa
WARNING: All RSA keys will be removed.
WARNING: All device certs issued using these keys will also be removed.
Do you really want to remove these keys? [yes/no] y
Configure Trustpoints
To configure a trustpoint, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create a trustpoint that corresponds to the CA from which the ASA needs to receive a certificate.
crypto ca trustpoint trustpoint-name
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# crypto ca trustpoint Main
You enter the crypto ca trustpoint configuration mode, which controls CA-specific trustpoint parameters that
you may configure starting in Step 3.
Note When you try to connect, a warning occurs to indicate that the trustpoint does not contain an ID
certificate when an attempt is made to retrieve the ID certificate from the trustpoint.
Step 2 Choose one of the following options:
• Request automatic enrollment using SCEP with the specified trustpoint and configures the enrollment
URL.
enrollment url url
525
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# enrollment url

http://10.29.67.142:80/certsrv/mscep/mscep.dll
• Request manual enrollment with the specified trustpoint by pasting the certificate received from the CA
into the terminal.
enrollment terminal
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# enrollment terminal
Step 3 Specify the available CRL configuration options.

revocation-check crl none
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# revocation-check crl none
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# revocation-check crl
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# revocation-check none
Note To enable either required or optional CRL checking, make sure that you configure the trustpoint for
CRL management after obtaining certificates.
Step 4 Enter crl configuration mode.
crl configure
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# crl configure
Step 5 During enrollment, ask the CA to include the specified e-mail address in the Subject Alternative Name
extension of the certificate.
email address
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# email example.com
Step 6 (Optional) Specify a retry period in minutes, and applies only to SCEP enrollment.
enrollment retry period
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# enrollment retry period 5
Step 7 (Optional) Specify a maximum number of permitted retries, and applies only to SCEP enrollment.
enrollment retry count
526
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# enrollment retry period 2
Step 8 During enrollment, ask the CA to include the specified fully qualified domain name in the Subject Alternative
Name extension of the certificate.
fqdn fqdn
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# fqdn example.com
Step 9 During enrollment, ask the CA to include the IP address of the ASA in the certificate.
ip-address ip-address
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# ip-address 10.10.100.1
Step 10 Specify the key pair whose public key is to be certified.

keypair name
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# keypair exchange
Step 11 Configure OCSP URL overrides and trustpoints to use for validating OCSP responder certificates.
match certificate map-name override ocsp
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# match certificate examplemap override ocsp
Step 12 Disable the nonce extension on an OCSP request. The nonce extension cryptographically binds requests with
responses to avoid replay attacks.
ocsp disable-nonce
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# ocsp disable-nonce
Step 13 Configure an OCSP server for the ASA to use to check all certificates associated with a trustpoint rather than
the server specified in the AIA extension of the client certificate.
ocsp url
527
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# ocsp url
Step 14 Specify a challenge phrase that is registered with the CA during enrollment. The CA usually uses this phrase
to authenticate a subsequent revocation request.
password string
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# password mypassword
Step 15 Set one or more methods for revocation checking: CRL, OCSP, and none.
revocation check
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# revocation check
Step 16 During enrollment, ask the CA to include the specified subject DN in the certificate. If a DN string includes
a comma, enclose the value string within double quotes (for example, O=”Company, Inc.”).
subject-name X.500 name
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# myname X.500 examplename
Step 17 During enrollment, ask the CA to include the ASA serial number in the certificate.
serial-number
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config-ca-trustpoint)# serial number JMX1213L2A7
Step 18 Save the running configuration.

write memory
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# write memory
Configure CRLs for a Trustpoint

To use mandatory or optional CRL checking during certificate authentication, you must configure CRLs for
each trustpoint. To configure CRLs for a trustpoint, perform the following steps:
528
Procedure
Step 1 Enter crypto ca trustpoint configuration mode for the trustpoint whose CRL configuration you want to modify.
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# crypto ca trustpoint Main
Note Make sure that you have enabled CRLs before entering this command. In addition, the CRL must be
available for authentication to succeed.
Step 2 Enter crl configuration mode for the current trustpoint.
crl configure
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-trustpoint)# crl configure
Tip To set all CRL configuration parameters to default values, use the default command. At any time
during CRL configuration, reenter this command to restart the procedure.
Step 3 Choose one of the following to configure retrieval policy:
• CRLs are retrieved only from the CRL distribution points that are specified in authenticated certificates.
policy cdp
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# policy cdp
Note SCEP retrieval is not supported by distribution points specified in certificates.
• CRLs are retrieved only from URLs that you configure.

policy static
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# policy static
• CRLs are retrieved from CRL distribution points specified in authenticated certificates and from URLs
that you configure.
policy both
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# policy both
Step 4 If you used the static or both keywords when you configured the CRL policy, you must configure URLs for
CRL retrieval. You can enter up to five URLs, ranked 1 through 5. The n argument is the rank assigned to
the URL.
url n url
529
Example:
ciscoasa (config-ca-crl)# url 2 http://www.example.com
To remove a URL, use the no url n command.
Step 5 Specify HTTP, LDAP, or SCEP as the CRL retrieval method.

protocol http | ldap | scep
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# protocol http
Step 6 Configure how long the ASA caches CRLs for the current trustpoint. The refresh-time argument is the number
of minutes that the ASA waits before considering a CRL stale.
cache-time refresh-time
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# cache-time 420
Step 7 Choose one of the following:

• Require the NextUpdate field to be present in CRLs. This is the default setting.
enforcenextupdate
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# enforcenextupdate
• Allow the NextUpdate field to be absent in CRLs.

no enforcenextupdate
ciscoasa(config-ca-crl)# no enforcenextupdate
Step 8 Identify the LDAP server to the ASA if LDAP is specified as the retrieval protocol. You can specify the server
by DNS hostname or by IP address. You can also provide a port number if the server listens for LDAP queries
on a port other than the default of 389.
ldap-defaults server
Example:
ciscoasa (config-ca-crl)# ldap-defaults ldap1
Note If you use a hostname instead of an IP address to specify the LDAP server, make sure that you have
configured the ASA to use DNS.
Step 9 Allow CRL retrieval if the LDAP server requires credentials.
ldap-dn admin-DN password
530
Example:
ciscoasa (config-ca-crl)# ldap-dn cn=admin,ou=devtest,o=engineering c00lRunZ
Step 10 Retrieve the current CRL from the CA represented by the specified trustpoint and test the CRL configuration
for the current trustpoint.
crypto ca crl request trustpoint
Example:
ciscoasa (config-ca-crl)# crypto ca crl request Main

write memory
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# write memory
Export or Import a Trustpoint Configuration

To export and import a trustpoint configuration, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Export a trustpoint configuration with all associated keys and certificates in PKCS12 format.
crypto ca export trustpoint
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca export Main
The ASA displays the PKCS12 data in the terminal. You can copy the data. The trustpoint data is password
protected; however, if you save the trustpoint data in a file, make sure that the file is in a secure location.
Step 2 Import keypairs and issued certificates that are associated with a trustpoint configuration.
crypto ca import trustpoint pkcs12
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca import Main pkcs12
The ASA prompts you to paste the text into the terminal in base 64 format. The key pair imported with the
trustpoint is assigned a label that matches the name of the trustpoint that you create.
Note If an ASA has trustpoints that share the same CA, you can use only one of the trustpoints that share
the CA to validate user certificates. To control which trustpoint that shares a CA is used for validation
of user certificates issued by that CA, use the support-user-cert-validation keyword.
531
Examples
The following example exports PKCS12 data for the trustpoint Main with the passphrase Wh0zits:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca export Main pkcs12 Wh0zits
Exported pkcs12 follows:
[ PKCS12 data omitted ]
---End - This line not part of the pkcs12---
The following example manually imports PKCS12 data to the trustpoint Main with the passphrase Wh0zits:
ciscoasa (config)# crypto ca import Main pkcs12 Wh0zits
Enter the base 64 encoded pkcs12.

End with a blank line or the word "quit" on a line by itself:
[ PKCS12 data omitted ]
quit
INFO: Import PKCS12 operation completed successfully
The following example manually imports a certificate for the trustpoint Main:
ciscoasa (config)# crypto ca import Main certificate

% The fully-qualified domain name in the certificate will be: securityappliance.example.com
Enter the base 64 encoded certificate.

End with a blank line or the word “quit” on a line by itself
[ certificate data omitted ]
quit
INFO: Certificate successfully imported
Configure CA Certificate Map Rules

You can configure rules based on the Issuer and Subject fields of a certificate. Using the rules you create, you
can map IPsec peer certificates to tunnel groups with the tunnel-group-map command. The ASA supports
one CA certificate map, which can include many rules.
To configure a CA certificate map rule, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enter CA certificate map configuration mode for the rule you want to configure and specify the rule index
number.
crypto ca certificate map sequence-number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca certificate map 1
Step 2 Specify the distinguished name of all issued certificates. which is also the subject-name DN of the self-signed
CA certificate.
issuer-name DN-string
532
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-cert-map)# issuer-name cn=asa.example.com
Step 3 Use commas to separate attribute-value pairs. Insert quotation marks around any value that includes a comma.
An issuer-name must be less than 500 alphanumeric characters. The default issuer-name is
cn=hostame.domain-name.
Specify tests that the ASA can apply to values found in the Subject field of certificates.
subject-name attr tag eq | co | ne | nc string
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-cert-map)# subject-name attr cn eq mycert
The tests can apply to specific attributes or to the entire field. You can configure many tests per rule, and all
the tests you specify with these commands must be true for a rule to match a certificate. The following are
valid operators:
• eq—The field or attribute must be identical to the value given.
• ne—The field or attribute cannot be identical to the value given.
• co—Part or all of the field or attribute must match the value given.
• nc—No part of the field or attribute can match the value given.

write memory
Example:
Obtain Certificates Manually

To obtain certificates manually, perform the following steps:
Before You Begin

You must have already obtained a base-64 encoded CA certificate from the CA represented by the trustpoint.
Procedure
Step 1 Import the CA certificate for the configured trustpoint.

crypto ca authenticate trustpoint
533
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca authenticate Main
Enter the base 64 encoded CA certificate.
End with a blank line or the word "quit" on a line by itself
MIIDRTCCAu+gAwIBAgIQKVcqP/KW74VP0NZzL+JbRTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCB
/7QEM8izy0EOTSErKu7Nd76jwf5e4qttkQ==
quit
INFO: Certificate has the following attributes:

Fingerprint: 24b81433 409b3fd5 e5431699 8d490d34
Do you accept this certificate? [yes/no]: y
Trustpoint CA certificate accepted.
% Certificate successfully imported
Whether a trustpoint requires that you manually obtain certificates is determined by the use of the enrollment
terminal command when you configure the trustpoint.
Step 2 Enroll the ASA with the trustpoint.

crypto ca enroll trustpoint
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca enroll Main
% Start certificate enrollment ..
% Include the device serial number in the subject name? [yes/no]: n
Display Certificate Request to terminal? [yes/no]: y

Certificate Request follows:
MIIBoDCCAQkCAQAwIzEhMB8GCSqGSIb3DQEJAhYSRmVyYWxQaXguY2lzY28uY29t
[ certificate request data omitted ]
jF4waw68eOxQxVmdgMWeQ+RbIOYmvt8g6hnBTrd0GdqjjVLt
---End - This line not part of the certificate request---
Redisplay enrollment request? [yes/no]: n
This command generates a certificate for signing data and depending on the type of keys that you have
configured, for encrypting data. If you use separate RSA keys for signing and encryption, the crypto ca enroll
command displays two certificate requests, one for each key. If you use general-purpose RSA keys for both
signing and encryption, the crypto ca enroll command displays one certificate request.
To complete enrollment, obtain a certificate for all certificate requests generated by the crypto ca enroll
command from the CA represented by the applicable trustpoint. Make sure that the certificate is in base-64
format.
Step 3 Import each certificate you receive from the CA and make sure that you paste the certificate to the terminal
in base-64 format.
crypto ca import trustpoint certificate
Example:
ciscoasa (config)# crypto ca import Main certificate
534
Enter the base 64 encoded certificate.

End with a blank line or the word “quit” on a line by itself
quit
INFO: Certificate successfully imported
Step 4 Verify that the enrollment process was successful by displaying certificate details issued for the ASA and the
CA certificate for the trustpoint.
show crypto ca server certificate
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# show crypto ca server certificate Main

write memory
Example:
Step 6 Repeat these steps for each trustpoint that you configure for manual enrollment.
Obtain Certificates Automatically with SCEP

This section describes how to obtain certificates automatically using SCEP.
Before You Begin

You must have already obtained a base-64 encoded CA certificate from the CA represented by the trustpoint.
Procedure
Step 1 Obtain the CA certificate for the configured trustpoint.

Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# crypto ca authenticate Main
When you configure the trustpoint, use of the enrollment url command determines whether or not you must
obtain certificates automatically via SCEP.
Step 2 Enroll the ASA with the trustpoint. This command retrieves a certificate for signing data and depending on
the type of keys that you have configured, for encrypting data. Before entering this command, contact the CA
administrator, who may need to authenticate the enrollment request manually before the CA grants certificates.
crypto ca enroll trustpoint
535
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# crypto ca enroll Main
If the ASA does not receive a certificate from the CA within one minute (the default) of sending a certificate
request, it resends the certificate request. The ASA continues sending a certificate request each minute until
a certificate is received.
If the fully qualified domain name configured for the trustpoint is not identical to the fully qualified domain
name of the ASA, including the case of the characters, a warning appears. To resolve this issue, exit the
enrollment process, make any necessary corrections, and reenter the crypto ca enroll command.
Note If the ASA reboots after you have issued the crypto ca enroll command but before you have received
the certificate, reenter the crypto ca enroll command and notify the CA administrator.
Step 3 Verify that the enrollment process was successful by displaying certificate details issued for the ASA and the
CA certificate for the trustpoint.
show crypto ca server certificate
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# show crypto ca server certificate Main

write memory
Example:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# write memory
Configure Proxy Support for SCEP Requests

To configure the ASA to authenticate remote access endpoints using third-party CAs, perform the following
steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enter tunnel-group ipsec-attributes configuration mode.

tunnel-group name ipsec-attributes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remotegrp ipsec-attributes
Step 2 Enable client services.

crypto ikev2 enable outside client-services port portnumber
536
Example:
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-ipsec)# crypto ikev2 enable outside client-services
The default port number is 443.

Note This command is needed only if you support
IKEv2.
Step 3 Enter tunnel-group general-attributes configuration mode.
tunnel-group name general-attributes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group 209.165.200.225 general-attributes
Step 4 Enable SCEP enrollment for the tunnel group.

scep-enrollment enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# scep-enrollment enable

INFO: 'authentication aaa certificate' must be configured to complete setup of this option.
Step 5 Enter group-policy attributes configuration mode.

group-policy name attributes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# group-policy FirstGroup attributes
Step 6 Enroll the SCEP CA for the group policy. Enter this command once per group policy to support a third-party
digital certificate.
scep-forwarding-url value URL
Example:
ciscoasa(config-group-policy)# scep-forwarding-url value http://ca.example.com:80/
URL is the SCEP URL on the CA.
Step 7 Supply a common, secondary password when a certificate is unavailable for WebLaunch support of the SCEP
proxy.
secondary-pre-fill-username clientless hide use-common-password password
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remotegrp webvpn-attributes
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-webvpn)# secondary-pre-fill-username clientless hide
use-common-password secret
You must use the hide keyword to support the SCEP proxy.
537
For example, a certificate is not available to an endpoint requesting one. Once the endpoint has the certificate,
AnyConnect disconnects, then reconnects to the ASA to qualify for a DAP policy that provides access to
internal network resources.
Step 8 Hide the secondary prefill username for AnyConnect VPN sessions.
secondary-pre-fill-username ssl-client hide use-common-password password
Example:
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-webvpn)# secondary-pre-fill-username ssl-client hide
use-common-password secret
Despite the ssl-client keyword inherited from earlier releases, use this command to support AnyConnect
sessions that use either IKEv2 or SSL.
You must use the hide keyword to support the SCEP proxy.
Step 9 Supply the username when a certificate is unavailable.

secondary-username-from-certificate {use-entire-name | use-script | {primary_attr [secondary-attr]}}
[no-certificate-fallback cisco-secure-desktop machine-unique-id]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-webvpn)# secondary-username-from-certificate CN no-certificate-fallback
cisco-secure-desktop machine-unique-id
Configure the CA Certificate Lifetime

To configure the local CA server certificate lifetime, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enter local ca server configuration mode.

crypto ca server
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca server
Step 2 Determine the expiration date to be included in the certificate. The default lifetime of a local CA certificate
is three years.
lifetime ca-certificate time
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# lifetime ca-certificate 365
Make sure that you limit the validity period of the certificate to less than the recommended end date of 03:14:08
UTC, January 19, 2038.
538
Step 3 (Optional) Reset the local CA certificate lifetime to the default value of three years.
no lifetime ca-certificate
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# no lifetime ca-certificate
The local CA server automatically generates a replacement CA certificate 30 days before it expires, which
allows the replacement certificate to be exported and imported onto any other devices for certificate validation
of user certificates that have been issued by the local CA certificate after the current local CA certificate has
expired. The following pre-expiration syslog message is generated:
%ASA-1-717049: Local CA Server certificate is due to expire in days days and a replacement
certificate is available for export.
Note When notified of this automatic rollover, the administrator must make sure that the new local CA
certificate is imported onto all required devices before it expires.
Configure the User Certificate Lifetime

To configure the user certificate lifetime, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Set the length of time that you want user certificates to remain valid.
lifetime certificate time
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# lifetime certificate 60
Note Before a user certificate expires, the local CA server automatically initiates certificate renewal
processing by granting enrollment privileges to the user several days ahead of the certificate expiration
date, setting renewal reminders, and delivering an e-mail message that includes the enrollment
username and OTP for certificate renewal. Make sure that you limit the validity period of the certificate
to less than the recommended end date of 03:14:08 UTC, January 19, 2038.
539
Configure the CRL Lifetime

To configure the CRL lifetime, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Set the length of time that you want the CRL to remain valid.
lifetime crl time
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# lifetime crl 10
The local CA updates and reissues the CRL each time that a user certificate is revoked or unrevoked, but if
no revocation changes occur, the CRL is reissued automatically once each CRL lifetime. If you do not specify
a CRL lifetime, the default time period is six hours.
Step 3 Force the issuance of a CRL at any time, which immediately updates and regenerates a current CRL to overwrite
the existing CRL.
crypto ca server crl issue
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server crl issue
A new CRL has been issued.
Note Do not use this command unless the CRL file has been removed in error or has been corrupted and
must be regenerated.
Configure the Server Keysize

To configure the server keysize, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
540
How to Set Up Specific Certificate Types
Example:
Step 2 Specify the size of the public and private keys generated at user-certificate enrollment.
keysize server
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# keysize server 2048
The key pair size options are 512, 768, 1024, 2048 bits, and the default value is 1024 bits.
Note After you have enabled the local CA, you cannot change the local CA keysize, because all issued
certificates would be invalidated. To change the local CA keysize, you must delete the current local
CA and reconfigure a new one.
Example
The following is sample output that shows two user certificates in the database.
Username: user1
Renewal allowed until: Not Allowed
Number of times user notified: 0
PKCS12 file stored until: 12:45:52 UTC Fri Jan 4 2017
Certificates Issued:
serial: 0x71
issued: 12:45:52 UTC Thu Jan 3 2008
expired: 12:17:37 UTC Sun Dec 31 2017
status: Not Revoked
Username: user2
Renewal allowed until: Not Allowed
Number of times user notified: 0
PKCS12 file stored until: 12:27:59 UTC Fri Jan 4 2008
Certificates Issued:
serial: 0x2
issued: 12:27:59 UTC Thu Jan 3 2008
expired: 12:17:37 UTC Sun Dec 31 2017
status: Not Revoked
<--- More --->

After you have established trusted certificates, you can begin other fundamental tasks such as establishing
identity certificates or more advanced configurations such as establishing local CA or code signing certificates.
Before You Begin

Read about digital certificate information and establish trusted certificates. CA certificates with no private
key are used by all VPN protocols and webvpn, and are configured in trustpoints to validate incoming client
certificates. Similarly, a trustpool is a list of trusted certificates used by webvpn features to validate proxied
connections to https servers and to validate the smart-call-home certificate.
541
Procedure
A local CA allows VPN clients to enroll for certificates directly from the ASA. This advanced configuration
converts the ASA into a CA. To configure CAs, refer to CA Certificates, on page 542.
What to Do Next
Set up a certificate expiration alert or monitor digital certificates and certificate management history.
CA Certificates
This page is where you manage CA certificates. You can:
For more information about certificates on the ASA, see About Digital Certificates, on page 513.
Configure the Local CA Server

To configure the local CA server, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Specify the SMTP from-address, a valid e-mail address that the local CA uses as a from address when sending
e-mail messages that deliver one-time passwords (OTPs) for an enrollment invitation to users.
smtp from-address e-mail_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server) # smtp from-address [email protected]
Step 3 (Optional) Specify the subject-name DN that is appended to each username on issued certificates.
subject-name-default dn
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# subject-name-default cn=engineer, o=asc systems, c=”US”
The subject-name DN and the username combine to form the DN in all user certificates that are issued by the
local CA server. If you do not specify a subject-name DN, you must specify the exact subject name DN to be
included in a user certificate each time that you add a user to the user database.
Note Make sure that you review all optional parameters carefully before you enable the configured local
CA, because you cannot change issuer-name and keysize server values after you enable the local CA
for the first time.
542
Step 4 Create the self-signed certificate and associate it with the local CA on the ASA.
no shutdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# no shutdown
The self-signed certificate key usage extension has key encryption, key signature, CRL signing, and certificate
signing capabilities.
Note After the self-signed local CA certificate has been generated, to change any characteristics, you must
delete the existing local CA server and completely recreate it.
The local CA server keeps track of user certificates, so the administrator can revoke or restore privileges as
needed.
Example
The following example shows how to configure the local CA server using the predefined default values for
all required parameters:

ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# smtp from-address [email protected]
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# subject-name-default cn=engineer, o=asc Systems, c=US
CA Server Management
Delete the Local CA Server

To delete an existing local CA server (either enabled or disabled), perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enter one of the following commands to remove an existing local CA server (either enabled or disabled):
• no crypto ca server
Example
ciscoasa(config)# no crypto ca server
• clear configure crypto ca server

Example
ciscoasa(config)# clear config crypto ca server
Note Deleting the local CA server removes the configuration from the ASA. After the configuration has
been deleted, it is unrecoverable.
Make sure that you also delete the associated local CA server database and configuration files (that is, all files
with the wildcard name, LOCAL-CA-SERVER.*).
543
Manage User Certificates

To change the certificate status, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Select specific certificates by username or by certificate serial number in the Manage User Certificates pane.
• Click Revoketo remove user access if the user certificate lifetime period runs out. The local CA also
marks the certificate as revoked in the certificate database, automatically updates the information, and
reissues the CRL.
• Select a revoked certificate and click Unrevoke to restore access. The local CA also marks the certificate
as unrevoked in the certificate database, automatically updates the certificate information, and reissues
an updated CRL.
Step 3 Click Apply when you are done to save your changes.
Enable the Local CA Server

To enable the local CA server, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Before enabling the local CA server, you must first create a passphrase of at least seven characters to encode
and archive a PKCS12 file that includes the local CA certificate and keypair to be generated. The passphrase
unlocks the PKCS12 archive if the CA certificate or keypair is lost.
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Enable the local CA server.

no shutdown
Example:
This command generates the local CA server certificate, keypair and necessary database files, and archives
the local CA server certificate and keypair in a PKCS12 file. You must enter an 8-65 alphanumeric password.
After initial startup, you can disable the local CA without being prompted for the password.
Step 3 Save the configuration to make sure that the local CA certificate and keypair are not lost after a reboot occurs.
544
write memory
Example:
Examples
The following example enables the local CA server:

% Some server settings cannot be changed after CA certificate generation.

% Please enter a passphrase to protect the private key
% or type Return to exit
Password: caserver
Re-enter password: caserver
Keypair generation process begin. Please wait...
The following is sample output that shows local CA server configuration and status:
Certificate Server LOCAL-CA-SERVER:

Status: enabled
State: enabled
Server's configuration is locked (enter “shutdown” to unlock it)
Issuer name: CN=wz5520-1-16
CA certificate fingerprint/thumbprint: (MD5)
76dd1439 ac94fdbc 74a0a89f cb815acc
CA certificate fingerprint/thumbprint: (SHA1)
58754ffd 9f19f9fd b13b4b02 15b3e4be b70b5a83
Last certificate issued serial number: 0x6
CA certificate expiration timer: 14:25:11 UTC Jan 16 2008
CRL NextUpdate timer: 16:09:55 UTC Jan 24 2007
Current primary storage dir: flash:
Configure Auto Import of Trustpool Certificates

Smart licensing uses the Smart Call Home infrastructure. When the ASA configures Smart Call Home
anonymous reporting in the background, the ASA automatically creates a trustpoint containing the certificate
of the CA that issued the Call Home server certificate. The ASA now supports validation of the certificate if
the issuing hierarchy of the server certificate changes, without the need for customer involvement to adjust
certificate hierarchy changes. You can automate the update of the trustpool bundle at periodic intervals so
that Smart Call Home can remain active if the self-signed certificate of the CA server changes. This feature
is not supported under multi-context deployments.
Automatic import of trustpool certificate bundles requires you to specify the URL that ASA uses to download
and import the bundle. Use the following command so the import happens daily at a regular interval with the
default Cisco URL and default time of 22 hours:
ciscoasa(config-ca-trustpool)# auto-import-url Default
You can also enable auto import with a custom URL with the following command:
ciscoasa(config-ca-trustpool)# auto-import url http://www.thawte.com
545
To give you more flexibility to set downloads during off peak hours or other convenient times, enter the
following command which enables the import with a custom time:
ciscoasa(config-ca-trustpool)# auto-import time 23:23:23
Setting the automatic import with both a custom URL and custom time requires the following command:
ciscoasa(config-ca-trustpool)# auto-import time 23:23:23 url http://www.thawte.com
Show the State of the Trustpool Policy

Use the following command to see the current state of the trustpool policy:
show crypto ca trustpool policy
This command returns information like the following:
0 trustpool certificates installed
Trustpool auto renewal statistics:
State: Not in progress
Last import result: Not attempted N/A
Current Jitter: 0
Trustpool auto import statistics:

Last import result: N/A
Next schedule import at 22:00:00 Tues Jul 21 2015
Trustpool Policy
Trustpool revocation checking is disabled.

CRL cache time: 60 seconds
CRL next update field: required and enforced
Auto import of trustpool is enabled
Automatic import URL: http://www.cisco.com/security/pki/trs/ios_core.p7b
Download time: 22:00:00
Policy Overrides:
None configured
Clear CA Trustpool
To reset the trustpool policy to its default state, use the following command:
clear configure crypto ca trustpool
Since the automatic import of trustpoint certificates is turned off by default, using this command disables the
feature.
Customize the Local CA Server

To configure a customized local CA server, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Specify parameters that do not have default values.

issuer-name DN-string
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# issuer-name cn=xx5520,cn=30.132.0.25,ou=DevTest,ou=QA,o=ASC
546
Systems
Step 3 Customize the text that appears in the subject field of all e-mail messages sent from the local CA server.
smtp subject subject-line
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# smtp subject Priority E-Mail: Enclosed Confidential Information
is Required for Enrollment
Step 4 Specify the e-mail address that is to be used as the From: field of all e-mail messages that are generated by
the local CA server.
smtp from-address e-mail_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# smtp from-address [email protected]
Step 5 Specify an optional subject-name DN to be appended to a username on issued certificates.

subject-name-default dn
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# subject-name default cn=engineer, o=ASC Systems, c=US
The default subject-name DN becomes part of the username in all user certificates issued by the local CA
server.
The allowed DN attribute keywords are as follows:
• C = Country
• CN = Common Name
• EA = E-mail Address
• L = Locality
• O = Organization Name
• OU = Organization Unit
• ST = State/Province
• SN = Surname
• ST = State/Province
Note If you do not specify a subject-name-default to serve as a standard subject-name default, you must
specify a DN each time that you add a user.
Disable the Local CA Server

To disable the local CA server, perform the following steps:
547
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Disable the local CA server.

shutdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# shutdown
INFO: Local CA Server has been shutdown.
This command disables website enrollment, allows you to modify the local CA server configuration, and
stores the current configuration and associated files. After initial startup, you can reenable the local CA without
being prompted for the password.
Set Up External Local CA File Storage

To configure external local CA file storage, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Access configuration mode for the specific file system type.
mount name type
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mount mydata type cifs
Step 2 Mount a CIFS file system.

mount name type cifs
Example:
ciscoasa(config-mount-cifs)# mount mydata type cifs
server 10.1.1.10 share myshare
domain example.com
username user6
password ********
status enable
Note Only the user who mounts a file system can unmount it with the no mount command.
548
crypto ca server
Example:
Step 4 Specify the location of mydata, the premounted CIFS file system to be used for the local CA server database.
database path mount-name directory-path
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# database path mydata:newuser
This command establishes a path to the server and then specifies the local CA file or folder name to use for
storage and retrieval. To return local CA file storage to the ASA flash memory, use the no database path
command.
Note To secure stored local CA files on an external server requires a premounted file system of file type
CIFS or FTP that is username-protected and password-protected.
write memory
Example:
For external local CA file storage, each time that you save the ASA configuration, user information is saved
from the ASA to the premounted file system and file location, mydata:newuser.
For flash memory storage, user information is saved automatically to the default location for the start-up
configuration.
Example
The following example shows the list of local CA files that appear in flash memory or in external storage:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# dir LOCAL* //

Directory of disk0:/LOCAL*
75 -rwx 32 13:07:49 Jan 20 2007 LOCAL-CA-SERVER.ser

77 -rwx 229 13:07:49 Jan 20 2007 LOCAL-CA-SERVER.cdb
69 -rwx 0 01:09:28 Jan 20 2007 LOCAL-CA-SERVER.udb
81 -rwx 232 19:09:10 Jan 20 2007 LOCAL-CA-SERVER.crl
72 -rwx 1603 01:09:28 Jan 20 2007 LOCAL-CA-SERVER.p12
127119360 bytes total (79693824 bytes free)
Download and Store CRLs

To download and store CRLs, perform the following steps:
549
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Open a port on an interface to make the CRL accessible from that interface. The specified interface and port
are used to listen for incoming requests for the CRL.
publish-crl interface interface port portnumber
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# publish-crl outside 70
The interface and optional port selections are as follows:

• inside—Name of interface/GigabitEthernet0/1
• management—Name of interface/ Management0/0
• outside—Name of interface/GigabitEthernet0/0
• Port numbers can range from 1-65535. TCP port 80 is the HTTP default port number.
Note If you do not specify this command, the CRL is not accessible from the CDP location, because this
command is required to open an interface to download the CRL file.
The CDP URL can be configured to use the IP address of an interface, and the path of the CDP URL and the
filename can also be configured (for example, http://10.10.10.100/user8/my_crl_file).
In this case, only the interface with that IP address configured listens for CRL requests, and when a request
comes in, the ASA matches the path, /user8/my_crl_file to the configured CDP URL. When the path matches,
the ASA returns the stored CRL file.
Note The protocol must be HTTP, so the prefix displayed is
http://.
Step 3 Specify the CDP to be included in all issued certificates. If you do not configure a specific location for the
CDP, the default URL location is http://hostname.domain/+CSCOCA+/asa_ca.crl.
cdp-url url
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# cdp-url http://172.16.1.1/pathname/myca.crl
The local CA updates and reissues the CRL each time a user certificate is revoked or unrevoked. If no revocation
changes occur, the CRL is reissued once each CRL lifetime.
If this command is set to serve the CRL directly from the local CA ASA, see Download and Store CRLs for
instructions about opening a port on an interface to make the CRL accessible from that interface.
The CRL exists for other devices to validate the revocation of certificates issued by the local CA. In addition,
the local CA tracks all issued certificates and status within its own certificate database. Revocation checking
550
is performed when a validating party needs to validate a user certificate by retrieving the revocation status
from an external server, which might be the CA that issued the certificate or a server designated by the CA.
Enrollment and User Management
Set Up Enrollment Parameters

To set up enrollment parameters, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Specify the number of hours that an issued OTP for the local CA enrollment page is valid. The default expiration
time is 72 hours.
otp expiration timeout
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# otp expiration 24
Note The user OTP to enroll for a certificate on the enrollment website is also used as the password to
unlock the PKCS12 file that includes the issued certificate and keypair for the specified user.
Step 3 Specify the number of hours an already-enrolled user can retrieve a PKCS12 enrollment file.
enrollment-retrieval timeout
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# enrollment-retrieval 120
This time period begins when the user is successfully enrolled. The default retrieval period is 24 hours. Valid
values for the retrieval period range from 1 to 720 hours. The enrollment retrieval period is independent of
the OTP expiration period.
After the enrollment retrieval time expires, the user certificate and keypair are no longer available. The only
way a user may receive a certificate is for the administrator to reinitialize certificate enrollment and allow a
user to log in again.
Add and Enroll Users

To add a user who is eligible for enrollment in the local CA database, perform the following steps:
551
Procedure
Step 1 Add a new user to the local CA database.

crypto ca server user-db add username [dn dn] [email emailaddress]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server user-db add user1 dn [email protected], Engineer,
Example Company, US, email [email protected]
The username argument is a string of 4-64 characters, which is the simple username for the user being added.
The username can be an e-mail address, which then is used to contact the user as necessary for enrollment
invitations.
The dn argument is the distinguished name, a global, authoritative name of an entry in the OSI Directory
(X.500) (for example, [email protected], cn=Engineer, o=Example Company, c=US).
The e-mail-address argument is the e-mail address of the new user to which OTPs and notices are to be sent.
Step 2 Provide user privileges to a newly added user.

crypto ca server user-db allow user
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server user-db allow user
Step 3 Notify a user in the local CA database to enroll and download a user certificate, which automatically e-mails
the OTP to that user.
crypto ca server user-db email-otp username
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server user-db email-otp exampleuser1
Note When an administrator wants to notify a user through e-mail, the administrator must specify the
e-mail address in the username field or in the e-mail field when adding that user.
Step 4 Show the issued OTP.
crypto ca server user-db show-otp
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server user-db show-otp
Step 5 Set the enrollment time limit in hours. The default expiration time is 72 hours.
otp expiration timeout
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# otp expiration 24
This command defines the amount of time that the OTP is valid for user enrollment. This time period begins
when the user is allowed to enroll.
552
After a user enrolls successfully within the time limit and with the correct OTP, the local CA server creates
a PKCS12 file, which includes a keypair for the user and a user certificate that is based on the public key from
the keypair generated and the subject-name DN specified when the user is added. The PKCS12 file contents
are protected by a passphrase, the OTP. The OTP can be handled manually, or the local CA can e-mail this
file to the user to download after the administrator allows enrollment.
The PKCS12 file is saved to temporary storage with the name, username.p12. With the PKCS12 file in storage,
the user can return within the enrollment-retrieval time period to download the PKCS12 file as many times
as needed. When the time period expires, the PKCS12 file is removed from storage automatically and is no
longer available to download.
Note If the enrollment period expires before the user retrieves the PKCS12 file that includes the user
certificate, enrollment is not permitted.
Renew Users
To specify the timing of renewal notices, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Specifies the number of days (1-90) before the local CA certificate expires that an initial reminder to re-enroll
is sent to certificate owners.
renewal-reminder time
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# renewal-reminder 7
If a certificate expires, it becomes invalid. Renewal notices and the times they are e-mailed to users are variable,
and can be configured by the administrator during local CA server configuration.
Three reminders are sent. An e-mail is automatically sent to the certificate owner for each of the three reminders,
provided an e-mail address is specified in the user database. If no e-mail address exists for the user, a syslog
message alerts you of the renewal requirement.
The ASA automatically grants certificate renewal privileges to any user who holds a valid certificate that is
about to expire, as long as the user still exists in the user database. Therefore, if an administrator does not
want to allow a user to renew automatically, the administrator must remove the user from the database before
the renewal time period.
553
Restore Users
To restore a user and a previously revoked certificate that was issued by the local CA server, perform the
following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Restore a user and unrevoke a previously revoked certificate that was issued by the local CA server.
crypto ca server unrevoke cert-serial-no
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server unrevoke 782ea09f
The local CA maintains a current CRL with serial numbers of all revoked user certificates. This list is available
to external devices and can be retrieved directly from the local CA if it is configured to do so with the cdp-url
command and the publish-crl command. When you revoke (or unrevoke) any current certificate by certificate
serial number, the CRL automatically reflects these changes.
Remove Users
To delete a user from the user database by username, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Remove a user from the user database and allow revocation of any valid certificates that were issued to that
user.
crypto ca server user-db remove username
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server user-db remove user1
554
Set a Certificate Expiration Alert (for Identity or CA Certificates)
Revoke Certificates
To revoke a user certificate, perform the following steps:
Procedure

crypto ca server
Example:
Step 2 Enter the certificate serial number in hexadecimal format.

crypto ca server revoke cert-serial-no
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ca-server)# crypto ca server revoke 782ea09f
This command marks the certificate as revoked in the certificate database on the local CA server and in the
CRL, which is automatically reissued.
Note The password is also required if the certificate for the ASA needs to be revoked, so make sure that
you record it and store it in a safe place.
Set a Certificate Expiration Alert (for Identity or CA Certificates)

ASA checks all the CA and ID certificates in the trust points for expiration once every 24 hours. If a certificate
is nearing expiration, a syslog will be issued as an alert.
A CLI is provided to configure the reminder and recurrence intervals. By default, reminders start at 60 days
prior to expiration and recur every 7 days. You can configure the interval at which reminders are sent and the
number of days before the expiration at which the first alert is sent by using the following command:
[no] crypto ca alerts expiration [begin <days before expiration>] [repeat <days>]
Irrespective of the alerts configuration, a reminder is sent every day during the last week of expiration. The
following show and clear commands have also been added:
clear conf crypto ca alerts

show run crypto ca alerts
In addition to the renewal reminder, if an already expired certificate is found in the configuration, a syslog is
generated once every day to rectify the configuration by either renewing the certificate or removing the expired
certificate.
For example, assume that the expiration alerts are configured to begin at 60 days and repeat every 6 days after
that. If the ASA is rebooted at 40 days, an alert is sent on that day, and the next alert is sent on the 36th day.
555
Monitoring Digital Certificates
Note Expiration checking is not done on trust pool certificates. The Local CA trust point is treated as a regular
trustpoint for expiration checking too.

See the following commands for monitoring digital certificate status:
• show crypto ca server
This command shows local CA configuration and status.
• show crypto ca server cert-db
This command shows user certificates issued by the local CA.
• show crypto ca server certificate
This command shows local CA certificates on the console in base 64 format and the rollover certificate
when available, including the rollover certificate thumb print for verification of the new certificate during
import onto other devices.
• show crypto ca server crl
This command shows CRLs.
• show crypto ca server user-db
This command shows users and their status, which can be used with the following qualifiers to reduce
the number of displayed records:
◦allowed. Shows only users currently allowed to enroll.
◦enrolled. Shows only users that are enrolled and hold a valid certificate
◦expired. Shows only users holding expired certificates.
◦on-hold. Lists only users without a certificate and not currently allowed to enroll.
• show crypto ca server user-db allowed

This command shows users who are eligible to enroll.
• show crypto ca server user-db enrolled
This command shows enrolled users with valid certificates.
• show crypto ca server user-db expired
This command shows users with expired certificates.
• show crypto ca server user-db on-hold
This command shows users without certificates who are not allowed to enroll.
• show crypto key name of key
This command shows key pairs that you have generated.
• show running-config
556
This command shows local CA certificate map rules.
Examples
The following example shows an RSA general-purpose key:
ciscoasa/contexta(config)# show crypto key mypubkey

Key pair was generated at: 16:39:47 central Feb 10 2010
Key name: <Default-RSA-Key>
Usage: General Purpose Key
Modulus Size (bits): 1024
Key Data:
30819f30 0d06092a 864886f7 0d010101 05000381 8d003081 89028181 00ea51b7

0781848f 78bccac2 4a1b5b8d 2f3e30b4 4cae9f86 f4485207 159108c9 f5e49103
9eeb0f5d 45fd1811 3b4aafce 292b3b64 b4124a6f 7a777b08 75b88df1 8092a9f8
5508e9e5 2c271245 7fd1c0c3 3aaf1e04 c7c4efa4 600f4c4a 6afe56ad c1d2c01c
e08407dd 45d9e36e 8cc0bfef 14f9e6ac eca141e4 276d7358 f7f50d13 79020301 0001
Key pair was generated at: 16:34:54 central Feb 10 2010
The following example shows the local CA CRL:
ciscoasa(config)# show crypto ca server crl

Certificate Revocation List:
Issuer: cn=xx5520-1-3-2007-1
This Update: 13:32:53 UTC Jan 4 2010
Next Update: 13:32:53 UTC Feb 3 2010
Number of CRL entries: 2
CRL size: 270 bytes
Revoked Certificates:
Serial Number: 0x6f
Revocation Date: 12:30:01 UTC Jan 4 2010
Serial Number: 0x47
Revocation Date: 13:32:48 UTC Jan 4 2010
The following example shows one user on-hold:
ciscoasa(config)# show crypto ca server user-db on-hold

username: wilma101
email: <None>
dn: <None>
allowed: <not allowed>
notified: 0
ciscoasa(config)#
The following example shows output of the show running-config command, in which local CA certificate
map rules appear:
crypto ca certificate map 1

issuer-name co asc
subject-name attr ou eq Engineering
557
History for Certificate Management

Table 29: History for Certificate Management

Releases
Certificate management 7.0(1) Digital certificates (including CA certificates, identity
certificates, and code signer certificates) provide digital
identification for authentication. A digital certificate includes
information that identifies a device or user, such as the name,
serial number, company, department, or IP address. CAs are
trusted authorities that “sign” certificates to verify their
authenticity, thereby guaranteeing the identity of the device or
user. CAs issue digital certificates in the context of a PKI, which
uses public-key or private-key encryption to ensure security.
Certificate management 7.2(1) We introduced the following commands:

issuer-name DN-string, revocation-check crl none,
revocation-check crl, revocation-check none.
We deprecated the following commands: crl {required |
optional | nocheck}.
Certificate management 8.0(2) We introduced the following commands:

cdp-url, crypto ca server, crypto ca server crl issue, crypto
ca server revoke cert-serial-no, crypto ca server unrevoke
cert-serial-no, crypto ca server user-db add user [dn dn]
[email e-mail-address], crypto ca server user-db allow
{username | all-unenrolled | all-certholders} [display-otp]
[email-otp] [replace-otp], crypto ca server user-db email-otp
{username | all-unenrolled | all-certholders}, crypto ca server
user-db remove username, crypto ca server user-db show-otp
{username | all-certholders | all-unenrolled}, crypto ca server
user-db write, [no] database path mount-name directory-path,
debug crypto ca server [level], lifetime {ca-certificate |
certificate | crl} time, no shutdown, otp expiration timeout,
renewal-reminder time, show crypto ca server, show crypto
ca server cert-db [user username | allowed | enrolled | expired
| on-hold] [serial certificate-serial-number], show crypto ca
server certificate, show crypto ca server crl, show crypto
ca server user-db [expired | allowed | on-hold | enrolled],
show crypto key name of key, show running-config,
shutdown.
558

Releases
SCEP proxy 8.4(1) We introduced this feature, which provides secure deployment
of device certificates from third-party CAs.
We introduced the following commands:
crypto ikev2 enable outside client-services port portnumber,
scep-enrollment enable, scep-forwarding-url value URL,
secondary-pre-fill-username clientless hide
use-common-password password,
secondary-pre-fill-username ssl-client hide
use-common-password password,
secondary-username-from-certificate {use-entire-name |
use-script | {primary_attr [secondary-attr]}}
[no-certificate-fallback cisco-secure-desktop
machine-unique-id].
559
560
PART V
IP Routing
• Routing Overview, page 563
• Static and Default Routes, page 577
• Policy Based Routing, page 585
• Route Maps, page 597
• BGP, page 603
• OSPF, page 641
• EIGRP, page 691
• Multicast Routing, page 711
• IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 729
CHAPTER 20
Routing Overview
This chapter describes underlying concepts of how routing behaves within the Cisco ASA, and the routing
protocols that are supported. Routing is the act of moving information across a network from a source to a
destination. Along the way, at least one intermediate node is typically encountered. Routing involves two
basic activities: determining optimal routing paths and transporting packets through a network.
• Path Determination, page 563

• Supported Route Types, page 564
• How Routing Behaves Within the ASA, page 565
• Supported Internet Protocols for Routing, page 567
• Routing Table, page 568
• Routing Table for Management Traffic, page 573
• Disable Proxy ARP Requests, page 574
• Display the Routing Table, page 574
• Reference, page 575
Path Determination
Routing protocols use metrics to evaluate what path will be the best for a packet to travel. A metric is a standard
of measurement, such as path bandwidth, that is used by routing algorithms to determine the optimal path to
a destination. To aid the process of path determination, routing algorithms initialize and maintain routing
tables, which include route information. Route information varies depending on the routing algorithm used.
Routing algorithms fill routing tables with a variety of information. Destination or next hop associations tell
a router that a particular destination can be reached optimally by sending the packet to a particular router
representing the next hop on the way to the final destination. When a router receives an incoming packet, it
checks the destination address and attempts to associate this address with a next hop.
Routing tables also can include other information, such as data about the desirability of a path. Routers compare
metrics to determine optimal routes, and these metrics differ depending on the design of the routing algorithm
used.
563
Supported Route Types
Routers communicate with one another and maintain their routing tables through the transmission of a variety
of messages. The routing update message is one such message that generally consists of all or a portion of a
routing table. By analyzing routing updates from all other routers, a router can build a detailed picture of
network topology. A link-state advertisement, another example of a message sent between routers, informs
other routers of the state of the sender links. Link information also can be used to build a complete picture of
network topology to enable routers to determine optimal routes to network destinations.
Note Asymmetric routing is only supported for Active/Active failover in multiple context mode.
Supported Route Types

There are several route types that a router can use. The ASA uses the following route types:
• Static Versus Dynamic
• Single-Path Versus Multipath
• Flat Versus Hierarchical
• Link-State Versus Distance Vector
Static Versus Dynamic

Static routing algorithms are actually table mappings established by the network administrator. These mappings
do not change unless the network administrator alters them. Algorithms that use static routes are simple to
design and work well in environments where network traffic is relatively predictable and where network
design is relatively simple.
Because static routing systems cannot react to network changes, they generally are considered unsuitable for
large, constantly changing networks. Most of the dominant routing algorithms are dynamic routing algorithms,
which adjust to changing network circumstances by analyzing incoming routing update messages. If the
message indicates that a network change has occurred, the routing software recalculates routes and sends out
new routing update messages. These messages permeate the network, stimulating routers to rerun their
algorithms and change their routing tables accordingly.
Dynamic routing algorithms can be supplemented with static routes where appropriate. A router of last resort
(a default route for a router to which all unroutable packets are sent), for example, can be designated to act
as a repository for all unroutable packets, ensuring that all messages are at least handled in some way.
Single-Path Versus Multipath

Some sophisticated routing protocols support multiple paths to the same destination. Unlike single-path
algorithms, these multipath algorithms permit traffic multiplexing over multiple lines. The advantages of
multipath algorithms are substantially better throughput and reliability, which is generally called load sharing.
Flat Versus Hierarchical

Some routing algorithms operate in a flat space, while others use routing hierarchies. In a flat routing system,
the routers are peers of all others. In a hierarchical routing system, some routers form what amounts to a
routing backbone. Packets from non-backbone routers travel to the backbone routers, where they are sent
564
How Routing Behaves Within the ASA
through the backbone until they reach the general area of the destination. At this point, they travel from the
last backbone router through one or more non-backbone routers to the final destination.
Routing systems often designate logical groups of nodes, called domains, autonomous systems, or areas. In
hierarchical systems, some routers in a domain can communicate with routers in other domains, while others
can communicate only with routers within their domain. In very large networks, additional hierarchical levels
may exist, with routers at the highest hierarchical level forming the routing backbone.
The primary advantage of hierarchical routing is that it mimics the organization of most companies and
therefore supports their traffic patterns well. Most network communication occurs within small company
groups (domains). Because intradomain routers need to know only about other routers within their domain,
their routing algorithms can be simplified, and, depending on the routing algorithm being used, routing update
traffic can be reduced accordingly.
Link-State Versus Distance Vector

Link-state algorithms (also known as shortest path first algorithms) flood routing information to all nodes in
the internetwork. Each router, however, sends only the portion of the routing table that describes the state of
its own links. In link-state algorithms, each router builds a picture of the entire network in its routing tables.
Distance vector algorithms (also known as Bellman-Ford algorithms) call for each router to send all or some
portion of its routing table, but only to its neighbors. In essence, link-state algorithms send small updates
everywhere, while distance vector algorithms send larger updates only to neighboring routers. Distance vector
algorithms know only about their neighbors. Typically, link-state algorithms are used in conjunction with
OSPF routing protocols.

The ASA uses either the routing table or the NAT (xlate) table for routing decisions, depending on your NAT
configuration.
Determining the Egress Interface

When you use NAT and the ASA receives traffic for a mapped address, then the ASA untranslates the
destination address according to the NAT rule, and then it sends the packet on to the real address. The ASA
determines the egress interface for the packet in the following ways:
• Transparent mode—The ASA determines the egress interface for the real address by using the NAT
rule; you must specify the source and destination interfaces as part of the NAT rule.
• Routed mode—The ASA determines the egress interface in one of the following ways:
◦You configure the interface in the NAT rule—The ASA uses the NAT rule to determine the egress
interface. However, you have the option to always use a route lookup instead. In certain scenarios,
a route lookup override is required.
◦You do not configure the interface in the NAT rule—The ASA uses a route lookup to determine
the egress interface.
565
The following figure shows the egress interface selection method in routed mode. In almost all cases, a route
lookup is equivalent to the NAT rule interface, but in some configurations, the two methods might differ.
Figure 40: Routed Mode Egress Interface Selection with NAT
Next Hop Selection Process

After selecting the egress interface using any method described previously, an additional route lookup is
performed to find out suitable next hop(s) that belong to a previously selected egress interface. If there are no
routes in the routing table that explicitly belong to a selected interface, the packet is dropped with a level 6
syslog message 110001 generated (no route to host), even if there is another route for a given destination
network that belongs to a different egress interface. If the route that belongs to a selected egress interface is
found, the packet is forwarded to the corresponding next hop.
Load sharing on the ASA is possible only for multiple next hops available using a single egress interface.
Load sharing cannot share multiple egress interfaces.
If dynamic routing is in use on the ASA and the route table changes after XLATE creation (for example, route
flap), then destination translated traffic is still forwarded using the old XLATE, not via the route table, until
XLATE times out. It may be either forwarded to the wrong interface or dropped with a level 6 syslog message
110001 generated (no route to host), if the old route was removed from the old interface and attached to
another one by the routing process.
The same problem may happen when there are no route flaps on the ASA itself, but some routing process is
flapping around it, sending source-translated packets that belong to the same flow through the ASA using
different interfaces. Destination-translated return packets may be forwarded back using the wrong egress
interface.
This issue has a high probability in some security traffic configurations, where virtually any traffic may be
either source-translated or destination-translated, depending on the direction of the initial packet in the flow.
When this issue occurs after a route flap, it can be resolved manually by using the clear xlate command, or
automatically resolved by an XLATE timeout. The XLATE timeout may be decreased if necessary. To ensure
that this issue rarely occurs, make sure that there are no route flaps on the ASA and around it. That is, ensure
that destination-translated packets that belong to the same flow are always forwarded the same way through
the ASA.
566
Supported Internet Protocols for Routing
ECMP Routing
The ASA supports Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing.
Without zones: You can have up to 3 equal cost static or dynamic routes per interface. For example, you can
configure three default routes on the outside interface that specify different gateways.

In this case, traffic is load-balanced on the outside interface between 10.1.1.2, 10.1.1.3, and 10.1.1.4. Traffic
is distributed among the specified gateways based on an algorithm that hashes the source and destination IP
addresses.
ECMP is not supported across multiple interfaces, so you cannot define a route to the same destination on a
different interface. The following route is disallowed when configured with any of the routes above:
With zones: You can have up to 8 equal cost static or dynamic routes across up to 8 interfaces within a zone.
For example, you can configure three default routes across three interfaces in the zone:

Similarly, your dynamic routing protocol can automatically configure equal cost routes. The ASA load-balances
traffic across the interfaces with a more robust load balancing mechanism.
When a route is lost, the device seamlessly moves the flow to a different route.
Supported Internet Protocols for Routing

The ASA supports several Internet protocols for routing. Each protocol is briefly described in this section.
• Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
EIGRP is a Cisco proprietary protocol that provides compatibility and seamless interoperation with
IGRP routers. An automatic-redistribution mechanism allows IGRP routes to be imported into Enhanced
IGRP, and vice versa, so it is possible to add Enhanced IGRP gradually into an existing IGRP network.
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
OSPF is a routing protocol developed for Internet Protocol (IP) networks by the interior gateway protocol
(IGP) working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). OSPF uses a link-state algorithm
to build and calculate the shortest path to all known destinations. Each router in an OSPF area includes
an identical link-state database, which is a list of each of the router usable interfaces and reachable
neighbors.
• Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
RIP is a distance-vector protocol that uses hop count as its metric. RIP is widely used for routing traffic
in the global Internet and is an interior gateway protocol (IGP), which means that it performs routing
within a single autonomous system.
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
567
Routing Table
BGP is an interautonomous system routing protocol. BGP is used to exchange routing information for
the Internet and is the protocol used between Internet service providers (ISP). Customers connect to
ISPs, and ISPs use BGP to exchange customer and ISP routes. When BGP is used between autonomous
systems (AS), the protocol is referred to as External BGP (EBGP). If a service provider is using BGP
to exchange routes within an AS, then the protocol is referred to as Interior BGP (IBGP).
Routing Table
This section describes the routing table.
How the Routing Table Is Populated

The ASA routing table can be populated by statically defined routes, directly connected routes, and routes
discovered by the dynamic routing protocols. Because the ASA can run multiple routing protocols in addition
to having static and connected routes in the routing table, it is possible that the same route is discovered or
entered in more than one manner. When two routes to the same destination are put into the routing table, the
one that remains in the routing table is determined as follows:
• If the two routes have different network prefix lengths (network masks), then both routes are considered
unique and are entered into the routing table. The packet forwarding logic then determines which of the
two to use.
For example, if the RIP and OSPF processes discovered the following routes:
◦RIP: 192.168.32.0/24
◦OSPF: 192.168.32.0/19
Even though OSPF routes have the better administrative distance, both routes are installed in the routing
table because each of these routes has a different prefix length (subnet mask). They are considered
different destinations and the packet forwarding logic determines which route to use.
• If the ASA learns about multiple paths to the same destination from a single routing protocol, such as
RIP, the route with the better metric (as determined by the routing protocol) is entered into the routing
table.
Metrics are values associated with specific routes, ranking them from most preferred to least preferred.
The parameters used to determine the metrics differ for different routing protocols. The path with the
lowest metric is selected as the optimal path and installed in the routing table. If there are multiple paths
to the same destination with equal metrics, load balancing is done on these equal cost paths.
• If the ASA learns about a destination from more than one routing protocol, the administrative distances
of the routes are compared, and the routes with lower administrative distance are entered into the routing
table.
Administrative Distances for Routes

You can change the administrative distances for routes discovered by or redistributed into a routing protocol.
If two routes from two different routing protocols have the same administrative distance, then the route with
the lower default administrative distance is entered into the routing table. In the case of EIGRP and OSPF
routes, if the EIGRP route and the OSPF route have the same administrative distance, then the EIGRP route
is chosen by default.
568
Routing Table
Administrative distance is a route parameter that the ASA uses to select the best path when there are two or
more different routes to the same destination from two different routing protocols. Because the routing protocols
have metrics based on algorithms that are different from the other protocols, it is not always possible to
determine the best path for two routes to the same destination that were generated by different routing protocols.
Each routing protocol is prioritized using an administrative distance value. The following table shows the
default administrative distance values for the routing protocols supported by the ASA.
Table 30: Default Administrative Distance for Supported Routing Protocols
Route Source Default Administrative Distance

Connected interface 0
Static route 1
EIGRP Summary Route 5
External BGP 20
Internal EIGRP 90
OSPF 110
RIP 120
EIGRP external route 170
Internal BGP 200
Unknown 255
The smaller the administrative distance value, the more preference is given to the protocol. For example, if
the ASA receives a route to a certain network from both an OSPF routing process (default administrative
distance - 110) and a RIP routing process (default administrative distance - 120), the ASA chooses the OSPF
route because OSPF has a higher preference. In this case, the router adds the OSPF version of the route to the
routing table.
In this example, if the source of the OSPF-derived route was lost (for example, due to a power shutdown),
the ASA would then use the RIP-derived route until the OSPF-derived route reappears.
The administrative distance is a local setting. For example, if you use the distance-ospf command to change
the administrative distance of routes obtained through OSPF, that change would only affect the routing table
for the ASA on which the command was entered. The administrative distance is not advertised in routing
updates.
Administrative distance does not affect the routing process. The EIGRP, OSPF, RIP and BGP routing processes
only advertise the routes that have been discovered by the routing process or redistributed into the routing
process. For example, the RIP routing process advertises RIP routes, even if routes discovered by the OSPF
routing process are used in the ASA routing table.
569
Routing Table
Backup Routes
A backup route is registered when the initial attempt to install the route in the routing table fails because
another route was installed instead. If the route that was installed in the routing table fails, the routing table
maintenance process calls each routing protocol process that has registered a backup route and requests them
to reinstall the route in the routing table. If there are multiple protocols with registered backup routes for the
failed route, the preferred route is chosen based on administrative distance.
Because of this process, you can create floating static routes that are installed in the routing table when the
route discovered by a dynamic routing protocol fails. A floating static route is simply a static route configured
with a greater administrative distance than the dynamic routing protocols running on the ASA. When the
corresponding route discovered by a dynamic routing process fails, the static route is installed in the routing
table.
How Forwarding Decisions Are Made

Forwarding decisions are made as follows:
• If the destination does not match an entry in the routing table, the packet is forwarded through the
interface specified for the default route. If a default route has not been configured, the packet is discarded.
• If the destination matches a single entry in the routing table, the packet is forwarded through the interface
associated with that route.
• If the destination matches more than one entry in the routing table, then the packet is forwarded out of
the interface associated with the route that has the longer network prefix length.
For example, a packet destined for 192.168.32.1 arrives on an interface with the following routes in the routing
table:
• 192.168.32.0/24 gateway 10.1.1.2
• 192.168.32.0/19 gateway 10.1.1.3
In this case, a packet destined to 192.168.32.1 is directed toward 10.1.1.2, because 192.168.32.1 falls within
the 192.168.32.0/24 network. It also falls within the other route in the routing table, but 192.168.32.0/24 has
the longest prefix within the routing table (24 bits verses 19 bits). Longer prefixes are always preferred over
shorter ones when forwarding a packet.
Dynamic Routing and Failover

Dynamic routes are synchronized on the standby unit when the routing table changes on the active unit, which
means that all additions, deletions, or changes on the active unit are immediately propagated to the standby
unit. If the standby unit becomes active after the primary unit has been active for a period of time, routes
become synchronized as a part of the Failover bulk synchronization process, so the routing table on the
active/standby Failover pair should appear the same.

This section describes how to use dynamic routing with clustering.
570
Routing Table
Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode

In Spanned EtherChannel mode: The routing process only runs on the primary unit, and routes are learned
through the primary unit and replicated to secondaries. If a routing packet arrives at a secondary, it is redirected
to the primary unit.
Figure 41: Dynamic Routing in Spanned EtherChannel Mode
independently.
interruption.
571
Routing Table
Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode

In Individual interface mode, each unit runs the routing protocol as a standalone router, and routes are learned
by each unit independently.
Figure 42: Dynamic Routing in Individual Interface Mode
In the above diagram, Router A learns that there are 4 equal-cost paths to Router B, each through an ASA.
ECMP is used to load balance traffic between the 4 paths. Each ASA picks a different router ID when talking
to external routers.
You must configure a cluster pool for the router ID so that each unit has a separate router ID.
Dynamic Routing in Multiple Context Mode

In multiple context mode, each context maintains a separate routing table and routing protocol databases. This
enables you to configure OSPFv2 and EIGRP independently in each context. You can configure EIGRP in
some contexts and OSPFv2 in the same or different contexts. In mixed context mode, you can enable any of
the dynamic routing protocols in contexts that are in routed mode. RIP and OSPFv3 are not supported in
multiple context mode.
The following table lists the attributes for EIGRP, OSPFv2, route maps used for distributing routes into
OSPFv2 and EIGRP processes, and prefix lists used in OSPFv2 to filter the routing updates entering or leaving
an area when they are used in multiple context mode:
EIGRP OSPFv2 Route Maps and Prefix Lists

One instance is supported per Two instances are supported per N/A
context. context.
It is disabled in the system context. N/A
572
Routing Table for Management Traffic
EIGRP OSPFv2 Route Maps and Prefix Lists

Two contexts may use the same or Two contexts may use the same or N/A
different autonomous system different area IDs.
numbers.
Shared interfaces in two contexts Shared interfaces in two contexts N/A

may have multiple EIGRP may have multiple OSPF instances
instances running on them. running on them.
The interaction of EIGRP instances The interaction of OSPFv2 N/A

across shared interfaces is instances across shared interfaces
supported. is supported.
All CLIs that are available in single mode are also available in multiple context mode.
Each CLI has an effect only in the context in which it is used.
Route Resource Management

A resource class called routes specifies the maximum number of routing table entries that can exist in a context.
This resolves the problem of one context affecting the available routing table entries in another context and
also allows you greater control over the maximum route entries per context.
Because there is no definitive system limit, you can only specify an absolute value for this resource limit; you
may not use a percentage limit. Also, there are no minimum and maximum limits per context, so the default
class does not change. If you add a new route for any of the static or dynamic routing protocols (connected,
static, OSPF, EIGRP, and RIP) in a context and the resource limit for that context is exhausted, then the route
addition fails and a syslog message is generated.
Routing Table for Management Traffic

As a standard security practice, it is often necessary to segregate and isolate Management traffic from data
traffic. To achieve this isolation, the ASA uses a separate routing table for Management-only traffic vs. data
traffic.
The Management routing table supports dynamic routing separate from the data interface routing table.
Management Interface Identification

An interface configured with management-only is considered a management interface.
In the following configuration, both the interfaces GigabitEthernet0/0 and Management0/0 are considered as
management interfaces.
a/admin(config-if)# show running-config int g0/0
!
management-only
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 10.10.10.123 255.255.255.0
ipv6 address 123::123/64
573
Disable Proxy ARP Requests
a/admin(config-if)# show running-config int m0/0

!
management-only
nameif mgmt
security-level 0
ip address 10.106.167.118 255.255.255.0
a/admin(config-if)#
Disable Proxy ARP Requests

When a host sends IP traffic to another device on the same Ethernet network, the host needs to know the MAC
address of the device. ARP is a Layer 2 protocol that resolves an IP address to a MAC address. A host sends
an ARP request asking “Who is this IP address?” The device owning the IP address replies, “I own that IP
address; here is my MAC address.”
Proxy ARP is used when a device responds to an ARP request with its own MAC address, even though the
device does not own the IP address. The ASA uses proxy ARP when you configure NAT and specify a mapped
address that is on the same network as the ASA interface. The only way traffic can reach the hosts is if the
ASA uses proxy ARP to claim that the MAC address is assigned to destination mapped addresses.
Under rare circumstances, you might want to disable proxy ARP for NAT addresses.
If you have a VPN client address pool that overlaps with an existing network, the ASA by default sends proxy
ARP requests on all interfaces. If you have another interface that is on the same Layer 2 domain, it will see
the ARP requests and will answer with the MAC address of its interface. The result of this is that the return
traffic of the VPN clients towards the internal hosts will go to the wrong interface and will get dropped. In
this case, you need to disable proxy ARP requests for the interface on which you do not want them.
Procedure
Disable proxy ARP requests:

sysopt noproxyarp interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# sysopt noproxyarp exampleinterface
Display the Routing Table

Follow the steps below to view the entries in the routing table
Procedure
View the entries in the routing table:
ciscoasa# show route
Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, ia - IS-IS inter area
574
Reference
* - candidate default, U - per-user static route, o - ODR

P - periodic downloaded static route
Gateway of last resort is 10.86.194.1 to network 0.0.0.0
S 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 [3/0] via 10.86.194.1, outside

C 10.86.194.0 255.255.254.0 is directly connected, outside
S* 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 [1/0] via 10.86.194.1, outside
Reference
Table 31: History for Route Overview
Platform
Routing Table for 9.5(1) To segregate and isolate, management traffic from data traffic, a
Management separate routing table is added for management traffic. Separate
Interface routing tables, for management and data respectively, are created for
both IPv4 and IPv6, for each context, of the ASA. Further, for each
context of the ASA, two extra routing tables are added in both the
RIB and FIB.
We introduced the following commands: show route
management-only, show ipv6 route management-only, show asp
table route-management- only, clear route management-only, clear
ipv6 route management-only, copy interface <interface> tftp/ftp
575
Reference
576
CHAPTER 21
Static and Default Routes
This chapter describes how to configure static and default routes on the Cisco ASA.
• About Static and Default Routes, page 577

• Guidelines for Static and Default Routes, page 579
• Configure Default and Static Routes, page 579
• Monitoring a Static or Default Route, page 583
• Examples for Static or Default Routes, page 583
• History for Static and Default Routes, page 584
About Static and Default Routes

To route traffic to a nonconnected host or network, you must define a route to the host or network, either
using static or dynamic routing. Generally, you must configure at least one static route: a default route for all
traffic that is not routed by other means to a default network gateway, typically the next hop router.
Default Route
The simplest option is to configure a default route to send all traffic to an upstream router, relying on the
router to route the traffic for you. A default route identifies the gateway IP address to which the ASA sends
all IP packets for which it does not have a learned or static route. A default static route is simply a static route
with 0.0.0.0/0 as the destination IP address.
Static Routes
You might want to use static routes in single context mode in the following cases:
• Your networks use a different router discovery protocol from BGP, EIGRP, RIP, or OSPF.
• Your network is small and you can easily manage static routes.
• You do not want the traffic or CPU overhead associated with routing protocols.
577
About Static and Default Routes
• In some cases, a default route is not enough. The default gateway might not be able to reach the destination
network, so you must also configure more specific static routes. For example, if the default gateway is
outside, then the default route cannot direct traffic to any inside networks that are not directly connected
to the ASA.
Route to null0 Interface to “Black Hole” Unwanted Traffic

Access rules let you filter packets based on the information contained in their headers. A static route to the
null0 interface is a complementary solution to access rules. You can use a null0 route to forward unwanted
or undesirable traffic into a “black hole” so the traffic is dropped.
Static null0 routes have a favorable performance profile. You can also use static null0 routes to prevent routing
loops. BGP can leverage the static null0 route for Remotely Triggered Black Hole routing.
Route Priorities
• Routes that identify a specific destination take precedence over the default route.
• When multiple routes exist to the same destination (either static or dynamic), then the administrative
distance for the route determines priority. Static routes are set to 1, so they typically are the highest
priority routes.
• When you have multiple static routes to the same destination with the same administrative distance, see
ECMP Routing, on page 567.
• For traffic emerging from a tunnel with the Tunneled option, this route overrides any other configured
or learned default routes.
Transparent Firewall Mode Routes

In transparent firewall mode, for traffic that originates on the ASA and is destined for a nondirectly connected
network, you need to configure either a default route or static routes so the ASA knows out of which interface
to send traffic. Traffic that originates on the ASA might include communications to a syslog server, Websense
or N2H2 server, or AAA server. If you have servers that cannot all be reached through a single default route,
then you must configure static routes.
Static Route Tracking

One of the problems with static routes is that there is no inherent mechanism for determining if the route is
up or down. They remain in the routing table even if the next hop gateway becomes unavailable. Static routes
are only removed from the routing table if the associated interface on the ASA goes down.
The static route tracking feature provides a method for tracking the availability of a static route and installing
a backup route if the primary route should fail. For example, you can define a default route to an ISP gateway
and a backup default route to a secondary ISP in case the primary ISP becomes unavailable.
578
Guidelines for Static and Default Routes
Guidelines for Static and Default Routes

Firewall Mode
Static route tracking is not supported in transparent firewall mode.
IPv6
• IPv6 static routes are not supported in transparent mode in ASDM.
• Static route tracking is not supported for IPv6.
Clustering
In clustering, static route monitoring is only supported on the master unit.
Configure Default and Static Routes

At a minimum, you should configure a default route. You may need to configure static routes as well. In this
section we will configure a default route, configure a static route and track a static route.
Configure a Default Route

A default route is simply a static route with 0.0.0.0/0 as the destination IP address.
Before You Begin

See the following guidelines for the Tunneled option:
• Do not enable unicast RPF (ip verify reverse-path command)on the egress interface of a tunneled
route, because this setting causes the session to fail.
• Do not enable TCP intercept on the egress interface of the tunneled route, because this setting causes
the session to fail.
• Do not use the VoIP inspection engines (CTIQBE, H.323, GTP, MGCP, RTSP, SIP, SKINNY), the
DNS inspection engine, or the DCE RPC inspection engine with tunneled routes, because these inspection
engines ignore the tunneled route.
• You cannot define more than one default route with the tunneled option.
• ECMP for tunneled traffic is not supported.
Procedure
Procedure
Add a default route:

IPv4:
route if_name 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 gateway_ip [distance | tunneled]
579
IPv6:
ipv6 route if_name ::/0 next_hop_ipv6_addr [distance | tunneled]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.2.4
ciscoasa(config)# route inside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.1.2.3 tunneled
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 route inside ::/0 3FFE:1100:0:CC00::1
The if_name is the interface through which you want to send the specific traffic.
The distance argument is the administrative distance for the route, between 1 and 254. The default is 1 if you
do not specify a value. Administrative distance is a parameter used to compare routes among different routing
protocols. The default administrative distance for static routes is 1, giving it precedence over routes discovered
by dynamic routing protocols but not directly connect routes. The default administrative distance for routes
discovered by OSPF is 110. If a static route has the same administrative distance as a dynamic route, the static
routes take precedence. Connected routes always take precedence over static or dynamically discovered routes.
Note If you have two default routes configured on different interfaces that have different metrics, the
connection to the ASA that is made from the higher metric interface fails, but connections to the
ASA from the lower metric interface succeed as expected.
You can define a separate default route for tunneled traffic along with the standard default route using the
tunneled keyword. When you create a default route with the tunneled option, all traffic from a tunnel
terminating on the ASA that cannot be routed using learned or static routes is sent to this route.
Tip Tip You can enter 0 0 instead of 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 for the destination network address and mask, as shown
in the following example: route outside 0 0 192.168.2.4
Configure a Static Route

A static route defines where to send traffic for specific destination networks.
Procedure
Step 1 Add a static route:

route if_name dest_ip mask gateway_ip [distance]
Example:
The if_name is the interface through which you want to send the specific traffic. To “black hole” unwanted
traffic, enter the null0 interface.
The dest_ip and mask arguments indicate the IP address for the destination network and the gateway_ip
argument is the address of the next-hop router. The addresses you specify for the static route are the addresses
that are in the packet before entering the ASA and performing NAT.
The distance argument is the administrative distance for the route. The default is 1 if you do not specify a
value. Administrative distance is a parameter used to compare routes among different routing protocols. The
default administrative distance for static routes is 1, giving it precedence over routes discovered by dynamic
routing protocols but not directly connected routes. The default administrative distance for routes discovered
580
by OSPF is 110. If a static route has the same administrative distance as a dynamic route, the static route takes
precedence. Connected routes always take precedence over static or dynamically discovered routes.
Step 2
The following example shows static routes for 3 networks that go to the same gateway, and another network
that goes to a separate gateway:
route outside 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1

route outside 10.10.20.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
route outside 10.10.30.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
route inside 10.10.40.0 255.255.255.0 10.1.1.1
Configure Static Route Tracking

The static route tracking feature provides a method for tracking the availability of a static route and installing
a backup route if the primary route should fail. For example, you can define a default route to an ISP gateway
and a backup default route to a secondary ISP in case the primary ISP becomes unavailable.
The ASA implements static route tracking by associating a static route with a monitoring target host on the
destination network that the ASA monitors using ICMP echo requests. If an echo reply is not received within
a specified time period, the host is considered down, and the associated route is removed from the routing
table. An untracked backup route with a higher metric is used in place of the removed route.
When selecting a monitoring target, you need to make sure that it can respond to ICMP echo requests. The
target can be any network object that you choose, but you should consider using the following:
• The ISP gateway (for dual ISP support) address
• The next hop gateway address (if you are concerned about the availability of the gateway)
• A server on the target network, such as a AAA server, that the ASA needs to communicate with
• A persistent network object on the destination network
Note A PC that may be shut down at night is not a good choice.
You can configure static route tracking for statically defined routes or default routes obtained through DHCP
or PPPoE. You can only enable PPPoE clients on multiple interfaces with route tracking configured.
To configure static route tracking, complete the following steps.
Before You Begin

Static route tracking is supported for:
• IPv4 traffic.
• Routed firewall mode.
581
Procedure
Step 1 Define the monitoring process:

sla monitor sla_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# sla monitor 5
ciscoasa(config-sla-monitor)#
Step 2 Specify the monitoring protocol, the target host on the tracked network, and the interface through which you
reach the network:
type echo protocol ipicmpecho target_ip interface if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-sla-monitor)# type echo protocol ipicmpecho 172.29.139.134
ciscoasa(config-sla-monitor-echo)#
The target_ip argument is the IP address of the network object whose availability the tracking process monitors.
While this object is available, the tracking process route is installed in the routing table. When this object
becomes unavailable, the tracking process removes the route and the backup route is used in its place.
Step 3 (Optional) Configure monitoring options. See the command reference for the following commands: frequency,
num-packets, request-data-size, threshold, timeout, and tos.
Step 4 Schedule the monitoring process:
sla monitor schedule sla_id [life {forever | seconds}] [start-time {hh:mm [:ss] [month day | day month] |
pending | now | after hh:mm:ss}] [ageout seconds] [recurring]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# sla monitor schedule 5 life forever start-time now
Typically, you will use the sla monitor schedule sla_id life forever start-time now command for the
monitoring schedule, and allow the monitoring configuration to determine how often the testing occurs.
However, you can schedule this monitoring process to begin in the future and to only occur at specified times.
Step 5 Associate a tracked static route with the SLA monitoring process:
track track_id rtr sla_id reachability
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# track 6 rtr 5 reachability
The track_id argument is a tracking number you assign with this command. The sla_id argument is the ID
number of the SLA process.
Step 6 Track one of the following route types:

• Static route:
route if_name dest_ip mask gateway_ip [distance] track track_id
582
Monitoring a Static or Default Route
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route outside 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 track 6
You cannot use the tunneled option.

• Default route obtained through DHCP:
dhcp client route track track_id
ip address dhcp setroute
• Default route obtained through PPPoE:
pppoe client route track track_id
ip address pppoe setroute
Step 7 Create an untracked backup route.

The backup route is a static route to the same destination as the tracked route, but through a different interface
or gateway. You must assign this route a higher administrative distance (metric) than your tracked route.
Monitoring a Static or Default Route

• show route
Displays the routing table.
Examples for Static or Default Routes

The following example shows how to create a static route that sends all traffic destined for 10.1.1.0/24 to the
router 10.1.2.45, which is connected to the inside interface, defines three equal cost static routes that direct
traffic to three different gateways on the dmz interface, and adds a default route for tunneled traffic and one
for regular traffic.
route inside 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 10.1.2.45

route dmz 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.2.1
route dmz 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.2.2
route dmz 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.2.3
route outside 0 0 209.165.201.1
route inside 0 0 10.1.2.45 tunneled
583
History for Static and Default Routes
History for Static and Default Routes

Table 32: Feature History for Static and Default Routes
Platform
Feature Name Feature Information
Releases
Static Route Tracking 7.2(1) The static route tracking feature provides a method for tracking
the availability of a static route and installing a backup route if
the primary route should fail.
We introduced the following commands: clear configure sla,
frequency, num-packets, request-data-size, show sla
monitor, show running-config sla, sla monitor, sla monitor
schedule, threshold, timeout, tos, track rtr
Static null0 route to “black hole” traffic 9.2(1) Sending traffic to a null0 interface results in dropping the
packets destined to the specified network. This feature is useful
in configuring Remotely Triggered Black Hole (RTBH) for
BGP.
We modified the following command: route.
584
CHAPTER 22
Policy Based Routing
This chapter describes how to configure the Cisco ASA to support policy based routing (PBR). The following
sections describe policy based routing, guidelines for PBR, and configuration for PBR.
• About Policy Based Routing, page 585

• Guidelines for Policy Based Routing, page 587
• Configure Policy Based Routing, page 588
• Examples for Policy Based Routing, page 590
• History for Policy Based Routing, page 596
About Policy Based Routing

Typical routing systems and protocols are based on routing the traffic based on the destination of the traffic.
Destination based routing systems make it hard to change the routing behavior of specific traffic. With Policy
Based Routing (PBR), you can define the routing behavior based on a number of different criteria other than
destination network. These criteria include source or destination network, source or destination address, source
or destination port, protocol, packet size, and packet classification among several others.
PBR has the ability to implement Quality of Service (QoS) by classifying and marking traffic at the network
edge and then using PBR throughout the network to route marked traffic along a specific path.
This permits routing of packets originating from different sources to different networks even when the
destinations are the same and can be useful when interconnecting several private networks.
Why Use Policy Based Routing?

Consider a company that has two links between locations, one a high bandwidth, low delay expensive link
and the other a low bandwidth, higher delay lower expense link.While using traditional routing protocols the
higher bandwidth link would get most if not all of the traffic sent across it based on the metric savings obtained
by the bandwidth and/or delay (using EIGRP or OSPF) characteristics of the link. PBR allows you to route
higher priority traffic over the high bandwidth/low delay link and sends all other traffic over the low
bandwidth/high delay link.
Some applications of policy based routing are listed below:
585
About Policy Based Routing
• Equal-Access and Source-Sensitive routing

• Quality of Service
• Cost Saving
• Load Sharing
Equal-Access and Source-Sensitive Routing

In this topology, traffic from HR network & Mgmt network can be configured to go through ISP1 and traffic
from Eng network can be configured to go through ISP2. Thus, policy based routing enables the network
administrators to provide equal-access and source-sensitive routing, as shown here.
Quality of Service
By tagging packets with policy based routing, network administrators can classify the network traffic at the
perimeter of the network for various classes of service and then implementing those classes of service in the
core of the network using priority, custom or weighted fair queuing (as shown in the figure below). This setup
improves network performance by eliminating the need to classify the traffic explicitly at each WAN interface
in the core of backbone network.
586
Guidelines for Policy Based Routing
Cost Saving
An organization can direct the bulk traffic associated with a specific activity to use a higher-bandwidth
high-cost link for a short time and continues basic connectivity over a lower-bandwidth low-cost link for
interactive traffic by defining the topology, as show here.
Load Sharing
In addition to the dynamic load-sharing capabilities offered by ECMP load balancing, network administrators
can now implement policies to distribute traffic among multiple paths based on the traffic characteristics.
As an example, in the topology depicted in the Equal-Access Source Sensitive Routing scenario, an
administrator can configure policy based routing to load share the traffic from HR network through ISP1 and
traffic from Eng network through ISP2.
Implementation of PBR
The ASA uses ACLs to match traffic and then perform routing actions on the traffic. Specifically, you configure
a route map that specifies an ACL for matching, and then you specify one or more actions for that traffic.
Finally, you associate the route map with an interface where you want to apply PBR on all incoming traffic
Guidelines for Policy Based Routing

Firewall Mode
Supported only in routed firewall mode. Transparent firewall mode is not supported.
Clustering
• Clustering is supported.
• In a cluster scenario, without static or dynamic routes, with ip-verify- reverse path, enabled, asymmetric
traffic may get dropped. So it is recommended to disable ip-verify-reverse path.
All existing route map related configuration restrictions and limitations will be carried forward.
587
Configure Policy Based Routing
IPv6 Support
IPv6 is supported

A route map is comprised of one or more route-map statements. Each statement has a sequence number, as
well as a permit or deny clause. Each route-map statement contains match and set commands. The match
command denotes the match criteria to be applied on the packet. The set command denotes the action to be
taken on the packet.
• When a route map is configured with both IPv4 and IPv6 match/set clauses or when a unified ACL
matching IPv4 and IPv6 traffic is used, the set actions will be applied based on destination IP version.
• When multiple next-hops or interfaces are configured as a set action, all options are evaluated one after
the other until a valid usable option is found. No load balancing will be done among the configured
multiple options.
• The verify-availability option is not supported in multiple context mode.
Procedure
Step 1 Define a standard or extended access-list:

access-list name standard {permit | deny} {any4 | host ip_address | ip_address mask}
access-list name extended {permit | deny} protocol source_and_destination_arguments
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list testacl extended permit ip 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 10.2.2.0
255.255.255.0
For the extended ACL, you can specify IPv4, IPv6, Identity Firewall, or Cisco TrustSec parameters. For
complete syntax, see the ASA command reference.
Step 2 Create a route map entry:

route-map name {permit | deny} [sequence_number]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route-map testmap permit 12
Route map entries are read in order. You can identify the order using the sequence_number argument, or the
ASA uses the order in which you add route map entries.
The ACL also includes its own permit and deny statements. For Permit/Permit matches between the route
map and the ACL, the Policy Based Routing processing continues. For Permit/Deny matches, processing ends
for this route map, and other route maps are checked. If the result is still Permit/Deny, then the regular routing
table is used. For Deny/Deny matches, the Policy Based Routing processing continues.
Note When a route-map is configured without a permit or deny action and without a sequence-number, it
by default will assume the action as permit and sequence-number as 10.
Step 3 Define the match criteria to be applied using an access-list:
588
match ip address access-list_name [access-list_name...]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address testacl
Step 4 Configure one or more set actions:

• Set the next hop address:
set {ip | ipv6} next-hop ipv4_or_ipv6_address
You can configure multiple next-hop IP addresses in which case they are evaluated in the specified order
until a valid routable next-hop IP address is found. The configured next-hops should be directly connected;
otherwise the set action will not be applied.
• Set the default next hop address:
set {ip | ipv6} default next-hop ipv4_or_ipv6_address
If the normal route lookup fails for matching traffic, then the ASA forwards the traffic using this specified
next-hop IP address.
• Set a recursive next hop IPv4 address:
set ip next-hop recursive ip_address
Both set ip next-hop and set ip default next-hop require that the next-hop be found on a directly
connected subnet. With set ip next-hop recursive, the next-hop address does not need to be directly
connected. Instead a recursive lookup is performed on the next-hop address, and matching traffic is
forwarded to the next-hop used by that route entry according to the routing path in use on the router.
• Verify if the next IPv4 hops of a route map are available:
set ip next-hop verify-availability next-hop-address sequence_number track object
You can configure an SLA monitor tracking object to verify the reachability of the next-hop. To verify
the availability of multiple next-hops, multiple set ip next-hop verify-availability commands can be
configured with different sequence numbers and different tracking objects.
• Set the output interface for the packet:
set interface interface_name
or
set interface null0
This command configures the interface through which the matching traffic is forwarded. You can
configure multiple interfaces, in which case they are evaluated in the specified order until a valid interface
is found. When you specify null0, all traffic matching the route-map will be dropped.
• Set the default interface to null0:
set default interface null0
If a normal route lookup fails, the ASA forwards the traffic null0, and the traffic will be dropped.
• Set the Don't Fragment (DF) bit value in the IP header:
set ip df {0|1}
589
Examples for Policy Based Routing
• Classify IP traffic by setting a Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) or an IP-precedence value in
the packet:
set {ip | ipv6} dscp new_dscp
Note When multiple set actions are configured, the ASA evaluates them in the following order: set ip
next-hop verify-availability; set ip next-hop; set ip next-hop recursive; set interface; set ip
default next-hop; set default interface.
Step 5 Configure an interface and enter interface configuration mode:
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/0
Step 6 Configure policy based routing for through-the-box traffic:

policy-route route-map route-map_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# policy-route route-map testmap

The following sections show examples for route map configuration, policy based routing, and a specific
example of PBR in action.
Examples for Route Map Configuration

In the following example, since no action and sequence is specified, an implicit action of permit and a sequence
number of 10 is assumed:
ciscoasa(config)# route-map testmap
In the following example, since no match criteria is specified, an implicit match 'any' is assumed:

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip next-hop 1.1.1.10
In this example, all traffic matching <acl> will be policy routed and forwarded through outside interface.

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address <acl>
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set interface outside
In this example, since there are no interface or next-hop actions are configured, all traffic matching <acl> will
have df bit and dscp fields modified as per configuration and are forwarding using normal routing.
590
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address <acl>

set ip df 1
set ip precedence af11
In the following example, all traffic matching <acl_1> is forwarded using next-hop 1.1.1.10, all traffic matching
<acl_2> is forwarded using next-hop 2.1.1.10 and rest of the traffic is dropped. No "match" criteria implies
an implicit match "any".

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address <acl_1>

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address <acl_2>

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set interface Null0
In the following example, the route-map evaluation will be such that (i) a route-map action permit and acl
action permit will apply the set actions (ii) a route-map action deny and acl action permit will skip to normal
route lookup (iii) a route-map action of permit/deny and acl action deny will continue with next route-map
entry. When no next route-map entry available, we will fallback to normal route lookup.

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address permit_acl_1 deny_acl_2
ciscoasa(config)# route-map testmap deny 20

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address permit_acl_3 deny_acl_4

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address deny_acl_5
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set interface outside
In the following example, when multiple set actions are configured, they are evaluated in the order mentioned
above. Only when all options of a set action are evaluated and cannot be applied, the next set actions will be
considered. This ordering will ensure that the most available and least distant next-hop will be tried first
followed by next most available and least distant next-hop and so on.

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address acl_1
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip next-hop verify-availability 1.1.1.10 1 track 1
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip next-hop 2.1.1.10 2.1.1.11 2.1.1.12
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip next-hop recursive 3.1.1.10
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set interface outside-1 outside-2
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip default next-hop 4.1.1.10 4.1.1.11
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set default interface Null0
Example Configuration for PBR

This section describes the complete set of configuration required to configure PBR for the following scenario:
591
First, we need to configure interfaces.


ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif outside-1

ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif outside-2
Then, we need to configure an access-list for matching the traffic.
ciscoasa(config)# access-list acl-1 permit ip 10.1.0.0 255.255.0.0

ciscoasa(config)# access-list acl-2 permit ip 10.2.0.0 255.255.0.0
We need to configure a route-map by specifying the above access-list as match criteria along with the required
set actions.
ciscoasa(config)# route-map equal-access permit 10

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address acl-1

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address acl-2

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip interface Null0
Now, this route-map has to be attached to an interface.

ciscoasa(config-if)# policy-route route-map equal-access
To display the policy routing configuration.
ciscoasa(config)# show policy-route

Interface Route map
GigabitEthernet0/0 equal-access
592
Policy Based Routing in Action

We will use this test setup to configure policy based routing with different match criteria & set actions and
see how they get evaluated and applied.
First, we will start with the basic configuration for all the devices involved in the setup. Here, A, B, C & D
are assumed as ASA devices and H1, H2 as IOS routers.
ASA-A:

ciscoasa(config-if)# no shut
ciscoasa(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/1.1


ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif dmz
ASA-B:



593

ASA-C:




ASA-D:

ciscoasa(config) #interface GigabitEthernet0/0.1

ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif inside-1

ciscoasa(config-if)# nameif inside-2

H1:
ciscoasa(config)# interface Loopback1

ciscoasa(config-if)# interface Loopback2

ciscoasa(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 15.1.1.60
H2:

ciscoasa(config-if)# ip route 15.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 65.1.1.60
We will configure PBR on ASA-A to route traffic sourced from H1.
594
ASA-A:
ciscoasa(config-if)# access-list pbracl_1 extended permit ip host 15.1.1.100 any
ciscoasa(config-if)# route-map testmap permit 10

ciscoasa(config-if)# match ip address pbracl_1
ciscoasa(config-if)# set ip next-hop 25.1.1.61

ciscoasa(config-if)# policy-route route-map testmap
ciscoasa(config-if)# debug policy-route
H1: ping 65.1.1.100 repeat 1 source loopback1
pbr: policy based route lookup called for 15.1.1.100/44397 to 65.1.1.100/0 proto 1 sub_proto
8 received on interface inside
pbr: First matching rule from ACL(2)
pbr: route map testmap, sequence 10, permit; proceed with policy routing
pbr: evaluating next-hop 25.1.1.61
pbr: policy based routing applied; egress_ifc = outside : next_hop = 25.1.1.61
The packet is forwarded as expected using the next-hop address in the route-map.
When a next-hop is configured, we do a lookup in input route table to identify a connected route to the
configured next-hop and use the corresponding interface. The input route table for this example is shown here
(with the matching route entry highlighted).
in 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 identity

in 15.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 25.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 35.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.127.46.17 255.255.255.255 identity
in 15.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 inside
in 25.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 outside
in 35.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 dmz
Next let's configure ASA-A to route packets from H1 loopback2 out of ASA-A dmz interface.
ciscoasa(config)# access-list pbracl_2 extended permit ip host 15.1.1.101 any

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address pbracl
ciscoasa(config)# show run route-map

!
route-map testmap permit 10
match ip address pbracl_1
!
route-map testmap permit 20
match ip address pbracl
!
H1: ping 65.1.1.100 repeat 1 source loopback2

The debugs are shown here:
pbr: policy based route lookup called for 15.1.1.101/1234 to 65.1.1.100/1234 proto 6 sub_proto
0 received on interface inside
pbr: First matching rule from ACL(3)
pbr: route map testmap, sequence 20, permit; proceed with policy routing
pbr: evaluating next-hop 35.1.1.61
pbr: policy based routing applied; egress_ifc = dmz : next_hop = 35.1.1.61
595
History for Policy Based Routing
and the route entry chosen from input route table is shown here:
in 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 identity

in 15.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 25.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 35.1.1.60 255.255.255.255 identity
in 10.127.46.17 255.255.255.255 identity
in 15.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 inside
in 25.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 outside
in 35.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 dmz
History for Policy Based Routing

Table 33: History for Route Maps

Releases
Policy based routing 9.4(1) Policy Based Routing (PBR) is a mechanism by which traffic
is routed through specific paths with a specified QoS using
ACLs. ACLs let traffic be classified based on the content of
the packet’s Layer 3 and Layer 4 headers. This solution lets
administrators provide QoS to differentiated traffic, distribute
interactive and batch traffic among low-bandwidth, low-cost
permanent paths and high-bandwidth, high-cost switched paths,
and allows Internet service providers and other organizations
to route traffic originating from various sets of users through
well-defined Internet connections.
We introduced the following commands: set ip next-hop
verify-availability, set ip next-hop, set ip next-hop recursive,
set interface, set ip default next-hop, set default interface,
set ip df, set ip dscp, policy-route route-map, show
policy-route, debug policy-route
IPv6 support for Policy Based Routing 9.5(1) IPv6 addresses are now supported for Policy Based Routing.
We introduced the following commands: set ipv6 next-hop,set
default ipv6-next hop, set ipv6 dscp
VXLAN support for Policy Based Routing 9.5(1) You can now enable Policy Based Routing on a VNI interface.
Policy Based Routing support for Identity Firewall 9.5(1) You can configure Identity Firewall and Cisco TrustSec and
and Cisco Trustsec then use Identity Firewall and Cisco TrustSec ACLs in Policy
Based Routing route maps.
596
CHAPTER 23
Route Maps
This chapter describes how to configure and customize route-maps, for Cisco ASA.
• About Route Maps, page 597

• Guidelines for Route Maps, page 599
• Define a Route Map, page 599
• Customize a Route Map, page 599
• Example for Route Maps, page 601
• History for Route Maps, page 602
About Route Maps

Route maps are used when redistributing routes into an OSPF, RIP, EIGRP or BGP routing process. They are
also used when generating a default route into an OSPF routing process. A route map defines which of the
routes from the specified routing protocol are allowed to be redistributed into the target routing process.
Route maps have many features in common with widely known ACLs. These are some of the traits common
to both:
• They are an ordered sequence of individual statements, and each has a permit or deny result. Evaluation
of an ACL or a route map consists of a list scan, in a predetermined order, and an evaluation of the
criteria of each statement that matches. A list scan is aborted once the first statement match is found and
an action associated with the statement match is performed.
• They are generic mechanisms. Criteria matches and match interpretation are dictated by the way that
they are applied and the feature that uses them. The same route map applied to different features might
be interpreted differently.
These are some of the differences between route maps and ACLs:
• Route maps are more flexible than ACLs and can verify routes based on criteria which ACLs can not
verify. For example, a route map can verify if the type of route is internal.
• Each ACL ends with an implicit deny statement, by design convention. If the end of a route map is
reached during matching attempts, the result depends on the specific application of the route map. Route
597
About Route Maps
maps that are applied to redistribution behave the same way as ACLs: if the route does not match any
clause in a route map then the route redistribution is denied, as if the route map contained a deny statement
at the end.
Permit and Deny Clauses

Route maps can have permit and deny clauses. The deny clause rejects route matches from redistribution.
You can use an ACL as the matching criterion in the route map. Because ACLs also have permit and deny
clauses, the following rules apply when a packet matches the ACL:
• ACL permit + route map permit: routes are redistributed.
• ACL permit + route map deny: routes are not redistributed.
• ACL deny + route map permit or deny: the route map clause is not matched, and the next route-map
clause is evaluated.
Match and Set Clause Values

Each route map clause has two types of values:
• A match value selects routes to which this clause should be applied.
• A set value modifies information that will be redistributed into the target protocol.
For each route that is being redistributed, the router first evaluates the match criteria of a clause in the route
map. If the match criteria succeeds, then the route is redistributed or rejected as dictated by the permit or deny
clause, and some of its attributes might be modified by the values set from the set commands. If the match
criteria fail, then this clause is not applicable to the route, and the software proceeds to evaluate the route
against the next clause in the route map. Scanning of the route map continues until a clause is found that
matches the route or until the end of the route map is reached.
A match or set value in each clause can be missed or repeated several times, if one of these conditions exists:
• If several match entries are present in a clause, all must succeed for a given route in order for that route
to match the clause (in other words, the logical AND algorithm is applied for multiple match commands).
• If a match entry refers to several objects in one entry, either of them should match (the logical OR
algorithm is applied).
• If a match entry is not present, all routes match the clause.
• If a set entry is not present in a route map permit clause, then the route is redistributed without
modification of its current attributes.
Note Do not configure a set entry in a route map deny clause because the deny clause prohibits route
redistribution—there is no information to modify.
A route map clause without a match or set entry does perform an action. An empty permit clause allows a
redistribution of the remaining routes without modification. An empty deny clause does not allow a
redistribution of other routes (this is the default action if a route map is completely scanned, but no explicit
match is found).
598
Guidelines for Route Maps
Guidelines for Route Maps

Firewall Mode
Route maps do not support ACLs that include a user, user group, or fully qualified domain name objects.
Define a Route Map

You must define a route map when specifying which of the routes from the specified routing protocol are
allowed to be redistributed into the target routing process.
Procedure
Create the route map entry:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# route-map name {permit} [12]
Customize a Route Map

This section describes how to customize the route map.
Define a Route to Match a Specific Destination Address
Procedure
Step 1 Create the route map entry:

Example:
Route map entries are read in order. You can identify the order using the sequence_number option, or the
Step 2 Match any routes that have a destination network that matches a standard ACL or prefix list:
599
Customize a Route Map
match ip address acl_id [acl_id] [...] [prefix-list]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address acl1
If you specify more than one ACL, then the route can match any of the ACLs.
Step 3 Match any routes that have a specified metric:

match metric metric_value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match metric 200
The metric_value can range from 0 to 4294967295.
Step 4 Match any routes that have a next hop router address that matches a standard ACL:
match ip next-hop acl_id [acl_id] [...]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip next-hop acl2
Step 5 Match any routes with the specified next hop interface:
match interface if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match interface if_name
If you specify more than one interface, then the route can match either interface.
Step 6 Match any routes that have been advertised by routers that match a standard ACL:
match ip route-source acl_id [acl_id] [...]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip route-source acl_id [acl_id] [...]
Step 7 Match the route type:

match route-type {internal | external [type-1 | type-2]}
Configure the Metric Values for a Route Action

If a route matches the match commands, then the following set commands determine the action to perform
on the route before redistributing it.
600
Example for Route Maps
To configure the metric value for a route action, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create the route map entry:

Example:
Step 2 Set the metric value for the route map:

set metric metric_value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set metric 200
The metric_value argument can range from 0 to 294967295.
Step 3 Set the metric type for the route map:

set metric-type {type-1 | type-2}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set metric-type type-2
The metric-type argument can be type-1 or type-2.
Example for Route Maps

The following example shows how to redistribute routes with a hop count equal to 1 into OSPF.
The ASA redistributes these routes as external LSAs with a metric of 5 and a metric type of Type 1.
ciscoasa(config)# route-map 1-to-2 permit

The following example shows how to redistribute the 10.1.1.0 static route into eigrp process 1 with the
configured metric value:

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# access-list mymap2 line 1 permit 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# route-map mymap2 permit 10
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address mymap2
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# router eigrp 1
601
History for Route Maps
ciscoasa(config-router)# redistribute static metric 250 250 1 1 1 route-map mymap2
History for Route Maps

Table 34: Feature History for Route Maps

Releases
Route maps 7.0(1) We introduced this feature.
We introduced the following command: route-map.
Enhanced support for static and dynamic route 8.0(2) Enhanced support for dynamic and static route maps was added.
maps
Support for Stateful Failover of dynamic routing 8.4(1) We introduced the following commands: debug route, show
protocols (EIGRP, OSPF, and RIP) and debugging debug route.
of general routing-related operations
We modified the following command: show route.
Dynamic Routing in Multiple Context Mode 9.0(1) Route maps are supported in multiple context mode.
Support for BGP 9.2(1) We introduced this feature.

We introduced the following commands: router bgp
IPv6 support for Prefix Rule 9.3.2 We introduced this feature.
602
CHAPTER 24
BGP
This chapter describes how to configure the Cisco ASA to route data, perform authentication, and redistribute
routing information using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).
• About BGP, page 603

• Guidelines for BGP, page 605
• Configure BGP, page 605
• Monitoring BGP, page 633
• Example for BGP, page 636
• History for BGP, page 638
About BGP
BGP is an inter and intra autonomous system routing protocol. An autonomous system is a network or group
of networks under a common administration and with common routing policies. BGP is used to exchange
routing information for the Internet and is the protocol used between Internet service providers (ISP).
When to Use BGP

Customer networks, such as universities and corporations, usually employ an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP)
such as OSPF for the exchange of routing information within their networks. Customers connect to ISPs, and
ISPs use BGP to exchange customer and ISP routes. When BGP is used between autonomous systems (AS),
the protocol is referred to as External BGP (EBGP). If a service provider is using BGP to exchange routes
within an AS, then the protocol is referred to as Interior BGP (IBGP).
BGP can also be used for carrying routing information for IPv6 prefix over IPv6 networks.
Note When a BGPv6 device joins the cluster, it generates a soft traceback when logging level 7 is enabled.
603
About BGP
Routing Table Changes

BGP neighbors exchange full routing information when the TCP connection between neighbors is first
established. When changes to the routing table are detected, the BGP routers send to their neighbors only
those routes that have changed. BGP routers do not send periodic routing updates, and BGP routing updates
advertise only the optimal path to a destination network.
Routes learned via BGP have properties that are used to determine the best route to a destination, when multiple
paths exist to a particular destination. These properties are referred to as BGP attributes and are used in the
route selection process:
• Weight—This is a Cisco-defined attribute that is local to a router. The weight attribute is not advertised
to neighboring routers. If the router learns about more than one route to the same destination, the route
with the highest weight is preferred.
• Local preference—The local preference attribute is used to select an exit point from the local AS. Unlike
the weight attribute, the local preference attribute is propagated throughout the local AS. If there are
multiple exit points from the AS, the exit point with the highest local preference attribute is used as an
exit point for a specific route.
• Multi-exit discriminator—The multi-exit discriminator (MED) or metric attribute is used as a suggestion
to an external AS regarding the preferred route into the AS that is advertising the metric. It is referred
to as a suggestion because the external AS that is receiving the MEDs may also be using other BGP
attributes for route selection. The route with the lower MED metric is preferred.
• Origin—The origin attribute indicates how BGP learned about a particular route. The origin attribute
can have one of three possible values and is used in route selection.
◦IGP—The route is interior to the originating AS. This value is set when the network router
configuration command is used to inject the route into BGP.
◦EGP—The route is learned via the Exterior Border Gateway Protocol (EBGP).
◦Incomplete—The origin of the route is unknown or learned in some other way. An origin of
incomplete occurs when a route is redistributed into BGP.
• AS_path—When a route advertisement passes through an autonomous system, the AS number is added
to an ordered list of AS numbers that the route advertisement has traversed. Only the route with the
shortest AS_path list is installed in the IP routing table.
• Next hop—The EBGP next-hop attribute is the IP address that is used to reach the advertising router.
For EBGP peers, the next-hop address is the IP address of the connection between the peers. For IBGP,
the EBGP next-hop address is carried into the local AS.
• Community—The community attribute provides a way of grouping destinations, called communities,
to which routing decisions (such as acceptance, preference, and redistribution) can be applied. Route
maps are used to set the community attribute. The predefined community attributes are as follows:
◦no-export—Do not advertise this route to EBGP peers.
◦no-advertise—Do not advertise this route to any peer.
◦internet—Advertise this route to the Internet community; all routers in the network belong to it.
604
Guidelines for BGP
BGP Path Selection

BGP may receive multiple advertisements for the same route from different sources. BGP selects only one
path as the best path. When this path is selected, BGP puts the selected path in the IP routing table and
propagates the path to its neighbors. BGP uses the following criteria, in the order presented, to select a path
for a destination:
• If the path specifies a next hop that is inaccessible, drop the update.
• Prefer the path with the largest weight.
• If the weights are the same, prefer the path with the largest local preference.
• If the local preferences are the same, prefer the path that was originated by BGP running on this router.
• If no route was originated, prefer the route that has the shortest AS_path.
• If all paths have the same AS_path length, prefer the path with the lowest origin type (where IGP is
lower than EGP, and EGP is lower than incomplete).
• If the origin codes are the same, prefer the path with the lowest MED attribute.
• If the paths have the same MED, prefer the external path over the internal path.
• If the paths are still the same, prefer the path through the closest IGP neighbor.
• If both paths are external, prefer the path that was received first (the oldest one).
• Prefer the path with the lowest IP address, as specified by the BGP router ID.
• If the originator or router ID is the same for multiple paths, prefer the path with the minimum cluster
list length.
• Prefer the path that comes from the lowest neighbor address.
Guidelines for BGP

Supported in single and multiple context mode.
Firewall Mode Guidelines

Does not support transparent firewall mode. BGP is supported only in router mode.
IPv6 Guidelines
Supports IPv6. Graceful restart is not supported for IPv6 address family.
Configure BGP
This section describes how to enable and configure the BGP process on your system.
605
Configure BGP
Procedure
Step 1 Enable BGP, on page 606.

Step 2 Define the Best Path for a BGP Routing Process, on page 607.
Step 3 Configure Policy Lists, on page 608.
Step 4 Configure AS Path Filters, on page 609.
Step 5 Configure Community Rules, on page 610.
Step 6 Configure IPv4 Address Family Settings, on page 611.
Step 7 Configure IPv6 Address Family Settings, on page 623.
Enable BGP
This section describes the steps required to enable BGP routing, establish a BGP routing process and configure
general BGP parameters.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable a BGP routing process, which places the ASA in router configuration mode:
router bgp autonomous-num
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# router bgp 2
Valid values for autonomous-num are from 1-4294967295 and 1.0-XX.YY.
Step 2 Discard routes that have as-path segments that exceed a specified value:
bgp maxas-limit number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# bgp maxas-limit 15
The number argument specifies the maximum number of autonomous system segments, allowed. Valid values
are from 1 to 254.
Step 3 Log BGP neighbor resets:

bgp log-neighbor-changes
Step 4 Enable BGP to automatically discover the best TCP path MTU for each BGP session:
bgp transport path-mtu-discovery
Step 5 Enable BGP to terminate external BGP sessions of any directly adjacent peer if the link used to reach the peer
goes down; without waiting for the hold-down timer to expire:
bgp fast-external-fallover
606
Configure BGP
Step 6 Allow a BGP routing process to discard updates received from an external BGP (eBGP) peers that do not list
their autonomous system (AS) number as the first AS path segment in the AS_PATH attribute of the incoming
route:
bgp enforce-first-as
Step 7 Change the default display and regular expression match format of BGP 4-byte autonomous system numbers
from asplain (decimal values) to dot notation:
bgp asnotation dot
Step 8 Adjust BGP network timers:

timers bgp keepalive holdtime [min-holdtime]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# timers bgp 80 120
• keepalive — frequency (in seconds) with which the ASA sends keepalive messages to its peer. The
default value 60 seconds.
• holdtime — interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message that the ASA declares a peer
dead. The default is 180 seconds.
• (Optional) min-holdtime — interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message from a neighbor,
that the ASA declares a neighbor dead.
Step 9 Enable BGP graceful restart capability:

bgp graceful-restart [restart-time seconds|stalepath-time seconds][all]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# bgp graceful-restart restart-time 200
• restart-time — maximum time period (in seconds) that the ASA will wait for a graceful-restart-capable
neighbor to return to normal operation after a restart event occurs. The default is 120 seconds. Valid
values are from 1 to 3600 seconds.
• stalepath-time — maximum time period (in seconds) that the ASA will hold stale paths for a restarting
peer. All stale paths are deleted after this timer expires. The default value is 360 seconds. Valid values
are from 1 to 3600 seconds.
Define the Best Path for a BGP Routing Process

This section describes the steps required to configure the BGP best path. For more information on the best
path, see BGP Path Selection, on page 605.
Procedure
607
Configure BGP
Example:
Step 2 Change the default local preference value:

bgp default local-preference number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# bgp default local-preference 500
The number argument is any value between 0 and 4294967295. Higher values indicate higher preference.
The default value is 100.
Step 3 Enable Multi Exit Discriminator (MED) comparison among paths learned from neighbors in different
autonomous systems:
bgp always-compare-med
Step 4 Compare between similar routes received from external BGP (eBGP) peers during the best path selection
process and switch the best path to the route with the lowest router ID:
bgp bestpath compare-routerid
Step 5 Select the best MED path advertised from the neighboring AS:
bgp deterministic-med
Step 6 Set a path with a missing MED attribute as the least preferred path:
bgp bestpath med missing-as-worst
Configure Policy Lists

When a policy list is referenced within a route map, all of the match statements within the policy list are
evaluated and processed. Two or more policy lists can be configured with a route map. A policy list can also
coexist with any other preexisting match and set statements that are configured within the same route map
but outside of the policy list. This section describes the steps required to configure policy lists.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the policy-map configuration mode and allows you to create a BGP policy list:
policy-list policy_list_name {permit | deny}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# policy-list Example-policy-list1 permit
The permit keyword allows access for matching conditions.

The deny keyword denies access for matching conditions.
608
Configure BGP
Step 2 Distribute routes that have their next hop out of one of the interfaces specified:
match interface [...interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-policy-list)# match interface outside
Step 3 Redistribute routes by matching either or all of the following: the destination address, next hop router address,
and router/access server source:
match ip {address | next-hop | route-source}
Step 4 Match a BGP autonomous system path:

match as-path
Step 5 Match a BGP community:

match community {community-list_name | exact-match}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-policy-list)# match community ExampleCommunity1
• community-list_name — one or more community lists.

• exact-match — indicates that an exact match is required. All of the communities and only those
communities specified must be present.
Step 6 Redistribute routes with the metric specified:

match metric
Step 7 Redistribute routes in the routing table that match the specified tags:
match tag
Configure AS Path Filters

An AS path filter allows you to filter the routing update message by using access lists and look at the individual
prefixes within an update message. If a prefix within the update message matches the filter criteria then that
individual prefix is filtered out or accepted depending on what action the filter entry has been configured to
carry out. This section describes the steps required to configure AS path filters.
Note The as-path access-lists are not the same as the regular firewall ACLs.
Procedure
Configure an autonomous system path filter using a regular expression in the global configuration mode:
as-path access-list acl-number {permit|deny} regexp
609
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# as-path access-list 35 permit testaspath
• acl-number — AS-path access-list number. Valid values are from 1 to 500.

• regexp — regular expression that defines the AS-path filter. The autonomous system number is expressed
in the range from 1 to 65535.
Configure Community Rules

A community is a group of destinations that share some common attribute. You can use community lists to
create groups of communities to use in a match clause of a route map. Just like an access list, a series of
community lists can be created. Statements are checked until a match is found. As soon as one statement is
satisfied, the test is concluded. This section describes the steps required to configure community rules.
Procedure
Create or configure a BGP community list and control access to it:

community-list {standard| community list-name {deny|permit} [community-number] [AA:NN] [internet]
[no-advertise][no-export]}| {expanded|expanded list-name {deny| permit}regexp}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# community-list standard excomm1 permit 100 internet no-advertise no-export
• standard — configures a standard community list using a number from 1 to 99 to identify one or more
permit or deny groups of communities.
• (Optional) community-number — community as a 32-bit number from 1 to 4294967200. A single
community can be entered or multiple communities can be entered, each separated by a space.
• AA:NN — an autonomous system number and network number entered in the 4-byte new community
format. This value is configured with two 2-byte numbers separated by a colon. A number from 1 to
65535 can be entered for each 2-byte number. A single community can be entered or multiple communities
can be entered, each separated by a space.
• (Optional) internet — specifies the Internet community. Routes with this community are advertised to
all peers (internal and external).
• (Optional) no-advertise — specifies the no-advertise community. Routes with this community are not
advertised to any peer (internal or external).
• (Optional) no-export — specifies the no-export community. Routes with this community are advertised
to only peers in the same autonomous system or to only other subautonomous systems within a
confederation. These routes are not advertised to external peers.
• (Optional) expanded— configures an expanded community list number from 100 to 500 to identify one
or more permit or deny groups of communities.
610
Configure BGP
• regexp — regular expression that defines the AS-path filter. The autonomous system number is expressed
in the range from 1 to 65535.
Note Regular expressions can be used only with expanded community
lists.
Configure IPv4 Address Family Settings

The IPv4 settings for BGP can be set up from the IPv4 family option within the BGP configuration setup.
The IPv4 family section includes subsections for General settings, Aggregate address settings, Filtering settings
and Neighbor settings. Each of these subsections enable you to customize parameters specific to the IPv4
family.
Configure IPv4 Family General Settings

This section describes the steps required to configure the general IPv4 settings.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable a BGP routing process, which places the router in router configuration mode:
Example:
Step 2 Enter address family configuration mode to configure a routing session using standard IP Version 4 (IPv4)
address prefixes:
address-family ipv4 [unicast]
The keyword unicast specifies IPv4 unicast address prefixes. This is the default, even if not specified.
Step 3 (Optional) Configure a fixed router ID for the local BGP routing process:
bgp router-id A.B.C.D
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp router-id 10.86.118.3
The argument A.B.C.D specifies a router identifier in the form of an IP address. If you do not specify a router
ID, it is automatically assigned.
Step 4 (Optional) Configure a cluster pool of IP addresses in the Individual Interface (L3) mode:
bgp router-id cluster-pool
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp router-id cp
611
Configure BGP
Note In an L3 cluster, you cannot define a BGP neighbor as one of the cluster pool IP addresses.
Step 5 Configure the administrative distance for BGP routes:

distance bgp external-distance internal-distance local-distance
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# distance bgp 80 180 180
• external-distance — administrative distance for external BGP routes. Routes are external when learned
from an external autonomous system. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
• internal-distance — administrative distance for internal BGP routes. Routes are internal when learned
from peer in the local autonomous system. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
• local-distance — administrative distance for local BGP routes. Local routes are those networks listed
with a network router configuration command, often as back doors, for the router or for the networks
that is being redistributed from another process. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
Step 6 Modify metric and tag values when the IP routing table is updated with BGP learned routes:
table-map {WORD|route-map_name}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# table-map example1
The argument route-map_name specifies the route map name from the route-map command.
Step 7 Configure a BGP routing process to distribute a default route (network 0.0.0.0):
default-information originate
Step 8 Configure automatic summarization of subnet routes into network-level routes:

auto-summary
Step 9 Suppress the advertisement of routes that are not installed in the routing information base (RIB):
bgp suppress-inactive
Step 10 Synchronize between BGP and your Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) system:
synchronization
Step 11 Configure iBGP redistribution into an IGP, such as OSPF:

bgp redistribute-internal
Step 12 Configure scanning intervals of BGP routers for next hop validation:
bgp scan-time scanner-interval
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp scan-time 15
The argument scanner-interval specifies scanning interval of BGP routing information. Valid values are from
5 to 60 seconds. The default is 60 seconds.
Step 13 Configure BGP next-hop address tracking:
612
Configure BGP
bgp nexthop trigger {delay seconds|enable}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp nexthop trigger delay 15
• trigger — specifies the use of BGP next-hop address tracking. Use this keyword with the delay keyword
to change the next-hop tracking delay. Use this keyword with the enable keyword to enable next-hop
address tracking.
• delay — changes the delay interval between checks on updated next-hop routes installed in the routing
table.
• seconds — specifies the delay in seconds. Range is from 0 to 100. Default is 5.
• enable — enables BGP next-hop address tracking immediately.
Step 14 Control the maximum number of parallel iBGP routes that can be installed in a routing table:
maximum-paths {number_of_paths|ibgp number_of_paths}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# maximum-paths ibgp 2
Note If the ibgp keyword is not used, then the number_of_paths argument controls the maximum number
of parallel EBGP routes.
The number_of_paths argument specifies the number of routes to install to the routing table. Valid values are
between 1 and 8.
Configure IPv4 Family Aggregate Address Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the aggregation of specific routes into one route.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Create an aggregate entry in a BGP database:
613
Configure BGP
aggregate-address address mask [as-set][summary-only][suppress-map map-name][advertise-map

map-name][attribute-map map-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af) aggregate-address 10.86.118.0 255.255.255.0 as-set summary-only
suppress-map example1 advertise-map example1 attribute-map example1
• address — the aggregate address.

• mask — the aggregate mask.
• map-name — the route map.
• (Optional) as-set — generates autonomous system set path information.
• (Optional) summary-only — filters all more-specific routes from updates.
• (Optional) Suppress-map map-name —specifies the name of the route map used to select the routes to
be suppressed.
• (Optional) Advertise-map map-name — specifies the name of the route map used to select the routes to
create AS_SET origin communities.
• (Optional) Attribute-map map-name — specifies the name of the route map used to set the attribute of
the aggregate route.
Configure IPv4 Family Filtering Settings

This section describes the steps required to filter routes or networks received in incoming BGP updates.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Filter routes or networks received in incoming or advertised in outgoing BGP updates:
distribute-list acl-number in|out[]
614
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# distribute-list ExampleAcl in bgp 2
The argument acl-number specifies IP access list number. The access list defines which networks are to be
received and which are to be suppressed in routing updates.
The keyword in specifies that the filter must be applied to incoming BGP updates and out specifies that the
filter must be applied to outgoing BGP updates.
Configure IPv4 Family BGP Neighbor Settings

This section describes the steps required to define BGP neighbors and neighbor settings.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Add an entry to the BGP neighbor table:

neighbor ip-address remote-as autonomous-number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 remote-as 3
Step 4 (Optional) Disable a neighbor or peer group:

neighbor ip-address shutdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 shutdown 3
Step 5 Exchange information with a BGP neighbor:

neighbor ip-address activate
615
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 activate
Step 6 Enable or disable the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) graceful restart capability for a BGP neighbor:
neighbor ip-address ha-mode graceful-restart [disable]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 ha-mode graceful-restart
(Optional) The disable keyword disables BGP graceful restart capability for a neighbor.
Step 7 Distribute BGP neighbor information as specified in an access list:

neighbor {ip-address} distribute-list {access-list-name}{in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 distribute-list ExampleAcl in
• access-list-number — the number of a standard or extended access list. The range of a standard access
list number is from 1 to 99. The range of an extended access list number is from 100 to 199.
• expanded-list-number — the number of an expanded access list number. The range of an expanded
access list is from 1300 to 2699.
• access-list-name — the name of a standard or extended access list.
• prefix-list-name — the name of a BGP prefix list.
• in — the access list is applied to incoming advertisements to that neighbor.
• out — that the access list is applied to outgoing advertisements to that neighbor.
Step 8 Apply a route map to incoming or outgoing routes:

neighbor {ip-address} route-map map-name {in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 route-map example1 in
The keyword in applies a route map to incoming routes.

The keyword out applies a route map to outgoing routes.
Step 9 Distribute BGP neighbor information as specified in a prefix list:

neighbor {ip-address} prefix-list prefix-list-name {in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 prefix-list NewPrefixList in
The keyword in implies that the prefix list is applied to incoming advertisements from that neighbor.
The keyword out implies that the prefix list is applied to outgoing advertisements to that neighbor.
616
Configure BGP
Step 10 Set up a filter list:

neighbor {ip-address} filter-list access-list-number {in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 filter-list 5 in
• access-list-name — specifies the number of an autonomous system path access list. You define this
access list with the ip as-path access-list command.
• in — that the access list is applied to incoming advertisements from that neighbor.
Step 11 Control the number of prefixes that can be received from a neighbor:
neighbor {ip-address} maximum-prefix maximum [threshold][restart restart interval][warning-only]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 maximum-prefix 7 75 restart 12
• maximum — the maximum number of prefixes allowed from this neighbor.

• (Optional) threshold — integer specifying at what percentage of maximum the router starts to generate
a warning message. The range is from 1 to 100; the default is 75 (percent).
• (Optional) restart interval — integer value (in minutes) that specifies the time interval after which the
BGP neighbor restarts.
• (Optional) warning-only — allows the router to generate a log message when the maximum number of
prefixes is exceeded, instead of terminating the peering.
Step 12 Allow a BGP speaker (the local router) to send the default route 0.0.0.0 to a neighbor for use as a default
route:
neighbor {ip-address} default-originate [route-map map-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 default-originate route-map example1
The argument map-name is the name of the route-map.The route map allows route 0.0.0.0 to be injected
conditionally.
Step 13 Set the minimum interval between the sending of BGP routing updates:
neighbor {ip-address} advertisement-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 advertisement-interval 15
The argument seconds is the time (in seconds). Valid values are from 0 to 600.
Step 14 Advertise the routes in the BGP table that matches the configured route-map:
617
Configure BGP
neighbor {ip-address} advertise-map map-name {exist-map map-name |non-exist-map

map-name}[check-all-paths]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.2.1.1 advertise-map MAP1 exist-map MAP2
• advertise-map map name — the name of the route map that will be advertised if the conditions of the
exist map or non-exist map are met.
• exist-map map name — the name of the exist-map that is compared with the routes in the BGP table to
determine whether the advertise-map route is advertised or not.
• non-exist-map map name — the name of the non-exist-map that is compared with the routes in the BGP
table to determine whether the advertise-map route is advertised or not.
• (Optional) check all paths — enables checking of all paths by the exist-map with a prefix in the BGP
table.
Step 15 Remove private autonomous system numbers from outbound routing updates:
neighbor {ip-address} remove-private-as
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 remove-private-as
Step 16 Sets the timers for a specific BGP peer or peer group.
neighbor {ip-address} timers keepalive holdtime min holdtime
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 timers 15 20 12
• keepalive — the frequency (in seconds) with which the ASA sends keepalive messages to its peer. The
default is 60 seconds. Valid values are from 0 to 65535.
• holdtime — the interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message that the ASA declares a
peer dead. The default is 180 seconds.
• min holdtime — the minimum interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message that the
ASA declares a peer dead.
Step 17 Enable Message Digest 5 (MD5) authentication on a TCP connection between two BGP peers:
neighbor {ip-address} password string
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 password test
The argument string is a case-sensitive password of up to 25 characters when the service password-encryption
command is enabled and up to 81 characters when the service password-encryption command is not enabled.
The string can contain any alphanumeric characters, including spaces.
618
Configure BGP
Note The first character cannot be a number. You cannot specify a password in the format
number-space-anything. The space after the number can cause authentication to fail.
Step 18 Specify that communities attributes should be sent to a BGP neighbor:
neighbor {ip-address} send-community[both|standard|extended]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 send-community
• (Optional) both keyword — both standard and extended communities will be sent.
• (Optional) standard keyword — only standard communities will be sent.
• (Optional) extended keyword — only extended communities will be sent.
Step 19 Configure the router as the next hop for a BGP-speaking neighbor or peer group:
neighbor {ip-address}next-hop-self
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 next-hop-self
Step 20 Accept and attempt BGP connections to external peers residing on networks that are not directly connected:
neighbor {ip-address} ebgp-multihop [ttl]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 ebgp-multihop 5
The argument ttl specifies time-to-live in the range from 1 to 255 hops.
Step 21 Disable connection verification to establish an eBGP peering session with a single-hop peer that uses a loopback
interface:
neighbor {ip-address} disable-connected-check
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 disable-connected-check
Step 22 Secure a BGP peering session and configures the maximum number of hops that separate two external BGP
(eBGP) peers:
neighbor {ip-address} ttl-security hops hop-count
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 ttl-security hops 15
The argument hop-count is the number of hops that separate the eBGP peers. The TTL value is calculated by
the router from the configured hop-count argument. Valid values are from 1 to 254.
Step 23 Assign a weight to a neighbor connection:

neighbor {ip-address} weight number
619
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 weight 30
The argument number is the weight to assign to a neighbor connection. Valid values are from 0 to 65535.
Step 24 Configure the ASA to accept only a particular BGP version:

neighbor {ip-address} version number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 version 4
The argument number specifies the BGP version number. The version can be set to 2 to force the software to
use only Version 2 with the specified neighbor. The default is to use Version 4 and dynamically negotiate
down to Version 2 if requested.
Step 25 Enable a TCP transport session option for a BGP session:

neighbor {ip-address} transport {connection-mode{active|passive}| path-mtu-discovery[disable]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 transport path-mtu-discovery
• connection-mode — the type of connection (active or passive).

• path-mtu-discovery — enables TCP transport path maximum transmission unit (MTU) discovery. TCP
path MTU discovery is enabled by default.
• (Optional) disable — disables TCP path MTU discovery.
Step 26 Customize the AS_PATH attribute for routes received from an external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP)
neighbor:
neighbor {ip-address} local-as [autonomous-system-number[no-prepend]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 local-as 5 no-prepend replace-as
• (Optional) autonomous-system-number — the number of an autonomous system to prepend to the

AS_PATH attribute. The range of values for this argument is any valid autonomous system number
from 1 to 4294967295 or 1.0 to XX.YY.
• (Optional) no-prepend — does not prepend the local autonomous system number to any routes received
from the eBGP neighbor.
Configure IPv4 Network Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the networks to be advertised by the BGP routing process.
620
Configure BGP
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Specify the networks to be advertised by the BGP routing processes:

network {network-number [mask network-mask]}[route-map map-tag]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# network 10.86.118.13 mask 255.255.255.255 route-map example1
• network-number — the network that BGP will advertise.

• (Optional) network-mask — the network or subnetwork mask with mask address.
• (Optional) map-tag — the identifier of a configured route map. The route map should be examined to
filter the networks to be advertised. If not specified, all networks are advertised.
Configure IPv4 Redistribution Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the conditions for redistributing routes from another routing
domain into BGP.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
621
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# address-family ipv4[unicast]
Step 3 Redistribute routes from another routing domain into a BGP autonomous system:
redistribute protocol [process-id] [metric] [route-map [map-tag]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# redistribute ospf 2 route-map example1 match external
• protocol — the source protocol from which routes are being redistributed. It can be one of the following:
Connected, EIGRP, OSPF, RIP or Static.
• (Optional) process-id — a name for the specific routing process.
• (Optional) metric — the metric for the redistributed route.
• (Optional) map-tag — the identifier of a configured route map.
Note The route map should be examined to filter the networks to be redistributed. If not specified, all
networks are redistributed.
Configure IPv4 Route Injection Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the routes to be conditionally injected into the BGP routing
table.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Example:
Step 3 Configure conditional route injection to inject more specific routes into a BGP routing table:
622
Configure BGP
bgp inject-map inject-map exist-map exist-map [copy-attributes]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp inject-map example1 exist-map example2 copy-attributes
• inject-map — the name of the route map that specifies the prefixes to inject into the local BGP routing
table.
• exist-map — the name of the route map containing the prefixes that the BGP speaker will track.
• (Optional) copy-attributes — configures the injected route to inherit attributes of the aggregate route.
Configure IPv6 Address Family Settings

The IPv6 settings for BGP can be set up from the IPv6 family option within the BGP configuration setup.
The IPv6 family section includes subsections for General settings, Aggregate address settings and Neighbor
settings. Each of these subsections enable you to customize parameters specific to the IPv6 family.
This section describes how to customize the BGP IPv6 family settings.
Configure IPv6 Family General Settings

This section describes the steps required to configure the general IPv6 settings.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Configure the administrative distance for BGP routes:

distance bgp external-distance internal-distance local-distance
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# distance bgp 80 180 180
• external-distance — administrative distance for external BGP routes. Routes are external when learned
from an external autonomous system. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
623
Configure BGP
• internal-distance — administrative distance for internal BGP routes. Routes are internal when learned
from peer in the local autonomous system. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
• local-distance — administrative distance for local BGP routes. Local routes are those networks listed
with a network router configuration command, often as back doors, for the router or for the networks
that is being redistributed from another process. The range of values for this argument are from 1 to 255.
Step 4 (Optional) Configure a BGP routing process to distribute a default route (network 0.0.0.0):
default-information originate
Step 5 (Optional) Suppress the advertisement of routes that are not installed in the routing information base (RIB):
bgp suppress-inactive
Step 6 Synchronize between BGP and your Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) system:
synchronization
Step 7 Configure iBGP redistribution into an IGP, such as OSPF:

bgp redistribute-internal
Step 8 Configure scanning intervals of BGP routers for next hop validation:
bgp scan-time scanner-interval
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp scan-time 15
Valid values for the scanner-interval argument from 5 to 60 seconds. The default is 60 seconds.
Step 9 Control the maximum number of parallel iBGP routes that can be installed in a routing table:
maximum-paths {number_of_paths|ibgp number_of_paths}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# maximum-paths ibgp 2
Valid values for the number_of_paths argument is between 1 and 8.

If the ibgp keyword is not used, then the number_of_paths argument controls the maximum number of parallel
EBGP routes.
Configure IPv6 Family Aggregate Address Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the aggregation of specific routes into one route.
Procedure
624
Configure BGP
Example:
address prefixes:
address-family ipv6 unicast
Step 3 Create an aggregate entry in a BGP database:

aggregate-address ipv6-address/cidr [as-set][summary-only][suppress-map map-name][advertise-map
ipv6-map-name][attribute-map map-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af) aggregate-address 2000::1/8 summary-only
• address — the aggregate IPv6 address.

• (Optional) as-set — generates autonomous system set path information.
• (Optional) summary-only — filters all more-specific routes from updates.
• (Optional) suppress-map map-name — specifies the name of the route map used to select the routes to
be suppressed.
• (Optional) advertise-map map-name — specifies the name of the route map used to select the routes to
create AS_SET origin communities.
• (Optional) attribute-map map-name — specifies the name of the route map used to set the attribute of
the aggregate route.
Step 4 Set the interval at which BGP routes will be aggregated:

bgp aggregate-timer seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)bgp aggregate-timer 20
Configure IPv6 Family BGP Neighbor Settings

This section describes the steps required to define BGP neighbors and neighbor settings.
Procedure
625
Configure BGP
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Add an entry to the BGP neighbor table:

neighbor ipv6-address remote-as autonomous-number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1/8 remote-as 3
The argument ipv6-address specifies the IPv6 address of the next hop that can be used to reach the specified
network.TheIPv6 address of the next hop need not be directly connected; recursion is done to find the IPv6
address of the directly connected next hop.When an interface type and interface number are specified, you
can optionally specify the IPv6 address of the next hop to which packets are output.You must specify an
interface type and an interface number when using a link-local address as the next hop (the link-local next
hop must also be an adjacent device).
Note This argument must be in the form documented in RFC 2373 where the address is specified in
hexadecimal using 16-bit values between colons.
Step 4 (Optional) Disable a neighbor or peer group:
neighbor ipv6-address shutdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1/8 shutdown 3
Step 5 Exchange information with a BGP neighbor:

neighbor ipv6-address activate
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1/8 activate
Step 6 Apply a route map to incoming or outgoing routes:

neighbor {ipv6-address} route-map map-name {in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 route-map example1 in
The keyword in applies a route map to incoming routes.

The keyword out applies a route map to outgoing routes.
Step 7 Distribute BGP neighbor information as specified in a prefix list:

neighbor {ipv6-address} prefix-list prefix-list-name {in|out}
626
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 prefix-list NewPrefixList in
The keyword in implies that the prefix list is applied to incoming advertisements from that neighbor.
The keyword out implies that the prefix list is applied to outgoing advertisements to that neighbor.
Step 8 Set up a filter list:

neighbor {ipv6-address} filter-list access-list-name {in|out}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 filter-list 5 in
• access-list-name — specifies the number of an autonomous system path access list. You define this
access list with the ip as-path access-list command.
• in — that the access list is applied to incoming advertisements from that neighbor.
Step 9 Control the number of prefixes that can be received from a neighbor:
neighbor {ipv6-address} maximum-prefix maximum [threshold][restart restart interval][warning-only]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 maximum-prefix 7 75 restart 12
• maximum — the maximum number of prefixes allowed from this neighbor.

• (Optional) threshold — integer specifying at what percentage of maximum the router starts to generate
a warning message. The range is from 1 to 100; the default is 75 (percent).
• (Optional) restart interval — integer value (in minutes) that specifies the time interval after which the
BGP neighbor restarts.
• (Optional) warning-only — allows the router to generate a log message when the maximum number of
prefixes is exceeded, instead of terminating the peering.
Step 10 Allow a BGP speaker (the local router) to send the default route 0.0.0.0 to a neighbor for use as a default
route:
neighbor {ipv6-address} default-originate [route-map map-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 default-originate route-map example1
The argument map-name is the name of the route-map.The route map allows route 0.0.0.0 to be injected
conditionally.
Step 11 Set the minimum interval between the sending of BGP routing updates:
neighbor {ipv6-address} advertisement-interval seconds
627
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 advertisement-interval 15
The argument seconds is the time (in seconds). Valid values are from 0 to 600.
Step 12 Remove private autonomous system numbers from outbound routing updates:
neighbor {ipv6-address} remove-private-as
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 remove-private-as
Step 13 Advertise the routes in the BGP table that matches the configured route-map:
neighbor {ipv6-address} advertise-map map-name {exist-map map-name |non-exist-map
map-name}[check-all-paths]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 advertise-map MAP1 exist-map MAP2
• advertise-map map name — the name of the route map that will be advertised if the conditions of the
exist map or non-exist map are met.
• exist-map map name — the name of the exist-map that is compared with the routes in the BGP table to
determine whether the advertise-map route is advertised or not.
• non-exist-map map name — the name of the non-exist-map that is compared with the routes in the BGP
table to determine whether the advertise-map route is advertised or not.
• (Optional) check all paths — enables checking of all paths by the exist-map with a prefix in the BGP
table.
Step 14 Sets the timers for a specific BGP peer or peer group.
neighbor {ipv6-address} timers keepalive holdtime min holdtime
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 timers 15 20 12
• keepalive — the frequency (in seconds) with which the ASA sends keepalive messages to its peer. The
default is 60 seconds. Valid values are from 0 to 65535.
• holdtime — the interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message that the ASA declares a
peer dead. The default is 180 seconds.
• min holdtime — the minimum interval (in seconds) after not receiving a keepalive message that the
ASA declares a peer dead.
Step 15 Enable Message Digest 5 (MD5) authentication on a TCP connection between two BGP peers:
neighbor {ipv6-address} password string
628
Configure BGP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 password test
The argument string is a case-sensitive password of up to 25 characters when the service password-encryption
command is enabled and up to 81 characters when the service password-encryption command is not enabled.
The string can contain any alphanumeric characters, including spaces.
Note The first character cannot be a number. You cannot specify a password in the format
number-space-anything. The space after the number can cause authentication to fail.
Step 16 Specify that communities attributes should be sent to a BGP neighbor:
neighbor {ipv6-address} send-community [standard]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 send-community
(Optional) standard keyword — only standard communities will be sent.
Step 17 Configure the router as the next hop for a BGP-speaking neighbor or peer group:
neighbor {ipv6-address}next-hop-self
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 next-hop-self
Step 18 Accept and attempt BGP connections to external peers residing on networks that are not directly connected:
neighbor {ipv6-address} ebgp-multihop [ttl]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 ebgp-multihop 5
The argument ttl specifies time-to-live in the range from 1 to 255 hops.
Step 19 Disable connection verification to establish an eBGP peering session with a single-hop peer that uses a loopback
interface:
neighbor {ipv6-address} disable-connected-check
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 disable-connected-check
Step 20 Secure a BGP peering session and configures the maximum number of hops that separate two external BGP
(eBGP) peers:
neighbor {ipv6-address} ttl-security hops hop-count
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 ttl-security hops 15
629
Configure BGP
The argument hop-count is the number of hops that separate the eBGP peers. The TTL value is calculated by
the router from the configured hop-count argument. Valid values are from 1 to 254.
Step 21 Assign a weight to a neighbor connection:

neighbor {ipv6-address} weight number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 weight 30
The argument number is the weight to assign to a neighbor connection. Valid values are from 0 to 65535.
Step 22 Configure the ASA to accept only a particular BGP version:

neighbor {ipv6-address} version number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 version 4
The argument number specifies the BGP version number. The default is Version 4. Currently only BGP
version 4 is supported.
Step 23 Enable a TCP transport session option for a BGP session:

neighbor {ipv6-address} transport {connection-mode{active|passive}| path-mtu-discovery[disable]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2000::1 transport connection-mode active
• connection-mode — the type of connection (active or passive).

• path-mtu-discovery — enables TCP transport path maximum transmission unit (MTU) discovery. TCP
path MTU discovery is enabled by default.
• (Optional) disable — disables TCP path MTU discovery.
Step 24 Customize the AS_PATH attribute for routes received from an external Border Gateway Protocol (eBGP)
neighbor:
neighbor {ipv6-address} local-as [autonomous-system-number[no-prepend]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.86.118.12 local-as 5 no-prepend replace-as
• (Optional) autonomous-system-number — the number of an autonomous system to prepend to the

AS_PATH attribute. The range of values for this argument is any valid autonomous system number
from 1 to 4294967295 or 1.0 to XX.YY.
• (Optional) no-prepend — does not prepend the local autonomous system number to any routes received
from the eBGP neighbor.
630
Configure BGP
Caution BGP prepends the autonomous system number from each BGP network that a route traverses
to maintain network reachability information and to prevent routing loops. This command
should be configured only for autonomous system migration, and should be removed after
the transition has been completed. This procedure should be attempted only by an experienced
network operator. Routing loops can be created through improper configuration.
Configure IPv6 Network Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the networks to be advertised by the BGP routing process.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Step 3 Specify the networks to be advertised by the BGP routing processes:

network {ipv6 network/ prefix length} [route-map route-map name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# network 2001:1/64 route-map test_route_map
• ipv6 network/prefix length— the network that BGP will advertise.

• (Optional) route-map name— the identifier of a configured route map. The route map should be examined
to filter the networks to be advertised. If not specified, all networks are advertised.
Configure IPv6 Redistribution Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the conditions for redistributing routes from another routing
domain into BGP.
Procedure
631
Configure BGP
Example:
address prefixes:
Example:
Step 3 Redistribute routes from another routing domain into a BGP autonomous system:
redistribute protocol [process-id][autonomous-num][metric metric value][match{internal|

external1|external2|NSSA external 1|NSSA external 2}][route-map [map-tag]][subnets]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# redistribute ospf 2 route-map example1 match external
• protocol — the source protocol from which routes are being redistributed. It can be one of the following:
Connected, EIGRP, OSPF, RIP or Static.
• (Optional) process-id — For the ospf protocol, this is an appropriate OSPF process ID from which routes
are to be redistributed. This identifies the routing process. This value takes the form of a nonzero decimal
number.
Note This value is auto-populated for the other
protocols.
• (Optional) metric metric value — When redistributing from one OSPF process to another OSPF process
on the same router, the metric will be carried through from one process to the other if no metric value
is specified. When redistributing other processes to an OSPF process, the default metric is 20 when no
metric value is specified. The default value is 0.
• (Optional) match internal | external1 | external2 | NSSA external 1 | NSSA external 2 — For the criteria
by which OSPF routes are redistributed into other routing domains. It can be one of the following:
◦internal — Routes that are internal to a specific autonomous system.
◦external 1 — Routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into BGP as
OSPF Type 1 external route.
◦external 2 — Routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into BGP as
OSPF Type 2 external route.
◦NSSA external 1 — Routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into BGP
as OSPF NSSA Type 1 external route.
◦NSSA external 2 — Routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into BGP
as OSPF NSSA Type 2 external route.
• (Optional) map-tag — the identifier of a configured route map.
632
Monitoring BGP
Note The route map should be examined to filter the networks to be redistributed. If not specified, all
networks are redistributed
Configure IPv6 Route Injection Settings

This section describes the steps required to define the routes to be conditionally injected into the BGP routing
table.
Procedure
Example:
address prefixes:
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# address-family ipv6 [unicast]
Step 3 Configure conditional route injection to inject more specific routes into a BGP routing table:
bgp inject-map inject-map exist-map exist-map [copy-attributes]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# bgp inject-map example1 exist-map example2 copy-attributes
• inject-map — the name of the route map that specifies the prefixes to inject into the local BGP routing
table.
• exist-map — the name of the route map containing the prefixes that the BGP speaker will track.
• (Optional) copy-attributes — configures the injected route to inherit attributes of the aggregate route.
Monitoring BGP
You can use the following commands to monitor the BGP routing process. For examples and descriptions of
the command output, see the command reference. Additionally, you can disable the logging of neighbor
change messages and neighbor warning messages.
To monitor various BGP routing statistics, enter one of the following commands:
633
Monitoring BGP
• show bgp [ip-address [mask [longer-prefixes [injected] | shorter-prefixes [length]]]| prefix-list name |
route-map name]
Displays the entries in the BGP routing table.
• show bgp cidr-only
Displays routes with non-natural network masks (that is, classless interdomain routing, or CIDR).
• show bgp community community-number [exact-match][no-advertise][no-export]
Display routes that belong to specified BGP communities.
• show bgp community-list community-list-name [exact-match]
Displays routes that are permitted by the BGP community list.
• show bgp filter-list access-list-number
Displays routes that conform to a specified filter list.
• show bgp injected-paths
Displays all the injected paths in the BGP routing table.
• show bgp ipv4 unicast
Displays entries in the IP version 4 (IPv4) BGP routing table for unicast sessions.
• show bgp ipv6 unicast
Displays entries in the IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing table.
• show bgp ipv6 community
Displays routes that belong to specified IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) communities.
• show bgp ipv6 community-list
Displays routes that are permitted by the IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) community list.
• show bgp ipv6 filter-list
Display routes that conform to a specified IPv6 filter list.
• show bgp ipv6 inconsistent-as
Displays IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes with inconsistent originating autonomous systems.
• show bgp ipv6 neighbors
Displays information about IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) connections to neighbors.
• show bgp ipv6 paths
Displays all the IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) paths in the database.
• show bgp ipv6 prefix-list
Displays routes that match a prefix list.
• show bgp ipv6 quote-regexp
Displays IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes matching the autonomous system path regular
expression as a quoted string of characters.
• show bgp ipv6 regexp
634
Monitoring BGP
Displays IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes matching the autonomous system path regular
expression.
• show bgp ipv6 route-map
Displays IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes that failed to install in the routing table.
• show bgp ipv6 summary
Displays the status of all IPv6 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) connections.
• show bgp neighbors ip_address
Displays information about BGP and TCP connections to neighbors.
• show bgp paths [LINE]
Displays all the BGP paths in the database.
• show bgp pending-prefixes
Displays prefixes that are pending deletion.
• show bgp prefix-list prefix_list_name [WORD]
Displays routes that match a specified prefix list.
• show bgp regexp regexp
Displays routes that match the autonomous system path regular expression.
• show bgp replication [index-group | ip-address]
Displays update replication statistics for BGP update groups.
• show bgp rib-failure
Displays BGP routes that failed to install in the Routing Information Base (RIB) table.
• show bgp route-map map-name
Displays entries in the BGP routing table, based on the route map specified.
• show bgp summary
Display the status of all BGP connections.
• show bgp system-config
Display the system context specific BGP configuration in multi-context mode.
This command is available in all user contexts in multi-context mode.
• show bgp update-group
Display information about the BGP update groups.
Note To disable BGP Log messages, enter the no bgp log-neighbor-changes command in the router configuration
mode. This disables the logging of neighbor change messages. Enter this command in router configuration
mode for the BGP routing process. By default, neighbor changes are logged.
635
Example for BGP
Example for BGP

This example shows how to enable and configure BGPv4 with various optional processes.
1 Define the conditions for redistributing routes from one routing protocol into another, or enable policy
routing:
ciscoasa(config)# route-map mymap2 permit 10
2 Redistribute any routes that have a route address or match packet that is passed by one of the access lists
specified:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ip address acl_dmz1 acl_dmz2
3 Indicate where to output packets that pass a match clause of a route map for policy routing:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ip next-hop peer address
4 Enable a BGP routing process from the global configuration mode:
5 Configure a fixed router ID for the local Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing process in the address
family configuration mode:
ciscoasa(config)# address-family ipv4

6 Add an entry to the BGP neighbor table:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.108.0.0 remote-as 65
7 Apply a route map to incoming or outgoing routes:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 10.108.0.0 route-map mymap2 in
This example shows how to enable and configure BGPv6 with various optional processes.
1 Define the conditions for redistributing routes from one routing protocol into another, or enable policy
routing:
ciscoasa(config)# route-map mymap1 permit 10
2 Redistribute any routes that have a route address or match packet that is passed by one of the access lists
specified:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# match ipv6 address acl_dmz1 acl_dmz2
3 Indicate where to output packets that pass a match clause of a route map for policy routing:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# set ipv6 next-hop peer address
636
Example for BGP
4 Enable a BGP routing process from the global configuration mode:
5 Configure a fixed router ID for the local Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing process in the address
family configuration mode:
ciscoasa(config)# address-family ipv4

6 Enter address family configuration mode to configure a routing session using standard IP Version 6 (IPv6)
address prefixes:
7 Add an entry to the BGP neighbor table:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2001:DB8:0:CC00::1 remote-as 64600
8 Apply a route map to incoming or outgoing routes:
ciscoasa(config-router-af)# neighbor 2001:DB8:0:CC00::1 route-map mymap1 in
637
History for BGP
History for BGP

Table 35: Feature History for BGP

Releases
BGP Support 9.2(1) Support was added for routing data, performing authentication,
and redistributing and monitoring routing information using
the Border Gateway Protocol.
We introduced the following commands: router bgp, bgp
maxas-limit, bgp log-neighbor-changes, bgp transport
path-mtu-discovery, bgp fast-external-fallover, bgp
enforce-first-as, bgp asnotation dot, timers bgp, bgp default
local-preference, bgp always-compare-med, bgp bestpath
compare-routerid, bgp deterministic-med, bgp bestpath
med missing-as-worst, policy-list, match as-path, match
community, match metric, match tag, as-path access-list,
community-list, address-family ipv4, bgp router-id, distance
bgp, table-map, bgp suppress-inactive, bgp
redistribute-internal, bgp scan-time, bgp nexthop,
aggregate-address, neighbor, bgp inject-map, show bgp,
show bgp cidr-only, show bgp all community, show bgp all
neighbors, show bgp community, show bgp community-list,
show bgp filter-list, show bgp injected-paths, show bgp ipv4
unicast, show bgp neighbors, show bgp paths, show bgp
pending-prefixes, show bgp prefix-list, show bgp regexp,
show bgp replication, show bgp rib-failure, show bgp
route-map, show bgp summary, show bgp system-config,
show bgp update-group, clear route network,
maximum-path, network.
We modified the following commands: show route, show route
summary, show running-config router, clear config router,
clear route all, timers lsa arrival, timers pacing, timers
throttle, redistribute bgp.
BGP support for ASA clustering 9.3(1) We added support for L2 and L3 clustering.
We introduced the following command: bgp router-id
clusterpool
BGP support for nonstop forwarding 9.3(1) We added support for Nonstop Forwarding.
We introduced the following commands: bgp graceful-restart,
neighbor ha-mode graceful-restart
BGP support for advertised maps 9.3(1) We added support for BGPv4 advertised map.
We introduced the following command: neighbor advertise-map
638
History for BGP

Releases
BGP support for IPv6 9.3(2) We added support for IPv6.
We introduced the following commands: address-family ipv6,
ipv6 prefix-list, ipv6 prefix-list description, ipv6 prefix-list
sequence-number, match ipv6 next-hop, match ipv6
route-source, match ipv6- address prefix-list, set ipv6-address
prefix -list, set ipv6 next-hop, set ipv6 next-hop peer-address
We modified the following command: bgp router-id
639
History for BGP
640
CHAPTER 25
OSPF
routing information using the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol.
• About OSPF, page 641

• Guidelines for OSPF, page 644
• Configure OSPFv2, page 645
• Configure OSPF Fast Hello Packets, page 646
• Customize OSPFv2, page 647
• Configure OSPFv3, page 658
• Configure Graceful Restart, page 678
• Example for OSPFv2, page 682
• Examples for OSPFv3, page 683
• Monitoring OSPF, page 684
• History for OSPF, page 687
About OSPF
OSPF is an interior gateway routing protocol that uses link states rather than distance vectors for path selection.
OSPF propagates link-state advertisements rather than routing table updates. Because only LSAs are exchanged
instead of the entire routing tables, OSPF networks converge more quickly than RIP networks.
OSPF uses a link-state algorithm to build and calculate the shortest path to all known destinations. Each router
in an OSPF area contains an identical link-state database, which is a list of each of the router usable interfaces
and reachable neighbors.
The advantages of OSPF over RIP include the following:
• OSPF link-state database updates are sent less frequently than RIP updates, and the link-state database
is updated instantly, rather than gradually, as stale information is timed out.
641
About OSPF
• Routing decisions are based on cost, which is an indication of the overhead required to send packets
across a certain interface. The ASA calculates the cost of an interface based on link bandwidth rather
than the number of hops to the destination. The cost can be configured to specify preferred paths.
The disadvantage of shortest path first algorithms is that they require a lot of CPU cycles and memory.
The ASA can run two processes of OSPF protocol simultaneously on different sets of interfaces. You might
want to run two processes if you have interfaces that use the same IP addresses (NAT allows these interfaces
to coexist, but OSPF does not allow overlapping addresses). Or you might want to run one process on the
inside and another on the outside, and redistribute a subset of routes between the two processes. Similarly,
you might need to segregate private addresses from public addresses.
You can redistribute routes into an OSPF routing process from another OSPF routing process, a RIP routing
process, or from static and connected routes configured on OSPF-enabled interfaces.
The ASA supports the following OSPF features:
• Intra-area, interarea, and external (Type I and Type II) routes.
• Virtual links.
• LSA flooding.
• Authentication to OSPF packets (both password and MD5 authentication).
• Configuring the ASA as a designated router or a designated backup router. The ASA also can be set up
as an ABR.
• Stub areas and not-so-stubby areas.
• Area boundary router Type 3 LSA filtering.
OSPF supports MD5 and clear text neighbor authentication. Authentication should be used with all routing
protocols when possible because route redistribution between OSPF and other protocols (such as RIP) can
potentially be used by attackers to subvert routing information.
If NAT is used, if OSPF is operating on public and private areas, and if address filtering is required, then you
need to run two OSPF processes—one process for the public areas and one for the private areas.
A router that has interfaces in multiple areas is called an Area Border Router (ABR). A router that acts as a
gateway to redistribute traffic between routers using OSPF and routers using other routing protocols is called
an Autonomous System Boundary Router (ASBR).
An ABR uses LSAs to send information about available routes to other OSPF routers. Using ABR Type 3
LSA filtering, you can have separate private and public areas with the ASA acting as an ABR. Type 3 LSAs
(interarea routes) can be filtered from one area to other, which allows you to use NAT and OSPF together
without advertising private networks.
Note Only Type 3 LSAs can be filtered. If you configure the ASA as an ASBR in a private network, it will send
Type 5 LSAs describing private networks, which will get flooded to the entire AS, including public areas.
If NAT is employed but OSPF is only running in public areas, then routes to public networks can be redistributed
inside the private network, either as default or Type 5 AS external LSAs. However, you need to configure
static routes for the private networks protected by the ASA. Also, you should not mix public and private
networks on the same ASA interface.
642
About OSPF
You can have two OSPF routing processes, one RIP routing process, and one EIGRP routing process running
on the ASA at the same time.
OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets

The OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets feature provides a way to configure the sending of hello packets in
intervals less than 1 second. Such a configuration would result in faster convergence in an Open Shortest Path
First (OSPF) network.
Prerequisites for OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets

OSPF must be configured in the network already or configured at the same time as the OSPF Support for Fast
Hello Packets feature.
About OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets

The key concepts related to OSPF support for fast hello packets and the benefits of OSPF Fast Hello Packets
are described below:
OSPF Hello Interval and Dead Interval

OSPF hello packets are packets that an OSPF process sends to its OSPF neighbors to maintain connectivity
with those neighbors. The hello packets are sent at a configurable interval (in seconds). The defaults are 10
seconds for an Ethernet link and 30 seconds for a non broadcast link. Hello packets include a list of all neighbors
for which a hello packet has been received within the dead interval. The dead interval is also a configurable
interval (in seconds), and defaults to four times the value of the hello interval. The value of all hello intervals
must be the same within a network. Likewise, the value of all dead intervals must be the same within a network.
These two intervals work together to maintain connectivity by indicating that the link is operational. If a router
does not receive a hello packet from a neighbor within the dead interval, it will declare that neighbor to be
down.
OSPF Fast Hello Packets

OSPF fast hello packets refer to hello packets being sent at intervals of less than 1 second. To understand fast
hello packets, you should already understand the relationship between OSPF hello packets and the dead
interval. See OSPF Hello Interval and Dead Interval, on page 643.
OSPF fast hello packets are achieved by using the ospf dead-interval command. The dead interval is set to 1
second, and the hello-multiplier value is set to the number of hello packets you want sent during that 1 second,
thus providing subsecond or "fast" hello packets.
When fast hello packets are configured on the interface, the hello interval advertised in the hello packets that
are sent out this interface is set to 0. The hello interval in the hello packets received over this interface is
ignored.
The dead interval must be consistent on a segment, whether it is set to 1 second (for fast hello packets) or set
to any other value. The hello multiplier need not be the same for the entire segment as long as at least one
hello packet is sent within the dead interval.
Benefits of OSPF Fast Hello Packets

The benefit of the OSPF Fast Hello Packets feature is that your OSPF network will experience faster
convergence time than it would without fast hello packets. This feature allows you to detect lost neighbors
within 1 second. It is especially useful in LAN segments, where neighbor loss might not be detected by the
Open System Interconnection (OSI) physical layer and data-link layer.
643
Guidelines for OSPF
Implementation Differences Between OSPFv2 and OSPFv3

OSPFv3 is not backward compatible with OSPFv2. To use OSPF to route both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, you
must run both OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 at the same time. They coexist with each other, but do not interact with
each other.
The additional features that OSPFv3 provides include the following:
• Protocol processing per link.
• Removal of addressing semantics.
• Addition of flooding scope.
• Support for multiple instances per link.
• Use of the IPv6 link-local address for neighbor discovery and other features.
• LSAs expressed as prefix and prefix length.
• Addition of two LSA types.
• Handling of unknown LSA types.
• Authentication support using the IPsec ESP standard for OSPFv3 routing protocol traffic, as specified
by RFC-4552.
Guidelines for OSPF

OSPFv2 supports single and multiple context mode.
OSPFv3 supports single mode only.

OSPF supports routed firewall mode only. OSPF does not support transparent firewall mode.
Failover Guidelines
OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 support Stateful Failover.
IPv6 Guidelines
• OSPFv2 does not support IPv6.
• OSPFv3 supports IPv6.
• OSPFv3 uses IPv6 for authentication.
• The ASA installs OSPFv3 routes into the IPv6 RIB, provided it is the best route.
• OSPFv3 packets can be filtered out using IPv6 ACLs in the capture command.
644
Configure OSPFv2
Clustering Guidelines
• OSPFv3 encryption is not supported. An error message appears if you try to configure OSPFv3 encryption
in a clustering environment.
• In Spanned interface mode, dynamic routing is not supported on management-only interfaces.
• In Individual interface mode, make sure that you establish the master and slave units as either OSPFv2
or OSPFv3 neighbors.
• In Individual interface mode, OSPFv2 adjacencies can only be established between two contexts on a
shared interface on the master unit. Configuring static neighbors is supported only on point-to point-links;
therefore, only one neighbor statement is allowed on an interface.
• When a master role change occurs in the cluster, the following behavior occurs:
◦In spanned interface mode, the router process is active only on the master unit and is in a suspended
state on the slave units. Each cluster unit has the same router ID because the configuration has
been synchronized from the master unit. As a result, a neighboring router does not notice any
change in the router ID of the cluster during a role change.
◦In individual interface mode, the router process is active on all the individual cluster units. Each
cluster unit chooses its own distinct router ID from the configured cluster pool. A mastership role
change in the cluster does not change the routing topology in any way.
• OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 support multiple instances on an interface.
• OSPFv3 supports encryption through ESP headers in a non-clustered environment.
• OSPFv3 supports Non-Payload Encryption.
• OSPFv2 supports Cisco NSF Graceful Restart and IETF NSF Graceful Restart mechanisms as defined
in RFCs 4811, 4812 & 3623 respectively.
• OSPFv3 supports Graceful Restart mechanism as defined in RFC 5187.
Configure OSPFv2
This section describes how to enable an OSPFv2 process on the ASA.
After you enable OSPFv2, you need to define a route map. For more information, see Define a Route Map,
on page 599. Then you generate a default route. For more information, see Configure a Static Route, on page
580.
After you have defined a route map for the OSPFv2 process, you can customize it for your particular needs,
To learn how to customize the OSPFv2 process on the ASA, see Customize OSPFv2, on page 647.
To enable OSPFv2, you need to create an OSPFv2 routing process, specify the range of IP addresses associated
with the routing process, then assign area IDs associated with that range of IP addresses.
You can enable up to two OSPFv2 process instances. Each OSPFv2 process has its own associated areas and
networks.
To enable OSPFv2, perform the following steps:
645
Configure OSPF Fast Hello Packets
Procedure
Step 1 Create an OSPF routing process:

router ospf process_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# router ospf 2
The process_id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process and can be any positive
integer. This ID does not have to match the ID on any other device; it is for internal use only. You can use a
maximum of two processes.
If there is only one OSPF process enabled on the ASA, then that process is selected by default. You cannot
change the OSPF process ID when editing an existing area.
Step 2 Define the IP addresses on which OSPF runs and the area ID for that interface:
network ip_address mask area area_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# network 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 area 0
When adding a new area, enter the area ID. You can specify the area ID as either a decimal number or an IP
address. Valid decimal values range from 0 to 4294967295. You cannot change the area ID when editing an
existing area.
Configure OSPF Fast Hello Packets

This section describes how to configure OSPF Fast Hello Packets.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure an interface:

interface port-channel number
Example:
The number argument indicates the port-channel interface number.
Step 2 Set the interval during which at least one hello packet must be received, or else the neighbor is considered
down:
ospf dead-interval minimal hello-multiplier no.of times
646
Customize OSPFv2
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ospf dead-interval minimal hell0-multiplier 5
ciscoasa
The no. of times argument indicates the number of hello packets to be sent every second. Valid values are
between 3 and 20.
In this example, OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets is enabled by specifying the minimal keyword and the
hello-multiplier keyword and value. Because the multiplier is set to 5, five hello packets will be sent every
second.
Customize OSPFv2
This section explains how to customize the OSPFv2 processes.
Redistribute Routes Into OSPFv2

The ASA can control the redistribution of routes between OSPFv2 routing processes.
Note If you want to redistribute a route by defining which of the routes from the specified routing protocol are
allowed to be redistributed into the target routing process, you must first generate a default route. See
Configure a Static Route, on page 580, and then define a route map according to Define a Route Map,
on page 599.
To redistribute static, connected, RIP, or OSPFv2 routes into an OSPFv2 process, perform the following steps:
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Redistribute connected routes into the OSPF routing process:

redistribute connected [[metric metric-value] [metric-type {type-1 | type-2}] [tag tag_value] [subnets]
[route-map map_name]
647
Customize OSPFv2
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# redistribute connected 5 type-1 route-map-practice
Step 3 Redistribute static routes into the OSPF routing process:

redistribute static [metric metric-value] [metric-type {type-1 | type-2}] [tag tag_value] [subnets] [route-map
map_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# redistribute static 5 type-1 route-map-practice
Step 4 Redistribute routes from an OSPF routing process into another OSPF routing process:
redistribute ospf pid [match {internal | external [1 | 2] | nssa-external [1 | 2]}] [metric metric-value]
[metric-type {type-1 | type-2}] [tag tag_value] [subnets] [route-map map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-route-map)# router ospf 2
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# redistribute ospf 1 route-map 1-to-2
You can either use the match options in this command to match and set route properties, or you can use a
route map. The subnets option does not have equivalents in the route-map command. If you use both a route
map and match options in the redistribute command, then they must match.
The example shows route redistribution from OSPF process 1 into OSPF process 2 by matching routes with
a metric equal to 1. The ASA redistributes these routes as external LSAs with a metric of 5 and a metric type
of Type 1.
Step 5 Redistribute routes from a RIP routing process into the OSPF routing process:
redistribute rip [metric metric-value] [metric-type {type-1 | type-2}] [tag tag_value] [subnets] [route-map
map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# redistribute rip 5
Step 6 Redistribute routes from an EIGRP routing process into the OSPF routing process:
redistribute eigrp as-num [metric metric-value] [metric-type {type-1 | type-2}] [tag tag_value] [subnets]
[route-map map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# redistribute eigrp 2
648
Customize OSPFv2
Configure Route Summarization When Redistributing Routes Into OSPFv2

When routes from other protocols are redistributed into OSPF, each route is advertised individually in an
external LSA. However, you can configure the ASA to advertise a single route for all the redistributed routes
that are included for a specified network address and mask. This configuration decreases the size of the OSPF
link-state database.
Routes that match the specified IP address mask pair can be suppressed. The tag value can be used as a match
value for controlling redistribution through route maps.
Add a Route Summary Address

To configure the software advertisement on one summary route for all redistributed routes included for a
network address and mask, perform the following steps:
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Set the summary address:

summary-address ip_address mask [not-advertise] [tag tag]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# summary-address 10.1.0.0 255.255.0.0
In this example, the summary address 10.1.0.0 includes addresses 10.1.1.0, 10.1.2.0, 10.1.3.0, and so on. Only
the 10.1.0.0 address is advertised in an external link-state advertisement.
Configure Route Summarization Between OSPFv2 Areas

Route summarization is the consolidation of advertised addresses. This feature causes a single summary route
to be advertised to other areas by an area boundary router. In OSPF, an area boundary router advertises
649
Customize OSPFv2
networks in one area into another area. If the network numbers in an area are assigned in a way so that they
are contiguous, you can configure the area boundary router to advertise a summary route that includes all the
individual networks within the area that fall into the specified range.
To define an address range for route summarization, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create an OSPF routing process and enters router configuration mode for this OSPF process:
Example:
The process_id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process. It can be any positive integer.
This ID does not have to match the ID on any other device; it is for internal use only. You can use a maximum
of two processes.
Step 2 Set the address range:

area area-id range ip-address mask [advertise | not-advertise]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 17 range 12.1.0.0 255.255.0.0
In this example, the address range is set between OSPF areas.
Configure OSPFv2 Interface Parameters

You can change some interface-specific OSPFv2 parameters, if necessary. You are not required to change
any of these parameters, but the following interface parameters must be consistent across all routers in an
attached network: ospf hello-interval, ospf dead-interval, and ospf authentication-key. If you configure
any of these parameters, be sure that the configurations for all routers on your network have compatible values.
To configure OSPFv2 interface parameters, perform the following steps:
Procedure

Example:
650
Customize OSPFv2
Step 2 Define the IP addresses on which OSPF runs and the area ID for that interface:
network ip_address mask area area_id
Example:

interface interface_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface my_interface
Step 4 Specify the authentication type for an interface:

ospf authentication [message-digest | null]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf authentication message-digest
Step 5 Assign a password to be used by neighboring OSPF routers on a network segment that is using the OSPF
simple password authentication:
ospf authentication-key key
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf authentication-key cisco
The key argument can be any continuous string of characters up to 8 bytes in length.
The password created by this command is used as a key that is inserted directly into the OSPF header when
the ASA software originates routing protocol packets. A separate password can be assigned to each network
on a per-interface basis. All neighboring routers on the same network must have the same password to be able
to exchange OSPF information.
Step 6 Explicitly specify the cost of sending a packet on an OSPF interface:

ospf cost cost
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf cost 20
The cost is an integer from 1 to 65535.

In this example, the cost is set to 20.
Step 7 Set the number of seconds that a device must wait before it declares a neighbor OSPF router down because
it has not received a hello packet:
ospf dead-interval seconds
651
Customize OSPFv2
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf dead-interval 40
The value must be the same for all nodes on the network.
Step 8 Specify the length of time between the hello packets that the ASA sends on an OSPF interface:
ospf hello-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf hello-interval 10
The value must be the same for all nodes on the network.
Step 9 Enable OSPF MD5 authentication:

ospf message-digest-key key_id md5 key
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 cisco
The following argument values can be set:

key_id—An identifier in the range from 1 to 255.
key—An alphanumeric password of up to 16 bytes.
Usually, one key per interface is used to generate authentication information when sending packets and to
authenticate incoming packets. The same key identifier on the neighbor router must have the same key value.
We recommend that you not keep more than one key per interface. Every time you add a new key, you should
remove the old key to prevent the local system from continuing to communicate with a hostile system that
knows the old key. Removing the old key also reduces overhead during rollover.
Step 10 Set the priority to help determine the OSPF designated router for a network:
ospf priority number_value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf priority 20
The number_value argument ranges from 0 to 255.
Step 11 Specify the number of seconds between LSA retransmissions for adjacencies belonging to an OSPF interface:
ospf retransmit-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf retransmit-interval seconds
The value for seconds must be greater than the expected round-trip delay between any two routers on the
attached network. The range is from 1 to 8192 seconds. The default value is 5 seconds.
Step 12 Set the estimated number of seconds required to send a link-state update packet on an OSPF interface:
ospf transmit-delay seconds
652
Customize OSPFv2
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf transmit-delay 5
The seconds value ranges from 1 to 8192 seconds.The default value is 1 second.
Step 13 Set the number of hello packets sent during 1 second:

ospf dead-interval minimal hello-interval multiplier
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ospf dead-interval minimal hello-multiplier 6
Valid values are integers between 3 and 20.
Step 14 Specify the interface as a point-to-point, non-broadcast network:

ospf network point-to-point non-broadcast
Example:
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf network point-to-point non-broadcast
When you designate an interface as point-to-point and non-broadcast, you must manually define the OSPF
neighbor; dynamic neighbor discovery is not possible. See Define Static OSPFv2 Neighbors, on page 656 for
more information. Additionally, you can only define one OSPF neighbor on that interface.
Configure OSPFv2 Area Parameters

You can configure several OSPF area parameters. These area parameters (shown in the following task list)
include setting authentication, defining stub areas, and assigning specific costs to the default summary route.
Authentication provides password-based protection against unauthorized access to an area.
Stub areas are areas into which information on external routes is not sent. Instead, there is a default external
route generated by the ABR into the stub area for destinations outside the autonomous system. To take
advantage of the OSPF stub area support, default routing must be used in the stub area. To further reduce the
number of LSAs sent into a stub area, you can use the no-summary keyword of the area stub command on
the ABR to prevent it from sending a summary link advertisement (LSA Type 3) into the stub area.
Procedure

Example:
653
Customize OSPFv2
Step 2 Enable authentication for an OSPF area:

area area-id authentication
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 0 authentication
Step 3 Enable MD5 authentication for an OSPF area:

area area-id authentication message-digest
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 0 authentication message-digest
Configure an OSPFv2 NSSA

The OSPFv2 implementation of an NSSA is similar to an OSPFv2 stub area. NSSA does not flood Type 5
external LSAs from the core into the area, but it can import autonomous system external routes in a limited
way within the area.
NSSA imports Type 7 autonomous system external routes within an NSSA area by redistribution. These Type
7 LSAs are translated into Type 5 LSAs by NSSA ABRs, which are flooded throughout the whole routing
domain. Summarization and filtering are supported during the translation.
You can simplify administration if you are an ISP or a network administrator that must connect a central site
using OSPFv2 to a remote site that is using a different routing protocol with NSSA.
Before the implementation of NSSA, the connection between the corporate site border router and the remote
router could not be run as an OSPFv2 stub area because routes for the remote site could not be redistributed
into the stub area, and two routing protocols needed to be maintained. A simple protocol such as RIP was
usually run and handled the redistribution. With NSSA, you can extend OSPFv2 to cover the remote connection
by defining the area between the corporate router and the remote router as an NSSA.
Before you use this feature, consider these guidelines:
• You can set a Type 7 default route that can be used to reach external destinations. When configured, the
router generates a Type 7 default into the NSSA or the NSSA area boundary router.
• Every router within the same area must agree that the area is NSSA; otherwise, the routers cannot
communicate with each other.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an OSPF routing processs:

654
Customize OSPFv2
Example:
The process_id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process. It can be any positive integer.
of two processes.
Step 2 Define an NSSA area:

area area-id nssa [no-redistribution] [default-information-originate]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 0 nssa
Step 3 Set the summary address and helps reduce the size of the routing table:
summary-address ip_address mask [not-advertise] [tag tag]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# summary-address 10.1.0.0 255.255.0.0
Using this command for OSPF causes an OSPF ASBR to advertise one external route as an aggregate for all
redistributed routes that are covered by the address.
In this example, the summary address 10.1.0.0 includes addresses 10.1.1.0, 10.1.2.0, 10.1.3.0, and so on. Only
the 10.1.0.0 address is advertised in an external link-state advertisement.
Note OSPF does not support summary-address 0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0.
Configure an IP Address Pool for Clustering (OSPFv2 and OSPFv3)

You can assign a range of IPv4 addresses for the router ID cluster pool if you are using Individual Interface
clustering.
To assign a range of IPv4 addresses for the router ID cluster pool in Individual Interface clustering for OSPFv2
and OSPFv3, enter the following command:
Procedure
Specify the router ID cluster pool for Individual Interface clustering:

router-id cluster-pool hostname | A.B.C.D ip_pool
Example:
hostname(config)# ip local pool rpool 1.1.1.1-1.1.1.4
hostname(config)# router ospf 1
hostname(config-rtr)# router-id cluster-pool rpool
hostname(config-rtr)# network 17.5.0.0 255.255.0.0 area 1
655
Customize OSPFv2
hostname(config-rtr)# log-adj-changes
The cluster-pool keyword enables configuration of an IP address pool when Individual Interface clustering
is configured. The hostname | A.B.C.D. keyword specifies the OSPF router ID for this OSPF process. The
ip_pool argument specifies the name of the IP address pool.
Note If you are using clustering, then you do not need to specify an IP address pool for the router ID. If
you do not configure an IP address pool, then the ASA uses the automatically generated router ID.
Define Static OSPFv2 Neighbors

You need to define static OSPFv2 neighbors to advertise OSPFv2 routes over a point-to-point, non-broadcast
network. This feature lets you broadcast OSPFv2 advertisements across an existing VPN connection without
having to encapsulate the advertisements in a GRE tunnel.
Before you begin, you must create a static route to the OSPFv2 neighbor. See Configure a Static Route, on
page 580 for more information about creating static routes.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an OSPFv2 routing process:

Example:
Step 2 Define the OSPFv2 neighborhood:

neighbor addr [interface if_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# neighbor 255.255.0.0 [interface my_interface]
The addr argument is the IP address of the OSPFv2 neighbor. The if_name argument is the interface used to
communicate with the neighbor. If the OSPF v2neighbor is not on the same network as any of the directly
connected interfaces, you must specify the interface.
Configure Route Calculation Timers

You can configure the delay time between when OSPFv2 receives a topology change and when it starts an
SPF calculation. You also can configure the hold time between two consecutive SPF calculations.
656
Customize OSPFv2
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Configure the route calculation times:

timers throttle spf spf-start spf-hold spf-maximum
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# timers throttle spf 500 500 600
The spf-start argument is the delay time (in milliseconds) between when OSPF receives a topology change
and when it starts an SPF calculation. It can be an integer from 0 to 600000.
The spf-hold argument is the minimum time (in milliseconds) between two consecutive SPF calculations. It
can be an integer from 0 to 600000.
The spf-maximum argument is the maximum time (in milliseconds) between two consecutive SPF calculations.
It can be integer from 0 to 600000.
Log Neighbors Going Up or Down

By default, a syslog message is generated when an OSPFv2 neighbor goes up or down.
Configure the log-adj-changes command if you want to know about OSPFv2 neighbors going up or down
without turning on the debug ospf adjacency command. The log-adj-changes command provides a higher
level view of the peer relationship with less output. Configure the log-adj-changes detail command if you
want to see messages for each state change.
Procedure

Example:
657
Configure OSPFv3
Step 2 Configure logging for neighbors going up or down:

log-adj-changes [detail]
Configure OSPFv3
This section describes the tasks involved in configuring an OSPFv3 routing process.
Enable OSPFv3
To enable OSPFv3, you need to create an OSPFv3 routing process, create an area for OSPFv3, enable an
interface for OSPFv3, then redistribute the route into the targeted OSPFv3 routing processes.
Procedure

ipv6 router ospf process-id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 router ospf 10
The process-id argument is an internally used tag for this routing process and can be any positive integer.
This tag does not have to match the tag on any other device; it is for internal use only. You can use a maximum
of two processes.
Step 2 Enable an interface:

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface Gigabitethernet0/0
Step 3 Create the OSPFv3 routing process with the specified process ID and an area for OSPFv3 with the specified
area ID:
ipv6 ospf process-id area area_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ipv6 ospf 200 area 100
658
Configure OSPFv3
Configure OSPFv3 Interface Parameters

You can change certain interface-specific OSPFv3 parameters, if necessary. You are not required to change
any of these parameters, but the following interface parameters must be consistent across all routers in an
attached network: the hello interval and the dead interval. If you configure any of these parameters, be sure
that the configurations for all routers on your network have compatible values.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable an OSPFv3 routing process:

Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 router ospf 10
The process-id argument is an internally used tag for this routing process and can be any positive integer.
This tag does not have to match the tag on any other device; it is for internal use only. You can use a maximum
of two processes.
Step 2 Create an OSPFv3 area:.

ipv6 ospf area [area-num] [instance]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# interface GigabitEthernet3/2.200
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 address 3001::1/64 standby 3001::8
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf 100 area 10 instance 200
The area-num argument is the area for which authentication is to be enabled and can be either a decimal value
or an IP address. The instance keyword specifies the area instance ID that is to be assigned to an interface.
An interface can have only one OSPFv3 area. You can use the same area on multiple interfaces, and each
interface can use a different area instance ID.
Step 3 Specify the cost of sending a packet on an interface:

ipv6 ospf cost interface-cost
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
659
Configure OSPFv3
ospf priority 255

ipv6 ospf cost 100
The interface-cost argument specifies an unsigned integer value expressed as the link-state metric, which can
range in value from 1 to 65535. The default cost is based on the bandwidth.
Step 4 Filter outgoing LSAs to an OSPFv3 interface:

ipv6 ospf database-filter all out
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf database-filter all out
All outgoing LSAs are flooded to the interface by default.
Step 5 Set the time period in seconds for which hello packets must not be seen before neighbors indicate that the
router is down:
ipv6 ospf dead-interval seconds
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf dead-interval 60
The value must be the same for all nodes on the network and can range from 1 to 65535. The default is four
times the interval set by the ipv6 ospf hello-interval command.
Step 6 Specify the encryption type for an interface:

ipv6 ospf encryption {ipsec spi spi esp encryption-algorithm [[key-encryption-type] key]
authentication-algorithm [[key-encryption-type] key | null}
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
660
Configure OSPFv3
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf encryption ipsec spi 1001 esp null sha1 123456789A123456789B123456789C123456789D
The ipsec keyword specifies the IP security protocol. The spi spi keyword-argument pair specifies the security
policy index, which must be in the range of 256 to 42949667295 and entered as a decimal.
The esp keyword specifies the encapsulating security payload. The encryption-algorithm argument specifies
the encryption algorithm to be used with ESP. Valid values include the following:
• aes-cdc—Enables AES-CDC encryption.
• 3des—Enables 3DES encryption.
• des—Enables DES encryption.
• null—Specifies ESP with no encryption.
The key-encryption-type argument can be one of the following two values:

• 0—The key is not encrypted.
• 7—The key is encrypted.
The key argument specifies the number used in the calculation of the message digest. The number is 32
hexadecimal digits (16 bytes) long. The size of the key depends on the encryption algorithm used. Some
algorithms, such as AES-CDC, allow you to choose the size of the key. The authentication-algorithm argument
specifies the encryption authentication algorithm to be used, which can be one of the following:
• md5—Enables message digest 5 (MD5).
• sha1—Enables SHA-1.
The null keyword overrides area encryption.

If OSPFv3 encryption is enabled on an interface and a neighbor is on different area (for example, area 0), and
you want the ASA to form adjacencies with that area, you must change the area on the ASA. After you have
changed the area on the ASA to 0, there is a delay of two minutes before the OSPFv3 adjacency comes up.
Step 7 Specify the flood reduction of LSAs to the interface:

ipv6 ospf flood-reduction
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf flood reduction
Step 8 Specify the interval in seconds between hello packets sent on the interface:
ipv6 ospf hello-interval seconds
661
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf hello-interval 15
The value must be the same for all nodes on a specific network and can range from 1 to 65535. The default
interval is 10 seconds for Ethernet interfaces and 30 seconds for non-broadcast interfaces.
Step 9 Disable the OSPF MTU mismatch detection when DBD packets are received:
ipv6 ospf mtu-ignore
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf mtu-ignore
OSPF MTU mismatch detection is enabled by default.
Step 10 Set the OSPF network type to a type other than the default, which depends on the network type:
ipv6 ospf network {broadcast | point-to-point non-broadcast}
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf network point-to-point non-broadcast
The point-to-point non-broadcast keyword sets the network type to point-to-point non-broadcast. The
broadcast keyword sets the network type to broadcast.
Step 11 Set the router priority, which helps determine the designated router for a network:
ipv6 ospf priority number-value
662
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf priority 4
Valid values range from 0 to 255.
Step 12 Configure OSPFv3 router interconnections to non-broadcast networks:

ipv6 ospf neighbor ipv6-address [priority number] [poll-interval seconds] [cost number] [database-filter
all out]
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf neighbor FE80::A8BB:CCFF:FE00:C01
Step 13 Specify the time in seconds between LSA retransmissions for adjacencies that belong to the interface:
ipv6 ospf retransmit-interval seconds
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf retransmit-interval 8
The time must be greater than the expected round-trip delay between any two routers on the attached network.
Valid values range from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default is 5 seconds.
Step 14 Set the estimated time in seconds to send a link-state update packet on the interface:
ipv6 ospf transmit-delay seconds
663
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
vlan 200
nameif outside
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ospf priority 255
ipv6 ospf cost 100
ipv6 ospf retransmit-delay 3
Valid values range from 1 to 65535 seconds. The default is 1 second.
Configure OSPFv3 Router Parameters
Procedure

Example:
The process-id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process, is locally assigned, and can
be any positive integer from 1 to 65535. This ID does not have to match the ID on any other device; it is for
internal administrative use only. You can use a maximum of two processes.
Step 2 Configure OSPFv3 area parameters:

area
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 10
Supported parameters include the area ID as a decimal value from 0 to 4294967295 and the area ID in the IP
address format of A.B.C.D.
Step 3 Set a command to its default value:

default
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# default originate
The originate parameter distributes the default route.
664
Configure OSPFv3
Step 4 Control distribution of default information:

default-information
Step 5 Define the OSPFv3 route administrative distance based on the route type:
distance
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# distance 200
Supported parameters include the administrative distance with values from 1 to 254 and ospf for the OSPFv3
distance.
Step 6 Suppress the sending of syslog messages with the lsa parameter when the router receives a link-state
advertisement (LSA) for Type 6 Multicast OSPF (MOSPF) packets:
ignore
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# ignore lsa
Step 7 Configure the router to send a syslog message when an OSPFv3 neighbor goes up or down:
log-adjacency-changes
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# log-adjacency-changes detail
With the detail parameter, all state changes are logged.
Step 8 Suppress the sending and receiving of routing updates on an interface:

passive-interface [interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# passive-interface inside
The interface_name argument specifies the name of the interface on which the OSPFv3 process is running.
Step 9 Configure the redistribution of routes from one routing domain into another:
redistribute {connected | ospf | static}
Where:
• connected—Specifies connected routes.
• ospf—Specifies OSPFv3 routes.
• static—Specifies static routes.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# redistribute ospf
665
Configure OSPFv3
Step 10 Create a fixed router ID for a specified process:

router-id {A.B.C.D | cluster-pool | static}
Where:
A.B.C.D—Specifies the OSPF router ID in IP address format.
cluster-pool—Configures an IP address pool when Individual Interface clustering is configured. For more
information about IP address pools used in clustering, see Configure an IP Address Pool for Clustering
(OSPFv2 and OSPFv3), on page 655.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# router-id 10.1.1.1
Step 11 Configure IPv6 address summaries with valid values from 0 to 128:
summary-prefix X:X:X:X::X/
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# router-id 192.168.3.3
ciscoasa(config-router)# summary-prefix FECO::/24
ciscoasa(config-router)# redistribute static
The X:X:X:X::X/ parameter specifies the IPv6 prefix.
Step 12 Adjust routing timers:

timers
The routing timer parameters are the following:
• lsa—Specifies OSPFv3 LSA timers.
• pacing—Specifies OSPFv3 pacing timers.
• throttle—Specifies OSPFv3 throttle timers.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers throttle spf 6000 12000 14000
Configure OSPFv3 Area Parameters
Procedure

666
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
be any positive integer from 1 to 65535.
This ID does not have to match the ID on any other device; it is for internal administrative use only. You can
use a maximum of two processes.
Step 2 Set the summary default cost of an NSSA area or a stub area:
area area-id default-cost cost
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 1 default-cost nssa
Step 3 Summarize routes that match the address and mask for border routers only:
area area-id range ipv6-prefix/ prefix-length [advertise | not advertise] [cost cost]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 1 range FE01:1::1/64
• The area-id argument identifies the area for which routes are to be summarized. The value can be
specified as a decimal or an IPv6 prefix.
• The ipv6-prefix argument specifies the IPv6 prefix. The prefix-length argument specifies the prefix
length.
• The advertise keyword sets the address range status to advertised and generates a Type 3 summary
LSA.
• The not-advertise keyword sets the address range status to DoNotAdvertise.
• The Type 3 summary LSA is suppressed, and the component networks remain hidden from other networks.
• The cost cost keyword-argument pair specifies the metric or cost for the summary route, which is used
during OSPF SPF calculations to determine the shortest paths to the destination.
• Valid values range from 0 to 16777215.
Step 4 Specify an NSSA area:

area area-id nssa
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 1 nssa
Step 5 Specify a stub area:

area area-id stub
667
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 1 stub
Step 6 Define a virtual link and its parameters:

area area-id virtual-link router-id [hello-interval seconds] [retransmit-interval seconds] [transmit-delay
seconds] [dead-interval seconds] [ttl-security hops hop-count]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 1 virtual-link 192.168.255.1 hello-interval 5
• The area-id argument identifies the area for which routes are to be summarized. The virtual link keyword
specifies the creation of a virtual link neighbor.
• The router-id argument specifies the router ID that is associated with the virtual link neighbor.
• Enter the show ospf or show ipv6 ospf command to display the router ID. There is no default value.
• The hello-interval keyword specifies the time in seconds between the hello packets that are sent on an
interface. The hello interval is an unsigned integer that is to be advertised in the hello packets. The value
must be the same for all routers and access servers that are attached to a common network. Valid values
range from 1 to 8192. The default is 10.
• The retransmit-interval seconds keyword-argument pair specifies the time in seconds between LSA
retransmissions for adjacencies that belong to the interface. The retransmit interval is the expected
round-trip delay between any two routers on the attached network. The value must be greater than the
expected round-trip delay, and can range from 1 to 8192. The default is 5.
• The transmit-delay seconds keyword-argument pair specifies the estimated time in seconds that is
required to send a link-state update packet on the interface. The integer value must be greater than zero.
LSAs in the update packet have their own ages incremented by this amount before transmission. The
range of values can be from 1 to 8192. The default is 1.
• The dead-interval seconds keyword-argument pair specifies the time in seconds that hello packets are
not seen before a neighbor indicates that the router is down. The dead interval is an unsigned integer.
The default is four times the hello interval, or 40 seconds. The value must be the same for all routers
and access servers that are attached to a common network. Valid values range from 1 to 8192.
• The ttl-security hops keyword configures the time-to-live (TTL) security on a virtual link. The hop-count
argument value can range from 1 to 254.
Configure OSPFv3 Passive Interfaces
Procedure

ipv6 router ospf process_id
668
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
The process_id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process, is locally assigned, and can
Step 2 Suppress the sending and receiving of routing updates on an interface:

passive-interface [interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# passive-interface inside
The interface_name argument specifies the name of the interface on which the OSPFv3 process is running.
If the no interface_name argument is specified, all of the interfaces in the OSPFv3 process process_id are
made passive.
Configure OSPFv3 Administrative Distance
Procedure

ipv6 router ospf process_id
Example:
Step 2 Set the administrative distance for OSPFv3 routes:

distance [ospf {external | inter-area | intra-area}] distance
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# distance ospf external 200
The ospf keyword specifies OSPFv3 routes. The external keyword specifies the external Type 5 and Type 7
routes for OSPFv3. The inter-area keyword specifies the inter-area routes for OSPVv3. The intra-area
keyword specifies the intra-area routes for OSPFv3. The distance argument specifies the administrative
distance, which is an integer from 10 to 254.
669
Configure OSPFv3
Configure OSPFv3 Timers

You can set LSA arrival, LSA pacing, and throttling timers for OSPFv3.
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Set the minimum interval at which the ASA accepts the same LSA from OSPF neighbors:
timers lsa arrival milliseconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers lsa arrival 2000
The milliseconds argument specifies the minimum delay in milliseconds that must pass between acceptance
of the same LSA arriving from neighbors. The range is from 0 to 6,000,000 milliseconds. The default is 1000
milliseconds.
Step 3 Configure LSA flood packet pacing:

timers pacing flood milliseconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers lsa flood 20
The milliseconds argument specifies the time in milliseconds at which LSAs in the flooding queue are paced
in between updates. The configurable range is from 5 to 100 milliseconds. The default value is 33 milliseconds.
Step 4 Change the interval at which OSPFv3 LSAs are collected into a group and refreshed, checksummed, or aged:
timers pacing lsa-group seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers pacing lsa-group 300
The seconds argument specifies the number of seconds in the interval at which LSAs are grouped, refreshed,
check summed, or aged. The range is from 10 to 1800 seconds. The default value is 240 seconds.
Step 5 Configure LSA retransmission packet pacing:

timers pacing retransmission milliseconds
670
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers pacing retransmission 100
The milliseconds argument specifies the time in milliseconds at which LSAs in the retransmission queue are
paced. The configurable range is from 5 to 200 milliseconds. The default value is 66 milliseconds.
Step 6 Configure OSPFv3 LSA throttling:

timers throttle lsa milliseconds1 milliseconds2 milliseconds3
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers throttle lsa 500 6000 8000
• The milliseconds1 argument specifies the delay in milliseconds to generate the first occurrence of the
LSA. The milliseconds2 argument specifies the maximum delay in milliseconds to originate the same
LSA. The milliseconds3 argument specifies the minimum delay in milliseconds to originate the same
LSA.
• For LSA throttling, if the minimum or maximum time is less than the first occurrence value, then OSPFv3
automatically corrects to the first occurrence value. Similarly, if the maximum delay specified is less
than the minimum delay, then OSPFv3 automatically corrects to the minimum delay value.
• For milliseconds1, the default value is 0 milliseconds.
• For milliseconds2 and milliseconds3, the default value is 5000 milliseconds.
Step 7 Configure OSPFv3 SPF throttling:

timers throttle spf milliseconds1 milliseconds2 milliseconds3
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers throttle spf 5000 12000 16000
• The milliseconds1 argument specifies the delay in milliseconds to receive a change to the SPF calculation.
The milliseconds2 argument specifies the delay in milliseconds between the first and second SPF
calculations. The milliseconds3 argument specifies the maximum wait time in milliseconds for SPF
calculations.
• For SPF throttling, if milliseconds2 or milliseconds3 is less than milliseconds1, then OSPFv3 automatically
corrects to the milliseconds1 value. Similarly, if milliseconds3 is less than milliseconds2, then OSPFv3
automatically corrects to the milliseconds2 value.
• For milliseconds1, the default value of SPF throttling is 5000 milliseconds.
• For milliseconds2 and milliseconds3, the default value of SPF throttling is 10000 milliseconds.
671
Configure OSPFv3
Define Static OSPFv3 Neighbors

You need to define static OSPFv3 neighbors to advertise OSPF routes over a point-to-point, non-broadcast
network. This feature lets you broadcast OSPFv3 advertisements across an existing VPN connection without
having to encapsulate the advertisements in a GRE tunnel.
Before you begin, you must create a static route to the OSPFv3 neighbor. See Configure a Static Route, on
page 580 for more information about creating static routes.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable an OSPFv3 routing process and enters IPv6 router configuration mode.
Example:
Step 2 Configure OSPFv3 router interconnections to non-broadcast networks.

ipv6 ospf neighbor ipv6-address [priority number] [poll-interval seconds] [cost number] [database-filter
all out]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# interface ethernet0/0 ipv6 ospf neighbor FE80::A8BB:CCFF:FE00:C01
Reset OSPFv3 Default Parameters

To return an OSPFv3 parameter to its default value, perform the following steps:
Procedure

Example:
672
Configure OSPFv3
Step 2 Return an optional parameter to its default value:

default [area | auto-cost | default-information | default-metric | discard-route | discard-route | distance
| distribute-list | ignore | log-adjacency-changes | maximum-paths | passive-interface | redistribute |
router-id | summary-prefix | timers]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# default metric 5
• The area keyword specifies the OSPFv3 area parameters. The auto-cost keyword specifies the OSPFv3
interface cost according to bandwidth.
• The default-information keyword distributes default information. The default-metric keyword specifies
the metric for a redistributed route
• The discard-route keyword enables or disables the discard-route installation. The distance keyword
specifies the administrative distance.
• The distribute-list keyword filters networks in routing updates.
• The ignore keyword ignores a specific event. The log-adjacency-changes keyword logs changes in the
adjacency state.
• The maximum-paths keyword forwards packets over multiple paths.
• The passive-interface keyword suppresses routing updates on an interface.
• The redistribute keyword redistributes IPv6 prefixes from another routing protocol.
• The router-id keyword specifies the router ID for the specified routing process.
• The summary-prefix keyword specifies the IPv6 summary prefix.
• The timers keyword specifies the OSPFv3 timers.
Send Syslog Messages

Configure the router to send a syslog message when an OSPFv3 neighbor goes up or down.
Procedure

Example:
673
Configure OSPFv3
Step 2 Configure the router to send a syslog message when an OSPFv3 neighbor goes up or down:
log-adjacency-changes [detail]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# log-adjacency-changes detail
The detail keyword sends a syslog message for each state, not only when an OSPFv3 neighbor goes up or
down.
Suppress Syslog Messages

To suppress the sending of syslog messages when the route receives unsupported LSA Type 6 multicast OSPF
(MOSPF) packets, perform the following steps:
Procedure

Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# router ospf 1
Step 2 Suppress the sending of syslog messages when the router receives unsupported LSA Type 6 MOSPF packets:
ignore lsa mospf
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# ignore lsa mospf
Calculate Summary Route Costs
Procedure
Restore the methods that are used to calculate summary route costs according to RFC 1583:
compatible rfc1583
674
Configure OSPFv3
Example:
ciscoasa (config-rtr)# compatible rfc1583
Generate a Default External Route into an OSPFv3 Routing Domain
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Generate a default external route into an OSPFv3 routing domain:

default-information originate [always] metric metric-value [metric-type type-value] [route-map map-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# default-information originate always metric 3 metric-type 2
• The always keyword advertises the default route whether or not the default route exists.
• The metric metric-value keyword-argument pair specifies the metric used for generating the default
route.
• If you do not specify a value using the default-metric command, the default value is 10. Valid metric
values range from 0 to 16777214.
• The metric-type type-value keyword-argument pair specifies the external link type that is associated
with the default route that is advertised into the OSPFv3 routing domain. Valid values can be one of the
following:
◦1—Type 1 external route
◦2—Type 2 external route
The default is the type 2 external route.

• The route-map map-name keyword-argument pair specifies the routing process that generates the default
route if the route map is satisfied.
675
Configure OSPFv3
Configure an IPv6 Summary Prefix
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Configure an IPv6 summary prefix:

summary-prefix prefix [not-advertise | tag tag-value]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# router-id 192.168.3.3
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# summary-prefix FECO::/24
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# redistribute static
The prefix argument is the IPv6 route prefix for the destination. The not-advertise keyword suppresses routes
that match the specified prefix and mask pair. This keyword applies to OSPFv3 only. The tag tag-value
keyword-argument pair specifies the tag value that can be used as a match value for controlling redistribution
through route maps. This keyword applies to OSPFv3 only.
Redistribute IPv6 Routes
Procedure

Example:
Step 2 Redistribute IPv6 routes from one OSPFv3 process into another:
676
Configure OSPFv3
redistribute source-protocol [process-id] [include-connected {[level-1 | level-2}] [as-number] [metric

[metric-value | transparent}] [metric-type type-value] [match {external [1|2] | internal | nssa-external
[1|2]}] [tag tag-value] [route-map map-tag]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# redistribute connected 5 type-1
• The source-protocol argument specifies the source protocol from which routes are being redistributed,
which can be static, connected, or OSPFv3.
• The process-id argument is the number that is assigned administratively when the OSPFv3 routing
process is enabled.
• The include-connected keyword allows the target protocol to redistribute routes learned by the source
protocol and connected prefixes on those interfaces over which the source protocol is running.
• The level-1 keyword specifies that for Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS), Level 1
routes are redistributed into other IP routing protocols independently.
• The level-1-2 keyword specifies that for IS-IS, both Level 1 and Level 2 routes are redistributed into
other IP routing protocols.
• The level-2 keyword specifies that for IS-IS, Level 2 routes are redistributed into other IP routing
protocols independently.
• For the metric metric-value keyword-argument pair, when redistributing routes from one OSPFv3
process into another OSPFv3 process on the same router, the metric is carried through from one process
to the other if no metric value is specified. When redistributing other processes into an OSPFv3 process,
the default metric is 20 when no metric value is specified.
• The metric transparent keyword causes RIP to use the routing table metric for redistributed routes as
the RIP metric.
• The metric-type type-value keyword-argument pair specifies the external link type that is associated
with the default route that is advertised into the OSPFv3 routing domain. Valid values can be one of the
following: 1 for a Type 1 external route or 2 for a Type 2 external route. If no value is specified for the
metric-type keyword, the ASA adopts a Type 2 external route. For IS-IS, the link type can be one of
the following: internal for an IS-IS metric that is less than 63 or external for an IS-IS metric that is greater
than 64 and less than 128. The default is internal.
• The match keyword redistributes routes into other routing domains and is used with one of the following
options: external [1|2] for routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into
OSPFv3 as Type 1 or Type 2 external routes; internal for routes that are internal to a specific autonomous
system; nssa-external [1|2] for routes that are external to the autonomous system, but are imported into
OSPFv3 in an NSSA for IPv6 as Type 1 or Type 2 external routes.
• The tag tag-value keyword-argument pair specifies the 32-bit decimal value that is attached to each
external route, which may be used to communicate information between ASBRs. If none is specified,
then the remote autonomous system number is used for routes from BGP and EGP. For other protocols,
zero is used. Valid values range from 0 to 4294967295.
• The route-map keyword specifies the route map to check for filtering the importing of routes from the
source routing protocol to the current routing protocol. If this keyword is not specified, all routes are
redistributed. If this keyword is specified, but no route map tags are listed, no routes are imported. The
map-tag argument identifies a configured route map.
677
Configure Graceful Restart

The ASA may experience some known failure situations, that should not affect packet forwarding across the
switching platform. The Non-Stop Forwarding (NSF) capability allows data forwarding to continue along
known routes, while the routing protocol information is being restored. This capability is useful when there
is a component failure (i.e., active unit crash with standby unit taking over in failover (HA) mode, master unit
crash with slave unit elected as new master in cluster mode), or when there is a scheduled hitless software
upgrade.
Graceful restart is supported on both OSPFv2 and OSPFv3. You can configure graceful restart on OSPFv2
by using either using NSF Cisco (RFC 4811 and RFC 4812) or NSF IETF (RFC 3623). You can configure
graceful restart on OSPFv3 using graceful-restart (RFC 5187).
Configuring the NSF graceful-restart feature involves two steps; configuring capabilities and configuring a
device as NSF-capable or NSF-aware. A NSF-capable device can indicate its own restart activities to neighbors
and a NSF-aware device can help a restarting neighbor.
A device can be configured as NSF-capable or NSF-aware, depending on some conditions:
• A device can be configured as NSF-aware irrespective of the mode in which it is.
• A device has to be in either Failover or Spanned Etherchannel (L2) cluster mode to be configured as
NSF-capable.
• For a device to be either NSF-aware or NSF-capable, it should be configured with the capability of
handling opaque Link State Advertisements (LSAs)/ Link Local Signaling (LLS) block as required.
Note When fast hellos are configured for OSPFv2, graceful restart does not occur when the active unit reloads
and the standby unit becomes active. This is because the time taken for the role change is more than the
configured dead interval.
Configure Capabilities
The Cisco NSF Graceful Restart mechanism depends on the LLS capability as it sends an LLS block with the
RS-bit set in the Hello packet, to indicate the restart activity. The IETF NSF mechanism depends on the opaque
LSA capability as it sends opaque-LSAs of type-9 to indicate the restart activity. To configure capabilities
enter the following commands:
Procedure
Step 1 Create an OSPF routing process and enters router configuration mode for the OSPF process that you want to
redistribute:
678
Example:
The process_id argument is an internally used identifier for this routing process and can be any positive integer.
of two processes.
Step 2 Enable the use of LLS data block or opaque LSAs to enable NSF:
capability {lls|opaque}
The lls keyword is used to enable LLS capability for Cisco NSF Graceful Restart mechanism.
The opaque keyword is used to enable opaque LSA capability for IETF NSF Graceful Restart mechanism.
Configuring Graceful Restart for OSPFv2

There are two graceful restart mechanisms for OSPFv2, Cisco NSF and IETF NSF. Only one of these graceful
restart mechanisms can be configured at a time for an ospf instance. An NSF-aware device can be configured
as both Cisco NSF helper and IETF NSF helper but a NSF-capable device can be configured in either Cisco
NSF or IETF NSF mode at a time for an ospf instance.
Configure Cisco NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2

Configure Cisco NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2, for a NSF-capable or NSF-aware device.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable Cisco NSF on a NSF-capable device:

nsf cisco [enforce global]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# nsf cisco
The enforce global keyword cancels NSF restart when non-NSF-aware neighbor devices are detected.
Step 2 Enable Cisco NSF helper mode on NSF-aware device:

capability {lls|opaque}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# capability lls
This command is enabled by default. Using the no form of the command disables it.
679
Configure IETF NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2

Configure IETF NSF Graceful Restart for OSPFv2, for a NSF-capable or NSF-aware device.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable IETF NSF on a NSF-capable device:

nsf ietf [restart interval seconds]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# nsf ietf restart interval 80
The restart interval seconds specifies the length of the graceful restart interval, in seconds. Valid values are
from 1 to 1800 seconds. The default value is 120 seconds.
Graceful restart might be terminated when restart interval is configured with a value less than the time taken
for the adjacency to come up. For example, a restart interval below 30 seconds, is not supported.
Step 2 Enable IETF NSF helper mode on NSF-aware device:

nsf ietf helper [strict-lsa-checking]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# nsf ietf helper
The strict-LSA-checking keyword indicates that the helper router will terminate the process of the restarting
router if it detects that there is a change to a LSA that would be flooded to the restarting router, or if there is
a changed LSA on the retransmission list of the restarting router when the graceful restart process is initiated.
This command is enabled by default. Using the no form of the command disables it.
Configuring Graceful Restart for OSPFv3

Configuring the NSF graceful-restart feature for OSPFv3 involves two steps; configuring a device to be
NSF-capable and then configuring a device to be NSF-aware.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable IPv6 processing on an interface that has not been configured with an explicit IPv6 address:
interface physical_interface ipv6 enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface ethernet 0/0
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 enable
The physical_interface argument identifies the interface that participates in OSPFv3 NSF.
680
Step 2 Enable graceful-restart for OSPFv3 on a NSF-capable device:

graceful-restart [restart interval seconds]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# graceful-restart restart interval 80
The restart interval seconds specifies the length of the graceful restart interval, in seconds. Valid values are
from 1 to 1800 seconds. The default value is 120 seconds.
Graceful restart might be terminated when restart interval is configured with a value less than the time taken
for the adjacency to come up.For example, a restart interval below 30 seconds, is not supported.
Step 3 Enable graceful-restart for OSPFv3 on a NSF-aware device:

graceful-restart helper [strict-lsa-checking]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# graceful-restart helper strict-lsa-checking
The strict-LSA-checking keyword indicates that the helper router will terminate the process of the restarting
router if it detects that there is a change to a LSA that would be flooded to the restarting router, or if there is
a changed LSA on the retransmission list of the restarting router when the graceful restart process is initiated.
The graceful-restart helper mode is enabled by default.
Remove the OSPFv2 Configuration

Remove the OSPFv2 configuration.
Procedure
Remove the entire OSPFv2 configuration that you have enabled.

clear configure router ospf pid
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clear configure router ospf 1000
After the configuration is cleared, you must reconfigure OSPF using the router ospf command.
Remove the OSPFv3 Configuration

Remove the OSPFv3 configuration.
Procedure
Remove the entire OSPFv3 configuration that you have enabled:
681
Example for OSPFv2
clear configure ipv6 router ospf process-id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clear configure ipv6 router ospf 1000
After the configuration is cleared, you must reconfigure OSPFv3 using the ipv6 router ospf command.
Example for OSPFv2

The following example shows how to enable and configure OSPFv2 with various optional processes:
1 To enable OSPFv2, enter the following commands:

2 (Optional) To redistribute routes from one OSPFv2 process to another OSPFv2 process, enter the following
commands:

ciscoasa(config-route-map)# router ospf 2
3 (Optional) To configure OSPFv2 interface parameters, enter the following commands:

ciscoasa(config-rtr)# interface inside
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf cost 20
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf retransmit-interval 15
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf transmit-delay 10
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf priority 20
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf hello-interval 10
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf dead-interval 40
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf authentication-key cisco
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf message-digest-key 1 md5 cisco
ciscoasa(config-interface)# ospf authentication message-digest
4 (Optional) To configure OSPFv2 area parameters, enter the following commands:

ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 0 authentication
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 0 authentication message-digest
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 17 stub
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# area 17 default-cost 20
5 (Optional) To configure the route calculation timers and show the log neighbor up and down messages,
ciscoasa(config-rtr)# timers spf 10 120

ciscoasa(config-rtr)# log-adj-changes [detail]
6 (Optional) To show current OSPFv2 configuration settings, enter the show ospf command.
682
Examples for OSPFv3
The following is sample output from the show ospf command:
ciscoasa(config)# show ospf
Routing Process “ospf 2” with ID 10.1.89.2 and Domain ID 0.0.0.2

Supports only single TOS(TOS0) routes
Supports opaque LSA
SPF schedule delay 5 secs, Hold time between two SPFs 10 secs
Minimum LSA interval 5 secs. Minimum LSA arrival 1 secs
Number of external LSA 5. Checksum Sum 0x 26da6
Number of opaque AS LSA 0. Checksum Sum 0x 0
Number of DCbitless external and opaque AS LSA 0
Number of DoNotAge external and opaque AS LSA 0
Number of areas in this router is 1. 1 normal 0 stub 0 nssa
External flood list length 0
Area BACKBONE(0)
Number of interfaces in this area is 1
Area has no authentication
SPF algorithm executed 2 times
Area ranges are
Number of LSA 5. Checksum Sum 0x 209a3
Number of opaque link LSA 0. Checksum Sum 0x 0
Number of DCbitless LSA 0
Number of indication LSA 0
Number of DoNotAge LSA 0
Flood list length 0
7 To clear the OSPFv2 configuration, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# clear configure router ospf pid
Examples for OSPFv3

The following example shows how to enable and configure OSPFv3 at the interface level:
ciscoasa (config)# interface GigabitEthernet3/1

ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 enable
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf 1 area 1
The following is sample output from the show running-config ipv6 command:
ciscoasa (config)# show running-config ipv6

ipv6 router ospf 1
log-adjacency-changes
The following is sample output from the show running-config interface command:
ciscoasa (config-if)# show running-config interface GigabitEthernet3/1

nameif fda
security-level 100
ipv6 enable
ipv6 ospf 1 area 1
The following examples show how to configure OSPFv3-specific interfaces:
ciscoasa (config)# interface GigabitEthernet3/1

ciscoasa (config-if)# nameif fda
ciscoasa (config-if)# security-level 100
ciscoasa (config-if)# ip address 10.1.11.1 255.255.255.0 standby 10.1.11.2
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 address 9098::10/64 standby 9098::11
683
Monitoring OSPF
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 enable

ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf cost 900
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf hello-interval 20
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf network broadcast
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf database-filter all out
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf flood-reduction
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf mtu-ignore
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf 1 area 1 instance 100
ciscoasa (config-if)# ipv6 ospf encryption ipsec spi 890 esp null md5
12345678901234567890123456789012
ciscoasa (config)# ipv6 router ospf 1

ciscoasa (config)# area 1 nssa
ciscoasa (config)# distance ospf intra-area 190 inter-area 100 external 100
ciscoasa (config)# timers lsa arrival 900
ciscoasa (config)# timers pacing flood 100
ciscoasa (config)# timers throttle lsa 900 900 900
ciscoasa (config)# passive-interface fda
ciscoasa (config)# log-adjacency-changes
ciscoasa (config)# redistribute connected metric 100 metric-type 1 tag 700
For an example of how to configure an OSPFv3 virtual link, see the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk365/technologies_configuration_example09186a0080b8fd06.shtml
Monitoring OSPF
You can display specific statistics such as the contents of IP routing tables, caches, and databases. You can
also use the information provided to determine resource utilization and solve network problems. You can also
display information about node reachability and discover the routing path that your device packets are taking
through the network.
To monitor or display various OSPFv2 routing statistics, enter one of the following commands:
Command Purpose
show ospf [process-id [area-id]] Displays general information about OSPFv2 routing
processes.
show ospf border-routers Displays the internal OSPFv2 routing table entries to
the ABR and ASBR.
show ospf [process-id [area-id]] database Displays lists of information related to the OSPFv2
database for a specific router.
684
Monitoring OSPF
Command Purpose
show ospf flood-list if-name Displays a list of LSAs waiting to be flooded over an
interface (to observe OSPF v2packet pacing).
OSPFv2 update packets are automatically paced so
they are not sent less than 33 milliseconds apart.
Without pacing, some update packets could get lost
in situations where the link is slow, a neighbor could
not receive the updates quickly enough, or the router
could run out of buffer space. For example, without
pacing, packets might be dropped if either of the
following topologies exist:
• A fast router is connected to a slower router over
a point-to-point link.
• During flooding, several neighbors send updates
to a single router at the same time.
Pacing is also used between resends to increase

efficiency and minimize lost retransmissions. You
also can display the LSAs waiting to be sent out of an
interface. Pacing enables OSPFv2 update and
retransmission packets to be sent more efficiently.
There are no configuration tasks for this feature; it
occurs automatically.
show ospf interface [if_name] Displays OSPFv2-related interface information.
show ospf neighbor [interface-name] [neighbor-id] Displays OSPFv2 neighbor information on a

[detail] per-interface basis.
show ospf request-list neighbor if_name Displays a list of all LSAs requested by a router.
show ospf retransmission-list neighbor if_name Displays a list of all LSAs waiting to be resent.
show ospf [process-id] summary-address Displays a list of all summary address redistribution
information configured under an OSPFv2 process.
show ospf [process-id] traffic Displays a list of different types of packets being sent
or received by a specific OSPFv2 instance.
show ospf [process-id] virtual-links Displays OSPFv2-related virtual links information.
show route cluster Displays additional OSPFv2 route synchronization

information in clustering.
To monitor or display various OSPFv3 routing statistics, enter one of the following commands:
685
Monitoring OSPF
Command Purpose
show ipv6 ospf [process-id [area-id]] Displays general information about OSPFv3 routing processes.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] border-routers Displays the internal OSPFv3 routing table entries to the ABR
and ASBR.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id [area-id]] database [external | Displays lists of information related to the OSPFv3 database for
inter-area prefix | inter-area-router | network | nssa-external a specific router.
| router | area | as | ref-lsa | [destination-router-id] [prefix
ipv6-prefix] [link-state-id]] [link [interface interface-name]
[adv-router router-id] | self-originate] [internal]
[database-summary]
show ipv6 ospf [process-id [area-id]] events Displays OSPFv3 event information.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] [area-id] flood-list interface-type Displays a list of LSAs waiting to be flooded over an interface
interface-number (to observe OSPFv3 packet pacing).
OSPFv3 update packets are automatically paced so they are not
sent less than 33 milliseconds apart. Without pacing, some update
packets could get lost in situations where the link is slow, a
neighbor could not receive the updates quickly enough, or the
router could run out of buffer space. For example, without pacing,
packets might be dropped if either of the following topologies
exist:
• A fast router is connected to a slower router over a
point-to-point link.
• During flooding, several neighbors send updates to a single
router at the same time.
Pacing is also used between retransmissions to increase efficiency

and minimize lost retransmissions. You also can display the LSAs
waiting to be sent out of an interface. Pacing enables OSPFv3
update and retransmission packets to be sent more efficiently.
There are no configuration tasks for this feature; it occurs
automatically.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] [area-id] interface [type number] Displays OSPFv3-related interface information.
[brief]
show ipv6 ospf neighbor [process-id] [area-id] [interface-type Displays OSPFv3 neighbor information on a per-interface basis.
interface-number] [neighbor-id] [detail]
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] [area-id] request-list [neighbor] Displays a list of all LSAs requested by a router.
[interface] [interface-neighbor]
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] [area-id] retransmission-list Displays a list of all LSAs waiting to be resent.
[neighbor] [interface] [interface-neighbor]
686
History for OSPF
Command Purpose
show ipv6 ospf statistic [process-id] [detail] Displays various OSPFv3 statistics.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] summary-prefix Displays a list of all summary address redistribution information
configured under an OSPFv3 process.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] timers [lsa-group | rate-limit] Displays OSPFv3 timers information.
show ipv6 ospf [process-id] traffic [interface_name] Displays OSPFv3 traffic-related statistics.
show ipv6 ospf virtual-links Displays OSPFv3-related virtual links information.
show ipv6 route cluster [failover] [cluster] [interface] [ospf] Displays the IPv6 routing table sequence number, IPv6
[summary] reconvergence timer status, and IPv6 routing entries sequence
number in a cluster.
History for OSPF

Table 36: Feature History for OSPF
Feature Name Platform Releases Feature Information

OSPF Support 7.0(1) Support was added for route data, authentication, and redistribution and monitoring
of routing information using the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol.
We introduced the following command: route ospf
Dynamic Routing in 9.0(1) OSPFv2 routing is supported in multiple context mode.

Multiple Context Mode
Clustering 9.0(1) For OSPFv2 and OSPFv3, bulk synchronization, route synchronization, and Spanned
EtherChannel load balancing are supported in the clustering environment.
We introduced or modified the following commands: show route cluster, show
ipv6 route cluster, debug route cluster, router-id cluster-pool.
687
History for OSPF

OSPFv3 Support for 9.0(1) OSPFv3 routing is supported for IPv6.
IPv6 We introduced or modified the following commands: ipv6 ospf, ipv6 ospf area,
ipv6 ospf cost, ipv6 ospf database-filter all out, ipv6 ospf dead-interval, ipv6
ospf encryption, ipv6 ospf hello-interval, ipv6 ospf mtu-ignore, ipv6 ospf
neighbor, ipv6 ospf network, ipv6 ospf flood-reduction, ipv6 ospf priority, ipv6
ospf retransmit-interval, ipv6 ospf transmit-delay, ipv6 router ospf, ipv6 router
ospf area, ipv6 router ospf default, ipv6 router ospf default-information, ipv6
router ospf distance, ipv6 router ospf exit, ipv6 router ospf ignore, ipv6 router
ospf log-adjacency-changes, ipv6 router ospf no, ipv6 router ospf
passive-interface, ipv6 router ospf redistribute, ipv6 router ospf router-id, ipv6
router ospf summary-prefix, ipv6 router ospf timers, area encryption, area
range, area stub, area nssa, area virtual-link, default, default-information
originate, distance, ignore lsa mospf, log-adjacency-changes, redistribute,
router-id, summary-prefix, timers lsa arrival, timers pacing flood, timers pacing
lsa-group, timers pacing retransmission, timers throttle, show ipv6 ospf, show
ipv6 ospf border-routers, show ipv6 ospf database, show ipv6 ospf events, show
ipv6 ospf flood-list, show ipv6 ospf graceful-restart, show ipv6 ospf interface,
show ipv6 ospf neighbor, show ipv6 ospf request-list, show ipv6 ospf
retransmission-list, show ipv6 ospf statistic, show ipv6 ospf summary-prefix,
show ipv6 ospf timers, show ipv6 ospf traffic, show ipv6 ospf virtual-links, show
ospf, show running-config ipv6 router, clear ipv6 ospf, clear configure ipv6
router, debug ospfv3, ipv6 ospf neighbor.
OSPF support for Fast 9.2(1) OSPF supports the Fast Hello Packets feature, resulting in a configuration that results
Hellos in faster convergence in an OSPF network.
We modified the following command: ospf dead-interval
Timers 9.2(1) New OSPF timers were added; old ones were deprecated.
We introduced the following commands: timers lsa arrival, timers pacing, timers
throttle
We removed the following commands: Timers spf, timers lsa-grouping-pacing
Route filtering using 9.2(1) Route filtering using ACL is now supported.
access-list We introduced the following command: distribute-list
OSPF Monitoring 9.2(1) Additional OSPF monitoring information was added.

enhancements We modified the following commands: show ospf events, show ospf rib, show ospf
statistics, show ospf border-routers [detail], show ospf interface brief
OSPF redistribute BGP 9.2(1) OSPF redistribution feature was added.

We added the following command: redistribute bgp
688
History for OSPF

OSPF Support for 9.3(1) OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 support for NSF was added.
Non-Stop Forwarding We added the following commands: capability, nsf cisco, nsf cisco helper, nsf ietf,
(NSF) nsf ietf helper, nsf ietf helper strict-lsa-checking, graceful-restart, graceful-restart
helper, graceful-restart helper strict-lsa-checking
689
History for OSPF
690
CHAPTER 26
EIGRP
routing information using the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP).
• About EIGRP, page 691

• Guidelines for EIGRP, page 692
• Configure EIGRP, page 693
• Customize EIGRP, page 694
• Monitoring for EIGRP, page 708
• Example for EIGRP, page 709
• History for EIGRP, page 709
About EIGRP
EIGRP is an enhanced version of IGRP developed by Cisco. Unlike IGRP and RIP, EIGRP does not send out
periodic route updates. EIGRP updates are sent out only when the network topology changes. Key capabilities
that distinguish EIGRP from other routing protocols include fast convergence, support for variable-length
subnet mask, support for partial updates, and support for multiple network layer protocols.
A router running EIGRP stores all the neighbor routing tables so that it can quickly adapt to alternate routes.
If no appropriate route exists, EIGRP queries its neighbors to discover an alternate route. These queries
propagate until an alternate route is found. Its support for variable-length subnet masks permits routes to be
automatically summarized on a network number boundary. In addition, EIGRP can be configured to summarize
on any bit boundary at any interface. EIGRP does not make periodic updates. Instead, it sends partial updates
only when the metric for a route changes. Propagation of partial updates is automatically bounded so that only
those routers that need the information are updated. As a result of these two capabilities, EIGRP consumes
significantly less bandwidth than IGRP.
Neighbor discovery is the process that the ASA uses to dynamically learn of other routers on directly attached
networks. EIGRP routers send out multicast hello packets to announce their presence on the network. When
the ASA receives a hello packet from a new neighbor, it sends its topology table to the neighbor with an
initialization bit set. When the neighbor receives the topology update with the initialization bit set, the neighbor
sends its topology table back to the ASA.
691
Guidelines for EIGRP
The hello packets are sent out as multicast messages. No response is expected to a hello message. The exception
to this is for statically defined neighbors. If you use the neighbor command, or configure the Hello Interval
in ASDM, to configure a neighbor, the hello messages sent to that neighbor are sent as unicast messages.
Routing updates and acknowledgements are sent out as unicast messages.
Once this neighbor relationship is established, routing updates are not exchanged unless there is a change in
the network topology. The neighbor relationship is maintained through the hello packets. Each hello packet
received from a neighbor includes a hold time. This is the time in which the ASA can expect to receive a hello
packet from that neighbor. If the ASA does not receive a hello packet from that neighbor within the hold time
advertised by that neighbor, the ASA considers that neighbor to be unavailable.
The EIGRP protocol uses four key algorithm technologies, four key technologies, including neighbor
discovery/recovery, Reliable Transport Protocol (RTP), and DUAL, which is important for route computations.
DUAL saves all routes to a destination in the topology table, not just the least-cost route. The least-cost route
is inserted into the routing table. The other routes remain in the topology table. If the main route fails, another
route is chosen from the feasible successors. A successor is a neighboring router used for packet forwarding
that has a least-cost path to a destination. The feasibility calculation guarantees that the path is not part of a
routing loop.
If a feasible successor is not found in the topology table, a route recomputation must occur. During route
recomputation, DUAL queries the EIGRP neighbors for a route, who in turn query their neighbors. Routers
that do no have a feasible successor for the route return an unreachable message.
During route recomputation, DUAL marks the route as active. By default, the ASA waits for three minutes
to receive a response from its neighbors. If the ASA does not receive a response from a neighbor, the route
is marked as stuck-in-active. All routes in the topology table that point to the unresponsive neighbor as a
feasibility successor are removed.
Note EIGRP neighbor relationships are not supported through the IPsec tunnel without a GRE tunnel.
Guidelines for EIGRP

IPv6 Guidelines
Context Guidelines
EIGRP instances cannot form adjacencies with each other across shared interfaces because inter-context
exchange of multicast traffic is not supported.
A maximum of one EIGRP process is supported.
692
Configure EIGRP
Configure EIGRP
This section describes how to enable the EIGRP process on your system. After you have enabled EIGRP, see
the following sections to learn how to customize the EIGRP process on your system.
Enable EIGRP
You can only enable one EIGRP routing process on the ASA.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an EIGRP routing process and enter router configuration mode for this EIGRP process:
router eigrp as-num
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# router eigrp 2
The as-num argument is the autonomous system number of the EIGRP routing process.
Step 2 Configure the interfaces and networks that participate in EIGRP routing:
network ip-addr [mask]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# network 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0
You can configure one or more network statements with this command.
Directly connected and static networks that fall within the defined network are advertised by the ASA.
Additionally, only interfaces with an IP address that fall within the defined network participate in the EIGRP
routing process.
If you have an interface that you do not want to have participate in EIGRP routing, but that is attached to a
network that you want advertised, see Configure Interfaces for EIGRP, on page 695.
Enable EIGRP Stub Routing

You can enable, and configure the ASA as an EIGRP stub router. Stub routing decreases memory and processing
requirements on the ASA. As a stub router, the ASA does not need to maintain a complete EIGRP routing
table because it forwards all nonlocal traffic to a distribution router. Generally, the distribution router need
not send anything more than a default route to the stub router.
Only specified routes are propagated from the stub router to the distribution router. As a stub router, the ASA
responds to all queries for summaries, connected routes, redistributed static routes, external routes, and internal
routes with the message “inaccessible.” When the ASA is configured as a stub, it sends a special peer information
packet to all neighboring routers to report its status as a stub router. Any neighbor that receives a packet
693
Customize EIGRP
informing it of the stub status will not query the stub router for any routes, and a router that has a stub peer
will not query that peer. The stub router depends on the distribution router to send the correct updates to all
peers.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Example:
routing process.
network that you want advertised, see section Configure Passive Interfaces, on page 697.
Step 3 Configure the stub routing process:

eigrp stub {receive-only | [connected] [redistributed] [static] [summary]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# eigrp stub {receive-only | [connected] [redistributed] [static]
[summary]}
You must specify which networks are advertised by the stub routing process to the distribution router. Static
and connected networks are not automatically redistributed into the stub routing process.
Note A stub routing process does not maintain a full topology table. At a minimum, stub routing needs a
default route to a distribution router, which makes the routing decisions.
Customize EIGRP
This section describes how to customize the EIGRP routing.
694
Customize EIGRP
Define a Network for an EIGRP Routing Process

The Network table lets you specify the networks used by the EIGRP routing process. For an interface to
participate in EIGRP routing, it must fall within the range of addresses defined by the network entries. For
directly connected and static networks to be advertised, they must also fall within the range of the network
entries.
The Network table displays the networks configured for the EIGRP routing process. Each row of the table
displays the network address and associated mask configured for the specified EIGRP routing process.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Example:
routing process.
network that you want advertised, see Configure Passive Interfaces, on page 697.
Configure Interfaces for EIGRP

network that you want advertised, you can configure a network command that includes the network to which
the interface is attached, and use the passive-interface command to prevent that interface from sending or
receiving EIGRP updates.
Procedure
695
Customize EIGRP
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Example:
routing process.
network that you want advertised, see Define a Network for an EIGRP Routing Process, on page 695.
Step 3 Control the sending or receiving of candidate default route information:

no default-information {in | out | WORD}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# no default-information {in | out | WORD}
Entering the no default-information in command causes the candidate default route bit to be blocked on
received routes.
Entering the no default-information out command disables the setting of the default route bit in advertised
routes.
For more information see, Configure Default Information in EIGRP, on page 706.
Step 4 Enable MD5 authentication of EIGRP packets:

authentication mode eigrp as-num md5
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# authentication mode eigrp 2 md5
The as-num argument is the autonomous system number of the EIGRP routing process configured on the
ASA. If EIGRP is not enabled or if you enter the wrong number, the ASA returns the following error message:
% Asystem(100) specified does not exist

For more information see Enable EIGRP Authentication on an Interface, on page 699.
Step 5 Set the delay value:
696
Customize EIGRP
delay value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# delay 200
The value argument entered is in tens of microseconds. To set the delay for 2000 microseconds, enter a value
of 200.
To view the delay value assigned to an interface, use the show interface command.
For more information, see Change the Interface Delay Value, on page 699.
Step 6 Change the hello interval:

hello-interval eigrp as-num seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hello-interval eigrp 2 60
For more information see Customize the EIGRP Hello Interval and Hold Time, on page 704.
Step 7 Change the hold time:

hold-time eigrp as-num seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hold-time eigrp 2 60
For more information see Customize the EIGRP Hello Interval and Hold Time, on page 704.
Configure Passive Interfaces

You can configure one or more interfaces as passive interfaces. In EIGRP, a passive interface does not send
or receive routing updates.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Step 2 Configure the interfaces and networks that participate in EIGRP routing. You can configure one or more
network statements with this command:
697
Customize EIGRP
Example:
routing process.
network that you want advertised, see Define a Network for an EIGRP Routing Process, on page 695.
Step 3 Prevent an interface from sending or receiving EIGRP routing message:

passive-interface {default | if-name}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# passive-interface {default}
Using the default keyword disables EIGRP routing updates on all interfaces. Specifying an interface name,
as defined by the nameif command, disables EIGRP routing updates on the specified interface. You can use
multiple passive-interface commands in your EIGRP router configuration.
Configure the Summary Aggregate Addresses on Interfaces

You can configure a summary addresses on a per-interface basis. You need to manually define summary
addresses if you want to create summary addresses that do not occur at a network number boundary or if you
want to use summary addresses on an ASA with automatic route summarization disabled. If any more specific
routes are in the routing table, EIGRP will advertise the summary address out the interface with a metric equal
to the minimum of all more specific routes.
Procedure
Step 1 Enter interface configuration mode for the interface on which you are changing the delay value used by EIGRP:
interface phy_if
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface inside
Step 2 Create the summary address:

summary-address eigrp as-num address mask [distance]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# summary-address eigrp 2 address mask [20]
698
Customize EIGRP
By default, EIGRP summary addresses that you define have an administrative distance of 5. You can change
this value by specifying the optional distance argument in the summary-address command.
Change the Interface Delay Value

The interface delay value is used in EIGRP distance calculations. You can modify this value on a per-interface
basis.
Procedure
interface phy_if
Example:
Step 2 Set a delay value:

delay value
Example:
The value argument entered is in tens of microseconds. To set the delay for 2000 microseconds, you enter a
value of 200.
Note To view the delay value assigned to an interface, use the show interface command.
Enable EIGRP Authentication on an Interface

EIGRP route authentication provides MD5 authentication of routing updates from the EIGRP routing protocol.
The MD5 keyed digest in each EIGRP packet prevents the introduction of unauthorized or false routing
messages from unapproved sources.
EIGRP route authentication is configured on a per-interface basis. All EIGRP neighbors on interfaces configured
for EIGRP message authentication must be configured with the same authentication mode and key for
adjacencies to be established.
Note Before you can enable EIGRP route authentication, you must enable EIGRP.
699
Customize EIGRP
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Example:
• You can configure one or more network statements with this command.
• Directly connected and static networks that fall within the defined network are advertised by the ASA.
Additionally, only interfaces with an IP address that falls within the defined network participate in the
EIGRP routing process.
• If you have an interface that you do not want to have participate in EIGRP routing, but that is attached
to a network that you want advertised, see Configure EIGRP, on page 693.
Step 3 Enter interface configuration mode for the interface on which you are configuring EIGRP message
authentication:
interface phy_if
Example:
Step 4 Enable MD5 authentication of EIGRP packets:

authentication mode eigrp as-num md5
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# authentication mode eigrp 2 md5
The as-num argument is the autonomous system number of the EIGRP routing process configured on the
ASA. If EIGRP is not enabled or if you enter the wrong number, the ASA returns the following error message:
% Asystem(100) specified does not exist
Step 5 Configure the key used by the MD5 algorithm:

authentication key eigrp as-num key key-id key-id
700
Customize EIGRP
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# authentication key eigrp 2 cisco key-id 200
• The as-num argument is the autonomous system number of the EIGRP routing process configured on
the ASA. If EIGRP is not enabled or if you enter the wrong number, the ASA returns the following error
message:
% Asystem(100) specified does not exist%
• The key argument can include up to 16 characters, including alphabets, numbers and special
characters.White spaces are not allowed, in the key argument.
• The key-id argument is a number that can range from 0 to 255.
Define an EIGRP Neighbor

EIGRP hello packets are sent as multicast packets. If an EIGRP neighbor is located across a non broadcast
network, such as a tunnel, you must manually define that neighbor. When you manually define an EIGRP
neighbor, hello packets are sent to that neighbor as unicast messages.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an EIGRP routing process and enters router configuration mode for this EIGRP process:
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Step 2 Define the static neighbor:

neighbor ip-addr interface if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# neighbor 10.0.0.0 interface interface1
The ip-addr argument is the IP address of the neighbor.

The if-name argument is the name of the interface, as specified by the nameif command, through which that
neighbor is available. You can define multiple neighbors for an EIGRP routing process.
701
Customize EIGRP
Redistribute Routes Into EIGRP

You can redistribute routes discovered by RIP and OSPF into the EIGRP routing process. You can also
redistribute static and connected routes into the EIGRP routing process. You do not need to redistribute
connected routes if they fall within the range of a network statement in the EIGRP configuration.
Note For RIP only: Before you begin this procedure, you must create a route map to further define which routes
from the specified routing protocol are redistributed in to the RIP routing process.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Step 2 (Optional) Specifies the default metrics that should be applied to routes redistributed into the EIGRP routing
process:
default-metric bandwidth delay reliability loading mtu
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# default-metric bandwidth delay reliability loading mtu
If you do not specify a default metric in the EIGRP router configuration, you must specify the metric values
in each redistribute command. If you specify the EIGRP metrics in the redistribute command and have the
default-metric command in the EIGRP router configuration, the metrics in the redistribute command are
used.
Step 3 Redistribute connected routes into the EIGRP routing process:

redistribute connected [metric bandwidth delay reliability loading mtu] [route-map map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): redistribute connected [metric bandwidth delay reliability loading
mtu] [route-map map_name]
You must specify the EIGRP metric values in the redistribute command if you do not have a default-metric
command in the EIGRP router configuration.
Step 4 Redistribute static routes into the EIGRP routing process:

redistribute static [metric bandwidth delay reliability loading mtu] [route-map map_name]
702
Customize EIGRP
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): redistribute static [metric bandwidth delay
reliability loading mtu] [route-map map_name]
Step 5 Redistribute routes from an OSPF routing process into the EIGRP routing process:
redistribute ospf pid [match {internal | external [1 | 2] | nssa-external [1 | 2]}] [metric bandwidth delay
reliability loading mtu] [route-map map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): redistribute ospf pid [match {internal | external [1 | 2] |
nssa-external [1 | 2]}] [metric bandwidth delay reliability loading mtu] [route-map map_name]
Step 6 Redistribute routes from a RIP routing process into the EIGRP routing process:
redistribute rip [metric bandwidth delay reliability load mtu] [route-map map_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): redistribute rip [metric bandwidth delay
reliability load mtu] [route-map map_name]
Filter Networks in EIGRP
Note Before you begin this process, you must create a standard ACL that defines the routes that you want to
advertise. That is, create a standard ACL that defines the routes that you want to filter from sending or
receiving updates.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# network ip-addr [mask]
703
Customize EIGRP
Example:
routing process.
Step 3 Filter networks sent in EIGRP routing updates:

distribute-list acl out [connected | ospf | rip | static | interface if_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): distribute-list acl out [connected]
You can specify an interface to apply the filter to only those updates that are sent by that specific interface.
You can enter multiple distribute-list commands in your EIGRP router configuration.
Step 4 Filter networks received in EIGRP routing updates:

distribute-list acl in [interface if_name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router): distribute-list acl in [interface interface1]
You can specify an interface to apply the filter to only those updates that are received by that interface.
Customize the EIGRP Hello Interval and Hold Time

The ASA periodically sends hello packets to discover neighbors and to learn when neighbors become
unreachable or inoperative. By default, hello packets are sent every 5 seconds.
The hello packet advertises the ASA hold time. The hold time indicates to EIGRP neighbors the length of
time the neighbor should consider the ASA reachable. If the neighbor does not receive a hello packet within
the advertised hold time, then the ASA is considered unreachable. By default, the advertised hold time is 15
seconds (three times the hello interval).
Both the hello interval and the advertised hold time are configured on a per-interface basis. We recommend
setting the hold time to be at minimum three times the hello interval.
704
Customize EIGRP
Procedure
Step 1 Enter interface configuration mode for the interface on which you are configuring the hello interval or advertised
hold time:
interface phy_if
Example:
Step 2 Change the hello interval:

hello-interval eigrp as-num seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hello-interval eigrp 2 60
Step 3 Change the hold time:

hold-time eigrp as-num seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# hold-time eigrp 2 60
Disable Automatic Route Summarization

Automatic route summarization is enabled by default. The EIGRP routing process summarizes on network
number boundaries. This can cause routing problems if you have noncontiguous networks.
For example, if you have a router with the networks 192.168.1.0, 192.168.2.0, and 192.168.3.0 connected to
it, and those networks all participate in EIGRP, the EIGRP routing process creates the summary address
192.168.0.0 for those routes. If an additional router is added to the network with the networks 192.168.10.0
and 192.168.11.0, and those networks participate in EIGRP, they will also be summarized as 192.168.0.0. To
prevent the possibility of traffic being routed to the wrong location, you should disable automatic route
summarization on the routers creating the conflicting summary addresses.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
705
Customize EIGRP
Step 2 Disable automatic route summarization:

no auto-summary
Example:
ciscoasa(config-router)# no auto-summary
Automatic summary addresses have a default administrative distance of 5.
Configure Default Information in EIGRP

You can control the sending and receiving of default route information in EIGRP updates. By default, default
routes are sent and accepted. Configuring the ASA to disallow default information to be received causes the
candidate default route bit to be blocked on received routes. Configuring the ASA to disallow default
information to be sent disables the setting of the default route bit in advertised routes.
Procedure
router eigrp as-num
Example:
Example:
routing process.
Step 3 Control the sending or receiving of candidate default route information:

no default-information {in | out | WORD}
Example:
706
Customize EIGRP

ciscoasa(config-router)# no default-information {in | out | WORD}
Note Entering the no default-information in command causes the candidate default route bit to be blocked
on received routes. Entering the no default-information out command disables the setting of the
default route bit in advertised routes.
Disable EIGRP Split Horizon

Split horizon controls the sending of EIGRP update and query packets. When split horizon is enabled on an
interface, update and query packets are not sent for destinations for which this interface is the next hop.
Controlling update and query packets in this manner reduces the possibility of routing loops.
By default, split horizon is enabled on all interfaces.
Split horizon blocks route information from being advertised by a router out of any interface from which that
information originated. This behavior usually optimizes communications among multiple routing devices,
particularly when links are broken. However, with nonbroadcast networks, there may be situations where this
behavior is not desired. For these situations, including networks in which you have EIGRP configured, you
may want to disable split horizon.
If you disable split horizon on an interface, you must disable it for all routers and access servers on that
interface.
To disable EIGRP split horizon, perform the following steps:
Procedure
interface phy_if
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# interface phy_if
Step 2 Disable the split horizon:

no split-horizon eigrp as-number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# no split-horizon eigrp 2
Restart the EIGRP Process

You can restart an EIGRP process or clear redistribution or clear counters.
707
Monitoring for EIGRP
Procedure
Restart an EIGRP process or clear redistribution or clear counters:

clear eigrp pid {1-65535 | neighbors | topology | events)}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# clear eigrp pid 10 neighbors
Monitoring for EIGRP

You can use the following commands to monitor the EIGRP routing process. For examples and descriptions
of the command output, see the command reference. Additionally, you can disable the logging of neighbor
change messages and neighbor warning messages.
To monitor or disable various EIGRP routing statistics, enter one of the following commands:
• router-id
Displays the router-id for this EIGRP process.
• show eigrp [as-number] events [{start end} | type]
Displays the EIGRP event log.
• show eigrp [as-number] interfaces [if-name] [detail]
Displays the interfaces participating in EIGRP routing.
• show eigrp [as-number] neighbors [detail | static] [if-name]
Displays the EIGRP neighbor table.
• show eigrp [as-number] topology [ip-addr [mask] | active | all-links | pending | summary |
zero-successors]
Displays the EIGRP topology table.
• show eigrp [as-number] traffic
Displays EIGRP traffic statistics.
• show mfib cluster
Displays MFIB information in terms of forwarding entries and interfaces.
Displays additional route synchronization details for clustering.
• no eigrp log-neighbor-changes
Disables the logging of neighbor change messages. Enter this command in router configuration mode
for the EIGRP routing process.
• no eigrp log-neighbor-warnings
Disables the logging of neighbor warning messages.
708
Example for EIGRP
Example for EIGRP

The following example shows how to enable and configure EIGRP with various optional processes:
Procedure
Step 1 To enable EIGRP, enter the following commands:

Step 2 To configure an interface from sending or receiving EIGRP routing messages, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config-router)# passive-interface {default}
Step 3 To define an EIGRP neighbor, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config-router)# neighbor 10.0.0.0 interface interface1
Step 4 To configure the interfaces and networks that participate in EIGRP routing, enter the following command:
Step 5 To change the interface delay value used in EIGRP distance calculations, enter the following commands:
ciscoasa(config-router)# exit
ciscoasa(config)# interface phy_if
History for EIGRP

Table 37: Feature History for EIGRP

Releases
EIGRP Support 7.0(1) Support was added for routing data, performing authentication,
and redistributing and monitoring routing information using
the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP).
We introduced the following command: route eigrp.
Dynamic Routing in Multiple Context Mode 9.0(1) EIGRP routing is supported in multiple context mode.
709
History for EIGRP

Releases
Clustering 9.0(1) For EIGRP, bulk synchronization, route synchronization, and
layer 2 load balancing are supported in the clustering
environment.
We introduced or modified the following commands: show
route cluster, debug route cluster, show mfib cluster, debug
mfib cluster.
EIGRP Auto-Summary 9.2(1) For EIGRP, the Auto-Summary field is now disabled by default.
710
CHAPTER 27
Multicast Routing
This chapter describes how to configure the Cisco ASA to use the multicast routing protocol.
• About Multicast Routing, page 711

• Guidelines for Multicast Routing, page 714
• Enable Multicast Routing, page 714
• Customize Multicast Routing, page 715
• Monitoring for PIM, page 726
• Example for Multicast Routing, page 727
• History for Multicast Routing, page 727
About Multicast Routing

Multicast routing is a bandwidth-conserving technology that reduces traffic by simultaneously delivering a
single stream of information to thousands of corporate recipients and homes. Applications that take advantage
of multicast routing include videoconferencing, corporate communications, distance learning, and distribution
of software, stock quotes, and news.
Multicast routing protocols delivers source traffic to multiple receivers without adding any additional burden
on the source or the receivers while using the least network bandwidth of any competing technology. Multicast
packets are replicated in the network by Cisco routers enabled with Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM)
and other supporting multicast protocols resulting in the most efficient delivery of data to multiple receivers
possible.
The ASA supports both stub multicast routing and PIM multicast routing. However, you cannot configure
both concurrently on a single ASA.
Note The UDP and non-UDP transports are both supported for multicast routing. However, the non-UDP
transport has no FastPath optimization.
711
Stub Multicast Routing

Stub multicast routing provides dynamic host registration and facilitates multicast routing. When configured
for stub multicast routing, the ASA acts as an IGMP proxy agent. Instead of fully participating in multicast
routing, the ASA forwards IGMP messages to an upstream multicast router, which sets up delivery of the
multicast data. When configured for stub multicast routing, the ASA cannot be configured for PIM.
The ASA supports both PIM-SM and bidirectional PIM. PIM-SM is a multicast routing protocol that uses the
underlying unicast routing information base or a separate multicast-capable routing information base. It builds
unidirectional shared trees rooted at a single Rendezvous Point per multicast group and optionally creates
shortest-path trees per multicast source.
PIM Multicast Routing

Bi-directional PIM is a variant of PIM-SM that builds bi-directional shared trees connecting multicast sources
and receivers. Bi-directional trees are built using a DF election process operating on each link of the multicast
topology. With the assistance of the DF, multicast data is forwarded from sources to the Rendezvous Point,
and therefore along the shared tree to receivers, without requiring source-specific state. The DF election takes
place during Rendezvous Point discovery and provides a default route to the Rendezvous Point.
Note If the ASA is the PIM Rendezvous Point, use the untranslated outside address of the ASA as the Rendezvous
Point address.
PIM Source Specific Multicast Support

ASA does not support PIM SSM functionality and related configuration. However, ASA allows SSM related
packets to passthrough, unless it is placed as a last-hop router.
SSM is classified as a data delivery mechanism for one-to-many applications such as IPTV. The SSM model
uses a concept of "channels" denoted by an (S,G) pair, where S is a source address and G is an SSM destination
address. Subscribing to a channel is achieved by using a group management protocol such as IGMPv3. SSM
enables a receiving client, once it has learned about a particular multicast source, to receive multicast streams
directly from the source rather than receiving it from a shared rendezvous point (RP). Access control
mechanisms are introduced within SSM providing a security enhancement not available with current sparse
or sparse-dense mode implementations.
PIM-SSM differs from PIM-SM in that it does not use an RP or shared trees. Instead, information on source
addresses for a multicast group is provided by the receivers through the local receivership protocol (IGMPv3)
and is used to directly build source-specific trees.
PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR)

PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR) is a dynamic Rendezvous Point (RP) selection model that uses candidate routers
for Rendezvous Point function and for relaying the Rendezvous Point information for a group. The Rendezvous
Point function includes RP discovery and provides a default route to the RP. It does this by configuring a set
of devices as candidate BSRs (C-BSR) which participate in a BSR election process to choose a BSR amongst
themselves. Once the BSR is chosen, devices that are configured as candidate Rendezvous Points (C-RP) will
start sending their group mapping to the elected BSR. The BSR then distributes the group-to-RP mapping
712
information to all the other devices down the multicast tree, through BSR messages that travel from PIM
router to PIM router on a per-hop basis.
This feature provides a means of dynamically learning Rendezvous Points (RPs), which is very essential in
large complex networks where an RP can periodically go down and come up.
PIM Bootstrap Router (BSR) Terminology

The following terms are frequently referenced in the PIM BSR configuration:
• Bootstrap Router (BSR) — A BSR advertises Rendezvous Point (RP) information to other routers with
PIM on a hop-by-hop basis. Amongst multiple Candidate-BSRs, a single BSR will be chosen after an
election process. The primary purpose of this Bootstrap router is to collect all Candidate-RP (C-RP)
announcements in to a database called the RP-set and to periodically send this out to all other routers in
the network as BSR messages (every 60seconds).
• Bootstrap Router (BSR) messages — BSR messages are multicast to the All-PIM-Routers group with
a TTL of 1. All PIM neighbors that receive these messages retransmit them (again with a TTL of 1) out
of all interfaces except the one in which the messages were received. BSR messages contain the RP-set
and the IP address of the currently active BSR. This is how C-RPs know where to unicast their C-RP
messages.
• Candidate Bootstrap Router (C-BSR) — A device that is configured as a candidate-BSR participates in
the BSR election mechanism. A C-BSR with highest priority is elected as the BSR. The highest IP
address of the C-BSR is used as a tiebreaker. The BSR election process is preemptive i.e. if a new C-BSR
with a higher priority comes up; it triggers a new election process.
• Candidate Rendezvous Point (C-RP) — A Rendezvous Point acts as a meeting place for sources and
receivers of multicast data. A device that is configured as a C-RP would periodically advertise the
multicast group mapping information directly to the elected BSR via unicast. These messages contain
the Group-range, C-RP address and a hold time. The IP address of the current BSR is learned from the
periodic BSR messages that are received by all routers in the network. In this way, the BSR learns about
possible RPs that are currently up and reachable.
• BSR Election Mechanism — Each C-BSR originates Bootstrap messages (BSMs) that contain a BSR
Priority field. Routers within the domain flood the BSMs throughout the domain. A C-BSR that hears
about a higher-priority C-BSR than itself suppresses it's sending of further BSMs for some period of
time. The single remaining C-BSR becomes the elected BSR, and its BSMs inform all the other routers
in the domain that, it is the elected BSR.
Multicast Group Concept

Multicast is based on the concept of a group. An arbitrary group of receivers expresses an interest in receiving
a particular data stream. This group does not have any physical or geographical boundaries—the hosts can
be located anywhere on the Internet. Hosts that are interested in receiving data flowing to a particular group
must join the group using IGMP. Hosts must be a member of the group to receive the data stream.
Multicast Addresses
Multicast addresses specify an arbitrary group of IP hosts that have joined the group and want to receive traffic
sent to this group.
713
Guidelines for Multicast Routing
Clustering
Multicast routing supports clustering. In Layer 2 clustering, the master unit sends all multicast routing packets
and data packets until fast-path forwarding is established. After fast-path forwarding is established, slave units
may forward multicast data packets. All data flows are full flows. Stub forwarding flows are also supported.
Because only one unit receives multicast packets in Layer 2 clustering, redirection to the master unit is common.
In Layer 3 clustering, units do not act independently. All data and routing packets are processed and forwarded
by the master unit. Slave units drop all packets that have been sent.
For more information about clustering, see ASA Cluster, on page 247.
Guidelines for Multicast Routing

Supported in single context mode. In multiple context mode, unshared interfaces and shared interfaces are
not supported.

IPv6 Guidelines
In clustering, for IGMP and PIM, this feature is only supported on the master unit.
Enable Multicast Routing

Enabling multicast routing on the ASA, enables IGMP and PIM on all interfaces by default. IGMP is used to
learn whether members of a group are present on directly attached subnets. Hosts join multicast groups by
sending IGMP report messages. PIM is used to maintain forwarding tables to forward multicast datagrams.
Note Only the UDP transport layer is supported for multicast routing.
The following table lists the maximum number of entries for specific multicast tables based on the amount
of RAM on the ASA. Once these limits are reached, any new entries are discarded.
Table 38: Entry Limits for Multicast Tables
Table 16 MB 128 MB 128+ MB

MFIB 1000 3000 30000
IGMP Groups 1000 3000 30000
714
Customize Multicast Routing
Table 16 MB 128 MB 128+ MB

PIM Routes 3000 7000 72000
Procedure
Enable multicast routing:

multicast-routing
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# multicast-routing
The number of entries in the multicast routing tables are limited by the amount of RAM on the ASA.

This section describes how to customize multicast routing.
Configure Stub Multicast Routing and Forward IGMP Messages
Note Stub multicast routing and PIM are not supported concurrently.
An ASA acting as the gateway to the stub area does not need to participate in PIM. Instead, you can configure
it to act as an IGMP proxy agent and forward IGMP messages from hosts connected on one interface to an
upstream multicast router on another interface. To configure the ASA as an IGMP proxy agent, forward the
host join and leave messages from the stub area interface to an upstream interface.
Procedure
Configure stub multicast routing and forward IGMP messages:

igmp forward interface if_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp forward interface interface1
Configure a Static Multicast Route

Configuring static multicast routes lets you separate multicast traffic from unicast traffic. For example, when
a path between a source and destination does not support multicast routing, the solution is to configure two
multicast devices with a GRE tunnel between them and to send the multicast packets over the tunnel.
715
When using PIM, the ASA expects to receive packets on the same interface where it sends unicast packets
back to the source. In some cases, such as bypassing a route that does not support multicast routing, you may
want unicast packets to take one path and multicast packets to take another.
Static multicast routes are not advertised or redistributed.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure a static multicast route:

mroute src_ip src_mask {input_if_name | rpf_neighbor} [distance]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mroute src_ip src_mask {input_if_name | rpf_neighbor} [distance]
Step 2 Configure a static multicast route for a stub area:

mroute src_ip src_mask input_if_name [dense output_if_name] [distance]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# mroute src_ip src_mask input_if_name [dense output_if_name] [distance]
The dense output_if_name keyword and argument pair is only supported for stub multicast routing.
Configure IGMP Features

IP hosts use the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) to report their group memberships to directly
connected multicast routers.
IGMP is used to dynamically register individual hosts in a multicast group on a particular LAN. Hosts identify
group memberships by sending IGMP messages to their local multicast router. Under IGMP, routers listen
to IGMP messages and periodically send out queries to discover which groups are active or inactive on a
particular subnet.
IGMP uses group addresses (Class D IP address) as group identifiers. Host group address can be in the range
of 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. The address 224.0.0.0 is never assigned to any group. The address 224.0.0.1
is assigned to all systems on a subnet. The address 224.0.0.2 is assigned to all routers on a subnet.
When you enable multicast routing on the ASA, IGMP Version 2 is automatically enabled on all interfaces.
Note Only the no igmp command appears in the interface configuration when you use the show run command.
If the multicast-routing command appears in the device configuration, then IGMP is automatically enabled
on all interfaces.
This section describes how to configure optional IGMP setting on a per-interface basis.
716
Disable IGMP on an Interface

You can disable IGMP on specific interfaces. This information is useful if you know that there are no multicast
hosts on a specific interface and you want to prevent the ASA from sending host query messages on that
interface.
Procedure
Disable IGMP on an interface:

no igmp
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# no igmp
To reenable IGMP on an interface, use the igmp command.

Note Only the no igmp command appears in the interface configuration.
Configure IGMP Group Membership

You can configure the ASA to be a member of a multicast group. Configuring the ASA to join a multicast
group causes upstream routers to maintain multicast routing table information for that group and keep the
paths for that group active.
Note If you want to forward multicast packets for a specific group to an interface without the ASA accepting
those packets as part of the group, see Configure a Statically Joined IGMP Group, on page 717.
Procedure
Configure the ASA to be a member of a multicast group:

igmp join-group group-address
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp join-group mcast-group
The group-address argument is the IP address of the group.
Configure a Statically Joined IGMP Group

Sometimes a group member cannot report its membership in the group because of some configuration, or
there may be no members of a group on the network segment. However, you still want multicast traffic for
that group to be sent to that network segment. You can have multicast traffic for that group sent to the segment
by configuring a statically joined IGMP group.
Enter the igmp static-group command. The ASA does not accept the multicast packets, but instead forwards
them to the specified interface.
717
Procedure
Configure the ASA statically to join a multicast group on an interface:

igmp static-group
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp static-group group-address
The group-address argument is the IP address of the group.
Control Access to Multicast Groups

You can control access to multicast groups by using access control lists.
Procedure
Step 1 Create a standard ACL for the multicast traffic:

access-list name standard [permit | deny] ip_addr mask
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list acl1 standard permit 192.52.662.25
You can create more than one entry for a single ACL. You can use extended or standard ACLs.
The ip_addr mask argument is the IP address of the multicast group being permitted or denied.
Step 2 Create an extended ACL:’

access-list name extended [permit | deny] protocol src_ip_addr src_mask dst_ip_addr dst_mask
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list acl2 extended permit protocol
src_ip_addr src_mask dst_ip_addr dst_mask
The dst_ip_addr argument is the IP address of the multicast group being permitted or denied.
Step 3 Apply the ACL to an interface:

igmp access-group acl
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp access-group acl
The acl argument is the name of a standard or extended IP ACL.
718
Limit the Number of IGMP States on an Interface

You can limit the number of IGMP states resulting from IGMP membership reports on a per-interface basis.
Membership reports exceeding the configured limits are not entered in the IGMP cache, and traffic for the
excess membership reports is not forwarded.
Procedure
Limit the number of IGMP states on an interface:

igmp limit number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp limit 50
Valid values range from 0 to 500, with 500 being the default value.
Setting this value to 0 prevents learned groups from being added, but manually defined memberships (using
the igmp join-group and igmp static-group commands) are still permitted. The no form of this command
restores the default value.
Modify the Query Messages to Multicast Groups

The ASA sends query messages to discover which multicast groups have members on the networks attached
to the interfaces. Members respond with IGMP report messages indicating that they want to receive multicast
packets for specific groups. Query messages are addressed to the all-systems multicast group, which has an
address of 224.0.0.1, with a time-to-live value of 1.
These messages are sent periodically to refresh the membership information stored on the ASA. If the ASA
discovers that there are no local members of a multicast group still attached to an interface, it stops forwarding
multicast packet for that group to the attached network, and it sends a prune message back to the source of
the packets.
By default, the PIM designated router on the subnet is responsible for sending the query messages. By default,
they are sent once every 125 seconds.
When changing the query response time, by default, the maximum query response time advertised in IGMP
queries is 10 seconds. If the ASA does not receive a response to a host query within this amount of time, it
deletes the group.
Note The igmp query-timeout and igmp query-interval commands require IGMP Version 2.
To change the query interval, query response time, and query timeout value, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Set the query interval time in seconds:

igmp query-interval seconds
719
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp query-interval 30
Valid values range from 0 to 500; 125 is the default value.

If the ASA does not hear a query message on an interface for the specified timeout value (by default, 255
seconds), then the ASA becomes the designated router and starts sending the query messages.
Step 2 Change the timeout value of the query:

igmp query-timeout seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp query-timeout 30
Valid values range from 0 to 500; 225 is the default value.
Step 3 Change the maximum query response time:

igmp query-max-response-time seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp query-max-response-time 30
Change the IGMP Version

By default, the ASA runs IGMP Version 2, which enables several additional features such as the igmp
query-timeout and igmp query-interval commands.
All multicast routers on a subnet must support the same version of IGMP. The ASA does not automatically
detect Version 1 routers and switch to Version 1. However, a mix of IGMP Version 1 and 2 hosts on the
subnet works; the ASA running IGMP Version 2 works correctly when IGMP Version 1 hosts are present.
Procedure
Control the version of IGMP that you want to run on the interface:
igmp version {1 | 2}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp version 2
Configure PIM Features

Routers use PIM to maintain forwarding tables for forwarding multicast diagrams. When you enable multicast
routing on the ASA, PIM and IGMP are automatically enabled on all interfaces.
720
Note PIM is not supported with PAT. The PIM protocol does not use ports, and PAT only works with protocols
that use ports.
This section describes how to configure optional PIM settings.
Enable and Disable PIM on an Interface

You can enable or disable PIM on specific interfaces.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable or reenable PIM on a specific interface:

pim
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim
Step 2 Disable PIM on a specific interface:

no pim
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# no pim
Note Only the no pim command appears in the interface configuration.
Configure a Static Rendezvous Point Address

All routers within a common PIM sparse mode or bidir domain require knowledge of the PIM RP address.
The address is statically configured using the pim rp-address command.
Note The ASA does not support Auto-RP or PIM BSR. You must use the pim rp-address command to specify
the RP address.
You can configure the ASA to serve as RP to more than one group. The group range specified in the ACL
determines the PIM RP group mapping. If an ACL is not specified, then the RP for the group is applied to
the entire multicast group range (224.0.0.0/4).
Procedure
Enable or reenable PIM on a specific interface:

pim rp-address ip_address [acl] [bidir]
721
The ip_address argument is the unicast IP address of the router assigned to be a PIM RP.
The acl argument is the name or number of a standard ACL that defines with which multicast groups the RP
should be used. Do not use a host ACL with this command.
Excluding the bidir keyword causes the groups to operate in PIM sparse mode.
Note The ASA always advertises the bidirectional capability in the PIM hello messages, regardless of the
actual bidirectional configuration.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# pim rp-address 10.86.75.23 [acl1] [bidir]
Configure the Designated Router Priority

The DR is responsible for sending PIM register, join, and prune messages to the RP. When there is more than
one multicast router on a network segment, selecting the DR is based on the DR priority. If multiple devices
have the same DR priority, then the device with the highest IP address becomes the DR.
By default, the ASA has a DR priority of 1. You can change this value.
Procedure
Change the designated router priority:

pim dr-priority num
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim dr-priority 500
The num argument can be any number ranging from 1 to 4294967294.
Configure and Filter PIM Register Messages

When the ASA is acting as an RP, you can restrict specific multicast sources from registering with it to prevent
unauthorized sources from registering with the RP. The Request Filter pane lets you define the multicast
sources from which the ASA will accept PIM register messages.
Procedure
Configure the ASA to filter PIM register messages:

pim accept-register {list acl | route-map map-name}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# pim accept-register {list acl1 | route-map map2}
In the example, the ASA filters PIM register messages acl1 and route map map2.
722
Configure PIM Message Intervals

Router query messages are used to select the PIM DR. The PIM DR is responsible for sending router query
messages. By default, router query messages are sent every 30 seconds. Additionally, every 60 seconds, the
ASA sends PIM join or prune messages.
Procedure
Step 1 Send router query messages:

pim hello-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim hello-interval 60
Valid values for the seconds argument range from 1 to 3600 seconds.
Step 2 Change the amount of time (in seconds) that the ASA sends PIM join or prune messages:
pim join-prune-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim join-prune-interval 60
Valid values for the seconds argument range from 10 to 600 seconds.
Filter PIM Neighbors

You can define the routers that can become PIM neighbors. By filtering the routers that can become PIM
neighbors, you can do the following:
• Prevent unauthorized routers from becoming PIM neighbors.
• Prevent attached stub routers from participating in PIM.
Procedure
Step 1 Use a standard ACL to define the routers that you want to have participate in PIM:
access-list pim_nbr deny router-IP_addr PIM neighbor
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list pim_nbr deny 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.255
In the example, the following ACL, when used with the pim neighbor-filter command, prevents the 10.1.1.1
router from becoming a PIM neighbor.
Step 2 Filter neighbor routers:
723
pim neighbor-filter pim_nbr
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim neighbor-filter pim_nbr
In the example, the 10.1.1.1 router is prevented from becoming a PIM neighbor on interface GigabitEthernet0/3.
Configure a Bidirectional Neighbor Filter

The Bidirectional Neighbor Filter pane shows the PIM bidirectional neighbor filters, if any, that are configured
on the ASA. A PIM bidirectional neighbor filter is an ACL that defines the neighbor devices that can participate
in the DF election. If a PIM bidirectional neighbor filter is not configured for an interface, then there are no
restrictions. If a PIM bidirectional neighbor filter is configured, only those neighbors permitted by the ACL
can participate in the DF election process.
When a PIM bidirectional neighbor filter configuration is applied to the ASA, an ACL appears in the running
configuration with the name interface-name_multicast, in which the interface-name is the name of the interface
to which the multicast boundary filter is applied. If an ACL with that name already exists, a number is appended
to the name (for example, inside_multicast_1). This ACL defines which devices can become PIM neighbors
of the ASA.
Bidirectional PIM allows multicast routers to keep reduced state information. All of the multicast routers in
a segment must be bidirectionally enabled for bidir to elect a DF.
The PIM bidirectional neighbor filters enable the transition from a sparse-mode-only network to a bidir network
by letting you specify the routers that should participate in the DF election, while still allowing all routers to
participate in the sparse-mode domain. The bidir-enabled routers can elect a DF from among themselves, even
when there are non-bidir routers on the segment. Multicast boundaries on the non-bidir routers prevent PIM
messages and data from the bidir groups from leaking in or out of the bidir subset cloud.
When a PIM bidirectional neighbor filter is enabled, the routers that are permitted by the ACL are considered
to be bidirectionally capable. Therefore, the following is true:
• If a permitted neighbor does not support bidir, then the DF election does not occur.
• If a denied neighbor supports bidir, then the DF election does not occur.
• If a denied neighbor does not support bidir, the DF election can occur.
Procedure
Step 1 Use a standard ACL to define the routers that you want to have participate in PIM:
access-list pim_nbr deny router-IP_addr PIM neighbor
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list pim_nbr deny 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.255
724
In the example, the following ACL, when used with the pim neighbor-filter command, prevents the 10.1.1.1
router from becoming a PIM neighbor.
Step 2 Filter neighbor routers:

pim bidirectional-neighbor-filter pim_nbr
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim bidirectional neighbor-filter pim_nbr
In the example, the 10.1.1.1 router is prevented from becoming a PIM bidirectional neighbor on interface
GigabitEthernet0/3.
Configure the ASA as a Candidate BSR

You can configure the ASA as a candidate BSR.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the router to announce its candidacy as a bootstrap router (BSR):
pim bsr-candidate interface_name [hash_mask_length [priority]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# pim bsr-candidate inside 12 3
Step 2 (Optional) Configure the ASA as a Border Bootstrap Router:

pim bsr-border
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# pim bsr-border
When this command is configured on an interface, no bootstrap router (BSR) messages will be sent or received
through an interface.
Configure a Multicast Boundary

Address scoping defines domain boundaries so that domains with RPs that have the same IP address do not
leak into each other. Scoping is performed on the subnet boundaries within large domains and on the boundaries
between the domain and the Internet.
725
Monitoring for PIM
You can set up an administratively scoped boundary on an interface for multicast group addresses. IANA has
designated the multicast address range from 239.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 as the administratively scoped
addresses. This range of addresses can be reused in domains administered by different organizations. The
addresses would be considered local, not globally unique.
A standard ACL defines the range of affected addresses. When a boundary is set up, no multicast data packets
are allowed to flow across the boundary from either direction. The boundary allows the same multicast group
address to be reused in different administrative domains.
You can configure, examine, and filter Auto-RP discovery and announcement messages at the administratively
scoped boundary by entering the filter-autorp keyword. Any Auto-RP group range announcements from the
Auto-RP packets that are denied by the boundary ACL are removed. An Auto-RP group range announcement
is permitted and passed by the boundary only if all addresses in the Auto-RP group range are permitted by
the boundary ACL. If any address is not permitted, the entire group range is filtered and removed from the
Auto-RP message before the Auto-RP message is forwarded.
Procedure
Configure a multicast boundary:

multicast boundary acl [filter-autorp]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# multicast boundary acl1 [filter-autorp]
Monitoring for PIM

You can use the following commands to monitor the PIM routing process. For examples and descriptions of
the command output, see the command reference.
To monitor or disable various PIM routing statistics, enter one of the following commands:
• show pim bsr-router
Displays the bootstrap router information.
• show mroute
Displays the contents of the multicast routing table.
• show mfib summary
Displays summary information about the number of IPv4 PIM multicast forwarding information base
entries and interfaces.
• show mfib active
Displays information from the Multicast Forwarding Information Base (MFIB) about the rate at which
active multicast sources are sending to multicast groups.
• show pim group-map
Displays the group-to-PIM mode mapping.
• show pim group-map rp-timers
Displays the timer expiry and uptime for each group to PIM mode mapping entry.
726
Example for Multicast Routing
• show pim neighbor

Displays the Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) neighbors.
Example for Multicast Routing

The following example shows how to enable and configure multicast routing with various optional processes:
1 Enable multicast routing:
ciscoasa(config)# multicast-routing
2 Configure a static multicast route:
ciscoasa(config)# mroute src_ip src_mask {input_if_name | rpf_neighbor} [distance]

ciscoasa(config)# exit
3 Configure the ASA to be a member of a multicast group:
ciscoasa(config)# interface
ciscoasa(config-if)# igmp join-group group-address
History for Multicast Routing

Table 39: Feature History for Multicast Routing

Releases
Multicast routing support 7.0(1) Support was added for multicast routing data, authentication,
and redistribution and monitoring of routing information using
the multicast routing protocol.
We introduced the multicast-routing command.
Clustering support 9.0(1) Support was added for clustering.

We introduced the following commands: debug mfib cluster,
show mfib cluster.
Protocol Independent Multicast Source-Specific 9.5(1) Support was added to allow PIM-SSM packets to pass through
Multicast (PIM-SSM) pass-through support when multicast routing is enabled, unless the ASA is the
Last-Hop Router. This allows greater flexibility in choosing a
multicast group while also protecting against different attacks;
hosts only receive traffic from explicitly-requested sources.
We did not change any commands.
727
History for Multicast Routing

Releases
Protocol Independent Multicast Bootstrap 9.5(2) Support was added for a new dynamic Rendezvous Point (RP)
Router(BSR) selection model that uses candidate routers for Rendezvous
Point function and for relaying the Rendezvous Point
information for a group. This feature provides a means of
dynamically learning Rendezvous Points (RPs), which is very
essential in large complex networks where an RP can
periodically go down and come up.
We introduced the following commands: clear pim group-map,
debug pim bsr, pim bsr-border, pim bsr-candidate, show pim
bsr-router, show pim group-map rp-timers
728
CHAPTER 28
IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
• About IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 729
• Prerequisites for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 730
• Guidelines for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 730
• Defaults for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 732
• Configure IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 733
• Monitoring IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 738
• History for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery, page 738
About IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

The IPv6 neighbor discovery process uses ICMPv6 messages and solicited-node multicast addresses to
determine the link-layer address of a neighbor on the same network (local link), verify the readability of a
neighbor, and keep track of neighboring routers.
Nodes (hosts) use neighbor discovery to determine the link-layer addresses for neighbors known to reside on
attached links and to quickly purge cached values that become invalid. Hosts also use neighbor discovery to
find neighboring routers that are willing to forward packets on their behalf. In addition, nodes use the protocol
to actively keep track of which neighbors are reachable and which are not, and to detect changed link-layer
addresses. When a router or the path to a router fails, a host actively searches for functioning alternates.
Neighbor Solicitation Messages

Neighbor solicitation messages (ICMPv6 Type 135) are sent on the local link by nodes attempting to discover
the link-layer addresses of other nodes on the local link. After receiving a neighbor solicitation message, the
destination node replies by sending a neighbor advertisement message (ICPMv6 Type 136) on the local link.
After the source node receives the neighbor advertisement, the source node and destination node can
communicate. Neighbor solicitation messages are also used to verify the reachability of a neighbor after the
link-layer address of a neighbor is identified. When a node wants to verifying the reachability of a neighbor,
the destination address in a neighbor solicitation message is the unicast address of the neighbor.
Neighbor advertisement messages are also sent when there is a change in the link-layer address of a node on
a local link.
729
Prerequisites for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
Duplicate Address Detection

During the stateless autoconfiguration process, Duplicate Address Detection verifies the uniqueness of new
unicast IPv6 addresses before the addresses are assigned to interfaces.
When a duplicate address is identified, the state of the address is set to DUPLICATE, the address is not used,
and the following error message is generated:
325002: Duplicate address ipv6_address/MAC_address on interface
If the duplicate address is the link-local address of the interface, the processing of IPv6 packets is disabled
on the interface. If the duplicate address is a global address, the address is not used.
The ASA uses neighbor solicitation messages to perform Duplicate Address Detection. By default, the number
of times an interface performs Duplicate Address Detection is 1.
Router Advertisement Messages

The ASA can participate in router advertisements so that neighboring devices can dynamically learn a default
router address. Router advertisement messages (ICMPv6 Type 134) are periodically sent out each IPv6
configured interface of the ASA.
Router advertisements are also sent in response to router solicitation messages (ICMPv6 Type 133). Router
solicitation messages are sent by hosts at system startup so that the host can immediately autoconfigure without
needing to wait for the next scheduled router advertisement message.
Static IPv6 Neighbors

You can manually define a neighbor in the IPv6 neighbor cache. If an entry for the specified IPv6 address
already exists in the neighbor discovery cache—learned through the IPv6 neighbor discovery process—the
entry is automatically converted to a static entry. Static entries in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache are not
modified by the neighbor discovery process.
Prerequisites for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

Configure IPv6 addressing according to Configure IPv6 Addressing, on page 443.
Guidelines for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

The following IPv6 neighbor discovery commands are not supported in transparent firewall mode, because
they require router capabilities:
• ipv6 nd prefix
• ipv6 nd ra-interval
• ipv6 nd ra-lifetime
• ipv6 nd suppress-ra
730
Guidelines for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
Additional Guidelines and Limitations

• The interval value is included in all IPv6 router advertisements that are sent out of this interface.
• The configured time enables detecting unavailable neighbors. Shorter configured times enable detecting
unavailable neighbors more quickly; however, shorter times consume more IPv6 network bandwidth
and processing resources in all IPv6 network devices. Very short configured times are not recommended
in normal IPv6 operation.
• The interval between transmissions should be less than or equal to the IPv6 router advertisement lifetime
if the ASA is configured as a default router by using the ipv6 nd ra-lifetime command. To prevent
synchronization with other IPv6 nodes, randomly adjust the actual value used to within 20 percent of
the specified value.
• The ipv6 nd prefix command allows control over the individual parameters per prefix, including whether
or not the prefix should be advertised.
• By default, prefixes configured as addresses on an interface using the ipv6 address command are
advertised in router advertisements. If you configure prefixes for advertisement using the ipv6 nd prefix
command, then only these prefixes are advertised.
• The default keyword can be used to set default parameters for all prefixes.
• A date can be set to specify the expiration of a prefix. The valid and preferred lifetimes are counted
down in real time. When the expiration date is reached, the prefix will no longer be advertised.
• When onlink is on (by default), the specified prefix is assigned to the link. Nodes sending traffic to such
addresses that contain the specified prefix consider the destination to be locally reachable on the link.
• When autoconfig is on (by default), it indicates to hosts on the local link that the specified prefix can be
used for IPv6 autoconfiguration.
• For stateless autoconfiguration to work correctly, the advertised prefix length in router advertisement
messages must always be 64 bits.
• The router lifetime value is included in all IPv6 router advertisements sent out of the interface. The value
indicates the usefulness of the ASA as a default router on this interface.
• Setting the value to a non-zero value indicates that the ASA should be considered a default router on
this interface. The non-zero value for the router lifetime value should not be less than the router
advertisement interval.
The following guidelines and limitations apply for configuring a static IPv6 neighbor:
• The ipv6 neighbor command is similar to the arp command. If an entry for the specified IPv6 address
already exists in the neighbor discovery cache—learned through the IPv6 neighbor discovery process—the
entry is automatically converted to a static entry. These entries are stored in the configuration when the
copy command is used to store the configuration.
• Use the show ipv6 neighbor command to view static entries in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache.
• The clear ipv6 neighbor command deletes all entries in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache except static
entries. The no ipv6 neighbor command deletes a specified static entry from the neighbor discovery
cache; the command does not remove dynamic entries—entries learned from the IPv6 neighbor discovery
process—from the cache. Disabling IPv6 on an interface by using the no ipv6 enable command deletes
all IPv6 neighbor discovery cache entries configured for that interface except static entries (the state of
the entry changes to INCMP [Incomplete]).
731
Defaults for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
• Static entries in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache are not modified by the neighbor discovery process.
• The clear ipv6 neighbor command does not remove static entries from the IPv6 neighbor discovery
cache; it only clears the dynamic entries.
• The ICMP syslogs generated are caused by a regular refresh of IPv6 neighbor entries. The ASA default
timer for IPv6 neighbor entry is 30 seconds, so the ASA would generate ICMPv6 neighbor discovery
and response packets about every 30 seconds. If the ASA has both failover LAN and state interfaces
configured with IPv6 addresses, then every 30 seconds, ICMPv6 neighbor discovery and response
packets will be generated by both ASAs for both configured and link-local IPv6 addresses. In addition,
each packet will generate several syslogs (ICMP connection and local-host creation or teardown), so it
may appear that constant ICMP syslogs are being generated. The refresh time for IPV6 neighbor entry
is configurable on the regular data interface, but not configurable on the failover interface. However,
the CPU impact for this ICMP neighbor discovery traffic is minimal.
Defaults for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

The following table lists the default settings for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery.
Table 40: Default IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Parameters
Parameters Default
value for the neighbor solicitation transmission 1000 seconds between neighbor solicitation
message interval transmissions.
value for the neighbor reachable time The default is 0.
value for the router advertisement transmission The default is 200 seconds.
interval
value for the router lifetime The default is 1800 seconds.
value for the number of consecutive neighbor The default is one message.
solicitation messages sent during DAD
prefix lifetime The default lifetime is 2592000 seconds (30 days),

and a preferred lifetime is 604800 seconds (7 days).
on-link flag The flag is on by default, which means that the prefix
is used on the advertising interface.
autoconfig flag The flag is on by default, which means that the prefix
is used for autoconfiguration.
static IPv6 neighbor Static entries are not configured in the IPv6 neighbor
discovery cache.
732
Configure IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

Follow this procedure to configure IPv6 Neighbor discovery:
Procedure
Step 1 Configure neighbor discovery settings for each interface.

Step 2 Configure the neighbor solicitation message interval.
Step 3 Configure the neighbor reachable time.
Step 4 Configure the router advertisement transmission interval.
Step 5 Configure the router lifetime value.
Step 6 Configure DAD settings.
Enter Interface Configuration Mode

Configure neighbor discovery settings per interface. To enter interface configuration mode, perform the
following steps.
Procedure
Enter interface configuration mode:

interface name
Example:
Configure the Neighbor Solicitation Message Interval

To configure the interval between IPv6 neighbor solicitation retransmissions on an interface perform the
following steps.
Procedure
Set the interval between IPv6 neighbor solicitation retransmissions on an interface:

ipv6 nd ns-interval value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd ns-interval 9000
Valid values for the value argument range from 1000 to 3600000 milliseconds.
This information is also sent in router advertisement messages.
733
Configure the Neighbor Reachable Time

The neighbor reachable time enables detecting unavailable neighbors. Shorter configured times enable detecting
unavailable neighbors more quickly, however, shorter times consume more IPv6 network bandwidth and
processing resources in all IPv6 network devices. Very short configured times are not recommended in normal
IPv6 operation.
Procedure
Set the amount of time that a remote IPv6 node is reachable:

ipv6 nd reachable-time value
Example:
ciscoasa config-if)# ipv6 nd reachable-time 1700000
Valid values for the value argument range from 0 to 3600000 milliseconds.
When 0 is used for the value, the reachable time is sent as undetermined. It is up to the receiving devices to
set and track the reachable time value.
Configure the Router Advertisement Transmission Interval

To configure the interval between IPv6 router advertisement transmissions on an interface, perform the
following steps:
Procedure
Set the interval between IPv6 router advertisement transmissions:

ipv6 nd ra-interval [msec] value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd ra-interval 201
The optional msec keyword indicates that the value provided is in milliseconds. If this keyword is not present,
the value provided is in seconds.
Valid values for the value argument range from 3 to 1800 seconds or from 500 to 1800000 milliseconds if
the msec keyword is provided.
The interval between transmissions should be less than or equal to the IPv6 router advertisement lifetime if
the ASA is configured as a default router. For more information, see Configure the Router Lifetime Value,
on page 735. To prevent synchronization with other IPv6 nodes, randomly adjust the actual value used to
within 20 percent of the desired value.
734
Configure the Router Lifetime Value

To configure the router lifetime value in IPv6 router advertisements on an interface perform the following
steps.
Procedure
Specify the length of time that nodes on the local link should consider the ASA as the default router on the
link:
ipv6 nd ra-lifetime [msec] value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd ra-lifetime 2000
• The optional msec keyword indicates that the value provided is in milliseconds. If this keyword is not
present, the value provided is in seconds.
• Valid values for the value argument range from 0 to 9000 seconds.
• Entering 0 indicates that the ASA should not be considered a default router on the selected interface.
Configure DAD Settings

To specify DAD settings on the interface, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Specify the uniqueness of new unicast IPv6 addresses before they are assigned and ensure that duplicate IPv6
addresses are detected in the network on a link basis:
ipv6 nd dad attempts value
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd dad attempts 20
Valid values for the value argument range from 0 to 600. A zero value disables DAD processing on the
specified interface.
Suppress Router Advertisement Messages

Router advertisement messages are automatically sent in response to router solicitation messages. You may
want to disable these messages on any interface for which you do not want the ASA to supply the IPv6 prefix
(for example, the outside interface).
To suppress the router lifetime value in IPv6 router advertisements on an interface, perform the following
steps.
735
Procedure
Suppress the router lifetime value:

ipv6 nd suppress-ra seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd suppress-ra 900
The seconds argument specifies the validity of the ASA as a default router on this interface. Valid values
range from 0 to 9000 seconds.
A zero indicates that the ASA should not be considered a default router on the specified interface.
Note Entering this command causes the ASA to appear as a regular IPv6 neighbor on the link and not as
an IPv6 router.
Configure Address Config Flags for IPv6 DHCP Relay

You can add a flag to IPv6 router advertisements to inform IPv6 autoconfiguration clients to use DHCPv6 to
obtain an IPv6 address and/or additional information such as the DNS server address.
Procedure
Step 1 Set the Managed Address Config flag in the IPv6 router advertisement packet:
ipv6 nd managed-config-flag
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd managed-config-flag
This flag informs IPv6 autoconfiguration clients that they should use DHCPv6 to obtain addresses, in addition
to the derived stateless autoconfiguration address.
Step 2 Set the Other Address Config flag in the IPv6 router advertisement packet:
ipv6 nd other-config-flag
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd other-config-flag
This flag informs IPv6 autoconfiguration clients that they should use DHCPv6 to obtain additional information
from DHCPv6, such as the DNS server address.
Configure the IPv6 Prefix in Router Advertisements

To configure the which IPv6 prefixes are included in IPv6 router advertisements, perform the following steps:
736
Procedure
Configure which IPv6 prefixes are included in IPv6 router advertisements:

ipv6 nd prefix ipv6-prefix/prefix-length | default [[valid-lifetime preferred-lifetime] | [at valid-date
preferred-date] | infinite | no-advertise | off-link | no-autoconfig]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 nd prefix 2001:DB8::/32 1000 900
• The prefix advertisement can be used by neighboring devices to autoconfigure their interface addresses.
Stateless autoconfiguration uses IPv6 prefixes provided in router advertisement messages to create the
global unicast address from the link-local address.
• The at valid-date preferred-date syntax indicates the date and time at which the lifetime and preference
expire. The prefix is valid until this specified date and time are reached.
• Dates are expressed in the form date-valid-expire month-valid-expire hh:mm-valid-expire
date-prefer-expire month-prefer-expire hh:mm-prefer-expire.
• The default keyword indicates that default values are used.
• The optional infinite keyword specifies that the valid lifetime does not expire.
• The ipv6-prefix argument specifies the IPv6 network number to include in router advertisements. This
argument must be in the form documented in RFC 2373 where the address is specified in hexadecimal
using 16-bit values between colons.
• The optional no-advertise keyword indicates to hosts on the local link that the specified prefix is not to
be used for IPv6 autoconfiguration.
• The optional no-autoconfig keyword indicates to hosts on the local link that the specified prefix cannot
be used for IPv6 autoconfiguration.
• The optional off-link keyword indicates that the specified prefix is not used for on-link determination.
• The preferred-lifetime argument specifies the amount of time (in seconds) that the specified IPv6 prefix
is advertised as being preferred. Valid values range from 0 to 4294967295 seconds. The maximum value
represents infinity, which can also be specified with infinite. The default is 604800 (7 days).
• The prefix-length argument specifies the length of the IPv6 prefix. This value indicates how many of
the high-order, contiguous bits of the address comprise the network portion of the prefix. The slash (/)
must precede the prefix length.
• The valid-lifetime argument specifies the amount of time that the specified IPv6 prefix is advertised as
being valid. Valid values range from 0 to 4294967295 seconds. The maximum value represents infinity,
which can also be specified with infinite. The default is 2592000 (30 days).
Configuring a Static IPv6 Neighbor

To configure a static entry in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache, perform the following steps:
737
Monitoring IPv6 Neighbor Discovery
Procedure
Configure a static entry in the IPv6 neighbor discovery cache:

ipv6 neighbor ipv6_address if_name mac_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config-if)# ipv6 neighbor 3001:1::45A inside 002.7D1A.9472
The ipv6_address argument is the link-local IPv6 address of the neighbor, the if_name argument is the interface
through which the neighbor is available, and the mac_address argument is the MAC address of the neighbor
interface.
Monitoring IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

To monitor IPv6 neighbor discovery parameters, enter the following command:
• show ipv6 interface
This command displays the usability status of interfaces configured for IPv6, including the interface
name, such as “outside,” and displays the settings for the specified interface. However, it excludes the
name from the command and displays the settings for all interfaces that have IPv6 enabled on them.
Output for the command shows the following:
◦The name and status of the interface.
◦The link-local and global unicast addresses.
◦The multicast groups to which the interface belongs.
◦ICMP redirect and error message settings.
◦Neighbor discovery settings.
◦The actual time when the command is set to 0.
◦The neighbor discovery reachable time that is being used.
History for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

Table 41: Feature History for IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

IPv6 Neighbor Discovery 7.0(1) We introduced this feature.
We introduced the following commands: ipv6 nd ns-interval,
ipv6 nd ra-lifetime, ipv6 nd suppress-ra, ipv6 neighbor, ipv6
nd prefix, ipv6 nd dad-attempts, ipv6 nd reachable-time,
ipv6 address, ipv6 enforce-eui64.
738

Address Config Flags for IPv6 DHCP Relay 9.0(1) We introduced the following commands: ipv6 nd
managed-config-flag, ipv6 nd other-config-flag.
739
740
PART VI
AAA Servers and the Local Database
• AAA and the Local Database, page 743
• RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 753
• TACACS+ Servers for AAA, page 775
• LDAP Servers for AAA, page 781
CHAPTER 29
AAA and the Local Database
This chapter describes authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA, pronounced “triple A”). AAA
is a a set of services for controlling access to computer resources, enforcing policies, assessing usage, and
providing the information necessary to bill for services. These processes are considered important for effective
network management and security.
This chapter also describes how to configure the local database for AAA functionality. For external AAA
servers, see the chapter for your server type.
• About AAA and the Local Database, page 743

• Guidelines for the Local Database, page 746
• Add a User Account to the Local Database, page 746
• Generate a Shared Key, page 749
• Monitoring the Local Database, page 751
• History for the Local Database, page 751
About AAA and the Local Database

This section describes AAA and the local database.
Authentication
Authentication provides a way to identify a user, typically by having the user enter a valid username and valid
password before access is granted. The AAA server compares a user's authentication credentials with other
user credentials stored in a database. If the credentials match, the user is permitted access to the network. If
the credentials do not match, authentication fails and network access is denied.
You can configure the Cisco ASA to authenticate the following items:
• All administrative connections to the ASA, including the following sessions:
◦Telnet
◦SSH
743
◦Serial console
◦ASDM using HTTPS
◦VPN management access
• The enable command

• Network access
• VPN access
Authorization
Authorization is the process of enforcing policies: determining what types of activities, resources, or services
a user is permitted to access. After a user is authenticated, that user may be authorized for different types of
access or activity.
You can configure the ASA to authorize the following items:
• Management commands
• Network access
• VPN access
Accounting
Accounting measures the resources a user consumes during access, which may include the amount of system
time or the amount of data that a user has sent or received during a session. Accounting is carried out through
the logging of session statistics and usage information, which is used for authorization control, billing, trend
analysis, resource utilization, and capacity planning activities.
Interaction Between Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting

You can use authentication alone or with authorization and accounting. Authorization always requires a user
to be authenticated first. You can use accounting alone, or with authentication and authorization.
AAA Servers
The AAA server is a network server that is used for access control. Authentication identifies the user.
Authorization implements policies that determine which resources and services an authenticated user may
access. Accounting keeps track of time and data resources that are used for billing and analysis.
AAA Server Groups

If you want to use an external AAA server for authentication, authorization, or accounting, you must first
create at least one AAA server group per AAA protocol and add one or more servers to each group. You
identify AAA server groups by name. Each server group is specific to one type of server or service.
744
About the Local Database

The ASA maintains a local database that you can populate with user profiles. You can use a local database
instead of AAA servers to provide user authentication, authorization, and accounting.
You can use the local database for the following functions:
• ASDM per-user access
• Console authentication
• Telnet and SSH authentication
• enable command authentication
This setting is for CLI-access only and does not affect the Cisco ASDM login.
• Command authorization
If you turn on command authorization using the local database, then the Cisco ASA refers to the user
privilege level to determine which commands are available. Otherwise, the privilege level is not generally
used. By default, all commands are either privilege level 0 or level 15.
• Network access authentication
• VPN client authentication
For multiple context mode, you can configure usernames in the system execution space to provide individual
logins at the CLI using the login command; however, you cannot configure any AAA rules that use the local
database in the system execution space.
Note You cannot use the local database for network access authorization.
Fallback Support
The local database can act as a fallback method for several functions. This behavior is designed to help you
prevent accidental lockout from the ASA.
When a user logs in, the servers in the group are accessed one at a time, starting with the first server that you
specify in the configuration, until a server responds. If all servers in the group are unavailable, the ASA tries
the local database if you have configured it as a fallback method (for management authentication and
authorization only). If you do not have a fallback method, the ASA continues to try the AAA servers.
For users who need fallback support, we recommend that their usernames and passwords in the local database
match their usernames and passwords on the AAA servers. This practice provides transparent fallback support.
Because the user cannot determine whether a AAA server or the local database is providing the service, using
usernames and passwords on AAA servers that are different than the usernames and passwords in the local
database means that the user cannot be certain which username and password should be given.
The local database supports the following fallback functions:
• Console and enable password authentication—If the servers in the group are all unavailable, the ASA
uses the local database to authenticate administrative access, which can also include enable password
authentication.
745
Guidelines for the Local Database
• Command authorization—If the TACACS+ servers in the group are all unavailable, the local database
is used to authorize commands based on privilege levels.
• VPN authentication and authorization—VPN authentication and authorization are supported to enable
remote access to the ASA if AAA servers that normally support these VPN services are unavailable.
When a VPN client of an administrator specifies a tunnel group configured to fallback to the local
database, the VPN tunnel can be established even if the AAA server group is unavailable, provided that
the local database is configured with the necessary attributes.
How Fallback Works with Multiple Servers in a Group

If you configure multiple servers in a server group and you enable fallback to the local database for the server
group, fallback occurs when no server in the group responds to the authentication request from the ASA. To
illustrate, consider this scenario:
You configure an LDAP server group with two Active Directory servers, server 1 and server 2, in that order.
When the remote user logs in, the ASA attempts to authenticate to server 1.
If server 1 responds with an authentication failure (such as user not found), the ASA does not attempt to
authenticate to server 2.
If server 1 does not respond within the timeout period (or the number of authentication attempts exceeds the
configured maximum), the ASA tries server 2.
If both servers in the group do not respond, and the ASA is configured to fall back to the local database, the
ASA tries to authenticate to the local database.
Guidelines for the Local Database

Make sure that you prevent a lockout from the ASA when using the local database for authentication or
authorization.
Add a User Account to the Local Database

To add a user to the local database, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create the user account.

username username {nopassword | password password} [privilege priv_level]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# username exampleuser1 privilege 1
Theusername username keyword is a string from 3 to 64 characters long, using any combination of ASCII
printable characters (character codes 32-126), with the exception of spaces and the question mark. The
password password keyword is a string from 3 to 32 characters long, and can be any combination of ASCII
printable characters (character codes 32-126), with the exception of spaces and the question mark. The privilege
746
priv_level keyword sets the privilege level, which ranges from 0 to 15. The default is 2. This privilege level
is used with command authorization.
Caution If you do not use command authorization (the aaa authorization console LOCAL command),
then the default level 2 allows management access to privileged EXEC mode. If you want to limit
access to privileged EXEC mode, either set the privilege level to 0 or 1, or use the service-type
command.
The nopassword keyword creates a user account with no password. The encrypted keyword indicates that
the password is encrypted. When you define a password in the username command, the ASA encrypts it
when it saves it to the configuration for security purposes. When you enter the show running-config command,
the username command does not show the actual password; it shows the encrypted password followed by
the encrypted keyword. For example, if you enter the password “test,” the show running-config command
output would appear as something similar to the following:
username user1 password DLaUiAX3l78qgoB5c7iVNw== encrypted
The only time you would actually enter the encrypted keyword at the CLI is if you are cutting and pasting a
configuration file for use in another ASA, and you are using the same password.
Step 2 (Optional) Configure username attributes.

username username attributes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# username exampleuser1 attributes
The username argument is the username that you created in the first step.
By default, VPN users that you add with this command have no attributes or group policy association. You
must configure all values explicitly using the username attributes command. See the VPN configuration
guide for more information.
Step 3 (Optional) Configure the user level if you configured management authorization using the aaa authorization
exec command.
service-type {admin | nas-prompt | remote-access}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-username)# service-type admin
The admin keyword allows full access to any services specified by the aaa authentication console LOCAL
commands. The admin keyword is the default.
The nas-prompt keyword allows access to the CLI when you configure the aaa authentication {telnet | ssh
| serial} console command, but denies ASDM configuration access if you configure the aaa authentication
http console command. ASDM monitoring access is allowed. If you enable authentication with the aaa
authentication enable console command, the user cannot access privileged EXEC mode using the enable
command (or the login command).
The remote-access keyword denies management access. You cannot use any services specified by the aaa
authentication console commands (excluding the serial keyword; serial access is allowed).
Step 4 Enable public key authentication for SSH connections to the ASA on a per-user basis.
ssh authentication {pkf | publickey key [hashed]}
747
Example:
ciscoasa(config-username)# ssh authentication pkf
Enter an SSH public key formatted file.

End with the word "quit" on a line by itself:
---- BEGIN SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
Comment: "4096-bit RSA, converted by xxx@xxx from OpenSSH"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---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----quit
INFO: Import of an SSH public key formatted file SUCCEEDED.
ciscoasa(config-username)#
You can specify a public key file (PKF) formatted key (the pkf keyword) or a Base64 key (the publickey
keyword). For a publickey, the key is a Base64-encoded public key. You can generate the key using any SSH
key generation software (such as ssh keygen) that can generate SSH-RSA raw keys (with no certificates).
For a pkf key, you are prompted to paste in a PKF formatted key, up to 4096 bits. Use this format for keys
that are too large to paste inline in Base64 format. For example, you can generate a 4096-bit key using ssh
keygen, then convert it to PKF, and use the pkf keyword to be prompted for the key.
Note You can use the pkf option with failover, but the PKF key is not automatically replicated to the
standby system. You must enter the write standby command to synchronize the PKF key.
When you view the key on the ASA using the show running-config username command, the key is encrypted
using a SHA-256 hash. Even if you entered the key as pkf, the ASA hashes the key, and shows it as a hashed
publickey. If you need to copy the key from show output, specify the publickey type with the hashed keyword.
Step 5 (Optional) If you are using this username for VPN authentication, you can configure many VPN attributes
for the user. See the VPN configuration guide for more information.
Examples
The following example assigns a privilege level of 15 to the admin user account:
ciscoasa(config)# username admin password password privilege 15
The following example creates a user account with no password:
ciscoasa(config)# username user34 nopassword
The following example enables management authorization, creates a user account with a password, enters
username configuration mode, and specifies a service-type of nas-prompt:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authorization exec authentication-server

ciscoasa(config)# username user1 password gOgeOus
ciscoasa(config)# username user1 attributes
ciscoasa(config-username)# service-type nas-prompt
748
Generate a Shared Key

To generates a shared key for SSH on a Linux or Macintosh system, and import it to the perform the following
steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Generate the ssh-rsa public and private keys for 4096 bits on your computer:
jcrichton-mac:~ john$ ssh-keygen -b 4096

Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa):
/Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa already exists.
Overwrite (y/n)? y
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): pa$$phrase
Enter same passphrase again: pa$$phrase
Your identification has been saved in /Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
c0:0a:a2:3c:99:fc:00:62:f1:ee:fa:f8:ef:70:c1:f9 john@jcrichton-mac
The key's randomart image is:
+--[ RSA 4096]----+
| . |
| o . |
|+... o |
|B.+..... |
|.B ..+ S |
| = o |
| + . E |
| o o |
| ooooo |
+-----------------+
Step 2 Convert the key to PKF format:
jcrichton-mac:~ john$ cd .ssh

jcrichton-mac:.ssh john$ ssh-keygen -e -f id_rsa.pub
Comment: "4096-bit RSA, converted by ramona@rboersma-mac from OpenSSH"
hleR/qgIROjpnDaS7Az8/+sjHmq0qXC5TXkzWihvRZbhefyPhPHCi0hIt4oUF2ZbXESA/8
NRxCQOY/7K77IQ==
---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
749
jcrichton-mac:.ssh john$
Step 3 Copy the key to your clipboard.

Step 4
ciscoasa(config)# username test attributes
ciscoasa(config-username)# ssh authentication pkf
Enter an SSH public key formatted file.
End with the word "quit" on a line by itself:
Comment: "4096-bit RSA, converted by ramona@rboersma-mac from OpenSSH"
hleR/qgIROjpnDaS7Az8/+sjHmq0qXC5TXkzWihvRZbhefyPhPHCi0hIt4oUF2ZbXESA/8
NRxCQOY/7K77IQ==
---- END SSH2 PUBLIC KEY ----
quit
INFO: Import of an SSH public key formatted file completed successfully.
Step 5 Verify the user (test) can SSH to the ASA:
jcrichton-mac:.ssh john$ ssh [email protected]

The authenticity of host '10.86.118.5 (10.86.118.5)' can't be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 39:ca:ed:a8:75:5b:cc:8e:e2:1d:96:2b:93:b5:69:94.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
The following dialog box appears for you to enter your passphrase:
Meanwhile, in the terminal session:
Warning: Permanently added '10.86.118.5' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.

Identity added: /Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa (/Users/john/.ssh/id_rsa)
Type help or '?' for a list of available commands.
750
Monitoring the Local Database
asa>
Monitoring the Local Database

See the following commands for monitoring the local database:
• show aaa-server
This command shows the configured database statistics. To clear the AAA server configuration, enter
the clear aaa-server statistics command.
• show running-config aaa-server
This command shows the AAA server running configuration. To clear AAA server statistics, enter the
clear configure aaa-server command.
History for the Local Database

Table 42: History for the Local Database

Releases
Local database configuration for AAA 7.0(1) Describes how to configure the local database for AAA use.
username, aaa authorization exec authentication-server,
aaa authentication console LOCAL, aaa authorization exec
LOCAL, service-type, aaa authentication {telnet | ssh |
serial} console LOCAL, aaa authentication http console
LOCAL, aaa authentication enable console LOCAL, show
running-config aaa-server, show aaa-server, clear configure
aaa-server, clear aaa-server statistics.
Support for SSH public key authentication 9.1(2) You can now enable public key authentication for SSH
connections to the ASA on a per-user basis. You can specify a
public key file (PKF) formatted key or a Base64 key. The PKF
key can be up to 4096 bits. Use PKF format for keys that are
too large to for the ASA support of the Base64 format (up to
2048 bits).
We introduced the following commands: ssh authentication.
Also available in 8.4(4.1); PKF key format support is only in
9.1(2).
751
History for the Local Database
752
CHAPTER 30
RADIUS Servers for AAA
This chapter describes how to configure RADIUS servers for AAA.
• About RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 753

• Guidelines for RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 766
• Configure RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 766
• Monitoring RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 772
• History for RADIUS Servers for AAA, page 772
About RADIUS Servers for AAA

The Cisco ASA supports the following RFC-compliant RADIUS servers for AAA:
• Cisco Secure ACS 3.2, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, and 5.x
• Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
• RSA RADIUS in RSA Authentication Manager 5.2, 6.1, and 7.x
• Microsoft
Supported Authentication Methods

The ASA supports the following authentication methods with RADIUS servers:
• PAP—For all connection types.
• CHAP and MS-CHAPv1—For L2TP-over-IPsec connections.
• MS-CHAPv2—For L2TP-over-IPsec connections, and for regular IPsec remote access connections
when the password management feature is enabled. You can also use MS-CHAPv2 with clientless
connections.
• Authentication Proxy modes—For RADIUS-to Active-Directory, RADIUS-to-RSA/SDI, RADIUS-
to-Token server, and RSA/SDI-to-RADIUS connections,
753
Note To enable MS-CHAPv2 as the protocol used between the ASA and the RADIUS server
for a VPN connection, password management must be enabled in the tunnel group
general attributes. Enabling password management generates an MS-CHAPv2
authentication request from the ASA to the RADIUS server. See the description of the
password-management command for details.
If you use double authentication and enable password management in the tunnel group,
then the primary and secondary authentication requests include MS-CHAPv2 request
attributes. If a RADIUS server does not support MS-CHAPv2, then you can configure
that server to send a non-MS-CHAPv2 authentication request by using the no
mschapv2-capable command.
User Authorization of VPN Connections

The ASA can use RADIUS servers for user authorization of VPN remote access and firewall cut-through-proxy
sessions using dynamic ACLs or ACL names per user. To implement dynamic ACLs, you must configure the
RADIUS server to support them. When the user authenticates, the RADIUS server sends a downloadable
ACL or ACL name to the ASA. Access to a given service is either permitted or denied by the ACL. The ASA
deletes the ACL when the authentication session expires.
In addition to ACLs, the ASA supports many other attributes for authorization and setting of permissions for
VPN remote access and firewall cut-through proxy sessions.
Supported Sets of RADIUS Attributes

The ASA supports the following sets of RADIUS attributes:
• Authentication attributes defined in RFC 2138.
• Accounting attributes defined in RFC 2139.
• RADIUS attributes for tunneled protocol support, defined in RFC 2868.
• Cisco IOS Vendor-Specific Attributes (VSAs), identified by RADIUS vendor ID 9.
• Cisco VPN-related VSAs, identified by RADIUS vendor ID 3076.
• Microsoft VSAs, defined in RFC 2548.
• Cisco VSA (Cisco-Priv-Level), which provides a standard 0-15 numeric ranking of privileges, with 1
being the lowest level and 15 being the highest level. A zero level indicates no privileges. The first level
(login) allows privileged EXEC access for the commands available at this level. The second level (enable)
allows CLI configuration privileges.
Supported RADIUS Authorization Attributes

Authorization refers to the process of enforcing permissions or attributes. A RADIUS server defined as an
authentication server enforces permissions or attributes if they are configured. These attributes have vendor
ID 3076.
The following table lists the supported RADIUS attributes that can be used for user authorization.
754
Note RADIUS attribute names do not contain the cVPN3000 prefix. Cisco Secure ACS 4.x supports this new
nomenclature, but attribute names in pre-4.0 ACS releases still include the cVPN3000 prefix. The ASAs
enforce the RADIUS attributes based on attribute numeric ID, not attribute name.
All attributes listed in the following table are downstream attributes that are sent from the RADIUS server
to the ASA except for the following attribute numbers: 146, 150, 151, and 152. These attribute numbers
are upstream attributes that are sent from the ASA to the RADIUS server. RADIUS attributes 146 and
150 are sent from the ASA to the RADIUS server for authentication and authorization requests. All four
previously listed attributes are sent from the ASA to the RADIUS server for accounting start, interim-update,
and stop requests. Upstream RADIUS attributes 146, 150, 151, and 152 were introduced in Version 8.4(3).
Cisco ACS 5.x and Cisco ISE do not support IPv6 framed IP addresses for IP address assignment using
RADIUS authentication in Version 9.0(1).
Table 43: Supported RADIUS Authorization Attributes
Attribute Name ASA Attr. Syntax/Type Single or Description or Value

No. Multi-
Valued
Access-Hours Y 1 String Single Name of the time range, for example,
Business-hours
Access-List-Inbound Y 86 String Single ACL ID
Access-List-Outbound Y 87 String Single ACL ID
Address-Pools Y 217 String Single Name of IP local pool
Allow-Network-Extension-Mode Y 64 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Authenticated-User-Idle-Timeout Y 50 Integer Single 1-35791394 minutes
Authorization-DN-Field Y 67 String Single Possible values: UID, OU, O, CN, L, SP, C, EA,
T, N, GN, SN, I, GENQ, DNQ, SER,
use-entire-name
Authorization-Required 66 Integer Single 0 = No 1 = Yes
Authorization-Type Y 65 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = RADIUS 2 = LDAP
Banner1 Y 15 String Single Banner string to display for Cisco VPN remote
access sessions: IPsec IKEv1, AnyConnect
SSL-TLS/DTLS/IKEv2, and Clientless SSL
755

No. Multi-
Valued
Banner2 Y 36 String Single Banner string to display for Cisco VPN remote
access sessions: IPsec IKEv1, AnyConnect
SSL-TLS/DTLS/IKEv2, and Clientless SSL. The
Banner2 string is concatenated to the Banner1
string , if configured.
Cisco-IP-Phone-Bypass Y 51 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Cisco-LEAP-Bypass Y 75 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Client Type Y 150 Integer Single 1 = Cisco VPN Client (IKEv1) 2 = AnyConnect
Client SSL VPN 3 = Clientless SSL VPN 4 =
Cut-Through-Proxy 5 = L2TP/IPsec SSL VPN
6 = AnyConnect Client IPsec VPN (IKEv2)
Client-Type-Version-Limiting Y 77 String Single IPsec VPN version number string
DHCP-Network-Scope Y 61 String Single IP Address
Extended-Authentication-On-Rekey Y 122 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Group-Policy Y 25 String Single Sets the group policy for the remote access VPN
session. For Versions 8.2.x and later, use this
attribute instead of IETF-Radius-Class. You can
use one of the following formats:
• group policy name
• OU=group policy name
• OU=group policy name;
IE-Proxy-Bypass-Local 83 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = Local
IE-Proxy-Exception-List 82 String Single New line (\n) separated list of DNS domains
IE-Proxy-PAC-URL Y 133 String Single PAC address string
IE-Proxy-Server 80 String Single IP address
IE-Proxy-Server-Policy 81 Integer Single 1 = No Modify 2 = No Proxy 3 = Auto detect 4

= Use Concentrator Setting
IKE-KeepAlive-Confidence-Interval Y 68 Integer Single 10-300 seconds
IKE-Keepalive-Retry-Interval Y 84 Integer Single 2-10 seconds
756

No. Multi-
Valued
IKE-Keep-Alives Y 41 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Intercept-DHCP-Configure-Msg Y 62 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Allow-Passwd-Store Y 16 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Authentication 13 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = RADIUS 2 = LDAP (authorization

only) 3 = NT Domain 4 = SDI 5 = Internal 6 =
RADIUS with Expiry 7 = Kerberos/Active
Directory
IPsec-Auth-On-Rekey Y 42 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Backup-Server-List Y 60 String Single Server Addresses (space delimited)
IPsec-Backup-Servers Y 59 String Single 1 = Use Client-Configured list 2 = Disable and

clear client list 3 = Use Backup Server list
IPsec-Client-Firewall-Filter-Name 57 String Single Specifies the name of the filter to be pushed to

the client as firewall policy
IPsec-Client-Firewall-Filter-Optional Y 58 Integer Single 0 = Required 1 = Optional
IPsec-Default-Domain Y 28 String Single Specifies the single default domain name to send
to the client (1-255 characters).
IPsec-IKE-Peer-ID-Check Y 40 Integer Single 1 = Required 2 = If supported by peer certificate

3 = Do not check
IPsec-IP-Compression Y 39 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Mode-Config Y 31 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Over-UDP Y 34 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPsec-Over-UDP-Port Y 35 Integer Single 4001- 49151. The default is 10000.
IPsec-Required-Client-Firewall-Capability Y 56 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = Policy defined by remote FW

Are-You-There (AYT) 2 = Policy pushed CPP
4 = Policy from server
IPsec-Sec-Association 12 String Single Name of the security association
IPsec-Split-DNS-Names Y 29 String Single Specifies the list of secondary domain names to

send to the client (1-255 characters).
757

No. Multi-
Valued
IPsec-Split-Tunneling-Policy Y 55 Integer Single 0 = No split tunneling 1 = Split tunneling 2 =
Local LAN permitted
IPsec-Split-Tunnel-List Y 27 String Single Specifies the name of the network or ACL that
describes the split tunnel inclusion list.
IPsec-Tunnel-Type Y 30 Integer Single 1 = LAN-to-LAN 2 = Remote access
IPsec-User-Group-Lock 33 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
IPv6-Address-Pools Y 218 String Single Name of IP local pool-IPv6
IPv6-VPN-Filter Y 219 String Single ACL value
L2TP-Encryption 21 Integer Single Bitmap: 1 = Encryption required 2 = 40 bits 4 =

128 bits 8 = Stateless-Req 15=
40/128-Encr/Stateless-Req
L2TP-MPPC-Compression 38 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Member-Of Y 145 String Single Comma-delimited string, for example:
Engineering, Sales
An administrative attribute that can be used in
dynamic access policies. It does not set a group
policy.
MS-Client-Subnet-Mask Y 63 Boolean Single An IP address
NAC-Default-ACL 92 String ACL
NAC-Enable 89 Integer Single 0 = No 1 = Yes
NAC-Revalidation-Timer 91 Integer Single 300-86400 seconds
NAC-Settings Y 141 String Single Name of the NAC policy
NAC-Status-Query-Timer 90 Integer Single 30-1800 seconds
Perfect-Forward-Secrecy-Enable Y 88 Boolean Single 0 = No 1 = Yes
PPTP-Encryption 20 Integer Single Bitmap: 1 = Encryption required 2 = 40 bits 4 =

128 bits 8 = Stateless-Required 15=
40/128-Encr/Stateless-Req
PPTP-MPPC-Compression 37 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
758

No. Multi-
Valued
Primary-DNS Y 5 String Single An IP address
Primary-WINS Y 7 String Single An IP address
Privilege-Level Y 220 Integer Single An integer between 0 and 15.
Required-Client- Firewall-Vendor-Code Y 45 Integer Single 1 = Cisco Systems (with Cisco Integrated Client)
2 = Zone Labs 3 = NetworkICE 4 = Sygate 5 =
Cisco Systems (with Cisco Intrusion Prevention
Security Agent)
Required-Client-Firewall-Description Y 47 String Single String
Required-Client-Firewall-Product-Code Y 46 Integer Single Cisco Systems Products:

1 = Cisco Intrusion Prevention Security Agent
or Cisco Integrated Client (CIC)
Zone Labs Products: 1 = Zone Alarm 2 = Zone
AlarmPro 3 = Zone Labs Integrity
NetworkICE Product: 1 = BlackIce
Defender/Agent
Sygate Products: 1 = Personal Firewall 2 =
Personal Firewall Pro 3 = Security Agent
Required-Individual-User-Auth Y 49 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Require-HW-Client-Auth Y 48 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
Secondary-DNS Y 6 String Single An IP address
Secondary-WINS Y 8 String Single An IP address
SEP-Card-Assignment 9 Integer Single Not used
Session Subtype Y 152 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = Clientless 2 = Client 3 = Client

Only
Session Subtype applies only when the Session
Type (151) attribute has the following values: 1,
2, 3, and 4.
759

No. Multi-
Valued
Session Type Y 151 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = AnyConnect Client SSL VPN 2 =
AnyConnect Client IPSec VPN (IKEv2) 3 =
Clientless SSL VPN 4 = Clientless Email Proxy
5 = Cisco VPN Client (IKEv1) 6 = IKEv1
LAN-LAN 7 = IKEv2 LAN-LAN 8 = VPN Load
Balancing
Simultaneous-Logins Y 2 Integer Single 0-2147483647
Smart-Tunnel Y 136 String Single Name of a Smart Tunnel
Smart-Tunnel-Auto Y 138 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled 2 = AutoStart
Smart-Tunnel-Auto-Signon-Enable Y 139 String Single Name of a Smart Tunnel Auto Signon list
appended by the domain name
Strip-Realm Y 135 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
SVC-Ask Y 131 String Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled 3 = Enable default

service 5 = Enable default clientless (2 and 4 not
used)
SVC-Ask-Timeout Y 132 Integer Single 5-120 seconds
SVC-DPD-Interval-Client Y 108 Integer Single 0 = Off 5-3600 seconds
SVC-DPD-Interval-Gateway Y 109 Integer Single 0 = Off) 5-3600 seconds
SVC-DTLS Y 123 Integer Single 0 = False 1 = True
SVC-Keepalive Y 107 Integer Single 0 = Off 15-600 seconds
SVC-Modules Y 127 String Single String (name of a module)
SVC-MTU Y 125 Integer Single MTU value 256-1406 in bytes
SVC-Profiles Y 128 String Single String (name of a profile)
SVC-Rekey-Time Y 110 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1-10080 minutes
Tunnel Group Name Y 146 String Single 1-253 characters
Tunnel-Group-Lock Y 85 String Single Name of the tunnel group or “none”
760

No. Multi-
Valued
Tunneling-Protocols Y 11 Integer Single 1 = PPTP 2 = L2TP 4 = IPSec (IKEv1) 8 =
L2TP/IPSec 16 = WebVPN 32 = SVC 64 = IPsec
(IKEv2) 8 and 4 are mutually exclusive. 0 - 11,
16 - 27, 32 - 43, 48 - 59 are legal values.
Use-Client-Address 17 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
VLAN Y 140 Integer Single 0-4094
WebVPN-Access-List Y 73 String Single Access-List name
WebVPN ACL Y 73 String Single Name of a WebVPN ACL on the device
WebVPN-ActiveX-Relay Y 137 Integer Single 0 = Disabled Otherwise = Enabled
WebVPN-Apply-ACL Y 102 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Auto-HTTP-Signon Y 124 String Single Reserved
WebVPN-Citrix-Metaframe-Enable Y 101 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Content-Filter-Parameters Y 69 Integer Single 1 = Java ActiveX 2 = Java Script 4 = Image 8 =

Cookies in images
WebVPN-Customization Y 113 String Single Name of the customization
WebVPN-Default-Homepage Y 76 String Single A URL such as http://example-example.com
WebVPN-Deny-Message Y 116 String Single Valid string (up to 500 characters)
WebVPN-Download_Max-Size Y 157 Integer Single 0x7fffffff
WebVPN-File-Access-Enable Y 94 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-File-Server-Browsing-Enable Y 96 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-File-Server-Entry-Enable Y 95 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Group-based-HTTP/HTTPS-Proxy-Exception-List Y 78 String Single Comma-separated DNS/IP with an optional

wildcard (*) (for example *.cisco.com,
192.168.1.*, wwwin.cisco.com)
WebVPN-Hidden-Shares Y 126 Integer Single 0 = None 1 = Visible
WebVPN-Home-Page-Use-Smart-Tunnel Y 228 Boolean Single Enabled if clientless home page is to be rendered

through Smart Tunnel.
761

No. Multi-
Valued
WebVPN-HTML-Filter Y 69 Bitmap Single 1 = Java ActiveX 2 = Scripts 4 = Image 8 =
Cookies
WebVPN-HTTP-Compression Y 120 Integer Single 0 = Off 1 = Deflate Compression
WebVPN-HTTP-Proxy-IP-Address Y 74 String Single Comma-separated DNS/IP:port, with http= or

https= prefix (for example http=10.10.10.10:80,
https=11.11.11.11:443)
WebVPN-Idle-Timeout-Alert-Interval Y 148 Integer Single 0-30. 0 = Disabled.
WebVPN-Keepalive-Ignore Y 121 Integer Single 0-900
WebVPN-Macro-Substitution Y 223 String Single Unbounded.
WebVPN-Macro-Substitution Y 224 String Single Unbounded.
WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-Enable Y 97 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-Exchange-Proxy-Enable Y 98 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-HTTP-Proxy Y 99 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-List Y 72 String Single Port forwarding list name
WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-Name Y 79 String Single String name (example, “Corporate-Apps”).

This text replaces the default string, “Application
Access,” on the clientless portal home page.
WebVPN-Post-Max-Size Y 159 Integer Single 0x7fffffff
WebVPN-Session-Timeout-Alert-Interval Y 149 Integer Single 0-30. 0 = Disabled.
WebVPN Y 225 Boolean Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled

Smart-Card-Removal-Disconnect
WebVPN-Smart-Tunnel Y 136 String Single Name of a Smart Tunnel
WebVPN-Smart-Tunnel-Auto-Sign-On Y 139 String Single Name of a Smart Tunnel auto sign-on list
appended by the domain name
WebVPN-Smart-Tunnel-Auto-Start Y 138 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled 2 = Auto Start
762

No. Multi-
Valued
WebVPN-Smart-Tunnel-Tunnel-Policy Y 227 String Single One of “e networkname,” “i networkname,” or
“a,” where networkname is the name of a Smart
Tunnel network list, e indicates the tunnel
excluded, i indicates the tunnel specified, and a
indicates all tunnels.
WebVPN-SSL-VPN-Client-Enable Y 103 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-SSL-VPN-Client-Keep- Y 105 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled

Installation
WebVPN-SSL-VPN-Client-Required Y 104 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-SSO-Server-Name Y 114 String Single Valid string
WebVPN-Storage-Key Y 162 String Single
WebVPN-Storage-Objects Y 161 String Single
WebVPN-SVC-Keepalive-Frequency Y 107 Integer Single 15-600 seconds, 0=Off
WebVPN-SVC-Client-DPD-Frequency Y 108 Integer Single 5-3600 seconds, 0=Off
WebVPN-SVC-DTLS-Enable Y 123 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-SVC-DTLS-MTU Y 125 Integer Single MTU value is from 256-1406 bytes.
WebVPN-SVC-Gateway-DPD-Frequency Y 109 Integer Single 5-3600 seconds, 0=Off
WebVPN-SVC-Rekey-Time Y 110 Integer Single 4-10080 minutes, 0=Off
WebVPN-SVC-Rekey-Method Y 111 Integer Single 0 (Off), 1 (SSL), 2 (New Tunnel)
WebVPN-SVC-Compression Y 112 Integer Single 0 (Off), 1 (Deflate Compression)
WebVPN-UNIX-Group-ID (GID) Y 222 Integer Single Valid UNIX group IDs
WebVPN-UNIX-User-ID (UIDs) Y 221 Integer Single Valid UNIX user IDs
WebVPN-Upload-Max-Size Y 158 Integer Single 0x7fffffff
WebVPN-URL-Entry-Enable Y 93 Integer Single 0 = Disabled 1 = Enabled
WebVPN-URL-List Y 71 String Single URL list name
WebVPN-User-Storage Y 160 String Single
763

No. Multi-
Valued
WebVPN-VDI Y 163 String Single List of settings
Supported IETF RADIUS Authorization Attributes

The following table lists the supported IETF RADIUS attributes.
Table 44: Supported IETF RADIUS Attributes
Attribute Name ASA Attr. Syntax/Type Single or Multi- Description or Value

No. Valued
IETF-Radius-Class Y 25 Single For Versions 8.2.x and later, we recommend that
you use the Group-Policy attribute (VSA 3076,
#25):
• group policy name
IETF-Radius-Filter-Id Y 11 String Single ACL name that is defined on the ASA, which
applies only to full tunnel IPsec and SSL VPN
clients.
IETF-Radius-Framed-IP-Address Y n/a String Single An IP address
IETF-Radius-Framed-IP-Netmask Y n/a String Single An IP address mask
IETF-Radius-Idle-Timeout Y 28 Integer Single Seconds
IETF-Radius-Service-Type Y 6 Integer Single Seconds. Possible Service Type values:

• .Administrative—User is allowed access to
the configure prompt.
• .NAS-Prompt—User is allowed access to the
exec prompt.
• .remote-access—User is allowed network
access
IETF-Radius-Session-Timeout Y 27 Integer Single Seconds
764
RADIUS Accounting Disconnect Reason Codes

These codes are returned if the ASA encounters a disconnect when sending packets:
Disconnect Reason Code

ACCT_DISC_USER_REQ = 1
ACCT_DISC_LOST_CARRIER = 2
ACCT_DISC_LOST_SERVICE = 3
ACCT_DISC_IDLE_TIMEOUT = 4
ACCT_DISC_SESS_TIMEOUT = 5
ACCT_DISC_ADMIN_RESET = 6
ACCT_DISC_ADMIN_REBOOT = 7
ACCT_DISC_PORT_ERROR = 8
ACCT_DISC_NAS_ERROR = 9
ACCT_DISC_NAS_REQUEST = 10
ACCT_DISC_NAS_REBOOT = 11
ACCT_DISC_PORT_UNNEEDED = 12
ACCT_DISC_PORT_PREEMPTED = 13
ACCT_DISC_PORT_SUSPENDED = 14
ACCT_DISC_SERV_UNAVAIL = 15
ACCT_DISC_CALLBACK = 16
ACCT_DISC_USER_ERROR = 17
ACCT_DISC_HOST_REQUEST = 18
ACCT_DISC_ADMIN_SHUTDOWN = 19
ACCT_DISC_SA_EXPIRED = 21
ACCT_DISC_MAX_REASONS = 22
765
Guidelines for RADIUS Servers for AAA
Guidelines for RADIUS Servers for AAA

This section describes the guidelines and limitations that you should check before configuring RADIUS
servers for AAA.
IPv6
The AAA server must use an IPv4 address, but endpoints can use IPv6.
• You can have up to 100 server groups in single mode or 4 server groups per context in multiple mode.
• Each group can have up to 16 servers in single mode or 4 servers in multiple mode.
Configure RADIUS Servers for AAA

This section describes how to configure RADIUS servers for AAA.
Procedure
Step 1 Load the ASA attributes into the RADIUS server. The method that you use to load the attributes depends on
which type of RADIUS server that you are using:
• If you are using Cisco ACS: the server already has these attributes integrated. You can skip this step.
• For RADIUS servers from other vendors (for example, Microsoft Internet Authentication Service): you
must manually define each ASA attribute. To define an attribute, use the attribute name or number, type,
value, and vendor code (3076).
Step 2 Configure RADIUS Server Groups, on page 766.

Step 3 Add a RADIUS Server to a Group, on page 769.
Configure RADIUS Server Groups

If you want to use an external RADIUS server for authentication, authorization, or accounting, you must first
create at least one RADIUS server group per AAA protocol and add one or more servers to each group. You
identify AAA server groups by name.
To add a RADIUS server group, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the server group name and the protocol.

aaa-server server_tag protocol radius
766
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server servergroup1 protocol radius
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)#
When you enter the aaa-server protocol command, you enter aaa-server group configuration mode.
Step 2 Merge a downloadable ACL with the ACL received in the Cisco AV pair from a RADIUS packet.
merge-dacl {before-avpair | after-avpair}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# merge-dacl before-avpair
The default setting is no merge dacl, which specifies that downloadable ACLs will not be merged with Cisco
AV pair ACLs. If both an AV pair and a downloadable ACL are received, the AV pair has priority and is
used.
The before-avpair option specifies that the downloadable ACL entries should be placed before the Cisco AV
pair entries.
The after-avpair option specifies that the downloadable ACL entries should be placed after the Cisco AV
pair entries. This option applies only to VPN connections. For VPN users, ACLs can be in the form of Cisco
AV pair ACLs, downloadable ACLs, and an ACL that is configured on the ASA. This option determines
whether or not the downloadable ACL and the AV pair ACL are merged, and does not apply to any ACLs
configured on the ASA.
Step 3 Specify the maximum number of requests that can be sent to a RADIUS server in the group before the ASA
tries the next server.
max-failed-attempts number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# max-failed-attempts 2
The number argument can range from 1 and 5. The default is 3.

If you configured a fallback method using the local database (for management access only), and all the servers
in the group fail to respond, then the group is considered to be unresponsive, and the fallback method is tried.
The server group remains marked as unresponsive for a period of 10 minutes (by default), so that additional
AAA requests within that period do not attempt to contact the server group, and the fallback method is used
immediately. If you do not have a fallback method, the ASA continues to retry the servers in the group.
Step 4 Specify the method (reactivation policy) by which failed servers in a group are reactivated.
reactivation-mode {depletion [deadtime minutes] | timed}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# reactivation-mode deadtime 20
The depletion keyword reactivates failed servers only after all of the servers in the group are inactive.
The deadtime minutes keyword-argument pair specifies the amount of time in minutes, between 0 and 1440,
that elapses between the disabling of the last server in the group and the subsequent reenabling of all servers.
The default is 10 minutes.
767
The timed keyword reactivates failed servers after 30 seconds of down time.
Step 5 Send accounting messages to all servers in the group.

accounting-mode simultaneous
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# accounting-mode simultaneous
Enter the accounting-mode single command to restore the default of sending messages only to the active
server.
Step 6 Identify the server and the AAA server group to which it belongs.
aaa-server server_group [interface_name] host server_ip
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server servergroup1 outside host 10.10.1.1
When you enter the aaa-server host command, you enter aaa-server host configuration mode.
Step 7 Enable the RADIUS Dynamic Authorization (CoA) services for the AAA server group.
dynamic-authorization {port port-number}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# dynamic-authorization port 1700
Once defined, the corresponding RADIUS server group will be registered for CoA notification and the ASA
will listen to the port for the CoA policy updates from ISE.
The valid range of the CoA listening port-number is 1 to 65535.
If the port number or interface specified in the no form of this command does not match a line in the current
configuration, an error message appears.
Step 8 Enable authorize-only mode for the RADIUS server group.

authorize-only
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# authorize-only
When this server group is used for authorization, the RADIUS Access Request message will be built as an
“Authorize Only” request instead of the configured password methods that are available now.
The Authorize-Only request includes a Service-Type attribute with value Authorize-Only (17) and message
authenticator within the Access-Request.
The support of the authorize-only mode eliminates the need of including the RADIUS common password in
the Access-Request. Thus, it does not require the configuration of common password using the
radius-common-pw CLI in the aaa-server-host mode.
Note The authorize-only mode is configured for the server group; however, the common password is
host-specific. Thus, once authorize-only mode is configured, the common password configured for
an individual AAA server would be ignored.
768
Step 9 Switch off hostscan processing for connections that are made to a specific tunnel group.
without-csd {anyconnect}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-webvpn)# without-csd anyconnect
This setting currently applies to clientless and Layer 3 connections. This command has been modified to allow
this setting to be applied to AnyConnect connections only.
Examples
The following example shows how to add one RADIUS group with a single server:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server AuthOutbound protocol radius

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# exit
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server AuthOutbound (inside) host 10.1.1.3
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# key RadUauthKey
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# exit
The following example shows how to configure an ISE server object for authorization-only, dynamic
authorization (CoA) updates, and hourly periodic accounting:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server ise protocol radius

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# interim-accounting-update periodic 1
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# dynamic-authorization
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server ise (inside) host 10.1.1.3
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# key sharedsecret
The following example shows how to configure a tunnel group for password authentication with ISE:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group aaa-coa general-attributes

ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# address-pool vpn
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# authentication-server-group ise
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# accounting-server-group ise
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# exit
The following example shows how to configure a tunnel group for local certificate validation and authorization
with ISE:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group aaa-coa general-attributes

ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# address-pool vpn
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# authentication certificate
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# authorization-server-group ise
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# accounting-server-group ise
ciscoasa(config-tunnel-general)# exit
Add a RADIUS Server to a Group

To add a RADIUS server to a group, perform the following steps:
769
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the RADIUS server and the AAA server group to which it belongs.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server servergroup1 outside host 10.10.1.1
Step 2 Specify how the ASA treats netmasks received in a downloadable ACL from a RADIUS server that is accessed
by entering the aaa-server host configuration mode.
acl-netmask-convert {auto-detect | standard | wildcard}
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# acl-netmask-convert standard
Theauto-detect keyword specifies that the ASA should attempt to determine the type of netmask expression
used. If the ASA detects a wildcard netmask expression, it converts it to a standard netmask expression.
The standard keyword specifies that the ASA assumes downloadable ACLs received from the RADIUS
server contain only standard netmask expressions. No translation from wildcard netmask expressions is
performed.
The wildcard keyword specifies that the ASA assumes downloadable ACLs received from the RADIUS
server contain only wildcard netmask expressions and converts them all to standard netmask expressions
when the ACLs are downloaded.
Step 3 Specify a common password to be used for all users who are accessing a RADIUS authorization server through
the ASA.
radius-common-pw string
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# radius-common-pw examplepassword123abc
The string argument is a case-sensitive, alphanumeric keyword of up to 127 characters to be used as a common
password for all authorization transactions with the RADIUS server.
Step 4 Enable MS-CHAPv2 authentication requests to the RADIUS server.

mschapv2-capable
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# mschapv2-capable
Step 5 Specify the length of time, in seconds, that the ASA waits for a response from the primary server before
sending the request to the backup server.
timeout hh:mm:ss
770
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# timeout 15
Step 6 Configure the amount of time between retry attempts for a particular AAA server designated in a previous
command.
retry-interval seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# retry-interval 8
The seconds argument specifies the retry interval (1-10 seconds) for the request. This is the time that the ASA
waits before retrying a connection request.
Note The interval between subsequent retries will always be 50 or 100 milliseconds, regardless of the
retry-interval settings you have entered. This is the intended behavior.
Example:
Enter the accounting-mode single command to restore the default of sending messages only to the active
server.
Step 8 Specify the authentication port as port number1645, or the server port to be used for authentication of users.
authentication-port port
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# authentication-port 1646
Step 9 Specify the accounting port as port number 1646, or the server port to be used for accounting for this host.
accounting-port port
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# accounting-port 1646
Step 10 Specify the server secret value used to authenticate the RADIUS server to the ASA. The server secret that
you configure should match the one configured on the RADIUS server. If you do not know the server secret
value, ask the RADIUS server administrator. The maximum length is 64 characters.
key
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-host)# key myexamplekey1
The server secret that you configure should match the one configured on the RADIUS server. If you do not
know the server secret value, ask the RADIUS server administrator. The maximum length is 64 characters.
771
Monitoring RADIUS Servers for AAA
Example
The following example shows how to add a RADIUS server to an existing RADIUS server group:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server svrgrp1 protocol radius

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server svrgrp1 host 192.168.3.4
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# acl-netmask-convert wildcard
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# radius-common-pw myexaplepasswordabc123
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# mschapv2-capable
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# retry-interval 7
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# accounting-mode simultaneous
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# authentication-port 1650
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# authorization-port 1645
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# key mysecretkeyexampleiceage2
ciscoasa(config)#
Monitoring RADIUS Servers for AAA

See the following commands for monitoring the status of RADIUS servers for AAA:
• show aaa-server
This command shows the configured RADIUS server statistics.
This command shows the RADIUS server running configuration.
• clear aaa-server statistics
This command clears the RADIUS server configuration.
History for RADIUS Servers for AAA

Table 45: History for RADIUS Servers for AAA

Releases
RADIUS Servers for AAA 7.0(1) Describes how to configure RADIUS servers for AAA.
aaa-server protocol, max-failed-attempts, reactivation-mode,
accounting-mode simultaneous, aaa-server host, show
aaa-server, show running-config aaa-server, clear aaa-server
statistics, authentication-port, accounting-port,
retry-interval, acl-netmask-convert, clear configure
aaa-server, merge-dacl, radius-common-pw, key.
772

Releases
Key vendor-specific attributes (VSAs) sent in 8.4(3) Four New VSAs—Tunnel Group Name (146) and Client Type
RADIUS access request and accounting request (150) are sent in RADIUS access request packets from the ASA.
packets from the ASA Session Type (151) and Session Subtype (152) are sent in
RADIUS accounting request packets from the ASA. All four
attributes are sent for all accounting request packet types: Start,
Interim-Update, and Stop. The RADIUS server (for example,
ACS and ISE) can then enforce authorization and policy
attributes or use them for accounting and billing purposes.
773
774
CHAPTER 31
TACACS+ Servers for AAA
This chapter describes how to configure TACACS+ servers used in AAA.
• About TACACS+ Servers for AAA, page 775

• Guidelines for TACACS+ Servers for AAA, page 777
• Configure TACACS+ Servers, page 777
• Monitoring TACACS+ Servers for AAA, page 779
• History for TACACS+ Servers for AAA, page 780
About TACACS+ Servers for AAA

The ASA supports TACACS+ server authentication with the following protocols: ASCII, PAP, CHAP, and
MS-CHAPv1.
TACACS+ Attributes
The Cisco ASA provides support for TACACS+ attributes. TACACS+ attributes separate the functions of
authentication, authorization, and accounting. The protocol supports two types of attributes: mandatory and
optional. Both the server and client must understand a mandatory attribute, and the mandatory attribute must
be applied to the user. An optional attribute may or may not be understood or used.
Note To use TACACS+ attributes, make sure that you have enabled AAA services on the NAS.
The following table lists supported TACACS+ authorization response attributes for cut-through-proxy
connections.
Table 46: Supported TACACS+ Authorization Response Attributes
Attribute Description
acl Identifies a locally configured ACL to be applied to the connection.
775
About TACACS+ Servers for AAA
idletime Indicates the amount of inactivity in minutes that is allowed before the authenticated
user session is terminated.
timeout Specifies the absolute amount of time in minutes that authentication credentials remain
active before the authenticated user session is terminated.
The following table lists supported TACACS+ accounting attributes.

.
Table 47: Supported TACACS+ Accounting Attributes
bytes_in Specifies the number of input bytes transferred during this connection (stop records
only).
bytes_out Specifies the number of output bytes transferred during this connection (stop records
only).
cmd Defines the command executed (command accounting only).
disc-cause Indicates the numeric code that identifies the reason for disconnecting (stop records
only).
elapsed_time Defines the elapsed time in seconds for the connection (stop records only).
foreign_ip Specifies the IP address of the client for tunnel connections. Defines the address on the
lowest security interface for cut-through-proxy connections.
local_ip Specifies the IP address that the client connected to for tunnel connections. Defines the
address on the highest security interface for cut-through-proxy connections.
NAS port Contains a session ID for the connection.
packs_in Specifies the number of input packets transferred during this connection.
packs_out Specifies the number of output packets transferred during this connection.
priv-level Set to the user privilege level for command accounting requests or to 1 otherwise.
rem_iddr Indicates the IP address of the client.
service Specifies the service used. Always set to “shell” for command accounting only.
task_id Specifies a unique task ID for the accounting transaction.
username Indicates the name of the user.
776
Guidelines for TACACS+ Servers for AAA
Guidelines for TACACS+ Servers for AAA

This section describes the guidelines and limitation that you should check before configuring TACACS+
servers for AAA.
IPv6
• You can have up to 100 server groups in single mode or 4 server groups per context in multiple mode.
• Each group can have up to 16 servers in single mode or 4 servers in multiple mode.
Configure TACACS+ Servers

This section describes how to configure TACACS+ servers.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure TACACS+ Server Groups, on page 777.

Step 2 Add a TACACS+ Server to a Group, on page 779.
Configure TACACS+ Server Groups

If you want to use a TACACS+ server for authentication, authorization, or accounting, you must first create
at least one TACACS+ server group and add one or more servers to each group. You identify TACACS+
server groups by name.
To add a TACACS+ server group, perform the following steps:
Procedure

aaa-server server_tag protocol tacacs+
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server servergroup1 protocol tacacs+
Step 2 Specify the maximum number of requests sent to a AAA server in the group before trying the next server.
777
Configure TACACS+ Servers
Example:

If you configured a fallback method using the local database (for management access only), and all the servers
in the group fail to respond, then the group is considered to be unresponsive, and the fallback method is tried.
The server group remains marked as unresponsive for a period of 10 minutes (by default), so that additional
AAA requests within that period do not attempt to contact the server group, and the fallback method is used
immediately. To change the unresponsive period from the default, see the reactivation-mode command in
the next step.
If you do not have a fallback method, the ASA continues to retry the servers in the group.
Example:

Example:
To restore the default of sending messages only to the active server, enter the accounting-mode single
command.
Example
The following example shows how to add one TACACS+ group with one primary and one backup server:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server AuthInbound protocol tacacs+

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# reactivation-mode depletion deadtime 20
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server AuthInbound (inside) host 10.1.1.1
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# key TACPlusUauthKey
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server AuthInbound (inside) host 10.1.1.2
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# key TACPlusUauthKey2
778
Monitoring TACACS+ Servers for AAA
Add a TACACS+ Server to a Group

To add a TACACS+ server to a group, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the TACACS+ server and the server group to which it belongs.
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server servergroup1 outside host 10.10.1.1
Step 2 Specify the length of time, in seconds, that the ASA waits for a response from the primary server before
sending the request to the backup server.
timeout hh:mm:ss
Example:
Step 3 Specify the server port as port number 49, or the TCP port number used by the ASA to communicate with
the TACACS+ server.
server-port port_number
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# server-port 49
Step 4 Specify the server secret value used to authenticate the NAS to the TACACS+ server.
key
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-host)# key myexamplekey1
This value is a case-sensitive, alphanumeric keyword of up to 127 characters, which is the same value as the
key on the TACACS+ server. Any characters over 127 are ignored. The key is used between the client and
the server to encrypt data between them and must be the same on both the client and server systems. The key
cannot contain spaces, but other special characters are allowed.
Monitoring TACACS+ Servers for AAA

See the following commands for monitoring TACACS+ servers for AAA:
• show aaa-server
779
History for TACACS+ Servers for AAA
This command shows the configured TACACS+ server statistics. Enter the clear aaa-server statistics
command to clear the TACACS+ server statistics.
This command shows the TACACS+ server running configuration. Enter the clear configure aaa-server
command to clear the TACACS+ server configuration.
History for TACACS+ Servers for AAA

Table 48: History for TACACS+ Servers for AAA

Releases
TACACS+ Servers 7.0(1) Describes how to configure TACACS+ servers for AAA.
aaa-server protocol, max-failed-attempts, reactivation-mode,
accounting-mode simultaneous, aaa-server host, aaa
authorization exec authentication-server, server-port, key,
clear aaa-server statistics, clear configure aaa-server, show
aaa-server, show running-config aaa-server, username,
service-type, timeout.
780
CHAPTER 32
LDAP Servers for AAA
This chapter describes how to configure LDAP servers used in AAA.
• About LDAP and the ASA, page 781

• Guidelines for LDAP Servers for AAA, page 785
• Configure LDAP Servers for AAA, page 785
• Monitoring LDAP Servers for AAA, page 791
• History for LDAP Servers for AAA, page 791
About LDAP and the ASA

The Cisco ASA is compatible with the most LDAPv3 directory servers, including:
• Sun Microsystems JAVA System Directory Server, now part of Oracle Directory Server Enterprise
Edition, and formerly named the Sun ONE Directory Server
• Microsoft Active Directory
• Novell
• OpenLDAP
By default, the ASA autodetects whether it is connected to Microsoft Active Directory, Sun LDAP, Novell,
OpenLDAP, or a generic LDAPv3 directory server. However, if autodetection fails to determine the LDAP
server type, you can manually configure it.
How Authentication Works with LDAP

During authentication, the ASA acts as a client proxy to the LDAP server for the user, and authenticates to
the LDAP server in either plain text or by using the SASL protocol. By default, the ASA passes authentication
parameters, usually a username and password, to the LDAP server in plain text.
The ASA supports the following SASL mechanisms, listed in order of increasing strength:
• Digest-MD5—The ASA responds to the LDAP server with an MD5 value computed from the username
and password.
781
• Kerberos—The ASA responds to the LDAP server by sending the username and realm using the GSSAPI
Kerberos mechanism.
The ASA and LDAP server supports any combination of these SASL mechanisms. If you configure multiple
mechanisms, the ASA retrieves the list of SASL mechanisms that are configured on the server, and sets the
authentication mechanism to the strongest one configured on both the ASA and the server. For example, if
both the LDAP server and the ASA support both mechanisms, the ASA selects Kerberos, the stronger of the
two.
When user LDAP authentication has succeeded, the LDAP server returns the attributes for the authenticated
user. For VPN authentication, these attributes generally include authorization data that is applied to the VPN
session. In this case, using LDAP accomplishes authentication and authorization in a single step.
Note For more information about LDAP, see RFCs 1777, 2251, and 2849.
LDAP Hierarchy
Your LDAP configuration should reflect the logical hierarchy of your organization. For example, suppose an
employee at your company, Example Corporation, is named Employee1. Employee1 works in the Engineering
group. Your LDAP hierarchy could have one or many levels. You might decide to set up a single-level
hierarchy in which Employee1 is considered a member of Example Corporation. Or you could set up a
multi-level hierarchy in which Employee1 is considered to be a member of the department Engineering, which
is a member of an organizational unit called People, which is itself a member of Example Corporation. See
the following figure for an example of a multi-level hierarchy.
A multi-level hierarchy has more detail, but searches return results more quickly in a single-level hierarchy.
Figure 43: A Multi-Level LDAP Hierarchy
Search the LDAP Hierarchy

The ASA lets you tailor the search within the LDAP hierarchy. You configure the following three fields on
the ASA to define where in the LDAP hierarchy that your search begins, the extent, and the type of information
782
you are looking for. Together, these fields limit the search of the hierarchy to only the part that includes the
user permissions.
• LDAP Base DN defines where in the LDAP hierarchy that the server should begin searching for user
information when it receives an authorization request from the ASA.
• Search Scope defines the extent of the search in the LDAP hierarchy. The search proceeds this many
levels in the hierarchy below the LDAP Base DN. You can choose to have the server search only the
level immediately below it, or it can search the entire subtree. A single level search is quicker, but a
subtree search is more extensive.
• Naming Attribute(s) defines the RDN that uniquely identifies an entry in the LDAP server. Common
naming attributes can include cn (Common Name), sAMAccountName, and userPrincipalName.
The figure shows a sample LDAP hierarchy for Example Corporation. Given this hierarchy, you could define
your search in different ways. The following table shows two sample search configurations.
In the first example configuration, when Employee1 establishes the IPsec tunnel with LDAP authorization
required, the ASA sends a search request to the LDAP server, indicating it should search for Employee1 in
the Engineering group. This search is quick.
In the second example configuration, the ASA sends a search request indicating that the server should search
for Employee1 within Example Corporation. This search takes longer.
Table 49: Example Search Configurations
No. LDAP Base DN Search Scope Naming Result

Attribute
1 group= Engineering,ou=People,dc=ExampleCorporation, dc=com One Level cn=Employee1 Quicker search
2 dc=ExampleCorporation,dc=com Subtree cn=Employee1 Longer search
Bind to an LDAP Server

The ASA uses the login DN and login password to establish trust (bind) with an LDAP server. When performing
a Microsoft Active Directory read-only operation (such as authentication, authorization, or group search), the
ASA can bind using a login DN with fewer privileges. For example, the login DN can be a user whose AD
“Member Of” designation is part of Domain Users. For VPN password management operations, the login DN
needs elevated privileges, and must be part of the Account Operators AD group.
The following is an example of a login DN:
cn=Binduser1,ou=Admins,ou=Users,dc=company_A,dc=com
The ASA supports the following authentication methods:

• Simple LDAP authentication with an unencrypted password on port 389
• Secure LDAP (LDAP-S) on port 636
• Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) MD5
• SASL Kerberos
783
The ASA does not support anonymous authentication.
Note As an LDAP client, the ASA does not support the transmission of anonymous binds or requests.
LDAP Attribute Maps

The ASA can use an LDAP directory for authenticating users for:
• VPN remote access users
• Firewall network access/cut-through-proxy sessions
• Setting policy permissions (also called authorization attributes), such as ACLs, bookmark lists, DNS or
WINS settings, and session timers.
• Setting the key attributes in a local group policy
The ASA uses LDAP attribute maps to translate native LDAP user attributes to Cisco ASA attributes. You
can bind these attribute maps to LDAP servers or remove them. You can also show or clear attribute maps.
The LDAP attribute map does not support multi-valued attributes. For example, if a user is a member of
several AD groups, and the LDAP attribute map matches more than one group, the value chosen is based on
the alphabetization of the matched entries.
To use the attribute mapping features correctly, you need to understand LDAP attribute names and values, as
well as the user-defined attribute names and values.
The names of frequently mapped LDAP attributes and the type of user-defined attributes that they would
commonly be mapped to include the following:
• IETF-Radius-Class (Group_Policy in ASA version 8.2 and later)—Sets the group policy based on the
directory department or user group (for example, Microsoft Active Directory memberOf) attribute value.
The group policy attribute replaced the IETF-Radius-Class attribute with ASDM version 6.2/ASA version
8.2 or later.
• IETF-Radius-Filter-Id—Applies an access control list or ACL to VPN clients, IPsec, and SSL.
• IETF-Radius-Framed-IP-Address—Assigns a static IP address assigned to a VPN remote access client,
IPsec, and SSL.
• Banner1—Displays a text banner when the VPN remote access user logs in.
• Tunneling-Protocols—Allows or denies the VPN remote access session based on the access type.
Note A single LDAP attribute map may contain one or many attributes. You can only map
one LDAP attribute from a specific LDAP server.
784
Guidelines for LDAP Servers for AAA
Guidelines for LDAP Servers for AAA

This section includes the guidelines and limitations that you should check before configuring LDAP servers
for AAA.
IPv6
• The DN configured on the ASA to access a Sun directory server must be able to access the default
password policy on that server. We recommend using the directory administrator, or a user with directory
administrator privileges, as the DN. Alternatively, you can place an ACL on the default password policy.
• You must configure LDAP over SSL to enable password management with Microsoft Active Directory
and Sun servers.
• The ASA does not support password management with Novell, OpenLDAP, and other LDAPv3 directory
servers.
• The VPN 3000 concentrator and the ASA/PIX 7.0 software required a Cisco LDAP schema for
authorization operations. Beginning with Version 7.1(x), the ASA performs authentication and
authorization using the native LDAP schema, and the Cisco schema is no longer needed.
• You can have up to 100 LDAP server groups in single mode or 4 LDAP server groups per context in
multiple mode.
• Each group can have up to 16 LDAP servers in single mode or 4 LDAP servers in multiple mode.
• When a user logs in, the LDAP servers are accessed one at a time, starting with the first server that you
specify in the configuration, until a server responds. If all servers in the group are unavailable, the ASA
tries the local database if you configured it as a fallback method (management authentication and
authorization only). If you do not have a fallback method, the ASA continues to try the LDAP servers.
Configure LDAP Servers for AAA

This section describes how to configure LDAP servers for AAA.
Procedure
Step 1 Configure LDAP attribute maps. See Configure LDAP Attribute Maps, on page 785.
Step 2 Add an LDAP server group. See Configure LDAP Server Groups, on page 787.
Step 3 (Optional) Configure authorization from an LDAP server that is separate and distinct from the authentication
mechanism. See Configure Authorization with LDAP for VPN, on page 789.
Configure LDAP Attribute Maps

To configure LDAP attribute maps, perform the following steps:
785
Procedure
Step 1 Create an unpopulated LDAP attribute map table.

ldap-attribute-map map-name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ldap-attribute-map att_map_1
Step 2 Map the user-defined attribute name department to the Cisco attribute.
map-name user-attribute-name Cisco-attribute-name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-name department IETF-Radius-Class
Step 3 Map the user-defined map value department to the user-defined attribute value and the Cisco attribute value.
map-value user-attribute-name Cisco-attribute-name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-value department Engineering group1
Step 4 Identify the server and the AAA server group to which it belongs.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server ldap_dir_1 host 10.1.1.4
Step 5 Bind the attribute map to the LDAP server.

ldap-attribute-map map-name
Example:
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-attribute-map att_map_1
Examples
The following example shows how to limit management sessions to the ASA based on an LDAP attribute
called accessType. The accessType attribute may have one of these values:
• VPN
• admin
• helpdesk
786
The following example shows how each value is mapped to one of the valid IETF-Radius-Service-Type
attributes that the ASA supports: remote-access (Service-Type 5) Outbound, admin (Service-Type 6)
Administrative, and nas-prompt (Service-Type 7) NAS Prompt.
ciscoasa(config)# ldap attribute-map MGMT

ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-name accessType IETF-Radius-Service-Type
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-value accessType VPN 5
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-value accessType admin 6
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-value accessType helpdesk 7
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# aaa-server LDAP protocol ldap

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server LDAP (inside) host 10.1.254.91
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-base-dn CN=Users,DC=cisco,DC=local
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-scope subtree
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-login-password test
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-login-dn CN=Administrator,CN=Users,DC=cisco,DC=local
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# server-type auto-detect
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-attribute-map MGMT
The following example shows how to display the complete list of Cisco LDAP attribute names:
ciscoasa(config)# ldap attribute-map att_map_1

ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-name att_map_1?
ldap mode commands/options:

cisco-attribute-names:
Access-Hours
Allow-Network-Extension-Mode
Auth-Service-Type
Authenticated-User-Idle-Timeout
Authorization-Required
Authorization-Type
:
:
X509-Cert-Data
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)#
Configure LDAP Server Groups

To create and configure an LDAP server group, then add an LDAP server to that group, perform the following
steps:
Before You Begin

You must add an attribute map before you may add an LDAP server to an LDAP server group.
Procedure

To create and configure an LDAP server group, then add an LDAP server to that group, perform the following
steps:
aaa-server server_tag protocol ldap
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server servergroup1 protocol ldap
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)#
787
Step 2 Specify the maximum number of requests sent to an LDAP server in the group before trying the next server.
Example:

If you configured a fallback method using the local database (for management access only) to configure the
fallback mechanism, and all the servers in the group fail to respond, then the group is considered to be
unresponsive, and the fallback method is tried. The server group remains marked as unresponsive for a period
of 10 minutes (by default), so that additional AAA requests within that period do not attempt to contact the
server group, and the fallback method is used immediately. To change the unresponsive period from the
default, see the reactivation-mode command in the next step.
If you do not have a fallback method, the ASA continues to retry the servers in the group.
Example:
Step 4 Identify the LDAP server and AAA server group to which it belongs.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server servergroup1 outside host 10.10.1.1
When you enter the aaa-server host command, you enter aaa-server host configuration mode. As needed,
use host configuration mode commands to further configure the AAA server.
The following table lists the available commands for LDAP servers, and whether or not a new LDAP server
definition has a default value for that command. If no default value is provided (indicated by “—”), use the
command to specify the value.
Table 50: Host Mode Commands and Defaults
Command Default Value Description

ldap-attribute-map — —
788
Command Default Value Description

ldap-base-dn — —
ldap-login-dn — —
ldap-login-password — —
ldap-naming-attribute — —
ldap-over-ssl 636 If not set, the ASA uses sAMAccountName for LDAP requests. Whether using
SASL or plain text, you can secure communications between the ASA and the
LDAP server with SSL. If you do not configure SASL, we strongly recommend
that you secure LDAP communications with SSL.
ldap-scope — —
sasl-mechanism — —
server-port 389 —
server-type autodiscovery If autodetection fails to determine the LDAP server type, and you know the server
is either a Microsoft, Sun or generic LDAP server, you can manually configure
the server type.
timeout 10 seconds —
Example
The following example shows how to configure an LDAP server group named watchdogs and add an LDAP
server to the group. Because the example does not define a retry interval or the port that the LDAP server
listens to, the ASA uses the default values for these two server-specific parameters.
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server watchdogs protocol ldap

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server watchdogs host 192.168.3.4
ciscoasa(config)#
Configure Authorization with LDAP for VPN

When LDAP user authentication for VPN access has succeeded, the ASA queries the LDAP server, which
returns LDAP attributes. These attributes generally include authorization data that applies to the VPN session.
Using LDAP in this way accomplishes authentication and authorization in a single step.
There may be cases, however, where you require authorization from an LDAP directory server that is separate
and distinct from the authentication mechanism. For example, if you use an SDI or certificate server for
authentication, no authorization information is returned. For user authorizations in this case, you can query
789
an LDAP directory after successful authentication, accomplishing authentication and authorization in two
steps.
To set up VPN user authorization using LDAP, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an IPsec remote access tunnel group named remotegrp.

tunnel-group groupname
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remotegrp
Step 2 Associate the server group and the tunnel group.

tunnel-group groupname general-attributes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remotegrp general-attributes
Step 3 Assign a new tunnel group to a previously created AAA server group for authorization.
authorization-server-group group-tag
Example:
ciscoasa(config-general)# authorization-server-group ldap_dir_1
Example
While there are other authorization-related commands and options available for specific requirements, the
following example shows commands for enabling user authorization with LDAP. The example then creates
an IPsec remote access tunnel group named remote-1, and assigns that new tunnel group to the previously
created ldap_dir_1 AAA server group for authorization:
ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remote-1 type ipsec-ra

ciscoasa(config)# tunnel-group remote-1 general-attributes
ciscoasa(config-general)# authorization-server-group ldap_dir_1
ciscoasa(config-general)#
After you complete this configuration work, you can then configure additional LDAP authorization parameters
such as a directory password, a starting point for searching a directory, and the scope of a directory search by
entering the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server ldap_dir_1 protocol ldap

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-group)# aaa-server ldap_dir_1 host 10.1.1.4
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-login-dn obscurepassword
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-base-dn starthere
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap-scope subtree
ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)#
790
Monitoring LDAP Servers for AAA
Monitoring LDAP Servers for AAA

See the following commands for monitoring LDAP servers for AAA:
• show aaa-server
This command shows the configured AAA server statistics. Use the clear aaa-server statistics command
to clear the AAA server configuration.
This command shows the AAA server running configuration. Use the clear configure aaa-server
command to clear AAA server statistics.
History for LDAP Servers for AAA

Table 51: History for AAA Servers

Releases
LDAP Servers for AAA 7.0(1) LDAP Servers describe support for AAA and how to configure
LDAP servers.
username, aaa authorization exec authentication-server,
aaa authentication console LOCAL, aaa authorization exec
LOCAL, service-type, ldap attribute-map, aaa-server
protocol, aaa authentication telnet | ssh | serial} console
LOCAL, aaa authentication http console LOCAL, aaa
authentication enable console LOCAL, max-failed-attempts,
reactivation-mode, accounting-mode simultaneous,
aaa-server host, authorization-server-group, tunnel-group,
tunnel-group general-attributes, map-name, map-value,
ldap-attribute-map.
791
History for LDAP Servers for AAA
792
PART VII
System Administration
• Management Access, page 795
• Software and Configurations, page 829
• Response Automation for System Events, page 877
• Testing and Troubleshooting, page 889
CHAPTER 33
Management Access
This chapter describes how to access the Cisco ASA for system management through Telnet, SSH, and
HTTPS (using ASDM), how to authenticate and authorize users, and how to create login banners.
• Configure Management Remote Access, page 795

• Configure AAA for System Administrators, page 805
• Monitoring Device Access, page 823
• History for Management Access, page 825
Configure Management Remote Access

This section describes how to configure ASA access for ASDM, Telnet, or SSH, and other management
parameters such as a login banner.
Configure SSH Access

To identify the client IP addresses and define a user allowed to connect to the ASA using SSH, perform the
following steps.
Before You Begin

system to a context configuration, enter changeto context name.
• To access the ASA interface for SSH access, you do not also need an access rule allowing the host IP
address. You only need to configure SSH access according to this section.
• SSH access to an interface other than the one from which you entered the ASA is not supported. For
example, if your SSH host is located on the outside interface, you can only initiate a management
connection directly to the outside interface. The only exception to this rule is through a VPN connection.
See Configure Management Access Over a VPN Tunnel, on page 801.
• The ASA allows a maximum of 5 concurrent SSH connections per context/single mode, with a maximum
of 100 connections divided among all contexts.
795
• The ASA supports the SSH remote shell functionality provided in SSH Versions 1 and 2 and supports
DES and 3DES ciphers.
• (8.4 and later) The SSH default username is no longer supported. You can no longer connect to the ASA
using SSH with the pix or asa username and the login password. To use SSH, you must configure AAA
authentication using the aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL command; then define a local user
by entering the username command. If you want to use a AAA server for authentication instead of the
local database, we recommend also configuring local authentication as a backup method.
• When starting an SSH session, a dot (.) displays on the ASA console before the following SSH user
authentication prompt appears:
ciscoasa(config)#.
The display of the dot does not affect the functionality of SSH. The dot appears at the console when
generating a server key or decrypting a message using private keys during SSH key exchange before
user authentication occurs. These tasks can take up to two minutes or longer. The dot is a progress
indicator that verifies that the ASA is busy and has not hung. You can alternatively configure a public
key instead of using a password.
Procedure
Step 1 Generate an RSA key pair, which is required for SSH (for physical ASAs only).
crypto key generate rsa modulus modulus_size
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto key generate rsa modulus 1024
For the ASAv, the RSA key pairs are automatically created after deployment.
The modulus value (in bits) is 512, 768, 1024, or 2048. The larger the key modulus size you specify, the
longer it takes to generate an RSA key pair. We recommend a value of 1024.
Step 2 Save the RSA keys to persistent flash memory.

write memory
Example:
Step 3 Enable local authentication for SSH access. You can alternatively configure authentication using a AAA
server.
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL
Step 4 Create a user in the local database that can be used for SSH access.
username user name password password
796
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# username user1 password cisco123
Step 5 Identify the IP addresses from which the ASA accepts connections for each address or subnet, and the interface
on which you can use SSH.
ssh source_IP_address mask source_interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ssh 192.168.3.0 255.255.255.0 inside
Unlike Telnet, you can SSH on the lowest security level interface.
Step 6 (Optional) Set the duration for how long an SSH session can be idle before the ASA disconnects the session.
ssh timeout minutes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ssh timeout 30
Set the timeout from 1 to 60 minutes. The default is 5 minutes. The default duration is too short in most cases,
and should be increased until all pre-production testing and troubleshooting have been completed
Step 7 (Optional) Limit access to SSH version 1 or 2. By default, SSH allows both versions 1 and 2.
ssh version version_number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ssh version 2
Examples
The following example shows how to generate RSA keys and let a host on the inside interface with an address
of 192.168.1.2 access the ASA:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto key generate rsa modulus 1024

ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL
WARNING: local database is empty! Use 'username' command to define local users.
ciscoasa(config)# username exampleuser1 password examplepassword1

ciscoasa(config)# ssh timeout 30
The following example shows how to allow all users on the 192.168.3.0/24 network to access the ASA on
the inside interface:
797
Exchange Keys in an SSH Session

The Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange provides a shared secret that cannot be determined by either party
alone. The key exchange is combined with a signature and the host key to provide host authentication. This
key-exchange method provides explicit server authentication.
Both the DH Group 1 and Group 14 key-exchange methods for key exchange are supported on the ASA. If
no DH group key-exchange method is specified, the DH group 1 key-exchange method is used. For more
information about using DH key-exchange methods, see RFC 4253.
To exchange keys in an SSH session, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enter the following command:

ssh key-exchange group {dh-group1 | dh-group14} sha-1
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ssh key-exchange group dh-group14 sha-1
ciscoasa# show running-config key-exchangessh key-exchange group dh-group14 sha-1
The key-exchange keyword specifies that either the DH group 1 or DH group 14 key-exchange method will
follow and should be used when exchanging keys.
The group keyword indicates that either the DH group 1 key-exchange method or the DH group 14
key-exchange method will follow and should be used when exchanging keys.
The dh-group1 keyword indicates that the DH group 1 key-exchange method will follow and should be used
when exchanging keys. DH group 2 is called DH group 1 for legacy reasons.
The dh-group14 keyword indicates that the DH group 14 key-exchange method will follow and should be
used when exchanging keys.
The sha-1 keyword indicates that the SHA-1 encryption algorithm should be used.
Use the show running-config ssh key-exchange command to display the DH group key-exchange method
currently being used.
Configure Telnet Access

To identify the client IP addresses allowed to connect to the ASA using Telnet, perform the following steps:
Before You Begin

• To access the ASA interface for Telnet access, you do not also need an access rule allowing the host IP
address. You only need to configure Telnet access according to this section.
• Telnet access to an interface other than the one from which you entered the ASA is not supported. For
example, if your Telnet host is located on the outside interface, you can only initiate a Telnet connection
directly to the outside interface. The only exception to this rule is through a VPN connection. See
Configure Management Access Over a VPN Tunnel, on page 801.
798
• You cannot use Telnet to the lowest security interface unless you use Telnet inside a VPN tunnel.
• The ASA allows a maximum of 5 concurrent Telnet connections per context/single mode, with a maximum
of 100 connections divided among all contexts.
• To gain access to the ASA CLI using Telnet, enter the login password set by the password command.
You must manually set the password before using Telnet.
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the IP addresses from which the ASA accepts connections for each address or subnet.
telnet source_IP_address mask source_interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# telnet 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.255 inside
If there is only one interface, you can configure Telnet to access that interface as long as the interface has a
security level of 100.
Step 2 Set the duration for how long a Telnet session can be idle before the ASA disconnects the session.
telnet timeout minutes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# telnet timeout 30
Set the timeout from 1 to 1440 minutes. The default is 5 minutes. The default duration is too short in most
cases and should be increased until all pre-production testing and troubleshooting have been completed.
Examples
The following example shows how to let a host on the inside interface with an address of 192.168.1.2 access
the ASA:
ciscoasa(config)# telnet 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.255 inside
The following example shows how to allow all users on the 192.168.3.0 network to access the ASA on the
inside interface:
ciscoasa(config)# telnet 192.168.3.0. 255.255.255.255 inside
Configure HTTPS Access for ASDM

To use ASDM, you need to enable the HTTPS server, and allow HTTPS connections to the ASA. HTTPS
access is enabled as part of the factory default configuration.
To configure HTTPS access for ASDM, perform the following steps:
799
Before You Begin

• To access the ASA interface for HTTPS access, you do not also need an access rule allowing the host
IP address. You only need to configure HTTPS access according to this section. If, however, you
configure HTTP redirect to redirect HTTP connections to HTTPS automatically, you must enable an
access rule to allow HTTP; otherwise, the interface cannot listen to the HTTP port.
• Management access to an interface other than the one from which you entered the ASA is not supported.
For example, if your management host is located on the outside interface, you can only initiate a
management connection directly to the outside interface. The only exception to this rule is through a
VPN connection. See Configure Management Access Over a VPN Tunnel, on page 801.
• The ASA allows a maximum of 5 concurrent ASDM instances per context, if available, with a maximum
of 32 ASDM instances among all contexts.
ASDM sessions use two HTTPS connections: one for monitoring that is always present, and one for
making configuration changes that is present only when you make changes. For example, the system
limit of 32 ASDM sessions represents a limit of 64 HTTPS sessions.
Procedure
Step 1 Identify the IP addresses from which the ASA accepts HTTPS connections for each address or subnet.
http source_IP_address mask source_interface
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# http 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.255 inside
Step 2 Enable the HTTPS server.

http server enable [port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# http server enable 444
By default, the port is 443. If you change the port number, be sure to include it in the ASDM access URL.
For example, if you change the port number to 444, enter the following URL:
https://10.1.1.1:444
Examples
The following example shows how to enable the HTTPS server and let a host on the inside interface with an
address of 192.168.1.2 access ASDM:
ciscoasa(config)# http server enable

800
The following example shows how to allow all users on the 192.168.3.0/24 network to access ASDM on the
inside interface:
Configure HTTP Redirect for ASDM Access or Clientless SSL VPN

You must use HTTPS to connect to the ASA using ASDM or clientless SSL VPN. For your convenience,
you can redirect HTTP management connections to HTTPS. For example, by redirecting HTTP, you can enter
either http://10.1.8.4/admin/ or https://10.1.8.4/admin/ and still arrive at the ASDM launch page at the
HTTPS address.
This feature only supports IPv4 redirection.
Before You Begin

Normally, you do not need an access rule allowing the host IP address. However, for HTTP redirect, you must
enable an access rule to allow HTTP; otherwise, the interface cannot listen to the HTTP port.
Procedure
Enable HTTP redirect:

http redirect interface_name [port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# http redirect outside 88
The port identifies the port from which the interface redirects HTTP connections. The default is 80.
Configure Management Access Over a VPN Tunnel

If your VPN tunnel terminates on one interface, but you want to manage the ASA by accessing a different
interface, you can identify that interface as a management-access interface. For example, if you enter the ASA
from the outside interface, this feature lets you connect to the inside interface using ASDM, SSH, Telnet, or
SNMP; or you can ping the inside interface when entering from the outside interface. Management access is
available via the following VPN tunnel types: IPsec clients, IPsec site-to-site, and the AnyConnect SSL VPN
client.
Before You Begin

Due to routing considerations with the separate management and data routing tables, the VPN termination
interface and the management access interface need to be the same type: both need to be management-only
interfaces or regular data interfaces.
Procedure
Specify the name of the management interface that you want to access when entering the ASA from another
interface.
management-access management_interface
801
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# management-access inside
Change the Console Timeout

The console timeout sets how long a connection can remain in privileged EXEC mode or configuration mode;
when the timeout is reached, the session drops into user EXEC mode. By default, the session does not time
out. This setting does not affect how long you can remain connected to the console port, which never times
out.
Procedure
Specify the idle time in minutes (0 through 60) after which the privileged session ends.
console timeout number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# console timeout 0
The default timeout is 0, which means the session does not time out.
Customize a CLI Prompt

By default, the prompt shows the hostname of the ASA. In multiple context mode, the prompt also displays
the context name. You can display the following items in the CLI prompt:
cluster-unit Displays the cluster unit name. Each unit in a cluster can have a unique name.
context (Multiple mode only) Displays the name of the current context.
domain Displays the domain name.
hostname Displays the hostname.
priority Displays the failover priority as pri (primary) or sec (secondary).
802
state Displays the traffic-passing state of the unit. The following values appear for the
state:
• act—Failover is enabled, and the unit is actively passing traffic.
• stby— Failover is enabled, and the unit is not passing traffic and is in a
standby, failed, or another inactive state.
• actNoFailover—Failover is not enabled, and the unit is actively passing
traffic.
• stbyNoFailover—Failover is not enabled, and the unit is not passing traffic.
This condition might occur when there is an interface failure above the
threshold on the standby unit.
Shows the role (master or slave) of a unit in a cluster. For example, in the prompt
ciscoasa/cl2/slave, the hostname is ciscoasa, the unit name is cl2, and the state
name is slave.
Procedure
Customize the CLI prompt by entering the following command:

prompt {[hostname] [context] [domain] [slot] [state] [priority] [cluster-unit]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# firewall transparent
Configure a Login Banner

You can configure a message to display when a user connects to the ASA, before a user logs in, or before a
user enters privileged EXEC mode.
Before You Begin

• From a security perspective, it is important that your banner discourage unauthorized access. Do not use
the words “welcome” or “please,” as they appear to invite intruders in. The following banner sets the
correct tone for unauthorized access:
You have logged in to a secure device.
If you are not authorized to access this device,
log out immediately or risk possible criminal consequences.
• After a banner has been added, Telnet or SSH sessions to the ASA may close if:
◦There is not enough system memory available to process the banner message(s).
◦A TCP write error occurs when trying to display banner message(s).
• See RFC 2196 for guidelines about banner messages.
803
Procedure
Add a banner to display at one of three times: when a user first connects (message-of-the-day (motd)), when
a user logs in (login), and when a user accesses privileged EXEC mode (exec).
banner {exec | login | motd} text
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# banner motd Welcome to $(hostname).
When a user connects to the ASA, the message-of-the-day banner appears first, followed by the login banner
and prompts. After the user successfully logs in to the ASA, the exec banner appears.
To add more than one line, precede each line by the banner command.
For the banner text:
• Spaces are allowed, but tabs cannot be entered using the CLI.
• There are no limits for banner length other than those for RAM and flash memory.
• You can dynamically add the hostname or domain name of the ASA by including the strings $(hostname)
and $(domain).
• If you configure a banner in the system configuration, you can use that banner text within a context by
using the $(system) string in the context configuration.
Examples
The following examples show how to add a message-of-the-day banner:
ciscoasa(config)# banner motd Welcome to $(hostname).
ciscoasa(config)# banner motd Contact me at [email protected] for any issues.
Set a Management Session Quota

You can establish a maximum number of simultaneous ASDM, SSH, and Telnet sessions that are allowed on
the ASA. If the maximum is reached, no additional sessions are allowed and a syslog message is generated.
To prevent a system lockout, the management session quota mechanism cannot block a console session.
To set a management session quota, perform the following steps:
Procedure

quota management-sessionnumber
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# quota management-session 1000
Entering the no form of this command sets the quota value to 0, which means that there is no session limit.
Valid values range from 0 to 10000.
804
Configure AAA for System Administrators

This section describes how to configure authentication, management authorization, and command authorization
for system administrators.
About AAA for System Administrators

How you log into the ASA depends on whether or not you enable authentication.
You can also enable command authorization so only authorized users can enter commands.
About SSH Authentication

See the following behavior for SSH access with and without authentication:
• No Authentication—SSH is not available without authentication.
• Authentication—When you enable SSH authentication, you enter the username and password as defined
on the AAA server or local user database. You access user EXEC mode.
About Telnet Authentication

See the following behavior for Telnet access with and without authentication:
• No Authentication—If you do not enable any authentication for Telnet, you do not enter a username;
you enter the login password (set with the password command). There is no default password, so you
must set one before you can Telnet to the ASA. You access user EXEC mode.
• Authentication—If you enable Telnet authentication, you enter the username and password as defined
on the AAA server or local user database. You access user EXEC mode.
About ASDM Authentication

See the following behavior for ASDM access with and without authentication. You can also configure certificate
authentication, with or without AAA authentication.
• No Authentication—By default, you can log into ASDM with a blank username and the enable password
set by the enable password command, which is blank by default. Note that if you enter a username and
password at the login screen (instead of leaving the username blank), ASDM checks the local database
for a match.
• Certificate Authentication—(Single, routed mode only) You can require that the user have a valid
certificate. Enter the certificate username and password, and the ASA validates the certificate against
the PKI trustpoint.
• AAA Authentication—When you enable ASDM (HTTPS) authentication, you enter the username and
password as defined on the AAA server or local user database. You can no longer use ASDM with a
blank username and the enable password.
805
• AAA Authentication plus Certificate Authentication—(Single, routed mode only) When you enable
ASDM (HTTPS) authentication, you enter the username and password as defined on the AAA server
or local user database. If the username and password are different for the certificate authentication, you
are prompted to enter them as well. You can opt to pre-fill the username derived from your certificate.
About Enable Authentication

To enter privileged EXEC mode after logging in, enter the enable command. How this command works
depends on whether or not you enable authentication:
• No Authentication—If you do not configure enable authentication, enter the system enable password
when you enter the enable command (set by the password command), which is blank by default.
However, if you do not use enable authentication, after you enter the enable command, you are no longer
logged in as a particular user, which can affect user-based features such as command authorization. To
maintain your username, use enable authentication.
• Authentication—If you configure enable authentication, the ASA prompts you for your username and
password as defined on the AAA server or local user database. This feature is particularly useful when
you perform command authorization, in which usernames are important in determining the commands
that a user can enter.
For enable authentication using the local database, you can use the login command instead of the enable
command. The login command maintains the username, but requires no configuration to turn on authentication.
Caution If you add users to the local database who can gain access to the CLI and whom you do not want to enter
privileged EXEC mode, you should configure command authorization. Without command authorization,
users can access privileged EXEC mode (and all commands) at the CLI using their own password if their
privilege level is 2 or greater (2 is the default). Alternatively, you can discourage the login command by
using a AAA server for authentication instead of the local database, or you can set all local users to level
1 so you can control who can use the system enable password to access privileged EXEC mode.
Sessions from the Switch to the ASA Services Module

For sessions from the switch to the ASASM (using the session command), you can configure Telnet
authentication. For virtual console connections from the switch to the ASASM (using the service-module
session command), you can configure serial port authentication.
In multiple context mode, you cannot configure any AAA commands in the system configuration. However,
if you configure Telnet or serial authentication in the admin context, then authentication also applies to sessions
from the switch to the ASASM. The admin context AAA server or local user database is used in this instance.
Supported Command Authorization Methods

You can use one of two command authorization methods:
• Local privilege levels—Configure the command privilege levels on the ASA. When a local, RADIUS,
or LDAP (if you map LDAP attributes to RADIUS attributes) user authenticates for CLI access, the
ASA places that user in the privilege level that is defined by the local database, RADIUS, or LDAP
server. The user can access commands at the assigned privilege level and below. Note that all users
access user EXEC mode when they first log in (commands at level 0 or 1). The user needs to authenticate
806
again with the enable command to access privileged EXEC mode (commands at level 2 or higher), or
they can log in with the login command (local database only).
Note You can use local command authorization without any users in the local database and
without CLI or enable authentication. Instead, when you enter the enable command,
you enter the system enable password, and the ASA places you in level 15. You can
then create enable passwords for every level, so that when you enter enable n (2 to 15),
the ASA places you in level n. These levels are not used unless you enable local command
authorization.
• TACACS+ server privilege levels—On the TACACS+ server, configure the commands that a user or
group can use after authenticating for CLI access. Every command that a user enters at the CLI is validated
with the TACACS+ server.
Security Contexts and Command Authorization

The following are important points to consider when implementing command authorization with multiple
security contexts:
• AAA settings are discrete per context, not shared among contexts.
When configuring command authorization, you must configure each security context separately. This
configuration provides you the opportunity to enforce different command authorizations for different
security contexts.
When switching between security contexts, administrators should be aware that the commands permitted
for the username specified when they login may be different in the new context session or that command
authorization may not be configured at all in the new context. Failure to understand that command
authorizations may differ between security contexts could confuse an administrator. This behavior is
further complicated by the next point.
• New context sessions started with the changeto command always use the default enable_15 username
as the administrator identity, regardless of which username was used in the previous context session.
This behavior can lead to confusion if command authorization is not configured for the enable_15 user
or if authorizations are different for the enable_15 user than for the user in the previous context session.
This behavior also affects command accounting, which is useful only if you can accurately associate
each command that is issued with a particular administrator. Because all administrators with permission
to use the changeto command can use the enable_15 username in other contexts, command accounting
records may not readily identify who was logged in as the enable_15 username. If you use different
accounting servers for each context, tracking who was using the enable_15 username requires correlating
the data from several servers.
When configuring command authorization, consider the following:
◦An administrator with permission to use the changeto command effectively has permission to use
all commands permitted to the enable_15 user in each of the other contexts.
◦If you intend to authorize commands differently per context, ensure that in each context the
enable_15 username is denied use of commands that are also denied to administrators who are
permitted use of the changeto command.
807
When switching between security contexts, administrators can exit privileged EXEC mode and
enter the enable command again to use the username that they need.
Note The system execution space does not support AAA commands; therefore, command authorization is not
available in the system execution space.
Command Privilege Levels

By default, the following commands are assigned to privilege level 0. All other commands are assigned to
privilege level 15.
• show checksum
• show curpriv
• enable
• help
• show history
• login
• logout
• pager
• show pager
• clear pager
• quit
• show version
If you move any configure mode commands to a lower level than 15, be sure to move the configure command
to that level as well, otherwise, the user cannot enter configuration mode.
Configure Authentication for CLI and ASDM Access

Before You Begin
• Configure Telnet, SSH, or HTTP access.
• For external authentication, configure a AAA server group. For local authentication, add users to the
local database.
• HTTP management authentication does not support the SDI protocol for a AAA server group.
Procedure
Authenticate users for management access.
808
aaa authentication {telnet | ssh | http | serial} console {LOCAL | server_group [LOCAL]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication ssh console radius_1 LOCAL
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication http console radius_1 LOCAL
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication serial console LOCAL
The telnet keyword controls Telnet access. For the ASASM, this keyword also affects the session from the
switch using the session command. The ssh keyword controls SSH access. The http keyword controls ASDM
access. The serial keyword controls console port access. For the ASASM, this keyword affects the virtual
console accessed from the switch using the service-module session command.
If you use a AAA server group for authentication, you can configure the ASA to use the local database as a
fallback method if the AAA server is unavailable. Specify the server group name followed by LOCAL (which
is case sensitive). We recommend that you use the same username and password in the local database as the
AAA server, because the ASA prompt does not give any indication which method is being used. You can
alternatively use the local database as your primary method of authentication (with no fallback) by entering
LOCAL alone.
Configure Enable Authentication (Privileged EXEC Mode)

You can authentication users when they enter the enable command.
Before You Begin

See About Enable Authentication, on page 806.
Procedure
Choose one of the following options for authenticating users:

• To authenticate users with a AAA server or the local database, enter the following command:
aaa authentication enable console {LOCAL | server_group [LOCAL]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication enable console LOCAL
The user is prompted for the username and password.

If you use a AAA server group for authentication, you can configure the ASA to use the local database
as a fallback method if the AAA server is unavailable. Specify the server group name followed by
LOCAL (which is case sensitive). We recommend that you use the same username and password in the
local database as the AAA server, because the ASA prompt does not give any indication of which method
is being used.
You can alternatively use the local database as your primary method of authentication (with no fallback)
by entering LOCAL alone.
• To log in as a user from the local database, enter the following command:
login
809
Example:
ciscoasa# login
The ASA prompts for your username and password. After you enter your password, the ASA places
you in the privilege level that the local database specifies.
Users can log in with their own username and password to access privileged EXEC mode, so you do
not have to provide the system enable password to everyone. To allow users to access privileged EXEC
mode (and all commands) when they log in, set the user privilege level to 2 (the default) through 15. If
you configure local command authorization, then the user can only enter commands assigned to that
privilege level or lower.
Configure ASDM Certificate Authentication

You can require certificate authentication, with or without AAA authentication. The ASA validates the
certificate against the PKI trustpoint.
Before You Begin

This feature is supported in single, routed mode only.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable certificate authentication:

http authentication-certificate interface_name
Example:
You configure certificate authentication for each interface, so that connections on a trusted/inside interface
do not have to provide a certificate. You can use the command multiple times to enable certificate authentication
on multiple interfaces.
Step 2 (Optional) Set the attribute used by ASDM to derive the username from the certificate:
http username-from-certificate{primary-attr [secondary-attr] | use-entire-name |
use-script} [pre-fill-username]
Example:
http username-from-certificate CN pre-fill-username
By default, ASDM uses CN OU attributes.
• The primary-attr argument specifies the attribute to be used to derive the username. The secondary-attr
argument specifies an additional attribute to use with the primary attribute to derive the username. You
can use the following attributes:
◦C—Country
◦CN—Common Name
◦DNQ—DN qualifier
◦EA—Email Address
810
◦GENQ—Generational qualifier
◦GN—Given Name
◦I—Initials
◦L—Locality
◦N—Name
◦O—Organization
◦OU—Organizational Unit
◦SER—Serial Number
◦SN—Surname
◦SP—State/Province
◦T—Title
◦UID User ID
◦UPN—User Principal Name
• The use-entire-name keyword uses the entire DN name.

• The use-script keyword uses a Lua script generated by ASDM.
• The pre-fill-username keyword pre-fills the username when prompted for authentication. If the username
is different from the one you initially typed in, a new dialog box appears with the username pre-filled.
You can then enter the password for authentication.
Control CLI and ASDM Access with Management Authorization

The ASA lets you distinguish between administrative and remote-access users when they authenticate. User
role differentiation can prevent remote access VPN and network access users from establishing an administrative
connection to the ASA.
Before You Begin

RADIUS or LDAP (mapped) users
When users are authenticated through LDAP, the native LDAP attributes and their values can be mapped to
Cisco ASA attributes to provide specific authorization features. Configure Cisco VSA
CVPN3000-Privilege-Level with a value between 0 and 15. and then map the LDAP attributes to Cisco VAS
CVPN3000-Privilege-Level using the ldap map-attributes command.
The RADIUS IETF service-type attribute, when sent in an access-accept message as the result of a RADIUS
authentication and authorization request, is used to designate which type of service is granted to the authenticated
user
The RADIUS Cisco VSA privilege-level attribute (Vendor ID 3076, sub-ID 220), when sent in an access-accept
message, is used to designate the level of privilege for the user.
811
TACACS+ users
Authorization is requested with “service=shell,” and the server responds with PASS or FAIL.
Local users
Set the service-type command for a given username. By default, the service-type is admin, which allows full
access to any services specified by the aaa authentication consolecommand.
Management Authorization Attributes
See the following table for AAA server types and valid values for management authorization. The ASA uses
these values to determine the level of management access.
Management Level RADIUS/LDAP TACACS+ Attributes Local Database Attributes

(Mapped) Attributes
Full Access—Allows full access to any services Service-Type 6 PASS, privilege level 1 admin
specified by the aaa authentication console (Administrative),
commands Privilege-Level 1
Partial Access—Allows access to the CLI or Service-Type 7 (NAS PASS, privilege level 2 nas-prompt
ASDM when you configure the aaa prompt), and higher
authentication console commands. However, Privilege-Level 2 and
if you configure enable authentication with the higher
aaa authentication enable console command, The Framed (2) and
then the CLI user cannot access privileged EXEC Login (1) service types
mode using the enable command. are treated the same
way.
No Access—Denies management access. The Service-Type 5 FAIL remote-access

user cannot use any services specified by the aaa (Outbound)
authentication console commands(excluding
the serial keyword; serial access is allowed).
Remote access (IPsec and SSL) users can still
authenticate and terminate their remote access
sessions. All other service types (Voice, FAX,
and so on) are treated the same way.
• Serial console access is not included in management authorization.
• You must also configure AAA authentication for management access to use this feature. See Configure
Authentication for CLI and ASDM Access, on page 808.
• If you use external authentication, you must pre-configure a AAA server group before you enable this
feature.
• HTTP authorization is supported in single, routed mode only.
812
Procedure
Step 1 Enable management authorization for Telnet and SSH:

aaa authorization exec {authentication-server | LOCAL} [auto-enable]
The auto-enable keyword lets administrators who have sufficient authorization privileges enter privileged
EXEC mode automatically when they log in. Before you configure the auto-enable option, we recommend
that you configure both SSH or Telnet login and enable authentication, and that all authentication requests go
to the same AAA server group, as shown in the following example:
ciscoasa (config)# aaa authentication ssh console RADIUS

ciscoasa (config)# aaa authentication enable console RADIUS
ciscoasa (config)# aaa authorization exec authentication-server auto-enable
Step 2 Enable management authorization for HTTPS (ASDM):

aaa authorization http console {authentication-server | LOCAL}
Step 3
Examples
The following example shows how to define an LDAP attribute map. In this example, the security policy
specifies that users being authenticated through LDAP map the user record fields or parameters title and
company to the IETF-RADIUS service-type and privilege-level, respectively.
ciscoasa(config)# ldap attribute-map admin-control

ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-name title IETF-RADIUS-Service-Type
ciscoasa(config-ldap-attribute-map)# map-name company
The following example applies an LDAP attribute map to an LDAP AAA server:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa-server ldap-server (dmz1) host 10.20.30.1

ciscoasa(config-aaa-server-host)# ldap attribute-map admin-control
Configure Command Authorization

If you want to control access to commands, the ASA lets you configure command authorization, where you
can determine which commands that are available to a user. By default when you log in, you can access user
EXEC mode, which offers only minimal commands. When you enter the enable command (or the login
command when you use the local database), you can access privileged EXEC mode and advanced commands,
including configuration commands.
You can use one of two command authorization methods:
• Local privilege levels
• TACACS+ server privilege levels
813
Configure Local Command Authorization

Local command authorization lets you assign commands to one of 16 privilege levels (0 to 15). By default,
each command is assigned either to privilege level 0 or 15. You can define each user to be at a specific privilege
level, and each user can enter any command at the assigned privilege level or below. The ASA supports user
privilege levels defined in the local database, a RADIUS server, or an LDAP server (if you map LDAP
attributes to RADIUS attributes).
Procedure
Step 1 Assign a command to a privilege level.

privilege [show | clear | cmd] level level [mode {enable | cmd}] command command
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# privilege show level 5 command filter
Repeat this command for each command that you want to reassign.
The options in this command are the following:
• show | clear | cmd—These optional keywords let you set the privilege only for the show, clear, or
configure form of the command. The configure form of the command is typically the form that causes
a configuration change, either as the unmodified command (without the show or clear prefix) or as the
no form. If you do not use one of these keywords, all forms of the command are affected.
• level level—A level between 0 and 15.
• mode {enable | configure}—If a command can be entered in user EXEC or privileged EXEC mode as
well as configuration mode, and the command performs different actions in each mode, you can set the
privilege level for these modes separately:
◦enable—Specifies both user EXEC mode and privileged EXEC mode.
◦configure—Specifies configuration mode, accessed using the configure terminal command.
• command command—The command you are configuring. You can only configure the privilege level
of the main command. For example, you can configure the level of all aaa commands, but not the level
of the aaa authentication command and the aaa authorization command separately.
Step 2 (Optional) Enable AAA users for command authorization. Without this command, the ASA only supports
privilege levels for local database users and defaults all other types of users to level 15.
aaa authorization exec authentication-server [auto-enable]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authorization exec authentication-server
This command also enables management authorization. See Control CLI and ASDM Access with Management
Authorization, on page 811.
Step 3 Enable the use of local command privilege levels:

aaa authorization command LOCAL
814
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authorization command LOCAL
When you set command privilege levels, command authorization does not occur unless you configure command
authorization with this command.
Examples
The filter command has the following forms:
• filter (represented by the configure option)
• show running-config filter
• clear configure filter
You can set the privilege level separately for each form, or set the same privilege level for all forms by omitting
this option. The following example shows how to set each form separately:
ciscoasa(config)# privilege show level 5 command filter

ciscoasa(config)# privilege clear level 10 command filter
ciscoasa(config)# privilege cmd level 10 command filter
Alternatively, the following example shows how to set all filter commands to the same level:
ciscoasa(config)# privilege level 5 command filter
The show privilege command separates the forms in the display.

The following example shows the use of the mode keyword. The enable command must be entered from user
EXEC mode, while the enable password command, which is accessible in configuration mode, requires the
highest privilege level:
ciscoasa(config)# privilege cmd level 0 mode enable command enable

ciscoasa(config)# privilege cmd level 15 mode cmd command enable
ciscoasa(config)# privilege show level 15 mode cmd command enable
The following example shows an additional command, the configure command, which uses the mode keyword:
ciscoasa(config)# privilege show level 5 mode cmd command configure

ciscoasa(config)# privilege clear level 15 mode cmd command configure
ciscoasa(config)# privilege cmd level 15 mode cmd command configure
ciscoasa(config)# privilege cmd level 15 mode enable command configure
Note This last line is for the configure terminal command.
Configure Commands on the TACACS+ Server

You can configure commands on a Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) TACACS+ server as a shared
profile component, for a group, or for individual users. For third-party TACACS+ servers, see your server
documentation for more information about command authorization support.
815
See the following guidelines for configuring commands in Cisco Secure ACS Version 3.1; many of these
guidelines also apply to third-party servers:
• The ASA sends the commands to be authorized as shell commands, so configure the commands on the
TACACS+ server as shell commands.
Note Cisco Secure ACS might include a command type called “pix-shell.” Do not use this
type for ASA command authorization.
• The first word of the command is considered to be the main command. All additional words are considered
to be arguments, which need to be preceded by permit or deny.
For example, to allow the show running-configuration aaa-server command, add show
running-configuration to the command field, and type permit aaa-server in the arguments field.
• You can permit all arguments of a command that you do not explicitly deny by checking the Permit
Unmatched Args check box.
For example, you can configure just the show command, then all the show commands are allowed. We
recommend using this method so that you do not have to anticipate every variant of a command, including
abbreviations and a question mark, which shows CLI usage (see the following figure).
Figure 44: Permitting All Related Commands
816
• For commands that are a single word, you must permit unmatched arguments, even if there are no
arguments for the command, for example enable or help (see the following figure).
Figure 45: Permitting Single Word Commands
• To disallow some arguments, enter the arguments preceded by deny.

For example, to allow enable, but not enable password, enter enable in the commands field, and deny
password in the arguments field. Be sure to check the Permit Unmatched Args check box so that
enable alone is still allowed (see the following figure).
Figure 46: Disallowing Arguments
• When you abbreviate a command at the command line, the ASA expands the prefix and main command
to the full text, but it sends additional arguments to the TACACS+ server as you enter them.
For example, if you enter sh log, then the ASA sends the entire command to the TACACS+ server, show
logging. However, if you enter sh log mess, then the ASA sends show logging mess to the TACACS+
817
server, and not the expanded command show logging message. You can configure multiple spellings
of the same argument to anticipate abbreviations (see the following figure).
Figure 47: Specifying Abbreviations
• We recommend that you allow the following basic commands for all users:
◦show checksum
◦show curpriv
◦enable
◦help
◦show history
◦login
◦logout
◦pager
◦show pager
◦clear pager
◦quit
◦show version
Configure TACACS+ Command Authorization

If you enable TACACS+ command authorization, and a user enters a command at the CLI, the ASA sends
the command and username to the TACACS+ server to determine if the command is authorized.
Before you enable TACACS+ command authorization, be sure that you are logged into the ASA as a user
that is defined on the TACACS+ server, and that you have the necessary command authorization to continue
configuring the ASA. For example, you should log in as an admin user with all commands authorized.
Otherwise, you could become unintentionally locked out.
Do not save your configuration until you are sure that it works the way you want. If you get locked out because
of a mistake, you can usually recover access by restarting the ASA.
818
Be sure that your TACACS+ system is completely stable and reliable. The necessary level of reliability
typically requires that you have a fully redundant TACACS+ server system and fully redundant connectivity
to the ASA. For example, in your TACACS+ server pool, include one server connected to interface 1, and
another to interface 2. You can also configure local command authorization as a fallback method if the
TACACS+ server is unavailable.
To configure command authorization using a TACACS+ server, perform the following steps:
Procedure

aaa authorization command tacacs+_server_group [LOCAL]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa authorization command tacacs+_server_group [LOCAL]
You can configure the ASA to use the local database as a fallback method if the TACACS+ server is
unavailable. To enable fallback, specify the server group name followed by LOCAL (LOCAL is case
sensitive). We recommend that you use the same username and password in the local database as the TACACS+
server because the ASA prompt does not give any indication of which method is being used. Be sure to
configure users in the local database and command privilege levels.
Configure a Password Policy for Local Database Users

When you configure authentication for CLI or ASDM access using the local database, you can configure a
password policy that requires a user to change their password after a specified amount of time and also requires
password standards such as a minimum length and the minimum number of changed characters.
The password policy only applies to administrative users using the local database, and not to other types of
traffic that can use the local database, such as VPN or AAA for network access, and not to users authenticated
by a AAA server.
After you configure the password policy, when you change a password (either your own or another user’s),
the password policy applies to the new password. Any existing passwords are grandfathered in. The new
policy applies to changing the password with the username command as well as the change-password
command.
Before You Begin

• Configure both CLI/ASDM and enable authentication.
• Specify the local database.
Procedure
Step 1 (Optional) Set the interval in days after which passwords expire for remote users (SSH, Telnet, HTTP).
password-policy lifetime days
819
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy lifetime 180
Note Users at the console port are never locked out because of password expiration.
Valid values are between 0 and 65536 days. The default value is 0 days, a value indicating that passwords
will never expire.
Seven days before the password expires, a warning message appears. After the password expires, system
access is denied to remote users. To gain access after expiration, do one of the following:
• Have another administrator change your password with the username command.
• Log in to the physical console port to change your password.
Step 2 (Optional) Set the minimum number of characters that you must change between new and old passwords.
password-policy minimum-changes value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-changes 2
Valid values are between 0 and 64 characters. The default value is 0.

Character matching is position independent, meaning that new password characters are considered changed
only if they do not appear anywhere in the current password.
Step 3 (Optional) Set the minimum length of passwords.

password-policy minimum-length value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-length 8
Valid values are between 3 and 64 characters. We recommend a minimum password length of 8 characters.
Step 4 (Optional) Set the minimum number of upper case characters that passwords must have.
password-policy minimum-uppercase value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-uppercase 3
Valid values are between 0 and 64 characters. The default value is 0, which means there is no minimum.
Step 5 (Optional) Set the minimum number of lower case characters that passwords must have.
password-policy minimum-lowercase value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-lowercase 6
820
Step 6 (Optional) Set the minimum number of numeric characters that passwords must have.
password-policy minimum-numeric value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-numeric 1
Step 7 (Optional) Set the minimum number of special characters that passwords must have.
password-policy minimum-special value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy minimum-special 2
Valid values are between 0 and 64 characters. Special characters include the following: !, @, #, $, %, ^, &,
*, ‘(‘ and ‘)’. The default value is 0, which means there is no minimum.
Step 8 (Optional) Set whether users must change their password using the change-password command, instead of
letting users change their password with the username command.
password-policy authenticate enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# password-policy authenticate enable
The default setting is disabled: a user can use either method to change their password.
If you enable this feature and try to change your password with the username command, the following error
message appears:
ERROR: Changing your own password is prohibited
You also cannot delete your own account with the clear configure username command. If you try, the
following error message appears:
ERROR: You cannot delete all usernames because you are not allowed to delete yourself
Change Your Password

If you configure a password lifetime in the password policy, you need to change your password to a new one
when the old password expires. This password change method is required if you enable password policy
authentication. If password policy authentication is not enabled, then you can use this method, or you can
change your user account directly.
To change your username password, perform the following steps:
821
Procedure

change-password [old-password old_password [new-password new_password]]
Example:
ciscoasa# change-password old-password j0hncr1chton new-password a3rynsun
If you do not enter the old and new passwords in the command, the ASA prompts you for input.
Configure Management Access Accounting

You can send accounting messages to the TACACS+ accounting server when you enter any command other
than show commands at the CLI. You can configure accounting when users log in, when they enter the enable
command, or when they issue commands.
For command accounting, you can only use TACACS+ servers.
To configure management access and enable command accounting, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enter the following command:

aaa accounting {serial | telnet | ssh | enable} console server-tag
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa accounting telnet console group_1
Valid server group protocols are RADIUS and TACACS+.
Step 2 Enable command accounting. Only TACACS+ servers support command accounting.
aaa accounting command [privilege level] server-tag
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# aaa accounting command privilege 15 group_1
The privilege level keyword-argument pair is the minimum privilege level and the server-tag argument is the
name of the TACACS+ server group to which the ASA should send command accounting messages.
Recover from a Lockout

In some circumstances, when you turn on command authorization or CLI authentication, you can be locked
out of the ASA CLI. You can usually recover access by restarting the ASA. However, if you already saved
your configuration, you might be locked out.
The following table lists the common lockout conditions and how you might recover from them.
822
Monitoring Device Access
Table 52: CLI Authentication and Command Authorization Lockout Scenarios
Feature Lockout Condition Description Workaround: Single Mode Workaround: Multiple Mode
Local CLI No users have If you have no users in Log in and reset the passwords Session into the ASA from the
authentication been configured in the local database, you and aaa commands. switch. From the system
the local database. cannot log in, and you execution space, you can
cannot add any users. change to the context and add
a user.
TACACS+ The server is down If the server is

1 Log in and reset the 1 If the server is unreachable
command or unreachable and unreachable, then you
passwords and AAA because the network
authorization you do not have cannot log in or enter
commands. configuration is incorrect
the fallback any commands.
TACACS+ CLI on the ASA, session into
method 2 Configure the local
authentication the ASA from the switch.
configured. database as a fallback
RADIUS CLI From the system execution
method so you do not get
authentication space, you can change to
locked out when the server
the context and reconfigure
is down.
your network settings.
2 Configure the local
database as a fallback
method so that you do not
get locked out when the
server is down.
TACACS+ You are logged in You enable command Fix the TACACS+ server user Session into the ASA from the
command as a user without authorization, but then account. switch. From the system
authorization enough privileges find that the user cannot If you do not have access to execution space, you can
or as a user that enter any more the TACACS+ server and you change to the context and
does not exist. commands. complete the configuration
need to configure the ASA
immediately, then log into the changes. You can also disable
command authorization until
maintenance partition and
reset the passwords and aaa you fix the TACACS+
configuration.
commands.
Local command You are logged in You enable command Log in and reset the passwords Session into the ASA from the
authorization as a user without authorization, but then and aaa commands. switch. From the system
enough privileges. find that the user cannot execution space, you can
enter any more change to the context and
commands. change the user level.

See the following commands for monitoring device access:
• show running-config all privilege all
823
This command shows privilege levels for all commands.

For the show running-config all privilege all command, the ASA displays the current assignment of
each CLI command to a privilege level. The following is sample output from this command:
ciscoasa(config)# show running-config all privilege all

privilege show level 15 command aaa
privilege clear level 15 command aaa
privilege configure level 15 command aaa
privilege show level 15 command aaa-server
privilege clear level 15 command aaa-server
privilege configure level 15 command aaa-server
privilege show level 15 command access-group
privilege clear level 15 command access-group
privilege configure level 15 command access-group
privilege show level 15 command access-list
privilege clear level 15 command access-list
privilege configure level 15 command access-list
privilege show level 15 command activation-key
privilege configure level 15 command activation-key
...
• show running-config privilege level level

This command shows commands for a specific privilege level. The level argument is an integer between
0 and 15.
The following example shows the command assignments for privilege level 10:
ciscoasa(config)# show running-config all privilege level 10

privilege show level 10 command aaa
• show running-config privilege command command

This command shows the privilege level of a specific command.
The following example shows the command assignments for the access-list command:
ciscoasa(config)# show running-config all privilege command access-list

privilege show level 15 command access-list
privilege clear level 15 command access-list
privilege configure level 15 command access-list
• show curpriv
This command shows the currently logged-in user.
The following is sample output from the show curpriv command:
ciscoasa# show curpriv

Username: admin
Current privilege level: 15
Current Mode/s: P_PRIV
The following table describes the show curpriv command output.
Table 53: show curpriv Command Output Description
Field Description
Username Username. If you are logged in as the default user, the name is enable_1 (user
EXEC) or enable_15 (privileged EXEC).
824
History for Management Access
Field Description
Current privilege level Levels range from 0 to 15. Unless you configure local command authorization
and assign commands to intermediate privilege levels, levels 0 and 15 are the
only levels that are used.
Current Modes The available access modes are the following:

• P_UNPR—User EXEC mode (levels 0 and 1)
• P_PRIV—Privileged EXEC mode (levels 2 to 15)
• P_CONF—Configuration mode

Table 54: History for Management Access

Releases
Management Access 7.0(1) We introduced this feature.
show running-config all privilege all, show running-config
privilege level, show running-config privilege command,
telnet, telnet timeout, ssh, ssh timeout, http, http server
enable, asdm image disk, banner, console timeout, icmp,
ipv6 icmp, management access, aaa authentication console,
aaa authentication enable console, aaa authentication telnet
| ssh console, service-type, login, privilege, aaa
authentication exec authentication-server, aaa
authentication command LOCAL, aaa accounting serial |
telnet | ssh | enable console, show curpriv, aaa accounting
command privilege.
Increased SSH security; the SSH default username 8.4(2) Starting in 8.4(2), you can no longer connect to the ASA using
is no longer supported. SSH with the pix or asa username and the login password. To
use SSH, you must configure AAA authentication using the
aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL command (CLI) or
Configuration > Device Management > Users/AAA > AAA
Access > Authentication (ASDM); then define a local user by
entering the username command (CLI) or choosing
Configuration > Device Management > Users/AAA > User
Accounts (ASDM). If you want to use a AAA server for
authentication instead of the local database, we recommend
also configuring local authentication as a backup method.
825

Releases
Support for administrator password policy when 8.4(4.1), When you configure authentication for CLI or ASDM access
using the local database 9.1(2) using the local database, you can configure a password policy
that requires a user to change their password after a specified
amount of time and also requires password standards such as
a minimum length and the minimum number of changed
characters.
We introduced the following commands: change-password,
password-policy lifetime, password-policy minimum
changes, password-policy minimum-length, password-policy
minimum-lowercase, password-policy minimum-uppercase,
password-policy minimum-numeric, password-policy
minimum-special, password-policy authenticate enable,
clear configure password-policy, show running-config
password-policy.
Support for SSH public key authentication 8.4(4.1), You can enable public key authentication for SSH connections
9.1(2) to the ASA on a per-user basis. You can specify a public key
file (PKF) formatted key or a Base64 key. The PKF key can
be up to 4096 bits. Use PKF format for keys that are too large
to for the ASA support of the Base64 format (up to 2048 bits).
We introduced the following commands: ssh authentication.
PKF key format support is only in 9.1(2) and later.
Support for Diffie-Hellman Group 14 for the SSH 8.4(4.1), Support for Diffie-Hellman Group 14 for SSH Key Exchange
Key Exchange 9.1(2) was added. Formerly, only Group 1 was supported.
We introduced the following command: ssh key-exchange.
Support for a maximum number of management 8.4(4.1), You can set the maximum number of simultaneous ASDM,
sessions 9.1(2) SSH, and Telnet sessions.
We introduced the following commands: quota
management-session, show running-config quota
management-session, show quota management-session.
For the ASASM in multiple context mode, support 8.5(1) Although connecting to the ASASM from the switch in multiple
for Telnet and virtual console authentication from context mode connects to the system execution space, you can
the switch. configure authentication in the admin context to govern those
connections.
AES-CTR encryption for SSH 9.1(2) The SSH server implementation in the ASA now supports
AES-CTR mode encryption.
Improved SSH rekey interval 9.1(2) An SSH connection is rekeyed after 60 minutes of connection
time or 1 GB of data traffic.
We introduced the following command: show ssh sessions
detail.
826

Releases
Improved one-time password authentication 9.2(1) Administrators who have sufficient authorization privileges
may enter privileged EXEC mode by entering their
authentication credentials once. The auto-enable option was
added to the aaa authorization exec command.
We modified the following command: aaa authorization exec.
ASDM management authorization 9.4(1) You can now configure management authorization separately
for HTTP access vs. Telnet and SSH access.
We introduced the following command: aaa authorization
http console
ASDM username from certificate configuration 9.4(1) When you enable ASDM certificate authentication (http
authentication-certificate), you can configure how ASDM
extracts the username from the certificate; you can also enable
pre-filling the username at the login prompt.
We introduced the following command: http
username-from-certificate
827
828
CHAPTER 34
Software and Configurations
This chapter describes how to manage the Cisco ASA software and configurations.
• Upgrade the Software, page 829

• Manage Files, page 843
• Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup Configuration, page 852
• Back Up and Restore Configurations or Other Files, page 853
• Downgrade Your Software, page 867
• Configure Auto Update, page 868
• History for Software and Configurations, page 875
Upgrade the Software

This section describes how to upgrade your single device, failover devices, or clustering devices.
Upgrade Path
See the following table for the upgrade path for your version. Some versions require an interim upgrade before
you can upgrade to the latest version.
Note There are no special requirements for Zero Downtime Upgrades for failover and ASA clustering with the
following exception. Upgrading ASA clustering from 9.0(1) or 9.1(1): due to CSCue72961, hitless
upgrading is not supported.
Current ASA Version First Upgrade to: Then Upgrade to:

8.2(x) and earlier 8.4(6) 9.1(3) and later
8.3(x) 8.4(6) 9.1(3) and later
829
Current ASA Version First Upgrade to: Then Upgrade to:

8.4(1) through 8.4(4) 8.4(6), 9.0(4), or 9.1(2) 9.1(3) and later
8.4(5) and later — 9.1(3) and later
8.5(1) 9.0(4) or 9.1(2) 9.1(3) and later
8.6(1) 9.0(4) or 9.1(2) 9.1(3) and later
9.0(1) 9.0(4) or 9.1(2) 9.1(3) and later
9.0(2) or later — 9.1(3) and later
9.1(1) 9.1(2) 9.1(3) and later
9.1(2) or later — 9.1(3) and later
9.2(x) — 9.2(2) and later
9.3(x) — 9.3(2) and later
9.4(x) — 9.4(2) and later
9.5(x) — 9.5(2) and later
Configuration Migration
Depending on your current version, you might experience one or more configuration migrations when you
upgrade. For example, when upgrading from 8.0 to 9.4, you will experience all of these migrations:
• 8.2—See the 8.2 release notes.
• 8.3—See Cisco ASA 5500 Migration Guide to Version 8.3.
• 8.4—See the 8.4 upgrade guide.
• 9.0—See the 9.0 upgrade guide.
View Your Current Version

Use the show version command to verify the software version of your ASA.
Download the Software from Cisco.com

If you have a Cisco.com login, you can obtain the OS and ASDM images from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/go/asa-software
This procedure assumes you put the images on a TFTP server, although other server types are supported.
830
Upgrade a Standalone Unit

This section describes how to install the ASDM and operating system (OS) images.
This procedure uses TFTP. For FTP or HTTP, see the copy command.
Procedure
Step 1 (If there is a configuration migration) Show the configuration on the terminal so that you can back up your
configuration:
more system:running-config
Copy the output from this command, then paste the configuration in to a text file. For other methods of backing
up, see the configuration guide.
Step 2 Copy the ASA software to the active unit flash memory:
copy tftp://server[/path]/asa_image_name {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asa_image_name
Example:
ciscoasa# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asa941-smp-k8.bin disk0:/asa941-smp-k8.bin
For other methods than TFTP, see the copy command.
Step 3 Copy the ASDM image to the active unit flash memory:
copy tftp://server[/path]/asdm_image_name {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asdm_image_name
Example:
ciscoasa# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
Step 4 If you are not already in global configuration mode, access global configuration mode:
configure terminal
Step 5 Show the current boot images configured (up to 4):

show running-config boot system
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# show running-config boot system
boot system disk0:/cdisk.bin
boot system disk0:/asa914-smp-k8.bin
The ASA uses the images in the order listed; if the first image is unavailable, the next image is used, and so
on. You cannot insert a new image URL at the top of the list; to specify the new image to be first, you must
remove any existing entries, and enter the image URLs in the order desired, according to Step 6 and Step 7.
Step 6 Remove any existing boot image configurations so that you can enter the new boot image as your first choice:
no boot system {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asa_image_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# no boot system disk0:/cdisk.bin
831
ciscoasa(config)# no boot system disk0:/asa914-smp-k8.bin
Step 7 Set the ASA image to boot (the one you just uploaded):
boot system {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asa_image_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# boot system disk0://asa941-smp-k8.bin
Repeat this command for any backup images that you want to use in case this image is unavailable. For
example, you can re-enter the images that you previously removed in Step 6.
Step 8 Set the ASDM image to use (the one you just uploaded):
asdm image {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asdm_image_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# asdm image disk0:/asdm-741.bin
You can only configure one ASDM image to use, so you do not need to first remove the existing configuration.
Step 9 Save the new settings to the startup configuration:

write memory
Step 10 Reload the ASA:

reload
Upgrade a Failover Pair or ASA Cluster

To perform a zero downtime upgrade, you need to upgrade each unit in a particular order.
Upgrade an Active/Standby Failover Pair

To upgrade the Active/Standby failover pair, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Perform these steps on the active unit.
Procedure
configuration:
Example:
active# more system:running-config
832
Step 2 Copy the ASA software to the active unit flash memory:
Example:
active# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asa941-smp-k8.bin disk0:/asa941-smp-k8.bin
Step 3 Copy the software to the standby unit; be sure to specify the same path as for the active unit:
failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/filename {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]filename
Example:
active# failover exec mate copy /noconfirm
tftp://10.1.1.1/asa941-smp-k8.bin disk0:/asa941-smp-k8.bin
Step 4 Copy the ASDM image to the active unit flash memory:
Example:
active# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
Step 5 Copy the ASDM image to the standby unit; be sure to specify the same path as for the active unit:
failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/asdm_image_name {disk0:/ |
disk1:/}[path/]asdm_image_name
Example:
active# failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
configure terminal

Example:
833
Example:
Example:
Example:

write memory
Step 12 Reload the standby unit to boot the new image:

failover reload-standby
Wait for the standby unit to finish loading. Use the show failover command to verify that the standby unit is
in the Standby Ready state.
Step 13 Force the active unit to fail over to the standby unit:
no failover active
Step 14 Reload the former active unit (now the new standby unit):
reload
If you want to restore this unit to be active after it reloads, enter the failover active command.
Upgrade an Active/Active Failover Pair

To upgrade two units in an Active/Active failover configuration, perform the following steps.
Before You Begin

Perform these steps in the system execution space. Also perform these steps on the primary unit.
834
Procedure
configuration:
Step 2 Copy the ASA software to the primary unit flash memory:
Example:
primary# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asa941-smp-k8.bin disk0:/asa941-smp-k8.bin
Step 3 Copy the software to the secondary unit; be sure to specify the same path as for the primary unit:
failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/filename {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]filename
Example:
primary# failover exec mate copy /noconfirm
Step 4 Copy the ASDM image to the primary unit flash memory:
Example:
primary# copy tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
Step 5 Copy the ASDM image to the secondary unit; be sure to specify the same path as for the active unit:
failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/asdm_image_name {disk0:/ |
Example:
primary# failover exec mate copy /noconfirm tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
Step 6 Make both failover groups active on the primary unit:

configure terminal
835
Example:
primary(config)# configure terminal

Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:

write memory
Step 13 Reload the secondary unit to boot the new image:

failover reload-standby
Wait for the secondary unit to finish loading. Use the show failover command to verify that both failover
groups are in the Standby Ready state.
836
Step 14 Force both failover groups to become active on the secondary unit:
no failover active group 1

no failover active group 2
Step 15 Reload the primary unit:

reload
If the failover groups are configured with the preempt command, they automatically become active on their
designated unit after the preempt delay has passed. If the failover groups are not configured with the preempt
command, you can return them to active status on their designated units using the failover active group
command.
Upgrade an ASA Cluster

To upgrade all units in an ASA cluster, perform the following steps on the master unit. For multiple context
mode, perform these steps in the system execution space.
Procedure
Step 1 (If there is a configuration migration) Back up your configuration file:

up, see the general operations configuration guide.
Step 2 Copy the ASA software to all units in the cluster:

cluster exec copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/asa_image_name {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]asa_image_name
Example:
master# cluster exec copy /noconfirm
Step 3 Copy the ASDM image to all units in the cluster:

cluster exec copy /noconfirm tftp://server[/path]/asdm_image_name {disk0:/ |
Example:
master# cluster exec copy /noconfirm tftp://10.1.1.1/asdm-741.bin disk0:/asdm-741.bin
configure terminal

837
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:

write memory
Step 10 Reload each slave unit when you repeat this command for each unit name:
cluster exec unit slave-unit reload noconfirm
Example:
master# cluster exec unit unit2 reload noconfirm
To avoid connection loss and allow traffic to stabilize, wait for each unit to come back up (approximately 5
minutes) before reloading the next unit. To view member names, enter cluster exec unit ?, or enter the show
Step 11 Disable clustering on the master unit:

no enable
838
Wait for 5 minutes for a new master to be selected and traffic to stabilize. Do not enter write memory; when
the master unit reloads, you want clustering to be enabled on it.
Step 12 Reload the master unit:

reload noconfirm
A new election takes place for a new master unit. When the former master unit rejoins the cluster, it will be
a slave.
Use the ROMMON to Load an Image

You can load a new image using the ROMMON.
Load an Image for the ASA 5500-X Series Using ROMMON

To load a software image onto an ASA from the ROMMON mode using TFTP, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port according to the instructions in Access the Appliance Console, on page 19.
Step 3 During startup, press the Escape key when you are prompted to enter ROMMON mode.
Step 4 In ROMMOM mode, define the interface settings to the ASA, including the IP address, TFTP server address,
gateway address, software image file, and port, as follows:
rommon #1> ADDRESS=10.132.44.177

rommon #2> SERVER=10.129.0.30
rommon #3> GATEWAY=10.132.44.1
rommon #4> IMAGE=tftp-home/asa941-smp-k9.bin
rommon #5> PORT=GigabitEthernet0/0
GigabitEthernet0/0
Link is UP
MAC Address: 0012.d949.15b8
Note Be sure that the connection to the network already exists.

The PORT command is ignored on the ASA 5506-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X platforms,
and you must perform TFTP recovery on these platforms from the Management 1/1 interface.
Step 5 Validate your settings:
rommon #6> set

ROMMON Variable Settings:
ADDRESS=10.132.44.177
SERVER=10.129.0.30
GATEWAY=10.132.44.1
PORT=Ethernet0/0
VLAN=untagged
IMAGE=f1/asa840-232-k8.bin
CONFIG=
839
LINKTIMEOUT=20
PKTTIMEOUT=4
RETRY=20
Step 6 Ping the TFTP server:
rommon #7> ping server

Sending 20, 100-byte ICMP Echoes to server 10.129.0.30, timeout is 4 seconds:
Success rate is 100 percent (20/20)
Step 7 Load the software image:
rommon #8> tftp

ADDRESS=10.132.44.177
SERVER=10.129.0.30
GATEWAY=10.132.44.1
PORT=Ethernet0/0
VLAN=untagged
IMAGE=f1/asa840-232-k8.bin
CONFIG=
LINKTIMEOUT=20
PKTTIMEOUT=4
RETRY=20
tftp f1/[email protected] via 10.132.44.1
Received 14450688 bytes
Launching TFTP Image...

Cisco ASA Security Appliance admin loader (3.0) #0: Mon Mar 5 16:00:07 MST 2011
Loading...N
After the software image is successfully loaded, the ASA automatically exits ROMMON mode.
Step 8 Verify that the correct software image has been loaded into the ASA by checking the version in the ASA:
ciscoasa# show version
Load an Image for the ASASM Using ROMMON

To load a software image to an ASASM from the ROMMON mode using TFTP, perform the following steps.
840
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port according to the instructions in Access the ASA Services Module Console,
on page 20.
Step 2 Make sure that you reload the ASASM image.
Step 4 In ROMMOM mode, define the interface settings to the ASASM, including the IP address, TFTP server
address, gateway address, software image file, port, and VLAN, as follows:
rommon #1> ADDRESS=172.16.145.149

rommon #2> SERVER=172.16.171.125
rommon #3> GATEWAY=172.16.145.129
rommon #4> IMAGE=tftp-main/asa941-smp-k9.bin
rommon #5> PORT=Data0
rommon #6> VLAN=1
Data0
Link is UP
MAC Address: 0012.d949.15b8
Note Be sure that the connection to the network already

exists.
Step 5 Validate your settings:
rommon #7> set

ADDRESS=172.16.145.149
SERVER=172.16.171.125
GATEWAY=172.16.145.129
PORT=Data0
VLAN=1
IMAGE=f1/asa851-smp-k8.bin
CONFIG=
LINKTIMEOUT=20
PKTTIMEOUT=2
RETRY=20
Step 6 Ping the TFTP server:
rommon #8> ping server

Sending 20, 100-byte ICMP Echoes to server 172.16.171.125, timeout is 2 seconds:
Step 7 Load the software image:
rommon #9> tftp

Clearing EOBC receive queue ...
cmostime_set = 1
ADDRESS=172.16.145.149
SERVER=172.16.171.125
841
GATEWAY=172.16.145.129
PORT=Data0
VLAN=1
IMAGE=f1/asa851-smp-k8.bin
CONFIG=
LINKTIMEOUT=20
PKTTIMEOUT=2
RETRY=20
tftp f1/[email protected] via 172.16.145.129

Starting download. Press ESC to abort.
After the software image is successfully loaded, the ASASM automatically exits ROMMON mode.
Note You must download the image to the system flash separately after ROMMON boot is complete;
booting the module into ROMMON mode does not preserve the system image across reloads.
Step 8 Verify that the correct software image has been loaded into the ASA by checking the version in the ASA:
ciscoasa# show version
Upgrade the ROMMON Image (ASA 5506-X, 5508-X, and 5516-X)

Follow these steps to upgrade the ROMMON image for the ASA 5506-X series, ASA 5508-X, and ASA
5516-X.
Before You Begin

You can only upgrade to a new version; you cannot downgrade. To see your current version, enter the show
module command and look at the Fw Version in the output for Mod 1 in the MAC Address Range table:
ciscoasa# show module

[...]
Mod MAC Address Range Hw Version Fw Version Sw Version
---- --------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ---------------
1 7426.aceb.ccea to 7426.aceb.ccf2 0.3 1.1.5 9.4(1)
sfr 7426.aceb.cce9 to 7426.aceb.cce9 N/A N/A
Procedure
Step 1 Obtain the new ROMMON image from Cisco.com, and put it on a server to copy to the ASA. This procedure
shows a TFTP copy.
Download the image from:
https://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=286283326&flowid=77251
Step 2 Copy the ROMMON image to the ASA flash memory:

copy tftp://server_ip/asa5500-firmware-xxxx.SPA disk0:asa5500-firmware-xxxx.SPA
Step 3 Upgrade the ROMMON image:

upgrade rommon disk0:asa5500-firmware-xxxx.SPA
842
Manage Files
Example:
ciscoasa# upgrade rommon disk0:asa5500-firmware-1108.SPA
Verifying file integrity of disk0:/asa5500-firmware-1108.SPA
Computed Hash SHA2: d824bdeecee1308fc64427367fa559e9

eefe8f182491652ee4c05e6e751f7a4f
5cdea28540cf60acde3ab9b65ff55a9f
4e0cfb84b9e2317a856580576612f4af
Embedded Hash SHA2: d824bdeecee1308fc64427367fa559e9

eefe8f182491652ee4c05e6e751f7a4f
5cdea28540cf60acde3ab9b65ff55a9f
4e0cfb84b9e2317a856580576612f4af
Digital signature successfully validated

File Name : disk0:/asa5500-firmware-1108.SPA
Image type : Release
Signer Information
Common Name : abraxas
Organization Unit : NCS_Kenton_ASA
Organization Name : CiscoSystems
Certificate Serial Number : 553156F4
Hash Algorithm : SHA2 512
Signature Algorithm : 2048-bit RSA
Key Version : A
Verification successful.
Proceed with reload? [confirm]
Step 4 Confirm to reload the ASA when you are prompted.

The ASA upgrades the ROMMON image, and then reloads the ASA OS.
Recover and Load an Image for the ASA 5506W-X Wireless Access Point
To recover and load a software image onto an ASA 5506W-X using TFTP, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Session to the access point (AP) and enter the AP ROMMON (not the ASA ROMMON):
ciscoasa# hw-module module wlan recover image
Step 2 Follow the procedure in the Cisco IOS Software Configuration Guide for Cisco Aironet Access Points.
Manage Files
View Files in Flash Memory

You can view files in flash memory and see information about files.
843
Manage Files
Procedure
Step 1 View files in flash memory:

dir [disk0: | disk1:]
Example:
hostname# dir
Directory of disk0:/
500 -rw- 4958208 22:56:20 Nov 29 2004 cdisk.bin
2513 -rw- 4634 19:32:48 Sep 17 2004 first-backup
2788 -rw- 21601 20:51:46 Nov 23 2004 backup.cfg
2927 -rw- 8670632 20:42:48 Dec 08 2004 asdmfile.bin
Enter disk0: for the internal flash memory. The disk1: keyword represents the external flash memory. The
internal flash memory is the default.
Step 2 View extended information about a specific file:

show file information [path:/]filename
Example:
hostname# show file information cdisk.bin
disk0:/cdisk.bin:
type is image (XXX) []
file size is 4976640 bytes version 7.0(1)
The file size listed is for example only.

The default path is the root directory of the internal flash memory (disk0:/).
Delete Files from Flash Memory

You can remove files from flash memory that you no longer need.
Procedure
Delete a file from flash memory:

delete disk0: filename
By default, the file is deleted from the current working directory if you do not specify a path. You may use
wildcards when deleting files. You are prompted with the filename to delete, and then you must confirm the
deletion.
Erase the Flash File System

To erase the flash file system, perform the following steps.
844
Manage Files
Procedure
Step 1 Connect to the ASA console port according to the instructions in Access the ASA Services Module Console,
on page 20 or Access the Appliance Console, on page 19.
Step 4 Enter the erase command, which overwrites all files and erases the file system, including hidden system files:
rommon #1> erase [disk0: | disk1: | flash:]
Configure File Access

The ASA can use an FTP client, secure copy client, or TFTP client. You can also configure the ASA as a
secure copy server so you can use a secure copy client on your computer.
Configure the FTP Client Mode

The ASA can use FTP to upload or download image files or configuration files to or from an FTP server. In
passive FTP, the client initiates both the control connection and the data connection. The server, which is the
recipient of the data connection in passive mode, responds with the port number to which it is listening for
the specific connection.
Procedure
Set the FTP mode to passive:

ftp mode passive
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ftp mode passive
Configure the ASA as a Secure Copy Server

You can enable the secure copy (SCP) server on the ASA. Only clients that are allowed to access the ASA
using SSH can establish a secure copy connection.
Before You Begin

• The server does not have directory support. The lack of directory support limits remote client access to
the ASA internal files.
• The server does not support banners or wildcards.
• Enable SSH on the ASA according to Configure SSH Access, on page 795.
• The ASA license must have the strong encryption (3DES/AES) license to support SSH Version 2
connections.
845
Manage Files
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the SCP server:

ssh scopy enable
Step 2 (Optional) Disable SSH host key checking:

ssh stricthostkeycheck
Example:
ciscoasa# ssh stricthostkeycheck
ciscoasa# copy x scp://[email protected]/x
RSA key fingerprint is dc:2e:b3:e4:e1:b7:21:eb:24:e9:37:81:cf:bb:c3:2a.
Warning: Permanently added '10.86.95.9' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
Source filename [x]?
Address or name of remote host [10.86.95.9]?
Destination username [cisco]?
Destination password []? cisco123
Destination filename [x]?
By default, this option is enabled. When this option is enabled, you are prompted to accept or reject the host
key if it is not already stored on the ASA. When this option is disabled, the ASA accepts the host key
automatically if it was not stored before.
Step 3 (Optional) Manually add or delete servers and their keys from the ASA database:
ssh pubkey-chain [no] server ip_address {key-string key_string exit| key-hash {md5 | sha256}
fingerprint}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# ssh pubkey-chain
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-chain)# server 10.7.8.9
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server)# key-string
Enter the base 64 encoded RSA public key.
End with the word "exit" on a line by itself
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server-string)# c1:b1:30:29:d7:b8:de:6c:97:77:10:d7:46:41:63:87
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server-string)# exit
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server)# show running-config ssh pubkey-chain
ssh pubkey-chain
server 10.7.8.9
key-hash sha256 f1:22:49:47:b6:76:74:b2:db:26:fb:13:65:d8:99:19:
e7:9e:24:46:59:be:13:7f:25:27:70:9b:0e:d2:86:12
The ASA stores the SSH host key for each SCP server to which it connects. You can manually manage keys
if desired.
For each server, you can specify the key-string (public key) or key-hash (hashed value) of the SSH host.
The key_string is the Base64 encoded RSA public key of the remote peer. You can obtain the public key value
from an open SSH client; that is, from the .ssh/id_rsa.pub file. After you submit the Base64 encoded public
key, that key is then hashed via SHA-256.
846
Manage Files
The key-hash {md5 | sha256} fingerprint enters the already hashed key (using an MD5 or SHA-256 key);
for example, a key that you copied from show command output.
Examples
From a client on the external host, perform an SCP file transfer. For example, in Linux enter the following
command:
scp -v -pw password source_filename username@asa_address:{disk0|disk1}:/dest_filename
The -v is for verbose, and if -pw is not specified, you will be prompted for a password.
The following example adds an already hashed host key for the server at 10.86.94.170:

ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server)# key-hash sha256 65:d9:9d:fe:1a:bc:61:aa:
64:9d:fc:ee:99:87:38:df:a8:8e:d9:e9:ff:42:de:e8:8d:2d:bf:a9:2b:85:2e:19
The following example adds a host string key for the server at 10.7.8.9:

ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server)# key-string
Enter the base 64 encoded RSA public key.
End with the word "exit" on a line by itself
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server-string)# c1:b1:30:29:d7:b8:de:6c:97:77:10:d7:
46:41:63:87
ciscoasa(config-ssh-pubkey-server-string)# exit
Configure the ASA TFTP Client Path

TFTP is a simple client/server file transfer protocol, which is described in RFC 783 and RFC 1350 Rev. 2.
You can configure the ASA as a TFTP client so that it can copy files to or from a TFTP server. In this way,
you can back up and propagate configuration files to multiple ASAs.
This section lets you predefine the path to a TFTP server so you do not need to enter it in commands such as
copy and configure net.
Procedure
Predefine the TFTP server address and filename for use with configure net and copy commands:
tftp-server interface_name server_ip filename
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# tftp-server inside 10.1.4.7 files/config1.cfg
ciscoasa(config)# copy tftp: test.cfg
Source filename [files/config1.cfg]?config2.cfg
Destination filename [test.cfg]?
847
Manage Files
Accessing tftp://10.1.4.7/files/config2.cfg;int=outside...
You can override the filename when you enter the command; for example, when you use the copy command,
you can take advantage of the predefined TFTP server address but still enter any filename at the interactive
prompts.
For the copy command, enter tftp: to use the tftp-server value instead of tftp://url.
Copy a File to the ASA

This section describes how to copy the application image, ASDM software, a configuration file, or any other
file that needs to be downloaded to internal or external flash memory from a TFTP, FTP, SMB, HTTP, HTTPS,
or SCP server.
Before You Begin

• For the IPS SSP software module, before you download the IPS software to disk0, make sure at least
50% of the flash memory is free. When you install IPS, IPS reserves 50% of the internal flash memory
for its file system.
• You cannot have two files with the same name but with different letter case in the same directory in
flash memory. For example, if you attempt to download the file, Config.cfg, to a location that contains
the file, config.cfg, you receive the following error message:
%Error opening disk0:/Config.cfg (File exists)
• For information about installing the Cisco SSL VPN client, see the Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client
Administrator Guide. For information about installing Cisco Secure Desktop on the ASA, see the Cisco
Secure Desktop Configuration Guide for Cisco ASA 5500 Series Administrators.
• To configure the ASA to use a specific application image or ASDM image if you have more than one
installed, or have installed them in external flash memory, see Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup
Configuration, on page 852.
• For multiple context mode, you must be in the system execution space.
• (Optional) Specify the interface through which the ASA communicates with the server. If you do not
specify the interface, the ASA checks the management-only routing table; if there are no matches, it
then checks the data routing table.
Procedure
Copy a file using one of the following server types.

• Copy from a TFTP server:
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] tftp://server[/path]/src_filename {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]dest_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy tftp://10.1.1.67/files/context1.cfg disk0:/context1.cfg
848
Manage Files
Source filename [files/context1.cfg]?
Destination filename [context1.cfg]?

Cryptochecksum: db8ba196 9ad189a8 7f5f501f 1bec469b
!!!!!!!!!!!
• Copy from an FTP server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] ftp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename
{disk0|disk1}:/[path/]dest_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy ftp://jcrichton:[email protected]/files/context1.cfg

disk0:/contexts/context1.cfg
Source username [jcrichton]?
Source password [aeryn]?
Source filename [files/context1.cfg]?
Destination filename [contexts/context1.cfg]?

!!!!!!!!!!!
• Copy from an HTTP(S) server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] http[s]://[user[:password]@]server[:port][/path]/src_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy https://asun:[email protected]/files/moya.cfg disk0:/contexts/moya.cfg
Source username [asun]?
Source password [john]?
Source filename [files/moya.cfg]?
Destination filename [contexts/moya.cfg]?

!!!!!!!!!!!
• Copy from an SMB server:
849
Manage Files
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] smb://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename

Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm smb://chiana:[email protected]/test.xml disk0:/test.xml

!!!!!!!!!!!
• Copy from a SCP server:

The ;int=interface option bypasses the route lookup and always uses the specified interface to reach the
SCP server.
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name]
scp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename[;int=interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa# copy scp://[email protected]/test.cfg disk0:/test.cfg
Source username [pilot]?
Destination filename [test.cfg]?

RSA key fingerprint is
<65:d9:9d:fe:1a:bc:61:aa:64:9d:fc:ee:99:87:38:df:a8:8e:d9:e9:ff:42:de:e8:8d:2d:bf:a9:2b:85:2e:19>(SHA256).
Please use the following commands to add the hash key to the configuration:
ssh pubkey-chain
server 10.86.94.170
key-hash sha256
65:d9:9d:fe:1a:bc:61:aa:64:9d:fc:ee:99:87:38:df:a8:8e:d9:e9:ff:42:de:e8:8d:2d:bf:a9:2b:85:2e:19
Password: <type in password>

!!!!!!
Copy a File to the Startup or Running Configuration

You can download a text file to the running or startup configuration from a TFTP, FTP, SMB, HTTP(S), or
SCP server, or from the flash memory.
850
Manage Files
Before You Begin

When you copy a configuration to the running configuration, you merge the two configurations. A merge
adds any new commands from the new configuration to the running configuration. If the configurations are
the same, no changes occur. If commands conflict or if commands affect the running of the context, then the
effect of the merge depends on the command. You might get errors, or you might have unexpected results.
(Optional) Specify the interface through which the ASA communicates with the server. If you do not specify
the interface, the ASA checks the management-only routing table; if there are no matches, it then checks the
data routing table.
Procedure
To copy a file to the startup configuration or running configuration, enter one of the following commands for
the appropriate download server:
• Copy from a TFTP server:
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] tftp://server[/path]/src_filename {startup-config | running-config}
Example:
ciscoasa# copy tftp://10.1.1.67/files/old-running.cfg running-config
• Copy from an FTP server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] ftp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename {startup-config
| running-config}
Example:
ciscoasa# copy ftp://jcrichton:[email protected]/files/old-startup.cfg startup-config
• Copy from an HTTP(S) server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] http[s]://[user[:password]@]server[:port][/path]/src_filename
{startup-config | running-config}
Example:
ciscoasa# copy https://asun:[email protected]/files/new-running.cfg running-config
• Copy from an SMB server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] smb://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename
{startup-config | running-config}
Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm smb://chiana:[email protected]/new-running.cfg running-config
• Copy from a SCP server:
851
Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup Configuration
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name]

scp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/src_filename[;int=interface_name] {startup-config |
running-config}
Example:
ciscoasa# copy scp://pilot:[email protected]/new-startup.cfg startup-config
SCP server.
Examples
For example, to copy the configuration from a TFTP server, enter the following command:
ciscoasa# copy tftp://209.165.200.226/configs/startup.cfg startup-config
To copy the configuration from an FTP server, enter the following command:
ciscoasa# copy ftp://admin:[email protected]/configs/startup.cfg startup-config
To copy the configuration from an HTTP server, enter the following command:
ciscoasa# copy http://209.165.200.228/configs/startup.cfg startup-config
Set the ASA Image, ASDM, and Startup Configuration

If you have more than one ASA or ASDM image, you should specify the image that you want to boot. If you
do not set the image, the default boot image is used, and that image may not be the one intended. For the
startup configuration, you can optionally specify a configuration file.
See the following default settings:
• ASA Image:
◦Physical ASA—Boots the first application image that it finds in internal flash memory.
◦ASAv—Boots the image in the read-only boot:/ partition that was created when you first deployed.
You can upgrade the image in flash memory and configure the ASAv to boot from that image.
Note that if you later clear your configuration (clear configure all), then the ASAv will revert to
loading the original deployment image.
• ASDM Image on All ASAs—Boots the first ASDM image that it finds in internal flash memory, or if
one does not exist in this location, then in external flash memory.
• Startup Configuration—By default, the ASA boots from a startup configuration that is a hidden file.
Procedure
Step 1 Set the ASA boot image location:
852
Back Up and Restore Configurations or Other Files
boot system url
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# boot system disk:/images/asa921.bin
The URL can be:

• {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]filename
• tftp://[user[:password]@]server[:port]/[path/]filename
The TFTP option is not supported on all models.
You can enter up to four boot system command entries to specify different images to boot from in order; the
ASA boots the first image it finds successfully. When you enter the boot system command, it adds an entry
at the bottom of the list. To reorder the boot entries, you must remove all entries using the the clear configure
boot system command, and re-enter them in the order you desire. Only one boot system tftp command can
be configured, and it must be the first one configured.
Note If the ASA is stuck in a cycle of constant booting, you can reboot the ASA into ROMMON mode.
For more information about the ROMMON mode, see View Debugging Messages, on page 889.
Step 2 Set the ASDM image to boot:
asdm image {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]filename
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# asdm image disk0:/images/asdm721.bin
If you do not specify the image to boot, even if you have only one image installed, then the ASA inserts the
asdm image command into the running configuration. To avoid problems with Auto Update (if configured),
and to avoid the image search at each startup, you should specify the ASDM image that you want to boot in
the startup configuration.
Step 3 (Optional) Set the startup configuration to be a known file instead of the default hidden file:
boot config {disk0:/ | disk1:/}[path/]filename
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# boot config disk0:/configs/startup1.cfg

We recommend that you make regular backups of your configuration and other system files to guard against
system failure.
853
Perform a Complete System Backup or Restoration

These procedures describe how to back up and restore configurations and images to a tar.gz file and transfer
it to your local computer.
Before You Begin Backup or Restore

• You should have at least 300 MB of disk space available at the backup or restore location before you
start a backup or restore.
• If you make any configuration changes during or after a backup, those changes will not be included in
the backup. If you change a configuration after making the backup, then perform a restore, this
configuration change will be overwritten. As a result, the ASA might behave differently.
• You can start only one backup or restore at a time.
• You can only restore a configuration to the same ASA version as when you performed the original
backup. You cannot use the restore tool to migrate a configuration from one ASA version to another. If
a configuration migration is required, the ASA automatically upgrades the resident startup configuration
when it loads the new ASA OS.
• If you use clustering, you can only back up or restore the startup-configuration, running-configuration,
and identity certificates. You must create and restore a backup separately for each unit.
• If you use failover, you must create and restore a backup separately for the active and standby units.
• If you set a master passphrase for the ASA, then you need that master passphrase to restore the backup
configuration that you create with this procedure. If you do not know the master passphrase for the ASA,
see Configure the Master Passphrase, on page 485 to learn how to reset it before continuing with the
backup.
• If you import PKCS12 data (with the crypto ca trustpoint command) and the trustpoint uses RSA keys,
the imported key pair is assigned the same name as the trustpoint. Because of this limitation, if you
specify a different name for the trustpoint and its key pair after you have restored an ASDM configuration,
the startup configuration will be the same as the original configuration, but the running configuration
will include a different key pair name. This means that if you use different names for the key pair and
trustpoint, you cannot restore the original configuration. To work around this issue, make sure that you
use the same name for the trustpoint and its key pair.
• You cannot back up using the CLI and restore using ASDM, or vice versa.
• Each backup file includes the following content:
◦Running-configuration
◦Startup-configuration
◦All security images
Cisco Secure Desktop and Host Scan images
Cisco Secure Desktop and Host Scan settings
AnyConnect (SVC) client images and profiles
AnyConnect (SVC) customizations and transforms
◦Identity certificates (includes RSA key pairs tied to identity certificates; excludes standalone keys)
854
◦VPN pre-shared keys

◦SSL VPN configurations
◦Application Profile Custom Framework (APCF)
◦Bookmarks
◦Customizations
◦Dynamic Access Policy (DAP)
◦Plug-ins
◦Pre-fill scripts for connection profiles
◦Proxy Auto-config
◦Translation table
◦Web content
◦Version information
Back Up the System

This procedure describes how to perform a complete system backup.
Procedure
Step 1 Back up the system:

backup [/noconfirm] [interface name] [passphrase value] [location path]
Example:
ciscoasa# backup location disk0:/sample-backup]
Backup location [disk0:/sample-backup]?
If you do not specify the interface name, the ASA checks the management-only routing table; if there are no
matches, it then checks the data routing table.
In multiple context mode from the system execution space, enter the context keyword to backup the specified
context files.
During the backup of VPN certificates and preshared keys, a secret key identified by the passphrase keyword
is required to encode the certificates. You must provide a passphrase to be used for encoding and decoding
the certificates in PKCS12 format. The backup only includes RSA key pairs tied to the certificates and excludes
any standalone certificates.
The backup location can be a local disk or a remote URL. If you do not provide a location, the following
default names are used:
• Single mode—disk0:hostname.backup.timestamp.tar.gz
• Multiple mode—disk0:hostname.context-ctx-name.backup.timestamp.tar.gz
Step 2 Follow the prompts:
855
Example:
ciscoasa# backup location disk0:/sample-backup
Backup location [disk0:/sample-backup]?
Begin backup…
Backing up [ASA version] … Done!
Backing up [Running Config] … Done!
Backing up [Startup Config] … Done!
Enter a passphrase to encrypt identity certificates. The default is cisco.

You will be required to enter the same passphrase while doing a restore: cisco
Backing up [Identity Certificates] … Done!
IMPORTANT: This device uses master passphrase encryption. If this backup file
is used to restore to a device with a different master passphrase,
you will need to provide the current master passphrase during restore.
Backing up [VPN Pre-shared keys] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Application Profile Custom Framework] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Bookmarks]… Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Customization] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Dynamic Access Policy] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Plug-in] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Pre-fill scripts for Connection Profile] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Proxy auto-config] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Translation table] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Web Content] … Done!
Backing up [Anyconnect(SVC) client images and profiles] … Done!
Backing up [Anyconnect(SVC) customizations and transforms] … Done!
Backing up [Cisco Secure Desktop and Host Scan images] … Done!
Backing up [UC-IME tickets] … Done!
Compressing the backup directory ... Done!
Copying Backup ... Done!
Cleaning up ... Done!
Backup finished!
Restore the Backup

You can specify configurations and images to restore from a zip tar.gz file on your local computer.
Procedure
Step 1 Restore the system from the backup file.

restore [/noconfirm] [context name] [passphrase value] [location path]
Example:
ciscoasa# restore location disk0:/5525-2051.backup.2014-07-09-223$
restore location [disk0:/5525-2051.backup.2014-07-09-223251.tar.gz]?
Step 2 Follow the prompts:
Example:
ciscoasa# restore location disk0:/5525-2051.backup.2014-07-09-223$
restore location [disk0:/5525-2051.backup.2014-07-09-223251.tar.gz]?
856
Copying Backup file to local disk... Done!

Extracting the backup file ... Done!
Warning: The ASA version of the device is not the same as the backup version,
some configurations might not work after restore!
Do you want to continue? [confirm] y
Begin restore ...
IMPORTANT: This backup configuration uses master passphrase encryption.
Master passphrase is required to restore running configuration,
startup configuration and VPN pre-shared keys.
Backing up [VPN Pre-shared keys] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Application Profile Custom Framework] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Bookmarks]… Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Customization] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Dynamic Access Policy] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Plug-in] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Pre-fill scripts for Connection Profile] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Proxy auto-config] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Translation table] … Done!
Backing up [SSL VPN Configurations: Web Content] … Done!
Backing up [Anyconnect(SVC) client images and profiles] … Done!
Backing up [Anyconnect(SVC) customizations and transforms] … Done!
Backing up [Cisco Secure Desktop and Host Scan images] … Done!
Backing up [UC-IME tickets] … Done!
Restoring [Running Configuration]
Following messages are as a result of applying the backup running-configuration to
this device, please note them for future reference.
ERROR: Interface description was set by failover and cannot be changed

ERROR: Unable to set this url, it has already been set
Remove the first instance before adding this one
INFO: No change to the stateful interface
Failed to update LU link information
.Range already exists.
WARNING: Advanced settings and commands should only be altered or used
under Cisco supervision.
ERROR: Failed to apply media termination address 198.0.1.228 to interface outside,
the IP is already used as media-termination address on interface outside.
ERROR: Failed to apply media termination address 198.0.0.223 to interface inside,
the IP is already used as media-termination address on interface inside.
WARNING: PAC settings will override http- and https-proxy configurations.
Do not overwrite configuration file if you want to preserve the old http-
and https-proxy configurations.
Cryptochecksum (changed): 98d23c2c ccb31dc3 e51acf88 19f04e28

Done!
Restoring UC-IME ticket ... Done!
Enter the passphrase used while backup to encrypt identity certificates.
The default is cisco. If the passphrase is not correct, certificates will not be restored.
No passphrase was provided for identity certificates.

Using the default value: cisco. If the passphrase is not correct,
certificates will not be restored.
Restoring Certificates ...
Enter the PKCS12 data in base64 representation....
ERROR: A keypair named Main already exists.
INFO: Import PKCS12 operation completed successfully
. Done!
Cleaning up ... Done!
Restore finished!
Back up the Single Mode Configuration or Multiple Mode System Configuration

In single context mode or from the system configuration in multiple mode, you can copy the startup
configuration or running configuration to an external server or to the local flash memory.
857
Before You Begin

data routing table.
Procedure
Back up the configuring using one of the following server types:

• Copy to a TFTP server:
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] {startup-config | running-config} tftp://server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy running-config tftp://10.1.1.67/files/new-running.cfg
• Copy to an FTP server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] {startup-config | running-config}
ftp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy startup-config ftp://jcrichton:[email protected]/files/new-startup.cfg
• Copy to an SMB server:

smb://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm running-config smb://chiana:[email protected]/new-running.cfg
• Copy to a SCP server:

scp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename[;int=interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa# copy startup-config

scp://pilot:[email protected]/new-startup.cfg
SCP server.
• Copy to the local flash memory:
copy [/noconfirm] {startup-config | running-config} {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]dst_filename
858
Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm running-config disk0:/new-running.cfg
Be sure that the destination directory exists. If it does not exist, first create the directory using the mkdir
command.
Back Up a Context Configuration or Other File in Flash Memory

Copy context configurations or other files that are on the local flash memory by entering one of the following
commands in the system execution space.
Before You Begin

data routing table.
Procedure
Back up a context configuration using one of the following server types:

• Copy from flash to a TFTP server:
copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]src_filename tftp://server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy disk0:/asa-os.bin tftp://10.1.1.67/files/asa-os.bin
• Copy from flash to an FTP server:

copy [/noconfirm] [interface_name] {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]src_filename
ftp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy disk0:/asa-os.bin ftp://jcrichton:[email protected]/files/asa-os.bin
• Copy from flash to an SMB server:

smb://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm copy disk0:/asdm.bin

smb://chiana:[email protected]/asdm.bin
• Copy from flash to SCP server:
859

scp://[user[:password]@]server[/path]/dst_filename[;int=interface_name]
Example:
ciscoasa# copy disk0:/context1.cfg

scp://pilot:[email protected]/context1.cfg
SCP server.
• Copy from flash to the local flash memory:
copy [/noconfirm] {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]src_filename {disk0|disk1}:/[path/]dst_filename
Example:
ciscoasa# copy /noconfirm disk1:/file1.cfg disk0:/file1.cfgnew-running.cfg
Be sure that the destination directory exists. If it does not exist, first create the directory using the mkdir
command.
Back Up a Context Configuration within a Context

In multiple context mode, from within a context, you can perform the following backups.
Procedure
Step 1 Copy the running configuration to the startup configuration server (connected to the admin context):
ciscoasa/contexta# copy running-config startup-config
Step 2 Copy the running configuration to a TFTP server connected to the context network:
ciscoasa/contexta# copy running-config tftp:/server[/path]/filename
Copy the Configuration from the Terminal Display
Procedure
Step 1 Print the configuration to the terminal:

show running-config
Step 2 Copy the output from this command, and then paste the configuration into a text file.
860
Back Up Additional Files Using the Export and Import Commands

Additional files essential to your configuration might include the following:
• Files that you import using the import webvpn command. Currently, these files include customizations,
URL lists, web content, plug-ins, and language translations.
• DAP policies (dap.xml).
• CSD configurations (data.xml).
• Digital keys and certificates.
• Local CA user database and certificate status files.
The CLI lets you back up and restore individual elements of your configuration using the export and import
commands.
To back up these files, for example, those files that you imported with the import webvpn command or
certificates, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Run the applicable show command(s) as follows:
ciscoasa # show import webvpn plug-in

ica
rdp
ssh, telnet
vnc
Step 2 Run the export command for the file that you want to back up (in this example, the rdp file):
ciscoasa # export webvpn plug-in protocol rdp tftp://tftpserver/backupfilename
Use a Script to Back Up and Restore Files

You can use a script to back up and restore the configuration files on your ASA, including all extensions that
you import via the import webvpn CLI, the CSD configuration XML files, and the DAP configuration XML
file. For security reasons, we do not recommend that you perform automated backups of digital keys and
certificates or the local CA key.
This section provides instructions for doing so and includes a sample script that you can use as is or modify
as your environment requires. The sample script is specific to a Linux system. To use it for a Microsoft
Windows system, you need to modify it using the logic of the sample.
861
Note You can alternatively use the backup and restore commands. See Perform a Complete System Backup
or Restoration, on page 854 for more information.
Before You Begin Using Backup and Restore Scripts

To use a script to back up and restore an ASA configuration, first perform the following tasks:
• Install Perl with an Expect module.
• Install an SSH client that can reach the ASA.
• Install a TFTP server to send files from the ASA to the backup site.
Another option is to use a commercially available tool. You can put the logic of this script into such a tool.
Run the Script

To run a backup-and-restore script, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 Download or cut-and-paste the script file to any location on your system.
Step 2 At the command line, enter Perlscriptname, where scriptname is the name of the script file.
Step 3 Press Enter.
Step 4 The system prompts you for values for each option. Alternatively, you can enter values for the options when
you enter the Perlscriptname command before you press Enter. Either way, the script requires that you enter
a value for each option.
Step 5 The script starts running, printing out the commands that it issues, which provides you with a record of the
CLIs. You can use these CLIs for a later restore, which is particularly useful if you want to restore only one
or two files.
Sample Script
#!/usr/bin/perl
#Description: The objective of this script is to show how to back up
configurations/extensions.
# It currently backs up the running configuration, all extensions imported via "import
webvpn" command, the CSD configuration XML file, and the DAP configuration XML file.
#Requirements: Perl with Expect, SSH to the ASA, and a TFTP server.
#Usage: backupasa -option option_value
# -h: ASA hostname or IP address
# -u: User name to log in via SSH
# -w: Password to log in via SSH
# -e: The Enable password on the security appliance
# -p: Global configuration mode prompt
# -s: Host name or IP address of the TFTP server to store the configurations
# -r: Restore with an argument that specifies the file name. This file is produced
during backup.
#If you don't enter an option, the script will prompt for it prior to backup.
862
#
#Make sure that you can SSH to the ASA.
use Expect;
use Getopt::Std;
#global variables
%options=();
$restore = 0; #does backup by default
$restore_file = '';
$asa = '';
$storage = '';
$user = '';
$password = '';
$enable = '';
$prompt = '';
$date = ‘date +%F‘;
chop($date);
my $exp = new Expect();
getopts("h:u:p:w:e:s:r:",\%options);
do process_options();
do login($exp);
do enable($exp);
if ($restore) {
do restore($exp,$restore_file);
}
else {
$restore_file = "$prompt-restore-$date.cli";
open(OUT,">$restore_file") or die "Can't open $restore_file\n";
do running_config($exp);
do lang_trans($exp);
do customization($exp);
do plugin($exp);
do url_list($exp);
do webcontent($exp);
do dap($exp);
do csd($exp);
close(OUT);
}
do finish($exp);
sub enable {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("enable\n");
unless ($obj->expect(15, 'Password:')) {
print "timed out waiting for Password:\n";
}
$obj->send("$enable\n");
unless ($obj->expect(15, "$prompt#")) {
print "timed out waiting for $prompt#\n";
}
}
sub lang_trans {
$obj = shift;
$obj->clear_accum();
$obj->send("show import webvpn translation-table\n");
$obj->expect(15, "$prompt#" );
$output = $obj->before();
@items = split(/\n+/, $output);
for (@items) {
s/^\s+//;
s/\s+$//;
next if /show import/ or /Translation Tables/;
next unless (/^.+\s+.+$/);
($lang, $transtable) = split(/\s+/,$_);
$cli = "export webvpn translation-table $transtable language $lang
$storage/$prompt-$date-$transtable-$lang.po";
$ocli = $cli;
$ocli =~ s/^export/import/;
863
print "$cli\n";
print OUT "$ocli\n";
$obj->send("$cli\n");
}
}
sub running_config {
$obj = shift;
$cli ="copy /noconfirm running-config $storage/$prompt-$date.cfg";
print "$cli\n";
}
sub customization {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("show import webvpn customization\n");
for (@items) {
chop;
next if /^Template/ or /show import/ or /^\s*$/;
$cli = "export webvpn customization $_ $storage/$prompt-$date-cust-$_.xml";
$ocli = $cli;
print "$cli\n";
}
}
sub plugin {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("show import webvpn plug-in\n");
for (@items) {
chop;
next if /^Template/ or /show import/ or /^\s*$/;
$cli = "export webvpn plug-in protocol $_ $storage/$prompt-$date-plugin-$_.jar";
$ocli = $cli;
print "$cli\n";
}
}
sub url_list {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("show import webvpn url-list\n");
for (@items) {
chop;
next if /^Template/ or /show import/ or /^\s*$/ or /No bookmarks/;
$cli="export webvpn url-list $_ $storage/$prompt-$date-urllist-$_.xml";
$ocli = $cli;
864
print "$cli\n";
}
}
sub dap {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("dir dap.xml\n");
return 0 if($output =~ /Error/);
$cli="copy /noconfirm dap.xml $storage/$prompt-$date-dap.xml";

$ocli="copy /noconfirm $storage/$prompt-$date-dap.xml disk0:/dap.xml";
print "$cli\n";
}
sub csd {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("dir sdesktop\n");
return 0 if($output =~ /Error/);
$cli="copy /noconfirm sdesktop/data.xml $storage/$prompt-$date-data.xml";

$ocli="copy /noconfirm $storage/$prompt-$date-data.xml disk0:/sdesktop/data.xml";
print "$cli\n";
}
sub webcontent {
$obj = shift;
$obj->send("show import webvpn webcontent\n");
for (@items) {
s/^\s+//;
s/\s+$//;
next if /show import/ or /No custom/;
next unless (/^.+\s+.+$/);
($url, $type) = split(/\s+/,$_);
$turl = $url;
$turl =~ s/\/\+//;
$turl =~ s/\+\//-/;
$cli = "export webvpn webcontent $url $storage/$prompt-$date-$turl";
$ocli = $cli;
print "$cli\n";
}
}
sub login {
$obj = shift;
$obj->raw_pty(1);
$obj->log_stdout(0); #turn off console logging.
$obj->spawn("/usr/bin/ssh $user\@$asa") or die "can't spawn ssh\n";
865
unless ($obj->expect(15, "password:" )) {

die "timeout waiting for password:\n";
}
$obj->send("$password\n");
unless ($obj->expect(15, "$prompt>" )) {

die "timeout waiting for $prompt>\n";
}
}
sub finish {
$obj = shift;
$obj->hard_close();
print "\n\n";
sub restore {
$obj = shift;
my $file = shift;
my $output;
open(IN,"$file") or die "can't open $file\n";
while (<IN>) {
$obj->send("$_");
print "$output\n";
}
close(IN);
}
sub process_options {
if (defined($options{s})) {
$tstr= $options{s};
$storage = "tftp://$tstr";
}
else {
print "Enter TFTP host name or IP address:";
chop($tstr=<>);
$storage = "tftp://$tstr";
}
if (defined($options{h})) {
$asa = $options{h};
}
else {
print "Enter ASA host name or IP address:";
chop($asa=<>);
}
if (defined ($options{u})) {
$user= $options{u};
}
else {
print "Enter user name:";
chop($user=<>);
}
if (defined ($options{w})) {
$password= $options{w};
}
else {
print "Enter password:";
chop($password=<>);
}
if (defined ($options{p})) {
$prompt= $options{p};
}
else {
print "Enter ASA prompt:";
chop($prompt=<>);
}
if (defined ($options{e})) {
866
Downgrade Your Software
$enable = $options{e};
}
else {
print "Enter enable password:";
chop($enable=<>);
}
if (defined ($options{r})) {
$restore = 1;
$restore_file = $options{r};
}
}
Downgrade Your Software

This section describes how to downgrade.
About Activation Key Compatibility

Your activation key remains compatible if you upgrade to the latest version from any previous version.
However, you might have issues if you want to maintain downgrade capability:
• Downgrading to Version 8.1 or earlier versions—After you upgrade, if you activate additional feature
licenses that were introduced before 8.2, the activation key continues to be compatible with earlier
versions if you downgrade. However if you activate feature licenses that were introduced in Version 8.2
or later versions, the activation key is not backwards compatible. If you have an incompatible license
key, see the following guidelines:
◦If you previously entered an activation key in an earlier version, the ASA uses that key (without
any of the new licenses you activated in Version 8.2 or later versions).
◦If you have a new system and do not have an earlier activation key, you need to request a new
activation key compatible with the earlier version.
• Downgrading to Version 8.2 or earlier versions—Version 8.3 introduced more robust time-based key
usage as well as failover license changes:
◦If you have more than one time-based activation key active, when you downgrade, only the most
recently activated time-based key can be active. Any other keys are made inactive.
◦If you have mismatched licenses on a failover pair, downgrading will disable failover. Even if the
keys are matching, the license used will no longer be a combined license.
Perform the Downgrade

To downgrade, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Downgrade the software:

downgrade [/noconfirm] old_image_url old_config_url [activation-key old_key]
867
Configure Auto Update
Where the /noconfirm option downgrades without prompting. The image_url is the path to the old image on
disk0, disk1, tftp, ftp, or smb. The old_config_url is the path to the saved, premigration configuration (by
default, t;his configuration was saved on disk0). If you need to revert to a pre-8.3 activation key, you can
enter the old activation key.
This command is a shortcut for completing the following functions:
1 Clearing the boot image configuration (clear configure boot).
2 Setting the boot image to be the old image (boot system).
3 (Optional) Entering a new activation key (activation-key).
4 Saving the running configuration to startup (write memory). This action sets the BOOT environment
variable to the old image, so when you reload, the old image is loaded.
5 Copying the old configuration to the startup configuration (copyold_config_url startup-config).
6 Reloading (reload).
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# downgrade /noconfirm disk0:/asa821-k8.bin disk0:/8_2_1_0_startup_cfg.sav

Auto Update is a protocol specification that allows an Auto Update Server to download configurations and
software images to many ASAs and can provide basic monitoring of the ASAs from a central location.
About Auto Update

This section describes how Auto Update is implemented and why you might want to use Auto Update.
Auto Update Client or Server

The ASA can be configured as either a client or a server. As an Auto Update client, it periodically polls the
Auto Update Server for updates to software images and configuration files. As an Auto Update Server, it
issues updates for ASAs configured as Auto Update clients.
Auto Update Benefits

Auto Update is useful in solving many issues facing administrators for ASA management, such as:
• Overcoming dynamic addressing and NAT challenges.
• Committing configuration changes in one action.
• Providing a reliable method for updating software.
• Leveraging well-understood methods for high availability (failover).
• Providing flexibility with an open interface.
• Simplifying security solutions for Service Provider environments.
868
The Auto Update specification provides the infrastructure necessary for remote management applications to
download ASA configurations, software images, and to perform basic monitoring from a centralized location
or multiple locations.
The Auto Update specification allows the Auto Update server to either push configuration information and
send requests for information to the ASA, or to pull configuration information by having the ASA periodically
poll the Auto Update server. The Auto Update server can also send a command to the ASA to send an immediate
polling request at any time. Communication between the Auto Update server and the ASA requires a
communications path and local CLI configuration on each ASA.
Auto Update Server Support in Failover Configurations

You can use the Auto Update Server to deploy software images and configuration files to ASAs in an
Active/Standby failover configuration. To enable Auto Update on an Active/Standby failover configuration,
enter the Auto Update Server configuration on the primary unit in the failover pair.
The following restrictions and behaviors apply to Auto Update Server support in failover configurations:
• Only single mode, Active/Standby configurations are supported.
• When loading a new platform software image, the failover pair stops passing traffic.
• When using LAN-based failover, new configurations must not change the failover link configuration.
If they do, communication between the units will fail.
• Only the primary unit will perform the call home to the Auto Update Server. The primary unit must be
in the active state to call home. If it is not, the ASA automatically fails over to the primary unit.
• Only the primary unit downloads the software image or configuration file. The software image or
configuration is then copied to the secondary unit.
• The interface MAC address and hardware-serial ID is from the primary unit.
• The configuration file stored on the Auto Update Server or HTTP server is for the primary unit only.
Auto Update Process Overview

The following is an overview of the Auto Update process in failover configurations. This process assumes
that failover is enabled and operational. The Auto Update process cannot occur if the units are synchronizing
configurations, if the standby unit is in the failed state for any reason other than SSM card failure, or if the
failover link is down.
1 Both units exchange the platform and ASDM software checksum and version information.
2 The primary unit contacts the Auto Update Server. If the primary unit is not in the active state, the ASA
first fails over to the primary unit and then contacts the Auto Update Server.
3 The Auto Update Server replies with software checksum and URL information.
4 If the primary unit determines that the platform image file needs to be updated for either the active or
standby unit, the following occurs:
a The primary unit retrieves the appropriate files from the HTTP server using the URL from the Auto
Update Server.
b The primary unit copies the image to the standby unit and then updates the image on itself.
c If both units have new image, the secondary (standby) unit is reloaded first.
869
• If hitless upgrade can be performed when secondary unit boots, then the secondary unit becomes
the active unit and the primary unit reloads. The primary unit becomes the active unit when it
has finished loading.
• If hitless upgrade cannot be performed when the standby unit boots, then both units reload at the
same time.
d If only the secondary (standby) unit has new image, then only the secondary unit reloads. The primary
unit waits until the secondary unit finishes reloading.
e If only the primary (active) unit has new image, the secondary unit becomes the active unit, and the
primary unit reloads.
f The update process starts again at Step 1.
5 If the ASA determines that the ASDM file needs to be updated for either the primary or secondary unit,
the following occurs:
a The primary unit retrieves the ASDM image file from the HTTP server using the URL provided by
the Auto Update Server.
b The primary unit copies the ASDM image to the standby unit, if needed.
c The primary unit updates the ASDM image on itself.
d The update process starts again at Step 1.
6 If the primary unit determines that the configuration needs to be updated, the following occurs:
a The primary unit retrieves the configuration file from the using the specified URL.
b The new configuration replaces the old configuration on both units simultaneously.
c The update process begins again at Step 1.
7 If the checksums match for all image and configuration files, no updates are required. The process ends
until the next poll time.
Guidelines for Auto Update

• If HTTPS is chosen as the protocol to communicate with the Auto Update server, the ASA uses SSL,
which requires the ASA to have a DES or 3DES license.
• Auto Update is supported in single context mode only.
Configure Communication with an Auto Update Server
Procedure
Step 1 To specify the URL of the Auto Update Server, enter the following command:
auto-update server url [source interface] [verify-certificate | no-verification]
where url has the following syntax:
870
http[s]://[user:password@]server_ip[:port]/pathname
The source interface keyword and argument specify which interface to use when sending requests to the Auto
Update Server. If you specify the same interface specified by the management-access command, the Auto
Update requests travel over the same IPsec VPN tunnel used for management access.
For HTTPS, the verify-certificate keyword (the default) verifies the certificate returned by the Auto Update
Server. To disable verification (not recommended), specify the no-verification keyword.
Step 2 (Optional) To identify the device ID to send when communicating with the Auto Update Server, enter the
following command:
auto-update device-id {hardware-serial | hostname | ipaddress [if-name] | mac-address [if-name] | string
text}
The identifier used is determined by specifying one of the following parameters:
• The hardware-serial argument specifies the ASA serial number.
• The hostname argument specifies the ASA hostname.
• The ipaddress keyword specifies the IP address of the specified interface. If the interface name is not
specified, it uses the IP address of the interface used to communicate with the Auto Update Server.
• The mac-address keyword specifies the MAC address of the specified interface. If the interface name
is not specified, it uses the MAC address of the interface used to communicate with the Auto Update
Server.
• The string keyword specifies the specified text identifier, which cannot include white space or the
characters ‘, “, , >, & and ?.
Step 3 (Optional) To specify how often to poll the Auto Update Server for configuration or image updates, enter the
following command:
auto-update poll-period poll-period [retry-count [retry-period]]
The poll-period argument specifies how often (in minutes) to check for an update. The default is 720 minutes
(12 hours).
The retry-count argument specifies how many times to try reconnecting to the server if the first attempt fails.
The default is zero.
The retry-period argument specifies how long to wait (in minutes) between retries. The default is five minutes.
Step 4 (Optional) To schedule a specific time for the ASA to poll the Auto Update Server, enter the following
command:
auto-update poll-at days-of-the-week time [randomize minutes] [retry_count [retry_period]]
The days-of-the-week argument is any single day or combination of days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Other possible values are daily (Monday through Sunday), weekdays
(Monday through Friday), and weekends (Saturday and Sunday).
The time argument specifies the time in the format HH:MM at which to start the poll. For example, 8:00 is
8:00 a.m. and 20:00 is 8:00 p.m.
The randomize minutes keyword and argument specify the period to randomize the poll time following the
specified start time. The range is from 1 to 1439 minutes.
The retry_count argument specifies how many times to try reconnecting to the Auto Update Server if the first
attempt fails. The default is zero.
871
The retry_period argument specifies how long to wait between connection attempts. The default is five
minutes. The range is from 1 to 35791 minutes.
Step 5 (Optional) If the Auto Update Server has not been contacted for a certain period of time, entering the following
command causes it to stop passing traffic:
auto-update timeout period
The period argument specifies the timeout period in minutes between 1 and 35791. The default is to never
time out (zero minutes). To restore the default, enter the no form of this command.
Use the auto-update timeout command to be sure that the ASA has the most recent image and configuration.
This condition is reported with system log message 201008.
Example
In the following example, an ASA is configured to poll an Auto Update Server with the IP address
209.165.200.224, at port number 1742, from the outside interface, with certificate verification.
The ASA is also configured to use the hostname as the device ID and to poll an Auto Update Server every
Friday and Saturday night at a random time between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. On a failed polling attempt,
the ASA will try to reconnect to the Auto Update Server ten times, and will wait three minutes between
attempts at reconnecting, as shown in the following example:
ciscoasa(config)# auto-update server

https://jcrichton:[email protected]:1742/management source outside verify-certificate
ciscoasa (config)# auto-update device-id hostname
hostname (config)# auto-update poll-at Friday Saturday 22:00 randomize 60 2 10
Configure Client Updates as an Auto Update Server

Entering the client-update command enables updates for ASAs configured as Auto Update clients and lets
you specify the type of software component (ASDM or boot image), the type or family of ASA, revision
numbers to which the update applies, and a URL or IP address from which to obtain the update.
To configure the ASA as an Auto Update Server, perform the following steps.
Procedure
Step 1 To enable client update, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# client-update enable
Step 2 Configure the following parameters for the client-update command that you want to apply to the ASAs:
client-update {component {asdm | image} | device-id dev_string | family family_name | type type} url
url-string rev-nums rev-nums}
The component {asdm | image} parameter specifies the software component, either ASDM or the boot image
of the ASA.
The device-id dev_string parameter specifies a unique string that the Auto Update client uses to identify itself.
The maximum length is 63 characters.
872
The family family_name parameter specifies the family name that the Auto Update client uses to identify
itself. It can be asa, pix, or a text string with a maximum length of seven characters.
The rev-nums rev-nums parameter specifies the software or firmware images for this client. Enter up to four,
in any order, separated by commas.
The type type parameter specifies the type of clients to notify of a client update. Because this command is
also used to update Windows clients, the list of clients includes several Windows operating systems.
The url url-string parameter specifies the URL for the software/firmware image. This URL must point to a
file appropriate for this client. For all Auto Update clients, you must use the protocol “http://” or “https://” as
the prefix for the URL.
Configure the parameters for the client update that you want to apply to all ASAs of a particular type. That
is, specify the type of ASA and the URL or IP address from which to get the updated image. In addition, you
must specify a revision number. If the revision number of the remote ASA matches one of the specified
revision numbers, there is no need to update the client, and the update is ignored.
To configure a client update for Cisco 5525-X ASAs, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# client-update type asa5525 component asdm url

http://192.168.1.114/aus/asdm601.bin rev-nums 8.0(1)
Monitoring Auto Update
Monitoring the Auto Update Process

You can use the debug auto-update client or debug fover cmd-exe commands to display the actions performed
during the Auto Update process. The following is sample output from the debug auto-update client command.
Auto-update client: Sent DeviceDetails to /cgi-bin/dda.pl of server 192.168.0.21

Auto-update client: Processing UpdateInfo from server 192.168.0.21
Component: asdm, URL: http://192.168.0.21/asdm.bint, checksum:
0x94bced0261cc992ae710faf8d244cf32
Component: config, URL: http://192.168.0.21/config-rms.xml, checksum:
0x67358553572688a805a155af312f6898
Component: image, URL: http://192.168.0.21/cdisk73.bin, checksum:
0x6d091b43ce96243e29a62f2330139419
Auto-update client: need to update img, act: yes, stby yes
name
ciscoasa(config)# Auto-update client: update img on stby unit...
auto-update: Fover copyfile, seq = 4 type = 1, pseq = 1, len = 1024
873

auto-update: Fover file copy waiting at clock tick 6129280
fover_parse: Rcvd file copy ack, ret = 0, seq = 4
auto-update: Fover filecopy returns value: 0 at clock tick 6150260, upd time 145980 msecs
Auto-update client: update img on active unit...
fover_parse: Rcvd image info from mate
auto-update: HA safe reload: reload active waiting with mate state: 20
Beginning configuration replication: Sending to mate.

Sauto-update: HA safe reload: reload active unit at clock tick: 6266860
Auto-update client: Succeeded: Image, version: 0x6d091b43ce96243e29a62f2330139419
The following syslog message is generated if the Auto Update process fails:
%ASA4-612002: Auto Update failed: file version: version reason: reason
The file is “image”, “asdm”, or “configuration”, depending on which update failed. The version is the version
number of the update. And the reason is the reason that the update failed.
Monitoring Auto Update Status

See the following command for monitoring Auto Update status:
show auto-update
The following is sample output from the show auto-update command:
ciscoasa(config)# show auto-update
Server: https://********@209.165.200.224:1742/management.cgi?1276
Certificate will be verified
Poll period: 720 minutes, retry count: 2, retry period: 5 minutes
Timeout: none
Device ID: host name [corporate]
Next poll in 4.93 minutes
Last poll: 11:36:46 PST Tue Nov 13 2004
Last PDM update: 23:36:46 PST Tue Nov 12 2004
874
History for Software and Configurations

Table 55: History for Software and Configurations
Platform
Secure Copy client 9.1(5)/9.2(1) The ASA now supports the Secure Copy (SCP) client to
transfer files to and from a SCP server.
We introduced the following commands: ssh pubkey-chain,
server (ssh pubkey-chain), key-string, key-hash, ssh
stricthostkeycheck.
We modified the following command: copy scp.
Auto Update server certificate verification enabled 9.2(1) The Auto Update server certificate verification is now enabled
by default by default; for new configurations, you must explicitly disable
certificate verification. If you are upgrading from an earlier
release, and you did not enable certificate verification, then
certificate verification is not enabled, and you see the following
warning:
WARNING: The certificate provided by the

auto-update servers will not be verified.
In order to verify this certificate please
use the verify-certificate option.
The configuration will be migrated to explicitly configure no

verification.
auto-update server no-verification
We modified the following command: auto-update server
{verify-certificate | no-verification}.
System backup and restore using the CLI 9.3(2) You can now back up and restore complete system
configurations, including images and certificates, using the
CLI.
We introduced the following commands: backup and restore.
Recovering and loading a new ASA 5506W-X 9.4(1) We now support the recovery and loading of a new ASA
image 5506W-X image.
We introduced the following command: hw-module module
wlan recover image.
875
876
CHAPTER 35
Response Automation for System Events
This chapter describes how to configure the Embedded Event Manager (EEM).
• About the EEM, page 877

• Guidelines for the EEM, page 878
• Configure the EEM, page 879
• Examples for the EEM, page 886
• Monitoring the EEM, page 886
• History for the EEM, page 887
About the EEM

The EEM service enables you to debug problems and provides general purpose logging for troubleshooting.
There are two components: events to which the EEM responds or listens, and event manager applets that
define actions as well as the events to which the EEM responds. You may configure multiple event manager
applets to respond to different events and perform different actions.
Supported Events
The EEM supports the following events:
• Syslog—The ASA uses syslog message IDs to identify syslog messages that trigger an event manager
applet. You may configure multiple syslog events, but the syslog message IDs may not overlap within
a single event manager applet.
• Timers—You may use timers to trigger events. You may configure each timer only once for each event
manager applet. Each event manager applet may have up to three timers. The three types of timers are
the following:
◦Watchdog (periodic) timers trigger an event manager applet after the specified time period following
the completion of the applet actions and restart automatically.
◦Countdown (one-shot) timers trigger an event manager applet once after the specified time period
and do not restart unless they are removed, then re-added.
877
Guidelines for the EEM
◦Absolute (once-a-day) timers cause an event to occur once a day at a specified time, and restart
automatically. The time-of-day format is in hh:mm:ss.
You may configure only one timer event of each type for each event manager applet.
• None—The none event is triggered when you run an event manager applet manually using the CLI or
ASDM.
• Crash—The crash event is triggered when the ASA crashes. Regardless of the value of the output
command, the action commands are directed to the crashinfo file. The output is generated before the
show tech command.
Actions on Event Manager Applets

When an event manager applet is triggered, the actions on the event manager applet are performed. Each
action has a number that is used to specify the sequence of the actions. The sequence number must be unique
within an event manager applet. You may configure multiple actions for an event manager applet. The
commands are typical CLI commands, such as show blocks.
Output Destinations
You may send the output from the actions to a specified location using the output command. Only one output
value may be enabled at any one time. The default value is output none. This value discards any output from
the action commands. The command runs in global configuration mode as a user with privilege level 15 (the
highest). The command may not accept any input, because it is disabled. You may send the output of the
action CLI commands to one of three locations:
• None, which is the default and discards the output
• Console, which sends the output to the ASA console
• File, which sends the output to a file. The following four file options are available:
◦Create a unique file, which creates a new, uniquely named file each time that an event manager
applet is invoked
◦Create/overwrite a file, which overwrites a specified file each time that an event manager applet
is invoked.
◦Create/append to a file, which appends to a specified file each time that an event manager applet
is invoked. If the file does not yet exist, it is created.
◦Create a set of files, which creates a set of uniquely named files that are rotated each time that an
event manager applet is invoked.
Guidelines for the EEM

This section describes guidelines and limitations that you should check before configuring the EEM.

Not supported in multiple context mode.
878
Configure the EEM
• During a crash, the state of the ASA is generally unknown. Some commands may not be safe to run
during this condition.
• The name of an event manager applet may not contain spaces.
• You cannot modify the None event and Crashinfo event parameters.
• Performance may be affected because syslog messages are sent to the EEM for processing.
• The default output is output none for each event manager applet. To change this setting, you must enter
a different output value.
• You may have only one output option defined for each event manager applet.
Configure the EEM

Configuring the EEM consists of the following tasks:
Procedure
Step 1 Create an Event Manager Applet and Configure Events, on page 879.
Step 2 Configure an Action and Destinations for Output from an Action, on page 881.
Step 3 Run an Event Manager Applet, on page 883.
Step 4 Track Memory Allocation and Memory Usage, on page 883.
Create an Event Manager Applet and Configure Events

To create an event manager applet and configure events, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Create an event manager applet and enter event manager applet configuration mode.
event manager applet name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet exampleapplet1
The name argument may be up to 32 alphanumeric characters long. Spaces are not allowed.
To remove an event manager applet, enter the no form of this command.
Step 2 Describe an event manager applet.

description text
879
Configure the EEM
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# description applet1example
The text argument may be up to 256 characters long. You may include spaces in description text if it is placed
within quotes.
Step 3 To configure a specified event, enter one of the following commands. To remove the configured event, enter
the no form of each of the commands.
• To configure a syslog event, identify a single syslog message or a range of syslog messages that trigger
an event manager applet.
event syslog id nnnnnn [-nnnnnn] [occurs n] [period seconds]
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event syslog id 106201
The nnnnnn argument identifies the syslog message ID. The occurs n keyword-argument pair indicates
the number of times that the syslog message must occur for an event manager applet to be invoked. The
default is 1 occurrence every 0 seconds. Valid values are from 1 - 4294967295. The period seconds
keyword-argument pair indicates the number of seconds in which the event must occur, and limits how
frequently an event manager applet is invoked to at most once in the configured period. Valid values
are from 0 - 604800. A value of 0 means that no period is defined.
• To configure an event to occur once per configured period and restart automatically.
event timer watchdog time seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event timer watchdog time 30
The number of seconds may range from 1 - 604800.

• To configure an event to occur once and not restart unless it is removed, then re-added.
event timer countdown time seconds
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event timer countdown time 60
The number of seconds may range from 1 - 604800. Use the no form of this command remove a
countdown timer event.
Note This timer reruns when you reboot if it is the startup configuration.
• To configure an event to occur once a day at a specified time and restart automatically.
event timer absolute time hh:mm:ss
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event timer absolute time 10:30:20
880
Configure the EEM
The time-of-day format is in hh:mm:ss. The time range is from 00:00:00 (midnight) to 23:59:59.
• Trigger a crash event when the ASA crashes.
event crashinfo
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event crashinfo
Regardless of the value of the output command, the action commands are directed to the crashinfo file.
The output is generated before the show tech command.
Configure an Action and Destinations for Output from an Action

To configure an action and specific destinations for sending output from an action, perform the following
steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Configure an action on an event manager applet.

action n cli command “command”
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 1 cli command “show version”
The n option is an action ID. Valid IDs range from 0 - 4294967295. The value of the command option must
be in quotes; otherwise, an error occurs if the command consists of more than one word. The command runs
in global configuration mode as a user with privilege level 15 (the highest). The command may not accept
any input, because it is disabled. Use the noconfirm option if the command has it available.
Step 2 Choose one of the available output destination options. Use the no form of each command to remove an output
destination,
• The None option discards any output from the action commands, which is the default setting:
output none
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output none
• The Console option sends the output of the action commands to the console.
output console
881
Configure the EEM
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output console
Note Running this command affects

performance.
• The New File option sends the output of the action commands to a new file for each event manager
applet that is invoked.
output file new
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output file new
The filename has the format of eem-applet-timestamp.log, in which applet is the name of the event
manager applet and timestamp is a dated time stamp in the format of YYYYMMDD-hhmmss.
• The New Set of Rotated Files option creates a set of files that are rotated. When a new file is to be
written, the oldest file is deleted, and all subsequent files are renumbered before the first file is written.
output file rotate n
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output file rotate 50
The newest file is indicated by 0, and the oldest file is indicated by the highest number (n-1). The n
option is the rotate value. Valid values range from 2 - 100. The filename format is eem-applet-x.log, in
which applet is the name of the applet, and x is the file number.
• The Single Overwritten File option writes the action command output to a single file, which is
overwritten every time.
output file overwrite filename
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output file overwrite examplefile1
The filename argument is a local (to the ASA) filename. This command may also use FTP, TFTP, and
SMB targeted files.
• The Single Appended File option writes the action command output to a single file, but that file is
appended to every time.
output file append filename
Example:
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output file append examplefile1
The filename argument is a local (to the ASA) filename.
882
Configure the EEM
Run an Event Manager Applet

To run an event manager applet, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Run an event manager applet.

event manager run applet
Example:
ciscoasa# event manager run exampleapplet1
If you run an event manager applet that has not been configured with the event none command, an error
occurs. The applet argument is the name of the event manager applet.
Track Memory Allocation and Memory Usage

To log memory allocation and memory usage, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enable memory logging.

memory logging [1024-4194304] [wrap] [size [1-2147483647]] [process process-name] [context
context-name]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# memory logging 202980
The only required argument is the number of entries in the memory logging buffer. The wrap option tells the
memory logging utility to save the buffer when it wraps. It can only be saved once.
If the memory logging buffer wraps multiple times, it can be overwritten. When the buffer wraps, a trigger
is sent to the event manager to enable saving of the data. The size option monitors a particular size. The
process option monitors a particular process.
Note The Checkheaps process is completely ignored as a process because it uses the memory allocator in
a non-standard way.
The context option records memory logging for a given virtual context by the given name.
To change memory logging parameters, you must disable it, then reenable it.
Step 2 Display the memory logging results.
show memory logging [brief | wrap]

show memory logging include [address] [caller] [operator] [size] [process] [time] [context]
883
Configure the EEM
Example:
ciscoasa# show memory logging
Number of free 6
Number of calloc 0
Number of malloc 8
Number of realloc-new 0
Number of realloc-free 0
Number of realloc-null 0
Number of realloc-same 0
Number of calloc-fail 0
Number of malloc-fail 0
Number of realloc-fail 0
Total operations 14
Buffer size: 50 (3688 x2 bytes)
process=[ci/console] time=[13:26:33.407] oper=[malloc]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0a6c0 size=72 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x000000000131911a 0x0000000000442bfd process=[ci/console] time=[13:26:33.407] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0a6c0 size=72 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x00000000013193e8
0x0000000000443455 0x0000000001318f5b
process=[CMGR Server Process] time=[13:26:35.964] oper=[malloc]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0aa00 size=16 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x000000000182774d 0x000000000182cc8a process=[CMGR Server Process]
time=[13:26:35.964] oper=[malloc]
addr=0x00007fff224bb9f0 size=512 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x0000000000bfef9a 0x0000000000bff606 process=[CMGR Server Process]
time=[13:26:35.964] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff224bb9f0 size=512 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x0000000000bff3d8
0x0000000000bff606 0x000000000182ccb0
addr=0x00007fff224b9460 size=40 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x0000000001834188 0x000000000182ce83
process=[CMGR Server Process] time=[13:26:37.964] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0aa00 size=16 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x0000000001827098
0x000000000182c08d 0x000000000182c262 process=[CMGR Server Process]
time=[13:26:37.964] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff224b9460 size=40 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x000000000182711b
0x000000000182c08d 0x000000000182c262 process=[CMGR Server Process]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0aa00 size=16 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x000000000182774d 0x000000000182cc8a process=[CMGR Server Process]
addr=0x00007fff224bb9f0 size=512 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x0000000000bfef9a 0x0000000000bff606 process=[CMGR Server Process]
time=[13:26:38.464] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff224bb9f0 size=512 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x0000000000bff3d8
0x0000000000bff606 0x000000000182ccb0
addr=0x00007fff224b9460 size=40 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x0000000001834188 0x000000000182ce83
process=[ci/console] time=[13:26:38.557] oper=[malloc]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0a6c0 size=72 @ 0x00000000016466ea 0x0000000002124542
0x000000000131911a 0x0000000000442bfd process=[ci/console] time=[13:26:38.557] oper=[free]
addr=0x00007fff2cd0a6c0 size=72 @ 0x00000000021246ef 0x00000000013193e8
0x0000000000443455 0x0000000001318f5b
ciscoasa# show memory logging include process operation size

Number of free 6
Number of calloc 0
Number of malloc 8
Total operations 14
process=[ci/console] oper=[malloc] size=72 process=[ci/console] oper=[free]
884
Configure the EEM
size=72 process=[CMGR Server Process] oper=[malloc] size=16

process=[CMGR Server Process] oper=[malloc] size=512 process=[CMGR Server Process]
oper=[free] size=512 process=[CMGR Server Process] oper=[malloc] size=40
process=[CMGR Server Process] oper=[free] size=16 process=[CMGR Server Process]
process=[CMGR Server Process] oper=[malloc] size=512 process=[CMGR Server Process]
process=[ci/console] oper=[malloc] size=72 process=[ci/console]
oper=[free] size=72 ciscoasa# show memory logging brief
Number of free 6
Number of calloc 0
Number of malloc 8
Total operations 14
Without any options, show memory logging displays statistics and then the recorded operations. The brief
option shows only statistics. The wrap option shows the buffer upon wrap, then purges the data so that
duplicate data does not appear or get saved. The include option includes only the specified fields in the output.
You can specify the fields in any order, but they always appear in the following order:
1 Process
2 Time
3 Context (unless in single mode)
4 Operation (free/malloc/etc.)
5 Address
6 Size
7 Callers
The output format is:

process=[XXX] time=[XXX] context=[XXX] oper=[XXX] address=0xXXXXXXXX size=XX @
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Up to four caller addresses appear. The types of operations are listed in the output (Number of...) shown in
the example.
Step 3 Respond to memory logging wrap events.

event memory-logging-wrap
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet memlog
ciscoasa(config)# event memory-logging-wrap
ciscoasa(config)# action 0 cli command "show memory logging wrap"
ciscoasa(config)# output file append disk0:/memlog.log
The example shows an applet that records all memory allocations. When wrap is enabled for memory logging,
the memory logger sends an event to the event manager to trigger configured applets.
885
Examples for the EEM
Examples for the EEM

The following example shows an event manager applet that records block leak information every hour and
writes the output to a rotating set of log files, keeping a day's worth of logs:
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet blockcheck

ciscoasa(config-applet)# description “Log block usage”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# event timer watchdog time 3600
ciscoasa(config-applet)# output rotate 24
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 1 cli command “show blocks old”
The following example shows an event manager applet that reboots the ASA every day at 1 am, saving the
configuration as needed:
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet dailyreboot

ciscoasa(config-applet)# description “Reboot every night”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 1 cli command “reload save-config noconfirm”
The following example shows event manager applets that disable the given interface between midnight and
3 am.
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet disableintf

ciscoasa(config-applet)# description “Disable the interface at midnight”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 1 cli command “interface GigabitEthernet 0/0”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 2 cli command “shutdown”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 3 cli command “write memory”
ciscoasa(config)# event manager applet enableintf

ciscoasa(config-applet)# description “Enable the interface at 3am”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 1 cli command “interface GigabitEthernet 0/0”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 2 cli command “no shutdown”
ciscoasa(config-applet)# action 3 cli command “write memory”
Monitoring the EEM

See the following commands to monitor the EEM.
• clear configure event manager
This command removes the event manager running configuration.
• clear configure event manager applet appletname
This command removes the named event manager applet from the configuration.
• show counters protocol eem
This command shows the counters for the event manager.
• show event manager
886
History for the EEM
This command shows information about the configured event manager applets, including hit counts and
when the event manager applets were last invoked.
• show memory logging, show memory logging include
These commands show statistics about the memory allocations and memory usage.
• show running-config event manager
This command shows the running configuration of the event manager.
History for the EEM

Table 56: History for the EEM

Releases
Embedded Event Manager 9.2(1) The EEM service enables you to debug problems and provides general purpose
(EEM) logging for troubleshooting. There are two components: events to which the EEM
responds or listens, and event manager applets that define actions as well as the events
to which the EEM responds. You may configure multiple event manager applets to
respond to different events and perform different actions.
We introduced or modified the following commands: event manager applet,
description, event syslog id, event none, event timer {watchdog time seconds |
countdown time seconds | absolute time hh:mm:ss}, event crashinfo, action cli
command, output {none | console | file {append filename | new | overwrite filename
| rotate n}}, show running-config event manager, event manager run, show event
manager, show counters protocol eem, clear configure event manager, debug
event manager, debug menu eem.
Memory tracking for the 9.4(1) We have added a new debugging feature to log memory allocations and memory
EEM usage, and to respond to memory logging wrap events.
We introduced or modified the following commands: memory logging, show memory
logging, show memory logging include, event memory-logging-wrap.
887
History for the EEM
888
CHAPTER 36
Testing and Troubleshooting
This chapter describes how to troubleshoot the Cisco ASA and test basic connectivity.
• View Debugging Messages, page 889

• Capture Packets, page 889
• View the Crash Dump, page 893
• View the Coredump, page 893
• vCPU Usage in the ASAv, page 893
• Test Your Configuration, page 895
• Monitoring Connections, page 906
View Debugging Messages

Because debugging output is assigned high priority in the CPU process, it can render the system unusable.
For this reason, use debug commands only to troubleshoot specific problems or during troubleshooting sessions
with Cisco TAC. Moreover, it is best to use debug commands during periods of less network traffic and fewer
users. Debugging during these periods decreases the likelihood that increased debug command processing
overhead will affect system use. To enable debugging messages, see the debug commands in the command
reference.
Capture Packets
Capturing packets may be useful when troubleshooting connectivity problems or monitoring suspicious
activity. We recommend that you contact Cisco TAC if you want to use the packet capture service.
To capture packets, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enable packet capture capabilities for packet sniffing and network fault isolation.
[cluster exec] capture capture_name [type {asp-drop all [drop-code] | tls-proxy | raw-data | lacp | isakmp
[ikev1 | ikev2] | inline-tag [tag] |webvpn user webvpn-user}] [access-list access_list_name] [interface
889
Capture Packets
asa_dataplane] [buffer buf_size] [ethernet-type type] [interface interface_name] [reeinject-hide]

[packet-length bytes ] [circular-buffer] [trace trace_count] [real-time] [trace] [match prot {host source-ip
| source-ip mask | any}{host destination-ip |destination-ip mask} [any} [operator port]
Example:
ciscoasa# capture captest interface inside
For the complete syntax description, see the command reference or the CLI help (help capture). Not all
options can be specified in one command. See the CLI help for allowed combinations.
Use the same capture_name on multiple capture statements to capture multiple types of traffic.
The type asp-drop keyword captures packets dropped by the accelerated security path. In a cluster, dropped
forwarded data packets from one unit to another are also captured. In multiple context mode, when this option
is issued in system context, all dropped data packets are captured; when this option is issued in a user context,
only dropped data packets that enter from interfaces belonging to the user context are captured.
The inline-tag tag keyword-argument pair specifies a tag for a particular SGT value or leaves it unspecified
to capture a tagged packet with any SGT value.
The buffer keyword defines the buffer size used to store the packet. When the byte buffer is full, packet
capture stops. When used in a cluster, this is the per-unit size, not the sum of all units. The circular-buffer
keyword overwrites the buffer, starting from the beginning, when the buffer is full.
The interface keyword sets the name of the interface on which to use packet capture. You must configure an
interface for any packets to be captured.
To capture packets on the dataplane, use the asa_dataplane keyword. To filter packets captured on the ASA
CX backplane, use the asa_dataplane option and follow these guidelines. In single mode, the backplane
control packets bypass the access list and are captured. In multiple context mode, only control packets are
captured in the system context. Data packets are captured in the user context. The access-list and match
options are only available in the user context.
To capture the traffic on the cluster control link, use the cluster keyword. If you configure type lacp, specify
the physical interface ID instead of the nameif name.
The match keyword captures matching the protocol and source and destination IP addresses and optional
ports. You can use this keyword up to three times in one command. The operator can be one of the following:
• lt—less than
• gt—greater than
• eq—equal to
The type raw-data keywords capture inbound and outbound packets. This setting is the default.
The real-time keyword displays the captured packets continuously in real-time. To terminate real-time packet
capture, enter Ctrl + c. To permanently remove the capture, use the no form of this command. This option
applies only to raw-data and asp-drop captures. This option is not supported when you use the cluster exec
capture command.
The reinject-hide keyword specifies that no reinjected packets will be captured and applies only in a clustering
environment.
Note If ACL optimization is configured, you cannot use the access-list command in capture. You can only
use the access-group command. An error appears if you try to use the access-list command in this
case.
890
Capture Packets
Capture Packets in a Clustering Environment

To support cluster-wide troubleshooting, you can enable capture of cluster-specific traffic on the master unit
using the cluster exec capture command, which is then automatically enabled on all of the slave units in the
cluster. The cluster exec keywords are the new keywords that you place in front of the capture command to
enable cluster-wide capture.
The “cluster” interface name is the default name for the cluster control link and is not configurable. You specify
“cluster” as the interface name to capture the traffic on the cluster control link interface. There are two types
of packets on the cluster control link: control plane packets and data plane packets, which both include
forwarded data traffic and cluster LU messages. The TTL field in the IP address header is encoded to
differentiate between these two types of packets. When forwarded data packets are captured, their clustering
trailers are included in the capture file for debugging purposes.
In multiple context mode, although the cluster interface belongs to the system context, you can see the interface,
so you can configure captures on the cluster link in user contexts. In the system context, both control plane
and data plane packets are available. The data plane captures LU packets and forwarded data packets that
belong only to the system context. In user contexts, control plane packets are not visible. Only forwarded data
packets that belong to a specified user context and LU packets are captured. For security purposes, each
context can only see the packets that belong to it.
Guidelines for Capturing Packets

• If the ASA receives packets with an incorrectly formatted TCP header and drops them because of the
invalid-tcp-hdr-length ASP drop reason, the show capture command output on the interface where
those packets are received does not show those packets.
• You can only capture IP traffic; you cannot capture non-IP packets such as ARPs.
• For cluster control link capture in multiple context mode, only the packet that is associated with the
context sent in the cluster control link is captured.
• For inline SGT tagged packets, captured packets contain an additional CMD header that your PCAP
viewer might not understand.
• In multiple context mode, the copy capture command is available only in the system space. The syntax
is as follows:
copy/pcap capture:context-name/in-cap tftp:
Where in-cap is the capture configured in the context context-name
• The cluster exec capture realtime command is not supported. The following error message appears:
Error: Real-time capture can not be run in cluster exec mode.
• For a shared VLAN, the following guidelines apply:

◦You can only configure one capture for the VLAN; if you configure a capture in multiple contexts
on the shared VLAN, then only the last capture that was configured is used.
◦If you remove the last-configured (active) capture, no captures become active, even if you have
previously configured a capture in another context; you must remove the capture and add it again
to make it active.
891
Capture Packets
◦All traffic that enters the interface to which the capture is attached is captured, including traffic to
other contexts on the shared VLAN.
◦Therefore, if you enable a capture in Context A for a VLAN that is also used by Context B, both
Context A and Context B ingress traffic are captured.
• For egress traffic, only the traffic of the context with the active capture is captured. The only exception
is when you do not enable the ICMP inspection (therefore the ICMP traffic does not have a session in
the accelerated path). In this case, both ingress and egress ICMP traffic for all contexts on the shared
VLAN is captured.
• Configuring a capture typically involves configuring an ACL that matches the traffic that needs to be
captured. After an ACL that matches the traffic pattern is configured, then you need to define a capture
and associate this ACL to the capture, along with the interface on which the capture needs to be
configured.
• After you have performed a cluster-wide capture, to copy the same cluster-wide capture file to a TFTP
server, enter the following command on the master unit:
ciscoasa (cfg-cluster)# cluster exec copy/pcap capture: cap_name tftp://location/path/filename.pcap
• Multiple PCAP files, one from each unit, are copied to the TFTP server. The destination capture file
name is automatically attached with the unit name, such as filename_A.pcap, filename_B.pcap, and so
on. In this example, A and B are cluster unit names. A different destination name is generated if you
add the unit name at the end of the filename.
• To enable cluster-wide capture on a specified interface, you can add the cluster exec keywords in front
of each of the commands shown in the examples. These capture commands can only be replicated from
the master unit to the slave units. However, you can still configure a capture on the specified interface
for the local unit using any of these capture commands.
The following example shows how to create a cluster-wide LACP capture:
ciscoasa (config)# cluster exec capture lacptype lacp interface gigabitEthernet0/0
The following example shows how to create a capture for control path packets in the clustering link:
ciscoasa (config)# capture cp interface cluster match udp any eq 49495 any
ciscoasa (config)# capture cp interface cluster match udp any any eq 49495
The following example shows how to create a capture for data path packets in the clustering link:
ciscoasa (config)# access-list cc1 extended permit udp any any eq 4193
ciscoasa (config)# access-list cc1 extended permit udp any any eq 4193 4193 any
ciscoasa (config)# capture dp interface cluster access-list cc1
The following example shows how to capture data path traffic through the cluster:
ciscoasa (config)# capture abc interface inside match tcp host 1.1.1.1 host 2.2.2.2 eq www
ciscoasa (config)# capture abc interface inside match ucp host 1.1.1.1 any
ciscoasa (config)# capture abc interface inside access-list xxx
The following example shows how to capture logical update messages for flows that match the real source to
the real destination, and capture packets forwarded over CCL that match the real source to the real destination:
ciscoasa (config)# access-list dp permit ip real_src real_dst
892
View the Crash Dump
The following example shows how to capture a certain type of data plane message, such as icmp echo
request/response, that is forwarded from one ASA to another ASA using the match keyword or the ACL for
the message type:
ciscoasa (config)# capture capture_name interface cluster access-list match icmp any any
The following example shows how to create a capture by using ACL 103 on a cluster control link:
ciscoasa (config)# access-list 103 permit ip A B

ciscoasa (config)# capture example1 interface cluster access-list 103
In the previous example, if A and B are IP addresses for the CCL interface, only the packets that are sent
between these two units are captured.
If A and B are IP addresses for through-device traffic, then the following is true:
• Forwarded packets are captured as usual, provided the source and destination IP addresses are matched
with the ACL.
• The data path logic update message is captured provided it is for the flow between A and B or for an
ACL (for example, access-list 103). The capture matches the five-tuple of the embedded flow.
Although the source and destination addresses in the UDP packet are CCL addresses, if this packet is to update
a flow that is associated with addresses A and B, then it is also captured. That is, as long as addresses A and
B that are embedded in the packet are matched, it is also captured.
View the Crash Dump

If the ASA or ASAv crashes, you can view the crash dump information. We recommend that you contact
Cisco TAC if you want to interpret the crash dump. See the show crashdump command in the command
reference.
View the Coredump

A coredump is a snapshot of the running program when the program has terminated abnormally or crashed.
Coredumps are used to diagnose or debug errors and save a crash for future off-site analysis. Cisco TAC may
request that you enable the coredump feature to troubleshoot application or system crashes on the ASA or
ASAv. See the coredump command in the command reference.
vCPU Usage in the ASAv

The ASAv vCPU usage shows the amount of vCPUs used for the data path, control point, and external
processes.
The vSphere reported vCPU usage includes the ASAv usage as described plus:
• ASAv idle time
• %SYS overhead used for the ASAv VM
• Overhead of moving packets between vSwitches, vNICs, and pNICs. This overhead can be quite
significant.
893
vCPU Usage in the ASAv
CPU Usage Example

The following is an example in which the reported vCPU usage is substantially different:
• ASAv reports: 40%
• DP: 35%
• External Processes: 5%
• vSphere reports: 95%
• ASA (as ASAv reports): 40%
• ASA idle polling: 10%
• Overhead: 45%
The overhead is used to perform hypervisor functions and to move packets between NICs and vNICs using
the vSwitch.
Usage can exceed 100% because the ESXi server can use additional compute resources for overhead on behalf
of the ASAv.
VMware CPU Usage Reporting

In vSphere, click the VM Performance tab, then click Advanced to display the Chart Options drop-down
list, which shows vCPU usage for each state (%USER, %IDLE, %SYS, and so on) of the VM. This information
is useful for understanding VMware’s perspective on where CPU resources are being used.
On the ESXi server shell (you access the shell by using SSH to connect to the host), esxtop is available. Esxtop
has a similar look and feel to the Linux top command and provides VM state information for vSphere
performance, including the following:
• Details on vCPU, memory, and network usage
• vCPU usage for each state of each VM.
• Memory (type M while running) and network (type N while running), as well as statistics and the number
of RX drops
ASAv and vCenter Graphs

There are differences in the CPU % numbers between the ASAv and vCenter:
• The vCenter graph numbers are always higher than the ASAv numbers.
• vCenter calls it %CPU usage; the ASAv calls it %CPU utilization.
The terms “%CPU utilization” and “%CPU usage” mean different things:
• CPU utilization provides statistics for physical CPUs.
• CPU usage provides statistics for logical CPUs, which is based on CPU hyperthreading. But because
only one vCPU is used, hyperthreading is not turned on.
894
Test Your Configuration
vCenter calculates the CPU % usage as follows:

Amount of actively used virtual CPUs, specified as a percentage of the total available CPUs
This calculation is the host view of the CPU usage, not the guest operating system view, and is the average
CPU utilization over all available virtual CPUs in the virtual machine.
For example, if a virtual machine with one virtual CPU is running on a host that has four physical CPUs and
the CPU usage is 100%, the virtual machine is using one physical CPU completely. The virtual CPU usage
calculation is Usage in MHz / number of virtual CPUs x core frequency
When you compare the usage in MHz, both the vCenter and ASAv numbers match. According to the vCenter
graph, MHz % CPU usage is calculated as 60/(2499 x 1 vCPU) = 2.4

This section describes how to test connectivity for the single mode ASA or for each security context, how to
ping the ASA interfaces, and how to allow hosts on one interface to ping through to hosts on another interface.
Test Basic Connectivity: Pinging Addresses

Ping is a simple command that let’s you determine if a particular address is alive and responsive. The following
topics explain more about the command and what types of testing you can accomplish with it.
What You Can Test Using Ping

When you ping a device, a packet is sent to the device and the device returns a reply. This process enables
network devices to discover, identify, and test each other.
You can use ping to do the following tests:
• Loopback testing of two interfaces—You can initiate a ping from one interface to another on the same
ASA, as an external loopback test to verify basic “up” status and operation of each interface.
• Pinging to an ASA—You can ping an interface on another ASA to verify that it is up and responding.
• Pinging through an ASA—You can ping through an intermediate ASA by pinging a device on the other
side of the ASA. The packets will pass through two of the intermediate ASA’s interfaces as they go in
each direction. This action performs a basic test of the interfaces, operation, and response time of the
intermediate unit.
• Pinging to test questionable operation of a network device—You can ping from an ASA interface to a
network device that you suspect is functioning incorrectly. If the interface is configured correctly and
an echo is not received, there might be problems with the device.
• Pinging to test intermediate communications—You can ping from an ASA interface to a network device
that is known to be functioning correctly. If the echo is received, the correct operation of any intermediate
devices and physical connectivity is confirmed.
Choosing Between ICMP and TCP Ping

The ASA includes the traditional ping, which sends ICMP Echo Request packets and gets Echo Reply packets
in return. This is the standard tool and works well if all intervening network devices allow ICMP traffic. With
ICMP ping, you can ping IPv4 or IPv6 addresses, or host names.
895
However, some networks prohibit ICMP. If this is true of your network, you can instead use TCP ping to test
network connectivity. With TCP ping, the ping sends TCP SYN packets, and considers the ping a success if
it receives a SYN-ACK in response. With TCP ping, you can ping IPv4 addresses or host names, but you
cannot ping IPv6 addresses.
Keep in mind that a successful ICMP or TCP ping simply means that the address you are using is alive and
responding to that specific type of traffic. This means that basic connectivity is working. Other policies running
on a device could prevent specific types of traffic from successfully getting through a device.
Enable ICMP
By default, you can ping from a high security interface to a low security interface. You just need to enable
ICMP inspection to allow returning traffic through. If you want to ping from low to high, then you need to
apply an ACL to allow traffic.
When pinging an ASA interface, any ICMP rules applied to the interface must allow Echo Request and Echo
Response packets. ICMP rules are optional: if you do not configure them, all ICMP traffic to an interface is
allowed.
This procedure explains all of ICMP configuration you might need to complete to enable ICMP pinging of
ASA interfaces, or for pinging through an ASA.
Procedure
Step 1 Ensure ICMP rules allow Echo Request/Echo Response.

ICMP rules are optional and apply to ICMP packets sent directly to an interface. If you do not apply ICMP
rules, all ICMP access is allowed. In this case, no action is required.
However, if you do implement ICMP rules, ensure that you include at least the following on each interface,
replacing “inside” with the name of an interface on your device.
ciscoasa(config)# icmp permit 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 echo inside

ciscoasa(config)# icmp permit 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 echo-reply inside
Step 2 Ensure access rules allow ICMP.

When pinging a host through an ASA, access rules must allow ICMP traffic to leave and return. The access
rule must at least allow Echo Request/Echo Reply ICMP packets. You can add these rules as global rules.
Assuming you already have access rules applied to interfaces or applied globally, simply add these rules to
the relevant ACL, for example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list outside_access_in extendedpermit icmp any anyecho

ciscoasa(config)# access-list outside_access_in extendedpermit icmp any anyecho-reply
Alternatively, just allow all ICMP:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list outside_access_in extendedpermit icmp any any
If you do not have access rules, you will need to also allow the other type of traffic you want, because applying
any access rules to an interface adds an implicit deny, so all other traffic will be dropped. Use the access-group
command to apply the ACL to an interface or globally.
896
If you are simply adding the rule for testing purposes, you can use the no form of the access-list command
to remove the rule from the ACL. If the entire ACL is simply for testing purposes, use the no access-group
command to remove the ACL from the interface.
Step 3 Enable ICMP inspection.

ICMP inspection is needed when pinging through the ASA, as opposed to pinging an interface. Inspection
allows returning traffic (that is, the Echo Reply packet) to return to the host that initiated the ping, and also
ensures there is one response per packet, which prevents certain types of attack.
You can simply enable ICMP inspection in the default global inspection policy.
ciscoasa(config)# policy-map global_policy

ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class inspection_default
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# inspect icmp
Ping Hosts
To ping any device, you simply enter ping with the IP address or host name, such as ping 10.1.1.1 or ping
www.example.com. For TCP ping, you include the tcp keyword and the destination port, such as ping tcp
www.example.com 80. That is usually the extent of any test you need to run.
Example output for a successful ping:
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to out-pc, timeout is 2 seconds:

!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/1/1 ms
If the ping fails, the output indicates ? for each failed attempt, and the success rate is less than 100 percent
(complete failure is 0 percent):
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.132.80.101, timeout is 2 seconds:

?????
However, you can also add parameters to control some aspects of the ping. Following are your basic options:
• ICMP ping.
ping [if_name] host [repeat count] [timeout seconds] [data pattern] [size bytes] [validate]
Where:
◦if_name is the name of the interface by which the host is accessible. If you do not include a name,
the routing table is used to determine the interface to use.
◦host is the IPv4, IPv6, or host name of the host you are pinging.
◦repeat count is how many packets to send. The default is 5.
◦timeout seconds is the number of seconds for each packet to time out if no response occurs. The
default is 2.
◦data pattern is the hexadecimal pattern to use in the packets sent. The default is 0xabcd.
◦size bytes is the length of the packet sent. The default is 100 bytes.
897
◦validate indicates that you want reply data validated.
• TCP ping.
ping tcp [if_name] host [port] [repeat count] [timeout seconds] [source host [ports]
Where:
◦if_name is the interface through which the source sends the ping. If you do not include a name,
the routing table is used.
◦host is the IPv4 address or host name of the destination you are pinging. You cannot use TCP ping
with IPv6 addresses.
◦port is the TCP port on the host you are pinging.
◦repeat and timeout have the same meaning as above.
◦source host port indicates the source host and port for the ping. Use port 0 to get a random port.
• Interactive ping.
ping
By entering ping without parameters, you are prompted for interface, destination, and other parameters,
including extended parameters not available as keywords. Use this method if you have need for extensive
control over the ping packets.
Test ASA Connectivity Systematically

If you want to do a more systematic test of ASA connectivity, you can use the following general procedure.
Before You Begin

If you want to see the syslog messages mentioned in the procedure, enable logging (the logging enable
command, or Configuration > Device Management > Logging > Logging Setup in ASDM).
Although unnecessary, you can also enable ICMP debug to see messages on the ASA console as you ping
ASA interfaces from external devices (you will not see debug messages for pings that go through the ASA).
We recommend that you only enable pinging and debugging messages during troubleshooting, as they can
affect performance. The following example enables ICMP debugging, sets syslog messages to be sent to
Telnet or SSH sessions and sends them to those sessions, and enables logging. Instead of using the logging
monitor debug command, you can alternately use the logging buffer debug command to send log messages
to a buffer, and then view them later using the show loggingcommand.
ciscoasa(config)# debug icmp trace

ciscoasa(config)# logging monitor debug
ciscoasa(config)# terminal monitor
ciscoasa(config)# logging enable
With this configuration, you would see something like the following for a successful ping from an external
host (209.165.201.2) to the ASA outside interface (209.165.201.1):
ciscoasa(config)# debug icmp trace

Inbound ICMP echo reply (len 32 id 1 seq 256) 209.165.201.1 > 209.165.201.2
Outbound ICMP echo request (len 32 id 1 seq 512) 209.165.201.2 > 209.165.201.1
898
The output shows the ICMP packet length (32 bytes), the ICMP packet identifier (1), and the ICMP sequence
number (the ICMP sequence number starts at 0, and is incremented each time that a request is sent).
When you are finished testing, disable debugging. Leaving the configuration in place can pose performance
and security risks. If you enabled logging just for testing, you can disable it also.
ciscoasa(config)# no debug icmp trace

ciscoasa(config)# no logging monitor debug
ciscoasa(config)# no terminal monitor
ciscoasa(config)# no logging enable
Procedure
Step 1 Draw a diagram of your single-mode ASA or security context that shows the interface names, security levels,
and IP addresses. The diagram should also include any directly connected routers and a host on the other side
of the router from which you will ping the ASA.
Figure 48: Network Diagram with Interfaces, Routers, and Hosts
Step 2 Ping each ASA interface from the directly connected routers. For transparent mode, ping the management IP
address. This test ensures that the ASA interfaces are active and that the interface configuration is correct.
899
A ping might fail if the ASA interface is not active, the interface configuration is incorrect, or if a switch
between the ASA and a router is down (see the following figure). In this case, no debugging messages or
syslog messages appear, because the packet never reaches the ASA.
Figure 49: Ping Failure at the ASA Interface
Figure 50: Ping Failure Because of IP Addressing Problems
If the ping reply does not return to the router, then a switch loop or redundant IP addresses might exist (see
the following figure).
Step 3 Ping each ASA interface from a remote host. For transparent mode, ping the management IP address. This
test checks whether the directly connected router can route the packet between the host and the ASA, and
whether the ASA can correctly route the packet back to the host.
A ping might fail if the ASA does not have a return route to the host through the intermediate router (see the
following figure). In this case, the debugging messages show that the ping was successful, but syslog message
110001 appears, indicating a routing failure has occurred.
Figure 51: Ping Failure Because the ASA Has No Return Route
Step 4 Ping from an ASA interface to a network device that you know is functioning correctly.
• If the ping is not received, a problem with the transmitting hardware or interface configuration may
exist.
• If the ASA interface is configured correctly and it does not receive an echo reply from the “known good”
device, problems with the interface hardware receiving function may exist. If a different interface with
“known good” receiving capability can receive an echo after pinging the same “known good” device, the
hardware receiving problem of the first interface is confirmed.
900
Step 5 Ping from the host or router through the source interface to another host or router on another interface. Repeat
this step for as many interface pairs as you want to check. If you use NAT, this test shows that NAT is operating
correctly.
If the ping succeeds, a syslog message appears to confirm the address translation for routed mode (305009
or 305011) and that an ICMP connection was established (302020). You can also enter either the show xlate
or show conns command to view this information.
The ping might fail because NAT is not configured correctly. In this case, a syslog message appears, showing
that the NAT failed (305005 or 305006). If the ping is from an outside host to an inside host, and you do not
have a static translation, you get message 106010.
Figure 52: Ping Failure Because the ASA is Not Translating Addresses
Trace Routes to Hosts

If you are having problems sending traffic to an IP address, you can trace the route to the host to determine
if there is a problem on the network path.
Procedure
Step 1 Make the ASA Visible on Trace Routes, on page 901.

Step 2 Determine Packet Routes, on page 903.
Make the ASA Visible on Trace Routes

By default, the ASA does not appear on traceroutes as a hop. To make it appear, you need to decrement the
time-to-live on packets that pass through the ASA, and increase the rate limit on ICMP unreachable messages.
Procedure
Step 1 Create an L3/L4 class map to identify the traffic for which you want to customize connection settings.
class-map name
match parameter
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# class-map CONNS
901
ciscoasa(config-cmap)# match any
For information on matching statements, see the Service Policy chapter in the firewall configuration guide.
Step 2 Add or edit a policy map that sets the actions to take with the class map traffic, and identify the class map.
policy-map name class name
Example:

ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class CONNS
In the default configuration, the global_policy policy map is assigned globally to all interfaces. If you want
to edit the global_policy, enter global_policy as the policy name. For the class map, specify the class you
created earlier in this procedure.
Step 3 Decrement time-to-live (TTL) on packets that match the class.
set connection decrement-ttl

Step 4 If you are editing an existing service policy (such as the default global policy called global_policy), you can
skip this step. Otherwise, activate the policy map on one or more interfaces.
service-policy policymap_name {global | interface interface_name }
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# service-policy global_policy global
The global keyword applies the policy map to all interfaces, and interface applies the policy to one interface.
Only one global policy is allowed. You can override the global policy on an interface by applying a service
policy to that interface. You can only apply one policy map to each interface.
Step 5 Increase the rate limit on ICMP Unreachable messages so that the ASA will appear on trace route output.
icmp unreachable rate-limit rate burst-size size
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# icmp unreachable rate-limit 50 burst-size 1
The rate limit can be 1-100, with 1 being the default. The burst size is meaningless, but must be 1-10.
Example
The following example decrements TTL for all traffic globally and increase the ICMP unreachable limit to
50.
ciscoasa(config)# class-map global-policy

ciscoasa(config-cmap)# match any
ciscoasa(config-cmap)# exit
ciscoasa(config-pmap)# class global-policy
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# set connection decrement-ttl
ciscoasa(config-pmap-c)# exit
902
ciscoasa(config)# icmp unreachable rate-limit 50 burst-size 6
Determine Packet Routes

Use Traceroute to help you to determine the route that packets will take to their destination. A traceroute
works by sending UDP packets to a destination on an invalid port. Because the port is not valid, the routers
along the way to the destination respond with an ICMP Time Exceeded Message, and report that error to the
ASA.
The traceroute shows the result of each probe sent. Every line of output corresponds to a TTL value in increasing
order. The following table explains the output symbols.
Output Symbol Description

* No response was received for the probe within the timeout period.
nn msec For each node, the round-trip time (in milliseconds) for the specified number of probes.
!N. ICMP network unreachable.
!H ICMP host unreachable.
!P ICMP unreachable.
!A ICMP administratively prohibited.
? Unknown ICMP error.
Procedure
Trace the route to a destination.

traceroute [destination_ip | hostname}
[source {source_ip | source-interface}] [numeric][timeout timeout_value]
[probe probe_num] [ttl min_ttl max_ttl] [port port_value] [use-icmp]
Normally, you simply include the destination IP address or hostname, such as traceroute www.example.com.
However, you can adjust the characteristics of the trace if desired:
• source {source_ip | source-interface}—Specifies the interface to use as the source of the trace. You can
specify the interface by name or by IP address. In transparent mode, you must use the management
address.
• numeric—Indicates that only the IP addresses should be shown in the trace route. Without this keyword,
the trace route does DNS lookups for addresses and includes DNS names, assuming that you configure
DNS.
• timeout timeout_value—How long to wait for a response before timing out. The default is 3 seconds.
• probe probe_num—How many probes to send at each TTL level. The default is 3.
903
• ttl min_ttl max_ttl—The minimum and maximum time-to-live values for the probes. The minimum
default is one, but you can set it to a higher value to suppress the display of known hops. The maximum
default is 30. The traceroute terminates when the packet reaches the destination or when the maximum
value is reached.
• port port_value—The UDP port to use. The default is 33434.
• use-icmp—Send ICMP packets instead of UDP packets for probes.
Example:
ciscoasa# traceroute 209.165.200.225
Type escape sequence to abort.

Tracing the route to 209.165.200.225
1 10.83.194.1 0 msec 10 msec 0 msec

2 10.83.193.65 0 msec 0 msec 0 msec
3 10.88.193.101 0 msec 10 msec 0 msec
4 10.88.193.97 0 msec 0 msec 10 msec
5 10.88.239.9 0 msec 10 msec 0 msec
6 10.88.238.65 10 msec 10 msec 0 msec
7 172.16.7.221 70 msec 70 msec 80 msec
8 209.165.200.225 70 msec 70 msec 70 msec
Tracing Packets to Test Policy Configuration

You can test your policy configuration by modeling a packet based on source and destination addressing and
protocol characteristics. The trace does policy lookup to test access rules, NAT, routing, and so forth, to see
if the packet would be permitted or denied.
By testing packets this way, you can see the results of your policies and test whether the types of traffic you
want to allow or deny are handled as desired. Besides verifying your configuration, you can use the tracer to
debug unexpected behavior, such as packets being denied when they should be allowed.
Procedure
Step 1 The command is complicated, so we divided it into parts. Start by choosing the interface and protocol for the
trace:
packet-tracer input ifc_name {icmp | tcp | udp | rawip | sctp} [inline-tag tag] ...
Where:
• input ifc_name—The name of the interface from which to start the trace.
• icmp, tcp, udp, rawip, sctp—The protocol to use. “rawip” is raw IP, that is, IP packets that are not
TCP/UDP.
• inline-tag tag—(Optional.) The security group tag value embedded in the Layer 2 CMD header. Valid
values range from 0 - 65533.
Step 2 Next, type in the source address and protocol criteria.

...{sip | user username | security-group {name name | tag tag} | fqdn fqdn-string}...
Where:
904
• sip—The source IPv4 or IPv6 address for the packet trace.

• user username—The user identity in the format of domain\user. The most recently mapped address for
the user (if any) is used in the trace.
• security-group {name name | tag tag}—The source security group based on the IP-SGT lookup for
Trustsec. You can specify a security group name or a tag number.
• fqdn fqdn-string—The fully qualified domain name of the source host, IPv4 only.
Step 3 Next, type in the protocol characteristics.

• ICMP—Enter the ICMP type (1-255), ICMP code (0-255), and optionally, the ICMP identifier. You
must use numbers for each variable, for example, 8 for echo.
type code... [ident]...
• TCP/UDP/SCTP—Enter the source port number.
...sport ...
• Raw IP—Enter the protocol number, 0-255.
... protocol ...
Step 4 Finally, type in the destination address criteria, destination port for TCP/UDP traces, and optional keywords,
and press Enter.
...{dip | security-group {name name | tag tag} | fqdn fqdn-string} dport [detailed] [xml]
Where:
• dip—The destination IPv4 or IPv6 address for the packet trace.
• security-group {name name | tag tag}—The destination security group based on the IP-SGT lookup
for Trustsec. You can specify a security group name or a tag number.
• fqdn fqdn-string—The fully qualified domain name of the destination host, IPv4 only.
• dport—The destination port for TCP/UDP/SCTP traces. Do not include this value for ICMP or raw IP
traces.
• detailed—Provides detailed trace results information in addition to the normal output.
• xml—Displays the trace results in XML format.
Example
The following example traces a TCP packet for the HTTP port from 10.100.10.10 to 10.100.11.11. The result
indicates that the packet will be dropped by the implicit deny access rule.
ciscoasa(config)# packet-tracer input outside tcp 10.100.10.10 80 10.100.11.11 80
Phase: 1
Type: ROUTE-LOOKUP
Subtype: Resolve Egress Interface
Result: ALLOW
Config:
Additional Information:
905
Monitoring Connections
found next-hop 10.86.116.1 using egress ifc outside
Phase: 2
Type: ACCESS-LIST
Subtype:
Result: DROP
Config:
Implicit Rule
Additional Information:
Result:
input-interface: outside
input-status: up
input-line-status: up
output-interface: NP Identity Ifc
output-status: up
output-line-status: up
Action: drop
Drop-reason: (acl-drop) Flow is denied by configured rule
Monitoring Connections
To view current connections with information about source, destination, protocol, and so forth, use the show
conn all detail command.
906
PART VIII
Logging, SNMP, and Smart Call Home
• Logging, page 909
• SNMP, page 933
• Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home, page 975
CHAPTER 37
Logging
This chapter describes how to log system messages and use them for troubleshooting.
• About Logging, page 909

• Guidelines for Logging, page 914
• Configure Logging, page 915
• Monitoring the Logs, page 929
• Examples for Logging, page 929
• History for Logging, page 930
About Logging
System logging is a method of collecting messages from devices to a server running a syslog daemon. Logging
to a central syslog server helps in aggregation of logs and alerts. Cisco devices can send their log messages
to a UNIX-style syslog service. A syslog service accepts messages and stores them in files, or prints them
according to a simple configuration file. This form of logging provides protected long-term storage for logs.
Logs are useful both in routine troubleshooting and in incident handling.
The ASA system logs provide you with information for monitoring and troubleshooting the ASA. With the
logging feature, you can do the following:
• Specify which syslog messages should be logged.
• Disable or change the severity level of a syslog message.
• Specify one or more locations where syslog messages should be sent, including:
• An internal buffer
• One or more syslog servers
• ASDM
• An SNMP management station
• Specified e-mail addresses
• Console
909
About Logging
• Telnet and SSH sessions.
• Configure and manage syslog messages in groups, such as by severity level or class of message.
• Specify whether or not a rate-limit is applied to syslog generation.
• Specify what happens to the contents of the internal log buffer when it becomes full: overwrite the buffer,
send the buffer contents to an FTP server, or save the contents to internal flash memory.
• Filter syslog messages by locations, severity level, class, or a custom message list.
Logging in Multiple Context Mode

Each security context includes its own logging configuration and generates its own messages. If you log in
to the system or admin context, and then change to another context, messages you view in your session are
only those messages that are related to the current context.
Syslog messages that are generated in the system execution space, including failover messages, are viewed
in the admin context along with messages generated in the admin context. You cannot configure logging or
view any logging information in the system execution space.
You can configure the ASA and ASASM to include the context name with each message, which helps you
differentiate context messages that are sent to a single syslog server. This feature also helps you to determine
which messages are from the admin context and which are from the system; messages that originate in the
system execution space use a device ID of system, and messages that originate in the admin context use the
name of the admin context as the device ID.
Syslog Message Analysis

The following are some examples of the type of information you can obtain from a review of various syslog
messages:
• Connections that are allowed by ASA security policies. These messages help you spot holes that remain
open in your security policies.
• Connections that are denied by ASA security policies. These messages show what types of activity are
being directed toward your secured inside network.
• Using the ACE deny rate logging feature shows attacks that are occurring on your ASA or ASA Services
Module.
• IDS activity messages can show attacks that have occurred.
• User authentication and command usage provide an audit trail of security policy changes.
• Bandwidth usage messages show each connection that was built and torn down as well as the duration
and traffic volume used.
• Protocol usage messages show the protocols and port numbers used for each connection.
• Address translation audit trail messages record NAT or PAT connections being built or torn down, which
are useful if you receive a report of malicious activity coming from inside your network to the outside
world.
910
About Logging
Syslog Message Format

Syslog messages begin with a percent sign (%) and are structured as follows:
%ASA Level Message_number: Message_text
Field descriptions are as follows:
ASA The syslog message facility code for messages that are generated by the ASA and
ASASM. This value is always ASA.
Level 1 through 7. The level reflects the severity of the condition described by the syslog
message—the lower the number, the more severe the condition.
Message_number A unique six-digit number that identifies the syslog message.
Message_text A text string that describes the condition. This portion of the syslog message sometimes
includes IP addresses, port numbers, or usernames.
Severity Levels
The following table lists the syslog message severity levels. You can assign custom colors to each of the
severity levels to make it easier to distinguish them in the ASDM log viewers. To configure syslog message
color settings, either choose the Tools > Preferences > Syslog tab or, in the log viewer itself, click Color
Settings on the toolbar.
Table 57: Syslog Message Severity Levels
Level Number Severity Level Description

0 emergencies System is unusable.
1 alert Immediate action is needed.
2 critical Critical conditions.
3 error Error conditions.
4 warning Warning conditions.
5 notification Normal but significant conditions.
6 informational Informational messages only.
7 debugging Debugging messages only.
911
About Logging
Note ASA does not generate syslog messages with a severity level of zero (emergencies).
Syslog Message Filtering

You can filter generated syslog messages so that only certain syslog messages are sent to a particular output
destination. For example, you could configure the ASA to send all syslog messages to one output destination
and to send a subset of those syslog messages to a different output destination.
Specifically, you can direct syslog messages to an output destination according to the following criteria:
• Syslog message ID number
• Syslog message severity level
• Syslog message class (equivalent to a functional area)
You customize these criteria by creating a message list that you can specify when you set the output destination.
Alternatively, you can configure the ASA to send a particular message class to each type of output destination
independently of the message list.
Syslog Message Classes

You can use syslog message classes in two ways:
• Specify an output location for an entire category of syslog messages. Use the logging class command.
• Create a message list that specifies the message class. Use the logging list command.
The syslog message class provides a method of categorizing syslog messages by type, equivalent to a feature
or function of the device. For example, the rip class denotes RIP routing.
All syslog messages in a particular class share the same initial three digits in their syslog message ID numbers.
For example, all syslog message IDs that begin with the digits 611 are associated with the vpnc (VPN client)
class. Syslog messages associated with the VPN client feature range from 611101 to 611323.
In addition, most of the ISAKMP syslog messages have a common set of prepended objects to help identify
the tunnel. These objects precede the descriptive text of a syslog message when available. If the object is not
known at the time that the syslog message is generated, the specific heading = value combination does not
appear.
The objects are prefixed as follows:
Group = groupname, Username = user, IP = IP_address
Where the group is the tunnel-group, the username is the username from the local database or AAA server,
and the IP address is the public IP address of the remote access client or Layer 2 peer.
The following table lists the message classes and the range of message IDs in each class.
Table 58: Message Classes and Associated Message ID Numbers
Class Definition Message ID Numbers

auth User Authentication 109, 113
912
About Logging
Class Definition Message ID Numbers

bridge Transparent Firewall 110, 220
ca PKI Certification 717

Authority
config Command interface 111, 112, 208, 308
e-mail E-mail Proxy 719
ha Failover (High 101, 102, 103, 104, 210, 311, 709

Availability)
ids Intrusion Detection 400, 401, 415

System
ip IP Stack 209, 215, 313, 317, 408
np Network Processor 319
ospf OSPF Routing 318, 409, 503, 613
rip RIP Routing 107, 312
rm Resource Manager 321
session User Session 106, 108, 201, 202, 204, 302, 303, 304, 305, 314, 405, 406, 407,
500, 502, 607, 608, 609, 616, 620, 703, 710
snmp SNMP 212
sys System 199, 211, 214, 216, 306, 307, 315, 414, 604, 605, 606, 610, 612,
614, 615,701, 711
vpdn PPTP and L2TP Sessions 213, 403, 603
vpn IKE and IPsec 316, 320, 402, 404, 501, 602, 702, 713, 714, 715
vpnc VPN Client 611
vpnfo VPN Failover 720
vpnlb VPN Load Balancing 718
webvpn Web-based VPN 716
913
Guidelines for Logging
Custom Message Lists

Creating a custom message list is a flexible way to exercise control over which syslog messages are sent to
which output destination. In a custom syslog message list, you specify groups of syslog messages using any
or all of the following criteria:
• Severity level
• Message IDs
• Ranges of syslog message IDs
• Message class.
For example, you can use message lists to do the following:

• Select syslog messages with the severity levels of 1 and 2 and send them to one or more e-mail addresses.
• Select all syslog messages associated with a message class (such as ha) and save them to the internal
buffer.
A message list can include multiple criteria for selecting messages. However, you must add each message
selection criterion with a new command entry. It is possible to create a message list that includes overlapping
message selection criteria. If two criteria in a message list select the same message, the message is logged
only once.
Clustering
Syslog messages are an invaluable tool for accounting, monitoring, and troubleshooting in a clustering
environment. Each ASA unit in the cluster (up to eight units are allowed) generates syslog messages
independently; certain logging commands then enable you to control header fields, which include a time stamp
and device ID. The syslog server uses the device ID to identify the syslog generator. You can use the logging
device-id command to generate syslog messages with identical or different device IDs to make messages
appear to come from the same or different units in the cluster.
Guidelines for Logging

This section includes guidelines and limitations that you should review before configuring logging.
IPv6 Guidelines
• The syslog server must run a server program called syslogd. Windows provides a syslog server as part
of its operating system.
• To view logs generated by the ASA, you must specify a logging output destination. If you enable logging
without specifying a logging output destination, the ASA generates messages but does not save them to
a location from which you can view them. You must specify each different logging output destination
914
Configure Logging
separately. For example, to designate more than one syslog server as an output destination, enter a new
command for each syslog server.
• Sending syslogs over TCP is not supported on a standby device.
• You can configure up to 16 syslog servers. However, in multiple context mode, the limitation is 4 servers
per context.
• The syslog server should be reachable through the ASA. You should configure the device to deny ICMP
unreachable messages on the interface through which the syslog server is reachable and to send syslogs
to the same server. Make sure that you have enabled logging for all severity levels. To prevent the syslog
server from crashing, suppress the generation of syslogs 313001, 313004, and 313005.
• When you use a custom message list to match only access list hits, the access list logs are not generated
for access lists that have had their logging severity level increased to debugging (level 7). The default
logging severity level is set to 6 for the logging list command. This default behavior is by design. When
you explicitly change the logging severity level of the access list configuration to debugging, you must
also change the logging configuration itself.
The following is sample output from the show running-config logging command that does not include
access list hits, because their logging severity level has been changed to debugging:
ciscoasa# show running-config logging

logging enable
logging timestamp
logging list test message 106100
logging buffered test
The following is sample output from the show running-config logging command that does include
access list hits:
ciscoasa# show running-config logging

logging enable
logging timestamp
logging buffered debugging
In this case, the access list configuration does not change and the number of access list hits appears, as
shown in the following example:
ciscoasa(config)# access-list global line 1 extended

permit icmp any host 4.2.2.2 log debugging interval 1 (hitcnt=7) 0xf36b5386
permit tcp host 10.1.1.2 any eq www log informational interval 1 (hitcnt=18) 0xe7e7c3b8
permit ip any any (hitcnt=543) 0x25f9e609
• When the ASA sends syslogs via TCP, the connection takes about one minute to initiate after the syslogd
service restarts.
Configure Logging
This section describes how to configure logging.
915
Configure Logging
Procedure
Step 1 Enable logging.

Step 2 Configure an output destination for syslog messages.
Note The minimum configuration depends on what you want to do and what your requirements are for
handling syslog messages in the ASA and ASASM.
Enable Logging
To enable logging, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enable logging.
logging enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging enable
Configure an Output Destination

To optimize syslog message usage for troubleshooting and performance monitoring, we recommend that you
specify one or more locations where syslog messages should be sent, including an internal log buffer, one or
more external syslog servers, ASDM, an SNMP management station, the console port, specified e-mail
addresses, or Telnet and SSH sessions.
Send Syslog Messages to an External Syslog Server

You can archive messages according to the available disk space on the external syslog server, and manipulate
logging data after it is saved. For example, you could specify actions to be executed when certain types of
syslog messages are logged, extract data from the log and save the records to another file for reporting, or
track statistics using a site-specific script.
To send syslog messages to an external syslog server, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Configure the ASA and ASASM to send messages to a syslog server.
logging host interface_name syslog_ip [tcp[/port] | udp [/port] [format emblem]]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging host dmz1 192.168.1.5 udp 1026 format emblem
916
Configure Logging
The format emblem keyword enables EMBLEM format logging for the syslog server with UDP only. The
interface_name argument specifies the interface through which you access the syslog server. The syslog_ip
argument specifies the IP address of the syslog server. The tcp[/port] or udp[/port] keyword-argument pair
specify that the ASA and ASASM should use TCP or UDP to send syslog messages to the syslog server.
You can configure the ASA to send data to a syslog server using either UDP or TCP, but not both. The default
protocol is UDP if you do not specify a protocol.
If you specify TCP, the ASA and ASASM discover when the syslog server fails and as a security protection,
new connections through the ASA and ASA Services Module are blocked. To allow new connections regardless
of connectivity to a TCP syslog server, see Step 3. If you specify UDP, the ASA and ASASM continue to
allow new connections whether or not the syslog server is operational. Valid port values for either protocol
are 1025 through 65535. The default UDP port is 514. The default TCP port is 1470.
Step 2 Specify which syslog messages should be sent to the syslog server.
logging trap {severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging trap errors
You can specify the severity level number (1 through 7) or name. For example, if you set the severity level
to 3, then the ASA and ASASM send syslog messages for severity levels 3, 2, and 1. You can specify a custom
message list that identifies the syslog messages to send to the syslog server.
Step 3 (Optional) Disable the feature to block new connections when a TCP-connected syslog server is down.
logging permit-hostdown
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging permit-hostdown
If the ASA or ASASM is configured to send syslog messages to a TCP-based syslog server, and if either the
syslog server is down or the log queue is full, then new connections are blocked. New connections are allowed
again after the syslog server is back up and the log queue is no longer full.
Step 4 (Optional) Set the logging facility to a value other than 20, which is what most UNIX systems expect.
logging facility number
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging facility 21
Send Syslog Messages to the Internal Log Buffer

You need to specify which syslog messages should be sent to the internal log buffer, which serves as a
temporary storage location. New messages are appended to the end of the list. When the buffer is full, that is,
when the buffer wraps, old messages are overwritten as new messages are generated, unless you configure
the ASA and ASASM to save the full buffer to another location.
To send syslog messages to the internal log buffer, perform the following steps:
917
Configure Logging
Procedure
Step 1 Specify which syslog messages should be sent to the internal log buffer, which serves as a temporary storage
location.
logging buffered {severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging buffered critical
ciscoasa(config)# logging buffered level 2
ciscoasa(config)# logging buffered notif-list
New messages are appended to the end of the list. When the buffer is full, that is, when the buffer wraps, old
messages are overwritten as new messages are generated, unless you configure the ASA and ASASM to save
the full buffer to another location. To empty the internal log buffer, enter the clear logging buffer command.
Step 2 Change the size of the internal log buffer. The default buffer size is 4 KB.
logging buffer-size bytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging buffer-size 16384

• Save new messages to the internal log buffer and save the full log buffer content to the internal flash
memory.
logging flash-bufferwrap
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging flash-bufferwrap
• Save new messages to the internal log buffer and save the full log buffer content to an FTP server.
logging ftp-bufferwrap
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging flash-bufferwrap
When saving the buffer content to another location, the ASA and ASASM create log files with names
that use the following time-stamp format:
LOG-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS.TXT
where YYYY is the year, MM is the month, DD is the day of the month, and HHMMSS is the time in
hours, minutes, and seconds.
• Identify the FTP server on which you want to store log buffer content.
logging ftp-server server pathusername password
918
Configure Logging
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging ftp-server 10.1.1.1 /syslogs logsupervisor 1luvMy10gs
The server argument specifies the IP address of the external FTP server. The path argument specifies
the directory path on the FTP server where the log buffer data is to be saved. This path is relative to the
FTP root directory. The username argument specifies a username that is valid for logging into the FTP
server. The password argument indicates the password for the username specified.
• Save the current log buffer content to the internal flash memory.
logging savelog [savefile]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging savelog latest-logfile.txt
Send Syslog Messages to an E-mail Address

To send syslog messages to an e-mail address, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify which syslog messages should be sent to an e-mail address.

logging mail {severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging mail high-priority
When sent by e-mail, a syslog message appears in the subject line of the e-mail message. For this reason, we
recommend configuring this option to notify administrators of syslog messages with high severity levels, such
as critical, alert, and emergency.
Step 2 Specify the source e-mail address to be used when sending syslog messages to an e-mail address.
logging from-address email_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging from-address [email protected]
Step 3 Specify the recipient e-mail address to be used when sending syslog messages to an e-mail address.
logging recipient-address e-mail_address[severity_level]
919
Configure Logging
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging recipient-address [email protected]
Step 4 Specify the SMTP server to be used when sending syslog messages to an e-mail address.
smtp-server ip_address
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# smtp-server 10.1.1.1
Send Syslog Messages to ASDM

To send syslog messages to ASDM, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify which syslog messages should be sent to ASDM.

logging asdm {severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging asdm 2
The ASA or ASASM sets aside a buffer area for syslog messages waiting to be sent to ASDM and saves
messages in the buffer as they occur. The ASDM log buffer is a different buffer than the internal log buffer.
When the ASDM log buffer is full, the ASA or ASASM deletes the oldest syslog message to make room in
the buffer for new ones. Deletion of the oldest syslog message to make room for new ones is the default setting
in ASDM. To control the number of syslog messages retained in the ASDM log buffer, you can change the
size of the buffer.
Step 2 Specify the number of syslog messages to be retained in the ASDM log buffer.
logging asdm-buffer-size num_of_msgs
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging asdm-buffer-size 200
Enter the clear logging asdm command to empty the current content of the ASDM log buffer.
Send Syslog Messages to the Console Port

To send syslog messages to the console port, perform the following steps:
920
Configure Logging
Procedure
Specify which syslog messages should be sent to the console port.

logging console { severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging console errors
Send Syslog Messages to an SNMP Server

To enable logging to an SNMP server, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enable SNMP logging and specify which messages are to be sent to SNMP servers.
logging history [logging_list | level]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging history errors
Enter the no logging history command to disable SNMP logging.
Send Syslog Messages to a Telnet or SSH Session

To send syslog messages to a Telnet or SSH session, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify which syslog messages should be sent to a Telnet or SSH session.
logging monitor {severity_level | message_list}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging monitor 6
Step 2 Enable logging to the current session only.

terminal monitor
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# terminal monitor
If you log out and then log in again, you need to reenter this command. Enter the terminal no monitor
command to disable logging to the current session.
921
Configure Logging
Create a Custom Event List

You use the following three criteria to define an event list:
• Event Class
• Severity
• Message ID
To create a custom event list to send to a specific logging destination (for example, an SNMP server), perform
the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify criteria for selecting messages to be saved in the internal log buffer. For example, if you set the severity
level to 3, then the ASA sends syslog messages for severity levels 3, 2, and 1.
logging list name {level level [class message_class] | message start_id[-end_id]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging list notif-list level 3
The name argument specifies the name of the list. The level level keyword and argument pair specify the
severity level. The class message_class keyword-argument pair specify a particular message class. The
message start_id [-end_id] keyword-argument pair specify an individual syslog message number or a range
of numbers.
Note Do not use the names of severity levels as the name of a syslog message list. Prohibited names include
emergencies, alert, critical, error, warning, notification, informational, and debugging. Similarly, do
not use the first three characters of these words at the beginning of an event list name. For example,
do not use an event list name that starts with the characters “err.”
Step 2 (Optional) Add more criteria for message selection to the list.
logging list name {level level [class message_class] | message start_id[-end_id]}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging list notif-list message 104024-105999
ciscoasa(config)# logging list notif-list level critical
ciscoasa(config)# logging list notif-list level warning class ha
Enter the same command as in the previous step, specifying the name of the existing message list and the
additional criterion. Enter a new command for each criterion that you want to add to the list. For example,
you can specify criteria for syslog messages to be included in the list as the following:
• Syslog message IDs that fall into the range of 104024 to 105999.
• All syslog messages with the critical severity level or higher (emergency, alert, or critical).
• All ha class syslog messages with the warning severity level or higher (emergency, alert, critical, error,
or warning).
922
Configure Logging
Note A syslog message is logged if it satisfies any of these conditions. If a syslog message satisfies more
than one of the conditions, the message is logged only once.
Generate Syslog Messages in EMBLEM Format to a Syslog Server

To generate syslog messages in EMBLEM format to a syslog server, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Send syslog messages in EMBLEM format to a syslog server over UDP using port 514.
logging host interface_name ip_address{tcp [/port] | udp [/ port]] [format emblem]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging host interface_1 127.0.0.1 udp format emblem
The format emblem keyword enables EMBLEM format logging for the syslog server (UDP only). The
interface_name argument specifies the interface through which you access the syslog server. The ip_address
argument specifies the IP address of the syslog server. The tcp[/port] or udp[/port] keyword and argument
pair specify that the ASA and ASASM should use TCP or UDP to send syslog messages to the syslog server.
You can configure the ASA and ASASM to send data to a syslog server using either UDP or TCP, but not
both. The default protocol is UDP if you do not specify a protocol.
You can use multiple logging host commands to specify additional servers that would all receive syslog
messages. If you configure two or more logging servers, make sure that you limit the logging severity level
to warnings for all logging servers.
If you specify TCP, the ASA or ASASM discovers when the syslog server fails and as a security protection,
new connections through the ASA are blocked. If you specify UDP, the ASA or ASASM continues to allow
new connections whether or not the syslog server is operational. Valid port values for either protocol are 1025
through 65535. The default UDP port is 514. The default TCP port is 1470.
Note Sending syslogs over TCP is not supported on a standby
ASA.
Generate Syslog Messages in EMBLEM Format to Other Output Destinations

To generate syslog messages in EMBLEM format to other output destinations, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Send syslog messages in EMBLEM format to output destinations other than a syslog server, such as Telnet
or SSH sessions.
logging emblem
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging emblem
923
Configure Logging
Change the Amount of Internal Flash Memory Available for Logs

To change the amount of internal flash memory available for logs, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the maximum amount of internal flash memory available for saving log files.
logging flash-maximum-allocation kbytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging flash-maximum-allocation 1200
By default, the ASA can use up to 1 MB of internal flash memory for log data. The minimum amount of
internal flash memory that must be free for the ASA and ASASM to save log data is 3 MB.
If a log file being saved to internal flash memory would cause the amount of free internal flash memory to
fall below the configured minimum limit, the ASA or ASASM deletes the oldest log files to ensure that the
minimum amount of memory remains free after saving the new log file. If there are no files to delete or if,
after all old files have been deleted, free memory is still below the limit, the ASA or ASASM fails to save the
new log file.
Step 2 Specify the minimum amount of internal flash memory that must be free for the ASA or ASASM to save a
log file.
logging flash-minimum-free kbytes
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging flash-minimum-free 4000
Configure the Logging Queue

To configure the logging queue, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Specify the number of syslog messages that the ASA and ASASM can hold in its queue before sending them
to the configured output destination.
logging queue message_count
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging queue 300
The ASA and ASASM have a fixed number of blocks in memory that can be allocated for buffering syslog
messages while they are waiting to be sent to the configured output destination. The number of blocks required
depends on the length of the syslog message queue and the number of syslog servers specified. The default
queue size is 512 syslog messages. The queue size is limited only by block memory availability. Valid values
924
Configure Logging
are from 0 to 8192 messages, depending on the platform. If the logging queue is set to zero, the queue is the
maximum configurable size (8192 messages).
Send All Syslog Messages in a Class to a Specified Output Destination

To send all syslog messages in a class to a specified output destination, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Override the configuration in the specified output destination command. For example, if you specify that
messages at severity level 7 should go to the internal log buffer and that ha class messages at severity level 3
should go to the internal log buffer, then the latter configuration takes precedence.
logging class message_class {buffered | console | history | mail | monitor | trap} [severity_level]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging class ha buffered alerts
The buffered, history, mail, monitor, and trap keywords specify the output destination to which syslog
messages in this class should be sent. The history keyword enables SNMP logging. The monitor keyword
enables Telnet and SSH logging. The trap keyword enables syslog server logging. Select one destination per
command line entry. To specify that a class should go to more than one destination, enter a new command
for each output destination.
Enable Secure Logging

To enable secure logging, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enable secure logging.

logging host interface_name syslog_ip [tcp/port | udp/port] [format emblem] [secure]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging host inside 10.0.0.1 TCP/1500 secure
The interface_name argument specifies the interface on which the syslog server resides. The syslog_ip argument
specifies the IP address of the syslog server. The port argument specifies the port (TCP or UDP) that the
syslog server listens to for syslog messages. The tcp keyword specifies that the ASA or ASASM should use
TCP to send syslog messages to the syslog server. The udp keyword specifies that the ASA or ASASM should
use UDP to send syslog messages to the syslog server. The format emblem keyword enables EMBLEM
format logging for the syslog server. The secure keyword specifies that the connection to the remote logging
host should use SSL/TLS for TCP only.
Note Secure logging does not support UDP; an error occurs if you try to use this protocol.
925
Configure Logging
Include the Device ID in Non-EMBLEM Format Syslog Messages

To include the device ID in non-EMBLEM format syslog messages, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Configure the ASA or ASASM to include a device ID in non-EMBLEM-format syslog messages. You can
specify only one type of device ID for syslog messages.
logging device-id {cluster-id | context-name | hostname | ipaddress interface_name [system] | string text}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging device-id hostname
ciscoasa(config)# logging device-id context-name
The context-name keyword indicates that the name of the current context should be used as the device ID
(applies to multiple context mode only). If you enable the logging device ID for the admin context in multiple
context mode, messages that originate in the system execution space use a device ID of system, and messages
that originate in the admin context use the name of the admin context as the device ID.
Note In an ASA cluster, always use the master unit IP address for the selected interface.
The cluster-id keyword specifies the unique name in the boot configuration of an individual ASA unit in the
cluster as the device ID. The hostname keyword specifies that the hostname of the ASA should be used as
the device ID. The ipaddress interface_name keyword-argument pair specifies that the interface IP address
specified as interface_name should be used as the device ID. If you use the ipaddress keyword, the device
ID becomes the specified ASA interface IP address, regardless of the interface from which the syslog message
is sent. In the cluster environment, the system keyword dictates that the device ID becomes the system IP
address on the interface. This keyword provides a single, consistent device ID for all syslog messages that
are sent from the device. The string text keyword-argument pair specifies that the text string should be used
as the device ID. The string can include as many as 16 characters.
You cannot use blank spaces or any of the following characters:
• & (ampersand)
• ‘ (single quote)
• “ (double quote)
• < (less than)
• > (greater than)
• ? (question mark)
Note If enabled, the device ID does not appear in EMBLEM-formatted syslog messages nor in SNMP
traps.
Include the Date and Time in Syslog Messages

To include the date and time in syslog messages, perform the following steps:
926
Configure Logging
Procedure
Specify that syslog messages should include the date and time that they were generated.
logging timestamp
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging timestamp
LOG-2008-10-24-081856.TXT
To remove the date and time from syslog messages, enter the no logging timestamp command.
Disable a Syslog Message

To disable a specified syslog message, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Prevent the ASA or ASASM from generating a particular syslog message.

no logging message syslog_id
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# no logging message 113019
To reenable a disabled syslog message, enter the logging message syslog_id command (for example, logging
message 113019). To reenable logging of all disabled syslog messages, enter the clear configure logging
disabled command.
Change the Severity Level of a Syslog Message

To change the severity level of a syslog message, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Specify the severity level of a syslog message.

logging message syslog_id level severity_level
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging message 113019 level 5
To reset the severity level of a syslog message to its setting, enter the no logging message syslog_id level
severity_level command (for example, no logging message 113019 level 5). To reset the severity level of all
modified syslog messages to their settings, enter the clear configure logging level command.
927
Configure Logging
Block Syslog Messages on a Standby Unit

To block specific syslog messages from being generated on a standby unit, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Unblock a specific syslog message that was previously blocked from being generated on a standby unit.
logging message syslog-id standby
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging message 403503 standby
To block a specific syslog message from being generated on a standby unit, use the no form of this command.
Use the logging standby command to ensure that the syslog messages of the failover standby ASA stay
synchronized if failover occurs.
Note Using the logging standby command causes twice as much traffic on shared logging destinations,
such as syslog servers, SNMP servers, and FTP servers.
Limit the Rate of Syslog Message Generation

To limit the rate of syslog message generation, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Apply a specified severity level (1 through 7) to a set of messages or to an individual message (not the
destination) within a specified time period.
logging rate-limit {unlimited | {num [interval]}} message syslog_id | level severity_level
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# logging rate-limit 1000 600 level 6
Rate limits affect the volume of messages being sent to all configured destinations. To reset the logging rate
limit to the default value, enter the clear running-config logging rate-limit command. To reset the logging
rate limit, enter the clear configure logging rate-limit command.
Show or Hide Invalid Usernames in Syslogs

You can show or hide invalid usernames in syslog messages for unsuccessful login attempts. The default
setting is to hide usernames when the username is invalid or if the validity is unknown. If a user accidentally
types a password instead of a username, for example, then it is more secure to hide the “username” in the
resultant syslog message. You might want to show invalid usernames to help with troubleshooting login issues.
Procedure
Step 1 Show invalid usernames:
928
Monitoring the Logs
no logging hide username
Step 2 Hide invalid usernames:

logging hide username
Monitoring the Logs

See the following commands for monitoring logging status.
• show logging
This command shows syslog messages, including the severity level.
Note The maximum number of syslog messages that are available to view is 1000, which is
the default setting. The maximum number of syslog messages that are available to view
is 2000.
• show logging message

This command shows a list of syslog messages with modified severity levels and disabled syslog
messages.
• show logging message message_ID
This command shows the severity level of a specific syslog message.
• show logging queue
This command shows the logging queue and queue statistics.
• show logging rate-limit
This command shows the disallowed syslog messages.
• show running-config logging rate-limit
This command shows the current logging rate-limit setting.
Examples for Logging

The following example shows the logging information that displays for the show logging command:
ciscoasa(config)# show logging

Syslog logging: enabled
Facility: 16
Timestamp logging: disabled
Standby logging: disabled
Deny Conn when Queue Full: disabled
Console logging: disabled
Monitor logging: disabled
Buffer logging: disabled
Trap logging: level errors, facility 16, 3607 messages logged
Logging to infrastructure 10.1.2.3
History logging: disabled
929
History for Logging
Device ID: 'inside' interface IP address “10.1.1.1”

Mail logging: disabled
ASDM logging: disabled
The following examples show how to control both whether a syslog message is enabled and the severity level
of the specified syslog message:
ciscoasa(config)# show logging message 403503

syslog 403503: -level errors (enabled)
ciscoasa(config)# logging message 403503 level 1

syslog 403503: -level errors, current-level alerts (enabled)
ciscoasa(config)# no logging message 403503

syslog 403503: -level errors, current-level alerts (disabled)
ciscoasa(config)# logging message 403503

syslog 403503: -level errors, current-level alerts (enabled)
ciscoasa(config)# no logging message 403503 level 3

syslog 403503: -level errors (enabled)
History for Logging

Table 59: History for Logging

Releases
Logging 7.0(1) Provides ASA network logging information through various output destinations, and
includes the option to view and save log files.
Rate limit 7.0(4) Limits the rate at which syslog messages are generated.
We introduced the following command: logging rate-limit.
Logging list 7.2(1) Creates a logging list to use in other commands to specify messages by various criteria
(logging level, event class, and message IDs).
We introduced the following command: logging list.
Secure logging 8.0(2) Specifies that the connection to the remote logging host should use SSL/TLS. This
option is valid only if the protocol selected is TCP.
We modified the following command: logging host.
Logging class 8.0(4), 8.1(1) Added support for the ipaa event class of logging messages.
We modified the following command: logging class.
930
History for Logging

Releases
Logging class and saved 8.2(1) Added support for the dap event class of logging messages.
logging buffers We modified the following command: logging class.
Added support to clear the saved logging buffers (ASDM, internal, FTP, and flash).
We introduced the following command: clear logging queue bufferwrap.
Password encryption 8.3(1) Added support for password encryption.

We modified the following command: logging ftp server.
Log viewers 8.3(1) The source and destination IP addresses were added to the log viewers.
Enhanced logging and 8.3(2) When you configure a syslog server to use TCP, and the syslog server is unavailable,
connection blocking the ASA blocks new connections that generate syslog messages until the server
becomes available again (for example, VPN, firewall, and cut-through-proxy
connections). This feature has been enhanced to also block new connections when
the logging queue on the ASA is full; connections resume when the logging queue
is cleared.
This feature was added for compliance with Common Criteria EAL4+. Unless
required, we recommended allowing connections when syslog messages cannot be
sent or received. To allow connections, continue to use the logging permit-hostdown
command.
We introduced the following syslog messages: 414005, 414006, 414007, and 414008.
We modified the following command: show logging.
Syslog message filtering and 8.4(1) Support has been added for the following:
sorting
• Syslog message filtering based on multiple text strings that correspond to various
columns
• Creation of custom filters
• Column sorting of messages. For detailed information, see the ASDM
configuration guide.
This feature interoperates with all ASA versions.
Clustering 9.0(1) Added support for syslog message generation in a clustering environment on the
ASA 5580 and 5585-X.
We modified the following command: logging device-id.
Blocking syslogs on a 9.4(1) We added support for blocking the generation of specific syslog messages on the
standby unit standby unit in a failover configuration.
We introduced the following command: logging message syslog-id standby.
931
History for Logging
932
CHAPTER 38
SNMP
This chapter describes how to configure Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to monitor the
Cisco ASA.
• About SNMP, page 933

• Guidelines for SNMP, page 957
• Configure SNMP, page 960
• Monitoring SNMP, page 967
• Examples for SNMP, page 969
• History for SNMP, page 969
About SNMP
SNMP is an application-layer protocol that facilitates the exchange of management information between
network devices and is part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. The ASA provide support for network monitoring
using SNMP Versions 1, 2c, and 3, and support the use of all three versions simultaneously. The SNMP agent
running on the ASA interface lets you monitor the network devices through network management systems
(NMSes), such as HP OpenView. The ASA support SNMP read-only access through issuance of a GET
request. SNMP write access is not allowed, so you cannot make changes with SNMP. In addition, the SNMP
SET request is not supported.
You can configure the ASAto send traps, which are unsolicited messages from the managed device to the
management station for certain events (event notifications) to an NMS, or you can use the NMS to browse
the Management Information Bases (MIBs) on the security devices. MIBs are a collection of definitions, and
the ASA maintain a database of values for each definition. Browsing a MIB means issuing a series of
GET-NEXT or GET-BULK requests of the MIB tree from the NMS to determine values.
The ASA have an SNMP agent that notifies designated management stations if events occur that are predefined
to require a notification, for example, when a link in the network goes up or down. The notification it sends
includes an SNMP OID, which identifies itself to the management stations. The ASA agent also replies when
a management station asks for information.
933
About SNMP
SNMP Terminology
The following table lists the terms that are commonly used when working with SNMP.
Table 60: SNMP Terminology
Term Description
Agent The SNMP server running on the ASA. The SNMP agent has the following features:
• Responds to requests for information and actions from the network management station.
• Controls access to its Management Information Base, the collection of objects that the SNMP manager can
view or change.
• Does not allow SET operations.
Browsing Monitoring the health of a device from the network management station by polling required information from
the SNMP agent on the device. This activity may include issuing a series of GET-NEXT or GET-BULK requests
of the MIB tree from the network management station to determine values.
Management Standardized data structures for collecting information about packets, connections, buffers, failovers, and so on.
Information MIBs are defined by the product, protocols, and hardware standards used by most network devices. SNMP
Bases (MIBs) network management stations can browse MIBs and request specific data or events be sent as they occur.
Network The PCs or workstations set up to monitor SNMP events and manage devices, such as the ASA.
management
stations (NMSs)
Object identifier The system that identifies a device to its NMS and indicates to users the source of information monitored and
(OID) displayed.
Trap Predefined events that generate a message from the SNMP agent to the NMS. Events include alarm conditions
such as linkup, linkdown, coldstart, warmstart, authentication, or syslog messages.
MIBs and Traps

MIBs are either standard or enterprise-specific. Standard MIBs are created by the IETF and documented in
various RFCs. A trap reports significant events occurring on a network device, most often errors or failures.
SNMP traps are defined in either standard or enterprise-specific MIBs. Standard traps are created by the IETF
and documented in various RFCs. SNMP traps are compiled into the ASA, ASAv or ASASM software.
If needed, you can also download RFCs, standard MIBs, and standard traps from the following locations:
http://www.ietf.org/
Download a complete list of Cisco MIBs, traps, and OIDs from the following location:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml
In addition, download Cisco OIDs by FTP from the following location:
ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/oid/oid.tar.gz
934
About SNMP
Note In software versions 7.2(1), 8.0(2), and later, the interface information accessed through SNMP refreshes
about every 5 seconds. As a result, we recommend that you wait for at least 5 seconds between consecutive
polls.
Not all OIDs in MIBs are supported. To obtain a list of the supported SNMP MIBs and OIDs for a specific
ASA or ASASM, enter the following command:
ciscoasa(config)# show snmp-server oidlist
Note Although the oidlist keyword does not appear in the options list for the show snmp-server command
help, it is available. However, this command is for Cisco TAC use only. Contact the Cisco TAC before
using this command.
The following is sample output from the show snmp-server oidlist command:
ciscoasa(config)# show snmp-server oidlist

[0] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1. sysDescr
[1] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.2. sysObjectID
[2] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3. sysUpTime
[3] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4. sysContact
[4] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5. sysName
[5] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6. sysLocation
[6] 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.7. sysServices
[7] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.1. ifNumber
[8] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.1. ifIndex
[9] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2. ifDescr
[10] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.3. ifType
[11] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.4. ifMtu
[12] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.5. ifSpeed
[13] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.6. ifPhysAddress
[14] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7. ifAdminStatus
[15] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.8. ifOperStatus
[16] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.9. ifLastChange
[17] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10. ifInOctets
[18] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.11. ifInUcastPkts
[19] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.12. ifInNUcastPkts
[20] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.13. ifInDiscards
[21] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.14. ifInErrors
[22] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16. ifOutOctets
[23] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.17. ifOutUcastPkts
[24] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.18. ifOutNUcastPkts
[25] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.19. ifOutDiscards
[26] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.20. ifOutErrors
[27] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.21. ifOutQLen
[28] 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.22. ifSpecific
[29] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.1. ipForwarding
[30] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.20.1.1. ipAdEntAddr
[31] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.20.1.2. ipAdEntIfIndex
[32] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.20.1.3. ipAdEntNetMask
[33] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.20.1.4. ipAdEntBcastAddr
[34] 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.20.1.5. ipAdEntReasmMaxSize
[35] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.1. snmpInPkts
[36] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.2. snmpOutPkts
[37] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.3. snmpInBadVersions
[38] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.4. snmpInBadCommunityNames
[39] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.5. snmpInBadCommunityUses
[40] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.6. snmpInASNParseErrs
[41] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.8. snmpInTooBigs
[42] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.9. snmpInNoSuchNames
[43] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.10. snmpInBadValues
[44] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.11. snmpInReadOnlys
[45] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.12. snmpInGenErrs
935
About SNMP
[46] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.13. snmpInTotalReqVars

[47] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.14. snmpInTotalSetVars
[48] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.15. snmpInGetRequests
[49] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.16. snmpInGetNexts
[50] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.17. snmpInSetRequests
[51] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.18. snmpInGetResponses
[52] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.19. snmpInTraps
[53] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.20. snmpOutTooBigs
[54] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.21. snmpOutNoSuchNames
[55] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.22. snmpOutBadValues
[56] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.24. snmpOutGenErrs
[57] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.25. snmpOutGetRequests
[58] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.26. snmpOutGetNexts
[59] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.27. snmpOutSetRequests
[60] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.28. snmpOutGetResponses
[61] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.29. snmpOutTraps
[62] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.30. snmpEnableAuthenTraps
[63] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.31. snmpSilentDrops
[64] 1.3.6.1.2.1.11.32. snmpProxyDrops
[65] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.1. ifName
[66] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.2. ifInMulticastPkts
[67] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.3. ifInBroadcastPkts
[68] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.4. ifOutMulticastPkts
[69] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.5. ifOutBroadcastPkts
[70] 1.3.6.1.2.1.31.1.1.1.6. ifHCInOctets
--More--
SNMP Object Identifiers

Each Cisco system-level product has an SNMP object identifier (OID) for use as a MIB-II sysObjectID. The
CISCO-PRODUCTS-MIB and the CISCO-ENTITY-VENDORTYPE-OID-MIB includes the OIDs that can
be reported in the sysObjectID object in the SNMPv2-MIB, Entity Sensor MIB and Entity Sensor Threshold
Ext MIB. You can use this value to identify the model type. The following table lists the sysObjectID OIDs
for ASA and ISA models.
Table 61: SNMP Object Identifiers
Product Identifier sysObjectID Model Number

ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506 (ciscoProducts 2114) ASA 5506-X
ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506sc (ciscoProducts 2115) ASA 5506-X security context
Security Context
ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506sy (ciscoProducts 2116) ASA 5506-X system context
System Context
ASA 5506W Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506W (ciscoProducts 2117) ASA 5506W-X
ASA 5506W Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506Wsc (ciscoProducts 2118) ASA 5506W-X security context
Security Context
ASA 5506W Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506Wsy (ciscoProducts 2119) ASA 5506W-X system context
System Context
ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508 (ciscoProducts 2120) ASA 5508-X
936
About SNMP

ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508sc (ciscoProducts 2121) ASA 5508-X security context
Security Context
ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508sy (ciscoProducts 2122) ASA 5508-X system context
System Context
ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506K7 (ciscoProducts 2123) ASA 5506-X Adaptive Security Appliance
with No Payload Encryption with No Payload Encryption
ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506K7sc (ciscoProducts 2124) ASA 5506-X Adaptive Security Appliance
Security Context with No Payload Security Context with No Payload
Encryption Encryption
ASA 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5506K7sy (ciscoProducts 2125) ASA 5506-X Adaptive Security Appliance
System Context with No Payload System Context with No Payload
ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508K7 (ciscoProducts 2126) ASA 5508-X Adaptive Security Appliance
with No Payload Encryption System Context with No Payload
Encryption
ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508K7sc (ciscoProducts 2127) ASA 5508-X Adaptive Security Appliance
Security Context with No Payload Security Context with No Payload
ASA 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance ciscoASA5508K7sy (ciscoProducts 2128) ASA 5508-X Adaptive Security Appliance
System Context with No Payload System Context with No Payload
ASA5585-SSP10 ciscoASA5585Ssp10 (ciscoProducts 1194) ASA 5585-X SSP-10
ASA5585-SSP10 ciscoASA5585Ssp10sc (ciscoProducts ASA 5585-X SSP-10 security context

1198)

1199)

1200)

1201)
937
About SNMP

ASA5585-SSP10 ciscoASA5585Ssp10sy (ciscoProducts ASA 5585-X SSP-10 system context
1202)

1203)

1204)

1205)
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1 (ciscoProducts 1277) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches/7600 routers Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
routers
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1sc (ciscoProducts 1275) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches/7600 routers security context Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
routers security context
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1K7sc (ciscoProducts 1334) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches/7600 routers security context with Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
No Payload Encryption routers security context with No Payload
Encryption
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1sy (ciscoProducts 1276) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches/7600 routers system context Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
routers system context
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1K7sy (ciscoProducts 1335) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches system context/7600 routers with Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
No Payload Encryption routers system context with No Payload
Encryption
ASA Services Module for Catalyst ciscoAsaSm1K7 (ciscoProducts 1336) Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
switches/7600 routers system context with Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600
No Payload Encryption routers with No Payload Encryption
ASA 5512 ciscoASA5512 (ciscoProducts 1407) ASA 5512 Adaptive Security Appliance
ASA 5512 Security Context ciscoASA5512sc (ciscoProducts 1411) ASA 5512 Adaptive Security Appliance
Security Context
938
About SNMP

Security Context
Security Context
Security Context
ASA 5512 System Context ciscoASA5512sy (ciscoProducts 1415) ASA 5512 Adaptive Security Appliance
System Context
System Context
ASA 5525 System Context ciscoASA5525sy (ciscoProducts1417) ASA 5525 Adaptive Security Appliance
System Context
System Context
System Context
System Context
ASAv ciscoASAv (ciscoProducts 1902) Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance

(ASAv)
ASAv System Context ciscoASAvsy (ciscoProducts 1903) Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance
(ASAv) System Context
ASAv Security Context ciscoASAvsc (ciscoProducts 1904) Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance
(ASAv) Security Contex
ISA 30004C Industrial Security Appliance ciscoProducts 2268 ciscoISA30004C
CISCO ISA30004C with 4 GE Copper ciscoProducts 2139 ciscoISA30004Csc

Security Context
CISCO ISA30004C with 4 GE Copper ciscoProducts 2140 ciscoISA30004Csy

System Context
ISA 30002C2F Industrial Security ciscoProducts 2267 ciscoISA30002C2F

Appliance
939
About SNMP

CISCO ISA30002C2F with 2 GE Copper ciscoProducts 2142 ciscoISA30002C2Fsc
ports + 2 GE Fiber Security Context
CISCO ISA30002C2F with 2 GE Copper ciscoProducts 2143 ciscoISA30002C2Fsy

ports + 2 GE Fiber System Context
Cisco Industrial Security Appliance (ISA) cevChassis 1677 cevChassisISA30004C

30004C Chassis
Cisco Industrial Security Appliance (ISA) cevChassis 1678 cevChassisISA30002C2F

30002C2F Chassis
Central Processing Unit Temperature cevSensor 187 cevSensorISA30004CCpuTempSensor

Sensor for ISA30004C Copper SKU
Central Processing Unit Temperature cevSensor 189 cevSensorISA30002C2FCpuTempSensor

Sensor for ISA30002C2F Fiber
Processor Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 192 cevSensorISA30004CPTS

ISA30004C Copper SKU
Processor Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 193 cevSensorISA30002C2FPTS

ISA30002C2F Fiber SKU
Power Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 197 cevSensorISA30004CPowercardTS

ISA30004C Copper SKU
Power Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 198 cevSensorISA30002C2FPowercardTS

ISA30002C2F Fiber SKU
Port Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 199 cevSensorISA30004CPortcardTS

ISA30004C
Port Card Temperature Sensor for cevSensor 200 cevSensorISA30002C2FPortcardTS

ISA30002C2F
Central Processing Unit for ISA30004C cevModuleCpuType 329 cevCpuISA30004C

Copper SKU
Central Processing Unit for ISA30002C2F cevModuleCpuType 330 cevCpuISA30002C2F

Fiber SKU
Modules ISA30004C, ISA30002C2F cevModule 111 cevModuleISA3000Type
30004C Industrial Security Appliance Solid cevModuleISA3000Type 1 cevModuleISA30004CSSD64

State Drive
30002C2F Industrial Security Appliance cevModuleISA3000Type 2 cevModuleISA30002C2FSSD64

Solid State Drive
940
About SNMP

Cisco ISA30004C/ISA30002C2F Hardware cevModuleISA3000Type 5 cevModuleISA3000HardwareBypass
Bypass
Physical Vendor Type Values

Each Cisco chassis or standalone system has a unique type number for SNMP use. The entPhysicalVendorType
OIDs are defined in the CISCO-ENTITY-VENDORTYPE-OID-MIB. This value is returned in the
entPhysicalVendorType object from the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM SNMP agent. You can use this value to
identify the type of component (module, power supply, fan, sensors, CPU, and so on). The following table
lists the physical vendor type values for the ASA and ASASM models.
Table 62: Physical Vendor Type Values
Item entPhysicalVendorType OID Description

ASA Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600 routers cevCat6kWsSvcAsaSm1 (cevModuleCat6000Type 169)
ASA Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600 routers with cevCat6kWsSvcAsaSm1K7 (cevModuleCat6000Type 186)
No Payload Encryption
Accelerator for 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance cevAcceleratorAsa5506 (cevOther 10)
Accelerator for 5506W Adaptive Security Appliance cevAcceleratorAsa5506W (cevOther 11)
Accelerator for 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance cevAcceleratorAsa5508 (cevOther 12)
Accelerator for 5506 with No Payload Encryption Adaptive cevAcceleratorAsa5506K7 (cevOther 13)
Security Appliance
Accelerator for 5508 with No Payload Encryption Adaptive cevAcceleratorAsa5508K7 (cevOther 14)
Security Appliance
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5506 Chassis cevChassisAsa5506 (cevChassis 1600)
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5506W Chassis cevChassisAsa5506W (cevChassis 1601)
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5508 Chassis cevChassisAsa5508 (cevChassis 1602)
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5506 Chassis with No cevChassisAsa5506K7 (cevChassis 1603)
Payload Encryption
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5508 Chassis with No cevChassisAsa5508K7 (cevChassis 1604)
Payload Encryption
Central Processing Unit for 5506 Adaptive Security Appliance cevCpuAsa5506 (cevModuleCpuType 312)
Central Processing Unit for 5506W Adaptive Security Appliance cevCpuAsa5506W (cevModuleCpuType 313)
941
About SNMP

Central Processing Unit for 5508 Adaptive Security Appliance cevCpuAsa5508 ((cevModuleCpuType 314)
Central Processing Unit for 5506 with No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5506K7 (cevModuleCpuType 315)
Adaptive Security Appliance
Central Processing Unit for 5508 with No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5508K7 (cevModuleCpuType 316)
Adaptive Security Appliance
cevModuleASA5506 Type chassis cevModuleASA5506Type (cevModule 107)
5506 Adaptive Security Appliance Field-Replaceable Solid State cevModuleAsa5506SSD (cevModuleASA5506Type 1)

Drive
5506W Adaptive Security Appliance Field-Replaceable Solid cevModuleAsa5506WSSD (cevModuleASA5506Type 2)

State Drive
5506 with No Payload Encryption Adaptive Security Appliance cevModuleAsa5506K7SSD (cevModuleASA5506Type 3)

Field-Replaceable Solid State Drive
cevModuleASA5508 Type chassis cevModuleASA5508Type (cevModule 108)
5508 Adaptive Security Appliance Field-Replaceable Solid State cevModuleAsa5508SSD (cevModuleASA5508Type 1)

Drive
5508 with No Payload Encryption Adaptive Security Appliance cevModuleAsa5508K7SSD (cevModuleASA5508Type 2)

Field-Replaceable Solid State Drive
Chassis Cooling Fan for Adaptive Security Appliance 5508 cevFanAsa5508ChassisFan (cevFan 247)
Chassis Cooling Fan for Adaptive Security Appliance 5508 with cevFanAsa5508K7ChassisFan (cevFan 248)
Chassis Cooling Fan Sensor for Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorAsa5508ChassisFanSensor (cevSensor 162)
5508
Chassis Cooling Fan Sensor for Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorAsa5508K7ChassisFanSensor (cevSensor 163)
5508 with No Payload Encryption
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for 5506 Adaptive cevSensorAsa5506CpuTempSensor (cevSensor 164)
Security Appliance
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for 5506W Adaptive cevSensorAsa5506WCpuTempSensor (cevSensor 165)
Security Appliance
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for 5508 Adaptive cevSensorAsa5508CpuTempSensor (cevSensor 166)
Security Appliance
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for 5506 with No cevSensorAsa5506K7CpuTempSensor (cevSensor 167)
Payload Encryption Adaptive Security Appliance
942
About SNMP

Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for 5508 with No cevSensorAsa5508K7CpuTempSensor (cevSensor 168)
Payload Encryption Adaptive Security Appliance
Accelerator Temperature Sensor for 5506 Adaptive Security cevSensorAsa5506AcceleratorTempSensor (cevSensor 169)
Appliance
Accelerator Temperature Sensor for 5506W Adaptive Security cevSensorAsa5506WAcceleratorTempSensor (cevSensor 170)
Appliance
Accelerator Temperature Sensor for 5508 Adaptive Security cevSensorAsa5508AcceleratorTempSensor (cevSensor 171)
Appliance
Accelerator Temperature Sensor for 5506 with No Payload cevSensorAsa5506K7AcceleratorTempSensor (cevSensor 172)
Encryption Adaptive Security Appliance
Accelerator Temperature Sensor for 5508 with No Payload cevSensorAsa5508K7AcceleratorTempSensor (cevSensor 173)
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for 5506 Adaptive Security cevSensorAsa5506ChassisTempSensor (cevSensor 174)
Appliance
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for 5506W Adaptive cevSensorAsa5506WChassisTempSensor (cevSensor 175)
Security Appliance
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for 5508 Adaptive Security cevSensorAsa5508ChassisTempSensor (cevSensor 176)
Appliance
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for 5506 with No Payload cevSensorAsa5506K7ChassisTempSensor (cevSensor 177)
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for 5508 with No Payload cevSensorAsa5508K7ChassisTempSensor (cevSensor 178)
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5512 Adaptive Security cevChassisASA5512 (cevChassis 1113)
Appliance
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5512 Adaptive Security cevChassisASA5512K7 (cevChassis 1108 )
Appliance with No Payload Encryption
Appliance
Appliance
943
About SNMP

Appliance
Appliance
Central Processing Unit for Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance cevCpuAsa5512 (cevModuleCpuType 229)
5512
Central Processing Unit for Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance cevCpuAsa5512K7 (cevModuleCpuType 224)
5512 with no Payload Encryption
5515
5525
5545
5555
CPU for ASA 5585 SSP-10 cevCpuAsa5585Ssp10 (cevModuleCpuType 204)
CPU for ASA 5585 SSP-10 No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5585Ssp10K7 ( cevModuleCpuType 205)
944
About SNMP

CPU for ASA 5585 SSP-20 No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5585Ssp20K7 (cevModuleCpuType 207)
CPU for ASA 5585 SSP-40 No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5585Ssp40K7 (cevModuleCpuType 209)
CPU for ASA 5585 SSP-60 No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsa5585Ssp60K (cevModuleCpuType 211)
CPU for Cisco ASA Services Module for Catalyst switches/7600 cevCpuAsaSm1 (cevModuleCpuType 222)
routers
CPU for Cisco ASA Services Module with No Payload Encryption cevCpuAsaSm1K7 (cevModuleCpuType 223)
for Catalyst switches/7600 routers
Chassis Cooling Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance 5512 cevFanASA5512ChassisFan (cevFan 163)
Chassis Cooling Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance 5512 with cevFanASA5512K7ChassisFan (cevFan 172)
Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance 5545 with No cevFanASA5545K7PSFan (cevFan 161)
Payload Encryption
Power Supply Fan in Adapative Security Appliance 5545 cevFanASA5545PSFan (cevFan 159)
Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance 5555 cevFanASA5555PSFan (cevFan 160)
945
About SNMP

Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance 5555 with No cevFanASA5555PSFanK7 (cevFan 162)
Payload Encryption
Power supply fan for ASA 5585-X cevFanASA5585PSFan (cevFan 146)
10-Gigabit Ethernet interface cevPort10GigEthernet (cevPort 315)
Gigabit Ethernet port cevPortGe (cevPort 109)
Power Supply unit in Adaptive Security Appliance 5545 cevPowerSupplyASA5545PSInput (cevPowerSupply 323)
Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevPowerSupplyASA5545PSPresence (cevPowerSupply 321)
Appliance 5545
Power Supply unit in Adaptive Security Appliance 5555 cevPowerSupplyASA5555PSInput (cevPowerSupply 324)
Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevPowerSupplyASA5555PSPresence (cevPowerSupply 322)
Appliance 5555
Power supply input for ASA 5585 cevPowerSupplyASA5585PSInput (cevPowerSupply 304)
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5512 Chassis Fan cevSensorASA5512ChassisFanSensor (cevSensor 120)
sensor
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for Cisco Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5512ChassisTemp (cevSensor 107)
Appliance 5512
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for Cisco Adaptive cevSensorASA5512CPUTemp (cevSensor 96)
Security Appliance 5512
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5512 with No Payload cevSensorASA5512K7ChassisFanSensor (cevSensor 125)
Encryption Chassis Fan sensor
Central Processing Unit Temperature Sensor for Cisco Adaptive cevSensorASA5512K7CPUTemp (cevSensor 102)
Security Appliance 5512 with No Payload Encryption
Sensor for Chassis Cooling Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorASA5512K7PSFanSensor (cevSensor 116)
Sensor for Chassis Cooling Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorASA5512PSFanSensor (cevSensor 119)
5512
sensor
Appliance 5515
946
About SNMP

5515
sensor
Appliance 5525
5525
sensor
Appliance 5545
947
About SNMP

Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for Cisco Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545K7ChassisTemp (cevSensor 90)
Appliance 5545 with No Payload Encryption
Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545K7PSPresence (cevSensor 87)
Temperature Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545K7PSTempSensor (cevSensor 94)
Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorASA5545PSFanSensor (cevSensor 89)
Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545PSPresence (cevSensor 130)
Appliance 5545
Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545PSPresence (cevSensor 131)
Appliance 5555
Temperature Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5545PSTempSensor (cevSensor 92)
Appliance 5545
sensor
Appliance 5555
Chassis Ambient Temperature Sensor for Cisco Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5555K7ChassisTemp (cevSensor 111)
948
About SNMP

Presence Sensor for Power Supply input in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5555K7PSPresence (cevSensor 88)
Temperature Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5555K7PSTempSensor (cevSensor 95)
Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security Appliance cevSensorASA5555PSFanSensor (cevSensor 91)
5555
Temperature Sensor for Power Supply Fan in Adaptive Security cevSensorASA5555PSTempSensor (cevSensor 93)
Appliance 5555
Sensor for power supply fan for ASA 5585-X cevSensorASA5585PSFanSensor (cevSensor 86)
Sensor for power supply input for ASA 5585-X cevSensorASA5585PSInput (cevSensor 85)
CPU temperature sensor for ASA 5585 SSP-10 cevSensorASA5585SSp10CPUTemp (cevSensor 77)
CPU temperature sensor for ASA 5585 SSP-10 No Payload cevSensorASA5585SSp10K7CPUTemp (cevSensor 78)
Encryption
Encryption
Encryption
Encryption
Adaptive Security Appliance 5555-X Field-Replaceable Solid cevModuleASA5555XFRSSD (cevModuleCommonCards 396)

State Drive

State Drive

State Drive

State Drive
949
About SNMP

State Drive
Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance cevChassisASAv (cevChassis 1451)
Supported Tables and Objects in MIBs

The following table lists the supported tables and objects for the specified MIBs.
Table 63: Supported Tables and Objects in MIBs
MIB Name Supported Tables and Objects

CISCO-ENHANCED-MEMPOOL-MIB cempMemPoolTable, cempMemPoolIndex, cempMemPoolType,
cempMemPoolName, cempMemPoolAlternate, cempMemPoolValid,
cempMemPoolUsed, cempMemPoolFree, cempMemPoolUsedOvrflw,
cempMemPoolHCUsed, cempMemPoolFreeOvrflw, cempMemPoolHCFree
CISCO-ENTITY-SENSOR-EXT-MIB ceSensorExtThresholdTable
Note Not supported on the ASA Services Module
for Catalyst 6500 switches/7600 routers.
CISCO-L4L7MODULE-RESOURCE-LIMIT-MIB ciscoL4L7ResourceLimitTable
CISCO-TRUSTSEC-SXP-MIB ctsxSxpGlobalObjects, ctsxSxpConnectionObjects, ctsxSxpSgtObjects

Note Not supported on the Cisco Adaptive Security
Virtual Appliance (ASAv).
DISMAN-EVENT-MIB mteTriggerTable, mteTriggerThresholdTable, mteObjectsTable,
mteEventTable, mteEventNotificationTable
DISMAN-EXPRESSION-MIB expExpressionTable, expObjectTable, expValueTable

ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB entPhySensorTable
NAT-MIB natAddrMapTable, natAddrMapIndex, natAddrMapName,
natAddrMapGlobalAddrType, natAddrMapGlobalAddrFrom,
natAddrMapGlobalAddrTo, natAddrMapGlobalPortFrom,
natAddrMapGlobalPortTo, natAddrMapProtocol, natAddrMapAddrUsed,
natAddrMapRowStatus
950
About SNMP
Supported Traps (Notifications)

The following table lists the supported traps (notifications) and their associated MIBs.
Table 64: Supported Traps (Notifications)
Trap and MIB Name Varbind List Description

authenticationFailure — For SNMP Version 1 or 2, the community string provided
in the SNMP request is incorrect. For SNMP Version 3,
(SNMPv2-MIB)
a report PDU is generated instead of a trap if the auth or
priv passwords or usernames are incorrect.
The snmp-server enable traps snmp authentication
command is used to enable and disable transmission of
these traps.
ccmCLIRunningConfigChanged — The snmp-server enable traps config command is used

(CISCO-CONFIG-MAN-MIB) to enable transmission of this trap.
cefcFRUInserted — The snmp-server enable traps entity fru-insert

command is used to enable this notification. This trap
(CISCO-ENTITY-FRU-CONTROL
does not apply to the ASA 5506-X and ASA 5508-X.
-MIB)
cefcFRURemoved — The snmp-server enable traps entity fru-remove

command is used to enable this notification. This trap
(CISCO-ENTITY-FRU-CONTROL
-MIB)
951
About SNMP

ceSensorExtThresholdNotification ceSensorExtThresholdValue, The snmp-server enable traps entity
entPhySensorValue, [power-supply-failure | fan-failure | cpu-temperature]
(CISCO-ENTITY-SENSOR-EXT
entPhySensorType, entPhysicalName command is used to enable transmission of the entity
-MIB)
threshold notifications. This notification is sent for a
Note Not supported on the power supply failure. The objects sent identify the fan
ASA Services Module and CPU temperature.
for Catalyst 6500
The snmp-server enable traps entity fan-failure
switches/7600 routers.
command is used to enable transmission of the fan failure
trap. This trap does not apply to the ASA 5506-X and
ASA 5508-X.
The snmp-server enable traps entity
power-supply-failure command is used to enable
transmission of the power supply failure trap. This trap
The snmp-server enable traps entity chassis-fan-failure
command is used to enable transmission of the chassis
fan failure trap. This trap does not apply to the ASA
5506-X and ASA 5508-X.
The snmp-server enable traps entity cpu-temperature
command is used to enable transmission of the high CPU
temperature trap.
power-supply-presence command is used to enable
transmission of the power supply presence failure trap.
This trap does not apply to the ASA 5506-X and ASA
5508-X.
power-supply-temperature command is used to enable
transmission of the power supply temperature threshold
trap. This trap does not apply to the ASA 5506-X and
ASA 5508-X.
chassis-temperature command is used to enable
transmission of the chassis ambient temperature trap.
accelerator-temperature command is used to enable
transmission of the chassis accelerator temperature trap.
This trap does not apply to the ASA 5506-X and ASA
5508-X.
cipSecTunnelStart cipSecTunLifeTime, The snmp-server enable traps ipsec start command is

cipSecTunLifeSize used to enable transmission of this trap.
(CISCO-IPSEC-FLOW-MONITOR
-MIB)
952
About SNMP

cipSecTunnelStop cipSecTunActiveTime The snmp-server enable traps ipsec stop command is
used to enable transmission of this trap.
(CISCO-IPSEC-FLOW-MONITOR
-MIB)
ciscoConfigManEvent — The snmp-server enable traps config command is used

(CISCO-CONFIG-MAN-MIB) to enable transmission of this trap.
ciscoRasTooManySessions crasNumSessions, crasNumUsers, The snmp-server enable traps remote-access

crasMaxSessionsSupportable, session-threshold-exceeded command is used to enable
(CISCO-REMOTE-ACCESS
crasMaxUsersSupportable, transmission of these traps.
-MONITOR-MIB)
crasThrMaxSessions
clogMessageGenerated clogHistFacility, clogHistSeverity, Syslog messages are generated.

clogHistMsgName, clogHistMsgText, The value of the clogMaxSeverity object is used to decide
(CISCO-SYSLOG-MIB)
clogHistTimestamp which syslog messages are sent as traps.
The snmp-server enable traps syslog command is used
to enable and disable transmission of these traps.
clrResourceLimitReached crlResourceLimitValueType, The snmp-server enable traps connection-limit-reached

crlResourceLimitMax, command is used to enable transmission of the
(CISCO-L4L7MODULE-RESOURCE
clogOriginIDType, clogOriginID connection-limit-reached notification. The clogOriginID
-LIMIT-MIB)
object includes the context name from which the trap
originated.
coldStart — The SNMP agent has started.

(SNMPv2-MIB) The snmp-server enable traps snmp coldstart command
is used to enable and disable transmission of these traps.
cpmCPURisingThreshold cpmCPURisingThresholdValue, The snmp-server enable traps cpu threshold rising

cpmCPUTotalMonIntervalValue, command is used to enable transmission of the CPU
(CISCO-PROCESS-MIB)
cpmCPUInterruptMonIntervalValue, threshold rising notification. The
cpmCPURisingThresholdPeriod, cpmCPURisingThresholdPeriod object is sent with the
cpmProcessTimeCreated, other objects.
cpmProcExtUtil5SecRev
entConfigChange — The snmp-server enable traps entity config-change

(ENTITY-MIB) fru-insert fru-remove command is used to enable this
notification.
Note This notification is only sent in multimode when
a security context is created or removed.
linkDown ifIndex, ifAdminStatus, ifOperStatus The linkdown trap for interfaces.
(IF-MIB) The snmp-server enable traps snmp linkdown
command is used to enable and disable transmission of
these traps.
953
About SNMP

linkUp ifIndex, ifAdminStatus, ifOperStatus The linkup trap for interfaces.
(IF-MIB) The snmp-server enable traps snmp linkup command
is used to enable and disable transmission of these traps.
mteTriggerFired mteHotTrigger, mteHotTargetName, The snmp-server enable traps memory-threshold

mteHotContextName, mteHotOID, command is used to enable the memory threshold
(DISMAN-EVENT-MIB)
mteHotValue, cempMemPoolName, notification. The mteHotOID is set to
cempMemPoolHCUsed cempMemPoolHCUsed. The cempMemPoolName and
cempMemPoolHCUsed objects are sent with the other
objects.
mteTriggerFired mteHotTrigger, mteHotTargetName, The snmp-server enable traps interface-threshold

mteHotContextName, mteHotOID, command is used to enable the interface threshold
(DISMAN-EVENT-MIB)
mteHotValue, ifHCInOctets, notification. The entPhysicalName objects are sent with
Note Not supported on the ifHCOutOctets, ifHighSpeed, the other objects.
ASA Services Module entPhysicalName
for Catalyst 6500
natPacketDiscard ifIndex The snmp-server enable traps nat packet-discard
(NAT-MIB) command is used to enable the NAT packet discard
notification. This notification is rate limited for 5 minutes
and is generated when IP packets are discarded by NAT
because mapping space is not available. The ifIndex gives
the ID of the mapped interface.
warmStart — The snmp-server enable traps snmp warmstart

(SNMPv2-MIB) command is used to enable and disable transmission of
these traps.
Interface Types and Examples

The interface types that produce SNMP traffic statistics include the following:
• Logical—Statistics collected by the software driver, which are a subset of physical statistics.
• Physical—Statistics collected by the hardware driver. Each physical named interface has a set of logical
and physical statistics associated with it. Each physical interface may have more than one VLAN interface
associated with it. VLAN interfaces only have logical statistics.
Note For a physical interface that has multiple VLAN interfaces associated with it, be aware
that SNMP counters for ifInOctets and ifOutoctets OIDs match the aggregate traffic
counters for that physical interface.
• VLAN-only—SNMP uses logical statistics for ifInOctets and ifOutOctets.
954
About SNMP
The examples in the following table show the differences in SNMP traffic statistics. Example 1 shows the
difference in physical and logical output statistics for the show interface command and the show traffic
command. Example 2 shows output statistics for a VLAN-only interface for the show interface command
and the show traffic command. The example shows that the statistics are close to the output that appears for
the show traffic command.
Table 65: SNMP Traffic Statistics for Physical and VLAN Interfaces
Example 1 Example 2
ciscoasa# show interface GigabitEthernet3/2 ciscoasa# show interface GigabitEthernet0/0.100

interface GigabitEthernet3/2 interface GigabitEthernet0/0.100
description fullt-mgmt vlan 100
nameif mgmt nameif inside
security-level 10 security-level 100
ip address 10.7.14.201 255.255.255.0 ip address 10.7.1.101 255.255.255.0 standby 10.7.1.102
management-only
ciscoasa# show traffic
ciscoasa# show traffic inside
(Condensed output) received (in 9921.450 secs)
1977 packets 126528 bytes
Physical Statistics 0 pkts/sec 12 bytes/sec
GigabitEthernet3/2: transmitted (in 9921.450 secs)
received (in 121.760 secs) 1978 packets 126556 bytes
36 packets 3428 bytes 0 pkts/sec 12 bytes/sec
0 pkts/sec 28 bytes/sec
ifIndex of VLAN inside:
Logical Statistics
mgmt:
received (in 117.780 secs) IF-MIB::ifDescr.9 = Adaptive Security Appliance ‘inside’
36 packets 2780 bytes interface
0 pkts/sec 23 bytes/sec IF-MIB::ifInOctets.9 = Counter32: 126318
The following examples show the SNMP output statistics for

the management interface and the physical interface. The
ifInOctets value is close to the physical statistics output that
appears in the show traffic command output but not to the
logical statistics output.
ifIndex of the mgmt interface:
IF_MIB::ifDescr.6 = Adaptive Security Appliance ‘mgmt’

interface
ifInOctets that corresponds to the physical interface statistics:
IF-MIB::ifInOctets.6 = Counter32:3246
SNMP Version 3 Overview

SNMP Version 3 provides security enhancements that are not available in SNMP Version 1 or Version 2c.
SNMP Versions 1 and 2c transmit data between the SNMP server and SNMP agent in clear text. SNMP
Version 3 adds authentication and privacy options to secure protocol operations. In addition, this version
controls access to the SNMP agent and MIB objects through the User-based Security Model (USM) and
View-based Access Control Model (VACM). The ASA and ASASM also support the creation of SNMP
955
About SNMP
groups and users, as well as hosts, which is required to enable transport authentication and encryption for
secure SNMP communications.
Security Models
For configuration purposes, the authentication and privacy options are grouped together into security models.
Security models apply to users and groups, which are divided into the following three types:
• NoAuthPriv—No Authentication and No Privacy, which means that no security is applied to messages.
• AuthNoPriv—Authentication but No Privacy, which means that messages are authenticated.
• AuthPriv—Authentication and Privacy, which means that messages are authenticated and encrypted.
SNMP Groups
An SNMP group is an access control policy to which users can be added. Each SNMP group is configured
with a security model, and is associated with an SNMP view. A user within an SNMP group must match the
security model of the SNMP group. These parameters specify what type of authentication and privacy a user
within an SNMP group uses. Each SNMP group name and security model pair must be unique.
SNMP Users
SNMP users have a specified username, a group to which the user belongs, authentication password, encryption
password, and authentication and encryption algorithms to use. The authentication algorithm options are MD5
and SHA. The encryption algorithm options are DES, 3DES, and AES (which is available in 128, 192, and
256 versions). When you create a user, you must associate it with an SNMP group. The user then inherits the
security model of the group.
SNMP Hosts
An SNMP host is an IP address to which SNMP notifications and traps are sent. To configure SNMP Version
3 hosts, along with the target IP address, you must configure a username, because traps are only sent to a
configured user. SNMP target IP addresses and target parameter names must be unique on the ASA and
ASA Services Module. Each SNMP host can have only one username associated with it. To receive SNMP
traps, after you have added the snmp-server host command, make sure that you configure the user credentials
on the NMS to match the credentials for the ASA and ASASM.
Implementation Differences Between the ASA, ASA Services Module, and the Cisco IOS Software
The SNMP Version 3 implementation in the ASA and ASASM differs from the SNMP Version 3
implementation in the Cisco IOS software in the following ways:
• The local-engine and remote-engine IDs are not configurable. The local engine ID is generated when
the ASA or ASASM starts or when a context is created.
• No support exists for view-based access control, which results in unrestricted MIB browsing.
• Support is restricted to the following MIBs: USM, VACM, FRAMEWORK, and TARGET.
• You must create users and groups with the correct security model.
• You must remove users, groups, and hosts in the correct sequence.
956
Guidelines for SNMP
• Use of the snmp-server host command creates an ASA, ASAv, or ASASM rule to allow incoming SNMP
traffic.
SNMP Syslog Messaging

SNMP generates detailed syslog messages that are numbered 212nnn. Syslog messages indicate the status of
SNMP requests, SNMP traps, SNMP channels, and SNMP responses from the ASA or ASASM to a specified
host on a specified interface.
For detailed information about syslog messages, see the syslog messages guide.
Note SNMP polling fails if SNMP syslog messages exceed a high rate (approximately 4000 per second).
Application Services and Third-Party Tools

For information about SNMP support, see the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk648/tk362/tk605/tsd_technology_support_sub-protocol_home.html
For information about using third-party tools to walk SNMP Version 3 MIBs, see the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa83/snmp/snmpv3_tools.html
Guidelines for SNMP

This section includes the guidelines and limitations that you should review before configuring SNMP.
Failover Guidelines
The SNMP client in each ASA, ASAv, or ASASM shares engine data with its peer. Engine data includes the
engineID, engineBoots, and engineTime objects of the SNMP-FRAMEWORK-MIB. Engine data is written
as a binary file to flash:/snmp/contextname.
IPv6 Guidelines
• You must have Cisco Works for Windows or another SNMP MIB-II compliant browser to receive SNMP
traps or browse a MIB.
• Does not support view-based access control, but the VACM MIB is available for browsing to determine
default view settings.
• The ENTITY-MIB is not available in the non-admin context. Use the IF-MIB instead to perform queries
in the non-admin context.
• Does not support SNMP Version 3 for the AIP SSM or AIP SSC.
• Does not support SNMP debugging.
957
Guidelines for SNMP
• Does not support retrieval of ARP information.

• Does not support SNMP SET commands.
• When using NET-SNMP Version 5.4.2.1, only supports the encryption algorithm version of AES128.
Does not support the encryption algorithm versions of AES256 or AES192.
• Changes to the existing configuration are rejected if the result places the SNMP feature in an inconsistent
state.
• For SNMP Version 3, configuration must occur in the following order: group, user, host.
• Before a group is deleted, you must ensure that all users associated with that group are deleted.
• Before a user is deleted, you must ensure that no hosts are configured that are associated with that
username.
• If users have been configured to belong to a particular group with a certain security model, and if the
security level of that group is changed, you must do the following in this sequence:
◦Remove the users from that group.
◦Change the group security level.
◦Add users that belong to the new group.
• The creation of custom views to restrict user access to a subset of MIB objects is not supported.
• All requests and traps are available in the default Read/Notify View only.
• The connection-limit-reached trap is generated in the admin context. To generate this trap. you must
have at least one SNMP server host configured in the user context in which the connection limit has
been reached.
• You cannot query for the chassis temperature on the ASA 5585 SSP-40 (NPE).
• You can add up to 4000 hosts. However, only 128 of this number can be for traps.
• The total number of supported active polling destinations is 128.
• You can specify a network object to indicate the individual hosts that you want to add as a host group.
• You can associate more than one user with one host.
• You can specify overlapping network objects in different host-group commands. The values that you
specify for the last host group take effect for the common set of hosts in the different network objects.
• If you delete a host group or hosts that overlap with other host groups, the hosts are set up again using
the values that have been specified in the configured host groups.
• The values that the hosts acquire depend on the specified sequence that you use to run the commands.
• The limit on the message size that SNMP sends is 1472 bytes.
• Members of a cluster do not synchronize their SNMPv3 engine IDs. Because of this, each unit in the
cluster should have a unique SNMPv3 user configuration.
• With Version 9.4(1), the ASA supports an unlimited number of SNMP server trap hosts per context.The
show snmp-server host command output displays only the active hosts that are polling the ASA, as
well as the statically configured hosts.
958
Guidelines for SNMP
Troubleshooting Tips
• To ensure that the SNMP process that receives incoming packets from the NMS is running, enter the
following command:
ciscoasa(config)# show process | grep snmp
• To capture syslog messages from SNMP and have them appear on the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM console,
ciscoasa(config)# logging list snmp message 212001-212015

ciscoasa(config)# logging console snmp
• To make sure that the SNMP process is sending and receiving packets, enter the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# clear snmp-server statistics

ciscoasa(config)# show snmp-server statistics
The output is based on the SNMP group of the SNMPv2-MIB.

• To make sure that SNMP packets are going through the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM and to the SNMP
process, enter the following commands:
ciscoasa(config)# clear asp drop

ciscoasa(config)# show asp drop
• If the NMS cannot request objects successfully or is not handing incoming traps from the ASA, ASAv,
or ASASM correctly, use a packet capture to isolate the problem, by entering the following commands:
ciscoasa (config)# access-list snmp permit udp any eq snmptrap any

ciscoasa (config)# access-list snmp permit udp any any eq snmp
ciscoasa (config)# capture snmp type raw-data access-list snmp interface mgmt
ciscoasa (config)# copy /pcap capture:snmp tftp://192.0.2.5/exampledir/snmp.pcap
• If the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM is not performing as expected, obtain information about network topology
and traffic by doing the following:
◦For the NMS configuration, obtain the following information:
Number of timeouts
Retry count
Engine ID caching
Username and password used
◦Issue the following commands:
show block
show interface
show process
show cpu
show vm
959
Configure SNMP
• If a fatal error occurs, to help in reproducing the error, send a traceback file and the output of the show
tech-support command to Cisco TAC.
• If SNMP traffic is not being allowed through the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM interfaces, you might also
need to permit ICMP traffic from the remote SNMP server using the icmp permit command.
• For additional troubleshooting information, see the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/
support/docs/security/asa-5500-x-series-next-generation-firewalls/116423-troubleshoot-asa-snmp.html
Configure SNMP
This section describes how to configure SNMP.
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the SNMP Agent and SNMP server.

Step 2 Configure SNMP traps.
Step 3 Configure SNMP Version 1 and 2c parameters or SNMP Version 3 parameters.
Enable the SNMP Agent and SNMP Server

To enable the SNMP agent and SNMP server, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enable the SNMP agent and SNMP server on the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM. By default, the SNMP server is
enabled.
snmp-server enable
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server enable
Configure SNMP Traps

To designate which traps that the SNMP agent generates and how they are collected and sent to NMSs, perform
the following steps:
Procedure
Send individual traps, sets of traps, or all traps to the NMS.

snmp-server enable traps [all | syslog | snmp [authentication | linkup | linkdown | coldstart | warmstart] |
config | entity [config-change | fru-insert | fru-remove | fan-failure | cpu-temperature | chassis-fan- failure
| power-supply-failure] | chassis-temperature | power-supply-presence | power-supply-temperature |
accelerator-temperature | l1-bypass-status] | ikev2 [start | stop] | ipsec [start | stop] | remote-access
960
Configure SNMP
[session-threshold-exceeded] | connection-limit-reached | cpu threshold rising | interface-threshold |

memory-threshold | nat [packet-discard]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server enable traps snmp authentication linkup linkdown coldstart
warmstart
This command enables syslog messages to be sent as traps to the NMS. The default configuration has all
SNMP standard traps enabled, as shown in the example. To disable these traps, use the no snmp-server
enable traps snmp command. If you enter this command and do not specify a trap type, the default is the
syslog trap. By default, the syslog trap is enabled. The default SNMP traps continue to be enabled with the
syslog trap. You need to configure both the logging history command and the snmp-server enable traps
syslog command to generate traps from the syslog MIB. To restore the default enabling of SNMP traps, use
the clear configure snmp-server command. All other traps are disabled by default.
Traps available in the admin context only:
• connection-limit-reached
• entity
• memory-threshold
Traps generated through the admin context only for physically connected interfaces in the system context:
• interface-threshold
Note The interface-threshold trap is not supported on the ASA Services Module for Catalyst 6500
All other traps are available in the admin and user contexts in single mode.
In multiple context mode, the fan-failure trap, the power-supply-failure trap, and the cpu-temperature trap
are generated only from the admin context, and not the user contexts (applies only to the ASA 5512-X, 5515-X,
5525-X, 5545-X, and 5555-X).
The accelerator-temperature threshold trap applies only to the ASA 5506-X and ASA 5508-X.
The chassis-fan-failure trap does not apply to the ASA 5506-X.
The config trap enables the ciscoConfigManEvent notification and the ccmCLIRunningConfigChanged
notification, which are generated after you have exited configuration mode.
The following traps do not apply to the ASA 5506-X and ASA 5508-X: fan-failure, fru-insert, fru-remove,
power-supply, power-supply-failure, power-supply-presence, and power-supply-temperature.
If the CPU usage is greater than the configured threshold value for the configured monitoring period, the cpu
threshold rising trap is generated.
When the used system context memory reaches 80 percent of the total system memory, the memory-threshold
trap is generated from the admin context. For all other user contexts, this trap is generated when the used
memory reaches 80 percent of the total system memory in that particular context.
Note SNMP does not monitor voltage
sensors.
961
Configure SNMP
Configure a CPU Usage Threshold

To configure a CPU usage threshold, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Configure the threshold value for a high CPU threshold and the threshold monitoring period.
snmp cpu threshold rising threshold_value monitoring_period
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp cpu threshold rising 75% 30 minutes
To clear the threshold value and monitoring period of the CPU utilization, use the no form of this command.
If the snmp cpu threshold rising command is not configured, the default for the high threshold level is over
70 percent, and the default for the critical threshold level is over 95 percent. The default monitoring period
is set to 1 minute.
You cannot configure the critical CPU threshold level, which is maintained at a constant 95 percent. Valid
threshold values for a high CPU threshold range from 10 to 94 percent. Valid values for the monitoring period
range from 1 to 60 minutes.
Configure a Physical Interface Threshold

To configure the physical interface threshold, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Configure the threshold value for an SNMP physical interface.

snmp interface threshold threshold_value
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp interface threshold 75%
To clear the threshold value for an SNMP physical interface, use the no form of this command. The threshold
value is defined as a percentage of interface bandwidth utilization. Valid threshold values range from 30 to
99 percent. The default value is 70 percent.
The snmp interface threshold command is available only in the admin context.
Physical interface usage is monitored in single mode and multimode, and traps for physical interfaces in the
system context are sent through the admin context. Only physical interfaces are used to compute threshold
usage.
Note This command is not supported on the ASA Services Module for Catalyst 6500 switches/7600 routers.
Configure Parameters for SNMP Version 1 or 2c

To configure parameters for SNMP Version 1 or 2c, perform the following steps:
962
Configure SNMP
Procedure
Step 1 Specify the recipient of an SNMP notification, indicate the interface from which traps are sent, and identify
the name and IP address of the NMS or SNMP manager that can connect to the ASA.
snmp-server host{interface hostname | ip_address} [trap| poll] [community community-string] [version
{1 2c| username}] [udp-port port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host mgmt 10.7.14.90 version 2
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host corp 172.18.154.159 community public
The trap keyword limits the NMS to receiving traps only. The poll keyword limits the NMS to sending
requests (polling) only. By default, SNMP traps are enabled. By default, the UDP port is 162. The community
string is a shared secret key between the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM and the NMS. The key is a case-sensitive
value up to 32 alphanumeric characters long. Spaces are not permitted. The default community string is public.
The ASA uses this key to determine whether or not the incoming SNMP request is valid. For example, you
could designate a site with a community string and then configure the ASA and the management station with
the same string. The ASA, ASAv, and ASASM use the specified string and do not respond to requests with
an invalid community string. After you have used an encrypted community string, only the encrypted form
is visible to all systems (for example, CLI, ASDM, CSM, and so on). The clear text password is not visible.
The encrypted community string is always generated by the ASA; you normally enter the clear text form.
Note If you downgrade from version 8.3(1) to a lower version of the ASA software and have configured
encrypted passwords, you must first revert the encrypted passwords to clear text using the no key
config-key password encryption command, then save the results.
To receive traps after you have added the snmp-server host command, make sure that you configure the user
on the NMS with the same credentials as the credentials configured on the ASA, ASAv, and ASASM.
Step 2 Set the community string, which is for use only with SNMP Version 1 or 2c.
snmp-server community community-string
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server community onceuponatime
Step 3 Set the SNMP server location or contact information.

snmp-server [contact | location] text
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server location building 42
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server contact EmployeeA
The text argument specifies the name of the contact person or the ASA system administrator. The name is
case sensitive and can be up to 127 characters. Spaces are accepted, but multiple spaces are shortened to a
single space.
Step 4 Set the listening port for SNMP requests.

snmp-server listen-port lport
963
Configure SNMP
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server lport 192
The lport argument is the port on which incoming requests are accepted. The default listening port is 161.
The snmp-server listen-port command is only available in admin context, and is not available in the system
context. If you configure the snmp-server listen-port command on a port that is currently in use, the following
message appears:
The UDP port port is in use by another feature. SNMP requests to the device
will fail until the snmp-server listen-port command is configured to use a different port.
The existing SNMP thread continues to poll every 60 seconds until the port is available, and issues syslog
message %ASA-1-212001 if the port is still in use.
Configure Parameters for SNMP Version 3

To configure parameters for SNMP Version 3, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Specify a new SNMP group, which is for use only with SNMP Version 3.
snmp-server group group-namev3 [auth | noauth | priv]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server group testgroup1 v3 auth
When a community string is configured, two additional groups with the name that matches the community
string are autogenerated: one for the Version 1 security model and one for the Version 2 security model. The
auth keyword enables packet authentication. The noauth keyword indicates no packet authentication or
encryption is being used. The priv keyword enables packet encryption and authentication. No default values
exist for the auth or priv keywords.
Step 2 Configure a new user for an SNMP group, which is for use only with SNMP Version 3.
snmp-server userusername group-name {v3 [encrypted]] [auth {md5 | sha]} auth-password [priv] [des |
3des | aes] [128 | 192| 256] priv-password
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server user testuser1 testgroup1 v3 auth md5 testpassword
aes 128 mypassword
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server user testuser1 public v3 encrypted auth md5
00:11:22:33:44:55:66:77:88:99:AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF
The username argument is the name of the user on the host that belongs to the SNMP agent. The group-name
argument is the name of the group to which the user belongs. The v3 keyword specifies that the SNMP Version
3 security model should be used and enables the use of the encrypted, priv, and the auth keywords. The
encrypted keyword specifies the password in encrypted format. Encrypted passwords must be in hexadecimal
964
Configure SNMP
format. The auth keyword specifies which authentication level (md5 or sha) should be used. The priv keyword
specifies the encryption level. No default values for the auth or priv keywords, or default passwords exist.
For the encryption algorithm, you can specify either the des, 3des, or aes keyword. You can also specify
which version of the AES encryption algorithm to use: 128, 192, or 256. The auth-password argument specifies
the authentication user password. The priv-password argument specifies the encryption user password.
Note If you forget a password, you cannot recover it and you must reconfigure the user. You can specify
a plain-text password or a localized digest. The localized digest must match the authentication
algorithm selected for the user, which can be either MD5 or SHA. When the user configuration is
displayed on the console or is written to a file (for example, the startup-configuration file), the
localized authentication and privacy digests are always displayed instead of a plain-text password
(see the second example). The minimum length for a password is 1 alphanumeric character; however,
we recommend that you use at least 8 alphanumeric characters for security.
In clustering, you must manually update each clustered ASA with SNMPv3 users. You can do this by entering
the snmp-server user username group-name v3 command on the master unit with the priv-password option
and auth-password option in their non-localized forms.
An error message appears to inform you that the SNMPv3 user commands will not be replicated during
clustering replication or configuration. You may then configure SNMPv3 user and group commands on slave
ASAs independently. This also means that existing SNMPv3 user and group commands are not cleared during
replication, and you may enter SNMPv3 user and group commands on all slaves in the cluster. For example:
On a master unit using commands entered with keys that have already been localized:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server user defe abc v3 encrypted auth sha

c0:e7:08:50:47:eb:2e:e4:3f:a3:bc:45:f6:dd:c3:46:25:a0:22:9a
priv aes 256 cf:ad:85:5b:e9:14:26:ae:8f:92:51:12:91:16:a3:ed:de:91:6b:f7:
f6:86:cf:18:c0:f0:47:d6:94:e5:da:01
ERROR: This command cannot be replicated because it contains localized keys.
On a slave unit during cluster replication (appears only if an snmp-server user commands exist in the
configuration):
ciscoasa(cfg-cluster)#
Detected Cluster Master.
Beginning configuration replication from Master.
WARNING: existing snmp-server user CLI will not be cleared.
Step 3 Specify the recipient of an SNMP notification. Indicate the interface from which traps are sent. Identify the
name and IP address of the NMS or SNMP manager that can connect to the ASA.
snmp-server host interface {hostname | ip_address} [trap| poll] [community community-string] [version
{1 | 2c | 3 username}] [udp-port port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host mgmt 10.7.14.90 version 3 testuser1
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host mgmt 10.7.26.5 version 3 testuser2
The trap keyword limits the NMS to receiving traps only. The poll keyword limits the NMS to sending
requests (polling) only. By default, SNMP traps are enabled. By default, the UDP port is 162. The community
string is a shared secret key between the ASA and the NMS. The key is a case-sensitive value up to 32
alphanumeric characters. Spaces are not permitted. The default community-string is public. The ASA, ASAv,
and ASASM use this key to determine whether the incoming SNMP request is valid. For example, you could
965
Configure SNMP
designate a site with a community string and then configure the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM and the NMS with
the same string. The ASA, ASAv, and ASASM use the specified string and do not respond to requests with
an invalid community string. After you have used an encrypted community string, only the encrypted form
is visible to all systems (for example, CLI, ASDM, CSM, and so on). The clear text password is not visible.
The encrypted community string is always generated by the ASA; you normally enter the clear text form.
Note If you downgrade from version 8.3(1) to a lower version of the ASA software and have configured
encrypted passwords, you must first revert the encrypted passwords to clear text using the no key
config-key password encryption command, then save the results.
The version keyword specifies the SNMP trap version. The ASA does not support filtering based on SNMP
requests (polling).
When SNMP Version 3 hosts are configured on the ASA, ASAv, and ASASM, a user must be associated
with that host.
To receive traps after you have added the snmp-server host command, make sure that you configure the user
on the NMS with the same credentials as the credentials configured on the ASA, ASAv, or ASASM.
Step 4 Set the SNMP server location or contact information.

snmp-server [contact | location] text
Example:
The text argument specifies the name of the contact person or the ASA system administrator. The name is
case sensitive and can be up to 127 characters. Spaces are accepted, but multiple spaces are shortened to a
single space.
Step 5 Set the listening port for SNMP requests.

snmp-server listen-port lport
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server lport 192
The lport argument is the port on which incoming requests are accepted. The default listening port is 161.
The snmp-server listen-port command is only available in admin context, and is not available in the system
context. If you configure the snmp-server listen-port command on a port that is currently in use, the following
message appears:
The UDP port port is in use by another feature. SNMP requests to the device
will fail until the snmp-server listen-port command is configured to use a different port.
The existing SNMP thread continues to poll every 60 seconds until the port is available, and issues syslog
message %ASA-1-212001 if the port is still in use.
Configure a Group of Users

To configure an SNMP user list with a group of specified users in it, perform the following steps:
966
Monitoring SNMP
Procedure
Configure an SNMP user list.

snmp-server user-list list_name username user_name
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server user-list engineering username user1
The listname argument specifies the name of the user list, which may be up to 33 characters long. The username
user_name keyword-argument pair specifies the users who may be configured in the user list. You configure
the users in the user list with the snmp-server user username command, which is available only if you are
using SNMP Version 3. The user list must have more than one user in it and can be associated with a hostname
or a range of IP addresses.
Associate Users with a Network Object

To associate a single user or a group of users in a user list with a network object, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Associate a single user or a group of users in a user list with a network object.
snmp-server host-group net_obj_name [trap| poll] [community community-string] [version {1 | 2c | 3
{username | user-list list_name}] [udp-port port]
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host-group inside net1 trap community public version 1
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host-group inside net1 trap community public version 2c
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host-group inside net1 trap version 3 user1
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host-group inside net1 trap version 3 user-list engineering
The net_obj_name argument specifies the interface network object name with which a user or group of users
is associated. The trap keyword specifies that only traps can be sent, and that this host is not allowed to browse
(poll). The poll keyword specifies that the host is allowed to browse (poll), but no traps can be sent. The
community keyword specifies that a non-default string is required for requests from the NMS, or when
generating traps sent to the NMS. You can use this keyword only for SNMP Version 1 or 2c. The
community-string argument specifies the password-like community string that is sent with the notification or
in a request from the NMS. The community string can have a maximum of 32 characters. The version keyword
sets the SNMP notification version to Version 1, 2c, or 3 to use for sending traps. The username argument
specifies the name of the user if you are using SNMP Version 3. The user-list list_name keyword-argument
pair specifies the name of the user list. The udp-port port keyword-argument pair specifies that SNMP traps
must be sent to an NMS host on a non-default port and sets the UDP port number of the NMS host. The default
UDP port is 162. The default version is 1. SNMP traps are enabled by default.
Monitoring SNMP
See the following commands for monitoring SNMP.
967
Monitoring SNMP
• show running-config snmp-server [default]

This command shows all SNMP server configuration information.
• show running-config snmp-server group
This command shows SNMP group configuration settings.
• show running-config snmp-server host
This command shows configuration settings used by SNMP to control messages and notifications sent
to remote hosts.
• show running-config snmp-server host-group
This command shows SNMP host group configurations.
• show running-config snmp-server user
This command shows SNMP user-based configuration settings.
• show running-config snmp-server user-list
This command shows SNMP user list configurations.
• show snmp-server engineid
This command shows the ID of the SNMP engine configured.
• show snmp-server group
This command shows the names of configured SNMP groups. If the community string has already been
configured, two extra groups appear by default in the output. This behavior is normal.
• show snmp-server statistics
This command shows the configured characteristics of the SNMP server. To reset all SNMP counters
to zero, use the clear snmp-server statistics command.
• show snmp-server user
This command shows the configured characteristics of users.
Examples
The following example shows how to display SNMP server statistics:
ciscoasa(config)# show snmp-server statistics

0 SNMP packets input
0 Bad SNMP version errors
0 Unknown community name
0 Illegal operation for community name supplied
0 Encoding errors
0 Number of requested variables
0 Number of altered variables
0 Get-request PDUs
0 Get-next PDUs
0 Get-bulk PDUs
0 Set-request PDUs (Not supported)
0 SNMP packets output
0 Too big errors (Maximum packet size 512)
0 No such name errors
0 Bad values errors
0 General errors
0 Response PDUs
0 Trap PDUs
968
Examples for SNMP
The following example shows how to display the SNMP server running configuration:
ciscoasa(config)# show running-config snmp-server

no snmp-server location
no snmp-server contact
snmp-server enable traps snmp authentication linkup linkdown coldstart
Examples for SNMP

The following section provides examples that you can use as reference for all SNMP versions.
SNMP Versions 1 and 2c

The following example shows how the ASA can receive SNMP requests from host 192.0.2.5 on the inside
interface but does not send any SNMP syslog requests to any host:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host 192.0.2.5

ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server community ohwhatakeyisthee
SNMP Version 3
The following example shows how the ASA can receive SNMP requests using the SNMP Version 3 security
model, which requires that the configuration follow this specific order: group, followed by user, followed by
host:
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server group v3 vpn-group priv

ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server user admin vpn group v3 auth sha letmein priv 3des cisco123
ciscoasa(config)# snmp-server host mgmt 10.0.0.1 version 3 priv admin
History for SNMP

Table 66: History for SNMP

Releases
SNMP Versions 1 and 7.0(1) Provides ASA, ASAv, and ASASM network monitoring and event information by
2c transmitting data between the SNMP server and SNMP agent through the clear text
community string.
969
History for SNMP

Releases
SNMP Version 3 8.2(1) Provides 3DES or AES encryption and support for SNMP Version 3, the most secure
form of the supported security models. This version allows you to configure users, groups,
and hosts, as well as authentication characteristics by using the USM. In addition, this
version allows access control to the agent and MIB objects and includes additional MIB
support.
We introduced or modified the following commands: show snmp-server engineid, show
snmp-server group, show snmp-server user, snmp-server group, snmp-server user,
snmp-server host.
Password encryption 8.3(1) Supports password encryption.

We modified the following commands: snmp-server community, snmp-server host.
SNMP traps and MIBs 8.4(1) Supports the following additional keywords: connection-limit-reached, cpu threshold
rising, entity cpu-temperature, entity fan-failure, entity power-supply, ikev2 stop |
start, interface-threshold, memory-threshold, nat packet-discard, warmstart.
The entPhysicalTable reports entries for sensors, fans, power supplies, and related
components.
Supports the following additional MIBs: CISCO-ENTITY-SENSOR-EXT-MIB,
CISCO-ENTITY-FRU-CONTROL-MIB, CISCO-PROCESS-MIB,
CISCO-ENHANCED-MEMPOOL-MIB,
CISCO-L4L7MODULE-RESOURCE-LIMIT-MIB, DISMAN-EVENT-MIB,
DISMAN-EXPRESSION-MIB, ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB, NAT-MIB.
Supports the following additional traps: ceSensorExtThresholdNotification,
clrResourceLimitReached, cpmCPURisingThreshold, mteTriggerFired, natPacketDiscard,
warmStart.
We introduced or modified the following commands: snmp cpu threshold rising, snmp
interface threshold, snmp-server enable traps.
IF-MIB ifAlias OID 8.2(5)/8.4(2) The ASA now supports the ifAlias OID. When you browse the IF-MIB, the ifAlias OID
support will be set to the value that has been set for the interface description.
970
History for SNMP

Releases
ASA Services Module 8.5(1) The ASASM supports all MIBs and traps that are present in 8.4(1), except for the
(ASASM) following:
Unsupported MIBs in 8.5(1):
• CISCO-ENTITY-SENSOR-EXT-MIB (Only objects under the entPhySensorTable
group are supported).
• ENTITY-SENSOR-MIB (Only objects in the entPhySensorTable group are
supported).
• DISMAN-EXPRESSION-MIB (Only objects in the expExpressionTable,
expObjectTable, and expValueTable groups are supported).
Unsupported traps in 8.5(1):

• ceSensorExtThresholdNotification (CISCO-ENTITY-SENSOR-EXT-MIB). This
trap is only used for power supply failure, fan failure, and high CPU temperature
events.
• InterfacesBandwidthUtilization.
SNMP traps 8.6(1) Supports the following additional keywords for the ASA 5512-X, 5515-X, 5525-X,
5545-X, and 5555-X: entity power-supply-presence, entity power-supply-failure,
entity chassis-temperature, entity chassis-fan-failure, entity
power-supply-temperature.
We modified the following command: snmp-server enable traps.
VPN-related MIBs 9.0(1) An updated version of the CISCO-IPSEC-FLOW-MONITOR-MIB.my MIB has been
implemented to support the next generation encryption feature.
The following MIBs have been enabled for the ASASM:
• ALTIGA-GLOBAL-REG.my
• ALTIGA-LBSSF-STATS-MIB.my
• ALTIGA-MIB.my
• ALTIGA-SSL-STATS-MIB.my
• CISCO-IPSEC-FLOW-MONITOR-MIB.my
• CISCO-REMOTE-ACCESS-MONITOR-MIB.my
Cisco TrustSec MIB 9.0(1) Support for the following MIB was added: CISCO-TRUSTSEC-SXP-MIB.
SNMP OIDs 9.1(1) Five new SNMP Physical Vendor Type OIDs have been added to support the ASA 5512-X,
5515-X, 5525-X, 5545-X, and 5555-X.
971
History for SNMP

Releases
NAT MIB 9.1(2) Added the cnatAddrBindNumberOfEntries and cnatAddrBindSessionCount OIDs to
support the xlate_count and max_xlate_count entries, which are the equivalent to allowing
polling using the show xlate count command.
SNMP hosts, host 9.1(5) You can now add up to 4000 hosts. The number of supported active polling destinations
groups, and user lists is 128. You can specify a network object to indicate the individual hosts that you want to
add as a host group. You can associate more than one user with one host.
We introduced or modified the following commands: snmp-server host-group,
snmp-server user-list, show running-config snmp-server, clear configure snmp-server.
SNMP message size 9.2(1) The limit on the message size that SNMP sends has been increased to 1472 bytes.
SNMP OIDs and MIBs 9.2(1) The ASA now supports the cpmCPUTotal5minRev OID.
The ASAv has been added as a new product to the SNMP sysObjectID OID and
entPhysicalVendorType OID.
The CISCO-PRODUCTS-MIB and CISCO-ENTITY-VENDORTYPE-OID-MIB have
been updated to support the new ASAv platform.
A new SNMP MIB for monitoring VPN shared license usage has been added.
SNMP OIDs and MIBs 9.3(1) CISCO-REMOTE-ACCESS-MONITOR-MIB (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.392) support has been
added for the ASASM.
SNMP MIBs and traps 9.3(2) The CISCO-PRODUCTS-MIB and CISCO-ENTITY-VENDORTYPE-OID-MIB have
been updated to support the ASA 5506-X.
The ASA 5506-X has been added as new products to the SNMP sysObjectID OID and
entPhysicalVendorType OID tables.
The ASA now supports the CISCO-CONFIG-MAN-MIB, which enables you to do the
following:
• Know which commands have been entered for a specific configuration.
• Notify the NMS when a change has occurred in the running configuration.
• Track the time stamps associated with the last time that the running configuration
was changed or saved.
• Track other changes to commands, such as terminal details and command sources.
We modified the following command: snmp-server enable traps.
SNMP MIBs and traps 9.4(1) The ASA 5506W-X, ASA 5506H-X, ASA 5508-X, and ASA 5516-X have been added
as a new product to the SNMP sysObjectID OID and entPhysicalVendorType OID tables.
Unlimited SNMP 9.4(1) The ASA supports unlimited SNMP server trap hosts per context. The show snmp-server
server trap hosts per host command output displays only the active hosts that are polling the ASA, as well as
context the statically configured hosts.
We modified the following command: show snmp-server host.
972
History for SNMP

Releases
Added support for ISA 9.4(1.225) The ISA 3000 family of products is now supported for SNMP. We added new OIDs for
3000 this platform. The snmp-server enable traps entity command has been modified to
include a new variable l1-bypass-status. This enables hardware bypass status change.
We modified the following command: snmp-server enable traps entity.
973
History for SNMP
974
CHAPTER 39
Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home
This chapter describes how to configure the Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home services.
• About Anonymous Reporting, page 975

• About Smart Call Home, page 976
• Guidelines for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home, page 982
• Configure Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home, page 983
• Monitoring Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home, page 994
• Examples for Smart Call Home, page 994
• History for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home, page 995
About Anonymous Reporting

You can help to improve the Cisco ASA platform by enabling Anonymous Reporting, which allows Cisco to
securely receive minimal error and health information from the device. If you enable the feature, your customer
identity will remain anonymous, and no identifying information will be sent.
Enabling Anonymous Reporting creates a trust point and installs a certificate. A CA certificate is required for
your ASA to validate the server certificate present on the Smart Call Home web server and to form the HTTPS
session so that your ASA can send messages securely. Cisco imports a certificate that is predefined in the
software. If you decide to enable Anonymous Reporting, a certificate is installed on the ASA with a hardcoded
trust point name: _SmartCallHome_ServerCA. When you enable Anonymous Reporting, this trust point is
created, the appropriate certificate is installed, and you receive a message about this action. The certificate
then appears in your configuration.
If the appropriate certificate already exists in your configuration when you enable Anonymous Reporting, no
trust point is created, and no certificate is installed.
975
About Smart Call Home
Note When you enable Anonymous Reporting, you acknowledge your consent to transfer the specified data to
Cisco or to vendors operating on Cisco’s behalf (including countries outside of the U.S.). Cisco maintains
the privacy of all customers. For information about Cisco’s treatment of personal information, see the
Cisco Privacy Statement at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/web/siteassets/legal/privacy.html
When the ASA configures Smart Call Home anonymous reporting in the background, the ASA automatically
creates a trustpoint containing the certificate of the CA that issues the Call Home server certificate. The
ASA now supports validation of the certificate if the issuing hierarchy of the server certificate changes,
without the need for customer involvement to make certificate hierarchy changes. You can also
automatically import the trustpool certificates so that ASA renews the certificate hierarchy without any
manual intervention.
DNS Requirement
A DNS server must be configured correctly for the ASA to reach the Cisco Smart Call Home server and send
messages to Cisco. Because it is possible that the ASA resides in a private network and does not have access
to the public network, Cisco verifies your DNS configuration and then configures it for you, if necessary, by
doing the following:
1 Performing a DNS lookup for all DNS servers configured.
2 Getting the DNS server from the DHCP server by sending DHCPINFORM messages on the highest
security-level interface.
3 Using the Cisco DNS servers for lookup.
4 Randomly using a static IP addresses for tools.cisco.com.
These tasks are performed without changing the current configuration. (For example, the DNS server that
was learned from DHCP will not be added to the configuration.)
If there is no DNS server configured, and the ASA cannot reach the Cisco Smart Call Home Server, Cisco
generates a syslog message with the warning severity level for each Smart Call Home message that is sent to
remind you to configure DNS correctly.
See the syslog messages guide for information about syslog messages.

When fully configured, Smart Call Home detects issues at your site and reports them back to Cisco or through
other user-defined channels (such as e-mail or directly to you), often before you know that these issues exist.
Depending on the seriousness of these problems, Cisco responds to your system configuration issues, product
end-of-life announcements, security advisory issues, and so on by providing the following services:
• Identifying issues quickly with continuous monitoring, real-time proactive alerts, and detailed diagnostics.
• Making you aware of potential problems through Smart Call Home notifications, in which a service
request has been opened, with all diagnostic data attached.
• Resolving critical problems faster with direct, automatic access to experts in Cisco TAC.
• Using staff resources more efficiently by reducing troubleshooting time.
976
• Generating service requests to Cisco TAC automatically (if you have a service contract), routed to the
appropriate support team, which provides detailed diagnostic information that speeds problem resolution.
The Smart Call Home Portal offers quick access to required information that enables you to do the following:
• Review all Smart Call Home messages, diagnostics, and recommendations in one place.
• Check service request status.
• View the most up-to-date inventory and configuration information for all Smart Call Home-enabled
devices.
Subscribe to Alert Groups

An alert group is a predefined subset of the Smart Call Home alerts that are supported on the ASA. Different
types of Smart Call Home alerts are grouped into different alert groups, depending on their type. Each alert
group reports the output of certain CLIs. The supported Smart Call Home alert groups are the following:
• syslog
• diagnostic
• environment
• inventory
• configuration
• threat
• snapshot
• telemetry
• test
Attributes of Alert Groups

Alert groups have the following attributes:
• Events first register with one alert group.
• A group can associate with multiple events.
• You can subscribe to specific alert groups.
• You can enable and disable specific alert groups. The default setting is enabled for all alert groups.
• The diagnostic and environment alert groups support subscription for periodic messages.
• The syslog alert group supports message ID-based subscription.
• You can configure a threshold for CPU and memory usage for the environment alert group. When a
certain parameter has exceeded a predefined threshold, a message is sent. Most of the threshold values
are platform-dependent and cannot be changed.
• You configure the snapshot alert group to send the output of CLIs that you specify.
977
Messages Sent to Cisco by Alert Groups

Messages are sent to Cisco periodically and whenever the ASA reloads. These messages are categorized by
alert groups.
Inventory alerts consist of output from the following commands:
• show version—Displays the ASA software version, hardware configuration, license key, and related
uptime data for the device.
• show inventory—Retrieves and displays inventory information about each Cisco product that is installed
in the networking device. Each product is identified by unique device information, called the UDI, which
is a combination of three separate data elements: the product identifier (PID), the version identifier
(VID), and the serial number (SN).
• show failover state—Displays the failover state of both units in a failover pair. The information displayed
includes the primary or secondary status of the unit, the Active/Standby status of the unit, and the last
reported reason for failover.
• show module—Shows information about any modules installed on the ASAs, for example, information
about an SSP installed on the ASA 5585-X, and information about an IPS SSP installed on an ASA
5585-X.
• show environment—Shows system environment information for ASA system components, such as
hardware operational status for the chassis, drivers, fans, and power supplies, as well as temperature
status, voltage, and CPU usage.
Configuration alerts consist of output from the following commands:

• show context—Shows allocated interfaces and the configuration file URL, the number of contexts
configured, or if you enable Anonymous Reporting in the system execution space, from a list of all
contexts.
• show call-home registered-module status—Shows the registered module status. If you use system
configuration mode, the command displays system module status based on the entire device, not per
context.
• show running-config—Shows the configuration that is currently running on the ASA.
• show startup-config—Show the startup configuration.
• show access-list | include elements—Shows the hit counters and a time stamp value for an access list.
Diagnostic alerts consist of output from the following commands:

• show failover—Displays information about the failover status of the unit.
• show interface—Displays interface statistics.
• show cluster info—Displays cluster information.
• show cluster history—Displays the cluster history.
• show crashinfo (truncated)—After an unexpected software reload, the device sends a modified crash
information file with only the traceback section of the file included, so only function calls, register
values, and stack dumps are reported to Cisco.
978
• show tech-support no-config—Displays the information that is used for diagnosis by technical
support analysts.
Environment alerts consist of output from the following commands:

• show environment—Shows system environment information for ASA system components, such as
hardware operational status for the chassis, drivers, fans, and power supplies, as well as temperature
status, voltage, and CPU usage.
• show cpu usage—Displays CPU usage information.
• show memory detail—Displays details of the free and allocated system memory.
Threat alerts consist of output from the following commands:

• show threat-detection rate—Displays threat detection statistics.
• show threat-detection shun—Displays currently shunned hosts.
• show shun—Displays shun information.
• show dynamic-filter reports top—Generates reports of the top 10 malware sites, ports, and infected
hosts classified by the Botnet Traffic Filter.
Snapshot alerts may consist of output from the following commands:

• show conn count—Shows the number of active connections.
• show asp drop—Shows the accelerated security path dropped packets or connections.
Telemetry alerts consist of output from the following commands:

• show perfmon detail—Shows ASA performance details.
• show traffic—Displays interface transmit and receive activity.
• show conn count—Shows the number of active connections.
• show vpn-sessiondb summary—Shows VPN session summary information.
• show vpn load-balancing—Displays the runtime statistics for the VPN load-balancing virtual
cluster configuration.
• show local-host | include interface—Shows the network states of local hosts.
• show memory—Displays a summary of the maximum physical memory and current free memory
available to the operating system.
• show context—Shows allocated interfaces and the configuration file URL, the number of contexts
configured, or if you enable Anonymous Reporting in the system execution space, from a list of all
contexts.
• show access-list | include elements—Shows the hit counters and a time stamp value for an access list.
• show interface—Displays interface statistics.
• show threat-detection statistics protocol—Shows IP protocol statistics.
• show phone-proxy media-sessions count—Displays the number of corresponding media sessions
stored by the Phone Proxy.
979
• show phone-proxy secure-phones count—Displays the number of phones capable of secure mode
stored in the database.
• show route—Displays the routing table.
• show xlate count—Shows the number of NAT sessions (xlates).
Message Severity Threshold

When you subscribe a destination profile to certain alert groups, you can set a threshold for sending alert
group messages based on the message severity level. Any message with a value lower than the destination
profile’s specified threshold is not sent to the destination.
The following table shows the mapping between message severity levels and syslog severity levels.
Table 67: Message Severity Level and Syslog Level Mapping
Syslog Severity
Level Message Severity Level Level Description
9 Catastrophic N/A Network-wide catastrophic failure.
8 Disaster N/A Significant network impact.
7 Determined by the 0 Emergency. System is unusable.

specified CLI keyword:
subscribe-to-alert-group
name of alert group
severity severity level
6 Determined by the 1 Alert. Critical conditions; immediate attention needed.

name of alert group
5 Determined by the 2 Critical. Major conditions.

name of alert group
4 Determined by the 3 Error. Minor conditions.

name of alert group
3 Warning 4 Warning conditions.
980
Syslog Severity
Level Message Severity Level Level Description
2 Notification 5 Basic notification and informational messages.
Possibly independently insignificant.
1 Normal 6 Information. Normal event, signifying a return to

normal state.
0 Debugging 7 Debugging messages (default setting).
Subscription Profiles
A subscription profile allows you to associate the destination recipients with interested groups. When an event
registered with a subscribed group in a profile is triggered, the message associated with the event is sent to
the configured recipients. Subscription profiles have the following attributes:
• You can create and configure multiple profiles.
• A profile may configure multiple e-mail or HTTPS recipients.
• A profile may subscribe multiple groups to a specified severity level.
• A profile supports three message formats: short text, long text, and XML.
• You can enable and disable a specific profile. Profiles are disabled by default.
• You can specify the maximum message size. The default is 3 MB.
A default profile, “Cisco TAC,” has been provided. The default profile has a predefined set of groups (diagnostic,
environment, inventory, configuration, and telemetry) to monitor and predefined destination e-mail and HTTPS
URLs. The default profile is created automatically when you initially configure Smart Call Home. The
destination e-mail is [email protected] and the destination URL is
https://tools.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService.
Note You cannot change the destination e-mail or the destination URL of the default profile.
When you subscribe a destination profile to the configuration, inventory, telemetry, or snapshot alert groups,
you can choose to receive the alert group messages asynchronously or periodically at a specified time.
The following table maps the default alert group to its severity level subscription and period (if applicable):
Table 68: Alert Group to Severity Level Subscription Mapping
Alert Group Severity Level Period

Configuration Informational Monthly
Diagnostic Informational and higher N/A
Environment Notification and higher N/A
981
Guidelines for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home
Alert Group Severity Level Period

Inventory Informational Monthly
Snapshot Informational N/A
Syslog Equivalent syslog N/A
Telemetry Informational Daily
Test N/A N/A
Threat Notification N/A
Guidelines for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home

This section includes the guidelines and limitation that you should review before configuring Anonymous
reporting and Smart Call Home.
Anonymous Reporting Guidelines

• DNS must be configured.
• If an Anonymous Reporting message cannot be sent on the first try, the ASA retries two more times
before dropping the message.
• Anonymous Reporting may coexist with other Smart Call Home configurations without changing the
existing configuration. For example, if Smart Call Home is disabled before enabling Anonymous
Reporting, it remains disabled, even after Anonymous Reporting has been enabled.
• If Anonymous Reporting is enabled, you cannot remove the trust point, and when Anonymous Reporting
is disabled, the trust point remains. If Anonymous Reporting is disabled, you can remove the trust point,
but disabling Anonymous Reporting does not cause the trust point to be removed.
• If you are using a multiple context mode configuration, the dns, interface, and trustpoint commands
are in the admin context, and the call-home commands are in the system context.
• You can automate the update of the trustpool bundle at periodic intervals so that Smart Call Home can
remain active if the self-signed certificate of the CA server changes. This trustpool auto renewal feature
is not supported under multi-context deployments.
Smart Call Home Guidelines

• In multiple context mode, the subscribe-to-alert-group snapshot periodic command is divided into two
commands: one to obtain information from the system configuration and one to obtain information from
the user context.
• The Smart Call Home back-end server can accept messages in XML format only.
• A Smart Call Home message is sent to Cisco to report important cluster events if you have enabled
clustering and configured Smart Call Home to subscribe to the diagnostic alert group with a critical
severity level. A Smart Call Home clustering message is sent for only the following events:
982
Configure Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home
◦When a unit joins the cluster

◦When a unit leaves the cluster
◦When a cluster unit becomes the cluster master
◦When a secondary unit fails in the cluster
Each message that is sent includes the following information:

◦The active cluster member count
◦The output of the show cluster info command and the show cluster history command on the
cluster master

While Anonymous Reporting is part of the Smart Call Home service and allows Cisco to anonymously receive
minimal error and health information from your device, the Smart Call Home service provides customized
support of your system health, enabling Cisco TAC to monitor your devices and open a case when there is
an issue, often before you know the issue has occurred.
You can have both services configured on your system at the same time, although configuring the Smart Call
Home service provides the same functionality as Anonymous Reporting, plus customized services.
When you enter configuration mode, you receive a prompt that requests you to enable the Anonymous
Reporting and Smart Call Home services according to the following guidelines:
• At the prompt, you may choose [Y]es, [N]o, or [A]sk later. If you choose [A]sk later, then you are
reminded again in seven days or when the ASA reloads. If you continue to choose [A]sk later, the ASA
prompts two more times at seven-day intervals before it assumes a [N]o response and does not ask again.
• If you did not receive the prompt, you may enable Anonymous Reporting or Smart Call Home by
performing the steps in Configure Anonymous Reporting, on page 983 or in Configure Smart Call Home,
on page 984.
Configure Anonymous Reporting

To configure Anonymous Reporting, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the Anonymous Reporting feature and create a new anonymous profile.
call-home reporting anonymous
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# call-home reporting anonymous
Entering this command creates a trust point and installs a certificate that is used to verify the identity of the
Cisco web server.
983
Step 2 (Optional) Make sure that you have connectivity to the server and that your system can send messages.
call-home test reporting anonymous
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# call-home test reporting anonymous
INFO: Sending test message to

https://tools.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService...
INFO: Succeeded
A success or error message returns test results.
Configure Smart Call Home

Configuring the Smart Call Home service on your ASA includes the following tasks:
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the Smart Call Home service. See Enable Smart Call Home, on page 984.
Step 2 Configure the mail server through which Smart Call Home messages are delivered to subscribers. See Configure
the Mail Server, on page 989.
Step 3 Set up contact information for the Smart Call Home messages. See Configure Customer Contact Information,
on page 987.
Step 4 Define alert processing parameters, such as the maximum rate of events that can be handled. See Configure
Alert Group Subscription, on page 986.
Step 5 Set up alert subscription profiles. See Configure a Destination Profile, on page 991.
Each alert subscription profile identifies the following:
• The subscribers to whom the Smart Call Home messages are sent, such as a Smart Call Home server at
Cisco or a list of e-mail recipients.
• Information categories for which you want to receive alerts, such as configuration or inventory
information.
Enable Smart Call Home

To enable Smart Call Home and activate your call-home profile, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 Enable the Smart Call Home service.

service call-home
984
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# service call-home
Step 2 Enter call-home configuration mode.

call-home
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# call home
Declare and Authenticate a Certificate Authority Trust Point

If Smart Call Home is configured to send messages to a web server through HTTPS, you need to configure
the ASA to trust the certificate of the web server or the certificate of the Certificate Authority (CA) that issued
the certificate. The Cisco Smart Call Home Production server certificate is issued by Verisign. The Cisco
Smart Call Home Staging server certificate is issued by the Digital Signature Trust Company.
Note You should set the trust point for no client-types/no validation-usage to prevent it from being used for
VPN validation.
To declare and authenticate the Cisco server security certificate and establish communication with the Cisco
HTTPS server for Smart Call Home service, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Step 1 (Multiple Context Mode only) Install the certificate in the admin context.
changeto context admincontext
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# changeto context contextA
Step 2 Configure a trust point and prepare for certificate enrollment.

Example:
ciscoasa(config)# crypto ca trustpoint cisco
Note If you use HTTP as the transport method, you must install a security certificate through a trust point,
which is required for HTTPS. Find the specific certificate to install at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/smart_call_home/SCH31_Ch6.html#wp1035380
Step 3 Specify a manual cut-and-paste method of certificate enrollment.
enroll terminal
985
Example:
ciscoasa(ca-trustpoint)# enroll terminal
Step 4 Authenticate the named CA. The CA name should match the trust point name specified in the crypto ca
trustpoint command. At the prompt, paste the security certificate text.
Example:
ciscoasa(ca-trustpoint)# crypto ca authenticate cisco
Step 5 Specify the end of the security certificate text and confirm acceptance of the entered security certificate.
quit
Example:
ciscoasa(ca-trustpoint)# quit
%Do you accept this certificate [yes/no]:
yes
Configure the Environment and Snapshot Alert Groups

To configure the environment and snapshot alert groups, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Enter alert-group-configuration mode.

alert-group-config {environment | snapshot}
Example:
ciscoasa(config)# alert-group-config environment
Configure Alert Group Subscription

To subscribe a destination profile to an alert group, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
986
Example:
Step 2 Enable the specified Smart Call Home alert group.

alert-group {all | configuration | diagnostic | environment | inventory | syslog}
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# alert-group syslog
Use the all keyword to enable all alert groups. By default, all alert groups are enabled.
Step 3 Enter the profile configuration mode for the specified destination profile.
profile profile-name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# profile CiscoTAC-1
Step 4 Subscribe to all available alert groups.

subscribe-to-alert-group all
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group all
Step 5 Subscribe this destination profile to the configuration alert group.

subscribe-to-alert-group configuration periodic {daily hh:mm | monthly date hh:mm | weekly day hh:mm}
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group configuration periodic weekly
Wednesday 23:30
The periodic keyword configures the configuration alert group for periodic notification. The default period
is daily.
The daily keyword specifies the time of the day to send, in the hh:mm format, with a 24-hour clock (for
example, 14:30).
The weekly keyword specifies the day of the week and time of day in the day hh:mm format, where the day
of the week is spelled out (for example, Monday).
The monthly keyword specifies the numeric date, from 1 to 31, and the time of day, in the date hh:mm format.
Configure Customer Contact Information

To configure customer contact information, perform the following steps:
987
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Specify the customer phone number. Spaces are allowed, but you must use quotes around the string if it
includes spaces.
phone-number phone-number-string
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# phone-number 8005551122
Step 3 Specify the customer address, which is a free-format string that may be up to 255 characters long. Spaces are
allowed, but you must use quotes around the string if it includes spaces.
street-address street-address
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# street-address “1234 Any Street, Any city, Any state, 12345”
Step 4 Specify the customer name, which may be up to 128 characters long. Spaces are allowed, but you must use
quotes around the string if it includes spaces.
contact-name contact-name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# contact-name contactname1234
Step 5 Specify the Cisco customer ID, which may be up to 64 characters long. Spaces are allowed, but you must use
customer-id customer-id-string
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# customer-id customer1234
Step 6 Specify the customer site ID, which may be up to 64 characters long. Spaces are allowed, but you must use
site-id site-id-string
988
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# site-id site1234
Step 7 Specify the customer contract identification, which may be up to 128 characters long. Spaces are allowed,
but you must use quotes around the string if it includes spaces.
contract-id contract-id-string
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# contract-id contract1234
Example
The following example shows how to configure contact information:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# contact-email-addr [email protected]
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# phone-number 8005551122
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# street-address “1234 Any Street, Any city, Any state, 12345”
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# contact-name contactname1234
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# customer-id customer1234
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# site-id site1234
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# contract-id contract1234
Configure the Mail Server

We recommend that you use HTTPS for message transport because it is the most secure. However, you may
configure an e-mail destination for Smart Call Home and then configure the mail server to use the e-mail
message transport.
To configure the mail server, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Specify the SMTP mail server.

mail-serverip-address name priority [1-100] [all]
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# mail-server 10.10.1.1 smtp.example.com priority 1
989
You can specify up to five mail servers, using five separate commands. You must configure at least one mail
server for using e-mail transport of Smart Call Home messages.
The lower the number, the higher the priority of the mail server.
The ip-address argument can be an IPv4 or IPv6 mail server address.
Example
The following example shows how to configure a primary mail server (named ”smtp.example.com”) and a
secondary mail server at IP address 10.10.1.1:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# mail-server smtp.example.com priority 1
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# mail-server 10.10.1.1 priority 2
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# exit
ciscoasa(config)#
Configure Traffic Rate Limiting

To configure traffic rate limiting, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Specify the number of messages that Smart Call Home can send per minute. The default value is 10 messages
per minute.
rate-limit msg-count
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# rate-limit 5
Send Smart Call Home Communications

To send specific Smart Call Home communications, perform the following steps:
Procedure
Choose one of the following options:

• Option 1—Send a test message manually using a profile configuration.
990
call-home test [test-message] profile profile-name

Example:
ciscoasa# call-home test [testing123] profile CiscoTAC-1
• Option 2—Send an alert group message to one destination profile, if specified. If no profile is specified,
send messages to all profiles that are subscribed to the inventory, configuration, snapshot, or telemetry
alert groups.
call-home send alert-group inventory { | configuration | snapshot | telemetry} [profile profile-name]
Example:
ciscoasa# call-home send alert-group inventory
• Option 3—Send command output to an e-mail address. The specified CLI command can be any command,
including commands for all registered modules.
call-home sendcli command [email email]
Example:
ciscoasa# call-home send cli destination email [email protected]
If you specify an e-mail address, the command output is sent to that address. If no e-mail address is
specified, the output is sent to Cisco TAC. The e-mail is sent in log text format with the service number,
if specified, in the subject line.
The service number is required only if no e-mail address is specified, or if a Cisco TAC e-mail address
is specified.
Configure a Destination Profile

To configure a destination profile for e-mail or for HTTP, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Enter the profile configuration mode for the specified destination profile. If the specified destination profile
does not exist, it is created.
991
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# profile newprofile
You can create a maximum of 10 active profiles. The default profile is to report back to Cisco TAC. If you
want to send call home information to a different location (for example, your own server), you can configure
a separate profile.
Step 3 Configure the destination, message size, message format, and transport method for the Smart Call Home
message receiver. The default message format is XML, and the default enabled transport method is e-mail.
destination {email address | http url} | message-size-limit size | preferred-msg-format {long-text | short-text
| xml} transport-method {email | http}}
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# destination address email [email protected]
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# destination preferred-msg-format long-text
The e-mail-address is the e-mail address of the Smart Call Home message receiver, which can be up to 100
characters long. By default, the maximum URL size is 5 MB.
Use the short-text format to send and read a message on a mobile device, and use the long text format to send
and read a message on a computer.
If the message receiver is the Smart Call Home back-end server, ensure that the preferred-msg-format value
is XML because the back-end server can accept messages in XML format only.
Use this command to change the transport method back to e-mail.
Copy a Destination Profile

To create a new destination profile by copying an existing one, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Specify the profile to copy.

Example:
Step 3 Copy the content of an existing profile to a new profile.
992
copy profile src-profile-name dest-profile-name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# copy profile newprofile profile1
The existing profile (src-profile-name) and the new profile (dest-profile-name) may be up to 23 characters
long.
Example
The following example shows how to copy an existing profile:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# copy profile newprofile profile1
Rename a Destination Profile

To change the name of an existing profile, perform the following steps:
Procedure

call-home
Example:
Step 2 Specify the profile to rename.

profile profilename
Example:
Step 3 Change the name of an existing profile.

rename profile src-profile-name dest-profile-name
Example:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home)# rename profile newprofile profile1
The existing profile (src-profile-name) and the new profile (dest-profile-name) may be up to 23 characters
long.
993
Monitoring Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home
Example
The following example shows how to rename an existing profile:
ciscoasa(cfg-call-home-profile)# rename profile newprofile profile1
Monitoring Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home

See the following commands for monitoring Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home services.
• show call-home detail
This command shows the current Smart Call Home detail configuration.
• show call-home mail-server status
This command shows the current mail server status.
• show call-home profile {profile name | all}
This command shows the configuration of Smart Call Home profiles.
• show call-home registered-module status [all]
This command shows the registered module status.
• show call-home statistics
This command shows call-home detail status.
• show call-home
This command shows the current Smart Call Home configuration.
• show running-config call-home
This command shows the current Smart Call Home running configuration.
• show smart-call-home alert-group
This command shows the current status of Smart Call Home alert groups.
• show running-config all
This command shows details about the Anonymous Reporting user profile.
Examples for Smart Call Home

The following example shows how to configure the Smart Call Home service:
ciscoasa (config)# service call-home

ciscoasa (config)# call-home
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home)# contact-email-addr [email protected]
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home)# profile CiscoTAC-1
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# destination address http
https://example.cisco.com/its/service/example/services/ExampleService
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# destination address email [email protected]
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# destination transport-method http
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group inventory periodic daily 23:30
994
History for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group configuration periodic weekly

Wednesday 23:30
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group environment
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group diagnostic
ciscoasa (cfg-call-home-profile)# subscribe-to-alert-group telemetry periodic weekly Monday
23:30

Table 69: History for Anonymous Reporting and Smart Call Home

Releases
Smart Call Home 8.2(2) The Smart Call Home service offers proactive diagnostics and
real-time alerts on the ASA, and provides higher network
availability and increased operational efficiency.
We introduced or modified the following commands:
active (call home), call-home, call-home send alert-group,
call-home test, contact-email-addr, customer-id (call home),
destination (call home), profile, rename profile, service
call-home, show call-home, show call-home detail, show
smart-call-home alert-group, show call-home profile, show
call-home statistics, show call-home mail-server status, show
running-config call-home, show call-home registered-module
status all, site-id, street-address, subscribe-to-alert-group
all, alert-group-config, subscribe-to-alert-group
configuration, subscribe-to-alert-group diagnostic,
subscribe-to-alert-group environment,
subscribe-to-alert-group inventory periodic,
subscribe-to-alert-group snapshot periodic,
subscribe-to-alert-group syslog, subscribe-to-alert-group
telemetry periodic.
Anonymous Reporting 9.0(1) You can help to improve the ASA platform by enabling
Anonymous Reporting, which allows Cisco to securely receive
minimal error and health information from a device.
We introduced the following commands: call-home reporting
anonymous, call-home test reporting anonymous.
Smart Call Home 9.1(2) The show local-host command was changed to the show
local-host | include interface command for telemetry alert
group reporting.
995

Releases
Smart Call Home 9.1(3) A Smart Call Home message is sent to Cisco to report important
cluster events if you have enabled clustering and configured
Smart Call Home to subscribe to the Diagnostic alert group
with a Critical severity level. A Smart Call Home clustering
message is sent for only the following three events:
• When a unit joins the cluster
• When a unit leaves the cluster
• When a cluster unit becomes the cluster master
Each message that is sent includes the following information:

• The active cluster member count
• The output of the show cluster info command and the
show cluster history command on the cluster master
996
PART IX
Reference
• Using the Command-Line Interface, page 999
• Addresses, Protocols, and Ports, page 1007
CHAPTER 40
Using the Command-Line Interface
This chapter describes how to use the CLI on the Cisco ASA.
Note The CLI uses similar syntax and other conventions to the Cisco IOS CLI, but the ASA operating system
is not a version of Cisco IOS software. Do not assume that a Cisco IOS CLI command works with or has
the same function on the ASA.
• Firewall Mode and Security Context Mode, page 999

• Command Modes and Prompts, page 1000
• Syntax Formatting, page 1001
• Abbreviate Commands, page 1002
• Command-Line Editing, page 1002
• Command Completion, page 1002
• Command Help, page 1002
• View the Running Configuration, page 1003
• Filter show and more Command Output, page 1003
• Command Output Paging, page 1004
• Add Comments, page 1004
• Text Configuration Files, page 1004
• Supported Character Sets, page 1006
Firewall Mode and Security Context Mode

The ASA runs in a combination of the following modes:
• Transparent firewall or routed firewall mode
The firewall mode determines if the ASA runs as a Layer 2 or Layer 3 firewall.
999
Command Modes and Prompts
• Multiple context or single context mode

The security context mode determines if the ASA runs as a single device or as multiple security contexts,
which act like virtual devices.
Some commands are only available in certain modes.
Command Modes and Prompts

The ASA CLI includes command modes. Some commands can only be entered in certain modes. For example,
to enter commands that show sensitive information, you need to enter a password and enter a more privileged
mode. Then, to ensure that configuration changes are not entered accidentally, you have to enter a configuration
mode. All lower commands can be entered in higher modes, for example, you can enter a privileged EXEC
command in global configuration mode.
Note The various types of prompts are all default prompts and when configured, they can be different.
• When you are in the system configuration or in single context mode, the prompt begins with the hostname:
ciscoasa
• When printing the prompt string, the prompt configuration is parsed and the configured keyword values
are printed in the order in which you have set the prompt command. The keyword arguments can be any
of the following and in any order: hostname, domain, context, priority, state.
prompt hostname context priority state
• When you are within a context, the prompt begins with the hostname followed by the context name:
ciscoasa/context
The prompt changes depending on the access mode:

• User EXEC mode
User EXEC mode lets you see minimum ASA settings. The user EXEC mode prompt appears as follows
when you first access the ASA:
ciscoasa>
ciscoasa/context>
• Privileged EXEC mode

Privileged EXEC mode lets you see all current settings up to your privilege level. Any user EXEC mode
command will work in privileged EXEC mode. Enter the enable command in user EXEC mode, which
requires a password, to start privileged EXEC mode. The prompt includes the number sign (#):
ciscoasa#
ciscoasa/context#
1000
Syntax Formatting
• Global configuration mode

Global configuration mode lets you change the ASA configuration. All user EXEC, privileged EXEC,
and global configuration commands are available in this mode. Enter the configure terminal command
in privileged EXEC mode to start global configuration mode. The prompt changes to the following:
ciscoasa(config)#
ciscoasa/context(config)#
• Command-specific configuration modes

From global configuration mode, some commands enter a command-specific configuration mode. All
user EXEC, privileged EXEC, global configuration, and command-specific configuration commands
are available in this mode. For example, the interface command enters interface configuration mode.
The prompt changes to the following:
ciscoasa(config-if)#
ciscoasa/context(config-if)#
Syntax Formatting
Command syntax descriptions use the conventions listed in the following table.
Table 70: Syntax Conventions
Convention Description
bold Bold text indicates commands and keywords that you enter literally as shown.
italics Italic text indicates arguments for which you supply values.
[x] Square brackets enclose an optional element (keyword or argument).
| A vertical bar indicates a choice within an optional or required set of keywords or

arguments.
[x | y] Square brackets enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical bar indicate an

optional choice.
{x | y} Braces enclosing keywords or arguments separated by a vertical bar indicate a required

choice.
[x {y | z}] Nested sets of square brackets or braces indicate optional or required choices within
optional or required elements. Braces and a vertical bar within square brackets indicate a
required choice within an optional element.
1001
Abbreviate Commands
Abbreviate Commands
You can abbreviate most commands down to the fewest unique characters for a command; for example, you
can enter wr t to view the configuration instead of entering the full command write terminal, or you can
enter en to start privileged mode and conf t to start configuration mode. In addition, you can enter 0 to
represent 0.0.0.0.
Command-Line Editing
The ASA uses the same command-line editing conventions as Cisco IOS software. You can view all previously
entered commands with the show history command or individually with the up arrow or ^p command. Once
you have examined a previously entered command, you can move forward in the list with the down arrow or
^n command. When you reach a command you wish to reuse, you can edit it or press the Enter key to start
it. You can also delete the word to the left of the cursor with ^w, or erase the line with ^u.
The ASA permits up to 512 characters in a command; additional characters are ignored.
Command Completion
To complete a command or keyword after entering a partial string, press the Tab key. The ASA only completes
the command or keyword if the partial string matches only one command or keyword. For example, if you
enter s and press the Tab key, the ASA does not complete the command because it matches more than one
command. However, if you enter dis, the Tab key completes the disable command.
Command Help
Help information is available from the command line by entering the following commands:
• help command_name
Shows help for the specific command.
• command_name ?
Shows a list of arguments available.
• string? (no space)
Lists the possible commands that start with the string.
• ? and +?
Lists all commands available. If you enter ?, the ASA shows only commands available for the current
mode. To show all commands available, including those for lower modes, enter +?.
Note If you want to include a question mark (?) in a command string, you must press Ctrl-V before typing the
question mark so that you do not inadvertently invoke CLI help.
1002
View the Running Configuration
View the Running Configuration

To view the running configuration, use one of the following commands:
• show running-config [all] [command]
If you specify all, then all default settings are shown as well. If you specify a command, then the output
only includes related commands.
Note Many passwords are shown as *****. To view the passwords in plain text, or in encrypted
form if you have a master passphrase enabled, use the more command.
• more system:running-config
Filter show and more Command Output

You can use the vertical bar (|) with any show command and include a filter option and filtering expression.
The filtering is performed by matching each output line with a regular expression, similar to Cisco IOS
software. By selecting different filter options you can include or exclude all output that matches the expression.
You can also display all output beginning with the line that matches the expression.
The syntax for using filtering options with the show command is as follows:
show command | {include| exclude | begin | grep [-v]} regexp
or
more system:running-config| {include| exclude | begin | grep [-v]} regexp
Note Entering the more command allows you to view the contents of any file, not just the running configuration;
see the command reference for more information.
In this command string, the first vertical bar (|) is the operator and must be included in the command. This
operator directs the output of the show command to the filter. In the syntax diagram, the other vertical bars
(|) indicate alternative options and are not part of the command.
The include option includes all output lines that match the regular expression. The grep option without -v
has the same effect. The exclude option excludes all output lines that match the regular expression. The grep
option with-v has the same effect. The begin option shows all the output lines starting with the line that
matches the regular expression.
Replace regexp with any Cisco IOS regular expression. The regular expression is not enclosed in quotes or
double-quotes, so be careful with trailing white spaces, which will be taken as part of the regular expression.
When creating regular expressions, you can use any letter or number that you want to match. In addition,
certain keyboard characters called metacharacters have special meaning when used in regular expressions.
Use Ctrl+V to escape all of the special characters in the CLI, such as a question mark (?) or a tab. For example,
type d[Ctrl+V]?g to enter d?g in the configuration.
1003
Command Output Paging
Command Output Paging

For commands such as help or ?, show, show xlate, or other commands that provide long listings, you can
determine if the information displays a screen and pauses, or lets the command run to completion. The pager
command lets you choose the number of lines to display before the More prompt appears.
When paging is enabled, the following prompt appears:
<--- More --->
The More prompt uses syntax similar to the UNIX more command:
• Press the Space bar to view another screen.
• Press the Enter key to view the next line.
• Press the q key to return to the command line.
Add Comments
You can precede a line with a colon ( : ) to create a comment. However, the comment only appears in the
command history buffer and not in the configuration. Therefore, you can view the comment with the show
history command or by pressing an arrow key to retrieve a previous command, but because the comment is
not in the configuration, the write terminal command does not display it.
Text Configuration Files

This section describes how to format a text configuration file that you can download to the ASA.
How Commands Correspond with Lines in the Text File

The text configuration file includes lines that correspond with the commands described in this guide.
In examples, commands are preceded by a CLI prompt. The prompt in the following example is
“ciscoasa(config)#”:
ciscoasa(config)# context a
In the text configuration file you are not prompted to enter commands, so the prompt is omitted:
context a
Command-Specific Configuration Mode Commands

Command-specific configuration mode commands appear indented under the main command when entered
at the command line. Your text file lines do not need to be indented, as long as the commands appear directly
following the main command. For example, the following unindented text is read the same as indented text:
1004
Text Configuration Files
nameif inside
nameif outside
Automatic Text Entries

When you download a configuration to the ASA, it inserts some lines automatically. For example, the ASA
inserts lines for default settings or for the time the configuration was modified. You do not need to enter these
automatic entries when you create your text file.
Line Order
For the most part, commands can be in any order in the file. However, some lines, such as ACEs, are processed
in the order they appear, and the order can affect the function of the access list. Other commands might also
have order requirements. For example, you must enter the nameif command for an interface first because
many subsequent commands use the name of the interface. Also, commands in a command-specific
configuration mode must directly follow the main command.
Commands Not Included in the Text Configuration

Some commands do not insert lines in the configuration. For example, a runtime command such as
show running-config does not have a corresponding line in the text file.
Passwords
The login, enable, and user passwords are automatically encrypted before they are stored in the configuration.
For example, the encrypted form of the password “cisco” might look like jMorNbK0514fadBh. You can copy
the configuration passwords to another ASA in its encrypted form, but you cannot unencrypt the passwords
yourself.
If you enter an unencrypted password in a text file, the ASA does not automatically encrypt it when you copy
the configuration to the ASA. The ASA only encrypts it when you save the running configuration from the
command line using the copy running-config startup-config or write memory command.
Multiple Security Context Files

For multiple security contexts, the entire configuration consists of the following multiple parts:
• The security context configurations
• The system configuration, which identifies basic settings for the ASA, including a list of contexts
• The admin context, which provides network interfaces for the system configuration
The system configuration does not include any interfaces or network settings for itself. Rather, when
the system needs to access network resources (such as downloading the contexts from the server), it
uses a context that is designated as the admin context.
Each context is similar to a single context mode configuration. The system configuration differs from a context
configuration in that the system configuration includes system-only commands (such as a list of all contexts)
while other typical commands are not present (such as many interface parameters).
1005
Supported Character Sets
Supported Character Sets

The ASA CLI currently supports UTF-8 encoding only. UTF-8 is the particular encoding scheme for Unicode
symbols, and has been designed to be compatible with an ASCII subset of symbols. ASCII characters are
represented in UTF-8 as one-byte characters. All other characters are represented in UTF-8 as multibyte
symbols.
The ASCII printable characters (0x20 to 0x7e) are fully supported. The printable ASCII characters are the
same as ISO 8859-1. UTF-8 is a superset of ISO 8859-1, so the first 256 characters (0-255) are the same as
ISO 8859-1. The ASA CLI supports up to 255 characters (multibyte characters) of ISO 8859-1.
1006
CHAPTER 41
Addresses, Protocols, and Ports
This chapter provides a quick reference for IP addresses, protocols, and applications.
• IPv4 Addresses and Subnet Masks, page 1007

• IPv6 Addresses, page 1011
• Protocols and Applications, page 1016
• TCP and UDP Ports, page 1017
• Local Ports and Protocols, page 1021
• ICMP Types, page 1022
IPv4 Addresses and Subnet Masks

This section describes how to use IPv4 addresses in the Cisco ASA. An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number
written in dotted-decimal notation: four 8-bit fields (octets) converted from binary to decimal numbers,
separated by dots. The first part of an IP address identifies the network on which the host resides, while the
second part identifies the particular host on the given network. The network number field is called the network
prefix. All hosts on a given network share the same network prefix but must have a unique host number. In
classful IP, the class of the address determines the boundary between the network prefix and the host number.
Classes
IP host addresses are divided into three different address classes: Class A, Class B, and Class C. Each class
fixes the boundary between the network prefix and the host number at a different point within the 32-bit
address. Class D addresses are reserved for multicast IP.
• Class A addresses (1.xxx.xxx.xxx through 126.xxx.xxx.xxx) use only the first octet as the network
prefix.
• Class B addresses (128.0.xxx.xxx through 191.255.xxx.xxx) use the first two octets as the network
prefix.
• Class C addresses (192.0.0.xxx through 223.255.255.xxx) use the first three octets as the network prefix.
1007
Because Class A addresses have 16,777,214 host addresses, and Class B addresses 65,534 hosts, you can use
subnet masking to break these huge networks into smaller subnets.
Private Networks
If you need large numbers of addresses on your network, and they do not need to be routed on the Internet,
you can use private IP addresses that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) recommends (see
RFC 1918). The following address ranges are designated as private networks that should not be advertised:
• 10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255
• 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255
• 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255
Subnet Masks
A subnet mask lets you convert a single Class A, B, or C network into multiple networks. With a subnet mask,
you can create an extended network prefix that adds bits from the host number to the network prefix. For
example, a Class C network prefix always consists of the first three octets of the IP address. But a Class C
extended network prefix uses part of the fourth octet as well.
Subnet masking is easy to understand if you use binary notation instead of dotted decimal. The bits in the
subnet mask have a one-to-one correspondence with the Internet address:
• The bits are set to 1 if the corresponding bit in the IP address is part of the extended network prefix.
• The bits are set to 0 if the bit is part of the host number.
Example 1: If you have the Class B address 129.10.0.0 and you want to use the entire third octet as part of
the extended network prefix instead of the host number, then you must specify a subnet mask of
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000. This subnet mask converts the Class B address into the equivalent
of a Class C address, where the host number consists of the last octet only.
Example 2: If you want to use only part of the third octet for the extended network prefix, then you must
specify a subnet mask like 11111111.11111111.11111000.00000000, which uses only 5 bits of the third octet
for the extended network prefix.
You can write a subnet mask as a dotted-decimal mask or as a /bits (“slash bits”) mask. In Example 1, for a
dotted-decimal mask, you convert each binary octet into a decimal number: 255.255.255.0. For a /bits mask,
you add the number of 1s: /24. In Example 2, the decimal number is 255.255.248.0 and the /bits is /21.
You can also supernet multiple Class C networks into a larger network by using part of the third octet for the
extended network prefix. For example, 192.168.0.0/20.
Determine the Subnet Mask

See the following table to determine the subnet mask based on how many hosts you want.
Note The first and last number of a subnet are reserved, except for /32, which identifies a single host.
1008
Table 71: Hosts, Bits, and Dotted-Decimal Masks
Hosts /Bits Mask Dotted-Decimal Mask

16,777,216 /8 255.0.0.0 Class A Network
65,536 /16 255.255.0.0 Class B Network
32,768 /17 255.255.128.0
16,384 /18 255.255.192.0
8192 /19 255.255.224.0
4096 /20 255.255.240.0
2048 /21 255.255.248.0
1024 /22 255.255.252.0
512 /23 255.255.254.0
256 /24 255.255.255.0 Class C Network
128 /25 255.255.255.128
64 /26 255.255.255.192
32 /27 255.255.255.224
16 /28 255.255.255.240
8 /29 255.255.255.248
4 /30 255.255.255.252
Do not use /31 255.255.255.254
1 /32 255.255.255.255 Single Host Address
Determine the Address to Use with the Subnet Mask

The following sections describe how to determine the network address to use with a subnet mask for a Class
C-size and a Class B-size network.
Class C-Size Network Address

For a network between 2 and 254 hosts, the fourth octet falls on a multiple of the number of host addresses,
starting with 0. For example, The following table shows the 8-host subnets (/29) of 192.168.0.x.
1009
Note The first and last address of a subnet are reserved. In the first subnet example, you cannot use 192.168.0.0
or 192.168.0.7.
Table 72: Class C-Size Network Address
Subnet with Mask /29 (255.255.255.248) Address Range

192.168.0.0 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.7
192.168.0.8 192.168.0.8 to 192.168.0.15
192.168.0.16 192.168.0.16 to 192.168.0.31
— —
192.168.0.248 192.168.0.248 to 192.168.0.255
Class B-Size Network Address

To determine the network address to use with the subnet mask for a network with between 254 and 65,534
hosts, you need to determine the value of the third octet for each possible extended network prefix. For
example, you might want to subnet an address like 10.1.x.0, where the first two octets are fixed because they
are used in the extended network prefix, and the fourth octet is 0 because all bits are used for the host number.
To determine the value of the third octet, follow these steps:
1 Calculate how many subnets you can make from the network by dividing 65,536 (the total number of
addresses using the third and fourth octet) by the number of host addresses you want.
For example, 65,536 divided by 4096 hosts equals 16. Therefore, there are 16 subnets of 4096 addresses
each in a Class B-size network.
2 Determine the multiple of the third octet value by dividing 256 (the number of values for the third octet)
by the number of subnets:
In this example, 256/16 = 16.
The third octet falls on a multiple of 16, starting with 0.
The following table shows the 16 subnets of the network 10.1.
Note The first and last address of a subnet are reserved. In the first subnet example, you cannot use 10.1.0.0 or
10.1.15.255.
Table 73: Subnets of Network

10.1.0.0 10.1.0.0 to 10.1.15.255
1010
IPv6 Addresses

10.1.16.0 10.1.16.0 to 10.1.31.255
10.1.32.0 10.1.32.0 to 10.1.47.255
— —
10.1.240.0 10.1.240.0 to 10.1.255.255
IPv6 Addresses
IPv6 is the next generation of the Internet Protocol after IPv4. It provides an expanded address space, a
simplified header format, improved support for extensions and options, flow labeling capability, and
authentication and privacy capabilities. IPv6 is described in RFC 2460. The IPv6 addressing architecture is
described in RFC 3513.
This section describes the IPv6 address format and architecture.
IPv6 Address Format

IPv6 addresses are represented as a series of eight 16-bit hexadecimal fields separated by colons (:) in the
format: x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x. The following are two examples of IPv6 addresses:
• 2001:0DB8:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210
• 2001:0DB8:0000:0000:0008:0800:200C:417A
Note The hexadecimal letters in IPv6 addresses are not case-sensitive.
You do not need to include the leading zeros in an individual field of the address, but each field must contain
at least one digit. So the example address 2001:0DB8:0000:0000:0008:0800:200C:417A can be shortened to
2001:0DB8:0:0:8:800:200C:417A by removing the leading zeros from the third through sixth fields from the
left. The fields that contained all zeros (the third and fourth fields from the left) were shortened to a single
zero. The fifth field from the left had the three leading zeros removed, leaving a single 8 in that field, and the
sixth field from the left had the one leading zero removed, leaving 800 in that field.
It is common for IPv6 addresses to contain several consecutive hexadecimal fields of zeros. You can use two
colons (::) to compress consecutive fields of zeros at the beginning, middle, or end of an IPv6 address (the
colons represent the successive hexadecimal fields of zeros). The following table shows several examples of
address compression for different types of IPv6 address.
Table 74: IPv6 Address Compression Examples
Address Type Standard Form Compressed Form

Unicast 2001:0DB8:0:0:0:BA98:0:3210 2001:0DB8::BA98:0:3210
1011
IPv6 Addresses
Address Type Standard Form Compressed Form

Multicast FF01:0:0:0:0:0:0:101 FF01::101
Loopback 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 ::1
Unspecified 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0 ::
Note Two colons (::) can be used only once in an IPv6 address to represent successive fields of zeros.
An alternative form of the IPv6 format is often used when dealing with an environment that contains both
IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. This alternative has the format x:x:x:x:x:x:y.y.y.y, where x represent the hexadecimal
values for the six high-order parts of the IPv6 address and y represent decimal values for the 32-bit IPv4 part
of the address (which takes the place of the remaining two 16-bit parts of the IPv6 address). For example, the
IPv4 address 192.168.1.1 could be represented as the IPv6 address 0:0:0:0:0:0:FFFF:192.168.1.1 or
::FFFF:192.168.1.1.
IPv6 Address Types

The following are the three main types of IPv6 addresses:
• Unicast—A unicast address is an identifier for a single interface. A packet sent to a unicast address is
delivered to the interface identified by that address. An interface may have more than one unicast address
assigned to it.
• Multicast—A multicast address is an identifier for a set of interfaces. A packet sent to a multicast address
is delivered to all addresses identified by that address.
• Anycast—An anycast address is an identifier for a set of interfaces. Unlike a multicast address, a packet
sent to an anycast address is only delivered to the “nearest” interface, as determined by the measure of
distances for the routing protocol.
Note There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6. Multicast addresses provide the broadcast functionality.
Unicast Addresses
This section describes IPv6 unicast addresses. Unicast addresses identify an interface on a network node.
Global Address
The general format of an IPv6 global unicast address is a global routing prefix followed by a subnet ID
followed by an interface ID. The global routing prefix can be any prefix not reserved by another IPv6 address
type.
All global unicast addresses, other than those that start with binary 000, have a 64-bit interface ID in the
Modified EUI-64 format.
1012
IPv6 Addresses
Global unicast address that start with the binary 000 do not have any constraints on the size or structure of
the interface ID portion of the address. One example of this type of address is an IPv6 address with an embedded
IPv4 address.
Site-Local Address
Site-local addresses are used for addressing within a site. They can be used to address an entire site without
using a globally unique prefix. Site-local addresses have the prefix FEC0::/10, followed by a 54-bit subnet
ID, and end with a 64-bit interface ID in the modified EUI-64 format.
Site-local routers do not forward any packets that have a site-local address for a source or destination outside
of the site. Therefore, site-local addresses can be considered private addresses.
Link-Local Address
All interfaces are required to have at least one link-local address. You can configure multiple IPv6 addresses
per interfaces, but only one link-local address.
A link-local address is an IPv6 unicast address that can be automatically configured on any interface using
the link-local prefix FE80::/10 and the interface identifier in modified EUI-64 format. Link-local addresses
are used in the neighbor discovery protocol and the stateless autoconfiguration process. Nodes with a link-local
address can communicate; they do not need a site-local or globally unique address to communicate.
Routers do not forward any packets that have a link-local address for a source or destination. Therefore,
link-local addresses can be considered private addresses.
IPv4-Compatible IPv6 Addresses

There are two types of IPv6 addresses that can contain IPv4 addresses.
The first type is the IPv4-compatibly IPv6 address. The IPv6 transition mechanisms include a technique for
hosts and routers to dynamically tunnel IPv6 packets over IPv4 routing infrastructure. IPv6 nodes that use
this technique are assigned special IPv6 unicast addresses that carry a global IPv4 address in the low-order
32 bits. This type of address is termed an IPv4-compatible IPv6 address and has the format ::y.y.y.y, where
y.y.y.y is an IPv4 unicast address.
Note The IPv4 address used in the IPv4-compatible IPv6 address must be a globally unique IPv4 unicast address.
The second type of IPv6 address, which holds an embedded IPv4 address, is called the IPv4-mapped IPv6
address. This address type is used to represent the addresses of IPv4 nodes as IPv6 addresses. This type of
address has the format ::FFFF:y.y.y.y, where y.y.y.y is an IPv4 unicast address.
Unspecified Address
The unspecified address, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0, indicates the absence of an IPv6 address. For example, a newly
initialized node on an IPv6 network may use the unspecified address as the source address in its packets until
it receives its IPv6 address.
Note The IPv6 unspecified address cannot be assigned to an interface. The unspecified IPv6 addresses must
not be used as destination addresses in IPv6 packets or the IPv6 routing header.
Loopback Address
The loopback address, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, may be used by a node to send an IPv6 packet to itself. The loopback
address in IPv6 functions the same as the loopback address in IPv4 (127.0.0.1).
1013
IPv6 Addresses
Note The IPv6 loopback address cannot be assigned to a physical interface. A packet that has the IPv6 loopback
address as its source or destination address must remain within the node that created the packet. IPv6
routers do not forward packets that have the IPv6 loopback address as their source or destination address.
Interface Identifiers
Interface identifiers in IPv6 unicast addresses are used to identify the interfaces on a link. They need to be
unique within a subnet prefix. In many cases, the interface identifier is derived from the interface link-layer
address. The same interface identifier may be used on multiple interfaces of a single node, as long as those
interfaces are attached to different subnets.
For all unicast addresses, except those that start with the binary 000, the interface identifier is required to be
64 bits long and to be constructed in the Modified EUI-64 format. The Modified EUI-64 format is created
from the 48-bit MAC address by inverting the universal/local bit in the address and by inserting the hexadecimal
number FFFE between the upper three bytes and lower three bytes of the of the MAC address.
For example, and interface with the MAC address of 00E0.b601.3B7A would have a 64-bit interface ID of
02E0:B6FF:FE01:3B7A.
Multicast Address
An IPv6 multicast address is an identifier for a group of interfaces, typically on different nodes. A packet sent
to a multicast address is delivered to all interfaces identified by the multicast address. An interface may belong
to any number of multicast groups.
An IPv6 multicast address has a prefix of FF00::/8 (1111 1111). The octet following the prefix defines the
type and scope of the multicast address. A permanently assigned (well known) multicast address has a flag
parameter equal to 0; a temporary (transient) multicast address has a flag parameter equal to 1. A multicast
address that has the scope of a node, link, site, or organization, or a global scope has a scope parameter of 1,
2, 5, 8, or E, respectively. For example, a multicast address with the prefix FF02::/16 is a permanent multicast
address with a link scope. The following figure shows the format of the IPv6 multicast address.
Figure 53: IPv6 Multicast Address Format
IPv6 nodes (hosts and routers) are required to join the following multicast groups:
• The All Nodes multicast addresses:
1014
IPv6 Addresses
◦FF01:: (interface-local)
◦FF02:: (link-local)
• The Solicited-Node Address for each IPv6 unicast and anycast address on the node:
FF02:0:0:0:0:1:FFXX:XXXX/104, where XX:XXXX is the low-order 24-bits of the unicast or anycast
address.
Note Solicited-Node addresses are used in Neighbor Solicitation messages.
IPv6 routers are required to join the following multicast groups:

• FF01::2 (interface-local)
• FF02::2 (link-local)
• FF05::2 (site-local)
Multicast address should not be used as source addresses in IPv6 packets.
Note There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6. IPv6 multicast addresses are used instead of broadcast addresses.
Anycast Address
The IPv6 anycast address is a unicast address that is assigned to more than one interface (typically belonging
to different nodes). A packet that is routed to an anycast address is routed to the nearest interface having that
address, the nearness being determined by the routing protocol in effect.
Anycast addresses are allocated from the unicast address space. An anycast address is simply a unicast address
that has been assigned to more than one interface, and the interfaces must be configured to recognize the
address as an anycast address.
The following restrictions apply to anycast addresses:
• An anycast address cannot be used as the source address for an IPv6 packet.
• An anycast address cannot be assigned to an IPv6 host; it can only be assigned to an IPv6 router.
Note Anycast addresses are not supported on the ASA.
Required Addresses
IPv6 hosts must, at a minimum, be configured with the following addresses (either automatically or manually):
• A link-local address for each interface
• The loopback address
1015
Protocols and Applications
• The All-Nodes multicast addresses

• A Solicited-Node multicast address for each unicast or anycast address
IPv6 routers must, at a minimum, be configured with the following addresses (either automatically or manually):
• The required host addresses
• The Subnet-Router anycast addresses for all interfaces for which it is configured to act as a router
• The All-Routers multicast addresses
IPv6 Address Prefixes

An IPv6 address prefix, in the format ipv6-prefix/prefix-length, can be used to represent bit-wise contiguous
blocks of the entire address space. The IPv6-prefix must be in the form documented in RFC 2373 where the
address is specified in hexadecimal using 16-bit values between colons. The prefix length is a decimal value
that indicates how many of the high-order contiguous bits of the address comprise the prefix (the network
portion of the address). For example, 2001:0DB8:8086:6502::/32 is a valid IPv6 prefix.
The IPv6 prefix identifies the type of IPv6 address. The following table shows the prefixes for each IPv6
address type.
Table 75: IPv6 Address Type Prefixes
Address Type Binary Prefix IPv6 Notation

Unspecified 000...0 (128 bits) ::/128
Loopback 000...1 (128 bits) ::1/128
Multicast 11111111 FF00::/8
Link-Local (unicast) 1111111010 FE80::/10
Site-Local (unicast) 1111111111 FEC0::/10
Global (unicast) All other addresses.
Anycast Taken from the unicast address space.
Protocols and Applications

The following table lists the protocol literal values and port numbers; either can be entered in ASA commands.
Table 76: Protocol Literal Values
Literal Value Description

ah 51 Authentication Header for IPv6, RFC 1826.
1016
TCP and UDP Ports
Literal Value Description

eigrp 88 Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol.
esp 50 Encapsulated Security Payload for IPv6, RFC 1827.
gre 47 Generic Routing Encapsulation.
icmp 1 Internet Control Message Protocol, RFC 792.
icmp6 58 Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6, RFC 2463.
igmp 2 Internet Group Management Protocol, RFC 1112.
igrp 9 Interior Gateway Routing Protocol.
ip 0 Internet Protocol.
ipinip 4 IP-in-IP encapsulation.
ipsec 50 IP Security. Entering the ipsec protocol literal is equivalent to entering the esp
protocol literal.
nos 94 Network Operating System (Novell’s NetWare).
ospf 89 Open Shortest Path First routing protocol, RFC 1247.
pcp 108 Payload Compression Protocol.
pim 103 Protocol Independent Multicast.
pptp 47 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol. Entering the pptp protocol literal is equivalent
to entering the gre protocol literal.
snp 109 Sitara Networks Protocol.
tcp 6 Transmission Control Protocol, RFC 793.
udp 17 User Datagram Protocol, RFC 768.
You can view protocol numbers online at the IANA website:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers
TCP and UDP Ports

The following table lists the literal values and port numbers; either can be entered in ASA commands. See
the following caveats:
1017
TCP and UDP Ports
• The ASA uses port 1521 for SQL*Net. This is the default port used by Oracle for SQL*Net. This value,
however, does not agree with IANA port assignments.
• The ASA listens for RADIUS on ports 1645 and 1646. If your RADIUS server uses the standard ports
1812 and 1813, you can configure the ASA to listen to those ports using the authentication-port and
accounting-port commands.
• To assign a port for DNS access, use the domain literal value, not dns. If you use dns, the ASA assumes
you meant to use the dnsix literal value.
You can view port numbers online at the IANA website:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
Table 77: Port Literal Values
Literal TCP or UDP? Value Description

aol TCP 5190 America Online
bgp TCP 179 Border Gateway Protocol, RFC 1163
biff UDP 512 Used by mail system to notify users that new mail is
received
bootpc UDP 68 Bootstrap Protocol Client
bootps UDP 67 Bootstrap Protocol Server
chargen TCP 19 Character Generator
citrix-ica TCP 1494 Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA)

protocol
cmd TCP 514 Similar to exec except that cmd has automatic
authentication
ctiqbe TCP 2748 Computer Telephony Interface Quick Buffer

Encoding
daytime TCP 13 Day time, RFC 867
discard TCP, UDP 9 Discard
domain TCP, UDP 53 DNS
dnsix UDP 195 DNSIX Session Management Module Audit

Redirector
echo TCP, UDP 7 Echo
exec TCP 512 Remote process execution
1018
TCP and UDP Ports

finger TCP 79 Finger
ftp TCP 21 File Transfer Protocol (control port)
ftp-data TCP 20 File Transfer Protocol (data port)
gopher TCP 70 Gopher
https TCP 443 HTTP over SSL
h323 TCP 1720 H.323 call signaling
hostname TCP 101 NIC Host Name Server
ident TCP 113 Ident authentication service
imap4 TCP 143 Internet Message Access Protocol, version 4
irc TCP 194 Internet Relay Chat protocol
isakmp UDP 500 Internet Security Association and Key Management

Protocol
kerberos TCP, UDP 750 Kerberos
klogin TCP 543 KLOGIN
kshell TCP 544 Korn Shell
ldap TCP 389 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
ldaps TCP 636 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (SSL)
lpd TCP 515 Line Printer Daemon - printer spooler
login TCP 513 Remote login
lotusnotes TCP 1352 IBM Lotus Notes
mobile-ip UDP 434 Mobile IP-Agent
nameserver UDP 42 Host Name Server
netbios-ns UDP 137 NetBIOS Name Service
netbios-dgm UDP 138 NetBIOS Datagram Service
netbios-ssn TCP 139 NetBIOS Session Service
1019
TCP and UDP Ports

nntp TCP 119 Network News Transfer Protocol
ntp UDP 123 Network Time Protocol
pcanywhere-status UDP 5632 pcAnywhere status
pcanywhere-data TCP 5631 pcAnywhere data
pim-auto-rp TCP, UDP 496 Protocol Independent Multicast, reverse path flooding,
dense mode
pop2 TCP 109 Post Office Protocol - Version 2
pop3 TCP 110 Post Office Protocol - Version 3
pptp TCP 1723 Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
radius UDP 1645 Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
radius-acct UDP 1646 Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

(accounting)
rip UDP 520 Routing Information Protocol
secureid-udp UDP 5510 SecureID over UDP
smtp TCP 25 Simple Mail Transport Protocol
snmp UDP 161 Simple Network Management Protocol
snmptrap UDP 162 Simple Network Management Protocol - Trap
sqlnet TCP 1521 Structured Query Language Network
ssh TCP 22 Secure Shell
sunrpc (rpc) TCP, UDP 111 Sun Remote Procedure Call
syslog UDP 514 System Log
tacacs TCP, UDP 49 Terminal Access Controller Access Control System

Plus
talk TCP, UDP 517 Talk
telnet TCP 23 RFC 854 Telnet
tftp UDP 69 Trivial File Transfer Protocol
1020
Local Ports and Protocols

time UDP 37 Time
uucp TCP 540 UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program
who UDP 513 Who
whois TCP 43 Who Is
www TCP 80 World Wide Web
xdmcp UDP 177 X Display Manager Control Protocol
Local Ports and Protocols

The following table lists the protocols, TCP ports, and UDP ports that the ASA may open to process traffic
destined to the ASA. Unless you enable the features and services listed in this table, the ASA does not open
any local protocols or any TCP or UDP ports. You must configure a feature or service for the ASA to open
the default listening protocol or port. In many cases you can configure ports other than the default port when
you enable a feature or service.
Table 78: Protocols and Ports Opened by Features and Services
Feature or Service Protocol Port Number Comments

DHCP UDP 67,68 —
Failover Control 105 N/A —
HTTP TCP 80 —
HTTPS TCP 443 —
ICMP 1 N/A —
IGMP 2 N/A Protocol only open on destination IP address

224.0.0.1
ISAKMP/IKE UDP 500 Configurable.
IPsec (ESP) 50 N/A —
IPsec over UDP UDP 4500 —

(NAT-T)
1021
ICMP Types
Feature or Service Protocol Port Number Comments

IPsec over UDP (Cisco UDP 10000 Configurable.
VPN 3000 Series
compatible)
IPsec over TCP (CTCP) TCP — No default port is used. You must specify the
port number when configuring IPsec over
TCP.
NTP UDP 123 —
OSPF 89 N/A Protocol only open on destination IP address

224.0.0.5 and 224.0.0.6
PIM 103 N/A Protocol only open on destination IP address

224.0.0.13
RIP UDP 520 —
RIPv2 UDP 520 Port only open on destination IP address

224.0.0.9
SNMP UDP 161 Configurable.
SSH TCP 22 —
Stateful Update 8 (non-secure) 9 N/A —

(secure)
Telnet TCP 23 —
VPN Load Balancing UDP 9023 Configurable.
VPN Individual User UDP 1645, 1646 Port accessible only over VPN tunnel.
Authentication Proxy
ICMP Types
The following table lists the ICMP type numbers and names that you can enter in ASA commands.
Table 79: ICMP Types
ICMP Number ICMP Name

0 echo-reply
3 unreachable
1022
ICMP Types
ICMP Number ICMP Name

4 source-quench
5 redirect
6 alternate-address
8 echo
9 router-advertisement
10 router-solicitation
11 time-exceeded
12 parameter-problem
13 timestamp-request
14 timestamp-reply
15 information-request
16 information-reply
17 mask-request
18 mask-reply
31 conversion-error
32 mobile-redirect
1023
ICMP Types
1024

Asa 95 General Config

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Asa 95 General Config

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Asa 95 General Config

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CLI Book 1: Cisco ASA Series General Operations CLI Configuration

© 2005-2015 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Preface About This Guide xlv

PART I Getting Started with the ASA 1

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to the Cisco ASA 3

Applying Connection Limits and TCP Normalization 15

CHAPTER 2 Getting Started 19

Save Configuration Changes in Single Context Mode 40

CHAPTER 3 Product Authorization Key Licenses 45

How Permanent and Time-Based Licenses Combine 65

ASAv5 (9.5(1.200) and Later) 101

ASAv: Configure Permanent License Reservation 115

CHAPTER 5 Transparent or Routed Firewall Mode 127

Set the MAC Address Timeout 137

PART II High Availability and Scalability 151

CHAPTER 6 Multiple Context Mode 153

Context Administrator Access 160

Monitor SYN Attacks in Contexts 186

CHAPTER 7 Failover for High Availability 195

Failover Health Monitoring 210

Restore a Failed Unit 238

CHAPTER 8 ASA Cluster 247

Unit Health Monitoring 254

Spanned EtherChannel Transparent Mode North-South Inter-Site Example 269

Configure Individual Interfaces (Recommended for the Management

CHAPTER 9 ASA Cluster for the FXOS Chassis 339

Spanned EtherChannel Routed Mode Example with Site-Specific MAC

PART III Interfaces 381

CHAPTER 10 Basic Interface Configuration 383

Physical Interface Parameters Example 392

CHAPTER 11 EtherChannel and Redundant Interfaces 395

CHAPTER 12 VLAN Interfaces 409

CHAPTER 13 VXLAN Interfaces 415

CHAPTER 14 Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 431

Guidelines for Routed and Transparent Mode Interfaces 434

CHAPTER 15 Advanced Interface Configuration 449

CHAPTER 16 Traffic Zones 457

Non-Zoned Behavior 457

PART IV Basic Settings 473

CHAPTER 17 Basic Settings 475

CHAPTER 18 DHCP and DDNS Services 495

Update Both the A and PTR RRs 505

CHAPTER 19 Digital Certificates 513

Obtain Certificates Automatically with SCEP 535

PART V IP Routing 561

CHAPTER 20 Routing Overview 563

Supported Route Types 564

CHAPTER 21 Static and Default Routes 577

Guidelines for Static and Default Routes 579

CHAPTER 22 Policy Based Routing 585

CHAPTER 23 Route Maps 597

History for Route Maps 602

CHAPTER 24 BGP 603

CHAPTER 25 OSPF 641

OSPF Support for Fast Hello Packets 643

Generate a Default External Route into an OSPFv3 Routing Domain 675

CHAPTER 26 EIGRP 691

Disable EIGRP Split Horizon 707

CHAPTER 27 Multicast Routing 711

Filter PIM Neighbors 723