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  5. WANJet® Appliance Administrator Guide: 5 - Managing the WANJet Appliance
Manual Chapter : WANJet® Appliance Administrator Guide: 5 - Managing the WANJet Appliance

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WANJet

  • 4.2.10, 4.2.3, 4.2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2.0
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5

Managing the WANJet Appliance

Configuring authentication settings

To maintain the security of the WANJet appliance settings, the Web UI is password-protected. Some WANJet appliances, including the 400 and 500, have LCDs on the front of the unit and can be PIN-protected.

The admin account is the primary account that you use to access the Web UI. Administrators who log on as admin can view and change all settings on the WANJet appliance. (See To log on to the Web UI , located in Chapter 4, for details on how to log on.) There is only one admin password for all users of the Web UI.

Administrators can also log on to the Web UI using a restricted account called roadmin (for read-only admin). The roadmin is a read-only user who can view the WANJet Web UI, but cannot reconfigure the appliance. There is no command line interface to the roadmin account. The user name and the default password for the account are both roadmin. (See To log on to the Web UI as a read-only administrator , located in Chapter 4, for details on how to log on.)

Changing the Web UI passwords

An administrator logged in as admin can change the password and/or PIN code at any time. F5 recommends that you immediately change the administrator account passwords and the PIN code from the defaults, and then change them regularly (once a month, for example) thereafter.

You can also log on as admin from the command line interface on a computer connected through the serial interface. You can change the password using the passwd command. Only an administrator who is logged in as admin can change the roadmin password in the Web UI, or at the command line using the passwd command.

You can also use remote accounts to access the Web UI; however, you cannot change the passwords for remote accounts from the WANJet Password screen. For more details, refer to Configuring remote authentication , following.

Important
Since there is only one admin password for the Web UI, be sure to warn all other users that you are changing the password (unless they are using remote authentication).

To change the WANJet Web UI password

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click Password.
    The WANJet Password screen opens.
  2. In the Old Password box, type the old password.
    3. Note: If you did not change the default password during the initial configuration, leave this box blank.
  3. In the New Password box, type the new password.
    As a general rule, passwords should consist of at least 6 characters, and include a mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. A blank password is not allowed.
  4. In the Confirm Password box, retype the new password.
    This must match the password that you typed in the New Password box.
  5. Click the Save button to save the new password.
    A popup confirmation screen opens.
  6. Click Yes to confirm the new password.

Configuring remote authentication

You can choose to authenticate WANJet appliance administrators using the WANJet appliance's local database, or using remote authentication on a RADIUS server.

To configure the WANJet appliance for local authentication

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click Remote Authentication.
    The WANJet Remote Authentication screen opens.
  2. Select No Remote Authentication.
  3. Click the Save button.

To configure the WANJet appliance for remote RADIUS authentication

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click Remote Authentication.
    The WANJet Remote Authentication screen opens.
  2. Select RADIUS.
    The screen displays additional settings.
  3. In the Server IP box, type the IP address of the RADIUS server.
  4. In the Secret box, type the server's shared secret.
    This is the key that authenticates RADIUS transactions between the local WANJet appliance and the RADIUS server.
  5. In the Timeout box, type the number of seconds that the WANJet appliance should wait after sending a RADIUS request. After this time has expired, WANJet appliance stops waiting for a response. F5 Networks recommends a value of 3.
  6. In the NRetry box, type the number of times that you want the WANJet appliance to send a RADIUS request to the server before giving up. F5 Networks recommends a value of 3.
    7. Note: If you type a value in the Timeout box, you must also enter a value in the NRetry box. If you set the values too high, it could take a long time to determine that the server is not responding to a login attempt. This problem is compounded if you are using more than one RADIUS server.
  7. Click the Add button to store the new information.
  8. Repeat Steps 2 through 7 for any additional RADIUS servers.
  9. Click the Save button.
    The Remote Authentication screen refreshes with the RADIUS server details that you added.

Now that you have configured the WANJet appliance to use remote authentication, you can view diagnostic RADIUS reports. For more information, see Connectivity , located in Chapter 8, for details about this report. For information about RADIUS protocol, refer to http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2865.txt.

If you later want to edit the remote authentication settings, you need to delete the information (click Delete next to the server information) and add it again.

Changing the WANJet LCD PIN code

There is no default PIN code set for the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) on the WANJet appliance. If you assign a pin code, you need to enter it before you can change the WANJet appliance configuration using the LCD.

To create or change the LCD PIN code

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click LCD PIN.
    The LCD PIN screen opens.
  2. In the Old PIN box, type the old PIN.
    This is a four-digit number.
  3. In the New PIN box, type the new PIN.
    This must be a four-digit number.
  4. In the Confirm PIN box, retype the new PIN.
    It must match the PIN that you typed in the New PIN box.
  5. Click the Save button.
  6. Restart the WANJet appliance. See To restart the WANJet appliance using the Web UI .

Granting Web UI access

You can restrict or allow access to the WANJet appliance's Web UI, and the SNMP reports residing on it, to specific WANJet appliances or subnets as follows:

  • Allow all addresses (default)
    Permit all IP addresses on the network to access the Web UI.
  • Allow Listed Addresses
    Permit only a specified list of IP addresses on the network to access the Web UI.
  • Deny Listed Addresses
    Prevent a specified list of IP addresses on the network from accessing the Web UI.

Once this is configured, if an administrator tries to log on to the Web UI from a restricted IP address (that is, an IP address that is not allowed or is denied access), the browser returns a 404: Page Not Found error. Restrictions apply to both the admin and roadmin administration accounts.

Note
To ensure that only specific users access the Web UI, you can create a password for the Web UI and provide this password only to approved personnel. See Changing the Web UI passwords .

To allow specific IP addresses access to the Web UI

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click IP Access Control.
    The WANJet IP Access Control screen opens.
  2. Select Allow Listed Addresses.
  3. In the box, type the IP addresses where an administrator can log on to the Web UI. At a minimum, specify the IP addresses for the following:
    • The SNMP server, so that you can view SNMP and RMON2 reports. (See Configuring Syslog and SNMP settings , located in Chapter 6.)
    • The Syslog server, so that you can view Syslog data. (See Configuring Syslog and SNMP settings , located in Chapter 6.)
    • The WANJet appliance from which you are currently accessing the Web UI through a browser, and any other WANJet appliance from which you and other administrators want to access the Web UI.
  4. Click the Save button.

To deny specific IP addresses access to the Web UI

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Security and click IP Access Control.
    The WANJet IP Access Control screen opens.
  2. Select Deny Listed Addresses, and in the box, type the IP addresses of users who do not have permission to log on to the Web UI.
  3. Click the Save button.

Using the Management port

The WANJet appliance has a port called the Management port that you can use for out-of-band management. Out-of-band management provides a dedicated management channel (separate from the data channel) that is used for administration only. Use of the Management port is optional. If you use the Management port, you will want to log on to the Web UI using its IP address rather than the WANJet IP address (although it is possible to use either).

The advantage of using the Management port is that it provides a way to separate the WANJet appliance management data from the data that is being optimized. You can connect the Management port to a separate subnet dedicated to a management network, for example, where only administrators have access. You can set up the Management port from the LCD or from the Web UI.

The following procedure describes how to set up the Management port from the Web UI if you did not configure it when you initially installed the WANJet appliance hardware.

To set up the Management port

  1. On the WANJet appliance, plug an Ethernet cable into the Management port and connect the other end to your management network.
  2. Access the Web UI using the WANJet IP address:
    3. https://<WANJet_IP_address>:10000
  3. Log on to the WANJet appliance using the admin user name and password.
  4. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration and click Local WANJet.
    The Local WANJet screen opens, and the Local WANJet Management section appears at the bottom of the screen.
  5. In the Management IP box, type the IP address you want to use to manage the WANJet appliance.
  6. In the Management Netmask box, type the netmask for the Management port.
  7. In the Management Gateway box, type the IP address for the gateway to the management network.
  8. Click the Save button.
  9. Access the Web UI using the Management IP address:
    10. https://<Management_IP_address>:10000

Configuring time settings

Time management for the WANJet appliance involves setting the time zone and synchronizing all linked WANJet appliances. Synchronizing the time settings is one of the most frequent administrative management tasks that you perform.

The settings include:

  • Time zone
    When you initially configure a WANJet appliance, you must set the time zone and the first day of the week.
  • Time server
    With this option, you can choose a time server to use for automatic time synchronization for all WANJet appliances.
  • Time
    With this option, you can set the current time manually for the WANJet appliance.

Setting the time zone

Use the following procedure to set the time zone and the first day of the week for the WANJet appliance.

To set the time zone

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration and click Time.
    The WANJet Time Settings screen opens.
  2. In the Timezone section, from the Current location list, select the closest geographical location to your site.
  3. From the First Day of the Week list, select a day.
  4. Click the Change timezone button to save the changes.

Repeat these steps on every WANJet appliance in your network.

Synchronizing time automatically

You can use a specific time server to synchronize the WANJet appliance's time automatically. The IP addresses of several commonly used time servers are provided, or you can specify the address of another time server.

Note
For information about time servers, refer to www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/ntp/clock2a.html.

To use a time server to synchronize time automatically

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration and click Time.
    The WANJet Time Settings screen opens.
  2. In the Time Server section, from the Host/Address list, select the IP address of the time server you want to use.
    Alternatively, select User Specified, and in the box, type the IP address of the preferred time server.
  3. Click the Sync time button to save the changes.

Repeat these steps for every WANJet appliance in your network.

Setting the time manually

You can adjust the time on your WANJet appliances manually through the Web UI, instead of synchronizing with a time server.

To set the date and time manually

  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration and click Time.
    The WANJet Time Settings screen opens.
  2. In the Time section, use the Day, Month, Year, Hour, Minute, and Second settings and select the appropriate options.
  3. Click the Set time button to save the changes.

Repeat these steps for every WANJet appliance in your network.

Shutting down and restarting the WANJet appliance

Shutting down WANJet appliance stops all data processing. You can shut down or restart the WANJet appliance from the Web UI or the LCD panel (WANJet 400 and 500 appliances only). Because the LCD panels on the WANJet 400 and 500 are different, the procedures for restarting or shutting them down differ slightly.

Important
Notify your users before you shut down or restart a WANJet appliance, because network performance is affected.

To shut down the WANJet appliance using the Web UI

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Shutdown & Restart.
    The WANJet Shutdown & Restart screen opens.
  2. Click Shutdown WANJet.
    A confirmation message appears on the LCD screen.
  3. Click the OK button to shut down the WANJet appliance.

To shut down the WANJet 400 appliance using the LCD

  1. On the front LCD panel of the WANJet 400 appliance, press X (Cancel) to activate the main menu.
  2. Press ¸ (Enter) to display the Setup menu.
  3. From the menu, choose Shutdown.
  4. Press ¸ (Enter).
    A confirmation message appears on the LCD screen.
  5. Press ¸ (Enter) to shut down the appliance, or press X to cancel and escape the menu sequence.
    The system shuts down.
  6. Turn off the WANJet 400 appliance completely by pressing the On/Off button located on the back of the appliance.

To shut down the WANJet 500 appliance using the LCD

  1. On the LCD keypad of the WANJet 500 appliance, press u twice.
    The LCD displays Menu, followed by >Configure.
  2. Press q three times to go to Shutdown.
  3. Press u once.
    The LCD displays Shutdown Now?
  4. Press u once to shut down the WANJet appliance.
    The system shuts down, and then power turns off.

To restart the WANJet appliance using the Web UI

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Shutdown & Restart.
    The WANJet Shutdown & Restart screen opens.
  2. Click the Restart WANJet button.
    A confirmation message appears on the LCD screen.
  3. Click the OK button to restart the WANJet appliance.

To restart the WANJet 400 appliance using the LCD

  1. On the front LCD panel of the WANJet 400 appliance, press the X (Cancel) button to activate the main menu.
  2. Press the ¸ (Enter) button to display the Setup menu.
  3. From the menu, choose Restart.
  4. Press the ¸ (Enter) button.
    A confirmation message appears on the LCD screen.
  5. Press ¸ to restart the WANJet appliance, or press X to cancel and escape the menu sequence.

To restart the WANJet 500 appliance using the LCD

  1. On the LCD keypad of the WANJet 500 appliance, press u twice.
    The LCD displays Menu, followed by >Configure.
  2. Press q twice to go to Restart.
  3. Press u once.
    The LCD displays Restart Now?
  4. Press u once to restart the WANJet appliance.

Booting from an alternate image

You typically have two software images on the flash memory card of the WANJet appliance. One image is active and the other is inactive. If something goes wrong with the first installation, you can boot from the alternate image.

Also, having two images lets you upgrade one yet maintain the current installation for cases when you want to test an upgrade without losing the previous version. When you perform an upgrade, the WANJet appliance copies the configuration settings from the current installation to the upgraded image.

Important
If you boot from the second image without upgrading, the WANJet appliance initially starts up with the default settings. Before you boot the alternate image, you can create a backup file of the current image settings, boot the alternate image, then restore the settings from the backup file. See Backing up and restoring settings , following.

To boot the WANJet appliance from the alternate WANJet appliance image

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Upgrade & Boot Menu.
    The WANJet Boot Menu screen displays the WANJet appliance's version and build number for each image. The active version has a green button next to it, and the inactive image has a red button next to it.
  2. Click the Make Active button next to the image you want to activate.
    A popup confirmation request opens.
  3. Click the Yes button.

Backing up and restoring settings

F5 recommends that you create backups of your current WANJet appliance settings on a regular basis. You should also perform a backup before making any major changes to the settings. This makes it easy to restore the system in the event of a failure. Backing up your current content is one of the most frequent administrative management tasks that you perform.

To create a backup file of the current WANJet appliance settings

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Backup & Restore.
    The WANJet Configuration Backup & Restore screen opens.
  2. Click the word here.
    The browser opens a File Download window for you to save the backup file to your local computer. This default backup file is Settings-<ServerName>.NTCL.
  3. Save the file to your local hard drive.
  4. Rename the backup file to identify the specific WANJet appliance you are backing up, and the current date.

To restore a saved backup of WANJet appliance settings

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Backup & Retstore.
    The WANJet Configuration Backup & Restore screen opens.
  2. From the WANJet Configuration Restore section, click the Browse button to locate the backup file that you want to upload. The WANJet appliance's backup files end with the extension .NTCL.
  3. Click the Upload button.
    The Web UI refreshes to the home page, and the backup settings are in effect.

Restoring factory default values

You can restore the factory default values on the WANJet appliance. The values in all fields on all screens are reset to the default values. You should restore the defaults only in extreme cases, when you want to discard all configuration changes that you have made, and start configuration all over again. The WANJet appliance retains the licensing information, therefore, you do not have to revalidate the license. You do have to reconfigure the rest of the settings and policies.

Important
Before restoring factory default values, you should back up the current configuration in case you decide that you want to use the policies and settings that you have already entered. Refer to To create a backup file of the current WANJet appliance settings , for the procedure on how to save the current settings.

To restore factory default values

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Backup & Restore.
    The WANJet Configuration Backup & Restore screen opens.
  2. Click the Factory Defaults button.
    A message warns you that you are about to reset the WANJet appliance configuration to the factory default values, and asks if you want to continue.
  3. Click the OK button.
    The WANJet appliance stops and reboots automatically using the default values.
  4. Perform the initial hardware configuration of the appliance including setting the WANJet appliance IP address, netmask, and WAN gateway, and if using out-of-band management, also set the Management port IP address, netmask, and gateway. Refer to the Quick Start Card for your WANJet appliance platform for details on how to configure the appliance.
  5. Reconfigure the appliance by setting up the remote WANJet appliance and local subnets as described in Chapter 4, Initial Configuration .
  6. Set up optimization policies (see Chapter 6, Advanced Configuration ), service policies (see Chapter 7, Configuring Service Policies ), and perform other configuration, as needed (for example, see Configuring time settings , to correctly set the time zone).

Upgrading the WANJet appliance software

You can upgrade the software on the WANJet appliance from the Web UI in one of two ways:

  • Normal upgrade: You need to have a copy of the new software.
  • Web upgrade: The WANJet appliance must have Internet access to retrieve the new software.

When you upgrade the WANJet appliance, a new version of the software and the configuration settings from the current installation are installed onto the alternate image. After the upgrade, that image boots and becomes the active image.

Important
During the upgrade process, the WANJet appliance stops processing traffic for approximately 5-10 minutes and resets all connections. F5 Networks recommends that you upgrade during a time that is the least disruptive to network users.

To upgrade the WANJet appliance

  1. Verify that a disk image of the new version of the WANJet software is accessible from the local computer on which you are viewing the Web UI (on CD-ROM, for example).
  2. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Upgrade & Boot Menu.
    The WANJet Boot Menu screen opens.
  3. Click the Upgrade button.
    A popup confirmation request opens.
  4. Click the OK button to continue.
  5. Click the Browse button and locate the upgrade file on your computer.
  6. Upload the upgrade file to the WANJet appliance.
  7. Click Upgrade WANJet.
    A blue Upgrading screen opens and shows the status of the upgrade. The WANJet appliance restarts automatically when the upgrade process is complete. At that point, you need to log on to the Web UI again to continue working on the upgraded WANJet appliance.
Note
For you to perform a web upgrade (described in the following procedure), the WANJet appliance must be able to access the Internet and be running release 4.2.4 or later.

To perform a web upgrade of the WANJet appliance

  1. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Upgrade & Boot Menu.
    The WANJet Boot Menu screen opens.
  2. Click the Go button.
    The WANJet appliance checks for available upgrades. If one is available, it displays a message stating the upgrade number.
  3. Click Upgrade if you want to upgrade the WANJet appliance to the available release.
    A confirmation message states that if you continue, this action will stop the WANJet appliance functionality.
  4. Click OK to continue.
    The Remote Upgrade screen opens.
  5. Under Upgrade from the Web, click Go.
    A blue Upgrading screen opens and shows the status of the upgrade. The WANJet appliance restarts automatically when the upgrade process is complete. At that point, you need to log on to the Web UI again to continue working on the WANJet appliance.

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