Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IP APM
- 12.1.6, 12.1.5, 12.1.4, 12.1.3, 12.1.2, 12.1.1, 12.1.0
Explicit Forward Proxy Configuration
Overview: Configuring SWG explicit forward proxy
A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) explicit forward proxy deployment provides an easy way to handle web requests from users. For explicit forward proxy, you configure client browsers to point to a forward proxy server. A forward proxy server establishes a tunnel for SSL traffic. Other virtual servers (wildcard SSL and wildcard forwarding IP virtual servers) listen on the tunnel. The listener that best matches the web traffic directed to the forward proxy server handles the traffic.
Explicit forward proxy configuration
In any deployment of explicit forward proxy, you must consider how best to configure browsers on client systems to point to the proxy server and how to configure your firewall to prevent users from bypassing the proxy. This implementation does not explain how to do these tasks. However, here are some best practices to consider.
Configuration | Recommendation |
---|---|
Client browser | Consider using a group policy that points to a Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) file to distribute the configuration to clients and periodically update it. |
Firewall | A best practice might be to configure the firewall to trust outbound connections from Secure Web Gateway only. Note that possibly not all applications will work with a firewall configured this way. (Secure Web Gateway uses ports 80 and 443.) |
Task summary
About the iApp for Secure Web Gateway configuration
When deployed as an application service, the Secure Web Gateway iApps® template can set up either an explicit or a transparent forward proxy configuration. You can download the template from the F5® DevCentral™ iApp Codeshare wiki at (http://devcentral.f5.com/wiki/iapp.Codeshare.ashx).
SWG explicit forward proxy configuration prerequisites
Ensure that prerequisites are complete before beginning the configuration.
- Per-request policy
- A per-request policy is required in any Secure Web Gateway (SWG) forward proxy configuration. A per-request policy must specify the logic for processing URL requests.
- URL categorization
- On a BIG-IP® system with an SWG subscription, you must download and install a URL database and schedule updates for it. On a system without an SWG subscription, you can configure user-defined URL categories and filters to control access by filtering URLs.
- Transparent user identification
- On a system with an SWG subscription, if you plan to identify users transparently, you
must first download, install, and configure an F5® user
identification agent, either the F5 DC Agent or the F5 Logon Agent. Note: User identification agents are available only on a BIG-IP® system with an SWG subscription.
- Authentication
- If you include authentication in your access policy and the first site that a user
accesses uses HTTP instead of secure HTTP, passwords are passed as clear text. To prevent
this from happening, F5 recommends that you use NTLM or Kerberos authentication. If you
plan to use authentication, ensure that you have what you need configured.
- For NTLM, you need an NTLM Auth Configuration in Access Policy Manager® (APM®).
- For Kerberos, you need a domain-joined Kerberos user account and a Kerberos AAA server configured in APM.
- SSL intercept
- To intercept SSL connections that are passing through the proxy, ensure that you have imported a valid subordinate CA certificate and key that is trusted by the endpoints behind the proxy.
About ACLs and SWG explicit forward proxy
Only L7 ACLs work with Secure Web Gateway (SWG) explicit forward proxy.
Creating a DNS resolver
Adding forward zones to a DNS resolver
Before you begin, gather the IP addresses of the nameservers that you want to associate with a forward zone.
Creating a tunnel for SSL forward proxy traffic
Creating a custom HTTP profile for explicit forward proxy
Creating an access profile for explicit forward proxy
Verifying log settings for the access profile
Configuring an access policy for SWG explicit forward proxy
Creating a virtual server to use as the forward proxy server
Creating a custom Client SSL forward proxy profile
Creating a Client SSL forward proxy profile makes it possible for client and server authentication, while still allowing the BIG-IP® system to perform data optimization, such as decryption and encryption. This profile applies to client-side SSL forward proxy traffic only.
Creating a custom Server SSL profile
Creating a virtual server for SSL forward proxy traffic
Creating a virtual server to reject traffic
Implementation result
Web traffic that originates from your enterprise networks is now inspected and controlled by F5® Secure Web Gateway forward proxy.
Per-request policy items that read session variables
This table lists per-request policy items that read session variables and lists the access policy items that populate the variables.
Per-request policy item | Session variable | Access policy item |
---|---|---|
AD Group Lookup | session.ad.last.attr.primaryGroupID | AD Query |
LDAP Group Lookup | session.ldap.last.attr.memberOf | LDAP Query |
LocalDB Group Lookup |
session.localdb.groups
Note: This session variable is a default in the expression for LocalDB
Group Lookup; any session variable in the expression must match the session variable
used in the Local Database action in the access policy.
|
Local Database |
RADIUS Class Lookup | session.radius.last.attr.class | RADIUS Auth |
Overview: Processing RDP traffic on a device with SWG
If you configure Access Policy Manager® APM® as a gateway for RDP clients and configure Secure Web Gateway (SWG) explicit forward proxy on the same BIG-IP® system, you need to complete an additional configuration step to ensure that APM can process the RDP client traffic. The recommended SWG configuration for explicit forward proxy includes a catch-all virtual server, which listens on all IP addresses and all ports, on an HTTP tunnel interface.
When a programmatic API queries listeners for a specific IP and port, the query covers all interfaces and tunnels. As a result, the catch-all virtual server will always match. Sending traffic using this tunnel results in all packets being dropped because this virtual server is configured as a reject type of virtual server.
To prevent RDP client traffic from being dropped, add an additional wildcard port-specific virtual server on the HTTP tunnel interface.
About wildcard virtual servers on the HTTP tunnel interface
In the recommended Secure Web Gateway explicit forward proxy configuration, client browsers point to a forward proxy server that establishes a tunnel for SSL traffic. Additional wildcard virtual servers listen on the HTTP tunnel interface. The listener that best matches the web traffic directed to the forward proxy server handles the traffic.
Explicit forward proxy configuration