Table Of Contents
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.2(4)
Determining the Software Version
Upgrading to a New Software Version
Supported Platforms and Feature Licenses
Application Profile Customization Framework
IPv6 Multicast Listener Discovery Protocol v2 Support
clear ipv6 mld traffic Command
debug ipv6 Command Enhancement
show debug ipv6 mld Command Enhancement
Native VLAN Support on ASA 5505 Trunk Ports
show asp drop Command Enhancement
show asp table classify hits Command Enhancement
TCP Normalization Enhancements
Timeout for SIP Provisional Media
Resolved Caveats - Version 7.2(4)
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Release Notes Version 7.2(4)
April 2008Contents
This document includes the following sections:
•
Supported Platforms and Feature Licenses
•
Obtaining Documentation, Obtaining Support, and Security Guidelines, page 21
Introduction
The Cisco ASA 5500 series adaptive security appliances are purpose-built solutions that combine the most effective security and VPN services with the innovative Cisco Adaptive Identification and Mitigation (AIM) architecture. Designed as a key component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network, the adaptive security appliance provides proactive threat defense that stops attacks before they spread through the network, controls network activity and application traffic, and delivers flexible VPN connectivity. The result is a powerful multifunction network adaptive security appliance family that provides the security breadth and depth for protecting small and medium-sized business and enterprise networks while reducing the overall deployment and operations costs and complexities associated with providing this new level of security.
For more information on all of the new features, see New Features.
Additionally, the adaptive security appliance software supports Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM). ASDM delivers world-class security management and monitoring through an intuitive, easy-to-use web-based management interface. Bundled with the adaptive security appliance, ASDM accelerates adaptive security appliance deployment with intelligent wizards, robust administration tools, and versatile monitoring services that complement the advanced integrated security and networking features offered by the market-leading suite of the adaptive security appliance. Its secure, web-based design enables anytime, anywhere access to adaptive security appliances.
System Requirements
The sections that follow list the system requirements for operating an adaptive security appliance. This section includes the following topics:
•
Determining the Software Version
•
Upgrading to a New Software Version
Memory Requirements
Table 1 lists the DRAM memory requirements for the adaptive security appliance.
Table 1 DRAM Memory Requirements
ASA Model DRAM MemoryASA 5505
256 MB
ASA 5510
256 MB
ASA 5520
512 MB
ASA 5540
1024 MB
ASA 5550
4096 MB
All adaptive security appliances require a minimum of 64 MB of internal CompactFlash.
In a failover configuration, the two units must have the same hardware configuration. They must be the same model, have the same number and types of interfaces, and the same amount of RAM. For more information, see the "Configuring Failover" chapter in the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.
Note
If using two units with different flash memory sizes, make sure that the unit with the smaller flash memory has enough space for the software images and configuration files.
Determining the Software Version
Use the show version command to verify the software version of your adaptive security appliance. Alternatively, you can see the software version, on the Cisco ASDM home page.
Upgrading to a New Software Version
If you have a Cisco.com (CDC) login, you can obtain software from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml
Note
ASA and ASDM images must be compatible, for example ASA Version 7.2(4) is compatible to ASDM Version 5.2(4). ASDM will not work with an incompatible platform version. You will get an error message and ASDM will close.
You can also use the command-line interface to download the image, see the "Downloading Software or Configuration Files to Flash Memory" section in the Cisco Security Appliance Command Line Configuration Guide.
To upgrade from Version 7.1.(x) to 7.2(4), you must perform the following steps:
Step 1
Load the new 7.2(4) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml
Step 2
Reload the device so that it uses the 7.2(4) image.
Step 3
Load the new ASDM 5.2.(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml
Step 4
Enter the following command; this will tell the adaptive security appliance where to find the ASDM image:
hostname(config)# asdm image disk0:/ asdm fileTo downgrade from Version 7.2(4) to 7.1.(x), you must perform the following steps:
Step 1
Load the 7.1(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml
Step 2
Reload the device so that it uses the 7.1(x) image.
Step 3
Load the ASDM 5.1(x) image from the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml
Step 4
Enter the following command; this will tell the adaptive security appliance where to find the ASDM image:
hostname(config)# asdm image disk0:/ asdm file
Supported Platforms and Feature Licenses
This software version supports the following platforms; see the associated tables for the feature support for each model:
•
ASA 5505, Table 2
•
ASA 5510, Table 3
•
ASA 5520, Table 4
•
ASA 5540, Table 5
•
ASA 5550, Table 6
Note
Items that are in italics are separate, optional licenses that you can replace the base license. You can mix and match licenses, for example, the 10 security context license plus the Strong Encryption license; or the 500 WebVPN license plus the GTP/GPRS license; or all four licenses together.
Table 2 ASA 5505 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features
ASA 5505 Base License Security PlusUsers, concurrent1
10
Optional Licenses:
10
Optional Licenses:
50
Unlimited
50
Unlimited
Security Contexts
No support
No support
VPN Sessions2
10 combined IPSec and WebVPN
25 combined IPSec and WebVPN
Max. IPSec Sessions
10
25
Max. WebVPN Sessions
2
Optional License: 10
2
Optional License: 10
VPN Load Balancing
No support
No support
Failover
None
Active/Standby (no stateful failover)
GTP/GPRS
No support
No support
Maximum VLANs/Zones
3 (2 regular zones and 1 restricted zone that can only communicate with 1 other zone)
20
Maximum VLAN Trunks
No support
Unlimited
Concurrent Firewall Conns3
10 K
25 K
Max. Physical Interfaces
Unlimited, assigned to VLANs/zones
Unlimited, assigned to VLANs/zones
Encryption
Base (DES)
Optional license:
Strong (3DES/AES)Base (DES)
Optional license:
Strong (3DES/AES)Minimum RAM
256 MB
256 MB
1 In routed mode, hosts on the inside (Business and Home VLANs) count towards the limit only when they communicate with the outside (Internet VLAN). Internet hosts are not counted towards the limit. Hosts that initiate traffic between Business and Home are also not counted towards the limit. The interface associated with the default route is considered to be the Internet interface. If there is no default route, hosts on all interfaces are counted toward the limit. In transparent mode, the interface with the lowest number of hosts is counted towards the host limit. See the show local-host command to view the host limits.
2 Although the maximum IPSec and WebVPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the adaptive security appliance, so be sure to size your network appropriately.
3 The concurrent firewall connections are based on a traffic mix of 80% TCP and 20% UDP, with one host and one dynamic translation for every four connections.
Table 3 ASA 5510 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features
ASA 5510 Base License Security PlusUsers, concurrent
Unlimited
Unlimited
Security Contexts
No support
2
Optional Licenses:
5
VPN Sessions1
250 combined IPSec and WebVPN
250 combined IPSec and WebVPN
Max. IPSec Sessions
250
250
Max. WebVPN Sessions
2
Optional Licenses:
2
Optional Licenses:
10
25
50
100
250
10
25
50
100
250
VPN Load Balancing
No support
No support
Failover
None
Active/Standby or Active/Active
GTP/GPRS
No support
No support
Max. VLANs
50
100
Concurrent Firewall Conns2
50 K
130 K
Max. Physical Interfaces
Unlimited
Unlimited
Encryption
Base (DES)
Optional license:
Strong (3DES/AES)Base (DES)
Optional license:
Strong (3DES/AES)Min. RAM
256 MB
256 MB
1 Although the maximum IPSec and WebVPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the adaptive security appliance, so be sure to size your network appropriately.
2 The concurrent firewall connections are based on a traffic mix of 80% TCP and 20% UDP, with 1 host and 1 dynamic translation for every 4 connections.
Table 4 ASA 5520 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features
ASA 5520 Base LicenseUsers, concurrent
Unlimited
Unlimited
Security Contexts
2
Optional Licenses:
5
10
20
VPN Sessions1
750 combined IPSec and WebVPN
Max. IPSec Sessions
750
Max. WebVPN Sessions
2
Optional Licenses:
10
25
50
100
250
500
750
VPN Load Balancing
Supported
Failover
Active/Standby or Active/Active
GTP/GPRS
None
Optional license: Enabled
Max. VLANs
150
Concurrent Firewall Conns2
280 K
Max. Physical Interfaces
Unlimited
Encryption
Base (DES)
Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES)
Min. RAM
512 MB
1 Although the maximum IPSec and WebVPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the adaptive security appliance, so be sure to size your network appropriately.
2 The concurrent firewall connections are based on a traffic mix of 80% TCP and 20% UDP, with 1 host and 1 dynamic translation for every 4 connections.
Table 5 ASA 5540 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features
ASA 5540 Base LicenseUsers, concurrent
Unlimited
Unlimited
Security Contexts
2
Optional licenses:
5
10
20
50
VPN Sessions1
5000 combined IPSec and WebVPN
Max. IPSec Sessions
5000
Max. WebVPN Sessions
2
Optional Licenses:
10
25
50
100
250
500
750
1000
2500
VPN Load Balancing
Supported
Failover
Active/Standby or Active/Active
GTP/GPRS
None
Optional license: Enabled
Max. VLANs
200
Concurrent Firewall Conns2
400 K
Max. Physical Interfaces
Unlimited
Encryption
Base (DES)
Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES)
Min. RAM
1 GB
1 Although the maximum IPSec and WebVPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the adaptive security appliance, so be sure to size your network appropriately.
2 The concurrent firewall connections are based on a traffic mix of 80% TCP and 20% UDP, with 1 host and 1 dynamic translation for every 4 connections.
Table 6 ASA 5550 Adaptive Security Appliance License Features
ASA 5550 Base LicenseUsers, concurrent
Unlimited
Security Contexts
2
Optional licenses:
5
10
20
50
VPN Sessions1
5000 combined IPSec and WebVPN
Max. IPSec Sessions
5000
Max. WebVPN Sessions
2
Optional Licenses:
10
25
50
100
250
500
750
1000
2500
5000
VPN Load Balancing
Supported
Failover
Active/Standby or Active/Active
GTP/GPRS
None
Optional license: Enabled
Max. VLANs
250
Concurrent Firewall Conns2
650 K
Max. Physical Interfaces
Unlimited
Encryption
Base (DES)
Optional license: Strong (3DES/AES)
Min. RAM
4 GB
1 Although the maximum IPSec and WebVPN sessions add up to more than the maximum VPN sessions, the combined sessions should not exceed the VPN session limit. If you exceed the maximum VPN sessions, you can overload the adaptive security appliance, so be sure to size your network appropriately.
2 The concurrent firewall connections are based on a traffic mix of 80% TCP and 20% UDP, with 1 host and 1 dynamic translation for every 4 connections.
New Features
This section lists the new features for Version 7.2(4). For new feature support in ASDM 5.2(4), please refer to the Cisco ASDM Release Notes Version 5.2(4).
Application Profile Customization Framework
You can now use an Application Profile Customization Framework (APCF) script to modify the HTTP version in the HTTP header for clientless SSL VPN sessions. You might need to do so to view websites that work only if HTTP/1.1 is disabled in the browser, an impractical task to perform manually in large installations with multiple clients.
An APCF is an XML-based rule set for Clientless SSL VPN. It lets the security appliance handle non-standard applications and web resources so they display correctly over a Clientless SSL VPN connection. You can store APCF profiles on the security appliance flash memory, or on an HTTP, HTTPS, or TFTP server. Use either ASDM or the apcf command in webvpn mode to identify and locate an APCF profile that you want to load on the security appliance.
Note
We recommend that you configure an APCF profile only with the assistance of Cisco personnel.
capture command Enhancement
The capture asp type asp-drop all command captures all packets that the adaptive security appliance drops, including those dropped due to security checks.
clear conn Command
The clear conn command was added to remove connections.
IPv6 Multicast Listener Discovery Protocol v2 Support
The ASA adaptive security appliance now supports the Multicast Listener Discovery Protocol (MLD) Version 2, to discover the presence of multicast address listeners on their directly attached links, and to discover specifically which multicast addresses are of interest to those neighboring nodes. ASA becomes a multicast address listener, or a host, but not a a multicast router, and responds to Multicast Listener Queries and sends Multicast Listener Reports only.
The following commands support this feature:
•
debug ipv6 Command Enhancement
•
show debug ipv6 mld Command Enhancement
clear ipv6 mld traffic Command
The clear ipv6 mld traffic command allows you to reset all the Multicast Listener Discovery traffic counters. the syntax is as follows:
clear ipv6 mld trafficshow ipv6 mld Command
The show ipv6 mld command allows you to display all the Multicast Listener Discovery traffic counters. the syntax is as follows:
show ipv6 mld trafficdebug ipv6 Command Enhancement
The enhancement to the debug ipv6 command allows the user to display the debug messages for MLD, to see whether the MLD protocol activities are working properly. This enhancement adds the mld option.
debug ipv6 {icmp | interface | mld | nd | packet | routing}show debug ipv6 mld Command Enhancement
The enhancement to the show debug ipv6 command allows the user to display whether debug ipv6 mld is enabled or disabled.
show debug ipv6 mld
MIB Enhancement
The CISCO-REMOTE-ACCESS-MONITOR-MIB is implemented more completely.
Native VLAN Support on ASA 5505 Trunk Ports
You can now allow native VLANs on a trunk port (see the switchport trunk native vlan command).
QoS Traffic Shaping
If you have a device that transmits packets at a high speed, such as a security appliance with Fast Ethernet, and it is connected to a low speed device such as a cable modem, then the cable modem is a bottleneck at which packets are frequently dropped. To manage networks with differing line speeds, you can configure the security appliance to transmit packets at a fixed slower rate. See the shape command. See also the crypto ipsec security-association replay command, which lets you configure the IPSec anti-replay window size. One side-effect of priority queueing is packet re-ordering. For IPSec packets, out-of-order packets that are not within the anti-replay window generate warning syslog messages. These warnings become false alarms in the case of priority queueing. This new command avoids possible false alarms.
show asp drop Command Enhancement
The show asp drop command now displays the capture asp-drop type keywords. This enhancement displays the particular capture type as part of the output of the show asp drop command.
A timestamp was also added indicating when the last time the asp drop counters were cleared.
show asp table classify hits Command Enhancement
The hits option was added to the show asp table classify command, showing the timestamp indicating the last time the asp table counters were cleared. It also shows rules with hits values not equal to zero. This permits users to quickly see what rules are being hit, especially since a simple configuration may end up with hundreds of entries in the show asp table classify command.
TCP Normalization Enhancements
You can now configure TCP normalization actions for certain packet types. Previously, the default actions for these kinds of packets was to drop the packet. Now you can set the TCP normalizer to allow the packets.
•
TCP invalid ACK check (the invalid-ack command)
•
TCP packet sequence past window check (the seq-past-window command)
•
TCP SYN-ACK with data check (the synack-data command)
You can also set the TCP out-of-order packet buffer timeout (the queue command timeout keyword). Previously, the timeout was 4 seconds. You can now set the timeout to another value.
The default action for packets that exceed MSS has changed from drop to allow (the exceed-mss command).
The following non-configurable actions have changed from drop to clear for these packet types:
•
Bad option length in TCP
•
TCP Window scale on non-SYN
•
Bad TCP window scale value
•
Bad TCP SACK ALLOW option
TCP Urgent Flag Syslog
When the TCP urgent flag of a TCP packet is cleared and debugging is enabled, a syslog is generated: ASA-7-419003.
Timeout for SIP Provisional Media
You can now configure the timeout for SIP provisional media using the timeout sip-provisional-media command.
Important Notes
This section lists important notes.
Caveats
The following sections describe the caveats for the Version 7.2(4).
For your convenience in locating caveats in Cisco's Bug Toolkit, the caveat titles listed in this section are drawn directly from the Bug Toolkit database. These caveat titles are not intended to be read as complete sentences because the title field length is limited. In the caveat titles, some truncation of wording or punctuation may be necessary to provide the most complete and concise description. The only modifications made to these titles are as follows:
•
Commands are in boldface type.
•
Product names and acronyms may be standardized.
•
Spelling errors and typos may be corrected.
Note
If you are a registered cisco.com user, view Bug Toolkit on cisco.com at the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/support/bugtools
To become a registered cisco.com user, go to the following website:
http://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do
Open Caveats - Version 7.2(4)
Table 7 lists open caveats for Version 7.2(4).
Resolved Caveats - Version 7.2(4)
Table 8 lists resolved caveats for Version 7.2(4).
Related Documentation
For additional information on the Cisco ASA 5500 series adaptive security appliances, see the following URL on Cisco.com:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/roadmap/asaroadmap.html
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS Version 2.0.
This document is to be used in conjunction with the documents listed in the "Related Documentation" section.
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