CLI Book 3: Cisco ASA Series VPN CLI Configuration Guide, 9.2

Defining the End User Interface

The Clientless SSL VPN end user interface consists of a series of HTML panels. A user logs on to Clientless SSL VPN by entering the IP address of an ASA interface in the format https:// address . The first panel that displays is the login screen (Figure 21-1).

Figure 21-1 Clientless SSL VPN Login Screen

Viewing the Clientless SSL VPN Home Page

After the user logs in, the portal page opens.

The home page displays all of the Clientless SSL VPN features you have configured, and its appearance reflects the logo, text, and colors you have selected. This sample home page includes all available Clientless SSL VPN features with the exception of identifying specific file shares. It lets users browse the network, enter URLs, access specific websites, and use Application Access (port forwarding and smart tunnels) to access TCP applications.

Viewing the Clientless SSL VPN Application Access Panel

To start port forwarding or smart tunnels, a user clicks the Go button in the Application Access box. The Application Access window opens (Figure 21-2).

Figure 21-2 Clientless SSL VPN Application Access Window

This window displays the TCP applications configured for this Clientless SSL VPN connection. To use an application with this panel open, the user starts the application in the normal way.

Note A stateful failover does not retain sessions established using Application Access. Users must reconnect following a failover.

Viewing the Floating Toolbar

The floating toolbar shown in Figure 21-3 represents the current Clientless SSL VPN session.

Figure 21-3 Clientless SSL VPN Floating Toolbar

Be aware of the following characteristics of the floating toolbar:

• The toolbar lets you enter URLs, browse file locations, and choose preconfigured Web connections without interfering with the main browser window.
• If you configure your browser to block popups, the floating toolbar cannot display.
• If you close the toolbar, the ASA prompts you to end the Clientless SSL VPN session.

Customizing Clientless SSL VPN Pages

You can change the appearance of the portal pages displayed to Clientless SSL VPN users. This includes the Login page displayed to users when they connect to the security appliance, the Home page displayed to users after the security appliance authenticates them, the Application Access window displayed when users launch an application, and the Logout page displayed when users log out of Clientless SSL VPN sessions.

After you customize the portal pages, you can save your customization and apply it to a specific connection profile, group policy, or user. The changes do not take effect until you reload the ASA, or you switch off and then enable clientless SSL.

You can create and save many customization objects, enabling the security appliance to change the appearance of portal pages for individual users or groups of users.

This section includes the following topics:

• Information About Customization
• Exporting a Customization Template
• Editing the Customization Template
• Importing a Customization Object
• Applying Customizations to Connection Profiles, Group Policies and Users
• Login Screen Advanced Customization

Information About Customization

The ASA uses customization objects to define the appearance of user screens. A customization object is compiled from an XML file which contains XML tags for all the customizable screen items displayed to remote users. The ASA software contains a customization template that you can export to a remote PC. You can edit this template and import the template back into the ASA as a new customization object.

When you export a customization object, an XML file containing XML tags is created at the URL you specify. The XML file created by the customization object named Template contains empty XML tags, and provides the basis for creating new customization objects. This object cannot be changed or deleted from cache memory but can be exported, edited, and imported back into the ASA as a new customization object.

Customization Objects, Connection Profiles, and Group Policies

Initially, when a user first connects, the default customization object (named DfltCustomization ) identified in the connection profile (tunnel group) determines how the logon screen appears. If the connection profile list is enabled, and the user selects a different group which has its own customization, the screen changes to reflect the customization object for that new group.

After the remote user is authenticated, the screen appearance is determined by whether a customization object that has been assigned to the group policy.

Exporting a Customization Template

When you export a customization object, an XML file is created at the URL you specify. The customization template (named Template ) contains empty XML tags and provides the basis for creating new customization objects. This object cannot be changed or deleted from cache memory but can be exported, edited, and imported back into the ASA as a new customization object.

DETAILED STEPS

Editing the Customization Template

This section shows the contents of the customization template and has convenient figures to help you quickly choose the correct XML tag and make changes that affect the screens.

You can use a text editor or an XML editor to edit the XML file. The following example shows the XML tags of the customization template. Some redundant tags have been removed for easier viewing:

Figure 21-4 shows the Logon page and its customizing XML tags. All these tags are nested within the higher-level tag <auth-page>.

Figure 21-4 Logon Page and Associated XML Tags

Figure 21-5 shows the Language Selector drop-down list that is available on the Logon page, and the XML tags for customizing this feature. All these tags are nested within the higher-level <auth-page> tag.

Figure 21-5 Language Selector on Logon Screen and Associated XML Tags

Figure 21-6 shows the Information Panel that is available on the Logon page, and the XML tags for customizing this feature. This information can appear to the left or right of the login box. These tags are nested within the higher-level <auth-page> tag.

Figure 21-6 Information Panel on Logon Screen and Associated XML Tags

Figure 21-7 shows the Portal page and the XML tags for customizing this feature. These tags are nested within the higher-level <auth-page> tag.

Figure 21-7 Portal Page and Associated XML Tags

Importing a Customization Object

After you edit and save the XML file, import it into cache memory of the ASA using the following commands:

DETAILED STEPS

Applying Customizations to Connection Profiles, Group Policies and Users

After you create a customization, you can apply the customization to a connection profile (tunnel group), a group, or a user, with the customization command. The options displayed with this command are different depending on the mode you are in.

Note After you customize the portal pages, the changes do not take effect until you reload the ASA, or you disable and then enable clientless SSL.

For more information about configuring connection profiles, group policies, and users, see “Connection Profiles, Group Policies, and Users” in the Cisco ASA Series VPN CLI Configuration Guide .

DETAILED STEPS

Login Screen Advanced Customization

If you prefer to use your own, custom login screen, rather than changing specific screen elements of the login screen we provide, you can perform this advanced customization using the Full Customization feature.

With Full Customization, you provide the HTML for your own login screen, and you insert Cisco HTML code that calls functions on the ASA that create the Login form and the Language Selector drop-down list.

This section describes the modifications you need to make to your HTML code and the tasks required to configure the ASA to use your code.

Figure 21-8 shows the standard Cisco login screen that displays to Clientless SSL VPN users. The Login form is displayed by a function called by the HTML code.

Figure 21-8 Standard Cisco Login Page

Figure 21-9 shows the Language Selector drop-down list. This feature is an option for Clientless SSL VPN users and is also called by a function in the HTML code of the login screen.

Figure 21-9 Language Selector Drop-down List

Figure 21-10 shows a simple example of a custom login screen enabled by the Full Customization feature.

Figure 21-10 Example of Full Customization of Login Screens

The following HTML code is used as an example and is the code that displays:

The indented code injects the Login form and the Language Selector on the screen. The function csco_ShowLoginForm('lform') injects the logon form. csco_ShowLanguageSelector('selector') injects the Language Selector.

Modifying Your HTML File

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1 Name your file logon.inc. When you import the file, the ASA recognizes this filename as the logon screen.

Step 2 Modify the paths of images used by the file to include /+CSCOU+/.

Files that are displayed to remote users before authentication must reside in a specific area of the ASA cache memory represented by the path /+CSCOU+/. Therefore, the source for each image in the file must include this path. For example:

Step 3 Insert the special HTML code below. This code contains the Cisco functions, described earlier, that inject the login form and language selector onto the screen.

Customizing a Help File Provided By Cisco

To customize a help file provided by Cisco, you need to get a copy of the file from the flash memory card first. Get the copy and customize it as follows:

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1 Use your browser to establish a Clientless SSL VPN session with the ASA.

Step 2 Display the help file by appending the string in “URL of Help File in Flash Memory of the Security Appliance” in Table 21-1 , to the address of the ASA, then press Enter.

Note Enter en in place of language to get the help file in English.

The following example address displays the English version of the Terminal Servers help:

https:// address_of_security_appliance /+CSCOE+/help/en/rdp-hlp.inc

Step 3 Choose File > Save (Page) As .

Note Do not change the contents of the File name box.

Step 4 Change the Save as type option to Web Page, HTML only and click Save .

Step 5 Use your preferred HTML editor to modify the file.

Note You can use most HTML tags, but do not use tags that define the document and its structure for example, do not use <html>, <title>, <body>, <head>, <h1>, or <h2>. You can use character tags, such as the <b> tag, and the <p>, <ol>, <ul>, and <li> tags to structure content.

Step 6 Save the file as HTML only, using the original filename and extension.

Step 7 Ensure the filename matches the one in Table 21-1 , and that it does not have an extra filename extension.

Creating Help Files for Languages Not Provided by Cisco

Use HTML to create help files in other languages.

We recommend creating a separate folder for each language to support.

Save the file as HTML only. Use the filename following the last slash in “URL of Help File in Flash Memory of the Security Appliance” in Table 21-1 .

See the next section to import the files for display during VPN sessions.

Restrictions

You can use most HTML tags, but do not use tags that define the document and its structure, for example do not use <html>, <title>, <body>, <head>, <h1>, or <h2>. You can use character tags, such as the <b> tag, and the <p>, <ol>, <ul>, and <li> tags to structure content.

Importing a Help File to Flash Memory

DETAILED STEPS

Exporting a Previously Imported Help File from Flash Memory

DETAILED STEPS

Understanding Language Translation

Functional areas and their messages that are visible to remote users are organized into translation domains. Table 21-2 shows the translation domains and the functional areas translated.

Table 21-2 Language Translation Domain Options

The ASA includes a translation table template for each domain that is part of standard functionality. The templates for plug-ins are included with the plug-ins and define their own translation domains.

You can export the template for a translation domain, which creates an XML file of the template at the URL you provide. The message fields in this file are empty. You can edit the messages and import the template to create a new translation table object that resides in flash memory.

You can also export an existing translation table. The XML file created displays the messages you edited previously. Reimporting this XML file with the same language name creates a new version of the translation table object, overwriting previous messages.

Some templates are static, but some change based on the configuration of the ASA. Because you can customize the logon and logout pages, portal page, and URL bookmarks for clientless users, the ASA generates the customization and url-list translation domain templates dynamically, and the template automatically reflects your changes to these functional areas.

After creating translation tables, they are available to customization objects that you create and apply to group policies or user attributes. With the exception of the AnyConnect translation domain, a translation table has no affect, and messages are not translated on user screens until you create a customization object, identify a translation table to use in that object, and specify that customization for the group policy or user. Changes to the translation table for the AnyConnect domain are immediately visible to AnyConnect client users.

Creating Translation Tables

You can create translation tables in both single context mode and multi-context mode:

DETAILED STEPS

If you import a translation table for the AnyConnect domain, your changes are effective immediately. If you import a translation table for any other domain, you must create a customization object, identify the translation table to use in that object, and specify that customization object for the group policy or user.

Referencing the Language in a Customization Object

This section describes how to export the customization template, edit it, and import it as a customization object so that you can refer to it.

Prerequisites

For the customization object to call these translation tables correctly, the tables must have been previously imported using the same names. These names must be compatible with language options of the browser.

DETAILED STEPS

Changing a Group Policy or User Attributes to Use the Customization Object

This section describes how to activate your changes for specific groups or users.

DETAILED STEPS