Objects

An object is a container of information that you can use in one or more security policies. Objects make it easy to maintain policy consistency. You can create a single object, use it different policies, modify the object, and that change is propagated to every policy that uses the object. Without objects, you would need to modify all the policies, individually, that require the same change.

When you onboard a device, Security Cloud Control recognizes all the objects used by that device, saves them, and lists them on the Objects page. From the Objects page, you can edit existing objects and create new ones to use in your security policies.

Security Cloud Control calls an object used on multiple devices a shared object and identifies them in the Objects page with this badge .

Sometimes a shared object develops some "issue" and is no longer perfectly shared across multiple policies or devices:

  • Duplicate objects are two or more objects on the same device with different names but the same values. These objects usually serve similar purposes and are used by different policies. Duplicate objects are identified by this issue icon:

  • Inconsistent objects are objects on two or more devices with the same name but different values. Sometimes users create objects in different configurations with same name and content but over time the values of these objects diverge which creates the inconsistency. Inconsistent objects are identified by this issue icon:

  • Unused objects are objects that exist in a device configuration but are not referenced by another object, an access-list, or a NAT rule. Unused objects are identified by this issue icon:

You can also create objects for immediate use in rules or policies. You can create an object that is unassociated with any rule or policy. Before 28 June 2024, when you use an unassociated object in a rule or policy, Security Cloud Control created a copy of it and used the copy. Because of this behavior, you might have observed that there were two instances of the same object in the Objects menu. However, Security Cloud Control does not do that anymore. You can use an unassociated object in a rule or a policy but there are no duplicate objects that Security Cloud Control creates.

You can view the objects managed by Security Cloud Control by navigating to the Objects menu or by viewing them in the details of a network policy.

Security Cloud Control allows you to manage network and service objects across supported devices from one location. With Security Cloud Control, you can manage objects in these ways:

  • Search for and filter all your objects based on a variety of criteria.

  • Find duplicate, unused, and inconsistent objects on your devices and consolidate, delete, or resolve those object issues.

  • Find unassociated objects and delete them if they are unused.

  • Discover shared objects that are common across devices.

  • Evaluate the impact of changes to an object on a set of policies and devices before committing the change.

  • Compare a set of objects and their relationships with different policies and devices.

  • Capture objects in use by a device after it has been on-boarded to Security Cloud Control.


Note

Out-of-band changes that are done to objects are detected as overrides to the object. When such a change happens, the edited value gets added to the object as an override, which can be viewed by selecting the object. To know more about out-of-band changes on devices, see Out-of-Band Changes on Devices.

If you have issues with creating, editing, or reading objects from an onboarded device, see Troubleshoot Security Cloud Control for more information.

Objects

An object is a container of information that you can use in one or more security policies. Objects make it easy to maintain policy consistency. You can create a single object, use it different policies, modify the object, and that change is propagated to every policy that uses the object. Without objects, you would need to modify all the policies, individually, that require the same change.

When you onboard a device, Security Cloud Control recognizes all the objects used by that device, saves them, and lists them on the Objects page. From the Objects page, you can edit existing objects and create new ones to use in your security policies.

Security Cloud Control calls an object used on multiple devices a shared object and identifies them in the Objects page with this badge .

Sometimes a shared object develops some "issue" and is no longer perfectly shared across multiple policies or devices:

  • Duplicate objects are two or more objects on the same device with different names but the same values. These objects usually serve similar purposes and are used by different policies. Duplicate objects are identified by this issue icon:

  • Inconsistent objects are objects on two or more devices with the same name but different values. Sometimes users create objects in different configurations with same name and content but over time the values of these objects diverge which creates the inconsistency. Inconsistent objects are identified by this issue icon:

  • Unused objects are objects that exist in a device configuration but are not referenced by another object, an access-list, or a NAT rule. Unused objects are identified by this issue icon:

You can also create objects for immediate use in rules or policies. You can create an object that is unassociated with any rule or policy. Before 28 June 2024, when you use an unassociated object in a rule or policy, Security Cloud Control created a copy of it and used the copy. Because of this behavior, you might have observed that there were two instances of the same object in the Objects menu. However, Security Cloud Control does not do that anymore. You can use an unassociated object in a rule or a policy but there are no duplicate objects that Security Cloud Control creates.

You can view the objects managed by Security Cloud Control by navigating to the Objects menu or by viewing them in the details of a network policy.

Security Cloud Control allows you to manage network and service objects across supported devices from one location. With Security Cloud Control, you can manage objects in these ways:

  • Search for and filter all your objects based on a variety of criteria.

  • Find duplicate, unused, and inconsistent objects on your devices and consolidate, delete, or resolve those object issues.

  • Find unassociated objects and delete them if they are unused.

  • Discover shared objects that are common across devices.

  • Evaluate the impact of changes to an object on a set of policies and devices before committing the change.

  • Compare a set of objects and their relationships with different policies and devices.

  • Capture objects in use by a device after it has been on-boarded to Security Cloud Control.


Note

Out-of-band changes that are done to objects are detected as overrides to the object. When such a change happens, the edited value gets added to the object as an override, which can be viewed by selecting the object. To know more about out-of-band changes on devices, see Out-of-Band Changes on Devices.

If you have issues with creating, editing, or reading objects from an onboarded device, see Troubleshoot Security Cloud Control for more information.

Shared Objects

Security Cloud Control calls objects on multiple devices with the same name and same contents, shared objects. Shared objects are identified by this icon
on the Objects page. Shared objects make it easy to maintain policies because you can modify an object in one place and that change affects all the other policies that use that object. Without shared objects, you would need to modify all the policies individually that require the same change.

When looking at a shared object, Security Cloud Control shows you the contents of the object in the object table. Shared objects have exactly the same contents. Security Cloud Control shows you a combined or "flattened" view of the elements of the object in the details pane. Notice that in the details pane, the network elements are flattened into a simple list and not directly associated with a named object.

Object Overrides

An object override allows you to override the value of a shared network object on specific devices. Security Cloud Control uses the corresponding value for the devices that you specify when configuring the override. Although the objects are on two or more devices with the same name but different values, Security Cloud Control doesn't identify them as Inconsistent objects only because these values are added as overrides.

You can create an object whose definition works for most devices, and then use overrides to specify modifications to the object for the few devices that need different definitions. You can also create an object that needs to be overridden for all devices, but its use allows you to create a single policy for all devices. Object overrides allow you to create a smaller set of shared policies for use across devices without giving up the ability to alter policies when needed for individual devices.

For example, consider a scenario where you have a printer server in each of your offices, and you have created a printer server object print-server. You have a rule in your ACL to deny printer servers from accessing the internet. The printer server object has a default value that you want to change from one office to another. You can do this by using object overrides and maintain rule and "printer-server" object consistent across all locations, although their values may be different.

Out-of-band changes that are done to objects are detected as overrides to the object. When such a change happens, the edited value gets added to the object as an override, which can be viewed by selecting the object. To know more about out-of-band changes, see Out-of-Band Changes on Devices.


Note

If there are inconsistent objects, you can combine them into a single shared object with overrides. For more information, see Resolve Inconsistent Object Issues.

Unassociated Objects

You can create objects for immediate use in rules or policies. You can also create an object that is unassociated with any rule or policy. When you use that unassociated object in a rule or policy, Security Cloud Control creates a copy of it and uses the copy. The original unassociated object remains among the list of available objects until it is either deleted by a nightly maintenance job, or you delete it.

Unassociated objects remain in Security Cloud Control as a copy to ensure that not all configurations are lost if the rule or policy associated with the object is deleted accidentally.

In the left pane, click Objects > and check the Unassociated checkbox.

Compare Objects

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects and choose an option.

Step 2

Filter the objects on the page to find the objects you want to compare.

Step 3

Click the Compare button .

Step 4

Select up to three objects to compare.

Step 5

View the objects, side-by-side, at the bottom of the screen.

  • Click the up and down arrows in the Object Details title bar to see more or less of the Object Details.

  • Expand or collapse the Details and Relationships boxes to see more or less information.

Step 6

(Optional) The Relationships box shows how an object is used. It may be associated with a device or a policy. If the object is associated with a device, you can click the device name and then click View Configuration to see the configuration of the device. Security Cloud Control shows you the device's configuration file and highlights the entry for that object.

Filters

You can use many different filters on the Security Devices and Objects pages to find the devices and objects you are looking for.

To filter, click in the left-hand pane of the Security Devices, Policies, and Objects tabs:

The Security Devices filter allows you to filter by device type, hardware and software versions, snort version, configuration status, connection states, conflict detection, and secure device connectors, and labels. You can apply filters to find devices within a selected device type tab. You can use filters to find devices within the selected device type tab.

The object filter allows you to filter by device, issue type, shared objects, unassociated objects, and object type. You can include system objects in your results or not. You can also use the search field to search for objects in the filter results that contain a certain name, IP address, or port number.

The object type filter allows you to filter objects by type, such as network object, network group, URL object, URL group, service object, and service group. The shared objects filter allows filtering objects having default values or override values.

When filtering devices and objects, you can combine your search terms to create several potential search strategies to find relevant results.

In the following example, filters are applied to search objects that are "Issues (Used OR Inconsistent) AND Shared Objects with Additional Values.

Object Filters

To filter, click in the left-hand pane of the Objects tab:

  • Filter by Device: Lets you pick a specific device so that you can see objects found on the selected device.

  • Issues: Lets you pick unused, duplicate, and inconsistent objects to view.

  • Ignored Issues: Lets you view all the objects whose inconsistencies you had ignored.

  • Shared Objects: Lets you view all the objects that Security Cloud Control has found to be shared on more than one device. You can choose to see shared objects with only default values or override values, or both.

  • Unassociated Objects: Lets you view all the objects that are not associated with any rule or policy.

  • Object Type: Lets you select an object type to see only those type of objects that you have selected, such as network objects, network groups, URL objects, URL groups, service objects, and service groups.

Sub filters – Within each main filter, there are sub-filters you can apply to further narrow down your selection. These sub-filters are based on Object Type – Network, Service, Protocol, etc.

The selected filters in this filter bar would return objects that match the following criteria:

* Objects that are on one of two devices. (Click Filter by Device to specify the devices.) AND are

* Inconsistent objects AND are

* Network objects OR Service objects AND

* Have the word "group" in their object naming convention

Because Show System Objects is checked, the result would include both system objects and user-defined objects.

Show System-Defined Objects Filter

Some devices come with pre-defined objects for common services. These system objects are convenient because they are already made for you and you can use them in your rules and policies. There can be many system objects in the objects table. System objects cannot be edited or deleted.

Show System-Defined Objects is off by default. To display system objects in the object table, check Show System-Defined Objects in the filter bar. To hide system objects in the object table, leave Show System Objects unchecked in the filter bar.

If you hide system objects, they will not be included in your search and filtering results. If you show system objects, they will be included in your object search and filtering results.

Configure Object Filters

You can filter on as few or as many criteria as you want. The more categories you filter by, the fewer results you should expect.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Open the filter panel by clicking the filter icon at the top of the page. Uncheck any filters that have been checked to make sure no objects are inadvertently filtered out. Additionally, look at the search field and delete any text that may have been entered in the search field.

Step 3

If you want to restrict your results to those found on particular devices:

  1. Click Filter By Device.

  2. Search all the devices or click a device tab to search for only devices of a certain kind.

  3. Check the device you want to include in your filter criteria.

  4. Click OK.

Step 4

Check Show System Objects to include system objects in your search results. Uncheck Show System Objects to exclude system objects from your search results.

Step 5

Check the object Issues you want to filter by. If you check more than one issue, objects in any of the categories you check are included in your filter results.

Step 6

Check Ignored issues if you want to see the object that had issues but was ignored by the administrator.

Step 7

Check the required filter in Shared Objects if you are filtering for objects shared between two or more devices.

  • Default Values: Filters objects having only the default values.

  • Override Values: Filters objects having overridden values.

  • Additional Values: Filters objects having additional values.

Step 8

Check Unassociated if you are filtering for objects that are not part of any rule or policy.

Step 9

Check the Object Types you want to filter by.

Step 10

You can also add an object name, IP address, or port number to the Objects search field to find objects with your search criteria among the filtered results.

When to Exclude a Device from Filter Criteria

When adding a device to filtering criteria, the results show you the objects on a device but not the relationships of those objects to other devices. For example, assume ObjectA is shared between ASA1 and ASA2. If you were to filter objects to find shared objects on ASA1, you would find ObjectA but the Relationships pane would only show you that the object is on ASA1.

To see all the devices to which an object is related, don't specify a device in your search criteria. Filter by the other criteria and add search criteria if you choose to. Select an object that Security Cloud Control identifies and then look in the Relationships pane. You will see all the devices and policies the object is related to.

Unignore Objects

One way to resolve unused, duplicate, or inconsistent objects is to ignore them. You may decide that though an object is unused, a duplicate, or inconsistent, there are valid reasons for that state and you choose to leave the object issue unresolved. At some point in the future, you may want to resolve those ignored objects. As Security Cloud Control does not display ignored objects when you search for object issues, you will need to filter the object list for ignored objects and then act on the results.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects and choose an option.

Step 2

Filter and search for ignored objects.

Step 3

In the Object table, select the object you want to unignore. You can unignore one object at a time.

Step 4

Click Unignore in the details pane.

Step 5

Confirm your request. Now, when you filter your objects by issue, you should find the object that was previously ignored.

Deleting Objects

You can delete a single object or mulitple objects.

Delete a Single Object


Caution

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

Changes you make to the ASA, FDM, and FTD network objects and groups are reflected in the corresponding cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center network object or group. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the changes to the on-premises management center on which you have these objects.

Deleting a network object or group from either page deletes the object or group from both pages.
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Locate the object you want to delete by using object filters and the search field, and select it.

Step 3

Review the Relationships pane. If the object is used in a policy or in an object group, you cannot delete the object until you remove it from that policy or group.

Step 4

In the Actions pane, click the Remove icon .

Step 5

Confirm that you want to delete the object by clicking OK.

Step 6

Review and deploy the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Delete a Group of Unused Objects

As you onboard devices and start resolving object issues, you find many unused objects. You can delete up to 50 unused objects at a time.

Procedure

Step 1

Use the Issues filter to find unused objects. You can also use the Device filter to find objects that are not associated with a device by selecting No Device. Once you have filtered the object list, the object checkboxes appear.

Step 2

Check the Select all checkbox in the object table header to select all the objects found by the filter that appear in the object table; or, check individual checkboxes for individual objects you want to delete.

Step 3

In the Actions pane, click the Remove icon .

Step 4

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Network Objects

A network object can contain a host name, a network IP address, a range of IP addresses, a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or a subnetwork expressed in CIDR notation. Network groups are collections of network objects and other individual addresses or subnetworks you add to the group. Network objects and network groups are used in access rules, network policies, and NAT rules. You can create, update, and delete network objects and network groups using Security Cloud Control.

Note that not all platforms support network objects, such as Cisco Merkai and Multicloud Defense; when you share dynamic objects, Security Cloud Control automatically translates the appropriate information from the originating platform or device into a set of usable information that Security Cloud Control can use.

Table 1. Pemitted Values of Network Objects

Device type

IPv4 / IPv6

Single Address

Range of addresses

Fully Qualified Domain Name

Subnet using CIDR Notation

Meraki

IPv4

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multicloud Defense

IPv4 and IPv6

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes
Table 2. Pemitted Contents of a Network Group

Device type

IP Value

Network Object

Network Groups

Meraki

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multicloud Defense

Yes

Yes

Yes

Reusing Network Objects Across Products

If you have a Security Cloud Control tenant with a cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center and one or more on-premises management centers onboarded to your tenant:

  • When you create a Secure Firewall Threat Defense, FDM-managed threat defense, ASA, or Meraki network object or group, a copy of the object is also added to the objects list on the Objects page used when configuring cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center, and vice versa.

  • When you create a Secure Firewall Threat Defense, FDM-managed threat defense, or ASA network object or group, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each On-Premises Firewall Management Center for which Discover & Manage Network Objects is enabled. From this list, you can choose and deploy the object to the on-premises management center on which you want to use the object and discard the ones that you do not want. Navigate , Administration > Firewall Management Center select the on-premises management center, and click Objects to see your objects in the On-Premises Firewall Management Center user interface and assign them to policies.

Changes you make to network objects or groups on either page apply to the object or group instance on both pages. Deleting an object from one page also deletes the corresponding copy of the object from the other page.

Exceptions:

  • If a network object of the same name already exists for cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center, the new Secure Firewall Threat Defense, FDM-managed threat defense, ASA, or Meraki network object will not be replicated on the Objects page of Security Cloud Control.

  • Network objects and groups in onboarded threat defense devices that are managed by on-premises Secure Firewall Management Center are not replicated and cannot be used in cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center.

    Note that for on-premises Secure Firewall Management Center instances that have been migrated to cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center, network objects and groups are replicated to the Security Cloud Control objects page if they are used in policies that were deployed to FTD devices.

  • Sharing Network Objects between Security Cloud Control and cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is automatically enabled on new tenants but must be requested for existing tenants. If your network objects are not being shared with cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center, contact TAC to have the features enabled on your tenant.

  • Sharing network objects between Security Cloud Control and On-Premises Management Center is not automatically enabled on Security Cloud Control for new on-premises management centers onboarded to Security Cloud Control. If your network objects are not being shared with On-Premises Management Center, ensure Discover & Manage Network Objects toggle button is enabled for the on-premises management center in Settings or contact TAC to have the features enabled on your tenant.

Viewing Network Objects

Network objects you create using Security Cloud Control and those Security Cloud Control recognizes in an onboarded device's configuration are displayed on the Objects page. They are labeled with their object type. This allows you to filter by object type to quickly find the object you are looking for.

When you select a network object on the Objects page, you see the object's values in the Details pane. The Relationships pane shows you if the object is used in a policy and on what device the object is stored.

When you click on a network group you see the contents of that group. The network group is a conglomerate of all the values given to it by the network objects.

Objects Associated with Meraki Devices

About Objects Used with Meraki Devices

The Meraki dashboard utilizes groups of IP addresses, protocols, or port ranges in source and destination fields in outbound access control rules. Once onboarded, Security Cloud Control translates IP address into network objects, and application layer protocol values into either service objects or protocol objects.

A single rule in Security Cloud Control can translate into multiple rules in the dashboard. For example, if you add an ASA protocol group that includes both TCP and UDP protocols to a single access control rule in Security Cloud Control, Security Cloud Control translates the one Security Cloud Control rule into multiple rules in the dashboard: one rule containing a TCP protocol and one rule containing a UDP protocol.

Note that the Meraki dashboard and Security Cloud Control both support CIDR subnet notation. For more information on layer 3 switch interfaces and MX device layout, see the Meraki Knowledge Base.

Which Objects Can You Use With a Meraki Device in Security Cloud Control?

There are no objects in Security Cloud Control that are exclusive to MX devices. Instead, you can create or share FTD, FDM, and ASA objects and associate these objects in rules that are deployed to the device. Because Meraki is not fully compatible with FTD and ASA objects, there may be a few limitations that affect how the MX device uses objects.

Note that if you associate an FTD, FDM, and ASA objects with a MX device, that object becomes shared. Any changes to that object will affect all the devices it is shared with and the devices' configuration status will appear as Not Synced. See Shared Objects for more information. For additional object states that could affect your objects, see the Related Articles section listed at the bottom of this page.

Meraki does not support objects containing IPv6 addresses or FQDNs.

Object in Security Cloud Control

Compatible with Meraki

Protocol Objects

TCP, UDP, ICMP

Network Objects

yes

Network Groups

yes

Service Objects

yes

ASA Service Groups

no

FTD Service Groups

no
Local Network Objects and Object Groups From the Meraki Cloud

Network objects and object groups provide easier management of firewall rules for Meraki devices. They serve as labels to IP Subnets and FQDN that can be used on access policies such as firewall rules. If there are needs to modify multiple access policies that use the same IP Subnets or FQDN, you only need to modify the network object to have it reflect on all policies.At this time, you must use the Meraki dashboard to create and modify these objects. For more information about what these objects can do for your environment, see Meraki's Network Objects Highlights.


Note

Once a device configuration referencing a Meraki network object or network object group is onboarded or synchronized to the Security Cloud Control UI, these objects are displayed as FTD Network objects.

These objects and object groups are read-only in Security Cloud Control.

What Do Meraki Rules Look Like in Security Cloud Control

You can view the objects from the device's policy page, or you can filter the objects page based on device. From the policy page you can view, edit, and reorder the access control rules. Because Security Cloud Control translates the outbound rules from the Meraki dashboard into access control rules with objects, rules and protocols from the Meraki dashboard may look different. The following table addresses the new names for protocols once the device is onboarded to Security Cloud Control:

Rule or Protocol Header in the Meraki dashboard

Rule or Object Header in Security Cloud Control

Policy

Action

Source IP

Network Object or Network Group

Destination IP

Network Object or Network Group

Source Port

Network Object or Network Group

Destination Port

Network Object or Network Group

Layer 3 Application Protocol

Ports (Protocol Groups, Port Groups, or Service Objects)

The following is an example of what the outbound rules from the Meraki dashboard look in Security Cloud Control:

Create a Local Meraki Network Object

A local Meraki network object must be made in the Merkai dashboard. If you have a Meraki device that has not been onboarded to Security Cloud Control yet, any pre-existing local objects are onboarded with the device; if you have a Meraki device that has been onboarded, sychronize the device in Security Cloud Control to read the new configuration and local objects.


Note

Once a device configuration referencing a Meraki network object or network object group is onboarded or synchronized with the Security Cloud Control UI, these objects are displayed as FTD Network objects or object groups.

These objects and object groups are read-only in Security Cloud Control.

Before you begin
If you have not enabled Merkai's Open Beta Network Objects, log into the Meraki dashboard and navigate to Organization > Policy Object to enroll and get access to local objects and object groups
Procedure

Step 1

Log into the Meraki dashboard and create a local object or a local object group. See the Meraki Network Objects Configuration Guide for more information.

Step 2

Log into Security Cloud Control.

Note: If you have not yet onboarded your Meraki device to Security Cloud Control, see Onboard an MX Device to Security Cloud Control for more information. Onboarding a device also onboards all the pre-existing objects.

Step 3

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 4

Locate the Merkai device and select it so the device row is highlighted. The device status is Conflict detected. In the pane located to the right, select either Review Conflict to review the changes made to the device's configuration or Accept without Review to accept all configuration changes.

Create or Edit a Meraki Network Object or Network Group

MX devices use the same format as Firepower and ASA network objects and can contain a host name, an IP address or a subnet address expressed in CIDR notation. Network groups are a collection of network objects and other individual addresses or subnets you add to the group. Network objects and network groups are used in access rules. You can create, read, update, and delete network objects and network groups using Security Cloud Control.

IP addresses that can be added to network objects

Device type

IPv4 / IPv6

Single Address

Range of addresses

Fully Qualified Domain Name

Subnet using CIDR Notation

MX

IPv4

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Note

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

When you create an FTD, FDM, or ASA network object or group on the Objects page, a copy of the object is automatically added to the cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center and vice-versa. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the objects to the on-premises management center on which you want these objects.

Caution

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

Changes you make to the ASA, FDM, and FTD network objects and groups are reflected in the corresponding cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center network object or group. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the changes to the on-premises management center on which you have these objects.

Deleting a network object or group from either page deletes the object or group from both pages.
Create a Meraki Network Object

Note

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

When you create an FTD, FDM, or ASA network object or group on the Objects page, a copy of the object is automatically added to the cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center and vice-versa. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the objects to the on-premises management center on which you want these objects.
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Click , then click FTD > Network or ASA > Network.

Step 3

Enter an object name.

Step 4

Select Create a network object.

Step 5

In the Value section, enter a single IP address or a subnet address expressed in CIDR notation.

Step 6

Click Add.

Step 7

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Create a Meraki Network Group

A network group is made up of multiple network objects or IP addresses.

If you want your network group to be made up of network objects, use the "Create a Network Object" procedure above to create individual network objects for your IP addresses.


Note

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

When you create an FTD, FDM, or ASA network object or group on the Objects page, a copy of the object is automatically added to the cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center and vice-versa. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the objects to the on-premises management center on which you want these objects.
Procedure

Step 1

In the Security Cloud Control navigation bar on the left, click Objects.

Step 2

Click , then click either FTD > Network or ASA > Network.

Step 3

Enter an object name.

Step 4

Select Create a network group.

Step 5

Click Add Object, select the network object from the list and click Select. Continue to do this until you have added all the network objects you want.

Step 6

Click Add.

Step 7

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Edit a Firepower Network Object or Network Group

Caution

If cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

Changes you make to the ASA, FDM, and FTD network objects and groups are reflected in the corresponding cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center network object or group. In addition, an entry is created in the Devices with Pending Changes page for each on-premises management center with Discover & Manage Network Objects enabled, from which you can choose and deploy the changes to the on-premises management center on which you have these objects.

Deleting a network object or group from either page deletes the object or group from both pages.
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Locate the object you want to edit by using object filters and search field.

Step 3

Select the object you want to edit.

Step 4

Click the edit button in the details pane.

Step 5

Edit the values in the dialog box in the same fashion that you created them in the procedures above.

Step 6

Click Save.

Step 7

Security Cloud Control displays the policies that will be affected by the change. Click Confirm to finalize the change to the object and any policy affected by it.

Step 8

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Deleting Network Objects and Groups in Security Cloud Control

If Cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center is deployed on your tenant:

Deleting a network object or group from the Objects page deletes the replicated network object or group from the Objects page on the cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center and vice-versa.

Service Objects

Protocol Objects

Protocol objects are a type of service object that contain less-commonly used or legacy protocols. Protocol objects are identified by a name and protocol number. Security Cloud Control recognizes these objects in ASA and Firepower (FDM-managed device) configurations and gives them their own filter of "Protocols" so you can find them easily.

ICMP Objects

An Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) object is a service object specifically for ICMP and IPv6-ICMP messages. Security Cloud Control recognizes these objects in ASA and Firepower configurations when those devices are onboarded and Security Cloud Control gives them their own filter of "ICMP" so you can find the objects easily.

Using Security Cloud Control, you can rename or remove ICMP objects from an ASA configuration. You can use Security Cloud Control to create, update, and delete ICMP and ICMPv6 objects in a Firepower configuration.


Note

For the ICMPv6 protocol, AWS does not support choosing specific arguments. Only rules that allow all ICMPv6 messages are supported.

Create or Edit a Meraki Service Object

About Service Objects

Service objects are reusable components that specify a TCP/IP protocol and a port. Security Cloud Control categorizes these objects as service objects. When you deploy to the MX device, Security Cloud Control translates the objects into protocols or port ranges. See Objects Associated with Meraki Devices for more information about how Security Cloud Control handles Meraki protocols as objects.

Create a Service Object
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Click , then click FTD > Service or ASA > Service.

Step 3

Enter an object name and description.

Step 4

Select Create a service object.

Step 5

Click the Service Type button and select the protocol for which you want to create an object.

Step 6

Enter the information to identify the protocol by taking one of these actions:

  • Enter the specific port number for the TCP or UDP port.

  • Select the ICMP or ICMPv6 message type.

  • If you selected the "other" service type, select one of the TCP/IP protocols from the list.

Step 7

Click Add.

Step 8

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Create a Service Group
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Click , then click FTD > Service.

Note

 

Meraki does not support ASA service groups.

Step 3

Enter an object name and description.

Step 4

Select Create a service group.

Step 5

Add an existing object by clicking Add Object, selecting an object, and clicking Select. Repeat this step to add more objects.

Step 6

Click Add when you are done adding service objects and service values to the service group.

Step 7

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Edit a Service Object or a Service Group
Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Filter the objects to find the object you want to edit and then select the object in the object table.

Step 3

In the details pane, click edit .

Step 4

Edit the values in the dialog box in the same fashion that you created them in the procedures above.

Step 5

Click Save.

Step 6

Security Cloud Control displays the policies that will be affected by the change. Click Confirm to finalize the change to the object and any policy affected by it. The object is now ready to be used in the Meraki policy.

Step 7

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Manage Security Policies in Security Cloud Control

Security policies examine network traffic with the ultimate goal of allowing the traffic to its intended destination or dropping it if a security threat is identified. You can use Security Cloud Control to configure security policies on many different types of devices.

Meraki Access Control Policy

Meraki MX devices may have been managed by the Meraki dashboard before you onboard to Security Cloud Control and the device may already have some outbound rules. These rules will appear as access control rules in Security Cloud Control. You can modify these rules and create additional rules within the access control policy. To customize your access control policy, create and attach objects. See the related articles at the bottom for more information.


Note

The action of the Meraki access control policy is Allow by default. You cannot change the action.

Use this procedure to edit a Meraki access control policy using Security Cloud Control:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Templates tab.

Step 3

Click the Meraki tab and select the Meraki MX device template whose access control policy you want to edit.

Step 4

In the Management pane at the right, select Policy.

Step 5

Do any of the following:

  • To create a new rule, click the blue plus button .

  • To edit an existing rule, select the rule and click the edit button in the Actions pane. (Simple edits may also be performed inline without entering edit mode.)

  • To delete a rule you no longer need, select the rule and click the remove button in the Actions pane.

  • To move a rule within the policy, select the rule in the access control table and click the up or down arrow at the end of the rule row to move the rule.

Step 6

In the Order field, select the position for the rule within the policy. Network traffic is evaluated against the list of rules in numerical order, 1 to "last."

Rules are applied on a first-match basis, so you must ensure that rules with highly specific traffic matching criteria appear above policies that have more general criteria that would otherwise apply to the matching traffic.

The default is to add the rule to the end of the list. If you want to change a rule's location later, edit this option.

Step 7

Enter the rule name. You can use alphanumeric characters, spaces, and these special characters: + . _ -

Note: The Name of the access control rule is used as the name of the rule in Security Cloud Control while the Remark field is treated as the name of the rule in the Meraki dashboard. The two fields are not dependent on each other.

Step 8

Select the action to apply if the network traffic is matched by the rule:

  • Block-Drop the traffic unconditionally. The traffic is not inspected.

  • Allow-Allow the traffic subject to the intrusion and other inspection settings in the policy.

Note

 

You can only set or modify the rule action. You cannot change the default policy action from Security Cloud Control.

Step 9

Define the traffic matching criteria by using any combination of attributes in the following tabs:

  • Source-Click the Source tab and add or remove networks (which includes networks and continents) or ports from which the network traffic originated. The default value is "Any."

  • Destination-Click the Destination tab and add or remove networks (which includes networks and continents), or ports on which the traffic arrives. The default value is "Any."

Note

 

The source and destination networks must be within one of the configured VLAN subnets or, if a VLAN subnet is not manually configured, the default VPN subnet. Deploying a rule that includes an invalid source or destination network will fail.

Step 10

Click Save.

Step 11

Review and deploy now the changes you made, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

What to do next

Related Articles:

Meraki Templates

The Meraki template is a network configuration that is shared by multiple sites/networks. Individual site networks can be bound to a template network, so changes to a single template will trickle down to all bound networks; in Security Cloud Control, bound networks are displayed as bound devices. This is ideal if you want one policy across multiple networks in different locations. To configure more than one network to a single template, see Managing Multiple Networks with Configuration Templates. See Meraki Templates Best Practices for more information on what a Meraki template is, how you can plan on using templates in your network, and how to setup your template network.

Meraki templates work in the same way as the Meraki devices do, where you must first configure the template through the Meraki dashboard prior to onboarding to Security Cloud Control. When you onboard a template to Security Cloud Control, any existing rules or groups of IPs are read into Security Cloud Control and translated into objects. Once synced, the Device Details pane on the Security Devices page displays the template name as well as how many networks, displayed as bound devices, are associated with it. This means you can also manage and modify/deploy the policies that are associated with the template and the bound networks from Security Cloud Control. See Onboard Meraki Templates to Cisco Security Cloud Control for more information.

About Device Configuration Changes

In order to manage a device, Security Cloud Control must have its own copy of the device's configuration stored in its local database. When Security Cloud Control "reads" a configuration from a device it manages, it takes a copy of the device's configuration and saves it. The first time Security Cloud Control reads and saves a copy of a device's configuration is when the device is onboarded. These choices describe reading a configuration for different purposes:

  • Discard Changes: This action is available when a device's configuration status is "Not Synced." In the Not Synced state, there are changes to the device's configuration pending on Security Cloud Control. This option allows you to undo all pending changes. The pending changes are deleted and Security Cloud Control overwrites its copy of the configuration with copy of the configuration stored on the device.

  • Check for Changes: This action is available if the device's configuration status is Synced. Clicking Checking for Changes directs Security Cloud Control to compare its copy of the device's configuration with the copy of the configuration stored on the device. If there is a difference, Security Cloud Control immediately overwrites its copy of the device's configuration with the copy stored on the device.

  • Review Conflict and Accept Without Review: If you have enabled Conflict Detection on a device, Security Cloud Control checks for configuration changes made on the device every 10 minutes. If the copy of the configuration stored on the device has changed, Security Cloud Control notifies you by displaying the "Conflict Detected" configuration status.

    • Review Conflict: Click Review Conflict allows you to review changes made directly on a device and accept or reject them.

    • Accept Without Review: This action overwrites Security Cloud Control's copy of a device's configuration with the latest copy of the configuration stored on the device. Security Cloud Control does not prompt you to confirm the differences in the two copies of the configuration before taking the overwriting action.

Read All: This is a bulk operation. You can select more than one device, in any state, and click Read All to overwrite all the devices' configurations stored on Security Cloud Control with the configurations stored on the devices.

  • Deploy Changes: As you make changes to a device's configuration, Security Cloud Control saves the changes you make to its own copy of the configuration. Those changes are "pending" on Security Cloud Control until they are deployed to the device. When there are changes to a device's configuration that have not been deployed to the device, the device is in the Not Synced configuration state.

    Pending configuration changes have no effect on the network traffic running through the device. Only after Security Cloud Control deploys the changes to the device do they have an effect. When Security Cloud Control deploys changes to the device's configuration, it only overwrites those elements of the configuration that were changed. It does not overwrite the entire configuration file stored on the device. Deployments can be initiated for a single device or on more than one device simultaneously.

  • Discard All is an option that is only available after you click Preview and Deploy.... After clicking Preview and Deploy, Security Cloud Control shows you a preview of the pending changes in Security Cloud Control. Clicking Discard All deletes all pending changes from Security Cloud Control and does not deploy anything to the selected device(s). Unlike "Discard Changes" above, deleting the pending changes is the end of the operation.

Read All Device Configurations

If a configuration change is made to a device outside of Security Cloud Control, the device's configuration stored on Security Cloud Control and the device's local copy of its configuration are no longer the same. You many want to overwrite Security Cloud Control's copy of the device's configuration with the configuration stored on the device to make the configurations the same again. You can perform this task on many devices simultaneously using the Read All link.

See Reading, Discarding, Checking for, and Deploying Configuration Changes for more information about how Security Cloud Control manages the two copies of the device's configuration.

Here are three configuration statuses where clicking Read All will overwrite Security Cloud Control's copy of the device's configuration with the device's copy of the configuration.

  • Conflict Detected-If conflict detection is enabled, Security Cloud Control polls the devices it manages every 10 minutes for changes made to their configurations. If Security Cloud Control finds that the configuration on the device has changed, Security Cloud Control displays a "Conflict detected" configuration status for the device.

  • Synced-If the device is in a synced state, and you click Read All, Security Cloud Control immediately checks the devices to determine if there have been any changes made to its configurations directly. After clicking Read All, Security Cloud Control confirms your intent to overwrite its copy of the device's configuration and then Security Cloud Control performs the overwrite.

  • Not Synced-If the device is in the Not Synced state, and you click Read All, Security Cloud Control warns you that there are pending changes made to to the device's configuration using Security Cloud Control and that proceeding with the Read All operation will delete those changes and then overwrite Security Cloud Control's copy of the configuration with the configuration on the device. This Read All functions like Discard Changes.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

(Optional) Create a change request label to identify the results of this bulk action easily in the Change Log.

Step 5

Select the devices whose configurations you want to save Security Cloud Control. Notice that Security Cloud Control only provides command buttons for actions that can be applied to all the selected devices.

Step 6

Click Read All.

Step 7

Security Cloud Control warns you if there are configuration changes staged on Security Cloud Control, for any of the devices you selected, and asks if you want to continue with the bulk reading configurations action. Click Read All to continue.

Step 8

Look at the notifications tab for the progress of the Read All configurations operation. If you want more information about how individual actions in the bulk operation succeeded or failed, click the blue Review link and you will be directed to the Jobs page.

Step 9

If you created and activated a change request label, remember to clear it so that you don't inadvertently associate other configuration changes with this event.

Preview and Deploy Configuration Changes for All Devices

Security Cloud Control informs you when you have made a configuration change to a device on your tenant, but you have not deployed that change, by displaying an orange dot on the Deploy icon . The devices affected by these changes show the status "Not Synced" in the Devices and Services page. By clicking Deploy, you can review which devices have pending changes and deploy the changes to those devices.


Note

For every new FDM or FTD network object or group that you create and make changes to, Security Cloud Control creates an entry in this page for all on-premises management centers that are managed by Security Cloud Control.

This deployment method is available for all supported devices.

You can use this deployment method for single configuration changes or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

Procedure

Step 1

In the top right corner of the screen, click the Deploy icon .

Step 2

Select the devices with changes you want to deploy. If a device has a yellow caution triangle, you can not deploy changes to that device. Hover your mouse over the yellow caution triangle to find out why you can't deploy changes to that device.

Step 3

(Optional) If you want to see more information about a pending change, click the View Detailed Changelog link to open the change log associated with that change. Click the Deploy icon to return to the Devices with Pending Changes page.

Step 4

(Optional) Create a change request to track your changes without leaving the Devices with Pending Changes page.

Step 5

Click Deploy Now to deploy the changes immediately to the devices you selected. You'll see the progress in the Active jobs indicator in the Jobs tray.

Step 6

(Optional) After the deployment has finished, click Jobs in the Security Cloud Control navigation bar. You will see a recent "Deploy Changes" job showing the results of the deployment.

Step 7

If you created a change request label, and you have no more configuration changes to associate with it, clear it.

What to do next

Deploy Changes to a Device

Procedure

Step 1

After you make a configuration change for a device using Security Cloud Control and save it, that change is saved in Security Cloud Control instance of the device's configuration.

Step 2

In the navigation bar, click Security Devices.

Step 3

Click the Devices tab.

Step 4

Click the appropriate device type tab. You should see that the configuration status of the device you made changes to is now "Not synced."

Step 5

Deploy the changes using one of these methods:

  • Select the device and in the Not Synced pane on the right, click Preview and Deploy. On the Pending Changes screen, review the changes. If you are satisfied with the pending version, click Deploy Now. After the changes are deployed successfully, you can view the change log to confirm what just happened.

  • Click the Deploy icon at the top-right of the screen. See Preview and Deploy Configuration Changes for All Devices for more information.

Cancelling Changes

If, when deploying a change from Security Cloud Control to a device, you click Cancel, the changes you made are not deployed to the device. The process is canceled. The changes you made are still pending on Security Cloud Control and can be edited further before you finally deploy them to FDM-managed device.

Discarding Changes

If, when previewing changes, you click Discard all, the changes you made, and any other changes any other user made but did not deploy to the device, are deleted. Security Cloud Control reverts its pending configuration to the last read or deployed configuration before any changes were made.

Bulk Deploy Device Configurations

If you have made changes to multiple devices, for instance by editing a shared object, you can apply those change to all of the affected devices at once:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select all of the devices for which you have made configuration changes on Security Cloud Control. These devices should show "Not Synced" status.

Step 5

Deploy the changes using one of these methods:

  • Click the button at the top-right of the screen to view the Devices with Pending Changes window. This gives you a chance to review the pending changes on the devices you selected before you deploy them. Click Deploy Now to deploy the changes.

    Note

     

    If you see a yellow warning triangle next to a device on the Devices with Pending Changes screen, you cannot deploy a change to that device. Hover your mouse over the warning triangle for information about why changes cannot be deployed to that device.

  • Click Deploy All on the details pane. Review any warnings and click OK. The bulk deployment starts immediately without a review of the changes.

Step 6

(Optional) Click the Jobs icon in the navigation bar to view the results of the bulk deploy.

About Scheduled Automatic Deployments

Using Security Cloud Control, you can make configuration changes to one or more of the devices it manages and then schedule the changes to be deployed to those devices at a time that is convenient for you.

You can only schedule deployments if you Enable the Option to Schedule Automatic Deployments in the Tenant Settings tab of the Settings page. Once this option is enabled, you can create, edit, or delete scheduled deployments. A scheduled deployment deploys all the staged changes saved on Security Cloud Control at the date and time set. You can also view and delete scheduled deployments from the Jobs page.

If there were changes made directly to the device that have not been read to Security Cloud Control, the scheduled deployment will be skipped until that conflict is resolved. The Jobs page will list any instance where a scheduled deployment fails. If Enable the Option to Schedule Automatic Deployments is turned off, all scheduled deployments are deleted.


Caution

If you schedule a new deployment for multiple devices, and some of those devices already have deployments scheduled, the new scheduled deployment overwrites the existing scheduled deployments.


Note

When you create a scheduled deployment, the schedule is created in your local time, not in the time zone of the device. Scheduled deployments do not automatically adjust for daylight savings time.

Schedule an Automatic Deployment

The deployment schedule can be a single event or a recurring event. You may find recurring automatic deployments a convenient way to line up recurring deployments with your maintenance window. Follow this procedure to schedule a one-time or a recurring deployment for a single device:


Note

If you schedule a deployment for a device that has an existing deployment scheduled, the new scheduled deployment overwrites the existing deployment.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select one ore more devices.

Step 5

In the Device Details pane, locate the Scheduled Deployments tab and click Schedule.

Step 6

Select when the deployment should occur.

  • For a one-time deployment, click the Once on option to select a date and time from the calendar.

  • For a recurring deployment, click the Every option. You can choose either a daily or once a week deployment. Select the Day and Time the deployment should occur.

Step 7

Click Save.

Edit a Scheduled Deployment

Follow this procedure to edit a scheduled deployment:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select one or more devices.

Step 5

In the Device Details pane, locate the Scheduled Deployments tab and click Edit .

Step 6

Edit the recurrence, date, or time of a scheduled deployment.

Step 7

Click Save.

Delete a Scheduled Deployment

Follow this procedure to delete a scheduled deployment:


Note

If you schedule a deployment for multiple devices, and then change or delete the schedule for some of the devices, the original scheduled deployment for the remaining devices will be preserved.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select one or more devices.

Step 5

In the Device Details pane, locate the Scheduled Deployments tab and click Delete .

What to do next

Check for Configuration Changes

Check for Changes to determine if the device's configuration has been changed directly on the device and it is no longer the same as the copy of the configuration stored on Security Cloud Control. You will see the this option when the device is in the "Synced" state.

To check changes:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device, whose configuration you suspect may have been changed directly on the device.

Step 5

Click Check for Changes in the Synced pane on the right.

Step 6

The behavior that follows is slightly different depending on the device:

  • For Meraki device if there has been a change to the device's configuration, you will receive the message:

    Reading the policy from the device. If there are active deployments on the device, reading will start after they are finished.

    • Click OK to continue. The configuration on the device will overwrite the stored configuration on Security Cloud Control.

    • Click Cancel to cancel the action.

  • For device:

  1. Compare the two configurations presented to you. Click Continue. The configuration labeled Last Known Device Configuration is the configuration stored on Security Cloud Control. The configuration labeled Found on Device is the configuration saved on the ASA.

  2. Select either:

    1. Reject the out-of-band changes to keep the "Last Known Device Configuration."

    2. Accept the out-of-band changes to overwrite the device's configuration stored in Security Cloud Control with the configuration found on the device.

  3. Click Continue.

Discard Configuration Changes

Click Discard Changes when you want to "undo" all the undeployed configuration changes you made to a device's configuration using Security Cloud Control. When you click Discard Changes, Security Cloud Control completely overwrites its local copy of a device's configuration with the configuration stored on the device.

When you click Discard Changes, your device's configuration status is in a Not Synced state. After you discard your changes, the copy of the configuration on Security Cloud Control will be the same as the copy of the configuration on the device and the configuration status in Security Cloud Control will return to Synced.

To discard, or "undo," all of your undeployed configuration changes for a device:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device you have been making configuration changes to.

Step 5

Click Discard Changes in the Not Synced pane on the right.

  • For FDM-managed devices-Security Cloud Control warns you that "Pending changes on Security Cloud Control will be discarded and the Security Cloud Control configuration for this device will be replaced with the configuration currently running on the device." Click Continue to discard your changes.

  • For Meraki devices-Security Cloud Control deletes the change immediately.

  • For AWS devices-Security Cloud Control displays what you are about to delete. Click Accept or Cancel.

Out-of-Band Changes on Devices

Out-of-band changes refer to changes made directly on the device without using Security Cloud Control. These changes may be made using the device's command-line interface over an SSH connection or by using a local manager like the Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) for the ASA, the FDM for the FDM-managed device, or for an On-Premises Firewall Management Center on the On-Premises Firewall Management Center user interface. An out-of-band change causes a conflict between the device's configuration stored on Security Cloud Control and the configuration stored on the device itself.

Detecting Out-of-Band Changes on Devices

If Conflict Detection is enabled for an ASA, or an FDM-managed device, a Cisco IOS device, or an On-Premises Firewall Management Center, Security Cloud Control checks the device every 10 minutes searching for any new changes made directly to the device's configuration outside of Security Cloud Control.

If Security Cloud Control finds that there are changes to the device's configuration that are not stored on Security Cloud Control, it changes the Configuration Status of that device to the "Conflict Detected" state.

When Security Cloud Control detects a conflict, one of two conditions is likely:

  • There have been configuration changes made to the device directly that have not been saved to Security Cloud Control's database.

  • In the case of an FDM-managed device, there may be "pending" configuration changes on the FDM-managed device that have not been deployed.

  • In the case of an On-Premises Firewall Management Center, there may be changes made, for instance, to objects outside Security Cloud Control, which are pending to be synchronized with Security Cloud Control or changes made in Security Cloud Control which are pending to be deployed to the On-Premises Firewall Management Center.

Synchronizing Configurations Between Security Cloud Control and Device

About Configuration Conflicts

In the Security Devices page, you may see devices or services have the status "Synced," "Not Synced," or "Conflict Detected." To know the status of an On-Premises Firewall Management Center that you manage using Security Cloud Control, navigate Administration > Firewall Management Center.

  • When a device is Synced, the configuration on Security Cloud Control) and the configuration stored locally on the device are the same.

  • When a device is Not Synced, the configuration stored in Security Cloud Control was changed and it is now different that the configuration stored locally on the device. Deploying your changes from Security Cloud Control to the device changes the configuration on the device to match Security Cloud Control's version.

  • Changes made to devices outside of Security Cloud Control are called out-of-band changes. When out-of-band changes are made, you'll see the device state change to "Conflict Detected," if conflict detection is enabled for the device. Accepting the out-of-band changes, changes the configuration on Security Cloud Control to match the configuration on the device.

Conflict Detection

When conflict detection is enabled, Security Cloud Control polls the device for the default interval to to determine if a change has been made to the device's configuration outside of Security Cloud Control. If Security Cloud Control detects that a change was made, it changes the configuration status for the device to Conflict Detected. Changes made to a device outside of Security Cloud Control are called "out-of-band" changes.

In the case of an On-Premises Firewall Management Center that is managed by Security Cloud Control, if there are changes that are staged and the device is in Not Synced state, Security Cloud Control stops polling the device to check for changes. When there are changes made outside Security Cloud Control which are pending to be synchronized with Security Cloud Control and changes made in Security Cloud Control which are pending to be deployed to the on-premises management center, Security Cloud Control declares the on-premises management center to be in the Conflict Detected state.

Once this option is enabled, you can configure how often conflicts or OOB changes are detected per device. See Schedule Polling for Device Changes for more information.

Enable Conflict Detection

Enabling conflict detection alerts you to instances where changes have been made to a device outside of Security Cloud Control.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab.

Step 3

Select the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device or devices for which you want to enable conflict detection.

Step 5

In the Conflict Detection box at the right of the device table, select Enabled from the list.

Automatically Accept Out-of-Band Changes from your Device

You can configure Security Cloud Control to automatically accept any change made directly to a managed device by enabling auto-accept changes. Changes made directly to a device without using Security Cloud Control are referred to as out-of-band changes. An out-of-band change creates a conflict between the device's configuration stored on Security Cloud Control and the configuration stored on the device itself.

The auto-accept changes feature is an enhancement to conflict detection. If you have auto-accept changes enabled on your device, Security Cloud Control checks for changes every 10 minutes to determine if there have been any out-of-band changes made to the device's configuration. If there have been configuration changes, Security Cloud Control automatically updates its local version of the device's configuration without prompting you.

Security Cloud Control will not automatically accept a configuration change if there are configuration changes made on Security Cloud Control that have not yet been deployed to the device. Follow the prompts on the screen to determine your next action.

To use auto-accept changes, you first enable the tenant to display the auto-accept option in the Conflict Detection menu on the Security Devices page; then, you enable auto-accept changes for individual devices.

If you want Security Cloud Control to detect out-of-band changes but give you the option to accept or reject them manually, enable Conflict Detection instead.

Configure Auto-Accept Changes

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to Security Cloud Control using an account with Admin or Super Admin privileges.

Step 2

In the left pane, click Administration > General Settings.

Step 3

In the Tenant Settings area, click the toggle to Enable the option to auto-accept device changes. This enables the Auto-Accept Changes menu option to appear in the Conflict Detection menu on the Security Devices page.

Step 4

In the left pane, click Security Devices and select the device for which you want to automatically accept out-of-band changes.

Step 5

In the Conflict Detection menu, select Auto-Accept Changes in the drop-down menu.

Disabling Auto-Accept Changes for All Devices on the Tenant

Procedure

Step 1

Log-in to Security Cloud Control using an account with Admin or Super Admin privileges.

Step 2

In left pane, click Administration > General Settings.

Step 3

In the Tenant Settings area, disable the "Enable the option to auto-accept device changes" by sliding the toggle to the left so it shows a grey X. This disables Auto-Accept Changes option in the Conflict Detection menu and disables the feature for every device on your tenant.

Note

 

Disabling "Auto-Accept" will require you to review each device conflict before you can accept it into Security Cloud Control. This includes devices previously configured to auto-accept changes.

Resolve Configuration Conflicts

This section provides information about resolving configuration conflicts that occur on the device.

Resolve the Not Synced Status

Use the following procedure to resolve a device with a "Not Synced" Configuration Status:

Procedure

Step 1

In the navigation bar, click Security Devices.

Note

 

For an On-Premises Firewall Management Center, click Administration > Firewall Management Center and select the FMC that is in Not Synced state and continue from Step 5.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab to locate the device or the Templates tab to locate the model device.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device reported as Not Synced.

Step 5

In the Not synced panel to the right, select either of the following:

  • Preview and Deploy... -If you want to push the configuration change from Security Cloud Control to the device, preview and deploy the changes you made now, or wait and deploy multiple changes at once.

  • Discard Changes -If you do not want to push the configuration change from Security Cloud Control to the device, or you want to "undo" the configuration changes you started making on Security Cloud Control. This option overwrites the configuration stored in Security Cloud Control with the running configuration stored on the device.

Resolve the Conflict Detected Status

Security Cloud Control allows you to enable or disable conflict detection on each live device. If Conflict Detection is enabled and there was a change made to the device's configuration without using Security Cloud Control, the device's configuration status will show Conflict Detected.

To resolve a "Conflict Detected" status, follow this procedure:

Procedure

Step 1

In the navigation bar, click Security Devices.

Note

 

For an On-Premises Firewall Management Center, click Administration > Firewall Management Center and select the FMC that is in Not Synced state and continue from Step 5.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab to locate your device.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device reporting the conflict and click Review Conflict in the details pane on the right.

Step 5

In the Device Sync page, compare the two configurations by reviewing the highlighted differences.

  • The panel labeled "Last Known Device Configuration" is the device configuration stored on Security Cloud Control.

  • The panel labeled "Found on Device" is the configuration stored in the running configuration on the ASA.

Step 6

Resolve the conflict by selecting one of the following:

  • Accept Device changes: This will overwrite the configuration and any pending changes stored on Security Cloud Control with the device's running configuration.

    Note

     

    As Security Cloud Control does not support deploying changes to the Cisco IOS devices outside of the command line interface, your only choice for a Cisco IOS device will be to select Accept Without Review when resolving the conflict.

  • Reject Device Changes: This will overwrite the configuration stored on the device with the configuration stored on Security Cloud Control.

Note

 

All configuration changes, rejected or accepted, are recorded in the change log.

Schedule Polling for Device Changes

If you have Conflict Detection enabled, or if you Enable the option to auto-accept device changes from the Settings page,Security Cloud Control polls the device for the default interval to determine if a change has been made to the device's configuration outside of Security Cloud Control. You can customize how often Security Cloud Control polls for changes per device. These changes can be applied to more than one device.

If there is no selection configured for a device, the interval is automatically configured for "tenant default".


Note

Customizing the interval per device from the Security Devices page overrides the polling interval selected as the Default Conflict Detection Interval from the General Settings page.

After you enable Conflict Detection from the Security Devices page or Enable the option to auto-accept device changes from the Settings page, use the following procedure to schedule how often you want Security Cloud Control to poll your devices:

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Security Devices.

Step 2

Click the Devices tab to locate your device.

Step 3

Click the appropriate device type tab.

Step 4

Select the device or devices for which you want to enable conflict detection.

Step 5

In the same area as Conflict Detection, click the drop-down menu for Check every and select the desired polling interval: