Getting Started with the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

About the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

This guide contains information on how you can download the Secure Firewall migration tool and complete the migration. In addition, it provides you troubleshooting tips to help you resolve migration issues that you may encounter.

The Secure Firewall migration tool converts supported PAN configurations to a supported Secure Firewall Threat Defense platform or Multicloud Defense. The Secure Firewall migration tool allows you to automatically migrate the supported PAN features and policies to threat defense or Multicloud Defense. You must manually migrate all unsupported features.

The Secure Firewall migration tool gathers PAN information, parses it, and finally pushes it to the Secure Firewall Management Center or Multicloud Defense. During the parsing phase, the Secure Firewall migration tool generates a Pre-Migration Report that identifies the following:

  • PAN configuration XML lines with errors

  • PAN lists the PAN XML lines that the Secure Firewall migration tool cannot recognize. Report the XML configuration lines under error section in the Pre-Migration Report and the console logs; this blocks migration

Console

The console opens when you launch the Secure Firewall migration tool. The console provides detailed information about the progress of each step in the Secure Firewall migration tool. The contents of the console are also written to the Secure Firewall migration tool log file.

The console must stay open while the Secure Firewall migration tool is open and running.


Important


When you exit the Secure Firewall migration tool by closing the browser on which the web interface is running, the console continues to run in the background. To completely exit the Secure Firewall migration tool, exit the console by pressing the Command key + C on the keyboard.

Logs

The Secure Firewall migration tool creates a log of each migration. The logs include details of what occurs at each step of the migration and can help you determine the cause if a migration fails.

You can find the log files for the Secure Firewall migration tool in the following location: <migration_tool_folder>\logs

Resources

The Secure Firewall migration tool saves a copy of the Pre-Migration Report, Post-Migration Report, PAN configs, and logs in the Resources folder.

You can find the Resources folder in the following location: <migration_tool_folder>\resources

Unparsed File

The Secure Firewall migration tool logs information about the configuration lines that it ignored in the unparsed file. This Secure Firewall migration tool creates this file when it parses the ASA with FPS PAN configuration file.

You can find the unparsed file in the following location:

<migration_tool_folder>\resources

Search in the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

You can search for items in the tables that are displayed in the Secure Firewall migration tool, such as those on the Optimize, Review and Validate page.

To search for an item in any column or row of the table, click the Search (search icon) above the table and enter the search term in the field. The Secure Firewall migration tool filters the table rows and displays only those that contain the search term.

To search for an item in a single column, enter the search term in the Search field that is provided in the column heading. The Secure Firewall migration tool filters the table rows and displays only those that match the search term.

Ports

The Secure Firewall migration tool supports telemetry when run on one of these 12 ports: ports 8321-8331 and port 8888. By default, Secure Firewall migration tool uses port 8888. To change the port, update port information in the app_config file. After updating, ensure to relaunch the Secure Firewall migration tool for the port change to take effect. You can find the app_config file in the following location: <migration_tool_folder>\app_config.txt.


Note


We recommend that you use ports 8321-8331 and port 8888, as telemetry is only supported on these ports. If you enable Cisco Success Network, you cannot use any other port for the Secure Firewall migration tool.

Notifications Center

All the notifications, including success messages, error messages, and warnings that pop up during a migration are captured in the notifications center and are categorized as Successes, Warnings, and Errors. You can click the icon on the top right corner any time during the migration and see the various notifications that popped up, along with the time they popped up in the tool.

Cisco Success Network

Cisco Success Network is a user-enabled cloud service. When you enable Cisco Success Network, a secure connection is established between the Secure Firewall migration tool and the Cisco cloud to stream usage information and statistics. Streaming telemetry provides a mechanism to select data of interest from the Secure Firewall migration tool and to transmit it in a structured format to remote management stations for the following benefits:

  • To inform you of available unused features that can improve the effectiveness of the product in your network.

  • To inform you of additional technical support services and monitoring that is available for your product.

  • To help Cisco improve our products.

The Secure Firewall migration tool establishes and maintains the secure connection and allows you to enroll in the Cisco Success Network. You can turn off this connection at any time by disabling the Cisco Success Network, which disconnects the device from the Cisco Success Network cloud.

What’s New in the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

Version

Supported Features

7.7

This release includes the following new features:

7.0.1

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

  • You can now migrate configurations from your Cisco firewalls such as ASA and FDM-managed devices and third-party firewalls to Cisco Secure Firewall 1200 Series devices.

    See: Cisco Secure Firewall 1200 Series

  • You can now update the preshared keys for more than one site-to-site VPN tunnel configuration at once. Export the site-to-site VPN table in the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page to an Excel sheet, specify the preshared keys in the respective cells, and upload the sheet back. The migration tool reads the preshared keys from the Excel and updates the table.

    See: Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration

    Supported migrations: All

  • You can now choose to ignore migration-hindering, incorrect configurations and still continue the final push of a migration. Previously, the whole migration failed even if a single object's push failed because of errors. You also now have the control to abort the migration manually to fix the error and retry migration.

    See: Push the Migrated Configuration to Management Center

    Supported migrations: All

  • The Secure Firewall migration tool now detects existing site-to-site VPN configurations in the target threat defense device and prompts you to choose if you want them deleted, without having to log in to the management center. You could choose No and manually delete them from the management center to continue with the migration.

    See: Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration

    Supported migrations: All

  • If you have an existing hub and spoke topology configured on one of the threat defense devices managed by the target management center, you could choose to add your target threat defense device as one of the spokes to the existing topology right from the migration tool, without having to manually do it on the management center.

    See: Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration

    Supported migrations: Secure Firewall ASA

  • When migrating thrid-party firewalls, you can now select threat defense devices as target, which are part of a high availability pair. Previously, you could only choose standalone threat defense devices as target devices.

    Supported migrations: Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, and Fortinet firewall migrations

  • The Secure Firewall migration tool now provides a more enhanced, intuitive demo mode, with guided migration instructions at every step. In addition, you can also see versions of target threat defense devices to choose and test based on your requirements.

    Supported migrations: All

7.0

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Cisco Secure Firewall ASA to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now configure a threat defense high availability (HA) pair on the target management center and migrate configurations from a Secure Firewall ASA HA pair to the management center. Choose Proceed with HA Pair Configuration on the Select Target page and choose an active and a standby device. When selecting the active threat defense device, ensure you have an identical device on the management center for the HA pair configuration to be successful. See Specify Destination Parameters for the Secure Firewall Migration Tool in the Migrating Cisco Secure Firewall ASA to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool book for more information.

  • You can now configure a site-to-site hub and spoke VPN topology using threat defense devices when migrating site-to-site VPN configurations from an ASA device. Click Add Hub & Spoke Topology under Site-to-Site VPN Tunnels on the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration in the Migrating Cisco Secure Firewall ASA to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool book for more information.

Fortinet Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate IPv6 and multiple interface and interface zones in SSL VPN and central SNAT configurations from a Fortinet firewall to your threat defense device. See Fortinet Configuration Support in Migrating Fortinet Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool book for more information.

6.0.1

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Cisco Secure Firewall ASA to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now optimize network and port objects when you migrate configurations from Secure Firewall ASA to threat defense. Review these objects in their respective tabs in the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page and click Optimize Objects and Groups to optimize your list of objects before migrating them to the target management center. The migration tool identifies objects and groups that have the same value and prompts you to choose which to retain. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration for more information.

FDM-managed Device to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate DHCP, DDNS, and SNMPv3 configurations from your FDM-managed device to a threat defense device. Ensure you check the DHCP checkbox and Server, Relay, and DDNS checkboxes on the Select Features page. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration for more information.

Fortinet Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate URL objects in addition to other object types from a Fortinet firewall to your threat defense device. Review the URL Objects tab in the Objects window in Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page during migration. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration for more information.

Palo Alto Networks Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate URL objects in addition to other object types from a Palo Alto Networks firewall to your threat defense device. Ensure you review the URL Objects tab in the Objects window in Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page during migration. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration for more information.

Check Point Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate port objects, FQDN objects, and object groups from a Check Point Firewall to your threat defense device. Review the Objects window in Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page during migration. See Optimize, Review, and Validate the Configuration for more information.

6.0

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Cisco Secure Firewall ASA to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate WebVPN configurations on your Secure Firewall ASA to Zero Trust Access Policy configurations on a threat defense device. Ensure that you check the WebVPN checkbox in Select Features page and review the new WebVPN tab in the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page. The threat defense device and the target management center must be running on Version 7.4 or later and must be operating Snort3 as the detection engine.

  • You can now migrate Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) configurations to a threat defense device. Make sure that you check the SNMP and DHCP checkboxes in the Select Features page. If you have configured DHCP on your Secure Firewall ASA, note that the DHCP server, or relay agent and DDNS configurations can also be selected to be migrated.

  • You can now migrate the equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routing configurations when performing a multi-context ASA device to a single-instance threat defense merged context migration. The Routes tile in the parsed summary now includes ECMP zones also, and you can validate the same under the Routes tab in the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page.

  • You can now migrate dynamic tunnels from the dynamic virtual tunnel interface (DVTI) configurations from your Secure Firewall ASA to a threat defense device. You can map them in the Map ASA Interfaces to Security Zones, Interface Groups, and VRFs page. Ensure that your ASA Version is 9.19 (x) and later for this feature to be applicable.

FDM-managed Device to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate the Layer 7 security policies including SNMP and HTTP, and malware and file policy configurations from your FDM-managed device to a threat defense device. Ensure that the target management center Version is 7.4 or later and that Platform Settings and File and Malware Policy checkboxes in Select Features page are checked.

Check Point Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now migrate the site-to-site VPN (policy-based) configurations on your Check Point firewall to a threat defense device. Note that this feature applies to Check Point R80 or later versions, and management center and threat defense Version 6.7 or later. Ensure that the Site-to-Site VPN Tunnels checkbox is checked in the Select Features page. Note that, because this is a device-specific configuration, the migration tool does not display these configurations if you choose to Proceed without FTD.

Fortinet Firewall to Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Migration

  • You can now optimize your application access control lists (ACLs) when migrating configurations from a Fortinet firewall to your threat defense device. Use the Optimize ACL button in the Optimize, Review and Validate Configuration page to see the list of redundant and shadow ACLs and also download the optimization report to see detailed ACL information.

5.0.1 This release includes the following new features and enhancements:
  • The Secure Firewall migration tool now supports migration of multiple transparent firewall-mode security contexts from Secure Firewall ASA devices to threat defense devices. You can merge two or more transparent firewall-mode contexts that are in your Secure Firewall ASA device to a transparent-mode instance and migrate them.

    In a VPN-configured ASA deployment where one or more of your contexts have VPN configurations, you can choose only one context whose VPN configuration you want to migrate to the target threat defense device. From the contexts that you have not selected, only the VPN configuration is ignored and all other configurations are migrated.

    See Select the ASA Security Context for more information.

  • You can now migrate site-to-site and remote access VPN configurations from your Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks firewalls to threat defense using the Secure Firewall migration tool. From the Select Features pane, select the VPN features that you want to migrate. See the Specify Destination Parameters for the Secure Firewall Migration Tool section in Migrating Palo Alto Networks Firewall to Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool and Migrating Fortinet Firewall to Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool guides.

  • You can now select one or more routed or transparent firewall-mode security contexts from your Secure Firewall ASA devices and perform a single-context or multi-context migration using the Secure Firewall migration tool.

5.0
  • Secure Firewall migration tool now supports migration of multiple security contexts from Secure Firewall ASA to threat defense devices. You can choose to migrate configurations from one of your contexts or merge the configurations from all your routed firewall mode contexts and migrate them. Support for merging configurations from multiple transparent firewall mode contexts will be available soon. See Select the ASA Primary Security Context for more information.

  • The migration tool now leverages the virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) funtionality to replicate the segregated traffic flow observed in a multi-context ASA environment, which will be part of the new merged configuration. You can check the number of contexts the migration tool has detected in a new Contexts tile and the same after parsing, in a new VRF tile in the Parsed Summary page. In addition, the migration tool displays the interfaces to which these VRFs are mapped, in the Map Interfaces to Security Zones and Interface Groups page.

  • You can now try the whole migration workflow using the new demo mode in Secure Firewall migration tool and visualize how your actual migration looks like. See Using the Demo Mode in Firewall Migration Tool for more information.

  • With new enhancements and bug fixes in place, Secure Firewall migration tool now provides an improved, faster migration experience for migrating Palo Alto Networks firewall to threat defense.

4.0.3 The Secure Firewall migration tool 4.0.3 includes bug fixes and the following new enhancements:
  • The migration tool now offers an enhanced Application Mapping screen for migrating PAN configurations to threat defense. See Map Configurations with Applications in Migrating Palo Alto Networks Firewall to Secure Firewall Threat Defense with the Migration Tool guide for more information.

4.0.2

The Secure Firewall migration tool 4.0.2 includes the following new features and enhancements:

  • The migration tool now has an always-on telemetry; however, you can now choose to send limited or extensive telemetry data. Limited telemetry data inludes few data points, whereas extensive telemetry data sends a more detailed list of telemetry data. You can change this setting from Settings > Send Telemetry Data to Cisco?.

Licensing for the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

The Secure Firewall migration tool application is free and does not require license. However, the Security Cloud Control tenant and Multicloud Defense must have the required licenses.

Platform Requirements for the Secure Firewall Migration Tool

The Secure Firewall migration tool has the following infrastructure and platform requirements:

  • Runs on a Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit operating system or on a macOS version 10.13 or higher

  • Has Google Chrome as the system default browser

  • (Windows) Has Sleep settings configured in Power & Sleep to Never put the PC to Sleep, so the system does not go to sleep during a large migration push

  • (macOS) Has Energy Saver settings configured so that the computer and the hard disk do not go to sleep during a large migration push

Requirements and Prerequisites for Migration to Cisco Multicloud Defense

For migrating configurations from an ASA to Multicloud Defense, ensure you have met the following requirements and prerequisites:

  • You have a Security Cloud Control tenant with Multicloud Defense enabled on it.

  • You have purchased the required operating licenses for Multicloud Defense.


    Note


    You can migrate configurations to Multicloud Defense even during the 90-day free trial because the trial experience offers full functionality of a paid subscription.


  • You have the base URL of Multicloud Defense and the Security Cloud Control tenant name handy.

  • You have created an API key and also copied the API Key ID and API Key Secret that Multicloud Defense generates when you create the API key. See Create an API Key in Multicloud Defense for more information.

PAN Firewall Configuration Support for Multicloud Defense

Supported Configurations

The Secure Firewall migration tool supports the following PAN configurations for migrations to Multicloud Defense:

  • Access control lists

  • Network objects

  • Port objects

  • FQDN objects

  • Service objects

  • URL objects

Guidelines and Limitations for Migrations to Multicloud Defense

The Secure Firewall migration tool creates a one-to-one mapping for all the supported objects and rules, irrespective of whether they are used in a rule or policy during conversion. The Secure Firewall migration tool provides an optimization feature, that allows you to exclude migration of unused objects (objects that are not referenced in any ACLs).

Supported PAN Configurations

The Secure Firewall migration tool supports the following PAN configurations for migrations to Multicloud Defense:

  • Access control lists

  • Network objects and groups

  • Service objects

  • URL objects

  • Service object groups

  • Port objects

  • Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) objects

Supported Software Versions for Migration

The Secure Firewall migration tool supports migration of PAN firewall operating system version 8.0 and later to Multicloud Defense.