Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features
The global optimization features determine if traffic flow optimization (TFO), data redundancy elimination (DRE), and persistent compression are enabled on a device or device group. By default, all of these features are enabled. If you choose to disable one of these features, the device will be unable to apply the full WAAS optimization techniques to the traffic that it intercepts.
In addition, the global optimization features include each of the following application accelerators: EPM, HTTP, ICA, MAPI, SMB, and SSL. By default, all of the application accelerators are enabled except SMB. Encrypted MAPI is also not enabled by default. The application accelerators also require specific licenses to operate. For information on installing licenses, see Managing Software Licenses in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.”
You must enable the accelerator on both of the peer WAEs at either end of a WAN link for all application accelerators to operate.
To enable or disable a global optimization feature, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > Enabled Features.
The Enabled Features window appears.
Note On WAAS Express devices, only a subset of the standard features are available. On ISR-WAAS devices, the SMB application accelerator is enabled by default. In the Enabled Features window for a device group, two SMB Accelerator options are shown, one for ISR-WAAS devices and one for all other kinds of WAEs.
For WAAS Express, the following Express versions of application accelerators are supported:
Not all of the properties in the standard WAAS device are available in the WAAS Express version of the application accelerators.
Note If you try to enable DRE on a WAAS Express device on which it is not supported, a message stating that it is not supported is displayed.
The Restore Predefined Settings icon for WAAS Express applies the predefined settings for HTTP/HTTPS, and SSL cipher list and peering service.
Step 3 Check the check boxes adjacent to the optimization features that you want to enable, and uncheck the check boxes adjacent to the features that you want to disable. For a description of each of the optimization features, see Key Services of Cisco WAAS in Chapter 1, “Introduction to Cisco WAAS.”
Some features have additional settings that you can configure by clicking the link next to the setting name. Hover your cursor over the small target icon next to the link to see a dialog box that shows the current settings.
- If you check the Data Redundancy Elimination check box, you can click the DRE Settings link as a shortcut to the DRE Settings Configuration window. For more information, see Configuring DRE Settings.
- If you check the HTTP Accelerator check box, you can click the HTTP Settings link as a shortcut to the HTTP/HTTPS Settings window. For more information, see Configuring HTTP Acceleration.
- If you check the ICA Accelerator check box, you can click the ICA Settings link as a shortcut to the ICA Acceleration Configuration window. For more information, see Configuring ICA Acceleration.
- If you check the MAPI Accelerator check box, you can click the MAPI Settings link as a shortcut to the MAPI Settings window. For more information, see Configuring MAPI Acceleration.
Note When you check the MAPI Accelerator check box, Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization is enabled by default.
- If you check the Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization check box, you can click the Mandatory Encryption Configuration link as a shortcut to the Encrypted Services Configuration window. For more information, see Configuring Encrypted MAPI Acceleration.
Note You must enable MAPI acceleration first for Encrypted MAPI acceleration to be enabled.
- If you check the SMB Accelerator check box, you can click the SMB Settings link as a shortcut to the SMB Acceleration Configuration window. For more information, see Configuring SMB Acceleration.With release 6.2.1, you can accelerate o365 traffic. For more information, see, office365 optimization using Azure vWAAS.
- If you check the SSL Accelerator check box, you must configure additional settings to enable SSL acceleration. For more information, see Configuring SSL Acceleration.
- If you check the SSL Interposer check box, you must configure additional settings to enable SSLv2 acceleration. By default, the SSL Interposer is disabled. For more information, see, office365 optimization using Azure vWAAS.
Step 4 To enable the object cache, in the Object Cache Settings section, check the Object Cache check box.
WAAS performs object caching to increase client application performance for SMB file access. Object caching also minimizes bandwidth and latency over the WAN, by avoiding the repeated transfer of data over the WAN.
Note Object Cache is not supported on vWAAS-200 and vWAAS-150 platforms.
To enable an individual application accelerator object cache, use the following guideline:
- Controls to enable and disable an individual object cache are displayed in that application accelerator’s Advanced Settings screen.
Note To ensure that the object cache and individual application accelerator object cache work successfully, note these guidelines:
- Each application accelerator object cache can be enabled or disabled independent of whether or not the global object cache is enabled or disabled.
- Enabling the object cache does not automatically enable individual application accelerator object caches.
- You can enable or disable an individual application accelerator object cache whether or not the associated application accelerator is enabled or disabled.
- Verify that disk assignments have been made to object cache before you enable object cache.
- The object cache has a limit of 15 GB. A request of a size larger than this limit will not cache the complete file. For example, for a file size of 25 GB, only 15 GB of this file would be cached.
Note To ensure that the object cache and SMB application accelerator work successfully, enable the object cache before you enable the SMB application accelerator.
Step 5 In the Advanced Settings area, uncheck the Blacklist Operation check box if you want to disable it. This feature allows a WAE to better handle situations in which TCP setup packets that have options are blocked or not returned to the WAE device. This behavior can result from network devices (such as firewalls) that block TCP setup packets that have options, and from asymmetric routes. The WAE can keep track of origin servers (such as those behind firewalls) that cannot receive optioned TCP packets, and learns not to send out TCP packets with options to these blacklisted servers. WAAS is still able to accelerate traffic between branch and data center WAEs in situations where optioned TCP packets are dropped. We recommend that you leave this feature enabled.
Step 6 If you want to change the default Blacklist Server Address Hold Time of 60 minutes, enter the new time in minutes in the Blacklist Server Address Hold Time field. The valid range is 1 minute to 10080 minutes (1 week).
When a server IP address is added to the blacklist, it remains there for the configured hold time. After that time, subsequent connection attempts will again include TCP options so that the WAE can redetermine if the server can receive them. It is useful to retry sending TCP options periodically because network packet loss may cause a server to be erroneously blacklisted.
You can shorten or lengthen the blacklist time by changing the Blacklist Server Address Hold Time field.
Step 7 Click Submit.
The changes are saved to the device or device group.
To configure TFO optimization, DRE, and persistent compression from the CLI, use the tfo optimize global configuration command.
To configure EPM acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator epm global configuration command.
To configure HTTP acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator http global configuration command.
To configure ICA acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator ica global configuration command.
To configure MAPI acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator mapi global configuration command.
To configure SMB acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator smb global configuration command.
To configure SSL acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator ssl global configuration command.
To configure global object cache from the CLI, use the object-cache enable global configuration command.
When object cache is enabled, you are prompted to confirm the repurposing of SMB resources if the disk has not already been partitioned for object cache.
If this is the first time disk resources are being assigned to object cache, the object-cache enable command will prompt you to reboot the device, since the disk partitioning only takes effect on the next reboot. The configuration is then saved, and the object cache does not have to be re-enabled on the next reboot.
Note To ensure success of the object-cache enable command, verify the following two conditions:
- Disk assignments have been made to object cache before you use this command.
- Use this command before you use the accelerator smb global configuration command.
To enable a specified application accelerator object cache, use the accelerator ao-name object-cache enable global configuration command.
Note To ensure that each application accelerator object cache and the global object cache function successfully, note these guidelines:
- Each application accelerator object cache can be enabled or disabled independent of whether or not the global object cache is enabled or disabled.
- You must disable all individual application accelerator object caches before you use the no object-cache enable global configuration command to disable the global object cache.
- The object-cache enable global configuration command does not automatically enable individual application accelerator object caches.
- You can enable or disable an individual application accelerator object cache whether or not the associated application accelerator is enabled or disabled.
To configure the Blacklist Operation feature from the CLI, use the tfo auto-discovery global configuration command.
To display status and statistics on the application accelerators from the CLI, use the show accelerator and show statistics accelerator EXEC commands.
To display statistics on the SMB print accelerator, use the show statistics accelerator smb EXEC command.
For details on configuring individual application accelerators, see the following sections:
Configuring DRE Settings
To enable DRE settings, check the Data Redundancy Elimination check box in the Enabled Features window.
To configure the DRE auto bypass and load monitor settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > DRE Settings.
The DRE Settings window appears.
Step 3 Check the Enable DRE auto bypass check box to generate an alarm and automatically DRE bypass application traffic.
Note If you do not enable DRE auto bypass, the Device Status alarm displays yellow and the traffic gets bypassed without forwarding to the Service Node (SN). We recommend that you do not disable DRE through the configuration. Instead, configure individual policies to bypass DRE functionality.
Step 4 Check the Enable DRE Load Monitor check box to enable load report.
- The disk latency maximum can be set from 1-1000; the default value is 5.
- The DRE load threshold can be set from 50-99; the default value is 95.
Step 5 Click Submit.
The changes are saved to the device or device group.
To enable DRE auto bypass from the CLI, use the dre auto-bypass enable global configuration command.
To enable DRE load monitor from the CLI, use the dre load-monitor report global configuration command.
Configuring HTTP Acceleration
The HTTP application accelerator accelerates HTTP traffic. To optimize HTTPS, you must enable both SSL and HTTP and also have protocol chaining enabled.
The default Web optimization policy is defined to send traffic to the HTTP accelerator. The Web optimization policy uses the HTTP class map, which matches traffic on ports 80, 8080, 8000, 8001, and 3128. If you expect HTTP traffic on other ports, add the other ports to the HTTP class map.
To enable the HTTP accelerator, check the HTTP Accelerator check box in the Enabled Features window.
To configure the HTTP acceleration settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > HTTP/HTTPS Settings.
The HTTP Acceleration Settings window appears (Figure 12-1).
Note For WAAS Express, the HTTP acceleration settings are the same, but the fields are laid out differently in the HTTP/HTTPS Settings window.
Figure 12-1 HTTP Acceleration Settings Window
Step 3 Check the Enable HTTP metadatacache caching check box to enable the WAE to cache HTTP header (metadata) information. The default setting is checked.
This check box must be checked to enable any of the other settings in the Metadata Cache Settings area. If this box is not checked, no header caching is done.
For details on HTTP metadata caching, see About HTTP Metadata Caching.
Step 4 Check the Enable HTTPS metadatacache caching check box to enable the WAE to cache HTTPS header (metadata) information (HTTP as payload in SSL traffic). The default setting is checked.
For details on HTTP metadata caching, see About HTTP Metadata Caching.
Step 5 In the Maximum age of a Cache entry field, enter the maximum number of seconds to retain HTTP header information in the cache. The default is 86400 seconds (24 hours). Valid time periods range from 5–2592000 seconds (30 days).
Step 6 In the Minimum age of a Cache entry field, enter the minimum number of seconds for which to retain HTTP header information in the cache. The default is 60 seconds. Valid time periods range from 5 to 86400 seconds (24 hours).
Step 7 Check the Enable local HTTP 301 redirect messages check box to enable the WAE to cache and locally serve HTTP 301 messages. The default setting is checked.
Step 8 Check the Enable local HTTP 401 Authentication-required messages check box to enable the WAE to cache and locally serve HTTP 401 messages. The default setting is checked.
Step 9 Check the Enable local HTTP 304 Not-Modified messages check box to enable the WAE to cache HTTP 200 and 304 messages and locally serve HTTP 304 messages. The default setting is checked.
Step 10 To configure specific file extensions to which metadata caching is to be applied, enter the file extensions in the File extension filters field at the far right. Separate multiple extensions with a comma, for example, jpeg, gif, png, and do not include the dot at the beginning of the file extension.
By default, no file extension filters are defined and therefore, metadata caching applies to all file types.
Step 11 Check the Enable Pre-fetch Optimization check box to allow the edge WAAS device to prefetch data. This setting is not enabled by default.
This optimization benefits Web browser-based Microsoft Office applications when they access Microsoft Office documents (MS Word and Excel only) hosted on a Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. For viewing Word documents, the client must have Microsoft Silverlight installed.
By checking this check box, you are telling the edge WAAS device to prefetch the subsequent pages of the documents from the SharePoint server before the client actually requests them, and serve them from the cache when the request from the client arrives. You can now seamlessly scroll through the document without having to wait for the content to load.
Note SharePoint prefetch optimization works with view in browser mode only.
Step 12 Check the Suppress server compression for HTTP and HTTPS check box to configure the WAE to suppress server compression between the client and the server. The default setting is checked.
By checking this check box, you are telling the WAE to remove the Accept-Encoding value from HTTP and HTTPS request headers, preventing the web server from compressing HTTP and HTTPS data that it sends to the client. This allows the WAE to apply its own compression to the HTTP and HTTPS data, typically resulting in much better compression than the web server for most files. For some file types that rarely change, such as.css and.js files, this setting is ignored and web server compression is allowed.
Step 13 Check the Enable DRE Hints for HTTP and HTTPS check box to send DRE hints to the DRE module for improved DRE performance. The DRE hint feature is enabled by default.
Step 14 Click Submit.
The changes are saved to the device or device group.
To configure HTTP acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator http global configuration command.
To show the contents of the metadata cache, use the show cache http-metadatacache EXEC command.
To clear the metadata cache, use the clear cache http-metadatacache EXEC command.
To enable or disable specific HTTP accelerator features for specific clients or IP subnets, use the HTTP accelerator subnet feature. For more details, see Using an HTTP Accelerator Subnet.
About HTTP Metadata Caching
The metadata caching feature allows the HTTP accelerator in the branch WAE to cache particular server responses and respond locally to clients. The following server response messages are cached:
- HTTP 200 OK (Applies to If-None-Match and If-Modified-Since requests)
- HTTP 301 redirect
- HTTP 304 not modified (Applies to If-None-Match and If-Modified-Since requests)
- HTTP 401 authentication required
Metadata caching is not applied in the following cases:
- Requests and responses that are not compliant with RFC standards
- URLs containing over 255 characters
- 301 and 401 responses with cookie headers
- Use of HEAD method
- Pipelined transactions
Note The metadata caching feature is introduced in WAAS Version 4.2.1, but Version 4.2.1 is needed only on the branch WAE. This feature can interoperate with an HTTP accelerator on a data center WAE that has a lower version.
Using an HTTP Accelerator Subnet
The HTTP accelerator subnet feature allows you to selectively enable or disable specific HTTP optimization features for specific IP subnets by using ACLs. This feature can be applied to the following HTTP optimizations: HTTP metadata caching, HTTPS metadata caching, DRE hints, and suppress server compression.
To define IP subnets, use the ip access-list global configuration command. Refer to this command in the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference for more information on configuring subnets. You can use both standard and extended ACLs.
To configure a subnet for an HTTP accelerator feature, follow these steps:
Step 1 Enable global configuration for all the HTTP accelerator features that you want to use.
Step 2 Create an IP access list to use for a subnet of traffic:
WAE(config)# ip access-list extended md_acl
WAE(config-ext-nacl)# permit ip 1.1.1.0 0.0.0.255 any
WAE(config-ext-nacl)# permit ip 2.2.2.0 0.0.0.255 3.3.3.0 0.0.0.255
WAE(config-ext-nacl)# exit
Step 3 Associate the ACL with a specific HTTP accelerator feature. Refer to the accelerator http global configuration command in Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference for information on associating an ACL with an HTTP accelerator feature:
WAE(config)# accelerator http metadatacache access-list md_acl
In this example, the HTTP metadata cache feature applies to all the connections that match the conditions specified in the extended access-list md_acl.
In the following example, the HTTP suppress-server-encoding feature applies to all the connections that match the conditions specified in the standard access-list 10:
WAE(config)# ip access-list standard 10
WAE(config-std-nacl)# permit 1.1.1.0 0.0.0.255
WAE(config-std-nacl)# exit
WAE(config)# accelerator http suppress-server-encoding accesslist 10
For the features (DRE hints and HTTPS metadata cache in this example) that do not have an ACL associated with them, global configuration is used and the features are applicable to all the connections.
Configuring MAPI Acceleration
The MAPI application accelerator accelerates Microsoft Outlook Exchange traffic that uses the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) protocol.
- For WAAS Version 5.3.x and later, Microsoft Outlook 2000–2013 clients are supported.
- For WAAS Version 5.2.x and earlier, Microsoft Outlook 2000–2010 clients are supported.
Clients can be configured with Outlook in cached or noncached mode; both modes are accelerated.
Secure connections that use message authentication (signing) are not accelerated, and MAPI over HTTP is not accelerated.
Note Microsoft Outlook 2007 and 2010 have encryption enabled by default. You must disable encryption to benefit from the MAPI application accelerator.
The EPM application accelerator must be enabled for the MAPI application accelerator to operate. EPM is enabled by default. Additionally, the system must define an optimization policy of type EPM, specify the MAPI UUID, and have an Accelerate setting of MAPI. This policy, MAPI for the Email-and-Messaging application, is defined by default.
EPM traffic, such as MAPI, does not normally use a predefined port. If your Outlook administrator has configured Outlook in a nonstandard way to use a static port, you must create a new basic optimization policy that accelerates MAPI traffic with a class map that matches the static port that was configured for Outlook.
Note If the WAE becomes overloaded with connections, the MAPI application accelerator continues to accelerate MAPI connections by using internally reserved connection resources. If the reserved resources are also exceeded, new MAPI connections are passed through until connection resources become available.
To enable the MAPI accelerator, check the MAPI Accelerator check box in the Enabled Features section.
Note When you enable MAPI acceleration, Encrypted MAPI acceleration is enabled by default.
To configure MAPI acceleration settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > MAPI Settings.
The MAPI Acceleration Settings window appears (Figure 12-2).
Figure 12-2 MAPI Acceleration Settings Window
Step 3 In the Reserved Pool Size Maximum Percent field, enter the maximum percent of connections in order to restrict the maximum number of connections reserved for MAPI optimization during TFO overload. It is specified as a percent of the TFO connection limit of the platform. Valid percent ranges from 5 to 50 percent. The default is 15 percent, which reserves approximately 0.5 connection for each client-server Association Group (AG) optimized by the MAPI accelerator.
The client maintains at least one AG per server it connects to with an average of about three connections per AG. For deployments that see a greater average number of connections per AG, or where TFO overload is a frequent occurrence, a higher value for reserved pool size maximum percent is recommended.
Reserved connections remain unused when the device is not under TFO overload. Reserved connections are released when the AG is terminated.
Step 4 Click Submit.
The changes are saved to the device or device group.
Configuring Encrypted MAPI Acceleration
The Encrypted MAPI acceleration feature provides WAN optimization for secure MAPI application protocols using Microsoft Kerberos security protocol and Microsoft Windows Active Directory identity for authentication of clients or servers or both in the domain.
Note You must enable MAPI acceleration first for Encrypted MAPI acceleration to be enabled. Encrypted MAPI acceleration is enabled by default.
This section contains the following topics:
Workflow for Configuring Encrypted MAPI
To configure Encrypted MAPI traffic acceleration, complete the tasks listed in Table 12-1 . These tasks must be performed on both data center and branch WAEs unless specified as Not Required or Optional.
Table 12-1 Tasks for Configuring Encrypted MAPI
|
Additional Information and Instructions
|
Configure DNS Settings. |
To configure DNS settings, see Configuring the DNS Server in Chapter 6, “Configuring Network Settings.” |
Configure NTP Settings. |
To synchronize the time with Active Directory, see the Configuring NTP Settings in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.” |
Verify WAE devices are registered and online with the WAAS Central Manager. |
To verify WAE devices are registered and online with the WAAS Central Manager, see Devices Window in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS System.” |
Configure SSL Peering Service. |
To configure SSL Peering Service, see Configuring SSL Peering Service. |
Verify WAN Secure mode is enabled. |
To verify WAN Secure mode is enabled, use the show accelerator wansecure EXEC command. |
Configure windows domain settings and perform domain join.
(The domain join function automatically creates the machine account in Active Directory.) |
To configure Windows Domain Server Authentication settings, see Configuring Windows Domain Server Authentication Settings in Chapter 7, “Configuring Administrative Login Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.” Note that performing a domain join of the WAE is not required on branch WAE devices. |
Configure domain identities (for machine account and optional user accounts). |
To configure a machine account identity, see Configuring a Machine Account Identity. (Optional) To create a user account and configure a user account identity, see Creating and Configuring a User Account. Note that configuring domain identities is not required on branch WAE devices. |
Enable Windows Domain Encrypted Service. |
To enable the Windows Domain Encrypted Service, navigate to the Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services page and check the Enable Encrypted Service check box. |
Enable Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization. |
To enable Encrypted MAPI Traffic, see Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features. |
Configuring Encrypted MAPI Settings
To configure encrypted MAPI settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 Configure DNS settings.
The WAAS DNS server must be a part of the DNS system of Windows Active Directory domains to resolve DNS queries for traffic encryption.
For more information about configuring DNS settings, see Configuring the DNS Server in Chapter 6, “Configuring Network Settings.”
Step 2 Configure NTP settings to synchronize the time with the Active Directory.
The WAAS device has to be in synchronization with the Active Directory for Encrypted MAPI acceleration. The WAAS NTP server must share time synchronization with the Active Directory Domain Controllers’ domains for which traffic encryption is required. Out-of-sync time will cause Encrypted MAPI acceleration to fail.
For more information about synchronizing time with the Active Directory, see Configuring NTP Settings in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.”
Step 3 Verify if WAE devices are registered and are online with the WAAS Central Manager.
For more information about verifying that WAE devices are registered and are online with the WAAS Central Manager, see the Devices Window in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS Network.”
Step 4 Configure the SSL Peering Service.
Note The SSL accelerator must be enabled and in running state.
For more information about configuring the SSL Peering Service, see Configuring SSL Peering Service.
Step 5 Verify if WAN Secure mode is enabled.
The default mode is Auto. You can verify the state of WAN Secure mode using the following EXEC command:
show accelerator wansecure
If necessary, you can change the state of WAN Secure using the following global configuration command:
accelerator mapi wansecure-mode {always | auto | none}
Step 6 (Optional on data center WAEs if only user accounts are used for domain identity configuration in Step 7.) Configure Windows domain settings and perform a domain join. (A domain join automatically creates the machine account in Active Directory.)
Note Performing a domain join of the WAE is not required on branch WAE devices.
To configure Windows Domain Server Authentication settings, see Configuring Windows Domain Server Authentication Settings in Chapter 7, “Configuring Administrative Login Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.”
Note Kerberos and Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) authentication are used for Encrypted MAPI acceleration. For WAAS 5.3.1, encrypted NTLM traffic is supported for EMAPI, and the WAE device optimizes NTLM traffic for domains configured with NTLM authentication.
Step 7 Configure domain identities. (Not required for branch WAEs.)
You must have at least one account, either user or machine, that is configured with a domain identity. Each device can support up to five domain identities, one machine account identity and four user account identities. This allows a WAAS device to accelerate up to five domain trees. You must configure a domain identity for each domain with an exchange server that has clients to be accelerated.
a. Configure the machine account identity.
A machine account for the core device is automatically created during the join process in the Windows Domain Server authentication procedure in Step 6. If you are using a machine account, a machine account identity must be configured for this account.
Each device supports only one machine account identity.
To configure a machine account identity, see Configuring a Machine Account Identity.
b. Create and configure optional user accounts.
You can utilize up to four optional user accounts for additional security. Multiple user accounts provide greater security than having all of the core devices using a single user account. You must configure a user account identity for each user account, whether you are utilizing an existing user account or creating a new one.
To create a user account and configure a user account identity, see Creating and Configuring a User Account.
Step 8 Enable Windows Domain Encrypted Service. (This is enabled by default.)
a. From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
b. From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears.
c. Check the Enable Encrypted Service check box.
d. Click Submit to save your changes.
Step 9 Enable Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization.
In the Enabled Features window, check the Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization check box (the MAPI Accelerator check box must also be checked), and click Submit. (Encrypted MAPI traffic optimization is enabled by default.)
For more information on the Enabled Features window, see Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features.
Configuring a Machine Account Identity
To configure an identity for a machine account, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears.
Step 3 Click the Add Domain Identity button.
The Domain Identity dialog box appears (Figure 12-3).
Note Every WAAS device that has to be accelerated must have a domain identity.
Figure 12-3 Add Domain Identity—Machine Account
a. In the Domain Identity dialog box that is displayed, choose Machine Account from the Account Type drop-down list.
Note Windows domain join must be completed before creating the machine account domain identity. For more information, see Configuring Windows Domain Server Settings on a WAAS Device in Chapter 7, “Configuring Administrative Login Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.”
b. Enter the identity name in the Identity Name field. Only alphanumeric characters are allowed. Space, ?, and | are not allowed. The length is not to exceed 32 characters.
Note The domain identity must have sufficient privileges in the Windows Domain Active Directory to replicate the desired domain information to optimize encrypted traffic. To configure privileges, see Configuring Microsoft Active Directory.
Step 4 Click the Add Match Domain button to add the child domains of the domain (with which the device is registered) for which the Domain Identity should optimize the encrypted traffic. You can add up to 32 child domains. If you do not want the Domain Identity to optimize the traffic for any of the child domains, you can delete the selected match domain items.
Note This is available only on devices running WAAS Version 5.4 and above.
Step 5 Click OK.
The domain identity appears in the Encrypted Services Domain Identities list (Figure 12-4).
Figure 12-4 Encrypted Services—Domain Identity
To configure and verify Encrypted Services Domain Identities from the CLI, use the windows-domain encrypted-service global configuration command and the show windows-domain encrypted-service EXEC command.
Creating and Configuring a User Account
To create a user account and configure a user account identity, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears (Figure 12-5).
Figure 12-5 Encrypted Services
Step 3 Click Add Domain Identity to add a user account domain identity.
The Domain Identity window appears (Figure 12-6).
Figure 12-6 Add Domain Identity—User Account
a. Choose user account from the Account Type drop-down list.
b. Enter the identity name in the Identity Name field. Only alphanumeric characters are allowed. Space, ?, and | are not allowed. The length is not to exceed 32 characters.
c. Enter username and password.
d. Enter the domain name.
e. Enter the Kerberos realm.
f. Click Add Match Domain to add the child domains of the selected domain, for which the Domain Identity should optimize the encrypted traffic. You can add up to 32 child domains. If you do not want the Domain Identity to optimize the traffic for any of the child domains, you can delete the selected match domain items.
Note The domain identity must have sufficient privileges in the Windows Domain Active Directory to replicate the desired domain information to optimize encrypted traffic. For information about configuring privileges, see Configuring Microsoft Active Directory.
Step 4 Click OK.
The domain identity appears in the Encrypted Services Domain Identities list.
Note Secure store encryption is used for the user account domain identity password. If secure store cannot be opened, an alarm is raised indicating that the configuration updates could not be stored on the device. After secure store can be opened and the configuration updates are successfully stored on the device, the alarm is cleared.
To configure and verify Encrypted Services Domain Identities from the CLI, use the windows-domain encrypted-service global configuration command and the show windows-domain encrypted-service EXEC command.
Configuring Microsoft Active Directory
To grant Cisco WAAS permission to accelerate Microsoft Exchange-encrypted email sessions, follow these steps:
Step 1 Using an account with Domain Administrator privileges, launch the Active Directory Users and Computers application.
Step 2 Create a new group.
Note This group is for accounts that WAAS will use to optimize Exchange traffic. Normal users and computers should not be added to this group.
a. Right-click the Unit to contain the new group and choose New > Group (Figure 12-7).
Figure 12-7 Active Directory—Add Group
b. Enter a name in the Group name field and select the following attributes:
– Group scope: Universal
– Group type: Security
c. Click OK.
Step 3 Configure the permissions required by WAAS.
a. In the Active Directory Users and Computers application window, choose View > Advanced Features from the menu bar.
b. Right-click the root of the domain and choose Properties.
c. Click the Security tab (Figure 12-8).
Figure 12-8 Active Directory—Security Tab
d. Click Add in the Group or User Names section.
e. Enter the name of the new group in the Enter the object names to select field.
f. Click OK to add the new group to the list.
g. Check the check box adjacent to the new group in the Group or user names list and set the following permissions to Allow:
– Replicating Directory Changes
– Replicating Directory Changes All
h. Click OK.
Step 4 Add an account to the group.
User or workstation (computer) accounts must be added to the new group for WAAS Exchange Encrypted email optimization.
a. Right-click on the account you want to add and select the Member Of tab.
b. Click Add.
c. Choose the new group you created and click OK.
Active Directory permissions configuration is complete.
Managing Domain Identities and Encrypted MAPI State
This section contains the following topics:
Editing an Existing Domain Identity
You can modify the attributes of an existing domain identity on a WAAS device, if needed.
Note If the password for a user account has been changed in the Active Directory, you must edit the user account domain identity on the WAAS device to match the new Active Directory password.
The following restrictions apply:
- For a machine account identity, only the state of the domain identity (enabled or disabled) can be modified from a WAAS device.
- For a user account identity, only the state of the domain identity (enabled or disabled) and the password can be modified from a WAAS device.
To change the password for a user account domain identity on a WAAS device when the password for the account in the Active Directory has changed, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears.
Step 3 Select the user account domain identity to modify and click the Edit icon.
The Domain Identity window appears.
Step 4 Change the password in the Password field. The password should be the same as the password for the account in Active Directory.
Step 5 Click OK.
Deleting an Existing Domain Identity
To delete a domain identity on a WAAS device, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears.
Step 3 Select one or more domain identities to delete and click the Delete icon to remove the domain identity configured on the WAAS device.
A warning message appears if the domain identity is being used for optimizing encrypted traffic.
Step 4 Click OK to accept or Cancel to abort the procedure.
Disabling Encrypted MAPI
To disable Encrypted MAPI, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Disable Encrypted Service.
a. From the menu, choose Configure > Security > Windows Domain > Encrypted Services.
The Encrypted Services window appears.
b. Uncheck the Enable Encrypted Service check box.
c. Click Submit to save your changes.
Step 3 Disable Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization.
a. From the menu, choose Configure > Acceleration > Enabled Features.
The Enabled Features window appears.
b. Uncheck the Encrypted MAPI Traffic Optimization check box.
c. Click Submit to save your changes.
Encrypted MAPI Acceleration Statistics
To view the statistics for Encrypted MAPI connections, see Using Predefined Reports to Monitor WAAS in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS Network,” and see the MAPI acceleration reports.
Cisco WAAS MAPI RPC over HTTP(S)
RPC over HTTP allows Outlook clients to access Exchange servers from outside the enterprise network using HTTP or HTTPs as a transport for RPC protocol. It allows a client on the Internet to connect securely to a Microsoft Exchange Server without having to log into a virtual private network (VPN) first.
An RPC-HTTP (RPCH) module in WAAS, integrated into the existing WAAS MAPI optimizer will provide WAAS the ability to optimize MAPI over RPC-HTTP(S) traffic.
Release 6.2.1 supports L7 optimization for RPCHTTP(S) traffic.
Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Versions Supported for Cisco WAAS MAPI RPC over HTTP(S)
Table 2 shows the clients and servers supporting WAAS MAPI RPC over HTTP(S):
Table 2 Clients and Servers Supporting WAAS MAPI RPC over HTTP(S)
|
|
Outlook 2016 |
Exchange 2016 |
Outlook 2013 (for Windows 7 and Windows 8) |
Exchange 2013 (for Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2008 R2 [full installation]) |
Outlook 2010 (for Windows 7 and Windows 8) |
Exchange 2010 (for Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2008, and 2008 R2) |
Outlook 2007 (for Windows Vista, Windows 7) |
|
Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016 can be configured for MAPI over HTTP support. MAPI over HTTP traffic will not be optimized by MAPI accelerator. However, MAPI over HTTP traffic will get L4 optimization benefits from WAAS (THSDL).
Configuration pre-requisites for optimizing MAPI RPC over HTTP(S)
To enable optimization of MAPI RPC over HTTP(S), follow these steps:
Step 1 Ensure that the SSL, HTTP and MAPI accelerators are enabled.
Step 2 Configure SSL acceleration. For more information on configuring SSL acceleration, see the “Configuring SSL Acceleration” section of the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Configuration Guide.
Step 3 When you configure SSL acceleration, be sure to enable protocol chaining, by checking the Enable protocol chaining check box on the SSL Accelerated Services window.
Note If protocol chaining is not enabled, the WAAS device will only optimize SSL traffic on the specified IP address and port.
Step 4 Configure a windows domain identity on the core device, for encrypted MAPI connections.
Step 5 Ensure encryption is enabled in MAPI accelerator. For more information, refer to Configuring Encrypted MAPI Settings
MAPI Acceleration Charts for Cisco WAAS MAPI RPC over HTTP(S)
The MAPI Acceleration report displays MAPI acceleration statistics. For WAAS Version 5.5.3 and above, the following MAPI acceleration charts are added or modified:
- MAPI: Handled Traffic Pattern—A new pie diagram that shows the three different types of traffic handled by the MAPI AO. For more information, see MAPI: Handled Traffic Pattern in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS System.”
- MAPI: Connection Details—An existing chart for MAPI session connection statistics, MAPI: Connection Details now includes a new classification for optimized TCP and RPC-HTTP(S) MAPI connections. For more information, see MAPI: Connection Details in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS System.”
Configuring SMB Acceleration
The SMB application accelerator handles optimizations of file server operations. These optimizations apply to SMBv1, SMBv2 and SMBv3. It can be configured to perform the following file server optimizations:
- SMB Print Optimization—A centralized print deployment reduces management overhead and increases cost savings. SMB Print Optimization optimizes print traffic by utilizing a centralized printer server, which resides in the data center. This removes the need for local print servers in the branches. The three most common uses for a centralized printer server are: to print from branch client to branch printer, to print from branch client to data center printer, and to print from data center client to branch printer.
- Read Ahead Optimization—The SMB accelerator performs a read-ahead optimization (SMBv1 only) on files that use the oplocks feature. When a client sends a read request for a file, it is likely that the accelerator may issue more read requests for the same file. To reduce the use of network bandwidth to perform these functions over the WAN on the file server, the SMB accelerator performs read-ahead optimization by proactively reading more file data than what has been initially requested by the client.
- Directory Listing Optimization—A significant portion of the traffic on the network is for retrieving directory listings. The SMB accelerator optimizes directory listings from the file server by prefetching. For directory prefetching, a request from the client is expanded to prefetch up to 64 KB of directory listing content. The SMB accelerator buffers the prefetched directory listing data until the client has requested all the data. If the directory listing size exceeds 64 KB, a subsequent request from the client is expanded by the SMB accelerator again to prefetch content up to 64 KB. This continues until all the entries of the directory are returned to the client.
- Directory Browsing Optimization - The SMB accelerator optimizes directory browsing by prefetching SMBv2 data from the file server and caching it in the RAM infrastructure of the WAE. When directory query requests are made by the client, the data is fetched from the cached data. To accommodate multiple client requests, locking mechanisms are in place while accessing parent directory and child files. Additionally, because the infrastructure has limited memory, new requests are cached only when memory is available.
- Metadata Optimization—The SMB accelerator optimizes fetching metadata from the file server through metadata prefetching. Additional metadata requests are tagged along with the client request and are sent to the file server to prefetch more information levels than what was requested by the client.
- Named Pipe Optimization—The SMB accelerator optimizes frequent requests from Windows Explorer to the file server to retrieve share, server, and workstation information. Each of these requests involves a sequence of operations that include opening and binding to the named pipe, making the RPC request, and closing the named pipe. Each operation incurs a round trip to the file server. To reduce the use of network bandwidth to perform these functions over the WAN on the file server, the SMB accelerator optimizes the traffic on the network by caching named pipe sessions and positive RPC responses.
- Write Optimization—The SMB accelerator performs write optimization by speeding up the write responses to the client by acknowledging the Write requests to the client whenever possible and, at the same time, streaming the Write requests over the WAN to the server.
- Not-Found Metadata caching—Applications sometimes send requests for directories and files that do not exist on file servers. For example, Windows Explorer accesses the Alternate Data Streams (ADS) of the file it finds. With negative Not-Found (NF) metadata caching, the full paths to those nonexistent directories and files are cached so that further requests for the same directories and files get local denies to save the round trips of sending these requests to the file servers.
- DRE-LZ Hints—The SMB accelerator provides DRE hints to improve system performance and resources utilization. At the connection level, the SMB accelerator uses the BEST_COMP latency sensitivity level for all connections, because it gives the best compression. At the message level, the SMB accelerator provides message-based DRE hints for each message to be transmitted over the WAN.
- Microsoft Optimization—The SMB accelerator optimizes file operations for Microsoft applications by identifying lock request sequences for file name patterns supported by Microsoft Office applications.
- Invalid FID Optimization—The SMB accelerator optimizes SMB2 and SMB3 clients by locally denying attempts to access files with invalid file handle values instead of sending such requests to the file servers.
- Batch Close Optimization—The SMB accelerator performs asynchronous file close optimizations on all SMB traffic.
- Read Cache optimization—The SMB accelerator optimizes read operations in SMB2 by caching read response data so that files can be served locally.
- Write Optimization —The SMB accelerator improves system performances by performing asynchronous write operations.
- Signed Optimization — The SMB accelerator provides L7 optimization of all SMB traffic.
- SMB v3 Encrypted Optimization - The SMB accelerator provides L7 optimization of encrypted SMB v3 traffic.
To enable the SMB accelerator, check the SMB Accelerator check box in the Enabled Features window.
To configure the SMB acceleration settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name (or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > SMB Settings.
The SMB Settings window appears (Figure 12-9).
Figure 12-9 SMB Accelerator Configuration Window
Step 3 From the Highest Dialect Optimized drop-down list, choose the highest dialect to optimize. The available options are:
- NTLM 0.12 or NTLM 1.0
- SMB 2.0
- SMB 2.1
- SMB 3.0
- SMB 3.02
Step 4 From the Highest Dialect Optimized Exceed Action drop-down list, choose the action for the dialects that are higher than the one chosen as the highest dialect to optimize:
- Mute—The dialects higher than the one chosen as the highest dialect to optimize are removed from the negotiation list. This is the default selection.
Note The Mute option of SMB AO is deprecated in dialects 3.x and 2.0 of SMB; muting within these versions has been found to be unsuccessful in terms of optimization.
- Handoff—If the negotiated dialect is higher than the chosen highest dialect to optimize, the connection is handed off to the generic accelerator.
Step 5 In the Bypass File Name Pattern field, enter the patterns for the file names that you want the SMB accelerator to bypass optimization for. The files whose names match the specified expressions are not optimized.
Step 6 Check the SMB Object Cache check box if you want to enable disk caching for SMB traffic.
Step 7 Check the Signing Optimization check box to enable optimization of signed SMB v2 and v3 traffic. This check box is checked by default.
An SMB connection request can originate from the Branch office to the Data Center or vice-versa. For every connection, the WAE near the requestor, takes the Edge WAE’s role and WAE near the smb server takes the Core WAE’s role.
The following prerequisites, at the Core and Edge WAE, are necessary to ensure that a signed connection is optimized:
a. On the Core WAE, configure a valid user-identity with administrator privileges to enable secret-retrieval to fetch and cache the long term service key of the smb server using the global configuration command:
(config)#windows-domain encryption-service identity [identity] user-account name [admin-username] domain <your.domain] realm [YOUR.DOMAIN] password
Verify the identity configuration by using the following EXEC Command.
sh windows-domain encryption-service identity detail
For Kerberos Authentication, ensure time synchronization between Client, Server, Core WAE and the Domain Controller.
If you want to verify if a connection is signed or not you can do so by looking into the SMBv2 Negotiate packet. The Signing Required field should be set to “True” in either the Negotiate Request or the Negotiate Response exchange.
These configurations are similar to the eMAPI configuration. For more information, see Step 6 of Configuring Encrypted MAPI Settings.
b. Verify that the WAN Secure mode is enabled. WAN Secure’s secure connection enables the key to be transported to the Edge WAE.
The default recommended mode is Auto. You can verify the state of WAN Secure mode using the following EXEC command:
show accelerator wansecure
If necessary, you can change the state of WAN Secure using the following global configuration command:
accelerator smb wansecure-mode {always | auto | none}
c. Verify if the WAE devices are registered and are online with the WAAS Central Manager.
Step 8 Click the SMBV1 Optimization Settings tab to perform the following tasks:
– Check the Meta Data Optimization check box to enable metadata optimization. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Microsoft Office Optimization check box to enable optimizations for all versions of Microsoft Office. The SMB accelerator does not perform read-ahead, write, and lock-ahead optimizations for Microsoft Office if this optimization is disabled. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Named Pipe Optimization check box to enable named pipe optimization by caching named pipe sessions and positive RPS responses. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the ‘Not Found’ Cache Optimization check box to enable caching pathnames of files not found. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Print Optimization check box to enable SMB to configure a centralized print deployment. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Read Ahead Optimization check box to enable the SMB to optimize the quantity of read-ahead data from the file. The SMB performs a read-ahead optimization only when the file is opened using the oplocks feature. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Write Optimization check box to enable the write optimization by speeding up the write responses to the client. This check box is checked by default
Click SMBV2 Optimization Settings tab to perform the following tasks:
– Check the Batch Close Optimization check box to enable asynchronous files close optimizations. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Invalid FID Optimization check box to enable optimization of files with invalid file handle values. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the SMBV2 Read Cache Optimization check box to enable read response caching. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the SMBV2 Write Optimization check box to enable asynchronous write operations. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the Directory Service Optimization check box to enable optimization of directory browsing performance for SMB v2 traffic. The check box is checked by default. Directory service optimization is available only on devices or device groups running software image 6.1.1.
Click SMBV3 Optimization Settings tab to perform the following tasks:
– Check the SMB v3 Batch Close Optimization check box to enable asynchronous files close optimizations. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the SMB v3 Invalid FID Optimization check box to enable optimization of files with invalid file handle values. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the SMB v3 Read Cache Optimization check box to enable read response caching. This check box is checked by default.
– Check the SMB v3 Write Optimization check box to enable asynchronous write operations. This check box is checked by default.
– Select the type of optimization you want from the SMB v3 Encryption Optimization drop down box - L7 Optimization, L4 only optimization or disable SMB v3 encrypted optimization. L7 optimization is selected by default.
Step 9 Click Submit to save the changes.
To configure SMB acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator smb global configuration command.
Configuring ICA Acceleration
The Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) application accelerator provides WAN optimization on a WAAS device for ICA traffic that is used to access a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This is done through a process that is both automatic and transparent to the client and server.
ICA acceleration is enabled on a WAAS device by default.
To enable the ICA accelerator, check the ICA Accelerator check box in the Enabled Features window (Figure 12-10).
To configure the ICA acceleration settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > ICA Settings.
The ICA Acceleration Configuration window appears.
Figure 12-10 ICA Acceleration Configuration Window
Step 3 Check the Enable Multi Stream ICA check box to allow the client and server up to three additional TCP connections that optimize multistream ICA traffic.
Step 4 From the WAN Secure Mode drop-down list, choose the mode. The options are:
- None —Disables WAN Secure mode for ICA. This is the default.
- Always —Enables WAN Secure mode for ICA.
Note The state of WAN Secure mode in both Branch WAE and Data Center WAE must match for connections to get optimized with the ICA accelerator.
Step 5 In the DSCP Settings (QoS) under ICA Streams section, check the Enable DSCP Tagging check box to configure DSCP values for MSI priority levels. These values override the defaults. The valid range is from 0 to 63.
Note Configure DSCP values for MSI priority levels in the descending order of the priority.
a. Very High-Priority MSI—Typically real-time traffic, such as audio. The default is af41.
b. High-Priority MSI—Typically interactive traffic. The default is af41.
c. Medium-Priority MSI—Typically bulk data. The default is af21.
d. Low-Priority MSI—Typically background traffic, such as printing. The default is 0—best effort.
e. Non-MSI—(the default is af21)
Note MSI priority configuration might not apply to devices earlier than WAAS Version 5.1.x.
Step 6 Click Submit.
The changes are saved to the device or device group.
Note Citrix ICA versions 7.x (XenApp and XenDesktop) contain changes affecting the optimization efficiency of WAAS compared to that achieved with Citrix ICA versions 6.x. To maximize the effectiveness of WAAS, the Citrix administrator should configure the following:
Adaptive Display: Disabled
Legacy Graphic Mode: Enabled
To configure ICA acceleration from the CLI, use the accelerator ica global configuration command.
To verify the status of WAN Secure mode from the CLI, use the show accelerator wansecure EXEC command.
Configuring ICA over SSL
The WAAS software supports optimizing ICA over SSL. This allows the client and server to use the ICA protocol over an encrypted connection. To support optimizing ICA over SSL, you must perform the following steps:
Note When you are configuring SSL acceleration, be sure to enable protocol chaining. If protocol chaining is not enabled, the WAAS device will only optimize SSL traffic on the specified IP Address and Port.
Configuring SSL Acceleration
The SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) application accelerator optimizes traffic on SSL encrypted connections. If SSL acceleration is not enabled, the WAAS software DRE optimizations are not very effective on SSL-encrypted traffic. The SSL application acceleration enables WAAS to decrypt and apply optimizations while maintaining the security of the connection.
Note On a WAAS Express device, only SSL cipher list, SSL certificate authorities, and SSL peering service configuration are supported.
Note The SSL accelerator does not optimize protocols that do not start their SSL/TLS handshake from the very first byte. The only exception is HTTPS that goes through a proxy (where the HTTP accelerator detects the start of SSL/TLS). In this case, both HTTP and SSL accelerators optimize the connection.
The SSL application accelerator supports SSL Version 3 (SSLv3) and Transport Layer Security Version 1 (TLSv1) protocols. If a TLSv1.1 or TLSv1.2 client request is received, negotiation to downgrade to TLS v1.0 occurs. If refused by the client, the traffic is passed through.
Table 12-3 provides an overview of the steps you must complete to set up and enable SSL acceleration.
Table 12-3 Checklist for Configuring SSL Acceleration
|
Additional Information and Instructions
|
Prepare for configuring SSL acceleration. |
Identifies the information that you need to gather before configuring SSL acceleration on your WAAS devices. For more information, see Preparing to Use SSL Acceleration. |
Enable secure store, the Enterprise License, and SSL acceleration. |
Describes how to set up Central Manager secure store, how to enable the Enterprise License, and how to enable SSL acceleration. Secure store mode is required for secure handling of the SSL encryption certificates and keys. For more information, see Enabling Secure Store, Enterprise License, and SSL Acceleration. |
Enable SSL application optimization. |
Describes how to activate the SSL acceleration feature. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features. |
Configure SSL acceleration settings. |
(Optional) Describes how to configure the basic setup of SSL acceleration. For more information, see Configuring SSL Global Settings. |
Create and manage cipher lists. |
(Optional) Describes how to select and set up the cryptographic algorithms used on your WAAS devices. For more information, see Working with Cipher Lists. |
Set up CA certificates. |
(Optional) Describes how to select, import, and manage certificate authority (CA) certificates. For more information, see Working with Certificate Authorities. |
Configure SSL management services. |
(Optional) Describes how to configure the SSL connections used between the Central Manager and WAE devices. For more information, see Configuring SSL Management Services. |
Configure SSL peering service. |
(Optional) Describes how to configure the SSL connections used between peer WAE devices for carrying optimized SSL traffic. For more information, see the Configuring SSL Peering Service. |
Configure and enable SSL-accelerated services. |
Describes how to add, configure, and enable services to be accelerated by the SSL application optimization feature. For more information, see Using SSL -Accelerated Services. |
Preparing to Use SSL Acceleration
Before you configure SSL acceleration, you should know the following information:
- The services that you want to be accelerated on the SSL traffic
- The server IP address and port information
- The public key infrastructure (PKI) certificate and private key information, including the certificate common name and CA-signing information
- The cipher suites supported
- The SSL versions supported
Figure 12-11 shows how the WAAS software handles SSL application optimization.
Figure 12-11 SSL Acceleration Block Diagram
When you configure SSL acceleration, you must configure SSL-accelerated service on the server-side (Data Center) WAE devices. The client-side (Branch) WAE should have its secure store initialized and unlocked or opened, but does not have to have the SSL-accelerated service configured. However, the SSL accelerator must be enabled on both Data Center and Branch WAEs for SSL acceleration services to work. The WAAS Central Manager provides SSL management services and maintains the encryption certificates and keys.
Enabling Secure Store, Enterprise License, and SSL Acceleration
Before you can use SSL acceleration on your WAAS system, you must perform the following steps:
Step 1 Enable secure store encryption on the Central Manager.
To enable secure store encryption, see Configuring Secure Store Settings in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.”
Step 2 Enable the Enterprise license.
To enable the Enterprise license, see Managing Software Licenses in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.”
Step 3 Enable SSL acceleration on devices.
To enable the SSL acceleration feature, see Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features.
Note If the SSL accelerator is already running, you must wait for two datafeed poll cycles to be completed when registering a new WAE with a Central Manager before making any configuration changes. Otherwise the changes may not take effect.
Configuring SSL Global Settings
To configure the SSL acceleration global settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > SSL > Global Settings.
The SSL Global Settings window appears (Figure 12-12).
Figure 12-12 SSL Global Settings Window
Step 3 To configure a device to use the SSL settings from a particular device group, choose the device group from Select a Device Group drop-down list located in the SSL global settings toolbar. A device can either use its own SSL settings, or SSL settings from a device group. However, it is not possible to configure a device to use SSL settings from multiple device groups.
Note If you have configured the device with specific SSL Accelerated Services and assigned it to a Device Group, those configurations are lost when you click on the Override Group Settings on the Device Group > Configure > Security > SSL > Global Settings page.
Step 4 From the SSL version drop-down list, choose the type of SSL protocol to use. Choose SSL3 for the SSL Version 3 protocol, choose TLS1 for the Transport Layer Security Version 1 protocol, or choose All to accept both SSL3 and TLS1 SSL protocols.
Step 5 (Optional) Set the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) parameters for certificate revocation:
a. From the OCSP Revocation check drop-down list, choose the OCSP revocation method.
Choose ocsp-url SSL accelerator to use OCSP responder specified in the OCSP Responder URL field to check the revocation status of certificates. Choose ocsp-cert-url to use the OCSP responder URL specified in the Certificate Authority.
b. If the Ignore OCSP failures check box is enabled, the SSL accelerator will treat the OCSP revocation check as successful if it does not get a definite response from the OCSP responder.
Step 6 From the Cipher List drop-down list, choose a list of cipher suites to be used for SSL acceleration. For more information, see Working with Cipher Lists.
Step 7 Choose a certificate/key pair method (Figure 12-13).
Figure 12-13 Configuring Service Certificate and Private Key
- Click Generate Self-signed Certificate Key to have the WAAS devices use a self-signed certificate/key pair for SSL.
- Click Import Existing Certificate Key to upload or paste an existing certificate/key pair.
- Click Export Certificate Key to export the current certificate/key pair.
- Click Generate Certificate Signing Request to renew or replace the existing certificate/key pair. The certificate signing request is used by the CA to generate a new certificate.
Note The file that you import or export must be in either a PKCS12 format or a PEM format.
- Click Import existing client certificate and optionally private key to use the client configured certificate.
For information about service certificate and private key configuration, see Configuring a Service Certificate and Private Key.
Step 8 Click Submit.
Configuring a Service Certificate and Private Key
To configure a service certificate and private key, follow these steps:
Step 1 To generate a self-signed certificate and private key (Figure 12-14), follow these steps:
Figure 12-14 Self-Signed Certificate and Private Key
a. Check the Mark private key as exportable check box to export this certificate/key in the WAAS Central Manager and device CLI later.
b. Fill in the certificate and private key fields.
c. Operating Considerations for Key Size field:
- For WAAS Version 6.1.x and earlier, the Key Size drop-down list values are 512, 768, 1024, 1536, and 2048.
Note A self-signed certificate on WAAS Version 6.1.x or earlier with an RSA modulus size of 512 is not compatible with Mozilla FireFox Version 39 and later, or with Google Chrome Version 48 and later. A self-signed certificate on WAAS Version 6.1.x or earlier with an RSA modulus size of 512 is compatible with Internet Explorer 8 and later.
If you have previously configured the RSA modulus size as 512: to access the WAAS CM with Mozilla FireFox Version 39 and later, or with Google Chrome Version 48 and later, you must regenerate the self-signed certificate with an RSA modulus size of 2048, and then upgade to the specified version of Mozilla FireFox or Google Chrome.
- For WAAS Version 6.2.x and later, the Key Size drop-down list values are 768, 1024, 1536, and 2048. The key size 512 is not used with WAAS Version 6.2.x and later.
Step 2 To import an existing certificate or certificate chain and, optionally, private key (Figure 12-15), follow these steps:
Note The Cisco WAAS SSL feature only supports RSA signing/encryption algorithm and keys.
Figure 12-15 Importing Existing Certificate or Certificate Chain
a. Check the Mark private key as exportable check box to export this certificate/key in the WAAS Central Manager and device CLI later.
b. To import existing certificate or certificate chain and private key, perform one of the following tasks:
- Upload the certificate and key in PKCS#12 format (also as known Microsoft PFX format)
- Upload the certificate and private key in PEM format
- Paste the certificate and private key PEM content
If the certificate and private key are already configured, you can update only the certificate. In this case, the Central Manager constructs the certificate and private key pair using the imported certificate and current private key. This functionality can be used to update an existing self-signed certificate to one signed by the CA, or to update an expiring certificate.
The Central Manager allows importing a certificate chain consisting of an end certificate that must be specified first, a chain of intermediate CA certificates that sign the end certificate or intermediate CA certificate, and end with a root CA.
The Central Manager validates the chain and rejects it if the validity date of the CA certificate is expired, or the signing order of certificates in the chain is not consequent.
c. Enter a pass-phrase to decrypt the private key, or leave this field empty if the private key is not encrypted.
Step 3 To export a configured certificate and private key (Figure 12-16), follow these steps:
Figure 12-16 Export Certificate and Key
a. Enter the encryption pass-phrase.
b. Export current certificate and private key in either PKCS#12 or PEM formats. In the case of PEM format, the both certificate and private key are included in single PEM file.
Note Central Manager will not allow the export of certificate and private key if the certificate and key were marked as nonexportable when they were generated or imported.
Step 4 To generate a certificate-signing request from a current certificate and private key ( Figure 12-17), follow these steps:
Figure 12-17 Generate Certificate-Signing Request
Step 5 To update the current certificate with one signed by the Certificate Authority:
a. Generate PKCS#10 certificate signing request.
b. Send generated certificate signing request to Certificate Authority to generate and sign certificate.
c. Import certificate received from the Certificate Authority using the Importing existing certificate and optionally private key option.
Note The size of the key for a generated certificate request is the same as the size of the key in the current certificate.
Step 6 To import an existing client certificate or certificate chain and, optionally, private key (Figure 12-18), follow these steps:
Figure 12-18 Import existing client certificate and optionally private key
a. Check the Mark private key as exportable check box to export this certificate/key in the WAAS Central Manager and device CLI later.
b. To import existing client certificate and private key, perform one of the following:
- Upload certificate and key in PKCS#12 format (also as Microsoft PFX format)
- Upload certificate and private key in PEM format
- Paste certificate and private key PEM content
If the certificate and private key are already configured, you can update the certificate only. In this case, the Central Manager constructs the certificate and private key pair using the imported client certificate and current private key. This functionality can be used to update an existing self-signed certificate to one signed by the Certificate Authority, or to update an expiring certificate.
The Central Manager allows importing a certificate chain consisting of an end certificate that must be specified first, a chain of intermediate CA certificates that sign the end certificate or intermediate CA certificate, and end with a root CA.
c. Enter a pass-phrase to decrypt the private key, or leave this field empty if the private key is not encrypted.
d. Click Choose File to navigate to the client configured certificate and Import Client Cert to successfully import the above certificate.
Working with Cipher Lists
Cipher lists are sets of cipher suites that you can assign to your SSL acceleration configuration. A cipher suite is an SSL encryption method that includes the key exchange algorithm, the encryption algorithm, and the secure hash algorithm.
To configure a cipher list, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > SSL > Cipher Lists.
The SSL Cipher Lists window appears (Figure 12-19).
Note For a WAAS Express device, the SSL Cipher Lists window shows the same name and cipher fields, but in a slightly different format.
Figure 12-19 SSL Cipher Lists Window
Step 3 Click Create to add a new cipher list.
The Creating New SSL Cipher List window appears (Figure 12-20).
Note For a WAAS Express device, click Add Cipher List to add a new cipher list.
Figure 12-20 Creating New SSL Cipher List Window
Step 4 Type a name for your cipher list in the Cipher List Name field.
Step 5 Click Add Cipher to add cipher suites to your cipher list.
Note For a WAAS Express device, select the ciphers you wish to add, skip to Step 12.
Step 6 From the Ciphers drop-down list, choose the cipher suite that you want to add.
Note If you are establishing an SSL connection to a Microsoft IIS server, do not select a DHE-based cipher suite.
Step 7 Choose the priority for the selected cipher suite in the Priority field.
Note When SSL peering service is configured, the priority associated with a cipher list on a core device takes precedence over the priority associated with a cipher list on an edge device.
Step 8 Click Add to include the selected cipher suite on your cipher list, or click Cancel to leave the list as it is.
Step 9 Repeat Step 5 through Step 8 to add more cipher suites to your list as desired.
Step 10 (Optional) To change the priority of a cipher suite, check the cipher suite check box and then use the up or down arrow buttons located below the cipher list to prioritize.
Note The client-specified order for ciphers overrides the cipher list priority assigned here if the cipher list is applied to an accelerated service. The priorities assigned in this cipher list are only applicable if the cipher list is applied to SSL peering and management services.
Step 11 (Optional) To remove a cipher suite from the list, check the cipher suite’s box and then click Delete.
Step 12 Click Submit when you are done configuring the cipher list.
Note For a WAAS Express device, click OK to save the cipher list configuration.
SSL configuration changes will not be applied on the device until the security license has been enabled on the device.
Working with Certificate Authorities
The WAAS SSL acceleration feature allows you to configure the CA certificates used by your system. You can use one of the many well-known CA certificates included with WAAS, or import your own CA certificate.
To manage your CA certificates, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > SSL > Certificate Authorities.
The SSL CA Certificate List window appears (Figure 12-21).
Note For a WAAS Express device, the SSL CA Certificate List window shows the same Name, Issued To, Issuer, and Expiry Date fields, but in a slightly different format.
There is also an Aggregate Settings field configurable as Yes or No. To finish the procedure for WAAS Express, skip to Step 4.
Figure 12-21 SSL CA Certificate List Window
Step 3 Add one of the preloaded CA certificates that is included with WAAS as follows:
a. Click Well-known CAs.
b. Choose the pre-existing CA certificate you want to add and click Import. The CA certificate that you selected is added to the list on the SSL CA Certificate List display.
Step 4 Add your own CA certificate as follows:
a. Click Create.
The Creating New CA Certificate window appears (Figure 12-22).
Note For a WAAS Express device, click Add CA to add your own CA certificate. Enter the name and the URL, and then click Get CA Certificate. After this, skip to Step 6.
Figure 12-22 Creating New CA Certificate Window
b. Type a name for the certificate in the Certificate Name field.
c. (Optional) Type a description of the CA certificate in the Description field.
d. From the Revocation check drop-down list, choose Disable to disable OCSP revocation of certificates signed by this CA. Check the Ignore OCSP failures check box to mark revocation check successful if the OCSP revocation check failed.
e. Add the certificate information by choosing one of the following methods:
– Upload PEM File
If you are uploading a file, it must be in a PEM format. Browse to the file that you want to use and click Upload.
– Paste PEM-encoded Certificate
If you are pasting the CA certificate information, paste the text of the PEM format certificate into the Paste PEM-encoded certificate field.
– Get CA Certificate using SCEP
This option automatically configures the certificate authority using Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP). If you are using the automated certificate enrollment procedure, enter the CA URL and click Get Certificate. The contents of the certificate are displayed in text and PEM formats.
To complete the automated certificate enrollment procedure, configure the SSL auto enrollment settings in SSL Auto Enrollment.
f. Click Submit to save your changes.
Step 5 (Optional) To remove a CA from the list, select it and then click the Delete icon located in the toolbar.
Step 6 Click Submit after you are done configuring the CA certificate list.
Note For a WAAS Express device, click OK to save the CA certificate configuration.
SSL Auto Enrollment
The WAAS SSL acceleration feature allows you to enroll certificates automatically for a device (or device group) using SCEP. After the CA certificate is obtained, configure the SSL auto enrollment settings.
Note You must configure the CA authority before configuring auto enrollment settings.
To configure SSL auto enrollment settings, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > SSL > Auto Enrollment.
The SSL Auto Enrollment Settings window appears (Figure 12-23).
Figure 12-23 SSL Auto Enrollment Settings Window
Step 3 Configure the following CA settings:
- CA URL
- CA—Select the appropriate CA from the drop-down list
- Challenge Password
Note CA, CA URL, and Challenge Password are mandatory for enabling SSL auto enrollment.
Step 4 Configure the following Certificate Signing Request settings:
- Common Name
- Organization and Organization Unit
- Location, State, and Country
- Email-Id
Step 5 From the Key Size drop-down list, choose the key size. Valid values are 512, 768, 1024, 1536, or 2048.
Step 6 Check the Enable Enroll box.
Step 7 Click Submit.
You can then check the enrollment status in the Machine Certificate section on the SSL Global Settings page and on the Alerts page.
Configuring SSL Management Services
SSL management services are the SSL configuration parameters that affect secure communications between the Central Manager and the WAE devices (Figure 12-11). The certificate/key pairs used are unique for each WAAS device. Therefore, SSL management services can only be configured for individual devices, not device groups.
To configure SSL management services, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name.
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > Management Service.
The Management Services window appears (Figure 12-24).
Figure 12-24 SSL Management Services Window
Step 3 From the SSL version drop-down list, choose the type of SSL protocol to use. Choose SSL3 for the SSL version 3 protocol, TLS1 for the Transport Layer Security version 1 protocol, or All to use both SSL3 and TLS1 SSL protocols.
Note Management-service SSL version and cipher settings configured for the WAAS Central Manager are also applied to SSL connections between the WAAS Central Manager and the browser of the user.
Primary and standby Central Managers must share a common management service version or cipher list. Changing the management service version and cipher list settings may result in a loss of connectivity between the primary Central Manager and the standby Central Manager and WAE devices.
Table 12-4 shows the cipher lists supported in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox:
Table 12-4 Cipher Lists Supported in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox
|
|
|
dhe-rsa-with-aes-256-cbc-sha |
Supported in IE8 and later |
Supported |
rsa-with-aes-256-cbc-sha |
Supported in IE8 and later |
Supported |
dhe-rsa-with-aes-128-cbc-sha |
Supported in IE8 and later |
Supported |
rsa-with-aes-128-cbc-sha |
Supported in IE8 and later |
Supported |
dhe-rsa-with-3des-ede-cbc-sha |
Not enabled by default |
Supported |
rsa-with-3des-ede-cbc-sha |
Not enabled by default |
Supported |
rsa-with-rc4-128-sha |
Supported |
Supported |
rsa-with-rc4-128-md5 |
Supported |
Supported |
dhe-rsa-with-des-cbc-sha |
Not Supported |
Not enabled by default |
rsa-export1024-with-rc4-56-sha |
Supported |
Not enabled by default |
rsa-export1024-with-des-cbc-sha |
Supported |
Not enabled by default |
dhe-rsa-export-with-des40-cbc-sha |
Not Supported |
Not Supported |
rsa-export-with-des40-cbc-sha |
Not Supported |
Not Supported |
rsa-export-with-rc4-40-md5 |
Supported |
Supported |
Note Both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer support SSLv3 and TLSv1 protocols, but TLSv1 may not be enabled by default. Therefore, you must enable it in your browser.
Configuring ciphers or protocols that are not supported in your browser will result in connection loss between the browser and the Central Manager. If this occurs, configure the Central Manager management service SSL settings to the default in the CLI to restore the connection.
Some browsers, such as Internet Explorer, do not correctly handle a change of SSL version and cipher settings on the Central Manager, which can result in the browser showing an error page after you submit the changes. If this occurs, reload the page.
Step 4 In the Cipher List pane, choose a list of cipher suites to be used for SSL acceleration. See Working with Cipher Lists for additional information.
Configuring SSL Admin Service
You can export the SSL CA signed certificate to enable trusted SSL communication between the WAAS Central Manager and the web browser. The default certificate for enabling SSL communication is the WAAS Central Manager self signed certificate. However, if you would like to use a different certificate, you need to configure it.
To configure the SSL certificate, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices>CM>Configure> Security> SSL Admin Service.
The default certificate is displayed.
Step 2 Select the PKI operation
a. Click Import Existing Certificate Key to upload or paste an existing certificate/key pair.
b. Click Export Certificate Key to export the current certificate/key pair.
The file that you import or export must be in either a PKCS12 format or a Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) format.
c. Click Generate Self-signed Certificate Key to have the Central Manager and WAAS device use a self-signed certificate/key pair for SSL.
Operating Considerations for Key Size field:
- For WAAS Version 6.1.x and earlier, the Key Size drop-down list values are 512, 768, 1024, 1536, and 2048.
Note A self-signed certificate on WAAS Version 6.1.x or earlier with an RSA modulus size of 512 is not compatible with Mozilla FireFox Version 39 and later, or with Google Chrome Version 48 and later. A self-signed certificate on WAAS Version 6.1.x or earlier with an RSA modulus size of 512 is compatible with Internet Explorer 8 and later.
If you have previously configured the RSA modulus size as 512: to access the WAAS CM with Mozilla FireFox Version 39 and later, or with Google Chrome Version 48 and later, you must regenerate the self-signed certificate with an RSA modulus size of 2048, and then upgade to the specified version of Mozilla FireFox or Google Chrome.
- For WAAS Version 6.2.x and later, the Key Size drop-down list values are 768, 1024, 1536, and 2048. The key size 512 is not used with WAAS Version 6.2.x and later.
Step 3 Click Submit to register the certificate.
The Central Manager now uses the selected certificate for SSL communication.
Configuring SSL Peering Service
SSL peering service configuration parameters control the secure communications established by the SSL accelerator between WAE devices while optimizing SSL connections (Figure 12-11). The peering service certificate and private key is unique for each WAAS device and can only be configured for individual devices, not device groups.
To configure SSL peering service, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name.
Step 2 Choose Configure > Security > Peering Service.
The Peering Service window appears (Figure 12-25).
Note For a WAAS Express device, the Peering Service window shows a subset of the fields in the standard Peering Service window in a slightly different format.
The cipher list Priority setting and the Disable revocation check of peer certificates options are not applicable to WAAS Express.
Figure 12-25 SSL Peering Service Window
Step 3 From the SSL Version drop-down list, choose the type of SSL protocol to use, or choose Inherited to use the SSL protocol configured in global SSL settings. Choose SSL3 for the SSL version 3 protocol, TLS1 for the Transport Layer Security version 1 protocol, or All to use both SSL3 and TLS1 SSL protocols.
Note In a WAAS Express device, only SSL3 and TLS1 are supported for the SSL version.
Step 4 To enable verification of peer certificates, check the Enable Certificate Verification check box. If certificate verification is enabled, WAAS devices that use self-signed certificates will not be able to establish peering connections to each other and, thus, not be able to accelerate SSL traffic.
Step 5 Check the Disable revocation check for this service check box to disable OCSP certificate revocation checking.
Note In a WAAS Express device, this option is not available.
Step 6 In the Cipher List pane, choose a list of cipher suites to be used for SSL acceleration between the WAE device peers, or choose Inherited to use the cipher list configured in SSL global settings.
Note In a WAAS Express device, the list of cipher suites to be used for SSL acceleration is shown in the Cipher List pane.
See Working with Cipher Lists for additional information.
Step 7 Click Submit.
Note In a WAAS Express device, SSL configuration changes will not be applied on the device until the security license has been enabled on the device.
Using SSL -Accelerated Services
After you have enabled and configured SSL acceleration on your WAAS system, you must define at least one service to be accelerated on the SSL path. To configure SSL-accelerated services, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > SSL Accelerated Services.
Step 3 To delete an accelerated service, select the service and click Delete.
Step 4 Click Create to define a new accelerated service. A maximum of 512 accelerated services are allowed.
The Basic SSL Accelerated Services Configuration window appears (Figure 12-26).
Figure 12-26 SSL-Accelerated Services—Basic Window
Step 5 Enter a name for the service in the Service Name field.
Step 6 To enable this accelerated service, check the In service check box.
Step 7 To enable client version rollback check, check the Client version rollback check check box.
Enabling the client version rollback check does not allow connections with an incorrect client version to be optimized.
Step 8 To match subject alternative names, enable the Match Server Name Indication check box. For more information, see Configuring SSL Acceleration for SaaS Applications.
Step 9 To enable protocol chaining, check the Enable protocol chaining check box.
Enabling protocol chaining allows other protocols to be optimized over SSL.
Step 10 (Optional) Type a description of the service in the Description field.
Step 11 From the Server drop-down list, choose IP Address, Hostname, or Domain as the SSL service endpoint type.
Step 12 Type the server IP address (or proxy IP address), hostname, or domain of the accelerated server. Use the keyword Any to specify any server IP address.
Note A maximum of 32 IP addresses, 32 hostnames, and 32 domains are allowed.
Note Hostname and domain server address types are supported only when using WAAS software Version 4.2.x or later. Server IP address keyword Any is supported only when using WAAS Software Version 4.2.x or later.
Step 13 Enter the port associated with the service to be accelerated.
Step 14 Click Add to add each address. If you specify a server hostname, the Central Manager resolves the hostname to the IP address and adds it to the Server IP/Ports table.
Step 15 To remove an IP address from the list, click Delete.
Step 16 Choose a certificate and key pair method (Figure 12-27).
Figure 12-27 Configuring Service Certificate and Private Key
- Click Generate Self-signed Certificate Key to have the WAAS devices use a self-signed certificate/key pair for SSL.
- Click Import Existing Certificate Key to upload or paste an existing certificate/key pair.
Note In case of SaaS applications, the certificate should have the Subject Alternative Name (SAN) information.
- Click Export Certificate Key to export the current certificate/key pair.
- Click Generate Certificate Signing Request to renew or replace the existing certificate/key pair. The certificate signing request is used by the CA to generate a new certificate.
The file that you import or export must be in either PKCS12 format or PEM format.
- Click Import existing client certificate and optionally private key to use the client configured certificate.
For service certificate and private key configuration steps, see Configuring a Service Certificate and Private Key.
Note If you change the certificate or key for an existing SSL-accelerated service, you must uncheck the In service check box and click Submit to disable the service, and then wait 5 minutes and check the In service check box and click Submit to re-enable the service. Alternatively, in the WAE, you can use the no inservice SSL-accelerated service configuration command, wait a few seconds, and then use the inservice command. If you are changing the certificate or key for multiple SSL-accelerated services, you can restart all the accelerated services by disabling and then re-enabling the SSL accelerator.
Step 17 Click the Advanced Settings tab to configure SSL parameters for the service.
The Advanced SSL Accelerated Services Configuration window appears (Figure 12-28).
Figure 12-28 SSL Accelerated Services—Advanced Window
Step 18 (Optional) From the SSL version drop-down list, choose the type of SSL protocol to use, or choose Inherited to use the SSL protocol configured in global SSL settings. Choose SSL3 for the SSL Version 3 protocol, TLS1 for the Transport Layer Security Version 1 protocol, or All to use both SSL3 and TLS1 SSL protocols.
Step 19 (Optional) From the Cipher List drop-down list, choose a list of cipher suites to be used for SSL acceleration between the WAE device peers, or choose Inherited to use the cipher list configured in SSL global settings. For more information, see Working with Cipher Lists.
Step 20 (Optional) To set the OCSP parameters for certificate revocation, follow these steps:
a. To enable the verification of client certificate check, check the Verify client certificate check box.
b. Check the Disable revocation check for this service check box to disable OCSP client certificate revocation checking.
c. To enable verification of server certificate check, check the Verify server certificate check box.
d. Check the Disable revocation check for this service check box to disable OCSP server certificate revocation checking.
Note If the server and client devices are using self-signed certificates and certificate verification is enabled, WAAS devices will not be able to accelerate SSL traffic.
Step 21 Click Submit after you have finished configuring the SSL accelerated service.
Updating a Certificate/Key in a SSL Accelerated Service
If at some point you need to update a certificate or key in a SSL Accelerated Service, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name ( or Device Groups > device-group-name).
Step 2 Choose Configure > Acceleration > SSL Accelerated Services.
Step 3 Click Edit SSL Accelerated Service button in the Name column for the service in question.
Step 4 Choose a certificate and key pair method (Figure 12-27) to either re-generate a self-signed certificate and private key or to import an updated certificate and/or key.
Step 5 Depending on the chosen method fill out the required details, then click Generate or Import and next click Submit.
Note When you update a certificate for a SSL Accelerated Service and want it to be used by it, it is important to stop and start the configured SSL Accelerated Service. This step is required because the existing certificate and key are stored in memory on the accelerators. Updating the certificate/key via the steps described above is insufficient because it does not update the certificate/key in memory.
To ensure the updated certificate for the SSL Accelerated Service is used, make sure to follow the steps below as well.
Step 6 Click the Edit SSL Accelerated Service button in the Name column for the service in question.
Step 7 Remove the check mark for In service, then click Submit.
Step 8 Click the Edit SSL Accelerated Service button in the Name column for the service in question for one last time.
Step 9 Enable the check mark for In service then click Submit.
Configuring SSL Acceleration for SaaS Applications
SaaS applications are typically served from multiple SSL server farms, with multiple hosts spanning several data centers. For SSL services hosted in the enterprise data center, the IT administrator knows and controls the SSL server IP and can provide it to the data center WAAS. But for a SSL service that is hosted at a third-party SaaS provider in the cloud, the SSL server IP address is not controlled by the IT administrator because the cloud provider uses multiple Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and data centers. Even for a single SaaS service, there might be multiple server IP addresses that can change dynamically. This leads to inadvertent errors due to namespace/certificate mismatch for SaaS applications.
To avoid these errors and to ensure that these applications are optimized, follow these steps to configure the SSL-accelerated services for SaaS applications:
Step 1 Create an SSL-accelerated service for a SaaS application using Step 1 through Step 8 outlined in Using SSL -Accelerated Services.
Step 2 To match subject alternative names, check the Match Server Name Indication check box. Alternately, use the match sni command on the core WAAS device.
If enabled, the SSL accelerator parses the initial SSL connection setup message for the destination hostname (in the SSL protocol extension called Server Name Indication) and uses that to match it with the Subject Alternate Names list in the SSL certificate on the WAAS device.
Note We recommend this setting for optimizing cloud-based SaaS applications to avoid namespace/certificate mismatch errors that are caused due to the changing nature of the SaaS server domains and IP addresses.
Note Most modern browsers provide Server Name Indication (SNI) support. Ensure that you use a browser that supports SNI.
Note The Match Server Name Indication option is available only on devices running WAAS 5.3.5 or later.
Step 3 Use the keyword Any to specify the server IP address of the accelerated server.
Step 4 Direct all SSL traffic for SAAS applications to port 443.
The above configuration overrides any wildcard configuration.
Note If you have configured port 443 for traffic other than SaaS applications, you should review and reconfigure it appropriately.
Step 5 Click Import Existing Certificate Key to upload or paste a certificate/key pair. The certificate should be specifically used for the SaaS-accelerated service and should contain the Subject Alternate Names for the server domains that need to be optimized. Identify the server domains that need to be added for optimizing SaaS applications, by following the steps outlined in Determining Server Domains Used by SaaS Applications.
Note You must create a new certificate with the missing server domain names derived from the list at regular intervals to ensure that the connections are optimized.
Step 6 Click Submit to complete configuring the SSL-accelerated service for the SaaS application.
Determining Server Domains Used by SaaS Applications
When you check the Match Server Name Indication check box, you can log in to the core WAAS device and use the sh crypto ssl services accelerated-service service-name command to view the list of server domain names that do not match the existing SSL certificate and hence are not optimized. If you want to optimize any of these server domain names, select and add them to your certificate by performing the following steps below.
The server domain names list contains a maximum of 128 server names.
Step 1 Identify the relevant servers to be added. Use the sh crypto ssl services accelerated-service service-name to see additional details regarding the count and last seen information of the server name.
If you need additional information to view the IP address and hostnames, use the debug accelerator ssl sni command to enable SNI debugs.
Step 2 Log in to the Microsoft Management Console(MMC), OpenSSL, or any other available customer tool to create a new Certificate Signing Request (CSR) with the relevant server domain names of the SaaS applications in the subject alternative names extension of the certificate. Refer to the highlighted area in the example certificate below.
Note When you add the SAN to the certificate, domain names should be separated by a comma. Note that a list of hostnames on a domain can be secured with a single certificate. For example, a.b.c.com and c.b.com can be added as *.b.c.com. However, for a new hostname on another domain, you have to make a new entry. For example, for b.c.com you have to add it as b.c.com or *.c.com. Additionally, you can also secure hostnames on different base domains in the same certificate, for example a.b.com and a.b.net.
Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
Issuer: C=US, ST=California, L=San Jose, O=Cisco
CN=Cisco_WAAS_CA/emailAddress=support@cisco.com
Not Before: Jul 31 06:49:56 2013 GMT
Not After : Aug 30 06:49:56 2013 GMT
Subject: C=US, ST=California, L=San Jose, O=Cisco
CN=Office365/emailAddress=support@cisco.com
Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
00:c6:85:0d:f9:df:4e:4f:c4:53:d5:3e:0f:c4:cb:
53:42:34:34:7d:92:7f:ea:c1:75:0b:21:3f:5f:a1:
be:34:f1:40:c3:32:52:a1:05:79:26:7b:a3:29:c5:
5e:9f:3f:92:6b:d1:b2:fd:bc:c9:2b:8b:e2:9f:1a:
91:83:9b:c8:7f:3f:d9:56:92:75:be:b6:ed:39:39:
2f:1a:2f:ba:39:1b:06:76:0a:17:b5:f0:ec:dd:4c:
fa:94:be:ea:7c:e0:4e:51:b4:d2:75:4d:8b:d9:6e:
de:34:10:c7:c5:e8:97:5f:f2:7f:97:1e:9a:e0:e2:
fc:b4:58:11:45:82:19:14:11
Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
X509v3 Basic Constraints:
Digital Signature, Non Repudiation, Key Encipherment
X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
DNS:*.office365.com, DNS:outlook.com, DNS:*.aadcdn.microsoftonline-p.com, DNS:*.aspnetcdn.com, DNS:*.client.hip.live.com, DNS:*.hip.live.com, DNS:*.linkedinlabs.com, DNS:*.live.com, DNS:*.microsoft.com, DNS:*.microsoftonline-p.com, DNS:*.microsoftonline-p.net, DNS:*.microsoftonline.com, DNS:*.microsoftonlineimages.com, DNS:*.microsoftonlinesupport.net, DNS:*.msecnd.net, DNS:*.msocdn.com, DNS:*.office.net, DNS:*.office365.com, DNS:*.officeapps.live.com, DNS:*.officecdn.microsoft.com, DNS:*.onmicrosoft.com, DNS:*.outlook.com, DNS:*.res.outlook.com, DNS:*.sharepoint.com, DNS:*.sharepointonline.com, DNS:*.telemetry.microsoft.com, DNS:*.testexchangeconnectivity.com, DNS:*.vo.msecnd.net, DNS:*.webtrends.com
Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
46:db:34:7f:c0:8e:13:81:67:0b:3c:8d:15:3a:ee:1f:c7:cf:
d1:6b:de:00:2a:35:9b:13:d6:bf:79:43:ce:31:c6:f9:de:f7:
20:1f:0e:86:9e:d4:91:01:57:a2:7b:fe:91:00:de:cf:58:90:
85:97:49:b3:11:4c:e9:05:d0:a1:a7:73:7e:50:64:8f:80:f4:
ec:fa:a7:bb:7a:c2:df:5e:c5:e3:a8:52:c4:31:4e:8e:53:36:
59:e9:0f:27:82:71:4e:3b:79:a4:c9:4f:18:7e:06:7a:0c:34:
0a:cf:3c:3e:73:73:5a:52:7d:03:a0:75:50:5a:d4:a5:8b:a9:
Step 3 Submit the certificate to the Enterpise CA.
Step 4 Import the signed certificate from the Enterprise CA to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store.\
Note The Enterprise root CA should be present in browser as trusted root CA.
Step 5 Uncheck the In service checkbox and click Submit to disable the accelerated service.
Step 6 Upload the new certificate and re-enable the service.
office365 optimization using Azure vWAAS
Microsoft Office365 supports various business critical applications like email, office online, skype for business etc. Office365 as SaaS has become very popular in the past few years. As enterprises are moving towards SaaS applications like office365; performance and user experience of these applications become more and more critical.
WAAS support for Office365 traffic acceleration and optimization was introduced in release 5.3.5, but it was limited to optimization between the on-premise data center to the customer branch. The traffic between the customer data center to office365 was not optimized.
With release 6.2.1, traffic to office365 can be optimized till it reaches the cloud by implementing a solution that comprises of the following:
- Enabling WAAS as SaaS over Azure.
- Positioning WAAS as SaaS near to Office365 service by configuration.
- Routing and DNAT using CSR in Azure.
- Using IWAN as transport.
- Detecting Office365 traffic using SS accelerator.
Prerequisites
Before you create an o365 accelerated service on the WAAS Central Manger, you must have completed the following:
- Deployed Virtual Network in Azure
- Deployed CSR 1000v for secure network extension and DNAT
- Deplpyed Azure vWAAS
- Configured Azure Route tables
- Configured Azure CSR
- Registered the Azure vWAAS device with the WAAS Central Manager.
The table below provides an overview of the steps you must complete to set up and enable o365 accelerationn from the WAAS Central Manager.
Table 12-5 Checklist for Configuring o365 Acceleration
|
Additional Information and Instructions
|
Prepare for configuring SSL acceleration. |
Identifies the information that you need to gather before configuring SSL acceleration on your WAAS devices. For more information, see Preparing to Use SSL Acceleration. |
Set up Root CA certificates |
(Optional) Describes how to create, import, and manage certificate authority (CA) certificates. For more information, see Create a Root CA certificate. |
Enable SSL application optimization. |
Describes how to activate the SSL acceleration feature. For more information, see Enabling and Disabling the Global Optimization Features. |
Set up accelerated service certificates. |
Describes how to create, import, and use certificates for o365 acceleration. For more information, see Creating o365 Accelerated Service Certificate. |
Configure and enable o365 accelerated services. |
Describes how to add, configure, and enable o365 accelerated service through the WAAS Central Manager For more information, see Configuration for o365 acceleration from the WAAS Central Manager. |
Create a Root CA certificate
A root SSL certificate is a certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority and is in turn trusted by domain clients. This is used to sign all issued certificates. This CA needs to be capable of accepting certificate signing requests (CSRs) that include subject alternative names and generate certificates that include subject alternative names. The subject alternative name is an extension to the X.509 protocol that allows various values to be associated with a security certificate (SSL certificate). Subject alternative names can include IP addresses, email addresses, universal resource identifiers (URIs), alternative common Domain Name System (DNS) names, alternatives to the distinguished name, and other information.You can install this on all machines that will be communicating with services using SSL certificates generated by this root certificate. If your organization already has a root CA for its internal use, you can use it instead of a new root CA. If not, use a Linux machine with openssl version of 1.0.1e or greater to create these certificates.
Step 1 Create the root CA key. This signs all issued certificates.
Step 2 Create the self-signed root CA certificate, with the key generated above.
Step 3 Verify the root certificate.
Import the certificate from the Enterprise CA to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store on the client browser and install the root CA certificate and intermediate CA certificate.
Creating o365 Accelerated Service Certificate
To create the certificate to be used with the accelerated service, follow the steps below:
Step 1 Log in to the Microsoft Management Console(MMC), OpenSSL, or any other available customer tool to create a new Certificate Signing Request (CSR) with the relevant server domain names of the o365 application in the subject alternative names extension of the certificate. Refer to the highlighted area in the example certificate below.
Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
Issuer: C=US, ST=California, L=San Jose, O=Cisco
CN=Cisco_WAAS_CA/emailAddress=support@cisco.com
Not Before: Jul 31 06:49:56 2013 GMT
Not After : Aug 30 06:49:56 2013 GMT
Subject: C=US, ST=California, L=San Jose, O=Cisco
CN=Office365/emailAddress=support@cisco.com
Public Key Algorithm: rsaEncryption
00:c6:85:0d:f9:df:4e:4f:c4:53:d5:3e:0f:c4:cb:
53:42:34:34:7d:92:7f:ea:c1:75:0b:21:3f:5f:a1:
be:34:f1:40:c3:32:52:a1:05:79:26:7b:a3:29:c5:
5e:9f:3f:92:6b:d1:b2:fd:bc:c9:2b:8b:e2:9f:1a:
91:83:9b:c8:7f:3f:d9:56:92:75:be:b6:ed:39:39:
2f:1a:2f:ba:39:1b:06:76:0a:17:b5:f0:ec:dd:4c:
fa:94:be:ea:7c:e0:4e:51:b4:d2:75:4d:8b:d9:6e:
de:34:10:c7:c5:e8:97:5f:f2:7f:97:1e:9a:e0:e2:
fc:b4:58:11:45:82:19:14:11
Exponent: 65537 (0x10001)
X509v3 Basic Constraints:
Digital Signature, Non Repudiation, Key Encipherment
X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
DNS.1 = *.virtualearth.net; DNS.2 = *.msocdn.com; DNS.3 = *.office365.com; DNS.4 = *.outlook.com; DNS.5 = outlook.com; DNS.6 = *.microsoftonline.com; DNS.7 = *.res.outlook.com; DNS.8 = *.googleapis.com; DNS.9 = *.google-analytics.com; DNS.10 = *.google.com; DNS.11 = *.googleusercontent.com; DNS.12 = *.gstatic.com; DNS.13 = *.microsoftonline-p.com; DNS.14 = *.aadcdn.microsoftonline-p.com; DNS.15 = *.aspnetcdn.com; DNS.16 = *.client.hip.live.com; DNS.17 = *.hip.live.com; DNS.18 = *.infra.lync.com; DNS.19 = *.linkedinlabs.com; DNS.20 = *.live.com; DNS.21 = *.lync.com; DNS.22 = *.microsoft.com; DNS.23 = *.microsoftonline-p.net; DNS.24 = *.microsoftonlineimages.com; DNS.25 = *.microsoftonlinesupport.net; DNS.26 = *.msecnd.net; DNS.27 = *.msocdn.com; DNS.28 = *.office.net; DNS.29 = *.office365.com; DNS.30 = *.officeapps.live.com; DNS.31 = *.officecdn.microsoft.com; DNS.32 = *.online.lync.com
DNS.33 = *.onmicrosoft.com; DNS.34 = *.sharepoint.com; DNS.35 = *.sharepointonline.com;DNS.36 = *.telemetry.microsoft.com; DNS.37 = *.testexchangeconnectivity.com; DNS.38 = *.vo.mscend.net; DNS.39 = *.webtrends.com; DNS.40 = *.office.com; DNS.41 = *.portal.office.com;
Signature Algorithm: sha1WithRSAEncryption
46:db:34:7f:c0:8e:13:81:67:0b:3c:8d:15:3a:ee:1f:c7:cf:
d1:6b:de:00:2a:35:9b:13:d6:bf:79:43:ce:31:c6:f9:de:f7:
20:1f:0e:86:9e:d4:91:01:57:a2:7b:fe:91:00:de:cf:58:90:
85:97:49:b3:11:4c:e9:05:d0:a1:a7:73:7e:50:64:8f:80:f4:
ec:fa:a7:bb:7a:c2:df:5e:c5:e3:a8:52:c4:31:4e:8e:53:36:
59:e9:0f:27:82:71:4e:3b:79:a4:c9:4f:18:7e:06:7a:0c:34:
0a:cf:3c:3e:73:73:5a:52:7d:03:a0:75:50:5a:d4:a5:8b:a9:
Step 2 Submit the certificate to the Enterpise CA.
Step 3 Import the signed certificate from the Enterprise CA to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities store.\
Note The Enterprise root CA should be present in browser as trusted root CA.
Step 4 Ensure that the CA certificate used to sign this accelerated service certificate should be present in the client browser root CA store for the accelerated service proxy certificate created to be authenticated and accepted by the client browser.
- IE or Chrome: settings- advanced settings - certificates - import - add the root ca -into trusted root authorities. Clear the browser cache and reload the browser for the cloud application and it should pick up the new certificate.
- Mozilla: options - advanced - Certificates> View certificates > Import - click all the three for the trusted zones and import the certificate. Clear the browser cache and reload the browser for the cloud application and it should pick up the new certificate.
Configuration for o365 acceleration from the WAAS Central Manager
Step 1 Register your Azure vWAAS device with the WAAS Central Manager. If the Central Manager is in a different network add routes for reachability.
Step 2 Create an o365 accelerated service for the device group. Choose Acceleration > SSL Accelerated Services and click the Create button. The Creating New SSL Accelerated Service page opens.
Step 3 In the SSL Accelerated Service section, name your service “o365”, and select both In Service and Match Server Name Indication boxes. You can also provide a short description.
Step 4 In the Server Addresses section, enter “any” in the IP Address box and “443” in the Server Port box. Then click Add.
Step 5 In the Certificate and Private Key section, click Import Existing Certificate and Optionally Private Key and select Upload File in PKCS#12 Format to upload the multi-domain certificate created earlier. Supply the password used to export the certificate Using the Browse button, locate the certificate created earlier. Then click the Import button.
A confirmation screen with the certificate information appears.
Step 6 Click Submit to complete configuring the o365 accelerated service.
Alternately, you could use the CLI to copy the o365 certificate ( o365.pfx) to the data center WAE and import the certificate using the crypto import pkcs12 Azure_o365.p12 pkcs12 disk office365.pfx EXEC command. Instead of importing multi-domain certificate from device disk, you can use remote methods (such as ftp, http) to import the certificate from servers. You can also configure the application accelerated service in th WAE with the importedcertificate using the crypto ssl services accelerated-service Azure_o365 EXEC command.
Step 7 Monitor the accelerated service optimization statistics using the Cisco WAAS Central Manager and the command-line interface (CLI) using the show statistics connections optimized EXEC command
Configuring SSL v2 Acceleration (single-sided acceleration)
SMART-SSL is an encryption service that enables L7 application network services ( e.g. ftp, http, dns) to optimize traffic on SSL/TLS encrypted applications. It enables content caching for SSL/TLS applications (http object cache for https traffic) in single sided deployment.
With the evolution of cloud services, there is a critical need to provide application optimization in a single sided mode. With release 6.2.1, SSLv2 optimization, is enabled using single-sided mode. In a single-sided deployment, the interposing device does not require a peer device to process the SSL traffic flow. SSL traffic flows directly to the edge device without having to go through the core device.
For more information, we recommend you get in touch with Cisco TAC.
Cisco WAAS and Akamai Connect
The Akamai Connect feature is an HTTP/HTTPS object cache component that is added to Cisco WAAS. It is integrated into the existing WAAS software stack and is leveraged via the HTTP Application Optimizer.
Akamai Connect helps reduce latency for HTTP/HTTPS traffic for business and web applications, and can improve performance for many applications, including Point of Sale (POS), HD video, digital signage, and in-store order processing. It provides significant and measurable WAN data offload, and is compatible with existing WAAS functions such as DRE (deduplication), LZ (compression), TFO (Transport Flow Optimization), and SSL acceleration (secure/encrypted) for first and second pass acceleration.
This section contains the following topics:
Terms Used with Cisco WAAS with Akamai Connect
The following terms are used with Cisco WAAS with Akamai Connect:
- Akamai Connect - Akamai Connect is an HTTP/S object cache component added to Cisco WAAS, integrated into the existing WAAS software stack and leveraged via the HTTP Application Optimizer. WAAS with Akamai Connect helps to reduce latency for HTTP/S traffic for business and web applications.
- Akamai Connected Cache - Akamai Connected Cache is a component of Akamai Connect, which allows the Cache Engine (CE) to cache content that is delivered by an Edge server on the Akamai Intelligent Platform.
Industry-wide, the terms mode, profile, and policy are sometimes used interchangeably to describe caching types and processes. This document uses these terms as follows:
- Mode—The version of transparent caching (Basic, Standard, Advanced, or Bypass).
- Profile—The set of host rules and caching types applied as a group, and which follows the CE order of precedence.
- Policy—The set of rules and the conditions of caching, applied either individually or as a group, to a device or device group.
Benefits of Adding Akamai Connect to WAAS
The following are some of the benefits of adding Akamai Connect to WAAS:
- Intelligent transparent object caching (by integrating Akamai’s cache).
- Seamless integration of Akamai Connect in WAAS software and configuration (with WAAS Central Manager and WAAS CLI).
- Integration with Akamai’s Edge Grid Network, which provides low-latency Content Delivery Network transfers (via Akamai Connected Cache).
- Significant and measurable WAN data offload.
- Cache prepositioning (warming) for websites that you specify.
- Hostname rules for cache control of specific websites or domains.
- First and second pass acceleration, because Akamai Connect works with WAAS middle-mile capabilities (including DRE, LZ, TFO, and SSL acceleration)
- Dual-sided or single-sided network deployment, described in Dual-Sided or Single-Sided Network Deployment.
Dual-Sided or Single-Sided Network Deployment
Akamai Connect can be deployed in either a dual-sided or single-sided deployment scenario.
Dual-sided deployment (Figure 12-29) provides the benefits of existing WAAS technology plus Akamai caching for HTTP and HTTPS traffic.
- Transparent caching of customer-owned, Intranet web resources
- Caching in branch only.
- Includes prepositioning (for non-SSL content).
Figure 12-29 Dual-sided Deployment
Single-sided deployment (Figure 12-30) provides the benefits of HTTP object caching.
- Generic web resources that utilize proxy-specific HTTP cache-control headers.
- Caching in branch only.
- Includes prepositioning (for non-SSL content).
- Single-sided deployment is on by default with transparent caching in Standard mode.
Figure 12-30 Single-sided Deployment
Considerations for Using Akamai Connect with WAAS
The following are some considerations for using Akamai Connect with WAAS:
- You cannot view the contents of the cache, and cannot pin content to make it remain in the cache, for example, for prepositioned content.
- There is no separate cache for HTTPS content. However, data is stored differently for the same site if both HTTP and HTTPS are accessing. (The way the sites are stored in the cache is based on the URL, and this will change between HTTP and HTTPS.)
The CE has no explicit integration with AppNav. The AppNav status is based on the HTTP application accelerator.
Note The terms mode, profile, and policy are sometimes used interchangeably to describe caching types and processes. This document uses these terms as follows:
Mode—The version of transparent caching (Basic, Standard, Advanced, or Bypass).
Profile—The set of host rules and caching types applied as a group, and which follows the CE order of precedence.
Policy—The set of rules and the conditions of caching, applied either singly or as a group, to device or device group.
Caching Types
WAAS supports transparent caching, Akamai Connected Cache, and Over-the-Top (OTT) caching.
Caching Types: Order of Precedence
When there are multiple caching modes and policies in use, the CE applies an order of precedence in the execution of these. A rule that is higher in the order of precedence is executed first, and any other rules that are applied to that domain or digital property is ignored. The order of precedence is:
1. Transparent caching rules
2. OTT/Akamai Connected Cache
3. Default Transparent policy
For example, if test.com is an Akamai Connected Cache property, but an Adanced mode cache rule is set for this site, then Advanced mode will take precedence and Akamai Connected Cache will be skipped.
Note When cache prepositioning is turned on, it has the same priority as any other caching type.
Note Akamai Connect determines cache type based on most exact hostname match followed by cache priorities. www.host.com is more exact than *.host.com. In this scenario, if a lower-priority cache, such as Akamai Connected Cache (Order of Precedence #2), has a more exact match than a higher priority cache, such as transparent (Order of Precedence #1), the caching will occur with the more exact match and lower-priority cache.
Transparent Caching
Transparent caching (which conforms to the RFC-2616 standard) delivers content from an origin server to the client without any modification. Transparent caching sends a request from a client to a server along with the associated authentication. No changes are made by proxy servers to either the headers or the returned packets along the way, although there are some headers that mark proxy actions that can be altered without the meaning of the cache control headers being altered.
There are four types of transparent caching modes: Basic, Standard, Advanced, and Bypass.
There are two modes in which transparent caching can operate: single-sided mode and dual-sided mode.
Note When accessing transparent caching via HTTPS, the default caching mode is Basic mode. This ensures that no sensitive content is accidentally cached (in Basic mode, only content that you explicitly mark is cached). If you want content cached in a different mode with HTTPS, create a host rule that matches the HTTPS server location. For more information on creating a host rule, see Setting Caching Policies.
Basic Mode
In Basic mode, the CE works in strict RFC-2616 behavior, and therefore, only caches responses that are marked explicitly as cacheable with Cache-Control Headers or that have an Expire header - to service and accelerate traffic from a datacenter to a branch office over any type of IP network. Caching is only in the branch or local router, and content can be cached from the Internet regardless of the location of the original source.
Standard Mode (Default)
In Standard mode (default), the CE also follows RFC-2616 behavior for cache control headers, but with the following differences from Basic mode:
- In Standard mode, the CE does not honor client cache override behavior, for example, must-revalidate and proxy-revalidate.
- If cache-control or expire headers are not present, and Last Modified Time appears, the CE performs a heuristic based on the Last Modified Time and stores objects for 10 percent of their apparent age, up to a maximum of one day.
Caution A properly configured website will work with Standard mode, but login pages, cookie setting pages, or dynamic content not properly marked as cacheable may break. We recommend that you test the website; this is especially important for a newly-created website or one that does not have many users.
Advanced Mode
In Advanced mode, the CE caches media types more aggressively, and caches all object types for longer times (when there is no explicit expiration time). Most of the benefits of Advanced mode over Standard mode occur if the website has not already marked cacheable media content properly. Advanced mode is best suited for media-rich Intranet sites.
If cache-control or expire headers are not present and Last Modified Time appears, the CE performs a heuristic based on the Last Modified Time and stores objects for 20 percent of their apparent age, up to a maximum of one day.
For certain media file types, listed in Table 12-6, Advanced Mode will cache these for a full day if the media type is not specified as uncacheable or the media type has no obvious age in the request. For all other media types, the system caches the object for a minimum of one hour to a maximum of seven days - regardless of whether the Last Modified Time is present.
Table 12-6 Advanced Mode: Media types that may be cached for a full day
Advanced Mode: Media types that may be cached for a full day (if not specified as uncacheable or has no obvious age in the request) |
3g2 |
3gp |
aac |
aif |
aiff |
asf |
asx |
au |
avi |
bin |
bmp |
cab |
carb |
cct |
cdf |
class |
css |
dcr |
doc |
docx |
dtd |
dv |
dvd |
dvr |
dvr-ms |
exe |
flv |
gcf |
gff |
gif |
grv |
hdml |
hqx |
ico |
ini |
jpeg |
jpg |
js |
m1v |
m4a |
midi |
mov |
mp3 |
mp4 |
mpeg |
mpg |
mpv |
nv |
pct |
pdf |
png |
ppc |
ppt |
pptx |
pws |
qt |
swa |
swf |
tif |
txt |
vbs |
w32 |
wav |
wbmp |
wma |
wml |
wmlc |
wmls |
wmlsc |
wmv |
xsd |
xsl |
xls |
xlsx |
zip |
|
|
Caution A properly configured website will work in Advanced mode, but Advanced mode may break the presentation of certain web pages if there are even minor caching misconfigurations. We recommend that you test the performance of this caching mode for your applications before you bring the CE into production. When testing, pay particular attention to dynamic URLs and to content that requires authentication to be presented to a client.
Bypass Mode
In Bypass mode, the CE turns off caching for one or more configured sites. When Transparent Bypass mode is set for a particular hostname, the caching for the hostname specified in a rule is suppressed.
Bypass mode is useful when you want to turn off Akamai Connected Cache or OTT caching for a site or for a part of a site.
For example, if you have servers of the type images#.bar.com, you can configure a bypass rule so that only images2.bar.com is excluded from caching. All other images#.bar.com servers will continue to be cached under the existing rules.
Akamai Connected Cache
Akamai Connected Cache (Figure 12-31) allows the CE to cache content that is delivered by an Edge server on the Akamai Intelligent Platform. This is content that is served by the worldwide Akamai Content Delivery Network (CDN); it is typically not cacheable by enterprise cache engines, but can be cached in Akamai CE based on interactions with network edge elements that are serving it.
Figure 12-31 Akamai Connected Cache
Akamai Connected Cache Features
The following is a list of Akamai Connected Cache features:
- Object caching is done on the client-side WAAS device only.
- Prepositioning can be leveraged to cache HTTP websites delivered via the Akamai Intelligent Platform.
- During the enabling/registration of HTTP object cache, each WAE CE contacts the Akamai network to obtain credentials.
- The WAAS/Akamai CE determines which sites can be “Akamaized” by Akamai Connected Cache from the HTTP headers in the first reply. The CE and the Akamai Edge Server then exchange credentials and agree that Akamai Connected Cache can occur. This is done again via HTTP headers in HTTP request and responses.
- The Akamai Edge Servers can provide objects it is handling, the object that will not change, to allow WAEs with Akamai CE and the correct credentials to cache these objects. Users or other caches without valid credentials will not be allowed to cache.
- The Akamai Edge Server provides additional headers to allow the WAAS/Akamai CE to cache the objects for the objects it handles. The CE forwards this back to the corresponding client. The headers passed between the CE and the client are similar to what the client or enterprise proxy server would see if the WAE was not in the path.
Akamai Connected Cache Requirements
Akamai Connected Cache is enabled by default when you check the Enable Akamai Connect check box at the Akamai Connect Cache Settings tab (Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect).
Akamai Connected Cache requires registration and an authentication key to operate. For how to disable/enable Akamai Connected Cache see Enabling Akamai Connected Cache.
OTT Caching
Over-the-Top (OTT) caching caches dynamic content by examining the URL related to a session and a site to determine if the object is identical to the one previously stored in the CE cache. OTT is used for streamed content, particularly video content, and for sites that use dynamic URLs based on session or authentication methods.
OTT is a caching feature that Akamai has engineered to allow WAAS to cache and serve some popular sites that are normally not cacheable. This caching feature requires special metadata that is created and distributed by Akamai. OTT uses metadata logic to determine a unique cache key per video; this allows dynamic URLs to be cached.
Figure 12-32 OTT Caching
This list highlights how OTT functions with WAAS:
- Currently, the CE uses only OTT for one site, YouTube.
- Since YouTube is delivered via HTTPS, you need to follow the same process as you do for SAAS optimization. For more information, see Configuring SSL Acceleration for SaaS Applications. The domains that must be matched are *.youtube.com, *.ytimg.com, *.googlevideo.com, and *.ggpht.com.
- OTT is disabled by default, but enabled after HTTP application accelerator object cache is enabled. For how to enable or disable OTT, see Enabling OTT Caching.
The following is a workflow of the OTT feature with WAAS and Akamai Connect:
1. During the registration process the WAE CE provides metadata for YouTube.
2. A client goes to the YouTube site. (Note that the one client request actually requests the video in chunks, even with a dynamic ID. Each chunk not only contains a part of a video, but has an associated audio/video quality, such as 360p, 480p, or 720p.
3. The Akamai CE uses metadata logic to determine a unique cache key per dynamic ID. The CE stores this for one day, even though YouTube usually expires the dynamic ID in approximately six hours.
4. Each time the video is played, the request reaches out to the origin server and fetches the dynamic ID. It then compares this with the dynamic ID and cache key pair in the cache.
If the dynamic ID associated with the video has changed, the video will be served from the origin, and this will result in a miss. A new cache key is generated for that ID and is then stored.
If a match is found, the video is served out of cache.
Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect
The flow of allocated resources to the Akamai Cache Engine (CE) is controlled by the WAAS Central Manager, but the overall resource pool and the amount of resources that can be allocated to the Akamai CE is controlled by the hardware platform, and the number of supported connections and users that the router is designed to service.
This section contains the following topics:
Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect up to 6,000 Connections
Table 12-7 shows the supported WAAS platforms for Akamai caching up to 6,000 connections, for WAAS Version 5.4.1 and later. For details on supported WAAS platforms beyond 6,000 connections, see Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect beyond 6,000 Connections.
Table 12-7 Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Caching up to 6,000 Connections
|
|
|
|
|
|
vWAAS-150 |
ISR-G2 and ISR-G3 |
WAVE-294 |
SM-700 |
vWAAS-200 |
ISR-WAAS-750 (ISR-4451, ISR-4431, ISR-4351, ISR-4331) |
WAVE-594 |
SM-900 |
vWAAS-750 |
ISR-WAAS-1300 (ISR-4451, ISR-4431) |
WAVE-694 |
SM-710 |
vWAAS-1300 |
ISR-WAAS-2500 (ISR-4451) |
|
SM-910 |
vWAAS-2500 |
|
|
|
vWAAS-6000 |
|
Note If you are upgrading from a version earlier than vWAAS Version 5.4, you will need a third disk and possibly more memory added. For more information, see the Akamai Connect and vWAAS section of the Cisco Wide Area Application Services vWAAS Installation and Configuration Guide.
Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect beyond 6,000 Connections
The flow of allocated resources to the Akamai Cache Engine (CE) is controlled by the WAAS Central Manager, but the overall resource pool and the amount of resources that can be allocated to the Akamai CE is controlled by the hardware platform, and the number of supported connections and users that the router is designed to service. For supported WAAS platforms up to 6,000 connections, see Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect up to 6,000 Connections.
This section contains the following topics:
WAVE and vWAAS Models for Akamai Connect beyond 6,000 Connections
For WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later, the Akamai Connect Cache Engine (CE) is supported for scaling beyond 6,000 connections on the following platforms:
- WAVE-7541, WAVE-7571, and WAVE-8541
- vWAAS-12000 and vWAAS-50000
Caution
When a WAE—a WAVE model used for Akamai Connect beyond 6,000 connections—is assigned to a device group in the WAAS Central Manager after Akamai Connect is already enabled, you must manually reload the device. Akamai Connect will remain in shutdown state until the reload is performed.
Scaling for these platforms is based on memory availability and scale performance. Table 12-8 shows the total HTTP object cache connections, memory required for the cache engine, cache engine cache disk, and additional resources, if needed.
The Akamai Connect CE connection-handling capacity is determined by the upper limit of memory that is given to the Akamai Connect CE at startup. The Akamai Connect CE will allocate memory as needed up to the upper limit. In case of overload, the connection will be optimized by HTTP-AO, without a caching benefit.
Note For vWAAS-12000 and vWAAS-50000, HTTP object cache will scale up to the platform TFO limit. To achieve this, you must augment the platform resources (CPU, RAM, and disk) during provisioning.
For vWAAS-12000, you must allocate at least 6 GB of additional RAM.
For vWAAS-1200 and vWAAS-50000, you must allocate Cache Engine cache disk resources. Cache disk requirements are shown in Table 12-8. For more information on
Table 12-8 WAAS Mid to High End Platform Memory/Disk Requirements for HTTP-OC
|
Total HTTP
Object Cache Connections (K)
|
Cache Engine Cache Disk (GB)
|
Additional Resource to be Added
|
WAVE-7541 |
18 |
708 |
N/A |
WAVE-7571 |
45 |
839 |
N/A |
WAVE-8541 |
112 |
675 |
N/A |
vWAAS-12000 |
12 |
1500 |
6GB RAM, 750 GB disk |
vWAAS-50000 |
50 |
2350 |
850 GB disk |
Configuring HTTP-OC on WAVE-7541/7571/8541
Configuring HTTP-OC on WAVE-7541, WAVE-7571 or WAVE-8541 includes configuring the Device Profile feature and re-partitioning the WAVE disk.
- Device Profile (WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later)—The Device Profile feature enables the device mode as “branch” which tunes the resource allocation for various WAAS services as a branch traffic scenario and branch services. Device Profile is enabled at the individual device level; it is not enabled for an entire device group.
- Data Disk Partitions (WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later)—To accommodate the larger-scale connections available for WAAS Version 6.2.1 with Akamai Connect, the single partition for the RAID5-based disk subsystem is split into multiple partitions.
To configure HTTP-OC on WAVE-7541, WAVE-7571 or WAVE-8541, follow these steps.
Step 1 Upgrade the WAAS CM and WAE devices to WAAS Version 6.2.1.
For complete upgrade instructions, including critical prerequisites before upgrading the WAAS CM to WAAS Version 6.2.1, see the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services (Software Version 6.2.1).
Note After upgrade, the Device Profile feature—Device > device-name > Configure > Caching > Device Profile—is initially disabled, and the Branch check box in the Device Profile screen section is unchecked. See Step for how to enable Device Profile after an upgrade.
Step 2 After upgrade is complete enable HTTP-OC, from the WAAS CM or from the WAAS CLI.
Step 3 When you enable HTTP-OC for WAVE-7541/7571/8541, you will receive a message to run the disk delete-data-partitions EXEC command and to restart the system.
Note The disk delete-data-partitions command deletes all data partitions on all logical drives, including CONTENT, PRINTSPOOL, and SYSFS partitions. These partitions include all DRE and SMB object cache files, SYSFS and print spool files. New partitions are created at system restart.
Step 4 Upgrading the system and configuring HTTP-OC from the WAAS CM (to upgrade from the WAAS CLI, see Step 5):
a. Enable Akamai Connect.
b. A message is displayed with two requirements, for disk delete data partitions and Device Profile enable, and includes an approval request for these.
c. After user approval, the WAAS CM will initiate disk delete data partitions process and enable the Device Profile feature.
d. Restart the system.
e. By default, from the WAAS CM, Akamai Connect will be enabled at restart.
Note For WAVE models 7541 and 8541, the Device Profile feature is automatically set/unset when you enable/disable HTTP OC. For WAVE-7571, the Device Profile setting requires you to reboot to change the Device Profile feature status.
Step 5 Upgrading the system and configuring HTTP-OC from the CLI (to upgrade from the WAAS CM, see Step 4):
a. Enable Akamai Connect.
b. A message is displayed to run the disk delete-data-partitions EXEC command.
c. By default, from the CLI, Akamai Connect is not enabled at system restart.
d. Enable Akamai Connect.
e. Here are operating considerations when Akamai Connect is enabled:
- You can disable the Device Profile feature if you disable Akamai Connect on the device. To disable the Device Profile feature, uncheck the Branch check box.
- For WAVE models 7541 and 8541, the Device Profile feature is automatically set/unset when you enable/disable HTTP OC. For WAVE-7571, the Device Profile setting requires you to reboot to change the Device Profile feature status.
- You can disable the Device Profile feature if you disable Akamai Connect on the device. To disable the Device Profile feature, uncheck the Branch check box.
- To enable the Device Profile feature from the CLI, use the device mode global configuration command, to configure the device to function as application accelerator (application-accelerator) or WAAS CM (central-manager).
Note For the WAVE-7571, you can also use the device mode command to configure the device to function as a branch device (profile-branch), to configure pre-allocation resrouces for various WAAS services to be branch traffic scenario and branch services.
The branch profile enabled connection count used for computing memory for pre-allocation is 3/4 of the TFO limit.
f. To show device profile settings, use the show device-mode current EXEC command.
g. To show the configured device mode (the mode that is configured but has not yet taken effect), use the show device-mode configured EXEC command.
For more information on these commands, see the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference.
Configuring HTTP-OC on vWAAS-12000/50000
As noted in the procedure Configuring HTTP-OC on WAVE-7541/7571/8541, the process includes running the disk delete-data-partitions EXEC command and restarting the system. The disk delete-data-partitions command deletes all data partitions on all logical drives, including CONTENT, PRINTSPOOL, and SYSFS partitions. These partitions include all DRE and SMB object cache files, SYSFS and print spool files. New partitions are created at system restart.
To configure HTTP-OC on vWAAS-12000 or vWAAS-50000 and to avoid object and DRE caching being lost due to execution of the the disk delete-data-partitions command, you must downgrade from WAAS Version 6.2.x to WAAS Version 5.x, and then upgrade to WAAS Version 6.2.x. Use one of the following downgrade/upgrade procedures:
Downgrade/Upgrade with Additional Akamai Cache Disk Removed/Reinstalled
To configure HTTP-OC on vWAAS-12000 or vWAAS-50000 with the additional Akamai Cache disk removed and then reinstalled, follow these steps:
Step 1 The device is at WAAS Version 6.2.x, with Akamai Connect enabled.
Step 2 Disable Akamai Connect.
Step 3 Power down the device.
Step 4 Remove the additional Akamai Cache disk.
Step 5 Power on the device.
Step 6 Downgrade from WAAS Version 6.2.x WAAS Version 5.x. For more information on the Downgrade procedure, see the most recent version of the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services.
Step 7 Upgrade the WAAS CM and WAE devices to WAAS Version 6.2.x. For more information on the Upgrade procedure, see the most recent version of the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services.
Step 8 After upgrade is complete, power off the device.
Step 9 Re-install the additional Akamai Cache disk.
Step 10 Power on the device.
Step 11 Enable Akamai Connect.
Step 12 Enable HTTP-OC from the WAAS CM or from the WAAS CLI.
Step 13 A message is displayed regarding the required additional memory and disk resources (shown in Table 12-8).
Step 14 Power down the vWAAS VM and add the necessary resources the vWAAS VM.
Step 15 Power up the vWAAS VM.
Step 16 HTTP-OC is enabled on the vWAAS.
Downgrade/Upgrade with Additional Akamai Cache Disk Remaining In Place
To configure HTTP-OC on vWAAS-12000 or vWAAS-50000 with the additional Akamai Cache disk remaining in place, follow these steps:
Step 1 Upgrade the WAAS CM and WAE devices to WAAS Version 6.2.1.
Step 2 Enable Akamai Connect.
Step 3 Downgrade from WAAS Version 6.2.x WAAS Version 5.x. For more information on the Downgrade procedure, see the most recent version of the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services.
Step 4 Upgrade the WAAS CM and WAE devices to WAAS Version 6.2.x. For more information on the Upgrade procedure, see the most recent version of the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services.
Step 5 Run the disk delete-data-partitions EXEC command and restart the system.
- From the CLI, a message is displayed to run the disk delete-data-partitions EXEC command and restart the system.
- The WAAS CM does not display this message.
Note After the upgrade, You must run the disk delete-data-partitions command to enable Akamai Connect.
Note The disk delete-data-partitions command deletes all data partitions on all logical drives, including CONTENT, PRINTSPOOL, and SYSFS partitions. These partitions include all DRE and SMB object cache files, SYSFS and print spool files. New partitions are created at system restart.
Step 6 Enable Akamai Connect.
Workflow for Activating and Using Akamai Connect
1. Before you register Akamai Connect, confirm that your WAAS configuration has all relevant components to work with Akamai Connect, as described in Confirming Your WAAS Configuration for Akamai Connect.
2. Enable Akamai Connect, as described in Enabling Akamai Connect.
3. Register and activate Akamai Connect, as described in Activating the Akamai Connect License.
4. Enable Akamai Connected Cache, as described in Enabling Akamai Connected Cache.
5. (Optional) Enable Over the Top caching, as described in Enabling OTT Caching.
6. If needed, set up HTTP proxy for connections to the Akamai Network (using the WAAS CM as proxy or configuring external HTTP proxy), as described in Using HTTP Proxy for Connections to the Akamai Network.
7. If needed, de-register and re-register a WAAS device, as described in Deregistering and Reregistering a WAAS Device.
8. If needed, replace an expired Akamai Connect license, as described in Replacing an Inactive or Expired Akamai Connect License.
9. Set caching policies (one policy for all sites or individual policies for specific sites), as described in Setting Caching Policies.
10. (Optional) Set Cisco Cloud Web Security and Force IMS policy, as described in Cisco Cloud Web Security and Force IMS Features.
11. Configure cache prepositioning, including (optionally) configuring HTTP/S preposition proxy, as described in Configuring Cache Prepositioning for Akamai Connect.
12. View cache prepositioning task status, as described in Viewing Cache Prepositioning Task Status.
13. (Optional) Copy cache prepositioning tasks, as described in Copying Cache Prepositioning Tasks.
14. View Akamai Connected Cache statistics, including response time savings, throughput summary, HTTP bandwidth savings, top sites, and cache statistics (hits), as described in Akamai Connected Cache Charts in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS Network.”
Registering, Activating, Enabling Akamai Connect
This section describes how to register, activate and enable Akamai Connect, as well as how to de-register and re-register a WAAS device, and replace an inactive or expired Akamai Connect license.
Confirming Your WAAS Configuration for Akamai Connect
Before you begin the registration process to activate Akamai Connect, confirm that your WAAS configuration has the following:
- The WAAS CM and WAAS appliances are updated to software version 5.5.1.
- A verified NTP service that is within 30 seconds of the NTP standard server (NTP.org). For how to configure the NTP server, see Configuring an NTP Server in Chapter 10, “Configuring Other System Settings.”
- A working public DNS server configured on the WAAS devices and the WAAS CM. For how to configure the DNS server, see Configuring the DNS Server in Chapter 6, “Configuring Network Settings.”
- The ability for the WAAS CM to reach Akamai’s Luna system via HTTPS on port 443. (The custom hostname is in your activation file.)
- The ability for WAAS devices to make a connection to the Akamai Management Gateway (AMG) to get the authentication key. The WAAS device configured for Akamai Connect needs the correct network connectivity to access the AMG every day to get correct credentials and updated metadata. WAAS will make an HTTPS connection on port 443 to the AMG to get this information.
If the WAAS devices cannot go direct to the Internet, you can configure them to use the WAAS CM as a proxy. For more information, see
Note The Akamai Connected Cache feature will stop functioning if WAAS loses communication with the AMG for more than 48 hours.
Enabling Akamai Connect
The Akamai Connect screen has two tabs:
To enable Akamai Connect, follow these steps. For more information on Akamai Connect, see Cisco WAAS and Akamai Connect.
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, from either the Device Groups or Devices tab, choose Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
The Akamai Connect window appears, with two tabs: Cache Settings and Cache Prepositioning.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Settings tab.
Note If you are configuring the Akamai Connect feature for a device group, the device group should have only devices that support Akamai Connect. For more information, see Supported WAAS Platforms for Akamai Connect.
Step 3 Check the Enable Akamai Connect check box to turn on the Akamai Connect CE. When the EULA (End-User License Agreement) appears, click Accept.
When you create settings for the first time, either at the device or the group level, the Akamai license upload file is displayed, and you can select the license file supplied and click Submit. For more information on activating the Akamai Connect license, see Activating the Akamai Connect License.
Note Turning on the CE starts active caching in Standard mode. If you want Advanced or Bypass mode, you must specify it. This step is described in Setting Caching Policies.
Step 4 Continue to Edit Settings and/or Advanced Cached Settings.
Note To edit any settings, including advanced settings and cache preposition, the Akamai Connect feature must remain enabled.
Activating the Akamai Connect License
Before you begin the registration process to activate Akamai Connect, confirm the readiness of your WAAS configuration, as described in Confirming Your WAAS Configuration for Akamai Connect.
To receive and activate the Akami Connect activation file, follow these steps:
Step 1 Purchase a license for Akamai Connect from your Cisco account representative or reseller.
Step 2 The account representative or reseller enters the order into the Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW) system. The order must specify an email address for eDelivery of the Activation file.
Step 3 CCW contacts the Akamai Luna Portal to request a license or licenses for the number and type of Akamai licenses entered.
Step 4 Akamai generates and sends the license(s) to the CCW system in the form of a single activation file.
Step 5 The CCW system sends an email, with the activation file attached, to the email address specified in the order. The order of priority for selecting the email address in a CCW order is::
- Priority1: eDelivery email address
- Priority2: end customer email address
- Priority3: shipping contact email address
Note If you do not provide an email address in your order, you will not receive an activation file.
Step 6 Enable Akamai Caching on each WAE. There are two paths available to reach the Akamai Connect screen. You can use either one to enable Akamai Connect to use any of the transparent caching methods, Akamai Connected Cache, or OTT. If this is the first time you are navigating to the Akamai Connect screen, you will be prompted to provide the activation file for licensing.
- From the WAAS CM choose Device/Device Group > Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
OR
- From the WAAS CM choose Home > Admin > Licenses > Akamai Connect. This path can be used later to add more licenses, if needed.
The Akamai Connect screen is displayed.
Step 7 At the Upload Akamai Connect License file field, click Browse, highlight the activation file and click OK.
Step 8 Click Upload. The authentication data in the activation file is transmitted to the Akamai Luna portal.
Step 9 After the device message is sent to the Luna portal:
- The Luna portal sends the Entitlement Code to the WAAS Central Manager and the Akamai Management Gateway (AMG).
- The WAAS Central Manager sends the Entitlement Code to WAAS.
- The AMG rolls out the Entitlement Code to Edge Servers on the Akamai Grid Network.
The Entitlement Code is maintained on Luna, on the AMG, and on the WAAS device. WAAS connects to the AMG using a proxy/DNS server that can resolve the address amg.terra.akamai.com.
Step 10 The list titled Status of devices with Akamai Connect feature configured displays the following types of status for one, some, or all devices.
- Akamai Device Status - ActivationInProgress, Active
- Operational Status - Disconnected, Connected, or Running
- Connectivity to Akamai - Activating, Activated, or Connected
The device registration, operational status, and connectivity to Akamai proceed through a set of status indicators for the three status categories: Akamai Device Status/Operational Status/Connectivity to Akamai:
- ActivationInProgress /Disconnected /Activating
- ActivationInProgress /Connected /Activating
- Active /Connected /Activated
- Active /Connected /Connected
Note The activation process for WAAS devices may take between 15-60 minutes to complete, and for this time period, the Connectivity to Akamai status displays as Activating. During this time, device(s) may not be able to communicate with the Akamai Network, because they are not recognized by the AMGs until the activation process is complete, and the Connectivity to Akamai status displays as Connected.
Step 11 For the last steps in the registration process, Luna sends the Connected Cache credentials to the AMG and to the Edge Servers on the Akamai Grid network. The AMG forwards Connected Cache credentials on to WAAS. With the Connected Cache credentials on both WAAS and the Edge Servers, the Connected Cache is enabled, and caching requests can be served by the Edge servers. This authenticated connection can then service requests for Connected Cache and OTT caching from the Akamai Grid network Edge Servers.
Step 12 The registration of each WAE begins. The WAAS CM provides information to the Akamai Luna Portal for each device that will be running Akamai Connect.
Note Connected Operational Status can take several minutes to complete. Rollout of the activation to the Edge servers can take up to 45 minutes to complete. A device may take from a few minutes to up to two hours to show an Active Activation Status, depending on when the request was made, traffic conditions, and other variables.
Step 13 Each WAE that has been sent the entitlement code will try to make an SSL connection to the AMG using amg.terra.akamai.com. The Luna Portal will push out the Akamai Connected Cache credentials to the AMG and Akamai Grid Network (to the Akamai Edge Servers).
- The AMG will push the Akamai Connected Cache credentials out to each of the WAEs that are configured for Akamai Connected Cache. If OTT is enabled, the OTT metadata needed to help cache YouTube objects is also processed at this time.
- The Akamai Connected Cache credentials are sent by the WAE CE when going to the origin server. If the WAE CE has valid credentials according to the Akamai Edge Server, the Akamai Edge Server then provides objects to the WAE CE that are not normally cacheable to other devices.
Step 14 The WAE CE will request new credentials daily and will be good for two days. The connections are always established from WAE or WAAS CM over TCP 443 to the AMG.
- For security, firewalls are usually deployed by performing statefull insepction on traffic from within the company to the outside. They are also configured to block unknown traffic from the outside to the inside. Since connection should not initiate from AMG to any WAAS CM or WAE at any time, there should not be an issue. If there is, then a hole will need to be made to allow the WAAS CM or WAE to speak to any device on port 443.
Note The Devices listing on the All Devices screen includes a column titled Akamai Connect, which shows the status of each device: Active, Not Supported, Connected, Disconnected.
Step 15 As needed, configure HTTP proxy or external HTTP proxy, as described in Using HTTP Proxy for Connections to the Akamai Network.
Deregistering and Reregistering a WAAS Device
When you deregister a WAAS device from the WAAS CM, the WAAS CM will trigger the removal of the device record on the Akamai side, thereby invalidating the entitlement key used by the CE to talk to AMG devices. On the WAAS side, the CE will continue operating in transparent cache mode.
When you reregister a WAAS device with the WAAS CM, one of two things will happen:
- The WAAS CM will auto-assign the device to device groups (that are so marked). If any of these device groups have Akamai Connect/HTTP cache settings, the WAAS CM will trigger registration with Akamai.
- If no device group is configured with Akamai Connect/HTTP cache settings, the registration is done individually.
After the device is registered, it will get a new entitlement key.
Replacing an Inactive or Expired Akamai Connect License
If your license has become inactive or expired, follow these steps to replace your license:
Step 1 When a license is inactive or expired, a notification is displayed in one of two WAAS CM screens:
- At the Home > Admin > Licenses > Akamai Connect screen: “Akamai Connect License is Inactive. Please remoeve current license and import valid license.”
- At the Home > Monitor > Troubleshoot > Akamai Diagnostics screen: “Akamai Connect License is Inactive. Please remove existing license and import new one using Akamai License page.”
Step 2 Remove the inactive or expired license.
Step 3 To upload a new license file, at the Home > Admin > Licenses > Akamai Connect screen, click Choose File to browse to the new license file and click Upload.
Step 4 If you import an expired license, you will see the message: “Unable to communicate to Akamai server (Error: License is inactive or expired). See Central Manager log file for detailed error information.”
Step 5 To obtain a new license, contact your Cisco account representative or reseller.
Enabling Akamai Connected Cache
You can configure Akamai Connected Cache CE settings at the device group level (to apply a configuration to all registered devices) or the device level (to apply a configuration to a particular registered device).
To enable Akamai Connected Cache, follow these steps. For more information on Akamai Connected Cache, see Akamai Connected Cache.
Step 1 To enable Akamai caching, check the Akamai Connected Cache check box. The default is enabled. When you enable Akamai connected cache, it is enabled for all suitable Akamaized content.
Step 2 Click Submit.
Step 3 After you enable Akamai Connected Cache, you can set a caching policy for all sites, or an individual caching policy for specific sites, as described in Setting Caching Policies.
Step 4 After you enable Akamai Connected Cache, you can configure cache prepositioning, as described in Configuring Cache Prepositioning for Akamai Connect.
Enabling OTT Caching
To enable OTT caching, follow these steps. For more information on OTT caching, see OTT Caching.
Step 1 To enable Over the Top (OTT) caching, check the Over the Top Cache check box. In the initial release, OTT caching applies only to YouTube.
Step 2 Click Submit or continue to Advanced Cache Settings. For more information on Advanced Cache Settings, see Advanced Mode.
Using HTTP Proxy for Connections to the Akamai Network
When using Akamai Connect, the WAAS CM and WAAS device(s) must be able to communicate with the Akamai Network: with the Akamai Luna API servers to provision entries for WAAS devices, and with the Akamai AMG devices for Akamai Connected Cache and OTT features.
However, some WAAS deployments may disallow outgoing connections to the Internet for the WAAS CM or WAAS device(s). For these deployments, the WAAS device(s) may use an HTTP proxy to contact the Akamai Network.
You can set up the following proxy configurations:
For these three proxy configurations, WAAS supports five deployment scenarios:
|
|
WAAS CM to
Luna API Servers
|
WAAS HTTP CE to
Akamai AMG
|
No HTTP proxy use |
Direct/ Direct |
Direct |
Direct |
WAAS CM as HTTP proxy |
Direct/ WAAS CM as proxy |
Direct |
WAAS CM as HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy |
Direct/ External HTTP proxy |
Direct |
External HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy/ Direct |
External HTTP proxy |
Direct |
External HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy/ External HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy |
External HTTP proxy |
The following considerations apply to all HTTP proxy deployments:
- You configure HTTP proxy from the WAAS CM; there are no CLI commands for HTTP proxy. Configuring HTTP proxy settings does not require restart of the WAAS CM.
- HTTP Proxy must support HTTP Connect method for tunneling HTTPS connections.
- Configuring the HTTP proxy setting does not require restart of the WAAS CM.
Note WAAS v5.5.1 does not support HTTP proxy user authentication. It is recommended that you restrict access to proxy using IP address ACLs.
Using the WAAS CM as HTTP Proxy
Note the following considerations when using the WAAS CM as a proxy to the Akamai network:
- When using Akamai Connected Cache, each WAAS CE device is communicating with the Akamai network. Some WAAS deployments may disallow WAE devices to establish outgoing connections to the Internet (i.e., private networks). In this case, the WAE device may use the WAAS CM device(s) as proxy for all connections to the Akamai network.
- You may still have to allow a hole for the WAAS CM to make communications on TCP port 443 outbound.
- There is no option for the WAAS CM to use a proxy device to get to the Internet.
- All connections are made from the WAAS CE device or WAAS CM out to the Akamai network; never from the Akamai network to the WAAS CE device or WAAS CM.
- You configure this feature from the WAAS CM only, not the CLI.
To use the WAAS CM as HTTP proxy, follow these steps:
Step 1 From Devices or Device Groups, navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Settings tab.
Step 3 Check the Use HTTP proxy for connections to Akamai network check box.
Step 4 At the HTTP Proxy: dropdown list, select Central Manager as HTTP Proxy.
Step 5 Click Submit.
Configuring External HTTP Proxy
When using the Akamai Connected Cache, WAAS devices are communicating with the Akamai Network. Some deployments may disallow outgoing connections to the Internet for WAAS devices. For these deployments, WAAS devices can use an HTTP proxy to contact the Akamai Network. For more information on HTTP proxy, see Using HTTP Proxy for Connections to the Akamai Network.
Note HTTP proxy must support HTTP CONNECT for tunneling HTTPS connections.
To configure external HTTP proxy, follow these steps:
Step 1 From Devices or Device Groups, navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
Step 2 Check the Use HTTP proxy for connections to Akamai network check box.
Step 3 At the HTTP Proxy: dropdown list, select External HTTP Proxy.
Step 4 Specify a Proxy Host and a Proxy Port:
- Proxy Host field - Enter a hostname or address.
- Proxy Port field- Enter a value between 1-65535.
Note If the WAAS CM is already using an external HTTP proxy, there is no option displayed to use the WAAS CM as proxy; these fields will display the currently configured HTTP proxy.
Step 5 Click Submit.
Setting Caching Policies
For how to set one caching policy for all sites, or set individual caching policies for a specific site., follow these steps:
Step 1 From Devices or Device Groups, navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Settings tab.
Step 3 In the Advanced Cache Settings section, at the Default Transparent Caching Policy drop-down list, choose a caching policy:
- Basic
- Standard (default)
- Advanced
- Bypass
Step 4 To set a default caching policy for all sites, choose a caching policy and click Submit. To enable transparent caching for a specific site, see Step 5.
Step 5 To enable transparent caching for a specific site, change the Default Transparent Caching Policy to Bypass.
Step 6 At the Site Specific Transparent Caching Policy section, click Add Hostname/IP. The Site Caching Policy Task dialog box opens.
a. In the Hostname/IP field, specify the hostname of the site to be configured. The hostname can be a specific server, or a domain name that contains a wildcard, such as *.cisco.com.
b. At the Transparent Caching Policy drop-down list, select the cache policy for this site: Basic, Standard, Advanced, or Bypass.
c. Click OK. The new hostname/IP is added as a line item to the Site Specific Transparent Caching Policy table.
Note The policy you set for a specific site takes precedence over the default caching policy set for all sites.
You can configure up to 512 hostnames for each site-specific transparent caching policy.
Step 7 Configure Cisco Cloud Web Security (CWS) user policy. For more information see Cisco Cloud Web Security and Force IMS Features.
Step 8 Configure HTTP Proxy:
Cisco Cloud Web Security and Force IMS Features
The Cisco Cloud Web Security (CWS) feature provides content scanning of HTTP and secure HTTP/S traffic and malware protection service to web traffic. CWS servers scan web traffic content and either allow or block the traffic based on configured policies. Servers use credentials such as private IP addresses, user names, and user groups to identify and authenticate users and redirect the traffic for content scanning.
Traffic is transparently proxyed by an ASA or ISR to cloud-based CWS servers (called towers), where the web traffic is scanned and if deemed acceptable is provided to the origin server. All traffic coming back is through the CWS tower.
Note For WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later, the CWS feature enforces content filtering by enabling force IMS (If Modified Since) for every cached object, for both single-sided and dual-sided deployment.
For WAAS Versions earlier than 6.2.1, content filtering is enforced on single-sided deployments.
Note the following considerations when using the Cisco CWS and option:
- CWS can be used only when one WAAS device is present in the path.
- When you enable CWS, the Akamai CE always adds an “if modified since” header to the request so that the response needs to go remote to the origin server (in this case, the Scansafe tower) - so all requests get scanned and no security is bypassed. If a 304 Not Modified is returned, then the Akamai CE provides the object from the cache. If a 200 Okay is returned, then the object is fetched from the origin server.
- If preposition is enabled and is possible that the flow may be redirected to a CWS tower, follow these recommendations:
– (Preferred choice) configure a white-list on the ISR or CWS tower to bypass the WAE IP address.
– On the CWS tower, configure a user or group that the WAE will fall into for authentication and allow it access to all sites on which the preposition is occurring.
To enforce the Cisco CWS user policy, follow these steps:
Step 1 Navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect > Cache Settings tab.
Step 2 At the Advanced Settings section, check the Force IMS DIA check box to
Step 3 At the Advanced Settings section, check the Force IMS Always check to
Step 4 Click Submit.
Configuring Cache Prepositioning for Akamai Connect
Cache prepositioning, also known as cache warming, allows you to specify a policy to prefetch and cache content at a specified time. For example, prepositioning content with a URL inside the branch office during non-peak hours can help to improve performance during peak hours, by significantly offloading WAN links.
Cache prepositioning runs at the same priority as other caching types, for example, Akamai Connected Cache or OTT.
For WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later with Akamai Connect, cache prepositioning for Akamai Connect also provides the following cache prepositioning features:
- Processing of manifest files for the video streaming protocols HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and HDS (HTTP Dynamic Streaming).
- Prepositioning of JNLP (Java Network Launch Protocol) files, which contain URL reference for Java Web Start.
Note In order for HTTPS content to be prepositioned, you must define an SSL accelerated service; otherwise, any HTTP requests encountered in the job will fail, although the preposition task will continue and any objects available via HTTP will be retrieved. For more information on how to define an SSL accelerated service, see Configuring SSL Acceleration.
When a scheduled fetch operation begins or is complete, it is added to the Cache Preposition Status table.
This section contains the following topics:
Configuring a Cache Preposition Task
A cache preposition task contains elements that are configured in the following sections of the Cache Prepositioning tab:
- Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box—Specify the preposition task name, base URLs for prepositioning, include/exclude types, download rate, recursion depth, and task duration.
- Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box Advanced Settings—Specify the recursion delay time and recursion domains.
- Cache Prepositioning Schedule dialog box—Specify the schedule name for the preposition task, frequency of the task (such as daily or monthly), and start time.
To configure a cache preposition task, follow these steps:
Step 1 From Devices or Device Groups, navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
The Akamai Connect window appears with two tabs: Cache Settings and Cache Prepositioning.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Prepositioning tab. At this tab, you can add, edit, or delete cache prepositioning tasks, as well as monitor cache preposition task status.
Step 3 (Optional) Check the Preposition with DRE check box to enable DRE for preposition connections. The default is disabled, to prevent negative impact to the DRE byte cache for data that will be stored at the object level.
Step 4 Click Add Cache Preposition Task.
The Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box opens.
Step 5 Enter values in the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box fields, shown in Table 12-9.
Table 12-9 Cache Prepositioning Task Dialog Box Fields
|
|
Name |
The name of the preposition task. Preposition task name is an alphanumeric identifier up to 47 characters. Special characters like ‘,/,\,{,},(,),?,”,<,>,[,],&,*,” are not allowed. Note the following when specifying a task:
- You can configure up to 10 URLs per task.
- You can configure up to 10 schedules per task.
- You can configure up to 50 tasks per device or device group.
|
URLs |
The base URLs for prepositioning. The maximum length for the URL is 900 characters. Characters that are not allowed in the URL are space, double quotes (“). ASCII characters are allowed in the range of ASCII 33 through ASCII 125.
- Use a space to separate multiple URLs.
- You can configure up to 10 URLs per task.
|
Include Types |
The object types to include in caching, such as.jsp or.asp, each separated by a comma. The list of object name patterns to be included has a total pattern field limit of 47 characters. |
Exclude Types |
The object types to exclude from caching, such as.jsp or.asp, each separated by a comma. The list of object name patterns to be excluded has a total pattern field limit of 47 characters. |
Download Rate |
The maximum download rate, in KBps. Select any value between 0 to 10,000,000 KBps. The default is 20 KBps. A selection of 0 indicates unlimited, or no enforced rate limiting. |
Recursion Depth |
The depth of the link level at which the content is retrieved. Recursion depth is active only if you check the Recursive Task check box. Select 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, or 21 from the drop-down list, or enter any custom value between 1 to 1000. The default is 1.
Note A greater number of specified levels of links means a greater amount of data stored in the cache, sometimes exponentially more. If the amount of requested prefetched data becomes larger than the cache, the newly requested data will flush all previously stored data, and may slow down other operations that attempt to use the cache.
|
Duration |
The maximum amount of time, in minutes, a preposition task can run before it is halted. The default is no set duration. To set a duration time, select from a range of 1 to 2,147,483,647 minutes. Setting the duration of a task is especially useful to:
- Ensure that preposition tasks do not overlap with each other.
- Ensure that preposition tasks do not overlap with times of higher user traffic.
|
User Agent |
Provides information on browser and operating system type that servers use to identify and respond to. The server populates the cache with content that is dependent in part on the type of user agent used for this cache prepositioning task. Enter browser and operating system information, in an alphanumeric string, up to a maximum of 256 characters. You can also user the user-agent useragent-name global configuration command to configure the user agent string. For more information, see the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference. |
Enable Task |
Check the Enable Task check box to enable the specified preposition task to run. For the task to run, you must specify at least one URL and one schedule (described in Step 5). |
Enable Proxy |
For WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later, you can configure a HTTP/S proxy support for preposition tasks. Check the Enable Proxy check box to configure external proxy for this preposition task. For details on configuring external proxy for a preposition task, see Configuring HTTP/S Preposition Proxy for Akamai Connect. |
Step 6 At the Advanced Settings section of the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box, you can specify recursion delay time and recursion hostnames:
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Recursion Delay Time |
The delay time, in seconds, between requests during recursive download. This simulates user wait time. Recursive delay time is necessary because some servers use the lack of time between requests to detect and restrict web spiders.
- Enter a value between 0 to 600 seconds. The default is 2 seconds.
- A value of zero provides the best performance when there are no web spider restrictions.
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Recursion Domains |
The list of server domain suffixes for which recursive spidering is permitted. If the list is empty, then spidering is only permitted within the same domain as the specified URL. You can configure up to ten servers:
- The server name is up to 255 characters.
- Server names are separated by comma or space.
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Step 7 In the Cache Prepositioning Schedule section, click Add Schedule.
The Cache Prepositioning Schedule dialog box opens
Step 8 Specify the following:
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Schedule Name |
The name of the schedule for this preposition task. Schedule name is an alphanumeric identifier up to 256 characters. The Schedule Name allows you to provide your own representation of a schedule. For example, for a schedule that occurs each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:30 a.m. can be named as Weekly MWF 10:30AM or Every Week - MON-WED-FRI at 10:30AM. |
Frequency |
The specified time for prepositioning: yearly, daily, weekly, or monthly days. If you choose monthly days, a calendar with check boxes opens for you to check one, some, or all the days in a month for this schedule. |
Start Time (HH:MM) |
From the two drop-down lists, choose the hour and minute at which the task schedule should start. |
Step 9 In the Cache Prepositioning Schedule dialog box, click OK.
Step 10 In the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box, click OK.
Step 11 Click Submit.
The new cache prepositioning task is added as a line item to the Cache Prepositioning listing table.
Viewing Cache Prepositioning Task Status
Two tables are provided in the Cache Prepositioning section to show the status of a cache prepositioning task. To view the status of a cache preposition task you have configured, select the task from the first table, the Cache Preposition Listing table. The second table, the Cache Prepositioning Status table, displays information on the selected task.
- For an individual device, the cache prepositioning status table shows the selected task status for the current device.
- For a device group, the cache prepositioning status table shows the status of the selected cache preposition task, for all devices under that device group.
The following types of information are displayed for the selected task:
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Device Name |
The name of the selected device. |
Start Time |
The date, hour, and minute for the task schedule to start. |
End Time |
The date, hour, and minute for the task schedule to end. |
Byte Count |
The total number of bytes in cache during the most recent preposition task run. |
Object Count |
The total count of objects in cache during the most recent preposition task run. |
Refresh Bytes |
The number of bytes refreshed in cache during the most recent preposition task run. |
Refresh Count |
The count of objects refreshed in cache during the most recent preposition task run. |
Store Bytes |
The number of unmodified bytes for objects found in cache during the most recent task run. |
Store Count |
The count of unmodified objects found in cache during the most recent task run. |
Uncacheable Bytes |
The number of bytes of uncacheable objects encountered during the most recent task run. |
Uncacheable Count |
The count of uncacheable objects encountered during the most recent task run. |
Status |
The status of the task, such as Scheduled, Complete, or Error. |
Error |
If the task status is “Error,” an error message describing the task status is displayed. |
Copying Cache Prepositioning Tasks
You can copy cache prepositioning tasks that have a device or device group enabled with Akamai Connect, with WAAS running v5.5.1 or 5.4.1. Use the following methods to copy cache prepositioning tasks:
- Device to device
- Device to device group
- Device group to device
- Device group to device group
Note Cache Preposition Tasks and WAAS versions: You can also use the Copy Tasks feature to copy a cache preposition task between WAAS Version 5.5.1 devices and device groups and WAAS versions earlier than Version 5.5.1 devices and device groups.
To copy a cache preposition task, follow these steps:
Step 1 Navigate to Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect > Cache Prepositioning tab > Cache Prepositioning section.
Step 2 Click the Copy Tasks button.
The Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box opens.
Step 3 At the From drop-down list, select a device or device group as the source.
Step 4 At the next drop-down list, select a device or device group as the destination.
Note If you try to copy a task with the same name between device and device groups, the following error message is displayed: One or more preposition tasks with the same name already exists in the destination device/DG.
Step 5 At the Existing Cache Prepositioning Tasks table, select one, some or all of the preposition tasks to be copied.
Step 6 Click OK.
The selected cache prepositioning tasks are copied from the source to the destination.
Configuring HTTP/S Preposition Proxy for Akamai Connect
For WAAS Version 6.2.1 and later, you can preposition external content in the case of a deployment with proxy. Consider the following when configuring HTTP/S preposition proxy for Akamai Connect:
- IPv4 proxy is supported for HTTP/S prepositioning.
- The HTTP preposition proxy feature is a feature independent of the WAAS CM and external HTTP proxy features described in the sections Using the WAAS CM as HTTP Proxy and Configuring External HTTP Proxy.
- Specific IP address-based proxy configuration is supported for HTTP/S preposition proxy. File-based and auto-detected configurations are not supported for HTTP/S preposition proxy.
This section contains the following topics:
Configuring Global Proxy Host and Port for Preposition Tasks
To configure global proxy host and port for preposition tasks, follow these steps.
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, from either the Device Groups or Devices tab, choose Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
The Akamai Connect window appears, with two tabs: Cache Settings and Cache Prepositioning.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Prepositioning tab.
Step 3 In the Proxy Host field, enter the hostname or IP address for the proxy host.
Step 4 In the Proxy Port field, enter the port number. Valid port numbers are 0 to 65535.
Step 5 Click Submit.
Step 6 Create a preposition task, as described in Configuring a Cache Preposition Task.
Step 7 In the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box, check the Enable Proxy check box.
Step 8 Schedule the task, as described in Steps 7 through 9 of Configuring a Cache Preposition Task.
Step 9 Click Submit.
Modifying Proxy Settings for an Individual Preposition Task
To modify proxy settings for an individual preposition task, follow these steps.
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, from either the Device Groups or Devices tab, choose Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
The Akamai Connect window appears, with two tabs: Cache Settings and Cache Prepositioning.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Prepositioning tab.
Step 3 Select a cache prepositioning task that you have configured as proxy.
Step 4 Modify the particular setting or settings.
Step 5 Check the Enable Task check box.
Step 6 Check the Enable Proxy check box.
Step 7 In the Cache Prepositioning Schedule dialog box, select parameters to reschedule the task.
Step 8 Click OK.
Step 9 In the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box, click OK.
Step 10 Click Submit.
Removing Proxy Settings for an Individual Preposition Task
To remove proxy settings for an individual preposition task, follow these steps.
Step 1 From the WAAS Central Manager menu, from either the Device Groups or Devices tab, choose Configure > Caching > Akamai Connect.
The Akamai Connect window appears, with two tabs: Cache Settings and Cache Prepositioning.
Step 2 Choose the Cache Prepositioning tab.
Step 3 Select a cache prepositioning task that you have configured as proxy.
Step 4 Check the Enable Task check box.
Step 5 Uncheck the Enable Proxy check box.
Step 6 In the Cache Prepositioning Schedule dialog box, select parameters to reschedule the task.
Step 7 Click OK.
Step 8 In the Cache Prepositioning Task dialog box, click OK.
Step 9 Click Submit.
Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows Update
Cisco support for Microsoft Windows Update enables caching of objects used in Windows OS and application updates. Cisco support for Microsoft Windows Update is enabled by default, and enabled only for specific sites.
This section contains the following topics:
Benefits of Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows Update
The Microsoft OS and application updates are managed by update clients such as Microsoft Update. Microsoft Update downloads the updates via HTTP, often in combination with BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) to help facilitate the downloads. Clients use HTTP range request to fetch updates.
The objects that comprise the updates, such as.cab files, are typically cacheable, so that HTTP object cache is a significant benefit for this process.
For example, for Windows 7 and 8 OS updates—via direct Internet or WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), versions 2012 and 2012R2— more than 98% of the update files, such as.cab,.exe, and.psf files, are served from cache on subsequent updates. Cisco support for Microsoft Windows Update reduces the volume of WAN offload bytes and reduces response time for subsequent Windows updates.
Viewing Statistics for Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows Update
There are two ways to view data generated by Cisco support for Microsoft Windows Update:
- The Top Sites report, described in Chapter 15, “Monitoring and Troubleshooting Your WAAS Network” provides information including WAN response time and WAN offload bytes.
- For WAAS Version 6.1.1, the cache engine access log file has two new fields for Microsoft Windows Update statistics:
– rm-w (range miss, wait)—The main transaction, a cache miss, which waited for the sub-transaction to fetch the needed bytes.
– rm-f (range miss, full)—The sub-transaction, a cache write of the entire document.
Example 1:
Example 1 contains two log lines, the main transaction and sub-transaction, when a range is requested on an object that is not in cache:
ws8-rt-kb2863725-x64_dd8522e527483cd69bf61d98ee849a2406b97172.psf - -
08/28/2015 12:22:29.663 (fl=27520) 300 13.164 0.000 446 - - 34912 172.25.30.4
191.234.4.50 2905 h - - rm-w 206 GET http://fg.v4.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2013/07/windows8-rt-kb2863725- x64_dd8522e527483cd69bf61d98ee849a2406b97172.psf - -
08/28/2015 12:24:31.448 (fl=27520) 300 134.949 0.000 355 344 3591542 568 172.25.30.4 191.234.4.50 2f25 m-s - - rm-f 200 GET http://fg.v4.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2013/07/windows8-rt-kb2863725-x64_dd8522e527483cd69bf61d98ee849a2406b97172.psf - -
Example 2:
Example 2 shows a cache hit when a range is requested on an object that is either completely in cache, or in the process of being downloaded. If it is in the process of being downloaded, then the main transaction has latched onto a sub-transaction like the one shown in Example 1.
08/28/2015 03:34:36.906 (fl=26032) 300 0.000 50.373 346 - - 13169 172.25.30.4 8.254.217.62 2905 h - - - 206 GET http://fg.v4.download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/software/secu/2013/07/windows8-\ rt-kb2863725-x64_dd8522e527483cd69bf61d98ee849a2406b97172.psf - -
Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows Update and Akamai Cache Engine
Cisco support for Microsoft Windows Update enables Akamai Cache Engine to support Windows Update caching in two ways:
- Download and cache full objects even when ranges within objects that not in cache are requested.
- Future range requests on the objects can be served out of cache.
There is a limit, set by OTT metadata during the Akamai Connect registration process, from the start of the object—the number of bytes or the percent of file length—where the download functionality is triggered. A request of a size above the set limit does not initiate a full object download, and the request is forwarded to the origin as is.
Caution
Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows update is enabled by default, and enabled only for specific sites. The enabled sites are updated via OTT metadata.
If you want to disable Cisco Support for Microsoft Windows Update, you must disable OTT caching. To do this, uncheck the Over the Top Cache check box. However, note that unchecking the Over the Top Cache check box disables all OTT functionality, both global and custom OTT configurations.
For more information on the Akamai Connect registration process, see Activating the Akamai Connect License.