Using Management Center for Firewalls 1.2
Maintaining your Firewall MC Server
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Table of Contents

Maintaining your Firewall MC Server
 About Data Management
 Configuring and Enabling a Rapid Recovery Server

Maintaining your Firewall MC Server

The Firewall MC server can coexist with other Management Centers and applications on the same server. For the purposes of Firewall MC documentation, however, the Firewall MC server is the server that runs CiscoWorks Common Services and Firewall MC. CiscoWorks Common Services provides a collection of services used by client applications, such as Firewall MC. These services include the database and utilities for maintaining it.

Note   The backup and restore operations are not exclusive to the Firewall MC server. If you perform a backup or restore, the operation includes all VMS components running on the CiscoWorks Server. This distinction is important to consider when restoring a component—all components on the CiscoWorks Server are restored using the last backed-up archive. Therefore, you should consider the strategies for scheduling Firewall MC backups within the context of all components running on the CiscoWorks Server.

About Data Management

CiscoWorks Common Services uses multiple databases to store client application data. When you perform a backup, all the databases are backed up. However, CiscoWorks Common Services does not store user account information or CiscoWorks application data. Those items are stored by the CiscoWorks database, and can be backed up only from the CiscoWorks utilities.

Note   References to "KRS" or "FMS" in the CiscoWorks Common Services interface are to a proprietary database that stores configuration information for the client applications.

Improving Performance By Compacting Your Data

Note   Before you compact your data, we strongly recommend that you back it up.

Compacting the database eliminates space that was allocated for data that no longer exists in the database. Compacting decreases the amount of space required to retain existing CiscoWorks Common Services configuration data and can increase system performance and minimize startup time. Only the KRS database used by the Firewall MC is affected by this procedure.

You should compact the database at regular intervals to reclaim unused storage space. You can compact the database on demand or schedule the database to compact at a set time or at regular intervals. You cannot compact the database while backing up or restoring it.

Note   The CW2000 KRS database service shuts down when the database is being compacted. You should not perform any other activities while the database is being compacted
Tip Use the scheduling feature to schedule database compactions weekly or daily, depending on how often you update your configurations. You should schedule the compaction to occur when the system is not being used, such as late at night or early in the morning.
Step 1   Select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Management Center > Compact Database.

The Compact Database page appears.

Step 2   To send an email to a designated recipient each time the database is compacted, select the Email Notification check box and enter an email address in the field.

Note    If you specified a default email address on the Preferences page, that address appears in the Email Notification field by default. You can add additional recipients by separating addresses with a comma (,).

Step 3   To compact the database immediately, select the Immediate check box.

Step 4   To specify a date and time for the compaction to begin:

a. Deselect the Immediate check box.

b. Use the up and down arrows to display the month, day, and year in the Start Date lists, and then click each displayed value to confirm.

Confirmed selections appear in blue.

c. Use the up and down arrows to display the hour and minutes in the Start Time list, and then click each displayed value to confirm.

Confirmed selections appear in blue.

Step 5   To schedule compaction at regular intervals:

a. Enter a value in the Repeat After field, then select Days, Hours, or Minutes from the list. For the selection to take effect, you must click your selection after selecting the option with the up and down arrows.

b. To limit the number of times the database is compacted, enter a value in the Limit Occurrences field.

Note    If you enter 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields, the database compaction occurs only once at the scheduled date and time.

Step 6   Click Finish to save your settings.

  • If you selected the Immediate check box, compaction begins immediately. The compaction may take several minutes to complete. A message displays the status.
  • If you scheduled a compaction, the information is added to the Scheduled Jobs log. A window displays the date and time the compaction is scheduled for.

Step 7   If you scheduled a compaction, click Yes. Otherwise, skip to Step 8.

A message appears, indicating that compaction is scheduled.

Step 8   Click OK to close the message.




Field Information for Compact Database Page

Element  Description 

Email Notification (Optional)

Enables you to send an email to the specified recipients for each compaction.

Expected Value: One or more valid email addresses separated by a comma. If you set up a default email address on the Administrative Preferences page, that address appears in this field by default, (for example, bob@example.com, sue@example.com).

Immediate (Optional)

Starts compacting the database immediately after you click Finish. You cannot schedule a compaction when this option is selected.

Expected Value: Selected/Deselected (On/Off).

Start Date (Optional)

Specifies the date when the database compact operation should begin. Select the date in month, day, year format. This option can be used only if you did not select the Immediate check box.

Expected Value: A valid current or future calendar date. You cannot define a past date, (for example, October 03, 2003).

Start Time (Optional)

Specifies the time that the compact operation should begin. Select the time from the hour and minute lists. This option can only be used if you did not select the Immediate check box.

Expected Value: A valid time of day, in hh:mm (24 hour) format. If scheduling a compaction for the current date, you cannot select a time that has already occurred, (for example, 17 hh: 10 mm).

Repeat After (Optional)

Specifies how many days, hours, or minutes must elapse before the database is compacted again. This option can be used only if you did not select the Immediate check box.

Note Entering 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields causes the compaction to occur only once at the scheduled date and time.

Expected Value: A number from 1 to 999999999, (for example, 7 days).

Limit Occurrences (Optional)

Enables you to limit the number of times a compaction is repeated. This option can only be used if you did not select the Immediate check box.

Note Entering 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields causes the database compaction to occur only once at the scheduled date and time.

Expected Value: A number from 1 to 999999999, (for example, 15).

Backing Up the Database

You should back up the database regularly so that you have a safe copy of the CiscoWorks Common Services database. You can back up the database on demand, at a specific time, or at scheduled intervals. You cannot back up the database while restoring or compacting the database.

When you back up the database, the data for all client applications is backed up; you cannot specify a backup of a single client application. User account information is not backed up. You must use the CiscoWorks Server utilities to back up user account information.

Note   You can back up the data only to the server. You cannot back up the database to a client system, even if that client system is being used to connect to CiscoWorks Common Services and initiate the backup. However, after you back up the database, we recommend that you store the backup to a different computer to prevent data loss if hardware fails.
Step 1   Select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Common Services > Backup Database from the navigation tree.

The Backup Database page appears.

Step 2   Specify the path to the directory in which to store the backup. You can specify the backup directory in one of two ways:

  • Enter the path into the Backup Directory field. If the directory you specify does not exist, it is created for you.
  • Click Select, then browse to an existing directory. To change drives, enter the drive letter in the field.
Note    The default backup directory path is <install_drive_and_path>/CSCOpx/MDC/backup/.

Step 3   To send an email to a designated recipient each time the database is backed up, select the Email Notification check box and enter an email address in the field.

Note    If you specified a default email address on the Preferences page, that address appears in the Email Notification field by default. You can add additional recipients by separating addresses with a comma (,).

Step 4   To back up the database immediately, select the Immediate check box.

Step 5   To specify a specific date and time for the backup to begin:

Note    You cannot schedule a backup while performing an immediate backup.

a. Deselect the Immediate check box.

b. Use the up and down arrows to display the month, day, and year in the Start Date lists, and then click each displayed value to confirm.

Confirmed selections appear in blue.

c. Use the up and down arrows to display the hour and minutes in the Start Time lists, and then click each displayed value to confirm.

Confirmed selections appear in blue.

Step 6   To schedule a backup at regular intervals:

a. Enter a value in the Repeat After field, and select Days, Hours, or Minutes from the list. You must click your selection after using the up and down arrows for the selection to take effect.

b. To limit the number of times the database backup occurs, enter a value in the Limit Occurrences field under Frequency.

Note    Entering 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields causes the database compaction to occur only once at the scheduled date and time.

Step 7   To back up the database according to the settings you have made, click Finish.

A message provides the status of the database backup. If you selected the Immediate check box, the database backup begins immediately. The backup may take several minutes to complete. The backup is stored in a subdirectory named with the time and date that the backup occurred (in yyyymmddhhmmss format).

Step 8   Click OK to close the message.




Field Information for Backup Database Page

Element  Description 

Base Directory (Required)

Specifies the directory where you want to store the backup. You can back up the database to the server. You cannot back up the database to a client. You can also click Select to browse for the directory.

Expected Value: A valid directory name. The full path, including the drive letter, should be provided. The default backup directory path is <install_drive_and_path>/CSCOpx/MDC/backup/.

Select (Optional)

Opens a dialog box that enables you to browse the directories on the server.

Immediate (Optional)

Causes the backup to start when you click Finish. You cannot schedule a backup while attempting to do an immediate backup.

Expected Value: Selected/Deselected (On/Off). The default value is selected.

Schedule (Required)

Organizes the fields used to schedule a database backup. See the following field descriptions for more information:

  • Start Date
  • Start Time
  • Frequency

Start Date (Optional)

Specifies the date when backups of the database should begin. Select the date in month, day, year format from the lists. This option can only be used if the Immediate check box is deselected.

Expected Value: A valid current or future calendar date. You cannot define a past date, (for example, October 03, 2003).

Start Time (Optional)

Specifies the time when the backup operation should begin. Select the time from the hour and minute lists. This option can only be used if the Immediate check box is deselected.

Expected Value: A valid time of day, in hh:mm (24 hour) format. If scheduling a backup for the current date, you cannot select a time that has already occurred, (for example, 17 hh: 10 mm).

Frequency (Required)

Organizes the fields used to repeat a scheduled backup at regular intervals. See the following field descriptions for more information:

  • Repeat After
  • Limit Occurrences

Repeat After (Optional)

Specifies how many days, hours, or minutes must elapse before the database is backed up again. This option can only be used if the Immediate check box is deselected.

Note Entering 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields causes the database backup to occur only once at the scheduled date and time.

Expected Value: A number from 1 to 999999999, (for example, 7 days).

Limit Occurrences (Optional)

Enables you to limit the number of times a backup operation is repeated. This option can only be used if the Immediate check box is deselected.

Note Entering 1 in both the Repeat After and Frequency fields causes the database backup to occur only once at the scheduled date and time.

Expected Value: A number from 1 to 999999999, (for example, 15).

Restoring the Database

You can restore the database from an existing backup. The backup contains data from all installed CiscoWorks Common Services client applications. Because user account information is not backed up, you cannot use restore to recover deleted accounts. Additionally, license information is not restored; the license in effect when the restore is performed remains in effect after the restore.

Caution   Restoring the database restores the data for all client applications; you cannot restore the data for a single client application. Therefore, restoring the database resets all client application data to the state it was in when you created the backup.
Note   You cannot restore the database while compacting or backing up the database.
Step 1   Select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Common Services > Restore Database.

The Restore Database page appears.

Step 2   Specify the path to the directory where the backup is stored. You can specify the directory in one of two ways:

  • Enter the path into the Backed-up Archive field.
  • Click Select, then browse to the directory. To change drives, enter the drive letter in the field.
Note    The Backed-up Archive field displays the last backup. If no backups have been performed, then the Backed-up Archive field is blank.

You can also specify which backup to use. If you do not specify a specific backup, the system selects the most recent backup in the directory.

Step 3   To send an email to a designated recipient each time the database is restored, select the Email Notification check box and enter an email address in the field.

Note    If you specified a default email address on the Preferences page, that address appears in the Email Notification field by default. You can add additional recipients by separating addresses with a comma (,).

Step 4   Click Finish to save your settings.

A message provides the status of the database restore.

Step 5   Click OK to close the message.

Step 6   Restart the system services:

a. Select Server Configuration > Administration > Process Management > Stop Process.

The Stop Process page appears.

b. Select System in the stop column.

c. Click Finish to start the process.

The Process Status page appears.

d. Select Server Configuration > Administration > Process Management > Start Process.

The Start Process page appears.

e. Select System in the start column.

f. Click Finish.

The Process Status page appears.




Field Information for Restore Database Page

Element  Description 

Backed-up Archive (Required)

Specifies the directory where the backups are stored. If you do not specify a backup name, the system selects the most current backup.

Expected Value: A valid directory name, (for example, c:\Progra~1\CSCOpx\backup\).

Email Notification (Optional)

Enables you to send email to specified recipients each time the database is restored.

Expected Value: One or more valid email addresses separated by a comma. If you set up a default email address on the Administrative Preferences page, that address appears in this field by default, (for example, bob@example.com, sue@example.com).

Scheduling Checkpoint Events for the Database

When a database checkpoint event occurs, all information stored in the memory cache is written to data files on the hard drive.

A log file tracks the changes that you make to the system. These changes signify information, such as configuration settings and audit records, that differ from the settings stored in the data files.

If the server on which the database resides shuts down too early, such as by a power failure, the database uses the log file to recreate the state of the system before it was shut down. Checkpoints reduce the amount of time required to recreate this "last known good" state, because they reduce the size and number of changes in the log file. The database synchronizes its in-memory working data with the data stored on the hard drive when one of the following events occurs:

  • The specified amount of time elapses.
  • The log file tracking the changes made since the last checkpoint exceeds the maximum specified file size value.

A disadvantage of checkpoints is that they use much of the system resources. Therefore, the number of audit records that can be recorded while a checkpoint is being performed is reduced. The smaller the difference between the in-memory data and the data files, the faster the server running the database can "recover" and resume normal activity. (Normal activity consists of activity such as recording audit records and accepting changes to existing network policies.)

You can define a checkpoint rule to specify how frequently the database should write the information stored in its memory cache to the database files on the server hard drive. You can base checkpoint events on the size of the log file, the time of day, a set interval, or some combination of the three. You can also disable checkpoint events by disabling each type of checkpoint rule; however, we discourage this option.

Note   Database checkpointing affects only the KRS database used by the Firewall MC.
Tip If importing or generating large configurations in a client application takes a long time, increase your Checkpoint File Size value. It is likely that one or more checkpoint events are occurring during your import or generation.
Step 1   Select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Management Center > Database Checkpoint.

The Database Checkpoint Settings page appears.

Step 2   Enter the maximum size (in megabytes) that the log file can reach before requiring a checkpoint in the Checkpoint File Size field. To disable the size checkpoint, enter 0 (zero).

Step 3   From the Schedule At lists, select the hour and minutes when the checkpoint should occur. To disable the time-of-day checkpoint, select 00 (zero-zero) for both the hours and the minutes. The time is shown in 24-hour format.

Step 4   In the Interval field, enter the interval, in hours, to specify how often to repeat the checkpoint.

Step 5   Click Finish.

A message provides the status of the configuration change.

Step 6   Click OK to close the message.




Field Information for Database Checkpoint Settings Page

Element  Description 

Checkpoint File Size (Required)

Specifies the maximum size (in megabytes) that the log file can reach before requiring a checkpoint. This log file contains entries about configuration changes that have been made to the working memory.

Expected Value: A whole number that represents, in megabytes, the maximum size of the working log file. You can use 0 (zero) to disable this checkpoint option. The default value is 150 megabytes, (for example, 100).

Schedule At (Required)

Specifies a specific time for the checkpoint to occur each day.

Expected Value: A time of day in hh:mm (24 hour) format. You can set both the hours and minutes to zero (00, 00) to disable this checkpoint option, (for example, 17 hh 30 mm).

Interval (Required)

Specifies how frequently, in hours, the database performs a checkpoint.

Expected Value: A number from 1 to 999999999. Entering 0 (zero) disables this option, (for example, 48).

Configuring and Enabling a Rapid Recovery Server

To lessen the possibility of data loss and decrease the time required to recover from a catastrophic hardware failure on the system hosting Firewall MC, you can configure a rapid recovery server. A rapid recovery server is a secondary CiscoWorks Server running Firewall MC that subscribes to a database backup of the primary server. If the primary server fails, you enable the secondary server to as the new primary Firewall MC server.

This recovery configuration requires special consideration of dependent components of your security system, including the firewall devices and your authentication services.

Configuring the Recovery Server

Before You Begin

Make sure that you correctly configured the dependent security components to access configuration changes from both the primary and secondary servers.

  • Managed Firewall Devices. Verify that the IP address of both CiscoWorks Servers appears in the list of administrative hosts on the device and that the HTTP server is enabled for each firewall device. For information on bootstrapping PIX Firewalls and FWSMs, see "Preparing Your Firewall Devices."
  • Authentication and Authorization Services. Because you have two options for authentication and authorization services, the requirements differ based on your selection.
    • CiscoWorks Server. If you are using the authentication and authorization services provided by your CiscoWorks Server, you must manually synchronize the account and authorization definitions between the primary and secondary CiscoWorks Servers.
    • CiscoSecure ACS. If you are using CiscoSecure ACS, this server acts a shared authentication server for both Firewall MC servers. Therefore, you must verify that both the primary and secondary severs have the appropriate permissions in the PIX Device Group definition of the CiscoSecure ACS server.
  • AUS Server. Because you can specify only a single AUS server as a target deployment location in Firewall MC, your AUS server also acts as a shared server for both Firewall MC servers. Therefore, you must configure your AUS Server as one that is independent of both Firewall MC servers.
Step 1   From the primary CiscoWorks Server, map a network drive to a local drive letter (for example, z:).

Step 2   From the desktop of the primary CiscoWorks Server, select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Common Services > Backup Database.

Step 3   In the Backup Directory field, select the local drive letter that you mapped in Step 1.

Step 4   Specify the backup interval that meets your needs. For more information on specifying the interval, see Backing Up the Database.

Step 5   From the secondary CiscoWorks Server, map a local drive letter to the same network share used in Step 1.

Step 6   From the desktop of the secondary CiscoWorks Server, select VPN/Security Management Solution > Administration > Common Services > Restore Database.

Step 7   In the Backed-up Archive field, select the local drive letter that you mapped in Step 5.




Enabling the Recovery Server

If you experience a catastrophic hardware failure and you previously configured a rapid recovery server (Configuring the Recovery Server), you can enable the secondary CiscoWorks Server by restoring the last database backup performed by the primary CiscoWorks Server.

Note   The total data loss depends on length of time since the last backup (the backup interval) plus the time required to restore the data. In this sense, data loss refers to audit data that can be collected by other VMS components.
Step 1   From the secondary CiscoWorks Server, restore the last database backup performed by the primary CiscoWorks Server. For information on restoring from a backup, see Restoring the Database.

Step 2   Configure the secondary CiscoWorks Server to become the new primary CiscoWorks Server. See Configuring the Recovery Server.

Step 3   Identify and configure another server as the new secondary CiscoWorks Server. You must also configure this server as described in Configuring the Recovery Server, and you must update the dependent devices to remove the old primary server and include the new secondary server as a valid management host.