Cisco PIX Firewall Settings detailed

In this issue of the application Guide, administrators can learn how to set up a new PIX firewall. You will set passwords, IP addresses, network address resolution, and Basic Firewall rules.

Suppose your boss handed you a new PIX firewall. This firewall is never set. He says the firewall needs to set some basic IP addresses, security, and some basic firewall rules. You've never used PIX firewalls before. How do you make this setup? After reading this article, this setting is easy. Next, let's see how to set it up.

The basics of Cisco PIX Firewalls

Cisco PIX Firewalls can protect various networks. There are pix firewalls for small home networks, as well as PIX firewalls for large parks or corporate networks. In the example of this article, we will set up a PIX type 501 firewall. PIX 501 is a firewall for small home networks or small businesses.

The PIX firewall has the concept of internal and external interfaces. Internal interfaces are internal and are typically dedicated to the network. An external interface is external, usually a public network. You have to try to protect the internal network from the external network.

The PIX firewall also uses an adaptive security Algorithm (ASA). This algorithm assigns a security level to the interface, and claims that no communication can flow from a low-level interface (such as an external interface) to a high level interface (such as an internal interface) without a rule license. The security level of this external interface is "0", and the security level of this internal interface is "100".

The output of the "Nameif" command is shown below:

pixfirewall# Show Nameif

Nameif Ethernet0 outside Security0

Nameif Ethernet1 inside security100

pixfirewall#

Note that the ETHERNET0 (Ethernet 0) interface is the external interface (its default name) and the security level is 0. On the other hand, the ETHERNET1 (Ethernet 1) interface is the name of the internal interface (default), and the security level is 100.

Guide

Before you start setting up, your boss has given you some guidelines to follow. These guidelines are: