Globalconfig.net

In my IPv6 Class this week we get to touch a number of IPv6 topics.  We have already discussed the Basics of IPv6, Routing Protocols, and QoS features.  Aside from tunneling, which we cover on Thursday, one of the topics that I am most facinated with (being a CCIE Security) is of course….wait for it……Security!  As I prep ahead of time for my class I can’t help but look to see what new and exciting resources are out there to share when it comes to Security.  The following video, IMHO, is pretty darn cool.  Take a little time to watch it and let me know what your thoughts are.

I don’t want to write another guide to setup GNS3, there is a great tutorial which (in my opinion) covers all necessary steps. I just want to summarize a few things which may shorten the time to get a router in GNS3 to run, make it talk via the ethernet of your PC and connect to a physical router. Further I added an example for some simple VoIP configs to make a CME (with an 79xx phone registered) in the virtual router talk to a FXS interface (analog phone) on another router.

First of all you need to install GNS3, which in turn takes the necessary steps to install the underlying dynamips. Special thanks for this excellent work goes to the folks around the dynamips and GNS3 team. Have a look at the GNS3 site ( www.gns3.net ) and download the “all-in-1″ package. For the installation and initial etup, there is an excellent tutorial here:   http://sourceforge.net/projects/gns-3/files/GNS3/0.5/GNS3-0.5-tutorial.pdf/download

I am running GNS3 in an XP64 environment on an AM2 platform with 8GB ram. I tried a few different router models and for my part the 2691 router runs rock solid. The 2621XM had its odds and crashed every now and then, but I cannot say what caused this. The downside of the 26xx series is the limited availability of up to date IOS if you want to test new features. Currently 12.4-15(T10) is the newest IOS which does not include some new SIP-related features. For testing and practicing standard VoIP features this will do the job in any case. I’m using an “Advanced IP-services” feature set. If you need to use the newest IOS-T-Versions, you need to simulate a 7200 series router for whichyou can download a 12.4-24(T1) version.

After the installation and initial setup, I just built a simple network with 2 routers (1 virtual and 1 physical) connected to each other via the PC’s ethernet interface. After starting GNS3, placing a 2691 router and a “cloud” symbol on the workspace, my simple network looks like this:

I switched on the display for the interface names. This is why you see the “nio_gen_eth:\….” entry unter the cloud. This is the physical PC interface. Regardless what IP-address the PC-interface has, the router address is independent (f0/0). If the router address is in the same subnet as your PC, you will be able to access the router from your PC.  Lets assume a physical router with its f0/0 interface is reachable from the PC as well and has a FXS-VIC interface 0/1/0. The configuration of R0 (virtual router) and R1 (physical router) could look like this (assuming a very basic H323 connection to make the FXS interface reachable from CME):

R0:
interface FastEthernet0/0
 ip address 192.168.16.3 255.255.255.0
 speed 100
 half-duplex                         <– we are sharing the PC-port like a HUB
!
dial-peer voice 100 voip
 destination-pattern 1…                           <– H323 connection to the physical router
 session target ipv4:192.168.16.100  <– IP-address of the physical router
!
telephony-service           <– Switch on CME
 max-ephones 2
 max-dn 5
 ip source-address 192.168.16.3  <- accept registration from IP-Phones at this address
!
!
ephone-dn  1   <– the DN for the CIPC or 79xx phone
 number 2000
!
ephone  1
 description CME-Phone-1
 mac-address 0000.0000.0001  <– put the real mac-addres of the phone here
 type CIPC          <– phone type CIPC, 7940, 7960 etc.
 button  1:1        <– first line gets DN #1 (2000)
!

If you use a 79xx phone you will also need to get the tftp server address (option 150)handed out to the phone via DHCP. A sample configuration would look like this:

ip dhcp excluded-address 192.168.16.1 192.168.16.150
!
ip dhcp pool IP-Phones
   network 192.168.16.0 255.255.255.0
   default-router 192.168.16.3
   option 150 ip 192.168.16.3

This should let the IP-phone register with the CME. The dial-peer with the destination pattern 1… will send all dialed numbers with 4 digits starting with 1 to the .100 IP-address. The configuration of R1 with the FXS-port in 0/1/0 will look like this:

R1:

interface FastEthernet0/0
 ip address 192.168.16.100 255.255.255.0
 speed 100
 half-duplex       <– we are sharing the PC-port like a HUB
!
dial-peer voice 200 voip
 destination-pattern 2…                     <– H323 connection to the virtual router
 session target ipv4:192.168.16.3  <– IP-address of the virtual router
!
dial-peer voice 100 pots
 destination-pattern 1000                <– DN of the analog phone
 port 0/1/0                                              <– physical FXS-port

 The destination-pattern 1000 assigns DN 1000 to the analog port and is used as CLID on outgoing calls.

This should serve just as a starter configuration. Dive into the VoIP configurations and test any szenario with multiple routers – the sky is the limit. For demo purposes I connected the physical router with a FXO-port to my landline and so I got a PSTN integration. Further possibilities could be setting up a VPN to one of your routers and register the CIPC on your Laptop via the VPN at the CME….. 

An integration with UCM will be possible in a similar way. The router needs a Dial-peer pointing to the Callmanager and in turn the Callmanager needs to know a gateway entry with the routers IP-address…..

by Patrick Geschwindner, Ascolta

In some popular online forums people have been talking about how the number of candidates that have passed the CCIE Security since the new version is very low, almost non-existant.  While there may be issues with the lab itself, a claim on commenter made, I wonder how much of this is related to a lack in understanding of core knowledge concepts.  See, as an instructor its easy to get into the trap of knowing all the technical details of how something works because you teach it so often and yet you lack in practical configurations.  This is something I have always fought against, one reason I spend as much time as I can on the equipment.

But when it comes to the CCIE you have to face the Open Ended Questions (OEQs).  I hear a lot of talk about them and I know that people struggle with them.  So I have to ask the question: How do you get your core knowledge?  I think this information can be obtained in a few different ways.

1. Cisco Certified Courses
2. Cisco Press Books
3. Third Party Books
4. Non-Certified Courses
5. Cisco Documentation
6. Blogs, Wikis, Forums, and whatever else is out there on the Web.

What do you use?

[poll id="9"]

Now back to the point of this post.  Is core knowledge key?  Absolutley!  So let me share with you something I know alot about- The Cisco Certified Courses.  I’m going to relate this to CCIE Security, but if anyone wants to know about Voice or R&S we can get Patrick to put that post together.

So lets break down the CCIE Security Lab Blueprint and see what courses would cover the information.

Topic 1:

Implement secure networks using Cisco ASA Firewalls

1. Perform basic firewall Initialization
2. Configure device management
3. Configure address translation (nat, global, static)
4. Configure ACLs
5. Configure IP routing
6. Configure object groups
7. Configure VLANs
8. Configure filtering
9. Configure failover
10. Configure Layer 2 Transparent Firewall
11. Configure security contexts (virtual firewall)
12. Configure Modular Policy Framework
13. Configure Application-Aware Inspection
14. Configure high availability solutions
15. Configure QoS policies

For this section you’re going to want to look at the SNAF course.  This class goes into all the topics of the ASA that are defined here.  The only drawback to this course is that the labs are primarily using ASDM, something you’re not going to use on the lab.  You can look at the outline for the course here.

Next section looks like this:

Implement secure networks using Cisco IOS Firewalls

1. Configure CBAC
2. Configure Zone-Based Firewall
3. Configure Audit
4. Configure Auth Proxy
5. Configure PAM
6. Configure access control
7. Configure performance tuning
8. Configure advanced IOS Firewall features

All of this information is going to be found in IINS and SND.  IINS is the CCNA Security course and it was developed by Ascolta for Cisco.  It’s entry level but teaches you a wide range of security concepts.  If you want to start somewhere- this is it.  SND is much more involved technically.  It includes the topics in this section in detail.  You can find the course information here.

The next topic relates to VPN.

Implement secure networks using Cisco VPN solutions

1. Configure IPsec LAN-to-LAN (IOS/ASA)
2. Configure SSL VPN (IOS/ASA)
3. Configure Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN)
4. Configure Group Encrypted Transport (GET) VPN
5. Configure Easy VPN (IOS/ASA)
6. Configure CA (PKI)
7. Configure Remote Access VPN
8. Configure Cisco Unity Client
9. Configure Clientless WebVPN
10. Configure AnyConnect VPN
11. Configure XAuth, Split-Tunnel, RRI, NAT-T
12. Configure High Availability
13. Configure QoS for VPN
14. Configure GRE, mGRE
15. Configure L2TP
16. Configure advanced Cisco VPN features

When  it comes to VPN things get a little more difficult.  VPN is covered in SND, which i mentioned in the above section.  However, the coverage in SND is only Router-to-Router VPN.  You do get some WebVPN on the routers, as well as Easy VPN on the Routers.  If you want VPN on the ASA you have to look at the SNAA course.  This is the “Advanced” version of the ASA course, bit really it should be called ASA VPNs.  The reason I say this is that it is mostly VPNs (Anyconnect, Clientless SSL, Easy VPN Server and Client, DAP, CSD, and IPSec) but it does include a few other topics- Advanced Nat, Routing and Switching, and Layer 7 MPF.  You also get to cover the SSMs in this course.  The details can be found here.

The IPS topics are pretty straight forward.  They include the following:

Configure Cisco IPS to mitigate network threats

1. Configure IPS 4200 Series Sensor Appliance
2. Initialize the Sensor Appliance
3. Configure Sensor Appliance management
4. Configure virtual Sensors on the Sensor Appliance
5. Configure security policies
6. Configure promiscuous and inline monitoring on the Sensor Appliance
7. Configure and tune signatures on the Sensor Appliance
8. Configure custom signatures on the Sensor Appliance
9. Configure blocking on the Sensor Appliance
10. Configure TCP resets on the Sensor Appliance
11. Configure rate limiting on the Sensor Appliance
12. Configure signature engines on the Sensor Appliance
13. Use IDM to configure the Sensor Appliance
14. Configure event action on the Sensor Appliance
15. Configure event monitoring on the Sensor Appliance
16. Configure advanced features on the Sensor Appliance
17. Configure and tune Cisco IOS IPS
18. Configure SPAN & RSPAN on Cisco switches

For these topics you want to look at Implementing Cisco Intrusion Prevention Systems v6.0.  Every one of these topics is covered in the IPS course in great detail. This is another course that was written by Ascolta for Cisco.  You can get the details here.

The next section is going to spread things out a bit.

Implement Identity Management

1. Configure RADIUS and TACACS+ security protocols
2. Configure LDAP
3. Configure Cisco Secure ACS
4. Configure certificate-based authentication
5. Configure proxy authentication
6. Configure 802.1x
7. Configure advanced identity management features
8. Configure Cisco NAC Framework

Now the Radius and TACACS+ is covered in SNAF, SND, and IINS but they only cover the topics related to the respective course.  In otherwords, SNAF covers RADIUS and TACACS+ and Cisco Secure ACS for the ASA.  SND and IINS cover RADIUS and TACACS+, Cisco Secure ACS, Certificate Based Authentication, Proxy Authentication, and 802.1x for the Cisco Routers.  SND covers the Switches.  NAC is coverd in a NAC course but I dont even see it on the Ascolta Course list and I haven’t had to teach it in about 3 years.  It was a good course though.  There is a course called Implementing Cisco NAC Appliance v2.1 (CANAC), but its the NAC appliance and not the stuff Cisco used to call “Cisco NAC.”

As far as Advanced Identity Management features go…that could mean anything.  And I only know of 1 class- CIPT1 that has LDAP information in it but it is not related to Security at all.

On to the next topic:

Implement Control Plane and Management Plane Security

1. Implement routing plane security features (protocol authentication, route filtering)
2. Configure Control Plane Policing
3. Configure CP protection and management protection
4. Configure broadcast control and switchport security
5. Configure additional CPU protection mechanisms (options drop, logging interval)
6. Disable unnecessary services
7. Control device access (Telnet, HTTP, SSH, Privilege levels)
8. Configure SNMP, Syslog, AAA, NTP
9. Configure service authentication (FTP, Telnet, HTTP, other)
10. Configure RADIUS and TACACS+ security protocols
11. Configure device management and security

This is a mish-mash of topics.  You’re going to find a ton of them in SND.  I can’t recall is the Service Authentication is in SND though.  Everything else is.

Second to last topic….

Configure Advanced Security

1. Configure mitigation techniques to respond to network attacks
2. Configure packet marking techniques
3. Implement security RFCs (RFC1918/3330, RFC2827/3704)
4. Configure Black Hole and Sink Hole solutions
5. Configure RTBH filtering (Remote Triggered Black Hole)
6. Configure Traffic Filtering using Access-Lists
7. Configure IOS NAT
8. Configure TCP Intercept
9. Configure uRPF
10. Configure CAR
11. Configure NBAR
12. Configure NetFlow
13. Configure Anti-Spoofing solutions
14. Configure Policing
15. Capture and utilize packet captures
16. Configure Transit Traffic Control and Congestion Management
17. Configure Cisco Catalyst advanced security features

Much of this is covered in SND.  I dont think that RTBH filtering (Remote Triggered Black Hole) is in any of the Cisco courses but I may be wrong.  NBAR and CAR are in the QOS class as well as Policing on the routers.  SNAF covers policing on the ASA.  Antispoofing is covered in SND and Netflow is kinda covered in the MARS class but I wouldnt take the MARS class for Netflow alone.  It’s very light on the Netflow but it does cover it.  BCMSN has a pretty good security section for the switches so if you combine the information in there with the information in the SND course you should have it covered.  BCMSN in part of the CCNP program.

And finally….

Identify and Mitigate Network Attacks

1. Identify and protect against fragmentation attacks
2. Identify and protect against malicious IP option usage
3. Identify and protect against network reconnaissance attacks
4. Identify and protect against IP spoofing attacks
5. Identify and protect against MAC spoofing attacks
6. Identify and protect against ARP spoofing attacks
7. Identify and protect against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks
8. Identify and protect against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
9. Identify and protect against Man-in-the-Middle (MiM) attacks
10. Identify and protect against port redirection attacks
11. Identify and protect against DHCP attacks
12. Identify and protect against DNS attacks
13. Identify and protect against Smurf attacks
14. Identify and protect against SYN attacks
15. Identify and protect against MAC Flooding attacks
16. Identify and protect against VLAN hopping attacks
17. Identify and protect against various Layer2 and Layer3 attacks

This information is going to primarily be covered in SND. You will find some of it spread through the other classes I mentioned.

Wow thats a ton of information right?  Yeah.  I know.  But let me just be clear on one thing.  While the courses I mentioned are a great source of information on these CCIE Security topics they are not designed to teach you what you need to know to be a CCIE.  They should however give you a solid foundation to build upon with a great deal of study of the Cisco Documentaion as well as Lab time.

I hear often that it is hard to practice/demo voice related configurations with GNS3. This is only partially true.

It is correct that GNS3 cannot substitute Multiservice routers like 28xx etc because the DSP resources cannot be emulated. For using T1/E1 or FXS/FXO connections you need the real hardware interfaces and of course another PBX/router interface to connect your T1 to. If you have a double T1 you could use a T1 x-over to let the router do both ends.

For all other configurations like Dial-peers, translation patterns, SIP-UA configurations, CME, ephone registrations, CUBE etc, GNS3 can do the job. Just an example from my own lab: I have several accounts at SIP-Providers in US and Europe to use with a standard sip-phone like X-Lite. The router can log in this SIP-account and let CME or UCM handle the call. Via this way I provide a local german PSTN-number for my german friends which makes my phones in Minnesota ring. The thing has of course a downside… they keep forgetting that I am 7h behind, but for this purpose Unity will take the call. 

Where is GNS3 now coming into the ballpark? For each router you can specify only one SIP-registrar server, but I like to have all my SIP-accounts registered at the same time to route calls between them. GNS3 can now run the virtual routers, one for each SIP-provider, register your PSTN-numbers and UCM/CME can do the call handling.

by Patrick Geschwindner, Ascolta

I have often been asked for a quick way to convert a Cisco IP-Phone between SIP and SCCP. People get their IP-Phones often from E-Bay or other 2nd hand resource for testing and practicing and they may receive them with the ”other” phone load they didn’t want. The easiest way to convert is via Autoregistration. With CME this is a litle more complex, but with UCM (v6 or higher) this is an easy task.

First of all, switch on Autoregistration. If you need help with that, there is another post by Brandon in this blog how to switch on Autoregistration.

Second, switch the Autoregistration Protocol to SIP or SCCP in the Enterprise Parameters (System -> Enterprise Parameters) . If the phone had been registered before, it needs to be deleted, otherwise it will not be considered as a “new” one and Communicationmanager will just reregister the phone.

Save the new setting and delete the phone and connect it if not yet done. The phone now will download the default configuration file and the new phone loads. It will reload multiple times, so just be a little patient.

One remark for phones being connected to the UCM behind a WAN: TFTP-downloads via a WAN can be pretty slow. A download can be between 20 and 30 minutes for all phones based on Java which are literally all but the older 7940′s and 7960′s

by Patrick Geschwindner, Ascolta

With CUCM you can auto-register phones provided a simple configuration is in place.  While this is not rocket science it’s nice to have the walkthrough to look back on so here it goes.

Ensure that the Cisco CallManager service is enabled by going to Cisco Unified Serviceability then select Tools>Service Activation and ensure that the Call Manager Service is enabled.

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

Next go to Cisco Unified CM Administration and select System>Cisco Unified CM

Once there you should notice that the default configuration has auto-registration disabled.

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

While auto-registration is disabled the phone will cycle through showing you that registration is denied. You can see the message in the following video:

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

Once this has been done the phone can be reset and should pull a number from the auto range. Fun Stuff Huh?  Here is the phone registering.  A little shakey but taken with my Flip.  :)

Its been a few months since I passed the CCIE Security exam.  Since then I have been working on Voice and R&S but jumping back and forth.  It’s not the study plan I would follow if I had things my way.  Alas, work, family, and study all have to come together in a fine balance for me to acomplish anything.  It took me 2 years and three attempts to pass the Security Lab. The reason it took me so long is because I wasn’t seriously studying for much of that time.  So when people ask me what plan I followed it’s a tough one to answer.  Once I put it all together and subtract the on-and-off periods I can however, see a distinct path.  So for those who are interested, let me share.

To begin with I was a CCSP prior to taking the Security written.  This, in my opinion, was the “core knowledge” understanding that you must have.  I used CCBootcamps CCIE Security Written Workbook to study for that.  Once I passed it was technology focused labs.  If I couldnt figure something out I went back to what I know of the core knowledge topics and reviewed/re-learned.  Then I would go back to the technology specific labs.  Once in a while I would throw in a mock lab just to smack myself in the face and prove how little I really knew.  When that started getting smoother I began doing multiple mock labs per week.

At this point I took a bootcamp with Jared at IPexpert.  I KNOW it pushed me over the edge.  After that I changed the way I studied because I was less than three months from taking the lab.  It was after the bootcamp that I eased up, rented rack time 24/7 all the way up to two days before my lab.  Now when I would do a full scale mock lab I would not start over every day.  I would work on as much as I wanted whenever I wanted and if I got bored I would go watch TV.  If I got frustrated I would go watch TV or go outside or something.  The point is I would remove myself from the labs.  When I felt guilty for not studying I would go back to it.

Two days before the lab exam I stopped working on the racks and spent the last two days just thinking about things, listening to some audio bootcamp material in areas where I felt weak, and I spent time with my kids and my wife.

Thats it.  There is no trick.  There is no Golden Rule, no “Best Practice” so-to-speak.  Here is what I say:  You know you.  Just study hard, let your mind absorb the information you are cramming it with and enjoy what you are learning.

I’m sure there is more….but I’m feeling guilty for not studying for a test I have to take.  Time to get back to that!

Well it’s been an interesting week for me.  I took a little down time to camp with the kids.  I spent a few days over on Whidbey Island at a camp site on the beach.  It was pretty relaxing but in the back of my mind I knew I had this CIPT1 test coming up.  At any rate, I am not quite thru the Cisco Press book by Dennis Hartmann, I’m actually about 80 pages shy.  I also have the Quick Reference Sheets that I will scan thru tomorrow night before the test on Saturday morning.  Provided I pass with an instructor score I should be clear to teach that class and can add it to my list of about 20 Cisco courses I can teach.

Then on Sunday I am off to Denver, Co to teach a BGP class.  That class is one of my favorites!

I’ll have a few technical content posts coming shortly.  I want to take some time to get ahead and schedule posts.  As of yet I have about 100 drafts that I need to polish up and then I can publish.

Well, back to the labs….

It’s been a few days since I’ve had a real post, although I have added some comments into the link posts that I’ve added.  If you haven’t noticed I just installed a new toolbar on the bottom of the site for your reading enjoyment.  If you find something you like you can easly share it now.

As for me, it has been crazy.  At one point in time I had 13 people in my house.  Now that all the visitors are gone and things are settled down I am getting back into the swing of things.  I’ve done some light studies for R&S and it looks like the CCIE in 90 days is not going to work out.  That’s ok with me, I wouldn’t feel like it was quality study time anyhow and going to take the lab would be like throwing 1400 bucks away.  I’m going to slow things up a bit.  Not because I want to, but because I have to.

The work front is interesting.  I have been at home since Cisco Live and don’t have travel scheduled until the last week of August.  I’ve been asked to pick up some of the voice classes, which brings me back to the issue I had before about whether I should work on the Voice or the R&S CCIE.  The R&S classes that I teach keep coming up, QOS next week and BGP in a few weeks, but at the same time I have to focus some of my learning time on what my job requires which is Voice.  So I am working in the CIPT1 course and getting certified to teach it.  It’s mostly all CUCM so it’s not too bad to study but it’s different when you are learning how to teach something versus how the technology works to impliment it.  It also cuts into my R&S study time.  Who knows if I will ever find the right balance.  In the mean time I will jump back and forth between R&S and Voice Studies.  I have the IPexpert BLS for both and plan on getting both of those CCIE Certifications someday.

Also, since everyone talked so highly of it, my wife and I have started P90x.  1-week down and I’m feeling pretty good.

Well thats if for now.  I hope to have some more technology focused posts in the near future.  Until then…study hard!

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