global protect multiple portal issue

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements

global protect multiple portal issue

L1 Bithead

We want to configure Portal level redundancy in Global protect .If we bind 2 IPs of 2 different location firewalls to our portal address then how does clinent interpret the DNS resolution .after how much time client will try on another system 

13 REPLIES 13

L4 Transporter

Hi @NIRAVK9,

 

You would need a script to automatically modify the DNS record if the 1st site was to go down. You can poll the firewall to see if it is up/interface up using SNMP. 

 

Though you can set the portal cookie to stay for a week on clients so they only need to connect to the portal once every 5-7 days, this is usually enough time to get the portal up and running again if it goes down (RMA/case with ISP etc.).

 

Alternatively you could look at GP in the cloud?

 

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/innovations/globalprotect-cloud-service

 

hope this helps,

Ben

@bmorris1. Hi..

 

Though you can set the portal cookie to stay for a week on clients so they only need to connect to the portal once every 5-7 days

 

is this in the GP App config,

@bmorris1thankyou for the response. Whwre can i find the cookie setting? 

 

if i map 2 IPs to portal address,then whether GP client will try to both Ips one by one ??

@Mick_Ball

 

Yes it is in the GP app config, in the GP portal

 

Untitled.png

@NIRAVK9 I'm not sure on this one as I have never done it myself as I've never needed portal redundancy due the above cookie authentication.

 

A solution may be to allow users to change the portal address and use different portals but the same gateways. GP should connect to the gateway that responds first.

Untitled2.png

 

if DNS resolves to 2 ip addresses your globalprotect client will only recieve 1.

 

if the portal connection fails then nothing else will happen.

 

if you reconnect GP then it may get the same address or it may get the second address. it's pretty random and probably not a good idea to use this for redundancy.

 

this is known as DNS "round robin"

 

i would still like to know also about the cookie setting.  where is it...

sorry @bmorris1, just posted after you...

 

 

BUt isn't this cookie only for authnetication prupose.?

 

or the cookie also saves the gateways sent to client  during previous connect to portal?

cookie authentication.,,,,,,,

 

i dont think "cookie auth" answers your question but if you use GP with portal auth only that generates a cookie for the gateway auth then you will need to extend this for when your portal fails.

 

 

i don't think the cached portal ever expires. i only say this because i cannot see any info/help/advice.

 

somebody else can jump in if they can advise further.

Thankyou @bmorris1 .

 

Just to make my question more clearer

 

What i am looking for is  that when my primary portal fails/goes down  then 

 

1) whether client still try to get the gateway from its cache and connect to one of the gateway which was given to it when it last conencted to portal 

 

2) whether thwere is any way at DNS provider end that i can change the IP mapped to portal address to my secondary location address

@NIRAVK9.

 

1) whether client still try to get the gateway from its cache and connect to one of the gateway which was given to it when it last conencted to portal 

 

Yes.

 

2) whether thwere is any way at DNS provider end that i can change the IP mapped to portal address to my secondary location address

 

yes. we have access tou our DNS records and can change them any time. this will depend on your provider. you may have to call/log a call with them.

 

please note that it will not be an immediate change. DNS replication is quite fast these days but it could take up to 24 hours to fully replicate across www.

 

 

 

 

1) so for first is there ant way i can see where is this cache stored in users machine and how long it will be there?

 

i have no idea, i doubt you will be able to see it.

 

 

in you host file within windows you could try to add your portal to a non existent address. try to connect GP and check to see what it says in the logs.

 

i've only ever seen "using cached portal" but there may be other info...

  • 5910 Views
  • 13 replies
  • 0 Likes
Like what you see?

Show your appreciation!

Click Like if a post is helpful to you or if you just want to show your support.

Click Accept as Solution to acknowledge that the answer to your question has been provided.

The button appears next to the replies on topics you’ve started. The member who gave the solution and all future visitors to this topic will appreciate it!

These simple actions take just seconds of your time, but go a long way in showing appreciation for community members and the LIVEcommunity as a whole!

The LIVEcommunity thanks you for your participation!