Add Port Group Interfaces for Single Firewalls

Port groups simplify port and network segment configuration. Traffic inside a port group is not inspected. The traffic between port groups is inspected by the firewall in the same way as other traffic.

Before you begin

You must add the integrated switch before you can add port group interfaces.

Depending on the Forcepoint NGFW appliance model, you can define one or more port group interfaces and add different types of interfaces to the port group:
  • On Forcepoint NGFW appliances that have hardware integrated switches, you can define one or more port group interfaces on the integrated switch.

    You can add physical interfaces to the port group interface.

  • On Forcepoint NGFW appliances that have software integrated switches, you can define one port group interface on each integrated switch.

    You can add physical and SSID interfaces to the port group interface. You must first add the physical and SSID interfaces in the engine editor without any IP address configuration, before adding these interfaces to the port group.

For more information about the type of integrated switch that your appliance has, see the model-specific Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall Hardware Guide for your Forcepoint NGFW appliance.

For more details about the product and how to configure features, click Help or press F1.

Steps

  1. Right-click a Single Firewall, then select Edit Single Firewall.
  2. In the navigation pane on the left, select Interfaces.
  3. In the right pane, right-click the switch and select New Port Group Interface.
  4. In the Port Group Interface Properties dialog box, define the port group interface properties.
  5. Click OK.
    The port group interface is added to the interface list. The defined switches and port group interfaces are displayed, for example, as 0.1 for switch ID 0 with port group 1.

Next steps

Add IP addresses to the port group interface.

Port Group Interface Properties dialog box

Use this dialog box to configure the properties of port group interfaces.

Option Definition
General tab
Port Group ID The ID of the port group.
Port Specifies the ports that belong to the selected port group. To add a port, click Add, or to remove a selected port, click Remove.
Comment

(Optional)

 A comment for your own reference.
Zone

(Optional)

 Select the network zone to which the interface belongs. Click Select to select an element, or click New to create an element.
MTU

(Optional)

The maximum transmission unit (MTU) size on the connected link. Either enter a value between 400–65535 or select a common MTU value from the list.

If the interface is a Physical Interface, the same MTU is automatically applied to any VLANs created under it.

The default value (also the maximum standard MTU in Ethernet) is 1500. Do not set a value larger than the standard MTU, unless you know that all devices along the communication path support it.

To set the MTU for a Virtual NGFW Engine, you must configure the MTU for the interface on the Master NGFW Engine that hosts the Virtual NGFW Engine, then refresh the policy on the Master NGFW Engine and the Virtual NGFW Engine.
Comment

(Optional)

 A comment for your own reference.
Option Definition
QoS Mode

(Optional)

Defines how QoS is applied to the link on this interface.

If Full QoS or DSCP Handling and Throttling is selected, a QoS policy must also be selected. If Full QoS is selected, the throughput must also be defined.

If the interface is a Physical Interface, the same QoS mode is automatically applied to any VLANs created under it.

QoS Policy

(When QoS Mode is Full QoS or DSCP Handling and Throttling)

The QoS policy for the link on this interface.

If the interface is a Physical Interface, the same QoS policy is automatically selected for any VLANs created under it.

Note: If a Virtual Resource has a throughput limit defined, the interfaces on the Virtual NGFW Engine that use a QoS policy all use the same policy. The policy used in the first interface is used for all the interfaces.
Interface Throughput Limit

(When QoS Mode is Full QoS)

Enter the throughput for the link on this interface as megabits per second.

If the interface is a Physical Interface, the same throughput is automatically applied to any VLANs created under it.

The throughput is for uplink speed (outgoing traffic) and typically must correspond to the speed of an Internet link (such as an ADSL line), or the combined speeds of several such links when connected to a single interface.

CAUTION:
Make sure that you set the interface speed correctly. When the bandwidth is set, the NGFW Engine always scales the total amount of traffic on this interface to the bandwidth you defined. This scaling happens even if there are no bandwidth limits or guarantees defined for any traffic.
CAUTION:
The throughput for a Physical Interface for a Virtual NGFW Engine must not be higher than the throughput for the Master NGFW Engine interface that hosts the Virtual NGFW Engine. Contact the administrator of the Master NGFW Engine before changing this setting.
Option Definition
DHCPv4 or DHCPv6 tab
DHCP Mode Select the DHCP mode:
  • Disabled — DHCP relay is disabled.
  • DHCP Relay — Enables DHCP relay on the interface.
  • DHCP Server (DHCPv4 only) — Activates the integrated DHCP server on the interface.
Option Definition
DHCPv4 or DHCPv6 tab, DHCPv4 Relay or DHCPv6 Relay settings

(When DHCP Mode is DHCPv4 Relay or DHCPv6 Relay)

Resources section. Add elements from this list to the list in the Content section. Click Add to add an element to the list, or Remove to remove the selected element. You can also drag and drop elements.
Filter Allows you to filter the elements shown.
Up Navigates up one level in the navigation hierarchy. Not available at the top level of the navigation hierarchy.
Tools A menu that contains various options, such as for creating new elements or showing elements that have been moved to the Trash.
Max Packet Size Set the maximum allowed packet size.
DHCP Relay Select the CVI or IP address you want to use for DHCP relay.
Trusted Circuit When selected, DHCP relay agents that terminate switched or permanent circuits and can identify the remote host end of the circuit are allowed to add the Remote-ID option to the DHCP messages before relaying them.
Option Definition
DHCPv4 tab, DHCPv4 Server settings

(When DHCP Mode is DHCPv4 Server)

DHCP Address range Defines the DHCP address range that the Firewall assigns to clients in one of the following ways:
  • Select — Allows you to select an address range element.
  • Address — Allows you to enter a single IP address or an IP address range.
On Firewall Clusters, the DHCP address range is automatically divided between the nodes.
Note: The DHCP address range must be in the same network space defined for the Physical Interface. The DHCP address range must not contain the Firewall's NDI or CVI addresses or broadcast IP addresses of networks behind the Firewall.
Primary DNS Server Enter the primary DNS server IP address that clients use to resolve domain names.

If there is a listening IP address for DNS Relay on the same interface, clients use the DNS services provided by the firewall by default. If you want clients to use a different external DNS server, enter the IP address of the external DNS server.
Secondary DNS Server Enter the secondary DNS server IP address that clients use to resolve domain names.
Primary WINS Server Enter the primary WINS server IP address that clients use to resolve NetBIOS computer names.
Secondary WINS Server Enter the secondary WINS server IP address that clients use to resolve NetBIOS computer names.
Default Gateway Enter the IP address through which traffic from clients is routed.
Default Lease Time Enter the time after which IP addresses assigned to clients must be renewed.
Domain Name Search List

(Optional)

 Enter a comma-separated Domain Name Search List to configure DNS search suffixes.
Override DHCP Ranges per Node

(Firewall Clusters only)

Enter the DHCP address range for each node.
CAUTION:
Enter unique ranges for each node. Overlapping ranges can cause IP address duplication.
Option Definition
Advanced tab

(All optional settings)

Override Engine's Default Settings When selected, the default settings of the NGFW Engine are overridden.
SYN Rate Limits
  • Default — The interface uses the SYN rate limits defined for the NGFW Engine on the Advanced Settings branch of the Engine Editor.
  • None — Disables SYN rate limits on the interface.
  • Automatic — This is the recommended mode if you want to override the general SYN rate limits defined on the Advanced Settings branch of the Engine Editor. The NGFW Engine calculates the number of allowed SYN packets per second and the burst size (the number of allowed SYNs before the NGFW Engine starts limiting the SYN rate) based on the NGFW Engine’s capacity and memory size.
  • Custom — Enter the values for Allowed SYNs per Second and Burst Size.
Allowed SYNs per Second Defines the number of allowed SYN packets per second.
Burst Size The number of allowed SYNs before the NGFW Engine starts limiting the SYN rate.

We recommend that you set the burst size to be at least one tenth of the Allowed SYNs per Second value. If the burst size is too small, SYN rate limits do not work. For example, if the value for Allowed SYNs per Second is 10000, set the value for Burst Size to at least 1000.

Enable Log Compression

By default, each generated Antispoofing and Discard log entry is logged separately and displayed as a separate entry in the Logs view. Log Compression settings allow you to define the maximum number of separately logged entries. When the defined limit is reached, a single antispoofing log entry or Discard log entry is logged. The single entry contains information about the total number of the generated Antispoofing log entries or Discard log entries. After this log entry, the logging returns to normal and all generated entries are once more logged and displayed separately. Log Compression is useful when the routing configuration generates a large volume of antispoofing logs or the number of Discard logs becomes high.

For each event type, Antispoofing or Discard, you can define:
  • Log Rate (Entries/s) — The maximum number of entries per second. The default value for antispoofing entries is 100 entries/s. By default, Discard log entries are not compressed.
  • Burst Size (Entries) — The maximum number of matching entries in a single burst. The default value for antispoofing entries is 1000 entries. By default, Discard log entries are not compressed.
Set to Default Returns all changes to the log compression settings to the default settings.
Send IPv6 Router Advertisements Select and specify what configuration information is offered in the Router Advertisement messages to devices that connect to the same network as the firewall.
  • Managed address configuration — When selected, the router advertisement messages that the Firewall sends instruct the hosts to use the DHCPv6 protocol to acquire IP addresses and other configuration information.
  • Other configuration — When selected, the router advertisement messages that the Firewall sends instruct the hosts to acquire the IPv6 prefix and the default route information from the router advertisement messages, and to use the DHCPv6 protocol to acquire other configuration information (such as DNS server addresses).

Select Port dialog box

Use this dialog box to add ports to the current Port Group.

Option Definition
Port Specifies one or more ports to be added to the current Port Group.
Comment An optional comment about the port for your own reference.