Network configuration

Accessing network configuration settings in Server Console

Server Console

You can access the Server Console interface direct via your system console or over an SSH connection. If you want to use an SSH connection, you must first enable SSH access in the Gateway UI and add the IP address of your SSH client. See Configuring SSH Access for more details.

You must use the cs-admin account credentials to access the Server Console interface, regardless of the method of access.

Network configuration settings

After accessing Server Console, select Configure System from the list of options. This displays the Configure System page of the Server Console. Configure Network Settings allows you to configure local network settings such as IP addresses, DNS servers, hostname, static hosts, and routes. Configure External Servers allows you to configure external network services such as NTP, SCOM, and SNMP.

Navigating Server Console

Server Console is a menu-driven, text-based user interface (TUI), which you navigate using the keyboard. You can use the Tab and Spacebar keys to quickly navigate between menus and apply changes.

• Use the arrow keys to move between fields in a menu, list, or form.
• Press the Enter key to select a highlighted item in a menu, list, or form. Further details of the selected item are displayed.
• Use the Tab or Spacebar keys to select options such as OK, Select, Add, Edit, Delete, Done, or Apply.

The majority of menus and forms in Server Console follow a standard pattern. From a summary list of network properties (such as Static Hosts) you can select one of three options:

• Add

  Use this option to add a new item.

• Edit

  Use this option to edit or delete an existing item.

• Back/Cancel

  Use one of these options to return to a previous menu without saving your changes.

• Save/Done

  Use one of these options to save your changes and return to a previous menu. Note: If you return to a previous menu using Save or Done, Server Console saves all changes for you to deploy later in the process.

Deploying changes

When you first enter the Configure Network Settings or Configure Network Services menus, the system tracks any changes you make and records changes that require deploying. Server Console deploys changes to network configuration settings as a single step when you exit the Configure Network Settings or Configure Network Services menu.

The Deploy Network Settings page appears and gives you the following options:

• Apply

  This immediately applies all pending changes and restart the network service. Some loss of service or connectivity may be experienced at this time.

• Later

  This leaves all changes in "pending" state, awaiting further modification. No changes will be lost.

• Discard

  This immediately discards all pending changes.

When you select Apply, Server Console automatically deploys all changes to local network settings. At the point deployment occurs, the installed Gateway is also notified of changes and might need to restart services and update firewall configuration.

IPv6 support

Server Console has a number of menus that mention IPv6. Although these menus appear in Server Console, they are currently inactive as IPv6 support is not available in the current release.

Network Adapters settings

Network Adapters settings offers you a list of recognized network interfaces. If a new network adapter is added, the kernel automatically detects it and a new entry is displayed in the list of network interfaces.

Server Console lists network interfaces as either Enabled or Disabled. Interfaces that you have not yet configured appear as disabled. When you edit an interface, you have the option to enable/disable it.

To configure a new network interface or modify an existing one, select a network interface and click Edit. The Server Console then presents you with a list of configuration changes you can make to the network interface. You can add or edit IPv4 addresses and IPv4 static routes or you can disable the network interface.

Each physical network interface (or adapter) can have a Primary and Secondary IP address. A Secondary IP address is sometimes called a virtual-IP or IP-alias. When you first configure a network interface, the Server Console forces you to configure the Primary IP address first. You can only add the Secondary IP address once you define the Primary. Once both addresses are defined, you can delete either the Primary or Secondary IP address. If you delete the Primary IP address, the network interface still works with the Secondary IP address. The Server Console only supports one Secondary IP address. For example, the IP address associated Ethernet interface eth0 is the Primary IP address and the eth0:1 the Secondary IP address.

Local network settings

You can make changes to local network settings such as IP address, DNS server, Hostname, Static Hosts and Routes in the Configure Network Settings menu.

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• Changing the hostname

  You can change the hostname of the Gateway using the network tool. The hostname is the name used to identify the Gateway on the Internet or your intranet, for example when connecting to the Web Interface. You can also use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) as the hostname. For example, cs-gateway.company-domain.com.

• Network Adapters

  The Network Adapters menu allows you to browse all the physical NICs detected by the kernel. You can configure up to two IPv4 addresses on each NIC and also configure any associated static routes.

• Preferred Default Gateway

  In an environment with two or more NICs, the Server Console enables you to define a different default Gateway for each NIC.

  By default, the primary (eth0) interface is used as the preferred route to the default Gateway. However, if this choice is not appropriate for your environment, you can adjust it by modifying the following property in /etc/sysconfig/network:

  GATEWAYDEV=eth0

  Clearswift recommends that you define a default Gateway for each NIC in your network configuration.

  After modifying this property, you should also restart the network using the following command:

  service network restart

• DNS Servers

  You can specify up to three DNS servers to which your Gateway will forward queries, and the DNS search path. Alternatively, you can specify that the Gateway passes DNS queries to appropriate DNS servers on the internet. Note that DNS settings are configured via the console, not the browser-based Gateway user interface.

  The Gateway maintains a local cache of domain details it has retrieved, and checks the cache before querying a DNS server. This is recommended practice, as it reduces the DNS server load and improves processing speeds. DNS cache is enabled by default. If this is unsuitable for your environment, contact Clearswift technical support for additional guidance.

  The primary DNS server is not necessarily the preferred DNS server. If you configure multiple DNS servers, the Gateway can use any of them at any time. The local DNS cache might then display information from a combination of these servers.

• Specifying Static Hosts

  You can specify the address and alias details of any number of closed static hosts to the Gateway, avoiding the need for a DNS request for the host's details. The Gateway always looks for an address first in its static hosts table, only making a DNS request if it finds no match.

• Configuring Static Route Settings

  When you initially install your Gateway, you typically configure a single network gateway for each network interface. Under Network Adapters in the Server Console, you can configure routes for multiple network gateways by selecting Edit on a network interface. This is useful for situations where your environment uses multiple internal networks and each requires a gateway configuration.

  For example, your Gateway configuration may use one network interface card for the internet gateway, and the other network interface card for internal gateways. Static routes allow you to configure explicit routes to the gateway or gateways for these internal networks.

External network settings

You can make changes to external network services such as NTP, SCOM and SNMP in the Configure Network Services menu. These services are disabled by default.

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• NTP Service

  This allows you to configure the NTP server (or servers) used by the Gateway.

• Proxy Server

  If you are working in online mode behind a web proxy, a Proxy Server allows you to bypass this web proxy and download any updates. You can supply the IP address of the web proxy under Proxy Server.

• SNMP Support

  You can configure the Gateway to send notifications to a pre-defined SNMP management station when an alarm occurs in the Gateway. Up to 4 pre-defined SNMP Servers can be configured here in Server Console. Through the Gateway UI you can then select one of these for the Gateway to communicate with. See Configuring SNMP and Email Alarm Notifications for more information.

  SNMP Support in Server Console allows you to add up to four SNMP servers. It also allows you to enter Community Strings for each SNMP server which receives traps that the Gateway sends. You can configure different Community Strings from the same SNMP server.

• SCOM Support

  You can also monitor a Gateway using Microsoft's System Center Operations Manager (SCOM).

  The Server Console allows you to register up to four SCOM servers. For each SCOM server, you must supply the user account details (username and password) used by the SCOM servers for importing SCOM management packs. Your password must conform to the password policy being enforced. See Clearswift password policy for local accounts for more information.

  The Gateway currently supports the following SCOM management pack:

  • Microsoft.Linux.RHEL.6.mp (for more information see Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Management Pack Guide )

  The SCOM Server communicates with the Gateway over SSH. In order to register with a SCOM server and receive management packs, the Gateway must have SSH access open to the nominated SCOM Server. See Configuring SSH Access for more details.

  A SCOM server can also receive SNMP traps. To send SNMP traps to a SCOM server, select the IP address of the required SCOM server in the Gateway user interface. See Configuring SNMP and Email for more information.