SSL VPNs Test

Remote users access the corporate network using an SSL VPN, connecting either by web mode using a web browser or tunnel mode using FortiClient.

Web mode allows users to access network resources, such as the Internal Segmentation Firewall (ISFW). For users connecting via tunnel mode, traffic to the internet will flow through the FortiGate so that security scanning can be applied to this traffic. During the connecting phase, the FortiGate also verifies whether the remote user’s antivirus software is installed and up-to-date.

If the SSL VPN is misconfigured or does not function as expected, then, remote users could not login to the corporate network. This would in turn affect the productivity of the users who work from home, affect the users who would need critical information available only on the corporate network etc. Therefore it is necessary to monitor the SSL VPN of the FortiGate firewall round the clock. The SSL VPNs test helps administrators on this regard!

Using this test administrators can figure out the current status of the SSL VPN. In addition, administrators can also figure out the users who are active on the SSL VPN using the web mode and tunnel mode. The sessions that were initiated by the users on the SSL VPN through the web mode and tunnel mode can also be tracked besides tracking the maximum number of users and sessions on the SSL VPN. This way, abnormalities can be detected and preemptive measures can be initiated before users face issues in accessing the corporate network.

Target of the test : A FortiGate Firewall

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target firewall being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

Refers to the port at which the specified host listens to.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; The default value is 161.

SNMPVersion

By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

UserName

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter. 

Context

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box.  By default, this parameter is set to none.

AuthPass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.

Confirm Password

Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.

AuthType

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

EncryptFlag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option. 

EncryptType

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

EncryptPassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

Data Over TCP

By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

EngineID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

SSL VPN status

Indicates the current state of the SSL VPN.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure value Numeric Value
Disabled 1
Enabled 2

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current state of the SSL VPN. The graph of this measure however is represented using the numeric equivalents only - 1 or 2.

Users logged

Indicates the number of users logged in through the SSL VPN.

Number

 

Active tunnel users

Indicates the number of users currently active on the SSL VPN through the tunnel mode.

Number

 

Active web users

Indicates the number of web users currently active on the SSL VPN through the web mode.

Number

 

Max users logged - High mark

Indicates the maximum number of users logged in using the SSL VPN since the start of the firewall.

Number

 

Total active sessions

Indicates the total number of sessions that are active on the SSL VPN.

Number

 

Active tunnel sessions

Indicates the number of sessions that are currently active on the SSL VPN using the tunnel mode.

Number

 

Active web sessions

Indicates the number of sessions that are currently active on the SSL VPN using the web mode.

Number

 

Max sessions logged - High mark

Indicates the maximum number of sessions logged in using the SSL VPN since the start of the firewall.

Number