Accessing the Appliance

This chapter contains the following sections:

Web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI)

You can administer the appliance using both the web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) and Command Line Interface (CLI). The GUI contains most of the functionality you need to configure and monitor the system. However, not all CLI commands are available in the GUI; some features are only available through the CLI.

Browser Requirements

To access the web-based UI, your browser must support and be enabled to accept JavaScript and cookies, and it must be able to render HTML pages containing Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Browser

Operating System

Internet Explorer 11.0

Microsoft Windows 7

Safari 7.0 and later

Mac OS X

Firefox 39.0 and later

Microsoft Windows 7, Mac OS X

Chrome 44.0 and later

Microsoft Windows 7, Mac OS X

Do not use multiple browser windows or tabs simultaneously to make changes to the appliance . Do not use concurrent GUI and CLI sessions. Doing so will cause unexpected behavior and is not supported.

You may need to configure your browser’s pop-up blocking settings in order to use the web interface because some buttons or links in the interface will cause additional windows to open.

Accessing the GUI

To access the GUI on a brand new system, access the following URL:

http://192.168.42.42/

When the login page is displayed, log in to the system using the default username and passphrase.

Related Topics

Factory Default Username and Passphrase

  • Username: admin
  • Passphrase: ironport

On brand new (not upgraded from previous releases of AsyncOS) systems, you will automatically be redirected to the System Setup Wizard.

During the initial system setup, you choose IP addresses for interfaces and whether to run HTTP and/or HTTPS services for those interfaces. When HTTP and/or HTTPS services have been enabled for an interface, you can use any supporting browser to view the GUI by entering the IP address or hostname of the IP interface as a URL in the location field (“address bar”) of the browser.

For example:

http://192.168.1.1 or

https://192.168.1.1 or

http://mail3.example.com or

https://mail3.example.com


Note

If HTTPS has been enabled for an interface (and HTTP requests are not being redirected to the secure service), remember to access the GUI using the “ https:// ” prefix.
Related Topics

Centralized Management

If you have created a cluster, you can browse machines in the cluster, create, delete, copy, and move settings among clusters, groups, and machines (that is, perform the equivalent of the clustermode and clusterset commands) from within the GUI.

For more information, see Administering a Cluster from the GUI.

Cloud Administrator - Web Interface Access

As a cloud administrator, you have limited access to specific features and configuration settings available in the web interface of your email gateway.

The following table details the specific features and configuration settings limited for a cloud administrator:

Feature or Configuration Setting

Navigation Path in Email Gateway

Running a Packet Capture.

Help and Support > Packet Capture

Configuring FTP Access to the Email Gateway

Network > IP Interfaces

Configuring Domain Name System (DNS) Settings

Network > DNS

Configuring TCP/IP Traffic Routes

Network > Routing

Updating a List of Revoked Certificates

Network > CRL Sources

Configuring Server Settings for Downloading Upgrades and Updates

Security Services > Service Updates

Managing and Configuring Alerts

System Administration > Alerts

Shutting Down or Rebooting the Email Gateway

System Administration > Shutdown/Suspend

Downloading and Installing the Upgrade

System Administration > System Upgrade

Configuring Access to the Email Gateway

System Administration > Network Access

Editing General Settings of the Email Gateway

System Administration > General Settings

Defining Basic Configuration Using the Web-Based System Setup Wizard

System Administration > System Setup Wizard

Complete Configuration Process of your Email Gateway

System Administration > Next Steps

Enhanced User Experience using How-Tos Widget

The How-Tos is a contextual widget that provides in-app assistance to users in the form of walkthroughs to accomplish complex tasks on your appliance . To view a list of walkthroughs supported in this release, see Lis of Walkthroughs.

You can access the walkthroughs by clicking the How-Tos widget on the web interface of your appliance . By default, the How-Tos widget is enabled on your appliance . The contents of the How-Tos widget are cloud-updateable.

For each walkthrough, there are recommended settings for specific configurable values categorized as follows:

  • Conservative Settings - Cautious, configuration of not excessive limits

  • Moderate Settings - Average, configuration within reasonable limits

  • Aggressive Settings- Forceful, configuration of assertive limits


Note

  • The current set of walkthroughs is limited to the following users: admin, cloud-admin, and operator.

  • If you are using Internet Explorer version 11 to access the web interface of your appliance, you may not be able to view the How-Tos widget. Go to System Administration > General Settings page on your web interface and enable the Override IE Compatibility Mode option to view the How-Tos widget.


Disabling How-Tos Widget on the Appliance

Use the adminaccessconfig > how-tos sub command in the CLI if you want to disable the How-Tos widget on your appliance .

Example: Disabling How-Tos widget on the Appliance
mail.example.com> adminaccessconfig

Choose the operation you want to perform:

- BANNER - Configure login message (banner) for appliance administrator login.
- WELCOME - Configure welcome message (post login message) for appliance administrator login.
- IPACCESS - Configure IP-based access for appliance administrative interface.
- CSRF - Configure web UI Cross-Site Request Forgeries protection.
- XSS - Configure Cross-Site Scripting Attack protection.
- HOSTHEADER - Configure option to use host header in HTTP requests.
- TIMEOUT - Configure GUI and CLI session inactivity timeout.
- MAXHTTPHEADERFIELDSIZE - Configure maximum HTTP header Field size.
- HOW-TOS - Configure How-Tos feature.

[]> how-tos
How-Tos consists of a list of generic walkthroughs to assist the users in completing 
a particular task (for example, "enabling and configuring a service engine on the appliance").

Would you like to enable How-Tos? [Y]> no

Changing Configuration Settings

Configuration Changes

You can make configuration changes while email operations proceed normally.

Commit or Abandoning Changes

You must explicitly save most configuration changes.

When changes are pending a commit, the Commit Changes button turns orange.

To clear or commit these changes, click Commit Changes.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

The Command Line Interface is accessible via SSH on IP interfaces that have been configured with these services enabled, or via terminal emulation software on the serial port. By factory default, SSH is configured on the Management port. Use the interfaceconfig command to disable these services.

For more information about CLI commands and conventions, see the CLI Reference Guide for AsyncOS for Cisco Email Security Appliances .


Note

The factory default username and passphrase for accessing CLI is same as that of the web interface. See Factory Default Username and Passphrase.

Cloud Administrator - CLI Access

As a cloud administrator, you have limited access to specific CLI commands used for configuration settings on your email gateway.

The following table details the specific CLI commands limited for a cloud administrator:

CLI command

Description

alertconfig.

Configure email alerts.

clusterconfig

Configure cluster related settings.

clustercheck

Prompt to switch to the cluster mode.

dnsconfig

Configure DNS setup.

dnshostprefs

Configure IPv4/IPv6 DNS preferences.

displayalerts

Display the last n alerts sent by the email gateway.

enginestatus

Displays the status and CPU usage of all engines enabled on the email gateway.

etherconfig

Configure Ethernet settings.

interfaceconfig

Configure Ethernet IP addresses.

loadconfig

Load a configuration file.

mailconfig

Mail the current configuration to an email C- and M-Series address.

packetcapture

Intercept and display packets being transmitted or received over the network.

reboot

Restart the system.

repengstatus

Request version information of Reputation Engine.

resetconfig

Restore the factory configuration defaults.

revert

Revert to a previous release.

rollbackconfig

Rollback to one of the previously committed configurations.

routeconfig

Configure IP routing table.

saveconfig

Saves the configuration to disk.

setgateway

Set the default gateway (router).

sethostname

Set the name of the machine.

showconfig

Display all configuration values.

shutdown

Shut down the system to power off.

systemsetup

First time system setup.

tcpservices

Display information about files opened by processes.

tzupdate

Update timezone rules.

updateconfig

Configure system update parameters.

updatenow

Update all components.

upgrade

Install an upgrade.

wipedata

Wipe the core files on the disk and check the status of the last coredump operation.