Using the ASA FirePOWER Dashboard

The ASA FirePOWER module dashboard provides you with at-a-glance views of current system status. The dashboard displays widgets in a three-column layout. Widgets are small, self-contained components that provide insight into different aspects of the ASA FirePOWER module. Your system is delivered with several predefined widgets. For example, the Appliance Information widget tells you the appliance name, model, and currently running version of the ASA FirePOWER module software.

The dashboard has a time range that constrains its widgets. You can change the time range to reflect a period as short as the last hour or as long as the last year.

Each appliance is delivered with a default dashboard. This dashboard provides the user with general system status information for your ASA FirePOWER module deployment.

Understanding Dashboard Widgets

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The dashboard displays multiple widgets in a three-column layout. The ASA FirePOWER module is delivered with several predefined dashboard widgets, each of which provides insight into a different aspect of the system. You can minimize and maximize widgets, as well as rearrange the widgets.

Understanding Widget Preferences

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Each widget has a set of preferences that determines its behavior.

Widget preferences can be simple. For example, you can set preferences for the Current Interface Status widget, which displays the current status of all enabled interfaces on the internal network. You can only configure the update frequency for this widget.

To modify a widget’s preferences:

Procedure

Step 1

On the title bar of the widget whose preferences you want to change, click the show preferences icon.

The preferences section for that widget appears.

Step 2

Make changes as needed.

Your changes take effect immediately. For information on the preferences you can specify for individual widgets, see Understanding the Predefined Widgets.

Step 3

On the widget title bar, click the hide preferences icon to hide the preferences section.

Understanding the Predefined Widgets

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The ASA FirePOWER module is delivered with several predefined widgets that can provide you with at-a-glance views of current system status.

Understanding the Appliance Information Widget

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The Appliance Information widget provides:

  • the name, IPv4 address, IPv6 address, and model of the appliance

  • the versions of the ASA FirePOWER module software, rule update, vulnerability database (VDB), and geolocation update installed on the appliance.

You can configure the widget to display more or less information by modifying the widget preferences to display a simple or an advanced view; the preferences also control how often the widget updates. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

Understanding the Current Interface Status Widget

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The Current Interface Status widget shows the status of all interfaces on the appliance, enabled or unused. For each interface, the widget provides:

  • the name of the interface

  • the link state of the interface

  • the link mode (for example, 100Mb full duplex, or 10Mb half duplex) of the interface

  • the type of interface, that is, copper or fiber

  • the amount of data received (Rx) and transmitted (Tx) by the interface

The color of the ball representing link state indicates the current status, as follows:

  • green: link is up and at full speed

  • yellow: link is up but not at full speed

  • red: link is not up

  • gray: link is administratively disabled

  • blue: link state information is not available (for example, ASA)

The widget preferences control how often the widget updates. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

Understanding the Disk Usage Widget

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The Disk Usage widget displays the space used on the hard drive, based on disk usage category. It also indicates the space used on and capacity of each partition of the appliance’s hard drive. The By Category stacked bar displays each disk usage category as a proportion of the total available disk space used. The following table describes the available categories.

Table 1. Disk Usage Categories

Disk Usage Category

Description

Events

all events logged by the system

Files

all files stored by the system

Backups

all backup files

Updates

all files related to updates, such as rule updates and system updates

Other

system troubleshooting files and other miscellaneous files

Free

free space remaining on the appliance

You can configure the widget to display only the By Category stacked bar, or you can show the stacked bar plus the admin (/), /Volume, and /boot partition usage, as well as the /var/storage partition if the malware storage pack is installed, by modifying the widget preferences.

The widget preferences also control how often the widget updates, as well as whether it displays the current disk usage or collected disk usage statistics over the dashboard time range. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

Understanding the Product Licensing Widget

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The Product Licensing widget shows the device and feature licenses currently installed. It also indicates the number of items (such as hosts or users) licensed and the number of remaining licensed items allowed.

The top section of the widget displays all device and feature licenses installed, including temporary licenses, while the Expiring Licenses section displays only temporary and expired licenses.

The bars in the widget background show the percentage of each type of license that is being used; you should read the bars from right to left. Expired licenses are marked with a strikethrough.

You can configure the widget to display either the features that are currently licensed, or all the features that you can license, by modifying the widget preferences. The preferences also control how often the widget updates. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

You can click any of the license types to go to the License page of the local configuration and add or delete feature licenses. For more information, see Licensing the ASA FirePOWER Module.

Understanding the Product Updates Widget

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The Product Updates widget provides you with a summary of the software (ASA FirePOWER module software and rule updates) currently installed on the appliance as well as information on available updates that you have downloaded, but not yet installed, for that software.

Note that the widget displays Unknown as the latest version of the software unless you have configured a scheduled task to download, push, or install software updates; the widget uses scheduled tasks to determine the latest version. For more information, see Scheduling Tasks.

The widget also provides you with links to pages where you can update the software.

You can configure the widget to hide the latest versions by modifying the widget preferences. The preferences also control how often the widget updates. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

On the Product Updates widget, you can:

Understanding the System Load Widget

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The System Load widget shows the CPU usage (for each CPU), memory (RAM) usage, and system load (also called the load average, measured by the number of processes waiting to execute) on the appliance, both currently and over the dashboard time range.

You can configure the widget to show or hide the load average by modifying the widget preferences. The preferences also control how often the widget updates. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

Understanding the System Time Widget

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The System Time widget shows the local system time, uptime, and boot time for the appliance.

You can configure the widget to hide the boot time by modifying the widget preferences. The preferences also control how often the widget synchronizes with the appliance’s clock. For more information, see Understanding Widget Preferences.

Working with the Dashboard

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You can view and modify the widgets that appear on the dashboard.

Viewing the Dashboard

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At any time, to view the dashboard for your ASA FirePOWER module, select Home > ASA FirePOWER Dashboard.

The dashboard has a time range that constrains its widgets. You can change the time range to reflect a period as short as the last hour (the default) or as long as the last year. When you change the time range, the widgets that can be constrained by time automatically update to reflect the new time range.

Note that not all widgets can be constrained by time. For example, the dashboard time range has no effect on the Appliance Information widget, which provides information that includes the appliance name, model, and current version of the ASA FirePOWER module software.

To view the dashboard:

  • Select Home > ASA FirePOWER Dashboard.

The ASA FirePOWER dashboard appears.

To change the dashboard time range:

  • From the Show the Last drop-down list, choose a dashboard time range.

All appropriate widgets on the page update to reflect the new time range.

Modifying the Dashboard

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The dashboard displays widgets in a three-column layout. You can minimize and maximize widgets, as well as rearrange the widgets.

Rearranging Widgets

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You can change the location of any widget.

To move a widget:

Click the title bar of the widget you want to move, then drag it to its new location.

Minimizing and Maximizing Widgets

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You can minimize widgets to simplify your view, then maximize them when you want to see them again.

To minimize a widget:

Click the minimize icon in a widget’s title bar.

To maximize a widget:

Click the maximize icon in a minimized widget’s title bar.