Configuration of the Virtual Appliance: Upcoming Changes

Cisco Umbrella Virtual Appliance (VA) 2.4 is scheduled for release to production tracks in January 2019. This version will introduce significant changes around how the VA is configured. This article details these changes.

Upgrade of existing Virtual Appliances to version 2.4

• Any VA that is auto-upgraded to version 2.4 will retain its existing configuration including its IP address.
• Any configuration change can be made by pressing Ctrl+B on the console (start menu) to enter the configuration mode on the VA.
• The configuration mode requires authentication. 
• You will need to change the password after first login and then make the configuration changes using config commands on the VA.
• You can change the password of the VA at any time by running the ‘passwd’ command in configuration mode.
• If you have forgotten the password, login to the Umbrella dashboard, go to the Sites and Active Directory page and click on Reset Password against the VA whose password you wish to reset. This will reset the password to the default password. It can take up to 15 minutes for the password to be reset on the VA.
• Once the password is reset, you can access the configuration mode of the VA, enter the default password and change it.
• Troubleshooting commands like ping and dig can also be executed in the configuration mode. The list of supported commands can be obtained through the help command.

New Virtual Appliances running version 2.4

• If a VA running version 2.4 is newly launched in a DHCP-enabled network, it will get auto-configured with a DHCP address and will register to Umbrella using this IP.  The VA will appear on the Umbrella dashboard with the DHCP IP as the name.
• The console (start menu) on the Virtual Appliance version 2.4 will enable viewing of configuration only.
• Any configuration change can be made by pressing Ctrl+B on the console (start menu) to enter the configuration mode on the VA.
• The configuration mode requires authentication. 
• You will need to change the password after first login and then make the configuration changes using config commands on the VA.
• You can change the password of the VA at any time by running the ‘passwd’ command in configuration mode.
• If you have forgotten the password, login to the Umbrella dashboard, go to the Sites and Active Directory page and click on Reset Password against the VA whose password you wish to reset. This will reset the password to the default password. It can take up to 15 minutes for the password to be reset on the VA.
• Once the password is reset, you can access the configuration mode of the VA, enter the default password and change it.
• Troubleshooting commands like ping and dig can also be executed in the configuration mode. The list of supported commands can be obtained through the help command.

SSH access to a VA running version 2.4

• VAs running version 2.4 on VMware or Hyper-V will support configuration through SSH, but this will need to be explicitly enabled through the configuration mode on the VA.
• Once SSH is enabled, you can initiate an SSH session to the VA's IP address for further configuration. 
• Configuring the VA using SSH requires authentication.