Purchasing a Cisco ASA 5506-X

[f1rew1re]

Hi everyone, 

I am looking to buy a Cisco ASA 5506-X and I had 2 questions.

1. Can this device port forward to other devices in different subnets

2. Is there a management GUI or does it have all have to be configured through a terminal.

Thank you! 

[Richard Burts · Accepted solution]

The ASA5506 can be configured to perform port forwarding to devices in different subnets.

While you can use CLI to configure the ASA it does support a GUI (ASDM) for configuration and for management.

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

Do you if I purchase the device it comes with instruction to enable ASDM so I can configure the device via a GUI. I feel like I would need support otherwise. 

[Richard Burts]

If you purchase the ASA506 you should be able to easily find instructions for how to enable ASDM. The ASA is a fairly sophisticated device. If you are not familiar with it you may need some support to assist in understanding how to configure it to achieve your requirements (this it true of both configuration using CLI and using ASDM).

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

Alright, thank you. I will contact support in case I need additional assistance, I will be sure to record the serial number in case I may need it. 

I truly appreciate your advice!

[johnlloyd_13]

hi,

you should be able to use ASDM. check the current ASDM installed with a show version command.

i had ASDM 7.8(1) on my ASA 5506-x and i used java 1.8.0_31 on my windows 7 machine.

you'll notice there's 3 new FirePower tabs.

see helpful link:

http://ccnpsecuritywannabe.blogspot.com/2018/01/configuring-cisco-asa-firepower-module.html

[Richard Burts]

I am glad that our responses have been helpful. Thank you for marking this question as solved. This will help other readers in the forum to identify discussions which have helpful information. These forums are excellent places to ask questions and to learn about networking. I hope to see you continue to be active in the forums.

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

Thank you so much for the link! It's very useful!

So, I am guessing that ASDM is a piece of software you install to manage the ASA through a GUI? I was thinking you could access the ASA through IP on the browser and manage it that way,

Also, do you know what the FirePOWER module is for?

[Richard Burts]

Yes ASDM is a piece of software. You download it from Cisco like you do the OS and put the ASDM software on the disk of the ASA. You connect from your PC to the IP of the ASA using your browser. After authenticating your session the ASA will load the ASDM software to your PC and after that you would run the ASDM software rather than using your browser.

The Firepower module provides Intrusion Prevention and other advanced threat detection if you have purchased the license for this feature.

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

I may not be using the FirePOWER module since I already have a firewall in place that does most of the filtering. 

I do appreciate all your answers, Rick, thanks for being so prompt! 

[Richard Burts]

You are welcome. When I was getting started in networking I found a forum like this (this forum did not yet exist) and was very grateful for the people who shared what they knew with me. I am glad now to be able to share what I know with others. I encourage you to continue to be active in the forums.

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

Thank you. I just want to make sure that everything that we have spoken about on this tread holds true even if i am not looking to purchase the FirePOWER license. If that does not have any impact, i will purchase the device!

[Richard Burts]

What we have talked about in this thread for port forwarding and for managing the ASA using the GUI ASDM holds true whether or not you use Firepower.

HTH

Rick

[f1rew1re]

So we are deciding to spend more money was looking at the Cisco ISR 4331 and the Cisco ISR 4431, do you know if these can also be managed through a GUI and have the potential of port forwarding traffic to devices in a different subnet?

[Richard Burts]

The ISR routers do support port forwarding. My experience is that IOS routers do have a web based interface but it is not as full featured as the ASDM for ASA. They are more commonly configured and managed from the CLI.

HTH

Rick