Example Config for Check Point VM in Azure

In this document, we provide an example to set up the Check Point Security Gateway instance for you to validate that packets are indeed sent to the Check Point Security Gateway for VNet-to-VNet and from VNet to internet traffic inspection.

Note

Firewall and Security Gateway word will be used interchangeably in this document. Both refers to Check Point Security Gateway product.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you understand on:

  • Basic Check Point Architecture

  • Check Point Security Management

The following Check Point AMIs and software versions are supported in Azure by Aviatrix.

Supported AMI Name

Software Version

CloudGuard IaaS Single Gateway - BYOL

R80.40, R80.30

CloudGuard IaaS Single Gateway Threat Prevention & SandBlast (NGTX) - PAYG

R80.40, R80.30

CloudGuard IaaS Single Gateway with Thread Prevention (NGTP) - PAYG

R80.40, R80.30

CloudGuard IaaS Standalone (Gateway + Management) - BYOL

R80.40

Important

  • Check Point Standalone does not require Security Management to manage polices.

  • Gateway NGTP and NGTX both requires Security Management to configure Security Gateway Polices.

Check Point Reference Architecture

It is absolutely paramount at this stage to understand the basic Check Point architecture to configure Check Point Security Gateway properly. Please see a reference architecture:

cp_arch_reference

As per the reference shown above the following steps will be required to configure security polices successfully:

  1. Launch Check Point Security Gateway - Configure Interfaces and Static Routes and other specific Security Gateway configuration.

  2. Download, install, and configure Check Point Security Management (Optional)

  3. Download, install, and configure Check Point Smart Console - Launch Smart Console using Security Manager IP, add/authenticate one or more security gateways, configure security rules/polices, and push it to security gateways.

Please follow the below steps to launch and configure Check Point Security Gateway in Azure.

If you are looking to deploy Check Point in AWS environment, your starting point is here.

Launching Check Point Firewall from Aviatrix Controller

The Aviatrix Firewall Network (FireNet) workflow launches a Check Point Security Gateway instance at this step.

Go to the Aviatrix Controller > Firewall Network > Setup > Step 2a. Here is the Security Gateway information in this example for your reference. Please adjust it depending on your requirements.

Example setting

Example value

Firewall Image

Check Point CloudGuard IaaS Single Gateway R80.40 - PAYG (NGTP)

Firewall Image Version

8040.900294.0593

Firewall Instance Size

Standard_D3_v2

Egress Interface Subnet

Select the subnet whose name contains “Public-FW-ingress-egress”.

Username

admin (no alternatives)

Authentication Method

Password

Password

Input a good password of your choice

SIC Key

Input a good SIC Key.

Attach

Check

Important

SIC (Secure Inter-communication) Key needs to be noted somewhere and will be required to add Security Gateway inside the Security Manager.

Note

Check Point Security Gateway instance has only 2 interfaces as described below. Additionally, firewall instance eth1 is on the same subnet as FireNet gateway eth2 interface.

Check Point VM instance interfaces

Description

Inbound Security Group Rule

eth0 (on subnet -Public-FW-ingress-egress)

Egress or Untrusted interface

Allow ALL

eth1 (on subnet -dmz-firewall-lan)

LAN or Trusted interface

Allow ALL (Do not change)

After the launch is complete, Aviatrix Controller automatically initiates the Security Gateway on-boarding process, configure interfaces and program RFC 1918 routes in Check Point Security Gateway.

Logging in to Check Point Firewall Gaia Portal

After launch is complete, the Controller displays the Check Point Security Gateway with its public IP address of management/egress interface to login to the Check Point Gaia’s console.

Go back to the Controller, Firewall Network > Setup > Step 2a and Click on the Management UI as shown below.

The URL takes you to the Check Point Security Gateway Gaia Portal you just launched.

avx-firewall-step7a_UI

Note

Please try to use different browser (e.g. Firefox) if the Management UI link is not opening on your default browser.

Log in to the Gaia Portal with admin and password specified at launch time.

Go to Network Management > Network Interfaces to review eth0 (WAN) and eth1 (LAN) configuration as shown below.

cp_firewall_interfaces

Review static routes RFC 1918 which is configured on LAN port, the purpose of those static route is to send the packets back to the Gateway (GW).

Those static routes could be reviewed on the Network Management > IPv4 Static Routes page.

cp_firewall_static_routes

Routes can also be reviewed by clicking Monitoring on the Network Management > IPv4 Static Routes page.

cp_firewall_routes_monitoring

Important

Please make sure HTTPS (TCP 443 port) must be allowed in Check Point Security Gateway. By default, TCP 443 port is enabled in Security Gateway. This port will be used for Security Gateway health check.

(Optional) Firewall Vendor Integration

Go to the Aviatrix Controller > Firewall Network > Vendor Integration and complete the step as shown below:

cp_firewall_vendor_integration

Click Save, Show and Sync respectively.

This automatically set up the non-RFC 1918 routes between Aviatrix Gateway and Vendor’s firewall instance in this case Check Point. This can also be done manually through Cloud Portal and/or Vendor’s Management tool.

Downloading and Installing the SmartConsole

Deploying and Installing Check Point Security Management

The Check Point Security Gateway launched in the step 1 requires a management console (Check Point Security Manager) for managing one or more Security Gateways.

Deploy and install the Check Point Security Management from Azure Marketplace in Azure’s Console.

Important

Check Point Security Management CloudGuard version should be R80.40. Check Point Security Manager deployment and installation steps are not part of this guide, and it has to be done manually.

Log in to the Check Point Security Manager and download the SmartConsole on Windows-based computer.

Option 1: Click Download Now! with the message Manage Software Blades using SmartConsole on the Overview page as below.

cp_security_manager

Option 2: Download it by using this link R80.40

Installing SmartConsole and Login

Check Point’s SmartConsole is a Windows-based application used to configure and manage polices. These polices can be applied to one or more Security Gateways.

Install the SmartConsole and log into it with the Gaia Portal username, password, and IP Address of the Check Point’s Security Manager.

smart_console_login

Configuring and Add Check Point Gateway in SmartConsole

(Optional) Configure Security Gateway Secure Inter-Communication (SIC) Key

Please skip this step if you remember the SIC Key provided during the Security Gateway launch from Aviatrix Controller.

If you do not remember or wants to generate a new SIC Key then please follow this step.

Check Point Gateway needs to be configured with one-time secure password in order to establish the secure communication with Check Point Security Management Portal.

SSH to Check Point Gateway in order to configure One-time Secure Password.

%ssh admin@ip-address
The authenticity of host 'ip-address' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:1S6wQF4xI6YtieM1te0lnI2wXoRDiDfa85ctsDHd1N4.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])? yes
Failed to add the host to the list of known hosts (/Users/ahmednaail/.ssh/known_hosts).
This system is for authorized use only.
Password:
You have logged into the system.
By using this product you agree to the terms and conditions
as specified in https://www.Check Point.com/download_agreement.html
CLINFR0771  Config lock is owned by admin. Use the command 'lock database override' to acquire the lock.

cp-firewall-sc-azure> lock database override
cp-firewall-sc-azure> set expert-password
Enter new expert password:
Enter new expert password (again):
cp-firewall-sc-azure> expert
Enter expert password:


Warning! All configurations should be done through clish
You are in expert mode now.

[Expert@cp-firewall-sc-azure:0]# cpconfig
This program will let you re-configure
your Check Point products configuration.


Configuration Options:
----------------------
(1)  Licenses and contracts
(2)  SNMP Extension
(3)  PKCS#11 Token
(4)  Random Pool
(5)  Secure Internal Communication
(6)  Enable cluster membership for this gateway
(7)  Check Point CoreXL
(8)  Automatic start of Check Point Products

(9) Exit

Enter your choice (1-9) :5

Configuring Secure Internal Communication...
============================================
The Secure Internal Communication is used for authentication between
Check Point components

Trust State: Initialized but Trust was not established

 Would you like to change the Activation Key? (y/n) [n] ? y


Note: This operation will stop all Check Point Services (cpstop).
Are you sure you want to continue? (y/n) [n] ? y
Enter Activation Key:
Retype Activation Key:
initial_module:
Compiled OK.
initial_module:
Compiled OK.

Hardening OS Security: Initial policy will be applied
until the first policy is installed


The Secure Internal Communication was successfully initialized


Configuration Options:
----------------------
(1)  Licenses and contracts
(2)  SNMP Extension
(3)  PKCS#11 Token
(4)  Random Pool
(5)  Secure Internal Communication
(6)  Enable cluster membership for this gateway
(7)  Check Point CoreXL
(8)  Automatic start of Check Point Products

(9) Exit

Enter your choice (1-9) :9

Thank You...

Terminate SSH session.

Adding Check Point Security Gateway in SmartConsole

At this point, we have a One-time secure password (SIC Key) which will be used to add a Gateway inside Check Point Security Manager.

Now go back to SmartConsole and Add a Gateway as shown below:

smartconsole_add_gateway

Click on Wizard Mode

cp_gw_creation_wizard

Next provide the GW information as shown in the table:

Field

Value

Gateway Name

Configure any name

Gateway Platform

Select CloudGuard IaaS

Gateway IP

  • Static IP Address

Provide Check Point Gateway IP address

gw_general_properties

Next step is to establish a secure communication with a Gateway.

Field

Value

Gateway’ Name

Provide you Gateway Name (Case-Sensitive)

One-time Password

Use same Password which you set during SSH session with Gateway

Trust State

Default Values

Important

If you see an error during communication establishment process that says, “Failed to connect to Security Gateway. SIC has not been established …”. Please SSH to your Gateway again and follow the same process mentioned in step 4, and try again to establish a communication with Security Gateway.

trusted_communication

Click “OK” and “Finish”.

get_topology

cp_wizard_summary

Review the Gateway Summary and click OK.

cp_gw_summary

At this point if all the steps are followed properly then you should see a Gateway under the Gateways & Servers tab.

cp_gw_added

Configuring Basic traffic Policy to Allow Traffic VNet to VNet

In this step, we will configure a basic traffic security policy that allows traffic to pass through the Security Gateway.

Go to Security Policies > Access Control > Policy and configure a policy by either modifying the default Cleanup rule or Add a new rule above the default rule.

Field

Value

Name

Configure any name for this policy (i.e. allow-all)

Source

Any

Destination

Any

VPN

Any

Service & Applications

Any

Action

Accept

Track

Log

basic_allowall_policy

Click Install Policy in Smart Console on top left corner, and then Install to commit the settings.

install_allowall_policy

policy_installed

After validating that your traffic is being routed through your Security Gateway instances, you can customize the security policy to tailor to your requirements.

[Optional] Configure Basic Traffic Policy to Allow Traffic VNet to Internet

In this step, we will configure a basic traffic security policy that allows internet traffic to pass through the firewall.

Important

Enable Egress inspection feature on FireNet.

  1. First of all, go back to the Aviatrix Controller. Navigate to Firewall Network > Advanced.

  2. Click the skewer/three dot button.

  3. Scroll down to Egress through Firewall and click Enable.

  4. Verify the Egress status on the Firewall Network > Advanced page.

cp_egress_inspection

Second, go back to the Check Point SmartConsole. Navigate to the Gateways & Servers page and then double-click on the gateway itself to enable NAT function as the following screenshot.

  1. Click NAT.

  2. Enable Hide internal networks behind the Gateway’s external IP checkbox.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Click Install Policy.

cp_policy_vpc_to_internet_nat_enabled

Important

NAT function needs to be enabled on the Check Point FW interface eth0 for this VNet to Internet policy. Please refer to Check Point’s NAT instruction for details.

[Optional] If you have default Cleanup rule, then navigate to the page Security Policies > Access Control > Policy and inject a new rule for Internet Policy on top of the default Cleanup rule.

Field

Value

Name

Configure any name for this policy (i.e. Internet-Policy)

Source

Any

Destination

Select the object with All_internet

VPN

Any

Service & Applications

Any

Action

Accept

Track

Log

Click “Install Policy and then Install to commit the settings.

cp_policy_vpc_to_internet

After validating that your traffic is being routed through your Security Gateway instances, you can customize the security policy to tailor to your requirements.

Ready to Go

Now your Security Gateway instance is configured and ready to receive packets.

Next step is to validate your configurations and polices using FlightPath and Diagnostic Tools (ping, traceroute etc.).

Viewing Traffic Log

You can view if traffic is forwarded to the firewall instance by logging in to the Check Point Firewall SmartConsole. Go to the Logs & Monitors page.

For VNet to VNet traffic:

Launch one instance in PROD Spoke VNet and DEV Spoke VNet. Start ping packets from a instance in DEV Spoke VPC to the private IP of another instance in PROD Spoke VPC. The ICMP traffic should go through the firewall and be inspected in firewall.

cp_view_traffic_log_vpc_to_vpc

[Optional] For VNet to Internet traffic:

Launch a private instance in the Spoke VNet (i.e. PROD Spoke VNet) and start ping packets from the private instance towards Internet (e.g 8.8.8.8) to verify the egress function. The ICMP traffic should go through, and get inspected on firewall.

Important

The Egress Inspection is only applicable to all VNets that deploys non-public-facing applications. If you have any Spoke VNet that has public facing web services, you should not enable Egress Inspection. This is because Egress Inspection inserts a default route (0.0.0.0/0) towards Transit GW to send the Internet traffic towards firewall to get inspected. Azure’s System Default Route pointing towards Internet will be overwritten by User-defined default route inserted by the Controller.

cp_view_traffic_log_vpc_to_internet