The initial configuration wizard

The setup wizard will open automatically when Untangle NGFW first boots.

Note

If you do not have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor connected to the Untangle server, the setup wizard can be reached by plugging a DHCP-configured laptop into the internal interface, and opening a browser at http://192.168.2.1/.

Step 1 – selecting the wizard language

The first step of the initial configuration wizard is to choose the language that will be used through the wizard. Select the language you wish and then press Next to continue:

After selecting the desired language, a welcome screen that thanks you for choosing Untangle will be displayed; press Next to proceed to the next step.

Step 2 – setting the admin password and server's time zone

In this step, you will be asked to set a password for the admin account; the username will be admin, and the password should be three characters at least. Additionally, we will be asked to set the server time zone, which is useful in the preinstalled Untangle NGFW cases (for example, appliances). In our case, we will not have to change these settings as it will reflect the settings that we have configured in Chapter 2, Installing Untangle. Put in your password and change the time zone if necessary and then press Next:

Step 3 – mapping the network cards

In this step, we will map the physical network cards to the desired logical interfaces (that is, determine which physical NIC will act as the external interface and which one will act as the internal interface). An external interface will be the Internet-facing one while the internal one will face the local network.

If you have more than two interfaces, the third interface and beyond are disabled by default. You can't rename the interfaces at this step. Managing the interfaces is covered in Chapter 4, Untangle Advanced Configuration.

Note

To determine whether the physical network cards are mapped to the correct interface, plug in one cable at a time and verify that it is in the correct position. For example, unplug all network cables from Untangle NGFW. Plug in a cable into the desired external physical network card. If the green light on the external interface of the wizard lights up, that physical network card is mapped to the correct interface. If the green light on another interface lights up, you should drag that device to the external interface using the arrow icon next to the device name. Alternatively, you can select the dropdown on the device and choose the desired device.

Step 4 – configuring the Internet connection

In this step, we are going to configure the external (WAN) interface settings. So, we will configure the interface IP and its gateway and DNS. These settings can be retrieved automatically through DHCP or can be configured manually using static configurations; the third option is PPPoE.

Acquiring automatic configurations from DHCP

The default option is Auto (DHCP), in which the current automatically-assigned address will be displayed if an address was successfully acquired. The Auto (DHCP) option is typical in home and small networks where ISPs provide no static addresses and DHCP is used to hand out addresses. Also, if Untangle is installed behind another device that serves DHCP, this option can be used.

The following screenshot shows the external interface settings of Untangle-01 used in our lab environment:

You can ensure the server's ability to connect to the Internet by pressing the Test Connectivity button. Also, the connectivity test will be run automatically if you pressed Next.

Manually configuring the interface settings

For larger networks, a static configuration is preferred. In a static configuration, you manually add the IP configurations using values provided by your ISP.

Note

If Untangle is being installed behind another firewall doing network address translation (NAT), the ISP's public address should not be used. It is common to use the gateway's IP plus one. For example, if 192.168.1.1 is the gateway for Untangle, you can use 192.168.1.2 for the address for Untangle and 192.168.1.1 as the gateway.

The other option is to let Untangle NGFW do the point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) authentication instead of the modem. Also, in this option, you'll need to enter the configuration given to you by your ISP.

Note

If you're in the router mode and have a PPPoE WAN connection, contact your ISP and see whether the modem can do the authentication and pass the IPs to the Untangle server so that you can set the external interface to static. This is a much better situation than having the Untangle server do the PPPoE login as some features (such as multi WAN) will not work with interfaces set to PPPoE.

Step 5 – configuring the Untangle NGFW operation mode

The Untangle NGFW operation mode is determined based on how the internal interface is configured. So, when we say that we are going to configure the Untangle NGFW operation mode, what we are really going to do is configure the internal interfaces.

Untangle is not a proxy; it acts as a transparent filter for traffic. So, you do not point browsers to the Untangle server for traffic filtering as you would with a proxy. Computers on your network will either use Untangle as their gateway, or your network will force their traffic to flow through it. Untangle has two operation modes, router and bridge modes.

Understanding the router operation mode

In the router mode, Untangle will be the edge device on your network and will serve as a router and firewall. You will need to configure the internal interface with a private static IP address (that is, 192.168.2.1). The following diagram shows how Untangle NGFW in the router mode can be deployed in your environment:

Using the router mode, you can decide whether you want to let Untangle act as a DHCP server or not. In addition, NAT will be enabled so all internal machines will have private addresses and share one public IP (the address of the external interface configured in the previous step).

Note

If you are using the Untangle server in an Active Directory environment, it's better to disable the DHCP service of the Untangle server and use the Windows server DHCP instead.

The interfaces will be configured as follows:

Understanding the transparent bridge operation mode

In the transparent bridge mode, Untangle is installed behind an existing firewall and sits between your existing firewall and main switch, whereas in the bridge mode, Untangle is transparent. This means that you won't need to change the default gateway of the computers on your network or the routes on your firewall. The following diagram shows how Untangle NGFW in the transparent bridge mode can be deployed in your environment:

The bridge mode defines the external interface as static and the internal interface as bridged to the external. Thus, the internal interface does not have its own address and simply shares the external's address. It also disables DHCP and NAT by default. An example of Untangle-04 interfaces is shown in the following screenshot:

You can configure these settings by selecting the operation mode, providing an internal interface IP, and deciding whether to enable the DHCP service or not.

Note

We can only configure the internal interface (interface number 2); any additional interfaces can be configured later.

The following screenshot shows the operation mode's selection screen. The subnet configured in the following screenshot is the ABC-users subnet on Untangle-01:

Step 6 – configuring the automatic upgrade settings

Here, we will be asked to configure the automatic upgrade settings. These settings are related to the Untangle system itself and will not affect the update behavior of the Untangle filters, such as the signature updates of the Virus Blocker and Spam Blocker, as these filters will continue to automatically update regardless of which setting is selected here. You can allow automatic upgrades or disable them. If the option of automatic upgrades is enabled, the server will automatically check for new versions and upgrade automatically between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. every morning. The following screenshot shows different automatic upgrade options:

Step 7 – finishing the initial configuration wizard

Now, we have completed the initial configuration wizard and are ready to download and configure the applications; press Finish to load the Untangle system.