Blog – SYMPLIFY LEARNING

Upgrading Palo Alto firewalls using python

May 16, 2025 by martin

I recently came across a python script to upgrade Palo Alto firewalls. This is a short post on my experience using it. This operation utilises a python script called pan-os-upgrade In this case, I’m using a test Palo Alto firewall. My first step was to create my python virtual environment. For this project, my python … Read more

Azure RBAC

December 30, 2024 by martin

When it comes to planning your authentication and authorization strategy in Azure, it is useful to know what you can do with Azure RBAC roles. Azure RBAC is an authorization fabric built on Azure Resource Manager. It is useful for defining fine-grained access privileges for accessing resources in Azure. The key concepts of Azure RBAC … Read more

Provision a Palo Alto Networks firewall in Terraform

November 2, 2024 by martin

I often need a Palo Alto firewall to test new features or just to try out a lab exercise. But a hardware appliance is not always available. Running a virtual firewall in a home lab environment using GNS3 or Eve-ng is useful. But typically, I need to be connected to the home network to use … Read more

Using CloudWatch Log Insights

September 10, 2024June 22, 2024 by martin

Cloudwatch Insights allows you to search and analyze your log data that was sent to Amazon CloudWatch. CloudWatch Log Insights automatically discovers fields in logs from AWS services such as Amazon Route 53, AWS Lambda, AWS CloudTrail and Amazon VPC When you navigate to Logs Insights in the AWS Console and select the log group … Read more

View Panorama config for specific template or device group

June 22, 2024May 17, 2024 by martin

I recently had a requirement to review the Panorama configuration for a specific template. One option would have been to log on to the Panorama GUI, select the template and start going through each tab and option in Panorama to see all the configuration in that template. But this would have been time consuming. I … Read more

Capture filters in Wireshark

July 6, 2024May 12, 2024 by martin

Capture filters are filters specified in Wireshark BEFORE you start the capture. It allows you limit the traffic captured to the packets that match your filter. This is different from the display filters in Wireshark. You use the display filters AFTER you have captured packets so that the packets that are displayed are limited to … Read more

Using dumpcap for extended packet captures

July 27, 2024March 23, 2024 by martin

What is dumpcap? Dumpcap is a network traffic dump tool that is installed as part of the Wireshark installation package. Because Wireshark offers a simple-to-use GUI, we are usually able to use Wireshark without needing to interact with some of the lower level packages that really make Wireshark work. One of such packages is dumpcap. … Read more

Useful tips when using Wireshark

July 6, 2024March 12, 2024 by martin

1. Creating separate profiles for different troubleshooting tasks By default, when you open Wireshark, you are running the default profile. You can confirm this by looking at the bottom right corner of your Wireshark interface. Now, within that default profile, you can make changes. For example, you can add a column for ‘Destination port’. If … Read more

Upgrading Palo Alto firewalls using Ansible

November 2, 2024February 17, 2024 by martin

In this post, I cover the upgrade of a Palo Alto firewall using an Ansible playbook. Even though this playbook covers the upgrade of a single firewall, the real benefit comes where you have tens or hundreds of firewalls to upgrade. With the same playbook, you can upgrade all the firewalls simply by ensuring that … Read more

AWS Solutions Architect Associate Quick Tips – Fundamental Building Blocks and IAM

July 6, 2024December 9, 2023 by martin

In this post, I summarize the AWS fundamental building blocks covered in the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam.