Configuring high availability requires two identical ASAs connected to each other through a dedicated failover link and, optionally, a Stateful Failover link. The health of the active interfaces and units is monitored to determine if specific failover conditions are met. If those conditions are met, failover occurs.
The ASA supports two failover configurations, Active/Active failover and Active/Standby failover. Each failover configuration has its own method for determining and performing failover.
- In Active/Standby failover, one unit is the active unit. It passes traffic. The standby unit does not actively pass traffic. When a failover occurs, the active unit fails over to the standby unit, which then becomes active. You can use Active/Standby failover for ASAs in single or multiple context mode.
- In an Active/Active failover configuration, both ASAs can pass network traffic. Active/Active failover is only available to ASAs in multiple context mode. In Active/Active failover, you divide the security contexts on the ASA into 2 failover groups . A failover group is simply a logical group of one or more security contexts. One group is assigned to be active on the primary ASA, and the other group is assigned to be active on the secondary ASA. When a failover occurs, it occurs at the failover group level.
Both failover configurations support stateful or stateless (regular) failover.
Related posts in this blog:
- Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Software 9.x Configuration Notes (Tips and Tricks)
- Cisco ASA Remote Access VPN Configuration 2 – Anyconnect VPN Configuration
- Cisco ASA Remote Access VPN Configuration 1 – Clientless SSL VPN Configuration
- Cisco ASAv HA Configurations
Topology:
Configuration Steps:
1. Basic ASAv Setup for ASDM and SSH Access on Both ASAv Devices
Same configuration will be on both ASAv firewalls, but with different IP address
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// For ASDM Access
interface Management0/0 management-only nameif Mgmt security-level 100 ip address 192.168.2.11 255.255.255.0 http server enable http 192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 management // For SSH Accss ciscoasa(config)# crypto key generate rsa modulus 2048 INFO: The name for the keys will be: Keypair generation process begin. Please wait… ciscoasa(config)# write memory Building configuration… Cryptochecksum: 67435a18 4790aaff 7584afa7 d28c43c0 2837 bytes copied in 0.680 secs [OK] ciscoasa(config)# aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL WARNING: local database is empty! Use ‘username’ command to define local users. ciscoasa(config)# username test password test ciscoasa(config)# ssh 192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 Mgmt ciscoasa(config)# host ASAv-Pri // Secondary ASAv ciscoasa(config)# host ASAv-Sec |
2. Primary ASAv Setup
2.1 Failover Interface (G0/8)
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enable config t failover lan unit primary interface gigabitEthernet 0/8 no shutdown failover lan interface LANFAIL gigabitethernet 0/8 failover interface ip LANFAIL 10.10.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby 10.10.1.2 failover key secretkey failover link LANFAIL exit show failover interface gigabitEthernet 0/8 no shutdown exit |
2.2 External Interface (G0/0)
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config t interface gigabitEthernet 0/0 nameif EXT ip address 172.17.3.11 255.255.255.0 standby 172.17.3.12 no shutdown exit |
2.3 Internal Interface (G0/3)
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interface gigabitEthernet 0/1
nameif INT security-level 100 ip address 10.9.2.11 255.255.255.0 standby 10.9.2.12 no shutdown exit |
2.4 Verify Primary ASAv Configuration
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ASAv-Pri(config)# monitor-interface EXT ASAv-Pri(config)# monitor-interface INT ASAv-Pri(config)# show failover ASAv-Pri(config)# show failover interface |
3. Secondary ASAv Configuration
3.1 Failover Interface Configuration (G0/8)
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config t no failover failover lan unit secondary interface gigabitEthernet 0/8 no nameif no shutdown failover lan interface LANFAIL gigabitEthernet 0/3 failover interface ip LANFAIL 10.10.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby 10.10.1.2 failover key secretkey failover link LANFAIL failover exit interface gigabitEthernet 0/8 no shutdown exit ASAv-Pri# failover ? |
4. Verify
After all above configuration, each time you save configuration on Primary, the configuration will copied to Secondary. When you reboot Secondary ASAv, you will see the hosname will be ASAv-Sec first then after Sync, it will automatically change to ASAv-Pri.
I reloaded the Primary ASAv and checked all interfaces on Secondary:
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ASAv-Pri# show failover
Failover On Failover unit Secondary Failover LAN Interface: LANFAIL GigabitEthernet0/8 (up) Reconnect timeout 0:00:00 Unit Poll frequency 1 seconds, holdtime 15 seconds Interface Poll frequency 5 seconds, holdtime 25 seconds Interface Policy 1 Monitored Interfaces 2 of 36 maximum MAC Address Move Notification Interval not set Version: Ours 9.5(1)200, Mate 9.5(1)200 Last Failover at: 17:26:37 UTC Jan 27 2016 This host: Secondary – Active Active time: 161 (sec) slot 0: empty Interface EXT (172.17.3.11): Normal (Monitored) Interface INT (10.9.2.11): Normal (Monitored) Interface mgmt (192.168.2.11): Normal (Not-Monitored) Other host: Primary – Standby Ready Active time: 0 (sec) Interface EXT (172.17.3.12): Normal (Monitored) Interface INT (10.9.2.12): Normal (Monitored) Interface mgmt (192.168.2.12): Normal (Not-Monitored) Stateful Failover Logical Update Statistics Link : LANFAIL GigabitEthernet0/8 (up) Stateful Obj xmit xerr rcv rerr General 531 0 563 0 sys cmd 524 0 523 0 up time 0 0 0 0 RPC services 0 0 0 0 TCP conn 0 0 0 0 UDP conn 0 0 0 0 ARP tbl 6 0 39 0 Xlate_Timeout 0 0 0 0 IPv6 ND tbl 0 0 0 0 VPN IKEv1 SA 0 0 0 0 VPN IKEv1 P2 0 0 0 0 VPN IKEv2 SA 0 0 0 0 VPN IKEv2 P2 0 0 0 0 VPN CTCP upd 0 0 0 0 VPN SDI upd 0 0 0 0 VPN DHCP upd 0 0 0 0 SIP Session 0 0 0 0 SIP Tx 0 0 0 0 SIP Pinhole 0 0 0 0 Route Session 0 0 0 0 Router ID 0 0 0 0 User-Identity 1 0 1 0 CTS SGTNAME 0 0 0 0 CTS PAC 0 0 0 0 TrustSec-SXP 0 0 0 0 IPv6 Route 0 0 0 0 STS Table 0 0 0 0 Logical Update Queue Information Cur Max Total Recv Q: 0 17 2683 Xmit Q: 0 30 648 ASAv-Pri# ASAv-Pri# show interface ip brief Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol GigabitEthernet0/0 172.17.3.11 YES CONFIG up up GigabitEthernet0/1 unassigned YES unset up up GigabitEthernet0/2 10.9.2.11 YES CONFIG up up GigabitEthernet0/3 unassigned YES unset administratively down up GigabitEthernet0/4 unassigned YES unset administratively down up GigabitEthernet0/5 unassigned YES unset administratively down up GigabitEthernet0/6 unassigned YES unset administratively down up GigabitEthernet0/7 unassigned YES unset administratively down up GigabitEthernet0/8 10.10.1.2 YES unset up up Management0/0 192.168.2.11 YES CONFIG up up ASAv-Pri# ASAv-Pri# show version Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Version 9.5(1)200 Device Manager Version 7.5(1) Compiled on Fri 28-Aug-15 15:56 PDT by builders System image file is “boot:/asa951-200-smp-k8.bin” Config file at boot was “startup-config” ASAv-Pri up 1 hour 5 mins failover cluster up 15 hours 54 mins Hardware: ASAv, 1024 MB RAM, CPU Xeon 5500 series 2294 MHz, Model Id: ASAv5 Internal ATA Compact Flash, 256MB Slot 1: ATA Compact Flash, 8192MB BIOS Flash Firmware Hub @ 0x0, 0KB 0: Ext: Management0/0 : address is 000c.291a.f3fd, irq 10 1: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/0 : address is 000c.291a.f307, irq 5 2: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/1 : address is 000c.291a.f311, irq 9 3: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/2 : address is 000c.291a.f31b, irq 11 4: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/3 : address is 000c.291a.f325, irq 10 5: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/4 : address is 000c.291a.f32f, irq 5 6: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/5 : address is 000c.291a.f339, irq 9 7: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/6 : address is 000c.291a.f343, irq 11 8: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/7 : address is 000c.291a.f34d, irq 10 9: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/8 : address is 000c.291a.f357, irq 5 License mode: Smart Licensing ASAv Platform License State: Unlicensed No active entitlement: no feature tier and no throughput level configured *Memory resource allocation is more than the permitted limit. Licensed features for this platform: Maximum Physical Interfaces : 10 Maximum VLANs : 25 Inside Hosts : Unlimited Failover : Active/Standby Encryption-DES : Enabled Encryption-3DES-AES : Enabled Security Contexts : 0 GTP/GPRS : Disabled AnyConnect Premium Peers : 2 AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled Other VPN Peers : 50 Total VPN Peers : 50 Shared License : Disabled AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone : Disabled Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled Total UC Proxy Sessions : 2 Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled Cluster : Disabled License mode: Smart Licensing Failover cluster licensed features for this platform: Maximum Physical Interfaces : 10 Maximum VLANs : 25 Inside Hosts : Unlimited Failover : Active/Standby Encryption-DES : Enabled Encryption-3DES-AES : Enabled Security Contexts : 0 GTP/GPRS : Disabled AnyConnect Premium Peers : 2 AnyConnect Essentials : Disabled Other VPN Peers : 50 Total VPN Peers : 50 Shared License : Disabled AnyConnect for Mobile : Disabled AnyConnect for Cisco VPN Phone : Disabled Advanced Endpoint Assessment : Disabled Total UC Proxy Sessions : 2 Botnet Traffic Filter : Enabled Cluster : Disabled Licensing mode is Smart Licensing Serial Number: 9ALU3EW6LDF Image type : Release Key version : A Configuration last modified by enable_1 at 17:02:38.079 UTC Wed Jan 27 2016 ASAv-Pri# ASAv-Pri# sh run : Saved : : Serial Number: 9ALU3EW6LDF : Hardware: ASAv, 1024 MB RAM, CPU Xeon 5500 series 2294 MHz : ASA Version 9.5(1)200 ! hostname ASAv-Pri enable password 8Ry2YjIyt7RRXU24 encrypted xlate per-session deny tcp any4 any4 xlate per-session deny tcp any4 any6 xlate per-session deny tcp any6 any4 xlate per-session deny tcp any6 any6 xlate per-session deny udp any4 any4 eq domain xlate per-session deny udp any4 any6 eq domain xlate per-session deny udp any6 any4 eq domain xlate per-session deny udp any6 any6 eq domain names ! interface GigabitEthernet0/0 nameif EXT security-level 0 ip address 172.17.3.11 255.255.255.0 standby 172.17.3.12 ! interface GigabitEthernet0/1 description test no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/2 nameif INT security-level 100 ip address 10.9.2.11 255.255.255.0 standby 10.9.2.12 ! interface GigabitEthernet0/3 shutdown no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/4 shutdown no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/5 shutdown no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/6 shutdown no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/7 shutdown no nameif no security-level no ip address ! interface GigabitEthernet0/8 description LAN/STATE Failover Interface ! interface Management0/0 management-only nameif mgmt security-level 0 ip address 192.168.2.11 255.255.255.0 standby 192.168.2.12 ! ftp mode passive pager lines 23 logging enable logging asdm informational mtu EXT 1500 mtu INT 1500 mtu mgmt 1500 failover failover lan unit secondary failover lan interface LANFAIL GigabitEthernet0/8 failover key ***** failover link LANFAIL GigabitEthernet0/8 failover interface ip LANFAIL 10.10.1.1 255.255.255.0 standby 10.10.1.2 no monitor-interface mgmt icmp unreachable rate-limit 1 burst-size 1 no asdm history enable arp timeout 14400 no arp permit-nonconnected timeout xlate 3:00:00 timeout pat-xlate 0:00:30 timeout conn 1:00:00 half-closed 0:10:00 udp 0:02:00 icmp 0:00:02 timeout sunrpc 0:10:00 h323 0:05:00 h225 1:00:00 mgcp 0:05:00 mgcp-pat 0:05:00 timeout sip 0:30:00 sip_media 0:02:00 sip-invite 0:03:00 sip-disconnect 0:02:00 timeout sip-provisional-media 0:02:00 uauth 0:05:00 absolute timeout tcp-proxy-reassembly 0:01:00 timeout floating-conn 0:00:00 user-identity default-domain LOCAL aaa authentication ssh console LOCAL http server enable http 192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 mgmt no snmp-server location no snmp-server contact crypto ipsec security-association pmtu-aging infinite crypto ca trustpoint _SmartCallHome_ServerCA no validation-usage crl configure crypto ca trustpool policy crypto ca certificate chain _SmartCallHome_ServerCA certificate ca 6ecc7aa5a7032009b8cebcf4e952d491 308205ec 308204d4 a0030201 0202106e cc7aa5a7 032009b8 cebcf4e9 52d49130 0d06092a 864886f7 0d010105 05003081 ca310b30 09060355 04061302 55533117 30150603 55040a13 0e566572 69536967 6e2c2049 6e632e31 1f301d06 0355040b 13165665 72695369 676e2054 72757374 204e6574 776f726b 313a3038 06035504 0b133128 63292032 30303620 56657269 5369676e 2c20496e 632e202d 20466f72 20617574 686f7269 7a656420 75736520 6f6e6c79 31453043 06035504 03133c56 65726953 69676e20 436c6173 73203320 5075626c 69632050 72696d61 72792043 65727469 66696361 74696f6e 20417574 686f7269 7479202d 20473530 1e170d31 30303230 38303030 3030305a 170d3230 30323037 32333539 35395a30 81b5310b 30090603 55040613 02555331 17301506 0355040a 130e5665 72695369 676e2c20 496e632e 311f301d 06035504 0b131656 65726953 69676e20 54727573 74204e65 74776f72 6b313b30 39060355 040b1332 5465726d 73206f66 20757365 20617420 68747470 733a2f2f 7777772e 76657269 7369676e 2e636f6d 2f727061 20286329 3130312f 302d0603 55040313 26566572 69536967 6e20436c 61737320 33205365 63757265 20536572 76657220 4341202d 20473330 82012230 0d06092a 864886f7 0d010101 05000382 010f0030 82010a02 82010100 b187841f c20c45f5 bcab2597 a7ada23e 9cbaf6c1 39b88bca c2ac56c6 e5bb658e 444f4dce 6fed094a d4af4e10 9c688b2e 957b899b 13cae234 34c1f35b f3497b62 83488174 d188786c 0253f9bc 7f432657 5833833b 330a17b0 d04e9124 ad867d64 12dc744a 34a11d0a ea961d0b 15fca34b 3bce6388 d0f82d0c 948610ca b69a3dca eb379c00 48358629 5078e845 63cd1941 4ff595ec 7b98d4c4 71b350be 28b38fa0 b9539cf5 ca2c23a9 fd1406e8 18b49ae8 3c6e81fd e4cd3536 b351d369 ec12ba56 6e6f9b57 c58b14e7 0ec79ced 4a546ac9 4dc5bf11 b1ae1c67 81cb4455 33997f24 9b3f5345 7f861af3 3cfa6d7f 81f5b84a d3f58537 1cb5a6d0 09e4187b 384efa0f 02030100 01a38201 df308201 db303406 082b0601 05050701 01042830 26302406 082b0601 05050730 01861868 7474703a 2f2f6f63 73702e76 65726973 69676e2e 636f6d30 12060355 1d130101 ff040830 060101ff 02010030 70060355 1d200469 30673065 060b6086 480186f8 45010717 03305630 2806082b 06010505 07020116 1c687474 70733a2f 2f777777 2e766572 69736967 6e2e636f 6d2f6370 73302a06 082b0601 05050702 02301e1a 1c687474 70733a2f 2f777777 2e766572 69736967 6e2e636f 6d2f7270 61303406 03551d1f 042d302b 3029a027 a0258623 68747470 3a2f2f63 726c2e76 65726973 69676e2e 636f6d2f 70636133 2d67352e 63726c30 0e060355 1d0f0101 ff040403 02010630 6d06082b 06010505 07010c04 61305fa1 5da05b30 59305730 55160969 6d616765 2f676966 3021301f 30070605 2b0e0302 1a04148f e5d31a86 ac8d8e6b c3cf806a d448182c 7b192e30 25162368 7474703a 2f2f6c6f 676f2e76 65726973 69676e2e 636f6d2f 76736c6f 676f2e67 69663028 0603551d 11042130 1fa41d30 1b311930 17060355 04031310 56657269 5369676e 4d504b49 2d322d36 301d0603 551d0e04 1604140d 445c1653 44c1827e 1d20ab25 f40163d8 be79a530 1f060355 1d230418 30168014 7fd365a7 c2ddecbb f03009f3 4339fa02 af333133 300d0609 2a864886 f70d0101 05050003 82010100 0c8324ef ddc30cd9 589cfe36 b6eb8a80 4bd1a3f7 9df3cc53 ef829ea3 a1e697c1 589d756c e01d1b4c fad1c12d 05c0ea6e b2227055 d9203340 3307c265 83fa8f43 379bea0e 9a6c70ee f69c803b d937f47a 6decd018 7d494aca 99c71928 a2bed877 24f78526 866d8705 404167d1 273aeddc 481d22cd 0b0b8bbc f4b17bfd b499a8e9 762ae11a 2d876e74 d388dd1e 22c6df16 b62b8214 0a945cf2 50ecafce ff62370d ad65d306 4153ed02 14c8b558 28a1ace0 5becb37f 954afb03 c8ad26db e6667812 4ad99f42 fbe198e6 42839b8f 8f6724e8 6119b5dd cdb50b26 058ec36e c4c875b8 46cfe218 065ea9ae a8819a47 16de0c28 6c2527b9 deb78458 c61f381e a4c4cb66 quit telnet timeout 5 ssh stricthostkeycheck ssh 192.168.2.0 255.255.255.0 mgmt ssh timeout 5 ssh key-exchange group dh-group1-sha1 console timeout 0 threat-detection basic-threat threat-detection statistics access-list no threat-detection statistics tcp-intercept dynamic-access-policy-record DfltAccessPolicy username test password P4ttSyrm33SV8TYp encrypted ! class-map inspection_default match default-inspection-traffic ! ! policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map parameters message-length maximum client auto message-length maximum 512 policy-map global_policy class inspection_default inspect ip-options inspect netbios inspect rtsp inspect sunrpc inspect tftp inspect xdmcp inspect dns preset_dns_map inspect ftp inspect h323 h225 inspect h323 ras inspect rsh inspect esmtp inspect sqlnet inspect sip inspect skinny policy-map type inspect dns migrated_dns_map_1 parameters message-length maximum client auto message-length maximum 512 ! service-policy global_policy global prompt hostname context call-home reporting anonymous prompt 2 call-home profile License destination address http https://tools.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService destination transport-method http profile CiscoTAC-1 no active destination address http https://tools.cisco.com/its/service/oddce/services/DDCEService destination address email [email protected] destination transport-method http subscribe-to-alert-group diagnostic subscribe-to-alert-group environment subscribe-to-alert-group inventory periodic monthly subscribe-to-alert-group configuration periodic monthly subscribe-to-alert-group telemetry periodic daily Cryptochecksum:deb136269827f21fc1c142fac079704b : end ASAv-Pri# |
Reference:
- CLI Book 1: Cisco ASA Series General Operations CLI Configuration Guide, 9.1 – Configuring Failover
- Cisco ASA 5515-X Configuration Notes