Introduction

The Appliance Management Console is installed on your network appliance. To access this console, you will need to log into your appliance remotely via SSH or locally, using a mouse and keyboard to the appliance. You must use the appliance’s login credentials to login to the Appliance Management Console.

Table of contents

• Logging into an Appliance Remotely (SSH)
• Using the Management Console across different appliances 
• 1. Launching the Console
• 2. Configuring a Static IP Address
  • Removing Static IP Configurations
• 3. Checking the Appliance’s Connectivity Status
• 4. Checking Network Traffic Status
• 5. Viewing System Logs
• 6. Changing the Appliance’s Password
• 7. Toggling the Appliance's Relay Tunnel
• 8. Reboot the Appliance

Logging into an Appliance Remotely (SSH)

You can access your appliance using SSH using an application such as PuTTY or WinSCP. 

Using the local IP of your appliance and establishing the SSH connection using port 22, login using the following user credentials, but replace <local_ip_address> with the actual IP address of your appliance.

appliance-config@<local_ip_address>

See "Logging into your Physical Appliance" for more on logging into the appliance.

Using the Management Console across different appliances 

The console will behave differently depending on the appliance you are using. Business (B1) and Enterprise (E1 or E100) appliances have green and red management ports, which are used for the following:

• The green port is reserved as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) interface. 
• The red port is reserved for static addressing. 

Oskar appliances only have a green management port, which is reserved as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) interface. 

This console can configure a new static IP address for the red port (Business and Enterprise) or the green port (Oskar). When set, the assigned static IP will take precedence and connect to the Field Effect VPN under the following scenarios: 

• A DHCP lease was not provided when deploying the appliance.
• The green port’s addressing information cannot route to the Field Effect VPN. 
• A static IP was previously set by Field Effect.
• The red port’s addressing information cannot route to the Field Effect VPN. 

1. Launching the Console

Begin by plugging a monitor and keyboard into the appliance and logging in using the appliance credentials. The main menu will open on your screen.

2. Configuring a Static IP Address

Begin by selecting Option 1 from the main menu. You’ll be taken to the appliance’s System IP Information page, which shows the currently active IP, gateway IP and DNS servers.  Select the interface you would like to configure (green or Red) using the tab key (1). 

The infaces listed as tabs will differ depending on your appliance model. 

Once selected, press the tab key twice to select the "edit mode" switch (2). Press the spacebar or enter key to enable the "edit mode" switch. The example below shows the interface with the toggle switch off. 

While edit mode is enabled, the text will become more visible, and you will be able to configure the selected interface. Use the tab or arrow keys to navigate between input fields, and complete as required. 

When setting the IP Adress field, make sure to include the appropriate subnet CIDR notation (ie/ /24), otherwise it will default to /32 - which may cause connectivity issues.

You will be prompted with a dialogue asking if you like to make the changes. Click Apply.

If you are connected via SSH to the previously configured IP, you may need to re-connect.

Removing Static IP Configurations

This process is similar to setting the status. From Option 1 (Configure Static IP), toggle the edit switch to off for the appropriate interface and select "Apply Settings". This will revert the interface to its previous configuration.

3. Checking the Appliance’s Connectivity Status

Launch the console (outlined above) and select Option 2 on the main menu. You will be taken to the connectivity page. The example below shows an appliance with a connectivity issue with the relay. Click Recheck & Rerun to run the status check.

4. Checking Network Traffic Status

This view provides high level information about the network traffic the appliance is currently monitoring. Generally our goal is to monitor "north/south" traffic in and out of your network, with visibility behind any NAT devices so that we can "see" specific internal IP addresses. If this typical model doesn't apply for some reason then the output from this view may not be useful to you.

Launch the console (outlined above) and select Option 3 on the main menu. You will be taken to a screen asking if you want to check the status of network traffic currently being sent to the appliance.

The determining criterion for appropriate traffic is based on whether the appliance is seeing internal hosts reaching out to public IP space or not, and how many internal hosts we're detecting. This tool will alert the client when:

• It cannot detect private IP space two-way communicating with public IP space.
• Most of the traffic is public IP space two-way communicating with public IP space (most likely due to the client sending us traffic external to their gateway, which we do not need).
• It detects traffic from 5 or less internal hosts (very low traffic levels, or a misconfiguration).

5. Viewing System Logs

This view shouldn't be needed in general. The intended use is for debugging issues, primarily around connectivity. You may be asked to navigate this view and copy/paste or screenshot some log output to send back to Field Effect to assist with debugging issues.

The left pane provides a list of log and tool output categories, which you can use arrow/enter keys to navigate and select:

6. Changing the Appliance’s Password

To begin, launch the console (outlined above) and select Option 5 on the main menu. You will be taken to the change password page. Once you are sure that you want to change the password, provide the new password in the text field and press Enter (or click OK).

You will be asked to re-type the new password. Provide the new password in the text field and press Update Password.

7. Toggling the Appliance's Relay Tunnel

If the appliance is unable to effectively communicate with your relay, this feature exists for troubleshooting purposes, and should only be used with Field Effect's recommendation. Disabling this tunnel without notifying Field Effect will most likely result in an interruption of service.

8. Reboot the Appliance

You can reboot your appliance from the management console, if required. This is particularly useful if you're off site, or a partner that manages several deployments across various locations. 

To begin, select option 7 from the main menu and press Enter. You will be asked to confirm that you would like to reboot the appliance. Select Yes and press Enter to reboot the appliance.