• SonicOS 7.1
• About SonicOS
  • Working with SonicOS
  • SonicOS Workflow
  • How to Use the SonicOS Administration Guides
  • Guide Conventions
• Anti-Spam
  • About Anti-Spam
    • What is Anti-Spam?
    • Benefits
  • How Does the Anti-Spam Service Work?
    • GRID Network
      • Benefits
      • GRID Connection Management with Sender IP Reputation and Connection Management Precedence Order
    • Address and Service Objects
      • Objects Created When the Anti-Spam Service is Enabled
  • Purchasing an Anti-Spam License
• Status
• Settings
  • Activating Anti-Spam
  • Installing the Junk Store
  • Configuring Email Threat Categories
  • Configuring Access Lists
    • Configuring User-defined Access Lists
    • Adding a Host to the Access Lists
  • Configuring Advanced Settings
• Relay Domains
  • About Open Relay
  • Listing Allowed Relay Domains
• Junk Box Messages
  • Information Displayed in the Junk Box Messages Table
  • Managing Junk Box Messages
• Junk Box Settings
• Junk Box Summary
  • Managing the Junk Box Summary
• User View Setup
  • Configuring User View Setup
• Address Books
  • About the Tabs
    • Allowed Lists
    • Blocked Lists
  • Adding Items to the Allowed or Blocked List
  • Deleting Items from the Allowed or Blocked List
  • Importing Address Book Entries
  • Exporting Address Book Entries
  • Searching the Allowed and Blocked Lists
• Manage Users
  • Updating the User Table
  • Enabling Non-LDAP User Authentication
  • Viewing Users
    • Selecting the Type of User to View
    • Selecting a Server’s Users to View
    • Finding a User
  • Adding Users
    • Adding Users Manually to the User Table
    • Importing Users to the User Table
  • Signing In as a User
• LDAP Configuration
  • Adding an LDAP Server
    • Configuring LDAP Queries
    • Adding LDAP Mappings
  • Editing an LDAP Server Configuration
  • Deleting an LDAP Server
• Advanced
  • Downloading System/Log Files
  • Selecting Log Settings
• Downloads
• SonicWall Support
  • About This Document

SonicOS Workflow

When working with SonicWall products, you can use the following workflow as a guide for setting up your security solution.

You begin your planning as you start making your purchasing decisions. Your sales partners can help you assess your network and make recommendations based on the kinds of security services you need. You can learn more about SonicWall products by reviewing product information and solutions. After selecting the solution, you can schedule your implementation.

After planning and scheduling your solution, you begin setting up the firewalls. The Getting Started Guides for your products can help you begin setting up the pieces to your solution. The getting started guides are designed to help you install the firewall to a minimal level of operation. Before performing any detailed configuration tasks described in the SonicOS Administration Guides, you should have your firewall set up and basic operation validated.

The configuration block of the workflow refers to the many tasks that combine to define how your firewall is integrated into your security solution and how it behaves when protecting your environment. Depending on the features of your security solution, this task can be quite complex. The System Administration Guides are broken into the key command sets and features. Some documents may be used for all solutions, but others may be used use only if you integrated that feature into your solution. For example, High Availability or Wireless Access Points are not necessarily used by all customers. More information about a feature's workflow is presented in the feature administration guide. Refer to the specific Administration Guide for a SonicOS feature for more information.

Configuration tends to be a one-time activity, although you might make minor adjustments after monitoring performance or after diagnosing an issue. The configuration activity can be broken down into the more detailed flow as the following figure shows. This also mirrors the key functions that are listed across the top of the management interface.

There is some flexibility in the order in which you do things, but this is the general work-flow you would follow when configuring your firewall. Start by defining the settings on the firewall. Next you set up the system and other devices that your firewall is connected to, and you can choose to implement High Availability when done. After your device, network, and system is configured, you should define the objects that you want to monitor. Then you use those objects to define the policies that protect your network. The final step to preparing your setup is to validate the user authentication.