3.4. Web User Interface Overview

This section provides an overview of how to use the web-based User Interface. We recommend that you read this section if you are unfamiliar with the FB2900, so that you feel comfortable with the design of the User Interface. Later chapters cover specific functionality topics, describing which objects are relevant, any underlying operational principles that are useful to understand, and what effect the attributes (and their values) have.

The web-based User Interface provides a method to create the objects that control operation of the FB2900. Internally, the User Interface uses a formal definition of the object model to determine where (in the hierarchy) objects may be created, and what attributes may exist on each object, so you can expect the User Interface to always generate valid XML. [1]

Additionally, the web User Interface provides access to the following items :-

By default, access to the web user interface is available to all users, from any locally connected IP address. If you don't require such open access, you may wish to restrict access using the settings described in Section 14.3.

3.4.1. User Interface layout

The User Interface has the following general layout :-

  • a 'banner' area at the top of the page, containing the FireBrick logo, model number and system name
  • a main-menu, with sub-menus that access various parts of the user interface ; the main-menu can be shown vertically or horizontally - sub-menu appearance depends on this display style : if the main-menu is vertical, sub-menus are shown by 'expanding' the menu vertically ; if the main-menu is horizontal, sub-menus are shown as pull-down menus
  • a 'footer' area at the bottom of the page, containing layout-control icons and showing the current software version
  • the remaining page area contains the content for the selected part of the user-interface

Figure 3.1 shows the main menu when it is set to display horizontally. Note that the main-menu items themselves have a specific function when clicked - clicking such items displays a general page related to that item - for example, clicking on Status shows some overall status information, whereas sub-menu items under Status display specific categories of status information.

Figure 3.1. Main menu

Main menu

The user interface pages used to change the device configuration are referred to as the 'config pages' in this manual - these pages are accessed by clicking on the "Edit" item in the sub-menu under the "Config" main-menu item.

Note

The config pages utilise JavaScript for their main functionality ; you must therefore have JavaScript enabled in your web browser in order to configure your FB2900 using the web interface.

3.4.1.1. Customising the layout

The following aspects of the user interface layout can be customised :-

  • The banner area can be reduced in height, or removed all together
  • The main menu strip can be positioned vertically at the left or right-hand sides, or horizontally at the top (under the banner, if present)

Additionally, you can choose to use the default fonts that are defined in your browser setup, or use the fonts specified by the user interface.

These customisations are controlled using three icons on the left-hand side of the page footer, as shown in Figure 3.2 below :-

Figure 3.2. Icons for layout controls

Icons for layout controls

The first icon, an up/down arrow, controls the banner size/visibility and cycles through three settings : full size banner, reduced height banner, no banner. The next icon, a left/right arrow, controls the menu strip position and cycles through three settings : menu on the left, menu on the right, menu at the top. The last icon, the letter 'A', toggles between using browser-specified or user-interface-specified fonts.

Layout settings are stored in a cookie - since cookies are stored on your computer, and are associated with the DNS name or IP address used to browse to the FB2900, this means that settings that apply to a particular FB2900 will automatically be recalled next time you use the same computer/browser to connect to that FB2900.

It is also possible to configure an external CSS to use with the FireBrick web control pages which allows a great deal of control over the overall layout and appearance. This can be usful for dealers or IT support companies to set up FireBricks in a style and branding of their choice.

3.4.2. Config pages and the object hierarchy

The structure of the config pages mirrors the object hierachy, and therefore they are themselves naturally hierachical. Your postition in the hierachy is illustrated in the 'breadcrumbs' trail at the top of the page, for example :-

Firewall/mapping rules :: rule-set 1 of 3 (filters) :: rule 7 of 19 (ICMP)

This shows that the current page is showing a rule, which exists within a rule-set, which in turn is in the "Firewall/mapping rules" category (see below).

3.4.2.1. Configuration categories

Configuration objects are grouped into a number of categories. At the top of the config pages is a set of icons, one for each category, as shown in Figure 3.3 :-

Figure 3.3. Icons for configuration categories

Icons for configuration categories

Within each category, there are one or more sections delimited by horizontal lines. Each of these sections has a heading, and corresponds to a particular type of top-level object, and relates to a major part of the configuration that comes under the selected category. See Figure 3.4 for an example showing part of the "Setup" category, which includes general system settings (the system object) and control of system services (network services provided by the FB2900, such as the web-interface web server, telnet server etc., controlled by the services object).

Figure 3.4. The "Setup" category

The "Setup" category

Each section is displayed as a tabulated list showing any existing objects of the associated type. Each row of the table corresponds with one object, and a subset (typically those of most interest at a glance) of the object's attributes are shown in the columns - the column heading shows the attribute name. If no objects of that type exist, there will be a single row with an "Add" link. Where the order of the objects matter, there will be an 'Add' link against each object - clicking an 'Add' link for a particular object will insert a new object before it. To add a new object after the last existing one, click on the 'Add' link on the bottom (or only) row of the table.

Tip

If there is no 'Add' link present, then this means there can only exist a limited number of objects of that type (possibly only one), and this many already exist. The existing object(s) may have originated from the factory reset configuration.

You can 'push-down' into the hierarchy by clicking the 'Edit' link in a table row. This takes you to a page to edit that specific object. The page also shows any child objects of the object being edited, using the same horizontal-line delimited section style used in the top-level categories. You can navigate back up the hierarchy using various methods - see Section 3.4.3.

Caution

Clicking the "Add" link will create a new sub-object which will have blank/default settings. This can be useful to see what attributes an object can take, but if you do not want this blank object to be part of the configuration you later save you will need to click Erase. Simply going back "Up" or moving to another part of the config will leave this newly created empty object and that could have undesirable effects on the operation of your FireBrick if saved.

3.4.2.2. Object settings

The details of an object are displayed as a matrix of boxes (giving the appearance of a wall of bricks), one for each attribute associated with that object type. Figure 3.5 shows an example for an interface object (covered in Chapter 6) :-

Figure 3.5. Editing an "Interface" object

Editing an "Interface" object

By default, more advanced or less frequently used attributes are hidden - if this applies to the object being edited, you will see the text shown in Figure 3.6. The hidden attributes can be displayed by clicking on the link "Show all".

Figure 3.6. Show hidden attributes

Show hidden attributes

Each brick in the wall contains the following :-

  • a checkbox - if the checkbox is checked, an appropriate value entry widget is displayed, otherwise, a default value is shown and applied for that setting. If the attribute is not optional then no checkbox is show.
  • the attribute name - this is a compact string that exactly matches the underlying XML attribute name
  • a short description of the attribute

Tip

If there is no default shown for an attribute then its value, if needed, is zero, blank, null, empty string, false (internally it is zero bits!). In some cases the presence of an attribute will have meaning even if that attribute is an empty string or zero value. In some cases the default for an attribute will not be a fixed value but will depend on other factors, e.g. it may be "auto", or "set if using xyz...". The description of the default value should make this clear. Where an optional attribute is not ticked the attribute does not appear in the XML at all.

These can be seen in Figure 3.7 :-

Figure 3.7. Attribute definitions

Attribute definitions

If the attribute value is shown in a 'strike-through' font (with a horizontal line through it mid-way vertically), this illustrates that the attribute can't be set - this will happen where the attribute value would reference an instance of particular type of object, but there are not currently any instances of objects of that type defined.

Tip

Since the attribute name is a compact, concise and un-ambiguous way of referring to an attribute, please quote attribute names when requesting technical support, and expect technical support staff to discuss your configuration primarily in terms of attribute (and object/element) names, rather than descriptive text, or physical location on your screen (both of which can vary between software releases).

3.4.3. Navigating around the User Interface

You navigate around the hierarchy using one or more of the following :-

  • configuration category icons
  • the breadcrumbs - each part of the breadcrumbs (delimited by the :: symbol) is a clickable link
  • the in-page navigation buttons, shown in Figure 3.8 : "Up" - move one level up in the object hierachy, "Prev" - Previous object in a list, and "Next" - Next object in a list.

Figure 3.8. Navigation controls

Navigation controls

Caution

The configuration pages are generated on-the-fly using JavaScript within your web browser environment (i.e. client-side scripting). As such, the browser is essentially unaware of changes to page content, and cannot track these changes - this means the browser's navigation buttons (Back, Forward), will not correctly navigate through a series of configuration pages.

Please take care not to use the browser's Back button whilst working through configuration pages - navigation between such pages must be done via the buttons provided on the page - "Prev", "Next" and "Up".

Navigating away from an object using the supported navigation controls doesn't cause any modifications to that object to be lost, even if the configuration has not yet been saved back to the FB2900. All changes are initially held in-memory (in the web browser itself), and are committed back to the FireBrick only when you press the Save button.

The navigation button area, shown in Figure 3.8, also includes three other buttons :-

  • New : creates a new instance of the object type being edited - the new object is inserted after the current one ; this is equivalent to using the "Add" link one level up in the hierarchy
  • Erase : deletes the object being edited - note that the object will not actually be erased until the configuration is saved
  • Help : browses to the online reference material (as desribed in Section 3.2.1) for the object type being edited

Caution

If you Add a new object, but don't fill in any parameter values, the object will remain in existence should you navigate away. You should be careful that you don't inadvertently add incompletely setup objects this way, as they may affect operation of the FireBrick, possibly with a detrimental effect.

If you have added an object, perhaps for the purposes of looking at what attributes can be set on it, remember to delete the object before you navigate away -- the "Erase" button (see Figure 3.8) is used to delete the object you are viewing.

3.4.4. Backing up / restoring the configuration

To back up / save or restore the configuration, start by clicking on the "Config" main-menu item. This will show a page with a form to upload a configuration file (in XML) to the FB2900 - also on the page is a link "Download/save config" that will download the current configuration in XML format.



[1] If the User Interface does not generate valid XML - i.e. when saving changes to the configuration the FireBrick reports XML errors, then this may be a bug - please check this via the appropriate support channel(s).