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jmoreno8238

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Cannot connect to Checkpoint locally, I can connect through the Dashbord.

Hi I have an old Checkpoint setup (NG with application intelligence R55) that is both our firewall and our VPN. Now I can access it through the smart dashboard, but I can't connect to it through the terminal locally, nor can I connect to it through the browser (i.e. https://<IP Adderess, no explicit port>).

Also the VPN is not working if I could connect through the terminal and go into expert mode could at least look at the logs, but this is not the case.

The thing is that whenever I try to setup the Secure Client on a machine is not exchanging keys. It always hangs at "Gathering information" or something like that.

Thank You
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grimkin
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Hi,

When you say locally, do you mean you are conected with a console cable into the console port? If this is not working try another cable and use Putty as a terminal program. If you mean that it wont let you in via SSH then you need to check that there are no rules in Dashboard preventing you from connecting; let us know how you get on.
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jmoreno8238

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When I say locally it's that the software is installed on an IBM workstation so I'm trying to connect directly with the keyboard, mouse and monitor. So no console port in my case.
And what do you mean you cant access locally ?
- You dont get CLI prompt , or it doesnt accept the password . ?
What do you see on the monitor of the server when you restart or press some key on the keyboard ?
Checkpoint is made up of the management server and the enforcement module - this can be all installed on one machine (standalone) or the server and enforcement module can be different machines (distributed) - can you confirm which of these you have?

If this is distributed and your management server is running on windows then there is no web interface to access.

Can you also confirm which platform(s) they are running on and which operating systems?
I can't login. The Checkpoint doesn't accept my user and password.

The Screen I see says:

Checkpoint NG with Application Intelligence R55
... you can also access the administration module at through your browser at
https:

Login: _

(Sorry I'm not at the office right now so I can't really see the specific text, but you get the idea)

For example lets say that I use the following credential to access the checkpoint through the Smart Dashboard

U: admin
P: something1
(This can be done through one specific IP address)

But whenever I go to the server I use the same user and I get invalid credentials or something similar.

Also if I try the same user with the password for expert mode I get invalid credentials as well
and I know that I've accessed this server before.

Maybe something expired...

I don't know about the "management server and the enforcement module" but there is a web interface.
However for VPN connection we always use either the Secure Remote or the Secure Client.

It's running on linux. Whenever I used to access the expert mode what I got was a bash shell. I don't remember which distro though.

I hope that I was able to answer all of you questions.
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grimkin
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Oh ok .

Does checkpoint run under root or should it be another user?
The admin user has the same privileges as root.
So could the user for accessing checkpoint be admin also, and just a different password?
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Also meant to say that if you cannot access the web interface then there is most likely a firewall rule restricting this. Typically access to the gateway is restricted to specific admin workstation IP addresses.
Perfect! Thanks for the great explanation I'm a little new to checkpoint.
I think that I have an idea of what would the other password be.

Do you have any idea as to what could cause the checkpoint's VPN suddenly stop working?

One thing I know is that nobody has modified the configuration, unless somebody hacked it!...

This firewall was reinstalled earlier this year and the guy didn't even leave any license information,
but I wasn't in charge of supervising him or anything. I'm fearing that it might be a licensing issue, and
maybe checkpoint has some sort of tool to verify that.

Thank you
No worries!

It's probably not a licensing issue as the maximum eval license time is 30 days after which everything would stop working - the fact that you can log into dashboard means that your license is ok - the details of it can be viewed in SmartUpdate under the licensing tab.

As regards the VPNs, I would make sure that you can get logged in and all of that is working, then open another question as it is a different problem than the one you opened this question with. Once you're sorted here then we can debug the VPN issue.

HTH
Ok thank you