The CiscoView Device Manager for the Cisco® Catalyst® 6500 Series SSL Services Module (SSLSM) is a device-management software application that helps users to easily configure Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) services on their SSLSM. A task-based tool that allows users to take advantage of theversatility of their SSLSM, it offers configuration wizards based on best practices in tasks such as setting up certificate Trustpoints and proxy services. CiscoView Device Manager is a free embedded manager that resides on the SSLSM Flash memory.
The CiscoView Device Manager Version 1.1 for the SSLSM includes the following new features:
• Upgraded certificate import, export, and Trustpoint wizards
• Visualization of Certification Hierarchy
• Proxy services statistics
KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS
The Next Generation of Device-Embedded Solutions
The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series SSL Services Module is a feature-rich, secure content-networking solution from Cisco Systems®. Managing a trustpoint on the SSLSM requires a high level of awareness of the public key infrastructure (PKI) as well as the command-line interface (CLI) for users to take advantage of its versatility. Typical challenges faced by users include importing certificate authority (CA) certificates, importing or generating key pairs, registering certificates with CAs, and checking the status of registered certificates.
The CiscoView Device Manager for the SSLSM manages several SSLSM features and helps users accomplish these tasks with ease. CiscoView Device Manager offers the following features:
• Customizable initial setup wizards
• Comprehensive configuration of SSL services using a single tool
CiscoView Device Manager (Figure 1) supports several features in the SSLSM, such as:
• Configuring certificate Trustpoints, proxy services, CA pools, and certificate access control lists (ACLs)
• Configuring SSL, TCP, header insertion, and URL rewrite policies
• Showing TCP and SSL statistics
• Visual indication of certificate status
• Grouping of Trustpoints by CA, enrollment status, and expiration date
Figure 1. CiscoView Device Manager for SSLSM Home Page
Wizards for Configuring Complex Tasks
CiscoView Device Manager for the SSLSM has enhanced its ability to provide end-to-end configurations completely through GUI tools by enhancing its wizards, which guide users through options that are available for configuring certificate Trustpoints and proxy services (Figure 2). This includes importing certificate and key pairs, configuring CA parameters, registering certificates with a CA, and checking certificate status.
Figure 2. Wizard-Based Configuration
Configuring PKI Management
The SSL protocol relies on certificates and public-private key pairs to provide authentication, privacy, and data integrity for data transactions. Setting up the PKI on the SSLSM is a primary requirement for enabling SSL services. CiscoView Device Manager simplifies the management of PKI by assisting with trustpoint management and key-pair management (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Trustpoint Configuration
Certificate management features allow users to import certificates and private keys, set up certificate Trustpoints, generate Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs), and enroll them with a CA. For N-tier certificates, CiscoView Device Manager supports import of the CA certificate chain and provides visualization of the certification hierarchy for the installed certificate chains. CiscoView Device Manager also allows users to delete certificates and export certificates from the SSLSM.
Key-pair management features allow users to generate new RSA (RSA Security---http://www.rsasecurity.com) key pairs, export key pairs from SSLSM, import RSA key pairs to SSLSM, and delete key pairs.
Configuring VLAN Management
CiscoView Device Manager allows users to view and modify VLAN configurations on the SSLSM.
Configuring Proxy Services
CiscoView Device Manager supports configuration of SSL proxy services. This includes viewing the configured proxy service status, creating new proxy services, and assigning certificates and policies to these services.
Configuring Policy Management
CiscoView Device Manager supports defining policies for proxy services. Policy templates help administrators refine the attributes associated with the SSL and TCP stack to suit their needs. The policies supported by CiscoView Device Manager include:
• TCP policy-Refines the TCP connection parameters
• SSL policy-Refines the SSL session parameters
• URL rewrite
• HTTP header insertion
Configuring Network Address Translation
CiscoView Device Manager supports the configuration of client Network Address Translation (NAT) pools and supports the configuration of server NAT.
Dynamic Grouping of Trustpoints
Dynamic grouping (Figure 4) is useful when several certificate Trustpoints are configured on an SSLSM. It allows users to group Trustpoints by CA, certificate expiration date, or the current status of certificates. This helps users, for example, to quickly locate certificates that expire in a particular month or all certificates issued by a specific CA.
Figure 4. Dynamic Grouping of Trustpoints
Table 1 lists the SSL features that CiscoView Device Manager supports.
Table 1. SSL Features Supported
Feature Category
Cisco 6500 Series SSLSM Features
Comments
PKI
Set up certificate Trustpoints and generate Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
CiscoView Device Manager for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series SSL Services Module is part of the CiscoView Device Manager suite of device-embedded management applications. These management solutions are available as downloadable files from Cisco.com or as part of the purchase of a Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch through regular Cisco sales and distribution channels worldwide.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the CiscoView Device Manager applications, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/cvdm or contact your local Cisco account representative or send an e-mail to the Product Marketing group at ciscoworks@cisco.com.
