Table of Contents

PacketLogic: Integration With Sonar

Mitchell Paul-Soumis Updated by Mitchell Paul-Soumis

Read Time: 4 mins

Connecting PacketLogic to your Sonar instance allows you to deploy an inline device that can control customer connectivity and speeds.

As PacketLogic operates as an inline device, it's recommended that you read the Address List documentation to make the most of your connection.

Incorporating this inline device occurs in two stages. The first step is to create a user in your PacketLogic client, which will then be used in the second step to connect your device to Sonar.

PacketLogic Setup

Adding a Sonar user

The first step to preparing PacketLogic for integration is to build a user within the PacketLogic client that Sonar can use to authenticate. Here are the steps to create and secure a user for Sonar access:

  1. Open the PacketLogic System Manager and login to the appliance you would like to integrate and navigate to Edit → Users
  2. Click the New User button in the top-left corner to create a new user:
    1. Create a username and password.
      1. Store this sign in info securely so that it can be added to the Sonar instance.
    2. Set the database permissions to “Read & Write”.
    3. Under the Host Access List tab, click add host and add the IP of your Sonar instance. The most up-to-date IP addresses are available in the Sonar IP Addressing article.
      As multiple IP addresses may be used to communicate with your PacketLogic device, we recommend adding all of them.

Adding PacketLogic to the Sonar Application Firewall

Next, the PacketLogic device needs to be allowed past the Application Firewall. If the Application Firewall isn't enabled in your instance, you can skip to Adding PacketLogic as an Inline Device in Sonar.

Get the WAN IP Address from PacketLogic and in Sonar, under Settings → Security → Application Firewall Rules, then click the blue “Create Application Firewall Rule” button in the top right. In this form, create a new firewall rule, adding the WAN IP address under the Subnet field. General best practice would be to name the Description the same name as the device name in the PacketLogic.

Adding PacketLogic as an Inline Device in Sonar

Within your Sonar instance, navigate to Settings → Networking → Inline Devices, then click the Create Inline Device button in the top-right.

In the modal that appears, you'll have to fill in several fields:

  1. The Name field lets you define an identifier for this device. Because many inline devices can exist in one Sonar instance, having well-defined names can make it easier. General best practice will be to copy the name directly from the PacketLogic device.
  2. The Enabled toggle will determine whether this Inline device will be used for network control.
  3. The IP Address field is where you enter the public IP address of your PacketLogic device. This IP must be reachable by Sonar, but can be either IPv4 or IPv6 by enabling the toggle.
    Unlike MikroTik devices, PacketLogic devices don't allow manual port entry. This is because they only support 3 ports, and all those ports must be open:

    42000
    42001
    42005

    This also means that no port forwarding can be enabled to allow multiple PacketLogic devices on the same IP.
  4. The Subnets section lets you select which IP Subnets defined in your instance will be controlled by this Inline Device. You can optionally select all subnets for control. The subnets available in this section will reflect those defined in your Sonar instance network settings. For more information, review IPAM: Setup, Policy, & Best Practices.
  5. The Inline Device Type allows you to choose between MikroTik or PacketLogic devices. The selected device type will change the configuration settings slightly.
  6. The PacketLogic master object name is where you provide the name of the configured top-level address list. This field must match the settings you've defined in your PacketLogic device.
  7. The PacketLogic username will be the user credentials that you created earlier in this process. If no credentials are available, they will need to be created before the integration can be completed.
  8. The PacketLogic password will be the second half of your generated user credentials. As with the username, if no credentials are available, they will need to be created before the integration can be completed.

Once filled out, click on “Create”. Your PacketLogic device will now appear in the Inline Devices table. Expand the menu next to "Validate Credentials" will allow you to Synchronize your device, Edit the device configuration in Sonar, or Delete the device entirely.

Testing your configuration

To finalize the process, click the “Validate Credentials” button to test that the link between Sonar and your PacketLogic is functioning correctly. If you see the “Successfully Validated Inline Device Credentials” in the top-left corner, everything is working correctly, and you can send a Synchronize command from the dropdown to the right of the Inline Devices table.

Credential validation can be re-verified using the “Validate Credentials” button, available from the Options column. Manual validation can be performed at any time, and a successful validation will cause a notification to display in your Sonar instance.

Once validated, communication will flow between your Sonar instance and your inline device.

It is important to understand that the Synchronize command will add all IP assignments from Sonar to PacketLogic, but not any of the static IP assignments in PacketLogic back to Sonar. The synchronization is only in the direction of Sonar to PacketLogic.

Because traffic should begin to flow immediately, an easy way to test the connection, and the configuration, is by checking that Address Lists are correctly populating under your defined MasterObject. You can check for that communication in the PacketLogic software.

If you're used to the response times of a MikroTik as an Inline device, do note that PacketLogic devices communicate and update noticeably slower than a MikroTik.

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