Courses / Sophos

Networking · SecurityComing soon

Sophos Firewall: Complete Administration

Day-to-day Sophos Firewall administration for schools, offices and plant sites. Starting from a free Home Edition VM, you set up zones and VLANs, firewall and NAT rules, web and application control, TLS inspection, user authentication with Active Directory, site-to-site and remote-access VPN, SD-WAN with two internet lines, high availability and the logs, reports and diagnostic tools you need when users say the internet is not working.

  • 39 lecturesabout 7.5 hours of video
  • 39 hands-on demoswith lab files to follow along
  • Beginner to intermediatelevel
  • Sophos Firewall v22 (SFOS); notes for v21recorded on
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What you will be able to do

  • Install and register Sophos Firewall and secure its admin access
  • Build zones, VLANs, DHCP and DNS for a segmented network
  • Write firewall and NAT rules that are easy to read and audit
  • Control web browsing and applications for staff and students, with TLS inspection
  • Authenticate users with Active Directory and Sophos Connect for remote staff
  • Connect sites with IPsec and run two ISPs with SD-WAN
  • Find the cause of a problem with logs, packet capture and the connection list

Is this course for you?

Who it is for

  • IT administrators who manage a Sophos Firewall (XG or XGS) and want to understand every screen they use
  • Teams moving from Sophos UTM to Sophos Firewall
  • Students preparing for the Sophos Firewall Engineer or Architect certification who want extra practice

Before you start

  • Basic networking: IP addressing, subnets, gateway, DNS
  • A PC with 16 GB RAM for the lab

Your lab

Sophos Firewall Home Edition (free licence, runs as a VM), two client VMs and a Windows Server VM for Active Directory. A second Sophos Firewall VM is used for site-to-site VPN and HA.

Curriculum

9 sections · 39 lectures · 447 minutes

01Getting started5 lectures · 47 min

Install Sophos Firewall in a lab and find your way around.

  1. Welcome and the lab network
    5 min
  2. Sophos Firewall, XGS and Sophos Central
    8 min
  3. Installing Home Edition in VMware or VirtualBox
    14 min
  4. The web admin, console and advanced shell
    10 min
  5. Firmware, backup and admin security
    10 min
02Network setup5 lectures · 59 min

Build a clean, segmented network.

  1. Zones and interfaces
    10 min
  2. VLANs and the switch trunk
    13 min
  3. DHCP, DNS and DNS protection
    11 min
  4. Static routes and two internet lines
    10 min
  5. Labsegment the network
    15 min
03Firewall and NAT rules5 lectures · 52 min

Allow exactly what is needed, and see why.

  1. How rules are matched
    9 min
  2. Hosts, services and schedules
    9 min
  3. User and network rules for internet access
    14 min
  4. Publishing a server with DNAT
    12 min
  5. Rule hygiene
    8 min
04Web, applications and TLS inspection5 lectures · 65 min

Filter without breaking the business.

  1. Web policies and categories
    13 min
  2. Application control and Synchronized Application Control
    11 min
  3. TLS inspection rules
    15 min
  4. IPS, antivirus and zero-day protection
    11 min
  5. Labthe school's acceptable-use policy
    15 min
05Users and authentication4 lectures · 45 min

Rules by person and group.

  1. Local users, groups and admin profiles
    9 min
  2. Active Directory integration
    13 min
  3. Transparent authentication with STAS and Synchronized User ID
    13 min
  4. Captive portal and guest users
    10 min
06VPN4 lectures · 50 min

Connect branches and remote staff.

  1. IPsec site-to-site
    15 min
  2. Remote access with Sophos Connect
    14 min
  3. SSL VPN and when to use it
    9 min
  4. Troubleshooting VPN
    12 min
07SD-WAN and high availability3 lectures · 37 min

Stay online through line and hardware failures.

  1. SD-WAN profiles and routes
    14 min
  2. Failover testing
    9 min
  3. High availability active-passive
    14 min
08Logs, reports and monitoring3 lectures · 30 min

Answer who did what, when.

  1. Log viewer and filters
    12 min
  2. Reports and Sophos Central reporting
    10 min
  3. Alerts and SNMP
    8 min
09Troubleshooting toolkit5 lectures · 62 min

Find the cause quickly.

  1. A troubleshooting method
    7 min
  2. Packet capture and connection list
    13 min
  3. Advanced shell tools
    12 min
  4. Performance and hardening
    10 min
  5. LabFinal project: a complete site
    20 min

Your instructor

Adnan Ali

IT infrastructure specialist with more than 12 years in schools and industrial projects: 13 years running the network, firewalls, servers and learning systems of a 500+ user IB school campus, then site IT for a cement plant project. The labs in this course come from that day-to-day work, not from a slide deck.

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