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Tutorial: Deploy and configure Azure Firewall and policy in a hybrid network using the Azure portal

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When you connect your on-premises network to an Azure virtual network to create a hybrid network, the ability to control access to your Azure network resources is an important part of an overall security plan.

You can use Azure Firewall and Firewall Policy to control network access in a hybrid network using rules that define allowed and denied network traffic.

For this tutorial, you create three virtual networks:

  • VNet-Hub - the firewall is in this virtual network.
  • VNet-Spoke - the spoke virtual network represents the workload located on Azure.
  • VNet-Onprem - The on-premises virtual network represents an on-premises network. In an actual deployment, it can be connected using either a VPN or ExpressRoute connection. For simplicity, this tutorial uses a VPN gateway connection, and an Azure-located virtual network is used to represent an on-premises network.

Diagram of Firewall in a hybrid network.

In this tutorial, you learn how to:

  • Create the firewall hub virtual network
  • Create the spoke virtual network
  • Create the on-premises virtual network
  • Configure and deploy the firewall and policy
  • Create and connect the VPN gateways
  • Peer the hub and spoke virtual networks
  • Create the routes
  • Create the virtual machines
  • Test the firewall

If you want to use Azure PowerShell instead to complete this procedure, see Deploy and configure Azure Firewall in a hybrid network using Azure PowerShell.

Prerequisites

A hybrid network uses the hub-and-spoke architecture model to route traffic between Azure VNets and on-premises networks. The hub-and-spoke architecture has the following requirements:

  • To route the spoke subnet traffic through the hub firewall, you can use a User Defined route (UDR) that points to the firewall with the Virtual network gateway route propagation option disabled. The Virtual network gateway route propagation disabled option prevents route distribution to the spoke subnets. This prevents learned routes from conflicting with your UDR. If you want to keep Virtual network gateway route propagation enabled, make sure to define specific routes to the firewall to override those that are published from on-premises over BGP.
  • Configure a UDR on the hub gateway subnet that points to the firewall IP address as the next hop to the spoke networks. No UDR is required on the Azure Firewall subnet, as it learns routes from BGP.

See the Create Routes section in this tutorial to see how these routes are created.

Note

Azure Firewall must have direct Internet connectivity. If your AzureFirewallSubnet learns a default route to your on-premises network via BGP, you must override this with a 0.0.0.0/0 UDR with the NextHopType value set as Internet to maintain direct Internet connectivity.

Azure Firewall can be configured to support forced tunneling. For more information, see Azure Firewall forced tunneling.

Note

Traffic between directly peered VNets is routed directly even if a UDR points to Azure Firewall as the default gateway. To send subnet to subnet traffic to the firewall in this scenario, a UDR must contain the target subnet network prefix explicitly on both subnets.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Create the firewall hub virtual network

First, create the resource group to contain the resources for this tutorial:

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.
  2. On the Azure portal home page, select Resource groups > Create.
  3. For Subscription, select your subscription.
  4. For Resource group name, type FW-Hybrid-Test.
  5. For Region, select (US) East US. All resources that you create later must be in the same location.
  6. Select Review + Create.
  7. Select Create.

Now, create the virtual network:

Note

The size of the AzureFirewallSubnet subnet is /26. For more information about the subnet size, see Azure Firewall FAQ.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. Under Networking, select Virtual network.
  3. Select Create.
  4. For Resource group, select FW-Hybrid-Test.
  5. For Name, type VNet-hub.
  6. On the Security tab, select Next.
  7. For IPv4 Address space, type 10.5.0.0/16.
  8. Under Subnets, select default.
  9. For Subnet purpose, select Azure Firewall.
  10. For Starting address, type 10.5.0.0/26.
  11. Select Save.
  12. Select Review + create.
  13. Select Create.

Now create a second subnet for the gateway.

  1. On the VNet-hub page, select Subnets.
  2. Select +Subnet.
  3. For Subnet purpose, select Virtual Network Gateway.
  4. For Starting address type 10.5.2.0/26.
  5. Select Add.

Create the spoke virtual network

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In Networking, select Virtual network.
  3. Select Create.
  4. For Resource group, select FW-Hybrid-Test.
  5. For Name, type VNet-Spoke.
  6. For Region, select (US) East US.
  7. Select Next.
  8. On the Security tab, select Next.
  9. For IPv4 address space, type 10.6.0.0/16.
  10. Under Subnets, select default.
  11. For Name type SN-Workload.
  12. For Starting address, type 10.6.0.0/24.
  13. Select Save.
  14. Select Review + create.
  15. Select Create.

Create the on-premises virtual network

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In Networking, select Virtual network.
  3. For Resource group, select FW-Hybrid-Test.
  4. For Name, type VNet-OnPrem.
  5. For Region, select (US) East US.
  6. Select Next.
  7. On the Security tab, select Next.
  8. For IPv4 address space, type 192.168.0.0/16.
  9. Under Subnets, select default.
  10. For Name type SN-Corp.
  11. For Starting address, type 192.168.1.0/24.
  12. Select Save.
  13. Select Review + create.
  14. Select Create.

Now create a second subnet for the gateway.

  1. On the VNet-Onprem page, select Subnets.
  2. Select +Subnet.
  3. For Subnet purpose, select Virtual Network Gateway.
  4. For Starting address type 192.168.2.0/24.
  5. Select Add.

Configure and deploy the firewall

Now deploy the firewall into the firewall hub virtual network.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.

  2. In the left column, select Networking, and search for and then select Firewall, and then select Create.

  3. On the Create a Firewall page, use the following table to configure the firewall:

    Setting Value
    Subscription <your subscription>
    Resource group FW-Hybrid-Test
    Name AzFW01
    Region East US
    Firewall tier Standard
    Firewall management Use a Firewall Policy to manage this firewall
    Firewall policy Add new:
    hybrid-test-pol
    East US
    Choose a virtual network Use existing:
    VNet-hub
    Public IP address Add new:
    fw-pip

  4. Select Next : Tags.

  5. Select Next: Review + create.

  6. Review the summary, and then select Create to create the firewall.

    This takes a few minutes to deploy.

  7. After deployment completes, go to the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group, and select the AzFW01 firewall.

  8. Note the private IP address. You'll use it later when you create the default route.

Configure network rules

First, add a network rule to allow web traffic.

  1. From the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group, select the hybrid-test-pol Firewall Policy.
  2. Under Settings, select Network rules.
  3. Select Add add a rule collection.
  4. For Name, type RCNet01.
  5. For Priority, type 100.
  6. For Rule collection action, select Allow.
  7. Under Rules, for Name, type AllowWeb.
  8. For Source type, select IP address.
  9. For Source, type 192.168.1.0/24.
  10. For Protocol, select TCP.
  11. For Destination Ports, type 80.
  12. For Destination type, select IP address.
  13. For Destination, type 10.6.0.0/16.

Now add a rule to allow RDP traffic.

On the second rule row, type the following information:

  1. Name, type AllowRDP.
  2. For Source type, select IP address.
  3. For Source, type 192.168.1.0/24.
  4. For Protocol, select TCP.
  5. For Destination Ports, type 3389.
  6. For Destination type, select IP address.
  7. For Destination, type 10.6.0.0/16
  8. Select Add.

Create and connect the VPN gateways

The hub and on-premises virtual networks are connected via VPN gateways.

Create a VPN gateway for the hub virtual network

Now create the VPN gateway for the hub virtual network. Network-to-network configurations require a RouteBased VpnType. Creating a VPN gateway can often take 45 minutes or more, depending on the selected VPN gateway SKU.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In the search text box, type virtual network gateway.
  3. Select Virtual network gateway, and select Create.
  4. For Name, type GW-hub.
  5. For Region, select the same region that you used previously.
  6. For Gateway type, select VPN.
  7. For SKU, select VpnGw1.
  8. For Virtual network, select VNet-hub.
  9. For Public IP address, select Create new, and type VNet-hub-GW-pip for the name.
  10. For Second Public IP address, select Create new, and type VNet-hub-GW-pip2 for the name.
  11. Accept the remaining defaults and then select Review + create.
  12. Review the configuration, then select Create.

Create a VPN gateway for the on-premises virtual network

Now create the VPN gateway for the on-premises virtual network. Network-to-network configurations require a RouteBased VpnType. Creating a VPN gateway can often take 45 minutes or more, depending on the selected VPN gateway SKU.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In the search text box, type virtual network gateway and press Enter.
  3. Select Virtual network gateway, and select Create.
  4. For Name, type GW-Onprem.
  5. For Region, select the same region that you used previously.
  6. For Gateway type, select VPN.
  7. For SKU, select VpnGw1.
  8. For Virtual network, select VNet-Onprem.
  9. For Public IP address, select Create new, and type VNet-Onprem-GW-pip for the name.
  10. For Second Public IP address, select Create new, and type VNet-Onprem-GW-pip2 for the name.
  11. Accept the remaining defaults and then select Review + create.
  12. Review the configuration, then select Create.

Create the VPN connections

Now you can create the VPN connections between the hub and on-premises gateways.

In this step, you create the connection from the hub virtual network to the on-premises virtual network. A shared key is used in the examples. You can use your own values for the shared key. The important thing is that the shared key must match for both connections. Creating a connection can take a short while to complete.

  1. Open the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group and select the GW-hub gateway.
  2. Under Settings, select Connections in the left column.
  3. Select Add.
  4. For the connection name, type Hub-to-Onprem.
  5. Select VNet-to-VNet for Connection type.
  6. Select Next : Settings.
  7. For the First virtual network gateway, select GW-hub.
  8. For the Second virtual network gateway, select GW-Onprem.
  9. For Shared key (PSK), type AzureA1b2C3.
  10. Select Review + create.
  11. Select Create.

Create the on-premises to hub virtual network connection. This step is similar to the previous one, except you create the connection from VNet-Onprem to VNet-hub. Make sure the shared keys match. The connection will be established after a few minutes.

  1. Open the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group and select the GW-Onprem gateway.
  2. Select Connections in the left column.
  3. Select Add.
  4. For the connection name, type Onprem-to-Hub.
  5. Select VNet-to-VNet for Connection type.
  6. Select Next : Settings.
  7. For the First virtual network gateway, select GW-Onprem.
  8. For the Second virtual network gateway, select GW-hub.
  9. For Shared key (PSK), type AzureA1b2C3.
  10. Select Review + create.
  11. Select Create.

Verify the connection

After about five minutes or so, the status of both connections should be Connected.

Gateway connections

Peer the hub and spoke virtual networks

Now peer the hub and spoke virtual networks.

  1. Open the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group and select the VNet-hub virtual network.

  2. In the left column, select Peerings.

  3. Select Add.

  4. Under Remote virtual network summary:

  5. Under Remote virtual network summary:

    Setting name Value
    Peering link name SpoketoHub
    Virtual network deployment model Resource Manager
    Subscription <your subscription>
    Virtual network VNet-Spoke
    Allow 'VNet-Spoke' to access 'VNet-hub' selected
    Allow 'VNet-Spoke' to receive forwarded traffic from 'VNet-Hub' selected
    Allow gateway or route server in 'VNet-Spoke' to forward traffic to 'VNet-Hub' not selected
    Enable 'VNet-Spoke' to use 'VNet-hub's' remote gateway or route server selected

  6. Under Local virtual network summary:

    Setting name Value
    Peering link name HubtoSpoke
    Allow 'VNet-hub' to access 'VNet-Spoke' selected
    Allow 'VNet-hub' to receive forwarded traffic from 'VNet-Spoke' selected
    Allow gateway or route server in 'VNet-Hub' to forward traffic to 'VNet-Spoke' selected
    Enable 'VNet-hub' to use 'VNet-Spoke's' remote gateway or route server not selected

  7. Select Add.

    Screenshot showing network peering.

Create the routes

Next, create a couple routes:

  • A route from the hub gateway subnet to the spoke subnet through the firewall IP address
  • A default route from the spoke subnet through the firewall IP address
  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In the search text box, type route table and press Enter.
  3. Select Route table.
  4. Select Create.
  5. Select the FW-Hybrid-Test for the resource group.
  6. For Region, select the same location that you used previously.
  7. For the name, type UDR-Hub-Spoke.
  8. Select Review + Create.
  9. Select Create.
  10. After the route table is created, select it to open the route table page.
  11. Under Settings, select Routes in the left column.
  12. Select Add.
  13. For the route name, type ToSpoke.
  14. For Destination type, select IP Addresses.
  15. For the Destination IP addresses/CIDR ranges, type 10.6.0.0/16.
  16. For next hop type, select Virtual appliance.
  17. For next hop address, type the firewall's private IP address that you noted earlier.
  18. Select Add.

Now associate the route to the subnet.

  1. On the UDR-Hub-Spoke - Routes page, select Subnets.
  2. Select Associate.
  3. Under Virtual network, select VNet-hub.
  4. Under Subnet, select GatewaySubnet.
  5. Select OK.

Now create the default route from the spoke subnet.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. In the search text box, type route table and press Enter.
  3. Select Route table.
  4. Select Create.
  5. Select the FW-Hybrid-Test for the resource group.
  6. For Region, select the same location that you used previously.
  7. For the name, type UDR-DG.
  8. For Propagate gateway route, select No.
  9. Select Review + Create.
  10. Select Create.
  11. After the route table is created, select it to open the route table page.
  12. Select Routes in the left column.
  13. Select Add.
  14. For the route name, type ToHub.
  15. For the Destination type, select IP Addresses.
  16. For the Destination IP addresses/CIDR ranges, type 0.0.0.0/0.
  17. For next hop type, select Virtual appliance.
  18. For next hop address, type the firewall's private IP address that you noted earlier.
  19. Select Add.

Now associate the route to the subnet.

  1. On the UDR-DG - Routes page, select Subnets.
  2. Select Associate.
  3. Under Virtual network, select VNet-spoke.
  4. Under Subnet, select SN-Workload.
  5. Select OK.

Create virtual machines

Now create the spoke workload and on-premises virtual machines, and place them in the appropriate subnets.

Create the workload virtual machine

Create a virtual machine in the spoke virtual network, running IIS, with no public IP address.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. Under Popular Marketplace products, select Windows Server 2019 Datacenter.
  3. Enter these values for the virtual machine:
    • Resource group - Select FW-Hybrid-Test
    • Virtual machine name: VM-Spoke-01
    • Region - Same region that you're used previously
    • User name: <type a user name>
    • Password: <type a password>
  4. For Public inbound ports, select Allow selected ports, and then select HTTP (80), and RDP (3389).
  5. Select Next:Disks.
  6. Accept the defaults and select Next: Networking.
  7. Select VNet-Spoke for the virtual network and the subnet is SN-Workload.
  8. For Public IP, select None.
  9. Select Next:Management.
  10. Select Next : Monitoring.
  11. For Boot diagnostics, Select Disable.
  12. Select Review+Create, review the settings on the summary page, and then select Create.

Install IIS

After the virtual machine is created, install IIS.

  1. From the Azure portal, open the Cloud Shell and make sure that it's set to PowerShell.

  2. Run the following command to install IIS on the virtual machine and change the location if necessary:

    Set-AzVMExtension `
        -ResourceGroupName FW-Hybrid-Test `
        -ExtensionName IIS `
        -VMName VM-Spoke-01 `
        -Publisher Microsoft.Compute `
        -ExtensionType CustomScriptExtension `
        -TypeHandlerVersion 1.4 `
        -SettingString '{"commandToExecute":"powershell Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server; powershell      Add-Content -Path \"C:\\inetpub\\wwwroot\\Default.htm\" -Value $($env:computername)"}' `
        -Location EastUS

Create the on-premises virtual machine

This is a virtual machine that you use to connect using Remote Desktop to the public IP address. From there, you then connect to the on-premises server through the firewall.

  1. From the Azure portal home page, select Create a resource.
  2. Under Popular Marketplace products, select Windows Server 2019 Datacenter.
  3. Enter these values for the virtual machine:
    • Resource group - Select existing, and then select FW-Hybrid-Test.
    • Virtual machine name - VM-Onprem.
    • Region - Same region that you used previously.
    • User name: <type a user name>.
    • Password: <type a user password>.
  4. For Public inbound ports, select Allow selected ports, and then select RDP (3389)
  5. Select Next:Disks.
  6. Accept the defaults and select Next:Networking.
  7. Select VNet-Onprem for virtual network and the subnet is SN-Corp.
  8. Select Next:Management.
  9. Select Next : Monitoring.
  10. For Boot diagnostics, select Disable.
  11. Select Review+Create, review the settings on the summary page, and then select Create.

Note

Azure provides a default outbound access IP for VMs that either aren't assigned a public IP address or are in the backend pool of an internal basic Azure load balancer. The default outbound access IP mechanism provides an outbound IP address that isn't configurable.

The default outbound access IP is disabled when one of the following events happens:

  • A public IP address is assigned to the VM.
  • The VM is placed in the backend pool of a standard load balancer, with or without outbound rules.
  • An Azure NAT Gateway resource is assigned to the subnet of the VM.

VMs that you create by using virtual machine scale sets in flexible orchestration mode don't have default outbound access.

For more information about outbound connections in Azure, see Default outbound access in Azure and Use Source Network Address Translation (SNAT) for outbound connections.

Test the firewall

  1. First, note the private IP address for VM-spoke-01 virtual machine.

  2. From the Azure portal, connect to the VM-Onprem virtual machine.

  3. Open a web browser on VM-Onprem, and browse to http://<VM-spoke-01 private IP>.

    You should see the VM-spoke-01 web page: VM-Spoke-01 web page

  4. From the VM-Onprem virtual machine, open a remote desktop to VM-spoke-01 at the private IP address.

    Your connection should succeed, and you should be able to sign in.

So now you verified that the firewall rules are working:

  • You can browse web server on the spoke virtual network.
  • You can connect to the server on the spoke virtual network using RDP.

Next, change the firewall network rule collection action to Deny to verify that the firewall rules work as expected.

  1. Select the hybrid-test-pol Firewall Policy.
  2. Select Rule Collections.
  3. Select the RCNet01 rule collection.
  4. For Rule collection action, select Deny.
  5. Select Save.

Close any existing remote desktops before testing the changed rules. Now run the tests again. They should all fail this time.

Clean up resources

You can keep your firewall resources for the next tutorial, or if no longer needed, delete the FW-Hybrid-Test resource group to delete all firewall-related resources.

Next steps

Deploy and configure Azure Firewall Premium