Day 1: Introduction & Firewall Setup and Configuration Backup 

• Palo Alto Networks Portfolio Overview 
• NGFW Features & Architecture 
• Deployment Modes (L3, L2, VWire, Tap) 
• Initial Access: GUI & CLI 
• Licensing and Updates 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Firewall login and interface tour 
• Basic system setup (hostname, DNS, NTP) 
• Software & dynamic updates 

Day 2: Interface & Zone Configuration 

• Security Zones: Purpose & Planning 
• Configuring Interfaces (L3 focus) 
• VLANs and Virtual Routers 
• Default route configuration 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Create zones and assign interfaces 
• Set up Layer 3 connectivity 
• Configure default gateway 

Day 3: Admin & Configuration Management 

• Managing Admin Accounts 
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) 
• Authentication methods (Local, LDAP, RADIUS) 
• Configuration management (candidate/running config, load/save) 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Create admin roles and access levels 
• Enable external authentication 
• Practice saving and reverting config 

 Day 4: Security Policy Rules 

• Security Policy Rule base 
• Source, Destination, Application, and Service Matching 
• Rule Logging and Hit Count 
• Policy Evaluation Flow 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Create allow/deny policies 
• Test traffic matching policies 
• Monitor policy hits in logs 

Day 5: NAT Policy Rules 

• NAT Overview: Source NAT vs Destination NAT 
• Static vs Dynamic NAT 
• NAT rule base processing order 
• NAT and security policy interaction 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Configure and test source NAT 
• Configure destination NAT 
• Validate translations via logs 

Day 6: App-ID & Application Control 

• App-ID Technology: Signatures & Heuristics 
• Application Groups and Filters 
• Dependency handling 
• Application Override 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Create application-based security rules 
• Monitor applications in use 
• Test app override scenario 

Day 7: Threat Prevention & URL Filtering 

• Security Profiles: AV, Anti-Spyware, Vuln Protection 
• URL Filtering categories 
• Credential theft prevention 
• Safe search enforcement 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Apply and test security profiles 
• Create URL filtering profiles 
• Test block and alert actions 

Day 8: Wildfire, User-ID 

• Wildfire Analysis Flow 
• File types, cloud submission, report viewing 
• User-ID: AD Integration, Mapping, and Policies 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Enable WildFire and submit test files 
• Integrate with AD for User-ID 

 Day 9: Decryption and Resource Protection 

• Decryption: SSL Forward Proxy 
• Configure decryption and SSL Bypass 
• Protecting Network from Flood and recon 

 Day 10: Monitoring & Reporting 

• Log Types: Traffic, Threat, URL, WildFire 
• ACC (App Command Center) Dashboard 
• Custom and Scheduled Reports 
• Troubleshooting with logs 

Hands-on Labs: 

• Explore and filter logs 
• Generate reports 
• Use ACC for threat analysis