Networks... Woot!

12 January 2017

ASA - Which serial number to lodge PAKs against

ASAs sometimes show one serial number in the "show version" output and a completely different one in the "show inventory" output. If you are tasked with applying a license to your ASA you will probably ask "which serial number do I use?" The simple answer is; use the "show inventory" serial number.

But what if I've already lodged my license against the wrong serial number? Simply email/contact the licensing team (licensing@cisco.com) and they'll sort it out for you.

Solution for nuisance phone calls from 0198339100 to my mobile

So I've been very annoyed lately. I've been getting phone calls from 0198339100 randomly on my mobile... 24/7. The problem was the service would hang up after one or two rings or would hang up on me even if I answered it. Sometimes I'd answer it in time for it to wait 5 seconds before reading me a text message. This was only happening from a single person. As you can imagine, this is really annoying and I'll be honest... a few swear words were said said over the last few days.

Googling the number reveals it's related to Telstra's Talking Text service. Basically if the phone the SMS was sent to is not SMS capable Telstra convert it into a talking text instead where a robot reads it back to you. The problem is I was receiving these calls on my mobile... which handles SMS perfectly well.... so I was stumped as to why Telstra was sending these through to me. The phone calls and annoyance continued for days.

It took me a while but I figured out what the problem was for me and my situation. I have no doubts someone else will have the same issue so I thought I'd make a post.

My desk phone at work is call-forwarded to mobile... So what was happening was a specific person was innocently sending SMSs to me from his mobile but his mobile had my desk phone listed as my primary contact number. Hence I was getting talking text calls on my desk phone... which forwarded to my mobile 4-5 rings afterwards. By the time they connect through to my mobile they're at the end of the default "wait for answer" period and hang up.

How to properly fix it:

Get the friend/enemy sending SMSs to your desk number to fix it on his end (i.e. change primary contact number to be your mobile rather than desk phone for your contact on his phone).

How to prevent Talking Text from reaching you on mobile:

Block the 0198339100 number on your mobile. For my Samsung S6 it was a case of clicking [...] next to number and saying "block". It won't stop the friend/enemy from sending SMSs to the wrong spot but will stop your mobile phone from ringing. NOTE: Your desk phone will still ring!

How to disable Talking Text service:

Disable the message bank service on your desk phone

How to prevent the calls from being forwarded to your mobile:

Disable call-forwarding on your desk phone.

How to make it work (i.e. keep talking texts from desk phone forwarding to mobile without hanging up):

Increase the "time to wait for answer" by calling 0198339999 from your desk phone and follow the prompts.

There is a bunch of technical information here if you have other requirements/etc.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck!

19 March 2015

Cisco IronPort (WSA/WSAV) - Licensing/Feature Key Enablement

The process to enable feature keys provided by Cisco is vague. As of right now (19/03/2015) I've noted the following as a general guide to the experience:

You need to go through the standard Cisco licensing process and get your license, associated with your device.

If you are migrating from one device to another you can "try" re-host the license yourself on the licensing website or you can email licensing@cisco.com and let them do it for you.

The Cisco Licensing site/team will send you a zip file (or you can download it from the Cisco licensing page). In that zip file a ".bin" file is located as well as a generic "instructions" HTML file. The instructions file should be similar to the below (I've been provided variations to the below throughout my experience):

To apply the key(s), please follow the instructions below:

    In the Web Interface, use the System Administration > Feature Keys page.
    In the Command Line Interface, issue the command 'featurekey'.

Virtual Appliance License Installation Instructions:
1. From the console, note the IP address of the appliance (e.g. enter interfaceconfig)
2. From SSH or telnet, login to the virtual appliance with admin/ironport

3. Enter loadlicense, then
    a. Use option <1> to input the license file by pasting its contents and pressing Ctrl-D, or
    b. Use option <2> to load the license file that has been uploaded to the virtual appliance via FTP:
               i. Using FTP to transfer license file to appliance: ftp to appliance with admin/Ironport, cd into directory configuration, put license.xml, exit
               ii. Using SCP to copy license file to appliance: scp license.xml admin@:configuration

4. Read and agree to the End User License Agreement
5. Enter showlicense to view the license details
6. Log on to the web UI (http://:8080) and run the system setup wizard

The first section is the part you are concerned with if you just have a physical appliance.
The "Virtual Appliance License Installation Instructions" are aimed at WSAV devices and has to do with defining a shared "serial number" across all virtual appliances.

Open the ".bin" file in a text editor. You'll note that a single/series of features, dates and keys are listed similar to the below:

Type: McAfee Anti-Malware, apply by: 2015/04/17, expires: 2015/10/09(12 months, 0 days)