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Accessing the VFI Control Panel

The VFI Service on Apiculus is delivered as an integration using OS images pre-loaded with pfSense or FortiGate VM. While adding Instances to the VFI-based network is possible from the Apiculus CloudConsole UI, networking configurations need to be handled by accessing the VFI control panel UI.

Depending on the software/appliance powering the VFI, the steps needed to activate the VFI control panel are different. These instructions are also sent to CloudConsole users over email when they create a VFI, and all the details required to activate the VFI control panel are available on Apiculus CloudConsole.

Prerequisites and Preparation​

Under the VFI listing, click on the VFI whose control panel needs to be activated. The details popover will list the required information, which are:

Virtual Firewall: <virtual_firewall_vm_name>
Public/WAN IPv4: <public_ip>
Network Name: <l2_wan_name>
Gateway: <gateway>
Subnet: <subnet_mask>

Keeping the above information ready and handy, click on the icon that looks like a open new tab to open the VFI/machine's console.

Activating the Control Panel for pfSense VFI​

  1. On the VFI/machine's console, you'll be shown an on-screen menu - use option 2 to enter the Set Interface(s) IP Address menu.
  2. Select the option corresponding to the WAN interface; where prompted, do not use DHCP and, instead, use the Virtual Firewall's Public/WAN IPv4 address to designate as the WAN IP.
  3. Specify gateway and subnet details as mentioned in this email and on Apiculus CloudConsole.
  4. Where prompted, do not use https for the webconfigurator module. Once done, you should be able to use the Public/WAN IPv4 Address to access the Virtual Firewall Management UI. The default login details are:
Username: **admin**
Password: **pfsense**

Activating the Control Panel for FortiGate VM VFI​

  1. On the VFI/machine's console, use admin as the username and leave the password field blank to login (note that these are the default credentials).
  2. If prompted, create a new password.
  3. Use the following command to verify the system interfaces:
show system interface

port1 will be the default WAN interface.

  1. Use the following commands in sequence to configure the Virtual Firewall Management UI.
config system interface  
edit port1  
set mode static  
set ip {public_ip} {subnet_mask}  
set allowaccess ping http https ssh telnet  
end
  1. Add a static route from your VFI to the network gateway by using the following commands:
config router static  
edit 1  
set gateway {gateway}

Accessing the Control Panel(s)​

Once the control panel has been activated and the public IPv4 bound to the management UI, the same can be accessed by typing the public IPv4 in the browser's URL bar, or by clicking on the open in new tab icon for the selected VFI.