Security Appliance Adaptive Security Device Manager GUI
NOTE ASDM is a signed Java applet that downloads from the Security Appliance to your
web browser or a standalone installer.
458 Chapter 15: Adaptive Security Device Manager
If your Cisco Security Appliance unit is new and came with software version 7.0, the
software is already loaded in Flash memory. If you are upgrading from a previous version of
Cisco Security Appliance, you must use Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) from the
Security Appliance unit’s inside interface to copy the ASDM image to your Security
Appliance. ASDM works with software version 7.0 and later, and it can operate on the
Security Appliance 515, 515E, 525, 535, 5510, 5520, and 5540 units as soon as they are
upgraded to version 7.0 or later.
ASDM is designed to assist you in managing your network security in these ways:
■ Letting you visually monitor your Cisco Security Appliance system, connections,
Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and traffic on the interfaces.
■ Creating new Security Appliance configurations or modifying existing configurations
that were originally implemented using the Security Appliance.
■ Using visual tools such as task-oriented selections and drop-down menus to configure
your Cisco Security Appliance.
■ Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to secure communication between ASDM and the
Security Appliance.
■ Monitoring and configuring Security Appliance units individually.
Multiple Cisco Security Appliances can be monitored and configured from a single
workstation via the web browser. It is also possible to have up to five administrators
accessing a given Security Appliance unit or context via ASDM at the same time. A maximum
of 32 total sessions can be active on a unit running multiple mode.
For the SNPA exam, this chapter focuses on ASDM version 5.0 running on software version 7.0.