The point of service policies is to apply advanced services to the traffic you are allowing. Any traffic permitted by access rules can have service policies applied, and thus receive special processing, such as being redirected to a service module or having application inspection applied.

You can have these types of service policy:

• One global policy that gets applied to all interfaces.

• One service policy applied per interface. The policy can be a mix of classes for traffic going through the device and management traffic directed at the ASA interface rather than going through it,

Each service policy is composed of the following elements:

1. Service policy map, which is the ordered set of rules, and is named on the service-policy command. In ASDM, the policy map is represented as a folder on the Service Policy Rules page.

2. Rules, each rule being a class command within the service policy map and the commands associated with the class command. In ASDM, each rule is shown on a separate row, and the name of the rule is the class name.

   The class command defines the traffic matching criteria for the rule.

   The commands associated with class, such as inspect, set connection timeout, and so forth, define the services and constraints to apply to matching traffic. Note that inspect commands can point to inspection policy maps, which define actions to apply to inspected traffic. Keep in mind that inspection policy maps are not the same as service policy maps.

The following example compares how service policies appear in the CLI with how they appear in ASDM. Note that there is not a one-to-one mapping between the figure call-outs and lines in the CLI.

The following CLI is generated by the rules shown in the figure above.

: Access lists used in class maps.
: In ASDM, these map to call-out 3, from the Match to the Time fields.
access-list inside_mpc line 1 extended permit tcp 10.100.10.0 255.255.255.0 any eq sip
access-list inside_mpc_1 line 1 extended deny udp host 10.1.1.15 any eq snmp
access-list inside_mpc_1 line 2 extended permit udp 10.1.1.0 255.255.255.0 any eq snmp
access-list inside_mpc_2 line 1 extended permit icmp any any
: SNMP map for SNMP inspection. Denies all but v3.
: In ASDM, this maps to call-out 4, rule actions, for the class-inside policy.
snmp-map snmp-v3only
  deny version 1
  deny version 2
  deny version 2c
: Inspection policy map to define SIP behavior.
: The sip-high inspection policy map must be referred to by an inspect sip command
: in the service policy map.
: In ASDM, this maps to call-out 4, rule actions, for the sip-class-inside policy.
policy-map type inspect sip sip-high
  parameters
    rtp-conformance enforce-payloadtype
    no traffic-non-sip
    software-version action mask log
    uri-non-sip action mask log
    state-checking action drop-connection log
    max-forwards-validation action drop log
    strict-header-validation action drop log
: Class map to define traffic matching for the inside-class rule.
: In ASDM, this maps to call-out 3, from the Match to the Time fields.
class-map inside-class
  match access-list inside_mpc_1
: Class map to define traffic matching for the sip-class-inside rule.
: In ASDM, this maps to call-out 3, from the Match to the Time fields.
class-map sip-class-inside
  match access-list inside_mpc
: Class map to define traffic matching for the inside-class1 rule.
: In ASDM, this maps to call-out 3, from the Match to the Time fields.
class-map inside-class1
  match access-list inside_mpc_2
: Policy map that actually defines the service policy rule set named test-inside-policy.
: In ASDM, this corresponds to the folder at call-out 1.
policy-map test-inside-policy
: First rule in test-inside-policy, named sip-class-inside. Inspects SIP traffic.
: The sip-class-inside rule applies the sip-high inspection policy map to SIP inspection.
: In ASDM, each rule corresponds to call-out 2.
  class sip-class-inside
    inspect sip sip-high
: Second rule, inside-class. Applies SNMP inspection using an SNMP map.
  class inside-class
    inspect snmp snmp-v3only
: Third rule, inside-class1. Applies ICMP inspection.
  class inside-class1
    inspect icmp
: Fourth rule, class-default. Applies connection settings and enables user statistics.
  class class-default
    set connection timeout embryonic 0:00:30 half-closed 0:10:00 idle 1:00:00
reset dcd 0:15:00 5
    user-statistics accounting
: The service-policy command applies the policy map rule set to the inside interface.
: This command activates the policies.
service-policy test-inside-policy interface inside

The following table lists the features you configure using service policies.

Actions are applied to traffic bidirectionally or unidirectionally depending on the feature. For features that are applied bidirectionally, all traffic that enters or exits the interface to which you apply the policy map is affected if the traffic matches the class map for both directions.

Note

When you use a global policy, all features are unidirectional; features that are normally bidirectional when applied to a single interface only apply to the ingress of each interface when applied globally. Because the policy is applied to all interfaces, the policy will be applied in both directions so bidirectionality in this case is redundant.

For features that are applied unidirectionally, for example QoS priority queue, only traffic that enters (or exits, depending on the feature) the interface to which you apply the policy map is affected. See the following table for the directionality of each feature.

A packet matches class maps in a policy map for a given interface according to the following rules:

1. A packet can match only one class map in the policy map for each feature type.

2. When the packet matches a class map for a feature type, the ASA does not attempt to match it to any subsequent class maps for that feature type.

3. If the packet matches a subsequent class map for a different feature type, however, then the ASA also applies the actions for the subsequent class map, if supported. See Incompatibility of Certain Feature Actions for more information about unsupported combinations.

   Note	Application inspection includes multiple inspection types, and most are mutually exclusive. For inspections that can be combined, each inspection is considered to be a separate feature.

The order in which different types of actions in a policy map are performed is independent of the order in which the actions appear in the policy map.

Actions are performed in the following order:

1. QoS input policing

2. TCP normalization, TCP and UDP connection limits and timeouts, TCP sequence number randomization, and TCP state bypass.

   Note	When a the ASA performs a proxy service (such as AAA) or it modifies the TCP payload (such as FTP inspection), the TCP normalizer acts in dual mode, where it is applied before and after the proxy or payload modifying service.

3. Application inspections that can be combined with other inspections:

   1. IPv6

   2. IP options

   3. WAAS

4. Application inspections that cannot be combined with other inspections. See Incompatibility of Certain Feature Actions for more information.

5. ASA FirePOWER (ASA SFR)

6. QoS output policing

7. QoS standard priority queue

Note	NetFlow Secure Event Logging filtering and User statistics for Identity Firewall are order-independent.

Some features are not compatible with each other for the same traffic. The following list might not include all incompatibilities; for information about compatibility of each feature, see the chapter or section for the feature:

• You cannot configure QoS priority queuing and QoS policing for the same set of traffic.

• Most inspections should not be combined with another inspection, so the ASA only applies one inspection if you configure multiple inspections for the same traffic. Exceptions are listed in Order in Which Multiple Feature Actions are Applied.

• You cannot configure traffic to be sent to multiple modules.

• HTTP inspection is not compatible with ASA FirePOWER.

Note

The match default-inspection-traffic command, which is used in the default global policy, is a special CLI shortcut to match the default ports for all inspections. When used in a policy map, this class map ensures that the correct inspection is applied to each packet, based on the destination port of the traffic. For example, when UDP traffic for port 69 reaches the ASA, then the ASA applies the TFTP inspection; when TCP traffic for port 21 arrives, then the ASA applies the FTP inspection. So in this case only, you can configure multiple inspections for the same class map. Normally, the ASA does not use the port number to determine which inspection to apply, thus giving you the flexibility to apply inspections to non-standard ports, for example.

An example of a misconfiguration is if you configure multiple inspections in the same policy map and do not use the default-inspection-traffic shortcut. In the first example, traffic destined to port 21 is mistakenly configured for both FTP and HTTP inspection. In the second example, traffic destined to port 80 is mistakenly configured for both FTP and HTTP inspection. In both cases of misconfiguration examples, only the FTP inspection is applied, because FTP comes before HTTP in the order of inspections applied.

class-map ftp
   match port tcp eq 21
class-map http
   match port tcp eq 21 [it should be 80]
policy-map test
   class ftp
     inspect ftp
   class http
     inspect http

class-map ftp
   match port tcp eq 80 [it should be 21]
class-map http
   match port tcp eq 80
policy-map test
   class ftp
     inspect ftp
   class http
     inspect http

For TCP and UDP traffic (and ICMP when you enable stateful ICMP inspection), service policies operate on traffic flows, and not just individual packets. If traffic is part of an existing connection that matches a feature in a policy on one interface, that traffic flow cannot also match the same feature in a policy on another interface; only the first policy is used.

For example, if HTTP traffic matches a policy on the inside interface to inspect HTTP traffic, and you have a separate policy on the outside interface for HTTP inspection, then that traffic is not also inspected on the egress of the outside interface. Similarly, the return traffic for that connection will not be inspected by the ingress policy of the outside interface, nor by the egress policy of the inside interface.

For traffic that is not treated as a flow, for example ICMP when you do not enable stateful ICMP inspection, returning traffic can match a different policy map on the returning interface.

By default, the configuration includes a policy that matches all default application inspection traffic and applies certain inspections to the traffic on all interfaces (a global policy). Not all inspections are enabled by default. You can only apply one global policy, so if you want to alter the global policy, you need to either edit the default policy or disable it and apply a new one. (An interface policy overrides the global policy for a particular feature.)

The default policy includes the following application inspections:

• DNS

• FTP

• H323 (H225)

• H323 (RAS)

• RSH

• RTSP

• ESMTP

• SQLnet

• Skinny (SCCP)

• SunRPC

• SIP

• NetBios

• TFTP

• IP Options

The default policy configuration includes the following commands:

class-map inspection_default
 match default-inspection-traffic
policy-map type inspect dns preset_dns_map
 parameters
message-length maximum client auto
message-length maximum 512
dns-guard
protocol-enforcement
nat-rewrite
policy-map global_policy
 class inspection_default
  inspect dns preset_dns_map
  inspect ftp
  inspect h323 h225 _default_h323_map
  inspect h323 ras _default_h323_map
  inspect ip-options _default_ip_options_map
  inspect netbios
  inspect rsh
  inspect rtsp
  inspect skinny
  inspect esmtp _default_esmtp_map
  inspect sqlnet
  inspect sunrpc
  inspect tftp
  inspect sip
  service-policy global_policy global

The configuration includes a default Layer 3/4 class map (traffic class) that the ASA uses in the default global policy called default-inspection-traffic; it matches the default inspection traffic. This class, which is used in the default global policy, is a special shortcut to match the default ports for all inspections.

When used in a policy, this class ensures that the correct inspection is applied to each packet, based on the destination port of the traffic. For example, when UDP traffic for port 69 reaches the ASA, then the ASA applies the TFTP inspection; when TCP traffic for port 21 arrives, then the ASA applies the FTP inspection. So in this case only, you can configure multiple inspections for the same class map. Normally, the ASA does not use the port number to determine which inspection to apply, thus giving you the flexibility to apply inspections to non-standard ports, for example.

class-map inspection_default
 match default-inspection-traffic

Another class map that exists in the default configuration is called class-default, and it matches all traffic. This class map appears at the end of all Layer 3/4 policy maps and essentially tells the ASA to not perform any actions on all other traffic. You can use the class-default class if desired, rather than making your own match any class map. In fact, some features are only available for class-default.

class-map class-default
 match any

In this example, any HTTP connection (TCP traffic on port 80) that enters or exits the ASA through the outside interface is classified for HTTP inspection. Any HTTP traffic that exits the outside interface is classified for policing.

See the following commands for this example:

hostname(config)# class-map http_traffic
hostname(config-cmap)# match port tcp eq 80

hostname(config)# policy-map http_traffic_policy
hostname(config-pmap)# class http_traffic
hostname(config-pmap-c)# inspect http
hostname(config-pmap-c)# police output 250000
hostname(config)# service-policy http_traffic_policy interface outside

In this example, any HTTP connection (TCP traffic on port 80) that enters the ASA through any interface is classified for HTTP inspection. Because the policy is a global policy, inspection occurs only as the traffic enters each interface.

See the following commands for this example:

hostname(config)# class-map http_traffic
hostname(config-cmap)# match port tcp eq 80

hostname(config)# policy-map http_traffic_policy
hostname(config-pmap)# class http_traffic
hostname(config-pmap-c)# inspect http
hostname(config)# service-policy http_traffic_policy global

In this example, any HTTP connection destined for Server A (TCP traffic on port 80) that enters the ASA through the outside interface is classified for HTTP inspection and maximum connection limits. Connections initiated from Server A to Host A do not match the ACL in the class map, so they are not affected.

Any HTTP connection destined for Server B that enters the ASA through the inside interface is classified for HTTP inspection. Connections initiated from Server B to Host B do not match the ACL in the class map, so they are not affected.

See the following commands for this example:

hostname(config)# object network obj-192.168.1.2
hostname(config-network-object)# host 192.168.1.2
hostname(config-network-object)# nat (inside,outside) static 209.165.201.1 
hostname(config)# object network obj-192.168.1.0
hostname(config-network-object)# subnet 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0
hostname(config-network-object)# nat (inside,outside) dynamic 209.165.201.2
hostname(config)# access-list serverA extended permit tcp any host 209.165.201.1 eq 80
hostname(config)# access-list ServerB extended permit tcp any host 209.165.200.227 eq 80

hostname(config)# class-map http_serverA
hostname(config-cmap)# match access-list serverA
hostname(config)# class-map http_serverB
hostname(config-cmap)# match access-list serverB

hostname(config)# policy-map policy_serverA
hostname(config-pmap)# class http_serverA
hostname(config-pmap-c)# inspect http
hostname(config-pmap-c)# set connection conn-max 100
hostname(config)# policy-map policy_serverB
hostname(config-pmap)# class http_serverB
hostname(config-pmap-c)# inspect http

hostname(config)# service-policy policy_serverB interface inside
hostname(config)# service-policy policy_serverA interface outside

In this example, the Host on the inside network has two addresses: one is the real IP address 192.168.1.1, and the other is a mapped IP address used on the outside network, 209.165.200.225. You must use the real IP address in the ACL in the class map. If you applied it to the outside interface, you would also use the real address.

See the following commands for this example:

hostname(config)# object network obj-192.168.1.1
hostname(config-network-object)# host 192.168.1.1
hostname(config-network-object)# nat (VM1,outside) static 209.165.200.225

hostname(config)# access-list http_client extended permit tcp host 192.168.1.1 any eq 80

hostname(config)# class-map http_client
hostname(config-cmap)# match access-list http_client

hostname(config)# policy-map http_client
hostname(config-pmap)# class http_client
hostname(config-pmap-c)# inspect http

hostname(config)# service-policy http_client interface inside