Ng Firewall Untangle Setup

Know What You Are Setting Up

Untangle NG Firewall turns a spare PC or a virtual machine into the gateway for your whole network: the box sits between your internet connection and your office switch, every computer reaches the internet through it, and its rack of apps — web filtering, VPN, reports and more — is switched on inside that gateway afterwards. Setup first, apps after.

Prepare a Machine With Two Network Cards

A gateway lives between two networks, so the machine needs at least two network interfaces: one becomes External (facing the ISP line) and one Internal (facing your office). The classic build is a spare desktop with one extra PCI or PCIe network card added; a VMware virtual machine with two virtual NICs works just as well — the video covers both routes. Label each cable as you plug it in: most setup pain on this product is two swapped cables.

Download the Installer From Arista's Official Portal Only

Downloads now live behind a free ETM Dashboard account on Arista's official site: create the account, and the portal offers the installer — the ISO image for a physical machine, the OVA for a virtual machine. Download only from there. A firewall image is the single worst file on your network to fetch from a mirror or "free download" site, and renamed-product confusion is exactly what fake download pages exploit.

Install, Then Let the Setup Wizard Open

Boot the machine (or the VM) from the installer and follow the install through — remember it wipes the disk as it goes. On first boot the Setup Wizard opens by itself. On current versions it begins with the account: sign in with the ETM Dashboard account from the previous step, or create one, and the box registers to it. That registration is functional, not paperwork — it is how a trial or licence is activated on the appliance later. The wizard can also be re-opened afterwards from Config > System > Support > Setup Wizard.

Set a Strong Admin Password

Early in the wizard you create the administrator account for the box. This one login controls the front door of the whole network, so set a strong, unique password and store it in the company password manager — never leave a default or a shared, guessable one in place.

Identify the External and Internal Interfaces

The wizard asks which interface faces the internet and which faces your office. The usual pattern is the first interface as External — it plugs into the ISP modem or upstream line and normally takes its address by DHCP — and the second as Internal, plugged into the office switch. Treat that order as a hint, not proof: identify each port by test. Connect only the cable you believe is the ISP line and watch which interface shows a link and an address; unplug it and watch the link drop. Once the wizard finishes, the admin console answers from the internal side at the documented default address:

http://192.168.2.1

In router mode the internal interface sits at 192.168.2.1 and hands out DHCP addresses to the office PCs. A laptop plugged into the internal side and set to DHCP should receive a 192.168.2.x address — that lease is your proof the inside of the box is alive. If your office already uses the 192.168.2.x range for something else, change the internal address during setup instead of letting two networks collide.

Choose Router Mode or Transparent Bridge

This is the one decision to make slowly, because the wizard offers two ways for the box to join the network. In Router mode the firewall becomes the gateway: it takes over NAT and DHCP for the office and replaces the old router's job — the right choice for most fresh installs. In Transparent Bridge mode the box sits behind the existing router, keeps the network's existing addressing, and filters traffic as it passes through — the right choice when the current router setup must stay exactly as it is. Neither is a mistake, but they are different networks afterwards, so pick the one that matches the site before you finish the wizard.

Verify, Update, Then Plan the Cutover

Before anyone depends on the box, prove it from a real PC on the internal side: the console opens at the address above, the PC has internet through the new gateway, and the interface page shows External and Internal connected to the cables you think they are. Then check for updates and run them while the box is still new, and enable the apps you actually need — the free base apps run indefinitely, and subscription apps can be trialled through your account; when a trial ends, that app simply switches off and the gateway keeps routing.