Install and Configure Arista NG Firewall
Arista NG Firewall — the firewall formerly sold as Untangle — installed and configured step by step: the ETM Dashboard download, a two-network-card machine, the setup wizard, the router-versus-bridge decision, the first free apps, and the update and backup routine that keeps the box safe afterwards.
📑Chapters
- What Arista NG Firewall is — the former Untangle, now Arista Edge Threat Management
- Downloading the installer from the ETM Dashboard
- The hardware: a dedicated machine with two network cards
- Installing NG Firewall on the machine
- The setup wizard — admin account, network interfaces and registration
- Router mode or transparent bridge: choosing how the box joins the network
- The admin interface and the first free apps
- Updating the firewall and backing up its configuration
- Going live — the planned cutover at the network edge
📋 Overview & Step-by-Step Guide
Know What You Are Installing
Arista NG Firewall is a complete network gateway that runs on its own machine and sits at the edge of your network, filtering everything that passes between the internet and your PCs. It is the product formerly sold as Untangle NG Firewall; Arista acquired Untangle and the software now lives under Arista Edge Threat Management (ETM).
Download from the ETM Dashboard and Prepare the Hardware
Sign in to the ETM Dashboard with your Arista account and download the NG Firewall installer image from there. The machine itself needs to be a dedicated PC or appliance with two network cards (NICs): one faces the internet (the External/WAN side) and one faces your office or home network (the Internal/LAN side). Before you start, decide which physical card will be which, and label the cables — swapping them later is the most common first-install confusion.
Install NG Firewall on the Machine
Write the downloaded image to a USB drive (or DVD), connect both network cables, and boot the firewall machine from that media. Follow the installer through to the end: it prepares the disk, copies the system and reboots the machine into NG Firewall. When the reboot finishes, the box is a firewall — the remaining configuration happens in the setup wizard and then in the web admin interface.
Run the Setup Wizard
On first start, the setup wizard walks you through the basics in order: language and time zone, the administrator account, the network interfaces (which card is External, which is Internal), the internet connection details for your line, and registering the server with your Arista account so it appears in the ETM Dashboard. Take the interface step slowly and match each card to the cable you labelled in Step 2.
Choose the Mode: Router or Transparent Bridge
The wizard asks how the box should join the network, and there are two honest choices. In Router mode, NG Firewall replaces your router as the gateway: it holds the internet connection, gives out addresses on the LAN and NATs traffic — pick this when the firewall can own the edge outright. In Transparent Bridge mode, the box sits in-line behind your existing router, bridging traffic through itself so it can filter without changing your network's addressing — pick this when the existing router must stay. Neither is "better"; the right one is the one that matches the network you already have.
Open the Admin Interface and Start with the Free Apps
From a PC on the Internal (LAN) side, open the NG Firewall admin interface in your browser and sign in with the administrator account from the wizard. The home screen is built around apps — individual security and network functions you install and switch on as needed. Start the way the video does: install the free apps included with the base package first, turn them on one at a time, and check the network still behaves after each one. Apps outside the free set will ask for a subscription or start a trial — that prompt is normal, not an error.
Update the Firewall and Back Up the Configuration
Before calling the install finished, open the configuration area and check for updates, and let the box bring itself current — a firewall that never updates slowly stops recognising new threats. Then take a backup of the configuration from the same configuration area and save the backup file somewhere off the firewall itself (your own PC or a safe share). Repeat the backup after every significant change: if the box is ever rebuilt or replaced, that file is what restores your interfaces, apps and rules without rebuilding them by hand.
Go Live: Plan the Cutover
A firewall install is not finished at the desktop — it is finished when real traffic runs through it. Because this box sits at the network edge, every user passes through it, so treat the switchover as a small planned event: pick a quiet window, tell everyone the internet may pause, put the cables over, then test the obvious things first (a website, mail, the one business app that must never stop) before declaring it done.
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🎙️ Full Transcript — tap to expand
Install and configure Arista NG Firewall (Arista Edge Threat Management, formerly Untangle) step by step — download from the ETM Dashboard, two-NIC hardware, the setup wizard, router vs bridge choice, first free apps, update and backup.
On-screen demonstration by Technical Anshu.
(transcript ends here on the source page — watch the video above for the full walkthrough.)
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
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🚀 Watch the Full Tutorial on YouTube
🚀 Watch the full step-by-step video tutorial on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efs8m35e3mQ
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