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Playbook is a virtual appliance

We deliver Playbook as a VMware image, which you can just plug into any VMware server. It’s hardened Debian. You configure and manage Playbook entirely over the network.

Device support

In our current release, Playbook supports the following devices:

• Cisco IOS (things that do access-list)
• Cisco PIX/ASA/FWSM devices
• NetScreen firewalls (ScreenOS)
• OpenBSD/FreeBSD pf-engine firewalls (via SSH)
• Linux (iptables)

Device support includes acquiring rules from a firewall to “import” them into Playbook, pushing incremental rule changes back, parsing ruleset languages, and detecting rule errors. No agent software is ever installed on your firewalls.

We’re adding new device vendors with each release; let us know if yours isn’t on the list!

A whirlwind tour

Use integrated ticketing to file change requests detailing affected hosts, networks, applications and network protocols. Playbook keeps track of the complete change history of every request and keeps all parties up-to-date with email notices on every change.

Review and approve changes before they are deployed to your firewalls. Audit every rule through an annotated view that cross-references each line with its original request and author.

Use search to pinpoint the devices and access rules you need to change, using network access concepts like CIDR netmasks and application names. Design rules that apply to one firewall, a group, or your whole enterprise. Deploy those changes immediately or on a schedule with a single click.

Playbook versions every change with Subversion version control, enforces access control using transparent branching, and provides full change history. Track team progress using a convenient timeline view. Stage complicated changes, share them with your team, and count on seamless rollback to keep your network in a known-good state.