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System

Administration > System groups the settings of the unit itself in five tabs: General, Time sync, SSH, Updates and Storage. Power actions are on Administration > Reboot & Shutdown.

The Updates tab of the System page

General​

Set the hostname and a description. Using the default hostname Nexwall is not recommended, because in a network with several units it becomes impossible to tell them apart. The dashboard reminds you until you change it. You can also keep free notes about the unit here.

Time sync​

Correct time matters for certificates, logs, VPNs and updates.

  • Choose the time zone.
  • Check the local time the unit shows, and sync it with an NTP server on demand.
  • Turn on the NTP client so the clock is kept right automatically. You can use the servers advertised by DHCP, or enter your own.
  • Optionally provide an NTP server to your networks, choosing the interfaces that receive it.

SSH​

Control SSH access to the command line.

  • Set the TCP port and whether password authentication is allowed.
  • Choose whether the root user may log in with a password. Disabling it is safer, but you must have added your SSH public key first.
  • Manage authorized public keys. Keys allow passwordless logins and are more secure than passwords.
  • Choose whether remote hosts may connect to forwarded ports of the unit.

:::warning Do not lock yourself out Before you disable password login, add your public key and verify you can log in with it from a second session. :::

Updates​

There are two kinds of updates:

KindWhat it containsHow it is delivered
Security and bug fixesSmall corrections to installed softwarePackages
New versionsNew featuresA full system image

The tab shows whether a new version is available. Back up your configuration before you update. The current settings are kept. You can update at once, schedule the update for a time that suits you, or cancel a scheduled update. You can also upload a compatible image yourself.

If the tab reports that the update server is not reachable or refuses access, check the internet connection, the time, and the state of your subscription, see Troubleshooting.

Storage​

By default logs are kept in memory. In the Storage tab you configure a persistent device, such as a USB drive or a second disk, where the unit also writes the logs. This helps troubleshooting and keeps a record of activity across reboots. You can also let the unit copy extra data to the device once a day.

On a disk of 16 GB or more the unit creates the storage by itself at the first start, after a gap that is kept free for a second system copy (planned for a later release). The storage holds the logs, the Log Viewer history, the traffic reports (kept 35 days), the antivirus signatures and, when the disk is large enough, a swap file.

The storage is part of how the unit works (antivirus signatures, logs, traffic reports, swap), so the web interface does not offer a button to remove it. If you really must detach it, do it from the command line; the antivirus then switches off, the traffic reports and logs return to memory, and the firewall keeps forwarding traffic.

Swap. The unit uses compressed memory (zram) as swap and, on a disk of 16 GB or more, a swap file on the storage, so the antivirus, the web proxy and the intrusion prevention can run together on 4 GB. The swap file is removed with the storage.

Reboot and shutdown​

Reboot restarts the unit, which is unavailable for a short time. Shutdown powers it off, for maintenance, relocation or decommissioning. Both warn you when there are pending changes, which are lost.