CHAPT ER
10-1
Cisco ASDM User Guide
OL-16647-01
10
Configuring Security Contexts
This chapter describes how to use security contexts and enable multiple context mode. This chapter
includes the following sections:
• Security Context Overview, page 10-1
• Enabling or Disabling Multiple Context Mode, page 10-9
• Configuring Resource Classes, page 10-10
• Configuring Security Contexts, page 10-16

Security Context Overview

You can partition a single security appliance into multiple virtual devices, known as security contexts.
Each context is an independent device, with its own security policy, interfaces, and administrators.
Multiple contexts are similar to having multiple standalone devices. Many features are supported in
multiple context mode, including routing tables, firewall features, IPS, and management. Some features
are not supported, including VPN and dynamic routing protocols.
In multiple context mode, the security appliance includes a configuration for each context that identifies
the security policy, interfaces, and almost all the options you can configure on a standalone device. The
system administrator adds and manages contexts by configuring them in the system configuration,
which, like a single mode configuration, is the startup configuration. The system configuration identifies
basic settings for the security appliance. The system configuration does not include any network
interfaces or network settings for itself; rather, when the system needs to access network resources (such
as downloading the contexts from the server), it uses one of the contexts that is designated as the admin
context.
The admin context is just like any other context, except that when a user logs in to the admin context,
then that user has system administrator rights and can access the system and all other contexts.
This section provides an overview of security contexts, and includes the following topics:
• Common Uses for Security Contexts, page 10-2
• Unsupported Features, page 10-2
• Context Configuration Files, page 10-2
• How the Security Appliance Classifies Packets, page 10-2
• Management Access to Security Contexts, page 10-8