How do I transfer my LAN or WAN network from one interface to another?

08/03/2020 49 People found this article helpful 207,762 Views

Description

Modern SonicWall firewalls have the capability to transfer 1, 2.5, or 10 gig speeds (depending on model) that allows organizations to get more done. This article covers how to transfer an existing WAN network from the X3 interface (default 1 gig) to the X20 interface which is set for 10 gig speeds. The example screenshots in this article are from an NSa 6650 on SonicOS 6.5.2 firmware.

NOTE: This article is only designed for taking the existing network of a LAN or WAN interface and transferring it to another interface. This article is not meant to be followed if, while using a faster interface, a different network than the existing LAN/WAN network has been designated.

The following examples and calculated times are based off of a basic firewall setup. Your times may very.

Expected downtime for end-users: 10 minutes

Expected time of burden to complete interface transfer: 30 minutes

Resolution

In our example we will take the X3 interface (set at 1 gig speeds) and transfer the network and settings to the X20 interface (set at 10 gig speeds). The basic steps that will be performed are as follows:

WAN interface transfer:

Adjust IP of current WAN to an unused address on a fake network (we need to release the network from one interface in order to use it on the new interface).
Create/enable new interface with correct IP of existing WAN network.
Adjust WAN Failover & Load Balancing to contain new interface, remove old.
Adjust any references of old interface IP or old interface subnet objects to new interface IP/subnet respectively (except default cases).
Delete old interface config and un-assign.

Adjust IP of current WAN interface to a fake network

CAUTION: This will begin the network downtime until the new interface on the SonicWall set up, failover and load balancing has been completed, and basic network convergence has taken place (i.e. ARP and interface tables have been updated by north or south facing network equipment).

Edit the X3 interface. The existing WAN IP is 10.61.138.113/29. We'll change the IP to 10.62.138.113/29 which is an un-used network in our environment. Click OK.

Create/enable new interface with correct IP of existing WAN network

Edit the X20 interface. Select zone WAN and IP Assignment Static. We'll provide the WAN IP and network (10.61.138.113/29) which was the original X3 IP. Click OK when complete.
Confirm that the X20 interface has been assigned and is up by looking at the Interfaces page:

Adjust WAN Failover & Load Balancing to contain new interface, remove old

Navigate to Manage | Network | Failover & Load Balancing. We currently see X3 and X1 in the load balancing group:
Under Default LB Group click edit. Remove the X3 interface and replace it with the new X20 interface:
Once the configuration has been updated end-users should now be able to reach the internet. To speed up this process consider sending SonicWall system ARPs to update north and south facing network equipement. In the URL of the firewall replace main.html with diag.html. Select Internal Settings. Scroll down and click the button Send System ARPs.

Adjust any references of old interface IP or old interface subnet objects to new interface IP/subnet respectively (except default cases)

If you have NAT policies or access rules using the old interface object you will need to update each policy. A quick way to determine if the old interface object is in use is by navigating to Objects | Address Objects and hovering over the note (in this example the X3 IP address object):
We'll update the access rule by going to Rules | Access Rules and updating the existing policy from the X3 IP to the X20 IP
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To
Next, we'll update the NAT policy by going to Rules | NAT Policies and updating the X3 IP to the X20 IP
From
To

Delete old interface config and un-assign

For the last step we'll unassign the X3 interface by navigating to Manage | Network | Interfaces and edit the X3 Interface
Change the Zone to Unassigned and click OK
Confirm that the X3 interface has been unassigned