Configuring Port Mirroring

You can configure Port Mirroring on SonicOS to send a copy of network packets seen on one or more switch ports (or on a VLAN) to another switch port called the mirror port. By connecting to the mirror port, you can monitor the traffic passing through the mirrored port(s).

NETWORK | Switching > Port Mirroring allows you to assign mirror ports to mirror ingress, egress or bidirectional packets coming from and/or to a group of ports.

 

• Viewing Mirrored Ports
• Configuring a Port Mirroring Group
• Configuring a Port Mirroring Group
• Editing a Port Mirroring Group
• Deleting Port Mirroring Groups

Viewing Mirrored Ports

Monitor traffic on the mirrored port(s) by connecting to the mirror port.

Group Name	Name of the interface group.
Mirror Port	Interface used as the mirror port, that is, the port that monitors other ports on the selected direction.
Direction	Direction of the traffic being mirrored: ingress egress both (bidirectional)
Ingress	Number of packets arriving on the mirrored port(s). For egress-only ports, this is always 0.
Egress	Number of packets sent out on the mirrored port(s). For ingress-only ports, this is always 0.
Enable	Indicates whether mirroring is enabled – a checkmark is in the checkbox – or disabled – the checkbox is blank – for the group.
Configure	Contains the Edit and Delete icons for the group entry and a Delete icon for each port in the group.

Configuring a Port Mirroring Group

To create a new port mirroring group

1. Navigate to NETWORK | Switching > Port Mirroring.

2. Click +Add. The Add Mirror Group dialog displays.
   

   

3. Enter a descriptive name for the group into the Interface Group Name field. The default name is New Group.

4. Enter a descriptive name for the group into the Interface Group Name field. The default name is New Group.

   • ingress – Monitors traffic arriving on the mirrored port(s).
   • egress – Monitors traffic being sent out on the mirrored port(s).
   • both – Monitors traffic in both directions on the mirrored port(s).

5. From the All Interfaces list:

   1. Select the port to mirror the traffic to. You must use an unassigned port as the mirror port.
   2. Click the top Right Arrow to move the port to the Mirrored Port field.

6. From the All Interfaces list:

   1. Select one or more ports to be monitored. You monitor traffic on the mirrored port(s) by connecting to the mirror port.
   2. Click the lower Right Arrow to move it/them to the Mirrored Ports list.

7. To enable port mirroring for these ports, select Enable.

   Only one ingress group and one egress group can be enabled at one time. If a group has both directions and it is enabled, the individual ingress and egress groups or another group with both directions cannot be enabled. The individual ingress and egress groups can be enabled separately.
   This option is dimmed until you specify the mirror port and its mirrored ports.

8. Click OK.

Enabling a Mirrored Group

If you did not enable the mirrored group when you created it, you can enable mirroring on the Groups table by selecting Enable for the mirrored group.

Editing a Port Mirroring Group

You can edit all attributes of a mirrored group except the mirror port, which is dimmed.

To edit a port mirroring group

1. Navigate to NETWORK | Switching > Port Mirroring.
2. Click the Edit icon of the mirror port. The Edit Mirror Group dialog for the group displays.

3. Make the changes to any of the options.

   You can add or delete mirrored ports, but not the mirror port itself. If you delete a member of the group, no confirmation message is displayed.

4. If mirroring has been enabled for the group, Enable is selected. To disable port mirroring for these ports, deselect Enable.

   Only one ingress group and one egress group can be enabled at one time. If a group has both directions and it is enabled, the individual ingress and egress groups or another group with both directions cannot be enabled. The individual ingress and egress groups can be enabled separately.

5. Click OK.

Deleting Port Mirroring Groups

You can delete members of a mirror group, a mirror group, multiple groups, or all groups.

Removing Port Group Members

You can delete a member of a port group as described in Editing a Port Mirroring Group or you can delete it in the Groups table.

To remove a port mirror group in the Groups table

1. Either:

   • Click the Delete icon for the group to be deleted. A confirmation message displays.
   • Select the checkbox for the group and then click Ungroup. A confirmation message displays.
2. Click OK.
   

Removing Multiple Port Mirror Groups

To remove multiple port mirror groups

1. In the Groups table, select the checkbox next to the port mirror groups you want to delete.
2. Click Ungroup. A confirmation dialog displays.
3. Click OK.

Removing All Port Mirror Groups

1. To remove all port mirror groups:
2. In the Groups table, select the checkbox in the table heading.
3. Click Ungroup. A confirmation dialog displays.
4. Click OK in the confirmation dialog.