What should be checked first when troubleshooting a new firewall policy?

When troubleshooting a new firewall policy, it is essential to first examine the Firewall Rule logs. These logs provide critical insights into how the firewall is handling traffic according to the newly implemented policy. They can reveal whether the traffic is being allowed or blocked, and under what specific rules this is occurring.

Analyzing the Firewall Rule logs helps identify if the new policy is functioning as intended. For instance, if legitimate traffic is being blocked, the logs will show the action taken and the corresponding rule triggered. This immediate feedback can point directly to potential misconfigurations or unintended effects of the new policy.

While checking performance statistics and configuration settings is important later in the troubleshooting process, they do not provide the same level of immediate insight into how traffic is being processed by the firewall. Configuration settings must be correct for the firewall to work properly, but without understanding how those settings are currently affecting traffic flow, it's difficult to diagnose problems effectively. Understanding the network topology can be useful, especially in recognizing how different network segments interact, but it does not directly show the operational effects of the policy changes on the traffic passing through the firewall.

By starting with the Firewall Rule logs, you can rapidly narrow down issues and make informed adjustments to the firewall policy as needed.