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Secondary Storage Woes

SonicAdmin80SonicAdmin80 Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭
in Entry Level Firewalls

Just did my first secondary storage installation on a Gen 7 device. Was pulling my hair out because I couldn't get the appliance to see it under Device>Firewall>Settings>Storage.

At first I thought I had it seated poorly, so I re-seated it but still no luck…reset to factory defaults a couple of times with and without the module installed.

Searched online for any information or installation instructions but only found the physical installation guide that comes with the module.

Finally realized that the module will be associated with the appliance in mysonicwall, so the appliance has to be registered first and then rebooted once for the storage to become valid and online. I was assuming it's like any storage device that will be usable directly after installation and bootup so I only checked after updating firmware and resetting to factory defaults because it's a new appliance.

This really should be documented somewhere, ideally in the installation guide that comes with the module so users don't have to waste time getting it to work.

Category: Entry Level Firewalls
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  • SonicAdmin80SonicAdmin80 Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭

    I was wrong. Just registering the device and synchronizing licenses does NOT register the storage module and enable it.

    Years ago I attended a SonicWall webinar where it was recommended to always start through safe mode, upload the desired firmware and boot to factory defaults. This doesn't work with a new appliance that has a storage module installed before first bootup. It will cause the module to not be recognized and the appliance shows an amber storage LED instead of green.

    You need to install the module and boot up with the default firmware that is already in the appliance, then register it and synchronize licenses so the module shows up in mysonicwall. Only then can you upgrade to a newer firmware and even reset to factory defaults in between. I got two appliances working like this but…

    I now have another appliance that isn't recognizing the storage module and I can't get it working even after several safe mode resets with and without the module and even after downgrading firmware back to 7.0.1, albeit a different version that came with the appliance since that one isn't available anymore. I don't know how I got it working the last time, but this time looks like I have to contact support to get it working.

  • BWCBWC Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭

    @SonicAdmin80 did you got your storage module working?

    I was checking a TZ 670, which comes with a 32 GB module) but it isn't recognized on 7.1.3. It's properly associated on MySonicWall.

    —Michael@BWC

  • MariuszMariusz Enthusiast ✭✭

    In TZ370 with SonicOS 7.1.3-7015 I installed a 32GB module. After restarting the module was immediately detected but not active. Only after synchronizing the license did it start working properly. It took 2-3 minutes.
    As I described in other posts, I am not completely satisfied with the module's operation - there is a lot to improve.

  • BWCBWC Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭
    edited March 12

    @Mariusz Funny thing is, this TZ 670 is not new, it's registered since 2020 and the module was working before. Recently I factory reset the appliance and deployed 7.1.2 and updated to 7.1.3 later on.

    But I did not checked the storage module recently, until today trying to do some digging because of the other discussion we had storing AppFlow Reports.

    TSR shows the S/N of the module, but it seems not to be associated.

    External Storage #1 Report
Mount status             : Okay
Size status              : Invalid
Association status       : Invalid
Enable status            : Disabled
Card SN                  : <valid s/n>
Card Auth Code           : authcode
Drive size               : 0 GB


    Update
A reboot fixed it, the 32 GB is back. Last reboot was a couple of days ago, let's see how long this lasts.

    —Michael@BWC

  • SonicAdmin80SonicAdmin80 Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭

    Turns out the last module I had at the time was actually faulty and after doing an RMA for it the replacement worked right away. But because the module installation can be tricky to begin with it can be tough to work out if it's just finicky or if it's actually defective.

    The other thing is that the module seems to be barely used. I think I have everything configured correctly but 27 GB is free all the time. I thought the idea is the module would store long term system and threat logs, traffic flows and appflow reports. Whats the point if it doesn't do that? There doesn't seem to be a setting to tell it to keep more long term data.

  • BWCBWC Cybersecurity Overlord ✭✭✭

    We all had high hopes having a SonicWall with actual storage, possibilities appeared to be endless, but reality hit hards sometimes.

    —Michael@BWC

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