DNS Security Profile Configuration Object

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Core Methods
3. DNS Security Profile Model Attributes
4. Exceptions
5. Basic Configuration
6. Usage Examples
   • Creating DNS Security Profiles
   • Retrieving DNS Security Profiles
   • Updating DNS Security Profiles
   • Listing DNS Security Profiles
   • Filtering Responses
   • Controlling Pagination with max_limit
   • Deleting DNS Security Profiles
7. Managing Configuration Changes
   • Performing Commits
   • Monitoring Jobs
8. Error Handling
9. Best Practices
10. Full Script Examples
11. Related Models

Overview

The DNSSecurityProfile class provides functionality to manage DNS Security profiles in Palo Alto Networks' Strata Cloud Manager. This class inherits from BaseObject and provides methods for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting profiles that protect against DNS-based threats including botnet domains, malware, and phishing attempts.

Core Methods

Method	Description	Parameters	Return Type
create()	Creates a new profile	data: Dict[str, Any]	DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel
get()	Retrieves a profile by ID	object_id: str	DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel
update()	Updates an existing profile	profile: DNSSecurityProfileUpdateModel	DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel
delete()	Deletes a profile	object_id: str	None
list()	Lists profiles with filtering	folder: str, **filters	List[DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel]
fetch()	Gets profile by name and folder	name: str, folder: str	DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel

DNS Security Profile Model Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
name	str	Yes	Profile name (max 63 chars)
id	UUID	Yes*	Unique identifier (*response only)
description	str	No	Profile description
botnet_domains	BotnetDomainsModel	No	Botnet domains configuration
dns_security_categories	List[CategoryEntry]	No	DNS security category settings
lists	List[ListEntry]	No	Custom domain lists
sinkhole	SinkholeSettings	No	Sinkhole configuration
whitelist	List[WhitelistEntry]	No	Whitelisted domains
folder	str	Yes**	Folder location (**one container required)
snippet	str	Yes**	Snippet location (**one container required)
device	str	Yes**	Device location (**one container required)

Exceptions

Exception	HTTP Code	Description
InvalidObjectError	400	Invalid profile data or format
MissingQueryParameterError	400	Missing required parameters
NameNotUniqueError	409	Profile name already exists
ObjectNotPresentError	404	Profile not found
ReferenceNotZeroError	409	Profile still referenced
AuthenticationError	401	Authentication failed
ServerError	500	Internal server error

Basic Configuration

from scm.client import Scm

# Initialize client
client = Scm(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id"
)

# Access DNS security profiles directly through the client
# No need to initialize a separate DNSSecurityProfile object

Usage Examples

Creating DNS Security Profiles

# Basic profile with DNS security categories
basic_profile = {
    'name': 'basic-profile',
    'description': 'Basic DNS security profile',
    'botnet_domains': {
        'dns_security_categories': [
            {
                'name': 'pan-dns-sec-malware',
                'action': 'block',
                'log_level': 'high',
                'packet_capture': 'single-packet'
            }
        ]
    },
    'folder': 'Texas'
}

# Create basic profile using the client
basic_profile_obj = client.dns_security_profile.create(basic_profile)

# Advanced profile with sinkhole and whitelist
advanced_profile = {
    'name': 'advanced-profile',
    'description': 'Advanced DNS security profile',
    'botnet_domains': {
        'dns_security_categories': [
            {
                'name': 'pan-dns-sec-malware',
                'action': 'sinkhole',
                'log_level': 'high'
            },
            {
                'name': 'pan-dns-sec-phishing',
                'action': 'block',
                'log_level': 'critical'
            }
        ],
        'sinkhole': {
            'ipv4_address': 'pan-sinkhole-default-ip',
            'ipv6_address': '::1'
        },
        'whitelist': [
            {
                'name': 'trusted.example.com',
                'description': 'Trusted domain'
            }
        ]
    },
    'folder': 'Texas'
}

# Create advanced profile
advanced_profile_obj = client.dns_security_profile.create(advanced_profile)

Retrieving DNS Security Profiles

# Fetch by name and folder
profile = client.dns_security_profile.fetch(name="basic-profile", folder="Texas")
print(f"Found profile: {profile.name}")

# Get by ID
profile_by_id = client.dns_security_profile.get(profile.id)
print(f"Retrieved profile: {profile_by_id.name}")
print(f"Categories: {profile_by_id.botnet_domains.dns_security_categories}")

Updating DNS Security Profiles

# Fetch existing profile
existing_profile = client.dns_security_profile.fetch(name="basic-profile", folder="Texas")

# Update description and categories
existing_profile.description = "Updated DNS security profile"
existing_profile.botnet_domains.dns_security_categories.append({
    'name': 'pan-dns-sec-grayware',
    'action': 'block',
    'log_level': 'high'
})

# Perform update
updated_profile = client.dns_security_profile.update(existing_profile)

Listing DNS Security Profiles

# List with direct filter parameters
filtered_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(
    folder='Texas',
    dns_security_categories=['pan-dns-sec-malware']
)

# Process results
for profile in filtered_profiles:
    print(f"Name: {profile.name}")
    if profile.botnet_domains and profile.botnet_domains.dns_security_categories:
        for category in profile.botnet_domains.dns_security_categories:
            print(f"Category: {category.name}, Action: {category.action}")

# Define filter parameters as dictionary
list_params = {
    "folder": "Texas",
    "dns_security_categories": ["pan-dns-sec-phishing", "pan-dns-sec-malware"]
}

# List with filters as kwargs
filtered_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(**list_params)

Filtering Responses

The list() method supports additional parameters to refine your query results even further. Alongside basic filters (like types, values, and tags), you can leverage the exact_match, exclude_folders, exclude_snippets, and exclude_devices parameters to control which objects are included or excluded after the initial API response is fetched.

Parameters:

• exact_match (bool): When True, only objects defined exactly in the specified container (folder, snippet, or device) are returned. Inherited or propagated objects are filtered out.
• exclude_folders (List[str]): Provide a list of folder names that you do not want included in the results.
• exclude_snippets (List[str]): Provide a list of snippet values to exclude from the results.
• exclude_devices (List[str]): Provide a list of device values to exclude from the results.

Examples:

# Only return dns_security_profiles defined exactly in 'Texas'
exact_dns_security_profiles = dns_security_profiles.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exact_match=True
)

for app in exact_dns_security_profiles:
    print(f"Exact match: {app.name} in {app.folder}")

# Exclude all dns_security_profiles from the 'All' folder
no_all_dns_security_profiles = dns_security_profiles.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exclude_folders=['All']
)

for app in no_all_dns_security_profiles:
    assert app.folder != 'All'
    print(f"Filtered out 'All': {app.name}")

# Exclude dns_security_profiles that come from 'default' snippet
no_default_snippet = dns_security_profiles.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exclude_snippets=['default']
)

for app in no_default_snippet:
    assert app.snippet != 'default'
    print(f"Filtered out 'default' snippet: {app.name}")

# Exclude dns_security_profiles associated with 'DeviceA'
no_deviceA = dns_security_profiles.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exclude_devices=['DeviceA']
)

for app in no_deviceA:
    assert app.device != 'DeviceA'
    print(f"Filtered out 'DeviceA': {app.name}")

# Combine exact_match with multiple exclusions
combined_filters = dns_security_profiles.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exact_match=True,
    exclude_folders=['All'],
    exclude_snippets=['default'],
    exclude_devices=['DeviceA']
)

for app in combined_filters:
    print(f"Combined filters result: {app.name} in {app.folder}")

Controlling Pagination with max_limit

The SDK supports pagination through the max_limit parameter, which defines how many objects are retrieved per API call. By default, max_limit is set to 2500. The API itself imposes a maximum allowed value of 5000. If you set max_limit higher than 5000, it will be capped to the API's maximum. The list() method will continue to iterate through all objects until all results have been retrieved. Adjusting max_limit can help manage retrieval performance and memory usage when working with large datasets.

# Initialize the client with a custom max_limit for DNS security profiles
# This will retrieve up to 4321 objects per API call, up to the API limit of 5000.
client = Scm(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id",
    dns_security_profile_max_limit=4321
)

# Now when we call list(), it will use the specified max_limit for each request
# while auto-paginating through all available objects.
all_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(folder='Texas')

# 'all_profiles' contains all objects from 'Texas', fetched in chunks of up to 4321 at a time.

Deleting DNS Security Profiles

# Delete by ID
profile_id = "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000"
client.dns_security_profile.delete(profile_id)

Managing Configuration Changes

Performing Commits

# Prepare commit parameters
commit_params = {
    "folders": ["Texas"],
    "description": "Updated DNS security profiles",
    "sync": True,
    "timeout": 300  # 5 minute timeout
}

# Commit the changes directly using the client
result = client.commit(**commit_params)

print(f"Commit job ID: {result.job_id}")

Monitoring Jobs

# Get status of specific job using the client
job_status = client.get_job_status(result.job_id)
print(f"Job status: {job_status.data[0].status_str}")

# List recent jobs using the client
recent_jobs = client.list_jobs(limit=10)
for job in recent_jobs.data:
    print(f"Job {job.id}: {job.type_str} - {job.status_str}")

Error Handling

from scm.exceptions import (
    InvalidObjectError,
    MissingQueryParameterError,
    NameNotUniqueError,
    ObjectNotPresentError,
    ReferenceNotZeroError
)

try:
    # Create profile configuration
    profile_config = {
        "name": "test-profile",
        "description": "Test DNS security profile",
        "botnet_domains": {
            "dns_security_categories": [
                {
                    "name": "pan-dns-sec-malware",
                    "action": "block",
                    "log_level": "high"
                }
            ]
        },
        "folder": "Texas"
    }

    # Create the profile using the client
    new_profile = client.dns_security_profile.create(profile_config)

    # Commit changes using the client
    result = client.commit(
        folders=["Texas"],
        description="Added test profile",
        sync=True
    )

    # Check job status using the client
    status = client.get_job_status(result.job_id)

except InvalidObjectError as e:
    print(f"Invalid profile data: {e.message}")
except NameNotUniqueError as e:
    print(f"Profile name already exists: {e.message}")
except ObjectNotPresentError as e:
    print(f"Profile not found: {e.message}")
except ReferenceNotZeroError as e:
    print(f"Profile still in use: {e.message}")
except MissingQueryParameterError as e:
    print(f"Missing parameter: {e.message}")

Best Practices

1. Profile Configuration

   • Use descriptive profile names
   • Configure appropriate actions per category
   • Document security decisions
   • Maintain whitelist entries
   • Review sinkhole settings

2. Container Management

   • Always specify exactly one container
   • Use consistent container names
   • Validate container existence
   • Group related profiles

3. Client Usage

   • Use the unified client interface (client.dns_security_profile) for simpler code
   • Perform commits directly on the client (client.commit())
   • Monitor jobs using client methods (client.get_job_status(), client.list_jobs())
   • Initialize the client once and reuse across different object types

4. Performance

   • Use appropriate pagination
   • Cache frequently accessed profiles
   • Implement proper retry logic
   • Monitor commit operations

5. Error Handling

   • Validate input data
   • Handle specific exceptions
   • Log error details
   • Monitor job status
   • Track completion status

Full Script Examples

Refer to the dns_security_profile.py example.

Related Models

• DNSSecurityProfileCreateModel
• DNSSecurityProfileUpdateModel
• DNSSecurityProfileResponseModel