DNS Security Profile Configuration Object

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	Default	Description
`name`	str	Yes	None	Profile name. Pattern: `^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_\-\.\s]*$`
`id`	UUID	Yes*	None	Unique identifier (*response/update only)
`description`	str	No	None	Profile description
`botnet_domains`	BotnetDomainsModel	No	None	Botnet domains configuration
`folder`	str	No**	None	Folder location. Max 64 chars
`snippet`	str	No**	None	Snippet location. Max 64 chars
`device`	str	No**	None	Device location. Max 64 chars

* Only required for response and update models ** Exactly one container (folder/snippet/device) must be provided for create operations

BotnetDomainsModel Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
`dns_security_categories`	List[DNSSecurityCategoryEntryModel]	No	None	DNS security categories
`lists`	List[ListEntryBaseModel]	No	None	Lists of DNS domains
`sinkhole`	SinkholeSettingsModel	No	None	DNS sinkhole settings
`whitelist`	List[WhitelistEntryModel]	No	None	DNS security overrides

DNSSecurityCategoryEntryModel Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
`name`	str	Yes	None	DNS Security Category Name
`action`	ActionEnum	No	default	Action to be taken
`log_level`	LogLevelEnum	No	default	Log level
`packet_capture`	PacketCaptureEnum	No	None	Packet capture setting

SinkholeSettingsModel Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
`ipv4_address`	IPv4AddressEnum	Yes	None	IPv4 address for sinkhole
`ipv6_address`	IPv6AddressEnum	Yes	None	IPv6 address for sinkhole

WhitelistEntryModel Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Default	Description
`name`	str	Yes	None	DNS domain or FQDN to be whitelisted
`description`	str	No	None	Description

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

The DNS Security Profile service can be accessed using the unified client interface (recommended):

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Access DNS security profiles directly through the client
profiles = client.dns_security_profile

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 profiles defined exactly in 'Texas'
exact_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exact_match=True
)

for profile in exact_profiles:
    print(f"Exact match: {profile.name} in {profile.folder}")

# Exclude all profiles from the 'All' folder
no_all_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(
    folder='Texas',
    exclude_folders=['All']
)

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

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

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

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

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

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

for profile in combined_filters:
    print(f"Combined filters result: {profile.name} in {profile.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.

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Configure max_limit using the property setter
client.dns_security_profile.max_limit = 4000

# List all profiles - auto-paginates through results
all_profiles = client.dns_security_profile.list(folder='Texas')

# The profiles are fetched in chunks according to the max_limit setting.

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

Profile Configuration
- Use descriptive profile names
- Configure appropriate actions per category
- Document security decisions
- Maintain whitelist entries
- Review sinkhole settings
Container Management
- Always specify exactly one container
- Use consistent container names
- Validate container existence
- Group related profiles
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
Performance
- Use appropriate pagination
- Cache frequently accessed profiles
- Implement proper retry logic
- Monitor commit operations
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.