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Security Rule Models

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Model Attributes
  3. Enum Types
  4. Supporting Models
  5. Exceptions
  6. Model Validators
  7. Usage Examples

Overview

The Security Rule models provide a structured way to manage security rules in Palo Alto Networks' Strata Cloud Manager. These models support defining security policies with source/destination zones, addresses, applications, and actions. Rules can be defined in folders, snippets, or devices and placed in either pre or post rulebases. The models handle validation of inputs and outputs when interacting with the SCM API.

Models

The module provides the following Pydantic models:

  • SecurityRuleBaseModel: Base model with fields common to all rule operations
  • SecurityRuleCreateModel: Model for creating new security rules
  • SecurityRuleUpdateModel: Model for updating existing security rules
  • SecurityRuleResponseModel: Response model for security rule operations
  • SecurityRuleMoveModel: Model for moving rules within a rulebase
  • SecurityRuleProfileSetting: Model for security profile settings

All models use extra="forbid" configuration, which rejects any fields not explicitly defined in the model.

Model Attributes

SecurityRuleBaseModel

Attribute Type Required Default Description
name str Yes None Name of the rule. Pattern: ^[a-zA-Z0-9_ \.-]+$
disabled bool No False Whether the rule is disabled
description str No None Description of the rule
tag List[str] No [] List of tags
from_ List[str] No ["any"] Source security zones
source List[str] No ["any"] Source addresses
negate_source bool No False Negate source addresses
source_user List[str] No ["any"] Source users/groups
source_hip List[str] No ["any"] Source Host Integrity Profiles
to_ List[str] No ["any"] Destination security zones
destination List[str] No ["any"] Destination addresses
negate_destination bool No False Negate destination addresses
destination_hip List[str] No ["any"] Destination Host Integrity Profiles
application List[str] No ["any"] Applications
service List[str] No ["any"] Services
category List[str] No ["any"] URL categories
action SecurityRuleAction No allow Rule action
profile_setting SecurityRuleProfileSetting No None Security profile settings
log_setting str No None Log forwarding profile
schedule str No None Schedule profile
log_start bool No None Log at session start
log_end bool No None Log at session end
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

** Exactly one container (folder/snippet/device) must be provided for create operations

SecurityRuleCreateModel

Inherits all fields from SecurityRuleBaseModel and adds:

Attribute Type Required Default Description
rulebase SecurityRuleRulebase No None Which rulebase to use (pre/post)

Enforces that exactly one of folder, snippet, or device is provided during creation.

SecurityRuleUpdateModel

Extends SecurityRuleBaseModel by adding:

Attribute Type Required Default Description
id UUID Yes None The unique identifier of the rule
rulebase SecurityRuleRulebase No None Which rulebase to use (pre/post)

SecurityRuleResponseModel

Extends SecurityRuleBaseModel by adding:

Attribute Type Required Default Description
id UUID Yes None The unique identifier of the rule
rulebase SecurityRuleRulebase No None Which rulebase the rule belongs to
policy_type str No None The policy type (e.g., 'Security')

SecurityRuleMoveModel

Attribute Type Required Default Description
destination SecurityRuleMoveDestination Yes None Where to move (top/bottom/before/after)
rulebase SecurityRuleRulebase Yes None Which rulebase to use (pre/post)
destination_rule UUID No None UUID of reference rule (for before/after moves)

Enum Types

SecurityRuleAction

Defines the available rule actions:

Value Description
allow Allow the traffic
deny Deny the traffic
drop Drop the traffic
reset-client Reset client connection
reset-server Reset server connection
reset-both Reset both connections

SecurityRuleRulebase

Defines the available rulebases:

Value Description
pre Pre-rulebase
post Post-rulebase

SecurityRuleMoveDestination

Defines the move destinations:

Value Description
top Move to top of rulebase
bottom Move to bottom of rulebase
before Move before a specific rule
after Move after a specific rule

Supporting Models

SecurityRuleProfileSetting

Attribute Type Required Default Description
group List[str] No ["best-practice"] Security profile group

Exceptions

The Security Rule models can raise the following exceptions during validation:

  • ValueError: Raised in several scenarios:
    • When multiple container types (folder/snippet/device) are specified
    • When no container type is specified for create operations
    • When list field values are not unique
    • When list field values are not strings
    • When invalid action types are provided
    • When name pattern validation fails
    • When container field pattern validation fails
    • When field length limits are exceeded
    • When invalid move configurations are provided (e.g. missing destination_rule for before/after moves)
    • When destination_rule is provided for top/bottom moves

Model Validators

Container Type Validation

For create operations, exactly one container type must be specified:

from scm.models.security import SecurityRuleCreateModel

# Error: multiple containers specified
try:
    rule = SecurityRuleCreateModel(
        name="invalid-rule",
        folder="Texas",
        device="fw01",  # Can't specify both folder and device
        action="allow"
    )
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)  # "Exactly one of 'folder', 'snippet', or 'device' must be provided."

# Error: no container specified
try:
    rule = SecurityRuleCreateModel(
        name="invalid-rule",
        action="allow"
    )
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)  # "Exactly one of 'folder', 'snippet', or 'device' must be provided."

List Field Validation

All list fields are validated to ensure they contain only unique string values:

from scm.models.security import SecurityRuleCreateModel

# Error: duplicate values
try:
    rule = SecurityRuleCreateModel(
        name="invalid-rule",
        folder="Texas",
        source=["10.0.0.0/8", "10.0.0.0/8"]  # Duplicate values not allowed
    )
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)  # "List items must be unique"

Move Configuration Validation

The SecurityRuleMoveModel validates that destination_rule is provided only for before/after moves:

from scm.models.security import SecurityRuleMoveModel

# Error: missing destination_rule for 'before' move
try:
    move = SecurityRuleMoveModel(
        destination="before",
        rulebase="pre"
        # destination_rule is required for before/after
    )
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)  # "destination_rule is required when destination is 'before'"

# Error: destination_rule provided for 'top' move
try:
    move = SecurityRuleMoveModel(
        destination="top",
        rulebase="pre",
        destination_rule="987fcdeb-51d3-a456-426655440000"  # Not allowed for top/bottom
    )
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)  # "destination_rule should not be provided when destination is 'top'"

Usage Examples

Creating a Basic Security Rule

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Using dictionary
rule_dict = {
    "name": "allow-web",
    "description": "Allow web traffic",
    "folder": "Texas",
    "from_": ["trust"],
    "to_": ["untrust"],
    "source": ["10.0.0.0/8"],
    "destination": ["any"],
    "application": ["web-browsing", "ssl"],
    "service": ["application-default"],
    "action": "allow",
    "log_end": True
}

response = client.security_rule.create(rule_dict, rulebase="pre")
print(f"Created rule: {response.name}")

Creating a Rule with Security Profiles

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Using dictionary
rule_dict = {
    "name": "secure-web",
    "folder": "Texas",
    "from_": ["trust"],
    "to_": ["untrust"],
    "source": ["10.0.0.0/8"],
    "destination": ["any"],
    "application": ["web-browsing", "ssl"],
    "action": "allow",
    "profile_setting": {
        "group": ["strict-security"]
    },
    "log_setting": "detailed-logging",
    "log_start": True,
    "log_end": True
}

response = client.security_rule.create(rule_dict, rulebase="pre")
print(f"Created rule with profile: {response.name}")

Updating a Security Rule

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Fetch existing rule
existing = client.security_rule.fetch(name="allow-web", folder="Texas", rulebase="pre")

# Modify attributes using dot notation
existing.description = "Updated web access rule"
existing.application = ["web-browsing", "ssl", "http2"]

# Update profile setting
existing.profile_setting = {"group": ["strict-security"]}

# Enable logging
existing.log_start = True
existing.log_end = True

# Pass modified object to update()
updated = client.security_rule.update(existing, rulebase="pre")
print(f"Updated rule: {updated.name}")

Moving a Security Rule

from scm.client import ScmClient

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

# Fetch the rule to move
rule = client.security_rule.fetch(name="allow-web", folder="Texas", rulebase="pre")

# Move to top of rulebase
move_config = {
    "destination": "top",
    "rulebase": "pre"
}
client.security_rule.move(rule.id, move_config)

# Move before another rule
move_before = {
    "destination": "before",
    "rulebase": "pre",
    "destination_rule": "987fcdeb-51d3-a456-426655440000"
}
client.security_rule.move(rule.id, move_before)