Fireware Web UI and WatchGuard Cloud Management
Two management planes
A Firebox is managed either locally or by WatchGuard Cloud - not both at once in the practical sense. Locally you have the Fireware Web UI (browser, default port 8080), WSM Policy Manager (offline editing, config compare, policy templates) and Firebox System Manager / FSM (real-time monitoring, Traffic Monitor, diagnostics, HostWatch). WatchGuard Cloud gives inventory, deployment templates, zero-touch provisioning with an activation code, alerting and long-term reporting.
Web UI map
- Dashboard / System Status - health, tunnels, front panel
- System - device info, configuration file save/restore, OS updates, feature key, admin accounts
- Network - interfaces, routes, multi-WAN, DHCP
- Firewall - policies, proxy actions, aliases
- VPN / Authentication / Subscription Services - tunnels, auth servers, service config
- Traffic Monitor and Logs - live and stored events
Traps
Confusing FSM with Policy Manager: FSM does not edit policy. Assuming full feature parity between cloud and local management - some advanced features and diagnostics still require local access. Forgetting that a cloud-managed device may have local edits overwritten by the cloud configuration or a template push. Forgetting the configuration file is an XML export you should take before any OS upgrade.
Rule of thumb: before upgrading Fireware, export the configuration file and confirm the feature key is recorded - you can restore the XML if the upgrade misbehaves.