NQE Discussions

Is it possible to write a Forward NQE query that will produce a list of firewall rules that have been modified in the last 30 days?  It would be helpful to have firewall name, the rule ID numbers, and date/time last modified if possible.

This NQE uses the L3 interface info and ARP tables to find the subnets in use on your network. It lists the associated vlan, used addresses, devices, and usage statistics.An optional parameter allows you to search for an IP address, and whether the IP is in use or not, it will display the subnet it belongs to.import "@fwd/L3/Interface Utilities";numHostsInSubnetV4(maskLength) = if 2 ^ (32 - maskLength) >= 4 then 2 ^ (32 - maskLength) - 2 else 2 ^ (32 - maskLength);numHostsInSubnetV6(maskLength) = 2 ^ (128 - maskLength);@queryquery(IP_Addresses: List<IpAddress>) = foreach device in network.devices foreach interface in getL3Interfaces(device) let addresses = (foreach address in interface.ipv4.addresses select { ip: address.ip, mask: address.prefixLength }) + (foreach address in interface.ipv6.addresses

Before I started using Forward Networks, I was deep in the weeds of daily network operations. Like many of you, I relied on the CLI to do everything—whether it was compliance checks, interface audits, or config validation. It worked, but it was slow, manual, and honestly, a bit exhausting. Then I discovered Network Query Engine (NQE), and everything changed. My Background: Life in the CLI Before discovering NQE, I managed networks using CLI commands across dozens or hundreds of devices every day.Logging into individual devices—one at a time   Running the same commands repeatedly (show run | include,

 Motivation A customer recently approached me with a challenge: they wanted to feed downstream systems with ordered and banded firewall data. Specifically, they had the following use cases:Identify Top-N firewalls based on configuration complexity and other attributes like greatest number of permissive or shadow rules. Flag percentile-based thresholds for various attributes (e.g., top 10%, bottom 25%) Enable dynamic device selection for exhaustive, compute-heavy rule analysis The challenge?  NQE is designed for efficient set-based analysis, therefore it doesn’t require sorting or ranking functions in general.  Nevertheless, this customer’s use case called for an approach to simulate th

I am trying to match against a Palo Alto configuration looking for rules that are using a specific destination object.   Rules are under this structure:config devices  {string}    vsys     {string}       rulebase        security         rules          {rule_name: (string)*} and an example of what I am trying to match is:                 "Example Rule" e32ff2ab-a82f-43b6-953e-7e113v624779 {                  destination [ non-client "External SRC EDL" "Another EDL-wehave"]; First line would be the rule name and the second is where I would really want to do the regex match.  The items past “destination” can be a single entry or multiples within []’s.  If there are spaces in the names then the whole name is confined in “’s.   My goal is to find all rules which have “External SRC EDL” in the destination and I can’t quite figure out how to do it.  Any help would

How can i get output in single coloum .  team , i am using below query to get the NTP Server data , however is tried all option to get the output in single coloum , but i am not sucess. NQE Query ciscontppattern=```ntp server {server:string}```;ciscontppattern2=```ntp server {vrf:string} {dir:string} {ser:ipv4Address}```;patternf5 = ```sys ntp    servers { server1:string} {server2:string}```;cisco1(device) =foreach command in device.outputs.commands  let response = parseConfigBlocks(device.platform.os, command.response)  foreach match in blockMatches(response, ciscontppattern)  select match.data.server;cisco2(device) =foreach command in device.outputs.c

This NQE will validate that only the SSID’s in allowedSSID’s can be used, if it does not exists in the list it will fail the query.Taking advice from an earlier post I have used blockMatches this time, there is some tuning required to remove the duplicates as a result of the table have the entry for each /** * @intent Validate that the arista AP's have only the approved SSID's configured * @description This will check each arista AP for the approved SSIDs and violate when ther SSID does not match * the allowedSSID list. * * You will get multiple entries due to the VAPS list having an entry for each frequency. This will be a future * fix to show only once when the unauthoirised SSID exists */pattern = ```VAP-ID : {VAPId:string} ESSID : {SSID:string}```;// Replace the SSID's with your own.allowedSSID = ["ssid1","ssid2","ssid3"];fore

Following on from  I thought I would share this NQE if others are using Arista AP’s and want to maintain version numbers across their estate. /** * @intent List all Arista AP's and there software version. * @description List all Arista AP End Points and there software version. */allowedVersion = "18.0.0";foreach endpoint in network.endpointswhere endpoint.profileName == "Arista Wireless AP's"foreach command in endpoint.cliCommandResponseswhere command.command == "show device info"let ParsedResponse = parseConfigBlocks(OS.UNKNOWN,command.response)foreach line in ParsedResponselet modelNo = patternMatch(line.text,`Device Model : {string}`)foreach line in ParsedResponselet software = patternMatch(line.text, `Device Version : {strin

I have put together a query to enhance inventory by adding LDoS dates and ‘approved software’. It has greatly improved our Life Cycle Mgmt. conversations.  The CSV Files reside separately in a ‘standards’ folder. (there are just too many fields to keep in the same script).The resulting output provides:Vendor | Hostname | Model | Location | Vendor LDoS Date | HW Compliance Date | Current OS | Approved OS | Compliance to OS | Replacement Mode | And more /** * @intent Get OS Versions of all models and compare to ADP and Vendor Standards */// Get TagName Function - If you put tagnames on objects in forward Networks and you want to pull them out into columns.// You can define the tags in the export functions below and pull them out as a column. Below you can see the

It is possible to compare the output of an NQE query using the Diffs feature by first adding the NQE query to Inventory+.Consider the following NQE query, which lists all the static routes on all devices. (Note that the next hop is listed in this example provided that the next hop is an IP address. The query could be expanded to handle other types of next hops). getStaticRoutes(routingTable) = foreach ipEntry in routingTable.ipEntries foreach nextHop in ipEntry.nextHops where nextHop.originProtocol == OriginProtocol.STATIC select { prefix: ipEntry.prefix, nextHopType: nextHop.nextHopType, nextHop: ipEntry.nextHops };foreach device in network.devicesforeach networkInstance in device.networkInstanceslet afts = networkInstance.aftswhere isPresent(afts.ipv4Unicast)let ipv4Unicast = afts.ipv4Unicastlet staticRouteCount = length(getStati

I provided a query for doing this some time ago.  However, it was written for running where the Data Model did not have as many BGP elements as the current Data Model.  Now that there are more BGP elements in the data model it makes this query much simpler.  Which also means it runs faster.The inspiration for this query was a customer that run BGP between pretty much all devices. This is why it is only based on BGP peers./** * @intent Input the device under maintenance. get the list of BGP peers and outbound interfaces * @description This is a Parameterized Query. You input the devicename string. * it will look for the BGP peers of that devices, plus determine the interfaces that connect the * devices together. This way you can mute the alarms for the BGP peers and links before a maintenance window. */import "@fwd/L3/Interface Utilities"; //getL3Interfaces(device: Device)getPeerInfo(ne

When working with STIG compliance checks, a common challenge is that many checks only verify the existence of a control—not whether the configured values align with site-specific requirements. This can be a problem when compliance policies vary across different data centers and locations.With a little work, it is easy to customize the queries. Benefits are apparent. You get: more precision to verify your specific ACL and group names Verifying differing configuration policies across multiple data centers or locations Improved compliance and governance across a variety of configurations and regionsThere are two approaches you can use to customize queries.Copy the query and modify the

we are using 4 different query to get some information in FWD , is their any way to merge these queries into one and get the output in single file.Query 1 for NTP Fortinet :-  pattern_fmg = ```config system ntp    config ntpserver        edit 1            set server {ntp1:string}```;pattern_servers =  ```config system ntp    config ntpserver        edit 2            set server {ntp2:string}       ```;pattern_servers2 =  ```config system ntp    config ntpserver        edit 3            set server {ntp3:string}```;// Loop through list of devices finding those that are Fortinet// and store outputs of commands in the 'outputs' variable//

Team ,we are using belong NQE to get the information about Fortinet Firewall SNMP config and server white list information , however NQE provide the result , but devices are repeating ,ex, 1 devices we can see approx. 44 entry , can you please have a look on this and help us to fix .  NQE Query   // Patterns to match pattern_community= ```config system snmp community    edit {string}        set name {community:string}        config hosts            edit {string}                set ip {ip:string} {netmask:string}            next ```;  foreach device in network.deviceslet outputs = device.outputs foreach command in outputs.commandswhere command.commandType == CommandType.CUSTOMwhere command.commandText == "show system snmp community"let central_mgmt = parseConfigBlocks(OS.FORTINE

We continue to rely almost exclusively on Forward Networks for our lifecycle management and planning (purchasing).  One of the big gaps, however, was I couldn’t get the Wireless Access Points on the network, and had to go to other devices and export it into excel. Not terrible, but time consuming. You can also check out my related post: I threw together simple script to collect the Cisco AP’s “Name/Location/AP-Model/IP-Address/Country-Code. ​@AhmedKhedr Pre-requisites: Add Custom Command to IOS-XE for collection “show ap sum” Add Tag of “WLC” on your Wireless Controllers WLC’s are on c9800 running IOS-XE IOS-XE version is 17.9.6It appears older versions of OS (<17.9.6) don’t align nicely, but i’m

how can i convert OS EOL query into basis of vendor and version ? as of now in OS Support query showing output via device wise , i want to see this in to vendor os wise.

I was asked to do pull all the password encryption methods for Cisco (route-switch) devices from our security team.Here are a couple of NQE that I wrote to send off to the security team, hopefully it might be of use to someone else. They are pretty simple but if anyone has recommendations to enhance or combine into a single script, lemme know!Results: Showing IOS/IOS_XE DevicesNexus - ** Add custom command to collection for NX-OS Devicesshow run | grep admin password/** * @intent Show encryption level and method on Cisco NX-OS devices * Test * @description Use CSV table below to match Encryption Level to Method * add custom command for NXOS devices: show run | grep admin password**/

It may be useful to compare the output of a traceroute against the Path Search output from Forward Networks.The following NQE query takes a list of IP addresses as a parameter, and returns a list of devices based on interface IPs.This query could be used while onboarding sources into Forward Networks. If there is no device entry for an interface IP address from this NQE, it could mean that the device with that IP address needs to be added to the collection (to Sources).If there is overlapping IP space in the network - for example, if private IP space for network interface IPs at difference locations is the same - this query will return ALL the devices with a given interface IP.Note that Forward Networks’ Path Search is superior to traceroute in that Path Search will shows layer-2 hops and cloud network objects that don’t respond to traceroute. import "@fwd/Interfaces/Interface IPs";deviceIps =

how can i get information about device uptime ?

This NQE can be a quick way for you to identify interfaces and subinterfaces with configured ACLs. This could be invaluable from a couple angles: path analysis/troubleshooting and audit.Check it out! Let me know what you think!*I put both where length(acls.inboundAclNames) > 0 && length(acls.outboundAclNames) > 0andwhere length(acls.inboundAclNames) > 0 || length(acls.outboundAclNames) > 0because I feel both can have benefit in their own circumstances.foreach device in network.devicesforeach interface in device.interfacesforeach subinterface in interface.subinterfaceslet acls = subinterface.aclswhere length(acls.inboundAclNames) > 0 && length(acls.outboundAclNames) > 0// where length(acls.inboundAclNames) > 0 || length(acls.outboundAclNames) > 0select { deviceName: de

Team, i am collecting frtianazlyer data from fortinet firewall via custom command , however i tried below query to get the data . pattern_faz =  ```config log fortianalyzer setting  set status enable    set server {faz:string}    ```;foreach device in network.devices/* where device.platform.vendor == Vendor.FORTINET */  let outputs = device.outputsforeach command in outputs.commands   where command.commandType == CommandType.CUSTOM   where command.commandText == "show  log fortianalyzer setting"  let configurations = parseConfigBlocks(OS.FORTINET, command.response) foreach match in blockMatches(configurations, pattern_faz)/* where !matches(device.name, "*_*") */ select {  deviceName: device.name,  SiteName: device.locationName,  "Primary DNS": match.data.faz,}   but unf

Discover insightful network performance metrics—without having to write a single character of code. In this article, you'll learn how to quickly check the uptime of your network devices using the Forward Platform. It’s an easy introduction to show you how to extract network insights using Forward’s built-in capabilities.Log in to your Forward Platform In the left navigation, scroll down to the NQE section and click Library. At the top of the query window, click the New query icon When prompted, provide a unique name for your query.  Save time finding scripts - create a folder to store you new scripts in one place Your query is now open and ready to edit. Rememb

I have a requirement to look for an IP anywhere in the configurations files that pertain to devices with a specific name.  I tried to use the built in NQE under Forward Library>Device>Config Search, but when I enter the IP in the bottom box of the Parameters section, “Config_Pattern”, the results come back blank.  Yet when I look at the device config, the IP I copied and pasted appears in the actual configuration.  Also, the built in NQE seems picky...as in it wont pick of tacacs+ or acl, will pickup tacacs...and case sensitive as well apparently. For now, im looking for help with the IP search, I just wanted to not other issues with it.

Helper Functions are readily available queries in the Forward Library that you can use to streamline NQEs and save valuable coding time. These pre-built utilities empower users to accomplish intricate tasks without needing to reinvent the wheel.What Are Helper Functions?Helper functions simplify common networking queries. They reduce the need to manually generate code, enabling users to:Extract data with greater ease, including IP addresses and VLAN associations. Identify device types, configurations, or compliance based on standards. Handle complex calculations and data parsing. Combine multiple functions for advanced queries.

When I first started working with Network Query Engine (NQE), I didn’t have a traditional software engineering background and was learning Python and NQE at the same time. I needed to create a custom solution for handling certificate expiration dates across different network devices. The Python part of my brain was hoping to find a traditional for loop capability, and was a bit lost when that didn’t exist. As you may know, you can solve any given problem 10 different ways with NQE. I wanted to write a solution that would be clean, readable, easy to maintain, and share with others without having to provide too much explanation .That’s where the WHEN statement came into play.What is a WHEN Statement?Within the NQE Data Model, there are some data types that have a fixed list of options.The WHEN statement in NQE