A ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer alternative that reads configuration, not logs.
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer works from logs: it collects firewall syslog and reports on traffic, bandwidth and rule usage. As a ManageEngine alternative, SAMURAI starts at the other end. It reads the configuration from each device over its API or SSH, so you see the policies, NAT rules, objects and VPNs as they’re actually set, and every change with the admin who made it.
Updated June 2026
What reading the configuration gets you
The rules as they’re set
Security policy, NAT and objects come straight from the device instead of being inferred from log lines. Nested object groups are expanded to real protocols and ports.
Changes that never log anything
Snapshot diffs catch a configuration change even when no log line mentions it, and attribute it to the admin.
More than firewalls
Routers, switches, Cisco ACI fabrics, ISE TrustSec and vCenter go in the same inventory as the firewalls.
Endpoints you didn’t know about
SAMURAI builds an endpoint table from MAC tables, ARP, DHCP snooping, CDP/LLDP and 802.1X, with vendors looked up in an offline IEEE OUI database.
Will this flow get through?
A path trace checks each firewall and ACL along the way, across vendors, and shows which rule permits or drops the flow.
One container
A single docker run on one VM. Self-hosted, no telemetry, and it works air-gapped.
SAMURAI vs ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
They answer different questions. ManageEngine tells you what traffic crossed your firewalls, from the logs. SAMURAI tells you what the configuration says, what changed and who changed it, from the devices themselves.
Data source
SAMURAI
Configuration and state, read over vendor APIs and SSH
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Firewall syslog, collected and reported on
Best at
SAMURAI
Policy, NAT, objects and VPNs as configured, with change attribution
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Traffic, bandwidth and rule-usage reports from logs
Scope
SAMURAI
Firewalls plus routers, switches, ACI, ISE and vCenter
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Firewall and proxy log analytics
Deployment
SAMURAI
One self-hosted Docker container; runs air-gapped
ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer
Installed on a Windows or Linux server
If you mainly need bandwidth reports and traffic analytics from logs, ManageEngine does that well and it’s fairly priced. If you need to know what the configuration says and who changed it, across more than the firewalls, use SAMURAI. Some teams run both.
Frequently asked questions
Is SAMURAI a replacement for ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer?
It depends on why you bought it. For traffic and bandwidth reports from logs, SAMURAI is a complement, not a replacement. If you wanted to see policies, objects and configuration changes across vendors, SAMURAI is built for exactly that.
Does SAMURAI analyze firewall logs?
No. SAMURAI reads configuration and state from the devices; it doesn’t mine traffic logs. It can send its own events to your SIEM over syslog, and for log analytics you’d pair it with a log platform.
Which firewall vendors does SAMURAI cover?
Palo Alto Networks (PAN-OS), Fortinet FortiGate (FortiOS), Cisco Secure Firewall (FMC/FTD) and Juniper SRX (Junos OS), plus ACLs on Cisco routers and switches and policy on ACI fabrics.
How do I deploy it?
Pull the image from Docker Hub and run one container. Most installs are showing data in about five minutes, and everything stays on your own server.