Author Archives: WFilter

How to activate WFilter 4.1?

WFilter supports online activation and Email activation.

If you choose to activate your product over the Internet, upon your submisson the activation wizard will detect your Internet connection and connect to a secure server to transfer your register key to us. The registration is passed back to you, automatically activating WFilter, if the register key is valid.

If you choose to activate your product by email activation, you should input the register key in text box and click the “confirm”. You will get an activation code. Please send them to the support email box. The validation code will be sent back to you within 24 hours. Please copy them in the valiation code textbox to activate your product.

1. Steps of Online Activation

Online activation requires an available internet connection to connect to WFilter activation server.

1). In “Help”->”About” of WFilter, click “Product Activation”.

2). Input your key number and use “online activation” to do online activation.

3). Successful activation.


2. Steps of Email Activation

Online activation requires an available internet connection. If you can not connect to WFilter activation server, you also can use “Email Activation”.

1). Input your key number and use “email activation” to do online activation.

2). In “Email Activation”, copy the activation code and send to support email address support@imfirewall.com.cn.

active12_2 wfilter_activate_email3_2

 

3) It might take several hours to receive the reply email since the response email is sent manually.

4). In “Help”->”About” of WFilter, you need to enter the received validation code into WFilter.

3. De-activation

Sometimes, you might want to move the key to another computer. You need to de-activate this key first.
Click “deactivate” in “Help”->”About” to de-activate the key.

How to customize scheduled reports in WFilter?

In WFilter 4.1, you can customize the email format for WFilter standard reports. With this feature, you can customize the emails sent to users.

For example, if you want a client to receive a monthly email of total bandwidth consumed, you can enable this feature. The email will look like being sent from you. Check below steps:

Edit a standard report

Edit a standard report, choose “Report Format” as “Customize”.


Customize the email content

Just input the email content, you can use the replacing marks listed. Html syntax is supported.

Now you can click “Send” and check your email. It’s exact what you’ve typed in.

How to detect network devices which are running NAT services or proxy services with WFilter?

Using WFilter’s “NAT Detector” plugin, you can detect client devices which are running NAT services or proxy services.

In this example, I will guide you to use the “NAT Detector” plugin of WFilter.

1. Install “NAT Detector” plugin.

2. Detect client devices which are running NAT services or proxy services.

Devices running NAT/proxy services will be listed, together with the client devices.

3. Set temporary blocking

You can set temporary blocking for punishment

How to lookup IP, MAC and Port information with WFilter?

Using “IP/MAC/Port lookup” plugin, you can get the IP location, MAC vendor and port protocol information based on user input.

In this example, I will guide you to use the “IP/MAC/Port lookup” plugin of WFilter.

1. Install “IP/MAC/Port lookup” plugin

2.1 Look up IP location

Input 180.97.33.107(Baidu)

2.2 Look up MAC vendor

Input 00-0B-2F-7B-47-64

2.3 Look up port protocol information

Input 80

How to block facebook videos on network without blocking facebook.com?

Complete blocking of facebook.com is cruel to users, you might want to only block facebook videos or photos without blocking the entire site.

According to our test, facebook now hosts all its photos and videos in “akamaihd.net”. If you block “*.akamaihd.net” with WFilter’s “https black list”, you still can access facebook, but no photo or video will show up. Your facebook becomes a simple text site.

Tests also shows all photos are hosted in domains named “fbcdn-sphotos-*.akamaihd.net”. To block facebook photos only, you can block tls sites “fbcdn-sphotos-*.akamaihd.net”.

Facebook local videos are hosted in “fbcdn-video-*.akamaihd.net”, to block facebook videos only, you need to add “fbcdn-video-*.akamaihd.net” into “website black list” of WFilter. The below figure shows a video being blocked.

WFilter 4.1 added monitoring by mac address solution for multiple-segment networks.

What is “by mac address monitoring mode”?

WFilter supports both “by ip address monitoring mode” and “by mac address monitoring mode”.

In “by mac address mode”, WFilter identifies a client device based on it’s physical MAC address. Even ip address of this device is modified(either by DHCP or by hand), WFilter still can identify it correctly. So the monitoring mode is useful in DHCP networks.

I would recommend you to choose monitoring mode in below steps:

  1. If ip addresses are static(or can be static), “by ip address” monitoring mode is recommended.
  2. If ip addresses are dynamic, “by mac address monitoring mode” is recommended for single-segment networks.

2. by mac address solution for multiple-segment networks

In a multiple-segment network, the core switch(gateway) will hide the real mac addresses of client devices, which makes the mac address monitoring mode not working.

In WFilter Enterprise 4.1, a program named “MAC Address Collector” is included. This program can detect and gather mac addresses of client devices via SNMP or ARP.

With “mac address collector”, you can monitor by mac addresses even in multiple-segment network.

More details and guide documents can be found at: Monitoring by mac addresses solutions

How to block HTTPS websites in network with WFilter Free?

Unlike HTTP, HTTPS connections are protected by SSL. To filter HTTPS websites, the web filter shall have the ability to parse SSL handshake packages.

WFilter, both the enterprise and free editions, all can support blocking of HTTPS domains.

In this post, I will demonstrator you how to block https sites with WFilter Free.

1. Enable Websites Black List

As in the figure, enable a website black list, and check “enable for https websites”. Both http and https websites in the black list will be blocked.

2. Sites being blocked.

HTTP sites being blocked, a denial page will appear.

HTTPS sites being blocked, because it’s impossible to inject a denial page into a ssl connection, WFilter will simple kill the https connection.

For more details, please check: WFilter Free – Free web filter software for network, network web filter software for business, network internet filter software for business

TradeManager Black & white list is now supported in WFilter 4.1

The following example will show you how to use TradeManger black list.

1. New a blocking level named “trademanager”

2. Configure the black list

Notice: you should add “aliint” before your account, and save the configuration.


3. Apply the blocking level

4. Check blocking of TradeManager

5. Check real-time block

As you can see in the above example, TradeManager accounts in the black list will not be able to login.

How to block google images with WFilter ?

Google is redirecting all http requests to https. Since https traffic is secure,this makes it impossible for web filter to monitor and filter google access via https.

Fortunately, google provides a way to disable ssl search for IT administrators to deploy contents filtering products. For more details, please check: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/186669?hl=en

In this example, I will guide you to block google images with WFilter. This solution requires a local dns server to redirect google traffic. Only clients using this dns server will be redirected. Or you can manually edit the “hosts” file in client computers.

1. Disable Google SSL (HTTPS) Search

1.1 To disable ssl search, you need to redirect all google traffic to nosslsearch.google.com. Let’s use nslookup to find the ip address of nosslsearch.google.com first.

Run command: “nslookup nosslsearch.google.com 8.8.8.8”. You can find the IP : “216.239.32.20”.

1.2 Configuration of the DNS server

In DNS server,add two zones:”google.com” and “google.com.hk”(google in your country) . In each zone, add an “A” record to “www” with IP address “216.239.32.20”.



1.3 Client computers shall use this DNS server as the “Preferred DNS Server”.

1.4 Open Google to check.

Before redirecting, it’s https.

Now, it’s http.

2.block google images with WFilter

In below steps, I will demonstrate you to block google images with WFilter’s website black list.

2.1 Add a “block google images” policy. Check “Website Black/White List” and click “New”.

Add a new “Black List” named “google images”, in “List”, input “www.google.com.hk/imghp*” and “cn.bing.com/images*” .

2.2 Apply the “block google images” policy.

2.3 google images will be blocked.

Bing images will be blocked.

How to monitor wireless users in network with WFilter?

Since most wireless devices obtain IP addresses dynamically, management of wireless devices has become a challenge to network administrators. It’s not easy to identify wireless devices by IP addresses or MAC addresses. However, with WFilter, you can identify wireless devices by users.

When enabled, mobile users need to authenticate themselves to access internet. Both active directly authentication and WFilter local authentication are supported. Then you can check devices and users in WFilter console in a few clicks.

In this example, I will guide you to enable AD account monitoring for wireless devices.

1.Enable Domain account monitoring

In “Account Monitoring “, choose “Windows Active Directory”, click “Enabled”, add a Domain Controller.

2.Advanced Settings

Click “Advanced Settings”, choose “Require web authentication for devices which do not log into the domain”, Save Settings. You also can choose “Block all internet access when web authentication is required”and “Require re-authentication when an user has no internet activity for 30 minute(s)”.

3.Web authentication

Users will not be able to access internet until they’re authenticated. When user authentication web page will show up when browser is open as shown in below figure.

4.Online Users

In WFilter’s “Online Users”, you can get a list of online devices and users.