Web Filtering

From Nitix Knowledgebase

 

Web and Content Filtering

Nitix provides positive web filtering, which is a feature that allows the system administrator to permit access to specific Internet sites, while blocking access to all others.

 

Enabling the Web Filter

1. Select WWW from the Server Setup menu on the left side of any WebConfig screen. The WWW Setup screen will be displayed:









2. In the Content filtering field, select "Enable".
3. Click Save Changes.
4. Click Configure. The Web Filtering screen will be displayed:

Previous versions of Nitix required you to configure your browser to use a proxy server for web caching. Although you no longer need do this, web caching still functions if your browser is configured that way. However, if you plan to use web filtering in conjunction with web caching, all proxy server settings must be removed.

 

Providing Full Internet Access

To provide a specific workstation with access to all Internet sites:

1. Enter their host name or IP address in the Workstations Exempt from Filtering section of the screen.
2. Click on the check mark symbol to confirm the entry. The new entry will be displayed in the list of workstations with full access.







To remove full access for a workstation, click on the X action button located next to the workstation name or IP address. The exemption list may take up to two minutes to refresh.

 

Port Exemptions

When enabled, the Nitix content filter monitors port 80 and all others above 1023 (1024-65535). If an application uses a port between 1024 and 65535, that you need to open, follow these steps in order to allow that application to bypass the content filter. Note that all other applications using this port will also be exempt from web filtering.

1. Enter the port number you want to exempt in the "Ports Exempt From Filtering" section.
2. Click on check mark to add the entry.

 

Adding Permitted Websites

In order for users to access a specific website, the administrator has to add it to the Permitted Web Sites list. By default, the websites nitix.com and net-itech.com are automatically added.

To add a website you want to permit all users access to:

1. Enter the site’s name in the empty Add New Website field. To view the 'Permitted Web Site' list, click Display Permitted Website List.









2. Click on the check mark button to accept the change. The web site you entered should now be displayed in the Permitted Web Sites list.
• Wildcards can be used to allow all prefixes of a given domain. For example, in order to allow www.example.com, my.home.example.com, and office.example.com, type:

*.example.com

• Wildcards can also be used in the place of any label (dot-separated block) within a domain name. In order to do this, replace any label of the domain with an asterisk. For example, in order to allow both example.com and example.org, type:

example.*

• The two rules above cannot be used at the same time. For example, *.example.* will allow www.example.com, office.example.org, but not my.home.example.org.

 

Adding Denied Websites

To manually add a denied website, for the first time:

1. Got to the Content Filtering section labeled Content Filtering Request Denials.






2. Enter the website address in the Add New Website text box.
3. Enter the reason for denial. This section is optional.
4. Click the check mark action button to add the entry. Once this is done, the Content Filtering Request Denials box will display a link labeled Display Denied Website List.

   

   You can either click on this link to view the current list and add new entries or add new entries on the main as displayed above.

 

Accepting Access Requests

If a user has requested access to a website that has not been authorized, a notice will display in their browser.

The user can request that this site be authorized by the administrator by clicking the Request Access button.

The administrator can view the all the pending requests in the main Content Filtering section of WebConfig by clicking the link Display Pending List.

To accept or deny requests:

1. Click Display Pending List as seen in the image above.
2. A list containing the requested sites will appear. Choose to allow the site by clicking the check mark action button.



Users should now be able to access the permitted web site.

 

Denying Access Requests

To deny a requested web site:

1. Click Display Pending List as you would if you were going to accept a request. The list of pending requests will display.



2. If you want to immediately deny the request, click on the X action button. If you want to provide a reason, click the edit action button (...) and enter it into the text box labeled Reason for Denial. When you are done, click Deny Request.

 

List Management

The List Management feature allows you to import and customize content filtering lists from other Nitix servers. You can also export and customize the local content filtering list to share with other Nitix servers.

 

Importing a List

To import a content filtering list you must first obtain an exported list from another Nitix server. Exporting lists is explained in the section immediately below. Once this is done, proceed with the following:

1. Click on List Management in main Content Filtering section. The following screen will display:



2. Choose whether or not you want the imported list to include the list of permitted websites. Click either the "Enable" or "Disable" radio button.
3. Choose whether or not you want the imported list to include the list of denied websites. Click either the "Enable" or "Disable" radio button.
4. Click on the Browse button in the File To Import section and locate the file you want to import. The file name and path should now be displayed.
5. Click Import.

 

Exporting a List

To export a content filtering list:

1. Choose whether or not you want the exported list to include the list of permitted websites. Click either the "Enable" or "Disable" radio button.
2. Choose whether or not you want the exported list to include the list of denied websites. Click either the "Enable" or "Disable" radio button.
3. Click Export List. A text file will be generated that you can save and use to port to another Nitix server.

 

Email Reporting

The Nitix content filter can send instant email notifications every time a website has been requested, as well as email a daily report of all requested sites.

To use the email reporting options:

1. From the Content Filtering section, click Report Options. The following screen will display:









2. Enter email address for the administrator in the "Administrator's Email Address" text box.
3. In the Time of Day for Daily Report field, choose the time of day that the daily report of pending content filtering requests is to be mailed to the administrator. 0:00 represents midnight.
4. To enable instant notification, set Instant Notification to "Enabled". This feature requires the internal SMTP server to be enabled.
5. To enable daily reports, set Daily Reports to "Enabled", and choose a time from the Time of Day for Daily Report drop-down menu. That this feature requires the internal SMTP server to be enabled.
6. Click Save Changes.

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