WebMarshal

Version: 6.0.3a, Last Revision: March 13, 2008

These notes are additional to the WebMarshal User Guide and supersede information supplied in that Guide.

The information in this document is current as of the date of publication. To check for any later information, please see Marshal Knowledge Base article Q11840.

Table of Contents

What's New
Upgrading WebMarshal
Uninstalling
Hardware and Software Requirements
Change History

What's New

For more information about additional minor features and bug fixes, see the change history.

Features New in 6.0.3

Disk Space Checking

WebMarshal Proxy now checks free disk space and refuses requests if space is low. The minimum required is 512MB by default. The warning level is 1.5GB. For details, see Marshal Knowledge Base article Q11896.

Sophos for Marshal Support

Marshal now provides an integrated package (updater and scanner) using the Sophos Anti-virus engine. You can download Sophos for Marshal from the Marshal website. Version 6.0.3 and above trial keys enable this component. If you want to try Sophos for Marshal and you already have a permanent WebMarshal key, please contact Marshal to obtain a special time-limited key.

Features New in Release 6.0

Array Support

WebMarshal 6.0 is more scalable and now supports centrally managed arrays.

Server Groups

Rules and configuration settings can be applied to groups of processing servers.

Database Outage Resilience

WebMarshal will continue processing user requests even if the database goes offline. The database is not used to store configuration. Database log records are queued until the database comes back online.

Content Type Detection

WebMarshal can now block content based on the Content-Type header returned by websites. This means WebMarshal does not need to download a file to block it by type. This saves bandwidth usage.

Archive and Document File Unpacking

WebMarshal recursively unpacks archive and document file types and applies content rules to the contained files.

Active Directory Connectors

WebMarshal can now import users and groups using native Active Directory Connectors. WebMarshal can import from the local AD domain and trusted domains.

Policy Connectors

The structure of WebMarshal rules has been improved to allow for nested policy containers. This allows for clearer more intuitive policy layout and additional flexibility.

Additional Access Control

WebMarshal now allows different levels of access to Console items and the Array Manager. Access can be granted to helpdesk staff.

Streamlined User Interface

WebMarshal now has an updated configuration console, designed to make administration tasks easier and more intuitive, including an improved policy tester.

Text Logging

WebMarshal services log functional and error information to text log files.

Revert Configuration

You can re-set any configuration changes that have been made in the Console and not yet committed.

Features of previous versions that are not included in the initial 6.0 release

ISA Plug-in Support

 Plug-in (WebFilter API) installation to ISA is not supported in this release. Same-server chained installation is supported.

Feedback

URL Aggregator feedback to Marshal is not implemented.

Rule Action 'Send Net Popup'

This action has been removed.

Features New in Release 3.7.5

Marshal URL Filtering List

WebMarshal now offers a new URL Categorization list with automatic updating, over 60 million web sites and 55 categories. WebMarshal trials include this list; full licenses are available through Marshal.

Features New in Release 3.7.4

Malware Scanner Selection:

WebMarshal now provides greater flexibility in Malware scanner usage.

• Virus and Spyware scanners are now listed separately in the Console.
• Malware Scanning rules conditions allow selection of a single scanner, all scanners of a type (Virus or Spyware), or all scanners. This allows separate rules to be created for Virus and Spyware scanning.

Client Authentication Pass-Through

WebMarshal can use the client's credentials when requesting files from an upstream proxy (basic authentication only). This allows client information to be logged at the upstream proxy.

WELF Logging

WebMarshal can now create web activity logs in WebTrends Extended Logging Format (WELF) for use with Marshal Security Reporting Center.

Feedback

WebMarshal can now send summarized feedback information about browsing to Marshal for use in product improvement. To participate, see the Feedback tab of Server Properties.

Features New in WebMarshal 2006

Multiple Filtering Lists:

WebMarshal can now use URL categories provided by multiple filtering lists.

• FileFilter (text based) and URLCensor (DNS BL lookup) are available with the standard WebMarshal license.
• Secure Computing SmartFilter is also available (licensed separately).
• Support for additional lists is planned.

Malicious Content Scanner Support:

WebMarshal can now scan files for spyware and other malicious content (in addition to viruses).

• PestPatrol and CounterSpy plugins are available (trial included with WebMarshal trial, full license at additional cost).

HTTP/1.1 Support:

WebMarshal now supports use of the “HTTP/1.1 through proxy” setting in Web browsers. This support is available by default and no configuration is required.

New Main taskpad:

Taskpad view now includes an introductory taskpad providing access to the main features of the Console.

Note: WebMarshal 2006 does not support the N2H2 filtering list.

• The N2H2 filtering list has been declared End of Life by the vendor (Secure Computing). It is replaced by the Secure Computing SmartFilter list.
• Upgrading to WebMarshal 2006  from versions supporting N2H2 disables N2H2 integration. Existing N2H2 categories are replaced with equivalent SmartFilter categories. To enable SmartFilter you will need a valid Secure Computing license key. Existing N2H2 keys are not valid. Contact Marshal for assistance.

Features New in 3.5.4

Secure Computing URL Filtering List Integration

Added support for Secure Computing SmartFilter third-party filtering List (formerly N2H2 filtering list).

Features New in 3.5.3

Scan Text Downloads for Embedded Viruses

WebMarshal can detect viruses embedded in downloaded text files, such as HTML code. You can configure WebMarshal to scan all downloaded text files before the files load on the client computer. Scanning downloaded files may impact the performance of the WebMarshal Engine.

To configure WebMarshal to scan downloaded text files:

1. Start the WebMarshal console.
2. In the left pane, select  WebMarshal.
3. On the Action menu, click Properties.
4. On the Download Options tab, select Scan all downloaded text files and HTML code for embedded viruses.
5. Click OK.

Support for ISA Server 2004 and 2006

This version provides support for Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 and 2006 (ISA Server). With these versions, you can deploy WebMarshal as a Web filter plug-in.

If you are upgrading to ISA Server 2004, you do not need to change your ISA Server configuration or permissions settings. The WebMarshal plug-in continues to run under the Local System account.

Support for Norman Virus Control 5.8

This version updates the Norman antivirus engine to support Norman Virus Control version 5.8 (SDK Interface 12).

Features New in 3.5

User Quota Management

• Create quotas to limit user browsing time and/or volume.
• Quotas can be applied by user, group, or globally, and by the time of day, or type of content.
• Includes quota management tools to allow managers to centrally track quota usage.
• Users can check their available personal quota at any time via the internal http://webmarshal.home/ intranet site.
• New reports allow monitoring of quota usage.

ISA Proxy Integration Changes

• Now supports IP authentication model when plugged into Microsoft ISA Server.
• Now supports ISA Server Secure NAT integration, which enables zero-overhead deployment of WebMarshal.
• Additional http://webmarshal.home/ alias created http://www.marshalsoftware.com/webmarshal.home/

User Interface and Other Changes

• Updated MMC TaskPads and product Wizards.
• Added new MMC Task Pad for viewing the Event Log and monitoring server health remotely.
• Updated server event logging to include additional information and unique event id's.
• Added new rule condition "Where the URL domain is an IP address" to block bypassing of content filtering.
• Display warning page once action can now be set to only display the page once a day or week.
• Improved URL category matching speed, resulting in increased product performance.
• Extended online-help for dialogs and wizards.
• Can now change the SQL 'sa' password during database creation.
• Added support for Panda and Symantec anti-virus scanners, and remote scanner installations.
• Improved Text Censor script viewer and editor.

Features New in 3.0

URL Filtering List Integration

• Added support for N2H2 third-party URL filtering list.
• Added additional filtering list related reports.
• Updated default rules for filtering lists.

User Interface

• Added MMC Task Pad support for improved product usability.
• Added new common virus scanner interface for all Marshal products.
• Added new rule action "Add user to user group" to enable the creation of more dynamic content policy.
• NDS connector now supports search NDS tree option to simplify proxy authentication.
• Active Sessions now automatically refreshes every 10 seconds.

Proxy Server

• Support for content filter bypass for specified web sites.

Other Changes

• Improved user group synchronization (as often as every 5 minutes)
• Limited array support allows multiple WebMarshal servers to share the same configuration/rules (contact support for more information)

Upgrading WebMarshal

Due to the changes in policy structure and server communication in WebMarshal 6.0, you must install WebMarshal 6.0 as a new installation. Database and software upgrade from version 3.X or earlier versions is not supported. Upgrade from Beta releases of WebMarshal 6.0 is not supported.

Note: Previous version license keys are not valid for WebMarshal 6.0. You must obtain a new permanent key. When installed, WebMarshal generates a 30-day trial key.

 

You can install WebMarshal 6.0 side-by-side with WebMarshal 3.X on the same server. For details, please see Marshal Knowledge Base article Q11833.

Upgrading from 6.0.2 to 6.0.3

When you upgrade from release 6.0.2 to 6.0.3, be sure to upgrade any WebMarshal Console installations on other workstations. 6.0.2 Consoles do not work with 6.0.3 because the .NET remoting version has been changed.

Note: Marshal always recommends that upgrades should include all components.

Uninstalling

You can cleanly uninstall the program using the following steps:

1. Close the WebMarshal applications including the Console and Reports on all workstations.
2. On the WebMarshal server(s), use the Windows Add/Remove Programs control panel to remove WebMarshal.
3. On any other workstations where WebMarshal components were installed, use the Windows Add/Remove Programs control panel to remove them. These components can include WebMarshal console software and WebMarshal Reports.
4. You can drop the WebMarshal database from the SQL server by using the SQL Express administration tools.

Hardware and Software Requirements

Hardware required is dependent on the number of concurrent web users and the rules in use. Use of Filtering Lists improves performance. Heavy use of TextCensor decreases performance.

Typically a computer with the following specifications is adequate as a processing server for 250-500 concurrent users.

• Pentium 4 1GHz or better.
• 20 GB free disk space (additional disk required for Filtering Lists and text logging)
• 1GB RAM

WebMarshal Array Manager and processing servers require the following software:

• Windows 2003 Server SP1 and above, Windows XP SP2 (32 bit versions only).
• Utility prerequisites:
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 runtimes
  • Microsoft XML 6.0
  • Microsoft .NET 2.0
    Note: The above software will be installed as part of the WebMarshal installation if necessary.
  • Windows Installer 3.1. You can obtain this software from Microsoft or in the Extras folder of the WebMarshal installation CD-Rom.
• For database logging (optional), SQL Server 2005 or SQL Express.
  Note: A WebMarshal installation package that includes SQL Express is available. This package will offer to install SQL Express locally with appropriate options (Named Pipes and TCP/IP enabled, using the default instance if possible).
• For NDS integration, Novell NDS Client  (Version 4.83 or later recommended)

WebMarshal Console requires:

• Windows 2003 Server SP1 and above, Windows XP SP2 (32 bit versions only).

WebMarshal Reports require:

• Windows 2003 Server SP1 and above, Windows XP SP2 (32 bit versions only).

Change History

The following additional items have been changed or updated in the specific build versions of WebMarshal listed.

6.0.3a (March 13, 2008) 

6.0.3 (December 06, 2007) 

6.0.2.2867 (October 23, 2007)

Copyright © Marshal Limited 2007