Internet Content Filter

[VMTN_Admin]

http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/246

The Internet Content Filter uses proxy server technology to prevent families from accessing inappropriate web sites.

[Kent_VM]

This appliance had the exact combination of software that I was looking for. I had hoped I would have been able to make this filter for myself. I want to use it for several of our small offices as this combination of software is very similar to what we are doing on our large offices on a physical box.

Thank you.

I must say I am not sure that the web interface is working as expected, though that may be my machine. I need to check from another machine before I believe it is defective. But if it had worked as advertised I would have rated this a 5.

[KevCar]

Downloaded this VM and it did work out of the box. But as I made changes I continue to have problems. The filter seem to get stuck at times of changes. Once that happens it no longer works. I really liked how this was setup. Its easy to configure but once things go wrong it seems unable to fix itself. I have emailed for support on it and did receive help on a couple of things. But since then I have uncovered more problems and have not received an answer but its only been a day. The creator seems to have gone to a lot of trouble to setup a help system so I do expect a reply soon. If the problems can get ironed out this could be a really great setup for home or even a small business. In the mean time I am trying to understand some of the software so I can fix a few of these issues myself. I would rate it a 2 right now but could be a 4 or 5 once the problems are fixed.

Message was edited by:

KevCar

[KevCar]

Talked to the author and he has a fix but for some reason he is unable to upload the fix due to vmware. Not sure why they are preventing him from uploading. So we will have to wait and see. If someone from vmware could comment on this as to why he might be unable to upload the fix, that could be of some help. This could be a great app if the bugs get worked out.

[trevlix]

I'm the author.

Its a mixture of being unable to upload it and unable to work on it due to real life issues. My goal is to get it uploaded this week with a fix.

[cybercolt]

I downloaded the appliance but the Username and Password combo does not work for me? Does anyone have the correct one?

Thanks!

[pc-janitor]

Really pleased to see this, have been playing with squid a bit and trying to set up the necessary routing within VM to enable ClarkConnect to filter our browsing. to have it all set up is very helpful.

Am trying to get VM to start the macine automatically on host bootup and am having limited success - don't worry, I'm heading off to read the VMmanuals on that one.

had no trouble with the interface and the login as admin/password worked fine for me.

I did note however that the appliance didn't like being powered off, (no surprises there.) I had better success logging on and shutting down the appliance from inside the admin pages.

[trevlix]

Hey everyone - the update should be out soon. I was out the last week without Internet access (ack) so I was unable to do anything.

As for some of the problems people are having:

1. Browser issues:

\- I tested using IE and Firefox, and somehow didn't catch the problems with IE. If you use Firefox for the web administration you should be fine. I'm trying to figure out the IE problems now.

2. Passwords

\- There are two different user IDs and passwords you will use. The first is the admin ID and the associated password. This is to log in to the web interface. The second is the root ID and password. This is to log into the virtual machine itself.

You will not be able to use the admin ID to log in to the virtual machine and you will not be able to log into the admin interface with root. This was done on purpose. Remember, the point of doing this was to make it as simple as possible - and most people don't need to get into the OS level of the system.

The passwords are in the documentation. The initial admin password is in the beginning of the documentation. The root password is at the end, in the FAQ.

3. Shutting it off

\- There are a few problems with shutting it off which should be taken care of in the update. However, the proper way to shut it down is to either go into the web interface and choose "shutdown" or click on the "X" in the upper-right corner of the virtual machine.

I have to admin, I'm surprised by the small following this has gotten. I feel very honored actually. If anyone sees any functionality that is missing, feel free to email me at filter@hudakville.com and I'll add it into the TODO list. Remember too that I am doing this as I have time. If anyone wishes to send me patches, I'll be more than happy to add those in as well!

Tyler

[dreniarb]

Great appliance! Very very useful. My kids are under 4 right now, so they don't get on the internet yet, but this is exactly what I've always hoped to do to safeguard their internet use when they're older. Thanks!

One request though.

Is it possible to put a keyword filter in there? I'd like to just block out any website with the words "Paris Hilton".

Thanks for your time in making this!

[trevlix]

Keywords....that I'm not sure on. There is a keyword filter available, but I believe its only for the URL, not the body of the page. Let me look into that.

[dreniarb]

Awesome, thanks.

I mainly plan to use domain name whitelists until the kids are much older. I know a keyword search of the entire webpage would really slow down the connection, but I'd like to give more freedom as they mature.

[rgutshall]

I have the internet filter up and running. I can access it via the web with no problem. When I set a client up to use it, the internet stops on that computer. (Web pages error out.) It was looking like the computer and or Internet filter could not resolve the website addresses. So I went into /etc and edited the relsolve.conf file and added my DNS server info. Still no luck. I went into the reporting feature of your program and it "looks" like the sites I tried to get to were allowed through. But I couldn't get to them. Any thoughts on what I'm missing?

Thanks

[trevlix]

By default, the appliance is set up to use NAT'd networking. Make sure you are using bridged networking to allow another computer to use it. The instructions for that should be in the docs.

[rgutshall]

The Appliance is set up for Bridged, I can ping the internet from the commandline and I can get to the web interface from any computer connected to the internet.

Any other ideas?

[Blackneto]

Trevlix, thanks for the VM.

a few notes upon setup

the script to change the network settings didn't work because there was no write access for ifcfg-eth0.

so a person can ither manually config it or chmod +w it to get it to work.

also you use http://www.bleedingsnort.org/blackhole-dns/files/domains.txt as a filter list.

bleedingsnort.org is a parked domain now that installs spyware. evidently they let the registration lapse

bleedingsnort.com should be used now.

other than that I'm looking forward to using it.

thanks!

leon

[trevlix]

Thanks - email me @ filter@hudakville.com and I'll give you a fix. I had a new VM version out there but the torrent has not been created for it yet.

Thanks also for the heads up on bleedingsnort.org - I forgot I was using that. I've been analyzing the malware being distributed on .org for the last 2 days you'd think I'd remember that.

[alltadros]

does anyone know why the admin panel doesnt show the option for a black list. how do i turn it on?

[the404error]

If someone could seed this it would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[jhamill]

very nice appliance we are using it our office here for our proxy server.

one question, we are getting an error

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in /usr/local/lighttpd/pages/admin/logs.php on line 77

I can't seem to locate which php.ini you are using so that I can increase the timeout for execution. Can you please advise?

[gdcook]

Hello Trevlix

Good appliance ... thanks.

I would like to make modifications to the o/s, like upgrades, and can't seem to find the root password in the doc.

Also, the blacklist feature does not appear to work. For example, I added 2600.com to the blacklist, applied the change, and was still successful in attempts to hit the site.

How can I bolster up the blacklist capabilities?

Thanks