Version 7 beta

[rboynton]

I went to the beta forum, but there are no posts there. Version 7 loaded fine over my existing v6 install, but when the update to the latest build installed, all internet access stopped. With no documentation and no beta posts to try and troubleshoot, I had to go back to V6. As we are coming up to a year since the latest V6 release, what is the status of V7?

[adrien]

Hi Rick

What OS is this on? Update shouldn't have affected your network connectivity

We're close to a beta release, been chasing a couple of stability issues which we believe we recently nailed.

Adrien

[rboynton]

I'm using xp, sp1

[adrien]

XP should have no problems with driver updates since it's just a file replacement (as opposed to Vista onwards).

SP1 is pretty old though, you're doing well to keep it going! Is that due to the half-open connection limit introduced in SP2? If it is, there are patches for that is all.

You say all internet access stopped. So you could no longer browse from the WinGate computer? Or was this just clients?

depending on which version you updated from / to, it could have been something like the new DNS client (replaced old DNS resolver).

Regards

Adrien

[labull]

Rick - one problem I saw was with the DNS client not recognizing where to go to look for Internet lookups.

Open DNS clients and be sure under usage for the server it says "Internet".

BTW - WinGate 7 is absolutely the coolest!

[adrien]

aw shucks Larry.

by the way, there were some issues with probing DNS server in the DNS client. I made some tweaks which is published as build 3035 in WinGate update

this one also will report an incident to the notifications system if there are no known Internet-usable servers... and recall it if it finds one later (it polls for new servers known to the OS periodically).

It also now re-probes servers whenever you edit the settings (click OK), so if you added one, removed one, or changed probing settings it comes out in the wash.

Adrien

[rboynton]

Hi Larry! Good to hear from you again. With all the rain you're getting, I guess you're looking to build an ark!

Yes, XP is old, and I've kept with it here because it takes a minimal box to run it on. I played with the SP2 patch when I first installed WG, but had issues. I just reloaded the box with the plain vanilla SP1 to resolve this. I will be looking later this year to upgrade both the H/W and O/S. I do like the look & feel of the new beta though.

[labull]

Hi Rick!

4.5 inches of rain in a day is quite dreary and makes normally bad traffic horrible!

Let us know how your WinGate 7 upgrade goes. We've been testing here for several months with pre-beta releases and it really is cool. We've been using a small test group but hope to go live site wide on Monday.

So far I've even been able to:

1. Write a policy that forces users to use "safe search" settings for several of the most popular search engines. Not perfect yet but getting close. I'll write it up and post a copy when I think it's ready.

2. Write a policy that allows certain workstations to only access "corporate" sites and redirects to our home page if they try to go anywhere else.

3. Generate custom debug logs to see traffic to better understand how to control/manipulate user browsing.

And that's just in my "spare" time!

As always, Adrien and the folks at Qbik have been wonderful to work with and more than patient explaining things.

[rboynton]

OK, made the jump to light speed and went to the Beta version (3035). With a couple of tweaks, things seem to be running as they were under 6.x. Is there a administrators manual built yet? I know there is context help, but I'm a printed manual guy, and it would be very helpful if I could print it off and start tapping the features. Also, how do I access the settings from another LAN PC like I used to with gatekeeper?

[labull]

Very cool!

AFAIK there is no manual yet. I'm a sit and read the printed manual guy too. You can't mark up a display or flip back and forth between pages.

I think remote access to GateKeeper is still in the works.

[adrien]

actually remote gatekeeper works fine. Just need to copy a few DLLs with it.

It needs:

GateKeeper.exe
ToolkitPro1330vc60U.dll
ssleay.dll
libeay32.dll
SciLexer.dll

for remote help to work, you also need all the .chm files and .chi files, as well as WinGateHelp.col

Alternatively you could run the WinGate installer on a machine just for GateKeeper (e.g. don't install ENS, and disable the service).

We'll be writing a standalone GateKeeper installer.

GateKeeper actually now runs a lot better remotely than it did for wg6. There's nothing in there now that doesn't work remotely, we even built remote file and folder browsing and ODBC DSN enumeration in. In fact we recommend remote gatekeeper over even terminal services now, since it's less bandwidth hungry (can be an issue with a highly dynamic dashboard updating across terminal services).

Regards

Adrien

[rboynton]

Tried copying the files and running gatekeeper on a remote PC, but it would not run. The cursor blinked momentarily, but the app never came up. I did not register the DLL's, but just copied them into the same location they are in on the Wingate box. Tried installing without the driver (just the core components), then stopping the Qbik service. When I logged in, there was an error:

There was an internal error in Wingate
You should check your system settings

When I OK through that dialog, the settings come up. I don't see the extended networking object listed in the control panel. Wingate is running on XP SP1, and my PC is Windows 7 Pro.

[adrien]

Hi Rick

normally if you don't see something in the UI, it means a permission issue, so check permissions on the ENS item under Control Panel :: Permissions in GateKeeper.

As for why it wouldn't load when you copied the file, I'm at a bit of a loss. Normally if an exe tries to load and can't find a DLL, you get a dialog posted by the OS telling you that, with the name of the DLL.

Could be a permissions issue on the program files folder on your Windows 7 perhaps? Copying files to Windows 7 can have unforeseen side-effects.

One thing GateKeeper does is when it connects to a remote WinGate, it downloads a bunch of DLLs etc from that WinGate, and stores them under {gk folder]\Remote\[servername]

So the account you're logged into windows as may have some effect here, if GateKeeper then is unable to copy files. Program files and Program files (x86) are protected folders on windows 7 (you on 64 bit?).

So I'd check folder permissions on the WinGate folders. Our installer sets a bunch of permissions - that may be the difference between copying files and running the installer.

Regards

Adrien

[adrien]

HI Rick

I checked the installer code.

It does a few things.

1. Creates subfolder called Remote, and Filestore
2. Sets permissions on those folders for Authenticated users to full access.

On my test machine here, I just run it all out of a folder on my desktop though, so don't have any permissions problems.

Regards

Adrien

[rboynton]

The permissions on the \program files\wingate folder look ok. The install did create the \remote and \filestore folders with their contents. I am logged into the wingate server with the same user credentials as my LAN workstation. Creating a folder on the desktop and moving the files/running from there still brings up the internal error dialog. Not a big deal on this, as I know it's a beta. Just thought perhaps I was doing something wrong. Thanks for the assist anyway.

[adrien]

HI Rick

When you get that internal error warning, apart from that does it appear to be working? If you go to the modules panel (in control panel) are there any showing in there in error?

I'm thinking for some reason it can't copy or load a module.

Regards

Adrien

[rboynton]

Everything looks like it is showing up, except for extended networking, which is not in the list. Else everything appears normal.

[adrien]

Hi Rick

Does extended networking show up as an object in permissions?

Regards

Adrien

[rboynton]

Yes, Extended Networking Driver.

[adrien]

OK, so does the account you're logged into GateKeeper as have access to that object in permissions?

If not, it won't show in the UI.

Which User Database are you using?

[rboynton]

Yes, the user account has full access to that. I am using the local db, as we are not on a domain. My user account is set up the same way on the Wingate box and my PC.

[adrien]

we find some surprises often with group membership on later OSes with the windows user database, so you might need to check group membership.

If you enable debug logging on the permissions system you should see if the system is trying and failing to get read access to the ENS driver permissions object.

[rboynton]

Hmmm...

certainly could be the case here. One of my projects for later in the year is to replace my wingate machine with a new box. Sounds like it's time to expedite this. Along with this is setting up my company domain (as opposed to the current PEER sharing). This will allow for AD permissions across all the machines, and hopefully resolve this wingate remote management issue. Will let you know the results. P.S. - have I told you that I like the look & feel of the beta? If you have anything in the way of an administrators guide written up, I'd be grateful for you passing it along. I know it might be rough, but it is a beta product! Thanks again to you and all the team for what you've done so far!