How to install Cloud Link software for use with Hosted Web Security
August 02, 2011 • Administrator
Synopsis
This article describes how to install the Cloud Link software for use with Hosted Web Security
Article
Downloading the software
The Cloud Link client can be downloaded as a .MSI package from here:
The latest version is 1.5.30 (changelog)
Installing the Cloud Link client software
IMPORTANT: You will need access credentials from CensorNet Ltd in order to configure Cloud Link correctly. Please make sure you have this information to hand.
Note for Windows 7 / Vista: You should run the setup program with administrator privileges or have an administrator account to hand during installation.
Double click the setup program that you downloaded above, or right click and choose "Run as Administrator" if using Vista or Windows 7.
The Setup Wizard will start up. Press Next to continue.
You will be asked to choose a path where the Cloud Link files should be installed. Unless you have a specific reason, accepting the default is fine. Press Next.
The next screen will ask you what mode you wish to use. If you are using Cloud Link with Hosted Web Security you should choose ICAP Mode and press Next.
You will now be asked to enter the settings for ICAP Mode. They are:
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ICAP host: This setting will be provided to you by CensorNet Ltd.
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ICAP port: This setting will be provided to you by CensorNet Ltd.
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Password: If using Active Directory authentication (see below) you must enter here the global password that you have configured in the web console under Account -> Global Settings -> Global Password. This password must be used when installing all Cloud Link clients on your network. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you change the Global Password via the web console you must also change it in all of your Cloud Link installations otherwise users will be prompted to re-authenticate. This password also doubles up as the admin password for configuring Cloud Link after installation. If you do not use Active Directory, then this password is simply the admin password for configuring Cloud Link after installation. In both cases, you should choose a secure password and also keep it safe. Do not forget this password!
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Intercepted ports: These are the ports that Cloud Link will intercept traffic on before forwarding it to the cloud. The only ports supported are 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS). You can intercept both, or just one, by specifying a comma separated list here. You can alter this later.
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Ignored applications: Cloud Link will intercept all HTTP or HTTPS traffic (depending on the Intercepted ports option) and filter it. Some applications use their own protocol over HTTP(s) and should not be filtered as it will cause a degredation in performance. You can bypass these applications by entering their executable filenames as a comma separated list. You can edit this list later from the web console.
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Active Directory authorization - when in a domain environment, this will make Cloud Link check the logged in users profile on Active Directory for their E-mail address. If found, it will use the E-mail address and password (set above) to authenticate the user with the service (please make sure they have a user account set up in the web console that matches the Active Directory e-mail address!). If there is no e-mail address in Active Directory or the Active Directory server cannot be reached, the Cloud Link client will fall back to basic authentication and prompt for a username and password to be entered manually (you set these details when creating new users in the web console).
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Fail open enabled - If this option is ticked, Cloud Link will allow the user to browse unfiltered if it cannot for any reason reach the cloudwebfiltering.com servers (for example, if there is an Internet routing problem, the ICAP port is blocked by a local firewall or the user is behind a HotSpot, etc). It is recommended that you keep this setting checked.
Cloud Link is now ready to be installed. Click Back if you need to alter any settings, otherwise click Next to start the installation.
After installation has finished the Cloud Link client needs to be configured with a username and password. Skip this step if you will always use Active Directory authentication e.g. the computer will always be able to connect to AD.
If the computer is a laptop and it is possible that at times it will not be able to connect to Active Directory, or you simply do not want to use Active Directory authentication, you should configure credentials for the Cloud Link client manually. If Active Directory is not available or not used, the Cloud Link client will fall back to using these credentials, so it is always a good idea to set them if you can. Firstly, you should create a new user account in the web console and then right click the Cloud Link tray icon and select "Change Credentials" to save the username and password:
Just before completion, or immediately after, you will most likely be prompted by Windows Vista/Windows 7 to allow "ProxyTray" to access the Internet through the firewall. Please accept this exception, by clicking "Allow Access".
Cloud Link is now installed and running.
To test Cloud Link is working, you should open a web browser and try and browse to a site that is normally blocked by your Default Policy. For example, www.proxify.com is usually blocked. If all is working, you should receive the standard blocked page:
Troubleshooting
I get the error "Web access unavailable. Login failed due to incorrect credentials" when trying to browse the web
This can happen for a number of reasons, all relating to authentication:
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The Cloud Link client was set up for Active Directory authentication and the machine is no longer able to access the Active Directory server. In this case, you need to manually configure a "backup" set of credentials by right clicking the Cloud Link tray icon and selecting Change Credentials. You may need to first create the user account in the web console.
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The Global password is incorrect. To change this, right click the Cloud Link icon and go to Options / Change Global/Admin password.
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The username and/or password has been entered incorrectly. Right click the Cloud Link icon and click Change Credentials to change the details.
CloudLink is installed and running but my web access is not filtered
Please check the following:
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Ensure that any firewall software on your PC or on your corporate network is not blocking connections to port 1344 to either icap.cloudwebfiltering.com or icap.us.cloudwebfiltering.com. If it is blocked and Fail Open is active (it is by default) then web browsing will not be filtered
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Ensure that the Host you entered during installation is correct. Right click on the Cloud Link client and click Configuration.
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Ensure that the Cloud Link process is excluded from any anti-virus or security software running locally on the PC (some anti-virus programs can interfere with the operation of Cloud Link).
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