URL or domain filtering to block or allow access to websites

This article applies to organisations with a 'Hybrid' setup (both On-Premise Appliance and Cloud), as well as On-Premise only and Cloud only setups.

 

Smoothwall has built-in Blocklist Categories to prevent access to unsafe or distracting websites and domains. You can also set up your own custom lists to allow or block specific websites as required (shown below).

 

Tips

  • If you have a Hybrid setup (both Cloud and On-Premise Appliance), you can manage your Custom Categories and Web Filter Policies in either place.
  • The process below cannot block parts of a website or domain. To do that, use Content Modification.

 

How to enter Domains and URLs

  • Each term must include the complete domain between full stops. For example, adding www.site.co.uk won’t block www.examplesite.co.uk
  • Don’t use wildcards, as these won’t work.

Here are some ways you can manage access to subdomains and Top Level Domains (TLDs) by using the Custom Category in a Web Filter Policy:

  • You can block the Top Level Domain (TLD) and all subdomains. For example, block websites ending in both .org.uk and .co.uk by entering ‘uk’.
  • You can allow the TLD and subdomains apart from the specific subdomains you want to block. For example, add files.examplesite.co.uk to a block policy, and it won’t block examplesite.co.uk or other subdomains like videos.examplesite.co.uk
  • You can block the TLD and subdomains apart from the specific subdomains you want to allow. For example, add example.co.uk to a block policy, add files.example.co.uk to an allow policy, and order the allow policy above the block policy.

Note

For filtering applied by On-Premise Appliance, HTTPS Inspection is required to filter the full URL. Without this, Smoothwall only filters based on domain only. For example, it can only filter examplesite.co.uk/games based on your Web Filter Policies for examplesite.co.uk

 

On-Premise Appliance

  1. Before creating a new policy, check whether the URL is already included in an existing category used in one of your policies.
  2. Go to Guardian > Policy Objects > Categories, and select an existing category or create a Custom Category.
  3. Enter your domains or URLs into the Domain/URL filtering field and select Save.
  4. Create a Web Filter Policy using your custom category to Allow or Block these URLs or domains.
  5. Log out to sync any changes to Cloud.

Cloud Filter

  1. Go to Filter > Custom Categories, and Edit an existing category or select Add category.
  2. Select the Domain/URL list tab, enter domains or URLs, optionally enter a descriptive comment, then select +Add URL.
  3. Create a Web Filter Policy using your custom category to Allow or Block these URLs or domains.
  4. Go to Filter > Publishing and select Publish to sync changes to On-Premise Appliance.