The User Portal is a simplified version of your administrator access for the Smoothwall On-Premise Appliance. You can use it to give quick access to non-administrative users to:
- Use a simple version of the Policy tester.
- Generate a restricted amount of reports.
- Manage web access by blocking access for groups of users or locations.
- Manage categories by adding or removing domains and search terms.
- Download software.
You can see any changes that User Portal users have made to settings and any reports they have run through your Admin Portal.
Tip
Instead of User Portal, why not use our Cloud products? You can grant access to Cloud Filter, Reporting or both for anyone in your organisation depending on your needs. If you don't have access to our Cloud Products, please contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss your options.
Before you begin
For the User Portal to work, ensure you have a Smoothwall access rule to Accept traffic for the Other web access on HTTPS (442) service.
Create a User Portal and manage what users can do
Go to Services > User Portal > Portals. You can use the Default Portal or create your own.
Create a new User Portal
- In the Portals section, select New.
- Enter a Name.
- Select Save.
- Select the new portal from the drop-down, then Select to edit it.
- After editing the settings, select Save.
Set web access
Go to the Portal permissions for web access management (in Leeds release or prior) or Portal permissions for web access blocking (in Maiden release or later) section.
Select the Enabled checkbox to allow User Portal users to manage access for end users. Select one or both of the following options:
- Allow control of groups: User Portal users can block web access only for individual users who are part of these selected User Groups.
- Allow control of locations: User Portal users can block web access for certain Locations.
Select the option from the list that User Portal users are allowed to create blocks for. To select multiple groups, hold CTRL or SHIFT and select all the groups that you want to include.
Tip
Once saved, you won’t be able to see which groups were selected. To unselect groups, uncheck the Allow control checkbox and Save, then return to the page and select your intended groups.
Learn more about how this area works for User Portal users in Access and use the User Portal: Temporarily block web access.
Set access to Web Filter lists
Go to the Portal filter list management section.
Select the Enable checkbox if you want User Portal users to be able to:
- See your list of Custom Categories (called filter list in User Portal).
- Add websites or search terms to these categories.
- See what is included in your Category Groups (called list groups in User Portal).
- Manage what is included in these groups.
- See (but not edit) your Web Filtering policies.
Learn more about how this area works for User Portal users in Access and use the User Portal: Filter lists, groups and policies.
Set access to testing Web Filter policies and send requests
Go to the Policy Tester section.
- If you want User Portal users to be able to test Web Filter policies, select the Enabled checkbox.
- If you want User Portal users to be able to raise requests to your Smoothwall administrator, select the Allow block/unblock requests checkbox. You must also enter an email address into the Administrator's email address field, or these requests will not be sent.
Learn more about how this area works for User Portal users in Access and use the User Portal: Test your Web filter policies section of our User Portal article.
Set access to create Reports
- Go to the Portal published reports and templates section.
- If you want User Portal users to be able to run any reports themselves, select the Enable checkbox.
- If you have a multi-tenant environment, you can select specific tenants that User Portal users can report on from the Only report on data from these tenants list.
- Select the checkboxes for the reports you want the User Portal users to be able to run.
Tip
Select a top-level folder to grant access to all reports contained in that folder.
Separately, you can choose whether User Portal users should be able to use the Safeguarding Full Report. To enable this, select the Enable checkbox in the Safeguarding Full report section.
Set if users can download an SSL VPN client archive
You can make an SSL VPN client archive available for download from the Downloads section on every page in the User Portal. This archive contains two PEM files, and the OpenVPN configuration file.
You may want to do this to allow User Portal users to use the VPN, for example to use with openvpn connect installed on their computer.
To enable this:
- You will need to have already configured the SSL VPN, or the User Portal user won’t be able to download the client archive, and will see a message saying: ‘The SSL VPN subsystem has not been correctly configured to allow for connections, please contact your System Administrator.’
- Download the SSL VPN archive.
Choose whether to display a Welcome message
You can display a welcome message when a user signs into the User Portal. To enable this, go to the Welcome message section and select the Welcome message checkbox.
You can edit the default message that reads: ‘Welcome to the user portal. Please note that use of this service may be subject to an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) as defined by your organization.’
Important
It is not possible to code in this message, so you cannot add hyperlinks. If you add a URL, users will need to copy it and paste it into their browser.
Edit or delete a User Portal
Important
To ensure users aren’t confused by a change in access (for example, if they have bookmarked pages), let them know before making any changes.
Choose the portal from the drop-down and Select.
- To edit the User Portal, configure the settings of the selected User Portal, then select Save at the bottom of the page.
- To delete a User Portal, select Delete. Users will not be automatically signed out and will still see the User Portal, but taking action such as trying to select a button will have no effect.
Give access to User Portal
You need to specify who should be able to sign into the User Portal, and let them know how to sign in: Give access to User Portal