Description
When managing the Smoothwall Filter & Firewall, there are multiple applications that can be useful.
PuTTY
When you need to access the command line on a Smoothwall, PuTTY is a perfect tool when accessing the SSH service from a Windows system.
You can also use PuTTY to connect using serial console. You can test if a service is open using putty. Telnet to the service port to see if a connection is opened.
WinSCP
For transferring files to or from a Smoothwall to a Windows system, WinSCP is an easy recommendation.
https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
You can author scripts using WinSCP to download backup and/or log files from a Smoothwall system. That can be an easy way to ensure additional backup of both web filter logs and backup archives.
XCA
XCA is a certificate management application. It's available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. For managing third party certificates, storing them and converting/extracting them from multiple different formats. Multiple certificate databases, protected by passwords, can be configured.
For certificate management and troubleshooting, XCA is the perfect tool.
CDN Finder
CDNFinder is a website that analyzes a top level domain to see what content delivery networks and URLs are in use when the domain is loaded in a browser. This can be useful when troubleshooting web filter access and finding elusive back-end domains also in use by the service.
https://www.cdnplanet.com/tools/cdnfinder/
In the same category, but not a third party tool, remember to use the policy test tool found on Smoothwall in the Guardian - Quick Links section. The policy tester shows all policies that apply to a request, not just what has been blocked or allowed like the real-time log viewer. The policy tester also shows content modification policies that have been applied to the requests.
Etcher
Etcher is an image writing tool. You can use it to write disk images to USB drives. Useful for writing a Smoothwall install image to a USB drive in case you need to reinstall it on an appliance.
Available for Windows, MacOS and Linux.
PAC file tips and examples
Writing PAC files can be a pain. The one generated automatically on the Smoothwall is always a good starting point but if more advanced options are needed, here is a great page with instructions and examples.