Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date 8.302 Information

News:

• Addressed connection issues with Swisscom DSL

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted

Fixes:

• [20573] Problems with PPPoE with Swisscom DSL

Download:
Link: ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.302.tgz.gpg
Size: 123KB
MD5: 283d9427cba1395d14ef147870ce57b2

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.302] Using Multiple Internet Links").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
UTM Product Manager

Many exciting new features have been added; we have extended onto the desktop with Endpoint Protection, Wireless Protection has a new captive portal system which is perfect for hotels & coffee shops, and a jaw-dropping HTML5 VPN Portal for true clientless access makes its debut as well. Full details on the UTM 9 Public Beta, (along with download links and license keys) can be found here in our community forums. A brief overview of some notable things you might be waiting for can be viewed by reading on. 

Sophos UTM 9 At A Glance
Major New Features

• Endpoint Protection
• Wireless Captive Portals
• HTML5 VPN Portal
• Sophos Anti-Virus Engine
• New WebAdmin GUI Look

Minor New Features

• Apple iOS Support for WebAdmin
• YouTube for Schools
• 1:1 NAT Rules
• New Appliance LCD Functions
• HA/Clustering Cold-Standby During Up2Date
• Constant Live-Log Button
• Customizable Dashboard
• New Listbox Functionality
• Network Definition Ranges
• Download and Distribution of User VPN Configurations
• Multiple Objects in Firewall Rules

There are many more new things for you to see and test (over 100 in fact), and I invite you to create and vote for features at our  feature request site, your idea could change the product and benefit others! On behalf of myself, the Network Security Group, and all of Sophos, enjoy the Beta of UTM 9 and be sure to share your results in our forums.

Angelo Comazzetto

This release contains a number of fixes around VPN, Web Security, and wireless. 

Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date 8.301 Information
News:

• Several bug fixes for IPsec VPN
• Several bug fixes for Web Filter
• IRQd restarting often has been fixed

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be upgraded
• Connected Wireless AP's will perform a firmware upgrade

Fixes:

• [19482] Data transfer over L2TP VPN breaks after a few minutes for Windows clients
• [19740] Downloads larger than the max. scanning size with chunked encoding break if AntiVirus is enabled
• [19806] Web Filter: iPhone/iPad exception for Youtube doesn't match
• [19914] Can't select 2012 as custom time frame in Logging & Reporting >> View Log Files >> Search Log Files
• [20102] WiFi: Connection problems for clients using powersaving

Download:
Link: ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.301.tgz.gpg
Size: ~90MB
Md5: fdd007446fbad7b8553b6b91f806ea68

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.301] Amazon VPC Connector").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
Product Manager

ACC Up2Date V3.002 Information

News

-This is a maintenance release

Remarks:
-System will be rebooted
-Configuration will be upgraded

Fixes:
-[20087] ACC loses Confd connection after session timeout
-[20107] Worldmap does not work due to old mapstraction version
-[20108] Fix library dependencies after apl update (Reporting now uses GD.pm)

Download link:
http://ftp.astaro.de/ACC/v3/up2date/u2d-sys-3.002.tgz.gpg
MD5: 26005022fe45c5b0e6c8a280e77eaf98 
Size: ~23MB

**Important Licensing Note**: ACC Version 3 now uses our the newer-style licensing model we released in 2010 for our ASG products. While ACC remains totally free, this means your existing V2 ACC key from the MyAstaro.com portal is longer valid, nor is any outstanding static keys from the time when we only offered a single key for all installations. To get your new ACC 3.0 key, fill out the creation form on our website. Your personalized license will then be available via the License Management section of your MyAstaro account.

	Astaro Command Center FTP Mirrors:

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V3 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[3.002] Central Backup Creation Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also an ACC demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto

News:
-This is a maintenance release

Remarks:
-System will be rebooted
-Configuration will be upgraded

Fixes:
[18822] Confd clients may miss storage changes
[19649] Devices without configuration feature let accd run into a deadlock
[na] Various Gateway Manager fixes

Download Links:
Size: 62.7MB
MD5: c8b9ed5aa0089a53cd3614be4e6de402
http://ftp.astaro.de/ACC/v3/up2date/u2d-sys-3.001.tgz.gpg

**Important Licensing Note**: Version 3 now uses our the newer-style licensing model we released in 2010 for our ASG products. This means your existing ACC key from the MyAstaro portal is longer valid, nor is any outstanding static keys from the time when we only offered a single key for all installations. To get your new ACC 3.0 key, fill out the creation form on our website. Your personalized license will then be available via the License Management section of your MyAstaro account.
 

	Astaro Command Center FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V3 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[3.001] Central Backup Creation Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also an ACC demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ACC Product Manager

ASG 8.300 Feature Summary:

Amazon Machine Images (AMI) for ASG (and ACC)
    As mentioned in our earlier technical preview, you can now launch and run Astaro Security Gateway inside Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2). Already we are seeing creative uses of this deployment method with partners using their cloud-based ASG to connect our RED product, and then extending their branches further by adding our Access Points to those devices - all managed centrally from their Amazon ASG. Let us know via a post at our UBB at www.astaro.org how it works for you, and how you are (or plan) to use it for your business - we are always interested in use cases! To locate the ASG AMI's, go to the community AMIs tab and search for "ASG". (A full deployment tutorial will be available at GA)

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Connector
 The Amazon VPC service allows you to host and run your server infrastructure in a secure, scalable cloud. Our VPC connector gives you a permanent, encrypted connection to your VPC resources right from ASG. The back end for this uses our new BGP routing to redundant Amazon gateways, and is done automatically without you needing to know anything about BGP or the Amazon technical parameters for doing it manually (or with more complex products). A guide will be available at GA release to assist you in connecting to your VPC.

Support for Astaro Wireless AP50
Our new Wireless AP50 product is finished production and will be available very soon. You will need to be at ASG V8.300+ to use this product. With 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands, dual high-gain antennas, and Gigabit ethernet, this is our biggest and most capable wireless product, perfect for bigger environments or locations where the 2.4Ghz band is cluttered with interference. You can get more information from the Astaro Access Points section on our Website.

Site-to-Site VPN using RED Protocol
We have added the ability to make tunnels between ASG devices using our much-heralded RED tunnel technology*. This operates similarly to how site-site over SSL works, you setup one ASG as the "Main" office (Server) and connect to them from other ASG sites as the "Client". Some quick steps to begin:

• At the Main Site: 
  
  • Go to "WebAdmin-->RED Management-->[Server]Client Management Tab"
  • Add a RED, enter a name and pick type "ASG". Click Apply.
  • Download the .red provisioning file which is created.
• On the Remote ASG you wish to connect:
  
  • Go to "WebAdmin-->RED Management-->[Client]Tunnel Management"
  • Add a tunnel, create (or select) a definition for the Hostname of the Main ASG and supply the provisioning file you downloaded from the Main ASG
  • The tunnel will now be created.
• Now that you have a tunnel, you must to setup things manually. You will find hardware interfaces you can use to create a Network Interface in the ASG's, select IP ranges to be used, and otherwise manually configure the connectivity. This was originally designed for a special use case; you have however surprised us with your interest in this feature. So, we plan to have a more guided setup within WebAdmin for using RED for a site-site VPN with ASG's in a future Up2Date.
   *This will NOT turn your remote ASG into a RED terminal. It will still have a GUI and work like a normal Site-Site VPN does.

BGP4 Routing Support
ASG now has the ability to do Border Gateway Protocol Routing (BGP). You will find the configuration for this in WebAdmin at "Interfaces & Routing-->Border Gateway Protocol". A specialized routing protocol with specific applications, you should make use of this feature only if you know what you are doing.

Minor Adjustments

•  The Astaro Authentication Agent (AAA) has by popular request been made available as an MSI package as well as an EXE. You will find both on the Client Authentication section in WebAdmin. Enjoy your mass roll-outs of the AAA!
•  Saved Web Reports have been to school and now remember how info was sorted when you saved them
•  The printable configuration engine has also been educated on how to properly display big blocks of text without going outside the lines and now looks much better
•  You can now see and sort application rules by the groups you create
•  Notifications have had "select-all" boxes added, saving you from having to click dozens of times to select what you want
•  You can now create Web Security Reports from Pre-8.2 Logs, see Support-->Advanced-->Weblog Import
•  The Wireless Access Points Grouping section now has an apply button like the rest of WebAdmin, and no longer resets your selections between clicks as a result.

Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date 8.300 Information
News:

• Added: Amazon VPC connector
• Added: Wifi AP50 support
• Added: BGP4 support
• Added: RED ASG-to-ASG tunel
• Fixed: VLAN and PPPoE over bridge are now subject to packet filter

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be upgraded
• Connected Wifi APs will perform firmware upgrade
• Connected RED devices may perform firmware upgrade
• Amazon Machine Images for ASG/ACC available in the community AMI tab of Amazon Web Services

Fixes:

• [16884] Confd should reject IP addresses with leading zeros
• [17199] RAS addresses are never removed from back end group network objects
• [18581] QoS limits maximum packet size to 2047
• [18600] Web Security reporting: scheduled reports might always be empty
• [18728] SMTP Proxy can't send any email when special characters are used in BATV secret

Download Details:
ASG Up2Date Package
Size: ~134MB
Md5: 4eb7c6533b9f393050756c40ac350fcf
Download link: http://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.300.tgz.gpg

ASG Hardware Appliance ISO
Size: ~531MB
MD5: b15a06d21e3edaea730ee2d132a722679
Download: http://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/iso/ssi-8.300-13.1.iso

ASG Software Appliance ISO
Size: ~530MB
MD5: 701853cb46670dcc2f10bbea4171282e
Download link: http://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/software_appliance/iso/asg-8.300-13.1.iso

VMware ESX
Size: ~1.4GB
MD5: e433f32e2a578a296ed9feebd78bcab8 
Download: http://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.300-esx-v4.zip

VMware Player
Size: ~1.4GB
MD5: 7b2f59dd419eb4301e82ffc2cd841d5d 
Download: http://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.300-vmware.zip

*(Astaro Smart Installer Images will be updated to 8.3 and published within the next few days)

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: 

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.300] Running ASG with Amazon EC2").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date 8.203 Information
News:

• SMTP Proxy: Reduced strictness of RDNS check to earlier (V8.1) behavior
• SMTP Proxy: Added configuration option to use the "strict" RDNS checks
• Reporting/Accounting: Improved database performance and fixed some reported problems
• HTTP Proxy: Various stability improvements

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be upgraded

Fixes:

• [19097] Exim RDNS check behavioral change between 8.1x and 8.2x
• [19241] Firefox updates filling up tmp directory with downloads
• [19597] Trendmicro updates filling up tmp directory with downloads

Download:
Link: ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.203.tgz.gpg
Size: ~32MB
Md5: e45bd9805e15c791a26fd6daadce6062

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.203] RED Deployment Helper").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

**Important Licensing Note**: Version 3 now uses our the newer-style licensing model we released in 2010 for our ASG products. This means your existing ACC key from the MyAstaro portal is longer valid, nor is any outstanding static keys from the time when we only offered a single key for all installations. To get your new ACC 3.0 key, fill out the creation form on our website. Your personalized license will then be available via the License Management section of your MyAstaro account.

ACC Version 3.0 is now running on the same technology platform that powers Version 8 of our flagship Astaro Security Gateway product. This gives us a new, capable base with which to advance ACC with even more functionality for the future. Sporting a massively-upgraded GUI experience, ACC 3.0 now offers on-demand reporting, central backup file management, and support for notifications to alert you during desired events.

1) On Demand (Forensic) Reporting - the reporting section can now be used to run aggregated report queries "as needed" across some/all installations for a desired timeframe. A change from our existing aggregated reporting (which compiles almost instantly but has history and detail limitations), the new ODR can be used to run more detailed queries. This will take a few moments to generate (depending on the amount of installations selected and the time period you require) as the information is fetched and compiled.

2) Central Backup Management - you can now save and work with backup files in ACC, providing not only a safe repository to store your backups, but letting you restore and make backups without logging into WebAdmin. Combined with the new capabilities of ASG 8.200 to remove installation-specific data from backups, admins can easily work with a cookie-cutter type backup which significantly eases implementation of new ASG's which have a shared "base" configuration.

3) Notifications - ACC also now supports notifications, alerting configured administrators of many possible events.

ACC 3.0 Download Information:
Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be upgraded

News:

• V2 & V3 are based on different backends; an upgrade package is not available
• ACC V2 backup files can be restored into V3

Fixes:

• [18808] Update procedure for global objects is not thread-safe and leads to deadlocks
• [18865] ANY device also resolves devices which haven't backup feateure
• [18957] Notification Refactoring
• [18975] ACC WebAdmin language selection dropdown only shows default value
• [18972] Expand odr create and abort messages
• [18969] Allow only selection of devices which support backup rollout
• [18770] Remove Product upgrade modules (acc3000 branch part)

Download Links:
Below are the links for the ISO image and Astaro Smart Installer for ACC V3. We plan to offer newly-updated VMware Virtual Appliances within the next two weeks.

Software ISO Image
Link: http://ftp.astaro.de/ACC/v3/software_appliance/iso/acc-3.000-10.1.iso
Size: 312.9MB
Md5: 39228469c44207a4ba488065f62fed07

Smart Installer - ASI V1
Link: http://ftp.astaro.de/ACC/v3/software_appliance/smart_installer/v1/acc-3.000-10.1-ASI.zip
Size: 301.7M
MD5: 932adc90163cbeae258aeb4d329715eb

Smart Installer - ASI V2
Link: http://ftp.astaro.de/ACC/v3/software_appliance/smart_installer/v2/acc-3.000-10.1-ASI-V2.zip
Size: 301.9M
MD5: 83f80c7a68dcd5328be03ad8b6748be3 

Once more:
**Important Licensing Note**: Version 3 now uses our the newer-style licensing model we released in 2010 for our ASG products. This means your existing ACC key from the MyAstaro portal is longer valid, nor is any outstanding static keys from the time when we only offered a single key for all installations. To get your new ACC 3.0 key, fill out the creation form on our website. Your personalized license will then be available via the License Management section of your MyAstaro account.
 

	Astaro Command Center FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V3 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[3.000] Central Backup Creation Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also an ACC demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ACC Product Manager

We still plan to release a feature which allows you to re-inject a past Web Security log for report regeneration in a future 8.20x Up2Date. More information will be communicated on this as it is known. Note that when you are updating from 8.103, you can push the "Update to latest version" button, which will apply Up2Dates 8.200, 8.201, and 8.202 in order, and then reboot only one time.

Astaro 8.202 Download Information:
Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be upgraded
• Connected Wifi APs will perform firmware upgrade
• If you are affected by issue 18872, power-cycle your Wireless AP's so they reconnect

News:

• Greatly Improved Web Filter performance
• Removed DigiNotar HTTPS Verification CA

Fixes:

• [16215] ctype: application/flash-video not contained per default in cc>http>noscancontent
• [18567] "MIME blocking inspects HTTP body" is broken
• [18604] Web Application Firewall mixes backend websites
• [18653 If the HTTPs-Proxy is enabled, login to some websites may result in "Internal server error"
• [18684] Exception for extensions will not be logged. There will be always a empty string in the log: exceptions=""
• [18695] Policy routing in combination with Application Control may cause problems
• [18769] If virus scanning of a website failed, no error message is shown in the browser
• [18771] Passwords with special characters (@, =) cause authentication to fail when using 'Transparent w/ Auth' mode
• [18802] Executive reports will not be generated in some installations
• [18825] HTTP Proxy doesn't reauthenticate AD SSO client after auth exception matched
• [18872] WiFi: astaro wireless daemon client sends incomplete client list to ASG, entering "inactive" state
• [18880] Edir SSO authentication still times out in http proxy after 8.201
• [18927] Wifi: Access Point with a MAC address ending in :f8 cannot connect to the ASG
• [18929] Transparent Proxy with Auth not working properly
• [18936] HTTP Proxy: SSL tunnel handler doesn't close client connection in all cases
• [18974] Up/down script running on 100%
• [17693] AntiVirus scan fails with cssd response: 500 Internal Server Error
• [18607] No Wireless-Communication between AP30 and Clients when using "AVM Fritz USB WLAN-Stick N" 

Download Links:
Below is the link for a manual download of the Up2Date package from 8.201 to 8.202.
Corresponding 8.202 ISO images and Virtual Machines will be released ASAP and this post will be updated at that time.

ASG 8.202 Up2Date Package
Link: ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.202.tgz.gpg
Size: ~101MB
Md5Sum: a43263326af6bd9b977a9a3f1a6affa3

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.202] WAN Balancing Rules").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

You can view the initial 8.200 announcement here, while the 8.2 release notes are located here.

We still plan to release a feature which allows you to re-inject a past Web Security log for report regeneration in a future 8.20x Up2Dates. More information will be communicated on this as it is known. Note that when you are updating from 8.103, you can push the "Update to latest version" which will apply both 8.200 and 8.201 in order, and then reboot only once.

Astaro 8.201 Download Information:
Remarks:

•  System will be rebooted
•  Configuration will be upgraded
•  Connected Wifi APs will perform firmware upgrade
•  DHCP lease files will be deleted
•  DHCP clients will reappear in list on their next lease refresh

News:

• Fixed: Various problems with SSL VPN
• Fixed: Issue with PDF Executive Report
• Fixed: Application Control Reporting
• Added: Support for ACC Version 3 Backup Rollout feature

Fixes:

• [17693] AntiVirus scan fails with cssd response: 500 Internal Server Error
• [18607] No Wireless-Communication between AP30 and Clients using "AVM Fritz USB WLAN-Stick N" 

Download Links:
Below is the link for a manual download of the Up2Date package from 8.200 to 8.201. Corresponding 8.201 ISO images will be released next week and this post will be updated at that time.
Link: ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.201.tgz.gpg
Size: ~27MB
Md5: 022d0480940f796d28532d00c3cae1c4

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

 Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.201] Application Control Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

There is also an Interactive Web Reporting Engine that lets you craft and mold reports; you can navigate through data until you have the answer you need, no more tirelessly looking through pre-arranged reports hoping you stumble across the right one! 3G/UMTS USB support, Search Engine "Safe Search" enforcement, weights for Internet Connection balancing, and a User agent for user-based security configuration have all been introduced as well, to name just a few. WebAdmin sees usability improvements, and there is a technical preview of our upcoming Log Management product. Taking advantage of new technology and methods, we have vastly improved throughput performance of ASG, increasing it by up to four times in some areas, with a focus on Intrusion Protection and Firewall throughput. Read on for more...

For over 8 months our ASG Public Beta program has seen hundreds of particpants making over 5000 posts while you helped us shape and build this version to solve the problems you face in the real-world. Dozens of new features and functions have been added or improved upon, and our open approach to feedback and improvement suggestions via our Feature Portal has evolved Astaro Security Gateway further than ever; it truly is a product of YOUR environment.

A summary of some new features and functionality follows below, along with download information. For more details about Astaro Security Gateway 8.2 you can view the full release notes here. We hope you enjoy this release as much as we enjoyed making it for you.

 ASG 8.200 Feature Summary:

Application Control

ASG provides Application Control and Network Visibilty.  Application Control uses hundreds of precise patterns to identify which applications are being used on the network, regardless of the port or protocol they use to communicate. Network Visibility gives you a real-time display of exactly how your Internet connection is being used, and lets you create configuration directly from the display. We are pleased to included Application Control as part of our Web Security and Full Guard subscriptions. Read more >

Interactive Web Reporting

The Web Reporting Engine has been entirely re-designed from the ground-up to give a new, optimized experience which is tailored for how you expect to see data while delivering the information you are looking for easily. Click, build, save, and subscribe users and groups to automated report delivery in moments. You can even see exactly what your users are searching for with Google, Yahoo, and Bing. A staggering array of features awaits you. Read more >

*Note* - Installing ASG 8.200 will clear existing Web Security Reports! This is necessary as the database systems are vastly different. Soon, we will offer the ability to “re-inject” a past Web Security log file from 8.103 into the system so that you can control when this system-intensive task will occur.  (Log files are completely untouched and remain intact on the system as configured)
If you rely on existing Web Security reports, do NOT install ASG 8.200 until the re-inject feature has been released in a future Up2Date.

3G/UMTS USB Modem Support

ASG supports the use of 3G/UMTS USB modems (sticks). This feature allows for these cellular USB-connected devices to be used as an Internet interface. The support of these devices lets you add redundancy or connectivity at temporary sites, remote locations, or areas without a good selection of affordable Internet connections. Further, you can add 3G/UMTS connections to the ASG’s WAN (Internet) link balancing pool.

Astaro Authentication Agent

Provide per-user configuration using the new Astaro Authentication Agent (AAA). Users can now authenticate using this lightweight program that is used for identification to control access or assign permissions such as Web Security profiles, while gaining more detailed reporting for environments without dedicated authentication servers

Web Filtering Safe Search Enforcement

The Web Security system of ASG can now enforce the enabling of “Safe Searching” for the user at the three major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing).
This feature will automatically enable the “safe search” features of these engines, which will filter their search queries and results no matter what the user sets for preferences in their browsers

More features:

Web Application Security: Form Hardening - Enforce the answers which can be given to forms you offer on your servers. Read more >
Web Application Security: Reputation Filter - Disallow visitors from anonymous or known malicious sources.
Weighted Load Balancing for WAN Uplink and Server Load Balancing - Specifiy how heavily each of your Internet connections should be used.
Improved IP Address-to-User Mappings - Resolution system displays Authenticated Name, Definition Name, and other factors before displaying IP addresses in reports.
Backup File Information Stripping  - Reuse backups in other installations easily.
Group-in-Group support - Reduce the amount of individual rules you need to make by grouping existing object groups together.
L2TP VPN for Android Devices - Connect securely with an IPSec-Based VPN for your Android mobile.
"No NAT" NAT rules (NAT exceptions) - Remove/Exempt traffic from NAT  
Virtualization - Increased performance of Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM
Astaro Wireless Security Improvements - Wireless Access Points can update without rebooting, and accept configuration changes without dropping connections.
WebAdmin Dashboard Timeout Option - Choose if the ASG dashboard honors your timeout settings or not.
Dashboard License Expiration Colors - A visual aid about your subscription statuses for the ASG Dashboard
Demo Data  Injection - Command line option to saturate an ASG with usage and reports, great for demonstrating to customer sites or events.

Other new things:

-SNMP Version 3 support
-Improved Web Filter Deployment Mode Selection   
-Interface Virtual MAC Address (Spoofing)   
-Web Application Security: Drop Invalid Cookies   
-Web Application Security: Rule Skipping   
-Web Application Security: SAN Certificate Support   
-Editing User-Defined Mail White/Blacklists in WebAdmin   
-Support for Hurricane Electric IPv6 Tunnel Broker   
 -Backend Firewall Rule Enhancements (IPSets)  
-Web Filter Multi-CPU Scaling   
-Greatly Improved Network Performance (Soft-IRQ Balancing) 
-WebAdmin Physical Console Direction Message   
-Color Blindness Support for ASG Red/Green Buttons   
-WebAdmin “Terms of Use”
 

 Astaro 8.200 Download Information:

Remarks:
-System will be rebooted
-Configuration will be upgraded
-Existing Web Security log files are retained
-Web Reporting Data will be reset
-Web Reporting Data can be recreated from log files in an upcoming Up2Date
-Connected REDs will perform firmware upgrade
-Connected Wifi APs will perform firmware upgrade

News:
  •Next Generation Firewall: Network Visibility and Application Control
       •Application Control supersedes IM/P2P
  •New Web Security reporting:
       •Improved UI
       •Custom reports per mail
       •Departmental reports
       •Search engine usage reporting
  •Client-based user authentication for Windows
  •ASG integration for hosted Log Management service (Beta)
  •New Wifi firmware:
       •Rebootless reconfiguration (for majority of cases)
       •AP grouping
       •Dynamic VLAN tagging (with RADIUS)
  •WebApplication Security:
       •Form Hardening
       •Reputation-based client blocking
       •Sitemap-XML import
       •Invalid cookies now dropped instead of rejected
  •HTTP/S Proxy: SafeSearch enforcement
  •IPv6:
       •IPv6 support for SMTP proxy
       •IPv6 support for HTTP proxy in "full transparent" mode
       •ICMPv6 service definitions
  •Configuration:
      •Group-in-Group support for network and service definitions
      •Support for "Stripped Backups" (usable as templates)
  •UMTS modem support
  •KVM VirtIO support
  •Hyper-V support
  •Network performance improvements:
      •Packet filter ruleset optimization (IPset)
      •New IRQ balancer
      •IPS optimization
  •SNMP v3 support
  •Weighted server load balancing
  •Weighted uplink balancing
  •NAT exceptions
  •Display "Terms of Use" for WebAdmin

Fixes:
  [11998] - Default src addr parameter not working for S2S IPv6 routes
  [12839] - Site-to-Site connection will not be established with SHA2 as ipsec authentication algorithm
  [14782] - UTF-8 characters in realname of imported keys are not displayed correctly
  [14820] - Virus uploads don't get blocked if XSS or SQL Injection filter (mod_security) is enabled
  [15972] - Exceptions do not work for Cross Site Scripting, SQL-Injection or Cookie Signing
  [16153] - Radius secret containing backtick character (`) doesn't work
  [16206] - [AUA] AD groups containing utf8 characters are not returned when using test authentication
  [16431] - PGP Inline encrypted Emails arrive with emtpy body at the mail-client
  [16593] - Scheduled up2dates don't run when atd is dead. Selfmon check needed.
  [16853] - Radius secret containing backtick character (`) doesn't work
  [16880] - WAF logfile does not show block reason for "XSS Filter" or "SQL Injection Filter"
  [17362] - After successful Smime-decryption, the emails are sent out encrypted when signature verification fails
  [17498] - Need an option to clear, set, or copy the DF bit flag for traffic related to the IPSEC tunnel
  [17907] - User prefetch fails if the mail and proxyAddresses is case-sensitive

Download Links:
Below is the link for the Up2Date package from 8.103 to 8.200. (ISO images for all installations will be available for the GA Up2Date Push)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.200.tgz.gpg
Size: ~189MB
MD5: 3954085f9e6b2e290233ff7716c83bac

Up2Date Installation:
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an already-downloaded Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

	Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date FTP Mirrors:

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.200] Application Control Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

Details
Remarks:
   * Your system will be rebooted
   * Configuration will not be upgraded
   * AP10 and AP30 units will upgrade their firmware after Up2Date has fully installed. Avoid power cycling your AP device

News:
   Improved HTTP Proxy, especially with remote authentication
   Improved Wireless firmware
   Improved RED service

Fixes:
   [1468]: Scheduled Up2Dates do not work correctly
   [15225]: Availability groups deployed via ACC are unresolved
   [15337]: WiFi: Possible connectivity problems with 40Mhz channels
   [17198]: Upgrade to V8 not possible in some rare cases

Download Information
   Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.511.tgz.gpg
   Size: ~155 MB
   Md5: e764f7ce6f97d07d6f3db6a8c374717d

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to manually apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.103] Using Astaro RED with Split-tunneling").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There are also demo servers for public use anytime at http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy,

Angelo Comazzetto

Details
Remarks:
   * Your system will be rebooted
   * Configuration will not be upgraded

News:
   Contains ASGPF (Firewall) certified according to CC EAL4+
   Fix various issues in HTTP/S Proxy

Fixes:
   [16255] Exception for Certificate Trust Check does not work in transparent mode
   [16438] Self signed certificate in chain (and an exception for all requests going to this category) will not work for some banking sites

Download Information
   Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.103.tgz.gpg
   Size: ~84.5MB
   Md5: c65ab286d656b8f84e7c6ee3e3f5054

The ASG V8.000 release notes can be found here, 8.100+ release notes (here) are located on the Astaro Support KB.
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro Security Gateway Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.103] Using Astaro RED with Split-tunneling").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There are also demo servers for public use anytime at http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy,

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

The new revision 4 of the ASG 110/120 is now being shipped! The ASG 110/120 rev.4 is based on a new platform featuring an Intel processor which produces 1.8 Gbps of firewall throughput. There are also four fully configurable gigabit Ethernet ports, a faster 160 GB server grade hard drive and a new chassis designed for quieter and cooler operation. The unit itself is also physically smaller and can be either placed on a desk, wall mounted via holes in the bottom, or mounted in a rack using a new optional rack mount kit which is now also able to house the external power supply.

The part number and pricing for this new model remains unchanged. However, part numbers and pricing for the new rack mount kit and power supply have changed and are included in the updated Astaro price list which is available in the partner portal.

Documentation and updated collateral (datasheets, customer presentation etc.) which reflect the updates to this model have been made; you will find them in the partner portal and on the Astaro website accordingly.

With Astaro Log Management, you are able to search all logs across all your systems with a single click, reducing troubleshooting time by up to 80%. The system can automatically alert administrators to repeated failed logins, application errors etc., so they are able to fix IT issues before users even notice. Additionally, it will help organizations comply with PCI standards and other regulations..

» How To Get Your Astaro Log Management BETA

During the ASG V8.2 Beta period, which will run until approximately late June, we would like to encourage you to post your impressions, feedback, bug reports and all the associated issues you like (and don't like) in our user forum. At the end of the beta, we will reward our most active contributors with great prizes!
You can find more information such as our datasheet and 2 Minute Explainer video on Log Management on our website.

I'm looking forward to your feedback. Enjoy testing!

Kathrin Möschle
Product Marketing Manager
 

UpDate 7.510 Details

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be upgraded
• System will be rebooted

News:

• Enabled upgrade to V8 for Wireless and HA/Cluster systems

Fixes:

• [14097] HTTPS scanning only applies for the first network in list
• [14594] After update to v7.506, German online-help is not reachable any more
• [16088] No entries in the Packetfilter Log (HA/Cluster Mode) during some situations

Download Information
Manual Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.510.tgz.gpg
Size: ~45 MB
MD5: 326a5c779dba1d83ef734470db61b30b

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[7.510] One-Touch Upgrade").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
  

Regards,
Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

We also reward our testers! Several of the top contributers and testers will receive great Astaro swag for their efforts! You can win access points, Astaro RED's, and your own ASG appliance for personal home use. For all the details of the 8.200 Beta program, and information on the release itself, read on!

General Beta Information
Why Participate?
You get to see and play with things before they are Generally Available, and have a chance to shape features and functionality based on your comments and findings. We closely monitor all our Beta feedback, and over the years have worked hard to listen to our market in order to build products that people like you want to buy. By helping us, we gain insight as to how we are doing and have the chance to identify bugs, polish some features, and make corrections in hundreds of different installation scenarios which is extremely useful to our QA and testing efforts. You get to see new features early, and we get an increased test landscape.

How to be a Beta tester:
No forms, no pesky emails or submission process with a bunch of information to provide. We know that's not fun. To test ASG 8.200 Beta, just download the latest Beta ISO image via our forums (first version is 8.160), burn it to a CD and install it to your ASG software installation or appliance. Please be sure to download the appropriate ISO for your intended use platform. Once you are using the 8.200 Beta, you can continue to use Up2Date and install the next Beta releases for 8.200 without needing to re-install again. Just restore your backup file and you are up and running for the entire 8.200 Beta. So as to make your life even easiser, we will release a final Up2Date package at the end of the 8.200 Beta which will take your installation to the GA release of 8.200, saving you a re-install and restore once again.

How you can contribute:
During the period of the Beta for 8.200 (which will run until approximately late June), we would encourage you to post your impressions, feedback, bug reports, and all the associated things you like (and don't like!) in our offical 8.200 Beta forums.  At the end of the Beta, we will reward our most active contributors; there are great prizes and rewards to be had!

Astaro Beta 8.200 Download Information:
For the first release of the Beta, version 8.160 is the version we'll start with. Future updates and releases will be communicated soley through the forums and not via this blog, so check there often for all the updates and news around the 8.200 release! You will find many answers to early questions, test license downloads, and general Beta information can be found in the launch overview for 8.200 here.

Initial Beta 8.200 Links (V8.160):

ASG ISO for Software/Virtual appliances (Your own hardware):
Download:  ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/asg-8.160-7.1.iso
ISO size: 466Mb (489097216 bytes)
ISO md5sum: 8c9a113d75159bef1484b6339a577090
ISO sha1sum: a33ed194e0d25f2f0641c5f9c09536e40648d8be

SSI ISO for Astaro Hardware appliances (eg. an ASG 220):
Download: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/ssi-8.160-7.1.iso
ISO size: 468M (490358784 bytes)
ISO md5sum: de678b45f2e289d54e180943b779e51f
ISO sha1sum: a60c3c2c85bb457ad1571e29c5f627fbf0dabbcb 

 8.200 Beta Feature Quick-Overview*
*Note that the Beta is subject to have features re-worked or changed, entirely new things may be added at anytime, and features which are not up to our standards may be delayed. There will always be new things and changes to test throughout the Beta.
Major New Things

• Network Visibility and Application Control (Layer 7 Classification/Next Generation Firewall)
• New Web Security Reporting
• User Authentication (Windows Client) for Policies and Reporting

Minor New Things

• 3G/UMTS USB modem interface
• KVM virtio support
• WiFi improvements
• Web Application Security improvements
• Integration of Log Management cloud service
• IPv6 support for SMTP proxy and HTTP proxy in "full transparent" mode
• Packetfilter optimization (IPSet)
• HTTP proxy multi-threading performance optimization

8.200 Beta Extended Feature Overview*
*Extended documentation with feature descriptions, along with Release Notes, will be posted for the GA release.

Network Visibility and Application Control (L7 classification)
Also known as "Next Generation Firewall", this new classification engine analyzes all network traffic and determines which "Application" this traffic is for. "Application" in this context can simply be a protocol (e.g. SSH, DNS, Bittorrent), but in many cases will be quite specific, like HTTP (Web) traffic will be classified in fine-grained way for Web Applications like Facebook or various Google Apps.
You can enable this at Web Security >> Network Visibility. This information will be used (so far) for:
    Web Security >> Network Visibility >> Application Control Rules: Block/Log application usage.
    Reporting >> Network Usage >> Accounting: Top Apps, Top Categories, Top Users.
    Interfaces & Routing >> Quality of Service: Shape traffic per application.
    Dashboard: Enhanced Bandwidth monitor (Show User/Hostname/Apps)

-This is a superset of the functionality offered of the old IM/P2P classifier and thus completely replaces it.

New Web Security Reporting
The Web Security Reporting was completely overhauled to give a better user experience tailored with how you expect to see data and get the information you are looking for easily.

•     Reactive filtering (filters build as you click)
•     Save custom filters, subscribe to periodical mail reports based on saved filters
•     Everything clickable, sortable, no dead ends
•     Search Engine report (search terms, users)

User Authentication (Windows Client) for Policies and Reporting
With the new Astaro Authentication Client (AAC) for Windows users can directly authenticate to the ASG.
This has two advantages:

1.     Reporting will display user names instead of raw IPs if possible
2.     You can use User Network and Group Network objects in e.g. packetfilter rules and they will only match for logged in users

(You can get similar benefits from a combination of static DHCP and DNS mappings, but with probably much more effort)
See Users >> Client Authentication for the configuration. You can also download the client there or via the User Portal.
You can also use this authentication for the HTTP proxy. Choose Transparent Client Authentication as the operational mode.

WAS (Web-Application Security) Improvements:

Form Hardening
Form hardening will check HTML form data submitted by clients. It ensures that clients do not submit fields they weren't offered, will make basic sanity checks of the submitted values according to their HTML specification.

Reputation-based Client blocking
The Web Application Firewall can now check clients against certain blacklists.
Block clients with bad reputation will currently block open proxies by using certain DNSBLs.
Block anonymizer proxies uses a static list updated by the pattern mechanism.

Sitemap-XML Support
If you have a Google Sitemap you can now use it in your Web Application Firewall profile to specify valid entry pages for URL Hardening. You can either upload the file or tell the ASG to download it from a given URL. In the latter case the ASG can also check the URL periodically for updates.

UMTS Modem Interface
Support for 3G/UMTS modems is now official (it was already present in 8.100 but not officially supported and only visible if you had a modem connected). Configure as usual over Interfaces & Routing >> Interfaces, type 3G/UMTS. For now, newly plugged-in modems will only be detected during boot-up, so you need to reboot your ASG if you connect a new one.

KVM performance optimization
When run in KVM, ASG now has support for VirtIO devices (disks/NICs), which results in increased performance for I/O operations.

Wireless Improvements
Firmware-side:

•     New WLAN driver, uses an Open-Source driver now instead of a proprietary vendor driver
•     802.11r Roaming
•     Rebootless reconfiguration (for majority of cases)

ASG-side:

•     SSID-to-AP Group Matrix
•     Ability to group APs
•     Push configuration without disconnect
•     Perform key negotiation only when confirming AP

Integration of Log Management Service
Astaro has a new cloud-based Log Management service, which is integrated with ASG 8.2. A preview version of this service is available and can be used free of charge with this beta. Currently the Log Management service is planned to be included with any ASG subscription.
See Log Management and more information can be found here.

IPv6 Improvements

•     IPv6 support for SMTP proxy
•     IPv6 support for HTTP proxy in "full transparent" mode
•     ICMPv6 service definitions

Packet filter optimization (IPset)
Packet filter rules that contain list of networks/IPs, either explicit (via network/DNS groups) or implicit (via lists in WebAdmin) now use IPset (IP sets) to reduce the number of generated iptables rules. This should improve memory consumption and performance.
This affects both user-generated packet filter rules (Network Security >> Firewall) and auto-generated rules (e.g. via Allowed Networks for services or Auto packet filter rules for VPNs).

Fixed Issues
Of course we also fixed a few bugs in this release. Here a list of the some of the most prominent current ones:
    [14019] SMTP relay attempts shown as webadmin logins
    [14073] WAF: SSL support for multiple DNS names (subjectAlternativeName certificates)
    [14186] WebAdmin last failed session count doesn't match executive report
    [14782] UTF-8 characters in realname of imported keys are not displayed correctly
    [14820] Virus uploads don't get blocked if XSS or SQL Injection filter (mod_security) is enabled
    [15438] Sortable tables and Batch-Operation use same GUI element
    [15440] Improve input validation for advanced bridge settings
    [15654] Packets mislabeled as connections in reporting
    [15972] Exceptions do not work for Cross Site Scripting, SQL-Injection or Cookie Signing
    [16103] missing table header at NAT and SNAT/DNAT
    [16153] Radius secret containing backtick character (`) doesn't work
    [16255] Exception for Certificate Trust Check does not work in transparent mode
    [16438] Self signed certificate in chain and an exception for all requests going to this category will not work for some banking sites

Enjoy the 8.200 Beta, we look forward to working with you throughout it.

Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

Details
Remarks:
* Your system will reboot after installation is complete.

News:
* This is a maintenance release

Fixes:
[15306] ACC-Daemon takes up to 100% CPU, no connection to any AxG-devices

Details:
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2.1/up2...-2.202.tgz.gpg

Download Information:
   Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/up2date/u2d-sys-2.202.tgz.gpg
   Size: ~41MB
   Md5 : 9a57c0e05608281585b9ceeb7781ead5

Astaro ACC Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V2 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[2.202] Using Central Object Definitions").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There are also demo servers for public use anytime at http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy,

Angelo Comazzetto
Product Manager

Astaro provides many options for installing on our own official hardware, your provided hardware, or your virtual VMware installation. Please be sure you get the correct image for what you are wanting to install on/with. For example, there are three 8.102 ISO images for ASG Hardware appliances, one normal ISO (for burning to CD or using in a non-VMware virtualization product), and one for each version of the Astaro Smart Installer which allows you to install images using a special USB drive that contains a CD-Rom emulation chip.

*Please note that the Astaro Smart Installer is not a normal USB stick and you will not be able to burn one of those images to a non-ASI device.

ASG 8.102 Images
ASG Hardware Appliances
General CD
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/iso/ssi-8.102-2.1.iso
Size: ~468MB
MD5: 159b7e7f63e8841e99e68f3aacc9dcd7

Astaro Smart Installer V2
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/v2/ssi-8.102-2.1-ASI-V2.zip
Size: ~451MB
MD5: 0a27b1a8227d934129cf0d2db2c430a4

Astaro Smart Installer V1
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/v1/ssi-8.102-2.1-ASI.zip
Size: ~459MB
MD5: ad043851da4cd7fd2bbb990b7f318049

ASG Software Appliances
General CD
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/software_appliance/iso/asg-8.102-2.1.iso
Size: 458MB
MD5: d172544961b4e0f9591e81324b550a67

Astaro Smart Installer V2
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/software_appliance/smart_installer/v2/asg-8.102-2.1-ASI-V2.zip
Size: 441MB
MD5: a1dbf74566563263754ca7d1a1154540

Astaro Smart Installer V1
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/software_appliance/smart_installer/v1/asg-8.102-2.1-ASI.zip
Size: 440MB
MD5: 72f9c40023f48969744da9ab3e6bb949

VMware Appliances
VMware ESX4
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.102-esx-v4.zip
Size: ~1.1GB
MD5: 4de250f19e55164fc05fa7959bdd962f

VMware ESX3
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.102-esx-v3.zip
Size: ~1.1GB
MD5: 5c3806606651fb7ba496922d5c442fb9

VMware Player
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.102-vmware.zip
Size: ~1.1GB
MD5: 9adf8ff07a85af28779e0093ab2c10fd

If you have any questions on using these images you can make a post in our forums at www.astaro.org or open a support ticket with your Astaro Partner or support contact.

Details
Remarks:
* Your system will not be rebooted
* Configuration will not be upgraded

News:
* No news for this release

Fixes:
      [16590] Exceptions without a configured source network that are in 'AND' mode are ignored by http proxy

Download Information:
   Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.102.tgz.gpg
   Size: ~2.6MB
   Md5: d42dcde436ea73776cce1e39b31bcd42

The ASG V8.000 release notes can be found here, 8.100+ release notes (here) are/will be located on the Astaro Support KB.
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.102] Configuring Astaro AP30 Wireless Product").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There are also demo servers for public use anytime at http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy,

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

Next week during the beginning of February we will issue new ISO images for hardware and software appliances, along with new vSphere4 virtual machine images for the latest VMware virtualization support.

Details
Remarks:
* Your system will be rebooted

News:
* Updated: WebAdmin localizations for Chinese, French, Korean

Fixes:
    [16184] FTP doesn't work via HTTP Proxy
    [16203] WebAdmin login broken in case of remote authentication
    [16229] ACC Device Agent dies when RED Split DNS is configured
    [16500] Content Filter request does not honour parent proxy settings
    [16515] Only HTTP keytab entries are created by default, host entries are missing
    [16519] Incoming RED reply packets are dropped

Download Information:
   Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.101.tgz.gpg
   Size: 67Mb
   Md5: 310bbf0671a7b10a80358f8c84deff72

The ASG V8.000 release notes can be found here, 8.100+ release notes (here) are/will be located on the Astaro Support KB.
Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.101] Using WAN Link Balancing with 3G/UMTS Modems").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There are also demo servers for public use anytime at http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy,

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

A summary of new features and functionality for ASG 8.100 follows, for a more in-depth list, please see the official 8.100 release notes (now hosted in our KnowledgeBase for easier reference in the future).

ASG 8.100 Feature Summary:
Wireless
The Astaro Access Points (Astaro Access Points) are now supported for use with ASG V8. There are no major differences in functionality between V7 and V8 in this area.

RED Transparent/Split Modes
RED Appliances now support a third operating mode: "Transparent / Split". In this mode, the ASG is not responsible as the gateway for the remote network behind the RED device (eg. it does not provide a DHCP server and is not the default gateway). Instead, all traffic per default goes transparently through RED through the existing Internet connection at the branch; only traffic for the destined for the networks at the main office behind the ASG (remote networks) will be redirected to the ASG. At RED Managment >> Deployment helper you can find a setup form for RED devices which gives a bit more context and help instead of the standard Add RED form, in a wizard-style approach.

Usability Improvements:

• Improved Object Tables: Certain actions (delete, enable, and disable) can now be applied to multiple selected objects. Also, object tables can now be sorted by different attributes of objects.
• Dashboard Links: Various parts of the Dashboard now allow you to directly jump to the relevant page in WebAdmin via the green arrows in the head lines. Also all the topics in "Current system configuration" are now linked to the respective page.
• SMTP Profiles Redesign: SMTP profile configuration has been redesigned to be more in line with the rest of WebAdmin.
• Streamlined Interface Setup: When creating or editing an interface object, per default not all the options are shown anymore. Some of the more advanced settings or rarely-used options are hidden by default.
• Uplink Balancing Mixed Mode: In uplink balancing you don't have to choose anymore between either full multipath or failover. You can now define a default set of multipath interfaces and still define one or more fail over interfaces which will be activated if all the default interfaces fail. This can be useful if you have one line that is much slower or expensive than the others and should only be used as a very last resort, and gives more combinations as to how multiple connections can be used by the admin based on their specific needs.
• HTTP Parent Proxy Routing: You can now define more than one parent proxy for the HTTP proxy at Web Security>>HTTP/S Profiles>>Parent Proxies. Each parent proxy can be limited to a list of hosts. At Web Security>>HTTP/S>>Advanced you can define the list of enabled parent proxies and the order in which they should be matched. This feature is useful if various destinations require different upstream proxy points, such as in Schools or Government environments.

 Astaro 8.100 Information:
Customers which have a license that enables Wireless Security, (or a Full Guard Bundle) are not able to one-touch upgrade their appliances to Version 8 just yet. However, in the coming weeks we will release Version 7.510 which will advance the "landing" version of the upgrade process from 8.003 to 8.101. At this time, all elligible ASG appliances will be able to update using the one-touch process. We will have more information on this for you very soon.

Remarks:
Configuration will not be upgraded
System will be rebooted

News:
Added Wireless support
RED Transparent/Split Modes
RED Deployment helper
German and Japanese language support
Usability Improvements
Uplink Balancing Mixed Mode
HTTP Parent Proxy Routing
Licensing change: DNS Routing available with any subscription
Open sources update to SLES11SP1 + latest vulnerability patches

Fixes:
[15938] Issue when using RED with QoS

Download Links:
Below is the link for the Up2Date package from 8.003 to 8.100. Next week, we will update this posting with individual ISO images for Hardware and Software applainces, along with corresponding ISO downloads for use with the Astaro Smart Installer. We will also include new VMware vSphere4 virtual appliance images.

Up2Date Package:
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.100.tgz.gpg
ISO size: 156M
ISO md5sum: 34df23040999104fd32205ac5dbf4880

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.100] Wireless Security Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

Currently V8.100 is in soft-release, we plan to issue the GA Up2Date push on approximately January 11th. Following that, we'll soft-release the 7.510 Up2Date during the week of January 20th. This will then provide all qualifying ASG appliances with a one-touch upgrade to V8.100.

UpDate 7.509 Details
This Up2Date should be applied as soon as possible. Note that in most cases you do not need to manually download this, as the Up2Date will be pushed over our distribution system. The ASG Soft-Release process is not used for Up2Dates which are for security patching, for obvious reasons.

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be upgraded
• System will be rebooted

News:

• Address exim vulnerability
• Address clam vulnerability

Fixes:

• [ID15938] - Issue when using RED with QoS

Download Information
Manual Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.509.tgz.gpg
Size: 42.14 MB (44,182,585 Bytes)
MD5: d9c59e861b3363f0c2f1b165e57dc55d

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.100] Astaro Wireless AP30 Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Regards,
Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

As Astaro Report Manager is not supported with Version 8, ARM will be end-of-sale at the end of 2010. In researching how ARM is deployed and which features are used, we are hard at work in offering its functionality both within the ASG itself and in the Astaro Command Center. Beginning with ASG 8.20 (which will be released in the first half of 2011) we will re-design the Web Security reporting of ASG with many next-generation features. Customers can look forward to building their own customized reports, saving them for future reference, and subscribing users to them via email distribution lists. The reporting itself will also undergo significant changes, offering a new navigation with reactive filtering which can be used to view data in many new ways by clicking through reports using data paths which change dynamically as you navigate. Enhanced reporting per-user, reporting by department and category, and other reports like search engine activity are all in development.

For aggregated reports, the Astaro Command Center (ACC) offered Network, Web, and Mail Security reporting across multiple connected sites beginning in ACC 2.1, and more enhancements were introduced in ACC 2.2 during the summer. Our developers are hard at work to deliver even more centralized reporting options for future versions; more announcements will follow on what is to come in ACC 3.0.

As mentioned, support will continue for ARM with V7 installations throughout 2011 until the end of the year, at which point ARM will be end-of-support. We are excited to unveil all the new reporting features we are working on soon, stay tuned!

The middleware will crash and restart in a cycle. If you have already moved to V8 and are experiencing this bug, Astaro support can help you by disabling the DHCP assignment and/or using the pool instead for L2TP.

We have already fixed this bug in the 8.100 Beta, and will shortly publish a fix in 8.004, which will also be the new landing version for the appliance upgrade process.
Apologies if you are of one the very few customers affected by this bug. (based on your configuration.) If you have specific questions, please contact our support.
 

Appliance Upgrade Process Overview:
This V7 to V8 appliance upgrade will retain all configuration and settings, including the current contents of the spam quarantine. Note that log files will be cleared and reports will begin anew, so customers should be sure to first download and archive their old logs using the various methods provided in WebAdmin. This will be one of the final content updates for ASG V7 with only maintenance patches planned for the future.

Important things to note about the appliance upgrade process:

• After the upgrade process is complete, the ASG will be at version 8.003. The target landing version will change over time to land upgraders at newer versions (like 8.100) once they are released.
• The one-touch upgrade process is only available to ASG appliance users. Software installations have various hardware configurations and the viability of an upgrade without the hardware detection process of the installer cannot be guaranteed. Software installations however can still easily move to version 8 by installing the ISO image and restoring a V7 backup file from version 7.507 or greater.
• Customers with Wireless Security on their license will not be able to perform a one-touch upgrade for now, since Wireless functionality is not yet in the stable release version 8.003. If you attempt to perform an upgrade where Wireless is licensed, an error message will be displayed and the upgrade will not continue. When 8.100 is GA released near the end of November, the landing target will be updated afterwards and this condition will be removed at that time. Note that Wireless Security is present within Full Guard license bundles as well, regardless of whether it is being used.
• To ensure quality and stability, customers using High Availability or Clustering configurations will not be able to one-touch upgrade their appliances. These installations can de-configure their nodes and then upgrade them each in turn or install Version 8 via the ISO image.
• Old revisions of the ASG 110/120/220 with 512 megabytes of memory do not meet the minimum hardware requirements (1 Gigabyte) for ASG Version 8, and are not able to one-touch upgrade as a result.
   

UpDate 7.508 Details
Remarks:

• Configuration will be upgraded
• System will be rebooted
• Connected REDs will perform firmware upgrade (do not reboot them during this process)
• Connected APs will perform firmware upgrade (do not reboot them during this process)

News:

• Added Wireless Security support (GA)
• Added option to one-touch upgrade to V8 for hardware appliances
• Introduced outbound spam scanning support
• Improved IPS engine

Fixes:

• [ID11371] - eDirectory authentication may stop working when no BaseDN is specified
• [ID11932] - WAN connectivity hangs when changing the "daily reconnect" time on a PPPoE interface
• [ID12449] - ASG conflicts when using special character ")" in PPPoE password
• [ID12539] - Pushed dns servers are randomly not used
• [ID13085] - HTTP Proxy restarts in a loop
• [ID13126] - Link status of LAG interfaces terminology changes
• [ID14089] - Antispam daemon restarts frequently during certain scenarios
• [ID14654] - Blank Executive Report
• [ID14404] - UDP flood protection blocks RED traffic

Download Information
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.508.tgz.gpg
Size: 175 MB (183,690,474 Bytes)
MD5: 9fdff2f4bf185b1b71d4c17f6594606f

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.003] Web Application Security Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Regards,
Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

8.003 provides some fixes for those who will upgrade to ASG V8 from V7, and another set of fixes to address some security advisories in bzip2 and ClamAV.
*Note: Users of a previous, pre-GA "soft-release" of this 8.003 should re-apply this Up2Date to resolve issues with Anti-Spam daemon restarts and importing V7 backups into V8 installations which have HA configured. (See the forums if you need help with this)

Details
Remarks:
* Your system will be rebooted

News:
* Fixed: bzip2 vulnerability (CVE-2010-0405)

Fixes:
ID15395: UTF-8 Characters in IPSec PSK kill MiddleWare
ID14710: installation of customer license failed without a error
ID15480: Astaro: DiskCache::set() dies if key contains wide characters
ID15243: Update ClamAV

Download Information
MD5Sum: 0087e2c97e42c17f36b62987ad682ca8
Size: 24,270,749 Bytes (24MB)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.003.tgz.gpg

The ASG V8.000 release notes can be found here.

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro ASG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please indicate the version you are using (e.g. "[8.003] Web Application Security Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

Regards,
Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

Several of the top contributers and testers will receive prizes for their efforts! You can win your own access point, Astaro RED device, or even an ASG appliance for personal home use. For all the details of the 8.100 Beta program, and information on the release itself, read on!

General Beta Information
Why Participate?
To try the latest features and new things before they are generally available! By installing our Beta software, you get the chance to see upcoming features and test new functionality a bit earlier than the general customer-base. In return, we gain valuable insight into various areas of the release which might not otherwise be uncovered during normal QA lab testing or via our own private test installations. This lets us offer releases with the quality you have come to expect from Astaro, and also lets us hear your impressions of our latest offerings so that we can continue to build the best products which our customers want to buy.

How to be a Beta tester:
It's simple. Just download the latest Beta ISO image via our continually updated forums post, burn it to a CD and install it to your ASG software installation or appliance. Please be sure to download the appropriate ISO. Once you are using the 8.100 Beta, you can continue to use Up2Date and install the next Beta releases for 8.100 without needing to re-install again. Just restore your backup file and you are up and running! We also plan to release a final Up2Date package at the end of the 8.100 Beta which will take your installation to the GA release of 8.100 without having to re-install again.

How you can contribute:
During the period of the Beta for 8.100, which will run until approximately late November, we would encourage you to post your impressions, feedback, bug reports, and all the associated things you like (or don't like!) in our offical 8.100 Beta forums. We will closely monitor and reply to threads and comments in this forum for the duration of the Beta. At the end of the Beta, we will reward our most active contributors; there are great prizes and rewards to be had!

Astaro Beta 8.100 Download Information:
For the first release of the Beta, version 8.050 is being made available. Future updates and releases will be communicated soley through the forums, so check there often for updates and news around the 8.100 release! You will find many answers to early questions, test license downloads, and general Beta information can be found in the launch overview for 8.100 here.

Links:
ASG ISO for Software/Virtual appliance installation:
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/asg-8.050-36.1.iso
ISO size: 398M (416995328 bytes)
ISO md5sum: 37bb40b4a0673eeb18fab4496e4268d3
ISO sha1sum: ccbf74256a52e331ad21de6807a2f4c0f646b283

SSI ISO for Hardware appliance installation:
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/ssi-8.050-36.1.iso
ISO size: 408M (427395072 bytes)
ISO md5sum: 8ca84673484f17bd8555dbc036637baa
ISO sha1sum: f6f20f428ec66cab1d932b41362001d4883df9f4

Feature Details:
Wireless
The Astaro Access Points (Astaro Access Points) are now supported in V8. There are no major differences in functionality between V7 and V8 in this area.

RED Transparent/Split Modes
RED Appliances now support a third operating mode: "Transparent / Split". In this mode, the ASG is not responsible as the gateway for the remote network behind the RED device (eg. it does not provide a DHCP server and is not the default gateway). Instead, all traffic per default goes transparently through RED through the existing Internet connection at the branch; only traffic for the destined for the networks at the main office behind the ASG (remote networks) will be redirected to the ASG. At RED Managment >> Deployment helper you can find a setup form for RED devices which gives a bit more context and help instead of the standard Add RED form, in a wizard-style approach.

Various Usability Improvements:

• Improved Object Tables: Certain actions (delete, enable, and disable) can now be applied to multiple selected objects. Also, object tables can now be sorted by different attributes of objects.
• Dashboard Links: Various parts of the Dashboard now allow you to directly jump to the relevant page in WebAdmin via the green arrows in the head lines. Also all the topics in "Current system configuration" are now linked to the respective page.
• SMTP Profiles Redesign: SMTP profile configuration has been redesigned to be more in line with the rest of WebAdmin.
• Streamlined Interface Setup: When creating or editing an interface object, per default not all the options are shown anymore. Some of the more advanced settings or rarely-used options are hidden by default.
• Uplink Balancing Mixed Mode: In uplink balancing you don't have to choose anymore between either full multipath or failover. You can now define a default set of multipath interfaces and still define one or more fail over interfaces which will be activated if all the default interfaces fail. This can be useful if you have one line that is much slower or expensive than the others and should only be used as a very last resort.
• HTTP Parent Proxy Routing: You can now define more than one parent proxy for the HTTP proxy at Web Security>>HTTP/S Profiles>>Parent Proxies. Each parent proxy can be limited to a list of hosts. At Web Security>>HTTP/S>>Advanced you can define the list of enabled parent proxies and the order in which they should be matched. This feature is useful if various destinations require different upstream proxy points, such as in Schools or Government environments.

Enjoy the 8.100 Beta!

Angelo Comazzetto
Astaro Product Manager

The 8.002 release also adds a feature for having SMTP Footers which are configurable per-profile, allows for ASG to communicate with two Astaro Command Center installations simultaneously, and adds some new options and tweaks for Web Application Security (reverse proxy). The ACC feature is something many partners have asked for, since each ACC server can have different management permissions. In this way, partners can retain full management control of installations for their customers, while still letting the customer see and interact with their sites in a lesser way with reduced permissions (or vice-versa) using a second Astaro Command Center.

Lastly, for those anxiously awaiting the 8.100 Beta which will introduce V8-support for our newly released Wireless Access Points, this is currently planned to start near the end of October. Stay tuned for more information!

ASG Up2Date 8.002 Details

News:

• Feature: SMTP Mail footer now configurable per-profile
• Feature: Allow for two WAS SSL frontends with same (wildcard) SSL certificate to share a port
• Feature: Option to pass the HTTP Host header through WAS untouched
• Feature: Allow configuration of second ACC server (with different permissions)
• Added: Support for Agere Systems ET-131x PCI-E Ethernet Controller

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted
• Configuration will be updated

Fixes:

• [ID14416] ASG cannot join a Windows 2008 server domain when server is specified in WebAdmin
• [ID14564] Packetfilter rule using Single Time Event does not get created
• [ID14627] Local IP addresses counted for license check
• [ID14699] Interface MTU settings not set correctly on HA slave
• [ID14706] Packetfilter breaks if a rule used a big service group
• [ID14712] ip-win32 dynamic option in the SSL Client Conf doesn't work with Linux, BSD, MAC OSX.
• [ID14736] Email confidentiality footer gets injected in unsuitable email parts
• [ID15119]: Fix Acc-Agent includes for IPSecSite2Site.pm
• [ID15131]: Adapt ACC Single Sign-On to two ACC Servers

Download:
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.002.tgz.gpg
Md5sum: 28f548cc270a392d063255e416cb7c42
Size: 106.764.278 bytes (Approx. 102 MB)

For the ASG 8.0 Release Notes click here.

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[8.001] Web Application Security Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

(All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Regards,

Angelo Comazzetto
ASG Product Manager

Full distribution of 8.002 is scheduled for September 30th. After 8.002 is made available, 7.508 will then be issued. Soft-release will be on September 30th, with Up2Date generally available on approximately October 7th. This release, (amongst other things), will add the one-touch upgrade to V8 for all ASG V7 Hardware Appliance installations. More information will follow as the Up2Date packages are made available. 

*Our soft-release process sees Up2Dates posted on our FTP for manual installation, followed by the GA "push" via our Up2Date infrastructure approximately 1-2 weeks later. The UBB at www.astaro.org is where soft-release announcements are made).

New Features

FIPS compatibility is always given if the following algorithms are used for set up and encryption of the IPsec connection:

• DH Group: Group 2 or higher (DH starting from a length of 1024 Bit)
• Hash Algorithms: SHA1, SHA 256, SHA 384, or SHA 512 Bit
• Encryption Algorithms: AES with 128, 192 and 256 Bit or Triple DES

Fixes
With Windows 7 data could not be exchanged via a VPN tunnel if the internet connection was using UMTS or mobile broadband but had not been established by the Astaro IPsec client. This has been fixed.

---------------------

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Starting with Release 10.22 the following features are no longer included with the Astaro IPsec Client:

• Connection to 3rd party gateways (except Astaro)
• Integrated Dialing and Wi-Fi support
• Pre-Logon, Logon Options
• Hotspot-Logon
• Integrated dynamic Personal Firewall
• Link-Firewall
• EAP
• IPsec compression
• Configurable UDP-encapsulation options
• Budget Manager
• Tips of the day

How to update your client software

There are two ways for updating your client:

1. Start the Astaro IPsec Client Monitor on your desktop. On the menu select "Help -> Search for New Updates". Click "Next" on the upcoming "Software Update Wizard" window. The client will now automatically search for new updates. If a newer version is found, you can click on the "Next" button to start the automatic installation immediately.
2. Use MyAstaro to download the new client software from our HTTP or FTP Server. When installing the new software an already existing version will be recognized and updated accordingly.

If you want an evaluation copy of Astaro IPsec Client, go to MyAstaro and complete a short form to create a MyAstaro account. You will then be taken to a screen where you can download a 30-day evaluation version of Astaro IPsec Client.

License information

For using the new features you either need to have a valid V9.2 or V10.2 license.

If your license has a lower version number then you can upgrade it to a V10.2 license by purchasing a one-time update license, which allows updating of an existing license by one or two releases. When purchasing the license you'll receive an activation key which must be applied to your existing license within MyAstaro. You'll then be offered a new file for download including the key that needs to be entered into your client.

For more information please visit our website.
Your Product Management Team

This fix was applied successfully by the pattern script, but the script had the unwanted side effect of removing a directory on the disk. This directory contains some temporary data used internally by the Astaro system and also, on version 7 systems, it contains a copy of some system libraries. These libraries were replaced by another pattern which was delivered approximately 2-3 hours later (depending on the version running).

Most customers and systems should not have experienced any issue. The system was correctly patched and the y2k38 problem has be circumvented.

However, the loss of temporary data meant that HA systems appeared to have lost the link between master and slave. In fact, they have not and the HA system is working normally, but WebAdmin does not show the correct status. This issue has, in almost most cases, been resolved either by rebooting the system or by an additional pattern which has been delivered on Monday and Tuesday (depending on the version). Although working correctly, we recommend that HA systems are rebooted at the next available maintenance window.

If a license was uploaded during the 2-3 hour period, then the new license was not recognised (because of a missing library) and the system reverted to a trial license. Uploading a new license once the library was replaced corrected this.

If the system was rebooted during the 2-3 hour period, the Astaro system fails to start. It was then necessary to log on through the console and manually recreate the missing directory and copy the missing libraries.

I and my team are clearly embarrassed to have to report such a situation and we sincerely hope that you have not been too inconvenienced by this issue. I understand that this is not an acceptable level of quality and that you should, and do, expect better from Astaro. We need to earn your trust and have therefore immediately made some changes to our software delivery process to eliminate these mistakes and ensure that in future we do meet your expectations as a partner.

Regards,
Richard Walford

We work constantly to ensure all our customers' networks are secure and connected no matter what version of the Astaro Security Gateway they are running. This is why we wanted to inform our partners and customers of an upcoming software challenge we have identified that may affect installations using older versions of the Astaro Security Gateway.

Please read below:

• What is the issue?
• How can this issue be resolved?
• What can I do if I have a problem on Sept. 4th?
• Detailed "What should I do?" Workflow

In case you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact your usual Astaro representative.

Kind regards,
Your Astaro Team

-----------------------------------

What is the issue?
Astaro products use so called X.509 certificates (think of it as a kind of digital passport - see Wikipedia) internally for VPN, Astaro RED, Mail Encryption, WebGUI and a few more areas. Such certificates are only valid for a limited amount of time and we chose to set the expiration date far into the future (>27,4 years into the future) to be sure that our customers do not experience problems with expiring certificates.

Unfortunately, we now will stumble upon a common problem known as the "Year 2038 Problem" or the "Unix Millennium Bug" (Wikipedia). Starting September 4th, 2010 the expiration date of newly created CA-certificates will be beyond Jan 19th 2038, and therefore will be invalid.

Running installations are unlikely to experience any issues, as only a few very specific and rarely used administrator actions will trigger this issue. But installing new Astaro products with software versions 7.506 and older after Sept. 4th will not work, as the initial setup will fail. Please read the "Detailed Workflow" below for more information.

How can this issue be resolved?
Update to the latest version!

The issue has been fixed with the Up2Dates 7.507 and 8.001 which were released August 13th and all existing customers should update to this version before September 4th in order to be safe. Partners and Customers who still have Astaro Appliances in stock must reinstall them with version 7.507 or 8.001 prior setup or shipment.

All Astaro downloads and un-shipped units in the warehouse have been updated! New installation images can be found here http://download.astaro.com/.

What can I do if I a have a problem on Sept. 4th?
In order to ensure that all Astaro customers receive all the help they need, all Astaro customers are entitled to call the Astaro Support Hotline directly and we are on standby for you over the whole weekend (September 4th / 5th).

If you need help, please contact your nearest location: http://www.astaro.com/support/support-hotline

Detailed "What should I do?" Workflow
Below you find all possible conditions an Astaro installation can be in and a recommendation on what should be done: (The same procedures apply for AWG/AMG/ACC installations)

ASG is running at Version 7.507 or 8.001
These customers have no problems, and do not need to do anything.

ASG is running Version 7.506 or earlier, or 8.000
These customers will experience no issues during "normal" operation, however certain actions after September 4th will trigger the problem:

Performing a factory reset will cause subsequent initial setup process to fail, which leads to no access to WebAdmin. Regenerating a Certificate Authority (like for the HTTP/S proxy, WebAdmin, or VPN/ Remote Access) will cause the problem. Certificates created using that new CA are invalid.
Activating mail encryption or Astaro RED for the first time will cause the problem. Activating the feature will fail.
Solution: Up2Date or reinstall to 7.507 or 8.001 before September 4th.

Customers which re-install their ASG/ACC using an old ISO image
These customers will have an affected installation and be in the same situation as outlined above.

Solution: Reinstall the system with the latest ISO image (7.507+ or 8.001+) which can be found at http://download.astaro.com

Partners with appliances in stock with ASG Versions 7.506 or earlier, or 8.000
These boxes are affected. Installing them after September 4th will cause the initial setup process to fail, which leads to no access to WebAdmin. Solution: Partner must update their ASG Appliances using a CD-Rom or Astaro Smart Installer before shipping to customer.

ACC is running at Version 2.200 or earlier
These customers will experience some issues.
Solution: Up2Date to 2.201, which will be released on or around August 27th.

Installations which are unable/unwilling to Up2Date to 7.507 or 8.001 or 2.201
We recommend upgrading to 7.507 or 8.001, but in case this is impossible we will provide a solution for these installations via our Pattern Up2date mechanism:

1. The unit must be online and connected to the internet
2. The customer needs to have a valid maintenance subscription
3. Pattern download/installation interval setting must not be set to "Manual"

The system searches regularly for updates and installs them automatically. After the pattern has been applied, the issue will be fixed.
All installations using 7.506 or earlier and V8.000 will receive this fix. You can easily check if this fix has been applied to your installation by checking the "Pattern Version" on the ASG dashboard. If the pattern version is greater than or equal to 20,000 than the fix has been applied.

We plan to start distributing the pattern on or around August 26th.
Solution: Do nothing and check the pattern version beginning of September.

In case you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact your usual Astaro representative.

Best regards,
Your Astaro Team

For ACC 2.201, we have new ISO images and the Up2Date itself available for download from our FTP and mirriors. Of course, our Up2Date infrastructure will distribute the package to you. New VMware and Astaro Smart Installer images will be available in approximately the next 24 hours.

Official Details

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted

News:

• This Up2Date should be applied before end of August 2010

Fixes:

• Fix [14883] Overflow in certificate creation will cause invalid certificates

Up2Date Package:
Size: 8,147,009 bytes
Md5: db37f0c76df9a4abdd5547c60dc3d675
FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/up2date/

Software Appliance ISO Image:
Size: 611,086,336 bytes
Md5: 9fa4ee88a8b3e0fd585202e956a2246b
FTP : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/software_appliance/iso/

Hardware Appliance ISO Image:
Size: 615,235,584 bytes
Md5: a8db4aed5734b8fb874f219517f1b455
FTP : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/hardware_appliance/iso/

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V2.2 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[2.200] World Map Labelling").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com

(All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Regards,
The Astaro Product Management Team

ASG uses certificates for different purposes (such as for each user that is created) and CAs (certificate authorities) for signing the certificates mentioned before. When performing the initial setup, some CAs as well as the admin certificate are generated.

When passing a certain point in time the theoretical end-date for our certs and CAs is beyond 19 January 2038 which will cause trouble to the system as the end-date of a cert/CA must not be before the start-date.

*SUMMARY NOTICE*
Any and all systems which have this up2date applied before the end of August 2010 will be completely free from troubles or consequences as a result of this global Linux/Unix issue. If you apply it, you can avoid needing to educate yourself further.

For units which are not updated before then, we will issue a single fix for this bug via a specially crafted pattern Up2Date as well, which will be automatically patched/applied without updating the firmware version.

If you would like more education on this issue, you can read more about it here via Wikipedia's entry: Year 2038 problem.

Official Details

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be upgraded
• System will be rebooted

News:

• This Up2Date should be applied before end of August 2010

Fixes:

• Fix [14657] Overflow in certificate creation will cause invalid certificates

Manual Package Download Information

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.507.tgz.gpg
Md5: 321e9f87525bc36dcfdd9531a6a1e5a0
Size: 8,147,144 bytes (Approx 8MB)

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)

2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.507] Astaro Web Content Filter Profiles Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Regards,
The Astaro Product Management Team

You will find 8.001 available for install via Up2Date on your installation. Mainly a bug fix release, this package will enhance the stability and operation of ASG V8, and addresses an issue with Unix time affecting certificates. Read on for the full details of this Up2Date.

This release fixes some bugs with how Web Application Security handles connections for protection of Outlook Web Access servers, optimizing that communication. We have also adjusted the very popular Country Blocking to ensure traffic can flow to essential Astaro Internet resources (Eg. RED provisioning servers, global email scanning repositories etc.) so that your blocking choices won't interfere with ASG operations. In addition, some other bugs were addressed and some hardware glitches for our software users and their platforms of choice were solved.

On addressing the Unix Time issue:
ASG uses certificates for different purposes (such as for each user that is created) and CAs (certificate authorities) for signing the certificates mentioned before. When performing the initial setup, some CAs as well as the admin certificate are generated.

When passing a certain point in time the theoretical end-date for our certs and CAs is beyond 19 January 2038 which will cause trouble to the system as the end-date of a cert/CA must not be before the start-date.

*SUMMARY NOTICE*
Any and all systems which have this up2date applied before the end of August 2010 will be completely free from troubles or consequences as a result of this global Linux/Unix issue. If you apply it, you can avoid needing to educate yourself further.

For units which are not updated before then, we will issue a single fix for this bug via a specially crafted pattern Up2Date as well, which will be automatically patched/applied without updating the firmware version.

If you would like more education on this issue, you can read more about it here via Wikipedia's entry: Year 2038 problem.

Official Details

Download Information
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/up2date/u2d-sys-8.001.tgz.gpg
Size: 81MB
MD5Sum: eaf81f4137425f04fd6a512f7e6285ec

Remarks:

• System will be rebooted.
• Configuration will be updated.
• HTTP Proxy cache will deleted.

News:

• This Up2Date should be applied before end of August 2010
• Added: HTML rewriting in Web Application Firewall.
• Fixed: Country based blocking can no longer block essential ASG functionality.
• Added exceptions for spam scanning servers, ACC, notification smarthost, NTP servers, and SNMP trap sinks.

Fixes:

[14688]: UNIX Epoch ends in 9999 days, so certificates cannot last longer
[14364] ASG does not use ESMTP for "Skip TLS negotiation hosts"
[14400] WAF disabled in predefined reverse proxy profiles
[14427] No successful boot with Perc H200
[14469] Country Blocking blocks essential services
[14519] GRUB fails to install properly on some HP servers
[14637]: Bridge interface gets unresponsive after change of IP addresses
[14735]: ASG 625a with versions 8 and 8.001 recognizing NIC order wrong
[14759]: Setting system time forward causes WebAdmin to get unresponsive for a while

For the ASG 8.0 Release Notes click here.

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version.

There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)

2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[8.001] WAN Link Balancing Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server for public use: http://demo.astaro.com

(All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Regards,
The Astaro Product Management Team

This release is focused around adding great new abilities like Global configuration of Packet Filter rules and Web Security settings and profiles. We have also other fantastic features to make your life easier when working with ASG. Regardless of if you have one, or hundreds of installations, you are sure to find something that saves you time with ACC!

Astaro Command Center 2.2 Features

HTTP/S Proxy Configuration Support

• Build and deploy Web Security profiles and configuration from within ACC!
• Lets you centralize your Web Security settings and globally deploy and change policy across some or all connected ASG installations. -Work with Filter Actions, URL Categories, Exceptions, and Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) files.

Packet Filter Configuration

• You can now make Network Security configuration settings in ACC for packet filter rules, and deploy them as needed to your selection of ASG devices.
• Build rules like you normally do in ASG
• Craft rule sets composed of your rules for deployment to ASG installations.
• Deploy to organizational units, select the position of the deployed rules (Eg. on top of existing rules in the ASG), and view/change/revoke rules with ease.

Auto Deployment of Definitions

• Continually updates selected ASG's with new/changed definitions
• Removes the need to manually select installations and deploy objects
• Keeps multiple installations constantly synced to the latest versions of definitions and other items

New Global Definition Types

• To further assist global deployment and true central management, two new definition types can be configured centrally.
• Time events can be defined and worked with via Definitions-->Time Events in the Gateway Manager
• IPSec policies can be defined and worked with via Configuration-->VPN-->IPSec policies in the Gateway Manager. You no longer need to choose only from pre-defined policies in ACC.

Object Merge Granularity Options

• Allows you to choose merge operations when deploying Global Objects which already exist locally on the ASG.
• Great for assisting migration from per-box configuration to ACC central configuration
• When a definition already exists, choose to overwrite it completely, skip it, or keep the name and just update the data with the Global Objects parameters.
• Many powerful uses for assisting the saving of your time across multiple ASG's!

Other Changes and Features

• Features accessible to the ACC can be restricted on an ASG (aka privilege restriction). You can configure this from Management-->Central Management in ASG 7.506/V8.000.
• Up2Date Cache restricts access to Up2Date servers, and is now ASG V8 compatible
• Expired licensing subscriptions will see their impact on monitoring levels decay over time and become less of a factor as a result.
• IPSec VPN Configuration can now re-use global network definitions and global/custom IPSec policies.

*More information about the various features of ACC 2.2 can be found in the ACC 2.2 release notes

Requirements
*ACC 2.200 requires at least ASG V7.506 or V8.000 for full compatibility.
**ASG features for allowing communication to two ACC servers and SSO real name pass-through are already implemented in ACC 2.2 and just awaiting ASG 7.507 and 8.002 releases.

Download Information
ACC 2.2 is available initially as an Up2date package from version 2.100 or Beta users at Version 2.180. ISO images are also available for full installations of ACC 2.2. Virtual Machine Images and an Up2Date push for existing installations will be released next week, along with new, detailed release notes for ACC 2.2

------------------------------
ACC Up2Date from 2.100 --> Version 2.2:
URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Command_Center/v2/up2date/u2d-sys-2.200.tgz.gpg
Size: 259MB
md5sum: 91842af0d63f67e8d3e0b0d0f26ce185

------------------------------
ACC Software Appliance ISO 2.200
URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Command_Center/v2/software_appliance/iso/acc-2.200-100715-3.iso
Size: 578MB
md5sum: 29d47dc87398c61725c0127cb1164455

------------------------------
ACC Up2Date from BETA 2.180 --> Version 2.2:
URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Command_Center/v2/beta/u2d-sys-2.180-200.tgz.gpg
Size: 22MB
md5sum: 969963597aa2408028e19a411634f1b3

Astaro ACC Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V2.2 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to always(!) add the version you refer to (e.g. "[2.2] HTTP Proxy Profile Push Question").

If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server which will run ACC Version 2.2 shortly: http://accdemo.astaro.com

Regards,
- Your Astaro Product Management Team

As well, the ASG installations will receive some updated files for support of the next point-release of Astaro Command Center V2.2. We also take the opportunity to fix a few small bugs.

This will be pushed out via our Up2Date infrastructure, however if you would just like to manually download it you can do so here. Otherwise read on for the details.

This version is focused around introducing the necessary options and menu items for our new Wireless Security solution. There is a new WebAdmin section called "Wireless Security" which contains an overview and controls. More details on the public wireless beta and the products themselves will be made available shortly. Changes and updates were made to the Astaro Command Center agent as well to prepare it for the upcoming GA release of ACC V2.2.

Official Details

Download Information
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.506.tgz.gpg
Size: 132.9MB (139,362,483 bytes)
Md5 : 614a8436398437c64cb7900c3b23601b

Remarks:

• Configuration will be upgraded
• System will be rebooted

*BETA Testers: Your connected access points will perform a firmware upgrade after 7.506 installs on the ASG. As with most firmware "flashing" operations, please do NOT power off your Access Point(s) while the LED's are blinking furiously during their patching process, or you might be left with a non-working unit!

News:

• Added Wireless Security support and WebAdmin area in preparation for upcoming public Beta phase (stay tuned!)
• Added support for upcoming ACC 2.2 release
• Added support for updated/renamed "Astaro IPsec Client"
• Improved Online help for ASG

Fixes:
Fix [12668]: FTP directory listing over HTTP Proxy may not work correctly
Fix [14025]: Site-to-Site SSL Server fails to add routes when bounced quickly

For the ASG 7.5 Release Notes click here.

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)

2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:

• Astaro US
• Astaro US2
• Astaro Germany
• Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.506] Astaro AP 30 Question").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Regards,
The Astaro Product Management Team

Our open approach to feature requests set a new standard for visibility into our planning and allowed us to listen while we provided constant feedback and updates to you.

Today, we continue the success enjoyed by ASG Version 7. You will find a fresh WebAdmin GUI and improved auditing and compliance features. New features like VPN reporting, WebAdmin change tracking, new rights & roles abilities for multiple administrators, and the ability to print out the entire configuration for auditing or record keeping have been introduced. Support for IPv6 and a new 64-bit kernel have been implemented, along with many convenience features such as an easy way to search through all of WebAdmin and country blocking to prevent all communication with entire countries or regions.

Focusing on usable technology, our teams worked hard to make sure our product is easily configurable to solve real problems faced by businesses without the need for months of specialized training in how to use ASG features.

This post provides an overview of Version 8, how to get it, how to get using it, and the key dates and other information you need in order to begin using or selling this fantastic new release. Read on for full details and download information!

As this is a major new version, you will likely have questions about various areas. I'd like to invite you to first review this post for the answers you seek. If you require additional help or information, your Astaro partner or sales contact will happily assist you. Remember you can always check our website or ask for help from our community at www.astaro.org.

About Astaro Security Gateway Version 8
This new version includes the following new features. Presented here is a general overview; for extended information and descriptions (and the full list of all changes in Version 8) please see the accompanying ASG Version 8 release notes. You may also wish to look in the V8 WebAdmin for the new manual (Support-->Manual) and online help (click the "?" icon anywhere).

What's New? Highlights of Major New Things

• Updated WebAdmin - New colors, fonts, and visuals make WebAdmin more easily readable with crisper overall presentation
• IPv6 - Support has been added for the next iteration of IP addressing throughout ASG
• New Kernel and Base System - Provides 64-bit support, massively increased hardware compatibility, and better performance
• Country Blocking - Deny communications to/from any combination of countries and/or regions
• Web Application Security - A new subscription has been added to our protection portfolio which protects your web servers from modern attacks, hackers, viruses and data theft
• Flash-Based Reporting - Reporting data can be displayed via animated charts which add strong visual representations to how the data is presented
• WebAdmin Rights & Roles - Let multiple administrators or auditors share duties by separating access permissions; for example giving someone the ability to work only with the Mail Quarantine
• Configuration Change Tracking - Aid compliance and accountability efforts by identifying what was changed by an administrator on a forensic level
• Printable Configuration - Save the contents of the entire system as an XML file to aid compliance efforts and record keeping
• New Online Help - Improved layout coupled with new feature set updates this reference to be faster and more useful in retrieving information on demand
• VPN Remote Access Reporting - Displays usage graphs for the various types of user connections, along with historical data for examining session information
• WebAdmin Menu Search - Instantly filter the menu to show sections of WebAdmin based on a search query box; great for locating an option or feature quickly
• Web Content Filter Override - Allow configured users and groups to bypass URL filtering block pages by providing credentials and entering a reason, all of which can be tracked using new override reports

Other Features and Changes

• New installer for software appliances with improved navigation and troubleshooting options
• Custom certificates support lets you remove browser warnings when accessing WebAdmin or the UserPortal
• Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller authentication support
• Reverse DNS for creating reverse mappings in static DNS
• Uninterrupted Intrusion Protection updates keep traffic flowing when new patterns are introduced
• Rule numbering is preserved during search queries, making it easier to locate the resulting rules and where they sit in the configuration order
• Exceptions improvements for HTTP/S and IPS now allow the use of granular "and/or" operators
• Site-to-Site VPN's using PSK may now have different keys using PSK probing when configured as respond-only
• Multiple syslog servers are supported which allows logging data to be sent to multiple locations simultaneously for preservation
• Dozens of other usability improvements and minor feature additions!

"How Do I Get Version 8?"
ASG Version 8 gives you some options in how to begin using our latest version. Again, the release notes have detailed instructions for the available processes but summary information is below. Be aware that while existing licenses and their subscriptions are valid, if you have not already done so you need to login to MyAstaro and upgrade your license to our new on-demand format introduced back in February, as Version 8 will only accept this license style.

Depending on factors such as if you currently use ASG V7 and what your needs are you will have certain requirements which will be met via the following key dates:

June 30th - ASG V8 ISO Images Available
For ASG appliances or installations using ASG software on their own platforms, download the ASG V8 ISO image (see below), make a backup, install with USB CD-Rom or Astaro Smart Installer and restore your configuration via the backup. *NOTE* Beta testers of V8 are able to Up2Date to the GA V8.000 release without needing to re-install. Check the Up2Date section your existing Beta installation and install the GA Up2Date package to move to the GA release.

August 15th - ASG V7 Appliance Upgrade Option
Approximately in mid-August, we will publish an Up2Date for V7 which will add a button which automatically migrates your appliance and configuration from V7 to V8. As in the past, for quality assurance and hardware compatibility reasons, it will not possible to one-touch upgrade non-ASG appliances (software installations on custom hardware) using this method.

October 1st - Appliances ship pre-installed with V8
Until this time, new appliances will ship with Version 7 installed. Customers who purchase new appliances and wish to use ASG Version 8 can install the ISO image or have their partner assist them with this. Astaro Support can also answer questions on how to image your new appliance with Version 8. *Note* In addition, throughout this period, Up2Dates for V8.00x will be released as planned/required.

Download Information

ASG Hardware Images

ASG Hardware Appliance ISO Image
(for use on official ASG appliances)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/iso/ssi-8.000-7.1.iso
Size: 348 MB (378179584 bytes)
Md5 : 84cdb87909167e0915b01eafca153c09

ASG Hardware Appliance ISO for Astaro Smart Installer
(for using V1 of the ASI product to install ASG on official appliances)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/v1/ssi-8.000-7.1-ASI.zip
Size: 348 MB (365,686,141) bytes
Md5 : ab6b709c2dd258fbe1a5748ab485636c

ASG Software Images

ASG Software ISO Image
(for use on your own hardware)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/software_appliance/iso/asg-8.000-7.1.iso
Size: 350 MB (368021504 bytes)
Md5 : 5bf91962005658df789b071036ed5501

ASG Software ISO Image for Astaro Smart Installer
(for using V1 of the ASI Product to install ASG on your own hardware)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/software_appliance/smart_installer/v1/asg-8.000-7.1-ASI.zip
Size: 339 MB (355587451 bytes)
Md5 : 49cd6d861ceea9c7c28fae86b7ad206c

ASG Virtual Images

ASG ESX Image
(for use with VMware ESX/i)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.000-ESX-v3.zip
Size: 884 MB (927819047 bytes)
Md5 : db739b848493d34178992de49ba1e29d

ASG VMware Image
(for quick-use with VMware Player/Server/Workstation)
Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/virtual_appliance/asg-8.000-vmware.zip
Size: 859 MB (901489426 bytes)
Md5 : 91fbb2ffd084b03cbf5dcbd2c7835459

*Customers with the new "Version 2" of the Astaro Smart Installer, you will be able to use it with V8 images shortly, check the FTP site for when they are available.

Feedback

If you want to provide feedback or discuss any of the Version 8 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. For best responses, it helps to add the version to which you are referring in the the title of your post for example: "[8.000] - Question about IPv6".

If you have feedback to our documentation like the manual, online help or WebAdmin explanations please send it to docu@astaro.com.

There is also a demo server coming that allows you to try and see Version 8 anytime. You will find it at http://demo.astaro.com shortly.

All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Enjoy our new release.

Regards,
The entire Astaro team

I am affected, what can i do? In order to bypass this rule, log in to WebAdmin and navigate to the "Advanced" tab of the Intrusion Prevention system. There you need to to add a new "rule modification" by clicking on the + sign.

Than set the action "Alert" for rule "15306" like this:

And save it, now it should look like this:

That's it, now the download no longer gets blocked, yet all the .NET exploits will still be blocked.

Best regards,
Gert Hansen

Astaro Command Center 2.2 will remain a completely free product, and is available as a software appliance ISO which you download and install on the hardware of your choice or run inside a VMware virtual machine (or other virtual solution). From there, you quickly configure your Astaro Security Gateway(s) to communicate with ACC and you then get the ability to configure, get overview information, and generate reports for all connected devices, to name just a few things. This leaves you with a sort of "Throne-Room" for your ASG installations.

This version introduces some great new abilities like Global Packet Filter configuration, central configuration of Web Security profiles, and automatic deployment of Global Objects. Read on for all the details.

IMPORTANT NOTE on Compatibility:

In ACC 2.2, a new device agent is required to use the NEW features being introduced. This agent needs ASG V8 (currently in public Beta) V7.920 which is planned for June 1st. For V7 users, the new agent will be added in version 7.506 which should be released in mid to late June.

ACC 2.2 is however fully backwards compatible with ASG V7.5+, only the NEW features require this updated agent. So for full use of the ACC 2.2 Beta and all it's features, you need either V8 Beta 7.920+ or V7.506+. As with our past community-oriented Beta programs, all comments and discussions around the ACC 2.2 Beta are located can be found here in our Beta forum dedicated to ACC 2.2. There you will find further information on this release, along with details on the Beta contest.

Official Details

Download Information

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/acc-2.150-100531-3.iso
Size: 569M (596305920 bytes)
MD5: 8ecec0fc5d7680a41332e616f76eb0f2

Remarks

• Install Beta ISO and restore your ACC backup to it.
• You will be able to Up2Date from the Beta to the GA release of ACC 2.2

News

• New Feature: Central Web Security Configuration (Including Filter Actions, URL Categories, Exceptions and Proxy Auto-Configuration)
• New Feature: Central Packet-Filter Configuration
• New Feature: Auto-Deployment of global definitions based on Organizational Unit
• New Feature: Added new global definition types
• (Time events & IPsec policies)
• Selectable merge granularity when capturing local definitions during deployment of global ones
• IPSec configuration can now re-use global network definitions and global/custom IPsec policies
• Expired license subscriptions will gradually loose impact on monitoring level
• Bug fixes and many other small improvements

But wait, there's more! During the Beta, additional features will be introduced. Added will be the ability to add a second ACC server connection, place some restrictions on the areas of ASG which ACC is allowed to interact with, and Single Sign On real name pass-through.

Enjoy testing this new release, there is a lot to see and use. Remember if you have any questions, or would like to know more about the Beta program for ACC 2.2, please visit our the ACC 2.2 Beta Forum.

Happy testing everyone,
Angelo Comazzetto
Product Manager

As part of our extending the home user licensing to 50 IP addresses last winter, we now are introducing a small change to the customization ability of installations using ASG at home. Focused around the Web Security block page (and other customization areas), a "home-user only" notice will appear and customizations of these types of pages is now limited. This allows us to continue to offer such a large amount of total protection for free home use without any other limitations. Full details of V7.505 are below...

Official Details

Download Information

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.505.tgz.gpg
Size: 142MB
MD5Sum: f75b4cc3ff92996c07f455c9f35fe0f1

Remarks:

• Configuration will be upgraded
• System will be rebooted
• Connected RED devices will perform firmware upgrade
  RED USERS: Your device will perform a firmware upgrade (blinking LEDs) - do not power off the RED unit while upgrading, as this can cause firmware problems.

News:

• New Feature: Read-only WebAdmin user role
• New Feature: Support for multiple syslog servers
• New Feature: XAuth Support for Site-Site IPSEC Tunnels
• Restricted customization capabilities for Home-User Licensed Installations
• For the new things in ASG 7.5 you can view the Release Notes here.

 Fixes:

[11239]: New Yahoo messenger not detected by IM/P2P security
[11496]: State of additional addresses remains at DOWN after the daily reconnect
[11621]: Packet filter is dropping own DNS replies
[11780]: IPsec Remote Access Errors
[11844]: Cannot use HTTPS scanning in a profile if HTTPS is not enabled for the global settings.
[11857]: Serial numbers showing up as "MISSING" in the WebAdmin dashboard
[12956]: Static routes missing in back end when activating High Availability
[13690]: Removed debug messages in kernel log on HA/Cluster with IPsec

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ASG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.505] Syslog Server Settings ").
• If you have any feedback on our help, manual, or any documenation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Cheers,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

As you might have noticed, our automated IPS pattern test routine has missed a faulty pattern which lead to the distribution of IPS pattern which blocked all communication through the Astaro Security Gateway. I personally apologize for this fault.

We will analyze this issue to find the root cause of the problem and how it was able to bypass our test procedures and update them accordingly to prevent such incidents in the future.

In the meantime we have found and fixed the pattern and uploaded the fixed one to our up2date servers. But because of the blocked communication, the system will not recover itself automatically. Please find attached a HowTo explaining how to get a system up and running again.

Again, please accept my apology for this incident.

Gert Hansen
Founder and VP Products

---

We have tested that the new IPS patterns on the Up2Date server are fixed and working. If your system is affected there are two ways to get the updated and fixed patterns:

1. WebAdmin (the preferred way)  - login to WebAdmin via https://YOUR_ASG_IP:4444
   - go to left menu item "Network Security"
   - go to sub menu item "Intrusion Prevention"
   - disable the IPS system (if not already done)
   
    
   
   - go to the last tab "Advanced"
   - click on the green "+" sign under "Modified rules"
   - enter under "Rule ID": 15851 and check "Disable this rule"
   - click "Save"
   - click again on the green "+" sign under "Modified rules"
   - enter under "Rule ID": 16576 and check "Disable this rule"
   - click "Save"
   
   
   
   - go back to the first tab and activate the IPS system again This will fix the problem and install the new IPS pattern.
   PLEASE NOTE: Depending on the speed and workload of your ASG it can take a minute!
    
2. Command line (only for experienced users)
   
   
   - login via SSH or local on console
   - become "root"
   - enter "echo 1 > /proc/net/nf_condition/ips" That's all and will do the following:
   * it will bypass completely the IPS system on lowest level (ASG is online then), independent if IPS is activated or deactivated on WebAdmin
   * the new IPS pattern will be fetched and installed
   * the next IPS pattern update we will provide later today will remove this bypass automatically and the ASG works like configured (with new pattern)

If your ASG uses ACC as an Up2Date cache: do the same above for these ASGs if there are affected. There is no todo on ACC.

If your ASG is not and was not affected, because IPS was turned off last 8 hours or not online and therefore didn't fetch the corrupt pattern then there is no action needed. The old, corrupt patterns are removed from the Up2Date server. It is safe the activate IPS now and set the ASG online again to fetch IPS pattern.

I profoundly apologize for the events of today. We issued two malfunctioning pattern updates for our flagship product Astaro Security Gateway which caused many of you significant troubles. I, and everyone at Astaro, understand that our most important asset is the trust of our partners and customers and today was a bad day for us.

Please allow me to share the results of our preliminary investigation into what went wrong.

What happened?

Today at 6:07 CEST our Up2Date servers began distributing Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) patterns (version 12404) which included two rules (numbers 15851 and 16576) that were incompatible with the version of the IPS engine used in ASG 7.5. The IPS stopped working following the update and, on systems with IPS enabled, all traffic was blocked due to the IPS fail-closed policy.

At 9:30 CEST our Up2Date servers began distributing IPS pattern version 12405 which corrected the error and we alerted all of our partners via email about the situation.
Systems with IPS activated could not download the new patterns because all network connectivity was blocked. As is usual, systems with IPS deactivated do not download new patterns either. Immediately our support team began distributing instructions to our partners on how to resolve this problem. After further testing of this solution, we communicated the final instructions on how to resolve the situation to all of our partners via email at 11:44 CEST.

Then, incredibly, at 12:25 CEST our Up2Date servers began distributing Anti Virus (AV) pattern version 12407 which included a signature incompatible with the AV engine our systems are running. On systems with Dual AV Scanning enabled the Web proxy was not working and the Mail proxy was not forwarding email.
Our Up2Date servers began distributing the corrected patterns at 13:20 CEST and the issue corrected itself automatically once the systems loaded version 12410 of the patterns. At 13:15 CEST we notified our partners via the Up2Date Blog about the incident.

How could this happen?

So, after we have had only one such issue in the last two years, how could we incur two within a few hours? Especially since, after the last incident, we have made such significant investments in our team, infrastructure, and processes to ensure we test every update on every platform before we release it?
In this case we manually and automatically tested the patterns, but not on all of the versions of the IPS and AV engines used in the field. Our automated testing framework is in migration right now in order to get it ready for V8, and we lost sight of maintaining full coverage during this period.

What did we learn?

1. We have relied on a testing framework that was in maintenance and not ready for production use. This is inexcusable and we will never do this again.
2. No error of any system in the field should prevent it from reaching our Up2Date servers so fixes can be deployed without manual intervention. We will fix this.
3. We need to define better escalation procedures and inform our partners and customers more quickly using multiple, redundant communication channels. We will implement this.

Once again, I offer my sincere apologies. I sincerely hope that you will accept them and allow us to prove ourselves as a trusted partner to your business going forward. If you have other questions please do not hesitate to contact me by responding to this email.

Best regards,
Jan Hichert Astaro CEO

It is never to late to test the Beta! If you have been wanting to give it a try, you can do so easily. Read on for information on the new Up2Date, and information on how you can join the Beta if you are not already using ASG Version 8.
Since the first Beta release of ASG V8 (dubbed 7.900) we have had 4 additional Up2Dates. Today we release 7.910 with the usual fixes and improvements from testing and beta feedback. In addition, some new features have been added for you to test out. (For those new to our Beta process, see the original V8 Beta announcement and our V8 Introductory Post).
If you are already using the ASG V8 Beta, you do not need to re-install. The new 7.910 Up2Date will be delivered to you normally and is installed via WebAdmin. As usual however, we have updated ISO's and manual Up2Date downloads for you, along with the release information.

ASG Beta 7.910 New Features

Cookie Signing
You can now enable a new feature in your Firewall Profiles for the Web Application Firewall called Cookie Signing. For each cookie set by the server this will add a signature stored in another cookie so that the WAF can check the signature on return from the client. This prevents tampering with the cookie on the client side.

Specify the WebAdmin/UserPortal SSL Certificate
In Management >> WebAdmin Settings >> HTTPS Certificate you can now select which certificate is used by WebAdmin and User Portal for SSL encryption. As well, if you have an existing CA that you would like to use to sign the certificate currently used by WebAdmin you can do so. This feature can allow for installations that have their own Certificates or CA to take advantage of a WebAdmin/UserPortal login which does not trigger a security warning in the browser when navigating to the login page(s). More information on this feature can be found in the forums.

New WebAdmin Role: "Reviewer"
In addition to the Admin and Auditor roles already in place, we are adding a new one to the Beta called "Reviewer". Reviewers are allowed to see all settings in WebAdmin (unlike the auditor which is limited to Logging and Reporting), but can't change anything. You can give users this role via Management >> WebAdmin Settings >> Access Control. (This feature will also appear in ASG V7.505).

Location Based Blocking
Using a new section at ]Network Security >> Packet Filter >> Location Based Blocking you have the possibility to block ALL traffic to and from IP addresses located in specific countries/regions. Please note that this feature is a a rather blunt instrument without current support of exceptions. While usually quite accurate, it could produce the occasional false positive since tying IP addresses into a physical location is always a technical practice. However this feature is great for preventing traffic interactions with a certain region or country, perhaps for reasons of spam, constant attacks, probing, or simply to due company wishes.

ASG V8 Beta 7.910 Details

Fixes
[12326] Site to Site connection will not be established when SHA 512 is used as IPSec authentication algorithm
[12917] Email subjects with umlauts are not displayed correctly in the mail manager
[13221] Installer doesn't handle UTC option correctly
[13456] HTTP proxy doesn't support "single time events"
[13485] Site-to-site VPN Compression policy not working
[13507] CPU reports showing the same utilisation for both nodes
[13552] Log file download usability/consistency
[13561] Packet Filter Live Log formatting is broken
[13564] Logging --> View Log Files loads very slowly
[13569] Small display problem in info in object table with IE8
[13583] New Mail Security RBL too aggressive
[13602] IPSec "Add Remote Gateway" fails with "VPN ID may not be empty"
[13606] Web Application Firewall can not write audit log files (Permission denied)
 

Remarks
-Configuration will be upgraded
-System will be rebooted
-New features to test (see above)

Download Information

ASG ISO (for Software/Virtual appliance installation)
 

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/asg-7.910-10.1.iso
Size: 345M (362143744 bytes)
MD5sum: e21e04e64e1e961d24d1a6b003b09d6d

SSI ISO (for ASG Hardware appliance installation)  

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/ssi-7.910-10.1.iso
Size: 355M (372389888 bytes)
MD5sum: dfa5eabbe8225d811613c7acc39a9860

Up2Date package (7.904 to 7.910)

Link:ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v8/beta/u2d-sys-7.904-910.tgz.gpg
Size: 52M (54769352 bytes)
MD5sum: 4c32fc4a6e65a1cb38290ec5c45ac589

Enjoy your testing, and if you have any questions or problems, don't forget to share them in the V8 Beta Forum. We have plans for cool prizes to reward some lucky testers!

Cheers,
Your Astaro Team

At Astaro, our goal is to build products that people want to buy, and have features our customers actually use. We listen to the feedback of our community, and ASG V8 is designed with your requirements in mind. Throughout this process, you can contribute, read the comments of others, and keep up-to-date on the latest Beta happenings at our New V8 Public Beta Forum. There you will find full details and ongoing discussions and news about the ASG Version 8 Public Beta.

The V8 Beta program will have some different details compared to our past Betas; it isn't quite feature-complete yet. Rather than bake everything to an almost-done state and unleash it all on you to test at once, we are starting this Beta a bit early and will add a few more things to it during the next few months leading up to release. Anyone can test out the V8 Beta, if you would like to know more about how get the Beta Version and contribute your findings, just read on!

For the best Beta experience, a list of the new things, and other useful information, you should read this forum post in its entirety.

We'll start with a small disclaimer - ASG V8 is a BETA and not final, production-ready software. This is a work-in-progress; there will be bugs, broken areas of functionality, and parts where things just do not work as expected or planned. If you decide to use this someplace in production and it causes things to go horribly wrong, well...you were warned. By offering you the chance to test the product early you need to be aware that you will see stability and completeness issues.

We use this opportunity to discover and quash bugs that we might not have otherwise discovered during our own testing. We also greatly appreciate your feedback and comments and will use them to further shape our product. The V8 Beta is also not yet complete, there are still features and areas of functionality we are working on which are not yet ready for you to test, we will make additions and add more to play with as the Beta progresses! Being a Beta, be aware that much of the documentation and associated collateral's, online-help, language translations, and other written support information are not yet available.

ASG V8 Summary Feature Overview

Here is a summary list of new things currently in the V8 Beta. For all the details about this Beta release and a description of these new features, you should  please visit the overview posting here.

Major New Things

• New Kernel
• New Hardware Compatibility (take a look at our new HCL and Knowledge Base here)
• New Installer
• IPv6 Support
• HTTP Reverse Proxy/Web Application Firewall
• Updated WebAdmin
• WebAdmin Change Tracking
• VPN Remote Access Reporting
• Web Content Filter Override

Minor New Things

• WebAdmin Menu Search
• WebAdmin Error Handling
• Flash-Based Reporting Charts
• Syslogging
• Reverse DNS
• IPSec VPN PSK Enhancements
• Intrusion Prevention Exceptions
• Intrusion Prevention Updates
• Updated Online Help

Download Information

The first public Beta release dubbed V7.900 is available for both ASG Appliances and your own hardware. If you were using a past release of the V8 alpha, you will notice your installation has the 7.900 available as an Up2Date. To use the V8 Beta ISO image, you need to download it, burn it to a CD, and install it, then restore a backup or build anew.

V8 Image for ASG Software on your own machine

ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/beta/asg-7.900-7.1.iso
ISO size: 303MB (317517824 bytes)
ISO md5sum: b621d6a8aaeeea919b1ce3daff8e50df

V8 Image for ASG Hardware appliances

ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Security_Gateway/v8/beta/ssi-7.900-7.1.iso
ISO size: 304MB (318775296 bytes)
ISO md5sum: 2625200d209d336a070dc73627eae0c0

To accommodate testing throughout the Beta period, we have made available full-featured testing licenses for the software ISO here and all ASG appliances here. They are also available via the V8 Beta Forums overview post. ASG Version 8 will only support the new licensing model from Astaro.

Cheers,
Myself and the entire Astaro team.

ClamAV has upgraded their core engine with a new version which is mandatory in order to support their patterns going forward. To accommodate this, we will make a change to the AV scanning behavior of ASG which our users should be aware of.

As of March 29th, 2010, installations running Astaro Security Gateway 7.400-7.405 will have their ClamAV scanning engines upgraded via a special "Pattern" Up2Date. These installations will then have the latest ClamAV engine for continued use of Dual Scanning mode. (ASG installations running 7.500+ are already compatible and upgraded, so no changes will occur if your installation is kept updated to the latest version.).

While keeping your ASG installation Up2Date to the latest version is always the most reliable way to have the strongest protection, please note that if your installation of ASG has not been updated in 13 months or longer and is currently using 7.200-7.306, it is not upgradeable to the newest ClamAV engine.
For these customers who are using Web or Mail Security with Dual Scanning, on April 12th, 2010 the mode will be switched to "Single Scan" automatically. For customers using these older versions, if dual scanning engines are important to you, please update to the latest ASG version.

Note: Versions 7.0xx and 7.1xx are not covered and should be upgraded to a higher version before April 15th. If you are running a version older than 7.400 and have further questions, or require help in updating to the newest revision of ASG V7, please open a support ticket or contact your Astaro partner for assistance.

RED is in limited BETA now and will be available soon for all to purchase. You can find out more about Astaro RED here.

More 7.504 details are available by reading on...

This release has a few new features, such as the ability to totally remove (de-proxy) sites from the HTTPS filter using new functionality for exceptions (thus passing them out the packet filter). You can now make exceptions for Web by Category! This is quite powerful when used in combination with the new HTTPS exceptions ability above, such as for not HTTPS inspecting for privacy reasons any sites categorized as Financial/Banking. Also new are the support for hosting of a Proxy PAC file, and another for privacy - the ability to remove some HTTP events completely from logging (and subsequently reporting). Rounding out the new things are an Uplink monitor/action feature and wildcard SMTP routing support. There are also dozens of bugfixes, tweaks, and stability changes. 

Official Details:

Download Information

Link: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.504.tgz.gpg
Size : 177.662.729 bytes
Md5sum: 670c1eb0996b3f38d79f0a9ca66d8364

Remarks

• Configuration will be upgraded
• Your system will be rebooted
• *IMPORTANT* - RED devices will perform a firmware upgrade after first connect
  For testers of RED: Your device will perform a firmware upgrade (blinking LEDs) - do not power off the RED unit while upgrading, or you can corrupt the flash!  

New

• Added WebAdmin support for RED devices
• Added Internet connection monitoring
• Added HTTP Proxy PAC file hosting
• Added HTTP Proxy exception options for SSL and logging
• Added option to skip HTTP Proxy checks based on categories
• Added option to configure HTTP Proxy authentication realm
• For the new things in ASG 7.5 you can view the Release Notes here.

Bugfixes  

Fix [11235]: "ICMP Fragmentation needed" packets are not handled correctly when using Multipath
Fix [11420]: Cannot log archive to windows share when windows password contains a percent sign (%).
Fix [11425]: Classic base licenses no longer allows basic SMTP usage
Fix [11453]: Virus pattern updates may conflict with HTTP Proxy
Fix [11531]: You must specify a route target (internal server) error message on SMTP profile systems
Fix [11660]: Directory listing for FTP folder over HTTP proxy is empty
Fix [11760]: Reporting Exceptions missing from AWG and AMG Appliances
Fix [11807]: MIME blocking inspects HTTP body not working
Fix [11837]: Prefetch of an AD user fails if the mail address is case-sensitive
Fix [11871]: IPS logging can cause root partition fillup
Fix [11987]: Can't dissolve bridge or remove bridge ports
Fix [12176]: PPTP routing is broken if PPTP pool is part of the internal network
Fix [12338]: Snort SID link in IPS notifications is invalid
Fix [12466]: HTTP Proxy may not recognize new eDir users logging in
Fix [12596]: AMG/AWG backup import to ASG not possible

 Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: Astaro AxG Up2Date
   Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2

(All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.502] Real Time Bandwidth Monitor ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server to try: http://demo.astaro.com

Details:

Download Information

ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.503.tgz.gpg
Md5sum: 1f2f158633edfb6a768958745c26acb3
Size: 5.12 Megabytes

Remarks

• Configuration will not be upgraded
• Middleware will be restarted
• Existing connections will be reestablished

News  

• This package addresses a licensing issue only
• For the new things in ASG 7.5 you can view the Release Notes here.

Bugfix

[ID12695] HTTP Proxy content filter does not work properly with new license model

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.502] Real Time Bandwidth Monitor ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server to try: http://demo.astaro.com

Astaro is connected to the Microsoft Active Protection Program and therefore it is possible for the product's IPS to recognize and block attacks before other vendors are able to do so.

According to the Goodwin article, this attack has been in existence and remained undetected for almost nine years. Obviously this attack is "highly sophisticated" and the only reason we are aware of the exploit now is because a very prominent company (Google), was targeted and compromised. It is important to note that Internet Explorer version 8 and Windows 7 were both able to withstand this attack- once again confirming the importance of updating your software.

Microsoft is encouraging Internet Explorer users to upgrade version 8, a move that will help protect users from other known vulnerabilities. I believe the Google compromise is just the tip of the iceberg. Just because we are now aware of this exploit does not mean all networks and systems are fixed. Now that the vulnerability in Internet Explorer has been publicized we can expect more attacks looking to take advantage of the vulnerability until a patch is made.

The next patch is scheduled for February 9th, however there is speculation a patch may be issued prior to the scheduled patch date. A final thought about this exploit is how it transcends international borders. The cyber-criminals who created this exploit are from China but used the global reach of Internet Explorer to gain access to email accounts of users who trust Google from all over the world. We truly live in a global world.

New Features

ASC V9.2 offers the following major new features, among others:

Windows 7 Support
Fll support is provided for the new Microsoft operating system Windows 7 from version 9.2 onwards. In general the following Windows desktop operating systems are now supported:
* Windows XP (32/64 Bit) 
* Windows Vista (32/64 Bit
* Windows 7 (32/64 Bit)  
Additionally, the Secure Client supports the new Intel Wi-Fi drivers, starting from version 12.4.0.21, and it is compatible to the mobile broadband support in Windows 7.
Important notes:
* Installation of the Astaro Secure Client under Windows 7 demands a license key of version 9.20.
* In case of an update from Windows Vista to Windows 7, the monitor of a Client version 9.2 , licensed with a license key 9.1, can only be started in order to enter a license key of version 9.2.
* All other new features as described below can also be used with a 9.1 license key under Windows XP and Windows Vista
* The support for Windows 2000 has been discontinued, starting with Astaro Secure Client version 9.2.

Wi-Fi-Roaming
If the laptop is moved within the range of several access points with the same SSID, the system automatically switches to an access point with higher field strength in the case of low Wi-Fi reception. Applications communicating via this VPN tunnel are usually not affected by the change of access point. This allows the user to move across the corporate campus (e.g. with a laptop), without the need to set up new Wi-Fi connections.

State Display during Wi-Fi Scans and Connection Set Up
If "Wi-Fi" is activated, a periodical scan for Wi-Fi networks is run. During scanning the respective icon is animated. Connection set up to an access point is displayed with a blinking yellow ball on the left hand side of the selected SSID of the Wi-Fi network. A green ball indicates the established connection to a Wi-Fi access point. If several Wi-Fi access points use the same SSID, a small red triangle is displayed next to the SSID.

Wi-Fi GUI with Tray Icon
If "Wi-Fi" has been activated, the affiliated tray icon appears in the taskbar. This icon shows the current connection state, the field strength and the mode of encryption. Clicking on the tray icon, all available Wi-Fi networks are displayed. Selecting one of the Wi-Fi networks either starts connection set up or the Wi-Fi profile wizard, if no Wi-Fi profile has been configured for this Wi-Fi network. The Wi-Fi profile wizard shortens profile configuration and automates connection set up to a new Wi-Fi network. The encryption mode (WEP, WPA...) is now automatically detected.

Tip of the day
With each start of the monitor, a new tip of the day (title) appears next to the corporate logo. Clicking on the tip title opens the affiliated HTML page in the default browser explaining the complete topic. The order of the tips is set in the daytips_en.ini within the installation directory \tips. The tips can also be hidden via the view menu of the Client Monitor.

Profile Export and Import
The profile settings offer the feature to export the selected profile and to import it to another client. Through this feature the same VPN profile can be easily transferred from one computer to another. Certificates, however, have to be imported separately.

Revised 3G Configuration
In the profile settings, a new parameter folder has been introduced for the communication medium GPRS / 3G. Three modes of 3G configuration are available:
* Provider list (default setting): By selecting the provider, the APN and the dial-up number is being suggested.
* APN from SIM card: The APN is read out of the SIM card. (This only works if an APN is configured on the SIM card.)
* User-defined: The user is free to configure all dial-up parameters manually. The provider list can be expanded via the file APN.ini in the installation directory.

Budget Manager History for the Previous Twelve Months
The "Budget Manager History" in the connection menu item records and displays either as tabulation or as chart the data volume over a maximum time span of the previous twelve months (provided line management is activated).

Vodafone Web Sessions Support
After setting up a VPN tunnel by clicking on "Connect", the user can log on to Vodafone web sessions and establish a VPN tunnel.

Integration of the Firewall State in the Windows Security Center / Action Center
The Windows Security Center/ Action Center display the availability of the ASC firewall. Since Microsoft has not yet implemented the affiliated API for Windows 7, this service is not available for Windows 7 at the moment Additional feature and installation information as well as the most current documentation can be found on the Astaro Knowledgebase at http://www.astaro.com/kb/ under Section Astaro Secure Client - Manuals and Guides.

How to update your client software

There are two ways for updating your client:

1. Start the Astaro Secure Client Monitor on your desktop. On the menu select "Help -> Search for New Updates". Click "Next" on the upcoming "Software Update Wizard" window. The client will now automatically search for new updates. If a newer version is found, you can click on the "Next" button to start the automatic installation immediately.
2. Use MyAstaro to download the new client software from our HTTP or FTP Server. When installing the new software an already existing version will be recognized and updated accordingly.

How to upgrade your license

If you have upgraded your system to Windows 7 you need to upgrade your ASC license to a V9.2 license by purchasing a one-time update license, which allows updating of an existing license by one or two releases. When purchasing the license you'll receive an activation key which must be applied to your existing license within MyAstaro. You'll then be offered a new file for download including the key that needs to be entered into your client.
Free License Upgrade
If you have purchased your existing ASC Version 9.1x license after May 1st 2009 and activated the license after 1st July 2009 (or if the license key has not been used yet) you will receive a new version 9.2 license free of charge by following these steps:
- Download the new Astaro Security Client software version from http://www.astaro.com/download/asc and install it on your PC. Alternatively you may upgrade your client directly via the "Help / Search for Updates" menu point within your current ASC client monitor.
- Reboot your PC.
- After starting the Astaro Secure Client Monitor, you will be notified that a V9.2 license is required. Click "OK".
- The window "License Data" will appear. Click on "Activation".
- Select "Online-Activation" and click on "Next".
- You will see a form presenting the license key. Click on "Next".
- If you are not connected to the internet yet, please connect now. Click on „Next".
- The Astaro Secure Client will now connect to the activations server and will retrieve a new activation key.

For more information please visit our website.

Your Product Management Team

Note: The feature remains the same, we've just changed the way the option is presented to the user. Your existing configuration behavior will not be changed; if you are already blocking these files they will stay blocked, if you are not blocking them, they will continue to pass.

Up2Date 7.502

Download Information  

Manual Download: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.502.tgz.gpg
Mirror: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.502.tgz.gpg
MD5sum: 71848b77d87ede7b4947beb4f3adc811
Size: 106.7MB (111901959 bytes)

Remarks

• Configuration will be upgraded
• System will be rebooted  

News 

• Improved SSL VPN client
• Improved loading of news feed display
• For the new things in ASG 7.5 you can view the Release Notes here

Bugfixes  

ID [08361] HTTP Proxy not working for VLANs on top of a bridge
ID [11070] All CA's listed in CA authorities will be added as signature
ID [11236] Bridge setup without an IP is not working
ID [11379] Missing fields for WebAdmin settings
ID [11407] For inline PGP encrypted emails only the attachment is decrypted
ID [11411] File downloads via ftphelper may be corrupt
ID [11430] SMTP work queue filled up after fail over which causes delay in delivery
ID [11524] Wrong aua connection count for transparent proxy
ID [11532] Handling of encrypted zip files is inconsistent
ID [11538] HA slaves can not connect to the internet via dynamic interfaces
ID [11544] Default gateway will not be set with SSL VPN client 1.5
ID [11620] DNS resolution problem through SSL VPN connection
ID [11753] Incoming mails with inline PGP encryption can cause problems

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on the "Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. (The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished.)
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
    Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2

(All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.501] Real Time Bandwidth Monitor ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server to try: http://demo.astaro.com

The Astaro Team

How will mandatory archiving affect organizational costs in terms of storage space?
The first issue with storage costs is predicting the space your company will require in the future. This is hard to do as e-mail storage is growing quickly (still). There is also a huge difference, depending on the archiving solution used on how much storage will be needed. Today, we can distinguish three types of archiving solutions: - On-premise software solutions that can be pure e-mail archiving products or part of a deployed DMS.

• On-premise hardware solutions of an appliance type.
• Hosted solutions offering off-site archiving in a cloud based approach.

From a cost perspective, on-premise solutions usually lack scalability, leading to high costs and a complex process to extend the archiving system once storage limits are reached. Also, it's very likely that storage costs per GB will continue to drop in the future, but on-premise solutions don't benefit from these reductions as they are always sized and licensed for a several years upfront.

Hosted solutions in contrast can offer storage resources that are continuously growing with the customer's requirements, virtually offering unlimited and automatic scalability. In general hosted solutions are often more predictable and flexible in costs as you have practically no upfront investments and pay for what you get - also benefiting for example from future price reductions for storage. In that, even not archiving at all also can lead to increasing storage and hardware costs: Usually email servers will quickly reach storage limits as email volumes are skyrocketing. This often requires new email server storage systems or even new email server - along with backup systems that meet the growing storage capacities.

How does email archiving assist in disaster recovery efforts in the event of an emergency?
While there are archiving solutions also offering special disaster recovery features let's keep one thing in mind: Having a good day-to-day backup and recovery strategy is a mandatory goal for every IT infrastructure. An archiving solution, whether on premises or off-site, should never be a substitute for this approach. That said and as a last resort, an e-mail archiving solution, especially when hosted off-site, can save you when everything else goes wrong.

For many companies, e-mail is a big asset still growing in importance. In case of a devastating incident not only tearing down your email servers but also you backup systems, even an on-site archive could be useless. In this case having your entire company's e-mail communication safely archived in a datacenter and instantly accessible from any web browser over the Internet can really make the difference! To close the circle, having an off-site e-mail repository in case of a disaster, can also be important from a compliance standpoint - at least in the future, as some indications can be found, that upcoming compliance regulations will make an off-site archive mandatory.

Yet another kind of a "disaster" may be the closure of a business. In this event it is also possible that for compliance reasons e-mails have to be maintained for years - even if the business premises together with the whole IT infrastructure and email servers don't exist anymore! In this case, a hosted email archive will maintain compliance - even better: this may come at no annual, additional cost!

Other benefits of email archiving
While legal compliance often is considered necessary evil, there are other good reasons for deploying an e-mail archiving solution, too. The implementation of an archive solution can have an instant and very welcome impact on a company's e-mail infrastructure:

• As older e-mails no longer need to be stored on the e-mail servers, valuable disk space can be recovered.
• With lower storage consumption, system backups will run faster, too.
• As more and more end-users will rely on the archive to search and retrieve information, the load and traffic resulting from accessing the servers will also be distributed, freeing even more e-mail server resources.

Speaking of end-users, they will experience a new and convenient method in managing their e-mails. They don't need to care any longer about accidentally deleting e-mails or slow and cumbersome searches through countless, diligently created folder structures in their e-mail client. An e-mail archive can ensure that all e-mails are securely stored never mind if the user deleted them from his inbox or not. And with strong full-text search engines it's a matter of seconds to find and retrieve e-mails with a simple, Google-like search. One of the biggest challenges administrators have to face when managing e-mail storage space so far is the uncontrolled creation of PST files.

PST files are local archives end-users can create on client PCs or even network shares. The motivation to use this feature in MS Outlook is mainly related to mailbox quotas: When confronted with a storage limit on his personal mailbox the end-user is easily tempted to use these simple archive files to circumvent the limitations. However, the risks of data leakage or loss are very high - central management nearly impossible. With an e-mail archive where all data is stored in one central, always accessible archive, PST files are dispensable. Even better: Many archiving solutions allow the assimilation of e-mails stored in existing PST files.

Ensuring emails remain secure
When archiving e-mails off-site through a hosted email archiving service, several areas must be considered to maintain privacy and secure storage of email messages. The first topic to look at is the way emails are transferred to the archive. As in a hosted service the data is usually transferred over the public internet they should be encrypted during transit. Once arriving in the archive however, the data should also be stored encrypted - only accessible by the customer himself.

That's an important point as some existing hosting solutions don't offer an encrypted storage or when offered only encrypt the whole archive but not individually for each customer. Together with the high availability and security standards of a datacenter where the emails are stored, the level of security reached by a hosted solution is often considerably higher than for example an SMB on-premise solution where suitable server rooms with according cooling, uninterrupted power supply and access control are often missing.

How cloud computing will play into email archiving
Summarizing the above, from a cost perspective as well as scalability and planning point of view it's a excellent alternative to traditional on-site solutions. That is especially the case where a complex and long deployment but also daily maintenance and monitoring efforts can't be accepted - e.g. for SMBs. Also, future legal requirements will probably make off-site compliance archiving mandatory.

How often should email be archived and saved? What happens between saves? Is there a way to automatically archive emails in real time?
Compliance regulations as well as simple day-to-day business needs, for example to reproduce an important e-mail communication, require that all e-mails that are business relevant are archived. There are different approaches to achieve this. Traditional archiving solutions often leave the choice of what to archive to the end-user. While this can have advantages as for example the ability to classify or categorize e-mails upfront, it has the critical disadvantage that important e-mails potentially do not get into the archive at all! For compliance standpoint so, manually archiving e-mails is not acceptable. The solution here is to use so-called journal archiving.

This is a built in capability offered by most e-mail servers which transfers a copy of all e-mails to a special archiving location automatically as soon as it is sent or received. While automatically archiving all e-mails is the best choice to comply with internal or legal regulations, critics often argue that this can result in archiving large amounts of spam messages. In fact this is a very important point. Therefore, it is recommended to put e-mail archiving into the context of the whole corporate messaging strategy: With an appropriate e-mail security solution that potentially even integrates with your archiving solution, this concerns can easily be overcome.

Release Notes and a new 2.1 Demo server are also available. Read on for the links and additional notes. For the outline of this Version, please see our ACC 2.1 soft-release announcement.

If you are already running a Version of ACC, you do not need to manually download anything, as the Up2Date will be distributed to you via our Content Distribution Network for installation.

Download Information

ACC Software ISO: (For use on your own Hardware)

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/software_appliance/iso/acc-2.100-091127-2.iso
Size: 528M (553,324,544 bytes)
MD5sum: c6c7b8aa754cfe9e9b3d9dd22d7925b4

ACC VMware ESX3: (For use in commercial VMware environments)  

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/virtual_appliance/acc-2.100-ESX-v3.zip
Size: 1.13GB (1,215,546,591 bytes)
MD5sum: a8bf1531ae966f79d551282a7d0afddb   

ACC VMware Player: (For use in by the casual VMware user)

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/virtual_appliance/acc-2.100-vmware.zip
MD5sum: 284239a3d7b1dbc8dd492917753f0e91
Size: 1.10GB (1,181,297,856 bytes)

Up2Date Package: (For Version 2.000 to Version 2.100)  

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/up2date/u2d-sys-2.100.tgz.gpg
MD5sum: 097a33c385a1fd9b384b09b43e37664d
Size: 291MB (304,640,462 bytes)

ACC U2D (2.070-100): (For users of the BETA 2.070 to Version 2.100)

URL:ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/u2d-sys-2.070-100.tgz.gpg
Size: 43MB (44,622,440 bytes)
MD5sum: 5dd4d9c778616bcd2dc34546058f3498

If you want to provide feedback or discuss any of the V2.1 features, please post it on our User Bulletin Board for ACC. Please take care to always add the version you are referring to (e.g. "[2.1] Global Objects Push..."). For feedback on our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.

There is also a demo server which runs the latest version of ACC at: http://accdemo.astaro.com

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

This is in contrast to the common key which was shared by all users in the past. The existing "free" ACC license key will expire at the end of 2009, and we will take this opportunity to provide both new and existing users with their own key. To obtain your new ACC license key, please visit this page and fill out the registration form, at which point an activation key will be sent to you for use in the myastaro.com portal.

Note that every installation of the Astaro Command Center comes fully licensed for 30 days by default. The existing common key used in the past (which was obtained from our web site) will be shortly removed and replaced with a link to this posting.

Enjoy Astaro Command Center 2.1!

Today's release will allow anyone at Beta Version 2.070 or Stable Version 2.000 to Up2Date to ACC 2.1 via manual FTP download. Beta Testers will also be able to Up2Date normally via the ACC WebAdmin, as if you are running the Beta the 2.100 Up2Date will be pushed to you.  

Release Schedule

At the end of next week, we will have a full release of ACC 2.1 via an Up2Date push to installed locations, along with full installation ISO's images and VMware images for download. This is one of our most exciting releases yet, and Astaro Command Center remains free of charge as a software or virtual appliance, and running on various official Astaro appliances for a nominal hardware fee. Read on for the full details! Building on Version 2.0 of the Astaro Command Center which introduced the ability to configure and work with site-to-site VPN tunnels, Version 2.1 offers new and evolved features to make the administrators life easier.

You will find a brand new Global Definitions feature, allowing Network and Service objects to be defined within ACC and then pushed to multiple Astaro installations instantly. The administrator can push, update, revoke and work with the in dozens of ways, even sharing objects between separated companies managed by the same ACC installation. We have a new Organizational Unit structure which allows the same ACC installation to manage different companies using multiple devices each, all with different levels of administrators and their employees.

We then took the time to add in a new central reporting and aggregation section, so you can see lots of detailed information about surfing, network usage (and over 20 other reports!) and even combine reports from multiple devices together to view aggregated results and totals. For those that like to have their realm graphically displayed, the ACC Worldmap has had new features and visuals added so you can see all your devices around the globe on an interactive map in real-time.

Astaro Command Center 2.1 Features

Organizational Unit Structure

• Encapsulate devices and objects (Such as customer-specific containers)
• Gives Partners many options for client and device management
• Elevates the multi-client capabilities of ACC to new heights with almost limitless combination's
• Improves overview, scalability and eases ACL handling

Global Definitions Capability 

• Make once, use many approach
• Centrally manage and roll-out Network and Service Definitions
• Automatic re-synchronization of deployed definitions when updated
• Merge existing local definitions with their new central counterparts
• Use "shared" Global Definitions on devices in separate Organizations

Device-based Reporting 

• At-a-glance graphical reporting of daily hardware (resource), network and security status
• Historical reporting of weekly, monthly and yearly time-frames
• Capability for zooming-in, comparing and sorting of reporting graphs
• Eliminates having to visit devices manually to view reports

Aggregated Reporting

• Generate reports of combined data from any desired number of devices
• Choose from pre-defined time frames or define a custom duration
• Print reports, drill-down to precise details, and use sorting and comparison features
• Create reports per managed organization or other flexible criteria such as by region
• Covers Accounting, Network Security, Web Security and Mail Security aspects
• More than 20+ reports are currently/already available, with more planned for the future!

Licensing

• Astaro Command Center remains a FREE product
• Personalized ACC keys will be made available next week  

Requirements 

• The new features in ACC V2.1 require an Astaro Installation at 7.501+  

Download Information

This new release is being made available initially as an Up2date package from Stable Version 2.000 or Beta Version 2.070, which must be manually loaded into WebAdmin. ISO's, Virtual Machine Images, and an Up2Date via our Content Distribution Network will be released next week.  

ACC Up2Date from Stable 2.000 --> Version 2.100:

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/up2date/u2d-sys-2.100.tgz.gpg
Size: 291M (304.640.462 bytes)
Md5sum: 097a33c385a1fd9b384b09b43e37664d

ACC Up2Date from BETA 2.070 --> Version 2.100:

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/u2d-sys-2.070-100.tgz.gpg
Size: 43M (44.622.440 bytes)
Md5sum: 5dd4d9c778616bcd2dc34546058f3498

Astaro ACC Download Mirrors:

Note: These may take some time to synchronize.  
- Astaro US
- Astaro US2
- Astaro Germany
- Astaro Germany2

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V2.1 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to always(!) add the version you refer to (e.g. "[2.1] Global Objects Push..."). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.

There is also a demo server which will run ACC Version 2.1 shortly: http://accdemo.astaro.com

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

For this release, numbered ACC Beta 2.070, we have both an Up2Date for existing V2.060 installations and a full 2.070 ISO image. For our users of ACC who did not want to re-install in order to use the new ACC 2.1 BETA features like aggregated device reporting, new central objects support, and improved role management, we also have an Up2Date package for moving from our production ACC V2 to BETA V2.070. Read on for details and download links!  

Note:

We have issued TWO Up2Dates this time, one for existing BETA testers and one for users of the production/stable ACC V2. Please be sure you download the correct package!

Changes:

• Usability enhancements for new Aggregated Reporting feature
• Bug fixes based on UBB feedback and Internal QA testing
• Updated online-help(s) and manual(s) for both Gateway Manager and WebAdmin GUI
• Updated Installer and Kernel  

Download Information

ACC ISO (Software Appliance on your own X86 Hardware):

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2.1/beta/acc-2.070-091119-1.iso
Size: 534M (558.931.968 bytes)
MD5sum: c91bda9e7e22df9d7dbc1c49c0c8ed82

ACC Up2Date (2.000-2.070 for users of the existing production ACC version):

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2.1/beta/u2d-sys-2.000-070.tgz.gpg
Size: 287M (300.767.414 bytes)
MD5sum: 722d6438ad248f77473f91ae6ae33b19

ACC U2D (2.060-070 for existing BETA testers)

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2.1/beta/u2d-sys-2.060-070.tgz.gpg
Size: 111M (116.374.572 bytes)
MD5sum: f70ff6a191eee0d9941dabb15ba18b1d

Feedback

For the original ACC 2.1 Beta announcement, please read here. Please post all Beta feedback (no matter how big or small) and discuss any of the ACC 2.1 features on our Beta Forum for this Version.

Testing Rewards
Your feedback is important to us. You catch things we might miss. You use the product in ways we might not have considered. And the more eyes we have on a version, the better the chance we are able to identify and resolve something early. It allows us to deliver a final product to you of the highest quality for use in a production network. As a result, participants in our Beta Program for ACC V2.1 will have the chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards totaling over 600 dollars. Please qualify by actively posting and participating in discussions on our Beta version forum. At the end of the test, we will award prizes to the top participants.

Regards,
-Your Astaro Product Management Team
 

As a thank you for your active participation we will provide active participants with a free 6 months subscription to the archiving service!
Discover the advantages of our hosted e-mail archiving solution:  

Offload your Mail Server
Regain valuable resources back from your messaging server by reducing the storage occupied by e-mails with a reliable and secure way to transfer them to the hosted archiving service.  

Eliminate PST Files
The high risk of data loss and inefficient e-mail management implied by the use of PST files can be solved by eliminating the need for them in the first place and providing the means to consolidate existing PST files into one single corporate archive.

Archive Revision-Safe
In many countries, businesses are obliged to archive e-mails for several years due to legal requirements. Astaro Mail Archiving Service lets you decide what needs to be archived and for how long. Discovery tasks can be fulfilled with special auditor privileges.

Locate E-Mails in Seconds
Astaro Mail Archiving Service provides a new experience to the user because messages can be found in seconds no matter whether the search terms are part of subject, body or attachment of an e-mail. Whenever it comes to storing data within a hosted environment, data privacy is a crucial point. Therefore, all messages archived during the BETA period are at no point accessible by third parties, are encrypted before storing them in the cloud and are deleted after the trial period.

Start today - register here.

This is a stability release designed to strengthen your installation by addressing bugs and improving system operation. We also took the opportunity to update the Astaro Command Center device agent for better compatibility with the current 2.1 Beta of that free product.  

Up2Date 7.501 Details

Remarks

• Existing configuration will be upgraded without change/impact. *NOTE*: System will be rebooted

News

• Add support for upcoming ACC 2.1
• In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.5, please read the V7.5 Release Notes PDF.

Fixes

Fix [7641]: NIC autonegotiation not working in all cases
Fix [10909]: Middleware problem after restarting the service
Fix [11257]: Auto packetfilter rules missing for special traffic in HTTP Proxy
Fix [11259]: IP counting in bridge configuration not working in all cases
Fix [11299]: Unreachable Astaro news feed can break the dashboard
Fix [11302]: SSL VPN not starting correctly
Fix [11359]: SMTP proxy is not usable any longer if no mail subscription is installed
Fix [11383]: Cluster distribution enabled on HA systems
Fix [11424]: While email-subscription is missing, scanning of outgoing/incoming mails remains active.  

Up2Date Package Details  

Size: 76.486.158 bytes (72.94 MegaBytes)
Md5sum: 14df9e04c1d9873f59edc86ffaadcd85  

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)
    

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.501] Real Time Bandwidth Monitor ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com   

The Astaro Team

Today we are unveiling the chance for you to download and test ACC V2.1 BETA, which adds the ability to centrally define and use objects like Network and Service definitions, improvements in multi-user/multi-device operations, and a totally new aggregated reporting ability which collects and displays reports from single or multiple installations. Perhaps quite importantly, ACC is currently a FREE offering from Astaro, and doesn't cost anything to use, even in a commercial environment.

So if you haven't yet seen the Astaro Command Center, don't miss out any longer. Read on for how you can help test, and win some Amazon reward money for your efforts! The first iteration of this ACC 2.1 Beta, dubbed Version 2.050, is available as an ISO image only. We may issue an Up2Date package which can be manually applied to your existing ACC 2.0 installation at a later time. ACC is easy, provides great visibility and tools to manage Astaro installations, and has the same look and feel of the AxG product line WebAdmin.

Operational Note

•  The Astaro Command Center has TWO portals: 
  HTTPS port 4444 is to setup and configure the Command Center itself,
  while HTTPS port 4422 is where you login to work with your connected Astaro devices.

If you haven't yet experienced ACC, to use this new Version, simply download the ISO image and install it on a dedicated X86 platform of your choice, just like you would with an Astaro Security Gateway software installation. Alternatively, you can load the ISO in your virtualization platform of choice, like VMware ESX. (At a later date, we will also update the ACC offerings with updated, purpose-built VMware images). 

ACC V2.050 Details

Download Information

URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/Astaro_Command_Center/v2.1/beta/acc-2.050-091020-2.iso
Size: 524MB (549.011.456 bytes)
Md5sum: 2a6cdc0a95c2681299485d22038fdc9f
*The underlying base system and framework of this release is AxG 7.501.

Major features

Global definitions/objects support
If you find yourself defining the same things in multiple Astaros, this feature will save you a lot of time. Simply define an object like a Mail Server or other resource once in ACC, and watch it populate to the desired Astaro installations where it can be worked with just like a locally created item. Lots of usefull applications for this one.

Improved Multi-client Support
Since V2 launched, ACC has the ability to create some very specific roles and permissions for users and the connected devices. We have improved this area in many ways, with even more choices in how you configure multiple companies, regions, devices, administrators, and other staff with permissions. ACC is perfect for managing hundreds of devices in a single company, dozens of companies all with a single device, or any profile in between. ACC is used both by single administrators as a throne-room for their operations, or by Partners/MSP's which manage all their separate companies through a single ACC installation. Try it and see what you can do!

Device-based and aggregated reporting
Using this entirely new feature of ACC, connected devices can have their various reports displayed from within ACC. Further, it is possible to select some or all of the devices and view reports as a consolidated total, giving you great insight into multiple installations without having to deal with each site separately.

Other changes

• Many usability and monitoring improvements across the ACC GUI. 

Bugfixes

[10094] Device name sporadically missing when a new device connects
[10179] Tooltip is cropped when browser window is too small 
[10217] Display date and time of last known device connection 
[10538] Increase number of available Gateway Manager sessions 
[11504] Gateway Manager GUI drag-and-drop functionality in Firefox 3.5 not working 

Feedback

Please post all Beta feedback (no matter how big or small) and discuss any of the ACC 2.1 features on our Beta Forum for this Version.

Testing Rewards

Your feedback is important to us. You catch things we might miss. You use the product in ways we might not have considered. And the more eyes we have on a version, the better the chance we are able to identify and resolve something early. It allows us to deliver a final product to you of the highest quality for use in a production network. As a result, participants in our Beta Program for ACC V2.1 will have the chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards totaling over 600 dollars. Please qualify by actively posting and participating in discussions on our Beta version forum. At the end of the test, we will award prizes to the top participants. 

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

However, if you have already updated to 7.500 and now experience some surfing issues or erratic behavior with your active/passive HA system, please contact support and they will be happy to apply a small workaround for you, or read on for the fix if you would like to apply it yourself via the command line until 7.501 is officially released.  

Update

7.501 has been soft-released which fully fixes this issue. If you apply 7.501 you do NOT need to do any fixes/workarounds as described above for this issue. We'll have a full post on the 27th of October when it is fully launched via our CDN.

For now, if you get this Up2Date package manually (Available here via our FTP) Workaround for ACTIVE/PASSIVE HA systems experiencing surfing issues after up2date 7.500 is applied.  
*Note, CLUSTER systems are unaffected by this and should not change their configuration!

Workaround

Login to command line, and super-user up to root privileges:
* Edit /etc/ha/cluster.cf and replace every instance of "auto" with "none"
* Edit /etc/ha/cluster.cf-default and replace "[(CLUSTER_***_DIST)]" with "none"
* Execute "/etc/init.d/ha reload" Remember, this is not required that you do manually yourself.

Your Astaro Support team will happily do this for you if you experience this issue!

Regards,
Astaro

Two packages have been released, one for the 7.405 users, and another for those still at the last Beta of 7.490. Accompanying this release are updated Virtual Appliance images for VMware ESX3+ and VMware Player/Workstation/Server.

These are found on our FTP Site in the Virtual Appliance directory for the desired product. As a small roadmap announcement, we are working on totally new VMware images that are designed for use with the new VMware vSphere architecture.

Enjoy 7.5!

Also released are the SSI Images for the Astaro Smart Installer, a special USB drive which fully emulates the hardware of a USB CD-ROM in a portable form factor at full USB 2 speeds. If you frequently prepare your own hardware or image Astaro appliances, these are very handy to have! Note that you cannot use ASI Images to burn items to an everyday USB drive, you need an actual ASI for this. Read on for the ISO details.

Download Information

Mirrors

In addition to our direct-links below on our main Germany mirror, V7.5 ISO images can be found from any of our three other official FTP Mirrors:

• Germany secondary
• US Main
• US Secondary

ISO Image Details

•   We will release new VMware Images next week around October 5th.  

ASG Software Appliance Images (For use on your own X86 hardware)

ASG

ISO Image for Astaro Security Gateway Software
ISO-Size : 556.965.888 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: 9d1272a3ae929292db724b11b0773882
ASI Image for Astaro Security Gateway Software
ASI-Size : 510.910.114 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: 8b2be8179a1cbbe02b9794a62dbf424c

AMG

ISO Image for Astaro Mail Gateway Software
ISO-Size : 519.202.816 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: dc94ab8c0a894651baad2c4527ca34a9
ASI Image for Astaro Mail Gateway Software
ASI-Size : 480.915.752 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: 2af75e0ce0e10297307f88a9f6f9031a

AWG

ISO Image for Astaro Web Gateway Software
ISO-Size : 506.411.008 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: 410ccdd058afffbfb94ad19ebd31ec76
ASI Image for Astaro Web Gateway Software
ASI-Size : 468.868.147 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: 03c4295ebd3c56458a2d5b28461e4bea

ASG Hardware Appliance Images

ASG

ISO Image for Astaro Security Gateway Hardware Appliances
ISO-Size : 580.587.520 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: 250f429c70ce618b433f8b03596189b6
ASI Image for Astaro Security Gateway Hardware Appliances
ASI-Size : 468.868.147 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: 03c4295ebd3c56458a2d5b28461e4bea

AMG

ISO Image for Astaro Mail Gateway Hardware Appliances
ISO-Size : 580.587.520 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: 250f429c70ce618b433f8b03596189b6
ASI Image for Astaro Mail Gateway Hardware Appliances
ASI-Size : 491.941.288 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: fc9466834fea6aca6e2a898e9dc5c00c

AWG

ISO Image for Astaro Web Gateway Hardware Appliances
ISO-Size : 523.188.224 bytes
ISO-Md5sum: 9546a155e61d1fc6a3b4608c3718aecd
ASI Image for Astaro Web Gateway Hardware Appliances
ASI-Size : 478.745.894 bytes
ASI-Md5sum: d34a6fe1cfcaf7d024f951b5ec234235

-The Astaro Product Management Team

This release is for all Astaro Gateway Products. Due to the size and significance of this release, we are rolling it out in phases. Immediately, there are Up2Date packages which will upgrade existing 7.405 and 7.490 installations. Next week, we will release ISO images for all Astaro appliances, and on October 1st, there will be a push of the 7.500 package via our content distribution network to all customers. For the details about our 7.500 release, please read on... As a major point-release, you will find a lot of new capabilities. Reading this post carefully will answer most questions you might have.  

What's new in V7.500?

7.500 adds over 50 new features and conveniences (and 700+ individual changes!), most of which are directly a result of submitted features by our partners and customer base. As this post is an overview, for full descriptions and details, please read the 7.500 Release Notes (PDF). I would also like to invite you to visit feature.astaro.com to register/spend your points on what we might do next.

Major New Things

Intrusion Protection Performance

• Uses new version of the IPS engine
• Scales massively when used with Multi-Core CPU/Appliances

Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor

• New Interface utilization bars on Dashboard (setup scale via editing the Interface and filling in new parameters for Upload/Download)
• Click for detailed overview as to "whats happening in my network right now"  

Import/Export Widget 

• Gives the ability to work with manual lists for many features/fields
• Useful to import a large blacklist (for example) into the URL Blacklist
• Can been seen in many user-input boxes in Web, Mail and more. (Green Up/Down Arrows)  

Transparent Authentication Support for Web Security 

• Allows users to authenticate against a Portal-Style page
• Allows for username based tracking, reporting, and surfing without changing browser settings
• Currently logo can be customized. Text,HTML, and further customizations planned for a later time.
• Configurable Timeout via HTTP-->Advanced. (Default 900s)  

Clone Objects 

• Easily duplicate existing objects for quick re-use.
• Supported in most places for many objects (Definitions, Services, Certain Profiles/Actions) 

Extended Network Security Reporting 

• Added Detailed Packet Filter/Firewall Reports
• Added Detailed IM/P2P Reports  

Reputation Support for Web Security 

• Allows use of the trustedsource.org reputation for Web Filtering
• Adds an additional check when allowing sites to be visited based on their degree of evil  

DHCP Improvements 

• Automatically map a current lease to a static assignment
• Limit DHCP leases to those with static assignments only
• Configurable DHCP lease time
• Servers retain configuration when enabled/disabled  

Multicast Routing Daemon 

• PIM-SM Routing support  

Other New Things

• Windows SSL VPN Upgraded - New Client which supports 64-bit operating systems and configuration file parameters. (Download client again via the UserPortal)
• Improved HTTP Caching - Increases hit/usage rates with new logic, making the cache more effective.
• Quarantine/UserPortal Usability - Adds navigation to the bottom (supplementing the existing controls at the top), large amounts (250-1000) of displayed items per page, and sorting by subject line.
• Default Definition for "Internet" - Created to specify "Internet" as an object which will exclude internal network(s) to aid policy creation (0.0.0.0/0 on Gateway interface) Customizable Shortcuts - Change the default Ctrl+Key assignments to fit your preference
• Improved Definition/Services Sidebar - Mouse-over now instantly shows full name and extended info to aid identifying desired object for drag 'n drop, especially for long names
• User List shows static IPs - if assigned/configured (no need to edit in order to view)
• Live Log Negation - use to filter live logs to not show lines that match "-" entries i.e. -test to remove lines containing "test"
• Console/SSH Logins Trigger a notification - provides admin the needed insight when accessed.
• Instant Email Backup - Button for every created backup file which allows it to be sent immediately via email to configured addresses
• Custom text for notifications - Allows easier identification of which installation is sending the message. Especially useful if managing multiple sites using notifiers.
• Test NTP Sync - Button to immediately poll the configured NTP server
• Automatic Backup before Up2Date install Configurable Default for Lists - Allows for the amount of items per page (Packet Filter Rules, or anywhere there is a number amounts drop down) to have a larger default view
• Cluster/HA Serial Number View - Information on connected units made easier
• Schedule Firmware Installation - When an Up2Date for Firmware is available, you can schedule it to auto-install at a certain time (not recurring)
• WebAdmin Network Section Split - Now two sections; "Network" and "Network Services" for usability.
• Search Boxes Retain Data - No need to re-enter query when returning from a drill down/result click.
• System Restart Reason - Allows logging of "why was system restarted" in the notification
• Group Tool tips for Members - Easily discern Network/Service Group members without having to edit in order to view
• Reporting Exclusions - Used to remove unwanted entries from various reports (such as Google-analytics from Web Security tables
• Log Flag for NAT Rules - Similar to packet filter, tells you which NAT rule was matched as part of traffic handling
• Masquerading for Additional IP Addresses - Allows the use of Masquerading (vs. just SNAT) for additional IP's bound to an interface
• Support for Multiple Authentication Servers - The authentication server section has been redesigned to support fallback/failover in an easier format, with many usability improvements
• SNMP MIB - Downloadable via the SNMP section of WebAdmin
• Up2date Status Reworked - Clarifies the current status of a Firmware Up2date to avoid confusion regarding the availability, download progress etc...of an issued Up2date.
• Up2Date Content Distribution Network - Significantly increases the speed of Up2Date downloads using a cloud-based CDN.
• Inline/Snap Report Links - Directly moves the Admin to the relevant details report when browsing the embedded daily reports located throughout WebAdmin
• Global POP3 Sender Blacklist - Quarantined as "other" in the QM/EUP
• Dashboard RSS Feed - Provides visibility to select Astaro-issued items via WebAdmin
• ASG 110/120 WatchDog - Provides auto-restart of ASG 110/120 appliances during rare times of crisis. Since they are often at branch offices or remote locations, this check will auto-restart the unit after most types of any failure (eg. voltage spike)
• New German Translation - The online help and other documentation has been updated with a reworked and much more accurate German-language translation
  *Various other features, enhancements, and usability improvements

Up2Date Package Information

7.500 is currently offered as an Up2Date package which is manually downloaded and installed. There are 2 packages - one for V7.405->V7.500 and one for Beta testers using V7.490->V.7500. We will have ISO images next week, followed by a push of the 7.500 Up2Date via our Content Distribution Network on October 1st.

7.405 -> 7.500 Up2Date:

Link : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/u2d-sys-7.500.tgz.gpg
Size : 252,392,637 bytes (240.7 MB)
Md5sum: d12668b99ca03b97cab7ccfe73d29775

7.490 -> 7.500 Up2Date:

Link : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.490-500.tgz.gpg
Size: 78,404,495 bytes (74.77 MB)
Md5sum: 272088d0d7794f89606235f52cb496cb

Bugfixes

Fix [07631]: Problem showing logged in remote users after HA takeover
Fix [10027]: Network and service group definitions unordered after 7.400 up2date
Fix [10123]: Dashboard view of RAM incorrectly labeled SWAP on Japanese webadmin
Fix [10181]: Wrong translation (English => German or French) in HTTP-Profiles >> FilterActions
Fix [10195]: Same domain name in request routing and static entries prevents named from starting
Fix [10221]: SSL Site2Site VPN default route to remote site does not work
Fix [10374]: License expiry when BIOS clock resets
Fix [10375]: IPSec local hosts/networks are missing in ASC-Configfile, if you add more than 5 hosts
Fix [10387]: Webadmin AWG and ASG - Translation error in "Filteraktion" of http profiles
Fix [10425]: Slave stuck in status UP2DATE and update was not started on slave
Fix [10708]: VPN connections cannot established on iPhone 3.0 using Cisco VPN client.
Fix [10808]: After update to version 7.403 the remote access menu item is missing

Special Home User Keys

Our Beta Testers of the 7.500 release will shortly (we promise!) receive information about their special Beta Tester Home Use Key, and we will announce the Amazon Gift Card winners then as well.

Feedback

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.500] IPS"). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server that will soon showcase all the new shiny things: http://demo.astaro.com

Enjoy the new things!

Regards,
-Astaro Product Management and R&D Teams

This release also fixes some bugs with SSL VPN. We very much appreciate your continued feedback in our ASG Beta Forum. Details are below. It is not too late to join the Beta and qualify for special, extended home-use licenses and some Amazon Gift cards! See our V7.500 Beta contest announcement for details and download links for ISO's and Up2Dates. Happy testing! This release is available Up2Date download package from 7.480. If you wish to join the Beta at this point, you can do so using the ISO images and Up2Date packages from the Beta area of our FTP site.

Please note: If you are already testing the 7.480 Beta release, your installation will automatically download 7.490 and make it available to install via WebAdmin. You do not need to download and install this package manually (unless you wish to).

Details and Download

Up2Date 7.490 Package: 

• FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.480-490.tgz.gpg
• Size: 240635901 bytes (229.49MB)
• MD5sum: f3dedf7bcf61782c30dd8ce56189bc76

Thank you for your continued testing and feedback!

Regards,
The Astaro Team

As Version 6 has long been replaced by Version 7, customers still using V6 should immediately move to this version to get the latest features and ensure they are operating a supported and maintained product version. Customers running V6 on an ASG appliance can move to Version 7 via the Up2Date section of WebAdmin by performing an on-box upgrade via the button and prompts. We have altered this process to bring the unit to a more recent Version 7.405.

If administrators would like to cleanly install V7 on their ASG appliances by wiping the existing system (or for those customers who are using V6 on their own hardware platforms), you can make a backup file of your V6 configuration, install Version 7 from ISO image, and then restore much of your configuration into V7 from the V6 backup file. Appliances and/or hardware platforms can be installed using the Astaro Smart Installer or an external USB CD-Rom drive.

Important Note

Version 7's architecture differs massively from the older Version 6 framework. Due to how data is stored in databases in Version 7 vs. flat files in Version 6, some areas of the configuration cannot be "converted" and will have to be rebuilt in V7. For more information on the process of moving to Version 7, please see this Knowledge Base Link. For additional questions and assistance with the V6->V7 Upgrade, your Astaro Partner or Support Team will be happy to help!

Up2Date 6.315 Details

Remarks

• Required previous version is 6.314
• Existing configuration will not be changed
• Middleware will be restarted
• Active IP and VPN connections will be restarted
• Depending on the speed of the CPU the Up2Date installation will take a few minutes Size: 2.73 Mega Bytes (2861778 bytes) MD5sum: 36fb15fa2162c2a39f26cbed7223c6aa  

Fixes

• please refer to the final known issue list on http://www.astaro.com/kb
• Fixed bind (DNS) vulnerability CVE-2009-0696 All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced.

Regards,
The Astaro Product Management Team

This release of the Beta can now be installed as a manually-added Up2Date package from our stable 7.405 version, so those who are eager to get using all the new things do not need to re-install and import a backup to use this release.

Licensing of Beta

If you are currently using the Beta and are at or past the trial period offered by an earlier Beta license, please use this key for ASG Hardware Appliances or if you are using your own hardware platform then use this key. If you have any licensing questions or problems while testing for us, please let us know on the forums! Read on for links, details, and other awesomeness...

Overview

Based on our own internal testing and a lot of great reports in the UBB Beta Forum for 7.500, we've fixed bugs, tweaked a few features, and applied polish to all areas in order to get it GA ready. It is not too late to participate and qualify for a special home user license with more protected IP's, and a shot at some Amazon gift cards! If you would like some direction in what to keep testing, we are specifically interested in getting feedback from the following areas:

• All types of authentication services, especially using the new multiple authentication servers ability.
• All types of interface types (DHCP, PPPoE, PPPoA, VLAN, ...)  
• IPsec VPN Site-to-Site and Roadwarrior connections
• IPS detection rate, false positives and overall performance
• HTTP/S Proxy configuration and usage
• Availability groups used all over the product in creative ways
• VMware installations (especially running in vSphere 4)  

*Please Read this Carefully*

If you are already testing the 7.470 Beta release, your installation will automatically download the Up2Date and make it available to install via WebAdmin. You do not need to download this package manually! (unless you wish to). However if you are at 7.405 and want to install the beta, it will NOT show up in your Up2Date list automatically, you'll have to retrieve it using the links below, and upload it via WebAdmin to your unit (don't forget to click "apply"! If you have questions on this or need help, please join us on the 7.500 Beta User Forums and we'll happily assist.

Details and Download

The 7.470-780 package will be distributed via our beta update server. All images and updates can be quickly be found at: our Beta area on our primary FTP site

Up2Date 7.480 Package:

Up2Date 7.405-480

*(For those at the current 7.405 stable who wish to now enjoy the beta) 
Size: 242924301 bytes (231.67 Megabytes)
Md5sum: 22c3294e61d8bf18b74e60c51f11fd86
European Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.405-480.tgz.gpg
US Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.405-480.tgz.gpg

Up2Date 7.470-480

*(For those using the Beta who wish to manually move from 7.470-7.480 without using automatic Up2Date downloads in WebAdmin)
Size: 205012879 bytes (195.52 Megabytes)
Md5sum: 400ccd740740debf4ad7461c6837c16c
European Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.470-480.tgz.gpg
US Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.470-480.tgz.gpg

Software image (ASG)

*(Full .iso file for use with your own X86 Hardware platform fresh install)
Size: 537290752 bytes (512.40 Megabytes)
Md5sum: 47e25e65241f952b7f642639dc79d3a5
European Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/asg-7.480-090811-2.iso
US Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/beta/asg-7.480-090811-2.iso

Appliance image (SSI)

*(Full .iso file for use with Astaro appliances and the Astaro Smart Installer)
Size: 560902144 bytes (534.92 Megabytes)
Md5sum: 92232d2c8edfff147dcba8d9aacf5045
European Primary FTP: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/ssi-7.480-090811-2.iso
US Primary FTP:ftp://ftp.astaro.com/pub/ASG/v7/beta/ssi-7.480-090811-2.iso

There are also other mirror sites where you can get the files at:

• Europe Secondary Mirror: ftp2.astaro.de
• US Secondary Mirror: ftp2.astaro.com

Thank you for your continued testing and feedback!

Regards,
Your Astaro Team

It will spread within minutes to your appliance via our content distribution network. The details of 7.405 continue below. This Up2Date package is to patch a couple areas with essential security fixes. No other changes are included as part of this release.  

Up2Date 7.405 Details

Remarks: 

• Existing configuration will not be changed
• This package will be auto-downloaded and made ready for installation
• NOTE: *System will be rebooted*  

News:

• Fixes for possible vulnerabilities
• In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.4, please read the V7.4 Release Notes PDF.

Fixes:

[Fix] 11064: Bind Dynamic Update DoS, CVE-2009-0696
[Fix] 11086: Address remaining Pluto vulnerablity to DoS by forged x509 certificates, CVS-2009-2661 (CVE-2009-2185 part 2)  

Download Information:

Astaro Main FTP
Size: 3453875 bytes (3.30 Megabytes)
Md5sum: 60fb9753a7c63abeca04c80e035294ed

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:  

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.  
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:  
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)
    

Feedback 

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.405] WAN Link Balancing ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com

The Astaro Team

Due to the way our Beta infrastructure is organized and separated from the production/GA release network, this Up2Date package may take a while for your ASG to acquire fully. Any download slowness or delays in the package propagating to your Beta-test are due to this reason only, and when the GA version launches it will use the full power of our content distribution network. You can read on for the full details of this Beta Up2date! At around 175 Megabytes in size, its a very large Up2Date, so please be patient as it distributes.

We have made improvements to SSL VPN, WebAdmin, HTTP Proxy, Reporting, and the Flow Monitor, along with most other areas of the Beta. This release is available both as an Up2Date download package from 7.460 (Beta 2), as well as a full ISO image for both ASG appliances and software installs on your own hardware platform. Feel free to join us in the Beta using these options, or you can re-install at any time with the latest Beta version and restore a backup from any 7.40x or Beta 7.5 release for continued testing.

Please note:

If you are already testing the 7.460 Beta release, your installation will automatically download the Up2Date and make it available to install via WebAdmin. You do not need to download this package manually (unless you wish to).  

Details and Download

Up2Date 7.470 Package

Size : 184484744 bytes (175MB)
MD5sum: a5f784ec85bfecb8a6d61508ce1f41b9
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.460-470.tgz.gpg

ISO (Software)

Size : 533086208 bytes (508MB)
Md5sum: 223debac4d4f242b09382bf688bcaa99
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/asg-7.470-090709-3.iso

ISO (ASG Hardware Appliances)

Size : 556654592 bytes (530MB)
Md5sum: 85300ba149c9a79900b92ad51d09f92b
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/ssi-7.470-090709-3.iso

Thank you for your continued testing and feedback!

Regards,
Your Astaro Team

This Up2Date package is mainly being released to address a published security concern regarding IPsec, which we will patch against. In addition, a few small adjustments are being made which address some issues.  

Up2Date 7.404 Details

Remarks: 

• Existing configuration will not be changed
• This package will be auto-downloaded and made ready for installation
• NOTE: *System will be rebooted*  

News:

• Fixed IPsec vulnerability CVE-2009-2185
• In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.4, please read the V7.4 Release Notes PDF.

Fixes:

Fix [10588]: Connecting via DHCP / Cable modem may fail
Fix [10607]: Issue with reconnecting to DSL via PPPoE
Fix [10633]: Fixed error messages in ipsec.log "Conntrack failed"

Download Information:

Astaro Main FTP
Size: 9155683bytes (8.7 Megabytes)
Md5sum: ed5765c8b79580998be966a1022f5cda

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.  
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:  
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)
    

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.403] WAN Link Balancing ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com   

- The Astaro Team

Indeed it is possible to DoS even large sites simply using a common residential Internet connection, and using Slowloris to eat-up the Web Server's ability to respond to other HTTP requests, by sending partial ones itself and thus holding the sockets open.

You can read more about this DoS technique here. While the approach is not new, the working implementation of it "for the masses" is starting to appear more commonly. As we have already received dozens of queries about how to stop this attack, we'd like to inform you that Astaro installations with current/updated Intrusion Protection Patterns will be protected against this, so neither admins or their Web Servers need to fear. The ID for this new rule is #1000023, and is located in the HTTP Servers Group under the Apache category.

If your ASG installation is showing pattern revision 9857 or better, you are protected.

The 7.460 Beta Up2Date is a pure bugfix and stability released, which addresses approximately 75% of the reported issues communicated on our 7.500 Beta Forums. It also addresses and fixes issues found by our own teams in house. This release is available both as an Up2Date download package via our FTP and a full ISO image for those that wish to join the Beta at this point, or wish to re-install at any time with the Beta version for continued testing.

Please note:

If you are already testing the 7.450 Beta release, your installation will automatically download the Up2Date and make it available to install via WebAdmin. You do not need to download the package manually (unless you wish to).  

Details and Download

Up2Date 7.460 Package:  

Size : 107795134 bytes
MD5sum: 83b6b2095eb203d7845ab2b54f18f709
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/u2d-sys-7.450-460.tgz.gpg

ISO (software):

Size : 527144960
Md5sum: 15e8fedb8a5377cf47a37815699bc359
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/asg-7.460-090618-4.iso

ISO (hardware appliances): 

Size : 550610944 bytes
Md5sum: b0a5e9141f9cfeee9b9310c6be1055f3
ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/ssi-7.460-090618-4.iso

Thank you for your continued testing and feedback!

Regards,
Your Astaro Teams

Depending on your location and bandwidth, this Up2Date may take some hours to become available within WebAdmin of your installation. We are testing a new distributed Up2Date dispersal system based on a cloud infrastructure, which may significantly speed up both Up2Date propagation to your device, and the download speed at which the Up2Date is retrieved. As this service is fully deployed, most customers will directly see the benefit for future releases.

• Up2Date Size: 72.59 MB (76111055 bytes)
• Md5sum: 9fda5190714aedc0636fbb43cbd0cc85  

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be changed
• *NOTE*: System will be rebooted!

News:

• Added support for new Up2Date servers & cloud deployment
• In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.4, please read the V7.4 Release Notes PDF.

Bugfixes:

Fix [10015]: Active content removal not working correctly
Fix [10139]: Unable to download, clear, or delete log files
Fix [10233]: Regenerating the Signing CA might cause problems
Fix [10284]: Uplink interface not showing up sometimes
Fix [10323]: High-Availability logfile filling up quickly
Fix [10324]: Possible db sync problem on HA nodes
Fix [10339]: Slave nodes keeps UP2DATE state after manual action
Fix [10355]: Problem reinitializing tunnels after HA takeover
Fix [10360]: Exception list can not be created for Share
Fix [10361]: File Extensions missing from Filter Action page
Fix [10391]: POP3 prefetch fails at long MIME-encoded subjects
Fix [10409]: Web Security reports not visible for auditors
Fix [10423]: Using proxy arp may cause loss of WebAdmin connectivity
Fix [10426]: Importing license via wizard may not work correctly
Fix [10441]: HTTP block action not working in all cases

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:  

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.  
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:  
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.403] WAN Link Balancing ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com  

Your Astaro R&D team

This version's Beta will last approximately four weeks, with the GA version roadmapped for the beginning of July. Your participation in the Beta is greatly appreciated, as it allows us to tune and strengthen the final version based on your testing and comments. Please read on for more details about the Beta; what it contains, how to get it, and other information!

What's new in BETA ASG V7.500?

7.500 adds over 50 new features and conveniences, most of which are directly a result of submitted features by our partners and customer base. While we'll have detailed documentation and release notes ready for the final release, here is an overview of the things of note, and a few bullet points for information so you know where to go and what to see/try. This is not an exhaustive list, but most new things will be at least mentioned. Some things listed as "minor" may indeed not be considered minor for various admins/users/partners, depending on your needs.

Major New Things

Intrusion Protection Performance

• Uses new version of the IPS engine
• Scales massively when used with Multi-Core CPU/Appliances  

Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor

• New Interface utilization bars on Dashboard (setup scale via editing the Interface and filling in new parameters for Upload/Download)
• Click for detailed overview as to "whats happening in my network right now"  

Import/Export Widget 

• Gives the ability to work with manual lists for many features/fields
• Useful to import a large blacklist (for example) into the URL Blacklist
• Can been seen in many user-input boxes in Web, Mail and more. (Green Up/Down Arrows)  

Transparent Authentication Support for Web Security 

• Allows users to authenticate against a Portal-Style page
• Allows for username based tracking, reporting, and surfing without changing browser settings
• Currently logo can be customized. Text,HTML, and further customizations planned for a later time.
• Configurable Timeout via HTTP-->Advanced. (Default 900s)  

Clone Objects 

• Easily duplicate existing objects for quick re-use.
• Supported in most places for many objects (Definitions, Services, Certain Profiles/Actions)  

Extended Network Security Reporting 

• Added Detailed Packet Filter/Firewall Reports
• Added Detailed IM/P2P Reports  

Reputation Support for Web Security

• Allows use of the trustedsource.org reputation for Web Filtering
• Documentation coming, for now visit their site/FAQ for more info on reputations  

DHCP Improvements

• Automatically map a current lease to a static assignment
• Limit DHCP leases to those with static assignments only
• Configurable DHCP lease time
• Servers retain configuration when enabled/disabled  

Multicast Routing Daemon

• PIM-SM Routing support More documentation on this implementation to come. Experiment with it and if it solves your needs.  

Other New Things

• Windows SSL VPN Upgraded - New Client which supports X64 and many other options (download again via the UserPortal)
• Improved HTTP Caching - Increases hit/usage rates and makes the cache more effective.
• Quarantine/UserPortal Usability - Adds navigation to the bottom (supplementing the existing controls at the top), large amounts (250-1000) of displayed items per page, and sorting by subject line.
• Default Definition for "Internet" - Allows to specify "Internet" as an object which will exclude internal network(s) to aid policy creation (0.0.0.0/0 on Gateway interface)
• Customizable Shortcuts - Change the default Ctrl assignments to fit your preference
• Improved Definition/Services Sidebar - Mouseover now instantly shows full name and extended info to aid identifying desired object for drag 'n drop.
• User List shows static IP's - if assigned/configured (no need to edit in order to view)
• Live Log Negation - use to filter live logs to not show lines that match "-" entries i.e. -test to remove lines containing "test"
• Console/SSH Logins Trigger a notification - provides admin the needed insight when accessed.
• Instant Email Backup - Button for every created backup file which allows it to be sent immediately via email to configured addresses
• Custom text for notifications - Allows easier identification of which installation is sending the message. Especially useful if managing multiple sites using notifiers.
• Test NTP Sync - Button to immediately poll the configured NTP server
• Automatic Backup before Up2Date install
• Configurable Default for Lists - Allows for the amount of items per page (Packet Filter Rules, or anywhere there is a number amounts drop down) to have a larger default view
• Cluster/HA Serial Number View - Information on connected units made easier
• Schedule Firmware Installation - When an Up2Date for Firmware is available, you can schedule it to auto-install at a certain time (not a recurring setting)
• WebAdmin Network Section Split - Now two sections; "Network" and "Network Services" for usability.
• Search Boxes Retain Data - No need to re-enter query when returning from a drill down/result click.
• System Restart Reason - Allows logging of "why was system restarted" in the notification
• Group Tool tips for Members - Easily discern Network/Service Group members without having to edit in order to view
• Reporting Exclusions - Used to remove unwanted entries from various reports (such as Google-analytics from Web Security tables
• Log Flag for NAT Rules - Similar to packet filter, tells you which NAT rule was matched as part of traffic handling
• Masquerading for Additional IP Addresses - Allows the use of Masquerading (vs. just SNAT) for additional IP's bound to an interface
• Support for Multiple Authentication Servers - The authentication server section has been redesigned to support fallback/failover in an easier format, with many usability improvements
• SNMP MIB - Downloadable via the SNMP section of WebAdmin
• Up2date Status Reworked - Clarifies the current status of a Firmware Up2date to avoid confusion regarding the availability, download progress etc...of an issued Up2date.
• Inline/Snap Report Links - Directly moves the Admin to the relevant details report when browsing the embedded daily reports located throughout WebAdmin
• Global POP3 Sender Blacklist - Quarantined as "other" in the QM/EUP
• Dashboard RSS Feed - Provides visibility to select Astaro-issued items via WebAdmin *Other magic features, enhancements, and usability improvements

Beta Program Information & Download Links

Known-Issues

• Online help & associated documentation has not been updated for new or changed features (yet).
• Other FTP Locations will be online as our system spreads them to ftp.astaro.com and other mirrors (ftp2.astaro.com, ftp2.astaro.de etc...)  

Download

This initial Beta version can only be tested through a new installation, i.e. by downloading and installing the complete ISO image. You cannot upgrade an existing production installation with a Beta up2date package. It is possible to restore a backup from an earlier version (up to 7.403) into your new Beta machine. We will make every effort to ensure Beta participants are able to Up2Date to the final GA version once it is released without re-installing.

Beta Download:

Software ISO-Image for your own X86 hardware
http://download-cdn.astaro.com/asg-beta/asg-7.450-090529-2.iso
Size: 500MB

Beta Download:

ISO Image for ASG Hardware Appliances
http://download-cdn.astaro.com/asg-beta/ssi-7.450-090529-2.iso
Size: 524MB

These links are directly to this release's ISO images. You can always find the various files, updates, and MD5's for this beta at ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta

How to be a Beta Tester

A large amount of factors contributes to the best level of perfection for Astaro products in varied production environments. The following sections will provide all the information you need to download, install and test the ASG V7.5 Beta.

Testing Period May 29th - July 15th (estimated)

Limitations and Hints

• As with all Beta software, this release is not yet final and should not be considered an indication of stability, quality, or performance that will be delivered in the GA release of ASG V7.5. If you are using this Beta as part of an evaluation or while considering a purchase, please allow Astaro or the appropriate partner to address any concerns you may have before finalizing your decision based on a Beta release. Further, this Beta will not be supported in ANY way via Astaro's support teams, and using it in production environments may cause downtime, issues, or troubles. We therefore discourage running the Beta at sites which cannot afford the negative aspects of running Beta software.
• An ASG V7.5 manual and complete Online Help will be available with the GA release, along with other AxG versions of 7.500.  

Feedback

Please post all Beta feedback (no matter how big or small) and discuss any of the ASG V7.5 Beta features on our User Bulletin Board in the "BETA Version" forum.

Your Efforts Rewarded! 

Your feedback is closely reviewed and treated with priority by many members of our various teams here at Astaro. It allows us to deliver a final product to you of the highest quality. As a result, participants in our Beta Program for ASG V7.5 will have the chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards totaling over 600 dollars. Please qualify by actively posting and participating in discussions on our Beta version forum on our User Bulletin Board for details.

Special Home User Keys

In addition, we will offer active testers a specially enhanced home-user license which allows the full protection of up to 50 IP addresses (vs. the normal 10). These user keys are awarded after the GA release of 7.500, and are based on user activity, feedback, and general contribution to the Beta phase at our sole discretion.  

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

We are pleased to announce that http://feature.astaro.com is now live. Whether you are an Astaro home user, customer, partner, distributor, or have yet to upgrade to Astaro from another product and improved your company with our solution, we welcome your feedback and ideas!

How Does the New System Work?

After a quick registration, (you may also use your OpenID such as from Google Mail or Facebook), you will be assigned a number of "votes". These votes can then be used to create new feature requests. As you are entering new requests, keep an eye out for the "suggestions" which will appear that help you avoid posting duplicates. Alternatively, you may use your votes to stamp your approval on existing feature requests. This works to add more significance/weight to an existing entry when they are reviewed by our product management team. You will receive a status report from the system which will automatically keep you informed about features which are relevant to you. Your voting points will be returned as features are accepted and implemented.

Why is this Approach Beneficial?

This process allows us an improved insight into what features are greatly desired by our audience and enables us to continue developing the product with you in mind.

Where Do I Access this System?

Already have something on your mind? No matter how large or small, we want to hear it! You may access the beta version of the new site here:http://feature.astaro.com. We have done our best to implement the most significant entries from the old database. If one of your entries does not appear in the search results and you feel that it was of value, please don't hesitate to add it in today.

Help us support our product improvement initiative by spreading the word to your colleagues and friends!

With kind regards,
Your Astaro Team

7.402 Up2Date Details

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be changed
• **NOTE**: System will be rebooted

News:

• Updated Intel e1000 driver: **NIC ordering in software appliances should not be affected, however please verify your order assignments after installation!
• Updated SIP support for better integration Improved database maintenance processing times
• Improved Multipath to handle more than 64 rules
• Improved ACC integration  

Bug Fixes:

Fix [7900]: VLAN sometimes fails on LAG devices
Fix [9376]: Ipsec VPN tunnel not coming up after takeover
Fix [10108]: ASG 525-F eth8 and eth9 may lose link
Fix [10147]: IPsec tunnels with remote network 'Any' will not work
Fix [10158]: Multipath persistence by connection not working properly
Fix [10189]: User groups with umlauts not working in HTTP Proxy profiles
Fix [10200]: Solved with auto packet filter rules for outgoing traffic

Up2Date Information:

AxG 7.402 Up2Date Package

MD5sum: 99649d575795bddee7cc8247645a3275
Size: 143158517 bytes (139 MB)

Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply a system Up2Date package to your installation:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on :Watch Up2Date Progress in new window" if you want to watch the process, and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation. The System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors:
   - Astaro US
   - Astaro US2
   - Astaro Germany
   - Astaro Germany2 
   (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)  

Feedback

• If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report ").
• If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.
• There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com

Your Astaro R&D team

For the short version, Astaro installations with HTTP Virus protection via the Web Security package have been protected against the HTTP download distribution (such as variant C) of this worm since January. However, with this Worm's ability to spread multiple ways, such as the TCP and UDP transfer of the payload, Virus scanning at the gateway should be bolstered by Intrusion Protection to offer a more complete security defense against Conficker. Read on for details as to how Astaro can aid you in fighting this worm!

New IPS Rules
Astaro Global Pattern Up2Date #9422 adds two new Intrusion Protection Rules, numbers 2000011 and 2000022 which are designed to identify and stop code execution of Conficker variants A and B respectively. If you have automatic pattern Up2Dates enabled (the default) this protection will be added automatically during the next few minutes. Otherwise please perform a manual pattern Up2Date if you are not using the automatic feature for patterns.

Ensure You Are Protected
To ensure you are protecting your network using these new patterns, in WebAdmin go to Network Security-->Intrusion Protection-->then the "Attack Patterns" Tab. From there, ensure the pattern group "Windows" under Operating System Specific Attacks is checked, and the action is set to "Drop".

Forensic Information via Logs
In the logging system for Intrusion Protection, if you would like to search for Conficker A/B attacks, simply search for the appropriate rule ID. A logfile entry will look like the below upon a pattern recognition: 1. A conficker.a shellcode with SID 2000011 Group 110 2. "A conficker.b shellcode" with SID 2000022 Group 110.

As always, if you have any questions about Astaro protecting you against Conficker, or any threats, let us know on our Online Forums or place a ticket with Astaro Support. Cheers, The Astaro Product Management Team

New Features
ASC V9.1 offers the following major new features, among others:

• Budget Manager The new Budget Manager serves to monitor the costs of internet connection, focusing on UMTS, GPRS and WLAN connections. For this purpose administrators or users configure volume or time limits according to the basic provider rates.Should the user exceed the limit, either a warning notice appears or further connection attempts are hindered.The Budget Manager also allows the restriction or disabling of roaming.
• Multi-Certificate Configuration Allows establishing multiple certificate based connections from the client to different VPN remote stations, e.g. to a customers VPN gateway using a soft certificate and to the own company network using a certificate saved to a smartcard.
• WISPr Support The client now supports the new browser-less logon technology via WISPr (Wireless Internet Service Provider Roaming). This increases compatibility with T-Mobile hotspots in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Czechia and Great Britain, and also in some Lufthansa lounges of international airports
• Multi-lingual User-Interface The graphical user interface now supports German, English, French, Dutch and Polish language. In addition the new release provides a more comprehensive support of UMTS interface cards as well as new diagnostic capabilities. Additional feature and installation information as well as the most current documentation can be found on the Astaro Knowledgebase at http://www.astaro.com/kb/ under Section Astaro Secure Client - Manuals and Guides.

How to update your client software
There are two ways for updating your client:
1) Start the Astaro Secure Client Monitor on your desktop. On the menu select "Help -> Search for New Updates". Click "Next" on the upcoming "Software Update Wizard" window. The client will now automatically search for new updates. If a newer version is found, you can click on the "Next" button to start the automatic installation immediately.
2) Use MyAstaro to download the new client software from our HTTP or FTP Server. When installing the new software an already existing version will be recognized and updated accordingly.

How to upgrade your license
As V9.1 is a new major release an update to this version requires purchasing a one-time update license, which allows updating of an existing license by one or two releases. When purchasing the license you'll receive an activation key which must be applied to your existing license within MyAstaro. You'll then be offered a new file for download including the key that needs to be entered into your client.

Free License Upgrade If you have activated your existing ASC Version 9.0x license after Jan. 1st 2009, you will receive a new version 9.1 license free of charge by following these steps: Delete the file "ncpoa2.dat" from the "Programs\Astaro\Astaro Secure Client" directory in order to reset your past client activations. Start the Astaro Secure Client Monitor on your desktop. On the upcomming "License Data" Pop-up menu select "Activation". Click "Online Activation" on the upcoming "Software Activation Wizard" window. Click "Next" on all following windows. The client will now search for a new lincense. If a newer version is found, it will be installed automatically.

Evaluation Copy If you want an evaluation copy of Astaro Secure Client, go to MyAstaro and complete a short form to create a MyAstaro account. You will then be taken to a screen where you can download a 30-day evaluation version of Astaro Secure Client.

For more information please visit our website.

Your Product Management Team

This is a pure bugfix/stability release which strengthens the quality of your Astaro installation. Depending on your location and bandwidth, this Up2Date may take some hours to become available within WebAdmin of your installation. We are testing a new distributed Up2Date dispersal system based on a cloud infrastructure, which may significantly speed up both Up2Date propagation to your device, and the download speed at which the Up2Date is retrieved.

As this service is fully deployed, most customers will directly see the benefit for future releases.

Up2Date

• Size: 72.59 MB (76111055 bytes)
• Md5sum: 9fda5190714aedc0636fbb43cbd0cc85

Remarks: Configuration will not be changed

*NOTE*: System will be rebooted! News: Added support for new Up2Date servers & cloud deployment

Bugfixes:

Fix [10015]: Active content removal not working correctly
Fix [10139]: Unable to download, clear, or delete log files
Fix [10233]: Regenerating the Signing CA might cause problems
Fix [10284]: Uplink interface not showing up sometimes
Fix [10323]: High-Availability logfile filling up quickly
Fix [10324]: Possible db sync problem on HA nodes
Fix [10339]: Slave nodes keeps UP2DATE state after manual action
Fix [10355]: Problem reinitializing tunnels after HA takeover
Fix [10360]: Exception list can not be created for Share
Fix [10361]: File Extensions missing from Filter Action page
Fix [10391]: POP3 prefetch fails at long MIME-encoded subjects
Fix [10409]: Web Security reports not visible for auditors Fix [10423]: Using proxy arp may cause loss of WebAdmin connectivity
Fix [10426]: Importing license via wizard may not work correctly
Fix [10441]: HTTP block action not working in all cases

In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.4, please read the V7.4 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version

There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:

Astaro AxG Up2Date Download Mirrors: - Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2

Feedback - If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report ").

If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com.  There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!)

Your Astaro R&D team

Up2Date 7.400 Status Review
During the brief period where Up2Date 7.400 was officially available, we identified an issue that could possibly cause the installation of the Up2Date 7.400 to take extensive periods of time for some customers. To be cautious, we revoked the package from our servers for more testing, and substituted it with a placeholder package designed to inform customers about the delay. We have now identified the issue and corrected it, along with optimizing other parts of the Up2Date process. For all the details about 7.400, see our main posting here.

Changes in the Re-Release
While the Up2Date is the same, the process by which it is installed has been altered. To keep you fully informed, we'll explain a bit about the database migration process. In this release, we will now migrate & work on the database after 8pm (unit time) during the evenings. If the migration process requires more than a single night (9.5 hours), it will finish the current work task and then carry on again each night until the process completes.

This ensures the installation has all available resources during the daytime hours. Even during the evening, the migration process will run at a low priority to minimize impact, and the installation will be operational during these periods. As a result, depending on the size of databases being worked with, this could take several sessions to finish. We have also added some admin notification messages which will inform you of the progress of the migration, and a final notification when the process is fully complete. Lastly, this process will not be affected by a reboot or power loss (aside from further delaying the work from finishing), and Cluster/HA setups will also use this process.)

Up2Date Download and Installation
Regardless of if you have the placeholder 7.400 Up2Date or have not yet retrieved anything, you do not have to take any action to ensure the correct 7.400 package is obtained by your Astaro installation(s). Please check the package information tooltip (represented by a Blue "I" logo on the Up2Date page), to ensure you are installing the official 7.400 and not attempting to install the placeholder package repeatedly.

Up2Date 7.400 File Information
AxG 7.400 Up2Date (for all Astaro installations) Size: 247453087 bytes (241MB) MD5sum: b96a27efc3c6356f2293c7b6bb867eda *Depending on your location and the popularity of the Up2Date server in your area, you unit may require up to 72 hours to secure a download slot and retrieve the 7.400 Up2Date.

With a significant new release, please check our V7 Known Issues List to make sure you are not affected by one of these issues.

You can see our previous announcement for all the BETA details. This Up2Date 1.980 is a bug fix and progression release based on the feedback of our testing community which enhances the stability and performance of the Astaro Command Center BETA. We have 3 packages which are available to you, which can be used to update your existing BETA installation with 1.980, install 1.980 fresh from a full ISO image, or move your existing 1.903 stable version into the BETA 1.950 (use with caution!).

Other Astaro Command Center BETA Files: 1.980 (Up2Date for all Existing Beta Testers)
MD5sum: fd512eee49f9fe1f438a3ad9642e726b Size: 45.827.679 bytes (44 MB)

Full 1.980 BETA Software ISO Image
URL : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/acc-1.980-090311-1.iso
Size : 477 MB (499.849.216 bytes)
Md5sum: 38dd4292bf24d25d96a652a73d9b75ca

Up2Date from Stable1.903 to BETA 1.950:
URL : ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/u2d-sys-1.980.tgz.gpg
Size : 44 MB (45.827.679 bytes)
Md5sum: fd512eee49f9fe1f438a3ad9642e726b

ACC V2.000 Beta Program Details
For full details about the ACC 2.000 Beta, please see our initial announcement and we'd like to encourage all testers to report their experiences at our Beta Forums.

An Important Word about BETA Releases
We realize many features of this upcoming release are things you may be eagerly awaiting. While we do love to have as many users and installations as possible testing and providing feedback, in environments where uptime is crucial, consider that BETA releases can contain severe bugs and otherwise cause operational concerns! Most importantly, BETA versions are not reliable indicators of the final quality/stability of a formal, general release version. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

During the 3-day window where the Up2Date was available we had a small number of cases where the upgrade process took longer than was acceptable. To spare other users from experiencing this issue, we decided to withdraw the Up2Date. We have identified the cause of the problem and, assuming testing goes according to expectations, we'll re-release 7.400 in the course of next week.

We will keep you informed via this blog with any other news or developments.

We will reissue 7.400 again shortly, with 2 issues resolved regarding the installation process, at which point the "placeholder" up2date will be replaced with the valid 7.400 again. If you need more information which up2date your unit has downloaded, please check the tooltip of the 7.400 Up2date Package. I've posted a screenshot of what it looks like here.

If you have already downloaded and successfully installed 7.400, there is no need for any action/re-install on your part.

After further analyzing the delays some customers experienced after installing the 7.400 up2dates, which were related to the database upgrade process, we decided to withdraw the up2date from the servers for now and investigate the issue.

I am a customer, what should i do now?
All users that have already installed the up2date and the system rebooted fine, you have no problem. Just continue using it. All users that have not yet installed the up2date, please wait for now. The ASG will automatically delete the current up2date package and will download the new one once it is ready.

All users that have installed the up2date and are experiencing problems, please be either patient or contact the astaro support team, which will help you to overcome the situation.

Thank you for your understanding
Gert Hansen

After the successful installation of 7.400, the system needs to upgrade the reporting database during the next boot up. This process can take from few minutes up to two hours, during this process the system is not fully operational. The Duration of the upgrade procedure is directly dependent on the database size, which is larger on bigger systems. A customer with a 50GB reporting database needed 2 hours for the upgrade process.

Please do not power down or restart the system during this process as in worst case it can cause data loss through database corruption and it will not speed up this process. If you have a system in that state, please just be patient, the system will boot up properly after the database upgrade has been finished In order to minimize the downtime cause by this, we suggest to schedule the installation to non-business hours. If you want to accelerate this process you can reduce the size of your database by deleting older entries.

In order to do so, you need to change the Reporting Settings in WebAdmin > Reporting > Settings > Settings > Reporting Settings. There you can disable reports you don't need as well as lower the duration how long reporting data is retained. The smaller you configure the duration, the less data will be in the database and the faster the upgrade process will be finished.

After making changes to these settings, you have to wait at least 12-18 hours, as the database maintenance process runs twice a day, which than will do the reduction of the database size. During this process, the system is fully operational. If you have further question, please don't hesitate to contact your Astaro Partner or us directly.

Best regards
Gert Hansen

This release brings new features which will enhance the functionality and capabilities of your AxG installation. Most notably are the introduction of full WAN Link Balancing, HTTPS Filtering, Site-to-Site SSL VPN, and Cisco IPSec Client Support, along with dozens of other exciting new features.

*A special thanks to our many BETA testers for your feedback! It allows us to deliver you the best possible product. We will shortly announce the winners and resulting BETA program giveways.

For the details of this release, along with links to download and documentation, please read further... As this is an extensive release, I'd invite you to carefully review the following post, as it has a lot of useful information that both inform you, and answer potential questions.

What's new in V7.400?

The following new major features are being introduced:

HTTPS Filtering

• Scan and Filter HTTPS Content
• Block programs that use HTTPS to circumvent/tunnel around the proxy filters

WAN Link Balancing

• Make full use of multiple Internet connections
• Automatically balance traffic and/or...
• Optionally, create detailed rules for which traffic should use which gateway
• Automatically fail-over across prioritized connections when needed
• Balance and use more than just two connections

Site-to-Site SSL VPN

• Extends our popular roadwarrior offering to Site-Site applications
• Setup in seconds with easy config download/import
• Full IP-Access allows for true alternative to IPSEC-based VPN's

Customizable URL Filtering Groups

• It is now possible to create and delete URL filtering groups
• Category selection box has been improved

PDF & CSV Report Support

• The Daily, Weekly, and Monthly executive reports can be generated as PDF
• Most reports can now be exported/saved in these popular formats
• It is possible to now receive various reports in these formats via Email

New AV Engine

• New Avira engine replaces outgoing Authentium
• Clam AV still used as 2nd engine offering

Availability Network Groups

• Creates ordered group of network resources, accessed in sequence when the first resource is unavailable.
• Useful for many areas of configuration to introduce redundancy
• Create redundancy in VPN Gateway Targets
• Specify fallback server(s) for Directory Authentication

User Object Toggle

• It is now possible to disable User-Objects vs. deleting them
• Disabled objects will display an inactive icon and be grayed out in selection areas and lists

Cisco(tm) IPSEC Client Support

• You can now create tunnels to AxG Devices using this client
• Mobile devices (such as IPhone) and their VPN options are also now extended via this feature

Other

• The "Test-User" Authentication tool will now report the group(s) the user is part of
• Historial Executive Reports are now available
• Reports can now be anonymized to address privacy/corporate/legal requirements
• DynDNS now supports multiple interfaces
• DynDNS is now compatible with Upstream NAT/Masq.
• WebAdmin will now display DynDNS Status
• Visit the UserPortal via iPhone for specialized download for this device
• Improved the experience of Up2Date Notification and Progress for the Administrator

Release Notes
Besides the new functionality and features, V7.4 includes dozens of minor updates and tweaks that improve usability, polish WebAdmin, fix bugs, and increase performance and throughput of various systems. A detailed description of the new features, changes, system requirements as well as installation and upgrade information is included within the AxG V7.4 Release Notes.

Up2Date Package Information

• Existing configuration will not be changed
• System will be rebooted
• Database will be extended on next bootup (may take some minutes)

News:

• Added HTTPS filtering to HTTP Proxy
• Added full transparent mode to HTTP Proxy
• Added support for WAN uplink balancing
• Added support for ACC 2.0 (VPN configuration)
• Added support SSL Site-to-Site VPN
• Added support for creating PDF and CSV reports
• Added support for availability network groups
• Added german and french translation to WebAdmin
• Replaced Authentium AV scanner by Avira
• Improved HA/Cluster syncronisation
• Improved Intrusion Protection rule handling
• Improved IPsec stability and performance
• Improved Up2Date progress

Bugfixes:

Fix [5474]: No progressbar for UPS is shown in WebAdmin
Fix [5997]: Users may use HTTP Proxy even if not explicitly allowed
Fix [6620]: QoS rules are not applied to backup interface when using UFO
Fix [8317]: USV support is not working properly
Fix [8626]: DHCP fails to start on state toggle in WebAdmin
Fix [8875]: Active Directory Browser makes no sense when groups should be used in HTTP-Proxy
Fix [9239]: End users can't release spam on HA systems after a power outage
Fix [9249]: External SMTP server for notifications not used after a reboot
Fix [9278]: klips error by transmit big traffic through the ipsec tunnel
Fix [9374]: DKIM signature will not be added in some cases
Fix [9449]: Problem accessing internal servers via HTTP Proxy on cluster nodes
Fix [9617]: usernames which contains german umlauts cannot be authenticated via AD SSO (NTLM)
Fix [9914]: HTTP Proxy erroneously sets keep alive for some requests

7.400 Download & Important Install Information - Please read the following carefully!

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installation to the latest version. The moment your device obtains a download slot, the Up2Date will be automatically downloaded, verified, and made available for installation. Depending on your location and bandwidth, this could take up to 72 hours from initial launch due to the size and scale of this release.

It is NOT necessary to do anything in order to obtain 7.400, however if you are excited to install the new release ASAP, there are two ways to manually download an Up2Date package for the system so it can be imported to WebAdmin and applied.

New ISO's are also being made available for Software, Appliances, and the Astaro Smart Installer.

Up2Date Package 7.400  - Up2Date works for ALL products (AxG software/hardware/virtual appliance)

7.306-7.400 Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/up2date/

• Size: 247009254 bytes
• Md5sum: 5f8fd4be2c8c740bc7400d808f5a2bc6

7.395 BETA-7.400 Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta/

• Size: 11341359 bytes
• Md5sum: c7e79f0a03a786499ecff45d06b6495f

Astaro Security Gateway 7.400 Images

Software appliance (ASG)  ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/software_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 462767275 bytes
Md5sum: 54e1600e6238ce7e79f3c7ea51484108

VMware Image (Server/Player/Workstation)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 1011126099 bytes
Md5sum: 55b3d3bcb7a061ed4b8c6ede8c689c30

VMware Image (ESX Server)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 1033515497 bytes
Md5sum: 10fecbc83e43244604d9c582fae8eb6b

Hardware Appliance Image (SSI) ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/hardware_appliance/iso/
Size: 533686272 bytes
Md5sum: 745a3e0c58ff6450cfc78f836239fb12

Astaro Smart Installer (ASI) USB image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 478922617 bytes
Md5sum: 210395f1cc9c0b0def55e66514e7f77a

Astaro Web Gateway 7.400 Images

Software appliance (AWG) *NEW* ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/software_appliance/iso/
Size: 472279040 bytes
Md5sum: 2a6d0e75a39dbe5e6bc8b2bd3b44006a

Astaro Smart Installer (ASI) USB image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/software_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 434757852 bytes
Md5sum: efdfeccc8a9fe957be537b41596a0309

VMware Image (Server/Player/Workstation)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 963509938 bytes
Md5sum: f109029bbb91db1408342cb0bc4c692e

VMware Image (ESX Server)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 981035784 bytes
Md5sum: 1f49259f37d375c22334d4b2f7e460d1

Hardware Appliance Image (SWI) ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/hardware_appliance/iso/
Size: 484861952 bytes
Md5sum: cc375dc0e96480d6284fee3497da85b0

Astaro Smart Installer (ASI) USB image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 441306517
Md5sum: 88a2f5c9fa3bda19bd0a870c4ae9596f bytes

Astaro Mail Gateway 7.400

Software appliance (AMG) *NEW* ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/software_appliance/iso
Size: 476440576 bytes Md5sum: c29b64e1ecd254223f3ea10355b005aa

Astaro Smart Installer USB image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/software_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 438284586 bytes
Md5sum: 05899435834e8ddb3943ee7bfe88cd9a

VMware Image (Server/Player/Workstation)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 960385330 bytes
Md5sum: 9fac7d6551255259c9c7596ba10114b8

VMware Image (ESX Server)
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/virtual_appliance/
Size: 982203217 bytes
Md5sum: d9f9e8305b724d7753a80c48565e3a42

Hardware Appliance (SMI) ISO image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/hardware_appliance/iso/
Size: 489023488 bytes
Md5sum: 647e3727736bb4479b3c611abdcf49ba

Astaro Smart Installer USB image
Server: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AMG/v7/hardware_appliance/smart_installer/
Size: 444152172 bytes
Md5sum: 890eddefa4d312b414a8c38037616ed6

A note about some FTP cleanup: The redundant directories below will be removed shortly. - ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/install - ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/AWG/v7/install In addition there are 3 new tools/shortcuts for debugging available: - 'atop' is an advanced interactive monitor for viewing load on system and process level - 'psg' is a small function which greps in the ps axf output for the arguments specified - 'version' gives a neat overview about the current system version and type

Additional Mirrors Information (Manual Directory Navigation)
HTTP: - Astaro US - Astaro US2 FTP: - Astaro US - Astaro US2

The Astaro Security Gateway Administration Guide, a hardware compatibility list and a Known Issues List for the GA release are available on our knowledge base .

A Word About Memory Upgrades
As mentioned previously, ASG 110/120, 220, and 320 appliances can take advantage of our recently released RAM upgrade options, which will give more life and performance out of your investment. While upgrading is NOT required or enforced in order to install and operate Version 7.400, some appliances depending on their current usage may get significant benefits by taking advantage of this offer. For more information on available upgrades, please contact your Astaro Partner, Distributor, or Sales Contact. We have also made available a serial number submission page to assist you, which will quickly analyze the number of your unit(s) and inform you of the upgrade options.

Feedback
If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.400] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server that showcases all the new awesomeness: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Enjoy the new things!

Your Astaro Product Management and R&D Teams

The Astaro Command Center is a centralized management platform which creates a "throne room" from which to manage multiple Astaro Installations. If you currently are responsible for more than a single Astaro Product (or Hundreds), Command Center is the perfect product for you, and is FREE of charge! Read on for further details of the BETA program. So far, the Astaro Command Center has offered the ability to schedule Up2Date installations across multiple devices, monitor resource usages, get license information & detailed per-installation statistics, and access WebAdmin for any connected Astaro with the push of a button.

Most recently in the 1.9 release of Command Center, we have introduced a dual-portal system with new management features, so partners can offer MSP-style services for multiple companies which can connect to the same ACC server, while being able to create user accounts with specific device visibility and permissions to separate these customers into secure groups of devices for management.

For ACC 2.0 BETA and beyond, configuration functionality will be introduced. Starting with this release, it is now possible to setup site-to-site VPN tunnels with an amazing degree of ease from within ACC itself. Simply indicate the devices to be joined together via VPN, select a few options, and the rest is automated. It can even be used to create multi-site Hub & Spoke or Full Mesh between many devices. The product is presented in the same administrative style as our Version 7 WebAdmin, so that if you are new to ACC you will have no trouble getting started.

Astaro Command Center 2.0 BETA Features

IPSec VPN configuration wizard

• allows set-up of site-to-site connectivity with only a few clicks
• supports RSA based authentication for high security environments
• offers the same proven and efficient IPSec policy definitions as known from the ASG
• supports static and dynamic IPSec connections (initiate, respond-only)
• automatically imports locally accessible interface networks from selected devices
• already-deployed VPNs can later be modified with the same wizard

IPSec VPN monitoring overview

• shows VPNs currently managed by ACC
• allows re-configuration of VPNs - enable/disable VPNs - delete existing VPNs
• "at-a-glance" information covering: - tunnel status - deployment status - meta information (policy, auth-method, number of tunnels and devices)

IPSec VPN monitoring details

• shows exact data on tunnel status, deployment, meta information
• displays which devices are interconnected for this VPN

Extended Access Control

• introduces an abstract "Configuration" role which can be assigned for different devices
• defines which users can change current and future configuration settings

Licensing

• There is currently no change in the ACC's FREE licensing model
• The newly introduced configuration features are NOT enforced or restricted in any way
• The free license can be used with the ACC V1.9/V2.0 software and virtual appliance
• The free license is now valid until the end of 2009
• Licenses for hardware appliances have not changed

BETA Requirements

• The new features in ACC V2 BETA require at least an ASG 7.400 (or 7.395 Beta)
• The AMG/AWG line of products do not provide IPSec VPN functionality
• Future configuration features in ACC might be applicable to AMG/AWG products as well
• As part of testing this release, your experiences/comments or review is to be posted in the ACC 2.0 Beta Forum.

How to become a Beta Tester
We try to ensure the opportunity is available for anyone to test our BETA release of ACC 2.0, customers, partners, prospects, and home users alike. All you need to do is download the release image, install it on your own hardware or virtual machine, and configure your ASG installation to transmit its data to the ACC device. These following sections will provide all the information you need to download, install and test the ACC 2.0 BETA.

Testing Period
February 25th - March15th

Download
This initial BETA version can be tested by downloading and installing the complete ISO image,or by manually applying the 1.903-->1.950 Up2Date to an existing system. If you decide to install new, or want to mirror an existing installation for fallback, it is possible to restore a backup from an earlier version of ACC 1.9x into 1.950 as well.

New installation:

ACC ISO:

• URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/acc-1.950-090225-3.iso
• Size: 485 MB (507.774.976 bytes)
• Md5sum: 593fe214e923565a3b474628a929292e

Up2Date 1.903-1.950:

• URL: ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ACC/v2/beta/u2d-sys-1.950.tgz.gpg
• Size: 269 MB (281.706.774 bytes)
• Md5sum: 3ec28e246e4a484be0ced3d2b6478e63

Limitations and Hints
The ACC 2.0 BETA is not going to be supported via official Astaro support plans, however the ACC development team will be closely monitoring and participating in your feedback, questions, and troubles via our ACC BETA Support Form. As with any BETA software, please be aware if you test this in a production environment you may experience no issues at all, or alternatively, bad things may happen. While we would like as much feedback as possible to ensure the quality of the final release, do not test this release if you cannot accommodate possible oddities as result of the pre-release nature of this offering!

Test Cases
After installing the ACC 2.0 BETA, we are particularly interested in your experiences regarding the number of machines you setup to be managed by your ACC, the hardware used, bandwidth of the connections involved, and other scaling/system specifications, along with your experienced performance. Further, and most importantly, please test and work with the VPN configuration tool and let us know your thoughts.

Feedback
Please post any feedback and discuss any of the ACC BETA features on our ACC BETA version forum. Your Efforts Rewarded! Your feedback is key to our efforts, as it allows us to deliver a final product to you of the highest quality. As a result, participants in our Beta Program for ACC 2.0 will have the chance to win one of 3 Amazon Gift Cards for 100 dollars. Please qualify by actively posting and participating in discussions on our ACC BETA version forum for details.

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

Overview
This release of RC2 sets the stage for the GA 7.400 release next week during the end of February if the schedule proceeds as planned. You can see our previous announcements for all the BETA details as required.

Up2Date Details 7.395 is a bugfix and progression release based on the feedback of our testing community, and finalizes most areas of the 7.400 Up2Date. For maximum adoption and testing, we are releasing this BETA Up2Date as ISO's for ASG software and appliances, as well as Up2Date Packages from 7.390->7.395 and 7.306->7.395 for those that wish to experience all the new offerings before public launch. All packages are available in the BETA area of our main FTP server.

Up2Date Packages

• ASG Software ISO:
• Size: 510408704 bytes (486 MB)
• Md5sum: d78d0dd8f7fae0a6c8062ddc37193ad6

SSI-ISO

• Size: 533843968 bytes (509 MB)
• Md5sum: 364b9ec49cf9c07274e89969381d3460

Up2Date 7.390-395

• Size: 138065867 bytes (131 MB)
• Md5sum: 8105ab0de193786504e245a127ca2d97

Up2Date 7.306-7.395:

• Size: 246837376 bytes (232 MB)
• Md5sum: 4d494c5748e3bf1484908cf19b6d192e

V7.400 Beta Program Details
For full details about the 7.400 Beta, please see our initial announcement here, and we'd like to encourage all testers to report their experiences at our Beta Forums

An Important Word about BETA Releases
While we realize many features of the upcoming 7.400 are things you may be eagerly awaiting, and we do love to have as many users and installations as possible testing and providing feedback, in environments where uptime is crucial, note that Beta releases can contain severe bugs and otherwise cause operational concerns, and are not indicators of the final quality and stability of a formal, General release version. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

This release keeps us on track for 7.400 being generally available during the 3rd week of February if the schedule proceeds as planned. You can see our previous announcements for all the BETA details.

This Up2Date 7.390 is a bugfix and progression release based on the feedback of our testing community.

7.390 (Up2Date for all Existing Beta Testers only)

• MD5sum: f90debecfdca17a32e79be209399da29
• Size: 123601045 bytes (117MB)

V7.400 Beta Program Details
For full details about the 7.400 Beta, please see our initial announcement here, and we'd like to encourage all testers to report their experiences at our Beta Forums

An Important Word about BETA Releases
While we realize many features of the upcoming 7.400 are things you may be eagerly awaiting, and we do love to have as many users and installations as possible testing and providing feedback, in environments where uptime is crucial, note that Beta releases can contain severe bugs and otherwise cause operational concerns, and are not indicators of the final quality and stability of a formal, General release version. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

Remarks: - System will be restarted after installation

News: - Support for new and upgraded appliance line models - Fixed erroneous ACL behavior when assigning user rights

Fixes:

• 9352 Fix and extend Up2Date Cache init script functions
• 9659 Forced logout from Gateway Manager when changing rights
• 9685 Fix parent proxy handling in Up2Date Cache
• 9775 Fix exotic deadlock situation when user sessions are destroyed
• 9776 Core daemon crashes on WebAdmin SSO to an unreachable device
• 9807 New images for appliances with upgraded memory
• 9845 New images for upcoming ASG x25 appliance

Up2Date: All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!
The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.902 to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.

2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced Up2Date package: Download: u2d-sys-1.903.tgz.gpg Size: 32M (34056784 bytes) md5sum: 2289834757cf8ec348ff3cfc75b76189

• Astaro FTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• Astaro HTTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V1.9 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to always(!) add the version you refer to (e.g. "[1.902] Gateway Manager ..."). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://accdemo.astaro.com

Regards,
Your Astaro R&D and Product Management Teams

Overview

Please read this message carefully, as it contains important information about new options for certain ASG appliance owners. Astaro users have always enjoyed the ability to upgrade their appliances across even major versions, usually removing the need to buy all new appliances just for software-versioning's sake. This does however mean that appliances with more dated hardware specifications can be stressed as more features are added (and enabled by the user) as we progress. ASG 7.306 will analyze the memory usage of your appliance, and if in the past 7 days the memory usage has gone above 70%, a notifier screen will be published to the Up2Date screen WebAdmin, informing you that for a good 7.400 experience with the new features, you should consider an upgrade, outlined below.

Please read this message carefully, as it contains important information about new options for certain ASG appliance owners. Because the upcoming 7.400 release adds dozens of new features and hundreds of changes, we have decided to offer memory upgrades to certain appliances to give even more life to the platforms. These available upgrades will be only for the ASG 110/120, ASG 220, and ASG 320 products. New Memory Requirements for ASG The minimum recommended RAM for 7.400 and Astaro Security Gateway UTM appliances is 1024MB, and while the number of features, combined with the number of users/load, will ultimately determine if this upgrade is needed for your existing appliances at this time. As such, you are not required to purchase any of these upgrade options, but they exist for you should you wish to take advantage of them.

New Memory Configurations Starting today, all new ASG 110/120, 220, and 320 appliances will ship with newly upgraded memory configurations. Specifically: -The ASG 110/120 will now have 1GB (1024MB) of memory. -The ASG 220 will now have 1GB (1024MB) of memory. -The ASG 320 will now have 2GB (2048MB) of memory.

Memory Upgrade Kits For current users of ASG 110/120, ASG 220, and ASG 320 appliances, we have made every effort to provide you with options for extending the capabilities of your platform. -Owners of the ASG 110/120 Revision's 1 and 2 can purchase an official 1GB upgrade kit -Owners of the ASG 220 Revision 2 can purchase an official 1GB upgrade kit -Owners of the ASG 320 (all models) can purchase an official 2GB upgrade kit These kits are certified by Astaro as fully compatible with your appropriate appliance, and include detailed instructions as to how to upgrade the memory in your unit.

Appliance Trade-In Option Owners of the ASG 110/120 Revision 0, and the ASG 220, Revision 1, are not able to purchase upgrade kits due to these units not supporting more than 512MB of memory. For these owners, we have made available very special unit-exchange pricing which will allow you to purchase the latest version of the ASG 110/120 or ASG 220 at a special trade-in price.

Availability Both the memory upgrade kits, and appliance trade-ins are now available, so that our users have plenty of time to prepare before Version 7.400 launches later this month. If you would like pricing information for your region, or are unsure of your model and would like clarification which upgrade options are available to you, please contact your Astaro Partner, Distributor, or Sales Representative for more information.

IMPORTANT NOTE In order to ensure your warranty remains intact, and the operation of your ASG appliance continues error-free, we must stress that using non-Astaro memory upgrades may cause serious side-effects to your appliance operation. Our appliances require very specific modules that are purpose tested for quality, performance, and meet strict specification guidelines. Using non-Astaro memory upgrades may cause your appliance to not boot, boot but with reduced memory capacity, or even boot fine and cause kernel panics, disk errors, and other irregular operation. For this reason the upgrade kits have been aggressively priced, as we wish to make these upgrades available to everyone at an affordable cost for extending your appliance's lifetime.

7.306 Up2Date Details Remarks: Configuration will not be changed

News: - ASG appliances with a high memory usage will see a notifier in the Up2Date section informing them of new memory upgrade options. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.

2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: (MD5sum: 1e0e21126d3edb1bedf7dbf1c343803f Size: 18771269 bytes)

• HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

Participate in the Beta Program
Your feedback is important to us, and we'll reward testers with a chance at Amazon Gift Certificates, special 25 IP home-user licenses, and of course the opportunity to contribute to 7.4's success. Beta V7.386 is available as an Up2date for existing Beta testers, however see our previous postings for how to Up2Date from Version 7.305 to 7.380 to begin testing without the need to install from a dedicated Beta ISO image. (These are however available for your Astaro software or hardware appliance.)

Download Information
Download via our main FTP site or any of our mirrors such as ftp.astaro.com. 7.386 (Up2Date for all Existing Beta Testers) ------------ MD5sum: 466d9c8b9cf9bb1df970fcd60356e227 Size: 18260267 bytes

V7.400 Beta Program Details
For full details about the 7.400 Beta, please see our initial announcement here, and we'd like to encourage all testers to report their experiences at our Beta Forums.

An Important Word about BETA Releases
While we realize many features of the upcoming 7.400 are things you may be eagerly awaiting, and we do love to have as many users and installations as possible testing and providing feedback, in environments where uptime is crucial, note that Beta releases can contain severe bugs and otherwise cause operational concerns, and are not indicators of the final quality and stability of a General release. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Your Astaro R&D team

Participate in the Beta Program
With Beta V7.385, we move closer to a release version and wish to re-state that we appreciate all existing testers, and those that will take this opportunity to join us in testing our latest technology and feature offerings. Your feedback is important to us, and we'll reward testers with a chance at Amazon Gift Certificates, special 25 IP home-user licenses, and of course the opportunity to contribute to 7.400's success. Beta V7.385 is available as an Up2date for existing Beta testers, however see our previous postings for how to Up2Date from Version 7.305 to 7.380 to begin testing without the need to install from a dedicated Beta ISO image. (These are however available for your Astaro software or hardware appliance.)

Download Information
Download via our main FTP site or any of our mirrors such as ftp.astaro.com. 7.385 (Up2Date for all Existing Beta Testers) ------------ MD5sum: 28c8967bb79d84025a2af9dfcabd46aa Size: 116423658 bytes (approximately 106MB)

V7.400 Beta Program Details
For full details about the 7.400 Beta, please see our initial announcement here, and we'd like to encourage all testers to report their experiences at our Beta Forums.

An Important Word about BETA Releases
While we realize many features of the upcoming 7.400 are things you may be eagerly awaiting, and we do love to have as many users and installations as possible testing and providing feedback, in environments where uptime is crucial, note that Beta releases can contain severe bugs and otherwise cause operational concerns, and are not indicators of the final quality and stability of a General release. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Your Astaro R&D team

We have made available two updates since the initial offering, both of which allowed us to address bugs and further polish 7.400 based on your valuable feedback. Read on for the current status of the 7.400 Beta and how you can get an advance look at one of our most exciting releases yet! The 7.400 Beta has received 2 incremental Up2Date releases, 7.360 and 7.380. These mainly address bugs and perform enhancements based on the hundreds of posts by our Beta community which provide feedback to us in our Beta Forums.

Participate in the Beta Program
With Beta V7.380, we are very close to a release candidate, and wish to encourage more users to test as they are able. Your feedback is important to us, and we'll reward testers with a chance at Amazon Gift Certificates, 25 IP home-use licenses, and of course the opportunity to contribute to 7.400's success. Beta V7.380 is available as an Up2date from Beta V7.360, a Software ISO, and a Hardware (SSI) ISO for testing on ASG appliances. New for Beta V7.380 is an Up2Date package allowing you to test the Beta without the need to re-install

Download Information
Download via our main FTP site or any of our mirrors such as ftp.astaro.com.

7.360-7.380 (Up2Date for Existing Beta Testers)

• MD5sum: 231d4870c3fb27fc3c220a4731b852f1
• Size : 212968785 bytes 7.305-7.380 (Up2Date

Package for all 7.305 installations wishing to test the Beta)

• MD5sum: 83b2c54ad475c925a3dc51d3debc9071
• Size : 230112614 bytes

*Info: this package is located in subdirectory "7.305-7.380"

ASG 7.380 (Software ISO for your own Hardware)

• MD5sum: a22938770c96561152deac23f80580f1
• Size: 500795392 bytes

SSI 7.380 (For ASG Appliances)

• MD5sum: da4690643aca3df5bf446367b8df1465
• Size: 524232704 byte

V7.400 Beta Program Details
For full details about the 7.400 Beta, please see our initial announcement here. All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Your Astaro R&D team

This is a stability release to further solidify your ACC installation.

Remarks: - System will be restarted after installation

News: - Improved handling for stale sessions in Gateway Manager - Added support for shortcut "any" device group - Enhanced performance for filter bar

Fixes:

• 9361 Filter bar does not work correctly (Level column) on Dashboard->ListView
• 9362 Improve performance of FilterBar for large number of devices
• 9371 After deleting all devices treeview shows negative device count
• 9388 Treeview with only one level of subnodes should display connected images
• 9419 Core daemon needs to gather initial data on a best-effort basis
• 9447 Can't 'delete' or 'deny' new connected devices on Management->Registration page
• 9472 Treeview doesn't disappear after clicking the deny button on registration page
• 9535 Cleanup of stale sessions when browser window is closed

Up2Date: All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.901 to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced Up2Date package: Download: u2d-sys-1.902.tgz.gpg Size: 72 MB (75.320.553 Byte) md5sum: 0dad22a25a664a59584c40e2303072c3

• Astaro FTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• Astaro HTTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Regards,
Your Astaro R&D and Product Management Team

We've listened, and you will now have functions such as HTTPS Scanning and WAN Link Balancing. By offering this pre-release of V7.4 we hope to gather feedback from you regarding our latest efforts, and are particularly interested in how the new features perform for you. Any time you can spend in documenting your experiences during this BETA via the forums (information posted below) allows us to build you the best possible product. Read on for a larger list of the new things...

What's new in BETA ASG V7.400?

The following new features are being introduced:

New HTTPS Filtering

•  Scan and Filter HTTPS Content
• Block programs that use HTTPS to circumvent/tunnel around the proxy filters

WAN Link Balancing

• Make full use of multiple Internet connections
• Automatically balance traffic
• Optionally, create detailed rules for what traffic should use which gateway
• Automatically fail-over across prioritized connections when needed
• Balance and use more than just two connections

Site-to-Site SSL VPN

• Extends our popular roadwarrior offering to Site-Site applications
• Setup in seconds with easy config download/import
• Full IP-Access allows for true alternative to IPSEC-based VPN's

Customizable URL Filtering Groups

• It is now possible to create and delete URL filtering groups
• Category selection box has been improved

PDF & CSV Report Support

• The Daily, Weekly, and Monthly executive reports can be generated as PDF
• Most reports can now be exported/saved in these popular formats
• It is possible to now receive various reports in these formats via Email

New AV Engine

• New Avira engine replaces Authentium
• Clam AV still used as 2nd engine offering

Availability Network Groups

• Creates ordered group of network resources, accessed in sequence when the first resource is unavailable
• Useful for many areas of configuration to introduce redundancy
• Create redundancy in VPN Gateway Targets
• Specify fallback server(s) for Directory Authentication

User Object Toggle

• It is now possible to disable User-Objects vs. deleting them
• Disabled objects will display an inactive icon and be grayed out in selection areas and lists

Cisco(tm) IPSEC Client Support

• You can now create tunnels to AxG Devices using this client
• Mobile devices (such as IPhone) and their VPN options are also now extended via this feature

Other

• The "Test-User" Authentication tool will now report the group(s) the user is part of
• Historial Executive Reports are now available
• Reports can now be anonymized to address privacy/corporate/legal requirements
• DynDNS now supports multiple interfaces
• DynDNS is now compatible with Upstream NAT/Masq.
• WebAdmin will now display DynDNS Status
• Visit the UserPortal via iPhone for specialized download for this device
• Improved the experience of Up2Date Notification and Progress for the Administrator

Besides the new functionality and features, V7.4 includes dozens of minor updates and tweaks that improve usability, polish WebAdmin, fix bugs, and increase performance and throughput of various systems. We'll post more of this throughout the BETA and final release.

Known-Issues

• Online help & associated documentation has not been updated for new or changed features (yet).

How to become a Beta Tester Effective and reliable Internet Security is mission critical to all our customers. A comprehensive testing procedure is required to achieve the right level of perfection for Astaro products in a production environment. The following sections will provide all the information you need to download, install and test the AxG V7.4 Beta.

Testing Period November 20th - December 18th

Download This initial BETA version can only be tested through a new installation, i.e. by downloading and installing the complete ISO image. You cannot upgrade an existing production installation with a BETA up2date package. However, it is possible to restore a backup from an earlier version (up to 7.201). We will make every effort to ensure those that choose to participate in the BETA are able to Up2Date to the final version once it is released.

New installation:

• Download Software ISO-Image for your own X86 hardware (size: 499357696 bytes md5: 07b30c0d943a125de8c717e59c705ffc)
• Download ISO-Image for AxG appliances (size: 522788864 bytes md5: 5b9e253904cb5635eb1bce50a8b1d86d)

As these links are directly to the ISO images, you can always find the base offerings for this beta at ftp://ftp.astaro.de/pub/ASG/v7/beta

Limitations and Hints - AxG V7.4 BETA will not be supported in ANY way via Astaro's support teams, using it in production environments which might cause downtime, issues, or troubles for you is therefore discouraged. - An AxG V7.4 manual and complete Online Help will be available with the GA release. Test Cases After you have successfully installed the beta version of AxG V7.4, you are able to conduct individual tests at your own discretion using your own methods. We would also appreciate if you would have a closer look into the following areas and provide us with as much of your personal feedback as possible: * WAN Link Balancing with 2 Connections * HTTPS Scanning (HTTP Proxy) * Site-Site SSL VPN Setup and Operation

Feedback As with earlier versions please post any feedback and discuss any of the ASG V7.4 BETA features on our User Bulletin Board in the "BETA Version" forum.

Your Efforts Rewarded! Your feedback is key to our efforts, as it allows us to deliver a final product to you of the highest quality. As a result, participants in our Beta Program for AxG V7.4 will have the chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards totaling over 600 dollars. Please qualify by actively posting and participating in discussions on our BETA version forum on our User Bulletin Board for details. In addition, we will offer our active testers a specially enhanced home-user license which allows protection of 25 IP addresses (vs the normal 10).

Regards,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

Note that this Up2Date requires a reboot once completed.

Remarks: Configuration will not be changed **NOTE**: System will be rebooted

News: - Improved overall database stability - Improved log cleaning process - Fixed libspf2 vulnerability CVE 2008-2469

Bug Fixes:

Fix [9274]: HA/Cluster system may deliver messages repeated several times
Fix [9324]: Resolved possible problem when resolving HA Master-Master situation
Fix [9372]: Resolved problem when disabling HA backup interface

All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: (Md5sum: 309803f7234f7e98f83252ef1b694247 Size: 61536873 bytes)

• HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

Remarks: System will be restarted after installation

News: - Improved worldmap functionality - Several treeview adjustments and fixes - Improved handling and performance for large number of devices

Bug Fixes:

Fix: 9023 Privilege loss for users contained in both Allowed Admins and Allowed Users
Fix: 9043 Retranslation of location "state" fails for U.S. states using alphabetical codes
Fix: 9047 Filter bar is not working with IE6 for Maintenance >> Inventory (Network)
Fix: 9050 Not all location data is refreshed after a GeoIP update
Fix: 9051 WebAdmin SSO is not available within Access Control view
Fix: 9052 Filter bar should have a percentage drop-down-box for node selection
Fix: 9053 Some dialog boxes close unexpectedly when someone else executes an action
Fix: 9054 Fix update/logout issue on object tables when 250 devices are joining at once
Fix: 9094 Default sort order for levels in dashboard should be descending
Fix: 9137 Dashboard does not update after deleting the last device
Fix: 9184 Allow to open several WebAdmin SSO sessions in different browser tabs
Fix: 9205 Filters for several columns in Inventory and Access Control view are not working
Fix: 9215 Implement filter for Scheduled Operations
Fix: 9266 Add new action form on the scheduled operations page is sometimes incomplete
Fix: 9301 Error during login: #10405 - you are already logged in on this session/connection
Fix: 9309 Adjust certain thresholds to real world demands
Fix: 9320 Provide just-fit zoom button for whole earth and full screen map
Fix: 9338 Treeview shows incorrect first image within terminal subnodes
Fix: 9344 In IE Violations percent number needs two lines when value is -100
Fix: 9345 Registration page does not show any more devices after deleting devices on subsequent pages

Up2Date: All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!
The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.900 to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced Up2Date package: Download: u2d-sys-1.901.tgz.gpg Size: 164 MB (171.087.690 Byte) md5sum: e609d675f2377241584ce2e330069813

• Astaro FTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• Astaro HTTP server: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• VMWare The new VMWare image will follow shortly!

Feedback
If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[ACC V1.901] Worldmap"). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to documentation@astaro.com

Regards,
Your Astaro R&D and Product Management Team

This Up2Date does not require a reboot of the system, and is for all Astaro Gateway installations.

Remarks: Configuration will not be changed Middleware will be restarted News: - Improvements & Fixes for eDirectory authentication in the HTTP-Proxy

Bug Fixes

Fix: 9318 Authentication pop-up window not showing for HTTP Proxy when needed
Fix: 9319 Edirectory authentication can stop working in certain situations after some time.

All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: (MD5sum: a8fc44b30d39418b28167ab0284a8d29 Size : 5087167 bytes)

• HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback
If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

Remarks: System will be restarted after installation

News: - Improved Email Encryption behavior for various clients - Improved certificate handling for Email Encryption - Improved device agent for ACC version 1.9

Bug Fixes:

Fix: 8409 IPsec/Pluto misses SA syncs during restart on slave
Fix: 8892 SMTP relaying not working correctly with special configuration
Fix: 8948 Problem with masquerading rules after uplink failover
Fix: 9037 IPSec interface not initializing properly on uplink failover
Fix: 9072 Signing may be reported as invalid Fix: 9120 System may boot up with factory defaults after power cycle
Fix: 9207 OSPF debug output in WebAdmin is empty
Fix: 9220 Email Usage and Email filtering not showing any values

All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: (MD5sum: 9f6b31f4ccd332f1c190f5e43040230b Size : 142144494 bytes)

• HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback
If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Your Astaro R&D team

The new system offers 97 categories that have been fully integrated into WebAdmin and the previous categories have been imported. To take full advantage of the new abilities of this Up2Date, administrators should review their Web Security categories after installation is complete.

Remarks: Web Security Categories will be updated System will be restarted

News: - HTTP Content filter subcategories will be extended, please check your configuration - Improved URL Filter for HTTP Proxy - Increased Web Security Classification Categories to 97 (Up from 60) - Improved device agent for ACC 1.9 - Added option to flush authentication cache - Fixed clamav vulnerabilities CVE-2008-3912, CVE-2008-3913, CVE-2008-3914

Bug Fixes:

Fix: 9017 Quarantine Report not sent as specified
Fix: 7717 Problem with colon in local user password
Fix: 8975 Special characters in emails are not processed correctly
Fix: 8930 User data can not be changed Fix: 8910 Outgoing emails might get signed although signing is off
Fix: 9028 Releasing of quarantined mails may not work

All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1) Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2) Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced: (MD5sum: b3ce692ea24f216e6bffd4251062d404 Size : 112460063 bytes)

• HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
• FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.302] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed! Your Astaro R&D team

This new release focuses on the main areas reliability, scalability, performance and additional features. Also implemented is the split of the graphical user interface (GUI) in "WebAdmin" and "Gateway Manager".  

The Astaro Command Center (ACC) is a centralized management tool for large Astaro Security Gateway (ASG), Astaro Web Gateway (AWG) and Astaro Mail Gateway (AMG) installations.

The main focus of ACC is to: 

• simplify strenuous and time-consuming tasks
• allow direct access to application configuration
•  provide real-time system status surveillance
• detect possible risks

ACC is browser-based, there is no need to install any client software, not even any java-plugins or flash enhancements. Due to major system architecture changes in the new Astaro Command Center V1.9 and the focus on future extensibility and scalability, only Gateway-Versions 7.300 and higher will be supported. 

What's new in ACC V1.9?

GUI split
The WebAdmin (Port 4444) is responsible for the ACC system settings. The Gateway Manager (Port 4422) for monitoring and managing connected Astaro Gateways.

Directory Service integration
Administrators and Users of the ACC are now able to authenticate against existing Directory Services

Monitoring / Reporting / Alerting
The ACC illustrates reports about network traffic, concurrent connections, CPU-, Memory / Swap-, Partition usage and creates the "executive report", familiar from Astaro Security and Web Gateways.

Network restrictions & Shared Secret
It is now possible to restrict access to the ACC by using network access definitions for Clients and Gateways. You can also activate a Shared Secret authentication scheme requiring both Gateway Manager and connecting devices to exchange a shared common password before communication starts. Enabling or changing this kind of access control requires the same password to be specified in the Central Management configuration of each device requesting access to the ACC.

Trend indicators
In addition to the actual monitoring data, the ACC now augments certain information with trend indicators to show deviations to previously established baselines and historical averages.

Re-sorting
A newly integrated automatic sorting / re-sorting functionality improves situational awareness by ensuring that Gateways with the highest threat status are put on top within the various views.

Filter Bar
A newly integrated filter bar on the top of the monitoring views, allows focusing to specific gateways, which are above a specified threshold value.

Service Monitoring
The ACC V1.9 monitors up to now the running services on the connected gateways. The services are consolidated into 4 groups: - Misc (NTP-, DNS-, DHCP Server) - Network Security (SOCKS Proxy, Intrusion Protection) - Web Security (FTP Proxy, HTTP Proxy) - Mail Security (SMTP Proxy, POP3 Proxy)

Enhanced "Mouseover" details
The "Mouseover functionality" show in different views more exact details, even by pointing with the mouse pointer beyond of the section.

Scheduled operations
The enhanced scheduled operations allow now to set specific weekdays for executing the selected action. It is further on possible to execute these actions once, on a specific day. A detailed description of the new features, changes, system requirements as well as installation and upgrade information is included within the ACC V1.9 Release Notes There is a Quickstart Guide on the installation ISO, but you can download it also here: Quickstart Guide This version is technically a brand new base ground for further developments, an Up2Date package for V1.4 to V1.9 will not be available, please install the new version with our ISO package. An Up2Date for our BETA tester is available (Thank you again!)

Feedback

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the ACC V1.9 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[1.9] Worldmap"). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to documentation@astaro.com. There is also a demo server that showcases all the new shiny things: ACC1.9 Demo All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Download Information  

Download acc-1.900-080910-2.iso
size: 438 MB (459.116.544 Byte)
md5sum: cd1510b792ce6c76ae43965f8c4125fd

Up2Date package for our 1.9 BETA tester (for V1.880):

Download u2d-sys-1.900.tgz.gpg
size: 126 MB (132.347.199 Byte)
md5sum: e99e7fe132485684edd94d350893da70
Astaro FTP server: DE US
Astaro HTTP server: DE 1 DE 2 US 1 US 2

Search for "how to burn" on our Knowledge Base if you have trouble burning a CD from the ISO image. Please note that ACC V1.9 is exempt from charges, according to this, the license is for free! There is no need to request a license, you can download it here:
http://www.astaro.com/lists/Free_License-ACC-V1.txt

Regards (also to CERN ;-) ),
Your Astaro R&D and Product Management Team.

Remarks: 

• This is the first release candidate for ACC V1.9
• Existing configuration will not be changed
• System will be reboot after Up2Date 
• Reporting database will be relocated to another partition  

New features in this update: 

• Introduced filter-bar to selectively show/hide devices
• Added functionality for weekly recurring/scheduled operations  
• Improved and colorized all tool-tips and made them aware of alert level
• Adjusted monitoring license thresholds to react more aggressively to expiries
• Bridge and Point-to-Point interfaces will not be shown in resource monitoring  

Bugfixes: 

• Device-Agent does not send monitoring updates after experiencing a timewarp
• Device-Agent might fail to fully initialize itself after a reboot
• Scroll-bars within the Gateway Manager where not displayed when resizing browser window in Firefox 3
• Fixed several data elements which did not properly react to update notifications  

For more information please see the corresponding UBB-posting at our User Bulletin Board. The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.9 BETA to this new BETA version.

There are different ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced File:
   u2d-sys-1.880.tgz.gpg
   MD5sum: bf8c8d7d1baaffc62ac6347e1d992587
   Size: 146.414.973 bytes (140 MByte)
   
   Please note: This Up2Date is only compatible with our ACC V1.9 BETA (V1.820). More information in our posting here: Public ACC V1.9 BETA released here: Up2Date 1.810 for ACC V1.9 BETA released and here: Up2Date 1.820 for ACC V1.9 BETA released 
    
3. Alternatively, you can download the latest ACC V1.9 ISO File:
   acc-1.880-080904-2.iso
   MD5sum: a2a4565d1ce9eb0374fc1184ce9ecb30
   Size: 455.712.768 bytes (435 MByte)
   Astaro FTP server: DE
   Astaro HTTP server: DE 1
   All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!

Thank you in advance for using and testing ACC V1.9 BETA,
your Astaro Product Management Team

Also added is further support for the upcoming Astaro Command Center 1.9 release.  

Remarks:

• Existing configuration will not be changed
• Accounting database will be reorganized
• System will be restarted

NOTE
After restart, some data reorganization will take place. You may notice a higher system load and disk usage.
* Do not shutdown the system during this time, otherwise data loss is possible!  

News:

• Improved database recovery after powerloss
• Improved sending of Quarantine Report
• Improved false positives when blocking Skype  
• Improved support of upcoming ACC V1.9 
• In regards to the new features and benefits of AxG 7.3, please read the V7.3 Release Notes PDF.

Bug Fixes:

Fix [8184]: Cache for HTTP Proxy AD SSO not updating sometimes
Fix [8349]: L2TP connection terminates after 60 minutes
Fix [8849]: End-User Portal does not show all emails
Fix [8850]: IP counting for licensing adds external hosts
Fix [8853]: SMTP service not starting on HA/Cluster systems
Fix [8864]: Email encryption may stop SMTP service
Fix [8876]: Special characters in emails are not processed correctly
Fix [8899]: Data partition filling up on small systems
Fix [8906]: SMTP service running with high CPU usage
Fix [8912]: Email decryption may cut last character in line
Fix [8949]: SMTP scanner caught in an endless loop

Download Information

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!):  

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   (MD5sum: e1ba49ac6dc5cd792af83f8c5758c9a3 Size : 108835940 bytes)
   HTTP:  Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror
   FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Japanese Mirror

Feedback

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.300] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server: http://demo.astaro.com

Your Astaro R&D team

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be changed
• Middleware will be restarted

News:

• Hotfix for DNS proxy vulnerability - CVE-2008-144  

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system:

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.  
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   (MD5sum: 0735eb606db64f67ff28d62dd3026414 Size: 10340640 bytes)  

Because of the risk of manipulated DNS answers we strongly recommend to install Up2Date 6.314 immediatey.

Your Astaro R&D team
 

Remarks

• This is the second update for ACC V1.9 BETA
• Existing configuration will not be changed
• System will be reboot after Up2Date

Bugfixes: 

• Outdated firmware and patterns now show warnings within the Monitoring >> Version and Details view
• the network icon in Monitoring >> Resources now changes color if one or more interfaces are down
• missing updates in the Dashboard for on-/offline status, up2date progress and HA/Cluster are now working
• the previously non-working actions GeoIP update, shutdown/reboot of cluster nodes are now functional
• selecting install firmware/pattern in Monitoring >> Details now requires confirmation whether the action should be executed
• after executing an action, the select box will now return to ::With selected:: to allow picking the next action to execute
• fixed and enhanced monitoring and display of active connections and users license data
• streamlined the treeview display to accommodate higher amounts of information
• changes to public IP address are now reflected during runtime
• erroneous display of public IP information has been fixed
• restoring a backup from 1.800 or 1.810 will now work  

For more information please see the corresponding UBB-posting at our User Bulletin Board.

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.9 BETA to this new BETA version. There are different ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!):

1.  Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced File:
   u2d-sys-1.820.tgz.gpg
   MD5sum: 82fbe884a62babd9b8420dd59756d4c8
   Size: 86.294.870 bytes (82 MByte)
   Please note: This Up2Date is only compatible with our ACC V1.9 BETA (V1.810). More information in our posting here: Public ACC V1.9 BETA released and here: Up2Date 1.810 for ACC V1.9 BETA released
3. Alternatively, you can download the latest ACC V1.9 ISO File:
   acc-1.820-080822-2.iso
   MD5sum: f95fd4e4303e59fdba759306110ef6ba
   Size: 453.382.144 bytes (432 MByte)
   Astaro FTP server: DE US
   Astaro HTTP server: DE 1 DE 2 US 1 US 2

Thank you in advance for using and testing ACC V1.9 BETA,
your Astaro Product Management Team
 

The new Up2date is for all Astaro Security & Web Gateways, along with Software and Virtual installations. (Note: We will use the term "AxG" when referring to the entire family of Astaro Gateway Products) This new release focuses on the three main areas of Mail Security, Authentication, and the UserPortal in addition to several dozen new features across other minor areas. Also included in 7.300 is a completely redesigned database engine and framework, leading to massive performance improvements for message handling, greatly optimized reporting, and more.  

What's new in AxG V7.300?

The new release showcases significantly improved and redesigned Mail Security features, a revamped End-User Portal, and many changes to the authentication system, most prominently the inclusion of a new Active Directory browser directly within WebAdmin for easy drag-and-drop selection of groups and users. The following main areas have significant new features:

Redesigned UserPortal
The entire feel and functionality of the Astaro UserPortal has been updated with a new style, and introduces new features. First, users will feel immediately at home with a newly polished layout that includes a host of new options for searching through and displaying content in the message quarantine. In addition to being able to mass-manage messages and mark them for release, deletion, white-list and more, the SMTP and POP3 areas have been separated into easily manageable sections. More enhancements have been added to enable users to globally cleanup their messages that have been caught for various reasons, or by age they have been residing in the quarantine. Finally, the UserPortal has been updated to only display RoadWarrior VPN options for which the user is actually permitted to use and configured for.

Enhanced Mail Security
Astaro has strongly enhanced the Mail Security offerings of AxG to realize strong performance gains in the filtering throughput and offer new tools with which to wage war against spam and unwanted mail in the inbox. A new profile mode allows easier configuration of filtering policy for a single domain, while providing even more flexibility and granularity when filtering mail for hundreds of domains. A new MIME filter for SMTP allows administrators to globally inhibit messages that contain Audio, Video, Executables, along with any other MIME type that is specified. We have also made easier the configuration of the Spam-scanning engine, and included new blacklisting options such as being able to delete messages that are highly-considered to be spam immediately. Lastly, newly added checks such as invalid HELO and missing RDNS, will contribute to the potency Astaro's Mail Security offerings, while support for Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) lets you cryptographically sign outgoing messages.

Active Directory Browser
The users have spoken ,and in direct response to the popularity of the fully interactive, drag-and-drop style browser that Astaro has long had for E-Directory users, we have added this functionality for our Active Directory environments. By offering a full browser-style tool that allows selection of users and groups with the mouse, administrators no longer need to manually type out strings when setting up AD integration, massively reducing the time and expertise needed to take full advantage of user-based reporting, policy assignment, VPN access, and any area of AxG that supports authentication.

Active Directory and E-Directory Test Tools
New tools have been added to the WebAdmin to assist administrators in configuring their AxG product to connect and work with AD and EDir resources. It is now possible to test the connection to the server for errors during setup, along with being able to validate a test-user directly from WebAdmin against the backend server.

Email Encryption now FREE with Mail Security Subscription
The new Mail Security offering now includes the full functionality of Astaro's Email Encryption Engine at no additional charge. If you currently have a valid subscription to the Email Security or Email Encryption options, your license will be automatically granted full access to the renamed "Mail Security" subscription.

Reporting Improvements
Reporting is key for many, and we've added new configuration options for various areas. It is now possible to specify the length that each reporting section will be held in WebAdmin, and administrators can now completely disable reports they do not use, saving resources. As well, the entire reporting system is more responsive and better performing with speed improvements of double the previous implementation. The end-user quarantine report has been tweaked to allow deliver of this list twice per day at configurable times, ensuring it can be delivered at a time which best fits everyone's needs.

Remarks:

• Existing SMTP/POP3 configuration will be extended
• System will reboot after Up2Date
• Logging DB and EMail Quarantine will be converted
• System will be rebooted after Up2Date
• *Important* Log Database Conversion will be continued after reboot with low run priority (resulting operation *may* run for many hours/days for environments with large amounts of existing log data)

News:

• Improved Email Filter
• Reworked Email encryption engine
• New UserPortal
• New Backend Database Architecture
• Improved Active Directory integration and management
• Configurable Reporting
• Status Information for HA/Cluster Nodes
• Reboot or Halt HA/Cluster Nodes
• New Directory User Prefetch option
• Backend User Group Support
• Improved performance for logging and reporting backend
• Improved backend group support for authentication
• Improved IM/P2P detection rate and memory usage
• Improved IPsec and L2TP subsystem and interoperability
• Added XAUTH support for IPSec Remote Access
• Added options for testing authentication servers
• Added optional smarthost for notifications
• Added options for configuring Reporting
• Added options to reboot/shutdown HA/Cluster nodes
• Fixed clam vulnerabilities CVE 2008-0314, 2008-1833, 2008-1835, 2008-1836, 2008-1837, 2008-1387, 2008-2713

Bugfixes:

Fix [4533]: L2TP doesn't work with IP addresses assigned via DHCP
Fix [5422]: Changing eDir SSL settings breaks eDir Browser for current session
Fix [5703]: Enduser Portal shows 127.0.0.1 as login source IP
Fix [6892]: Astaro notification emails tagged as spam
Fix [7005]: Middleware may mix up static DHCP mappings
Fix [7034]: If cffd fails during spam digest creation no resume for digest is triggered
Fix [7260]: System freezes on Vmware ESX Server V3
Fix [7472]: POP3 Proxy does not start with customized messages
Fix [7983]: Daily Spam Report fails for some Recipients (case-sensitive issue)
Fix [8073]: Blank password allowed for encrypted backups
Fix [8147]: FTP file downloads stop at 2GB
Fix [8200]: Unable to create exceptions for domains with single character
Fix [8248]: ASC config file doesn't set IKE config mode correctly
Fix [8254]: Using service 'Any' as traffic service breaks DNAT and SNAT rules
Fix [8358]: High memory usage for IM/P2P detection
Fix [8359]: Readable eDirectory passwords in debugging mode
Fix [8365]: Slave stuck in 'UP2DATE' state in HA/Cluster environment
Fix [8384]: Kernel reports 'Detected Tx Unit Hang' on e1000 hardware
Fix [8414]: HTTP Proxy may expire cached objects even if expire time isn't reached
Fix [8469]: Packetfilter log shows drops of local packets
Fix [8503]: VLAN sometimes fails on bonding device
Fix [8635]: Deactivating SIP support does not work correctly

A detailed description of the new features, changes, system requirements as well as installation and upgrade information is included within the AxG 7.300 Release Notes.

Download Information

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version.
There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!):  

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   (MD5sum: 37627a6b8105bbc93c5a1ccffbbaa9a9 Size: 223,788,817 bytes)
   HTTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Austria Mirror - Japanese Mirror
   FTP: Astaro US - Astaro US2 - Astaro Germany - Astaro Germany2 - Austria Mirror - Japanese Mirror

The Astaro Security Gateway Administration Guide, a hardware compatibility list and a Known Issues List for the GA release are available on our knowledge base .

Feedback

If you want to provide feedback or want to discuss any of the AxG V7 features you should post it on our User Bulletin Board. Please take care to add always(!) the version you refer to (e.g. "[7.300] Quarantine Report "). If you have feedback to our documentation (Online Help) please send it to docu@astaro.com. There is also a demo server that showcases all the new shiny things: http://demo.astaro.com

Your Astaro R&D team

Remarks

• This is the first update for ACC V1.9 BETA
• Existing configuration will not be changed  
• System will be reboot after Up2Date

News

Gateway Manager

• Numerous enhancements to usability and navigational aspects
• History and auditing capability for unscheduled actions
• Additional tooltip information for Availability and Resource views
• Earlier warnings and threat signaling if thresholds are exceeded

WebAdmin

• added DNS configuration menu
• added external SMTP server for notifications

General

• Fixed several bugs and resolved several cosmetic issues

For more information please see the corresponding UBB-posting at our User Bulletin Board.

Download Information

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Command Center V1.9 BETA to this new BETA version. There are different ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!):

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced
   File: u2d-sys-1.810.tgz.gpg  
   MD5sum: b888ac600841af39f10eb077c2f20673
   Size: 128.354.035 bytes (122 MByte)
   Please note: This Up2Date is only compatible with our ACC V1.9 BETA (V1.800). More information in our posting here: Public ACC V1.9 BETA released
3. Alternatively, you can download the latest ACC V1.9 ISO
   File: acc-1.810-080815-3.iso
   MD5sum: b290c73495d25e1aa78efd8742c56d45
   Size: 452.927.488 bytes (432 MByte)
   Astaro FTP server: DE US
   Astaro HTTP server: DE 1 DE 2 US 1 US 2

Thank you in advance for using and testing ACC V1.9 BETA,
Your Astaro Product Management Team

Remarks:

• Configuration will not be changed
• Middleware will be restarted

News:

• Hotfix for DNS proxy vulnerability - CVE-2008-1447

Download Information

The Astaro Up2Date technology makes it easy to upgrade your installed Astaro Security Gateway to the latest version. There are two ways to apply an Up2Date package to the system (All Up2Dates are GNUPG-signed!):

1. Log on to WebAdmin, navigate to Management >> Up2Date >> Overview and use Update to latest version now to install the Firmware Up2Date. Click on then Watch Up2Date Progress in new window and an extra browser window will show the progress of the Up2Date installation and the System administrator will receive a notification email once the Up2Date process has finished successfully.  
2. Download the Up2Date package from our HTTP or FTP Server and install it under Management >> Up2Date >> Advanced:
   (Md5sum: 947e47ef461b5bce8edad1712fd718f0 - Size: 1,814,637 bytes)  

Because of the risk of manipulated DNS answers we strongly recommend to install Up2Date 7.202 shortly.

Your Astaro R&D team
 

The ACC V1.9 BETA will run from July 31th through August 29th. The results will be of huge value in order to discover possible malfunctions at a very early stage and hence significantly increase the stability and reliability of the final software release. By participating in the beta program, you have the chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Certificates, depending on your feedback you are providing to Astaro during the beta phase. The following sections will provide an overview about new features included, as well as all information you need to download, install and test the new software. After you have successfully installed the beta software, you are able to conduct individual tests at your own discretion.

What's new in ACC V1.9?

The new version offers a re-designed Interface and is split into the "WebAdmin" and "Gateway Manager".

Administrative GUI split: 

• WebAdmin (Port 4444): Is responsible for the ACC system settings.
• Gateway Manager (Port 4422): Is responsible for monitoring and managing connected Astaro Gateways.  

Furthermore, V1.9 offers many feature and usability enhancements as well as bug fixes. The new version provides the following major enhancements:

WebAdmin (System Settings):

Directory / Authentication Support
Administrators and Users of the ACC are now able to authenticate against existing Active Directory, eDirectory, RADIUS, TACACS and LDAP.

Integrated Up2Date mechanism
If a newer version is available for installation, you can update to the latest version by clicking the "Update to latest version now" button.

Backup / Restore
Creating a backup takes a snapshot of the current ACC configuration and adds it to the list of available backups in the WebAdmin interface.

Monitoring / Reporting / Alerting
The ACC illustrates reports about traffic (eth), concurrent connections, CPU-, Memory / Swap-, Partition usage and creates the "executive report", familiar from Astaro Security Gateway. This Report can be sent at three different intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) to different recipients. Notifications (e.g. for system restart or available Up2Date packages) can also be configured.

Network restrictions & Shared Secret
It is now possible to restrict access to the ACC by using network access definitions for Clients and Gateways. You can also activate a Shared Secret authentication scheme requiring both Gateway Manager and connecting devices to exchange a shared common password before communication starts. Enabling or changing this kind of access control requires the same password to be specified in the Central Management configuration of each device requesting access to the ACC.

Gateway Manager:

New monitoring features
The near real-time monitoring functionality of the ACC offers tactical dashboard and worldmap views with rapid and efficient drill-down capability. In addition to the actual monitoring data, the ACC now augments certain information with trend indicators to show deviations to previously established baselines and historical averages. Depending on the type of data monitored, those baselines are either short-lived (CPU load average) or worth several days of data collection (Threat Monitoring). Detailed listviews for aspects ranging from Threat and Version Status via License and Resource Usage to an all new Service Monitoring and High-Availability and Cluster Monitoring are provided in a concise and problem-oriented manner. A newly integrated automatic (re-)sorting functionality improves situational awareness by ensuring that Gateways with the highest threat status are put on top within the various views.

Multi-Client Capability:
The access control management, which seamlessly integrates Astaro's sophisticated backend authentication mechanisms, offers multi-client capabilities for Service-Providers. It is possible to create fine-grained access rights to Gateways, based on an easy-to-use but powerful role system which enables a hierarchical administratorship.

Demo System

Please check also the live demo of ACC under http://accdemo.astaro.com

System Requirements
Supported web browsers for "WebAdmin" and "Gateway Manager":  ACC V1.9 supports the following browser/platform combinations:

MS Windows 2000/XP/Vista:

• IE6 or higher (including IE7)
  Note: Parallel installations of IE6 and IE7 are not supported!
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher
• Safari 3.0 or higher

Linux:

• Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher

Mac OSX:

• Safari 2.0.3 or higher
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or higher
  Note: The iPhone Safari browser has certain limitations - hence it is not supported. Other browsers could also work, but might be subject to rendering or JavaScript issues. They are unsupported. Java or Flash support is not needed. Because much of the AJAX GUI processing is done by the management workstation instead of the ACC, we recommend using

Firefox 3 on a management workstation with at least 1024 MB RAM and a CPU with 3 GHz. More system performance will increase GUI processing speed significantly.

Upgrade Requirements and Options

General Information

Due to major system architecture changes in the new Astaro Command Center V1.9 and the focus on future extensibility and scalability, only Versions 7.300 and higher will be supported. You can continue using older products with the previous ACC V1.4 which offers backward compatibility, but you cannot benefit from the new features and enhanced capabilities until you update both your Astaro Security Gateway and your ACC installations.

Supported Astaro Security Gateway / Astaro Web Gateway releases

The following versions of Astaro Gateway are supported:

• ASG V7.3 and higher
• AWG V7.3 and higher

Please note, that these versions also offer slow-migration functionality as described below.  

Slow Migration

ASG and AWG V7.300 offer the possibility to slow migrate to the new ACC V1.9. You can opt for a slow migration process and update your Astaro Gateway installations step by step to the latest version, which features a dual-ACC support. Within the V7.300 you can choose if you want to connect your Astaro Gateway product to a legacy ACC V1.4 or the newest ACC V1.9, thereby providing you with complete freedom on how and when to update your large installation base.

Hardware requirements

Software Appliance installation

The software needs to be installed on a dedicated Intel compatible PC. For proved hardware components please check our Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) at: http://www.astaro.com/lists/HCL-ACC-V1.txt

Virtual Appliance installation

ACC V1.9 can be installed as a virtual appliance. The following VMware virtualization platforms are supported:

• VMware Player
• VMware Server
• VMware Workstation
• VMware ESX Server  

Minimum hardware requirements for the ACC installation

The minimum hardware requirements for Astaro Command Center V1.9 depends on the number of managed devices in use as well as the number of administrators who access the software simultaneously. There are numbers for CPU, RAM, Hard disk and Bandwidth (devices), Bandwidth (clients) respectively.
The requirement starts with a PC with 2GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM and 30 GB HD (for 10 gateways and one simultaneous administrator) and up to a PC with 2x 4x2Ghz CPU, 3 GB RAM and 160 GB HD (for 250 gateways and 10 administrators who access the ACC simultaneously).
Please take a look to our minimum hardware requirements table here: ACC-V1.9-HardwareRequirements.pdf

Conducting beta tests

Limitations and hints  With the provided ISO image there may be some limitations (remember: it's a BETA :-) )

• Please check the Known Issue List before you test ACC V1.9 BETA.
• ACC V1.9 BETA will not be supported via Astaro's support teams; therefore, you should not use it within productive environments.
• An ACC V1.9 manual and complete Online Help will be available with the GA release.  

Software download and installation

Download acc-1.800-080731-1.iso
size: 433 MB (453,761,024 Byte)
md5sum: 3c232a607cfa84175caa540d7fb075bb
Astaro FTP server: DE US
Astaro HTTP server: DE 1 DE 2 US 1 US 2

Search for "how to burn" on our Knowledge Base if you have trouble burning a CD from the ISO image. The ACC framework has been replaced with the tried Astaro V7 framework. Since the V7 framework is based on a licensing system, it is compulsory that a license file is also imported here. Please note that ACC V1.9 is exempt from charges, according to this, the license is for free! There is no need to request a license, you can download it here: http://www.astaro.com/lists/Free_License-ACC-V1.txt

Providing Feedback

You can provide your feedback through the following channels: As with earlier versions you can post any feedback and discuss any of the ACC V1.9 BETA features on our User Bulletin Board. There is a separate beta forum where you can participate in the Astaro Command Center V1.9 BETA challenge. Please do not use the General Discussion forum for beta related bugs, even if you do not want to part in the exciting contest. However finding bugs within the new version will be harder than ever as the Astaro R&D team has already put tremendous effort in testing all the new features. Hence all experienced Astaro users are invited to participate in the new Astaro beta challenge:

The Top-3 UBB-posters who reported the highest number of confirmed bugs will win one of three Amazon Gift Certificates.

For more information please see the corresponding UBB-posting at our User Bulletin Board.

Astaro very much appreciates your contribution,
Your Astaro Product Management Team
 

Astaro invites you to participate in the ASG V7.300 Beta Test Program. The new release features a broad set of new and improved Mail Security functions, redesigned End-User and Mail Manager portals, enhanced authentication management and reporting functions, performance improvements for reporting and logging as well as bugfixes.  

What's new in ASG V7.300?

The following new features are included:

Improved Email Filter 

• Sender/domain and IP/network blacklists (SMTP only)
• Spam and malware rejection during SMTP transaction
• Email recipient verification based on Active Directory (SMTP only)  
• MIME type blocking with "magic" file type lookup (SMTP only)
• Quarantine for unscannable attachments (e.g. encrypted zips, oversized content)
• Upload and/or change SMTP TLS/SSL certificate
• Upstream host/network list, with "Upstream hosts only" option
• RDNS and HELO checks (anti-spam feature)
• Multi-lingual spam digest with configurable schedule (two configurable times per day)
• DKIM (Domainkeys Identified Mail) outgoing mail signing
• Multi-lingual UserPortal with customizable welcome message
• Persistent cookie support for end user portal
• SMTP parent proxy support for spam detection engine
• Reworked Email encryption engine (with additional support of PGP key server query and clustering)  

Management 

• Redesigned End-User and Mail Manager portals (enhanced search, management of deferred messages and more)
• Visual SMTP log (in Admin Mail Manager)
• Redesigned SMTP Proxy Profile configuration
• Configurable SMTP Server for Notifications
• Test Authentication Settings and User Authentication
• Reworked eDirectory Browser and new Active Directory Browser
• Backend-User-Group Support for Authentication
• Directory User Prefetch for eDirectory and Active Directory
• Perfomance Improvements for Logging and Reporting (based on PostgreSQL)
• Show Reporting Graphs of HA-/Cluster-Slave Machines in WebAdmin
• Reboot/Halt HA-/Cluster-Slave Machines in WebAdmin
• Configurable Reporting  

Other  

• IPsec XAUTH support
• Besides these new features the new release includes bugfixes and updates that increase the stability and system performance.  

Known-Issues 

• Online help has not been updated for new or changed features yet.

How to become a Beta Tester

Bullet proof internet security is mission critical to all our customers. A comprehensive testing procedure is required to achieve the right level of perfection for Astaro products in a productive environment. Therefore we would like to invite you to participate in our Beta Test Program. The following sections will provide all the information you need to download, install and test the ASG V7.3 Beta.

Testing Period

July 3rd - August 15th

Download Information

The initial beta version can only be tested through a new installation, i.e. by downloading and installing the complete ISO image. You can't upgrade your existing installation with a BETA up2date package. However, it is possible to restore a backup from an earlier version (up to 7.201).

New installation:  

Download ISO-Image for custom X86 hardware
(Size 450177024 bytes, MD5Sum c83107fe6a21777c1a4af843422b86ed)  

Download ISO-Image for ASG appliances
(Size 473632768 bytes, MD5Sum 83b2e6d714d380579f95c3ac36fb2a1a)

Limitations and Hints 

• ASG V7.3 BETA will not be supported via Astaro's support teams, using it in production evironments is therefore discouraged.
• A ASG V7.3 manual and complete Online Help will be available with the GA release.  

Test Cases

After you have successfully installed the beta version of ASG V7.3 you are able to conduct individual tests at your own discretion. If feasible we would also appreciate if you would have a closer look into the following areas and provide us with your personal feedback as described below: 

• End-User portal / Admin Mail Manager
• SMTP Proxy in general
• POP3 Proxy
• FTP Proxy  

Feedback

As with earlier versions please post any feedback and discuss any of the ASG V7.3 BETA features on our User Bulletin Board in the "BETA Version" forum.