Manual Chapter :
Customizing URL Categories and Filters for
SWG
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IP APM
- 17.1.1, 17.1.0
Customizing URL Categories and Filters for
SWG
Overview: Customizing URL categories and
filters for SWG
On a BIG-IP system with an SWG subscription, you can customize URL
categories and URL filters any time after the initial download of the URL database has completed.
Customizing URL categories and URL filters is completely optional.
With regularly scheduled downloads, URLs are added to the URL database on an ongoing basis.
With predefined URL filters, if they completely serve your needs, you do not need to configure
more.
About the Instant Messaging URL category
A predefined Instant Message URL category is available only on a BIG-IP system with an SWG subscription.
Secure Web Gateway (SWG) supports HTTP and HTTPS-based instant messaging protocols. As a
result, when you use the Instant Messaging URL category to block messages, SWG can block
messages to ICQ, for example, but cannot block messages from applications that use
non-standard ports or tunneling over HTTP, such as, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Google Talk, and
so on.
Similarly, SWG cannot block messages from file-sharing and peer-to-peer protocols that do not
use HTTP or HTTPS; most of these protocol types do not use either HTTP or HTTPS.
Adding custom URL
categories to the URL database
A URL database is available only on a BIG-IP system with a Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
subscription.
The URL categories that you add become subcategories of Custom
Categories. Custom Categories take precedence over standard
categories.
- On the Main tab, click.The URL Categories table displays;Custom Categoriesdisplays as the first entry in the table.
- ClickCreate.The Category Properties screen displays.
- In theNamefield, type a unique name for the URL category.
- From theDefault Actionlist, retain the default valueBlock; or, select an alternative:AlloworConfirm.If no action has been specified in a filter for this category, the URL Filter agent takes the branch for the default action.
- Add, edit, or delete the URLs that are associated with the category by updating theAssociated URLslist.
- To add URLs to theAssociated URLslist:
- In theURLfield, type a URL.You can type a well-formed URL that the system must match exactly or type a URL that includes globbing patterns (wildcards) for the system to match URLs.
- If you typed globbing patterns in theURLfield, select theGlob Pattern Matchcheck box .
- ClickAdd.The URL displays in theAssociated URLslist.
These are well-formed URLs:- https://www.siterequest.com/
- http://www.siterequest.com:8080/
- http://www.sitequest.com/docs/siterequest.pdf/
- http://www.sitequest.com/products/application-guides/
This URL*siterequest.[!comru]includes globbing patterns that match any URL that includessiterequest, except forsiterequest.comorsiterequest.ru.This URL*://siterequest.com/education/*includes globbing patterns that match any HTTP URL that includessiterequest.com/education, but that do not match any HTTPS URLs if Category Lookup specifies that the input is SNI or CN.Subject.For SNI or CN.Subject input, Category Lookup usesscheme:://hostfor matching, instead of matching the whole URL. - ClickFinished.The URL Categories screen displays.
- To view the newly created URL category, expandCustom Categories.The custom URL category displays in the Sub-Category column.
Add or edit a URL filter to specify an action
(allow, block, or confirm) for the custom category.
Customizing standard categories from the URL database
You can customize the standard URL
categories supplied in the URL database by adding URLs to them. You might do this after
you use APM as a forward proxy for a while, view logs and reports, and determine that
you need to make changes.
A URL database is available only on a BIG-IP
system with an SWG subscription.
If you add a URL to a URL
category, APM gives precedence to that categorization and database downloads do not
overwrite your changes.
- On the Main tab, click.The URL Categories table displays.
- Click the name of any category or subcategory to edit the properties for it.To view and select a subcategory, expand categories.The Category Properties screen displays. There are many URLs in a given category; however, any URLs that display on theAssociated URLslist are entered by the user.
- Edit or delete any URLs on theAssociated URLslist.
- To add URLs to theAssociated URLslist:
- In theURLfield, type a URL.You can type a well-formed URL that the system must match exactly or type a URL that includes globbing patterns (wildcards) for the system to match URLs.
- If you typed globbing patterns in theURLfield, select theGlob Pattern Matchcheck box .
- ClickAdd.The URL displays in theAssociated URLslist.
These are well-formed URLs:- https://www.siterequest.com/
- http://www.siterequest.com:8080/
- http://www.sitequest.com/docs/siterequest.pdf/
- http://www.sitequest.com/products/application-guides/
This URL*siterequest.[!comru]includes globbing patterns that match any URL that includessiterequest, except forsiterequest.comorsiterequest.ru.This URL*://siterequest.com/education/*includes globbing patterns that match any HTTP URL that includessiterequest.com/education, but that do not match any HTTPS URLs if Category Lookup specifies that the input is SNI or CN.Subject.For SNI or CN.Subject input, Category Lookup usesscheme:://hostfor matching, instead of matching the whole URL. - ClickAdd.The URL displays in theAssociated URLslist.
- ClickUpdate.The URL Properties screen refreshes.
- On the Main tab, click.The URL Categories table displays. The screen displays(recategorized)next to the URL category that you customized.
URLs are added to the URL category that you selected.
Customizing URL filters for SWG
You configure a URL filter to
specify whether to allow, block, or confirm requests for URLs in URL categories. You can
configure multiple URL filters.
On a BIG-IP system with an SWG subscription,
default URL filters, such as
block-all
and
basic-security
, are available. You cannot delete default
URL filters. - On the Main tab, click.You can click the name of any filter to view its settings.The URL Filters screen displays.
- To configure a new URL filter, click one of these options.
- Createbutton: Click to start with a URL filter that allows all categories.
- Copylink: Click for an existing URL filter in the table to start with its settings.
- In theNamefield, type a unique name for the URL filter.
- ClickFinished.The screen redisplays. An Associated Categories table displays. It includes each URL category and the filtering action that is currently assigned to it. The table includes a Sub-Category column. Any URL categories that were added by administrators are subcategories withinCustom Categories
- To block access to particular categories or subcategories, select them and clickBlock.When you select a category, you also select the related subcategories. You can expand the category and clear any subcategory selections.
- Expand the categoryMiscellaneous, selectUncategorized, and then clickBlock.It is important to block URLs that SWG cannot categorize.
- To allow access to particular categories or subcategories, select them and clickAllow.
- To indicate that you want a user to confirm that access is work-related or otherwise justified before obtaining access to the URLs in a category, select the categories or subcategories and clickConfirm.
To put a URL filter into effect, you
must assign it in a per-request policy. A per-request policy runs each time
a user makes
a URL
request.