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On the Watchdog Status Screen, "URL Blocking" is Red or has a Question Mark. What does this mean?

Yasser Chaudhri — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

On the Watchdog Status Screen, "URL Blocking" is Red or has a Question Mark. What does this mean?

Reply

On the Watchdog Status Screen, “URL Blocking” is Red or has a Question Mark. What does this mean?

This could mean several things. Watchdog’s URL Blocking status functionality depends upon the following factors:

The IP address of the computer on which you have installed Watchdog must be getting filtered, and the profile must be blocking the Pornography category. Otherwise, the URL Blocking Status will be red (fail).

The R3000 must be configured to serve the default block page for the IP address of the computer on which you have installed Watchdog. You cannot use your own custom block page because Watchdog will fail to interpret the response, resulting in a question mark ("?") for the URL Blocking status.

Special note about using Watchdog in a load-balanced environment:
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Watchdog does not direct a request to a particular R3000; it sends the request to the Internet, just as a user would do. When the request gets blocked by an R3000, Watchdog records which R3000 it was, and sets this R3000's
blocking status as "good," while all other R3000s in the pool get flagged as a question mark ("?").

If the requests that Watchdog generates never gets load-balanced to a specific R3000, that R3000 will always show a question mark ("?"), but chances are that a request will eventually hit each box. As long as you don't see
a red "failed" status, the filtering environment is still functional.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 284196

Does Watchdog work with load-balancing?

Art Espinoza — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Does Watchdog work with load-balancing?

Reply

Question: Does Watchdog work with load-balancing?

Watchdog should be able to function fine in a load-balanced scenario, but please note the following:

Watchdog does not direct a request to a particular R3000; it sends the request to the Internet, just as a user would do. When the request gets blocked by an R3000, Watchdog records which R3000 it was, and sets this R3000's
blocking status as "good," while all other R3000s in the pool get flagged as a question mark ("?").

If the requests that Watchdog generates never gets load-balanced to a specific R3000, that R3000 will always show a question mark ("?"), but chances are that a request will eventually hit each box. As long as you don't see
a red "failed" status, the filtering environment is still functional

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 300307

Watchdog errors: "Low disk space for database"

Art Espinoza — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Watchdog errors: "Low disk space for database"

Reply

Question: I'm getting errors like these from the 8e6 Appliance Watchdog, what does it mean?

------------------ W A T C H D O G N O T I F I C A T I O N : ------------------------------------

Watchdog 1 1 12:43:10.984 L General Testpoint 143.59.0.59/SQL_ER_DB_DiskUsed/1 failed: Low disk space for database : 11665408

---

Answer:

You can normally disregard these alerts. Watchdog has a hard-coded space limit of 20 GB to test free database space against, and it will send you a notification every time space goes below 20 GB, which is not a true indication of a problem. The Reporter has a built-in process that checks the database space twice a day and creates more room automatically as needed. If this process is running normally, the database should never run out of room.

If you receive an email alert from the Reporter (ER) itself, then you should contact 8e6 Technical Support. To see if the Reporter is configured to send you email alerts, log into the ER's admin GUI (on port 88), then go to the "Self-Monitoring" page.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 296835

I am getting an exception error in my Watchdog Logs. What does this error mean and how I fix this?

Thomas Pfau — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

I am getting an exception error in my Watchdog Logs. What does this error mean and how I fix this?

Reply

If you are receiving the following error or another similar exception error in the Watchdog logs, please know that this error is caused by .NET strict validation of the HTTP headers.

It only accepts HTTP responses that are 100% compliant with the HTTP RFC 2616 Specification but in real world the web server responses might not always be in compliance.

This feature was first introduced in .NET 1.1 SP1 and we have had experienced intermittent problems. The Watchdog Software Version 1.0.00.02 fixes this issue by disabling strict validation as suggested in MSDN.

Watchdog 1 1 14:10:22.882 L Testpoint Exceptions : System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a receive. ---> System.IO.IOException: Unable to read data from the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host. ---> System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.

Since this error is a simple misinterpretation of the HTTP response, it is not FATAL and does not mean that the R3000 is not correctly filtering.

There is no temporary fix available other than upgrading Watchdog to the above stated version when released. To get details on the release date, please contact 8e6 Technical Support.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276851

What is the 8e6 Watchdog, and what does it do?

Thomas Pfau — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

What is the 8e6 Watchdog, and what does it do?

Reply

The 8e6 Watchdog is a Windows based application that is designed to allow the administrator to monitor the 8e6 suite of appliance products. Watchdog has the ability to monitor the following 8e6 products:

8e6 R3000 2.0 and above (All Models)
8e6 Enterprise Reporter 4.0 and above (All Models)
8e6 Threat Analysis Reporter

Detection and Alerting on the following failures:

Ping Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Connectivity
URL Blocking
Disk Usage
Passed Site Percentage
Last Log Time

The 8e6 Watchdog is available for immediate download from the “Product Updates” section of the 8e6.com website. The 8e6 Watchdog is free to all customers with a current Internet Filtering and Reporting solution from 8e6 technologies. There are no current plans to build a Macintosh version of this free product.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276862

Can we configure watchdog to use sites other than playboy.com or sex.com for monitoring purpose?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Can we configure watchdog to use sites other than playboy.com or sex.com for monitoring purpose?

Reply:

No, the initial release of the Watchdog has these and a few other URLs hard coded for block page testing; therefore, cannot be changed or modified.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276852

Do I need to be logged on to the server running Watchdog in order for it to perform its tasks?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Do I need to be logged on to the server running Watchdog in order for it to perform its tasks?

Reply:

No, you do not have to remain logged in to the server where Watchdog is installed. You can simply lock your desktop and Watchdog will continue to run and perform all functions/tasks.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276853

Why does Watchdog regularly show an error on my TAR that disappears after a while?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Why does Watchdog regularly show an error on my TAR that disappears after a while?

Reply:

When having Watchdog monitor a TAR, it is possible that you will see the following error:Message: Get ExceptionMySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException: Connection unexpectedly terminated If this error shows up briefly every once in a while, then disappears again, it is a known issue. It is caused by the MySQL engine temporarily hitting the maximum number of available connections (connections that Watchdog opens and uses to check on the database status). It should not pose any operational problems since MySQL will periodically free up used connections, thus causing the error to disappear.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276854

On the Watchdog Status Screen, "Ping" is Red. How do I fix this?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

On the Watchdog Status Screen, “Ping” is Red. How do I fix this?

Reply:

Ping status showing Red does not necessarily mean that the server is down.In many network environments, or sections of the networks, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is either fully or partially disabled resulting into unsuccessful ping.If this is not the case, then physically check the server for other problems or call 8e6 Technical Support for assistance with troubleshooting.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276855

Where can I download Watchdog from and how resource intensive is it?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Where can I download Watchdog from and how resource intensive is it?

Reply:

You can download watchdog by using the following URL: http://www.8e6.com/products/8aw/Watchdog.1.0.00.01.msi Watchdog is a very small program and uses approximately 2MB of memory to run, so you should not feel any performance difference after having it installed. To specifically see resource consumption in your computer, please look at Process List in Windows Task Manager.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276856

On the Watchdog Status Screen, "Reporter Web Interface" is Red. How do I fix this?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

On the Watchdog Status Screen, “Reporter Web Interface” is Red. How do I fix this?

Reply:

This does not necessarily mean that there is a problem, but could simply be a matter of Webclient being turned off for access on port 8080 or 8443. To check this setting, please login to your Enterprise Reporter Administration GUI on port 88 for standalone units and port 808 for R3000IR appliance. Once you are logged in: * Click on “Server” drop down and go to “Web Client Server Management”. * Under “Enable/Disable HTTP/HTTPS access to Web Client Server”, make sure that both HTTP and HTTPS are checked/selected. * Click on the “Apply” button to apply settings.Allow a few minutes for Watchdog to refresh its status display and confirm that it is Green. If problem persists, please contact 8e6 Technical Support for further assistance.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276857

Does Watchdog monitor RAID Status in Enterprise Reporter or R3000 H-Models?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Does Watchdog monitor RAID Status in Enterprise Reporter or R3000 H-Models?

Reply:

In the first release of the Watchdog, it does not have a capability of monitoring RAID Status on the 8e6 H-Model Appliances; however, this functionality is currently on the roadmap. For more information or status of this feature, please contact your 8e6 Account Executive.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276859

On the Watchdog Status Screen, "Database Status" is Red. How do I fix this?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

On the Watchdog Status Screen, “Database Status” is Red. How do I fix this?

Reply:

This does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with the database, but could simply mean that you have changed your manager account password for the Webclient login, which is used to run reports. Watchdog, by default, has default username and password configured to connect to the Enterprise Reporter database. If you have changed your password, you must configure Watchdog to use new password to check database status. To configure: · Click on “Configuration” button in your Watchdog GUI.· Click on Enterprise Reporter under “Appliances”. This should bring up configuration options.· Click on “Advance” tab.· Leave username as it is, but type your password followed by confirming the password.· Click on “Save and Close” button and wait for Watchdog to restart services. Database Status should now display Green. If it still shows Red, please contact 8e6 Technical Support for assistance.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276860

On the Watchdog Status Screen, Passed Sites status is "Red". How do I fix this?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

On the Watchdog Status Screen, Passed Sites status is “Red”. How do I fix this?

Reply:

This is not an indication of a problem, but rather an indication of a feature in your Enterprise Reporter that can be used to display all uncategorized sites. This feature is disabled by default. To enable this feature, please login to your Enterprise Reporter Webclient on port 8080 or 8443 for SSL. Once you are logged in: * Go to Settings à Default Options * Un-check "Hide Uncategorized Category" option. * Click “Apply” button to apply the settings.It may take up to 24 hours before Watchdog “Passed Sites” status turns green as it requires certain processes to run in the Enterprise Reporter to update specific configuration files from where Watchdog accesses its information.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276861

Is Watchdog available in an Apple/Macintosh version?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Is Watchdog available in an Apple/Macintosh version?

Reply:

The 8e6 Watchdog is a Windows-based application that is designed to allow the administrator to monitor the 8e6 suite of appliance products. There are currently no plans to build a Macintosh version of this free product.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276863

Why is Watchdog not installing successfully?

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Why is Watchdog not installing successfully?

Reply:

If Watchdog seems to timeout during the installation process, there are a few things you can check. Verify that the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 is installed on your system. Additionally, you may need to update your version of MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components). Watchdog requires at least version 2.6 of MDAC; you can download the latest version, 2.8 SP1, here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=78CAC895-EFC2-4F8E-A9E0-3A1AFBD5922E&displaylang=en

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276864

The ER Database Status has failed status for the ER

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

The ER Database Status has failed status for the ER

Reply

If the “Database Status” failed for the ER on the Watchdog and if you have changed the database password on the web client, then the ER database password most likely has not been changed. If, however, this password has been changed, you need to enter that same information in Watchdog in order for Watchdog to access the ER database. To do so:

A. Click on Configuration on the Watchdog.

B. Select the ER Appliance

C. Click the Advanced tab to display Database connection properties field for the ER.

D. Enter the correct Password, and then enter it again in the Confirm password field.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276866

Test Filtering Failure if using a redirected block page

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Test Filtering Failure if using a redirected block page

Reply

If the R3000 is using a redirected block page, the current release of Watchdog will detect failures in the filtering test. That's because for Watchdog to properly test and detect the effectiveness of the filtering, the default block page must be used. Future releases of Watchdog will not have this requirement.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276867

Watchdog Test Filtering Failure

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Watchdog Test Filtering Failure

Reply

If Watchdog reports test filtering failures, make sure that the same workstation where Watchdog is installed on is also filtered for General Pornography by the same R3000 being monitored. Future releases of Watchdog will not have this requirement.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276868

Watchdog - Requires .Net Framework 2.0

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Watchdog - Requires .Net Framework 2.0

Reply

Problem: When you attempt to install the 8e6 Watchdog software on a Windows PC, it ends abruptly with the message: "Requires .Net Framework 2.0" Solution: Download and install .Net Framework 2.0 from Microsoft's website. Go to: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for "net framework 2.0" Also, if you're having problems installing Watchdog on a Windows 2000 PC, you'll need to obtain Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.8 from Microsoft's website.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276869

Watchdog installation problems on Windows 2000

Thomas Pfau — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This article applies to:

Watchdog

Question:

Watchdog installation problems on Windows 2000

Reply

If you're having problems installing the 8e6 Watchdog software on a Windows 2000 PC, you will need to update Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) to version 2.8. Simply go to: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and type "MDAC 2.8" in the search window.

This article was previously published as:: 8e6 KB 276870