Firewall client configuration
Firewall Client software is configured via Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 Management. You can use ISA Server Management to configure Firewall Client settings, which are periodically updated on the client computer. You can configure the following:
- Application settings.
- How the Firewall client connects to ISA Server for specific applications. For more information, see Firewall Client application settings.
- Internal network and local domains.
- The set of IP addresses and domains that the Firewall client recognizes as local, for which no ISA Server is required. For instructions, see Configure Firewall Client's internal network addresses and Configure local domains for Firewall Client.
- Automatic discovery.
- By enabling automatic discovery, Firewall clients will automatically discover the appropriate ISA Server computer. For more information, see Automatic discovery for Firewall clients
- Web browser settings for the Firewall client
- The Firewall Client application can automatically update the Web Proxy settings on the Firewall Client computer. These settings are obtained from the ISA Server, when the Firewall Client settings are updated. You can configure how the Web browser will be set on the Firewall client computer. Note that these settings do not apply to dial-up or VPN connections. For more information, see Configure Firewall Client's Web browser settings.
Allowing Earlier Versions of Firewall Client Software
ISA Server supports earlier versions of the Firewall Client software, including Firewall Client for ISA Server 2000 and the Winsock Proxy client (from Microsoft Proxy Server 2.0). However, you may want to prevent earlier versions of the Firewall Client software installed on earlier versions of Windows operating systems from connecting to your ISA Server computer. This is because these clients will cannot use encryption when connecting to ISA Server. For instructions, see Allow previous versions of Firewall Client.
Encrypted Firewall Client Connections
ISA Server supports a more secure way of communication between the Firewall client and ISA Server, which involves the use of encryption via a TCP control channel. You can configure ISA Server to accept connections only from clients communicating in this secure way. However, this prevents earlier versions of Firewall Client software from connecting.
It also prevents clients with Firewall Client for ISA Server 2004 running on earlier operating systems (such as Windows 98) from connecting. This is because the earlier operating systems do not support encryption. You can enable Windows 98 to work with encryption one needs by installing the Active Directory Client Extensions package. For more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/adextension.asp.
