Advanced Firewall Client settings
Upon installation, the Firewall Client software adopts the settings configured by the Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 computer from which the Firewall Client application was installed. These server settings determine functionatliy such as: automatic Web Proxy configuration, ISA Server name, ISA Server auto-detection and others. After the Firewall Client software is installed, ISA Server updates these client settings each time a client computer is restarted, and every six hours after an initial refresh is made.
In addition to these settings, ISA Server periodically updates the client with information about IP addresses that the client should consider local; that is, computers to which the client connects without going through ISA Server.
For most Winsock applications, the default Firewall Client configuration works with no need for further modification. However, in some cases, you will need to add client configuration information. Firewall Client can be configured locally per user, and per computer, on the Firewall Client computer. The configuration is done by making changes to .ini files, which are installed on the Firewall Client computer.
You can change the default settings for all components after installation. The new configuration settings take effect only when the client configuration is refreshed.
.ini Files
The configuration information is stored in a set of files, which are installed to the Firewall Client computer. Specifically, when Firewall Client is installed on the computer, the following files are created on the Firewall Client computer.
- Common.ini, which specifies the common configuration for all applications
- Management.ini, which specifies Firewall Client Management configuration settings
These files are created at the operating system level, for all users logged on to the computer and may be created for each specific user on the computer. The per-user settings override the general configuration settings. These files are created in different locations, depending on the operating system. For example, on Windows XP computers, the files are copied to two locations:
- \Documents and Settings\All Users\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Firewall Client 2004 folder
- \Documents and Settings\user_name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Firewall Client 2004 folder
In addition to these files, the user may create another file called Application.ini, which specifies configuration information for specific applications.
For more information on settings for the common.ini and application.ini settings, see Advanced configuration file settings.
The settings in these files are applied as follows:
- The .ini files in the user's folder take precedence. Any configuration settings here are used by Firewall Client to determine how the application should function.
- Firewall Client looks next in the All Users folder. Any additional configuration settings are applied. If a configuration setting specified contradicts the user-specific settings, it is ignored.
- The Firewall Client application detects the ISA Server computer to which it should connect, in accordance with the settings specified in Firewall Client Management.
- Finally, Firewall Client examines the server-level settings. Any configuration settings specified on ISA Server are applied. If a configuration setting specified contradicts the user-specific or computer-specific settings, it is ignored.
