Spam Blocking And Web Filtering With The Untangle 5.3 Network Gateway
Version 1.0
Author: Falko Timme
Untangle bundles common open-source applications for blocking spam, spyware, viruses, adware and unwanted content on the network in one single Linux distribution. It can be integrated into existing networks either as a router or as a transparent bridge (directly behind the router, but before the switch that connects the client PCs with the router). The best thing about Untangle is that you don't have to reconfigure the client PCs - Untangle works out of the box.
This document comes without warranty of any kind! I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!
1 Preliminary Note
The Untangle Gateway Platform and 12 of the applications that run on it are open source and free to use under the GNU General Public License v2 (GPL). There are also some non-free add-ons available (see http://www.untangle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=86&Itemid=179 for more details), but I will concentrate on the free add-ons in this article.
I will install Untangle as a transparent bridge in this article, i.e., on a system directly behind the router, but before the switch that connects the client PCs with the router. The Untangle system needs two network cards for this - one connects the Untangle system with the router, the other one with the switch. Of course, you can as well replace your router with the Untangle system, but in either case it needs two NICs.
2 Installing Untangle
Download Untangle 5.3 from http://www.untangle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=226&Itemid=739 and burn it onto a CD. Then boot your system from that CD:
The Untangle installation wizard starts. Click on Next:
Accept the license agreement by clicking on Next:
Select the hard disk on which you want to install Untangle. Please note that all existing data on that hard drive will be erased:
Next, the install checks if the hardware fulfills all requirements. In my case my memory was a little bit low, but still enough to continue. If your hardware doesn't fulfill the minimum requirements, the installer will let you know and abort the installation.
Before the installer starts the partitioning of the hard drive, the wizard warns you again that all data on the drive will be deleted. Click on Finish if you want to go on:
Click on Continue to confirm that you want to proceed:
Afterwards, Untangle is being installed on your system. This can take a few minutes, so please be patient:
Click on OK to finish the installation and power down the system. After the system has shut down, switch it on again and remove the installation CD from the CD/DVD drive:
After you have removed the installation CD, Untangle will boot from the hard drive:
