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Beta Update Channel Instructions

The configuration required for enabling F-Secure clients to use the beta update channel depends on the F-Secure clients installed in the environment. With F-Secure products supporting central management using Policy Manager Server and Console like F-Secure Client Security and F-Secure Server Security, you can install a dedicated Policy Manager Server and the installation is then configured to download beta updates using the instructions provided below.

As Gateway end-protection clients like Internet Gatekeeper for Linux or F-Secure Anti-Virus Linux Gateway do not support centrally managed installations, these clients require separate steps which are described below.

Prerequisites

Typical testing environment

Hosts in the update should not be business critical, but they should be in active use.

A typical environment for testing the updates is as follows:

  • A separate F-Secure Policy Manager Server (the production Policy Manager should not be used)
  • Up to 10-20 centrally managed hosts communicating with the beta policy manager. Some examples of centrally managed clients:
    • F-Secure Client Security
    • F-Secure Anti-Virus for Servers
    • F-Secure Server Security
    • F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange
    • F-Secure Email and Server Security
    • F-Secure Linux Security
  • A separate setup of Internet Gatekeeper for Linux

The systems can be installed in parallel to production, as a clone of production or specifically configured for daily use by a specific group of more technically experienced users or your internal IT department.

Setting up the environment requires manual reconfiguration of the F-Secure Policy Manager Server or the client. Instructions can be found below.

Typical scenarios to monitor

The systems in beta should not exhibit abnormal or unexpected behavior compared to production systems. Similar system health checks should be available as in the normal production environments.

A typical environment for testing the updates is as follows:

Should you witness an increased number of crashes, false detections, reduced performance or other unexpected anomalies, please report them to F-Secure along with your feedback. Always remember to include F-Secure Support Tool (FSDIAG) report from the affected computer.

Instructions for creating an FSDIAG are available:

All feedback should be sent by email to. Your feedback is highly appreciated as it helps us to improve our products and releases prior to production release.

Instructions

For Policy Manager

How to configure F-Secure Policy Manager to download updates from beta update server

These are step-by-step instructions on how to configure F-Secure Policy Manager to download updates from beta update server. You  need administrator rights on the server to perform this.

Part 1: Windows

  1. Start Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
  2. Open this path:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Data Fellows\F-Secure\FSAUA
  3. Right-click and select "New" > "String Value" to add a new string value with the beta update server address:
    Name = RootServer
    Type = REG_SZ
    Data = http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  4. Restart F-Secure Automatic Update Agent service (Start/Administrative Tools/Services).

Part 1: Linux

  1. Open the file /etc/opt/f-secure/fsaua/fsaua_config using a text editor
  2. Locate the "Update servers" section
  3. Under the "TEMPLATE_UPDATE_SERVERS" section, find the following line:
    #update_servers=http://fsbwserver.f-secure.com
  4. Change the above line to this (Remove the hash "#" sign from the start and add "-beta" to the server address): update_servers=http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  5. Restart F-Secure Automatic Update Agent daemon by running /etc/init.d/fsaua restart.

Part 2: Both Windows and Linux

The last step in configuring the environment is to ensure that the hosts under the F-Secure Policy Manager will not fetch updates directly from F-Secure. To accomplish this, you need to change the current policy.

  1. Open F-Secure Policy Manager Console
  2. Select "Advanced Mode" from the View menu
  3. Open F-Secure Automatic Update Agent/Settings/Communications
  4. Select "Allow fetching updates from F-Secure update server" and change that to "No"
  5. Distribute policies.

After doing this, your F-Secure Policy Manager will start downloading the beta updates.

For gateway clients

How to configure F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper, F-Secure Anti-Virus Linux Gateway and F-Secure Linux Security to download updates from the beta update server

As these products only support standalone installation, one solution is to configure the hosts to download F-Secure beta updates directly from the F-Secure Beta Update channel server. Use the instructions below to apply this particular change.

F-Secure Internet Gatekeeper (version 5.10 or later)

  1. Open the file /opt/f-secure/fsigk/conf/fsigk.ini with a text editor
  2. Locate the following line in [updates] section:
    updateurl=
  3. Change the line to this:
    updateurl=http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  4. Save the file
  5. Restart the services by running this command from command prompt:
    opt/f-secure/fsigk/libexec/fsigk-reload.sh

Internet Gatekeeper for Linux (version 4.x and 5.00)

  1. Open the file /opt/f-secure/fsigk/conf/dbupdate.conf with a text editor
  2. Locate the following line:
    UPDATEURL=
  3. Change the line to this:
    UPDATEURL=http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  4. Save the file
  5. Restart the F-Secure Automatic Update Agent daemon by typing this to the command prompt:
    cd /opt/f-secure/fsigk ; ./rc.fsigk_fsaua restart

F-Secure Anti-Virus Linux Gateway (version 4.x)

  1. Open the file /home/virusgw/conf/dbupdate.conf with a text editor
  2. Locate the following line in [updates] section:
    UPDATEURL=
  3. Change the line to this:
    UPDATEURL=http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  4. Save the file
  5. Restart the F-Secure Automatic Update Agent daemon by typing this to the command prompt:
    cd /home/virusgw ; ./rc.virusgw_fsaua restart

F-Secure Linux Security

  1. Open the /etc/opt/f-secure/fsaua/fsaua_config in a text editor
  2. Locate the following line in Update servers section:
    #update_servers=
  3. Change the above line to this:
    update_servers=http://fsbwserver-beta.f-secure.com
  4. Save the file
  5. Restart the F-Secure Automatic Update Agent daemon by running this from command prompt:
    /etc/init.d/fsaua restart