Configuring database downloads

Administrator Help | Forcepoint Web Security and Forcepoint URL Filtering | v8.5.x

Related topics:

Configuring your account information

The Forcepoint URL Database

Review Forcepoint URL Database download status

Use the Settings > General > Database Download page to establish the schedule for automatic Forcepoint URL Database downloads. If you did not already enter the information in the Initial Setup Checklist, you can use this page to configure any proxy server or firewall settings that Filtering Service must use to download the database.

Select Enable real-time security updates (default) to have Filtering Service check for security updates to the Forcepoint URL Database every 5 minutes. When a security update is detected, it is downloaded immediately.

Real-time security updates help reduce vulnerability to threats like new phishing (identity fraud) scams, rogue applications, and malicious code infecting a mainstream website or application while lightening the load on real-time analysis.

Select the Download days for automatic downloads.

All download days are selected when Real-Time Security Updates are enabled. Downloads are automatically performed every day to assure that the most up-to-date standard database is available for the security updates.

You must download the Forcepoint URL Database at least once every 14 days for policy enforcement to continue without interruption.

If you deselect all download days, Filtering Service automatically attempts a download when the database is 7 days old.

Next to Download between, select a start time and end time between which Filtering Service attempts to download Forcepoint URL Database updates. By default, download occurs between 21:00 (9 p.m.) and 06:00 (6 a.m.), according to the time on the Filtering Service machine.

Filtering Service selects a random time during this period to contact the Forcepoint URL Database server. To configure alerts for download failures, see Configuring system alerts.

Any time Filtering Service is restarted, it checks for available Forcepoint URL Database updates. The update may begin immediately, rather than waiting for the defined period.


	Note After downloading the Forcepoint URL Database, or updates to it, CPU usage can reach 90% while the database is loaded into local memory.

Select Use proxy server or firewall if Filtering Service must access the Internet through a proxy server or a proxying firewall to download the Forcepoint URL Database. Then provide:

The IPv4 address or hostname of the proxy server or firewall.

The Port through which the database download must pass (8080, by default).

If the proxy server or firewall configured above requires authentication to reach the Internet, select Use authentication, and then enter the User name and Password that Filtering Service should use to gain Internet access.


	Note If Use authentication is selected, the proxy server or firewall must be configured to accept clear text or basic authentication to enable Forcepoint URL Database downloads.

By default, the user name and password are encoded to match the character set for the Policy Server machine's locale. This encoding can be configured manually via the Settings > General > Directory Services page (see Advanced directory settings).

Cloud Apps database

To support the ability to do policy enforcement and report on cloud applications, a Cloud Apps database is downloaded on a regular basis, using the schedule defined for the Forcepoint URL Database download.

A Cloud Apps database is included with your web protection software on each Cloud App Agent machine and each Cloud App Service machine. This cloud application database is used to enable basic functionality from the time you enter your subscription key.

Database updates on the Cloud App Service machine are downloaded using the Forcepoint URL Database download schedule.

The database on the Cloud App Service machine is used for log data and reporting.

Database updates on the Cloud App Agent machine occur each time the Forcepoint URL Database is downloaded. This includes both the scheduled Forcepoint URL Database downloads and, when Cloud App Agent is associated with Filtering Service, when a download is initiated using the Update option on the Dashboard > Database Download page.

The Cloud Apps database is also downloaded each time the Forcepoint Security Manager service (Websense TRITON - Web Security) starts. The exception to this is when Filtering Service is on-box with Security manager. If Filtering Service is on the same machine as Security Manager, database downloads are prompted by Filtering Service restarts only.

When Cloud App Agent starts, the latest database is loaded into memory for use with Filtering Service (for policy enforcement) or Security Manager (to provide cloud app information on the various pages).