Firewalls

From MozillaZine Knowledge Base
Revision as of 16:53, 31 July 2006 by Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (replaced information previously removed. see discussion. eTrust link not given since at the time I found it, the page would only work in IE)
Jump to navigationJump to search

This article will help you configure your software firewall so that your Mozilla application can access the internet.

Background

A firewall acts as a gatekeeper to the Internet. Most software firewalls (also called personal firewalls) will block any program from using the Internet, including your browser and mail program, unless you have specifically allowed the connection.

Most software firewalls will ask you whether to allow a program to connect to the Internet. It is important that you always grant Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite access. If you deny access, you must use the firewall's configuration program to re-allow access.

  • When your Mozilla program is installed or updated, you must configure the firewall to recognize the new version.
  • With some firewalls, if you attempt to close or uninstall the firewall, the display closes but the engine continues to block Internet access.

Configuring specific firewalls

  • Hint: Try removing all all programs, or all mention of Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite from the program list.
  • Hint: If your firewall still blocks access after being configured, try rebooting the computer.

eTrust Firewall

(The following is taken from the My-eTrust.com Knowledge Center article, I cannot surf the Internet since installing EZ Firewall, Document ID: 2207).

  1. Double click the EZ Firewall icon in the system tray
  2. Ensure that the ‘Lock’ icon at the top is in the unlocked position.
  3. To the left of the window, click ‘Program Control’
  4. Click the ‘Programs’ tab from the top.
  5. Look for your internet program (e.g. "Mozilla" or "Firefox") and ensure that the permissions under ‘Access’ and ‘Server’ have a green check mark (allow).
  6. Once this is done, try accessing the internet again. You should get a firewall alert asking for access permission.

McAfee Personal Firewall

(From McAfee Support)

  1. Right-click the McAfee icon, point to Personal Firewall, then click Internet Applications.
  2. In the Permissions list, right-click the permission level for an application, and click Delete Application Rule.

The next time the application requests Internet access, you can set its permission level to re-add it to the list.

Norton Internet Security

NIS has a bug where an update to Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite will automatically block that program from accessing the Internet. This is a very common problem. The Symantec Web site now has documentation on connection problems. Or read these step-by-step configuration instructions. Note: there is a report that it defaults to allow only outbound connections.

If NIS freezes up while changing settings:

  1. Open up Norton Internet Security -> Personal Firewall -> Configure -> Programs
  2. Click the first item in the Manual Program Control list.
  3. Press Ctrl+A to select all of the program rules.
  4. Click Remove (this will wipe the programs list clean).
  5. If you see a warning message, click YES to remove the rules.

-Next, run a program scan...

  1. Click PROGRAM SCAN
  2. Select drive C and click NEXT.
  3. When it's done scanning click "Check all"
  4. NEXT to go to the next page, and click FINISH.

Outpost Firewall

Make sure the Rules Wizard firewall policy is on.

Sygate Firewall

Some firewalls (e.g. Sygate) block ICMP traffic by default. There are times when your computer needs to exchange ICMP type 3 and type 4 data with the gateway, and if that traffic is blocked, you will get web timeouts and failed ftp uploads.

To unblock it in Sygate, see This post.

Windows Firewall

Try removing Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite from Windows Firewall's exceptions list, and re-adding it.

  1. Close Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite
  2. Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall
  3. General tab - Make sure the firewall is switched on and "Don't allow exceptions" is unchecked.
  4. Exceptions tab - Find the Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite entry and delete it.
  5. Check the box next to "Display a notification when Windows Firewall blocks a program".
  6. Click "OK" to exit the Windows Firewall window.
  7. Start Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite.
  8. Windows Firewall should then ask whether you want to keep blocking or unblock. Select "Unblock".

ZoneAlarm

Note: Closing the ZoneAlarm window by clicking on the 'X' in the upper right does not stop the firewall! It just minimizes the window to the system tray. To shut it down (briefly!) for debugging, right click on the icon in the tray.

You can allow or deny Internet access for a program at any time. To do this, open the ZoneAlarm control center, select "Program Control" on the left, "Programs" on the top, find the program (e.g., Firefox) in that list, and make sure there is a (green) √ check mark in the "Access Internet" column. If that doesn't work, right click on the Firefox entry and select "Remove". The next time you access Firefox, ZA should ask you if you want to allow access or not.

Note: Settings | Control Panel | "Add or Remove Programs" may not actually uninstall the firewall! The ZoneAlarm user interface (control center) may be uninstalled, leaving the VSMON firewall running.[1] This would give the user the false impression that the firewall was not running, when in fact it could still be blocking Internet access.

See also