Sophos Remote Update -------------------- August 2003 (1.1) www.sophos.com Contents -------- 1 About Remote Update 2 New features 3 Known issues with this version 4 Additional information 1 About Remote Update --------------------- Remote Update enables users to update Sophos Anti-Virus via the internet or a company intranet. Updates are downloaded, either manually or automatically, from central installation directories (CIDs) on your company's web server. You are recommended to create Sophos Anti-Virus CIDs specifically for use by Remote Update, and to disable the option for auto-updating workstations. This prevents the possibility that, on networks with multiple CIDs, Sophos Anti-Virus is updated from one CID, but receives configuration details from another. See the 'Remote Update administrator guide' for information on creating CIDs. 2 New features -------------- * Integrated scheduler added This allows the user to set up a schedule that checks regularly for updates whenever the user is logged in. The scheduler can be configured centrally by the system administrator and deployed to all users running Remote Update. * Changes to the Proxy component Users can now have different proxy settings for Remote Update and Internet Explorer. Note: If you access the internet via a proxy, and you have previously enabled 'Automatically detect settings' in the 'Proxy details' page, you will need to enter your proxy details explicitly for Remote Update to continue to access the Internet. 3 Known issues with this version -------------------------------- a) Remote Update requires C runtime library version 6.00 or later Remote Update requires version 6.00 or later of Microsoft's C runtime library (contained in the file MSVCRT.DLL). If you attempt to install Remote Update on a version of Windows NT, 95 or 98 that has an earlier version of the library, the setup program offers to update it. b) Windows 95 users must download the Winsock 2 Update On Windows 95 computers, Remote Update requires Windows Sockets 2 to be installed. Windows 95 users must download the Winsock 2 Update from: http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/WUAdminTools/ S_WUNetworkingTools/W95Sockets2/Default.asp c) Central installation via a low-bandwidth connection may be slow When you make a central installation of Remote Update, the setup program generates a catalogue of files and their checksums. If the installation is made via a low-bandwidth connection, this process may take some time. To speed up installation, you can create a central installation on a local disk or over a fast network, and then copy the central installation folder to its final location. d) Problem using FTP to update a CID on a web server When FTP is used to transfer files to a Sophos CID on a web server, the files must be sent in binary mode. Most FTP clients automatically detect Sophos IDE files (virus identities) as ASCII and send them in this mode. This can corrupt IDE files and other text-based files in the setup program. Remote Update cannot download the corrupted files and displays the error message "Server cannot be contacted". e) Permissions in IIS must be set correctly If using Microsoft IIS to publish CIDs on a web server, you must set internet sharing permissions correctly. For any folder, there are three options: 'None'.'Scripts' and 'Execute'. Select 'None' to ensure that the server passes the correct files to Remote Update. f) AOL 7 dial-up users cannot update unless already on-line If you use AOL 7 for internet access, and have only a dial-up connection, your computer must be on-line before you attempt to perform updates. Remote Update cannot initiate the connection, even if configured to do so. g) Remote Update appears to use more bandwidth than specified You can limit the bandwidth that Remote Update uses (click 'Advanced settings' in the 'Primary server' or 'Secondary server' configuration page). However, the figure you specify is not the total bandwidth used, but that per product downloaded. As Remote Update updates itself as well as Sophos Anti-Virus, it may use up to twice the amount specified. h) Cancelling an update or edit of a central installation causes problems If you run the setup program to update or edit a central installation of Remote Update, but click 'Cancel' before reaching the end of setup, workstations will be unable to update themselves from the central installation. You must run setup to the end to enable workstation updates. i) IIS 6.0 may fail to serve files and return error 404.3 If your web server is on a Windows 2003 computer, IIS serves only files with extensions registered in its MIME types list. To ensure that IIS serves Sophos Anti-Virus and Remote Update files, you must add each extension used by those files or a wildcard .* to the list. To do this, find the top-level Sophos directory, open the properties pages and click the 'HTTP Headers' tab. Then select 'MIME types' and add the extensions, mapping them to the MIME type 'application/octet-stream'. j) Schedule parameters can be changed even if local configuration is disallowed. The schedule page in the central installation settings wizard includes an option 'Allow local configuration'. When this option is left un-ticked (default), it should prevent local administrators changing their scheduling options. However, this option has no effect. 4 Additional information ------------------------ a) Dial-up connection to the internet If you use a dial-up connection, and want to start updates while still off- line, configure Remote Update to connect to the internet automatically. Left-click the Remote Update icon. Click the 'Primary server' tab. Then click 'Advanced'. Select 'Automatically initiate dial-up connection.' Ensure also that your default dial-up connection can connect automatically, without needing the user to enter username and password. b) Firewalls If you are running Remote Update in conjunction with a firewall, the file IUPDATE.EXE should be given access to the internet. c) Preserving custom InterCheck settings on Windows 95/98/Me If you install Remote Update on a Windows 95/98/Me workstation which has a customised INTERCHK.CFG file (i.e. local settings for InterCheck on-access scanning),this file is overwritten by the central copy of the INTERCHK.CFG file in the CID on the server. Ensure that the options you require are set in the central INTERCHK.CFG file on the server. For information on editing the central INTERCHK.CFG file, see the 'InterCheck for Windows 95/98/Me advanced user guide' on the Sophos CD or at http://www.sophos.com/sophos/docs/eng/supps/icad_sen.pdf d) If Remote Update's setup routine fails, either when run automatically or manually, see "%temp%\Sophos Remote Update Setup.log" to view the update log. ----------------