MrKJLS Posted September 7, 2015 Author Posted September 7, 2015 @Edu-IT Hi, I would like to use this on all our clients, both desktops and laptops. Problem with laptops that I see is in school the proxy is necessary but outside of school the laptop will not connect. I use a wpad file on the laptops to apply / not apply the proxy for explorer, chrome, etc. and it works well. This wont as far as I can see help with Avast? I'd be a little worried over holiday periods that laptops taken offsite would not connect to the cloud management dashboard console thingy. You could ask Avast Support to knock up an MSI with your proxy configuration. Some people have had luck doing it this way. https://support.business.avast.com/hc/communities/public/questions/202230335-Windows-Installer-msi-for-deployment?locale=en-us
klop Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 You could ask Avast Support to knock up an MSI with your proxy configuration. Some people have had luck doing it this way. https://support.business.avast.com/hc/communities/public/questions/202230335-Windows-Installer-msi-for-deployment?locale=en-us Hi, I imagine the msi works just the same as the exe? I've downloaded an offline install with proxy settings added. Laptops work good in school but as soon as I take one home it no longer connects to the cloud management dashboard due to trying to use the proxy. I've also downloaded an offline install file without the proxy settings in the hope it might look to Internet Explorer for proxy settings for connection. It doesn't. This laptop (without proxy settings) does not connect to the cloud dashboard when in school but does when home. Either I only have access to these laptops in school (with proxy settings) or when they're offsite (if I setup without a proxy) as far as I can see? Am hoping I'm missing something somewhere? Thanks.
pete Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Regarding the proxy, my current workaround is to flip the laptops to a no-proxy duplicate of the settings just before the holidays and then flip them back just before they come back. It's not very elegant, but it mostly works. We did ask Avast about proxy options back in February: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/downloads/148760-avast-free-business-cloud-antivirus-2.html#post1276990, so it might be worth nudging them to see how they're getting on.
klop Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Cheers Pete, I did think about doing that too - just seems a bit of a faff. I assume you still cannot see the laptops on the dashboard as online during the holidays but they do update? Do you get notifications if they are compromised?
Edu-IT Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 Cheers Pete, I did think about doing that too - just seems a bit of a faff. I assume you still cannot see the laptops on the dashboard as online during the holidays but they do update? Do you get notifications if they are compromised? As long as devices can access the internet they will update and they will report back their status to the console. Yes, there is notifications, as long as the devices report back. I don't think there's a solution as it stands to your proxy / no proxy. As long as they update when they're in school, that should be adequate protection to keep them going?
klop Posted September 8, 2015 Posted September 8, 2015 As long as devices can access the internet they will update and they will report back their status to the console. Yes, there is notifications, as long as the devices report back. I don't think there's a solution as it stands to your proxy / no proxy. As long as they update when they're in school, that should be adequate protection to keep them going? Unfortunately as far as I can tell (from very limited testing I admit) this is not the case. The bcc.cfg file appears to have an on / off proxy switch. So a laptop able to connect using a wpad script to apply a proxy where necessary can only have the Avast software proxy setting on or off. I've two laptops here at home at the moment. One with the proxy enabled in the downloaded offline setup file and one without. Both are able to get online whether in school or not, with no settings needed to be changed by the user. Laptop one complete with proxy settings integrated into the exe file works in school, and appeared on the dashboard requesting activation straight away. It does not work at home, the dashboard does not show it as online. The laptop is online and I am able to browse. The second laptop without the integrated proxy settings within the downloaded offline setup file did not connect to the dashboard whilst in school. The laptop was online and able to browse whilst in school. Once switched on at home the avast software was able to connect and the request for activation appeared. Therefore if the proxy setting is only on/off it cannot work correctly both in school and offsite?
klop Posted September 10, 2015 Posted September 10, 2015 I've been in touch with Avast and below is their reply. Hopefully they will find a solution. I also picked up on the lack of scheduled scanning! Scheduled scanning is on the road map, but not quite done yet. We are creating a lab environment to test some proxy setup options. The proxy settings (in the template settings) in the portal are what it uses to check for updates/synchronization. If they are set, Avast will write them to an INI file that it uses during its update check. I will let you know what we can figure out in the test environment. 1
edutech4schools Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Out of interest is anyone using the Hardened mode?
klop Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 Is anyone else having end-users moaning that http://www.tes.com is being blocked by Avast at the moment if they're using Chrome? (26-08-15, midday). I've got a remote user with the problem, but I can't replicate it here using the same workstation build and config and other sites are fine for them. edit: Virustotal.com is reporting that TES is clean. Quttera is saying there's a couple of iffy things, but their heuristics have been a bit trigger-happy in the past. Hi did you have any success with tes.com ?? We've been using Avast for the last month or so and phasing clients in - now I've started to add staff laptops we're having issues with http://www.tes.com The page loads but there is a pop-up warning from Avast. Then if you click on login it just hangs, the pop-up to login doesn't open. If I untick Block Malware URLs on the client within the local Avast software it opens fine. Avast have told me "Unfortunately there isn't much else I can do per our virus lab which are not able to replicate the same issue and would recommend when using your application to enable the work around feature." The only work around feature I'm guessing is to switch the Block Malware URLs on every client. I'm not at all happy with their support - regardless if the service is free or not.
LeMarchand Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 I tried TES on Firefox, Edge and IE. All get to the logon screen with no problem: Does anyone else have problems with clients not showing as updated in the dashboard even after an update task for them has successfully completed in Network>Tasks? 1
klop Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 Thanks LeMarchand Strange though, if I add tes.com as an exception locally within the Avast software then it will work, but if added as an exception in the management cloud then it will not work.
LeMarchand Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 Weird! Apart from setting the proxy, I've yet to make any changes to the basic config.
klop Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 Did you add the proxy within the client settings or did you add it when you downloaded the install file? Cheers
LeMarchand Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 Did you add the proxy within the client settings or did you add it when you downloaded the install file? Cheers Client settings. We have a suite that I had to install it on post-image as including it in the image caused problems and I've been installing it on teacher laptops as they come in. Avast did do me an MSI based on my settings at the time (I hadn't found the proxy bit) and it seemed to take an age for those clients to get picked up - I was about to visit them in person when they started showing in the console. As all other current machines have McAfee, which is proving difficult to remove remotely, I'm just installing Avast as they get handed back for various reasons.
klop Posted October 21, 2015 Posted October 21, 2015 I think I may have realised what the problem might be, but I am quite confused now! I downloaded an .exe setup file that included our necessary proxy settings. I then push this via a script once our current AVG removes (also via a script). Installation has been working really well, and clients have been appearing on the cloud management portal for me to activate. Looking on the management portal I can see all my clients - and they all appear to be up to date. Looking at it now devices list "Last Seen" as current. But, it seems for the exclusions to work I have to set proxy settings within the portal. However if the clients cannot see the portal how would they get the proxy settings... and if they can see the portal to get the proxy settings, why do they need the proxy settings to get the exclusion lists?? So, things appear to be working a bit better with the proxy settings added but I do not know exactly why! @pete, guessing this is how you have yours set up, then in the holidays your profile for laptops has the proxy settings removed?
bodminman Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Hi there, is there a way to setup scheduled scans using Avast? I can't see it anywhere! Cheers
Edu-IT Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 No. It's meant to be coming soon. Anyone else having problems accessing the console? 1
bodminman Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 No. It's meant to be coming soon. Anyone else having problems accessing the console? Thanks for the response. Didn't they say at the beginning of the year that it was coming soon? I'm on the console now and all seems to be working ok.
LeMarchand Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 Anyone else seeing odd reports in their console? It looks like it's not "seeing" a lot of the devices.
Edu-IT Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 I think they released a dodgy version of the agent. Might be that these updated, and haven't downgraded again. What is the version number? 1
Edu-IT Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 https://support.business.avast.com/hc/en-us/articles/206518533-Urgent-Update-from-Avast-for-Business-Version-10-3-2507 1
LeMarchand Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 They seem to be on an even earlier version - oops! Will see if updating them to current valid version helps!
klop Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 My PCs are all stuck on 2015.10.2.2505 In individual devices - ⚠A new version is available: version 10.3.2505, release date 11/05/2015 Update program Clicking on Update program doesn't update. So I've tried updating manually from one of the PCs in Settings - Update. If I try to update there it tells me Program: Already up to date (current version 2015.10.2.2505) Are the updates applicable for all?
ZeroHour Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 My PCs are all stuck on 2015.10.2.2505 In individual devices - ⚠A new version is available: version 10.3.2505, release date 11/05/2015 Update program Clicking on Update program doesn't update. So I've tried updating manually from one of the PCs in Settings - Update. If I try to update there it tells me Program: Already up to date (current version 2015.10.2.2505) Are the updates applicable for all? I have the same problem here as well.
Edu-IT Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 That article has been edited since I posted. 2505 is the latest release and the one they recommend to be on. If your endpoints are showing as not protected and you have version 10.3.2507, then you’ll need to uninstall Avast for Business reinstall version 10.3.2505 from the cloud console. I think the warning about an update being available can be ignored, from what their forum says. 1
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