Sometimes, the filter is active, but the rule is not configured correctly. Go to -> Content Rules .
KC-WF-001 Product: Kerio Control (formerly WinRoute) Affected Versions: 9.x, 8.x, and legacy 7.x Symptoms: Web filtering fails, content rules are ignored, and the administration interface shows a warning that categorization is disabled.
: Hold the Shift key while navigating to Status > System Health in the admin interface, then click Enable SSH .
If it is expired, you must renew the subscription to re-enable categorization. 2. Refresh the License Info
If all else fails, the error logs will provide the most valuable information for your support ticket. When you reach out to GFI/Kerio support, be sure to include relevant excerpts from your that show the "Unable to categorize" or "DNS response" errors. This information will help them quickly understand the issue and provide you with advanced assistance. Sometimes, the filter is active, but the rule
Kerio Control is designed to disable the Web Filter if it fails 10 consecutive DNS checks to reach the update servers within one minute. You can force it to ignore these failures and keep the filter active by using the SSH console.
: To prevent future automatic disabling, you must disable the DetectReliability feature: Access the Kerio Control shell via SSH . Navigate to the directory: cd /opt/kerio/winroute .
Ensure there is a rule allowing the host itself to access the internet via HTTP/HTTPS (ports 80 and 443).
: The filter cannot categorize encrypted traffic without HTTPS decryption enabled under Content Filter > HTTPS Filtering . : Hold the Shift key while navigating to
Before proceeding with troubleshooting, it's helpful to clarify one common source of confusion. The error message can sometimes be triggered inadvertently by the "Categorize each page regardless of URL rules" setting. Administrators may see the error and worry that the entire Web Filter has failed. If this is your situation, it's important to know that this specific setting affects the of the visited web pages categories. While the Web Filter will still categorize pages for content rules, you can safely disable this option if you are not using the statistics feature.
The "Web Filter is not activated, categorization is disabled" error in Kerio Control is a serious issue that is almost always fixable through systematic troubleshooting. The problem can range from a simple licensing oversight to a more complex network configuration or hardware fault. By systematically checking the license, DNS, system time, and logs, you can identify the root cause and apply the appropriate solution, such as adjusting the reliability detection via SSH.
Are you using a , a virtual machine , or Kerio Control box ?
This procedure will restart the Kerio Control service. Execute it outside of business hours to minimize disruption. Refresh the License Info If all else fails,
Execute this command to disable reliability detection: ./tinydbclient "update SiteFilter set DetectReliability=0" . Restart the engine: /etc/boxinit.d/60winroute restart . 2. Update DNS Forwarding Servers
Ensure the checkbox is selected. Click Apply . 3. Verify DNS Configuration
If the issue is caused by intermittent connectivity causing the web filter to "give up," you can disable the reliability checks 1.2.1. Access the Kerio Control Console via SSH.
Execute the following command to disable reliability checks: ./tinydbclient "update SiteFilter set DetectReliability=0" . Restart the service: /etc/boxinit.d/60winroute restart .
When the Kerio Control web filter is not activated, categorization is disabled, which means that the solution is unable to categorize websites into different categories (e.g., work, entertainment, education, etc.). This can lead to several issues, including: