School Manager IT Admin FAQ

 

 

What are signatures and how do they work?

Signatures are patterns or fingerprints that School Manager uses to identify websites, services, or applications for reporting and filtering. For example, Google is a signature which applies to all Google products, such as Google Search, Docs, and Drive, among others. 

There are three (3) types of signature:

Type	Description
Website	A website signature is a web domain or subdomain.
Group	Group signatures are collections of all the things required for one specific signature to be blocked or unblocked.
Application	A collection of all the websites, connections and ports needed to allow an application or service to connect to internet services on different types of devices.

Is there a default set of categories/signatures that are filtered by School Manager or do I have to configure filtering policies?

We will work with your school in setting up filtering categories and signatures, and take you through a list of standard duty of care set of filtering policies. However, we still recommend that you create filtering policies that meet your school’s requirements and are appropriate for your users. 

See: 

• Creating Content Filtering Policies

• Checking the Category of a Site

Can I create signatures that are specific to my school or school district?

You can contact  Linewize Support with the details of the signature that you want created, and we’ll review your request. However, we don’t guarantee that the requested signature will be created.

How can I change the category of a site or signature?

If you think a site or signature is in the wrong category, you can contact  Linewize Support and provide  the details of the site or signature. Note, however, that Linewize does not guarantee that the site/signature’s category will change on review.

How are Filtering Policies for websites and searches created?

You can create filtering policies by going to Filtering > Content Filtering, and then selecting Create Policy. You might also want to use the Test Policy Tool to see if another policy already filters a website or application. 

See: 

• Creating Content Filtering Policies
• Checking the Category of a Site 

Can I block certain keywords within a platform instead of blocking the whole site?

Yes, you can block certain keywords searches. First, you must create a keyword pool by going to Configuration > Objects > Pools, and then select Add Pool. 

Open the new keyword pool, and then add all the search keywords that you want to block.  Next, create a new policy in Filtering > Content Filtering. In the Editing Policy form for the new content filtering, select Searches for Keyword Pool on the Type dropdown. 

Select Save and make sure that the policy is enabled.

See: 

• Objects and Object Pools

• Creating Content Filtering Policies

• Content Filtering Policy Ordering

Can I give guests temporary access to users in the school network?

Guests can be added individually or in batches, and given temporary access on the network via the Guests configuration page.  Temporary access can be set to expire after the guest’s first login or after their account is created.

Can I give users access on the school network without having to log in?

You can create a temporary session for existing users in School Manager. This allows them to authenticate directly to School Manager (that is, the school network) instead of via other means (example, Captive Portal, Authentication Agent, Google Integration, etc.). This is particularly useful if they are using new laptops, tablets, or phones.

To give temporary access to a user, go to Configuration > Users and Groups > Users.

Can I give a user temporary unfiltered access on the school network?

Yes, you can give a user temporary unfiltered access by setting up a Filtering policy that allows all traffic for them. 

1. Go to Filtering > Create Policy, and then select All Traffic from the Type dropdown list.

2. Select the user (group) from the Criteria dropdown list, and then Accept on the Action list. 

3. Place this filtering policy at the top of the Content Filtering list, and toggle Enable. This filtering policy will be in effect until Enable is toggled off.

See: 

• Creating Content Filtering Policies
• Content Filtering Policy Ordering

 

Cyber Safety

What are red flags and how do they work?

Red Flags are tags or badges that School Manager uses to indicate a user’s possible risky behavior.  Red flags are triggered when a user performs any of the following actions: 

• Uses keywords or phrases identified as risky (for example, searching for violent materials)

• Attempts to access protected content (for example, trying to access porn sites)

• Opens applications filtered by School Manager, such as VPN app to bypass online security or filtering policy.

See: 

• School Manager Red Flags and Alerts Guide

 

Filtering

How can I configure Content Filtering policies?

Content Filtering policies are very customizable and allow you to have a very fine level of control over what content and applications are allowed or blocked at your school. Our content filtering guide explains the different options for filtering and how they can be used to create policies that meet your school’s needs.

See:

• Creating Content Filtering Policies

• Filtering Using Categories and Signatures

• Content Filtering Policies and Classwize

What are the common ways that students try to avoid filtering?

Using VPNs and hot-spotting are among the most common ways that students will try to avoid School Manager’s filtering policies. To ensure users comply with cyber safety measures, you can detect and block VPN activities within the network, as well as configure Spotshield to prevent hot-spotting. 

See:

• Enabling 24/7 Filtering

• Detecting VPN Activity

• Quarantining Users Who Are Trying to Bypass Filtering

What is the difference between Content Filtering and Firewall?

Content Filtering creates filtering policies based on the categories and/or signatures of websites, applications, and search expressions.  

Firewall creates policies based on network traffic from certain sources, such as IP address, country, users, and device type to certain destinations (IP address, network, MAC address, users, groups, etc.).  

What happens if a student hotspots on another device to bypass filtering? Can School Manager prevent hot-spotting?

School Manager includes tools that can be used to prevent or manage hotspotting. As the options available differ based on your deployment please reach out to Linewize Support for assistance with filtering hotspotted traffic.

 

Edge Networking

How do you set up a firewall in School Manager?

You can set up a firewall (Edge Networking) in School Manager to manage incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined policies. Unless a firewall is configured in School Manager, all traffic is allowed within the school network.  Moreover, newly created firewall policies will allow all traffic unless configured.

You can configure as many policies as required by your school. However, note that some policies take priority over others.  Contact Linewize Support for help or more information.

See:  

• Content Filtering Policy Ordering

• Content Filtering Overview

Can I set up VPN for certain users or groups?

You can set up VPN access for specific users. This is configured on Edge Networking > Client VPN and Eedge Networking > Gateway VPN. Contact Linewize Support for help or more information.

Can I limit connection rates  for users or groups? 

You can create a rate limiting policy in Edge Networking > QOS > Rate Limiting. This will allow you to manage the quality of a user or a group’s connection, and thus help prioritize traffic for certain connections, applications and traffic when network capacity is limited. Contact Linewize Support for help or more information.

 

Configuration

How can I confirm that the user’s device is connected through School Manager?

Using the device, go to http://whoami.linewize.net (note http, not https). The URL should return a string which details your Linewize appliance and the device details.

How can I confirm that the user’s device has the Linewize certificate? 

For Windows:

1. Press CTRL + R on your keyboard.
2. Run certmgr.msc.
3. Go to the Certifications Authorities folder > Certificates and locate the certificate file.

For MacOS:

1. Go to Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access.
2. Open the Certificates tab. All certificates are saved in this folder. 
3. Locate or enter the certificate’s name in the Search bar to find the Linewize certificate.
   ALTERNATIVE: Select System Roots under System Keychains on the left navigation bar.
4. Double-click the Linewize certificate to display more information.

 

Users and Authentication

What authentication methods can School Manager use? 

School Manager uses local and third-party authentication methods, including SIS (Wonde, Oneroster, ClassLink), Captive Portal, Google, Microsoft Entra ID, and LDAP.  

Can I manually add users in School Manager?

You can manually add individual users in Configuration > Users and Groups > Users. However, we recommend bulk adding users through a SIS sync or other compatible third-party authentication. 

See: 

• Adding and Editing Users in School Manager

• Authentication guides

How can I configure the Captive Portal?

School Manager allows you to create a Captive Portal that users must interact with before they can access your school's network. Using a Captive Portal will stop people from connecting to your school’s network or internet connection unless they can show that they’re actually staff or students. You may also use a Captive Portal to make sure that guests and visitors at your campus agree to the terms and conditions of using a guest internet service before giving them access to it.

See:

• Configuring a Captive Portal

How can I configure the Block page?

You can create a customized Block page that users on your school network will see when they try to access a restricted page in Configurations > Block Page.

Can I have multiple Linewize appliances in my school, with one of them used as a backup in case an issue occurs with the primary device?

If you have multiple Linewize appliances in your school, you can configure them to work in High Availability mode where one device is a primary and the other is secondary. If the primary device fails, then the secondary device will take over to restore internet connectivity at school.

 

Groups

Can I configure groups using third-party authentication? 

You can configure groups through your school’s authentication platform or SIS.  

See:  

• Authentication 

• Adding and Managing Groups in School Manager

Does School Manager retain group settings and data after synchronizing?

Group configurations that you have created through your school’s authentication platform will be imported to School Manager after running data synchronizations. While you can change a group’s membership manually in School Manager, it is possible to lose the changes you’ve made from within School Manager after syncing data.   

We recommend that you complete all group configurations in the (external) authentication service. All groups that have been configured in the service will be imported to School Manager upon syncing.  

See: 

• Authentication

• Adding and Managing Groups

How will I know if a group has been set up manually or through third-party authentication?

Groups that are managed on third-party authentication services have the lock icon on the group’s Manage Group screen. Groups that have been created locally do not have the padlock icon. 

Moreover, the Provider field indicates “local” while the Provider DN is left blank and locked. On the Groups page, the DN column is left blank for locally created groups, while authenticated groups have their platforms indicated on the DN column.  

See:

• Adding and Managing Groups

 

Debugging

How can I ensure my Linewize appliance is updated?

School Manager can be set up to automatically update your school’s device(s) outside of school hours. This is usually configured by a Linewize Service Delivery Engineer for your school during the Deployment.

You can also manually update your Linewize appliance by going to Debugging > Device Updates. 

See: 

• Manually Updating a Linewize appliance

How can I configure user permissions?  

Administrator, Reporting, Pastoral Care, Configuration, and other permissions are configured in Debugging > Permissions. 

Refer to Permissions in School Manager for the steps on how to add permissions and which School Manager features each permission can access or manage.

 

Support

I have more questions about School Manager. Who can I contact for more information? 

In School Manager, select Support at the top of the page. The Support menu contains the list of contact numbers and email addresses of our support teams, plus a link to the Linewize Help site and the Linewize status.