Recently my organization had a problem with our Barracuda Web Filter 310. User authentication updates not working. One user would log onto a machine with one level of web access, and another user who was supposed to have more restricted access would log on at another time, yet not have the correct restrictions. Barracuda thought the first user was still logged in.

This issue was caused because we migrated to a new Domain Controller, but did not install the DC Agent on it. It took a while before enough staff moved around that we noticed the problem, and after reinstalling the DC Agent, the problem was solved -- at least for a little while.

The following is a log of what has taken place to resolve this issue in case anyone else may have the same problem.

PREEXISTING CONDITION: Our firmware was quite out of date, more than one year out of date. I moved into this department having not worked with Barracuda products before, and did not know that firmware updates were frequent and manual.

1. On phone support, I worked with a Barracuda rep to resolve the issue. He sent me a newer version of the DC Agent to install on my Domain Controller. I did this, and ran into a connection issue. When testing the connection on the DC Agent, in "Configuration Parameters" I received the error "Session Manager Not Found." The IP address is correct, and all the settings on the Web Filter itself SHOULD be correct, since it was in use prior to this time.

2. One thing is missing on the Web Filter. The DC Agent instructions say to supply the Barracuda Web Filter with DC IP(s). This is explained to be under Users/Groups -> Configuration. However, on this page there is no place to enter DC information. As a result (presumably), when I test the Webfilter IP, I receive the previously stated error message.

3. Back on the phone, the support rep recommended updating the firmware because we were so far behind, and that it is possible some of these issues stem from this condition. Currently I am in the process of updating firmware and will post the results when they are available.

Note: As of this writing, I am "stuck" at firmware version 4.5.0.001 and no new updates appear to be available. The current firmware available for my Web Filter 310 should be 6.0, I believe. I am attempting to resolve the apparent discrepency between what my Web Filter indicates is the latest firmware and what actually should be. I do not think it has been a year since the last update.

4. It turns out version 4.5.0.001 is the most recent update for the Barracuda Web Filter 310. If you have a "higher" version such as the 410 or 610 then you should have more updates.

5. It also turns out the DC Agent issue with the "Session Manager Not Found" error can be disregarded. As soon as I added the IP to the list of allowed WebFilter IP addresses, the connection was successful and I was able to start the service on the DC.

FINAL NOTES: Apparently there are a couple of issues which may or may not be bugs. These are not performance-hindering issues, but they can be confusing nonetheless. If you encounter them your performance *should* not be hindered. Some of the details in this post may also apply to other Barracuda Web Filter systems such as the 410 or the 610.