NG Firewall Version 16.0

See What’s New

NG Firewall 16.0 includes a new VPN technology app, WireGuardⓇ VPN. WireGuard VPN is a modern and agile VPN solution that makes setting up a VPN connection through NG Firewall simple while providing ultra-fast connectivity between sites or to remote users. This release also includes feature improvements to IPsec VPN, OpenVPN, Threat Prevention and added support for UEFI.


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Version 16.0 Highlights

This release contains several highly demanded improvements to NG Firewall including:

WireGuard VPN

  • This new Connect app makes it easier and increases performance when connecting to a network remotely. WireGuard uses state-of-the-art cryptography to secure user networks and delivers fast, performant connectivity, designed for ease-of-implementation and simplicity of configuration. Site-to-site network connectivity is simple to set up with an easy copy and paste between servers. There are WireGuard VPN clients for all major operating systems, including mobile devices. WireGuard VPN technology provides superior connectivity for a remote workforce by maintaining a secure connection even when the device changes networks, for example, from WiFi to mobile/cellular.

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Additional Enhancements

  • IPsec VPN and OpenVPN Improvements: Improves the user experience and employee productivity by increasing the speed of VPN connections while reducing VPN connection disruptions.
  • UEFI Support: Allows administrators a greater selection of newer hardware appliances to deploy NG Firewall on.
  • Threat Prevention App: Enhancements to the Threat Prevention app provide new settings to customize the app behavior and to monitor the app activity.
  • General Updates: Improved system performance, disk management and SSL certificate handling.

For a full list of changes in NG Firewall 16.0, please see the changelog.

Pricing and Availability

Untangle NG Firewall version 16.0 is available as a free download. Current Untangle customers will be able to upgrade seamlessly at no charge.

WireGuard VPN App is included in NG Firewall Complete and is not available for individual purchase.

Important Technical Notes

  • 32 bit upgrades will no longer be provided from 16.1 onwards. Existing 32 bit systems will upgrade to version 16.0. Backups from 32 bit will also restore on 64 bit installs.
  • The software appliance installer for USB disks now uses the ISO file format, the same as for CD media. Therefore, as of 16.0 the IMG file download is no longer necessary and removed from the download page.
  • The automatic update process will first install an intermediate version (version 15.1.2) before automatically upgrading to version 16. After upgrade, NG Firewall will show version 16.0.1.

“WireGuard” and the “WireGuard” logo are registered trademarks of Jason A. Donenfeld.

Version 15.1 Highlights

Debian 10 Update

This release updates NG Firewall’s operating system to the current stable release of Debian, called Debian 10 (code name Debian Buster).

As with all operating systems, continued improvements are needed to maintain proper security, compatibility and functionality as technology advances. Being on the latest version of Debian ensures that all bugs, enhancements and any vulnerabilities discovered in previous releases of Debian are addressed. Debian 10 also provides driver support for additional and new network devices, including those based on Intel X553 chipsets.

For a full list of changes in NG Firewall 15.1, please see the changelog.

Pricing and Availability

Untangle NG Firewall version 15.1 is available as a free download. Current Untangle customers will be able to upgrade seamlessly at no charge.

Important Technical Notes

This release includes a Debian Linux kernel update to version 4.19.0-4 that will require a reboot and will reindex the database.

Because upgrading to NG Firewall 15.1 requires a reboot and reindexing of the database, consideration should be made on the timing for the upgrade to ensure it is done at a time when it is acceptable. For deployments with large database repositories, reindexing could take over an hour. While the database is reindexing, the appliance is online and working, but the dashboard will not be updating. Visit the Upgrade Settings page in our documentation for more information.

Version 15.0 Highlights

Threat Prevention App

  • New Threat Prevention app blocks access to IP addresses considered to be Risky or Suspicious using the Webroot BrightCloud® reputation score associated with the server hosting the service. The reputation score looks at a web page, web page associations, files, and historical security issues the page may have had, to determine the likelihood that an IP address may pose a risk to the network.

KidzSearch

  • For content sensitive locations, such as schools and libraries who have KidzSearch filtering activated in NG Firewall in place, search terms entered into Google or Bing are also filtered through a kids-appropriate filter, making the internet safer and appropriate.

Additional Enhancements

  • Administrators can now set up rules to organize alerts into folders, highlight them in their inbox, as well as specify custom information pertinent to their deployments.
  • Ability to submit a category that a URL should be classified as, through NG Firewall’s Web Filter app.

For a full list of changes in NG Firewall 15.0, please see the changelog.

Pricing and Availability

Untangle NG Firewall version 15.0 is available as a free download. Current Untangle customers will be able to upgrade seamlessly at no charge.

Threat Prevention App is included in NG Firewall Complete and is not available for individual purchase.

Webinar

Register for the Community Webinar: NG Firewall 15.0 and Threat Prevention App here.

Important Technical Notes

This release includes a Debian Linux kernel update to version 4.9.0-11 that will require a reboot.

Because upgrading to NG Firewall 15.0 requires a reboot, consideration should be made on the timing for the upgrade to ensure it is done at a time when an upgrade followed by a reboot is acceptable.