Remove advertisments from Untangle Web Filter

If you are running Untangle’s free “Lite” package,  you may have noticed that advertisements are now shown in the bottom of block pages generated by the Web filter.

Untangle announced that they had put this in place in order to generate revenue to support development of the Untangle platform. Whilst I understand their need to support development, some of the ad’s that show up are of a questionable nature. If Untangle has to show advertisements within its block pages in order to support its back end infrastructure then I fear they may not be around much longer, as a company. I’d suggest Untangle look for sponsors to provide update and download hosting for the open source / Lite applications and only host their commercial applications themselves.

Solutions:

1. Purchase an application from Untangle, for example the Branding Manager which costs $108.00 per year. This will automatically remove ad’s in the Web Filter application and also lets you brand the interface with your own logo etc. This is my recommended method.

2. If your running a test UTM or a small installation at home, you can forcefully remove the advertisements as follows:

a. SSH into your Untangle box.
b. Make a backup copy of the blockpage:

$ cp /usr/share/untangle/web/blockpage/blockpage_template.jspx /usr/share/untangle/web/blockpage/blockpage_template.jspx~

c. Open the block page template:

$ nano -w /usr/share/untangle/web/blockpage/blockpage_template.jspx

d. Scroll to the end of the file and delete this line:

< .. script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://guide.untangle.com/bp/get-status-3.php?${urlParams}”><!– –> … script>

e. Save and exit the file.

Your Untangle block pages will no longer show advertisements at the bottom.

DISCLAIMER: The option “2” hack may go against Untangle licensing and/or polices. I make no representation or warranties, either express or implied by or with respect to anything in this Web Site or Blog Post, and shall not be liable for any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or for any indirect special or consequential damages.