Use Application Categories
Application Categories are used to classify applications in Application Control reports. Categories also provide a convenient way to search for, or block, all applications in a category. To conveniently restrict the use of a set of applications that do not have legitimate business value, you can block all applications in a category. Or, to limit or guarantee bandwidth for applications in a category, you can select a configured Traffic Management action.
- From the Online games drop-down list, select Drop.
- Click OK.
All applications in the Online games category have the action set to Drop (By category). - To filter the list to see the blocked games, select Online games from the Category drop-down list.
When any new applications are added to the Online games category by the signature update process, they are also blocked by this Application Control action.
To block all applications in the Online games category for an Application Control action, from Policy Manager:
- Select the Online games check box.
- From the Online games drop-down list, select Drop.
- Click OK.
All applications in the Online games category have the action set to Drop (By category). - To filter the list to see the blocked games, select Online games from the Category drop-down list.
When any new applications are added to the Online games category by the signature update process, they are also blocked by this Application Control action.
To allow traffic for an application category, but control the bandwidth for applications in the category, you can configure a Traffic Management action and select the Traffic Management action
When an application action is configured based on a category action, the Action column shows the label (by category) after the configured action. You can still edit the action for a specific application in the category to override the category action, as described in the next section.
When you configure an action for an application category, any future applications that are added to the category are automatically configured to use the same category action.
If you configure Application Control to block all applications in a category, make sure you know everything that is included in the category and the expected consequences. For example, SWF (Shockwave Flash) is included in the streaming media category. Flash is used widely in many websites to deliver content. If you block all streaming media, Flash content is also blocked.
We do not recommend that you configure Application Control to block general categories like Web / Web 2.0, Business, or Network Protocols. It is likely that this could block an application that you did not intend to block, or that has other, unintended consequences.
We recommend that you set up Application Control to send log messages for all activity for a period of time before you configure any actions that block applications. This enables you to determine which applications to block.
Override a Category Action
If you configure an action for an application category, you can set a different action for a specific application in that category. If you assign an action to a specific application, that action overrides the action configured for the category.
To override an action for an application that is in a configured category:
- In an Application Control action, select an application.
- Click Edit.
The Application Control Configuration dialog box appears. - Select the action for the application.
For more information, go to Configure Application Control Actions. - Click OK.
The application-specific action replaces the category action for that application.