This step-by-step article describes how small businesses
with fewer than 255 workstations in an existing Windows-based network can
connect computers to the Internet by using the Microsoft Internet Security
Acceleration (ISA) firewall-secured services.
Install the ISA Server
To install an ISA firewall, you need a computer with two network
adapters. You must connect one of these adapters to your internal network and
the other adapter to your Internet service provider (ISP). Your ISP can help
you make this connection. A firewall acts as a security barrier between your
internal network (or intranet) and the Internet by preventing outside users on
the Internet from gaining access to the confidential information on your
intranet or your computer.
Plan the Installation
- You can run ISA Server Standard Edition on a stand-alone
computer, on a computer that is a member of a Microsoft Windows NT domain, or
on a computer that is a member of an Active Directory domain.
- For maximum security, run ISA Server on a stand-alone
- The configuration of the network adapters involves setting
up the external interface to the Internet and then setting up the internal
interface to your Windows-based network.
- Your ISP should provide a static IP address, subnet mask,
default gateway, and Domain Name System (DNS) server or servers. Enter this
information in the TCP/IP settings of the adapter that is connected to your
ISP. Some ISPs prefer to assign this information with Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP), which is fine.
- You will need a permanent address and appropriate subnet
mask for your internal network on the internal adapter (do not use DHCP on this
interface). Always leave this default gateway blank. The ISA Server computer
needs only one default gateway: the one that is configured on the external
interface or interfaces. Configuring a default gateway on the internal adapter
causes ISA to malfunction.
Configure the Server's Network Adapters
- Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Network Connections.
- Right-click your Internet connection, click Rename, and then type Internet
This will help you remember which network
card is connected to the Internet.
- Right-click the Internet connection, and then click Properties.
- On the General tab, click to select the Show icon in notification area
when connected check box.
Whenever this interface transfers
data, a small icon on the taskbar will flash.
- Clear the Client for Microsoft Network and
File and printer sharing for Microsoft networks check
ISA Server automatically blocks these protocols; by clearing
these check boxes, you save memory.
- Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then do one of the following:
- If your ISP uses DHCP to assign IP addresses, click the
Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS
server address automatically options in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box. Proceed to step 7.
- If you have to manually enter the IP address
information from your ISP, click to select the Use the following IP
address in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, and then type the address, subnet mask, and default
gateway information that your ISP provided. Click to select the Use the
following DNS server addresses check box, and then type the name of
the DNS server or servers that your ISP provided.
- Click Advanced, and then click the DNS tab. Click to clear the Register this connection's
addresses in DNS check box.
- Click the WINS tab next. Under the NETBIOS setting, click Disable Netbios over
Configure the Internal Interface to Your Network
- Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Network Connections.
- Right-click your local area connection, click Rename, and then type Local network.
- Right-click Local network, and then click Properties.
- On the General tab, click to select the Show icon in taskbar when
connected check box.
- Click to select the Client for Microsoft
networks and File and printer sharing for Microsoft
networks check boxes if they are not selected.
- Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click to select the Use the following IP
address check box.
- In the IP address box, type an internal IP
address and subnet mask that makes sense for your internal network's addressing
scheme. Leave Default gateway blank. In Preferred DNS
server, type the IP address of your network's DNS server or
NOTE: For very small networks with less than 255 computers, if you are
using the Windows 2000 default TCP/IP configuration and you do not have a DNS
server in your network, your computers are relying on automatic private IP
address assignment (APIPA). Microsoft recommends that you move away from using
APIPA and start to use static addresses on your client workstations. Each
computer in your network will need a unique IP address. When you configure the
internal interface of ISA Server, you have to type a static address. Use
192.168.0.254, and the subnet mask
255.255.255.0. Leave the Default gateway box blank. Type the DNS server of your ISP in the DNS
Now configure static addresses on each of
- On the first computer, use the address
192.168.0.1, a subnet mask of
255.255.255.0, and a default gateway of
192.168.0.254. For DNS, type the name of the DNS server
(or servers) of your ISP.
- On the second computer, use the address
192.168.0.2, and then use the same values as shown in
the previous bulleted step. Other than the address, these other values always
stay the same, but continue to increment the address for each additional
computer. Maintain a list of which computers use which addresses.
- Restart your computer, if you are prompted to do
Install Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server
Use the ISA Server Setup Wizard
- In Windows Explorer, double-click to open your CD-ROM
NOTE: The ISA Server Setup Wizard starts automatically unless the
auto-insert notification feature is turned off. If the wizard
does not start automatically, navigate to the root directory of the CD-ROM, and
then double-click the ISAAutorun.exe file to run it. Click Install ISA Server to start the process.
- At the Welcome screen, click Continue. Type the product identification number in the appropriate box.
You can locate this number on the back of the CD-ROM case.
- Read the license agreement, and then click I Agree.
- Click Typical installation for the
installation type. This installs ISA services and the administrative
- Click Firewall mode. ISA stops relevant
services on the computer.
- Configure the local address table (LAT) for ISA.
Configuring the LAT requires careful consideration. You are presented with two
choices: Either construct the LAT or use the Installer Wizard. Base your
selection on the following conditions:
- If you know the subnet (or subnets) that your internal
network uses, type it here.
CAUTION: Do not click the Construct Table button! If you do, the LAT information that you entered will be
- If you do not know your local subnets, click the Construct Table button. The ISA Setup Wizard will determine the local subnets
based on the computer's routing table.
- Click to select the Add the following
private ranges check box if it is not already selected.
- Click to select the Add address ranges
based on the Windows Server 2003 routing table if it is not already
- Click to clear check box that contains the subnet
that corresponds to the server's external (Internet) interface.
- Click to select the check box that contains the
subnet that corresponds to the server's internal (LAN) interface.
- When Setup is complete, start the Administrator Getting
Started Wizard, and then read the next section before you complete this
ISA Server's post-installation state blocks all access to and
from the Internet. This is a good thing! Remember, you are setting up a
firewall. The primary function of a firewall is to serve as a check point
between two networks. ISA Server's behavior is to block everything that is not
specifically permitted through policy.
Configure the Post-Installation State of ISA
To configure the following two components of an access policy so
that your clients can access the Internet, note the following:
- You have to configure at least one site and content rule,
in which you specify where users can go and what kinds of content they can
- You have to configure at least one protocol rule, which
specifies the kinds of traffic that is permitted through ISA Server.
After installation, ISA creates a default site and content rule
that permits all clients access to all content on all sites all the time.
However, this is not enough for users to start surfing the Internet: You still
have not defined a protocol rule. Without this, no traffic is permitted through
The Getting Started Wizard
- In the Getting Started Wizard, click Configure Protocol Rules. The protocol rule list is displayed in Microsoft Management
- Click Create a Protocol Rule. Type a name,
such as "All protocols".
- Click Allow for the rule's action (this is the default).
- Click All IP traffic for the protocol list
(this is the default).
- Click Always for the schedule (this is the default).
- Click Any request for the client type
(this is the default).
- Click Finish.
Create Policies Concerning How Users Connect to the Internet
ISA Server does much more than just permit all clients access to
all content on all sites at all times by using all (defined) protocols. In ISA,
you can create access policies that you can use to define exactly how your
users can access the Internet.
ISA access policies are composed of
the following three elements:
- Site and content rules.
- Protocol rules.
- IP packet filters.
The rules, in turn, are composed of the following policy
- Destination sets.
- Client address sets.
- Protocol definitions.
- Content groups.
There are dependencies that you have to understand before you
try anything complex with the ISA policies. The following table describes which
policy elements belong to which policy rules:
Collapse this tableExpand this table
|Site and content rules||Protocol rules|
|Destination sets||Protocol definitions|
|Content groups ||Schedules|
|Schedules||Client address sets|
|Client address sets|
Access the Internet from the ISA Computer
What about accessing the Internet from the ISA computer itself?
If you are physically at the ISA computer and you want to access a particular
Web site, the protocol rules and site and content rules that you have created
apply only to clients that are behind the ISA server. When a client tries to
access the Internet (assuming the request is permitted by the rules), ISA
creates a dynamic packet filter for that connection request. However, if you
are at the ISA computer and you want to access the Internet, you have to create
static packet filters according to the kinds of traffic that you will be
generating. For example, to access a Web site, follow these steps:
- In ISA Management, expand Servers, expand server-name, click Access Policy, and then click IP Packet Filters.
- Click Create a packet filter to start a
- Name the packet filter Web
- Click Allow packet transmission, and then
- Click TCP as the IP protocol, click Outbound for the direction, click All ports for the local
port, and then click Fixed port for the remote port. Type
80 in the Port Number box.
- Select default IP addresses for each external interface
that is on the ISA server.
- Click All remote computers.
Now you can access Web sites from the ISA server. Microsoft
recommends that you repeat these steps, but use SSL
as the name in step 3 and 443
(instead of 80
) in step 5, because a number of Web
servers use the SSL protocol. To permit even more protocols, follow the same
steps but use an appropriate name in step 3 and the appropriate number of
entries in step 5.
The most common problems involve not fully understanding the
interactions between policy elements, policy rules, and packet filters. If you
try to do anything more than use the generic access policy that you first
created (by following the procedure in the "Create Policies Concerning How
Users Connect to the Internet" section of this article), make sure that you
completely understand the "Install Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration
Server" section. Additionally, read the Microsoft Internet Security and
Acceleration Server Online Help. Create some policies, and then test them.
Also, it is easier to understand access policies if you understand the ISA
Server vocabulary and component interactions.NOTE
: ISA Server does not direct connections between anything in the
LAT and the outside. You must create some kind of policy that describes the
access that you want to permit.
For help in troubleshooting ISA Server, see Microsoft
Internet Security and Acceleration Server Online Help.
Article ID: 323387 - Last Review: February 27, 2014 - Revision: 7.4
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
- Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition
|kbnosurvey kbarchive kbnetwork kbhowto kbhowtomaster KB323387|