How do you allow a program to pass through the firewall?

Comodo Internet Security - CIS Firewall Help - CIS
1

I am using Comodo Free Firewall version 5.8 on a Windows 7 Professional 64 bit machine. I am trying to allow a program named ITIECServer.exe to pass through the firewall.

In Comodo Firewall I went to Define a New Trusted Application then browsed to ITIECServer.exe and clicked Apply and restarted my machine.

Then I tried running the software that makes use of ITIECServer.exe and it still didn’t work properly. The program’s support people told me to allow ITIECServer.exe to pass through the firewall.

Am I doing this correctly. Is there somewhere a list that shows the various trusted applications in Comodo?

Thanks for your help.

2

The name would imply this is some sort of server application? What kind of connectivity does it require, outbound only, inbound only or both?

If you need just outbound connectivity you need to create a rule under Applications in the firewall. To make things easy you can simply allow it to make outbound connections. To create the rule manually:

Application Name - ITIECServer.exe
Action - Allow
Protocol - Probably just TCP
Direction - Out
Source Address - Any
Destination Address Any
Source Port - Any
Destination Port - Any

To do things slightly easier:

  1. Select ITIECServer.exe under Applications in the firewall
  2. Select Edit
  3. Select ‘Use A Pre-Defined Policy’
  4. Select Outgoing Only
  5. Select Apply
  6. Select Ok.

These rules could be ‘tightened-up’ if you know where you’re connecting to and which protocols/ports are needed.

If you need inbound access, depending on your configuration, you’ll need to add an inbound application rule and a complementary Global firewall rule. The Application rule could be catered for by using the same method described above, but instead of selecting ‘Outgoing Only’ choose ‘Trusted Application’ This allows both inbound and outbound connections. Of course you should have confidence in the application to award it trusted status.

As mentioned, in addition to the Application firewall rule, you may need to add a Global firewall rule. First check the rules under Firewall/Network Security Policy/Global rules If the last rule in the list says something like Block IP In Any Any, you’ll need to add a rule above this. if you don’t have this block rule, you’ll probably be ok.

To add a Global rule, select Add, then fill in the details. At this point it really helps to know the requirements of the application, as creating a rule that simply allows everything in, is not the best of ideas.

Don’t forget, check first to see what this application requires by way of connectivity.

3

Thanks very much for your detailed reply! I think the server application needs both incoming and outgoing connectivity. I will explain further. I am a photographer and the program that this server.exe is a part of removes shine from a person’s face. When ever I use the “Shine Off” program the uses the ITIECServer.exe file to verify that the Shine Off software has been legally activated. I wonder if each time I use the Shine Off program and the server.exe checks for activation if it goes back to the software company in Texas to verify the activation.

In your procedure when you say in Step 1 “under Applications in the firewall” where do i find the Applications?

Thanks again for your great help. I really appreciate it.

4

Thanks for the information. In this case I don’t think you will specifically need to allow inbound connections, as the firewall works in such a way, that responses to outbound requests are allowed by default. As such, I think you can create a simple rule to allow the application to make outbound requests. I’ve attached a couple of images that should be relatively self explanatory. Let me know if this doesn’t work.

Don’t worry about the details in the path, I just created something for the sake of demonstration.

[attachment deleted by admin]

5

Thank you very much for your excellent diagrams telling me how to create Rules in Comodo - make it extremely easy for me to do.

I have printed your diagrams for future reference. Although I made it possible for the server program to pass through Comodo I am still having issues with it so I have contacted the software company for help.

I do know for sure though that Comodo is not the issue.

Thanks again I really appreciate all of the time and help you have given me. Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bill Artman

6

Let us know if you need any additional help. Have a great Christmas :slight_smile: