URL Rewrite - any update in new PanOS 4.1?

[keklund]

We are increasingly seeing the need for a URL rewrite feature - we had hoped to use it for one of the ways to force Google SafeSearch (vs. the existing option of blocking searches using an app signature)

We now would like to use YouTube for Schools, which depends on URL modification:

http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1686318

1. A)  Add new HTTP header rule

   Modify your hardware filter or proxy server settings so that all outgoing traffic to youtube.com contains the following custom HTTP header. The ID to use in the HTTP header configuration, written below, is an example of a unique ID for your school’s network only. If your school is blocked at the district level, this HTTP header is then unique to the district network.

   Example:
   X-YouTube-Edu-Filter:ABCD1234567890abcdefField Name: X-YouTube-Edu-Filter
   Description: When YouTube sees this header and an accompanying valid school ID in the incoming traffic, YouTube will serve a limited EDU-only site to all computers behind the school hardware filter.
   Field Value Format: alphanumeric [a-z][A-Z][0-9]
   Field Value Length: up to 44 characters

   B)  Create URL parameter rewrite rule

   If your hardware filter not support HTTP header modification, please rewrite all outgoing URLs to youtube.com by appending the parameter “edufilter” at the end. Exclude the &edufilter parameter from these file types: .css, .gif, .png, .js, .xml

   Example:
   http://youtube.com/?edufilter=ABCD1234567890abcdef
   http://youtube.com/watch?v=gM95HHI4gLk&edufilter=ABCD1234567890afbcdef

Is/will there be any way to do this in PanOS 4.1?  We are upgrading over the holiday break.

[calbers]

I am also in need of this for our School District.

[jrhjrh]

I've been asking for this since we purchased our PA-2020.  Is this actually on a road map?  Are there any ballpark ETAs?

This is a large issue for us since Google decided to default to safe search being off, and without naming them, other companies are much quicker to add support for forcing safesearch and youtube for schools (with many already having the feature in the first place!).

[mikand]

Have you tried contacting the appid team and what was their response?

http://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/tools/

Even if PA doesnt support rewriting then it should still be possible to use appid to handle these safesearches. Specially with PANOS 5.0 who have done some work regarding appid dependencies (that is lets say you have a "google-safesearch" - instead of only looking at the url this appid could first allow a regular visit to google pages but then that the search result must be with safesearch in order to let through - the problem here might be on how to notify the users that they should enable safesearch before they can use the searchengine (since you can only have one blockpage today)).

[jrhjrh]

There is a custom app, but having discussed this with SLT, it's not an option to block default searches until the user manually enables safe search (we have also enquired regarding different block pages!).

[polgarm]

Still waiting for URL re-write feature, too.  And I have placed the request with our rep.

[jbaublitz]

We're in need of rewrite too. Any news of this or AppID's?

[Gururaj]

This feature should be there.

Regards,

Guru

[d_tomczykowski]

Is there anyone who can tell us if there will or will not be url re-write in the future, and if there is a possibility to define approximate time/date?

[ryanlehms]

We need this function as well. Simply blocking the searches until the user manually switches settings will create more headaches, especially with our younger students.

[rmonvon]

Ryanlehms...There is a workaround using a squid proxy to perform the rewrite for safesearch & YouTube for Schools. The PA would use PBF to redirect these traffic to the squid proxy and the rewrite is done.  if interested, you can contact your Palo Alto SE to obtain the VM/ESX version of the squid proxy.  Thanks.

[SAugsburger]

Does anyone have a sample url rewrite script for google search that works?