33
19 March 2017
19 March 2017

Upgrading versions of nFront Password Filter

Solution

is article assumes you have nFront Password Filter 4.x (released in August 2007) or later installed.

 

There is no need to reboot or restart any services.  After you download the latest version and unzip it I suggest this on each DC:

  1. Uninstall current version.  During the uninstall you may be prompted with a message box like this:

 

Upgrading versions

Say OK if prompted.  It will not force a reboot.  It is just letting you know a reboot is required for total removal.  After saying OK it will reach the end of the uninstall and it will prompt with an optional reboot.

 

Upgrading versions

 

Say No to optional reboot.  Now all components except for the "base" DLL have been removed.

 

  1. Install latest version of nFront Password Filter.MSI (likely the x64 version) on each DC.  Say No to optional reboot message at the end of the install.
  2. You are ready to test  with a few password changes. 

 

 

After the uninstall/install you will have the 2 supporting services changed to the latest along with the filter engine (PPRO-ENG.DLL).  The “base” DLL that is locked by the OS stays in place.

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have Exchange 2013 I suggest you reboot after the uninstall of the old version and then run the install for the new version and reboot.  I say this because Exchange 2013 can be configured to do a health check and in the process it sends 128 character passwords to our system with no null terminating character.  It causes problems due to buffer sizes in the old versions.  The latest version (version 6.x or later)  has a new “base” DLL (PPRO.DLL) that has a buffer sized for up to 256 characters and it properly null terminates the strings passed into the system even if they are not null terminated.