Internet access is only provided to users who are authorized by UserGate Server. UserGate supports the following authorization methods:

• authorization by IP address (or IP address range)
• authorization by MAC address
• authorization by a combination of both IP and MAC
• HTTP authorization
• login and password authorization
• Windows Login authorization
• Active Directory authorization
• simplified version of Active Directory authorization

For the last four methods to operate, you should install UserGate Authorization Client to the user workstation. The corresponding MSI pack (AuthClientInstall.msi) is located in the “%UserGate%\tools” directory and can be installed automatically by Active Directory group policy tools.

When Active Directory authorization is used, UserGate Server obtains the authorization parameters (login and password) from the Authorization Client, which is launched at the user workstation, and checks them through the domain controller.

If UserGate Server is installed on a computer not belonging to the Active Directory domain, it is recommended to use the simplified version of Active Directory authorization. In this case UserGate Server will compare the login and domain name received from the Authorization Client with their corresponding fields in the user profile, without requesting the domain controller.