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Supporting Services

Supporting services ensure SafeSquid SWG operates reliably, performs well, and maintains accurate time synchronization. Critical for production: These services prevent downtime, improve DNS performance, and ensure authentication works correctly.

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Why You Need These Services

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Service Guides

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Monit

Automated monitoring and self-healing for SafeSquid and dependent processes. What it does:

• Auto-restarts SafeSquid if it crashes
• Monitors port 8080 for responsiveness
• Cleans up temporary files and rotates logs
• Fetches threat intelligence updates
• Triggers housekeeping tasks

Install and configure: Monit Configuration Guide

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BIND

Local DNS resolver for fast, reliable domain resolution. What it does:

• Caches DNS responses for faster lookups
• Reduces dependency on external DNS servers
• Improves consistency and auditability
• Enables local DNS overrides for internal domains

Install and configure: BIND Configuration Guide

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NTP

Time synchronization critical for authentication and TLS validation. What it does:

• Keeps system time within 5 minutes of Active Directory (required for SSO/Kerberos)
• Ensures accurate TLS certificate validation
• Provides correct timestamps in logs for forensics
• Prevents authentication failures due to clock drift

Install and configure: NTP Configuration Guide

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Quick Setup Checklist

For a production-ready SafeSquid deployment:

1. Install all three services: # Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install -y monit bind9 chrony # RHEL/CentOS: sudo dnf install -y monit bind chrony
2. Configure Monit: Add SafeSquid process check Enable port 8080 monitoring Configure auto-restart
3. Configure BIND: Point to root DNS servers Enable recursion for internal networks only Configure local zone overrides
4. Configure NTP/Chrony: Point to enterprise NTP servers or domain controllers Verify time synchronization within 5 minutes of AD
5. Enable all services: sudo systemctl enable --now monit sudo systemctl enable --now bind9 # or named sudo systemctl enable --now chronyd
6. Verify: # Monit: monit summary # BIND: dig @127.0.0.1 example.com # NTP: chronyc tracking

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Next Steps

1. Configure each service using the detailed guides above
2. SSL Inspection - NTP is critical for TLS validation
3. Authentication - NTP is required for SSO/Kerberos
4. Audit & Forensics - Accurate timestamps for compliance

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Next steps

• Use BIND to operate local DNS services.
• Use NTP to keep logs and authentication time-aligned.