The "Kerio Control Web Filter is not activated" issue is typically a licensing or connectivity issue. By verifying your subscription status, confirming DNS settings, and re-registering the appliance, you can generally resolve the issue in under 10 minutes. Regular monitoring of the will prevent this issue from going unnoticed. Need Help With Kerio Control?
Kerio Control automatically disables the filter if it fails 10 consecutive DNS check queries within one minute, deeming the connection unreliable.
Sometimes, custom traffic rules or strict geographic blocking (GeoIP) unintentionally block Kerio Control’s own outbound system traffic. Go to > Traffic Rules . The "Kerio Control Web Filter is not activated"
The resolution required a structured approach to restore both the intelligence layer and the enforcement layer. The following steps were executed:
If Kerio Control fails 10 consecutive DNS check queries within 1 minute, it considers the Web Filter "unreliable" and disables it automatically. support.keriocontrol.gfi.com Fix via SSH cd /opt/kerio/winroute ./tinydbclient "update SiteFilter set DetectReliability=0" /etc/boxinit.d/60winroute restart Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard Need Help With Kerio Control
Ensure that both the "Kerio Control" license and the "Web Filter" module are not expired. If your Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA) has lapsed, the categorization servers will refuse the connection from your appliance.
If the licensing is correct and network connectivity is verified, a corrupted local database file may be blocking the service from starting. Clearing this cache forces Kerio to download a fresh categorization architecture. Go to > Traffic Rules
This error means that Kerio Control cannot connect to the cloud-based URL categorization service, or that the local database is corrupted/present. As a result, your firewall falls back to basic filtering or no filtering at all, rendering your security policies useless.
If you have a new license key, go to and click Activate New License . 2. Force a Re-registration of the Appliance
Not a member yet? Register now
Are you a member? Login now