Descriptions for ResMon Firewall Status Details

Question

Hi all,

I'm working on a tech document on using ResMon to determine if a port is listening and available.  I'd like to provide brief descriptions for each detail under the column "Firewall Status" under ResMon > Network > Listening Ports.  In this column, you see details like "Allowed, restricted", "Allowed, not restricted", "Not allowed, not restricted" and "Not allowed, restricted".  I've looked all over the place for a ResMon tutorial that would define these details, but can't seem to find anything.  Is anyone aware of a document somewhere that will explain what exactly each of these details means?

Thanks,

TSW

Answer 1

Hi @TonyaSWelch!

I do have the very same question.

What I have found was this from WinDev Center (accessed 2020-04-22):

INetFwMgr::IsPortAllowed method

The IsPortAllowed method checks whether traffic will be allowed with the current firewall configuration for:

• A specific application.
• A specific port.
• A specific application on a specific port.

In its operation IsPortAllowed considers whether the firewall is currently enabled or disabled, whether the application is allowed in the current profile Exceptions List, whether the port is allowed in the current profile Exceptions List, whether the file and print sharing option has been enabled, and whether the remote administration option has been enabled.

Because of the many factors in determining whether a port is allowed, the more specific information that is given via this method's input parameters, the more likely a clear result with meaningful restrictions will be returned.

allowed

Indicates by a value of VARIANT_TRUE or VARIANT_FALSE whether the port is allowed for at least some local interfaces and remote addresses.

restricted

Indicates by a value of VARIANT_TRUE or VARIANT_FALSE whether some local interfaces or remote addresses are blocked for this port. For example, if the port is restricted to the local subnet only.

Honestly, it does not help much, does it? It is still unclear to me!