Activated Categorization Is Disabled Fixed — Kerio Control Web Filter Is Not

Kerio Control relies on a local or cloud-based URL categorization database to determine if a website belongs to “Social Media,” “Malware,” “Streaming,” etc. When the error appears, it means:

Before diving into fixes, confirm the exact error by navigating to:

Web UI → Configuration → Content Filtering → Web Filter

Look for red text or an exclamation mark next to Categorization status. Kerio Control relies on a local or cloud-based

Sometimes the service is simply turned off. To fix this:

After restart, wait 2–3 minutes and refresh the Web Filter page.

If "Update Now" hangs or fails, the local SQLite database may be locked or damaged. Before diving into fixes, confirm the exact error

Via Web Interface (if available):
Some Kerio versions have a hidden reset:

Via command line (Linux appliance or Kerio Control VM):
Warning: Direct file manipulation can break your installation. Backup first.

/etc/init.d/kerio-control stop
rm -f /var/kerio/kerio-control/categorization.db*
/etc/init.d/kerio-control start

After deletion, Kerio will redownload a fresh copy on the next update cycle (usually within 5 minutes). Sometimes the service is simply turned off

On Windows Server (Kerio Control installed as application):

Before diving into fixes, it’s crucial to understand what Kerio Control’s web filter actually does. The product uses a real-time or locally cached URL categorization database (powered by Webroot BrightCloud or similar, depending on the version). When you enable "HTTP Policy" or "HTTPS inspection," Kerio needs to know whether facebook.com is "Social Networking" or if malware-site.com is "Malware."

The error "Categorization is disabled" appears if: