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Objects are the reusable building blocks you reference when writing policies. Instead of repeating the same domains, ports, or time windows in every rule, you define them once as an object and reuse them across your policies. Osto ships with a large set of predefined objects, and you can add your own.
Path: Objects
Objects come in four types:

Domain Category

Named groups of domains used by domain-filtering policies.

Application

Predefined application groups used by app-control policies.

Port

Protocol/port definitions used by server-access policies.

Schedule

Time-based classes that control when a policy applies.

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Domain Category

A domain category is a named collection of domains. Osto includes 66 predefined categories (Web Hosting, Web Analytics, URL Shorteners, Violence, and many more) that domain-filtering policies use to allow or block whole classes of sites at once. You can also create your own.
Domain Category page listing predefined domain categories with Name, Type, and Actions columns
The table shows each category’s Name and Type (predefined categories are read-only). Use Search Domain Category to find one, or Add Domain Category to create a custom one:
  • Name and an optional Description.
  • Add Manually — type a comma-separated list of domains; wildcards are supported (e.g. google.com, *.facebook.com). Discover Related Domains helps expand the list.
  • Import Domains — upload a .txt file of domains (a sample file is available to download).

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Application

The Application page lists Osto’s predefined application classification groups — Instant Messaging, Web Browser, P2P, VPN, and All Apps. These are the groups your App Control policy uses to allow or restrict categories of apps. The list is reference-only (you select these groups from within policies rather than editing them here).
Application page listing predefined application groups with Name and Description

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Port

A port object names a protocol and port (or set of ports) so you can reference it in secure-server access policies. Osto includes common services (DNS, LDAP, SMB, SYSLOG, IKE, and more).
Port page listing port objects with Name, Protocol, Type, Ports, and Actions
The table shows each object’s Name, Protocol, Type, and Ports. To add one, click Add Port Objects and provide:
  • Name.
  • Protocol — TCP or UDP.
  • Type — Single Port, Port Range, or Port List — then the matching port value(s).

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Schedule

A schedule controls when a policy is in effect. The built-in Forever schedule applies a policy at all times; you can add time-bound schedules for policies that should only apply during certain windows. Schedules appear as the Schedule Class option in endpoint policies.
Schedule page listing schedule objects with Name, Description, Duration, and Actions
To add one, click Add Schedule and set a Name, optional Description, and a Duration:
  • Forever — always active.
  • On Time — active only within a date range and during specific time windows. You set a From Date and To Date, then add one or more day + from-time/to-time entries (use Add Time Entry for multiple windows).