Right-click on the A.CRE Geocoding Add-in.xlam file newly added to the default Excel add-ins folder, and select ‘Properties’ Within the file properties dialog box under the ‘General’ tab, look to see if there’s a Security setting at the bottom that reads: “This file came from another computer” and if so, check the ‘Unblock. Add-ins.com has over 80 add-in products for Microsoft Excel. Many free products and trial versions. There are data, charting, time saving, and specialty add-ins that make Microsoft Excel easier to use.

09-March-2020: We have recently released the beta version of OpenSolver 2.9.3. Free feel to read the release notes for the changes and new features added. Please let us know if they are any issues or problems that you have encountered by commenting on the bottom of the OpenSolver 2.9.3 post.

OpenSolver is updated whenever new features are added or bugs fixed. Please check out the blog page for release details. You can also use the built-in update checker to keep up-to-date with the latest release.

OpenSolver comes in two versions, a simpler “linear” version and an “advanced” (non-linear) version with support for more solvers, including non-linear solvers. Both versions are available for Mac and Windows. On Windows, OpenSolver should work with Excel 2007 and later; we test it on 32 and 64 bit Windows 7/10 in Excel 2010/2013/2016. (Older versions worked with Excel 2003, but we don’t test this any more.) On Mac OS X, it should work using Excel for Mac 2011 with any version of OS X newer than 10.7.

Cloud.xlam File

OpenSolver for Mac: OpenSolver currently has limited support for Excel 2016 for Mac. Version 2.8.3 of OpenSolver includes initial support for Excel 2016 for Mac, and supports model creation and modification, as well as solving with the CBC and Gurobi solvers. Make sure your version of Excel 2016 is at least 15.28 for this to work. Unfortunately, the late 2018 release of Excel 16.16.7 has broken OpenSolver; if you can help us debug this, please email us at email hidden; JavaScript is required. However, our user Alexander reported in April 2019 that “OpenSolver works for MacOS HighSierra with the latest Excel update 16.24, but if you upgrade your OS to Mojave it no longer works.” (Thanks, Alexander.)

Windows July 2016 Office Security Update Microsoft updated the security requirements for add-ins in July 2016. You now need to “Unblock” the .zip file before extracting the files; please see the instructions below and this help item.

Available Downloads

OpenSolver Linear: This is the simpler version that solves linear models using the COIN-OR CBC optimization engine, with the option of using Gurobi if you have a license. Most people use this version.

OpenSolver Advanced (Non-Linear): As well as the linear solvers, this version includes various non-linear solvers and support for solving models in the cloud using NEOS; more info is here. Much of this code is still new and experimental, and so may not work for you.

You can see all our downloads, including previous versions, on our Open Solver Source Forge site.

To download and use OpenSolver:

1. Download the OpenSolver Linear zip file (either Mac or Windows, selected automatically depending on the machine you are using to visit this page). You can also try out our experimental Advanced Non-linear OpenSolver for Windows (also available for Mac) for access to non-linear solvers.
2. Right click the downloaded zip file, choose Properties, and click the “Unblock” button or checkbox. If you don’t see this button (or an equivalent checkbox), you can skip this step. (This step is a new requirement following a July 2016 update to Excel.)
   Close the Properties window.
3. Extract the files to a convenient location. (All files and sub-folders, including OpenSolver.xlam, must stay together; please do not move any files or folders out of the unzipped OpenSolver folder.) OpenSolver on Windows may not work if installed to an unmapped directory such as servermyfiles or one that contains unicode characters.
4. Double click on OpenSolver.xlam. There may then be a small wait as Excel checks the digital signature on the OpenSolver code.
5. If asked in an Excel Security Notice, give Excel permissions to enable the OpenSolver macros. You can click Trust all from Publisher if you do not want to be shown the Excel Security Notice again.
6. The OpenSolver commands will then appear under Excel’s Data tab on Windows, or in the Menu Bar on a Mac.
7. If using Excel for Mac 2016, follow the instructions further down the page to set up the solvers
8. OpenSolver relies on open source solvers developed by COIN-OR; please consider donating to COIN-OR.

Signed Code: Note that as of October 2014, the OpenSolver code is signed by the publisher “The University of Auckland”. This makes the code more secure. However, Excel will occasionally need to check the digital signature by contacting servers online, which can take a few seconds.

Support our Solver Community: OpenSolver includes open source solvers developed by COIN-OR. Without these, OpenSolver would not exist. Please support our solver developers by donating to COIN-OR.

Make OpenSolver Installation Permanent: OpenSolver will be available until you quit Excel. If you wish, there are two ways you can make OpenSolver permanently available in Excel. Either, use OpenSolver… About OpenSolver…. and check “Load OpenSolver when Excel starts”, or you can copy the files from the .zip into the Excel add-in directory. This is typically:

Windows XP:
C:Documents and Settings'user name'Application DataMicrosoftAddins

Windows Vista and later (7, 8, 8.1):
C:Users'user name'AppDataRoamingMicrosoftAddins

Mac OSX:
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/Add-Ins

The Excel Solver is a product developed by Frontline Systems for Microsoft. OpenSolver has no affiliation with, nor is recommended by, Microsoft or Frontline Systems. All trademark terms are the property of their respective owners.

Installing Solvers on Excel for Mac 2016

Cloud Lampshade

If you are running Excel 2016 on Mac, you need to install the solvers after unzipping OpenSolver. Inside the unzipped folder, go to Solvers/osx you will find a file called “OpenSolver Solvers.pkg”. Open this file and click through the prompt to set up the solvers on your computer (you will need to enter the administrator password to do so). After this you will be able to use OpenSolver as normal.

Using Gurobi on Excel for Mac 2016

Because of the sandbox, Gurobi is unable to find its license file when we start it from OpenSolver. This can be fixed by copying the license file “gurobi.lic” (which usually is in your home folder) to the following folder:

~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data

Alternatively, you can open a terminal and paste the following command to put the license file in the right place (if your license file is in a non-default location you will need to modify this command first):

cp ~/gurobi.lic ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data

Why do we need an installer for Excel 2016 on Mac?

Office for Mac 2016 is sandboxed, meaning that it can only run executables that are located in a set of whitelisted directories on the computer. We need to place the Solvers directory into one of these whitelisted locations so that we can run the solver binaries for OpenSolver. This folder is write-protected and needs admin privilege to modify, so we provide the installer to streamline the setup process.

Applies to: Microsoft Cloud App Security

Important

Threat protection product names from Microsoft are changing. Read more about this and other updates here. We'll be updating names in products and in the docs in the near future.

Microsoft Cloud App Security session policies enable real-time session-level monitoring, affording you granular visibility into cloud apps and the ability to take different actions depending on the policy you set for a user session. Instead of allowing or blocking access completely, with session control you can allow access while monitoring the session and/or limit specific session activities using the reverse proxy capabilities of Conditional Access App Control.

For example, you can decide that from unmanaged devices, or for sessions coming from specific locations, you want to allow the user to access the app but also limit the download of sensitive files or require that certain documents be protected upon download. Session policies enable you to set these user-session controls and allow access and enables you to:

Prerequisites to using session policies

• Azure AD Premium P1 license, or the license required by your identity provider (IdP) solution
• The relevant apps should be deployed with Conditional Access App Control
• Make sure you have configured your IdP solution to work with Cloud App Security, as follows:
  • For Azure AD Conditional Access, see Configure integration with Azure AD
  • For other IdP solutions, see Configure integration with other IdP solutions

Create a Cloud App Security session policy

To create a new session policy, follow this procedure:

1. In the portal, select Control followed by Policies.

2. In the Policies page, click Create policy and select Session policy.

3. In the Session policy window, assign a name for your policy, such as Block Download of Sensitive Documents in Box for Marketing Users.

4. In the Session control type field:

   1. Select Monitor only if you only want to monitor activities by users. This selection will create a Monitor only policy for the apps you selected where all sign-ins, heuristic downloads, and Activity types will be downloaded.

   2. Select Control file download (with inspection) if you want to monitor user activities. You can take additional actions like block or protect downloads for users.

   3. Select Block activities to block specific activities, which you can select using the Activity type filter. All activities from selected apps will be monitored (and reported in the Activity log). The specific activities you select will be blocked if you select the Block action. The specific activities you selected will raise alerts if you select the Test action and have alerts turned on.

5. Under Activity source in the Activities matching all of the following section, select additional activity filters to apply to the policy. These filters can include the following options:

   • Device tags: Use this filter to identify unmanaged devices.

   • Location: Use this filter to identify unknown (and therefore risky) locations. Download video convert master free full + serial.

   • IP address: Use this filter to filter per IP addresses or use previously assigned IP address tags.

   • User agent tag: Use this filter to enable the heuristic to identify mobile and desktop apps. This filter can be set to equals or doesn't equal Native client. This filter should be tested against your mobile and desktop apps for each cloud app.

   Note

   Session policies don't support mobile and desktop apps. Mobile apps and desktop apps can also be blocked or allowed by creating an access policy.

6. If you selected the option to Control file download (with inspection):

   1. Under Activity source in the Files matching all of the following section, select additional file filters to apply to the policy. These filters can include the following options:

      • Classification label - Use this filter if your organization uses Azure Information Protection and your data has been protected by its Classification labels. You can filter files based on the Classification label you applied to them. For more information about integration with Azure Information Protection, see Azure Information Protection integration.

      • File name - Use this filter to apply the policy to specific files.

      • File type - Use this filter to apply the policy to specific file types, for example, block download for all .xls files.

   2. In the Content inspection section, set whether you want to enable the DLP engine to scan documents and file content.

   3. Under Actions, select one of the following items:

      • Test (Monitor all activities): Set this action to explicitly allow download according to the policy filters you set.

      • Block (Block file download and monitor all activities): Set this action to explicitly block download according to the policy filters you set. For more information, see How block download works.

      • Protect (Apply classification label to download and monitor all activities): This option is only available if you selected Control file download (with inspection) under Session policy. If your organization uses Azure Information Protection, you can set an Action to apply a classification label set in Azure Information Protection to the file. For more information, see How protect download works.

7. You can Create an alert for each matching event with the policy's severity and set an alert limit. Select whether you want the alert as an email, a text message, or both.

Monitor all activities

When you create a session policy, each user session that matches the policy is redirected to session control rather than to the app directly. The user will see a monitoring notice to let them know that their sessions are being monitored.

If you don't want to notify the user that they're being monitored, you can disable the notification message.

1. Under the settings cog, select General settings.

2. Then, under Conditional Access App Control select User monitoring and unselect the Notify users checkbox.

To keep the user within the session, Conditional Access App Control replaces all the relevant URLs, Java scripts, and cookies within the app session with Microsoft Cloud App Security URLs. For example, if the app returns a page with links whose domains end with myapp.com, Conditional Access App Control replaces the links with domains ending with something like myapp.com.mcas.ms. This way the entire session is monitored by Microsoft Cloud App Security.

Conditional Access App Control records the traffic logs of every user session that is routed through it. The traffic logs include the time, IP, user agent, URLs visited, and the number of bytes uploaded and downloaded. These logs are analyzed and a continuous report, Cloud App Security Conditional Access App Control, is added to the list of Cloud Discovery reports in the Cloud Discovery dashboard.

To export these logs:

1. Go to the settings cog and click Conditional Access App Control.

2. On the right side of the table, click the export button.

3. Select the range of the report and click Export. This process may take some time.

To download the exported log:

1. After the report is ready, go to Settings and then Exported reports.

2. In the table, select the relevant report from the list of Conditional Access App Control traffic logs and click download.

Block all downloads

When Block is set as the Action you want to take in the Cloud App Security session policy, Conditional Access App Control prevents a user from downloading a file per the policy's file filters. A download event is recognized by Microsoft Cloud App Security for each app when a user starts a download. Conditional Access App Control intervenes in real time to prevent it from running. When the signal is received that a user has initiated a download, Conditional Access App Control returns a Download restricted message to the user and replaces the downloaded file with a text file. The text file's message to the user can be configured and customized from the session policy.

Block specific activities

When Block activities is set as the Activity type, you can select specific activities to block in specific apps. All activities from selected apps will be monitored and reported in the Activity log. The specific activities you select will be blocked if you select the Block action. The specific activities you selected will raise alerts if you select the Test action and have alerts turned on.

Block specific activities and apply it to specific groups to create a comprehensive read-only mode for your organization.

Protect files on download

Select Block activities to block specific activities, which you can find using the Activity type filter. All activities from selected apps will be monitored (and reported in the Activity log). The specific activities you select will be blocked if you select the Block action. The specific activities you selected will raise alerts if you select the Test action and have alerts turned on.

When Protect is set as the Action to be taken in the Cloud App Security session policy, Conditional Access App Control enforces the labeling and subsequent protection of a file per the policy's file filters. Labels are configured in the Azure Information Protection console and Protect must be selected within the label for it to appear as an option in the Cloud App Security policy. When a label is selected, and a file is downloaded that meets the criteria of the Cloud App Security policy, the label, and corresponding protection (with permissions) is applied to the file upon download. The original file remains as-is in the cloud app while the downloaded file is now protected. Users who try to access the file must meet the permission requirements determined by the protection applied.

Cloud App Security currently supports applying Azure Information Protection classification labels for the following file types:

• Word: docm, docx, dotm, dotx
• Excel: xlam, xlsm, xlsx, xltx
• PowerPoint: potm, potx, ppsx, ppsm, pptm, pptx
• PDF

Protect uploads of sensitive files

When Control file upload (with inspection) is set as the Session Control type in the Cloud App Security session policy, Conditional Access App Control prevents a user from uploading a file per the policy's file filters. When an upload event is recognized, Conditional Access App Control intervenes in real time to determine whether the file is sensitive and needs protection. If the file has sensitive data and does not have a proper label, the file upload is blocked.

For example, you can create a policy that scans the content of a file to determine if it contains a sensitive content match such as a social security number. If it contains sensitive content and is not labeled with an Azure Information Protection confidential label, the file upload is blocked. When the file is blocked, you can display a custom message to the user instructing them on how to label the file in order to upload it. By doing so, you ensure that files stored in your cloud apps comply with your policies.

Block malware on upload

When Control file upload (with inspection) is set as the Session Control type and Malware Detection is set as the Inspection Method in the Cloud App Security session policy, Conditional Access App Control prevents a user from uploading a file in real time if malware is detected. Files are scanned using the Microsoft threat intelligence engine.

You can view the files flagged as potential malware using the Potential Malware Detected filter in the activity log.

You can also configure session policies to block malware on download.

Educate users to protect sensitive files

It is important to educate users when they are in violation of a policy so that they learn how to comply with your organizational policies. Since every enterprise has unique needs and policies, Cloud App Security allows you to customize a policy's filters and the message it displays to the user when a violation is detected. You can give specific guidance to your users such as providing instructions on how to appropriately label a file, or how to enroll an unmanaged device, to ensure files are uploaded successfully.

Cloud Slam

For example, if a user uploads a file without an Azure Information Protection label, a message can be displayed explaining that the file contains sensitive content that requires an appropriate label. Similarly, if a user attempts to upload a document from an unmanaged device, a message with instructions on how to enroll that device or one that provides further explanation of why the device must be enrolled, can be displayed.

Next steps

See also

If you run into any problems, we're here to help. To get assistance or support for your product issue, please open a support ticket.