1 <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" [
2 <!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
3 <!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
4 <!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
5 <!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
6 <!entity seealso SYSTEM "seealso.sgml">
7 <!entity buildsource SYSTEM "buildsource.sgml">
8 <!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
9 <!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
10 <!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
11 <!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
12 <!entity p-authors SYSTEM "p-authors.sgml">
13 <!entity config SYSTEM "p-config.sgml">
14 <!entity p-version "3.0.16">
15 <!entity p-status "UNRELEASED">
16 <!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
17 <!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
18 <!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
19 <!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
20 <!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
21 <!entity % p-readme "IGNORE">
22 <!entity % user-man "IGNORE">
23 <!entity % config-file "IGNORE">
24 <!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
25 <!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
26 <!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
27 <!entity % seealso-extra "INCLUDE"> <!-- extra stuff from seealso.sgml -->
28 <!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
31 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
34 This file belongs into
35 ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
37 $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.118 2010/02/11 13:59:48 fabiankeil Exp $
39 Copyright (C) 2001-2010 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
42 ========================================================================
43 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
44 anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
45 ========================================================================
52 <title>Privoxy &p-version; User Manual</title>
56 <!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
57 <!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
58 <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2010 by
59 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
63 <pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.118 2010/02/11 13:59:48 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
67 Note: the following should generate a separate page, and a live link to it,
68 all nicely done. But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave
69 commented unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the
70 copyright/license declarations will be in their own sgml.
83 This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
84 If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
85 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
91 The <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
92 install, configure and use <ulink
93 url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
96 <!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
98 <!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
101 You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
102 url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
103 Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> on how to
104 contact the developers.
108 <!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
114 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
115 <sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
117 This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
118 <application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
119 and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the
120 time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual
121 configuration files. Development of a new version is currently nearing
122 completion, and includes significant changes and enhancements over
126 <!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
129 Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
130 documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
131 CVS sources). And there <emphasis>may be</emphasis> bugs, though hopefully
136 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
137 <sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
139 In addition to the core
140 features of ad blocking and
141 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> management,
142 <application>Privoxy</application> provides many supplemental
143 features<![%p-not-stable;[, some of them currently under development]]>,
144 that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
146 <!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
148 <!-- end boilerplate -->
153 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
156 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
157 <sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
160 <application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
161 packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
162 For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
163 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
169 On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
170 found. (See below for your platform). In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup
171 your old configuration if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the <link
172 linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section below.
175 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
176 <sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
178 How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
181 <!-- XXX: The installation sections should be sorted -->
183 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
184 <sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and Fedora RPMs</title>
187 RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
188 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
189 of configuration files.
193 Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
194 <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
195 need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
196 <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods.
200 If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
201 <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm</literal>. This
202 will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
206 Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
207 on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
208 Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
209 automatically if found, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
213 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
214 <sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian and Ubuntu</title>
216 DEBs can be installed with <literal>apt-get install privoxy</literal>,
217 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of
222 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
223 <sect3 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
226 Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
227 the installation process. You will find the configuration files
228 in the same directory as you installed <application>Privoxy</application> in.
231 Version 3.0.5 beta introduced full <application>Windows</application> service
232 functionality. On Windows only, the <application>Privoxy</application>
233 program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
234 <application>Privoxy</application> as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
238 <term>Arguments:</term>
241 <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
244 <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
250 After invoking <application>Privoxy</application> with
251 <command>--install</command>, you will need to bring up the
252 <application>Windows</application> service console to assign the user you
253 want <application>Privoxy</application> to run under, and whether or not you
254 want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
255 <application>Windows</application> services console with the following
256 command: <command>services.msc</command>. If you do not take the manual step
257 of modifying <application>Privoxy's</application> service settings, it will
258 not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
259 actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
260 write to its log and configuration files.
265 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
266 <sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris <!--, NetBSD, HP-UX--></title>
269 Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
270 untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
271 things go. <!-- FIXME, more info needed? -->
275 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
276 <sect3 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
279 First, make sure that no previous installations of
280 <application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
281 <application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
282 system. Check that no <application>Junkbuster</application>
283 or <application>Privoxy</application> objects are in
289 Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will
290 guide you through the installation process. A shadow of the
291 <application>Privoxy</application> executable will be placed in your
292 startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2 starts.
296 The directory you choose to install <application>Privoxy</application>
297 into will contain all of the configuration files.
301 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
302 <sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Mac OS X</title>
304 Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the zip file
305 icon from the Finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
306 Then, double-click on the package installer icon and follow the
307 installation process.
310 The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
311 installation (in addition to every time your computer starts up). To
312 prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
313 computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
314 <literal>/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
317 To manually start or stop the privoxy service, use the Privoxy Utility
318 for Mac OS X. This application controls the privoxy service (e.g.
319 starting and stopping the service as well as uninstalling the software).
323 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
324 <sect3 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
326 Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
327 All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
328 directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
329 remove this directory.
333 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
334 <sect3 id="installation-tbz"><title>FreeBSD</title>
337 Privoxy is part of FreeBSD's Ports Collection, you can build and install
338 it with <literal>cd /usr/ports/www/privoxy; make install clean</literal>.
341 If you don't use the ports, you can fetch and install
342 the package with <literal>pkg_add -r privoxy</literal>.
345 The port skeleton and the package can also be downloaded from the
346 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">File Release
347 Page</ulink>, but there's no reason to use them unless you're interested in the
348 beta releases which are only available there.
352 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
353 <sect3 id="installattion-gentoo"><title>Gentoo</title>
355 Gentoo source packages (Ebuilds) for <application>Privoxy</application> are
356 contained in the Gentoo Portage Tree (they are not on the download page,
357 but there is a Gentoo section, where you can see when a new
358 <application>Privoxy</application> Version is added to the Portage Tree).
361 Before installing <application>Privoxy</application> under Gentoo just do
362 first <literal>emerge --sync</literal> to get the latest changes from the
363 Portage tree. With <literal>emerge privoxy</literal> you install the latest
367 Configuration files are in <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename>, the
368 documentation is in <filename>/usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;</filename>
369 and the Log directory is in <filename>/var/log/privoxy</filename>.
375 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
376 <sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
379 The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
380 is to download the source tarball from our
381 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&package_id=10571">project download
386 If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
387 possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
388 version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
389 CVS repository</ulink>.
391 deprecated...out of business.
392 or simply download <ulink
393 url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.bz2">the nightly CVS
398 <!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
400 <!-- end boilerplate -->
403 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
404 <sect2 id="installation-keepupdated"><title>Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date</title>
406 As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated versions
407 of both the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link> (as a <ulink
408 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&release_id=103670">separate
409 package</ulink>) and the software itself (including the actions file) available for
414 If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
415 <application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
416 url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
417 to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
421 In order not to lose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
422 to the latest <literal>default.action</literal> file we <emphasis>strongly
423 recommend</emphasis> that you use <literal>user.action</literal> and
424 <literal>user.filter</literal> for your local
425 customizations of <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
426 linkend="actions-file">Chapter on actions files</link> for details.
434 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
436 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
437 <sect1 id="whatsnew">
438 <title>What's New in this Release</title>
440 <application>Privoxy 3.0.16</application> is a stable release.
441 The changes since 3.0.15 beta are:
448 Added the config file option handle-as-empty-doc-returns-ok to
449 work around Firefox bug #492459, which causes Firefox to hang
450 if JavaScripts are blocked in certain situations. The option is
451 enabled in the default config file.
456 Added the config option default-server-timeout to control the
457 assumed default server timeout. Since Privoxy no longer returns
458 an error message for connection resets on reused client connections,
459 assuming larger server timeout values appears to actually work
460 pretty well as long as connections aren't shared.
465 Added optional support for FreeBSD's accf_http(9). Use the
466 configure option --enable-accept-filter to enable it.
471 Added fancier Privoxy icons for win32. Contributed by Jeff H.
476 In daemon mode, fd 0, 1 and 2 are bound to /dev/null.
481 Resolve localhost using whatever address family the operating
482 system feels like. Previous betas would try to use IPv4 as this
483 is what most users expect, but this didn't work reliable on
489 In the action lists on CGI pages, actions and their parameters are
490 no longer separated with a space. The action file parser doesn't
491 actually allow this and will throw an invalid syntax error if actions
492 and parameters in the action files are separated. Not adding the
493 spaces means copy and pasting CGI output into the action files works.
498 The default keep-alive timeout has been reduced to 5 seconds to work
499 around hangs in clients that treat the proxy like any other host and
500 stop allowing any new connections if the "maximum number of
501 connections per host" is reached.
506 Several webbug URLs that look like they are leading to images are now
507 blocked as image instead of empty documents. Doing the latter causes
508 WebKit-based clients to show a "missing image" icon which may mess up
514 Accepts quoted expiration dates even though RFC 2109 10.1.2
515 doesn't seem to allow them. Reported anonymously.
520 Don't try to forget connections if connection sharing is disabled.
521 This wasn't a real problem but caused an unnecessary log message.
526 The still undocumented --enable-extended-host-patterns configure
527 option has a better description.
532 Fixed an error message that would claim a write to the server
533 failed when actually writing to the client failed.
538 Log the crunch reason before trying to write to the client.
539 The log is easier to read that way.
544 Several log messages about client connections also mention
550 handle-as-empty-document no longer depends on the image blocking
556 Privoxy-Log-Parser is roughly 40% faster in highlighting mode.
561 uagen, a Firefox User-Agent generator for Privoxy and Mozilla
562 browsers has been imported and is available in the tarballs
568 The scripts in the tools directory treat unknown parameters
576 If you missed the previous two beta versions, you may also be
577 interested in the additional changes since 3.0.12, the
585 Added IPv6 support. Thanks to Petr Pisar who not only provided
586 the initial patch but also helped a lot with the integration.
591 Added client-side keep-alive support.
596 The connection sharing code is only used if the connection-sharing
602 The latency is taken into account when evaluating whether or not to
603 reuse a connection. This should significantly reduce the number of
604 connections problems several users reported.
609 The max-client-connections option has been added to restrict
610 the number of client connections below a value enforced by
611 the operating system.
616 If the server doesn't specify how long the connection stays alive,
617 Privoxy errs on the safe side of caution and assumes it's only a second.
622 Setting keep-alive-timeout to 0 disables keep-alive support. Previously
623 Privoxy would claim to allow persistence but not reuse the connection.
628 Pipelined requests are less likely to be mistaken for the request
629 body of the previous request. Note that Privoxy still has no real
630 pipeline support and will either serialize pipelined requests or
631 drop them in which case the client has to resent them.
636 Fixed a crash on some Windows versions when header randomization
637 is enabled and the date couldn't be parsed.
642 Privoxy's keep-alive timeout for the current connection is reduced
643 to the one specified in the client's Keep-Alive header.
648 For HTTP/1.1 requests, Privoxy implies keep-alive support by not
649 setting any Connection header instead of using 'Connection: keep-alive'.
654 If the socket isn't reusable, Privoxy doesn't temporarily waste
655 a socket slot to remember the connection.
660 If keep-alive support is disabled but compiled in, the client's
661 Keep-Alive header is removed.
666 Fixed a bug on mingw32 where downloading large files failed if
667 keep-alive support was enabled.
672 Fixed a bug that (at least theoretically) could cause log
673 timestamps to be occasionally off by about a second.
678 The configure script respects the $PATH variable when searching
684 Compressed content with extra fields couldn't be decompressed
685 and would get passed to the client unfiltered. This problem
686 has only be detected through statical analysis with clang as
687 nobody seems to be using extra fields anyway.
692 If the server resets the Connection after sending only the headers
693 Privoxy forwards what it got to the client. Previously Privoxy
694 would deliver an error message instead.
699 Error messages in case of connection timeouts use the right
705 If spawning a child to handle a request fails, the client
706 gets an error message and Privoxy continues to listen for
707 new requests right away.
712 The error messages in case of server-connection timeouts or
713 prematurely closed server connections are now template-based.
718 If zlib support isn't compiled in, Privoxy no longer tries to
719 filter compressed content unless explicitly asked to do so.
724 In case of connections that are denied based on ACL directives,
725 the memory used for the client IP is no longer leaked.
730 Fixed another small memory leak if the client request times out
731 while waiting for client headers other than the request line.
736 The client socket is kept open until the server socket has
737 been marked as unused. This should increase the chances that
738 the still-open connection will be reused for the client's next
739 request to the same destination. Note that this only matters
740 if connection-sharing is enabled.
745 A TODO list has been added to the source tarballs to give potential
746 volunteers a better idea of what the current goals are. Donations
747 are still welcome too: http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
752 In case of missing server data, no error message is send to the
753 client if the request arrived on a reused connection. The client
754 is then supposed to silently retry the request without bothering
755 the user. This should significantly reduce the frequency of the
756 "No server or forwarder data received" error message many users
762 More reliable detection of prematurely closed client sockets
763 with keep-alive enabled.
768 FEATURE_CONNECTION_KEEP_ALIVE is decoupled from
769 FEATURE_CONNECTION_SHARING and now available on
775 Improved handling of POST requests on reused connections.
776 Should fix problems with stalled connections after submitting
777 form data with some browser configurations.
782 Fixed various latency calculation issues.
787 Allows the client to pass NTLM authentication requests to a
788 forwarding proxy. This was already assumed and hinted to work
789 in 3.0.13 beta but actually didn't. Now it's confirmed to work
790 with IE, Firefox and Chrome.
791 Thanks to Francois Botha and Wan-Teh Chang
796 Fixed a calculation problem if receiving the server headers
797 takes more than two reads, that could cause Privoxy to terminate
798 the connection prematurely. Reported by Oliver.
803 Compiles again on platforms such as OpenBSD and systems
804 using earlier glibc version that don't support AI_ADDRCONFIG.
805 Anonymously submitted in #2872591.
810 A bunch of MS VC project files and Suse and Redhat RPM spec
811 files have been removed as they were no longer maintained for
817 Overly long action lines are properly rejected with a proper
818 error message. Previously they would be either rejected as
819 invalid or cause a core dump through abort().
824 Already timed-out connections are no longer temporarily remembered.
825 They weren't reused anyway, but wasted a socket slot.
830 len refers to the number of bytes actually read which might
831 differ from the ones received. Adjust log messages accordingly.
836 The optional JavaScript on the CGI page uses encodeURIComponent()
837 instead of escape() which doesn't encode all characters that matter.
838 Anonymously reported in #2832722.
843 Fix gcc45 warnings in decompress_iob().
848 Various log message improvements.
853 Privoxy-Regression-Test supports redirect tests.
858 Privoxy-Log-Parser can gather some connection statistics.
866 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
868 <sect2 id="upgradersnote">
869 <title>Note to Upgraders</title>
872 A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
873 versions of <application>Privoxy</application>:
881 The recommended way to upgrade &my-app; is to backup your old
882 configuration files, install the new ones, verify that &my-app;
883 is working correctly and finally merge back your changes using
884 <application>diff</application> and maybe <application>patch</application>.
887 There are a number of new features in each &my-app; release and
888 most of them have to be explicitly enabled in the configuration
889 files. Old configuration files obviously don't do that and due
890 to syntax changes using old configuration files with a new
891 &my-app; isn't always possible anyway.
896 Note that some installers remove earlier versions completely,
897 including configuration files, therefore you should really save
898 any important configuration files!
903 On the other hand, other installers don't overwrite existing configuration
904 files, thinking you will want to do that yourself.
909 <filename>standard.action</filename> has been merged into
910 the <filename>default.action</filename> file.
915 In the default configuration only fatal errors are logged now.
916 You can change that in the <link linkend="DEBUG">debug section</link>
917 of the configuration file. You may also want to enable more verbose
918 logging until you verified that the new &my-app; version is working
925 Three other config file settings are now off by default:
926 <link linkend="enable-remote-toggle">enable-remote-toggle</link>,
927 <link linkend="enable-remote-http-toggle">enable-remote-http-toggle</link>,
928 and <link linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link>.
929 If you use or want these, you will need to explicitly enable them, and
930 be aware of the security issues involved.
937 What constitutes a <quote>default</quote> configuration has changed,
938 and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
939 default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
940 you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
941 There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
942 consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
943 settings as yet (see above).
950 The default actions setting is now <literal>Cautious</literal>. Previous
951 releases had a default setting of <literal>Medium</literal>. Experienced
952 users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
953 standards and past practices. See <ulink
954 url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
955 http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>. New users
956 should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
962 The default setting has filtering turned <emphasis>off</emphasis>, which
963 subsequently means that compression is <emphasis>on</emphasis>. Remember
964 that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
965 use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
969 { +<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{google} +<link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link> }
973 Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
974 to turn off compression for all sites in
975 <filename>default.action</filename> (or
976 <filename>user.action</filename>).
983 Also, <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> is
984 off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
985 to turn it back on in <filename>user.action</filename> now.
992 Some installers may not automatically start
993 <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
1004 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1005 <sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
1011 Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
1012 linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> below for platform specific
1019 Advanced users and those who want to offer <application>Privoxy</application>
1020 service to more than just their local machine should check the <link
1021 linkend="config">main config file</link>, especially the <link
1022 linkend="access-control">security-relevant</link> options. These are
1029 Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
1030 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
1031 <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
1037 Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
1038 HTTPS (SSL) <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>
1039 by setting the proxy configuration for address of
1040 <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
1041 <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> activate proxying for <literal>FTP</literal> or
1042 any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) unless you intend to prevent your
1043 browser from using these protocols.
1049 Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
1050 If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage
1051 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
1052 you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
1058 A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
1059 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
1060 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
1061 to no initial configuration is required in most cases, you may want
1063 <ulink url="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">web-based action editor</ulink> though.
1064 Be sure to read the warnings first.
1067 See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
1068 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
1069 You might also want to look at the <link
1070 linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
1071 introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
1078 If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
1079 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
1080 <application>Privoxy's</application> behavior, take a look at the <link
1081 linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
1082 find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
1083 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
1084 url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
1085 Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
1086 Action</link></quote> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
1087 <quote>misbehave</quote>.
1092 Did anyone test these lately?
1096 For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
1097 <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
1105 Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
1106 Developers</link> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
1113 Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
1121 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1123 <sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
1124 <title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
1126 NOTE: This section is deliberately redundant for those that don't
1127 want to read the whole thing (which is getting lengthy).
1130 Ad blocking is but one of <application>Privoxy's</application>
1131 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
1132 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
1135 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
1136 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
1137 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.
1140 First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
1141 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
1142 things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
1143 may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
1144 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
1145 <quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
1146 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
1147 not an easy way to eliminate <emphasis>all</emphasis> ads. Either take
1148 the easy way and settle for <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads blocked with the
1149 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
1150 habits and preferences.
1153 Secondly, a brief explanation of <application>Privoxy's </application>
1154 <quote>actions</quote>. <quote>Actions</quote> in this context, are
1155 the directives we use to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to perform
1156 some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
1157 <application>Privoxy</application> to take some <quote>action</quote>. Each
1158 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
1159 <application>actions</application> in <application>Privoxy's</application>
1160 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <link
1161 linkend="actions">Actions</link>, and <link linkend="actions-file">action
1162 configuration files</link>, are explained in depth below.
1165 Actions are specified in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
1166 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
1167 can actually be URL type <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> that use
1168 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
1169 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
1172 When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
1173 of the sections as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
1174 or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
1175 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
1176 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
1177 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
1178 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
1179 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
1180 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
1181 such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
1182 instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
1187 The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <literal><link
1188 linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
1189 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
1191 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>,and
1192 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
1200 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this is perhaps
1201 the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
1202 This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
1203 that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
1204 but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
1205 stops any communication with the remote server and sends
1206 <application>Privoxy</application>'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
1207 let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
1213 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> -
1214 tells <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as an image.
1215 <application>Privoxy</application>'s default configuration already does this
1216 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
1217 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
1218 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
1219 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
1220 <application>Privoxy</application> BLOCKED page (which would only result in
1221 a <quote>broken image</quote> icon). There are some limitations to this
1222 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
1223 an entire HTML page in most situations.
1229 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> -
1230 sends an empty document instead of <application>Privoxy's</application>
1231 normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
1232 HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
1239 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> - tells
1240 <application>Privoxy</application> what to display in place of an ad image that
1241 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
1242 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action somewhere in the
1243 configuration, <emphasis>and</emphasis>, it must also match an
1244 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action.
1247 The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
1251 <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
1252 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
1257 <emphasis>blank</emphasis> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
1258 This is the so-called <quote>invisible</quote> configuration option.
1263 <emphasis>http://<URL></emphasis> - A redirect to any image anywhere
1264 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
1273 Advanced users will eventually want to explore &my-app;
1274 <literal><link linkend="filter">filters</link></literal> as well. Filters
1275 are very different from <literal><link
1276 linkend="block">blocks</link></literal>.
1277 A <quote>block</quote> blocks a site, page, or unwanted contented. Filters
1278 are a way of filtering or modifying what is actually on the page. An example
1279 filter usage: a text replacement of <quote>no-no</quote> for
1280 <quote>nasty-word</quote>. That is a very simple example. This process can be
1281 used for ad blocking, but it is more in the realm of advanced usage and has
1282 some pitfalls to be wary off.
1286 The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
1287 the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
1288 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1289 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
1290 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access.
1294 Note that as of <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.7 beta the
1295 action editor is disabled by default. Check the
1296 <ulink url="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions
1297 section in the configuration file</ulink> to learn why and in which
1298 cases it's safe to enable again.
1302 If you decided to enable the action editor, select the appropriate
1303 <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
1304 <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
1305 local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
1306 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
1307 other files. Here you can insert new <quote>actions</quote>, and URLs for ad
1308 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
1309 <application>Privoxy</application> will detect these changes automatically.
1313 A quick and simple step by step example:
1321 Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
1322 <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote> from the
1330 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1335 Find <filename>user.action</filename> in the top section, and click
1336 on <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>:
1339 <!-- image of editor and actions files selections -->
1341 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
1344 <imagedata fileref="files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
1347 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
1356 You should have a section with only
1357 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> listed under
1358 <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1359 If not, click a <quote><guibutton>Insert new section below</guibutton></quote>
1360 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
1361 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button right under the word <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1362 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
1363 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> near the top, and click
1364 in the <quote>Enabled</quote> column, then <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote>
1365 just below the list.
1370 Now, in the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> actions section,
1371 click the <quote><guibutton>Add</guibutton></quote> button, and paste the URL the
1372 browser got from <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote>.
1373 Remove the <literal>http://</literal> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
1374 <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote> (or
1375 <quote><guibutton>OK</guibutton></quote> if in a pop-up window).
1380 Now go back to the original page, and press <keycap>SHIFT-Reload</keycap>
1381 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
1389 This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
1390 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
1391 site. For a more extensive explanation of <quote>patterns</quote>, and
1392 the entire actions concept, see <link linkend="actions-file">the Actions
1397 For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
1398 to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
1399 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
1402 There are also various
1403 <link linkend="filter">filters</link> that can be used for ad blocking
1404 (filters are a special subset of actions). These
1405 fall into the <quote>advanced</quote> usage category, and are explained in
1406 depth in later sections.
1413 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1416 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1417 <sect1 id="startup">
1418 <title>Starting Privoxy</title>
1420 Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
1421 will want to configure your browser(s) to use
1422 <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
1423 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>. The default is
1424 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
1425 used port 8000). This is the one configuration step <emphasis>that must be done
1429 Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
1430 HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other protocols.
1433 <!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
1435 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1436 Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</title>
1439 <imagedata fileref="proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
1442 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1450 With <application>Firefox</application>, this is typically set under:
1454 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Network</guibutton> -><guibutton>Connection</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Settings</guibutton>
1459 Or optionally on some platforms:
1463 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
1469 With <application>Netscape</application> (and
1470 <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under:
1475 <!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
1476 <!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
1477 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton> -> <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
1482 For <application>Internet Explorer v.5-7</application>:
1486 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Internet Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connections</guibutton> -> <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
1490 Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
1491 (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
1492 proxy support too (sometimes labeled <quote>Secure</quote>). Make sure any
1493 checkboxes like <quote>Use the same proxy server for all protocols</quote> is
1494 <emphasis>UNCHECKED</emphasis>. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
1497 <!-- image of IE Proxy configuration -->
1499 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1500 Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</title>
1503 <imagedata fileref="proxy2.jpg" format="jpg">
1506 <phrase>[ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1514 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
1515 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
1516 any <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
1517 if you want <application>Privoxy</application> to manage that. You are now
1518 ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
1519 <application>Privoxy</application>!
1523 <application>Privoxy</application> itself is typically started by specifying the
1524 main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
1525 file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
1526 will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
1527 directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
1530 <sect2 id="start-redhat">
1531 <title>Red Hat and Fedora</title>
1533 A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
1534 the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1539 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
1547 # service privoxy start
1552 <sect2 id="start-debian">
1553 <title>Debian</title>
1555 We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
1556 default. It will use the file
1557 <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1562 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1567 <sect2 id="start-windows">
1568 <title>Windows</title>
1570 Click on the &my-app; Icon to start <application>Privoxy</application>. If no configuration file is
1571 specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
1572 for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
1573 automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
1577 <application>Privoxy</application> can run with full Windows service functionality.
1578 On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
1579 to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
1580 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Windows Installation
1581 instructions</link> for details.
1585 <sect2 id="start-unices">
1586 <title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
1588 Example Unix startup command:
1592 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
1597 <sect2 id="start-os2">
1600 During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
1601 start automatically when the system restarts. You can start it manually by
1602 double-clicking on the <application>Privoxy</application> icon in the
1603 <application>Privoxy</application> folder.
1607 <sect2 id="start-macosx">
1608 <title>Mac OS X</title>
1610 After downloading the privoxy software, unzip the downloaded file by
1611 double-clicking on the zip file icon. Then, double-click on the
1612 installer package icon and follow the installation process.
1615 The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
1616 installation. In addition, the privoxy service will automatically
1617 start every time your computer starts up.
1620 To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
1621 computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
1622 /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
1625 A simple application named Privoxy Utility has been created which
1626 enables administrators to easily start and stop the privoxy service.
1629 In addition, the Privoxy Utility presents a simple way for
1630 administrators to edit the various privoxy config files. A method
1631 to uninstall the software is also available.
1634 An administrator username and password must be supplied in order for
1635 the Privoxy Utility to perform any of the tasks.
1640 <sect2 id="start-amigaos">
1641 <title>AmigaOS</title>
1643 Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
1644 <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
1645 <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
1646 startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
1647 <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
1648 TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
1649 <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
1653 <sect2 id="start-gentoo">
1654 <title>Gentoo</title>
1656 A script is again used. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config
1657 </filename> as its main configuration file.
1661 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1665 Note that <application>Privoxy</application> is not automatically started at
1666 boot time by default. You can change this with the <literal>rc-update</literal>
1671 rc-update add privoxy default
1679 See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
1683 must find a better place for this paragraph
1686 The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
1687 point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
1688 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
1689 where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
1690 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
1691 such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
1695 You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
1696 persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
1697 default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
1698 session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
1699 configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
1700 to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
1701 and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
1702 more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
1703 case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
1707 Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
1708 sites is the popup-killing (through <ulink
1709 url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>),
1710 because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
1711 popups (explained below).
1715 <application>Privoxy</application> does not support all of the optional HTTP/1.1
1716 features yet. In the unlikely event that you experience inexplicable problems
1717 with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
1718 (like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
1719 try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
1720 Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
1721 Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
1722 <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
1723 requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
1727 After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
1728 start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
1729 preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
1730 be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
1731 can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
1732 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1733 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1734 and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
1735 (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
1739 In fact, various aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
1740 configuration can be viewed from this page, including
1741 current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
1742 the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
1743 to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
1744 editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
1745 be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
1749 If you encounter problems, try loading the page without
1750 <application>Privoxy</application>. If that helps, enter the URL where
1751 you have the problems into <ulink url="http://p.p/show-url-info">the browser
1752 based rule tracing utility</ulink>. See which rules apply and why, and
1753 then try turning them off for that site one after the other, until the problem
1754 is gone. When you have found the culprit, you might want to turn the rest on
1759 If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <link
1760 linkend="actions-file">read more about the actions concept</link>
1761 or even dive deep into the <link linkend="actionsanat">Appendix
1766 If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
1767 Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
1768 section <link linkend="contact"><quote>Contacting the
1769 Developers</quote></link> below.
1774 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1775 <sect2 id="cmdoptions">
1776 <title>Command Line Options</title>
1778 <application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
1779 command-line options:
1787 <emphasis>--version</emphasis>
1790 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
1795 <emphasis>--help</emphasis>
1798 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
1803 <emphasis>--no-daemon</emphasis>
1806 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
1807 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
1812 <emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
1815 On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
1816 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> on exit. Failure to create or delete the
1817 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> is non-fatal. If no <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>
1818 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
1823 <emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
1826 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
1827 <emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
1828 privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
1833 <emphasis>--chroot</emphasis>
1836 Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
1837 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
1838 process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
1839 the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
1845 <emphasis>--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname</emphasis>
1848 Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some systems, initializing the
1849 resolver library involves reading config files from /etc and/or loading additional shared
1850 libraries from /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup before the chroot reduces
1851 the number of files that must be copied into the chroot tree.
1854 For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is not in /etc/hosts but that
1855 your local name server (listed in /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion
1856 (that is, without having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
1857 but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be output.
1863 <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
1866 If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
1867 <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
1868 <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
1869 where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
1870 full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
1871 <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
1879 On <application>MS Windows</application> only there are two additional
1880 command-line options to allow <application>Privoxy</application> to install and
1881 run as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>. See the
1882 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Window Installation section</link>
1890 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1893 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1894 <sect1 id="configuration"><title>Privoxy Configuration</title>
1896 All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
1897 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
1898 Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
1899 also be controlled easily with a web browser.
1903 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1906 <title>Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser</title>
1908 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
1909 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1910 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1911 which is a built-in page and works without Internet access.
1912 You will see the following section:
1916 <!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
1919 <bridgehead renderas="sect2"> Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
1923 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
1926 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
1929 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
1932 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
1935 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
1938 ▪ <ulink
1939 url="http://www.privoxy.org/&p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
1947 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
1948 <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, which is where the ad, banner,
1949 cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
1950 <application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
1951 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
1952 file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
1956 <quote>Toggle Privoxy On or Off</quote> is handy for sites that might
1957 have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
1958 it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
1959 causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
1960 to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e.
1961 <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There
1962 is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
1963 that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
1968 Note that several of the features described above are disabled by default
1969 in <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.7 beta and later.
1971 <ulink url="config.html">configuration file</ulink> to learn why
1972 and in which cases it's safe to enable them again.
1977 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1982 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1984 <sect2 id="confoverview">
1985 <title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
1987 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
1988 <filename>/etc/privoxy/</filename> by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and
1989 AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
1990 <application>Privoxy</application> executable. <![%p-not-stable;[ The name
1991 and number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and is
1992 subject to change as development progresses.]]>
1996 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
1997 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
1998 principle configuration files are:
2006 The <link linkend="config">main configuration file</link> is named <filename>config</filename>
2007 on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
2008 on Windows. This is a required file.
2014 <filename>match-all.action</filename> is used to define which <quote>actions</quote>
2015 relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, content modification, cookie handling
2016 etc should be applied by default. It should be the first actions file loaded.
2019 <filename>default.action</filename> defines many exceptions (both positive and negative)
2020 from the default set of actions that's configured in <filename>match-all.action</filename>.
2021 It should be the second actions file loaded and shouldn't be edited by the user.
2024 Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
2025 are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
2026 preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
2027 <filename>match-all.action</filename> (which you will most probably want
2028 to define sooner or later) are best applied in <filename>user.action</filename>,
2029 where you can preserve them across upgrades. The file isn't installed by all
2030 installers, but you can easily create it yourself with a text editor.
2033 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
2035 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
2037 url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>) for the
2038 various actions files.
2044 <quote>Filter files</quote> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
2045 file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
2046 viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
2047 lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
2048 whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
2049 <filename>default.filter</filename> includes various filters made
2050 available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
2051 others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
2052 filter files in <filename>config</filename> as you can with
2053 actions files. We suggest <filename>user.filter</filename> for any
2054 locally defined filters or customizations.
2062 The syntax of the configuration and filter files may change between different
2063 Privoxy versions, unfortunately some enhancements cost backwards compatibility.
2064 <!-- Add link to documentation-->
2068 All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
2069 comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
2070 through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
2071 in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
2072 its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
2073 valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
2074 out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
2078 The actions files and filter files
2079 can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
2080 maximum flexibility.
2084 After making any changes, there is no need to restart
2085 <application>Privoxy</application> in order for the changes to take
2086 effect. <application>Privoxy</application> detects such changes
2087 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
2088 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening address
2089 of <application>Privoxy</application>, these <quote>wake up</quote> requests
2090 must obviously be sent to the <emphasis>old</emphasis> listening address.
2095 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change.
2096 The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this.
2097 Also, what constitutes a <quote>default</quote> setting, may change, so
2098 please check all your configuration files on important issues.
2104 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2107 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
2109 <!-- **************************************************** -->
2110 <!-- Include config.sgml here -->
2111 <!-- This is where the entire config file is detailed. -->
2113 <!-- end include -->
2116 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2120 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
2122 <sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
2126 XXX: similar descriptions are in the Configuration Files sections.
2127 We should only describe them at one place.
2130 The actions files are used to define what <emphasis>actions</emphasis>
2131 <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
2132 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
2133 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
2134 There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
2135 Each action does something a little different.
2136 These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
2137 our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
2138 their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
2142 are three action files included with <application>Privoxy</application> with
2149 <filename>match-all.action</filename> - is used to define which
2150 <quote>actions</quote> relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups,
2151 content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default.
2152 It should be the first actions file loaded
2157 <filename>default.action</filename> - defines many exceptions (both
2158 positive and negative) from the default set of actions that's configured
2159 in <filename>match-all.action</filename>. It is a set of rules that should
2160 work reasonably well as-is for most users. This file is only supposed to
2161 be edited by the developers. It should be the second actions file loaded.
2166 <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
2167 preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
2168 has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
2169 thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
2174 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Cautious</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Medium</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Advanced</guibutton>
2177 These have increasing levels of aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no
2178 influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
2179 editor</emphasis>. A default installation should be pre-set to
2180 <literal>Cautious</literal>. New users should try this for a while before
2181 adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
2182 the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
2183 not working as they should.
2186 The <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button allows you to turn each
2187 action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The <guibutton>Cautious</guibutton>
2188 button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
2189 ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
2190 there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
2191 <guibutton>Medium</guibutton> button sets the list to a medium level of
2192 other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
2193 <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> button sets the list to a high level of
2194 ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
2195 three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
2196 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
2197 lower sections of this internal page.
2200 While the actions file editor allows to enable these settings in all
2201 actions files, they are only supposed to be enabled in the first one
2202 to make sure you don't unintentionally overrule earlier rules.
2205 The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
2206 <filename>default.action</filename> are:
2209 <table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
2210 <tgroup cols=4 align=left colsep=1 rowsep=1>
2211 <colspec colname=c1>
2212 <colspec colname=c2>
2213 <colspec colname=c3>
2214 <colspec colname=c4>
2217 <entry>Feature</entry>
2218 <entry>Cautious</entry>
2219 <entry>Medium</entry>
2220 <entry>Advanced</entry>
2225 <!-- <entry>f1</entry> -->
2226 <!-- <entry>f2</entry> -->
2227 <!-- <entry>f3</entry> -->
2228 <!-- <entry>f4</entry> -->
2234 <entry>Ad-blocking Aggressiveness</entry>
2235 <entry>medium</entry>
2241 <entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
2248 <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
2254 <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
2255 <entry>blocks only</entry>
2256 <entry>blocks only</entry>
2257 <entry>blocks only</entry>
2261 <entry>Privacy Features</entry>
2263 <entry>medium</entry>
2264 <entry>medium/high</entry>
2268 <entry>Cookie handling</entry>
2270 <entry>session-only</entry>
2275 <entry>Referer forging</entry>
2282 <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
2289 <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
2296 <entry>HTML taming</entry>
2303 <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
2310 <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
2317 <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
2333 The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
2334 file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g.
2335 <filename>default.action</filename> is typically processed before
2336 <filename>user.action</filename>). The content of these can all be viewed and
2338 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2339 The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
2340 matches a given URL wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
2341 (defined in <filename>default.action</filename>),
2342 followed by any exceptions (typically also in
2343 <filename>default.action</filename>), which are then followed lastly by any
2344 local preferences (typically in <emphasis>user</emphasis><filename>.action</filename>).
2345 Generally, <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word.
2349 An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
2350 <quote>aliases</quote> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
2351 <link linkend="aliases">alias section</link> at the top of that file.
2352 Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
2353 sites and pages (be <emphasis>very careful</emphasis> with using such a
2354 universal set in <filename>user.action</filename> or any other actions file after
2355 <filename>default.action</filename>, because it will override the result
2356 from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
2357 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
2358 <filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
2359 with the advantage that it is a separate file, which makes preserving your
2360 personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
2364 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
2365 just some obnoxious URL whose content you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
2366 or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
2367 written to disk), content can be modified, some JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
2368 fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
2372 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2374 <title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
2376 Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
2377 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
2378 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
2379 certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
2380 refinements in the configuration. In general, it can be said that the more
2381 <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
2382 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
2383 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to crunch all cookies per
2384 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
2385 regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
2386 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
2390 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
2391 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
2392 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
2393 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
2397 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2399 <title>How to Edit</title>
2401 The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
2402 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
2403 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2404 Note: the config file option <link
2405 linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link> must be enabled for
2406 this to work. The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single
2407 feature on a per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults
2408 like <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or
2409 <quote>Advanced</quote>. Warning: the <quote>Advanced</quote> setting is more
2410 aggressive, and will be more likely to cause problems for some sites.
2411 Experienced users only!
2415 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
2416 the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
2417 <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly commented with many
2423 <sect2 id="actions-apply">
2424 <title>How Actions are Applied to Requests</title>
2426 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
2427 like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will
2428 be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
2429 heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
2430 of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
2431 Below that, there is a list of URL and tag patterns, each on a separate line.
2435 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
2436 compared to all URL patterns in each <quote>action file</quote>.
2437 Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the request is
2438 incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the
2439 pattern is located. The same is done again for tags and tag patterns later on.
2443 If multiple applying sections set the same action differently,
2444 the last match wins. If not, the effects are aggregated.
2445 E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading line of <literal>{
2446 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
2447 then later another one with just <literal>{
2448 +<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
2449 in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply. And there may well be
2450 cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
2456 { +<literal>handle-as-image</literal> +<literal>block{Banner ads.}</literal> }
2457 # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
2459 media.example.com/.*banners
2460 .example.com/images/ads/</screen>
2464 You can trace this process for URL patterns and any given URL by visiting <ulink
2465 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
2469 Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
2470 Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</link> section.
2474 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2475 <sect2 id="af-patterns">
2476 <title>Patterns</title>
2478 As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
2479 to determine what <emphasis>actions</emphasis> might apply to which sites and
2480 pages your browser attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild
2481 card type <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
2482 flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
2483 against many similar patterns.
2487 Generally, an URL pattern has the form
2488 <literal><domain><port>/<path></literal>, where the
2489 <literal><domain></literal>, the <literal><port></literal>
2490 and the <literal><path></literal> are optional. (This is why the special
2491 <literal>/</literal> pattern matches all URLs). Note that the protocol
2492 portion of the URL pattern (e.g. <literal>http://</literal>) should
2493 <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in the pattern. This is assumed already!
2496 The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
2497 the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
2498 while the path part uses more flexible
2499 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2500 Expressions</quote></ulink> (POSIX 1003.2).
2503 The port part of a pattern is a decimal port number preceded by a colon
2504 (<literal>:</literal>). If the domain part contains a numerical IPv6 address,
2505 it has to be put into angle brackets
2506 (<literal><</literal>, <literal>></literal>).
2511 <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
2514 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2515 regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
2516 this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
2517 simple <literal>example.com</literal> is different and would NOT match.
2522 <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
2525 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
2531 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
2534 matches all the documents on <literal>www.example.com</literal>
2535 whose name starts with <literal>/index.html</literal>.
2540 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html$</literal></term>
2543 matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
2544 on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
2549 <term><literal>/index.html$</literal></term>
2552 matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
2553 i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server anywhere.
2558 <term><literal>:8000/</literal></term>
2561 Matches any URL pointing to TCP port 8000.
2566 <term><literal><2001:db8::1>/</literal></term>
2569 Matches any URL with the host address <literal>2001:db8::1</literal>.
2570 (Note that the real URL uses plain brackets, not angle brackets.)
2575 <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
2578 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
2579 there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>. So its
2587 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2588 <sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
2591 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
2592 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
2598 <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
2601 matches any domain with first-level domain <literal>com</literal>
2602 and second-level domain <literal>example</literal>.
2603 For example <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2604 <literal>example.com</literal> and <literal>foo.bar.baz.example.com</literal>.
2605 Note that it wouldn't match if the second-level domain was <literal>another-example</literal>.
2610 <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
2613 matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
2614 <literal>www.</literal> (It also matches the domain
2615 <literal>www</literal> but most of the time that doesn't matter.)
2620 <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
2623 matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>.
2624 And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
2625 within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
2626 speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as
2627 a domain.) This might be <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2628 <literal>news.example.de</literal>, or
2629 <literal>www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl</literal> for instance. All these
2637 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
2638 themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
2639 <quote>*</quote> represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
2641 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2642 Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax of <quote>.*</quote>),
2643 <quote>?</quote> represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
2644 regular expression syntax of a simple <quote>.</quote>), and you can define
2645 <quote>character classes</quote> in square brackets which is similar to
2646 the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
2651 <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2654 matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
2655 <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
2660 <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2663 matches all of the above, and then some.
2668 <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
2671 matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
2672 <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
2677 <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
2680 matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
2681 <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
2682 <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
2683 <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
2690 While flexible, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
2695 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2698 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2699 <sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
2702 <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>modern</quote> POSIX 1003.2
2703 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2704 Expressions</quote></ulink> for matching the path portion (after the slash),
2705 and is thus more flexible.
2709 There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
2710 expressions, you also might want to have a look at your operating system's documentation
2711 on regular expressions (try <literal>man re_format</literal>).
2715 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
2716 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
2717 for the beginning of a line).
2721 Please also note that matching in the path is <emphasis>CASE INSENSITIVE</emphasis>
2722 by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
2723 <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch: <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match
2724 only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
2725 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
2730 <term><literal>.example.com/.*</literal></term>
2733 Is equivalent to just <quote>.example.com</quote>, since any documents
2734 within that domain are matched with or without the <quote>.*</quote>
2735 regular expression. This is redundant
2740 <term><literal>.example.com/.*/index.html$</literal></term>
2743 Will match any page in the domain of <quote>example.com</quote> that is
2744 named <quote>index.html</quote>, and that is part of some path. For
2745 example, it matches <quote>www.example.com/testing/index.html</quote> but
2746 NOT <quote>www.example.com/index.html</quote> because the regular
2747 expression called for at least two <quote>/'s</quote>, thus the path
2748 requirement. It also would match
2749 <quote>www.example.com/testing/index_html</quote>, because of the
2750 special meta-character <quote>.</quote>.
2755 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)?index\.html$</literal></term>
2758 This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
2759 named <quote>index.html</quote> regardless of path which in this case can
2760 have one or more <quote>/'s</quote>. And this one must contain exactly
2761 <quote>.html</quote> (but does not have to end with that!).
2766 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)</literal></term>
2769 This regular expression will match any path of <quote>example.com</quote>
2770 that contains any of the words <quote>ads</quote>, <quote>banner</quote>,
2771 <quote>banners</quote> (because of the <quote>?</quote>) or <quote>junk</quote>.
2772 The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
2777 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$</literal></term>
2780 This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
2781 <quote>.jpg</quote>, <quote>.jpeg</quote>, <quote>.gif</quote> or <quote>.png</quote>. So this
2782 one is limited to common image formats.
2789 There are many, many good examples to be found in <filename>default.action</filename>,
2790 and more tutorials below in <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>.
2795 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2798 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2799 <sect3 id="tag-pattern"><title>The Tag Pattern</title>
2802 Tag patterns are used to change the applying actions based on the
2803 request's tags. Tags can be created with either the
2804 <link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-TAGGER">client-header-tagger</link>
2805 or the <link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-TAGGER">server-header-tagger</link> action.
2809 Tag patterns have to start with <quote>TAG:</quote>, so &my-app;
2810 can tell them apart from URL patterns. Everything after the colon
2811 including white space, is interpreted as a regular expression with
2812 path pattern syntax, except that tag patterns aren't left-anchored
2813 automatically (&my-app; doesn't silently add a <quote>^</quote>,
2814 you have to do it yourself if you need it).
2818 To match all requests that are tagged with <quote>foo</quote>
2819 your pattern line should be <quote>TAG:^foo$</quote>,
2820 <quote>TAG:foo</quote> would work as well, but it would also
2821 match requests whose tags contain <quote>foo</quote> somewhere.
2822 <quote>TAG: foo</quote> wouldn't work as it requires white space.
2826 Sections can contain URL and tag patterns at the same time,
2827 but tag patterns are checked after the URL patterns and thus
2828 always overrule them, even if they are located before the URL patterns.
2832 Once a new tag is added, Privoxy checks right away if it's matched by one
2833 of the tag patterns and updates the action settings accordingly. As a result
2834 tags can be used to activate other tagger actions, as long as these other
2835 taggers look for headers that haven't already be parsed.
2839 For example you could tag client requests which use the
2840 <literal>POST</literal> method,
2841 then use this tag to activate another tagger that adds a tag if cookies
2842 are sent, and then use a block action based on the cookie tag. This allows
2843 the outcome of one action, to be input into a subsequent action. However if
2844 you'd reverse the position of the described taggers, and activated the
2845 method tagger based on the cookie tagger, no method tags would be created.
2846 The method tagger would look for the request line, but at the time
2847 the cookie tag is created, the request line has already been parsed.
2851 While this is a limitation you should be aware of, this kind of
2852 indirection is seldom needed anyway and even the example doesn't
2853 make too much sense.
2860 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2863 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2865 <sect2 id="actions">
2866 <title>Actions</title>
2868 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
2869 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
2870 <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
2871 <literal>+action</literal> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
2872 <literal>+block</literal> means <quote>please block URLs that match the
2873 following patterns</quote>, and <literal>-block</literal> means <quote>don't
2874 block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <literal>+block</literal>
2875 previously applied.</quote>
2880 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
2881 separated by whitespace, like in
2882 <literal>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</literal>,
2883 followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
2884 Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
2885 of the actions file.
2889 Actions fall into three categories:
2896 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
2897 <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
2901 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
2902 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
2905 Example: <literal>+handle-as-image</literal>
2912 Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
2917 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
2918 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
2919 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
2922 Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
2923 the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
2926 Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.8.1.4) Gecko/20070602 Firefox/2.0.0.4}</literal>
2932 Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
2933 but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
2934 same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
2935 from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
2936 that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
2937 headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
2941 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
2942 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
2943 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
2944 <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
2947 Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
2948 <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
2956 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
2957 taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
2958 normal, non-blocking, non-filtering proxy. You must specifically enable the
2959 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
2960 files will give a good starting point).
2964 Later defined action sections always over-ride earlier ones of the same type.
2965 So exceptions to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
2966 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
2967 as <filename>user.action</filename>). For multi-valued actions, the actions
2968 are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are processed in
2969 the order they are defined in <filename>config</filename> (the default
2970 installation has three actions files). It also quite possible for any given
2971 URL to match more than one <quote>pattern</quote> (because of wildcards and
2972 regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
2976 <!-- start actions listing -->
2978 The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
2982 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2983 <!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
2984 <!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
2986 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2989 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2991 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
2992 <title>add-header</title>
2996 <term>Typical use:</term>
2998 <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
3003 <term>Effect:</term>
3006 Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
3013 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3015 <para>Multi-value.</para>
3020 <term>Parameter:</term>
3023 Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
3024 It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
3034 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
3035 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
3036 <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
3040 Headers added by this action are not modified by other actions.
3046 <term>Example usage:</term>
3049 <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
3057 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3058 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
3059 <title>block</title>
3063 <term>Typical use:</term>
3065 <para>Block ads or other unwanted content</para>
3070 <term>Effect:</term>
3073 Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
3074 requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
3075 but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
3077 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
3079 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>, and
3081 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> actions.
3089 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3091 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3096 <term>Parameter:</term>
3098 <para>A block reason that should be given to the user.</para>
3106 <application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
3107 for requests to blocked pages. This page contains the block reason given as
3108 parameter, a link to find out why the block action applies, and a click-through
3109 to the blocked content (the latter only if the force feature is available and
3113 A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
3114 <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
3115 apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
3116 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
3117 (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
3118 if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
3121 It is important to understand this process, in order
3122 to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
3123 ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
3124 upon which various other features depend.
3127 The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
3128 action can perform a very similar task, by <quote>blocking</quote>
3129 banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
3130 document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
3131 Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
3137 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3140 <screen>{+block{No nasty stuff for you.}}
3141 # Block and replace with "blocked" page
3142 .nasty-stuff.example.com
3144 {+block{Doubleclick banners.} +handle-as-image}
3145 # Block and replace with image
3149 {+block{Layered ads.} +handle-as-empty-document}
3150 # Block and then ignore
3151 adserver.example.net/.*\.js$</screen>
3161 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3162 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="change-x-forwarded-for">
3163 <title>change-x-forwarded-for</title>
3167 <term>Typical use:</term>
3169 <para>Improve privacy by not forwarding the source of the request in the HTTP headers.</para>
3174 <term>Effect:</term>
3177 Deletes the <quote>X-Forwarded-For:</quote> HTTP header from the client request,
3185 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3187 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3192 <term>Parameter:</term>
3196 <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header.</para>
3200 <quote>add</quote> to create the header (or append
3201 the client's IP address to an already existing one).
3212 It is safe and recommended to use <literal>block</literal>.
3215 Forwarding the source address of the request may make
3216 sense in some multi-user setups but is also a privacy risk.
3221 <term>Example usage:</term>
3224 <screen>+change-x-forwarded-for{block}</screen>
3231 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3232 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-filter">
3233 <title>client-header-filter</title>
3237 <term>Typical use:</term>
3240 Rewrite or remove single client headers.
3246 <term>Effect:</term>
3249 All client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
3250 the specified regular expression based substitutions.
3257 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3259 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3264 <term>Parameter:</term>
3267 The name of a client-header filter, as defined in one of the
3268 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
3277 Client-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
3278 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
3279 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
3280 You can do that by using tags though.
3283 Client-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
3284 and use their output as input.
3287 If the request URL gets changed, &my-app; will detect that and use the new
3288 one. This can be used to rewrite the request destination behind the client's
3289 back, for example to specify a Tor exit relay for certain requests.
3292 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
3293 to learn which client-header filters are available by default, and how to
3301 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3305 # Hide Tor exit notation in Host and Referer Headers
3306 {+client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}}
3317 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3318 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-tagger">
3319 <title>client-header-tagger</title>
3323 <term>Typical use:</term>
3326 Block requests based on their headers.
3332 <term>Effect:</term>
3335 Client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
3336 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
3344 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3346 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3351 <term>Parameter:</term>
3354 The name of a client-header tagger, as defined in one of the
3355 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
3364 Client-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
3365 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
3369 Client-header taggers are the first actions that are executed
3370 and their tags can be used to control every other action.
3376 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3380 # Tag every request with the User-Agent header
3381 {+client-header-tagger{user-agent}}
3384 # Tagging itself doesn't change the action
3385 # settings, sections with TAG patterns do:
3387 # If it's a download agent, use a different forwarding proxy,
3388 # show the real User-Agent and make sure resume works.
3389 {+forward-override{forward-socks5 10.0.0.2:2222 .} \
3390 -hide-if-modified-since \
3391 -overwrite-last-modified \
3396 TAG:^User-Agent: NetBSD-ftp/
3397 TAG:^User-Agent: Novell ZYPP Installer
3398 TAG:^User-Agent: RPM APT-HTTP/
3399 TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/
3400 TAG:^User-Agent: Ubuntu APT-HTTP/
3401 TAG:^User-Agent: MPlayer/
3411 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3412 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="content-type-overwrite">
3413 <title>content-type-overwrite</title>
3417 <term>Typical use:</term>
3419 <para>Stop useless download menus from popping up, or change the browser's rendering mode</para>
3424 <term>Effect:</term>
3427 Replaces the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header.
3434 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3436 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3441 <term>Parameter:</term>
3453 The <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header is used by the
3454 browser to decide what to do with the document. The value of this
3455 header can cause the browser to open a download menu instead of
3456 displaying the document by itself, even if the document's format is
3457 supported by the browser.
3460 The declared content type can also affect which rendering mode
3461 the browser chooses. If XHTML is delivered as <quote>text/html</quote>,
3462 many browsers treat it as yet another broken HTML document.
3463 If it is send as <quote>application/xml</quote>, browsers with
3464 XHTML support will only display it, if the syntax is correct.
3467 If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
3468 <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use &my-app;
3469 to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
3470 the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
3471 If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
3474 You can also go the opposite direction: if your browser prints
3475 error messages instead of rendering a document falsely declared
3476 as XHTML, you can overwrite the content type with
3477 <quote>text/html</quote> and have it rendered as broken HTML document.
3480 By default <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal> only replaces
3481 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> headers that look like some kind of text.
3482 If you want to overwrite it unconditionally, you have to combine it with
3483 <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>.
3484 This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
3487 Most of the time it's easier to replace this action with a custom
3488 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3489 It allows you to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
3490 only replace the content types you aimed at.
3493 Of course you can apply <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal>
3494 to a whole site and then make URL based exceptions, but it's a lot
3495 more work to get the same precision.
3501 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
3504 <screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
3505 { +content-type-overwrite{application/xml} }
3508 # but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
3509 {-content-type-overwrite}
3510 www.example.net/.*\.css$
3511 www.example.net/.*style
3520 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3521 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-client-header">
3525 <title>crunch-client-header</title>
3529 <term>Typical use:</term>
3531 <para>Remove a client header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3536 <term>Effect:</term>
3539 Deletes every header sent by the client that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3546 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3548 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3553 <term>Parameter:</term>
3565 This action allows you to block client headers for which no dedicated
3566 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists.
3567 <application>Privoxy</application> will remove every client header that
3568 contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3571 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3572 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3573 they contain the same string.
3576 <literal>crunch-client-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3577 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3578 parts of them, you should use a
3579 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header filter</link></literal>.
3583 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3590 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3593 <screen># Block the non-existent "Privacy-Violation:" client header
3594 { +crunch-client-header{Privacy-Violation:} }
3604 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3605 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-if-none-match">
3606 <title>crunch-if-none-match</title>
3612 <term>Typical use:</term>
3614 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
3619 <term>Effect:</term>
3622 Deletes the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header.
3629 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3631 <para>Boolean.</para>
3636 <term>Parameter:</term>
3648 Removing the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header
3649 is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
3650 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote> which
3651 would cause the browser to use a cached copy of the page.
3654 It is also useful to make sure the header isn't used as a cookie
3655 replacement (unlikely but possible).
3658 Blocking the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> header shouldn't cause any
3659 caching problems, as long as the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> header
3660 isn't blocked or missing as well.
3663 It is recommended to use this action together with
3664 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
3666 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>.
3672 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3675 <screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents but don't
3676 # allow the server to use the revalidation headers for user tracking.
3677 {+hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
3678 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
3679 +crunch-if-none-match}
3688 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3689 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
3690 <title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
3694 <term>Typical use:</term>
3697 Prevent the web server from setting HTTP cookies on your system
3703 <term>Effect:</term>
3706 Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
3713 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3715 <para>Boolean.</para>
3720 <term>Parameter:</term>
3732 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
3733 <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
3734 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
3735 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
3738 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3739 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3740 since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. See also
3741 <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
3747 <term>Example usage:</term>
3750 <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
3758 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3759 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-server-header">
3760 <title>crunch-server-header</title>
3766 <term>Typical use:</term>
3768 <para>Remove a server header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3773 <term>Effect:</term>
3776 Deletes every header sent by the server that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3783 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3785 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3790 <term>Parameter:</term>
3802 This action allows you to block server headers for which no dedicated
3803 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists. <application>Privoxy</application>
3804 will remove every server header that contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3807 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3808 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3809 they contain the same string.
3812 <literal>crunch-server-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3813 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3814 parts of them, you should use a custom
3815 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3819 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3826 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3829 <screen># Crunch server headers that try to prevent caching
3830 { +crunch-server-header{no-cache} }
3839 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3840 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
3841 <title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
3845 <term>Typical use:</term>
3848 Prevent the web server from reading any HTTP cookies from your system
3854 <term>Effect:</term>
3857 Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
3864 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3866 <para>Boolean.</para>
3871 <term>Parameter:</term>
3883 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
3884 <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
3885 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
3886 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
3889 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3890 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3891 since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
3897 <term>Example usage:</term>
3900 <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
3909 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3910 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
3911 <title>deanimate-gifs</title>
3915 <term>Typical use:</term>
3917 <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
3922 <term>Effect:</term>
3925 De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
3932 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3934 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3939 <term>Parameter:</term>
3942 <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
3951 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
3952 the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
3953 is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
3954 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
3955 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
3956 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
3959 You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
3960 objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
3967 <term>Example usage:</term>
3970 <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
3977 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3978 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
3979 <title>downgrade-http-version</title>
3983 <term>Typical use:</term>
3985 <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
3990 <term>Effect:</term>
3993 Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
4000 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
4002 <para>Boolean.</para>
4007 <term>Parameter:</term>
4019 This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
4020 didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
4021 unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
4022 out there. Not all HTTP/1.1 features and requirements are supported yet,
4023 so there is a chance you might need this action.
4029 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4032 <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
4033 problem-host.example.com</screen>
4041 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4042 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
4043 <title>fast-redirects</title>
4047 <term>Typical use:</term>
4049 <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links.</para>
4054 <term>Effect:</term>
4057 Detects redirection URLs and redirects the browser without contacting
4058 the redirection server first.
4065 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
4067 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4072 <term>Parameter:</term>
4077 <quote>simple-check</quote> to just search for the string <quote>http://</quote>
4078 to detect redirection URLs.
4083 <quote>check-decoded-url</quote> to decode URLs (if necessary) before searching
4084 for redirection URLs.
4095 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
4096 will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
4097 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
4098 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
4099 <quote>http://www.example.org/click-tracker.cgi?target=http%3a//www.example.net/</quote>.
4102 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
4103 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
4104 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
4105 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
4106 browser asks the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
4110 This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
4111 If it is enabled by default, you will have to create some exceptions to
4112 this action. It can lead to failures in several ways:
4115 Not every URLs with other URLs as parameters is evil.
4116 Some sites offer a real service that requires this information to work.
4117 For example a validation service needs to know, which document to validate.
4118 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> assumes that every URL parameter that
4119 looks like another URL is a redirection target, and will always redirect to
4120 the last one. Most of the time the assumption is correct, but if it isn't,
4121 the user gets redirected anyway.
4124 Another failure occurs if the URL contains other parameters after the URL parameter.
4126 <quote>http://www.example.org/?redirect=http%3a//www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
4127 contains the redirection URL <quote>http://www.example.net/</quote>,
4128 followed by another parameter. <literal>fast-redirects</literal> doesn't know that
4129 and will cause a redirect to <quote>http://www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
4130 Depending on the target server configuration, the parameter will be silently ignored
4131 or lead to a <quote>page not found</quote> error. You can prevent this problem by
4132 first using the <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal> action
4133 to remove the last part of the URL, but it requires a little effort.
4136 To detect a redirection URL, <literal>fast-redirects</literal> only
4137 looks for the string <quote>http://</quote>, either in plain text
4138 (invalid but often used) or encoded as <quote>http%3a//</quote>.
4139 Some sites use their own URL encoding scheme, encrypt the address
4140 of the target server or replace it with a database id. In theses cases
4141 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> is fooled and the request reaches the
4142 redirection server where it probably gets logged.
4148 <term>Example usage:</term>
4152 { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
4155 { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
4156 another.example.com/testing</screen>
4165 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4166 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
4167 <title>filter</title>
4171 <term>Typical use:</term>
4173 <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
4174 do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.</para>
4179 <term>Effect:</term>
4182 All instances of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
4183 this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular
4184 expression based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
4185 are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
4186 <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
4193 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
4195 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4200 <term>Parameter:</term>
4203 The name of a content filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>.
4204 Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
4205 <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
4206 option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>.
4207 <filename>default.filter</filename> is the collection of filters
4208 supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
4209 in their own file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
4212 When used in its negative form,
4213 and without parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> filtering is completely disabled.
4222 For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
4223 in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
4227 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
4228 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
4229 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
4230 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
4231 noticeable on slower connections.
4234 <quote>Rolling your own</quote>
4235 filters requires a knowledge of
4236 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
4237 Expressions</quote></ulink> and
4238 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"><quote>HTML</quote></ulink>.
4239 This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
4240 Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
4241 <quote>action</quote> is not available.
4244 The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
4245 <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
4246 option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
4247 default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
4248 data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
4251 Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
4252 (Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
4253 (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
4254 the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
4255 be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
4256 by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> exceptions.
4259 Compressed content can't be filtered either, unless &my-app;
4260 is compiled with zlib support (requires at least &my-app; 3.0.7),
4261 in which case &my-app; will decompress the content before filtering
4265 If you use a &my-app; version without zlib support, but want filtering to work on
4266 as much documents as possible, even those that would normally be sent compressed,
4267 you must use the <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
4268 action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
4271 Content filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
4272 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
4273 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
4274 works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
4275 based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
4279 <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
4280 improved filters is particularly welcome!
4283 The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
4284 predefined filter. There are <link linkend="predefined-filters">more
4285 verbose explanations</link> of what these filters do in the <link
4286 linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>.
4292 <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file).
4293 See <link linkend="PREDEFINED-FILTERS">the Predefined Filters section</link> for
4294 more explanation on each:</term>
4297 <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
4298 <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.</screen>
4301 <anchor id="filter-js-events">
4302 <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings and timers (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites).</screen>
4305 <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
4306 <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</screen>
4309 <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
4310 <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content.</screen>
4313 <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
4314 <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups).</screen>
4317 <anchor id="filter-unsolicited-popups">
4318 <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
4321 <anchor id="filter-all-popups">
4322 <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
4325 <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
4326 <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective.</screen>
4329 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
4330 <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size.</screen>
4333 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
4334 <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers.</screen>
4337 <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
4338 <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking).</screen>
4341 <anchor id="filter-tiny-textforms">
4342 <screen>+filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap.</screen>
4345 <anchor id="filter-jumping-windows">
4346 <screen>+filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves.</screen>
4349 <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
4350 <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable.</screen>
4353 <anchor id="filter-demoronizer">
4354 <screen>+filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets.</screen>
4357 <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
4358 <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects.</screen>
4361 <anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
4362 <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies saveable.</screen>
4365 <anchor id="filter-fun">
4366 <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
4369 <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
4370 <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering. Note that this filter doesn't work reliably.</screen>
4373 <anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
4374 <screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits.</screen>
4377 <anchor id="filter-site-specifics">
4378 <screen>+filter{site-specifics} # Cure for site-specific problems. Don't apply generally!</screen>
4381 <anchor id="filter-no-ping">
4382 <screen>+filter{no-ping} # Removes non-standard ping attributes in <a> and <area> tags.</screen>
4385 <anchor id="filter-google">
4386 <screen>+filter{google} # CSS-based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation and the toolbar advertisement.</screen>
4389 <anchor id="filter-yahoo">
4390 <screen>+filter{yahoo} # CSS-based block for Yahoo text ads. Also removes a width limitation.</screen>
4393 <anchor id="filter-msn">
4394 <screen>+filter{msn} # CSS-based block for MSN text ads. Also removes tracking URLs and a width limitation.</screen>
4397 <anchor id="filter-blogspot">
4398 <screen>+filter{blogspot} # Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this.</screen>
4406 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4407 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="force-text-mode">
4408 <title>force-text-mode</title>
4414 <term>Typical use:</term>
4416 <para>Force <application>Privoxy</application> to treat a document as if it was in some kind of <emphasis>text</emphasis> format. </para>
4421 <term>Effect:</term>
4424 Declares a document as text, even if the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> isn't detected as such.
4431 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4433 <para>Boolean.</para>
4438 <term>Parameter:</term>
4450 As explained <literal><link linkend="filter">above</link></literal>,
4451 <application>Privoxy</application> tries to only filter files that are
4452 in some kind of text format. The same restrictions apply to
4453 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>.
4454 <literal>force-text-mode</literal> declares a document as text,
4455 without looking at the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> first.
4459 Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
4460 with regular expressions can cause file damage.
4467 <term>Example usage:</term>
4480 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4481 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward-override">
4482 <title>forward-override</title>
4488 <term>Typical use:</term>
4490 <para>Change the forwarding settings based on User-Agent or request origin</para>
4495 <term>Effect:</term>
4498 Overrules the forward directives in the configuration file.
4505 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4507 <para>Multi-value.</para>
4512 <term>Parameter:</term>
4516 <para><quote>forward .</quote> to use a direct connection without any additional proxies.</para>
4520 <quote>forward 127.0.0.1:8123</quote> to use the HTTP proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 8123.
4525 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 .</quote> to use the socks4a proxy listening at
4526 127.0.0.1 port 9050. Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote>
4527 to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS resolution) instead, use <quote>forward-socks5</quote>
4528 for socks5 connections (with remote DNS resolution).
4533 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 proxy.example.org:8000</quote> to use the socks4a proxy
4534 listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050 to reach the HTTP proxy listening at proxy.example.org port 8000.
4535 Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote> to use a socks4 connection
4536 (with local DNS resolution) instead, use <quote>forward-socks5</quote>
4537 for socks5 connections (with remote DNS resolution).
4548 This action takes parameters similar to the
4549 <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives in the configuration
4550 file, but without the URL pattern. It can be used as replacement, but normally it's only
4551 used in cases where matching based on the request URL isn't sufficient.
4555 Please read the description for the <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives before
4556 using this action. Forwarding to the wrong people will reduce your privacy and increase the
4557 chances of man-in-the-middle attacks.
4560 If the ports are missing or invalid, default values will be used. This might change
4561 in the future and you shouldn't rely on it. Otherwise incorrect syntax causes Privoxy
4565 Use the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">show-url-info CGI page</ulink>
4566 to verify that your forward settings do what you thought the do.
4573 <term>Example usage:</term>
4577 # Always use direct connections for requests previously tagged as
4578 # <quote>User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0</quote> and make sure
4579 # resuming downloads continues to work.
4580 # This way you can continue to use Tor for your normal browsing,
4581 # without overloading the Tor network with your FreeBSD ports updates
4582 # or downloads of bigger files like ISOs.
4583 # Note that HTTP headers are easy to fake and therefore their
4584 # values are as (un)trustworthy as your clients and users.
4585 {+forward-override{forward .} \
4586 -hide-if-modified-since \
4587 -overwrite-last-modified \
4589 TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2\.0$
4598 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4599 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-empty-document">
4600 <title>handle-as-empty-document</title>
4606 <term>Typical use:</term>
4608 <para>Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis></para>
4613 <term>Effect:</term>
4616 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
4617 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4618 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
4619 page, or an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4620 The <emphasis>empty</emphasis> document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
4627 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4629 <para>Boolean.</para>
4634 <term>Parameter:</term>
4646 Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
4647 are blocked with <application>Privoxy's</application>
4648 default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
4649 And of course this action can also be used to eliminate the &my-app;
4650 BLOCKED message in frames.
4653 The content type for the empty document can be specified with
4654 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{}</link></literal>,
4655 but usually this isn't necessary.
4661 <term>Example usage:</term>
4664 <screen># Block all documents on example.org that end with ".js",
4665 # but send an empty document instead of the usual HTML message.
4666 {+block{Blocked JavaScript} +handle-as-empty-document}
4676 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4677 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
4678 <title>handle-as-image</title>
4682 <term>Typical use:</term>
4684 <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they do get blocked</emphasis>, rather than HTML pages)</para>
4689 <term>Effect:</term>
4692 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
4693 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4694 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
4695 page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
4696 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
4697 client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4704 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4706 <para>Boolean.</para>
4711 <term>Parameter:</term>
4723 The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
4724 It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
4728 Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
4729 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
4730 reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
4733 Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
4734 frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
4735 Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
4736 ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
4742 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
4745 <screen># Generic image extensions:
4748 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
4750 # These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
4751 # blocked as images:
4753 {+block{Nasty banners.} +handle-as-image}
4754 nasty-banner-server.example.com/junk.cgi\?output=trash
4763 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4764 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-accept-language">
4765 <title>hide-accept-language</title>
4771 <term>Typical use:</term>
4773 <para>Pretend to use different language settings.</para>
4778 <term>Effect:</term>
4781 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> HTTP header in client requests.
4788 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4790 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4795 <term>Parameter:</term>
4798 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4807 Faking the browser's language settings can be useful to make a
4808 foreign User-Agent set with
4809 <literal><link linkend="hide-user-agent">hide-user-agent</link></literal>
4813 However some sites with content in different languages check the
4814 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> to decide which one to take by default.
4815 Sometimes it isn't possible to later switch to another language without
4816 changing the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header first.
4819 Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
4820 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header to languages you understand,
4821 or to languages that aren't wide spread.
4824 Before setting the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header
4825 to a rare language, you should consider that it helps to
4826 make your requests unique and thus easier to trace.
4827 If you don't plan to change this header frequently,
4828 you should stick to a common language.
4834 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4837 <screen># Pretend to use Canadian language settings.
4838 {+hide-accept-language{en-ca} \
4839 +hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; OpenBSD i386; en-CA; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060628 Firefox/1.5.0.4} \
4849 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4850 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-content-disposition">
4851 <title>hide-content-disposition</title>
4857 <term>Typical use:</term>
4859 <para>Prevent download menus for content you prefer to view inside the browser.</para>
4864 <term>Effect:</term>
4867 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header set by some servers.
4874 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4876 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4881 <term>Parameter:</term>
4884 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4893 Some servers set the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header for
4894 documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
4895 The <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header contains the file name
4896 the browser is supposed to use by default.
4899 In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
4900 <emphasis>just view</emphasis> the document, without downloading it first,
4901 even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
4904 Removing the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header helps
4905 to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
4906 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> header, before they decide if they can
4907 display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
4908 to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
4912 It is also possible to change the server's file name suggestion
4913 to another one, but in most cases it isn't worth the time to set
4917 This action will probably be removed in the future,
4918 use server-header filters instead.
4924 <term>Example usage:</term>
4927 <screen># Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
4929 +content-type-overwrite{text/plain}\
4930 +hide-content-disposition{block} }
4931 .sourceforge.net/tracker/download\.php</screen>
4939 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4940 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-if-modified-since">
4941 <title>hide-if-modified-since</title>
4947 <term>Typical use:</term>
4949 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
4954 <term>Effect:</term>
4957 Deletes the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> HTTP client header or modifies its value.
4964 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4966 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4971 <term>Parameter:</term>
4974 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or a user defined value that specifies a range of hours.
4983 Removing this header is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
4984 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the
4985 browser to use a cached copy of the page.
4988 Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
4989 also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
4990 You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
4991 <application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
4992 subtracting, a positive value adding.
4995 Randomizing the value of the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> makes
4996 it less likely that the server can use the time as a cookie replacement,
4997 but you will run into caching problems if the random range is too high.
5000 It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
5001 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
5002 handle the greater changes.
5005 It is also recommended to use this action together with
5006 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>,
5007 otherwise it's more or less pointless.
5013 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5016 <screen># Let the browser revalidate but make tracking based on the time less likely.
5017 {+hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
5018 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
5019 +crunch-if-none-match}
5028 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5029 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
5030 <title>hide-from-header</title>
5034 <term>Typical use:</term>
5036 <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
5041 <term>Effect:</term>
5044 Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
5052 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5054 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5059 <term>Parameter:</term>
5062 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
5071 The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
5072 (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
5076 Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
5077 server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
5078 is actually used by a real person.
5081 This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
5082 <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
5088 <term>Example usage:</term>
5091 <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
5092 <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
5100 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5101 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
5102 <title>hide-referrer</title>
5103 <anchor id="hide-referer">
5106 <term>Typical use:</term>
5108 <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
5113 <term>Effect:</term>
5116 Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
5117 or replaces it with a forged one.
5124 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5126 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5131 <term>Parameter:</term>
5135 <para><quote>conditional-block</quote> to delete the header completely if the host has changed.</para>
5138 <para><quote>conditional-forge</quote> to forge the header if the host has changed.</para>
5141 <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header unconditionally.</para>
5144 <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
5147 <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
5157 <literal>conditional-block</literal> is the only parameter,
5158 that isn't easily detected in the server's log file. If it blocks the
5159 referrer, the request will look like the visitor used a bookmark or
5160 typed in the address directly.
5163 Leaving the referrer unmodified for requests on the same host
5164 allows the server owner to see the visitor's <quote>click path</quote>,
5165 but in most cases she could also get that information by comparing
5166 other parts of the log file: for example the User-Agent if it isn't
5167 a very common one, or the user's IP address if it doesn't change between
5171 Always blocking the referrer, or using a custom one, can lead to
5172 failures on servers that check the referrer before they answer any
5173 requests, in an attempt to prevent their content from being
5174 embedded or linked to elsewhere.
5177 Both <literal>conditional-block</literal> and <literal>forge</literal>
5178 will work with referrer checks, as long as content and valid referring page
5179 are on the same host. Most of the time that's the case.
5182 <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
5183 <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
5184 substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
5185 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
5186 requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
5192 <term>Example usage:</term>
5195 <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
5196 <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
5204 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5205 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
5206 <title>hide-user-agent</title>
5210 <term>Typical use:</term>
5212 <para>Try to conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
5217 <term>Effect:</term>
5220 Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
5221 in client requests with the specified value.
5228 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5230 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5235 <term>Parameter:</term>
5238 Any user-defined string.
5248 This can lead to problems on web sites that depend on looking at this header in
5249 order to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
5250 way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the right thing to do: good web sites
5251 work browser-independently).
5255 Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
5256 browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
5257 <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
5258 setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
5259 the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
5260 OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
5261 sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
5262 reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
5263 let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
5264 <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
5265 (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
5268 More information on known user-agent strings can be found at
5269 <ulink url="http://www.user-agents.org/">http://www.user-agents.org/</ulink>
5271 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent</ulink>.
5277 <term>Example usage:</term>
5280 <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
5288 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5289 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
5290 <title>limit-connect</title>
5294 <term>Typical use:</term>
5296 <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay or disable SSL for untrusted sites</para>
5301 <term>Effect:</term>
5304 Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
5311 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5313 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5318 <term>Parameter:</term>
5321 A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
5322 defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
5331 By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
5332 <application>Privoxy</application> allows HTTP CONNECT requests to all
5333 ports. Use <literal>limit-connect</literal> if fine-grained control
5334 is desired for some or all destinations.
5337 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
5338 (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
5339 the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
5340 short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
5341 This means CONNECT-enabled proxies can be used as TCP relays very easily.
5344 <application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
5345 the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent &my-app;'s
5346 filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
5352 <term>Example usages:</term>
5354 <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
5355 <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
5356 <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
5358 <screen>+limit-connect{443} # Port 443 is OK.
5359 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
5360 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
5361 +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK
5362 +limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS/SSL traffic is allowed</screen>
5369 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5370 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
5371 <title>prevent-compression</title>
5375 <term>Typical use:</term>
5378 Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
5379 passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s.
5385 <term>Effect:</term>
5388 Removes the Accept-Encoding header which can be used to ask for compressed transfer.
5395 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5397 <para>Boolean.</para>
5402 <term>Parameter:</term>
5414 More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
5415 is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But the <literal><link
5416 linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> and
5417 <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
5418 actions need access to the uncompressed data.
5421 When compiled with zlib support (available since &my-app; 3.0.7), content that should be
5422 filtered is decompressed on-the-fly and you don't have to worry about this action.
5423 If you are using an older &my-app; version, or one that hasn't been compiled with zlib
5424 support, this action can be used to convince the server to send the content uncompressed.
5427 Most text-based instances compress very well, the size is seldom decreased by less than 50%,
5428 for markup-heavy instances like news feeds saving more than 90% of the original size isn't
5432 Not using compression will therefore slow down the transfer, and you should only
5433 enable this action if you really need it. As of &my-app; 3.0.7 it's disabled in all
5434 predefined action settings.
5437 Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
5438 documents correctly. Broken PHP applications tend to send an empty document body,
5439 some IIS versions only send the beginning of the content. If you enable
5440 <literal>prevent-compression</literal> per default, you might want to add
5441 exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
5447 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
5451 # Selectively turn off compression, and enable a filter
5453 { +filter{tiny-textforms} +prevent-compression }
5454 # Match only these sites
5459 # Or instead, we could set a universal default:
5461 { +prevent-compression }
5464 # Then maybe make exceptions for broken sites:
5466 { -prevent-compression }
5467 .compusa.com/</screen>
5476 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5477 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="overwrite-last-modified">
5478 <title>overwrite-last-modified</title>
5484 <term>Typical use:</term>
5486 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
5491 <term>Effect:</term>
5494 Deletes the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> HTTP server header or modifies its value.
5501 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5503 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5508 <term>Parameter:</term>
5511 One of the keywords: <quote>block</quote>, <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote>
5512 and <quote>randomize</quote>
5521 Removing the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header is useful for filter
5522 testing, where you want to force a real reload instead of getting status
5523 code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the browser to reuse the old
5524 version of the page.
5527 The <quote>randomize</quote> option overwrites the value of the
5528 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with a randomly chosen time
5529 between the original value and the current time. In theory the server
5530 could send each document with a different <quote>Last-Modified:</quote>
5531 header to track visits without using cookies. <quote>Randomize</quote>
5532 makes it impossible and the browser can still revalidate cached documents.
5535 <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote> overwrites the value of the
5536 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with the current time. You could use
5537 this option together with
5538 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
5539 to further customize your random range.
5542 The preferred parameter here is <quote>randomize</quote>. It is safe
5543 to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
5544 If the server sets the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header to the time
5545 of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
5546 Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
5547 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>,
5551 It is also recommended to use this action together with
5552 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
5558 <term>Example usage:</term>
5561 <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
5562 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
5563 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
5564 +crunch-if-none-match}
5573 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5574 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="redirect">
5575 <title>redirect</title>
5581 <term>Typical use:</term>
5584 Redirect requests to other sites.
5590 <term>Effect:</term>
5593 Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
5594 to another location and the browser should get it from there.
5601 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5603 <para>Parameterized</para>
5608 <term>Parameter:</term>
5611 An absolute URL or a single pcrs command.
5620 Requests to which this action applies are answered with a
5621 HTTP redirect to URLs of your choosing. The new URL is
5622 either provided as parameter, or derived by applying a
5623 single pcrs command to the original URL.
5626 This action will be ignored if you use it together with
5627 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>.
5628 It can be combined with
5629 <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link></literal>
5630 to redirect to a decoded version of a rewritten URL.
5633 Use this action carefully, make sure not to create redirection loops
5634 and be aware that using your own redirects might make it
5635 possible to fingerprint your requests.
5638 In case of problems with your redirects, or simply to watch
5639 them working, enable <link linkend="DEBUG">debug 128</link>.
5645 <term>Example usages:</term>
5648 <screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
5649 { +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
5650 example.com/stylesheet\.css
5652 # Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
5653 # (relies on the browser accept and forward invalid URLs to &my-app;)
5654 { +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
5657 # Always use the expanded view for Undeadly.org articles
5658 # (Note the $ at the end of the URL pattern to make sure
5659 # the request for the rewritten URL isn't redirected as well)
5660 {+redirect{s@$@&mode=expanded@}}
5661 undeadly.org/cgi\?action=article&sid=\d*$
5663 # Redirect Google search requests to MSN
5664 {+redirect{s@^http://[^/]*/search\?q=([^&]*).*@http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=$1@}}
5667 # Redirect MSN search requests to Yahoo
5668 {+redirect{s@^http://[^/]*/results\.aspx\?q=([^&]*).*@http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$1@}}
5669 search.msn.com//results\.aspx\?q=
5671 # Redirect remote requests for this manual
5672 # to the local version delivered by Privoxy
5673 {+redirect{s@^http://www@http://config@}}
5674 www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</screen>
5683 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5684 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-filter">
5685 <title>server-header-filter</title>
5689 <term>Typical use:</term>
5692 Rewrite or remove single server headers.
5698 <term>Effect:</term>
5701 All server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly
5702 through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
5709 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5711 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5716 <term>Parameter:</term>
5719 The name of a server-header filter, as defined in one of the
5720 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5729 Server-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
5730 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
5731 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
5732 You can do that by using tags though.
5735 Server-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
5736 and use their output as input.
5739 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
5740 to learn which server-header filters are available by default, and how to
5747 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5751 {+server-header-filter{html-to-xml}}
5752 example.org/xml-instance-that-is-delivered-as-html
5754 {+server-header-filter{xml-to-html}}
5755 example.org/instance-that-is-delivered-as-xml-but-is-not
5765 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5766 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-tagger">
5767 <title>server-header-tagger</title>
5771 <term>Typical use:</term>
5774 Enable or disable filters based on the Content-Type header.
5780 <term>Effect:</term>
5783 Server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
5784 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
5792 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5794 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5799 <term>Parameter:</term>
5802 The name of a server-header tagger, as defined in one of the
5803 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5812 Server-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
5813 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
5817 Server-header taggers are executed before all other header actions
5818 that modify server headers. Their tags can be used to control
5819 all of the other server-header actions, the content filters
5820 and the crunch actions (<link linkend="redirect">redirect</link>
5821 and <link linkend="block">block</link>).
5824 Obviously crunching based on tags created by server-header taggers
5825 doesn't prevent the request from showing up in the server's log file.
5832 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5836 # Tag every request with the content type declared by the server
5837 {+server-header-tagger{content-type}}
5848 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5849 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
5850 <title>session-cookies-only</title>
5854 <term>Typical use:</term>
5857 Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current
5858 browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
5864 <term>Effect:</term>
5867 Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote>
5868 server headers. Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and
5869 forget them in between sessions.
5876 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5878 <para>Boolean.</para>
5883 <term>Parameter:</term>
5895 This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
5896 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
5897 websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
5900 Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
5901 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
5902 This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
5903 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
5904 sites, and is the recommended setting.
5907 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
5908 together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
5909 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
5910 will be plainly killed.
5913 Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
5914 field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
5917 This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
5918 previously by the browser before starting <application>Privoxy</application>.
5919 These would have to be removed manually.
5922 <application>Privoxy</application> also uses
5923 the <link linkend="filter-content-cookies">content-cookies filter</link>
5924 to block some types of cookies. Content cookies are not effected by
5925 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>.
5931 <term>Example usage:</term>
5934 <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
5942 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5943 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
5944 <title>set-image-blocker</title>
5948 <term>Typical use:</term>
5950 <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
5955 <term>Effect:</term>
5958 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
5959 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
5960 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
5961 apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
5962 <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
5963 sent as a replacement.
5970 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5972 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5977 <term>Parameter:</term>
5982 <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
5983 decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
5988 <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
5989 completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
5990 images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
5991 has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
5996 <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
5997 send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
5998 to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem via <quote>file:///</quote> URL.
5999 (But note that not all browsers support redirecting to a local file system).
6002 A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
6003 URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
6004 This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
6005 the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
6006 it over and over again.
6017 The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
6018 class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
6019 either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
6022 There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
6023 used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
6024 Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
6030 <term>Example usage:</term>
6036 <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
6039 Redirect to the BSD daemon:
6042 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
6045 Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
6048 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
6056 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6058 <title>Summary</title>
6060 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
6061 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
6062 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
6063 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
6064 and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
6065 linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
6071 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6072 <sect2 id="aliases">
6073 <title>Aliases</title>
6075 Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
6076 as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other actions.
6077 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
6078 Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
6080 <quote>{</quote> and <quote>}</quote>, but we <emphasis>strongly
6081 recommend</emphasis> that you only use <quote>a</quote> to <quote>z</quote>,
6082 <quote>0</quote> to <quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and <quote>-</quote>.
6083 Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
6084 <quote>+</quote> or <quote>-</quote> sign, since they are merely textually
6088 Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <emphasis>must be
6089 defined in a special section at the top of the file!</emphasis>
6090 And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
6091 have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
6095 There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
6096 used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
6097 decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
6098 <quote>shop</quote>, you can later change your policy on shops in
6099 <emphasis>one</emphasis> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
6100 in the actions file where the <quote>shop</quote> alias is used. Calling aliases
6101 by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
6104 Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
6105 <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in web-based action file
6106 editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
6107 them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
6108 but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
6113 Now let's define some aliases...
6118 # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
6120 # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
6121 # must be at the top of the actions file!
6125 # These aliases just save typing later:
6126 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6128 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6129 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6130 +block-as-image = +block{Blocked image.} +handle-as-image
6131 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6133 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6134 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6136 fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link>
6138 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link>
6140 # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
6142 c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
6143 c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
6147 ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
6148 actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
6149 up for the <quote>/</quote> pattern):
6154 # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
6155 # user data and require minimal interference to work:
6158 .office.microsoft.com
6159 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6160 # Gmail is really mail.google.com, not gmail.com
6164 # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
6168 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6171 # These shops require pop-ups:
6173 {-filter{all-popups} -filter{unsolicited-popups}}
6175 .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
6179 Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are typically used for
6180 <quote>problem</quote> sites that require more than one action to be disabled
6181 in order to function properly.
6187 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6188 <sect2 id="act-examples">
6189 <title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
6191 The above chapters have shown <link linkend="actions-file">which actions files
6192 there are and how they are organized</link>, how actions are <link
6193 linkend="actions">specified</link> and <link linkend="actions-apply">applied
6194 to URLs</link>, how <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> work, and how to
6195 define and use <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link>. Now, let's look at an
6196 example <filename>match-all.action</filename>, <filename>default.action</filename>
6197 and <filename>user.action</filename> file and see how all these pieces come together:
6201 <title>match-all.action</title>
6203 Remember <emphasis>all actions are disabled when matching starts</emphasis>,
6204 so we have to explicitly enable the ones we want.
6208 While the <filename>match-all.action</filename> file only contains a
6209 single section, it is probably the most important one. It has only one
6210 pattern, <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, but this pattern
6211 <link linkend="af-patterns">matches all URLs</link>. Therefore, the set of
6212 actions used in this <quote>default</quote> section <emphasis>will
6213 be applied to all requests as a start</emphasis>. It can be partly or
6214 wholly overridden by other actions files like <filename>default.action</filename>
6215 and <filename>user.action</filename>, but it will still be largely responsible
6216 for your overall browsing experience.
6220 Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
6221 no need to disable any actions here. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
6222 preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
6223 Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
6224 multiple lines with line continuation.
6230 +<link linkend="CHANGE-X-FORWARDED-FOR">change-x-forwarded-for{block}</link> \
6231 +<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
6232 +<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
6239 The default behavior is now set.
6244 <title>default.action</title>
6247 If you aren't a developer, there's no need for you to edit the
6248 <filename>default.action</filename> file. It is maintained by
6249 the &my-app; developers and if you disagree with some of the
6250 sections, you should overrule them in your <filename>user.action</filename>.
6254 Understanding the <filename>default.action</filename> file can
6255 help you with your <filename>user.action</filename>, though.
6259 The first section in this file is a special section for internal use
6260 that prevents older &my-app; versions from reading the file:
6265 ##########################################################################
6266 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
6267 ##########################################################################
6269 for-privoxy-version=3.0.11</screen>
6273 After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
6274 section from the above <link linkend="aliases">chapter on aliases</link>,
6275 that also explains why and how aliases are used:
6280 ##########################################################################
6282 ##########################################################################
6285 # These aliases just save typing later:
6286 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6288 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6289 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6290 +block-as-image = +block{Blocked image.} +handle-as-image
6291 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6293 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6294 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6296 fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link>
6297 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link></screen>
6301 The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <quote>fragile</quote>
6302 sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
6303 very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
6304 make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
6305 our pre-defined <literal>fragile</literal> alias instead of stating the list
6306 of actions explicitly:
6311 ##########################################################################
6312 # Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
6313 ##########################################################################
6315 # "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
6318 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
6319 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6320 mail.google.com</screen>
6324 Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
6325 require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
6326 carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:
6335 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6337 .scan.co.uk</screen>
6341 The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
6342 action, which may have been enabled in <filename>match-all.action</filename>,
6343 breaks some sites. So disable it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
6348 { -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> }
6352 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
6353 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
6354 .nytimes.com</screen>
6358 It is important that <application>Privoxy</application> knows which
6359 URLs belong to images, so that <emphasis>if</emphasis> they are to
6360 be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
6361 Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
6362 would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
6363 would feed the advertisers information about you. We can mark any
6364 URL as an image with the <literal><link
6365 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action,
6366 and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
6372 ##########################################################################
6374 ##########################################################################
6376 # Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
6377 # blocked further down this file:
6379 { +<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> }
6380 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</screen>
6384 And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
6385 generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
6386 request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
6387 mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
6388 <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
6389 course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
6390 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
6391 Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
6392 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
6393 action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
6394 <literal>+<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>{pattern}</literal>
6395 action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:
6400 # Known ad generators:
6405 .ad.*.doubleclick.net
6406 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6407 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6413 One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
6414 is to block banners. Many of these can be <quote>blocked</quote>
6415 by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
6416 action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
6417 images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
6418 them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
6419 doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
6420 need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
6421 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
6424 First comes many generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
6425 matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
6426 a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
6427 to keep the example short:
6432 ##########################################################################
6433 # Block these fine banners:
6434 ##########################################################################
6435 { <link linkend="BLOCK">+block{Banner ads.}</link> }
6443 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
6444 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
6446 # Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
6448 .hitbox.com</screen>
6452 It's quite remarkable how many advertisers actually call their banner
6453 servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
6454 in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
6455 generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
6458 But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
6459 to block. The pattern <literal>.*ads.</literal> e.g. catches
6460 <quote>nasty-<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.nasty-corp.com</quote> as intended,
6461 but also <quote>downlo<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.sourcefroge.net</quote> or
6462 <quote><emphasis>ads</emphasis>l.some-provider.net.</quote> So here come some
6463 well-known exceptions to the <literal>+<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6467 Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
6468 <quote>downloads.sourcefroge.net</quote>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
6469 so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
6470 URL, but just deactivates the <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6471 action once again. Then it matches <literal>.*ads.</literal>, an exception to the
6472 general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
6473 <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link></literal> applies. And now, it'll match
6474 <literal>.*loads.</literal>, where <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">-block</link></literal>
6475 applies, so (unless it matches <emphasis>again</emphasis> further down) it ends up
6476 with no <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal> action applying.
6481 ##########################################################################
6482 # Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
6483 ##########################################################################
6487 { -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
6488 adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
6489 adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
6490 adobe. # (has nothing to do with ads either)
6491 ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
6492 .edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
6493 .*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
6501 www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
6502 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</screen>
6506 Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
6507 so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
6508 and all paths with <quote>cvs</quote> in them. Note that
6509 <literal>-<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link></literal>
6510 disables <emphasis>all</emphasis> filters in one fell swoop!
6515 # Don't filter code!
6517 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6522 .sourceforge.net</screen>
6526 The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course much more
6527 comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
6532 <sect3><title>user.action</title>
6535 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
6536 which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
6537 you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
6538 are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
6539 be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
6540 be placed in <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
6541 actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
6542 defined actions. <filename>user.action</filename> is also a
6543 <emphasis>safe</emphasis> place for your personal settings, since
6544 <filename>default.action</filename> is actively maintained by the
6545 <application>Privoxy</application> developers and you'll probably want
6546 to install updated versions from time to time.
6550 So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
6551 <filename>user.action</filename>:
6555 <!-- brief sample user.action here -->
6559 # My user.action file. <fred@example.com></screen>
6563 As <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link> are local to the actions
6564 file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
6565 <filename>default.action</filename>, unless you repeat them here:
6570 # Aliases are local to the file they are defined in.
6571 # (Re-)define aliases for this file:
6575 # These aliases just save typing later, and the alias names should
6576 # be self explanatory.
6578 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
6579 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
6580 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
6581 allow-popups = -filter{all-popups}
6582 +block-as-image = +block{Blocked as image.} +handle-as-image
6583 -block-as-image = -block
6585 # These aliases define combinations of actions that are useful for
6586 # certain types of sites:
6588 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referrer
6589 shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
6591 # Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
6593 allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}
6595 # Alias for specific file types that are text, but might have conflicting
6596 # MIME types. We want the browser to force these to be text documents.
6597 handle-as-text = -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> +-<link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{text/plain}</link> +-<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-CONTENT-DISPOSITION">hide-content-disposition</link></screen>
6602 Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
6603 you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
6604 to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
6605 <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
6606 that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and the
6607 processing of cookies to make them only temporary.
6612 { allow-all-cookies }
6616 .redhat.com</screen>
6620 Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable them all:
6625 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6626 .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
6630 Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
6635 # Technical documentation is likely to contain strings that might
6636 # erroneously get altered by the JavaScript-oriented filters:
6641 # And this stupid host sends streaming video with a wrong MIME type,
6642 # so that Privoxy thinks it is getting HTML and starts filtering:
6644 stupid-server.example.com/</screen>
6648 Example of a simple <link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> action. Say you've
6649 seen an ad on your favourite page on example.com that you want to get rid of.
6650 You have right-clicked the image, selected <quote>copy image location</quote>
6651 and pasted the URL below while removing the leading http://, into a
6652 <literal>{ +block{} }</literal> section. Note that <literal>{ +handle-as-image
6653 }</literal> need not be specified, since all URLs ending in
6654 <literal>.gif</literal> will be tagged as images by the general rules as set
6655 in default.action anyway:
6660 { +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link>{Nasty ads.} }
6661 www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor\.gif
6662 another.example.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
6666 The URLs of dynamically generated banners, especially from large banner
6667 farms, often don't use the well-known image file name extensions, which
6668 makes it impossible for <application>Privoxy</application> to guess
6669 the file type just by looking at the URL.
6670 You can use the <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above for
6672 Note that objects which match this rule but then turn out NOT to be an
6673 image are typically rendered as a <quote>broken image</quote> icon by the
6674 browser. Use cautiously.
6683 ar.atwola.com/</screen>
6687 Now you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
6688 but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
6689 were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
6690 you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
6691 -- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
6692 aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
6693 good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
6694 that is causing the problem or not. We later find other regular sites
6695 that misbehave, and add those to our personalized list of troublemakers:
6703 .mybank.com</screen>
6707 You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
6708 but it is disabled in the distributed actions file.
6709 So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
6710 update-safe config, once and for all:
6715 { +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
6716 / # For ALL sites!</screen>
6720 Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
6721 to the filters in <filename>default.action</filename> for things that
6722 really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
6723 <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word, these exceptions
6724 won't be valid for the <quote>fun</quote> filtering specified here.
6728 You might also worry about how your favourite free websites are
6729 funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
6730 to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
6731 sites that you feel provide value to you:
6743 Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
6744 <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
6745 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>, and
6746 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-link">filter{banners-by-link}</link></literal> above.
6750 Invoke another alias here to force an over-ride of the MIME type <literal>
6751 application/x-sh</literal> which typically would open a download type
6752 dialog. In my case, I want to look at the shell script, and then I can save
6753 it should I choose to.
6763 <filename>user.action</filename> is generally the best place to define
6764 exceptions and additions to the default policies of
6765 <filename>default.action</filename>. Some actions are safe to have their
6766 default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
6767 <quote>blank</quote> image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for
6768 <emphasis>ALL</emphasis> sites. <quote>/</quote> of course matches all URL
6774 { +<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{blank}</link> }
6775 / # ALL sites</screen>
6781 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6785 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6787 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
6789 <sect1 id="filter-file">
6790 <title>Filter Files</title>
6793 On-the-fly text substitutions need
6794 to be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>. Once defined, they
6795 can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>.
6799 &my-app; supports three different filter actions:
6800 <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> to
6801 rewrite the content that is send to the client,
6802 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header-filter</link></literal>
6803 to rewrite headers that are send by the client, and
6804 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header-filter</link></literal>
6805 to rewrite headers that are send by the server.
6809 &my-app; also supports two tagger actions:
6810 <literal><link linkend="client-header-tagger">client-header-tagger</link></literal>
6812 <literal><link linkend="server-header-tagger">server-header-tagger</link></literal>.
6813 Taggers and filters use the same syntax in the filter files, the difference
6814 is that taggers don't modify the text they are filtering, but use a rewritten
6815 version of the filtered text as tag. The tags can then be used to change the
6816 applying actions through sections with <link linkend="tag-pattern">tag-patterns</link>.
6821 Multiple filter files can be defined through the <literal> <link
6822 linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config directive. The filters
6823 as supplied by the developers are located in
6824 <filename>default.filter</filename>. It is recommended that any locally
6825 defined or modified filters go in a separately defined file such as
6826 <filename>user.filter</filename>.
6830 Common tasks for content filters are to eliminate common annoyances in
6831 HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
6832 exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
6833 infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
6834 width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
6835 or just to have fun.
6839 Enabled content filters are applied to any content whose
6840 <quote>Content Type</quote> header is recognised as a sign
6841 of text-based content, with the exception of <literal>text/plain</literal>.
6842 Use the <link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> action
6843 to also filter other content.
6847 Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
6848 your own</quote> filters, you should first be familiar with HTML syntax,
6849 and, of course, regular expressions.
6853 Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
6854 filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
6855 here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with one of the
6856 <emphasis>keywords</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>,
6857 <literal>CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER:</literal> or <literal>SERVER-HEADER-FILTER:</literal>
6858 followed by the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
6859 <emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
6860 come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
6861 text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
6862 should describe what the filter <emphasis>eliminates</emphasis>. The
6863 comment is used in the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
6864 user interface</ulink>.
6868 Once a filter called <replaceable>name</replaceable> has been defined
6869 in the filter file, it can be invoked by using an action of the form
6870 +<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>name</replaceable>}</literal>
6871 in any <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>.
6875 Filter definitions start with a header line that contains the filter
6876 type, the filter name and the filter description.
6877 A content filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
6882 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
6886 Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that
6887 define what text replacements the filter executes. They are specified
6888 in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
6889 <literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
6890 will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
6891 PCRS documentation for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most
6892 notably, the non-standard option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported,
6893 which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
6898 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
6899 Expressions</quote></ulink>, you might want to take a look at
6900 the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
6901 see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl
6903 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html">the
6904 <literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
6905 url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
6906 expressions</ulink> in general.
6907 The below examples might also help to get you started.
6911 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
6913 <sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
6915 Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> content filter. We have already defined
6916 the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
6917 <quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
6922 <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
6926 But wait! Didn't the comment say that <emphasis>all</emphasis> occurrences
6927 of <quote>foo</quote> should be replaced? Our current job will only take
6928 care of the first <quote>foo</quote> on each page. For global substitution,
6929 we'll need to add the <literal>g</literal> option:
6933 <screen>s/foo/bar/g</screen>
6937 Our complete filter now looks like this:
6940 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
6941 s/foo/bar/g</screen>
6945 Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see
6946 a filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
6947 abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
6953 FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
6955 # Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
6957 s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg</screen>
6961 Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses
6962 <literal>|</literal> as the delimiter instead of <literal>/</literal>, because
6963 the pattern contains a forward slash, which would otherwise have to be escaped
6964 by a backslash (<literal>\</literal>).
6968 Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <literal><script.*</literal>
6969 enclosed in parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and <literal>*</literal>
6970 means: <quote>Match an arbitrary number of the element left of myself</quote>, this
6971 matches <quote><script</quote>, followed by <emphasis>any</emphasis> text, i.e.
6972 it matches the whole page, from the start of the first <script> tag.
6976 That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: <literal>document\.referrer</literal>
6977 matches only the exact string <quote>document.referrer</quote>. The dot needed to
6978 be <emphasis>escaped</emphasis>, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its
6979 special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is:
6980 Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including,
6981 the text <quote>document.referrer</quote>, if <emphasis>both</emphasis> are present
6982 in the page (and appear in that order).
6986 But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in parentheses,
6987 is <literal>.*</script></literal>. You already know what <literal>.*</literal>
6988 means, so the whole pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script>
6989 tag in a page to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text
6990 <quote>document.referrer</quote> appears somewhere in between.
6994 This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the parentheses:
6995 The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed in parentheses, will be
6996 remembered and be available through the variables <literal>$1, $2, ...</literal> in
6997 the substitute. The <literal>U</literal> option switches to ungreedy matching, which means
6998 that the first <literal>.*</literal> in the pattern will only <quote>eat up</quote> all
6999 text in between <quote><script</quote> and the <emphasis>first</emphasis> occurrence
7000 of <quote>document.referrer</quote>, and that the second <literal>.*</literal> will
7001 only span the text up to the <emphasis>first</emphasis> <quote></script></quote>
7002 tag. Furthermore, the <literal>s</literal> option says that the match may span
7003 multiple lines in the page, and the <literal>g</literal> option again means that the
7004 substitution is global.
7008 So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
7009 <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
7010 (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
7011 <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
7012 that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
7016 Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
7017 lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
7018 easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
7019 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
7020 the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
7021 This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
7022 (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
7023 Business!"</literal>.
7027 The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
7028 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
7029 <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
7030 since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
7031 string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
7032 information anymore.
7036 We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
7037 this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
7042 # The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
7044 s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
7048 <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
7049 carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
7050 or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
7051 makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
7052 option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
7053 <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
7054 a back-reference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
7055 with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
7056 a back-reference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
7060 So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
7061 strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
7062 (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
7063 real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
7064 descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
7065 you move your mouse over links.
7070 # Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
7072 s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
7077 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
7078 event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
7079 When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
7080 This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
7081 <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
7082 Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
7083 case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
7084 a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
7085 instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
7086 <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
7091 The last example is from the fun department:
7096 FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
7098 # Spice the daily news:
7100 s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
7104 Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
7105 in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
7106 <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
7107 in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
7108 still replacing the word everywhere else.
7113 # Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
7115 s* industry[ -]leading \
7117 | customer[ -]focused \
7118 | market[ -]driven \
7119 | award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
7120 | high[ -]performance \
7121 | solutions[ -]based \
7125 *<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
7130 The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
7131 e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
7139 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
7141 <sect2 id="predefined-filters"><title>The Pre-defined Filters</title>
7145 Note each filter is also listed in the +filter action section above. Please
7146 keep these listings in sync.
7151 The distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file contains a selection of
7152 pre-defined filters for your convenience:
7157 <term><emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7160 The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.
7165 replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
7166 with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the <literal><link
7167 linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal> action on the content level.
7172 removes the bindings to the DOM's
7173 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">unload
7174 event</ulink> which we feel has no right to exist and is responsible for most <quote>exit consoles</quote>, i.e.
7175 nasty windows that pop up when you close another one.
7180 removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
7181 full-screen, non-resizeable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
7187 Use with caution. This is an aggressive filter, and can break sites that
7188 rely heavily on JavaScript.
7194 <term><emphasis>js-events</emphasis></term>
7197 This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
7198 means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
7199 resizing etc, anymore. Use with caution!
7202 We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
7203 many legitimate scripts. It is meant for use only on extra-nasty sites (should you really
7210 <term><emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7213 This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
7216 The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
7217 are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
7218 resizeable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
7219 scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
7225 <term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
7228 Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialog, where they can be intercepted
7230 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
7231 and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
7232 actions. But web sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript
7233 to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
7236 This filter disables most HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets
7237 cookies. It cannot detect all clever uses of these types of code, so it
7238 should not be relied on as an absolute fix. Use it wherever you would also
7239 use the cookie crunch actions.
7245 <term><emphasis>refresh tags</emphasis></term>
7248 Disable any refresh tags if the interval is greater than nine seconds (so
7249 that redirections done via refresh tags are not destroyed). This is useful
7250 for dial-on-demand setups, or for those who find this HTML feature
7257 <term><emphasis>unsolicited-popups</emphasis></term>
7260 This filter attempts to prevent only <quote>unsolicited</quote> pop-up
7261 windows from opening, yet still allow pop-up windows that the user
7262 has explicitly chosen to open. It was added in version 3.0.1,
7263 as an improvement over earlier such filters.
7266 Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
7267 function to a dummy function, <literal>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</literal>,
7268 during the loading and rendering phase of each HTML page access, and
7269 restoring the function afterward.
7272 This is recommended only for browsers that cannot perform this function
7273 reliably themselves. And be aware that some sites require such windows
7274 in order to function normally. Use with caution.
7280 <term><emphasis>all-popups</emphasis></term>
7283 Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
7284 Note this should be used with even more discretion than the above, since
7285 it is more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal
7286 usage. Use with caution.
7292 <term><emphasis>img-reorder</emphasis></term>
7295 This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
7296 <literal>banners-by-size</literal> and <literal>banners-by-link</literal>
7297 (see below) filters more effective and should be enabled together with them.
7303 <term><emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis></term>
7306 This filter removes image tags purely based on what size they are. Fortunately
7307 for us, many ads and banner images tend to conform to certain standardized
7308 sizes, which makes this filter quite effective for ad stripping purposes.
7311 Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
7312 but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
7315 Recommended only for those who require extreme ad blocking. The default
7316 block rules should catch 95+% of all ads <emphasis>without</emphasis> this filter enabled.
7322 <term><emphasis>banners-by-link</emphasis></term>
7325 This is an experimental filter that attempts to kill any banners if
7326 their URLs seem to point to known or suspected click trackers. It is currently
7327 not of much value and is not recommended for use by default.
7333 <term><emphasis>webbugs</emphasis></term>
7336 Webbugs are small, invisible images (technically 1X1 GIF images), that
7337 are used to track users across websites, and collect information on them.
7338 As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
7339 browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
7340 through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
7341 the user ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
7342 HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
7345 This filter removes the HTML code that loads such <quote>webbugs</quote>.
7351 <term><emphasis>tiny-textforms</emphasis></term>
7354 A rather special-purpose filter that can be used to enlarge textareas (those
7355 multi-line text boxes in web forms) and turn off hard word wrap in them.
7356 It was written for the sourceforge.net tracker system where such boxes are
7357 a nuisance, but it can be handy on other sites, too.
7360 It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
7366 <term><emphasis>jumping-windows</emphasis></term>
7369 Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
7370 neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
7371 or behave as intended when using this filter. Use with caution.
7377 <term><emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis></term>
7380 Some web designers seem to assume that everyone in the world will view their
7381 web sites using the same browser brand and version, screen resolution etc,
7382 because only that assumption could explain why they'd use static frame sizes,
7383 yet prevent their frames from being resized by the user, should they be too
7384 small to show their whole content.
7387 This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to sites
7394 <term><emphasis>demoronizer</emphasis></term>
7397 Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions (read:
7398 violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This can cause those
7399 HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant platforms.
7402 This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
7403 It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
7404 all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
7405 worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if weird garbage characters
7406 sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
7409 My version of Mozilla (ancient) shows litte square boxes for quote
7410 characters, and apostrophes on moronized pages. So many pages have this, I
7411 can read them fine now. HB 08/27/06
7418 <term><emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis></term>
7421 A filter for shockwave haters. As the name suggests, this filter strips code
7422 out of web pages that is used to embed shockwave flash objects.
7430 <term><emphasis>quicktime-kioskmode</emphasis></term>
7433 Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
7434 prevents saving, is disabled.
7440 <term><emphasis>fun</emphasis></term>
7443 Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
7444 Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
7450 <term><emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis></term>
7453 A demonstration-only filter that shows how <application>Privoxy</application>
7454 can be used to delete web content on a keyword basis.
7460 <term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
7463 An experimental collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
7464 code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
7467 Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug, and
7468 would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
7474 <term><emphasis>site-specifics</emphasis></term>
7477 Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't apply
7478 anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
7481 This is a collection of such site-specific cures which should only be applied
7482 to the sites they were intended for, which is what the supplied
7483 <filename>default.action</filename> file does. Users shouldn't need to change
7484 anything regarding this filter.
7490 <term><emphasis>google</emphasis></term>
7493 A CSS based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation
7494 and the toolbar advertisement.
7500 <term><emphasis>yahoo</emphasis></term>
7503 Another CSS based block, this time for Yahoo text ads. And removes
7504 a width limitation as well.
7510 <term><emphasis>msn</emphasis></term>
7513 Another CSS based block, this time for MSN text ads. And removes
7514 tracking URLs, as well as a width limitation.
7520 <term><emphasis>blogspot</emphasis></term>
7523 Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this one!
7526 This filter also intentionally removes some navigation stuff and sets the
7527 page width to 100%. As a result, some rounded <quote>corners</quote> would
7528 appear to early or not at all and as fixing this would require a browser
7529 that understands background-size (CSS3), they are removed instead.
7535 <term><emphasis>xml-to-html</emphasis></term>
7538 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html.
7544 <term><emphasis>html-to-xml</emphasis></term>
7547 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml.
7553 <term><emphasis>no-ping</emphasis></term>
7556 Removes the non-standard <literal>ping</literal> attribute from
7557 anchor and area HTML tags.
7563 <term><emphasis>hide-tor-exit-notation</emphasis></term>
7566 Client-header filter to remove the <command>Tor</command> exit node notation
7567 found in Host and Referer headers.
7570 If &my-app; and <command>Tor</command> are chained and &my-app;
7571 is configured to use socks4a, one can use <quote>http://www.example.org.foobar.exit/</quote>
7572 to access the host <quote>www.example.org</quote> through the
7573 <command>Tor</command> exit node <quote>foobar</quote>.
7576 As the HTTP client isn't aware of this notation, it treats the
7577 whole string <quote>www.example.org.foobar.exit</quote> as host and uses it
7578 for the <quote>Host</quote> and <quote>Referer</quote> headers. From the
7579 server's point of view the resulting headers are invalid and can cause problems.
7582 An invalid <quote>Referer</quote> header can trigger <quote>hot-linking</quote>
7583 protections, an invalid <quote>Host</quote> header will make it impossible for
7584 the server to find the right vhost (several domains hosted on the same IP address).
7587 This client-header filter removes the <quote>foo.exit</quote> part in those headers
7588 to prevent the mentioned problems. Note that it only modifies
7589 the HTTP headers, it doesn't make it impossible for the server
7590 to detect your <command>Tor</command> exit node based on the IP address
7591 the request is coming from.
7598 <term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
7612 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7616 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7618 <sect1 id="templates">
7619 <title>Privoxy's Template Files</title>
7621 All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
7622 <ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
7623 error page</ulink>, the <ulink
7624 url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
7626 and all pages of its <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
7627 user interface</ulink>, are generated from <emphasis>templates</emphasis>.
7628 (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for the above links to work as
7633 These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the <link linkend="confdir">configuration
7634 directory</link> called <filename>templates</filename>. On Unixish platforms,
7636 <ulink url="file:///etc/privoxy/templates/"><filename>/etc/privoxy/templates/</filename></ulink>.
7640 The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
7641 or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. It
7642 is possible to edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want
7643 to customize them. (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual
7644 user</emphasis>). Should you create your own custom templates, you should use
7645 the <filename>config</filename> setting <link linkend="templdir">templdir</link>
7646 to specify an alternate location, so your templates do not get overwritten
7650 Note that just like in configuration files, lines starting
7651 with <literal>#</literal> are ignored when the templates are filled in.
7655 The place-holders are of the form <literal>@name@</literal>, and you will
7656 find a list of available symbols, which vary from template to template,
7657 in the comments at the start of each file. Note that these comments are not
7658 always accurate, and that it's probably best to look at the existing HTML
7659 code to find out which symbols are supported and what they are filled in with.
7663 A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole
7664 blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
7665 for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
7666 our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
7667 is in an alpha or beta development stage:
7672 <!-- @if-unstable-start -->
7674 ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
7676 <!-- if-unstable-end@ --></screen>
7680 If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
7681 <literal>@if-unstable-start</literal> and <literal>if-unstable-end@</literal>
7682 will disappear, leaving nothing but an empty comment:
7686 <screen><!-- --></screen>
7690 There's also an if-then-else construct and an <literal>#include</literal>
7691 mechanism, but you'll sure find out if you are inclined to edit the
7696 All templates refer to a style located at
7697 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet"><literal>http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet</literal></ulink>.
7698 This is, of course, locally served by <application>Privoxy</application>
7699 and the source for it can be found and edited in the
7700 <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> template.
7705 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7709 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7711 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
7714 <!-- Include contacting.sgml boilerplate: -->
7716 <!-- end boilerplate -->
7720 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7723 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7724 <sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
7726 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7728 <!-- end copyright -->
7730 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7731 <sect2><title>License</title>
7732 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7734 <!-- end copyright -->
7736 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7739 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7741 <sect2 id="history"><title>History</title>
7742 <!-- Include history.sgml: -->
7744 <!-- end history -->
7747 <sect2 id="authors"><title>Authors</title>
7748 <!-- Include p-authors.sgml: -->
7750 <!-- end authors -->
7755 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7758 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7759 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
7760 <!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
7762 <!-- end seealso -->
7767 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7768 <sect1 id="appendix"><title>Appendix</title>
7771 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7773 <title>Regular Expressions</title>
7775 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl-style <quote>regular
7776 expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
7777 files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
7778 through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
7781 <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
7783 <application>PCRS</application> libraries.
7787 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
7788 expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
7789 introduction only. A full explanation would require a <ulink
7790 url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/">book</ulink> ;-)
7794 Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be
7795 run against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they
7796 match the string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex)
7797 strings of literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special
7798 characters, called meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have
7799 special meanings and are used to build complex patterns to be matched against.
7800 Perl Compatible Regular Expressions are an especially convenient
7801 <quote>dialect</quote> of the regular expression language.
7805 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
7806 characters when listing files with the <command>dir</command> command in DOS.
7807 <literal>*.*</literal> matches all filenames. The <quote>special</quote>
7808 character here is the asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be
7809 more specific and use <literal>?</literal> to match just individual
7810 characters. So <quote>dir file?.text</quote> would match
7811 <quote>file1.txt</quote>, <quote>file2.txt</quote>, etc. We are pattern
7812 matching, using a similar technique to <quote>regular expressions</quote>!
7816 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
7817 powerful. There are many more <quote>special characters</quote> and ways of
7818 building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones,
7819 and then some examples:
7824 <emphasis>.</emphasis> - Matches any single character, e.g. <quote>a</quote>,
7825 <quote>A</quote>, <quote>4</quote>, <quote>:</quote>, or <quote>@</quote>.
7827 </simplelist></para>
7831 <emphasis>?</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
7834 </simplelist></para>
7838 <emphasis>+</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
7841 </simplelist></para>
7845 <emphasis>*</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
7848 </simplelist></para>
7852 <emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
7853 the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
7854 special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
7855 not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
7856 sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
7857 meta-character meaning of any single character).
7859 </simplelist></para>
7863 <emphasis>[ ]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
7864 any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
7865 matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
7866 this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
7868 </simplelist></para>
7872 <emphasis>( )</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
7873 or multiple sub-expressions.
7875 </simplelist></para>
7879 <emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
7880 <quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
7881 sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
7882 <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
7883 and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
7884 example</quote>, and nothing else.
7886 </simplelist></para>
7889 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
7890 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
7891 list. This is enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may
7892 be more illuminating:
7896 <emphasis><literal>/.*/banners/.*</literal></emphasis> - A simple example
7897 that uses the common combination of <quote>.</quote> and <quote>*</quote> to
7898 denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at all.
7899 So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression pattern
7900 (<quote>.*</quote>) another literal forward slash, the string
7901 <quote>banners</quote>, another forward slash, and lastly another
7902 <quote>.*</quote>. We are building
7903 a directory path here. This will match any file with the path that has a
7904 directory named <quote>banners</quote> in it. The <quote>.*</quote> matches
7905 any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward slashes, so it
7906 might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this could match:
7907 <quote>/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif</quote>, or just
7908 <quote>/banners/annoying.html</quote>, or almost an infinite number of other
7909 possible combinations, just so it has <quote>banners</quote> in the path
7914 And now something a little more complex:
7918 <emphasis><literal>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/</literal></emphasis> -
7919 We have several literal forward slashes again (<quote>/</quote>), so we are
7920 building another expression that is a file path statement. We have another
7921 <quote>.*</quote>, so we are matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so
7922 it matches our expression. The only true literal that <emphasis>must
7923 match</emphasis> our pattern is <application>adv</application>, together with
7924 the forward slashes. What comes after the <quote>adv</quote> string is the
7929 Remember the <quote>?</quote> means the preceding expression (either a
7930 literal character or anything grouped with <quote>(...)</quote> in this case)
7931 can exist or not, since this means either zero or one match. So
7932 <quote>((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))</quote> is optional, as are the
7933 individual sub-expressions: <quote>(er)</quote>,
7934 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, and the <quote>s</quote>. The <quote>|</quote>
7935 means <quote>or</quote>. We have two of those. For instance,
7936 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, can expand to match either <quote>ing</quote>
7937 <emphasis>OR</emphasis> <quote>ements?</quote>. What is being done here, is an
7938 attempt at matching as many variations of <quote>advertisement</quote>, and
7939 similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just <quote>adv</quote>,
7940 or <quote>advert</quote>, or <quote>adverts</quote>, or
7941 <quote>advertising</quote>, or <quote>advertisement</quote>, or
7942 <quote>advertisements</quote>. You get the idea. But it would not match
7943 <quote>advertizements</quote> (with a <quote>z</quote>). We could fix that by
7944 changing our regular expression to:
7945 <quote>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/</quote>, which would then match
7950 <emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
7951 another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
7952 <quote>[ ]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
7953 shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
7954 saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
7955 means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
7956 expression here is what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit
7957 one through nine. Then, at the end, we have a grouping: <quote>(gif|jpe?g)</quote>.
7958 This includes a <quote>|</quote>, so this needs to match the expression on
7959 either side of that bar character also. A simple <quote>gif</quote> on one side, and the other
7960 side will in turn match either <quote>jpeg</quote> or <quote>jpg</quote>,
7961 since the <quote>?</quote> means the letter <quote>e</quote> is optional and
7962 can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to
7963 match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must include the literal
7964 string <quote>advert</quote>, then one or more digits, and a <quote>.</quote>
7965 (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is escaped
7966 with <quote>\</quote>), and lastly either <quote>gif</quote>, or
7967 <quote>jpeg</quote>, or <quote>jpg</quote>. Some possible matches would
7968 include: <quote>//advert1.jpg</quote>,
7969 <quote>/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif</quote>,
7970 <quote>/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg</quote>. It would not match
7971 <quote>advert1.gif</quote> (no leading slash), or
7972 <quote>/adverts232.jpg</quote> (the expression does not include an
7973 <quote>s</quote>), or <quote>/advert1.jsp</quote> (<quote>jsp</quote> is not
7974 in the expression anywhere).
7978 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
7979 can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
7980 configuration files, and maybe use this knowledge to customize your own
7981 installation. There is much, much more that can be done with regular
7982 expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you can learn more on
7987 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
7988 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>
7992 For information on regular expression based substitutions and their applications
7993 in filters, please see the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file tutorial</link>
7998 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
8001 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8003 <title>Privoxy's Internal Pages</title>
8006 Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
8007 web page, it is easy for <application>Privoxy</application> to
8008 trap certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to
8009 <application>Privoxy</application>, and see how it is
8010 configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these
8011 rules and other configuration options, and even turn
8012 <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering off, all with
8018 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access
8019 to <application>Privoxy</application>. Of course,
8020 <application>Privoxy</application> must be running to access these. If
8021 not, you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
8034 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
8038 There is a shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> (But it
8039 doesn't provide a fall-back to a real page, in case the request is not
8040 sent through <application>Privoxy</application>)
8046 Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
8047 editing of actions files:
8051 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
8058 Show the source code version numbers:
8062 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>
8069 Show the browser's request headers:
8073 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">http://config.privoxy.org/show-request</ulink>
8080 Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
8084 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8091 Toggle Privoxy on or off. This feature can be turned off/on in the main
8092 <filename>config</filename> file. When toggled <quote>off</quote>, <quote>Privoxy</quote>
8093 continues to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking
8098 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
8102 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
8106 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable</ulink>
8111 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable</ulink>
8120 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
8124 <sect3 id="bookmarklets">
8125 <title>Bookmarklets</title>
8127 Below are some <quote>bookmarklets</quote> to allow you to easily access a
8128 <quote>mini</quote> version of some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8129 special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer, but should work
8130 equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which support
8131 JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not by
8132 clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
8135 To save them, right-click the link and choose <quote>Add to Favorites</quote>
8136 (IE) or <quote>Add Bookmark</quote> (Netscape). You will get a warning that
8137 the bookmark <quote>may not be safe</quote> - just click OK. Then you can run the
8138 Bookmarklet directly from your favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access,
8139 you can put them on the <quote>Links</quote> bar (IE) or the <quote>Personal
8140 Toolbar</quote> (Netscape), and run them with a single click.
8149 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
8156 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
8163 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
8170 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
8176 <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions/index.php?url='+escape(location.href),'Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback</ulink>
8182 <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
8189 Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
8190 <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com/">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
8191 have more information about bookmarklets.
8200 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8202 <title>Chain of Events</title>
8204 Let's take a quick look at how some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8205 core features are triggered, and the ensuing sequence of events when a web
8206 page is requested by your browser:
8213 First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
8214 the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
8215 relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
8221 <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
8222 pages (e.g <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
8227 Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
8229 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
8230 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
8231 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
8233 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"><quote>+handle-as-empty-document</quote></link>
8234 are then checked, and if there is no match, an
8235 HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back to the browser. Otherwise, if
8236 it does match, an image is returned for the former, and an empty text
8237 document for the latter. The type of image would depend on the setting of
8238 <link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
8239 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
8244 Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
8245 <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
8250 If the URL pattern matches the <link
8251 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link> action,
8252 it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
8257 Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
8258 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <link
8259 linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></link>,
8260 etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
8266 Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
8272 First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
8273 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
8274 filtered as determined by the
8275 <link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></link>,
8276 <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>,
8277 and <link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></link>
8283 If any <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8285 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8286 action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
8287 read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
8288 <filename>default.filter</filename> and any other filter files) are
8289 processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
8290 they are specified in one of the filter files. Animated GIFs, if present,
8291 are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
8292 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
8293 <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
8296 If neither a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8298 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8299 matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
8300 to the client browser as it becomes available.
8305 As the browser receives the now (possibly filtered) page content, it
8306 reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
8307 source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
8308 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a
8309 separate request (this is easily viewable in <application>Privoxy's</application>
8310 logs). And each such request is in turn processed just as above. Note that a
8311 complex web page will have many, many such embedded URLs. If these
8312 secondary requests are to a different server, then quite possibly a very
8313 differing set of actions is triggered.
8320 NOTE: This is somewhat of a simplistic overview of what happens with each URL
8321 request. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, we have focused on
8322 <application>Privoxy's</application> core features only.
8328 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8329 <sect2 id="actionsanat">
8330 <title>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</title>
8333 The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
8334 <link linkend="ACTIONS">actions</link> and <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>
8335 to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
8336 easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
8337 <emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
8338 doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
8339 is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
8340 the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
8341 <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> whose consequences are not
8346 One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
8347 or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
8348 step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
8349 and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
8350 logs is a good idea too. (Note that both the toggle feature and logging are
8351 enabled via <filename>config</filename> file settings, and may need to be
8352 turned <quote>on</quote>.)
8355 Another easy troubleshooting step to try is if you have done any
8356 customization of your installation, revert back to the installed
8357 defaults and see if that helps. There are times the developers get complaints
8358 about one thing or another, and the problem is more related to a customized
8359 configuration issue.
8363 <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
8364 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8365 page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
8366 are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
8370 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
8371 <application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
8372 how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
8373 help with filtering effects (i.e. the <link
8374 linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
8375 one of the filter files since this is handled very
8376 differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
8377 URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
8378 such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
8379 you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
8380 -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
8381 will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
8382 Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
8387 Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
8388 and look at it one section at a time in a sample configuration (your real
8389 configuration may vary):
8394 Matches for http://www.google.com:
8396 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8398 {+change-x-forwarded-for{block}
8399 +deanimate-gifs {last}
8400 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8401 +filter {refresh-tags}
8402 +filter {img-reorder}
8403 +filter {banners-by-size}
8405 +filter {jumping-windows}
8406 +filter {ie-exploits}
8407 +hide-from-header {block}
8408 +hide-referrer {forge}
8409 +session-cookies-only
8410 +set-image-blocker {pattern}
8413 { -session-cookies-only }
8419 In file: user.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8420 (no matches in this file)
8425 This is telling us how we have defined our
8426 <link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, and
8427 which ones match for our test case, <quote>google.com</quote>.
8428 Displayed is all the actions that are available to us. Remember,
8429 the <literal>+</literal> sign denotes <quote>on</quote>. <literal>-</literal>
8430 denotes <quote>off</quote>. So some are <quote>on</quote> here, but many
8431 are <quote>off</quote>. Each example we try may provide a slightly different
8432 end result, depending on our configuration directives.
8436 is for our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line
8437 listing, is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default
8438 settings. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the
8439 section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This
8440 will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
8441 of the listing -- <quote> / </quote>.
8445 But we have defined additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
8446 rules, and then we list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions
8447 would apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit
8448 matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous
8449 cookie setting, which was for <link
8450 linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
8451 (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google, at
8452 least that is how it is in this example. The second turns
8453 <emphasis>off</emphasis> any <link
8454 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
8455 action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
8456 dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
8457 sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
8458 <quote>www.google.com</quote> or <quote>mail.google.com</quote>. But it would not
8459 match <quote>www.google.de</quote>! So, apparently, we have these two actions
8460 defined as exceptions to the general rules at the top somewhere in the lower
8461 part of our <filename>default.action</filename> file, and
8462 <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
8466 Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
8467 So there is nothing google-specific that we might have added to our own, local
8468 configuration. If there was, those actions would over-rule any actions from
8469 previously processed files, such as <filename>default.action</filename>.
8470 <filename>user.action</filename> typically has the last word. This is the
8471 best place to put hard and fast exceptions,
8475 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
8476 <application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
8477 to <quote>google.com</quote>:
8488 +change-x-forwarded-for{block}
8489 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8490 -content-type-overwrite
8491 -crunch-client-header
8492 -crunch-if-none-match
8493 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8494 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8495 -crunch-server-header
8496 +deanimate-gifs {last}
8497 -downgrade-http-version
8500 -filter {content-cookies}
8501 -filter {all-popups}
8502 -filter {banners-by-link}
8503 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8504 -filter {frameset-borders}
8505 -filter {demoronizer}
8506 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8507 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8509 -filter {crude-parental}
8510 -filter {site-specifics}
8511 -filter {js-annoyances}
8512 -filter {html-annoyances}
8513 +filter {refresh-tags}
8514 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8515 +filter {img-reorder}
8516 +filter {banners-by-size}
8518 +filter {jumping-windows}
8519 +filter {ie-exploits}
8526 -handle-as-empty-document
8528 -hide-accept-language
8529 -hide-content-disposition
8530 +hide-from-header {block}
8531 -hide-if-modified-since
8532 +hide-referrer {forge}
8535 -overwrite-last-modified
8536 -prevent-compression
8538 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8539 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8540 -session-cookies-only
8541 +set-image-blocker {pattern} </screen>
8545 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
8546 <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
8547 which are activated specifically for this site in our configuration,
8548 and thus show in the <quote>Final Results</quote>.
8552 Now another example, <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>:
8558 { +block{Domains starts with "ad"} }
8561 { +block{Domain contains "ad"} }
8564 { +block{Doubleclick banner server} +handle-as-image }
8565 .[a-vx-z]*.doubleclick.net
8570 We'll just show the interesting part here - the explicit matches. It is
8571 matched three different times. Two <quote>+block{}</quote> sections,
8572 and a <quote>+block{} +handle-as-image</quote>,
8573 which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
8574 <quote>+block-as-image</quote>. (<link
8575 linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
8576 the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
8581 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
8582 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively
8583 would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
8584 though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
8585 URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
8586 is done here -- as both a <link
8587 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block{}</quote></link>
8588 <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
8589 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
8590 The custom alias <quote><literal>+block-as-image</literal></quote> just
8591 simplifies the process and make it more readable.
8595 One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
8596 This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
8602 Matches for http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
8604 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8608 +change-x-forwarded-for{block}
8609 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8610 -content-type-overwrite
8611 -crunch-client-header
8612 -crunch-if-none-match
8613 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8614 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8615 -crunch-server-header
8617 -downgrade-http-version
8618 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8620 -filter {content-cookies}
8621 -filter {all-popups}
8622 -filter {banners-by-link}
8623 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8624 -filter {frameset-borders}
8625 -filter {demoronizer}
8626 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8627 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8629 -filter {crude-parental}
8630 -filter {site-specifics}
8631 -filter {js-annoyances}
8632 -filter {html-annoyances}
8633 +filter {refresh-tags}
8634 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8635 +filter {img-reorder}
8636 +filter {banners-by-size}
8638 +filter {jumping-windows}
8639 +filter {ie-exploits}
8646 -handle-as-empty-document
8648 -hide-accept-language
8649 -hide-content-disposition
8650 +hide-from-header{block}
8651 +hide-referer{forge}
8653 -overwrite-last-modified
8654 +prevent-compression
8656 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8657 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8658 +session-cookies-only
8659 +set-image-blocker{blank} }
8662 { +block{Path contains "ads".} +handle-as-image }
8668 Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote> in our
8669 configuration! But we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the
8670 blank page. It is actually triggering two different actions here, and
8671 the effects are aggregated so that the URL is blocked, and &my-app; is told
8672 to treat the block as if it were an image. But this is, of course, all wrong.
8673 We could now add a new action below this (or better in our own
8674 <filename>user.action</filename> file) that explicitly
8675 <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (
8676 <link linkend="BLOCK"><quote>{-block}</quote></link>) paths with
8677 <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration
8678 wins). There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
8690 Now the page displays ;-)
8691 Remember to flush your browser's caches when making these kinds of changes to
8692 your configuration to insure that you get a freshly delivered page! Or, try
8693 using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
8697 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like
8704 { +block{Path starts with "ads".} +handle-as-image }
8710 That actually was very helpful and pointed us quickly to where the problem
8711 was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
8712 rules in the first section of <filename>default.action</filename> is causing
8713 the problem. This would require some guesswork, and maybe a little trial and
8714 error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the
8715 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> actions.
8716 These tend to be harder to troubleshoot.
8717 Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
8718 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>:
8726 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
8734 <quote><literal>{ shop }</literal></quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
8735 <quote><literal>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</literal></quote>.
8736 Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
8744 # Disable ALL filter actions for sites in this section
8752 This would turn off all filtering for these sites. This is best
8753 put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
8754 exceptions. Note that when a simple domain pattern is used by itself (without
8755 the subsequent path portion), all sub-pages within that domain are included
8756 automatically in the scope of the action.
8760 Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
8761 <link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"><quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote></link>
8763 that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well
8764 <emphasis>most of the time</emphasis> since these tend to be standardized).
8768 <quote><literal>{ fragile }</literal></quote> is an alias that disables most
8769 actions that are the most likely to cause trouble. This can be used as a
8770 last resort for problem sites.
8776 # Handle with care: easy to break
8778 mybank.example.com</screen>
8783 <emphasis>Remember to flush caches!</emphasis> Note that the
8784 <literal>mail.google</literal> reference lacks the TLD portion (e.g.
8785 <quote>.com</quote>). This will effectively match any TLD with
8786 <literal>google</literal> in it, such as <literal>mail.google.de.</literal>,
8790 If this still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining
8791 actions one by one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
8800 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
8801 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
8802 Public License as published by the Free Software
8803 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
8804 your option) any later version.
8806 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
8807 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
8808 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
8809 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
8810 License for more details.
8812 The GNU General Public License should be included with
8813 this file. If not, you can view it at
8814 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
8815 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
8816 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
8819 $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
8820 Revision 2.118 2010/02/11 13:59:48 fabiankeil
8821 Mention that the headers added by the add-header action aren't modified by other actions.
8823 Revision 2.117 2010/01/11 12:56:04 fabiankeil
8824 Bump copyright range as p-config.sgml's copyright line is only used in the config file.
8826 Revision 2.116 2009/11/15 14:24:12 fabiankeil
8827 Prepare to generate docs for 3.0.16 UNRELEASED.
8829 Revision 2.115 2009/10/10 06:19:34 fabiankeil
8830 Ditch a duplicated 'since'.
8832 Revision 2.114 2009/10/10 05:51:48 fabiankeil
8833 Update "What's new" section.
8835 Revision 2.113 2009/10/10 05:48:55 fabiankeil
8836 Prepare for 3.0.15 beta.
8838 Revision 2.112 2009/07/24 12:20:30 fabiankeil
8839 Remove duplicated period.
8841 Revision 2.111 2009/07/18 18:11:11 fabiankeil
8842 Don't claim that NTLM should work when there are multiple reports that it doesn't.
8844 Revision 2.110 2009/07/18 16:25:17 fabiankeil
8845 Fix trailing whitespace.
8847 Revision 2.109 2009/07/18 16:24:39 fabiankeil
8848 Bump entities for 3.0.14 beta.
8850 Revision 2.108 2009/07/18 15:49:23 fabiankeil
8851 Add most of the changes in 3.0.14 to the "What's New" section.
8853 Revision 2.107 2009/06/12 14:30:58 fabiankeil
8854 Update entities for 3.0.13 beta.
8856 Revision 2.106 2009/06/12 11:04:13 fabiankeil
8857 Import ChangeLog for 3.0.13 beta.
8859 Revision 2.105 2009/04/17 11:32:57 fabiankeil
8860 Grammar and spelling fixes.
8862 Revision 2.104 2009/04/17 11:27:49 fabiankeil
8863 Petr Pisar's privoxy-3.0.12-ipv6-3.diff.
8865 Revision 2.103 2009/03/21 10:49:05 fabiankeil
8866 Merge updated ChangeLog.
8868 Revision 2.102 2009/03/15 19:31:36 fabiankeil
8869 Update "What's New in this Release" section.
8871 Revision 2.101 2009/02/25 19:01:56 fabiankeil
8874 Revision 2.100 2009/02/19 17:14:11 fabiankeil
8875 - Copy the release cycle description from announce.txt into
8876 the "What's New" section.
8877 - Stop referring to the ChangeLog for a "complete list of changes".
8878 The "What's New" section already contains the complete list.
8880 Revision 2.99 2009/02/19 02:20:22 hal9
8881 Make some links in seealso conditional. Man page is now privoxy only links.
8883 Revision 2.98 2009/02/16 17:10:33 fabiankeil
8884 Fix entry about shortened log messages. Noticed by Lee.
8886 Revision 2.97 2009/02/14 18:01:00 fabiankeil
8889 Revision 2.96 2009/02/14 13:14:03 fabiankeil
8892 Revision 2.95 2009/02/14 12:51:26 fabiankeil
8893 Mention match-all.action in the "Actions Files Tutorial" section.
8895 Revision 2.94 2009/02/14 11:50:31 fabiankeil
8896 Some indentation fixes.
8898 Revision 2.93 2009/02/14 10:14:42 fabiankeil
8899 Mention match-all.action in the action file descriptions.
8901 Revision 2.92 2009/02/12 16:08:26 fabiankeil
8902 Declare the code stable.
8904 Revision 2.91 2009/01/13 16:50:35 fabiankeil
8905 The standard.action file is gone.
8907 Revision 2.90 2008/09/26 16:53:09 fabiankeil
8908 Update "What's new" section.
8910 Revision 2.89 2008/09/21 15:38:56 fabiankeil
8911 Fix Portage tree sync instructions in Gentoo section.
8912 Anonymously reported at ijbswa-developers@.
8914 Revision 2.88 2008/09/21 14:42:52 fabiankeil
8915 Add documentation for change-x-forwarded-for{},
8916 remove documentation for hide-forwarded-for-headers.
8918 Revision 2.87 2008/08/30 15:37:35 fabiankeil
8921 Revision 2.86 2008/08/16 10:12:23 fabiankeil
8922 Merge two sentences and move the URL to the end of the item.
8924 Revision 2.85 2008/08/16 10:04:59 fabiankeil
8925 Some more syntax fixes. This version actually builds.
8927 Revision 2.84 2008/08/16 09:42:45 fabiankeil
8928 Turns out building docs works better if the syntax is valid.
8930 Revision 2.83 2008/08/16 09:32:02 fabiankeil
8931 Mention changes since 3.0.9 beta.
8933 Revision 2.82 2008/08/16 09:00:52 fabiankeil
8934 Fix example URL pattern (once more with feeling).
8936 Revision 2.81 2008/08/16 08:51:28 fabiankeil
8937 Update version-related entities.
8939 Revision 2.80 2008/07/18 16:54:30 fabiankeil
8940 Remove erroneous whitespace in documentation link.
8941 Reported by John Chronister in #2021611.
8943 Revision 2.79 2008/06/27 18:00:53 markm68k
8944 remove outdated startup information for mac os x
8946 Revision 2.78 2008/06/21 17:03:03 fabiankeil
8949 Revision 2.77 2008/06/14 13:45:22 fabiankeil
8950 Re-add a colon I unintentionally removed a few revisions ago.
8952 Revision 2.76 2008/06/14 13:21:28 fabiankeil
8953 Prepare for the upcoming 3.0.9 beta release.
8955 Revision 2.75 2008/06/13 16:06:48 fabiankeil
8956 Update the "What's New in this Release" section with
8957 the ChangeLog entries changelog2doc.pl could handle.
8959 Revision 2.74 2008/05/26 15:55:46 fabiankeil
8960 - Update "default profiles" table.
8961 - Add some more pcrs redirect examples and note that
8962 enabling debug 128 helps to get redirects working.
8964 Revision 2.73 2008/05/23 14:43:18 fabiankeil
8965 Remove previously out-commented block that caused syntax problems.
8967 Revision 2.72 2008/05/12 10:26:14 fabiankeil
8968 Synchronize content filter descriptions with the ones in default.filter.
8970 Revision 2.71 2008/04/10 17:37:16 fabiankeil
8971 Actually we use "modern" POSIX 1003.2 regular
8972 expressions in path patterns, not PCRE.
8974 Revision 2.70 2008/04/10 15:59:12 fabiankeil
8975 Add another section to the client-header-tagger example that shows
8976 how to actually change the action settings once the tag is created.
8978 Revision 2.69 2008/03/29 12:14:25 fabiankeil
8979 Remove send-wafer and send-vanilla-wafer actions.
8981 Revision 2.68 2008/03/28 15:13:43 fabiankeil
8982 Remove inspect-jpegs action.
8984 Revision 2.67 2008/03/27 18:31:21 fabiankeil
8985 Remove kill-popups action.
8987 Revision 2.66 2008/03/06 16:33:47 fabiankeil
8988 If limit-connect isn't used, don't limit CONNECT requests to port 443.
8990 Revision 2.65 2008/03/04 18:30:40 fabiankeil
8991 Remove the treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks action. We now
8992 use the "blocked" page for forbidden CONNECT requests by default.
8994 Revision 2.64 2008/03/01 14:10:28 fabiankeil
8995 Use new block syntax. Still needs some polishing.
8997 Revision 2.63 2008/02/22 05:50:37 markm68k
9000 Revision 2.62 2008/02/11 11:52:23 hal9
9001 Fix entity ... s/&/&
9003 Revision 2.61 2008/02/11 03:41:47 markm68k
9004 more updates for mac os x
9006 Revision 2.60 2008/02/11 03:40:25 markm68k
9007 more updates for mac os x
9009 Revision 2.59 2008/02/11 00:52:34 markm68k
9010 reflect new changes for mac os x
9012 Revision 2.58 2008/02/03 21:37:40 hal9
9013 Apply patch from Mark: s/OSX/OS X/
9015 Revision 2.57 2008/02/03 19:10:14 fabiankeil
9016 Mention forward-socks5.
9018 Revision 2.56 2008/01/31 19:11:35 fabiankeil
9019 Let the +client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation} example apply
9020 to all requests as "tainted" Referers aren't limited to exit TLDs.
9022 Revision 2.55 2008/01/19 21:26:37 hal9
9023 Add IE7 to configuration section per Gerry.
9025 Revision 2.54 2008/01/19 17:52:39 hal9
9026 Re-commit to fix various minor issues for new release.
9028 Revision 2.53 2008/01/19 15:03:05 hal9
9029 Doc sources tagged for 3.0.8 release.
9031 Revision 2.52 2008/01/17 01:49:51 hal9
9032 Change copyright notice for docs s/2007/2008/. All these will be rebuilt soon
9035 Revision 2.51 2007/12/23 16:48:24 fabiankeil
9036 Use more precise example descriptions for the mysterious domain patterns.
9038 Revision 2.50 2007/12/08 12:44:36 fabiankeil
9039 - Remove already commented out pre-3.0.7 changes.
9040 - Update the "new log defaults" paragraph.
9042 Revision 2.49 2007/12/06 18:21:55 fabiankeil
9043 Update hide-forwarded-for-headers description.
9045 Revision 2.48 2007/11/24 19:07:17 fabiankeil
9046 - Mention request rewriting.
9047 - Enable the conditional-forge paragraph.
9050 Revision 2.47 2007/11/18 14:59:47 fabiankeil
9051 A few "Note to Upgraders" updates.
9053 Revision 2.46 2007/11/17 17:24:44 fabiankeil
9054 - Use new action defaults.
9055 - Minor fixes and rewordings.
9057 Revision 2.45 2007/11/16 11:48:46 hal9
9058 Fix one typo, and add a couple of small refinements.
9060 Revision 2.44 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9
9061 Results of spell check.
9063 Revision 2.43 2007/11/14 18:45:39 fabiankeil
9064 - Mention some more contributors in the "New in this Release" list.
9067 Revision 2.42 2007/11/12 03:32:40 hal9
9068 Updates for "What's New" and "Notes to Upgraders". Various other changes in
9069 preparation for new release. User Manual is almost ready.
9071 Revision 2.41 2007/11/11 16:32:11 hal9
9072 This is primarily syncing What's New and Note to Upgraders sections with the many
9073 new features and changes (gleaned from memory but mostly from ChangeLog).
9075 Revision 2.40 2007/11/10 17:10:59 fabiankeil
9076 In the first third of the file, mention several times that
9077 the action editor is disabled by default in 3.0.7 beta and later.
9079 Revision 2.39 2007/11/05 02:34:49 hal9
9080 Various changes in preparation for the upcoming release. Much yet to be done.
9082 Revision 2.38 2007/09/22 16:01:42 fabiankeil
9083 Update embedded show-url-info output.
9085 Revision 2.37 2007/08/27 16:09:55 fabiankeil
9086 Fix pre-chroot-nslookup description which I failed to
9087 copy and paste properly. Reported by Stephen Gildea.
9089 Revision 2.36 2007/08/26 16:47:14 fabiankeil
9090 Add Stephen Gildea's pre-chroot-nslookup patch [#1276666],
9091 extensive comments moved to user manual.
9093 Revision 2.35 2007/08/26 14:59:49 fabiankeil
9094 Minor rewordings and fixes.
9096 Revision 2.34 2007/08/05 15:19:50 fabiankeil
9097 - Don't claim HTTP/1.1 compliance.
9098 - Use $ in some of the path pattern examples.
9099 - Use a hide-user-agent example argument without
9100 leading and trailing space.
9101 - Make it clear that the cookie actions work with
9103 - Rephrase the inspect-jpegs text to underline
9104 that it's only meant to protect against a single
9107 Revision 2.33 2007/07/27 10:57:35 hal9
9108 Add references for user-agent strings for hide-user-agenet
9110 Revision 2.32 2007/06/07 12:36:22 fabiankeil
9111 Apply Roland's 29_usermanual.dpatch to fix a bunch
9112 of syntax errors I collected over the last months.
9114 Revision 2.31 2007/06/02 14:01:37 fabiankeil
9115 Start to document forward-override{}.
9117 Revision 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil
9118 - Describe installation for FreeBSD.
9119 - Start to document taggers and tag patterns.
9120 - Don't confuse devils and daemons.
9122 Revision 2.29 2007/04/05 11:47:51 fabiankeil
9123 Some updates regarding header filtering,
9124 handling of compressed content and redirect's
9125 support for pcrs commands.
9127 Revision 2.28 2006/12/10 23:42:48 hal9
9128 Fix various typos reported by Adam P. Thanks.
9130 Revision 2.27 2006/11/14 01:57:47 hal9
9131 Dump all docs prior to 3.0.6 release. Various minor changes to faq and user
9134 Revision 2.26 2006/10/24 11:16:44 hal9
9137 Revision 2.25 2006/10/18 10:50:33 hal9
9138 Add note that since filters are off in Cautious, compression is ON. Turn off
9139 compression to make filters work on all sites.
9141 Revision 2.24 2006/10/03 11:13:54 hal9
9142 More references to the new filters. Include html this time around.
9144 Revision 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9
9145 Contains new filter definitions from Fabian, and few other miscellaneous
9148 Revision 2.22 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
9149 Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
9150 something changes this should be ready for pending release.
9152 Revision 2.21 2006/09/20 03:21:36 david__schmidt
9153 Just the tiniest tweak. Wafer thin!
9155 Revision 2.20 2006/09/10 14:53:54 hal9
9156 Results of spell check. User manual has some updates to standard.actions file
9159 Revision 2.19 2006/09/08 12:19:02 fabiankeil
9160 Adjust hide-if-modified-since example values
9161 to reflect the recent changes.
9163 Revision 2.18 2006/09/08 02:38:57 hal9
9165 -Fix a number of broken links.
9166 -Migrate the new Windows service command line options, and reference as
9168 -Rebuild so that can be used with the new "user-manual" config capabilities.
9171 Revision 2.17 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
9172 Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
9174 Revision 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9
9175 Various small updates for new actions, filterfiles, etc.
9177 Revision 2.15 2006/08/30 11:15:22 hal9
9178 More work on the new actions, especially filter-*-headers, and What's New
9179 section. User Manual is close to final form for 3.0.4 release. Some tinkering
9180 and proof reading left to do.
9182 Revision 2.14 2006/08/29 10:59:36 hal9
9183 Add a "Whats New in this release" Section. Further work on multiple filter
9184 files, and assorted other minor changes.
9186 Revision 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9
9187 Silence warnings and errors. This should build now. New filters were only
9188 stubbed in. More to be done.
9190 Revision 2.12 2006/08/14 08:40:39 fabiankeil
9191 Documented new actions that were part of
9192 the "minor Privoxy improvements".
9194 Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt
9195 Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
9196 with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
9198 Revision 1.123.2.43 2005/05/23 09:59:10 hal9
9201 Revision 1.123.2.42 2004/12/04 14:39:57 hal9
9202 Fix two minor typos per bug SF report.
9204 Revision 1.123.2.41 2004/03/23 12:58:42 oes
9207 Revision 1.123.2.40 2004/02/27 12:48:49 hal9
9208 Add comment re: redirecting to local file system for set-image-blocker may
9209 is dependent on browser.
9211 Revision 1.123.2.39 2004/01/30 22:31:40 oes
9212 Added a hint re bookmarklets to Quickstart section
9214 Revision 1.123.2.38 2004/01/30 16:47:51 oes
9215 Some minor clarifications
9217 Revision 1.123.2.37 2004/01/29 22:36:11 hal9
9218 Updates for no longer filtering text/plain, and demoronizer default settings,
9219 and copyright notice dates.
9221 Revision 1.123.2.36 2003/12/10 02:26:26 hal9
9222 Changed the demoronizer filter description.
9224 Revision 1.123.2.35 2003/11/06 13:36:37 oes
9225 Updated link to nightly CVS tarball
9227 Revision 1.123.2.34 2003/06/26 23:50:16 hal9
9228 Add a small bit on filtering and problems re: source code being corrupted.
9230 Revision 1.123.2.33 2003/05/08 18:17:33 roro
9231 Use apt-get instead of dpkg to install Debian package, which is more
9232 solid, uses the correct and most recent Debian version automatically.
9234 Revision 1.123.2.32 2003/04/11 03:13:57 hal9
9235 Add small note about only one filterfile (as opposed to multiple actions
9238 Revision 1.123.2.31 2003/03/26 02:03:43 oes
9239 Updated hard-coded copyright dates
9241 Revision 1.123.2.30 2003/03/24 12:58:56 hal9
9242 Add new section on Predefined Filters.
9244 Revision 1.123.2.29 2003/03/20 02:45:29 hal9
9245 More problems with \-\-chroot causing markup problems :(
9247 Revision 1.123.2.28 2003/03/19 00:35:24 hal9
9248 Manual edit of revision log because 'chroot' (even inside a comment) was
9249 causing Docbook to hang here (due to double hyphen and the processor thinking
9252 Revision 1.123.2.27 2003/03/18 19:37:14 oes
9253 s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
9255 Revision 1.123.2.26 2003/03/17 16:50:53 oes
9256 Added documentation for new chroot option
9258 Revision 1.123.2.25 2003/03/15 18:36:55 oes
9259 Adapted to the new filters
9261 Revision 1.123.2.24 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
9262 Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
9265 Revision 1.123.2.23 2002/10/21 02:32:01 hal9
9266 Updates to the user.action examples section. A few new ones.
9268 Revision 1.123.2.22 2002/10/12 00:51:53 hal9
9269 Add demoronizer to filter section.
9271 Revision 1.123.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
9272 s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
9274 Revision 1.123.2.20 2002/10/10 03:49:21 hal9
9275 Add notes to session-cookies-only and Quickstart about pre-existing
9276 cookies. Also, note content-cookies work differently.
9278 Revision 1.123.2.19 2002/09/26 01:25:36 hal9
9279 More explanation on Privoxy patterns, more on content-cookies and SSL.
9281 Revision 1.123.2.18 2002/08/22 23:47:58 hal9
9282 Add 'Documentation' to Privoxy Menu shot in Configuration section to match
9285 Revision 1.123.2.17 2002/08/18 01:13:05 hal9
9286 Spell checked (only one typo this time!).
9288 Revision 1.123.2.16 2002/08/09 19:20:54 david__schmidt
9289 Update to Mac OS X startup script name
9291 Revision 1.123.2.15 2002/08/07 17:32:11 oes
9292 Converted some internal links from ulink to link for PDF creation; no content changed
9294 Revision 1.123.2.14 2002/08/06 09:16:13 oes
9295 Nits re: actions file download
9297 Revision 1.123.2.13 2002/08/02 18:23:19 g_sauthoff
9298 Just 2 small corrections to the Gentoo sections
9300 Revision 1.123.2.12 2002/08/02 18:17:21 g_sauthoff
9301 Added 2 Gentoo sections
9303 Revision 1.123.2.11 2002/07/26 15:20:31 oes
9304 - Added version info to title
9305 - Added info on new filters
9306 - Revised parts of the filter file tutorial
9307 - Added info on where to get updated actions files
9309 Revision 1.123.2.10 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
9310 Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
9312 Revision 1.123.2.9 2002/07/11 03:40:28 david__schmidt
9314 Updated Mac OS X sections due to installation location change
9316 Revision 1.123.2.8 2002/06/09 16:36:32 hal9
9317 Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
9319 Revision 1.123.2.7 2002/06/09 00:29:34 hal9
9320 Touch ups on filtering, in actions section and Anatomy.
9322 Revision 1.123.2.6 2002/06/06 23:11:03 hal9
9323 Fix broken link. Linkchecked all docs.
9325 Revision 1.123.2.5 2002/05/29 02:01:02 hal9
9326 This is break out of the entire config section from u-m, so it can
9327 eventually be used to generate the comments, etc in the main config file
9328 so that these are in sync with each other.
9330 Revision 1.123.2.4 2002/05/27 03:28:45 hal9
9331 Ooops missed something from David.
9333 Revision 1.123.2.3 2002/05/27 03:23:17 hal9
9334 Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and Mac OS X startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
9335 That's a wrap, I think.
9337 Revision 1.123.2.2 2002/05/26 19:02:09 hal9
9338 Move Amiga stuff around to take of FIXME in start up section.
9340 Revision 1.123.2.1 2002/05/26 17:04:25 hal9
9341 -Spellcheck, very minor edits, and sync across branches
9343 Revision 1.123 2002/05/24 23:19:23 hal9
9344 Include new image (Proxy setup). More fun with guibutton.
9345 Minor corrections/clarifications here and there.
9347 Revision 1.122 2002/05/24 13:24:08 oes
9348 Added Bookmarklet for one-click pre-filled access to show-url-info
9350 Revision 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes
9351 - Changed more (all?) references to actions to the
9352 <literal><link> style.
9353 - Small fixes in the actions chapter
9354 - Small clarifications in the quickstart to ad blocking
9355 - Removed <emphasis> from <title>s since the new doc CSS
9356 renders them red (bad in TOC).
9358 Revision 1.120 2002/05/23 19:16:43 roro
9359 Correct Debian specials (installation and startup).
9361 Revision 1.119 2002/05/22 17:17:05 oes
9364 Revision 1.118 2002/05/21 04:54:55 hal9
9365 -New Section: Quickstart to Ad Blocking
9366 -Reformat Actions Anatomy to match new CGI layout
9368 Revision 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes
9369 - Reworked & extended Templates chapter
9370 - Small changes to Regex appendix
9371 - #included authors.sgml into (C) and hist chapter
9373 Revision 1.116 2002/05/17 03:23:46 hal9
9374 Fixing merge conflict in Quickstart section.
9376 Revision 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes
9377 Extended the Filter File chapter & minor fixes
9379 Revision 1.114 2002/05/16 09:42:50 oes
9380 More ulink->link, added some hints to Quickstart section
9382 Revision 1.113 2002/05/15 21:07:25 oes
9383 Extended and further commented the example actions files
9385 Revision 1.112 2002/05/15 03:57:14 hal9
9386 Spell check. A few minor edits here and there for better syntax and
9389 Revision 1.111 2002/05/14 23:01:36 oes
9392 Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes
9393 Restored alphabetical order of actions
9395 Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes
9396 Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs
9398 Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes
9399 Completed proofreading the actions chapter
9401 Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9
9402 Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this
9403 apparently an important distinction for some OS's.
9405 Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
9406 This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
9407 are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
9408 changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
9410 Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
9411 Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
9413 Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa
9416 Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9
9417 -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in.
9418 -Some minor additions to Quickstart.
9420 Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes
9421 Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions
9423 Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9
9424 Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about
9425 Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs.
9427 Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9
9428 Add clarification on differences of new actions files.
9430 Revision 1.99 2002/04/28 16:59:05 swa
9431 more structure in starting section
9433 Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
9434 This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
9435 will probably break links elsewhere :(
9437 Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
9438 -Rewrite of Actions File example.
9439 -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
9441 Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
9442 -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
9443 -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
9445 Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
9446 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
9448 Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
9449 -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
9450 -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
9452 Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
9453 More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
9454 Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
9456 Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
9457 Add 'Chain of Events' section.
9459 Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
9460 Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
9462 Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
9463 Added hint for startup on Red Hat
9465 Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
9466 Add AmigaOS install stuff.
9468 Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
9469 Updated Mac OS X installation section
9470 Added a few English tweaks here an there
9472 Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
9473 Re-write actions section.
9475 Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
9476 Fix ugly typo (mine).
9478 Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
9479 Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
9481 Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
9482 Added RPM install detail
9484 Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
9487 Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
9488 Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
9490 Revision 1.80 2002/04/18 10:45:19 oes
9491 Moved text to buildsource.sgml, renamed some filters, details
9493 Revision 1.79 2002/04/18 03:18:06 hal9
9494 Spellcheck, and minor touchups.
9496 Revision 1.78 2002/04/17 18:04:16 oes
9499 Revision 1.77 2002/04/17 13:51:23 oes
9500 Proofreading, part one
9502 Revision 1.76 2002/04/16 04:25:51 hal9
9503 -Added 'Note to Upgraders' and re-ordered the 'Quickstart' section.
9504 -Note about proxy may need requests to re-read config files.
9506 Revision 1.75 2002/04/12 02:08:48 david__schmidt
9507 Remove OS/2 building info... it is already in the developer-manual
9509 Revision 1.74 2002/04/11 00:54:38 hal9
9510 Add small section on submitting actions.
9512 Revision 1.73 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
9515 Revision 1.72 2002/04/10 04:06:19 hal9
9516 Added actions feedback to Bookmarklets section
9518 Revision 1.71 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
9519 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
9521 Revision 1.70 2002/04/08 20:53:56 swa
9524 Revision 1.69 2002/04/06 05:07:29 hal9
9525 -Add privoxy-man-page.sgml, for man page.
9526 -Add authors.sgml for AUTHORS (and p-authors.sgml)
9527 -Reworked various aspects of various docs.
9528 -Added additional comments to sub-docs.
9530 Revision 1.68 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
9531 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
9533 Revision 1.67 2002/04/04 17:27:57 swa
9534 more single file to be included at multiple points. make maintaining easier
9536 Revision 1.66 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
9537 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
9538 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
9539 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
9540 eventually be set by Makefile.
9541 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
9543 Revision 1.65 2002/04/03 19:52:07 swa
9544 enhance squid section due to user suggestion
9546 Revision 1.64 2002/04/03 03:53:43 hal9
9547 A few minor bug fixes, and touch ups. Ready for review.
9549 Revision 1.63 2002/04/01 16:24:49 hal9
9550 Define entities to include boilerplate text. See doc/source/*.
9552 Revision 1.62 2002/03/30 04:15:53 hal9
9553 - Fix privoxy.org/config links.
9554 - Paste in Bookmarklets from Toggle page.
9555 - Move Quickstart nearer top, and minor rework.
9557 Revision 1.61 2002/03/29 01:31:08 hal9
9560 Revision 1.60 2002/03/27 01:57:34 hal9
9561 Added more to Anatomy section.
9563 Revision 1.59 2002/03/27 00:54:33 hal9
9564 Touch up intro for new name.
9566 Revision 1.58 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
9567 we have a new homepage!
9569 Revision 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9
9570 A few minor catch ups with name change.
9572 Revision 1.56 2002/03/24 16:17:06 swa
9573 configure needs to be generated.
9575 Revision 1.55 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
9576 we are too lazy to make a block-built
9577 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
9579 Revision 1.54 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
9580 name change related issue.
9582 Revision 1.53 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
9583 name change. changed filenames.
9585 Revision 1.52 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
9588 Revision 1.51 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
9589 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
9590 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
9591 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
9592 comments and remarks to history untouched.
9594 Revision 1.50 2002/03/23 05:06:21 hal9
9597 Revision 1.49 2002/03/21 17:01:05 hal9
9598 New section in Appendix.
9600 Revision 1.48 2002/03/12 06:33:01 hal9
9601 Catching up to Andreas and re_filterfile changes.
9603 Revision 1.47 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
9604 correct feedback channels
9606 Revision 1.46 2002/03/10 00:51:08 hal9
9607 Added section on JB internal pages in Appendix.
9609 Revision 1.45 2002/03/09 17:43:53 swa
9612 Revision 1.44 2002/03/09 17:08:48 hal9
9613 New section on Jon's actions file editor, and move some stuff around.
9615 Revision 1.43 2002/03/08 00:47:32 hal9
9616 Added imageblock{pattern}.
9618 Revision 1.42 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
9621 Revision 1.41 2002/03/07 16:46:43 hal9
9622 Fix a few markup problems for jade.
9624 Revision 1.40 2002/03/07 16:28:39 swa
9625 provide correct feedback channels
9627 Revision 1.39 2002/03/06 16:19:28 hal9
9628 Note on perceived filtering slowdown per FR.
9630 Revision 1.38 2002/03/05 23:55:14 hal9
9631 Stupid I did it again. Double hyphen in comment breaks jade.
9633 Revision 1.37 2002/03/05 23:53:49 hal9
9634 jade barfs on '- -' embedded in comments. - -user option broke it.
9636 Revision 1.36 2002/03/05 22:53:28 hal9
9637 Add new - - user option.
9639 Revision 1.35 2002/03/05 00:17:27 hal9
9640 Added section on command line options.
9642 Revision 1.34 2002/03/04 19:32:07 oes
9643 Changed default port to 8118
9645 Revision 1.33 2002/03/03 19:46:13 hal9
9646 Emphasis on where/how to report bugs, etc
9648 Revision 1.32 2002/03/03 09:26:06 joergs
9649 AmigaOS changes, config is now loaded from PROGDIR: instead of
9650 AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/ if no configuration file is specified on the
9653 Revision 1.31 2002/03/02 22:45:52 david__schmidt
9656 Revision 1.30 2002/03/02 22:00:14 hal9
9657 Updated 'New Features' list. Ran through spell-checker.
9659 Revision 1.29 2002/03/02 20:34:07 david__schmidt
9660 Update OS/2 build section
9662 Revision 1.28 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
9663 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
9664 will work - no other changes are needed.
9666 Revision 1.27 2002/01/11 14:14:32 hal9
9667 Added a very short section on Templates
9669 Revision 1.26 2002/01/09 20:02:50 hal9
9670 Fix bug re: auto-detect config file changes.
9672 Revision 1.25 2002/01/09 18:20:30 hal9
9673 Touch ups for *.action files.
9675 Revision 1.24 2001/12/02 01:13:42 hal9
9678 Revision 1.23 2001/12/02 00:20:41 hal9
9679 Updates for recent changes.
9681 Revision 1.22 2001/11/05 23:57:51 hal9
9682 Minor update for startup now daemon mode.
9684 Revision 1.21 2001/10/31 21:11:03 hal9
9685 Correct 2 minor errors
9687 Revision 1.18 2001/10/24 18:45:26 hal9
9688 *** empty log message ***
9690 Revision 1.17 2001/10/24 17:10:55 hal9
9691 Catching up with Jon's recent work, and a few other things.
9693 Revision 1.16 2001/10/21 17:19:21 swa
9694 wrong url in documentation
9696 Revision 1.15 2001/10/14 23:46:24 hal9
9697 Various minor changes. Fleshed out SEE ALSO section.
9699 Revision 1.13 2001/10/10 17:28:33 hal9
9702 Revision 1.12 2001/09/28 02:57:04 hal9
9705 Revision 1.11 2001/09/28 02:25:20 hal9
9708 Revision 1.9 2001/09/27 23:50:29 hal9
9709 A few changes. A short section on regular expression in appendix.
9711 Revision 1.8 2001/09/25 00:34:59 hal9
9712 Some additions, and re-arranging.
9714 Revision 1.7 2001/09/24 14:31:36 hal9
9717 Revision 1.6 2001/09/24 14:10:32 hal9
9718 Including David's OS/2 installation instructions.
9720 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:27:40 swa
9723 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
9724 source files for junkbuster documentation
9726 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
9727 first proposal of a structure.
9729 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
9730 docs should have an author.
9732 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
9733 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.