1 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
2 "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
6 <title>Starting Privoxy</title>
7 <meta name="GENERATOR" content=
8 "Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79">
9 <link rel="HOME" title="Privoxy 3.0.20 User Manual" href="index.html">
10 <link rel="PREVIOUS" title="Quickstart to Using Privoxy" href=
12 <link rel="NEXT" title="Privoxy Configuration" href="configuration.html">
13 <link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="../p_doc.css">
14 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
15 <link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="p_doc.css">
16 <style type="text/css">
18 background-color: #EEEEEE;
21 :link { color: #0000FF }
22 :visited { color: #840084 }
23 :active { color: #0000FF }
24 table.c4 {background-color: #E0E0E0}
25 p.c3 {font-weight: bold}
26 span.c2 {font-style: italic}
27 hr.c1 {text-align: left}
32 <div class="NAVHEADER">
33 <table summary="Header navigation table" width="100%" border="0"
34 cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
36 <th colspan="3" align="center">Privoxy 3.0.20 User Manual</th>
40 <td width="10%" align="left" valign="bottom"><a href=
41 "quickstart.html" accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
43 <td width="80%" align="center" valign="bottom"></td>
45 <td width="10%" align="right" valign="bottom"><a href=
46 "configuration.html" accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
49 <hr class="c1" width="100%">
53 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="STARTUP" id="STARTUP">5. Starting
56 <p>Before launching <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for the
57 first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use
58 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
59 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target=
60 "_top">proxy</a>. The default is 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy
61 address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
62 configuration step <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">that must be
65 <p>Please note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can only
66 proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other
70 <a name="AEN916" id="AEN916"></a>
72 <p class="c3">Figure 2. Proxy Configuration Showing Mozilla/Netscape
73 HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</p>
75 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
76 <p><img src="proxy_setup.jpg"></p>
80 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, this is typically set
83 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
84 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class=
85 "GUIBUTTON">Options</span> -> <span class=
86 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
87 "GUIBUTTON">Network</span> -><span class=
88 "GUIBUTTON">Connection</span> -> <span class=
89 "GUIBUTTON">Settings</span><br></p>
91 <p>Or optionally on some platforms:</p>
93 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
94 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
95 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
96 "GUIBUTTON">General</span> -> <span class=
97 "GUIBUTTON">Connection Settings</span> -> <span class=
98 "GUIBUTTON">Manual Proxy Configuration</span><br></p>
100 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Netscape</span> (and <span class=
101 "APPLICATION">Mozilla</span>), this can be set under:</p>
103 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
104 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
105 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
106 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
107 "GUIBUTTON">Proxies</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">HTTP
110 <p>For <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer v.5-7</span>:</p>
112 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
113 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Internet
114 Options</span> -> <span class=
115 "GUIBUTTON">Connections</span> -> <span class=
116 "GUIBUTTON">LAN Settings</span></p>
118 <p>Then, check <span class="QUOTE">"Use Proxy"</span> and fill in the
119 appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL),
120 if you want HTTPS proxy support too (sometimes labeled <span class=
121 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span>). Make sure any checkboxes like <span class=
122 "QUOTE">"Use the same proxy server for all protocols"</span> is
123 <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">UNCHECKED</span>. You want only HTTP
127 <a name="AEN961" id="AEN961"></a>
129 <p class="c3">Figure 3. Proxy Configuration Showing Internet Explorer
130 HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</p>
132 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
133 <p><img src="proxy2.jpg"></p>
137 <p>After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force
138 a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached.
139 Remove any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
140 "_top">cookies</a>, if you want <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
141 to manage that. You are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
142 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>!</p>
144 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> itself is typically started
145 by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line.
146 If no configuration file is specified on the command line, <span class=
147 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named <tt class=
148 "FILENAME">config</tt> in the current directory. Except on Win32 where it
149 will try <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>.</p>
152 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-REDHAT" id="START-REDHAT">5.1. Red Hat
155 <p>A default Red Hat installation may not start <span class=
156 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon boot. It will use the file <tt class=
157 "FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration file.</p>
159 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
163 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
171 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
175 # service privoxy start
183 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-DEBIAN" id="START-DEBIAN">5.2.
186 <p>We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts <span class=
187 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon booting per default. It will use the
188 file <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main
189 configuration file.</p>
191 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
195 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
203 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-WINDOWS" id="START-WINDOWS">5.3.
206 <p>Click on the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> Icon to start
207 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. If no configuration file is
208 specified on the command line, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
209 will look for a file named <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>. Note
210 that Windows will automatically start <span class=
211 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> when the system starts if you chose that
212 option when installing.</p>
214 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can run with full Windows
215 service functionality. On Windows only, the <span class=
216 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> program has two new command line arguments
217 to install and uninstall <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a
218 service. See the <a href=
219 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Windows Installation
220 instructions</a> for details.</p>
224 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-UNICES" id="START-UNICES">5.4.
225 Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</a></h2>
227 <p>Example Unix startup command:</p>
229 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
233 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
241 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-OS2" id="START-OS2">5.5. OS/2</a></h2>
243 <p>During installation, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
244 configured to start automatically when the system restarts. You can
245 start it manually by double-clicking on the <span class=
246 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> icon in the <span class=
247 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> folder.</p>
251 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-MACOSX" id="START-MACOSX">5.6. Mac OS
254 <p>After downloading the privoxy software, unzip the downloaded file by
255 double-clicking on the zip file icon. Then, double-click on the
256 installer package icon and follow the installation process.</p>
258 <p>The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
259 installation. In addition, the privoxy service will automatically start
260 every time your computer starts up.</p>
262 <p>To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
263 computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
264 /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.</p>
266 <p>A simple application named Privoxy Utility has been created which
267 enables administrators to easily start and stop the privoxy
270 <p>In addition, the Privoxy Utility presents a simple way for
271 administrators to edit the various privoxy config files. A method to
272 uninstall the software is also available.</p>
274 <p>An administrator username and password must be supplied in order for
275 the Privoxy Utility to perform any of the tasks.</p>
279 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-AMIGAOS" id="START-AMIGAOS">5.7.
282 <p>Start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> (with RUN
283 <>NIL:) in your <tt class="FILENAME">startnet</tt> script
284 (AmiTCP), in <tt class="FILENAME">s:user-startup</tt> (RoadShow), as
285 startup program in your startup script (Genesis), or as startup action
286 (Miami and MiamiDx). <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will
287 automatically quit when you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the
288 harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that <span class=
289 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is still running).</p>
293 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-GENTOO" id="START-GENTOO">5.8.
296 <p>A script is again used. It will use the file <tt class=
297 "FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration file.</p>
299 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
303 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
310 <p>Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not
311 automatically started at boot time by default. You can change this with
312 the <tt class="LITERAL">rc-update</tt> command.</p>
314 <table class="c4" border="0" width="100%">
318 rc-update add privoxy default
327 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CMDOPTIONS" id="CMDOPTIONS">5.9. Command
328 Line Options</a></h2>
330 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> may be invoked with the
331 following command-line options:</p>
335 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--version</span></p>
337 <p>Print version info and exit. Unix only.</p>
341 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--help</span></p>
343 <p>Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.</p>
347 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--no-daemon</span></p>
349 <p>Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
350 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.</p>
354 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--pidfile FILE</span></p>
356 <p>On startup, write the process ID to <span class=
357 "emphasis EMPHASIS c2">FILE</span>. Delete the <span class=
358 "emphasis EMPHASIS c2">FILE</span> on exit. Failure to create or
359 delete the <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">FILE</span> is
360 non-fatal. If no <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">FILE</span>
361 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.</p>
365 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--user
366 USER[.GROUP]</span></p>
368 <p>After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
369 <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">USER</span>, and if included the
370 GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not sufficient to do so.
375 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--chroot</span></p>
377 <p>Before changing to the user ID given in the <span class=
378 "emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--user</span> option, chroot to that user's
379 home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the <span class=
380 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> process that the directory tree starts
381 there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact of possible
382 vulnerabilities in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to the
383 files contained in that hierarchy. Unix only.</p>
387 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">--pre-chroot-nslookup
390 <p>Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some
391 systems, initializing the resolver library involves reading config
392 files from /etc and/or loading additional shared libraries from
393 /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup before the chroot
394 reduces the number of files that must be copied into the chroot
397 <p>For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is
398 not in /etc/hosts but that your local name server (listed in
399 /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion (that is, without
400 having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
401 but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be
406 <p><span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">configfile</span></p>
408 <p>If no <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">configfile</span> is
409 included on the command line, <span class=
410 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named
411 <span class="QUOTE">"config"</span> in the current directory
412 (except on Win32 where it will look for <span class=
413 "QUOTE">"config.txt"</span> instead). Specify full path to avoid
414 confusion. If no config file is found, <span class=
415 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will fail to start.</p>
419 <p>On <span class="APPLICATION">MS Windows</span> only there are two
420 additional command-line options to allow <span class=
421 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to install and run as a <span class=
422 "emphasis EMPHASIS c2">service</span>. See the <a href=
423 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Window Installation
424 section</a> for details.</p>
428 <div class="NAVFOOTER">
429 <hr class="c1" width="100%">
431 <table summary="Footer navigation table" width="100%" border="0"
432 cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
434 <td width="33%" align="left" valign="top"><a href="quickstart.html"
435 accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
437 <td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"><a href="index.html"
438 accesskey="H">Home</a></td>
440 <td width="33%" align="right" valign="top"><a href=
441 "configuration.html" accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
445 <td width="33%" align="left" valign="top">Quickstart to Using
448 <td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"> </td>
450 <td width="33%" align="right" valign="top">Privoxy Configuration</td>