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41 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="STARTUP" id="STARTUP">5. Starting
44 <p>Before launching <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for the
45 first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use
46 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
47 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target=
48 "_top">proxy</a>. The default is 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy
49 address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
50 configuration step <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">that must
51 be done</i></span>!</p>
53 <p>Please note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can only
54 proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other
58 <a name="AEN858" id="AEN858"></a>
60 <p><b>Figure 2. Proxy Configuration Showing Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and
61 HTTPS (SSL) Settings</b></p>
63 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
64 <p><img src="proxy_setup.jpg"></p>
68 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, this is typically set
71 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
72 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class=
73 "GUIBUTTON">Options</span> -> <span class=
74 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
75 "GUIBUTTON">Network</span> -><span class=
76 "GUIBUTTON">Connection</span> -> <span class=
77 "GUIBUTTON">Settings</span><br></p>
79 <p>Or optionally on some platforms:</p>
81 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
82 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
83 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
84 "GUIBUTTON">General</span> -> <span class=
85 "GUIBUTTON">Connection Settings</span> -> <span class=
86 "GUIBUTTON">Manual Proxy Configuration</span><br></p>
88 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Netscape</span> (and <span class=
89 "APPLICATION">Mozilla</span>), this can be set under:</p>
91 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
92 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
93 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
94 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
95 "GUIBUTTON">Proxies</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">HTTP
98 <p>For <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer v.5-7</span>:</p>
100 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
101 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Internet
102 Options</span> -> <span class=
103 "GUIBUTTON">Connections</span> -> <span class=
104 "GUIBUTTON">LAN Settings</span></p>
106 <p>Then, check <span class="QUOTE">"Use Proxy"</span> and fill in the
107 appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL),
108 if you want HTTPS proxy support too (sometimes labeled <span class=
109 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span>). Make sure any checkboxes like <span class=
110 "QUOTE">"Use the same proxy server for all protocols"</span> is
111 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">UNCHECKED</i></span>. You want
112 only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!</p>
115 <a name="AEN903" id="AEN903"></a>
117 <p><b>Figure 3. Proxy Configuration Showing Internet Explorer HTTP and
118 HTTPS (Secure) Settings</b></p>
120 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
121 <p><img src="proxy2.jpg"></p>
125 <p>After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force
126 a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached.
127 Remove any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
128 "_top">cookies</a>, if you want <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
129 to manage that. You are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
130 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>!</p>
132 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> itself is typically started
133 by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line.
134 If no configuration file is specified on the command line, <span class=
135 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named <tt class=
136 "FILENAME">config</tt> in the current directory. Except on Win32 where it
137 will try <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>.</p>
140 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-REDHAT" id="START-REDHAT">5.1. Red Hat
143 <p>A default Red Hat installation may not start <span class=
144 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon boot. It will use the file <tt class=
145 "FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration file.</p>
147 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
151 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
159 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
163 # service privoxy start
171 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-DEBIAN" id="START-DEBIAN">5.2.
174 <p>We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts <span class=
175 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon booting per default. It will use the
176 file <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main
177 configuration file.</p>
179 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
183 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
191 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-WINDOWS" id="START-WINDOWS">5.3.
194 <p>Click on the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> Icon to start
195 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. If no configuration file is
196 specified on the command line, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
197 will look for a file named <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>. Note
198 that Windows will automatically start <span class=
199 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> when the system starts if you chose that
200 option when installing.</p>
202 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can run with full Windows
203 service functionality. On Windows only, the <span class=
204 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> program has two new command line arguments
205 to install and uninstall <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a
206 service. See the <a href=
207 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Windows Installation
208 instructions</a> for details.</p>
212 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-UNICES" id="START-UNICES">5.4.
213 Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</a></h2>
215 <p>Example Unix startup command:</p>
217 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
221 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
229 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-OS2" id="START-OS2">5.5. OS/2</a></h2>
231 <p>During installation, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
232 configured to start automatically when the system restarts. You can
233 start it manually by double-clicking on the <span class=
234 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> icon in the <span class=
235 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> folder.</p>
239 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-MACOSX" id="START-MACOSX">5.6. Mac OS
242 <p>After downloading the privoxy software, unzip the downloaded file by
243 double-clicking on the zip file icon. Then, double-click on the
244 installer package icon and follow the installation process.</p>
246 <p>The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
247 installation. In addition, the privoxy service will automatically start
248 every time your computer starts up.</p>
250 <p>To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
251 computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
252 /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.</p>
254 <p>A simple application named Privoxy Utility has been created which
255 enables administrators to easily start and stop the privoxy
258 <p>In addition, the Privoxy Utility presents a simple way for
259 administrators to edit the various privoxy config files. A method to
260 uninstall the software is also available.</p>
262 <p>An administrator username and password must be supplied in order for
263 the Privoxy Utility to perform any of the tasks.</p>
267 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-AMIGAOS" id="START-AMIGAOS">5.7.
270 <p>Start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> (with RUN
271 <>NIL:) in your <tt class="FILENAME">startnet</tt> script
272 (AmiTCP), in <tt class="FILENAME">s:user-startup</tt> (RoadShow), as
273 startup program in your startup script (Genesis), or as startup action
274 (Miami and MiamiDx). <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will
275 automatically quit when you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the
276 harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that <span class=
277 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is still running).</p>
281 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-GENTOO" id="START-GENTOO">5.8.
284 <p>A script is again used. It will use the file <tt class=
285 "FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration file.</p>
287 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
291 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
298 <p>Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not
299 automatically started at boot time by default. You can change this with
300 the <tt class="LITERAL">rc-update</tt> command.</p>
302 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
306 rc-update add privoxy default
315 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CMDOPTIONS" id="CMDOPTIONS">5.9. Command
316 Line Options</a></h2>
318 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> may be invoked with the
319 following command-line options:</p>
323 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
324 "EMPHASIS">--config-test</i></span></p>
326 <p>Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
327 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the
328 configuration files have been successfully loaded.</p>
330 <p>If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
331 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
332 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can
333 currently only be detected at run time).</p>
335 <p>This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
336 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--no-daemon</i></span>
337 is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't be used.</p>
341 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
342 "EMPHASIS">--version</i></span></p>
344 <p>Print version info and exit. Unix only.</p>
348 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--help</i></span></p>
350 <p>Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.</p>
354 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
355 "EMPHASIS">--no-daemon</i></span></p>
357 <p>Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
358 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.</p>
362 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--pidfile
365 <p>On startup, write the process ID to <span class=
366 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span>. Delete the
367 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> on exit.
368 Failure to create or delete the <span class="emphasis"><i class=
369 "EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> is non-fatal. If no <span class=
370 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> option is given, no
371 PID file will be used. Unix only.</p>
375 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user
376 USER[.GROUP]</i></span></p>
378 <p>After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
379 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">USER</i></span>, and if
380 included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not
381 sufficient to do so. Unix only.</p>
385 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
386 "EMPHASIS">--chroot</i></span></p>
388 <p>Before changing to the user ID given in the <span class=
389 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user</i></span> option, chroot to
390 that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the
391 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> process that the directory
392 tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact
393 of possible vulnerabilities in <span class=
394 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to the files contained in that
395 hierarchy. Unix only.</p>
399 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--pre-chroot-nslookup
400 hostname</i></span></p>
402 <p>Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some
403 systems, initializing the resolver library involves reading config
404 files from /etc and/or loading additional shared libraries from
405 /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup before the chroot
406 reduces the number of files that must be copied into the chroot
409 <p>For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is
410 not in /etc/hosts but that your local name server (listed in
411 /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion (that is, without
412 having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
413 but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be
418 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
419 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span></p>
421 <p>If no <span class="emphasis"><i class=
422 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span> is included on the command line,
423 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named
424 <span class="QUOTE">"config"</span> in the current directory
425 (except on Win32 where it will look for <span class=
426 "QUOTE">"config.txt"</span> instead). Specify full path to avoid
427 confusion. If no config file is found, <span class=
428 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will fail to start.</p>
432 <p>On <span class="APPLICATION">MS Windows</span> only there are two
433 additional command-line options to allow <span class=
434 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to install and run as a <span class=
435 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">service</i></span>. See the <a href=
436 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Window Installation
437 section</a> for details.</p>
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