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86 >3.1. Where can I get updated Actions Files?</H3
88 > Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updated actions files will be
89 made available on the <A
90 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118"
95 HREF="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/"
101 > If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
105 > or the actions file, <A
106 HREF="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/"
109 to our announce mailing list</A
110 >, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
120 >3.2. Can I use my old config files?</H3
122 > The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained the same
123 throughout the 3.x series. Although each release contains updated,
127 > versions and it is recommended to use the newer
131 > But all configuration files have substantially
132 changed from the <SPAN
139 >. The old files, like
143 > will not work at all.
147 HREF="../user-manual/whatsnew.html"
151 page for information on configuration changes that may occur from one release to another.
161 >3.3. What is an <SPAN
167 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
172 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
179 > could take while processing a certain
180 request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
181 that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
182 There is a wide array of actions available that give the user a high degree
183 of control and flexibility on how to process each and every web page.</P
185 > Actions can be defined on a <A
186 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
190 for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or parts thereof etc. Actions can also be
191 grouped together and then applied to requests matching one or more patterns.
192 There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
193 if you are blocking cookies as one of your default actions, but need to accept
194 cookies from a given site, you would need to define an exception for this
195 site in one of your actions files, preferably in <TT
210 > concept confuses me. Please list
216 > For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
218 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
223 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
228 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
230 >list of all actions</A
233 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
237 > to get you started.</P
246 >3.5. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
249 > Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
250 with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
254 >'s user interface with your web browser
256 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/"
258 >http://config.privoxy.org/</A
268 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
271 change the current configuration</A
282 >3.6. There are several different <SPAN
291 > v2.9.15, three actions files
292 are being included, to be used for
293 different purposes: These are
301 which is actively maintained by the <SPAN
308 >, where users are encouraged
309 to make their private customizations, and <TT
313 which is for internal <SPAN
318 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
320 >the actions chapter</A
323 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
327 detailed explanation.</P
329 > Earlier versions included three different versions of the
333 > file. The new scheme allows for
334 greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
335 selection of pre-defined <SPAN
337 >"aggressiveness"</SPAN
347 >3.7. How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</H3
349 > The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
350 It will, however, make all cookies temporary, so that your browser will forget your
351 login credentials in between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log
352 in manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all cookie handling
356 > file. An example for yahoo might
368 ># Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
371 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
373 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
375 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
377 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
379 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
381 >session-cookies-only</A
383 .login.yahoo.com</PRE
397 >3.8. What's the difference between the
406 >"Adventuresome"</SPAN
412 > is not entirely trivial. To
413 help you get started, we provide you with three different default action
417 > in the web based actions file editor at <A
418 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
420 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
423 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
430 > for a list of actions, and how the default
434 > Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
438 > sites are included, but in
439 general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more exceptions
440 you will have to make later. See the <A
441 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
448 for a more deatiled discussion.</P
450 > It should be noted that the <SPAN
452 >"Adventuresome"</SPAN
453 > profile (formerly known
457 > profile) is not only more
458 aggressive, but also includes fun and, extreme usage of most of
462 > features. Use at your own risk!</P
471 >3.9. Why can I change the configuration
472 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</H3
474 > It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
475 browsers, although the whole <TT
479 belongs to the user <SPAN
482 >, with only 644 permissions.
485 > When you use the browser-based editor, <SPAN
489 itself is writing to the config files. Because
493 > is running as the user <SPAN
497 it can update the config files.
503 > for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
504 a LAN), you will probably want to turn the web-based editor and remote toggle
505 features off by setting <SPAN
510 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
512 >enable-edit-actions</A
521 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE"
523 >enable-remote-toggle</A
528 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
530 >main configuration file</A
534 > Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
538 >) can connect to <SPAN
542 so this is not (normally) a security problem.
552 >3.10. What is the <TT
555 > file? What is a <SPAN
561 HREF="../user-manual/filter-file.html"
574 > as supplied by the developers are defined.
575 Filters are a special subset of actions that can be used to modify or
576 remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <SPAN
583 in the page source (and optionally both client and server headers), including
584 HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
585 There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The
586 filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
588 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"
595 > in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
596 disabled for inappropriate MIME types.</P
598 > If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
602 > with a text editor and define
603 your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
604 requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP. You should
605 place any modifications to the default filters, or any new ones you create
606 in a separate file, such as <TT
610 be overwritten during upgrades. The ability to define multiple filter files
614 > is a new feature as of v. 3.0.4.</P
616 > There is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
617 but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
622 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
624 >web-based actions file editor</A
634 >3.11. How can I set up <SPAN
637 > to act as a proxy for my
643 > only responds to requests
647 > (localhost). To have it act as a server for
648 a network, this needs to be changed in the <A
649 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
651 >main configuration file</A
656 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS"
661 option, which may be commented out with a <SPAN
665 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
666 and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
670 > on port 8118, this line
681 > listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</PRE
687 > Save the file, and restart <SPAN
691 all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.</P
693 > Alternately, you can have <SPAN
697 all available interfaces:</P
707 > listen-address :8118</PRE
718 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#PERMIT-ACCESS"
722 feature to limit connections. A firewall in this situation is recommended
725 > The above steps should be the same for any TCP network, regardless of
731 > on a LAN with untrusted users,
732 we recommend that you double-check the <A
733 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
735 >access control and security</A
746 >3.12. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</H3
748 > The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the <A
749 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
753 >set-image-blocker</TT
756 >. You have the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF
760 >), or a redirect to a custom image of your choice.
761 Note that this choice only has effect for images which are blocked as images, i.e.
762 whose URLs match both a <TT
765 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
779 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"
785 > If you want to see nothing, then change the <A
786 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
790 >set-image-blocker</TT
796 >. This can be done by editing the
800 > file, or trough the <A
801 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
803 >web-based actions file editor</A
813 >3.13. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</H3
816 HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD"
817 >telling which image is an ad and which
819 >, is mostly guesswork. While we hope that the standard configuration
820 is rather smart, it can and will make errors. The checkerboard image is visually
821 decent, but it shows you that and where images were blocked, which can be very
822 helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
823 erraneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
839 >3.14. I see some images being replaced by a text
840 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</H3
842 > This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
843 page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
844 or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are blocked. Being non-images
845 they get replaced by a substitute HTML page rather than a substitute image,
846 which wouldn't work out technically, since the browser expects and accepts
847 only HTML when it has requested an HTML document. </P
849 > The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself as a
850 miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown with a
851 large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.</P
853 > If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to it that
854 the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked. Clicking
858 > link offered in the substitute page will show
859 you which rule blocked the page. After changing the rule and un-blocking
860 the HTML documents, the browser will try to load the actual banner images
861 and the usual image blocking will (hopefully!) kick in.</P
876 > Yes. Version 3.0.4 introduces full <SPAN
880 functionality. See <A
881 HREF="../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win"
884 > for details on how to install and configure
890 > Earlier versions could run as a system service using <B
894 See the discussion at <A
895 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118"
897 >http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</A
899 for details, and a sample configuration.</P
908 >3.16. How can I make <SPAN
920 > This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
924 > with those of a another proxy.
926 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
928 >forwarding chapter</A
931 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
935 describes how to do this.</P
944 >3.17. Can I just set <SPAN
948 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</H3
950 > No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
951 of proxies known as <SPAN
954 > proxies (see below).</P
974 > currently does not have this ability,
975 though it may be added in a future release. Transparent proxies require
976 special handling of the request headers beyond what
980 > is now capable of.</P
985 > behind another proxy that has
986 this ability should work though.
988 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
990 >forwarding chapter</A
993 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
997 a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
999 HREF="http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/"
1001 >http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/</A
1011 >3.19. How can I configure <SPAN
1014 > for use with <SPAN
1022 >Outlook Express</SPAN
1025 >Internet Explorer</SPAN
1027 components to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email.
1028 So however you have <SPAN
1031 > configured to work
1032 with IE, this configuration should automatically be shared.</P
1041 >3.20. How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</H3
1043 > The short answer is, you can't. <SPAN
1047 of knowing which particular application makes a request, so there is no way to
1048 distinguish between web pages and HTML mail.
1052 > just blindly proxies all requests. In the
1055 >Outlook Express</SPAN
1056 > (see above), OE uses
1057 IE anyway, and there is no way for <SPAN
1061 be able to distinguish between them (nor could any other proxy type application for
1064 > For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including privacy and
1065 security issues), see
1067 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118"
1069 >http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118</A
1077 NAME="ALLOW-COOKIES"
1079 >3.21. How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</H3
1081 > There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default behavior is to
1084 >"session cookies"</SPAN
1085 >, which means the cookies only last
1086 for the current browser session. This eliminates most kinds of abuse related
1087 to cookies. But there may be cases where we want cookies to last.</P
1089 > To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed unrestricted,
1090 both in and out, for <TT
1103 > { -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies -session-cookies-only -filter{content-cookies} }
1110 > Place the above in <TT
1113 >. Note some of these may
1114 be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant, but there is no harm
1115 being explicit in what you want to happen. <TT
1119 includes an alias for this situation, called
1122 >allow-all-cookies</TT
1132 >3.22. Can I have separate configurations for different users?</H3
1134 > Each instance of <SPAN
1138 configuration, including such attributes as the TCP port that it listens on.
1139 What you can do is run multiple instances of <SPAN
1146 > and configuration path, and then
1147 each of these can have their own configurations. Think of it as per-port
1151 Simple enough for a few users, but for large installations, consider having
1152 groups of users that might share like configurations.</P
1161 >3.23. Can I set-up <SPAN
1170 > Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple whitelisting.
1171 Here's one real easy one:</P
1180 > ############################################################
1182 ############################################################
1184 / # Block *all* URLs
1186 ############################################################
1188 ############################################################
1192 games.example.com</PRE
1197 > This allows access to only those three sites.</P
1199 > A more interesting approach is <SPAN
1206 > concept, which incorporates the notion of
1209 >"trusted referrers"</SPAN
1211 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE"
1213 >User Manual Trust</A
1217 > These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There
1218 are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described
1219 elsewhere here and in <A
1220 HREF="../user-manual/"
1224 so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
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