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3 <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Man page of PRIVOXY</TITLE>
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6 Section: (1)<BR>Updated: 15 February 2009<BR><A HREF="#index">Index</A>
9 <A NAME="lbAB"> </A>
12 privoxy - Privacy Enhancing Proxy
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17 <B>privoxy</B> [<B>--help</B> ] [<B>--version</B> ] [<B>--no-daemon</B> ] [<B>--pidfile </B><I>pidfile</I><B></B> ] [<B>--user </B><I>user[.group]</I><B></B> ] [<B>--chroot</B> ] [<B>--pre-chroot-nslookup </B><I>hostname</I><B></B> ] [<B></B><I>configfile</I><B></B> ]
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24 <B>Privoxy</B> may be invoked with the following command line
28 Print brief usage info and exit.
29 <DT><B>--version</B><DD>
30 Print version info and exit.
31 <DT><B>--no-daemon</B><DD>
32 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
33 leader, don't detach from controlling tty, and do all logging there.
34 <DT><B>--pidfile </B><I>pidfile</I><B></B><DD>
35 On startup, write the process ID to <I>pidfile</I>.
36 Delete the <I>pidfile</I> on exit.
37 Failure to create or delete the <I>pidfile</I>
38 is non-fatal. If no <B>--pidfile</B> option is given, no PID file will be used.
39 <DT><B>--user </B><I>user[.group]</I><B></B><DD>
40 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
41 <I>user</I> and the GID of
42 <I>group</I>, or, if the optional
43 <I>group</I> was not given, the default group of
44 <I>user</I>. Exit if the privileges are not
46 <DT><B>--chroot</B><DD>
47 Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option, chroot to
48 that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the
49 <B>Privoxy</B> process that the directory tree starts
50 there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact of possible
51 vulnerabilities in <B>Privoxy</B> to the files contained in
53 <DT><B>--pre-chroot-nslookup </B><I>hostname</I><B></B><DD>
54 Initialize the resolver library using <I>hostname</I>
55 before chroot'ing. On some systems this reduces the number of files
56 that must be copied into the chroot tree.
60 If the <I>configfile</I> is not specified on the command line,
61 <B>Privoxy</B> will look for a file named
62 <I>config</I> in the current directory. If no
63 <I>configfile</I> is found, <B>Privoxy</B> will
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70 Privoxy is a non-caching
72 with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy,
73 modifying web page data, managing HTTP
75 controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious
76 Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be
77 customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for
78 both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.
81 Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
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83 <H2>INSTALLATION AND USAGE</H2>
87 Browsers can either be individually configured to use
88 <B>Privoxy</B> as a HTTP proxy (recommended),
89 or <B>Privoxy</B> can be combined with a packet
90 filter to build an intercepting proxy
91 (see <I>config</I>). The default setting is for
92 localhost, on port 8118 (configurable in the main config file). To set the
93 HTTP proxy in Netscape and Mozilla, go through: <B>Edit</B>;
94 <B>Preferences</B>; <B>Advanced</B>;
95 <B>Proxies</B>; <B>Manual Proxy Configuration</B>;
99 For Firefox, go through: <B>Tools</B>;
100 <B>Options</B>; <B>General</B>;
101 <B>Connection Settings</B>;
102 <B>Manual Proxy Configuration</B>.
105 For Internet Explorer, go through: <B>Tools</B>;
106 <B>Internet Properties</B>; <B>Connections</B>;
110 The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise
111 https: URLs will not be proxied. Note: <B>Privoxy</B> can only
112 proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols.
113 HTTPS presents some limitations, and not all features will work with HTTPS
117 For other browsers, check the documentation.
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119 <H2>CONFIGURATION</H2>
123 <B>Privoxy</B> can be configured with the various configuration
124 files. The default configuration files are: <I>config</I>,
125 <I>default.filter</I>, and
126 <I>default.action</I>. <I>user.action</I> should
127 be used for locally defined exceptions to the default rules of
128 <I>default.action</I>, and <I>user.filter</I> for
129 locally defined filters. These are well commented. On Unix
130 and Unix-like systems, these are located in
131 <I>/etc/privoxy/</I> by default.
134 <B>Privoxy</B> uses the concept of <B>actions</B>
135 in order to manipulate the data stream between the browser and remote sites.
136 There are various actions available with specific functions for such things
137 as blocking web sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked
138 individually or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs
139 that can be defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is
140 that the user has greatly enhanced control and freedom.
143 The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your
144 web browser at <A HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</A>
145 (assuming the configuration allows it).
146 <B>Privoxy's</B> configuration parameters can also be viewed at
147 the same page. In addition, <B>Privoxy</B> can be toggled on/off.
148 This is an internal page, and does not require Internet access.
151 See the <I>User Manual</I> for a detailed
152 explanation of installation, general usage, all configuration options, new
153 features and notes on upgrading.
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155 <H2>SAMPLE CONFIGURATION</H2>
159 A brief example of what a simple <I>default.action</I>
160 configuration might look like:
163 # Define a few useful custom aliases for later use
166 # Useful aliases that combine more than one action
167 +crunch-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
168 -crunch-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
169 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
171 # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes
172 fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter \
173 -hide-referer -prevent-cookies
175 ## Turn some actions on ################################
176 ## NOTE: Actions are off by default, unless explictily turned on
177 ## otherwise with the '+' operator.
180 +change-x-forwarded-for{block} \
181 +deanimate-gifs{last} \
182 +filter{refresh-tags} \
183 +filter{img-reorder} \
184 +filter{banners-by-size} \
186 +filter{jumping-windows} \
187 +filter{ie-exploits} \
188 +hide-from-header{block} \
189 +hide-referrer{conditional-block} \
190 +session-cookies-only \
191 +set-image-blocker{pattern} \
193 / # '/' Match *all* URL patterns
196 # Block all URLs that match these patterns
202 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
204 media./.*(ads|banner)
206 # Block, and treat these URL patterns as if they were 'images'.
207 # We would expect these to be ads.
210 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
213 # Make exceptions for these harmless ones that would be
214 # caught by our +block patterns just above.
220 # uploads or downloads
226 Then for a <I>user.action</I>, we would put local,
227 narrowly defined exceptions:
230 # Re-define aliases as needed here
234 -crunch-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
236 # Set personal exceptions to the policies in default.action #######
238 # Sites where we want persistent cookies, so allow *all* cookies
239 { -crunch-cookies -session-cookies-only }
244 # These sites break easily. Use our "fragile" alias here.
249 # Replace example.com's style sheet with one of my choosing
250 { +redirect{<A HREF="http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css}">http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css}</A> }
251 .example.com/stylesheet.css
256 See the comments in the configuration files themselves, or the
258 for full explanations of the above syntax, and other <B>Privoxy</B>
259 configuration options.
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266 <I>/usr/sbin/privoxy</I>
267 <I>/etc/privoxy/config</I>
268 <I>/etc/privoxy/match-all.action</I>
269 <I>/etc/privoxy/default.action</I>
270 <I>/etc/privoxy/user.action</I>
271 <I>/etc/privoxy/default.filter</I>
272 <I>/etc/privoxy/user.filter</I>
273 <I>/etc/privoxy/trust</I>
274 <I>/etc/privoxy/templates/*</I>
275 <I>/var/log/privoxy/logfile</I>
280 Various other files should be included, but may vary depending on platform
281 and build configuration. Additional documentation should be included in the local
282 documentation directory.
283 <A NAME="lbAJ"> </A>
288 <B>Privoxy</B> terminates on the <B>SIGINT</B>,
289 <B>SIGTERM</B> and <B>SIGABRT</B> signals. Log
290 rotation scripts may cause a re-opening of the logfile by sending a
291 <B>SIGHUP</B> to <B>Privoxy</B>. Note that unlike
292 other daemons, <B>Privoxy</B> does not need to be made aware of
293 config file changes by <B>SIGHUP</B> -- it will detect them
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300 Please see the <I>User Manual</I> on how to contact the
301 developers, for feature requests, reporting problems, and other questions.
302 <A NAME="lbAL"> </A>
307 Other references and sites of interest to <B>Privoxy</B>
312 <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/">http://www.privoxy.org/,</A>
313 the <B>Privoxy</B> Home page.
315 <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/,</A>
316 the <B>Privoxy</B> FAQ.
318 <A HREF="https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/,</A>
319 the Project Page for <B>Privoxy</B> on
322 <A HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/,</A>
323 the web-based user interface. <B>Privoxy</B> must be
324 running for this to work. Shortcut: <A HREF="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</A>
326 <A HREF="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118">https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118</A>&atid=460288, to submit ``misses'' and other
327 configuration related suggestions to the developers.
329 <A HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html">http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html,</A>
330 an explanation how cookies are used to track web users.
332 <A HREF="http://www.junkbusters.com/ijb.html">http://www.junkbusters.com/ijb.html,</A>
333 the original Internet Junkbuster.
335 <A HREF="http://www.squid-cache.org/">http://www.squid-cache.org/,</A> a popular
336 caching proxy, which is often used together with <B>Privoxy</B>.
338 <A HREF="http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~jch/software/polipo/">http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~jch/software/polipo/,</A>
339 <B>Polipo</B> is a caching proxy with advanced features
340 like pipelining, multiplexing and caching of partial instances. In many setups
341 it can be used as <B>Squid</B> replacement.
343 <A HREF="https://www.torproject.org/">https://www.torproject.org/,</A>
344 <B>Tor</B> can help anonymize web browsing,
345 web publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications.
347 <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/,</A>
348 the <B>Privoxy</B> developer manual.
349 <A NAME="lbAM"> </A>
350 <H2>DEVELOPMENT TEAM</H2>
354 Fabian Keil, lead developer
355 David Schmidt, developer
365 <A NAME="lbAN"> </A>
366 <H2>COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE</H2>
368 <A NAME="lbAO"> </A>
373 Copyright (C) 2001-2009 by Privoxy Developers <<A HREF="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</A>>
376 Some source code is based on code Copyright (C) 1997 by Anonymous Coders
377 and Junkbusters, Inc. and licensed under the <I>GNU General Public
379 <A NAME="lbAP"> </A>
384 <B>Privoxy</B> is free software; you can
385 redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
386 <I>GNU General Public License</I>, version 2,
387 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
390 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
391 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
392 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the <I>GNU General Public License</I> for details.
395 You should have received a copy of the <I>GNU GPL</I>
396 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
397 Foundation, Inc. 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
398 Boston, MA 02110-1301
403 <A NAME="index"> </A><H2>Index</H2>
405 <DT><A HREF="#lbAB">NAME</A><DD>
406 <DT><A HREF="#lbAC">SYNOPSIS</A><DD>
407 <DT><A HREF="#lbAD">OPTIONS</A><DD>
408 <DT><A HREF="#lbAE">DESCRIPTION</A><DD>
409 <DT><A HREF="#lbAF">INSTALLATION AND USAGE</A><DD>
410 <DT><A HREF="#lbAG">CONFIGURATION</A><DD>
411 <DT><A HREF="#lbAH">SAMPLE CONFIGURATION</A><DD>
412 <DT><A HREF="#lbAI">FILES</A><DD>
413 <DT><A HREF="#lbAJ">SIGNALS</A><DD>
414 <DT><A HREF="#lbAK">NOTES</A><DD>
415 <DT><A HREF="#lbAL">SEE ALSO</A><DD>
416 <DT><A HREF="#lbAM">DEVELOPMENT TEAM</A><DD>
417 <DT><A HREF="#lbAN">COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE</A><DD>
419 <DT><A HREF="#lbAO">COPYRIGHT</A><DD>
420 <DT><A HREF="#lbAP">LICENSE</A><DD>
424 This document was created by
426 using the manual pages.<BR>
427 Time: 18:45:33 GMT, February 15, 2009