4 <title>Privoxy Man page</title>
5 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../p_web.css">
10 [<b>--pidfile</b> <i>pidfile</i> ] [<b>--pre-chroot-nslookup</b> <i>hostname</i> ] [<b>--user</b>
11 <i>user[.group]</i> ] [<b>--version</b> ] [<i>configfile</i> ]
18 <b>Privoxy</b> may be invoked with the following command line options:
21 Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option,
22 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel
23 pretend to the <b>Privoxy</b> process that the directory tree starts
24 there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact of
25 possible vulnerabilities in <b>Privoxy</b> to the files contained in
29 Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
30 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the
31 configuration files have been successfully loaded.
33 If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
34 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
35 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can
36 currently only be detected at run time).
38 This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
39 "--no-daemon" is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't
42 <b>--help</b> Print brief usage info and exit.
45 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process
46 group leader, don't detach from controlling tty, and do all
49 <b>--pidfile</b> <i>pidfile</i>
50 On startup, write the process ID to <i>pidfile</i>. Delete the <i>pidfile</i>
51 on exit. Failure to create or delete the <i>pidfile</i> is non-fatal.
52 If no <b>--pidfile</b> option is given, no PID file will be used.
54 <b>--pre-chroot-nslookup</b> <i>hostname</i>
55 Initialize the resolver library using <i>hostname</i> before
56 chroot'ing. On some systems this reduces the number of files
57 that must be copied into the chroot tree.
59 <b>--user</b> <i>user[.group]</i>
60 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
61 <i>user</i> and the GID of <i>group</i>, or, if the optional <i>group</i> was not
62 given, the default group of <i>user</i>. Exit if the privileges are not
66 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later.
68 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest
71 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
73 • https://www.privoxy.org/participate
75 • https://www.privoxy.org/donate
79 <h2>INSTALLATION AND USAGE</h2>
81 Browsers can either be individually configured to use <b>Privoxy</b> as a HTTP
82 proxy (recommended), or <b>Privoxy</b> can be combined with a packet filter to
83 build an intercepting proxy (see <i>config</i>). The default setting is for
84 localhost, on port 8118 (configurable in the main config file). To
85 set the HTTP proxy in Firefox, go through: <b>Tools</b>; <b>Options</b>; <b>General</b>;
86 <b>Connection</b> <b>Settings</b>; <b>Manual</b> <b>Proxy</b> <b>Configuration</b>.
88 For Internet Explorer, go through: <b>Tools</b>; <b>Internet</b> <b>Properties</b>;
89 <b>Connections</b>; <b>LAN</b> <b>Settings</b>.
91 The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise
92 https: URLs will not be proxied. Note: <b>Privoxy</b> can only proxy HTTP and
93 HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols. HTTPS
94 presents some limitations, and not all features will work with HTTPS
97 For other browsers, check the documentation.
101 <h2>CONFIGURATION</h2>
103 <b>Privoxy</b> can be configured with the various configuration files. The
104 default configuration files are: <i>config</i>, <i>default.filter</i>, <i>default.action</i>
105 and <i>default.action</i>. <i>user.action</i> should be used for locally defined
106 exceptions to the default rules in <i>match-all.action</i> and <i>default.action</i>,
107 and <i>user.filter</i> for locally defined filters. These are well commented.
108 On Unix and Unix-like systems, these are located in <i>/etc/privoxy/</i> by
111 <b>Privoxy</b> uses the concept of <b>actions</b> in order to manipulate the data
112 stream between the browser and remote sites. There are various actions
113 available with specific functions for such things as blocking web
114 sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked individually
115 or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs that
116 can be defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is
117 that the user has greatly enhanced control and freedom.
119 The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your web
120 browser at http://config.privoxy.org/ (assuming the configuration
121 allows it). <b>Privoxy's</b> configuration parameters can also be viewed at
122 the same page. In addition, <b>Privoxy</b> can be toggled on/off. This is an
123 <i>/etc/privoxy/templates/*</i>
124 <i>/var/log/privoxy/logfile</i>
126 Various other files should be included, but may vary depending on
127 platform and build configuration. Additional documentation should be
128 included in the local documentation directory.
134 <b>Privoxy</b> terminates on the <b>SIGINT</b> and <b>SIGTERM</b> signals. Log rotation
135 scripts may cause a re-opening of the logfile by sending a <b>SIGHUP</b> to
136 <b>Privoxy</b>. Note that unlike other daemons, <b>Privoxy</b> does not need to be
137 made aware of config file changes by <b>SIGHUP</b> -- it will detect them
138 automatically. Signals other than the ones listed above aren't
139 explicitly handled and result in the default action defined by the
146 Please see the <i>User</i> <i>Manual</i> on how to contact the developers, for
147 feature requests, reporting problems, and other questions.
153 Other references and sites of interest to <b>Privoxy</b> users:
155 https://www.privoxy.org/, the <b>Privoxy</b> Home page.
157 https://www.privoxy.org/faq/, the <b>Privoxy</b> FAQ.
159 https://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/, the <b>Privoxy</b> developer
162 https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/, the Project Page for <b>Privoxy</b>
165 http://config.privoxy.org/, the web-based user interface. <b>Privoxy</b> must
166 be running for this to work. Shortcut: http://p.p/
168 https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/, to submit
169 ``misses'' and other configuration related suggestions to the
174 <h2>DEVELOPMENT TEAM</h2>
176 Fabian Keil, lead developer
184 <h2>COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE</h2>
190 Copyright (C) 2001-2023 by Privoxy Developers <privoxy-
191 devel@lists.privoxy.org>
193 (at your option) any later version.
195 <b>Privoxy</b> is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
196 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
197 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the <i>license</i> for details.
199 Privoxy 3.0.34 05 February 2023 <b>PRIVOXY(8)</b>