2 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/p-config.sgml,v $
4 Purpose : Used with other docs and files only.
6 $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.47 2009/04/17 11:40:48 fabiankeil Exp $
8 Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
11 ========================================================================
12 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
13 anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
14 ========================================================================
17 This file contains all the config file comments and options. It used to
18 build both the user-manual config sections, and all of config (yes, the main
21 Rationale: This is broken up into two files since a file with a prolog
22 (DTD, etc) cannot be sourced as a secondary file. config.sgml is basically
23 a wrapper for this file.
27 OPTIONS: The actual options are included in this file and prefixed with
28 '@@', and processed by the Makefile to strip the '@@'. Default options
29 that should appear commented out should be listed as: '@@#OPTION'.
30 Otherwise, as '@@OPTION'. Example:
32 @@listen-address 127.0.0.1:8118
34 The Makefile does significant other processing too. The final results
35 should be checked to make sure that the perl processing does not
36 fubar something!!! Makefile processing requires w3m, fmt (shell line
40 This file is included into:
43 config (the actual Privoxy config file)
48 <!-- This part only goes into user-manual -->
50 <title>The Main Configuration File</title>
53 Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
54 Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2, and <filename>config.txt</filename> on Windows.
55 Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of
56 values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For
64 <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis></literallayout>
70 Assigns the value <literal>/etc/privoxy</literal> to the option
71 <literal>confdir</literal> and thus indicates that the configuration
72 directory is named <quote>/etc/privoxy/</quote>.
76 All options in the config file except for <literal>confdir</literal> and
77 <literal>logdir</literal> are optional. Watch out in the below description
78 for what happens if you leave them unset.
82 The main config file controls all aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>'s
83 operation that are not location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter
84 where you may be surfing).
91 <!-- This part only goes into the config file -->
94 @@TITLE<!-- between the @@ is stripped by Makefile -->@@
95 Sample Configuration File for Privoxy v&p-version;
98 $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.47 2009/04/17 11:40:48 fabiankeil Exp $
101 Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
106 #################################################################
111 II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE #
113 1. LOCAL SET-UP DOCUMENTATION #
114 2. CONFIGURATION AND LOG FILE LOCATIONS #
116 4. ACCESS CONTROL AND SECURITY #
118 6. WINDOWS GUI OPTIONS #
120 #################################################################
124 <literallayout>I. INTRODUCTION
125 =============== <!-- fuck this madness --></literallayout>
128 This file holds Privoxy's main configuration. Privoxy detects
129 configuration changes automatically, so you don't have to restart it
130 unless you want to load a different configuration file.
133 The configuration will be reloaded with the first request after the
134 change was done, this request itself will still use the old configuration,
135 though. In other words: it takes two requests before you see the result of
136 your changes. Requests that are dropped due to ACL don't trigger reloads.
139 When starting Privoxy on Unix systems, give the location of this
140 file as last argument. On Windows systems, Privoxy will look for
141 this file with the name 'config.txt' in the current working directory
142 of the Privoxy process.
146 <literallayout><!-- funky spacing -->
148 II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE
149 ====================================</literallayout>
152 Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list
153 of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or
157 actionsfile default.action
160 Indicates that the actionsfile is named 'default.action'.
163 The '#' indicates a comment. Any part of a line following a '#' is
164 ignored, except if the '#' is preceded by a '\'.
167 Thus, by placing a # at the start of an existing configuration line,
168 you can make it a comment and it will be treated as if it weren't there.
169 This is called "commenting out" an option and can be useful. Removing
170 the # again is called "uncommenting".
173 Note that commenting out an option and leaving it at its default
174 are two completely different things! Most options behave very
175 differently when unset. See the "Effect if unset" explanation
176 in each option's description for details.
179 Long lines can be continued on the next line by using a `\' as
185 <!-- ************************************************ -->
186 <!-- The following is common to both outputs (mostly) -->
187 <!-- ************************************************ -->
191 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
192 <sect2 id="local-set-up">
193 <title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
196 If you intend to operate <application>Privoxy</application> for more users
197 than just yourself, it might be a good idea to let them know how to reach
198 you, what you block and why you do that, your policies, etc.
202 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
203 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="user-manual"><title>user-manual</title>
206 <term>Specifies:</term>
209 Location of the <application>Privoxy</application> User Manual.
214 <term>Type of value:</term>
216 <para>A fully qualified URI</para>
220 <term>Default value:</term>
222 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
226 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
229 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/<replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable>/user-manual/</ulink>
230 will be used, where <replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable> is the <application>Privoxy</application> version.
238 The User Manual URI is the single best source of information on
239 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is used for help links from some
240 of the internal CGI pages. The manual itself is normally packaged with the
241 binary distributions, so you probably want to set this to a locally
249 Unix, in local filesystem (may not work with all browsers):
252 <screen> user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
255 Windows, in local filesystem, <emphasis>must</emphasis> use forward slash notation:
258 <screen> user-manual file:/c:/some-dir/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
261 Windows, UNC notation (with forward slashes):
264 <screen> user-manual file://///some-server/some-path/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
268 The best all purpose solution is simply to put the full local
269 <literal>PATH</literal> to where the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> is
273 <screen> user-manual /usr/share/doc/privoxy/user-manual</screen>
276 The User Manual is then available to anyone with access to
277 <application>Privoxy</application>, by following the built-in URL:
278 <literal>http://config.privoxy.org/user-manual/</literal>
279 (or the shortcut: <literal>http://p.p/user-manual/</literal>).
282 If the documentation is not on the local system, it can be accessed
283 from a remote server, as:
286 <screen> user-manual http://example.com/privoxy/user-manual/</screen>
289 <!-- this gets hammered in conversion to config. Text repeated below. -->
292 If set, this option should be <emphasis>the first option in the config
293 file</emphasis>, because it is used while the config file is being read
306 If set, this option should be the first option in the config
307 file, because it is used while the config file is being read.
316 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#user-manual http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</literallayout>]]>
320 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
321 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
325 <term>Specifies:</term>
328 A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an untrusted page is denied.
333 <term>Type of value:</term>
339 <term>Default value:</term>
341 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
345 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
348 No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
356 The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been
357 activated. (See <link linkend="trustfile"><emphasis>trustfile</emphasis></link> below.)
360 If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
361 documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here.
362 Use multiple times for multiple URLs.
365 The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
366 locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first place!
372 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#trust-info-url http://www.example.com/why_we_block.html</literallayout>]]>
373 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#trust-info-url http://www.example.com/what_we_allow.html</literallayout>]]>
377 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
378 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
382 <term>Specifies:</term>
385 An email address to reach the <application>Privoxy</application> administrator.
390 <term>Type of value:</term>
392 <para>Email address</para>
396 <term>Default value:</term>
398 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
402 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
405 No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
413 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
414 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
421 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#admin-address privoxy-admin@example.com</literallayout>]]>
425 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
426 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
430 <term>Specifies:</term>
433 A URL to documentation about the local <application>Privoxy</application> setup,
434 configuration or policies.
439 <term>Type of value:</term>
445 <term>Default value:</term>
447 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
451 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
454 No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
462 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
463 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
467 This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
473 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#proxy-info-url http://www.example.com/proxy-service.html</literallayout>]]>
477 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
481 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
483 <sect2 id="conf-log-loc">
484 <title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
487 <application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
488 other files for additional configuration, help and logging.
489 This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
490 where to find those other files.
494 The user running <application>Privoxy</application>, must have read
495 permission for all configuration files, and write permission to any files
496 that would be modified, such as log files and actions files.
500 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
501 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
505 <term>Specifies:</term>
507 <para>The directory where the other configuration files are located.</para>
511 <term>Type of value:</term>
513 <para>Path name</para>
517 <term>Default value:</term>
519 <para>/etc/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
523 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
525 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
532 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please.
535 This is really outdated and not likely to happen. HB 09/20/06
537 When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
538 per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of <quote>confdir</quote>.
539 For now, the configuration directory structure is flat, except for
540 <filename>confdir/templates</filename>, where the HTML templates for CGI
541 output reside (e.g. <application>Privoxy's</application> 404 error page).
548 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@confdir .</literallayout>]]>
551 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
552 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="templdir"><title>templdir</title>
556 <term>Specifies:</term>
558 <para>An alternative directory where the templates are loaded from.</para>
562 <term>Type of value:</term>
564 <para>Path name</para>
568 <term>Default value:</term>
574 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
576 <para>The templates are assumed to be located in confdir/template.</para>
583 <application>Privoxy's</application> original templates are usually
584 overwritten with each update. Use this option to relocate customized
585 templates that should be kept. As template variables might change
586 between updates, you shouldn't expect templates to work with
587 <application>Privoxy</application> releases other than the one
588 they were part of, though.
594 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#templdir .</literallayout>]]>
598 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
599 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
603 <term>Specifies:</term>
606 The directory where all logging takes place
607 (i.e. where the <filename>logfile</filename> is located).
612 <term>Type of value:</term>
614 <para>Path name</para>
618 <term>Default value:</term>
620 <para>/var/log/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
624 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
626 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
633 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please.
639 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@logdir .</literallayout>]]>
643 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
644 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="actionsfile"><title>
647 <anchor id="default.action">
648 <anchor id="standard.action">
649 <anchor id="user.action">
650 <!-- Note: slightly modified this section 04/28/02, hal. See NOTE. -->
653 <term>Specifies:</term>
656 The <link linkend="actions-file">actions file(s)</link> to use
661 <term>Type of value:</term>
663 <para>Complete file name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
667 <term>Default values:</term>
671 <msgtext><literallayout> match-all.action # Actions that are applied to all sites and maybe overruled later on.</literallayout></msgtext>
674 <msgtext><literallayout> default.action # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
677 <msgtext><literallayout> user.action # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
683 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
686 No actions are taken at all. More or less neutral proxying.
694 Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
697 The default values are <filename>default.action</filename>, which is the
698 <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
699 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
702 Actions files contain all the per site and per URL configuration for
703 ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc.
704 There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without at
705 least one actions file.
708 Note that since Privoxy 3.0.7, the complete filename, including the <quote>.action</quote>
709 extension has to be specified. The syntax change was necessary to be consistent
710 with the other file options and to allow previously forbidden characters.
716 <!-- NOTE: alternate markup to make a simpler list doesn't work due to -->
717 <!-- html -> text conversion, blah -->
718 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@actionsfile match-all.action # Actions that are applied to all sites and maybe overruled later on.</literallayout>]]>
719 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@actionsfile default.action # Main actions file</literallayout>]]>
721 XXX: Like user.filter, user.action should probably be commented out
722 by default as not all packages install it into the default directory.
725 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@actionsfile user.action # User customizations</literallayout>]]>
728 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
729 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
730 <anchor id="default.filter">
733 <term>Specifies:</term>
736 The <link linkend="filter-file">filter file(s)</link> to use
741 <term>Type of value:</term>
743 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
747 <term>Default value:</term>
749 <para>default.filter (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.filter.txt (Windows)</para>
753 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
756 No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
757 <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
758 actions in the actions files are turned neutral.
766 Multiple <literal>filterfile</literal> lines are permitted.
769 The <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link> contain content modification
770 rules that use <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link>. These rules permit
771 powerful changes on the content of Web pages, and optionally the headers
772 as well, e.g., you could try to disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances,
773 re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun
774 playing buzzword bingo with web pages.
778 <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
779 actions rely on the relevant filter (<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>)
780 to be defined in a filter file!
783 A pre-defined filter file called <filename>default.filter</filename> that contains
784 a number of useful filters for common problems is included in the distribution.
785 See the section on the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
789 It is recommended to place any locally adapted filters into a separate
790 file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
796 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@filterfile default.filter</literallayout>]]>
797 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#filterfile user.filter # User customizations</literallayout>]]>
801 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
802 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
806 <term>Specifies:</term>
814 <term>Type of value:</term>
816 <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
820 <term>Default value:</term>
822 <para><emphasis>Unset (commented out)</emphasis>. When activated: logfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.log (Windows).</para>
826 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
829 No logfile is written.
837 The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
838 of detail and number of messages are set with the <literal>debug</literal>
839 option (see below). The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with
840 <application>Privoxy</application> (e.g., it's not blocking an ad you
841 think it should block) and it can help you to monitor what your browser
845 Depending on the debug options below, the logfile may be a privacy risk
846 if third parties can get access to it. As most users will never look
847 at it, <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.7 and later only log fatal
851 For most troubleshooting purposes, you will have to change that,
852 please refer to the debugging section for details.
855 Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
856 periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
857 (see <quote>man cron</quote>). For Red Hat based Linux distributions, a
858 <command>logrotate</command> script has been included.
861 Any log files must be writable by whatever user <application>Privoxy</application>
862 is being run as (on Unix, default user id is <quote>privoxy</quote>).
868 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@logfile logfile</literallayout>]]>
872 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
873 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
876 <term>Specifies:</term>
879 The name of the trust file to use
884 <term>Type of value:</term>
886 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
890 <term>Default value:</term>
892 <para><emphasis>Unset (commented out)</emphasis>. When activated: trust (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> trust.txt (Windows)</para>
896 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
899 The entire trust mechanism is disabled.
907 The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and should
908 be used with care. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> recommended for the casual user.
911 If you specify a trust file, <application>Privoxy</application> will only allow
912 access to sites that are specified in the trustfile. Sites can be listed
916 Prepending a <literal>~</literal> character limits access to this site
917 only (and any sub-paths within this site), e.g.
918 <literal>~www.example.com</literal> allows access to
919 <literal>~www.example.com/features/news.html</literal>, etc.
922 Or, you can designate sites as <emphasis>trusted referrers</emphasis>, by
923 prepending the name with a <literal>+</literal> character. The effect is that
924 access to untrusted sites will be granted -- but only if a link from this
925 trusted referrer was used to get there. The link target will then be added
926 to the <quote>trustfile</quote> so that future, direct accesses will be
927 granted. Sites added via this mechanism do not become trusted referrers
928 themselves (i.e. they are added with a <literal>~</literal> designation).
929 There is a limit of 512 such entries, after which new entries will not be
933 If you use the <literal>+</literal> operator in the trust file, it may grow
934 considerably over time.
937 It is recommended that <application>Privoxy</application> be compiled with
938 the <literal>--disable-force</literal>, <literal>--disable-toggle</literal> and
939 <literal> --disable-editor</literal> options, if this feature is to be
943 Possible applications include limiting Internet access for children.
950 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#trustfile trust</literallayout>]]>
954 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
956 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
957 <sect2 id="debugging">
958 <title>Debugging</title>
961 These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem.
962 Note that you might also want to invoke
963 <application>Privoxy</application> with the <literal>--no-daemon</literal>
964 command line option when debugging.
967 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="debug"><title>debug</title>
971 <term>Specifies:</term>
974 Key values that determine what information gets logged.
979 <term>Type of value:</term>
981 <para>Integer values</para>
985 <term>Default value:</term>
987 <para>0 (i.e.: only fatal errors (that cause Privoxy to exit) are logged)</para>
991 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
994 Default value is used (see above).
1002 The available debug levels are:
1006 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request &my-app; let through. See also debug 1024.
1007 debug 2 # show each connection status
1008 debug 4 # show I/O status
1009 debug 8 # show header parsing
1010 debug 16 # log all data written to the network into the logfile
1011 debug 32 # debug force feature
1012 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters
1013 debug 128 # debug redirects
1014 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
1015 debug 512 # Common Log Format
1016 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests &my-app; didn't let through, and the reason why.
1017 debug 2048 # CGI user interface
1018 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
1019 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
1023 To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
1024 multiple <literal>debug</literal> lines.
1027 A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request
1028 as it happens. <emphasis>1, 1024, 4096 and 8192 are recommended</emphasis>
1029 so that you will notice when things go wrong. The other levels are
1030 probably only of interest if you are hunting down a specific problem.
1031 They can produce a hell of an output (especially 16).
1035 &my-app; used to ship with the debug levels recommended above enabled by
1036 default, but due to privacy concerns 3.0.7 and later are configured to
1037 only log fatal errors.
1040 If you are used to the more verbose settings, simply enable the debug lines
1044 If you want to use pure CLF (Common Log Format), you should set <quote>debug
1045 512</quote> <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis> and not enable anything else.
1048 <application>Privoxy</application> has a hard-coded limit for the
1049 length of log messages. If it's reached, messages are logged truncated
1050 and marked with <quote>... [too long, truncated]</quote>.
1053 Please don't file any support requests without trying to reproduce
1054 the problem with increased debug level first. Once you read the log
1055 messages, you may even be able to solve the problem on your own.
1061 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#debug 1 # Log the destination for each request &my-app; let through.</literallayout>]]>
1062 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests &my-app; didn't let through, and the reason why.</literallayout>]]>
1063 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings</literallayout>]]>
1064 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors</literallayout>]]>
1068 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1069 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
1073 <term>Specifies:</term>
1076 Whether to run only one server thread.
1081 <term>Type of value:</term>
1083 <para><emphasis>None</emphasis></para>
1087 <term>Default value:</term>
1089 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1093 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1096 Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability to
1097 serve multiple requests simultaneously.
1105 This option is only there for debugging purposes.
1106 <emphasis>It will drastically reduce performance.</emphasis>
1112 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#single-threaded</literallayout>]]>
1115 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1116 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hostname"><title>hostname</title>
1120 <term>Specifies:</term>
1123 The hostname shown on the CGI pages.
1128 <term>Type of value:</term>
1134 <term>Default value:</term>
1136 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1140 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1143 The hostname provided by the operating system is used.
1151 On some misconfigured systems resolving the hostname fails or
1152 takes too much time and slows Privoxy down. Setting a fixed hostname
1153 works around the problem.
1156 In other circumstances it might be desirable to show a hostname
1157 other than the one returned by the operating system. For example
1158 if the system has several different hostnames and you don't want
1159 to use the first one.
1162 Note that Privoxy does not validate the specified hostname value.
1168 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#hostname hostname.example.org</literallayout>]]>
1173 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1176 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1177 <sect2 id="access-control">
1178 <title>Access Control and Security</title>
1181 This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects
1182 of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
1186 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1187 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
1191 <term>Specifies:</term>
1194 The IP address and TCP port on which <application>Privoxy</application> will
1195 listen for client requests.
1200 <term>Type of value:</term>
1202 <para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
1207 <term>Default value:</term>
1209 <para>127.0.0.1:8118</para>
1213 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1216 Bind to 127.0.0.1 (IPv4 localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and
1217 recommended for home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on
1218 the same machine as their browser.
1226 You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
1229 If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
1230 serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you
1231 will need to override the default.
1234 IPv6 addresses containing colons have to be quoted by brackets.
1237 If you leave out the IP address, <application>Privoxy</application> will
1238 bind to all IPv4 interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable
1239 from the Internet. In that case, consider using <link
1240 linkend="acls">access control lists</link> (ACL's, see below), and/or
1241 a firewall. If the hostname is localhost, <application>Privoxy</application>
1242 will explicitly try to bind to an IPv4 address. For other hostnames it depends
1243 on the operating system which IP version will be used.
1246 If you open <application>Privoxy</application> to untrusted users, you will
1247 also want to make sure that the following actions are disabled: <literal><link
1248 linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link></literal> and
1249 <literal><link linkend="enable-remote-toggle">enable-remote-toggle</link></literal>
1254 <term>Example:</term>
1257 Suppose you are running <application>Privoxy</application> on
1258 a machine which has the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network
1259 (192.168.0.0) and has another outside connection with a different address.
1260 You want it to serve requests from inside only:
1264 listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
1268 Suppose you are running <application>Privoxy</application> on an
1269 IPv6-capable machine and you want it to listen on the IPv6 address
1270 of the loopback device:
1274 listen-address [::1]:8118
1281 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@listen-address 127.0.0.1:8118</literallayout>]]>
1285 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1286 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
1290 <term>Specifies:</term>
1293 Initial state of "toggle" status
1298 <term>Type of value:</term>
1304 <term>Default value:</term>
1310 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1313 Act as if toggled on
1321 If set to 0, <application>Privoxy</application> will start in
1322 <quote>toggled off</quote> mode, i.e. mostly behave like a normal,
1323 content-neutral proxy with both ad blocking and content filtering
1324 disabled. See <literal>enable-remote-toggle</literal> below.
1326 This is not really useful
1327 anymore, since toggling is much easier via <ulink
1328 url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">the web interface</ulink> than via
1329 editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
1331 Remote toggling is now disabled by default. fk 2007-11-07)
1335 The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
1336 if this option is present.
1342 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@toggle 1</literallayout>]]>
1346 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1347 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
1350 <term>Specifies:</term>
1353 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">web-based toggle
1354 feature</ulink> may be used
1359 <term>Type of value:</term>
1365 <term>Default value:</term>
1371 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1374 The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
1382 When toggled off, <application>Privoxy</application> mostly acts like a normal,
1383 content-neutral proxy, i.e. doesn't block ads or filter content.
1386 Access to the toggle feature can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
1387 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
1388 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
1389 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
1390 toggle it for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>
1391 for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
1394 Note that malicious client side code (e.g Java) is also
1395 capable of using this option.
1398 As a lot of <application>Privoxy</application> users don't read
1399 documentation, this feature is disabled by default.
1402 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
1403 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
1409 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@enable-remote-toggle 0</literallayout>]]>
1413 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1414 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-http-toggle"><title>enable-remote-http-toggle</title>
1417 <term>Specifies:</term>
1420 Whether or not Privoxy recognizes special HTTP headers to change its behaviour.
1425 <term>Type of value:</term>
1431 <term>Default value:</term>
1437 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1440 Privoxy ignores special HTTP headers.
1448 When toggled on, the client can change <application>Privoxy's</application>
1449 behaviour by setting special HTTP headers. Currently the only supported
1450 special header is <quote>X-Filter: No</quote>, to disable filtering for
1451 the ongoing request, even if it is enabled in one of the action files.
1454 This feature is disabled by default. If you are using
1455 <application>Privoxy</application> in a environment with trusted clients,
1456 you may enable this feature at your discretion. Note that malicious client
1457 side code (e.g Java) is also capable of using this feature.
1460 This option will be removed in future releases as it has been obsoleted
1461 by the more general header taggers.
1467 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@enable-remote-http-toggle 0</literallayout>]]>
1471 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1472 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
1475 <term>Specifies:</term>
1478 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
1479 file editor</ulink> may be used
1484 <term>Type of value:</term>
1490 <term>Default value:</term>
1496 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1499 The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
1507 Access to the editor can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
1508 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
1509 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
1510 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
1511 modify its configuration for all users.
1514 This option is <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis> for environments
1515 with untrusted users and as a lot of <application>Privoxy</application>
1516 users don't read documentation, this feature is disabled by default.
1519 Note that malicious client side code (e.g Java) is also
1520 capable of using the actions editor and you shouldn't enable
1521 this options unless you understand the consequences and are
1522 sure your browser is configured correctly.
1525 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
1526 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
1532 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@enable-edit-actions 0</literallayout>]]>
1536 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enforce-blocks"><title>enforce-blocks</title>
1539 <term>Specifies:</term>
1542 Whether the user is allowed to ignore blocks and can <quote>go there anyway</quote>.
1547 <term>Type of value:</term>
1550 <replaceable>0 or 1</replaceable>
1555 <term>Default value:</term>
1557 <para><emphasis>0</emphasis></para>
1561 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1564 Blocks are not enforced.
1572 <application>Privoxy</application> is mainly used to block and filter
1573 requests as a service to the user, for example to block ads and other
1574 junk that clogs the pipes. <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration
1575 isn't perfect and sometimes innocent pages are blocked. In this situation it
1576 makes sense to allow the user to enforce the request and have
1577 <application>Privoxy</application> ignore the block.
1580 In the default configuration <application>Privoxy's</application>
1581 <quote>Blocked</quote> page contains a <quote>go there anyway</quote>
1582 link to adds a special string (the force prefix) to the request URL.
1583 If that link is used, <application>Privoxy</application> will
1584 detect the force prefix, remove it again and let the request pass.
1587 Of course <application>Privoxy</application> can also be used to enforce
1588 a network policy. In that case the user obviously should not be able to
1589 bypass any blocks, and that's what the <quote>enforce-blocks</quote>
1590 option is for. If it's enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> hides
1591 the <quote>go there anyway</quote> link. If the user adds the force
1592 prefix by hand, it will not be accepted and the circumvention attempt
1598 <term>Examples:</term>
1606 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@enforce-blocks 0</literallayout>]]>
1610 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1611 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="acls"><title>
1612 ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
1613 <anchor id="permit-access">
1614 <anchor id="deny-access">
1618 <term>Specifies:</term>
1621 Who can access what.
1626 <term>Type of value:</term>
1629 <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>][/<replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable>]
1630 [<replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>][/<replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable>]]
1633 Where <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable> and
1634 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> are IPv4 addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid
1635 DNS names, <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> is a port
1636 number, and <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> and
1637 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable> are subnet masks in CIDR notation, i.e. integer
1638 values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole
1639 destination part are optional.
1642 If your system implements
1643 <ulink url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3493">RFC 3493</ulink>, then
1644 <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable> and <replaceable
1645 class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> can be IPv6 addresses delimeted by
1646 brackets, <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> can be a number
1647 or a service name, and
1648 <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> and
1649 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable> can be a number
1655 <term>Default value:</term>
1657 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1659 If no <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> is specified,
1660 any port will match. If no <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> or
1661 <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> is given, the complete IP
1662 address has to match (i.e. 32 bits for IPv4 and 128 bits for IPv6).
1667 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1670 Don't restrict access further than implied by <literal>listen-address</literal>
1678 Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
1679 administrators, and <emphasis>are not usually needed by individual users</emphasis>.
1680 For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that
1681 <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost
1682 (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by means of the
1683 <link linkend="listen-address"><emphasis>listen-address</emphasis></link>
1687 Please see the warnings in the FAQ that <application>Privoxy</application>
1688 is not intended to be a substitute for a firewall or to encourage anyone
1689 to defer addressing basic security weaknesses.
1692 Multiple ACL lines are OK.
1693 If any ACLs are specified, <application>Privoxy</application> only talks
1694 to IP addresses that match at least one <literal>permit-access</literal> line
1695 and don't match any subsequent <literal>deny-access</literal> line. In other words, the
1696 last match wins, with the default being <literal>deny-access</literal>.
1699 If <application>Privoxy</application> is using a forwarder (see <literal>forward</literal> below)
1700 for a particular destination URL, the <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>
1701 that is examined is the address of the forwarder and <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the address
1702 of the ultimate target. This is necessary because it may be impossible for the local
1703 <application>Privoxy</application> to determine the IP address of the
1704 ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
1707 You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address lookups take
1708 time. All DNS names must resolve! You can <emphasis>not</emphasis> use domain patterns
1709 like <quote>*.org</quote> or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to multiple
1710 IP addresses, only the first one is used.
1713 Some systems allows IPv4 client to connect to IPv6 server socket.
1714 Then the client's IPv4 address will be translated by system into
1715 IPv6 address space with special prefix ::ffff:0:0/96 (so called IPv4
1716 mapped IPv6 address). <application>Privoxy</application> can handle it
1717 and maps such ACL addresses automatically.
1720 Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
1721 if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other sites
1727 <term>Examples:</term>
1730 Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and
1731 <literal>listen-address</literal> are set: <quote>localhost</quote>
1732 is OK. The absence of a <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> implies that
1733 <emphasis>all</emphasis> destination addresses are OK:
1737 permit-access localhost
1741 Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
1742 nothing but www.example.com (or other domains hosted on the same system):
1746 permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
1750 Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
1751 with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access the IP address behind
1752 www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
1756 permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
1757 deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
1761 Allow access from the IPv4 network 192.0.2.0/24 even if listening on
1762 an IPv6 wild card address (not supported on all platforms):
1766 permit-access 192.0.2.0/24
1770 This is equivalent to the following line even if listening on an
1771 IPv4 address (not supported on all platforms):
1775 permit-access [::ffff:192.0.2.0]/120
1784 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1785 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
1789 <term>Specifies:</term>
1792 Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
1797 <term>Type of value:</term>
1799 <para>Size in Kbytes</para>
1803 <term>Default value:</term>
1809 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1812 Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
1820 For content filtering, i.e. the <literal>+filter</literal> and
1821 <literal>+deanimate-gif</literal> actions, it is necessary that
1822 <application>Privoxy</application> buffers the entire document body.
1823 This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending
1824 data indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
1828 When a document buffer size reaches the <literal>buffer-limit</literal>, it is
1829 flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to
1830 filter the rest of the document is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads
1831 running, which might require up to <literal>buffer-limit</literal> Kbytes
1832 <emphasis>each</emphasis>, unless you have enabled <quote>single-threaded</quote>
1839 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@buffer-limit 4096</literallayout>]]>
1844 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1847 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1849 <sect2 id="forwarding">
1850 <title>Forwarding</title>
1853 This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of
1857 Forwarding can be used to chain Privoxy with a caching proxy to speed
1858 up browsing. Using a parent proxy may also be necessary if the machine
1859 that <application>Privoxy</application> runs on has no direct Internet access.
1862 Note that parent proxies can severely decrease your privacy level.
1863 For example a parent proxy could add your IP address to the request
1864 headers and if it's a caching proxy it may add the <quote>Etag</quote>
1865 header to revalidation requests again, even though you configured Privoxy
1866 to remove it. It may also ignore Privoxy's header time randomization and use the
1867 original values which could be used by the server as cookie replacement
1868 to track your steps between visits.
1872 Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. <application>Privoxy</application>
1873 supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
1876 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward"><title>forward</title>
1879 <term>Specifies:</term>
1882 To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
1887 <term>Type of value:</term>
1890 <replaceable class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable>
1891 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
1894 where <replaceable class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable> is a <link linkend="af-patterns">URL pattern</link>
1895 that specifies to which requests (i.e. URLs) this forward rule shall apply. Use <literal>/</literal> to
1896 denote <quote>all URLs</quote>.
1897 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
1898 is the DNS name or IP address of the parent HTTP proxy through which the requests should be forwarded,
1899 optionally followed by its listening port (default: 8000).
1900 Use a single dot (<literal>.</literal>) to denote <quote>no forwarding</quote>.
1905 <term>Default value:</term>
1907 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1911 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1914 Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
1922 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
1923 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
1926 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> can be a
1927 numerical IPv6 address (if
1928 <ulink url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3493">RFC 3493</ulink> is
1929 implemented). To prevent clashes with the port delimiter, the whole IP
1930 address has to be put into brackets. On the other hand a <replaceable
1931 class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable> containing an IPv6 address
1932 has to be put into angle brackets (normal brackets are reserved for
1933 regular expressions already).
1936 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
1941 <term>Examples:</term>
1944 Everything goes to an example parent proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
1948 forward / parent-proxy.example.org:8080
1953 Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
1954 to that ISP's sites:
1958 forward / caching-proxy.isp.example.net:8000
1959 forward .isp.example.net .
1963 Parent proxy specified by an IPv6 address:
1967 foward / [2001:DB8::1]:8000
1971 Suppose your parent proxy doesn't support IPv6:
1975 forward / parent-proxy.example.org:8000
1976 forward ipv6-server.example.org .
1977 forward <[2-3][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f]:*> .
1986 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1987 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socks"><title>
1988 forward-socks4, forward-socks4a and forward-socks5</title>
1989 <anchor id="forward-socks4">
1990 <anchor id="forward-socks4a">
1994 <term>Specifies:</term>
1997 Through which SOCKS proxy (and optionally to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed.
2002 <term>Type of value:</term>
2005 <replaceable class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable>
2006 <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2007 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2010 where <replaceable class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable> is a
2011 <link linkend="af-patterns">URL pattern</link> that specifies to which
2012 requests (i.e. URLs) this forward rule shall apply. Use <literal>/</literal> to
2013 denote <quote>all URLs</quote>. <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
2014 and <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>
2015 are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names
2016 (<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
2017 may be <quote>.</quote> to denote <quote>no HTTP forwarding</quote>), and the optional
2018 <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports,
2019 i.e. integer values from 1 to 65535
2024 <term>Default value:</term>
2026 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2030 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2033 Don't use SOCKS proxies.
2041 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
2044 The difference between <literal>forward-socks4</literal> and <literal>forward-socks4a</literal>
2045 is that in the SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the SOCKS
2046 server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
2049 With <literal>forward-socks5</literal> the DNS resolution will happen on the remote server as well.
2052 <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable> and
2053 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> can be a
2054 numerical IPv6 address (if
2055 <ulink url="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3493">RFC 3493</ulink> is
2056 implemented). To prevent clashes with the port delimiter, the whole IP
2057 address has to be put into brackets. On the other hand a <replaceable
2058 class="parameter">target_pattern</replaceable> containing an IPv6 address
2059 has to be put into angle brackets (normal brackets are reserved for
2060 regular expressions already).
2063 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
2064 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
2070 <term>Examples:</term>
2073 From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all
2074 <quote>internal</quote> domains, but everything outbound goes through
2075 their ISP's proxy by way of example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to
2080 forward-socks4a / socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.isp.example.net:8080
2081 forward .example.com .
2085 A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
2089 forward-socks4 / socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
2094 To chain Privoxy and Tor, both running on the same system, you would use
2099 forward-socks5 / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
2104 The public <application>Tor</application> network can't be used to
2105 reach your local network, if you need to access local servers you
2106 therefore might want to make some exceptions:
2110 forward 192.168.*.*/ .
2112 forward 127.*.*.*/ .
2116 Unencrypted connections to systems in these address ranges will
2117 be as (un)secure as the local network is, but the alternative is that you
2118 can't reach the local network through <application>Privoxy</application>
2119 at all. Of course this may actually be desired and there is no reason
2120 to make these exceptions if you aren't sure you need them.
2123 If you also want to be able to reach servers in your local network by
2124 using their names, you will need additional exceptions that look like
2129 forward localhost/ .
2138 <![%user-man;[ <!-- not included in config due to length -->
2139 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2140 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
2143 If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
2144 only to their subscribers, you can configure multiple <application>Privoxies</application>
2145 which have connections to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that
2146 <emphasis>your</emphasis> users can see the internal content of all ISPs.
2150 Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.example.net. And host-b has a PPP connection to
2151 isp-b.example.org. Both run <application>Privoxy</application>. Their forwarding
2152 configuration can look like this:
2162 forward .isp-b.example.net host-b:8118
2173 forward .isp-a.example.org host-a:8118
2178 Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either
2179 host-a or host-b and be able to browse the internal content
2180 of both isp-a and isp-b.
2184 If you intend to chain <application>Privoxy</application> and
2185 <application>squid</application> locally, then chaining as
2186 <literal>browser -> squid -> privoxy</literal> is the recommended way.
2190 Assuming that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>squid</application>
2191 run on the same box, your <application>squid</application> configuration could then look like this:
2196 # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
2197 cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
2199 # Define ACL for protocol FTP
2202 # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
2203 always_direct allow ftp
2205 # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
2206 never_direct allow all</screen>
2210 You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to <application>squid</application>'s address and port.
2211 Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
2215 You could just as well decide to only forward requests you suspect
2216 of leading to Windows executables through a virus-scanning parent proxy,
2217 say, on <literal>antivir.example.com</literal>, port 8010:
2223 forward /.*\.(exe|com|dll|zip)$ antivir.example.com:8010</screen>
2229 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forwarded-connect-retries"><title>forwarded-connect-retries</title>
2232 <term>Specifies:</term>
2235 How often Privoxy retries if a forwarded connection request fails.
2240 <term>Type of value:</term>
2243 <replaceable class="parameter">Number of retries.</replaceable>
2248 <term>Default value:</term>
2250 <para><emphasis>0</emphasis></para>
2254 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2257 Connections forwarded through other proxies are treated like direct connections and no retry attempts are made.
2265 <replaceable class="parameter">forwarded-connect-retries</replaceable> is mainly interesting
2266 for socks4a connections, where <application>Privoxy</application> can't detect why the connections failed.
2267 The connection might have failed because of a DNS timeout in which case a retry makes sense,
2268 but it might also have failed because the server doesn't exist or isn't reachable. In this
2269 case the retry will just delay the appearance of Privoxy's error message.
2272 Note that in the context of this option, <quote>forwarded connections</quote> includes all connections
2273 that Privoxy forwards through other proxies. This option is not limited to the HTTP CONNECT method.
2276 Only use this option, if you are getting lots of forwarding-related error messages
2277 that go away when you try again manually. Start with a small value and check Privoxy's
2278 logfile from time to time, to see how many retries are usually needed.
2283 <term>Examples:</term>
2286 forwarded-connect-retries 1
2291 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@forwarded-connect-retries 0</literallayout>]]>
2294 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="accept-intercepted-requests"><title>accept-intercepted-requests</title>
2297 <term>Specifies:</term>
2300 Whether intercepted requests should be treated as valid.
2305 <term>Type of value:</term>
2308 <replaceable>0 or 1</replaceable>
2313 <term>Default value:</term>
2315 <para><emphasis>0</emphasis></para>
2319 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2322 Only proxy requests are accepted, intercepted requests are treated as invalid.
2330 If you don't trust your clients and want to force them
2331 to use <application>Privoxy</application>, enable this
2332 option and configure your packet filter to redirect outgoing
2333 HTTP connections into <application>Privoxy</application>.
2336 Make sure that <application>Privoxy's</application> own requests
2337 aren't redirected as well. Additionally take care that
2338 <application>Privoxy</application> can't intentionally connect
2339 to itself, otherwise you could run into redirection loops if
2340 <application>Privoxy's</application> listening port is reachable
2341 by the outside or an attacker has access to the pages you visit.
2346 <term>Examples:</term>
2349 accept-intercepted-requests 1
2354 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@accept-intercepted-requests 0</literallayout>]]>
2357 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="allow-cgi-request-crunching"><title>allow-cgi-request-crunching</title>
2360 <term>Specifies:</term>
2363 Whether requests to <application>Privoxy's</application> CGI pages can be blocked or redirected.
2368 <term>Type of value:</term>
2371 <replaceable>0 or 1</replaceable>
2376 <term>Default value:</term>
2378 <para><emphasis>0</emphasis></para>
2382 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2385 <application>Privoxy</application> ignores block and redirect actions for its CGI pages.
2393 By default <application>Privoxy</application> ignores block or redirect actions
2394 for its CGI pages. Intercepting these requests can be useful in multi-user
2395 setups to implement fine-grained access control, but it can also render the complete
2396 web interface useless and make debugging problems painful if done without care.
2399 Don't enable this option unless you're sure that you really need it.
2404 <term>Examples:</term>
2407 allow-cgi-request-crunching 1
2412 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@allow-cgi-request-crunching 0</literallayout>]]>
2415 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="split-large-forms"><title>split-large-forms</title>
2418 <term>Specifies:</term>
2421 Whether the CGI interface should stay compatible with broken HTTP clients.
2426 <term>Type of value:</term>
2429 <replaceable>0 or 1</replaceable>
2434 <term>Default value:</term>
2436 <para><emphasis>0</emphasis></para>
2440 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2443 The CGI form generate long GET URLs.
2451 <application>Privoxy's</application> CGI forms can lead to
2452 rather long URLs. This isn't a problem as far as the HTTP
2453 standard is concerned, but it can confuse clients with arbitrary
2454 URL length limitations.
2457 Enabling split-large-forms causes <application>Privoxy</application>
2458 to divide big forms into smaller ones to keep the URL length down.
2459 It makes editing a lot less convenient and you can no longer
2460 submit all changes at once, but at least it works around this
2464 If you don't notice any editing problems, there is no reason
2465 to enable this option, but if one of the submit buttons appears
2466 to be broken, you should give it a try.
2471 <term>Examples:</term>
2479 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@split-large-forms 0</literallayout>]]>
2482 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="keep-alive-timeout"><title>keep-alive-timeout</title>
2485 <term>Specifies:</term>
2488 Number of seconds after which an open connection will no longer be reused.
2493 <term>Type of value:</term>
2496 <replaceable>Time in seconds.</replaceable>
2501 <term>Default value:</term>
2507 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2510 Connections are not reused.
2518 This option has no effect if <application>Privoxy</application>
2519 has been compiled without keep-alive support.
2527 Note that reusing connections doesn't necessary cause speedups.
2528 There are also a few privacy implications you should be aware of.
2531 Outgoing connections are shared between clients (if there are more
2532 than one) and closing the client that initiated the outgoing connection
2533 does not affect the connection between &my-app; and the server unless
2534 the client's request hasn't been completed yet. If the outgoing connection
2535 is idle, it will not be closed until either <application>Privoxy's</application>
2536 or the server's timeout is reached. While it's open, the server knows
2537 that the system running &my-app; is still there.
2542 <term>Examples:</term>
2545 keep-alive-timeout 300
2550 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@keep-alive-timeout 300</literallayout>]]>
2554 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socket-timeout"><title>socket-timeout</title>
2557 <term>Specifies:</term>
2560 Number of seconds after which a socket times out if
2561 no data is received.
2566 <term>Type of value:</term>
2569 <replaceable>Time in seconds.</replaceable>
2574 <term>Default value:</term>
2580 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2583 A default value of 300 seconds is used.
2591 For SOCKS requests the timeout currently doesn't start until
2592 the SOCKS server accepted the request. This will be fixed in
2598 <term>Examples:</term>
2606 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@socket-timeout 300</literallayout>]]>
2612 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2615 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2617 <sect2 id="windows-gui">
2618 <title>Windows GUI Options</title>
2620 <application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
2621 Windows GUI interface:
2624 <anchor id="activity-animation">
2625 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2627 If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
2628 <application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
2629 <quote>Privoxy</quote> is active. To turn off, set to 0.
2632 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#activity-animation 1</literallayout>]]>
2638 <emphasis>activity-animation 1</emphasis>
2645 <anchor id="log-messages">
2646 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2648 If <quote>log-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2649 <application>Privoxy</application> will log messages to the console
2653 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-messages 1</literallayout>]]>
2659 <emphasis>log-messages 1</emphasis>
2666 <anchor id="log-buffer-size">
2667 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2669 If <quote>log-buffer-size</quote> is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
2670 i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the
2671 console window, will be limited to <quote>log-max-lines</quote> (see below).
2675 Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and
2676 eat up all your memory!
2679 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-buffer-size 1</literallayout>]]>
2685 <emphasis>log-buffer-size 1</emphasis>
2692 <anchor id="log-max-lines">
2693 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2695 <application>log-max-lines</application> is the maximum number of lines held
2696 in the log buffer. See above.
2699 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-max-lines 200</literallayout>]]>
2705 <emphasis>log-max-lines 200</emphasis>
2712 <anchor id="log-highlight-messages">
2713 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2715 If <quote>log-highlight-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2716 <application>Privoxy</application> will highlight portions of the log
2717 messages with a bold-faced font:
2720 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-highlight-messages 1</literallayout>]]>
2726 <emphasis>log-highlight-messages 1</emphasis>
2733 <anchor id="log-font-name">
2734 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2736 The font used in the console window:
2739 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-font-name Comic Sans MS</literallayout>]]>
2745 <emphasis>log-font-name Comic Sans MS</emphasis>
2752 <anchor id="log-font-size">
2753 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2755 Font size used in the console window:
2758 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#log-font-size 8</literallayout>]]>
2764 <emphasis>log-font-size 8</emphasis>
2771 <anchor id="show-on-task-bar">
2772 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2774 <quote>show-on-task-bar</quote> controls whether or not
2775 <application>Privoxy</application> will appear as a button on the Task bar
2779 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#show-on-task-bar 0</literallayout>]]>
2785 <emphasis>show-on-task-bar 0</emphasis>
2792 <anchor id="close-button-minimizes">
2793 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2795 If <quote>close-button-minimizes</quote> is set to 1, the Windows close
2796 button will minimize <application>Privoxy</application> instead of closing
2797 the program (close with the exit option on the File menu).
2800 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#close-button-minimizes 1</literallayout>]]>
2806 <emphasis>close-button-minimizes 1</emphasis>
2813 <anchor id="hide-console">
2814 <![%config-file;[<para>@@</para>]]> <!-- for spacing -->
2816 The <quote>hide-console</quote> option is specific to the MS-Win console
2817 version of <application>Privoxy</application>. If this option is used,
2818 <application>Privoxy</application> will disconnect from and hide the
2822 <![%config-file;[<literallayout>@@#hide-console</literallayout>]]>
2828 #<emphasis>hide-console</emphasis>
2838 <!-- end config content common to both outputs -->
2841 <!-- These are dummy anchors to keep the processor quiet -->
2842 <!-- when building config-file only (ie. they are used in u-m only) -->
2845 <anchor id="filter">
2846 <anchor id="filter-file">
2848 <anchor id="actions-file">
2849 <anchor id="af-patterns">
2853 <!-- eof p-config.sgml -->