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39 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</TH
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82 >3.1. Can I use my old config files?</A
85 > There are major changes to <SPAN
92 > configuration from version 2.0.x to
93 2.9.x and later. Most of the older files will not work at all. This is
94 especially true of <TT
97 >. If this is the case, you
98 will need to re-enter your old data into the new configuration structure.
99 This is probably also a good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to
100 3.x since there were many minor changes along the way.
109 >3.2. What is an <SPAN
118 > files are where various actions that
122 > might take, are configured.
123 Typically, you would define a set of default actions that apply
124 to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.</P
126 > Actions can be defined on a per site basis, or for groups of sites. Actions
127 can also be grouped together and then applied to one or more sites. There
128 are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
129 if we are blocking cookies as one of our default
133 >, but need to accept cookies from a given
134 site, we would define this in our <SPAN
148 > concept confuses me. Please list
155 > These are all explained in the
157 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
161 Please refer to that.</P
169 >3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
173 > The easiest way to do this, is to access <SPAN
177 with your web browser at <A
184 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org"
186 >View & change the current configuration</A
188 from the selection list. You can also do this by editing the appropriate
189 file with a text editor.</P
193 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
197 detailed explanation of these and other configuration files, and their
198 various options and syntax.</P
206 >3.5. There are several different <SPAN
216 > v2.9.15, three actions files
217 are being included, to be used for
218 different purposes. These are
231 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
235 for an explanation of each.</P
237 > Earlier versions included three different versions
241 > files. The new scheme allows for
242 greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
251 >3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a
252 browser? Does that not raise security issues?</A
255 >What I don't understand, is how I can browser edit the config file as a
256 regular user, while the whole <TT
260 belongs to the user <SPAN
263 >, with only 644 permissions.
266 >When you use the browser-based editor, <SPAN
270 itself is writing to the config files. Because
274 > is running as the user <SPAN
278 update the config files.
281 >If you don't like this, setting <SPAN
283 >"enable-edit-actions 0"</SPAN
285 config file will disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid,
286 you should also consider setting <SPAN
288 >"enable-remote-toggle 0"</SPAN
290 browser-based enabling/disabling of <SPAN
296 >Note that normally only local users can connect to
300 >, so this is not (normally) a security
312 >"default.filter"</SPAN
318 >"default.filter"</SPAN
319 > file is where <SPAN
323 are defined, which are used to <SPAN
327 web page content. By <SPAN
330 > we mean it can modify, remove,
334 > on the page, including HTML tags, and
335 JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this, and operate
336 on a line by line basis. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
337 requires some expertise. </P
339 > If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
343 > with a text editor and see
344 some of things it can be used for.</P
346 > Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
347 but you can disable/enable various sections of the included default
350 >"View & change the current configuration"</SPAN
360 >3.8. How can I set up <SPAN
363 > to act as a proxy for my
370 > only responds to requests
371 from localhost. To have it act as a server for a network, this needs to be
372 changed in the main config file where the <SPAN
376 configuration is located. In that file is a <SPAN
378 >"listen-address"</SPAN
380 option. It may be commented out with a <SPAN
384 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
385 and port number to use:</P
395 > listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</PRE
401 > Save the file, and restart <SPAN
405 all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.</P
413 >3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</A
416 > This is a configuration option for images that
420 > is stopping. You have the choice of a
421 checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF image (aka <SPAN
425 or a custom URL of your choice. Note that to fit this category, the URL must
427 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
431 >"+handle-as-image"</SPAN
439 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"
447 > If you want to see nothing, then change the
449 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
453 >"+set-image-blocker"</SPAN
458 >"+image-blocker{blank}"</SPAN
459 >. This can be done from the
462 >"View & change the current configuration"</SPAN
467 >. Or by hand editing the appropriate
468 actions file. This will only effect what is defined as <SPAN
472 though. Also, some URLs that generate the bright red <SPAN
476 banner, can be moved to the <SPAN
478 >"+set-image-blocker"</SPAN
480 same reason, but there are some limits and risks to this (see below).</P
488 >3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</A
491 > This can be helpful for troubleshooting problems. It might also be good
492 for anyone new to <SPAN
496 see if their favorite pages are displaying correctly, and
500 > is not inadvertently removing something
509 >3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say
513 >. Why and how do I get rid of this?</A
516 > These are URLs that match something in one of
522 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"
529 It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been blocked and
530 an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has
531 been defined explicitly as <SPAN
534 > (e.g. ads that are GIF image
535 files). Depending on the URL itself, it is sometimes hard for
539 > to really know whether there is indeed an
540 ad image there or not. And there are limitations as to what
550 > For instance, if the ad is in a frame, then it is embedded in the separate
551 HTML page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an
552 aribitrary image (like we would for a <SPAN
555 > image), for an HTML
556 page. The browser is expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have
557 for frames. Such situations can be a little trickier to deal with, and
565 despite your best efforts.</P
567 > If you want these to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
568 made invisible, you can try moving the offending URL from the
572 > section to the <SPAN
576 your actions file. Just be forewarned, if any URL is made
580 >, you may not have any inkling that something has
581 been removed from that page, or why. If this approach does not work, then you are
582 probably dealing with a frame (or <SPAN
585 >), and the only thing
586 that can go there is an HTML page of some sort.</P
588 > To deal with this situation, you could modify the
595 > HTML template that is used by
599 > to display this, and make it something
600 more to your liking. Currently, there is no configuration option for this.
601 You will have to modify, or create your own page, and use this to replace
604 >templates/blocked</TT
609 > uses to display the <SPAN
615 > Another way to deal with this is find why and where
619 > is blocking the frame, and
620 diable this. Then let the <SPAN
622 >"+set-image-blocker"</SPAN
624 handle the ad that is embedded in the frame's HTML page. </P
632 >3.12. I cannot see all of the <SPAN
635 > page banner. Help.</A
638 > There is not enough available space to fit the entire Blocked page. Try right
639 clicking on the visible portion, and select <SPAN
643 or equivalent. This will usually allow you to see the entire Privoxy
647 > page, and from there you can see just what is being
650 > As of Privoxy 2.9.14, the Blocked banner page is re-sizeable, and tries
651 to adjust to the allotted space. There may be occassions where there
652 just isn't enough room to display much of anything useful though. </P
667 > Yes, it can run as a system service using <B
671 The only catch is that this will effectively disable the
675 > icon in the taskbar. You can have
676 one or the other, but not both at this time :( </P
678 > There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See
680 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118"
682 >http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</A
684 for details, and a sample configuration. </P
692 >3.14. How can I make <SPAN
702 > This can be done. See the <A
703 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
707 which describes how to do this.</P
727 > currently does not have this ability,
728 though it is planned for a future release. Transparent proxies require
729 special handling of the request headers beyond what
733 > is now capable of.</P
738 > with another proxy that has
739 this ability should work though.
741 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
745 >, which describes this, and also <A
746 HREF="http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/"
748 >http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/</A
767 HREF="installation.html"