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34 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="CONFIGURATION" id="CONFIGURATION">6. Privoxy
35 Configuration</a></h1>
36 <p>All <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> configuration is stored
37 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor. Many
38 important aspects of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can also be
39 controlled easily with a web browser.</p>
41 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CONTROL-WITH-WEBBROWSER" id=
42 "CONTROL-WITH-WEBBROWSER">6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web
44 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s user interface can be
45 reached through the special URL <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/"
46 target="_top">http://config.privoxy.org/</a> (shortcut: <a href=
47 "http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a>), which is a built-in page
48 and works without Internet access. You will see the following
50 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
53 <pre class="SCREEN"> </pre>
54 <h2 class="BRIDGEHEAD"><a name="AEN904" id=
55 "AEN904"></a>����Privoxy Menu</h2>
60 <td>��������▪��<a href=
61 "http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target="_top">View
62 & change the current configuration</a></td>
65 <td>��������▪��<a href=
66 "http://config.privoxy.org/show-version" target="_top">View
67 the source code version numbers</a></td>
70 <td>��������▪��<a href=
71 "http://config.privoxy.org/show-request" target="_top">View
72 the request headers.</a></td>
75 <td>��������▪��<a href=
76 "http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info" target=
77 "_top">Look up which actions apply to a URL and
81 <td>��������▪��<a href="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle"
82 target="_top">Toggle Privoxy on or off</a></td>
85 <td>��������▪��<a href=
86 "https://www.privoxy.org/3.0.27/user-manual/" target=
87 "_top">Documentation</a></td>
94 <p>This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an
95 editor for the <a href="actions-file.html">actions files</a>, which is
96 where the ad, banner, cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as
97 well as other advanced features of <span class=
98 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. This is an easy way to adjust various
99 aspects of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> configuration. The
100 actions file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail
102 <p><span class="QUOTE">"Toggle Privoxy On or Off"</span> is handy for
103 sites that might have problems with your current actions and filters.
104 You can in fact use it as a test to see whether it is <span class=
105 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> causing the problem or not. <span class=
106 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> continues to run as a proxy in this case,
107 but all manipulation is disabled, i.e. <span class=
108 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> acts like a normal forwarding proxy.</p>
109 <p>Note that several of the features described above are disabled by
110 default in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 3.0.7 beta and
111 later. Check the <a href="config.html" target="_top">configuration
112 file</a> to learn why and in which cases it's safe to enable them
116 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CONFOVERVIEW" id="CONFOVERVIEW">6.2.
117 Configuration Files Overview</a></h2>
118 <p>For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
119 <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/</tt> by default. For MS Windows,
120 OS/2, and AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
121 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> executable. The name and
122 number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and
123 is subject to change as development progresses.</p>
124 <p>The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
125 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being,
126 the principle configuration files are:</p>
129 <p>The <a href="config.html">main configuration file</a> is named
130 <tt class="FILENAME">config</tt> on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and
131 AmigaOS and <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt> on Windows. This
132 is a required file.</p>
135 <p><tt class="FILENAME">match-all.action</tt> is used to define
136 which <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> relating to
137 banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, content modification, cookie
138 handling etc should be applied by default. It should be the first
139 actions file loaded.</p>
140 <p><tt class="FILENAME">default.action</tt> defines many exceptions
141 (both positive and negative) from the default set of actions that's
142 configured in <tt class="FILENAME">match-all.action</tt>. It should
143 be the second actions file loaded and shouldn't be edited by the
145 <p>Multiple actions files may be defined in <tt class=
146 "FILENAME">config</tt>. These are processed in the order they are
147 defined. Local customizations and locally preferred exceptions to
148 the default policies as defined in <tt class=
149 "FILENAME">match-all.action</tt> (which you will most probably want
150 to define sooner or later) are best applied in <tt class=
151 "FILENAME">user.action</tt>, where you can preserve them across
152 upgrades. The file isn't installed by all installers, but you can
153 easily create it yourself with a text editor.</p>
154 <p>There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
155 <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
156 "_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a> (Shortcut:
157 <a href="http://p.p/show-status" target=
158 "_top">http://p.p/show-status</a>) for the various actions
162 <p><span class="QUOTE">"Filter files"</span> (the <a href=
163 "filter-file.html">filter file</a>) can be used to re-write the raw
164 page content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and
165 JavaScript, and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The
166 filtering jobs are only pre-defined here; whether to apply them or
167 not is up to the actions files. <tt class=
168 "FILENAME">default.filter</tt> includes various filters made
169 available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive
170 than others, and all should be used with caution. You may define
171 additional filter files in <tt class="FILENAME">config</tt> as you
172 can with actions files. We suggest <tt class=
173 "FILENAME">user.filter</tt> for any locally defined filters or
177 <p>The syntax of the configuration and filter files may change between
178 different Privoxy versions, unfortunately some enhancements cost
179 backwards compatibility.</p>
180 <p>All files use the <span class="QUOTE">"<tt class=
181 "LITERAL">#</tt>"</span> character to denote a comment (the rest of the
182 line will be ignored) and understand line continuation through placing
183 a backslash ("<tt class="LITERAL">\</tt>") as the very last character
184 in a line. If the <tt class="LITERAL">#</tt> is preceded by a
185 backslash, it looses its special function. Placing a <tt class=
186 "LITERAL">#</tt> in front of an otherwise valid configuration line to
187 prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting out" that line.
188 Blank lines are ignored.</p>
189 <p>The actions files and filter files can use Perl style <a href=
190 "appendix.html#REGEX">regular expressions</a> for maximum
192 <p>After making any changes, there is no need to restart <span class=
193 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> in order for the changes to take effect.
194 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> detects such changes
195 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
196 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening
197 address of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, these <span class=
198 "QUOTE">"wake up"</span> requests must obviously be sent to the
199 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">old</i></span> listening
201 <p>While under development, the configuration content is subject to
202 change. The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you
203 read this. Also, what constitutes a <span class=
204 "QUOTE">"default"</span> setting, may change, so please check all your
205 configuration files on important issues.</p>
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223 <td width="33%" align="right" valign="top">The Main Configuration