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36 Privoxy 3.0.18 User Manual
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54 <a name="STARTUP">5. Starting Privoxy</a>
57 Before launching <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for the
58 first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use <span
59 class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) <a href=
60 "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target="_top">proxy</a>.
61 The default is 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and
62 port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
63 configuration step <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">that
64 must be done</i></span>!
67 Please note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can only
68 proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other
76 Figure 2. Proxy Configuration Showing Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and
79 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
81 <img src="proxy_setup.jpg">
87 With <span class="APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, this is typically set
90 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
91 <span class="GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span
92 class="GUIBUTTON">Options</span> -> <span class=
93 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
94 "GUIBUTTON">Network</span> -><span class=
95 "GUIBUTTON">Connection</span> -> <span class=
96 "GUIBUTTON">Settings</span><br>
100 Or optionally on some platforms:
102 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
103 <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span
104 class="GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
105 "GUIBUTTON">General</span> -> <span class=
106 "GUIBUTTON">Connection Settings</span> -> <span class=
107 "GUIBUTTON">Manual Proxy Configuration</span><br>
111 With <span class="APPLICATION">Netscape</span> (and <span class=
112 "APPLICATION">Mozilla</span>), this can be set under:
114 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
115 <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span
116 class="GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
117 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
118 "GUIBUTTON">Proxies</span> -> <span class=
119 "GUIBUTTON">HTTP Proxy</span><br>
123 For <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer v.5-7</span>:
125 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
126 <span class="GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span
127 class="GUIBUTTON">Internet Options</span> -> <span
128 class="GUIBUTTON">Connections</span> -> <span class=
129 "GUIBUTTON">LAN Settings</span>
132 Then, check <span class="QUOTE">"Use Proxy"</span> and fill in the
133 appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS
134 (SSL), if you want HTTPS proxy support too (sometimes labeled <span
135 class="QUOTE">"Secure"</span>). Make sure any checkboxes like <span
136 class="QUOTE">"Use the same proxy server for all protocols"</span> is
137 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">UNCHECKED</i></span>. You
138 want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
143 <a name="AEN787"></a>
145 Figure 3. Proxy Configuration Showing Internet Explorer HTTP and
146 HTTPS (Secure) Settings
148 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
150 <img src="proxy2.jpg">
156 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to
157 force a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be
158 cached. Remove any <a href=
159 "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
160 "_top">cookies</a>, if you want <span class=
161 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to manage that. You are now ready to
162 start enjoying the benefits of using <span class=
163 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>!
166 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> itself is typically started
167 by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command
168 line. If no configuration file is specified on the command line,
169 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named
170 <tt class="FILENAME">config</tt> in the current directory. Except on
171 Win32 where it will try <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>.
175 <a name="START-REDHAT">5.1. Red Hat and Fedora</a>
178 A default Red Hat installation may not start <span class=
179 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon boot. It will use the file <tt
180 class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration
185 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
189 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
200 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
204 # service privoxy start
212 <a name="START-DEBIAN">5.2. Debian</a>
215 We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts <span class=
216 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon booting per default. It will use
217 the file <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main
222 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
226 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
234 <a name="START-WINDOWS">5.3. Windows</a>
237 Click on the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> Icon to start
238 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. If no configuration file
239 is specified on the command line, <span class=
240 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named <tt class=
241 "FILENAME">config.txt</tt>. Note that Windows will automatically
242 start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> when the system
243 starts if you chose that option when installing.
246 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can run with full Windows
247 service functionality. On Windows only, the <span class=
248 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> program has two new command line
249 arguments to install and uninstall <span class=
250 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a service. See the <a href=
251 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Windows Installation
252 instructions</a> for details.
257 <a name="START-UNICES">5.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and
261 Example Unix startup command:
265 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
269 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
277 <a name="START-OS2">5.5. OS/2</a>
280 During installation, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
281 configured to start automatically when the system restarts. You can
282 start it manually by double-clicking on the <span class=
283 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> icon in the <span class=
284 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> folder.
289 <a name="START-MACOSX">5.6. Mac OS X</a>
292 After downloading the privoxy software, unzip the downloaded file
293 by double-clicking on the zip file icon. Then, double-click on the
294 installer package icon and follow the installation process.
297 The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
298 installation. In addition, the privoxy service will automatically
299 start every time your computer starts up.
302 To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when
303 your computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
304 /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
307 A simple application named Privoxy Utility has been created which
308 enables administrators to easily start and stop the privoxy
312 In addition, the Privoxy Utility presents a simple way for
313 administrators to edit the various privoxy config files. A method
314 to uninstall the software is also available.
317 An administrator username and password must be supplied in order
318 for the Privoxy Utility to perform any of the tasks.
323 <a name="START-AMIGAOS">5.7. AmigaOS</a>
326 Start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> (with RUN
327 <>NIL:) in your <tt class="FILENAME">startnet</tt> script
328 (AmiTCP), in <tt class="FILENAME">s:user-startup</tt> (RoadShow),
329 as startup program in your startup script (Genesis), or as startup
330 action (Miami and MiamiDx). <span class=
331 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will automatically quit when you quit
332 your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP
333 stack may display that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
339 <a name="START-GENTOO">5.8. Gentoo</a>
342 A script is again used. It will use the file <tt class=
343 "FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration file.
347 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
351 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
358 Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not
359 automatically started at boot time by default. You can change this
360 with the <tt class="LITERAL">rc-update</tt> command.
364 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
368 rc-update add privoxy default
376 <a name="CMDOPTIONS">5.9. Command Line Options</a>
379 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> may be invoked with the
380 following command-line options:
387 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--version</i></span>
390 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
395 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--help</i></span>
398 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
403 <span class="emphasis"><i class=
404 "EMPHASIS">--no-daemon</i></span>
407 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
408 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
413 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--pidfile
417 On startup, write the process ID to <span class="emphasis"><i
418 class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span>. Delete the <span class=
419 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> on exit. Failure
420 to create or delete the <span class="emphasis"><i class=
421 "EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> is non-fatal. If no <span class=
422 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> option is given,
423 no PID file will be used. Unix only.
428 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user
429 USER[.GROUP]</i></span>
432 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
433 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">USER</i></span>, and
434 if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not
435 sufficient to do so. Unix only.
440 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--chroot</i></span>
443 Before changing to the user ID given in the <span class=
444 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user</i></span> option, chroot
445 to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to
446 the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> process that the
447 directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can
448 limit the impact of possible vulnerabilities in <span class=
449 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to the files contained in that
450 hierarchy. Unix only.
455 <span class="emphasis"><i class=
456 "EMPHASIS">--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname</i></span>
459 Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some
460 systems, initializing the resolver library involves reading
461 config files from /etc and/or loading additional shared
462 libraries from /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup
463 before the chroot reduces the number of files that must be
464 copied into the chroot tree.
467 For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is
468 not in /etc/hosts but that your local name server (listed in
469 /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion (that is,
470 without having to ask any other name servers). The hostname
471 need not exist, but if it doesn't, an error message (which can
472 be ignored) will be output.
477 <span class="emphasis"><i class=
478 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span>
481 If no <span class="emphasis"><i class=
482 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span> is included on the command
483 line, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a
484 file named <span class="QUOTE">"config"</span> in the current
485 directory (except on Win32 where it will look for <span class=
486 "QUOTE">"config.txt"</span> instead). Specify full path to
487 avoid confusion. If no config file is found, <span class=
488 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will fail to start.
494 On <span class="APPLICATION">MS Windows</span> only there are two
495 additional command-line options to allow <span class=
496 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to install and run as a <span class=
497 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">service</i></span>. See the <a href=
498 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Window Installation
499 section</a> for details.
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