+ Actions are enabled if preceded with a "+", and disabled if preceded
+ with a "-". Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly
+ braces (e.g. {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs to which the
+ action applies. There are three classes of actions:
+
+ * Boolean (e.g. "+/-block"):
+ {+name} # enable this action
+ {-name} # disable this action
+
+ * parameterized (e.g. "+/-hide-user-agent"):
+ {+name{param}} # enable action and set parameter to "param"
+ {-name} # disable action
+
+ * Multi-value (e.g. "{+/-add-header{Name: value}}",
+ "{+/-wafer{name=value}}"):
+ {+name{param}} # enable action and add parameter "param"
+ {-name{param}} # remove the parameter "param"
+ {-name} # disable this action totally
+
+ If nothing is specified in this file, no "actions" are taken. So in
+ this case Privoxy would just be a normal, non-blocking,
+ non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the privacy and
+ blocking features you need (although the provided default
+ default.action file will give a good starting point).
+
+ Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. For multi-valued
+ actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+
+ The list of valid Privoxy "actions" are:
+
+ * Add the specified HTTP header, which is not checked for validity.
+ You may specify this many times to specify many different headers:
+ +add-header{Name: value}
+
+ * Block this URL totally. In a default installation, a "blocked" URL
+ will result in bright red banner that says "BLOCKED", with a
+ reason why it is being blocked.
+ +block
+
+ * De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last
+ frame. This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes,
+ not pixels!). If the option "first" is given, the first frame of
+ the animation is used as the replacement. If "last" is given, the
+ last frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes
+ more sense for most banner animations, but also has the risk of
+ not showing the entire last frame (if it is only a delta to an
+ earlier frame).
+ +deanimate-gifs{last}
+ +deanimate-gifs{first}
+
+ * "+downgrade" will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to HTTP/1.0
+ and downgrade the responses as well. Use this action for servers
+ that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that Privoxy doesn't handle
+ well yet. HTTP/1.1 is only partially implemented. Default is not
+ to downgrade requests.
+ +downgrade
+
+ * Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites.
+ Instead, they will link to some script on their own server, giving
+ the destination as a parameter, which will then redirect you to
+ the final target. URLs resulting from this scheme typically look
+ like: http://some.place/some_script?http://some.where-else.
+ Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded
+ in the URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing
+ more traceable, since the server from which you follow such a link
+ can see where you go to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and
+ time is wasted, while your browser ask the server for one redirect
+ after the other. Plus, it feeds the advertisers.
+ The "+fast-redirects" option enables interception of these
+ requests by Privoxy, who will cut off all but the last valid URL
+ in the request and send a local redirect back to your browser
+ without contacting the remote site.
+ +fast-redirects
+
+ * Apply the filters in the section_header section of the
+ default.filter file to the site(s). default.filter sections are
+ grouped according to like functionality.
+ +filter{section_header}
+
+ Filter sections that are pre-defined in the supplied
+ default.filter include:
+
+ html-annoyances: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
+
+ js-annoyances: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+
+ no-poups: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
+
+ frameset-borders: Give frames a border
+
+ webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
+
+ no-refresh: Automatic refresh sucks on auto-dialup lines
+
+ fun: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
+
+ nimda: Remove (virus) Nimda code.
+
+ banners-by-size: Kill banners by size
+
+ crude-parental: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or
+ "warez"
+
+ * Block any existing X-Forwarded-for header, and do not add a new
+ one:
+ +hide-forwarded
+
+ * If the browser sends a "From:" header containing your e-mail
+ address, this either completely removes the header ("block"), or
+ changes it to the specified e-mail address.
+ +hide-from{block}
+ +hide-from{spam@sittingduck.xqq}
+
+ * Don't send the "Referer:" (sic) header to the web site. You can
+ block it, forge a URL to the same server as the request (which is
+ preferred because some sites will not send images otherwise) or
+ set it to a constant string of your choice.
+ +hide-referer{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge}
+ +hide-referer{http://nowhere.com}
+
+ * Alternative spelling of "+hide-referer". It has the same
+ parameters, and can be freely mixed with, "+hide-referer".
+ ("referrer" is the correct English spelling, however the HTTP
+ specification has a bug - it requires it to be spelled "referer".)
+ +hide-referrer{...}
+
+ * Change the "User-Agent:" header so web servers can't tell your
+ browser type. Warning! This breaks many web sites. Specify the
+ user-agent value you want. Example, pretend to be using Netscape
+ on Linux:
+ +hide-user-agent{Mozilla (X11; I; Linux 2.0.32 i586)}
+
+ * Treat this URL as an image. This only matters if it's also
+ "+block"ed, in which case a "blocked" image can be sent rather
+ than a HTML page. See "+image-blocker{}" below for the control
+ over what is actually sent. If you want invisible ads, they should
+ be defined as images and blocked. And also, "image-blocker" should
+ be set to "blank".
+ +image
+
+ * Decides what to do with URLs that end up tagged with "{+block
+ +image}", e.g an advertizement. There are five options.
+ "-image-blocker" will send a HTML "blocked" page, usually
+ resulting in a "broken image" icon. "+image-blocker{logo}" will
+ send a Privoxy logo image. "+image-blocker{blank}" will send a 1x1
+ transparent GIF image. And finally,
+ "+image-blocker{http://xyz.com}" will send a HTTP temporary
+ redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of the
+ icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed up the
+ display. "+image-blocker{pattern}" will send a checkboard type
+ pattern, which scales better than the logo (which can get blocky
+ if the browser enlarges it too much).
+ +image-blocker{logo}
+ +image-blocker{blank}
+ +image-blocker{pattern}
+ +image-blocker{http://i.j.b/send-banner}
+
+ * By default (i.e. in the absence of a "+limit-connect" action),
+ Privoxy will only allow CONNECT requests to port 443, which is the
+ standard port for https as a precaution.
+ The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure
+ websites (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
+ the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
+ short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote
+ proxy. This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled
+ proxies can be abused as TCP relays very easily.
+ If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to
+ forbid CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list
+ of ports and port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the
+ minimum defaulting to 0 and max to 65K):
+ +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need no be
+ specified.
+ +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
+ +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to
+ 100
+ #and above 500 are OK.
+
+ * "+no-compression" prevents the website from compressing the data.
+ Some websites do this, which can be a problem for Privoxy, since
+ "+filter", "+no-popup" and "+gif-deanimate" will not work on
+ compressed data. This will slow down connections to those
+ websites, though. Default is "nocompression" is turned on.
+ +nocompression
+
+ * If the website sets cookies, "no-cookies-keep" will make sure they
+ are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
+ profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require
+ cookies so that you can log in for transactions. Default: on.
+ +no-cookies-keep
+
+ * Prevent the website from reading cookies:
+ +no-cookies-read
+
+ * Prevent the website from setting cookies:
+ +no-cookies-set
+
+ * Filter the website through a built-in filter to disable those
+ obnoxious JavaScript pop-up windows via window.open(), etc. The
+ two alternative spellings are equivalent.
+ +no-popup
+ +no-popups
+
+ * This action only applies if you are using a jarfile for saving
+ cookies. It sends a cookie to every site stating that you do not
+ accept any copyright on cookies sent to you, and asking them not
+ to track you. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header they
+ could use to track you.
+ +vanilla-wafer
+
+ * This allows you to add an arbitrary cookie. It can be specified
+ multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you like.
+ +wafer{name=value}
+
+ The meaning of any of the above is reversed by preceding the action
+ with a "-", in place of the "+".
+
+ Some examples:
+
+ Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified
+ sites:
+
+ # Turn off all persistent cookies
+ { +no-cookies-read }
+ { +no-cookies-set }
+ # Allow cookies for this browser session ONLY
+ { +no-cookies-keep }
+ # Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
+ { -no-cookies-read }
+ { -no-cookies-set }
+ { -no-cookies-keep }
+ .javasoft.com
+ .sun.com
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com
+ # Alternative way of saying the same thing
+ {-no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-keep}
+ .sourceforge.net
+ .sf.net
+
+ Now turn off "fast redirects", and then we allow two exceptions:
+
+ # Turn them off!
+ {+fast-redirects}
+
+ # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
+ {-fast-redirects}
+ www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
+ login.yahoo.com
+
+ Turn on page filtering according to rules in the defined sections of
+ refilterfile, and make one exception for sourceforge:
+
+ # Run everything through the filter file, using only the
+ # specified sections:
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}\
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+
+ # Then disable filtering of code from sourceforge!
+ {-filter}
+ .cvs.sourceforge.net
+
+ Now some URLs that we want "blocked", ie we won't see them. Many of
+ these use regular expressions that will expand to match multiple URLs:
+
+ # Blocklist:
+ {+block}
+ /.*/(.*[-_.])?ads?[0-9]?(/|[-_.].*|\.(gif|jpe?g))
+ /.*/(.*[-_.])?count(er)?(\.cgi|\.dll|\.exe|[?/])
+ /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
+ /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
+ /.*/(sponsor)s?[0-9]?/
+ /.*/_?(plain|live)?ads?(-banners)?/
+ /.*/abanners/
+ /.*/ad(sdna_image|gifs?)/
+ /.*/ad(server|stream|juggler)\.(cgi|pl|dll|exe)
+ /.*/adbanners/
+ /.*/adserver
+ /.*/adstream\.cgi
+ /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/
+ /.*/banner_?ads/
+ /.*/banners?/
+ /.*/banners?\.cgi/
+ /.*/cgi-bin/centralad/getimage
+ /.*/images/addver\.gif
+ /.*/images/marketing/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
+ /.*/popupads/
+ /.*/siteads/
+ /.*/sponsor.*\.gif
+ /.*/sponsors?[0-9]?/
+ /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpg
+ /Media/Images/Adds/
+ /ad_images/
+ /adimages/
+ /.*/ads/
+ /bannerfarm/
+ /grafikk/annonse/
+ /graphics/defaultAd/
+ /image\.ng/AdType
+ /image\.ng/transactionID
+ /images/.*/.*_anim\.gif # alvin brattli
+ /ip_img/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
+ /rotateads/
+ /rotations/
+ /worldnet/ad\.cgi
+ /cgi-bin/nph-adclick.exe/
+ /.*/Image/BannerAdvertising/
+ /.*/ad-bin/
+ /.*/adlib/server\.cgi
+ /autoads/
+
+ Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
+ misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways a
+ site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
+ content he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules
+ for all sites. See the [52]Appendix for a brief example on
+ troubleshooting actions.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+3.4.3. Aliases
+
+ Custom "actions", known to Privoxy as "aliases", can be defined by
+ combining other "actions". These can in turn be invoked just like the
+ built-in "actions". Currently, an alias can contain any character
+ except space, tab, "=", "{" or "}". But please use only "a"- "z",
+ "0"-"9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not case sensitive, and must be
+ defined before anything else in the default.actionfile ! And there can
+ only be one set of "aliases" defined.
+
+ Now let's define a few aliases:
+
+ # Useful customer aliases we can use later. These must come first!
+ {{alias}}
+ +no-cookies = +no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
+ -no-cookies = -no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
+ fragile = -block -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-refere
+ r -no-popups
+ shop = -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
+ +imageblock = +block +image
+ #For people who don't like to type too much: ;-)
+ c0 = +no-cookies
+ c1 = -no-cookies
+ c2 = -no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
+ c3 = +no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
+ #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
+
+ Some examples using our "shop" and "fragile" aliases from above:
+
+ # These sites are very complex and require
+ # minimal interference.
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+ .nytimes.com
+ # Shopping sites - still want to block ads.
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .jungle.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+ # These shops require pop-ups
+ {shop -no-popups}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+3.5. The Filter File
+
+ Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
+ modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content,
+ including tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is
+ default.filter, located in the config directory.
+
+ The included example file is divided into sections. Each section
+ begins with the FILTER keyword, followed by the identifier for that
+ section, e.g. "FILTER: webbugs". Each section performs a similar type
+ of filtering, such as "html-annoyances".
+
+ This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in
+ the target page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a
+ time. Some examples from the included default default.filter:
+
+ Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by
+ deleting such references:
+
+ FILTER: html-annoyances
+ # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and st
+ atus
+ # bar. Make it so.
+ #
+ s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
+ s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
+ s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
+ s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
+ # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
+ #
+ s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
+ # Is this evil?
+ #
+ #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
+ #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
+
+ Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of "Microsoft" with
+ "MicroSuck", and have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
+
+ FILTER: fun
+ s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
+ # Buzzword Bingo:
+ #
+ s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BING
+ O!</b></font>/ig
+
+ Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
+
+ # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
+ FILTER: webbugs
+ s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\
+ s*['"]?1(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+3.6. Templates
+
+ When Privoxy displays one of its internal pages, such as a 404 Not
+ Found error page, it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and
+ Unix, these are located in /etc/privoxy/templates by default. These
+ may be customized, if desired.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
+
+ Install package, then run and enjoy! Privoxy is typically started by
+ specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line.
+ Example Unix startup command:
+
+
+ # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
+
+
+ An init script is provided for SuSE and Redhat.
+
+ For for SuSE: /etc/rc.d/privoxy start
+
+ For RedHat: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+
+ If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Privoxy
+ will look for a file named config in the current directory. Except on
+ Win32 where it will try config.txt. If no file is specified on the
+ command line and no default configuration file can be found, Privoxy
+ will fail to start.
+
+ Be sure your browser is set to use the proxy which is by default at
+ localhost, port 8118. With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set
+ under Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For
+ Internet Explorer: Tools > Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN
+ Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in the appropriate info
+ (Address: localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
+
+ The included default configuration files should give a reasonable
+ starting point, though may be somewhat aggressive in blocking junk.
+ You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require
+ persistent cookies, and add these to default.action as needed. By
+ default, most of these will be accepted only during the current
+ browser session, until you add them to the configuration. If you want
+ the browser to handle this instead, you will need to edit
+ default.action and disable this feature. If you use more than one
+ browser, it would make more sense to let Privoxy handle this. In which
+ case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
+
+ If a particular site shows problems loading properly, try adding it to
+ the {fragile} section of default.action. This will turn off most
+ actions for this site.
+
+ Privoxy is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all 1.1 features are as yet
+ implemented. If browsers that support HTTP/1.1 (like Mozilla or recent
+ versions of I.E.) experience problems, you might try to force HTTP/1.0
+ compatibility. For Mozilla, look under Edit -> Preferences -> Debug ->
+ Networking. Or set the "+downgrade" config option in default.action.
+
+ After running Privoxy for a while, you can start to fine tune the
+ configuration to suit your personal, or site, preferences and
+ requirements. There are many, many aspects that can be customized.
+ "Actions" (as specified in default.action) can be adjusted by pointing
+ your browser to [53]http://i.j.b/, and then follow the link to "edit
+ the actions list". (This is an internal page and does not require
+ Internet access.)
+
+ In fact, various aspects of Privoxy configuration can be viewed from
+ this page, including current configuration parameters, source code
+ version numbers, the browser's request headers, and "actions" that
+ apply to a given URL. In addition to the default.action file editor
+ mentioned above, Privoxy can also be turned "on" and "off" from this
+ page.
+
+ If you encounter problems, please verify it is a Privoxy bug, by
+ disabling Privoxy, and then trying the same page. Also, try another
+ browser if possible to eliminate browser or site problems. Before
+ reporting it as a bug, see if there is not a configuration option that
+ is enabled that is causing the page not to load. You can then add an
+ exception for that page or site. If a bug, please report it to the
+ developers (see below).
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+4.1. Command Line Options
+
+ Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
+
+ * --version
+ Print version info and exit, Unix only.
+ * --help
+ Print a short usage info and exit, Unix only.
+ * --no-daemon
+ Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
+ leader, don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
+ * --pidfile FILE
+ On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit.
+ Failiure to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE
+ option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
+ * --user USER[.GROUP]
+ After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
+ USER, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are
+ not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
+ * configfile
+ If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will
+ look for a file named "config" in the current directory (except on
+ Win32 where it will look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full
+ path to avoid confusion.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+
+5. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+ We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support,
+ please note:
+
+ * Use the [54]Sourceforge support forum to get help.
+ * Submit bugs only thru our [55]Sourceforge bug forum. Make sure
+ that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
+ that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If
+ you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock
+ configs to see if the problem is a configuration related bug. And
+ if not using the latest development snapshot, please try the
+ latest one. Or even better, CVS sources.
+ * Submit feature requests only thru our [56]Sourceforge feature
+ request forum.
+
+ For any other issues, feel free to use the [57]mailing lists.
+
+ Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
+ discussions can join the appropriate mailing list [58]here. Archives
+ are available here too.
+ _________________________________________________________________
+