<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "2.9.16">
-<!entity p-status "beta">
-<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
+<!entity p-version SYSTEM "doc_version.tmp">
+<!entity p-status SYSTEM "doc_status.tmp">
+<!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.9 2002/10/29 03:22:22 hal9 Exp $
Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
See LICENSE.
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.9 2002/10/29 03:22:22 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
]]>
<para>
This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
- <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>
- <![%p-stable;[ v.&p-version]]>. It can't and doesn't replace the
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
+ It can't and doesn't replace the
<ulink url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
+<!--
+ This works, at least in some situtations:
+ Test: <ulink url="privoxy-user-manual.pdf"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
+-->
</para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<para>
+ <![%p-stable;[
+ Please note that this document is constantly evolving. This copy represents
+ the state at the release of version &p-version;. ]]>
You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> if you want to
&supported;
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="email-client">
+<title>Can I use <application>Privoxy</application> with my email client?</title>
+<para>
+ As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client, then yes,
+ any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking a
+ <quote>browser</quote> or not. Though this may not be the best approach for
+ dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in email. See <link
+ linkend="outlook">How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application> with
+ <application>Outlook Express</application>?</link> below for more on this.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and privacy
+ related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome. The developers
+ recommend using email clients that can be configured to convert HTML to plain
+ text for these reasons.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newinstall"><title>Can I install
<application>Privoxy</application> over <application>Junkbuster</application>?</title>
<para>
as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy address and port number
in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. See below.
You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache to get rid of any
- cached junk items.
+ cached junk items, and any stored cookies.
</para>
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title
id="nothing">I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>, and nothing is happening.
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nothing">
+<title>I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>, and nothing is happening.
All the ads are there. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
<application>Privoxy</application> is not running at all. Check the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">log file</ulink>.
-
-
</para>
</sect2>
There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
if you are blocking cookies as one of your default actions, but need to accept
cookies from a given site, you would need to define an exception for this
- site in one of your actions files, preferably in <filename>user.action</filename>
+ site in one of your actions files, preferably in <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
<para>
Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
- with a text editor. The probably easiest way is to access
+ with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
<application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface with your web browser
at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and then select
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configfiles"> <title>What's the difference between the
-<quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> and <quote>Advanced</quote> defaults?</title>
+<quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> and <quote>Radical</quote> defaults?</title>
<para>
- Configuring <application>Privoxy</application> is not entirely trivial. To help you get
- started, we provide you with three different default action <quote>packages</quote> in
- the web based actions file editor at <ulink
+ Configuring <application>Privoxy</application> is not entirely trivial. To
+ help you get started, we provide you with three different default action
+
<quote>profiles</quote> in the web based actions file editor at <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
- The following table shows you, which of the most important features are enabled in each
- configuration:
+ The following table shows you, which of the most important features are
+ enabled in each configuration:
</para>
<para>
<table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
<entry>Feature</entry>
<entry>Cautious</entry>
<entry>Intermadiate</entry>
- <entry>Advanced</entry>
+ <entry>Radical</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<!-- <tfoot> -->
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
+<row>
+ <entry>Demoronizer</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
url="../user-manual/index.html">user manual</ulink> for a more
deatiled discussion.
</para>
+<para>
+ It should be noted that the <quote>Radical</quote> profile is not only more
+ aggressive, but also includes fun and, extreme usage of most of
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> features. Use at your own risk!
+</para>
</sect2>
url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink></literal>
option, which may be commented out with a <quote>#</quote> symbol. Make sure
it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
- and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
+ and port number to use. Assuming your server's LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
wish to run <application>Privoxy</application> on port 8118, this line
- schould look like:
+ should look like:
</para>
<para>
all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.
</para>
+<para>
+ Alternately, you can have <application>Privoxy</application> listen on
+ all available interfaces:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ listen-address :8118</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ And then use <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#PERMIT-ACCESS">permit-access</ulink>
+ feature to limit connections. A firewall in this situation is recommended
+ as well.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The above steps should be the same for any TCP network, regardless of
+ operating system.
+</para>
+
<para>
If you run <application>Privoxy</application> on a LAN with untrusted users,
- we recommend that you double-check
the <ulink
+ we recommend that you double-check
all <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">access control and security</ulink>
options!
</para>
on Win2K/NT?</title>
<para>
Yes, it can run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
- The only catch is that this will effectively disable the
- <application>Privoxy</application> icon (and its menu!) in the taskbar. You can have
- one or the other, but not both at this time :(
+ See the discussion at <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</ulink>,
+ for details, and a sample configuration.
</para>
<para>
- There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See the discussion
- at <ulink
- url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</ulink>,
- for details, and a sample configuration.
-
+ Version 3.0.1 fixes the problem where the icon and menu where not available
+ in the taskbar for this usage.
</para>
</sect2>
-
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
<title>How can I make <application>Privoxy</application> work with other
proxies like <application>Squid</application>?</title>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="port-80">
+<title>Can I just set <application>Privoxy</application> to use port 80
+and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</title>
+
+<para>
+ No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
+ of proxies known as <quote>transparent</quote> proxies (see below).
+</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="transparent">
<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a <quote>transparent
</quote> proxy?</title>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook">
+<title>How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application> for use with <application>Outlook
+ Express</application>?</title>
+<para>
+ <application>Outlook Express</application> uses <application>Internet Explorer</application>
+ components to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email.
+ So however you have <application>Privoxy</application> configured to work
+ with IE, this configuration should automatically be shared.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook-more">
+<title>How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</title>
+<para>
+ The short answer is, you can't. <application>Privoxy</application> has no way
+ of knowing which particular application makes a request, so there is no way to
+ distinguish between web pages and HTML mail.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> just blindly proxies all requests. In the
+ case of <application>Outlook Express</application> (see above), OE uses
+ IE anyway, and there is no way for <application>Privoxy</application> to ever
+ be able to distinguish between them (nor could any other proxy type
+ application for that matter).
+</para>
+<para>
+ For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including privacy and
+ security issues), see
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118</ulink>.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allow-cookies">
+<title>How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</title>
+
+<para>
+ There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default behavior is to
+ allow only <quote>session cookies</quote>, which means the cookies only last
+ for the current browser session. This eliminates most kinds of abuse related
+ to cookies. But there may be cases where we want cookies to last.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed unrestricted,
+ both in and out, for <literal>example.com</literal>:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ { -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies -session-cookies-only -filter{content-cookies} }
+ .example.com</screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ Place the above in <filename>user.action</filename>. Note some of these may
+ be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant, but there is no harm
+ being explicit in what you want to happen. <filename>user.action</filename>
+ includes an alias for this situation, called
+ <literal>allow-cookies</literal>.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<para>
This also makes for a good test for your browser configuration: If entering the
URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
- takes you to a page saying <quote>This is Privoxy..</quote>, everything is OK.
+ takes you to a page saying <quote>This is Privoxy ...</quote>, everything is OK.
If you get a page saying <quote>Privoxy is not working</quote> instead, then
your browser didn't use <application>Privoxy</application> for the request,
hence it could not be intercepted, and you have accessed the <emphasis>real</emphasis>
url="http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm">multiproxy.org</ulink> and many
more through Google. A particularly interesting project is the JAP service
offered by the Technical University of Dresden (<ulink
- url="http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html">http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html</ulink>.
+ url="http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html">http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html</ulink>).
</para>
<para>
There is, however, even in the single-machine case the possibility to make the
for efficiency reasons, which exposes them to the full power of
<application>Privoxy</application>'s ad blocking.
</para>
+<para>
+ <quote>Content cookies</quote> (those that are embedded in the actual HTML or
+ JS page content, see <literal><ulink
+ url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</ulink></literal>),
+ in an SSL transaction will be impossible to block under these conditions.
+ Fortunately, this does not seem to be a very common scenario since most
+ cookies come by traditional means.
+</para>
</sect2>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
+<title>My logs show <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>crunches</quote>
+ads, but also its own CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
+<para>
+ A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
+ <emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
+ banners, but <application>Privoxy</application> uses the same mechanism for
+ trapping requests for its own internal pages. For instance, a request for
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration page at: <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org">http://config.privoxy.org</ulink>, is
+ intercepted (i.e. it does not go out to the 'net), and the familiar CGI
+ configuration is returned to the browser, and the log consequently will show
+ a <quote>crunch</quote>.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads">
+<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> effect files that I download
+from a webserver? FTP server?</title>
+<para>
+ From the webserver's perspective, there is no difference between
+ viewing a document (i.e. a page), and downloading a file. The same is true of
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. If there is a match for a <literal><ulink
+ url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> pattern,
+ it will still be blocked, and of course this is obvious. Filtering is
+ potentially more of a concern since the results are not always so obvious.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> knows the differences in files according
+ to the <quote>Document Type</quote> as reported by the webserver. If this is
+ reported accurately (e.g. <quote>application/zip</quote> for a zip archive),
+ then <application>Privoxy</application> knows to ignore these where
+ appropriate. It is possible, however, that documents that are of an unknown
+ type (generally assumed to be <quote>text/plain</quote>) will be filtered, as
+ will those that might be incorrectly reported by the webserver. If such a
+ file is a downloaded file that is intended to be saved to disk, then any
+ content that might have been altered by filtering, will be saved too, for
+ these (probably very rare) cases.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
+ protocols.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
<title>Where can I find more information about <application>Privoxy</application>
and related issues?</title>
-->
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="microsuck">
+<title>I've noticed that Privoxy changes <quote>Microsoft</quote> to
+<quote>MicroSuck</quote>! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</title>
+
+<para>
+ We're not. The text substitutions that you are seeing are disabled
+ in the default configuration as shipped. You have either manually
+ activated the <quote><literal>fun</literal></quote> filter which
+ is clearly labeled <quote>Text replacements for subversive browsing
+ fun!</quote> or you have implicitly activated it by choosing the
+ <quote>Radical</quote> profile in the web-based editor.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title
id="badsite">One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>.
+<sect2 id="badsite" renderas="sect3">
+<title >One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>.
What can I do?</title>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="dun">
+<sect2 id="dun" renderas="sect3">
<title>After installing <application>Privoxy</application>, I have to log in
every time I start IE. What gives?</title>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="ftp">
+<sect2 id="ftp" renderas="sect3">
<title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. <application>Privoxy</application>
seems to be blocking me.</title>
<para>
so do not configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as an FTP proxy. The same is true for any protocol other than HTTP or HTTPS.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Most browsers understand FTP as well as HTTP. If you connect to a site, with
+ a URL like <literal>ftp://ftp.example.com</literal>, your browser is making
+ an FTP connection, and not a HTTP connection. So while your browser may
+ speak FTP, <application>Privoxy</application> does not, and cannot proxy
+ such traffic.
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="osxie" renderas="sect3">
+<title>In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as the HTTP proxy.</title>
+ <para>
+ Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
+ network settings. In order to change the HTTP proxy, open System
+ Preferences, and click on the Network icon. In the settings pane that
+ comes up, click on the Proxies tab. Ensure the "Web Proxy (HTTP)" checkbox
+ is checked and enter <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> in the entry field.
+ Enter <literal>8118</literal> in the Port field. The next time you start
+ IE, it should reflect these values.
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osxuninstall">
+<title>In Mac OSX, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
+ uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
+ empty the trash.</title>
+ <para>
+ Just dragging the <application>Privoxy</application> folder to the trash is
+ not enough to delete it. <application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
+ <application>uninstall.command</application> file that takes care of
+ these details. Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
+ file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
+ confirmation and the administration password.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The trash may still appear full after this command; emptying the trash
+ from the desktop should make it appear empty again.
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
+<title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
+ shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>. Without
+ <application>Privoxy</application> the page loads fine.</title>
+ <para>
+ Chances are that the site suffers from a bug in
+ <ulink url="http://www.php.net/"><application>PHP</application></ulink>,
+ which results in empty pages being sent if the client explicitly requests
+ an uncompressed page, like <application>Privoxy</application> does.
+ This bug has been fixed in PHP 4.2.3.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ To find out if this is in fact the source of the problem, try adding
+ the site to a <literal>-prevent-compression</literal> section in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>:
+ </para>
+ <screen>
+ # Make exceptions for ill-behaved sites:
+ #
+ {-prevent-compression}
+ .example.com</screen>
+ <para>
+ If that works, you may also want to report the problem to the
+ site's webmasters, telling them to use zlib.output_compression
+ instead of ob_gzhandler in their PHP applications (workaround)
+ or upgrade to PHP 4.2.3 or later (fix).
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="error503">
+<title>Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</title>
+ <para>
+ More than likely this is a problem with the network stack. ZoneAlarm has
+ been reported to cause this symptom -- even if not running. The solution is
+ to either fight the ZA configuration, or uninstall ZoneAlarm, and then find
+ something better behaved in its place. Other firewall type products may
+ cause similar type problems if not configured correctly.
+ </para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
+Revision 2.9 2002/10/29 03:22:22 hal9
+Add 3 FAQs relating to HTML in email. Other minor touch ups.
+
+Revision 2.8 2002/10/15 12:47:23 oes
+Added Microsuck faq; more detail for PHP problem
+
+Revision 2.7 2002/10/12 01:14:42 hal9
+Updates for demoronizer filter, Radical profile, and the srvany.exe/icon
+win32 fix.
+
+Revision 2.6 2002/10/10 04:10:38 hal9
+s/Advanced/Radical/ for standard.action change.
+
+Revision 2.5 2002/09/26 05:57:14 hal9
+Conditionally exclude 'this doc is evolving' comment in intro for non release
+situations.
+
+Revision 2.4 2002/09/26 00:14:42 hal9
+Small additions for content-cookies/SSL, LAN configuration, and FTP (non)
+support.
+
+Revision 2.3 2002/09/13 11:50:55 oes
+Added MicroSuck topic; Updated PHP bug topic
+
+Revision 2.2 2002/09/05 04:25:05 hal9
+Sync with 3.0 branch. No new content.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9
+Fix one grammatical error. Add brief FAQ relating to tranparent proxies (ie
+port 80 setting). Add FAQ on effects of Privoxy on downloaded files
+(especially filtering).
+
+Revision 1.61.2.18 2002/08/14 16:39:37 hal9
+Fix wrong tag on FAQ addition.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.17 2002/08/14 00:01:18 hal9
+Add a crunch FAQ.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.16 2002/08/13 00:10:38 hal9
+Add faq to troubleshooting re: blank page syndrome, ie {-prevent-compression}.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.15 2002/08/10 11:34:22 oes
+Add disclaimer about probably being out-of-date
+
+Revision 1.61.2.14 2002/08/07 02:53:43 hal9
+Fix some minor markup errors, and move one OSX Q/A to troubleshooting section.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.13 2002/08/06 11:55:32 oes
+Added missing close tag
+
+Revision 1.61.2.12 2002/08/06 11:43:46 david__schmidt
+Updated OSX uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.11 2002/08/06 08:54:03 oes
+Style police: Fixed formatting details
+
+Revision 1.61.2.10 2002/08/02 14:00:25 david__schmidt
+Made the OSX removal commands far less dangerous
+
+Revision 1.61.2.9 2002/08/02 13:14:45 oes
+Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OSX deinstallation; moved this item to install section
+
+Revision 1.61.2.8 2002/08/02 02:01:42 david__schmidt
+Add FAQ item for MSIE on OSX HTTP proxy confusion
+
+Revision 1.61.2.7 2002/08/02 01:46:01 david__schmidt
+Added FAQ item for Mac OSX uninstall woes
+
+Revision 1.61.2.6 2002/07/30 20:04:56 hal9
+Fix typo: 'schould'.
+
Revision 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes
- Updated to reflect changes in standard.action
- Added info on where to get updated actions files
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff