X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Ftext%2Fuser-manual.txt;h=1f2a7b97e7288ae19785a433c93cde7b4c105e95;hb=9f2fe5f7e9cb284d3ee5effe57ff3544439488ba;hp=e3566a086719443b6253c01cb55a8156e3f615b7;hpb=9b959151c52a1b8deba5d56c18b41344ad4062d9;p=privoxy.git diff --git a/doc/text/user-manual.txt b/doc/text/user-manual.txt index e3566a08..1f2a7b97 100644 --- a/doc/text/user-manual.txt +++ b/doc/text/user-manual.txt @@ -1,10 +1,11 @@ -Privoxy User Manual +Privoxy 2.9.16 User Manual Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Privoxy Developers -$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes Exp $ +$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.123.2.11 2002/07/26 15:20:31 oes Exp $ -The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use + +The User Manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use Privoxy. Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting @@ -16,55 +17,54 @@ networks. Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm). -You can find the latest version of the user manual at http://www.privoxy.org/ +You can find the latest version of the User Manual at http://www.privoxy.org/ user-manual/. Please see the Contact section on how to contact the developers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Table of Contents 1. Introduction - 1.1. Features -2. Installation +2. Installation 2.1. Binary Packages - - 2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE RPMs and Conectiva + 2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs 2.1.2. Debian 2.1.3. Windows 2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX 2.1.5. OS/2 - 2.1.6. Max OSX + 2.1.6. Mac OSX 2.1.7. AmigaOS + 2.2. Building from Source + 2.3. Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date + 3. Note to Upgraders 4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy - 4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking + 5. Starting Privoxy + 5.1. Red Hat and Conectiva + 5.2. Debian + 5.3. SuSE + 5.4. Windows + 5.5. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others + 5.6. OS/2 + 5.7. Mac OSX + 5.8. AmigaOS + 5.9. Command Line Options - 5.1. RedHat, Conectiva and Debian - 5.2. SuSE - 5.3. Windows - 5.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others - 5.5. OS/2 - 5.6. MAX OSX - 5.7. AmigaOS - 5.8. Command Line Options 6. Privoxy Configuration - 6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser 6.2. Configuration Files Overview -7. The Main Configuration File +7. The Main Configuration File 7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations - 7.1.1. confdir 7.1.2. logdir 7.1.3. actionsfile @@ -73,20 +73,20 @@ Table of Contents 7.1.6. jarfile 7.1.7. trustfile - 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation + 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation 7.2.1. user-manual 7.2.2. trust-info-url 7.2.3. admin-address 7.2.4. proxy-info-url - 7.3. Debugging + 7.3. Debugging 7.3.1. debug 7.3.2. single-threaded - 7.4. Access Control and Security + 7.4. Access Control and Security 7.4.1. listen-address 7.4.2. toggle 7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle @@ -94,26 +94,27 @@ Table of Contents 7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access 7.4.6. buffer-limit - 7.5. Forwarding + 7.5. Forwarding 7.5.1. forward 7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a 7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples + 7.6. Windows GUI Options -8. Actions Files +8. Actions Files 8.1. Finding the Right Mix 8.2. How to Edit 8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs 8.4. Patterns - + 22  8.4.1. The Domain Pattern 8.4.2. The Path Pattern - 8.5. Actions + 8.5. Actions 8.5.1. add-header 8.5.2. block 8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies @@ -136,46 +137,50 @@ Table of Contents 8.5.20. set-image-blocker 8.5.21. Summary + 8.6. Aliases 8.7. Actions Files Tutorial - 8.7.1. default.action 8.7.2. user.action -9. The Filter File + + +9. The Filter File 9.1. Filter File Tutorial + 10. Templates 11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests - 11.1. Get Support 11.2. Report Bugs 11.3. Request New Features 11.4. Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems 11.5. Other -12. Privoxy Copyright, License and History +12. Privoxy Copyright, License and History 12.1. License 12.2. History 12.3. Authors + 13. See Also 14. Appendix - 14.1. Regular Expressions 14.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages - 14.2.1. Bookmarklets + 14.3. Chain of Events 14.4. Anatomy of an Action + + 1. Introduction This documentation is included with the current beta version of Privoxy, -v.2.9.15, and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference +v.2.9.16, and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual configuration files. Development of version 3.0 is currently nearing completion, and includes many significant changes and enhancements over earlier @@ -184,7 +189,6 @@ versions. The target release date for stable v3.0 is "soon" ;-). Since this is a beta version, not all new features are well tested. This documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with CVS sources). And there may be bugs, though hopefully not many! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1. Features @@ -193,46 +197,46 @@ In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management, Privoxy provides new features, some of them currently under development: - * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http:// +  * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http:// config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects. Remote toggling. - * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible +  * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-up windows, etc.) - * Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and user +  * Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and user settings to reside in separate files, so that installing updated actions files won't overwrite individual user settings. - * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported). +  * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported). - * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, +  * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over previous versions. - * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies). +  * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies). - * GIF de-animation. +  * GIF de-animation. - * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection). +  * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection). - * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads). +  * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads). - * User-customizable HTML templates for all proxy-generated pages (e.g. +  * User-customizable HTML templates for all proxy-generated pages (e.g. "blocked" page). - * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes. +  * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes. - * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix). +  * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix). - * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis, +  * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis, configuration more powerful and versatile over-all. - * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security +  * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security holes fixed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Installation Privoxy is available both in convenient pre-compiled packages for a wide range @@ -244,18 +248,16 @@ you will need to remove it. On some platforms, this may be done for you as part of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to you. See the note to upgraders section below. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1. Binary Packages How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE RPMs and Conectiva +2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs -RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-2.9.15-1.rpm, and will use /etc/ +RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-2.9.16-1.rpm, and will use /etc/ privoxy for the location of configuration files. Note that on Red Hat, Privoxy will not be automatically started on system boot. @@ -263,19 +265,18 @@ You will need to enable that using chkconfig, ntsysv, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM: rpm ---rebuild privoxy-2.9.15-1.src.rpm;. This will use your locally installed +--rebuild privoxy-2.9.16-1.src.rpm. This will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version. Also note that if you have a Junkbuster RPM installed on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict. Otherwise, RPM will try to remove Junkbuster automatically, before installing Privoxy. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.2. Debian -FIXME. - +DEBs can be installed with dpkg -i privoxy_2.9.16-1.deb, and will use /etc/ +privoxy for the location of configuration files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.3. Windows @@ -283,20 +284,19 @@ FIXME. Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through the installation process. You will find the configuration files in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not use the registry of Windows. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and untar the archive. For the -most part, you'll have to figure out where things go. FIXME. - +most part, you'll have to figure out where things go. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.5. OS/2 First, make sure that no previous installations of Junkbuster and / or Privoxy -are left on your system. You can do this by +are left on your system. Check that no Junkbuster or Privoxy objects are in +your startup folder. Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will guide you through the installation process. A shadow of the Privoxy executable will @@ -305,18 +305,20 @@ starts. The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of the configuration files. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -2.1.6. Max OSX +2.1.6. Mac OSX Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file in the -finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then, double-click on -the package installer icon and follow the installation process. Privoxy will be -installed in the subdirectory /Applications/Privoxy.app. Privoxy will set -itself up to start automatically on system bring-up via /System/Library/ -StartupItems/Privoxy. - +finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). The Privoxy.pkg package +should appear after unzipping. Then, double-click on that Privoxy.pkg package +installer icon and follow the installation process. Privoxy will be installed +in the folder /Library/Privoxy. It will run automatically whenever you start +up. To prevent it from running automatically, remove or rename the folder / +Library/StartupItems/Privoxy. + +To run Privoxy by hand, double-click on RunPrivoxy.command. To run Privoxy from +Terminal, execute /Library/Privoxy/RunPrivoxy.command. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.7. AmigaOS @@ -324,13 +326,6 @@ StartupItems/Privoxy. Copy and then unpack the lha archive to a suitable location. All necessary files will be installed into Privoxy directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just remove this directory. - -Start Privoxy (with RUN <>NIL:) in your startnet script (AmiTCP), in s: -user-startup (RoadShow), as startup program in your startup script (Genesis), -or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx). Privoxy will automatically quit when -you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack -may display that Privoxy is still running). - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2. Building from Source @@ -348,8 +343,8 @@ compiler like gcc are required. When building from a source tarball (either release version or nightly CVS tarball), first unpack the source: - tar xzvf privoxy-2.9.15-beta-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz] - cd privoxy-2.9.15-beta + tar xzvf privoxy-2.9.16-beta-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz] + cd privoxy-2.9.16-beta For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need CVS installed. Note that sources from CVS are development quality, and may not be stable, or well @@ -382,7 +377,24 @@ in the freshly downloaded or unpacked source directory. For more detailed instructions on how to build Redhat and SuSE RPMs, Windows self-extracting installers, building on platforms with special requirements etc, please consult the developer manual. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +2.3. Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date +As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated +versions of both the software and the main actions file (default.action) +available for download. + +If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of +Privoxy or the actions file, subscribe to our announce mailing list, +ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net. + +Both can be downloaded from the files section on SourceForge. + +In order not to loose your personal changes and adjustments when updating to +the latest default.action file we strongly recommend that you use user.action +for your customization of Privoxy. See the Chapter on actions files for +details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Note to Upgraders @@ -408,50 +420,50 @@ files. A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading: - * The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another +  * The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another service (NAS). - * Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any important +  * Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any important configuration files! - * Privoxy is controllable with a web browser at the special URL: http:// +  * Privoxy is controllable with a web browser at the special URL: http:// config.privoxy.org/ (Shortcut: http://p.p/). Many aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling Privoxy. - * The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner +  * The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner blocking, and many other aspects of Privoxy configuration are the actions files. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules should go into user.action. - * Some installers may not automatically start Privoxy after installation. +  * Some installers may not automatically start Privoxy after installation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy - * If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration +  * If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration files. See the Note to Upgraders Section. - * Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section below for platform specific +  * Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section below for platform specific information. - * Advanced users and those who want to offer Privoxy service to more than +  * Advanced users and those who want to offer Privoxy service to more than just their local machine should check the main config file, especially the security-relevant options. These are off by default. - * Start Privoxy, if the installation program has not done this already (may +  * Start Privoxy, if the installation program has not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section Starting Privoxy. - * Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and HTTPS proxy by setting the +  * Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of 127.0.0.1 and port 8118. (Junkbuster and - earlier versions of Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting + earlier versions of Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting Privoxy below for more details on this. - * Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad +  * Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images. - * A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for most. +  * A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little to no initial configuration is required in most cases. @@ -459,20 +471,20 @@ A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading: See the Configuration section for more configuration options, and how to customize your installation. - * If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are +  * If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune Privoxy's behaviour, take a look at the actions files. As a quick start, you might find the richly commented examples helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the web-based user interface. The Appendix "Anatomy of an Action" has hints how to debug actions that "misbehave". - * Please see the section Contacting the Developers on how to report bugs or +  * Please see the section Contacting the Developers on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get help. - * Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy! +  * Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking Ad blocking is but one of Privoxy's array of features. Many of these features @@ -481,7 +493,7 @@ surely common ground for everybody. This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive information provided -below, though this is highly recommeneded. +below, though this is highly recommended. First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block things that were @@ -501,51 +513,57 @@ Actions, and action configuration files, are explained in depth below. Actions are specified in Privoxy's configuration, followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs can actually be URL type patterns that -use wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. - -When you connect to a website, the full path of the URL will either match one -of the "actions" as defined in Privoxy's configuration, or not. If so, then -Privoxy will perform the action accordingly. If not, then nothing special -happens. Futhermore, web pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your -web browser will display as it parses the original page's HTML content. An ad -image for instance, is just a URL embedded in the page somewhere. The image -itself may be on the same server, or a server somewhere else on the Internet. -Complex web pages will have many such embedded URLs. +use wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The +actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section. + +When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more of +the sections as defined in Privoxy's configuration, or not. If so, then Privoxy +will perform the respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. +Furthermore, web pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web +browser will use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the +original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL embedded +in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server, or a server +somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many such embedded +URLs. The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: block, handle-as-image, and set-image-blocker: - * block - this action stops any contact between your browser and any URL +  * block - this action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By - itself, it simply stops any communication with the remote server. If this - is the only action that matches for this particular URL, then Privoxy will - display its own BLOCKED page to let you now what has happened. - - * handle-as-image - forces Privoxy to treat this URL as if it were an image. - Privoxy knows about common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many - situations where this does not apply. So we'll force it. This is - particularly important for ad blocking, since once we can treat it as an - image, we can make more intelligent decisisions on how to handle it. There - are some limitations to this though. For instance, you can't just force an - image substituion for an entire HTML page in most situations. - - * set-image-blocker - tells Privoxy what to display in place of an ad image + itself, it simply stops any communication with the remote server and sends + Privoxy's own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has + happened. + +  * handle-as-image - tells Privoxy to treat this URL as an image. Privoxy's + default configuration already does this for all common image types (e.g. + GIF), but there are many situations where this is not so easy to determine. + So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly important for ad + blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of some kind, can we + replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the Privoxy BLOCKED + page (which would only result in a "broken image" icon). There are some + limitations to this though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an + image substitution for an entire HTML page in most situations. + +  * set-image-blocker - tells Privoxy what to display in place of an ad image that has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a - block action somewhere in the configuration. And, it must also either be of - a known image type, or match an handle-as-image action. + block action somewhere in the configuration, and, it must also match an + handle-as-image action. The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are: - pattern - a checkboard pattern, so that an ad replacement is obvious. +    pattern - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad replacement is obvious. This is the default. - blank - A very small empty GIF image is displayed. This is the so-called +    blank - A very small empty GIF image is displayed. This is the so-called "invisible" configuration option. - http:// - A redirect to any URL of the user's choosing (advanced - usage). +    http:// - A redirect to any image anywhere of the user's choosing + (advanced usage). + + The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through the special Privoxy editor at http://config.privoxy.org/show-status (shortcut: http://p.p/show-status). This is an internal page, and does not require @@ -558,37 +576,39 @@ detect these changes automatically. A quick and simple step by step example: - * Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select "Copy Link Location" +  * Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select "Copy Link Location" from the pop-up menu. - * Set your browser to http://config.privoxy.org/show-status +  * Set your browser to http://config.privoxy.org/show-status - * Find user.action in the top section, and click on "Edit": +  * Find user.action in the top section, and click on "Edit": Figure 1. Actions Files in Use - Screenshot of Files in Use + [ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ] - * You should have an Actions section labeled +block. If not, click the "Edit" - button just under the word "Actions". This will bring up a list of all - actions. Find block near the top, and click in the "Enabled" column, then - "Submit" just below the list. +  * You should have a section with only block listed under "Actions:". If not, + click a "Insert new section below" button, and in the new section that just + appeared, click the Edit button right under the word "Actions:". This will + bring up a list of all actions. Find block near the top, and click in the + "Enabled" column, then "Submit" just below the list. - * Now, in the +block actions section, click the "Add" button, and paste the +  * Now, in the block actions section, click the "Add" button, and paste the URL the browser got from "Copy Link Location". Remove the http:// at the - beginning of the URL. Then, click "Submit". + beginning of the URL. Then, click "Submit" (or "OK" if in a pop-up window). - * Now go back to the original page, and press SHIFT-Reload (or flush all +  * Now go back to the original page, and press SHIFT-Reload (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now. + This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same site. For a more extensive explanation of "patterns", and the entire actions concept, see the Actions section. For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want to -now go to the Actions Files Tutorial. - +now go to the Actions Files Tutorial. The ideas explained therein also apply to +the web-based editor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Starting Privoxy @@ -598,11 +618,37 @@ browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done! -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: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy -support too. +Please note that Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not +work with FTP or other protocols. + +Figure 2. Proxy Configuration (Mozilla) + +[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ] + +With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under: + + Edit +   |_    +         Preferences +                |_        +                        Advanced +                              |_      +                                    Proxies +                                         |_        +                                                HTTP Proxy + +For Internet Explorer: + + Tools +     |_    +         Internet Properties +                            |_        +                                      Connections +                                               |_      +                                                            LAN Settings + +Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in the appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1, +Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS proxy support too. After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You are @@ -612,106 +658,119 @@ Privoxy is typically started by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line. 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. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.1. RedHat, Conectiva and Debian +5.1. Red Hat and Conectiva -We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per +We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per default. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration -file. FIXME: Debian?? +file. # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +5.2. Debian + +We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per default. It +will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration file. + + # /etc/init.d/privoxy start ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.2. SuSE +5.3. SuSE We use a script. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting your PC. # rcprivoxy start - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.3. Windows +5.4. Windows Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named config.txt. Note that Windows will automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others +5.5. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others Example Unix startup command: # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.5. OS/2 - -FIXME. +5.6. OS/2 +During installation, Privoxy is configured to start automatically when the +system restarts. You can start it manually by double-clicking on the Privoxy +icon in the Privoxy folder. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.6. MAX OSX +5.7. Mac OSX -FIXME. +During installation, Privoxy is configured to start automatically when the +system restarts. To run Privoxy by hand, double-click on the RunPrivoxy.command +icon in the /Library/Privoxy folder. Or, type this command in the Terminal: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + /Library/Privoxy/RunPrivoxy.command + -5.7. AmigaOS +If you are not logged in as an administrator, you will be asked for the +administrator password when starting Privoxy by hand. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -FIXME. +5.8. AmigaOS +Start Privoxy (with RUN <>NIL:) in your startnet script (AmiTCP), in s: +user-startup (RoadShow), as startup program in your startup script (Genesis), +or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx). Privoxy will automatically quit when +you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack +may display that Privoxy is still running). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.8. Command Line Options +5.9. Command Line Options Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options: - * --version +  * --version Print version info and exit. Unix only. - * --help +  * --help Print short usage info and exit. Unix only. - * --no-daemon +  * --no-daemon Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only. - * --pidfile FILE +  * --pidfile FILE On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit. Failure 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] +  * --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 +  * 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. If no config file is found, Privoxy will fail to start. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Privoxy Configuration All Privoxy configuration is stored in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor. Many important aspects of Privoxy can also be controlled easily with a web browser. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser @@ -719,14 +778,12 @@ easily with a web browser. Privoxy's user interface can be reached through the special URL http:// config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), which is a built-in page and works without Internet access. You will see the following section: - - Privoxy Menu - ? View & change the current configuration - ? View the source code version numbers - ? View the request headers. - ? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why - ? Toggle Privoxy on or off - +     Privoxy Menu +        ??  View & change the current configuration +        ??  View the source code version numbers +        ??  View the request headers. +        ??  Look up which actions apply to a URL and why +        ??  Toggle Privoxy on or off This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the actions files, which is where the ad, banner, cookie, and URL blocking magic is @@ -740,7 +797,6 @@ whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy continues to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e. Privoxy acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There is even a toggle Bookmarklet offered, so that you can toggle Privoxy with one click from your browser. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2. Configuration Files Overview @@ -755,13 +811,13 @@ The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the principle configuration files are: - * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and +  * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows. This is a required file. - * default.action (the main actions file) is used to define which "actions" +  * default.action (the main actions file) is used to define which "actions" relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many exceptions - (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable + (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable Privoxy to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on as many websites as possible. @@ -776,11 +832,12 @@ configuration files are: config.privoxy.org/show-status (Shortcut: http://p.p/show-status) for the various actions files. - * default.filter (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw page +  * default.filter (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here; whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files. + All files use the "#" character to denote a comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation through placing a backslash ("\") as the very last character in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it @@ -801,7 +858,6 @@ While under development, the configuration content is subject to change. The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this. Also, what constitutes a "default" setting, may change, so please check all your configuration files on important issues. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. The Main Configuration File @@ -811,7 +867,7 @@ and config.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For example: - confdir /etc/privoxy +  confdir /etc/privoxy Assigns the value /etc/privoxy to the option confdir and thus indicates that the configuration directory is named "/etc/privoxy/". @@ -822,41 +878,34 @@ Watch out in the below description for what happens if you leave them unset. The main config file controls all aspects of Privoxy's operation that are not location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter where you may be surfing). - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations Privoxy can (and normally does) use a number of other files for additional -configuration, help and logging. This section of the configuration file tells +configuration, help and logging. This section of the configuration file tells Privoxy where to find those other files. The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all configuration files, and write permission to any files that would be modified, such as log -files. - +files and actions files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.1. confdir Specifies: - The directory where the other configuration files are located Type of value: - Path name Default value: - /etc/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows) Effect if unset: - Mandatory Notes: - No trailing "/", please When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and @@ -865,57 +914,46 @@ Notes: where the HTML templates for CGI output reside (e.g. Privoxy's 404 error page). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.2. logdir Specifies: - The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where logfile and jarfile are located) Type of value: - Path name Default value: - /var/log/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows) Effect if unset: - Mandatory Notes: - No trailing "/", please -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.3. actionsfile Specifies: - The actions file(s) to use Type of value: - File name, relative to confdir, without the .action suffix Default values: +   standard     # Internal purposes, no editing recommended +   default      # Main actions file +   user         # User customizations - standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended - - default # Main actions file - - user # User customizations Effect if unset: - No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying. Notes: - Multiple actionsfile lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended! The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal @@ -927,33 +965,28 @@ Notes: for ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc. There is no point in using Privoxy without at least one actions file. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.4. filterfile Specifies: - The filter file to use Type of value: - File name, relative to confdir Default value: - default.filter (Unix) or default.filter.txt (Windows) Effect if unset: - No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all +filter{name} actions in the actions files are turned neutral. Notes: - The filter file contains content modification rules that use regular expressions. These rules permit powerful changes on the content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances, - re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun replacing + re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun replacing "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web page. The +filter{name} actions rely on the relevant filter (name) to be defined @@ -963,28 +996,23 @@ Notes: handy filters for common problems is included in the distribution. See the section on the filter action for a list. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.5. logfile Specifies: - The log file to use Type of value: - File name, relative to logdir Default value: - logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows) Effect if unset: - - No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (stderr). + No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (STDERR). Notes: - The windows version will additionally log to the console. The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level @@ -1004,52 +1032,42 @@ Notes: Any log files must be writable by whatever user Privoxy is being run as (default on UNIX, user id is "privoxy"). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.6. jarfile Specifies: - The file to store intercepted cookies in Type of value: - File name, relative to logdir Default value: - jarfile (Unix) or privoxy.jar (Windows) Effect if unset: - Intercepted cookies are not stored at all. Notes: - The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.1.7. trustfile Specifies: - The trust file to use Type of value: - File name, relative to confdir Default value: - Unset (commented out). When activated: trust (Unix) or trust.txt (Windows) Effect if unset: - The whole trust mechanism is turned off. Notes: - The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and should be used with care. It is NOT recommended for the casual user. @@ -1063,37 +1081,31 @@ Notes: If you use + operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation If you intend to operate Privoxy for more users than just yourself, it might be a good idea to let them know how to reach you, what you block and why you do that, your policies, etc. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2.1. user-manual Specifies: - Location of the Privoxy User Manual. Type of value: - A fully qualified URI Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - http://www.privoxy.org/version/user-manual/ will be used, where version is the Privoxy version. Notes: - The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI pages. The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary distributions, so you probably want to set this to a locally installed @@ -1104,42 +1116,37 @@ Notes: Unix, in local filesystem: - user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-2.9.15/user-manual/ + user-manual  file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-2.9.16/user-manual/ Any platform, on local webserver (called "local-webserver"): - user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/ + user-manual  http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Warning | - |-----------------------------------------------------------------| + +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ |If set, this option should be the first option in the config | |file, because it is used while the config file is being read. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ + ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7.2.2. trust-info-url Specifies: - A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an untrusted page is denied. Type of value: - URL Default value: - Two example URL are provided Effect if unset: - No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page. Notes: - The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been activated. (See trustfile above.) @@ -1151,90 +1158,74 @@ Notes: locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first place! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2.3. admin-address Specifies: - An email address to reach the proxy administrator. Type of value: - Email address Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface. Notes: - If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.2.4. proxy-info-url Specifies: - A URL to documentation about the local Privoxy setup, configuration or policies. Type of value: - URL Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface. Notes: - If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown. This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.3. Debugging These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem. Note that you might also want to invoke Privoxy with the --no-daemon command line option when debugging. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.3.1. debug Specifies: - Key values that determine what information gets logged to the logfile. Type of value: - Integer values Default value: - 12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages) Effect if unset: - Nothing gets logged. Notes: - The available debug levels are: debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request @@ -1266,63 +1257,52 @@ Notes: If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512" ONLY and not enable anything else. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.3.2. single-threaded Specifies: - Whether to run only one server thread Type of value: - None Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability to serve multiple requests simultaneously. Notes: - This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never need to use it. It will drastically reduce performance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4. Access Control and Security -This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects of +This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects of Privoxy's configuration. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.1. listen-address Specifies: - The IP address and TCP port on which Privoxy will listen for client requests. Type of value: - [IP-Address]:Port Default value: - 127.0.0.1:8118 Effect if unset: - Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for home users who run Privoxy on the same machine as their browser. Notes: - You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port. If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to @@ -1331,11 +1311,13 @@ Notes: If you leave out the IP address, Privoxy will bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable from the Internet. In - that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's) (see "ACLs" below), - or a firewall. + that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's, see below), and/or a + firewall. -Example: + If you open Privoxy to untrusted users, you will also want to turn off the + enable-edit-actions and enable-remote-toggle options! +Example: Suppose you are running Privoxy on a machine which has the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0) and has another outside connection with a different address. You want it to serve requests @@ -1343,28 +1325,23 @@ Example: listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.2. toggle Specifies: - Initial state of "toggle" status Type of value: - 1 or 0 Default value: - 1 Effect if unset: - Act as if toggled on Notes: - If set to 0, Privoxy will start in "toggled off" mode, i.e. behave like a normal, content-neutral proxy where all ad blocking, filtering, etc are disabled. See enable-remote-toggle below. This is not really useful @@ -1374,28 +1351,23 @@ Notes: The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray if this option is present. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle Specifies: - Whether or not the web-based toggle feature may be used Type of value: - 0 or 1 Default value: - 1 Effect if unset: - The web-based toggle feature is disabled. Notes: - When toggled off, Privoxy acts like a normal, content-neutral proxy, i.e. it acts as if none of the actions applied to any URL. @@ -1408,28 +1380,23 @@ Notes: Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.4. enable-edit-actions Specifies: - Whether or not the web-based actions file editor may be used Type of value: - 0 or 1 Default value: - 1 Effect if unset: - The web-based actions file editor is disabled. Notes: - For the time being, access to the editor can not be controlled separately by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can access Privoxy (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can modify its configuration for all @@ -1439,16 +1406,14 @@ Notes: Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access Specifies: - Who can access what. Type of value: - src_addr[/src_masklen] [dst_addr[/dst_masklen]] Where src_addr and dst_addr are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or @@ -1458,15 +1423,12 @@ Type of value: optional. Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - Don't restrict access further than implied by listen-address Notes: - Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that Privoxy only @@ -1498,7 +1460,6 @@ Notes: sites. Examples: - Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and listen-address are set: "localhost" is OK. The absence of a dst_addr implies that all destination addresses are OK: @@ -1517,28 +1478,23 @@ Examples: permit-access 192.168.45.64/26 deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.4.6. buffer-limit Specifies: - Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering. Type of value: - Size in Kbytes Default value: - 4096 Effect if unset: - Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit. Notes: - For content filtering, i.e. the +filter and +deanimate-gif actions, it is necessary that Privoxy buffers the entire document body. This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending data @@ -1548,11 +1504,11 @@ Notes: When a document buffer size reaches the buffer-limit, it is flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter the rest of the document is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads running, which might - require up to buffer-limit Kbytes each, unless you have enabled + require up to buffer-limit Kbytes each, unless you have enabled "single-threaded" above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.5. Forwarding This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of multiple @@ -1565,17 +1521,14 @@ access. Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Privoxy supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.5.1. forward Specifies: - To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed. Type of value: - target_domain[:port] http_parent[/port] Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain @@ -1585,15 +1538,12 @@ Type of value: parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535 Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - Don't use parent HTTP proxies. Notes: - If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers. @@ -1601,7 +1551,6 @@ Notes: wins. Examples: - Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle): @@ -1614,17 +1563,15 @@ Examples: forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000 forward .example-isp.net . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Specifies: - Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed. Type of value: - target_domain[:port] socks_proxy[/port] http_parent[/port] Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain @@ -1634,15 +1581,12 @@ Type of value: TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535 Default value: - Unset Effect if unset: - Don't use SOCKS proxies. Notes: - Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins. @@ -1655,7 +1599,6 @@ Notes: a SOCKS proxy. Examples: - From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all "internal" domains, but everything outbound goes through their ISP's proxy by way of example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to the Internet. @@ -1668,8 +1611,8 @@ Examples: forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content only to @@ -1715,23 +1658,25 @@ could then look like this: You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to squid's address and port. Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult http_port in squid.conf. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.6. Windows GUI Options Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface: -If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate when + +If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate when "Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0. - activity-animation 1 - +  activity-animation 1 +    + If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the console window: - log-messages 1 - +  log-messages 1 +    + If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console window, will be @@ -1740,50 +1685,56 @@ limited to "log-max-lines" (see below). Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and eat up all your memory! - log-buffer-size 1 - +  log-buffer-size 1 +    + log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer. See above. - log-max-lines 200 - +  log-max-lines 200 +    + If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight portions of the log messages with a bold-faced font: - log-highlight-messages 1 - +  log-highlight-messages 1 +    + The font used in the console window: - log-font-name Comic Sans MS - +  log-font-name Comic Sans MS +    + Font size used in the console window: - log-font-size 8 - +  log-font-size 8 +    + "show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as a button on the Task bar when minimized: - show-on-task-bar 0 - +  show-on-task-bar 0 +    + If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will minimize Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with the exit option on the File menu). - close-button-minimizes 1 - +  close-button-minimizes 1 +    + The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of Privoxy. If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from and hide the command console. - #hide-console - - +  #hide-console +    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Actions Files @@ -1794,23 +1745,24 @@ content and transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There are three such files included with Privoxy (as of version 2.9.15), with differing purposes: - * default.action - is the primary action file that sets the initial values +  * default.action - is the primary action file that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to provide a base level of functionality for Privoxy's array of features. So it is a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere. This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and making available to users. - * user.action - is intended to be for local site preferences and exceptions. +  * user.action - is intended to be for local site preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded. - * standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various +  * standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section in default.action. These have increasing levels of aggressiveness and have no influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the editor. It is not recommend to edit this file. + The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these can all be viewed and edited from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status. @@ -1830,7 +1782,6 @@ some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and much more. See below for a complete list of actions. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.1. Finding the Right Mix @@ -1839,7 +1790,7 @@ Note that some actions, like cookie suppression or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more "aggressive" your default -settings (in the top section of the actions file) are, the more exceptions for +settings (in the top section of the actions file) are, the more exceptions for "trusted" sites you will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you regularly use and that require popups for actually useful @@ -1850,7 +1801,6 @@ distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing. Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :). - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.2. How to Edit @@ -1863,7 +1813,6 @@ like "Cautious", "Medium" or "Advanced". If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the the actions files. Look at default.action which is richly commented. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs @@ -1880,14 +1829,14 @@ compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not, the -effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the "+handle-as-image" and -"+block" actions). +effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading +line of { +handle-as-image }, then later another one with just { +block }, +resulting in both actions to apply. You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting http:// config.privoxy.org/show-url-info. More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, Anatomy of an Action. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.4. Patterns @@ -1896,49 +1845,42 @@ Generally, a pattern has the form /, where both the and are optional. (This is why the pattern / matches all URLs). www.example.com/ - is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to www.example.com, regardless of which document on that server is requested. www.example.com - means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing / may be omitted. www.example.com/index.html - matches only the single document /index.html on www.example.com. /index.html - matches the document /index.html, regardless of the domain, i.e. on any web server. index.html - matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and there is no top-level domain called .html. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.4.1. The Domain Pattern The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end. For example: .example.com - matches any domain that ENDS in .example.com www. - matches any domain that STARTS with www. .example. - matches any domain that CONTAINS .example. (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains example as a domain.) + Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: "*" stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any single character, you can @@ -1946,25 +1888,21 @@ define character classes in square brackets and all of that can be freely mixed: ad*.example.com - - matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but not + matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but not "sfads.example.com" *ad*.example.com - matches all of the above, and then some. .?pix.com - matches www.ipix.com, pictures.epix.com, a.b.c.d.e.upix.com etc. www[1-9a-ez].example.c* - matches www1.example.com, www4.example.cc, wwwd.example.cy, wwwz.example.com etc., but not wwww.example.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.4.2. The Path Pattern Privoxy uses Perl compatible regular expressions (through the PCRE library) for @@ -1980,11 +1918,10 @@ Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the "/", i.e. it matches as if it would start with a "^" (regular expression speak for the beginning of a line). -Please also note that matching in the path is case INSENSITIVE by default, but +Please also note that matching in the path is CASE INSENSITIVE by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the "(? -i)" switch: www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* will match only documents whose path starts with PaTtErN in exactly this capitalization. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5. Actions @@ -2004,14 +1941,14 @@ a section of the actions file. There are three classes of actions: - * Boolean, i.e the action can only be "enabled" or "disabled". Syntax: +  * Boolean, i.e the action can only be "enabled" or "disabled". Syntax: +name # enable action name -name # disable action name Example: +block - * Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of +  * Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action. Syntax: +name{param} # enable action and set parameter to param, @@ -2024,7 +1961,7 @@ There are three classes of actions: Example: +hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 } - * Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions, but they behave +  * Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions, but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the same URL, but with different parameters, all the parameters from all matches are remembered. This is used for actions that can be executed for the same request @@ -2038,6 +1975,7 @@ There are three classes of actions: Examples: +add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text} and +filter{html-annoyances} + If nothing is specified in any actions 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 @@ -2052,63 +1990,51 @@ three actions files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than one pattern and thus more than one set of actions! The list of valid Privoxy actions are: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.1. add-header Typical use: - Confuse log analysis, custom applications Effect: - Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server. Type: - Multi-value. Parameter: - Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked. It is recommended that you use the "X-" prefix for custom headers. Notes: - This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what "HTTP headers" are, you definitely don't need to worry about this one. Example usage: - +add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.2. block Typical use: - Block ads or other obnoxious content Effect: - Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by the handle-as-image and set-image-blocker actions. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - Privoxy sends a special "BLOCKED" page for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the @@ -2123,7 +2049,7 @@ Notes: determined by its parameter, if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent. - It is important to understand this process, in order to understand how + It is important to understand this process, in order to understand how Privoxy deals with ads and other unwanted content. The filter action can perform a very similar task, by "blocking" banner @@ -2133,7 +2059,6 @@ Notes: the two. Example usage (section): - {+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page .nasty-stuff.example.com @@ -2141,28 +2066,23 @@ Example usage (section): .ad.doubleclick.net .ads.r.us -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies Typical use: - Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system Effect: - Deletes any "Set-Cookie:" HTTP headers from server replies. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - This action is only concerned with incoming cookies. For outgoing cookies, use crunch-outgoing-cookies. Use both to disable cookies completely. @@ -2171,31 +2091,25 @@ Notes: from being set. Example usage: - +crunch-incoming-cookies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.4. crunch-outgoing-cookies Typical use: - Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system Effect: - Deletes any "Cookie:" HTTP headers from client requests. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - This action is only concerned with outgoing cookies. For incoming cookies, use crunch-incoming-cookies. Use both to disable cookies completely. @@ -2204,31 +2118,25 @@ Notes: from being read. Example usage: - +crunch-outgoing-cookies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.5. deanimate-gifs Typical use: - Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images. Effect: - De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - "last" or "first" Notes: - 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 @@ -2241,31 +2149,25 @@ Notes: a GIF. Example usage: - +deanimate-gifs{last} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.6. downgrade-http-version Typical use: - Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1 Effect: - Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - This is a left-over from the time when Privoxy didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server out there. Not all @@ -2273,32 +2175,26 @@ Notes: might need this action. Example usage (section): - {+downgrade-http-version} problem-host.example.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.7. fast-redirects Typical use: - Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links Effect: - Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs resulting @@ -2318,38 +2214,33 @@ Notes: Some sites just don't work without it. Example usage: - {+fast-redirects} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.8. filter Typical use: - Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc. Effect: - Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression based substitutions. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - The name of a filter, as defined in the filter file (typically - default.filter, set by the filterfile option in the config file) + default.filter, set by the filterfile option in the config file). Filtering + can be completely disabled without the use of parameters. Notes: - - For your convenience, there are a bunch of pre-defined filters available in - the distribution filter file that you can use. See the example below for a - list. + For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available + in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below + for a list. This is potentially a very powerful feature! But "rolling your own" filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML. @@ -2360,24 +2251,34 @@ Notes: page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more noticeable on slower connections. + The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the buffer-limit + option in the main config file. The default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this + limit is exceeded, the buffered data, and all pending data, is passed + through unfiltered. Inappropriate MIME types are not filtered. + At this time, Privoxy cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that would normally be sent compressed, use the prevent-compression action in conjunction with filter. - Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the block action, i.e. it can - be used to block ads and banners. + Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the block action, i.e. it + can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism works quite + differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners based on their size + (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat standardized. Feedback with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly welcome! Example usage (with filters from the distribution default.filter file): - +filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse. +filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse - +filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size (very efficient!) + +filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners based on their size for this page (very efficient!) + + +filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners based on the link they are contained in (experimental) + + +filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective +filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content @@ -2397,17 +2298,17 @@ Example usage (with filters from the distribution default.filter file): +filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites) + +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.9. handle-as-image Typical use: - Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images if they get blocked) Effect: - This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images. If the block action also applies, the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML "blocked" page, or a replacement image (as @@ -2415,15 +2316,12 @@ Effect: substitute for the blocked content. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - The below generic example section is actually part of default.action. It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should be left intact. @@ -2433,12 +2331,11 @@ Notes: reflect the file type, like in the second example section. Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For - instance, (inline) ad frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't - display properly. Forcing handle-as-image in this situation will not + instance, (in-line) ad frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they + won't display properly. Forcing handle-as-image in this situation will not replace the ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages. Example usage (sections): - # Generic image extensions: # {+handle-as-image} @@ -2453,29 +2350,24 @@ Example usage (sections): # Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content? ad.doubleclick.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.10. hide-forwarded-for-headers Typical use: - Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request Effect: - Deletes any existing "X-Forwarded-for:" HTTP header from client requests, and prevents adding a new one. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - It is fairly safe to leave this on. This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate @@ -2484,32 +2376,26 @@ Notes: like requests from a pool of different users sharing the same proxy. Example usage: - +hide-forwarded-for-headers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.11. hide-from-header Typical use: - Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address Effect: - Deletes any existing "From:" HTTP header, or replaces it with the specified string. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - Keyword: "block", or any user defined value. Notes: - The keyword "block" will completely remove the header (not to be confused with the block action). @@ -2521,41 +2407,34 @@ Notes: headers anymore. Example usage: - +hide-from-header{block} - or - +hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.12. hide-referrer Typical use: - Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site Effect: - Deletes the "Referer:" (sic) HTTP header from the client request, or replaces it with a forged one. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - - + "block" to delete the header completely. +   + "block" to delete the header completely. - + "forge" to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are +   + "forge" to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to. - + Any other string to set a user defined referrer. +   + Any other string to set a user defined referrer. -Notes: +Notes: "forge" is the preferred option here, since some servers will not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded by their @@ -2567,39 +2446,31 @@ Notes: to be spelled as "referer".) Example usage: - +hide-referrer{forge} - or - +hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.13. hide-user-agent Typical use: - Conceal your type of browser and client operating system Effect: - Replaces the value of the "User-Agent:" HTTP header in client requests with the specified value. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - Any user-defined string. Notes: - +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Warning | - |-----------------------------------------------------------------| + +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ |This breaks many web sites that depend on looking at this header | |in order to customize their content for different browsers | |(which, by the way, is NOT a smart way to do that!). | @@ -2618,32 +2489,26 @@ Notes: This action is scheduled for improvement. Example usage: - +hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.14. kill-popups Typical use: - Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows Effect: - While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired filter action, but there are important differences: For kill-popups, the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while downloading. But @@ -2663,39 +2528,33 @@ Notes: filter{js-annoyances} instead. Example usage: - +kill-popups -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.15. limit-connect Typical use: - Prevent abuse of Privoxy as a TCP proxy relay Effect: - Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K). Notes: - By default, i.e. if no limit-connect action applies, Privoxy only allows HTTP CONNECT requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use limit-connect if more fine-grained control is desired for some or all destinations. - The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites - ("https://" URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy connects + 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 server. This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be abused as TCP relays @@ -2705,35 +2564,29 @@ Notes: change this one, since the default is already very restrictive. Example usages: - +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified. +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK. +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK. +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.16. prevent-compression Typical use: - Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be passed through filters Effect: - Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the filter, deanimate-gifs and kill-popups actions to work, Privoxy needs access to the @@ -2752,7 +2605,6 @@ Notes: those sites. See the example for how to do that. Example usage (sections): - # Set default: # {+prevent-compression} @@ -2764,97 +2616,80 @@ Example usage (sections): www.debianhelp.org www.pclinuxonline.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.17. send-vanilla-wafer Typical use: - Feed log analysis scripts with useless data. Effect: - Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you. This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration. Example usage: - +send-vanilla-wafer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.18. send-wafer Typical use: - Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data. Effect: - Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request. Type: - Multi-value. Parameter: - A string of the form "name=value". Notes: - Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request, resulting in multiple cookies being sent. This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration. Example usage (section): - {+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}} my-internal-testing-server.void -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.19. session-cookies-only Typical use: - Allow only temporary "session" cookies (for the current browser session only). Effect: - Deletes the "expires" field from "Set-Cookie:" server headers. Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions. Type: - Boolean. Parameter: - N/A Notes: - This is less strict than crunch-incoming-cookies / crunch-outgoing-cookies and allows you to browse websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly. @@ -2869,45 +2704,40 @@ Notes: crunch-incoming-cookies or crunch-outgoing-cookies. If you do, cookies will be plainly killed. - Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an + Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an "expires" field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure. Example usage: - +session-cookies-only -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.20. set-image-blocker Typical use: - Choose the replacement for blocked images Effect: - This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If both block and handle-as-image also apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image, then the parameter of this action decides what will be sent as a replacement. Type: - Parameterized. Parameter: - - + "pattern" to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is +   + "pattern" to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted. - + "blank" to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners +   + "blank" to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear completely, but makes it hard to detect where Privoxy has - blocked images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if + blocked images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if Privoxy has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons. - + "target-url" to send a redirect to target-url. You can redirect to any +   + "target-url" to send a redirect to target-url. You can redirect to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via "file:///" URL). A good application of redirects is to use special Privoxy-built-in @@ -2916,8 +2746,8 @@ Parameter: but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting it over and over again. -Notes: +Notes: The URLs for the built-in images are "http://config.privoxy.org/ send-banner?type=type", where type is either "blank" or "pattern". @@ -2927,7 +2757,6 @@ Notes: image. Example usage: - Built-in pattern: +set-image-blocker{pattern} @@ -2940,8 +2769,8 @@ Example usage: +set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.5.21. Summary Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to @@ -2949,7 +2778,6 @@ 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, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules for all sites. See the Appendix for a brief example on troubleshooting actions. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.6. Aliases @@ -2957,7 +2785,7 @@ sites. See the Appendix for a brief example on troubleshooting actions. 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 name can contain any character except space, tab, "=", "{" -and "}", but we strongly recommend that you only use "a" to "z", "0" to "9", +and "}", but we strongly recommend that you only use "a" to "z", "0" to "9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a "+" or "-" sign, since they are merely textually expanded. @@ -2977,7 +2805,7 @@ Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though: Privoxy's built-in web-based action file editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved, but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections -that use aliases with it. This is likely to change in future versions of +that use aliases with it. This is likely to change in future versions of Privoxy. Now let's define some aliases... @@ -3036,7 +2864,6 @@ up for the "/" pattern): Aliases like "shop" and "fragile" are often used for "problem" sites that require some actions to be disabled in order to function properly. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.7. Actions Files Tutorial @@ -3045,7 +2872,6 @@ The above chapters have shown which actions files there are and how they are organized, how actions are specified and applied to URLs, how patterns work, and how to define and use aliases. Now, let's look at an example default.action and user.action file and see how all these pieces come together: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.7.1. default.action @@ -3092,7 +2918,7 @@ patterns to which they apply. Remember all actions are disabled when matching starts, so we have to explicitly enable the ones we want. The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only one -pattern, "/", but this pattern matches all URLs.. Therefore, the set of actions +pattern, "/", but this pattern matches all URLs. Therefore, the set of actions used in this "default" section will be applied to all requests as a start. It can be partly or wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action, but it will still be largely responsible for your overall @@ -3100,7 +2926,7 @@ browsing experience. Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless, to have a -complete listing for your reference. (Remember: A "+" preceding the action name +complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a "+" preceding the action name enables the action, a "-" disables!). Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into multiple lines with line continuation. @@ -3124,8 +2950,11 @@ made more readable by splitting it into multiple lines with line continuation. -filter{fun} \ +filter{nimda} \ +filter{banners-by-size} \ + -filter{banners-by-link} \ + -filter{img-reorder} \ -filter{shockwave-flash} \ -filter{crude-parental} \ + -filter{js-events} \ -handle-as-image \ +hide-forwarded-for-headers \ +hide-from-header{block} \ @@ -3274,7 +3103,7 @@ count*. .hitbox.com You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner servers -ads.company.com, or call the directory in which the banners are stored simply +ads.company.com, or call the directory in which the banners are stored simply "banners". So the above generic patterns are surprisingly effective. But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want to @@ -3324,21 +3153,19 @@ disables all filters in one fell swoop! The actual default.action is of course more comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.7.2. user.action So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies, which -would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now, you'd maybe want to -be more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable to your -personal habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined situations -like your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in user.action, which is -parsed after all other actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding -any previously defined actions. user.action is also a safe place for your -personal settings, since default.action is actively maintained by the Privoxy -developers and you'll probably want to install updated versions from time to -time. +would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now, you might want to be +more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable to your personal +habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined situations like +your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in user.action, which is parsed +after all other actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any +previously defined actions. user.action is also a safe place for your personal +settings, since default.action is actively maintained by the Privoxy developers +and you'll probably want to install updated versions from time to time. So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in user.action: @@ -3421,7 +3248,6 @@ value to you: .osdn.net Note that allow-ads has been aliased to -block -filter{banners-by-size} above. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. The Filter File @@ -3467,7 +3293,6 @@ If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at the Appendix on regular expressions, and see the Perl manual for the s/// operator's syntax and Perl-style regular expressions in general. The below examples might also help to get you started. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.1. Filter File Tutorial @@ -3513,7 +3338,7 @@ That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: document\.referrer matches only the exact string "document.referrer". The dot needed to be escaped, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is: Match from the start of the -first