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2 <!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
3 <!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
4 <!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
5 <!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
6 <!entity seealso SYSTEM "seealso.sgml">
7 <!entity buildsource SYSTEM "buildsource.sgml">
8 <!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
9 <!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
10 <!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
11 <!entity p-version "2.9.14">
12 <!entity p-status "beta">
13 <!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
14 <!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
15 <!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
16 <!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
17 <!entity % p-readme "IGNORE">
18 <!entity % p-config "IGNORE">
19 <!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
22 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
25 This file belongs into
26 ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
28 $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9 Exp $
30 Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 the SourceForge
31 Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
33 Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
34 by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
35 Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
38 ========================================================================
39 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
40 anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
41 ========================================================================
47 <title>Privoxy User Manual</title>
49 <pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
54 <orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
63 This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
64 If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
65 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
71 The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
73 url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
76 <!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
78 <!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
81 You can find the latest version of the user manual at <ulink
82 url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
83 Please see the <ulink url="contact.html">Contact section</ulink> on how to
84 contact the developers.
88 <!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
94 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
95 <sect1 id="intro" label=""><title></title>
96 <!-- dummy section to force TOC on page by itself -->
97 <!-- DO NOT REMOVE! please ;) -->
101 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
102 <sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
104 This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
105 <application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
106 and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the
107 time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual
108 configuration files. Development of version 3.0 is currently nearing
109 completion, and includes many significant changes and enhancements over
110 earlier versions. The target release date for
111 stable v3.0 is <quote>soon</quote> ;-)]]>.
114 <!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
117 Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
118 documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
119 CVS sources). And there <emphasis>may be</emphasis> bugs, though hopefully
124 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
125 <sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
127 In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
128 features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
129 <application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
130 some of them currently under development]]>:
132 <!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
134 <!-- end boilerplate -->
139 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
142 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
143 <sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
146 <application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
147 packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
148 For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
149 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
150 Page</ulink>. For installing and compiling the source code, please look
151 into our Developer Manual.
155 If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
156 possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
157 version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
158 CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
159 url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
160 tarball.</ulink> Again, we refer you to the Developer Manual.
163 <!-- Include supported.sgml boilerplate -->
165 <!-- end boilerplate -->
168 Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
169 <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
170 will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part
171 of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform).
175 In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration
176 if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the
177 <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section
181 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
182 <sect2 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and SuSE RPMs</title>
185 RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
186 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
187 of configuration files.
191 Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
192 <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
193 need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
194 <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
195 automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
199 If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
200 <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm;</literal>. This
201 will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
205 Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
206 on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
207 Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
208 automatically, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
212 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
213 <sect2 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
219 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
220 <sect2 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
223 Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
224 the installation process. You will find the configuration files
225 in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
226 use the registry of Windows.
230 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
231 <sect2 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX</title>
234 Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
235 untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
240 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
241 <sect2 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
244 First, make sure that no previous installations of
245 <application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
246 <application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
247 system. You can do this by
251 Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will
252 guide you through the installation process. A shadow of the
253 <application>Privoxy</application> executable will be placed in your
254 startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2 starts.
258 The directory you choose to install <application>Privoxy</application>
259 into will contain all of the configuration files.
263 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
264 <sect2 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
266 Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
267 in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
268 double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
270 <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the subdirectory
271 <literal>/Applications/Privoxy.app</literal>.
272 <application>Privoxy</application> will set itself up to start
273 automatically on system bring-up via
274 <literal>/System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
278 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
279 <sect2 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
281 Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
282 All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
283 directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
284 remove this directory.
287 Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
288 <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
289 <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
290 startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
291 <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
292 TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
293 <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
298 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
300 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
301 <sect1 id="upgradersnote">
302 <title>Note to Upgraders</title>
304 There are very significant changes from older versions of
305 <application>Junkbuster</application> to the current
306 <application>Privoxy</application>. Configuration is substantially
307 changed. <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> and earlier
308 configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old
309 <filename>blockfile</filename>, <filename>cookiefile</filename> and
310 <filename>imagelist</filename>, are now combined into the
311 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions files</quote></ulink>.
312 <filename>default.action</filename>, is the main actions file. Local
313 exceptions should best be put into <filename>user.action</filename>.
316 A <ulink url="filter-file.html"><quote>filter file</quote></ulink> (typically
317 <filename>default.filter</filename>) is new as of <application>Privoxy
318 2.9.x</application>, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
319 below). <filename>config</filename> is much the same as before.
322 If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
323 files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
324 When porting personal rules over from the old <filename>blockfile</filename>
325 to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
326 changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
327 recommended to use the new configuration files.
330 A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
338 The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
344 Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
345 important configuration files!
350 <application>Privoxy</application> is controllable with a web browser
351 at the special URL: <ulink
352 url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
353 (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>). Many
354 aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling
355 <application>Privoxy</application>.
360 The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
361 blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
362 configuration is in the <ulink url="actions-file.html">actions
363 files</ulink>. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
364 actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
365 should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
370 <!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
371 <!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
372 Some installers may not automatically start
373 <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
381 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
382 <sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
388 Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the section <link linkend="installation">Installing</link>.
394 Start <application>Privoxy</application>. See the section <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
400 Change your browser's configuration to use the proxy <literal>localhost</literal> on port
401 <literal>8118</literal>. See the section <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
407 Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. Please see the section
408 <link linkend="contact">Contacting the Developers</link> on how to report
409 bugs or problems with websites or to get help. You may want to change the
410 file <filename>user.action</filename> to further tweak your new browsing
420 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
422 <title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
424 Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
425 will want to configure your browser(s) to use
426 <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is
427 localhost for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port
428 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done!
432 With <application>Netscape</application> (and
433 <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under <literal>Edit
434 -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy</literal>.
435 For <application>Internet Explorer</application>: <literal>Tools ->
436 Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting</literal>. Then,
437 check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info (Address:
438 localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
442 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
443 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
444 are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
445 <application>Privoxy</application>!
449 <application>Privoxy</application> is typically started by specifying the
450 main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
451 file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
452 will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
453 directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
456 <sect2 id="start-redhatdebian">
457 <title>RedHat and Debian</title>
459 We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
460 default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its
461 main configuration file. FIXME: Debian??
465 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
470 <sect2 id="start-suse">
473 We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
474 as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
484 <sect2 id="start-windows">
485 <title>Windows</title>
487 Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
488 specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
489 for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
490 automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
494 <sect2 id="start-unices">
495 <title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
497 Example Unix startup command:
501 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
506 <sect2 id="start-os2">
513 <sect2 id="start-macosx">
514 <title>MAX OSX</title>
521 <sect2 id="start-amigaos">
522 <title>AmigaOS</title>
531 See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
535 must find a better place for this paragraph
538 The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
539 point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
540 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
541 where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
542 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
543 such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
547 You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
548 persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
549 default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
550 session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
551 configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
552 to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
553 and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
554 more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
555 case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
559 Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
560 sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
561 url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>and
563 url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
564 actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
565 popups (explained below).
569 <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
570 the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
571 you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
572 (like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
573 try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
574 Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
575 Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
576 <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
577 requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
581 After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
582 start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
583 preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
584 be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
585 can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
586 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
587 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
588 and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
589 (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
593 In fact, various aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
594 configuration can be viewed from this page, including
595 current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
596 the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
597 to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
598 editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
599 be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
603 If you encounter problems, try loading the page without
604 <application>Privoxy</application>. If that helps, enter the URL where
605 you have the problems into <ulink url="http://p.p/show-url-info">the browser
606 based rule tracing utility</ulink>. See which rules apply and why, and
607 then try turning them off for that site one after the other, until the problem
608 is gone. When you have found the culprit, you might want to turn the rest on
613 If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <ulink
614 url="actions-file.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
615 or even dive deep into the <ulink url="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Appendix
620 If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
621 Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
622 section <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
623 Developers</quote></ulink> below.
628 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
629 <sect2 id="cmdoptions">
630 <title>Command Line Options</title>
632 <application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
633 command-line options:
641 <emphasis>--version</emphasis>
644 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
649 <emphasis>--help</emphasis>
652 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
657 <emphasis>--no-daemon</emphasis>
660 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
661 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
666 <emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
670 On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
671 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> on exit. Failure to create or delete the
672 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> is non-fatal. If no <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>
673 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
678 <emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
682 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
683 <emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
684 privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
689 <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
692 If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
693 <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
694 <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
695 where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
696 full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
697 <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
708 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
711 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
712 <sect1 id="configuration"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Configuration</title>
714 All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
715 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
716 Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
717 also be controlled easily with a web browser.
721 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
724 <title>Controlling <application>Privoxy</application> with Your Web Browser</title>
726 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
727 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
728 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
729 which is a built-in page and works without Internet access.
730 You will see the following section:
734 <!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
737 <bridgehead renderas="sect2">Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
741 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
744 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
747 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
750 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
753 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
761 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
762 <quote>actions list</quote>, which is where the ad, banner, cookie,
763 and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
764 <application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
765 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
766 file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
770 <quote>Toggle Privoxy On or Off</quote> is handy for sites that might
771 have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
772 it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
773 causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
774 to run as a proxy in this case, but all filtering is disabled. There
775 is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
776 that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
782 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
787 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
789 <sect2 id="confoverview">
790 <title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
792 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
793 <filename>/etc/privoxy/</filename> by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and
794 AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
795 <application>Privoxy</application> executable. <![%p-not-stable;[ The name
796 and number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and is
797 subject to change as development progresses.]]>
801 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
802 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
803 principle configuration files are:
811 The main configuration file is named <link linkend="config">config</link>
812 on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
813 on Windows. This is a required file.
819 <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>) is used to define
820 the default settings for various <quote>actions</quote> relating to images, banners,
821 pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies.
824 Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
825 are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
826 preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
827 <filename>default.action</filename> are probably best applied in
828 <filename>user.action</filename>, which should be preserved across
829 upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is also included. This is mostly
830 for <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
833 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
835 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/</ulink>
837 url="http://p.p/show-status/">http://p.p/show-status/</ulink>) for the
838 various actions files.
844 <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
845 file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
846 viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
847 lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
848 whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
856 All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
857 comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) angd understand line continuation
858 through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
859 in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
860 its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
861 valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
866 The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
867 can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
872 After making any changes, there is no need to restart
873 <application>Privoxy</application> in order for the changes to take
874 effect. <application>Privoxy</application> detects such changes
875 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
876 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening address
877 of <application>Privoxy</application>, these <quote>wake up</quote> requests
878 must obviously be sent to the <emphasis>old</emphasis> listening address.
883 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change.
884 The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this.
885 Also, what constitutes a <quote>default</quote> setting, may change, so
886 please check all your configuration files on important issues.
892 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
895 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
898 <title>The Main Configuration File</title>
901 Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
902 Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2, and <filename>config.txt</filename> on Windows.
903 Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of
904 values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For
912 <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis>
919 Assigns the value <literal>/etc/privoxy</literal> to the option
920 <literal>confdir</literal> and thus indicates that the configuration
921 directory is named <quote>/etc/privoxy/</quote>.
925 All options in the config file except for <literal>confdir</literal> and
926 <literal>logdir</literal> are optional. Watch out in the below description
927 for what happens if you leave them unset.
931 The main config file controls all aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>'s
932 operation that are not location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter
933 where you may be surfing).
937 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
939 <sect2 id="conf-log-loc">
940 <title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
943 <application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
944 other files for additional configuration, help and logging.
945 This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
946 where to find those other files.
950 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
954 <term>Specifies:</term>
956 <para>The directory where the other configuration files are located</para>
960 <term>Type of value:</term>
962 <para>Path name</para>
966 <term>Default value:</term>
968 <para>/etc/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
972 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
974 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
981 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
984 When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
985 per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of <quote>confdir</quote>.
986 For now, the configuration directory structure is flat, except for
987 <filename>confdir/templates</filename>, where the HTML templates for CGI
988 output reside (e.g. <application>Privoxy's</application> 404 error page).
996 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
1000 <term>Specifies:</term>
1003 The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where <filename>logfile</filename> and
1004 <filename>jarfile</filename> are located)
1009 <term>Type of value:</term>
1011 <para>Path name</para>
1015 <term>Default value:</term>
1017 <para>/var/log/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
1021 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1023 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
1030 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
1037 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="actionsfile"><title>
1040 <anchor id="default.action">
1041 <anchor id="standard.action">
1042 <anchor id="user.action">
1043 <!-- Note: slightly modified this section 04/28/02, hal. See NOTE. -->
1046 <term>Specifies:</term>
1049 The <link linkend="actions">actions</link> file(s) to use
1054 <term>Type of value:</term>
1056 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
1060 <term>Default value:</term>
1064 <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing</literallayout></msgtext>
1067 <msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
1070 <msgtext><literallayout> user # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
1076 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1079 No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
1087 Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
1090 The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
1091 purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
1092 <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
1093 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
1096 Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done for
1097 ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc.
1098 There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without at
1099 least one actions file.
1106 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
1107 <anchor id="default.filter">
1110 <term>Specifies:</term>
1113 The <link linkend="filter">filter</link> file to use
1118 <term>Type of value:</term>
1120 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
1124 <term>Default value:</term>
1126 <para>default.filter (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.filter.txt (Windows)</para>
1130 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1133 No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
1134 <literal>+filter{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
1135 actions in the actions files are turned off
1143 The <quote>default.filter</quote> file contains content modification rules
1144 that use <quote>regular expressions</quote>. These rules permit powerful
1145 changes on the content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite
1146 JavaScript annoyances, re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some
1147 fun replacing <quote>Microsoft</quote> with <quote>MicroSuck</quote> wherever
1148 it appears on a Web page.
1155 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
1159 <term>Specifies:</term>
1167 <term>Type of value:</term>
1169 <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
1173 <term>Default value:</term>
1175 <para>logfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.log (Windows)</para>
1179 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1182 No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (<literal>stderr</literal>).
1190 The windows version will additionally log to the console.
1193 The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
1194 of detail and number of messages are set with the <literal>debug</literal>
1195 option (see below). The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with
1196 <application>Privoxy</application> (e.g., it's not blocking an ad you
1197 think it should block) but in most cases you probably will never look at it.
1200 Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
1201 periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
1202 (see <quote>man cron</quote>). For Red Hat, a <command>logrotate</command>
1203 script has been included.
1206 On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like <quote>/var/log/privoxy.*
1207 +1024k 644 nobody.nogroup</quote> in <filename>/etc/logfiles</filename>, with
1208 the effect that cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the
1209 log, when it exceeds 1M size.
1216 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
1220 <term>Specifies:</term>
1223 The file to store intercepted cookies in
1228 <term>Type of value:</term>
1230 <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
1234 <term>Default value:</term>
1236 <para>jarfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.jar (Windows)</para>
1240 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1243 Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
1251 The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
1258 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
1261 <term>Specifies:</term>
1264 The trust file to use
1269 <term>Type of value:</term>
1271 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
1275 <term>Default value:</term>
1277 <para><emphasis>Unset (commented out)</emphasis>. When activated: trust (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> trust.txt (Windows)</para>
1281 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1284 The whole trust mechanism is turned off.
1292 The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and should
1293 be used with care. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> recommended for the casual user.
1296 If you specify a trust file, <application>Privoxy</application> will only allow
1297 access to sites that are named in the trustfile.
1298 You can also mark sites as trusted referrers (with <literal>+</literal>), with
1299 the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted, if a link from a
1300 trusted referrer was used.
1301 The link target will then be added to the <quote>trustfile</quote>.
1302 Possible applications include limiting Internet access for children.
1305 If you use <literal>+</literal> operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over time.
1312 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="user-manual"><title>user-manual</title>
1315 <term>Specifies:</term>
1318 Location of the <application>Privoxy</application> User Manual.
1323 <term>Type of value:</term>
1325 <para>A fully qualified URI</para>
1329 <term>Default value:</term>
1331 <para><ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink></para>
1335 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1338 The default will be used.
1346 The User Manual is used for help hints from some of the internal CGI pages.
1347 It is normally packaged with the binary distributions, and would make more
1348 sense to have this pointed at a locally installed copy.
1351 A more useful example (Unix):
1354 <emphasis>user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</emphasis>
1363 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1367 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1369 <sect2 id="local-set-up">
1370 <title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
1373 If you intend to operate <application>Privoxy</application> for more users
1374 that just yourself, it might be a good idea to let them know how to reach
1375 you, what you block and why you do that, your policies etc.
1378 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
1382 <term>Specifies:</term>
1385 A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an untrusted page is denied.
1390 <term>Type of value:</term>
1396 <term>Default value:</term>
1398 <para>Two example URL are provided</para>
1402 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1405 No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
1413 The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been
1414 activated. (See <literal>trustfile</literal> above.)
1417 If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
1418 documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here.
1419 Use multiple times for multiple URLs.
1422 The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
1423 locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first place!
1430 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
1434 <term>Specifies:</term>
1437 An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
1442 <term>Type of value:</term>
1444 <para>Email address</para>
1448 <term>Default value:</term>
1450 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1454 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1457 No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
1465 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
1466 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
1474 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
1478 <term>Specifies:</term>
1481 A URL to documentation about the local <application>Privoxy</application> setup,
1482 configuration or policies.
1487 <term>Type of value:</term>
1493 <term>Default value:</term>
1495 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1499 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1502 No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
1510 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
1511 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
1515 This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
1523 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1525 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1527 <sect2 id="debugging">
1528 <title>Debugging</title>
1531 These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem.
1532 Note that you might also want to invoke
1533 <application>Privoxy</application> with the <literal>--no-daemon</literal>
1534 command line option when debugging.
1537 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="debug"><title>debug</title>
1541 <term>Specifies:</term>
1544 Key values that determine what information gets logged.
1549 <term>Type of value:</term>
1551 <para>Integer values</para>
1555 <term>Default value:</term>
1557 <para>12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)</para>
1561 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1564 Nothing gets logged.
1572 The available debug levels are:
1576 debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
1577 debug 2 # show each connection status
1578 debug 4 # show I/O status
1579 debug 8 # show header parsing
1580 debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
1581 debug 32 # debug force feature
1582 debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
1583 debug 128 # debug fast redirects
1584 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
1585 debug 512 # Common Log Format
1586 debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
1587 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
1588 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
1592 To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
1593 multiple <literal>debug</literal> lines.
1596 A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request
1597 as it happens. <emphasis>1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended</emphasis>
1598 so that you will notice when things go wrong. The other levels are probably
1599 only of interest if you are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce
1600 a hell of an output (especially 16).
1604 The reporting of <emphasis>fatal</emphasis> errors (i.e. ones which crash
1605 <application>Privoxy</application>) is always on and cannot be disabled.
1608 If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set <quote>debug
1609 512</quote> <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis> and not enable anything else.
1616 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
1620 <term>Specifies:</term>
1623 Whether to run only one server thread
1628 <term>Type of value:</term>
1630 <para><emphasis>None</emphasis></para>
1634 <term>Default value:</term>
1636 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1640 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1643 Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability to
1644 serve multiple requests simultaneously.
1652 This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never
1653 need to use it. <emphasis>It will drastically reduce performance.</emphasis>
1662 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1664 <sect2 id="access-control">
1665 <title>Access Control and Security</title>
1668 This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects
1669 of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
1672 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
1676 <term>Specifies:</term>
1679 The IP address and TCP port on which <application>Privoxy</application> will
1680 listen for client requests.
1685 <term>Type of value:</term>
1687 <para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
1692 <term>Default value:</term>
1694 <para>localhost:8118</para>
1698 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1701 Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
1702 home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on the same machine as
1711 You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
1714 If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
1715 serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you
1716 will need to override the default.
1719 If you leave out the IP address, <application>Privoxy</application> will
1720 bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable
1721 from the Internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's)
1722 (see <quote>ACLs</quote> below), or a firewall.
1727 <term>Example:</term>
1730 Suppose you are running <application>Privoxy</application> on
1731 a machine which has the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network
1732 (192.168.0.0) and has another outside connection with a different address.
1733 You want it to serve requests from inside only:
1737 listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
1745 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
1749 <term>Specifies:</term>
1752 Initial state of "toggle" status
1757 <term>Type of value:</term>
1763 <term>Default value:</term>
1769 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1772 Act as if toggled on
1780 If set to 0, <application>Privoxy</application> will start in
1781 <quote>toggled off</quote> mode, i.e. behave like a normal, content-neutral
1782 proxy. See <literal>enable-remote-toggle</literal>
1783 below. This is not really useful anymore, since toggling is much easier
1784 via <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">the web
1785 interface</ulink> than via editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
1788 The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
1789 if this option is present.
1797 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
1800 <term>Specifies:</term>
1803 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">web-based toggle
1804 feature</ulink> may be used
1809 <term>Type of value:</term>
1815 <term>Default value:</term>
1821 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1824 The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
1832 When toggled off, <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal,
1833 content-neutral proxy, i.e. it acts as if none of the actions applied to
1837 For the time being, access to the toggle feature can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
1838 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
1839 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
1840 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
1841 toggle it for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>
1842 for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
1845 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
1846 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
1854 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
1857 <term>Specifies:</term>
1860 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
1861 file editor</ulink> may be used
1866 <term>Type of value:</term>
1872 <term>Default value:</term>
1878 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1881 The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
1889 For the time being, access to the editor can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
1890 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
1891 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
1892 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
1893 modify its configuration for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not
1894 recommended</emphasis> for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
1897 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
1898 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
1905 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="acls"><title>
1906 ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
1907 <anchor id="permit-acces">
1908 <anchor id="deny-acces">
1912 <term>Specifies:</term>
1915 Who can access what.
1920 <term>Type of value:</term>
1923 <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable>]
1924 [<replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable>]]
1927 Where <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable> and
1928 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid
1929 DNS names, and <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> and
1930 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable> are subnet masks in CIDR notation, i.e. integer
1931 values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole
1932 destination part are optional.
1937 <term>Default value:</term>
1939 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1943 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1946 Don't restrict access further than implied by <literal>listen-address</literal>
1954 Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
1955 administrators, and <emphasis>are not usually needed by individual users</emphasis>.
1956 For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that
1957 <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost or internal (home)
1958 network address by means of the <literal>listen-address</literal> option.
1961 Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute
1962 for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic security
1966 Multiple ACL lines are OK.
1967 If any ACLs are specified, then the <application>Privoxy</application>
1968 talks only to IP addresses that match at least one <literal>permit-access</literal> line
1969 and don't match any subsequent <literal>deny-access</literal> line. In other words, the
1970 last match wins, with the default being <literal>deny-access</literal>.
1973 If <application>Privoxy</application> is using a forwarder (see <literal>forward</literal> below)
1974 for a particular destination URL, the <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>
1975 that is examined is the address of the forwarder and <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the address
1976 of the ultimate target. This is necessary because it may be impossible for the local
1977 <application>Privoxy</application> to determine the IP address of the
1978 ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
1981 You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address lookups take
1982 time. All DNS names must resolve! You can <emphasis>not</emphasis> use domain patterns
1983 like <quote>*.org</quote> or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to multiple
1984 IP addresses, only the first one is used.
1987 Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
1988 if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other sites.
1993 <term>Examples:</term>
1996 Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and
1997 <literal>listen-address</literal> are set: <quote>localhost</quote>
1998 is OK. The absence of a <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> implies that
1999 <emphasis>all</emphasis> destination addresses are OK:
2003 permit-access localhost
2007 Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
2008 nothing but www.example.com:
2012 permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
2016 Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
2017 with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
2021 permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
2022 deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
2030 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
2034 <term>Specifies:</term>
2037 Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
2042 <term>Type of value:</term>
2044 <para>Size in Kbytes</para>
2048 <term>Default value:</term>
2054 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2057 Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
2065 For content filtering, i.e. the <literal>+filter</literal> and
2066 <literal>+deanimate-gif</literal> actions, it is necessary that
2067 <application>Privoxy</application> buffers the entire document body.
2068 This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending
2069 data indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
2073 When a document buffer size reaches the <literal>buffer-limit</literal>, it is
2074 flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to
2075 filter the rest of the document is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads
2076 running, which might require up to <literal>buffer-limit</literal> Kbytes
2077 <emphasis>each</emphasis>, unless you have enabled <quote>single-threaded</quote>
2087 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2090 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2092 <sect2 id="forwarding">
2093 <title>Forwarding</title>
2096 This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of
2098 It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
2099 accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains
2100 through an anonymous public proxy (see e.g. <ulink
2101 url="http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm">http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm</ulink>)
2102 Or to use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent
2103 proxy may be necessary because the machine that <application>Privoxy</application>
2104 runs on has no direct Internet access.
2108 Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. <application>Privoxy</application>
2109 supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
2112 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward"><title>forward</title>
2115 <term>Specifies:</term>
2118 To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
2123 <term>Type of value:</term>
2126 <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2127 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2130 Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
2131 chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
2132 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is the address of the parent HTTP proxy
2133 as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a valid DNS name (or <quote>.</quote> to denote
2134 <quote>no forwarding</quote>, and the optional
2135 <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer
2136 values from 1 to 64535
2141 <term>Default value:</term>
2143 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2147 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2150 Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
2158 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
2159 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
2162 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
2167 <term>Examples:</term>
2170 Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
2174 forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
2179 Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
2180 to that ISP's sites:
2184 forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
2185 forward .example-isp.net .
2193 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socks"><title>
2194 forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
2195 <anchor id="forward-socks4">
2196 <anchor id="forward-socks4a">
2200 <term>Specifies:</term>
2203 Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed.
2208 <term>Type of value:</term>
2211 <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2212 <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2213 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2216 Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
2217 chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
2218 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> and <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>
2219 are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
2220 may be <quote>.</quote> to denote <quote>no HTTP forwarding</quote>), and the optional
2221 <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
2226 <term>Default value:</term>
2228 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2232 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2235 Don't use SOCKS proxies.
2243 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
2246 The difference between <literal>forward-socks4</literal> and <literal>forward-socks4a</literal>
2247 is that in the SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the SOCKS
2248 server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
2251 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
2252 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
2258 <term>Examples:</term>
2261 From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all
2262 <quote>internal</quote> domains, but everything outbound goes through
2263 their ISP's proxy by way of example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to
2268 forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
2269 forward .example.com .
2273 A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
2277 forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
2285 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
2288 If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
2289 only to their subscribers, you can configure multiple <application>Privoxies</application>
2290 which have connections to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that
2291 <emphasis>your</emphasis> users can see the internal content of all ISPs.
2295 Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP connection to
2296 isp-b.net. Both run <application>Privoxy</application>. Their forwarding
2297 configuration can look like this:
2307 forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
2318 forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
2323 Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either
2324 host-a or host-b and be able to browse the internal content
2325 of both isp-a and isp-b.
2329 If you intend to chain <application>Privoxy</application> and
2330 <application>squid</application> locally, then chain as
2331 <literal>browser -> squid -> privoxy</literal> is the recommended way.
2335 Assuming that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>squid</application>
2336 run on the same box, your squid configuration could then look like this:
2341 # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
2342 cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
2344 # Define ACL for protocol FTP
2347 # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
2348 always_direct allow ftp
2350 # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
2351 never_direct allow all</screen>
2355 You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to <application>squid</application>'s address and port.
2356 Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
2363 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2366 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2368 <sect2 id="windows-gui">
2369 <title>Windows GUI Options</title>
2371 <application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
2372 Windows GUI interface:
2375 <anchor id="activity-animation">
2377 If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
2378 <application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
2379 <quote>Privoxy</quote> is active. To turn off, set to 0.
2386 <emphasis>activity-animation 1</emphasis>
2392 <anchor id="log-messages">
2394 If <quote>log-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2395 <application>Privoxy</application> will log messages to the console
2403 <emphasis>log-messages 1</emphasis>
2409 <anchor id="log-buffer-size">
2411 If <quote>log-buffer-size</quote> is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
2412 i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the
2413 console window, will be limited to <quote>log-max-lines</quote> (see below).
2417 Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and
2418 eat up all your memory!
2425 <emphasis>log-buffer-size 1</emphasis>
2431 <anchor id="log-max-lines">
2433 <application>log-max-lines</application> is the maximum number of lines held
2434 in the log buffer. See above.
2441 <emphasis>log-max-lines 200</emphasis>
2447 <anchor id="log-highlight-messages">
2449 If <quote>log-highlight-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2450 <application>Privoxy</application> will highlight portions of the log
2451 messages with a bold-faced font:
2458 <emphasis>log-highlight-messages 1</emphasis>
2464 <anchor id="log-font-name">
2466 The font used in the console window:
2473 <emphasis>log-font-name Comic Sans MS</emphasis>
2479 <anchor id="log-font-size">
2481 Font size used in the console window:
2488 <emphasis>log-font-size 8</emphasis>
2494 <anchor id="show-on-task-bar">
2496 <quote>show-on-task-bar</quote> controls whether or not
2497 <application>Privoxy</application> will appear as a button on the Task bar
2505 <emphasis>show-on-task-bar 0</emphasis>
2511 <anchor id="close-button-minimizes">
2513 If <quote>close-button-minimizes</quote> is set to 1, the Windows close
2514 button will minimize <application>Privoxy</application> instead of closing
2515 the program (close with the exit option on the File menu).
2522 <emphasis>close-button-minimizes 1</emphasis>
2528 <anchor id="hide-console">
2530 The <quote>hide-console</quote> option is specific to the MS-Win console
2531 version of <application>Privoxy</application>. If this option is used,
2532 <application>Privoxy</application> will disconnect from and hide the
2540 #<emphasis>hide-console</emphasis>
2549 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2553 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
2555 <sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
2558 The actions files are used to define what actions
2559 <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
2560 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
2561 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
2562 are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application>,
2563 with slightly different purposes. <filename>default.action</filename> sets
2564 the default policies. <filename>standard.action</filename> is used by
2565 <application>Privoxy</application> and the web based editor to set
2566 pre-defined values (and normally should not be edited). Local exceptions
2567 are best done in <filename>user.action</filename>. The content of these
2568 can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
2569 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2573 Anything you want can be blocked, including ads, banners, or just some obnoxious
2574 URL that you would rather not see is done here. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or
2575 accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written to disk),
2576 content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and much more.
2577 See below for a complete list of available actions.
2581 An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, <quote>aliases</quote> are
2582 optionally defined (discussed <ulink
2583 url="actions-file.html#ALIASES">below</ulink>), then the default set of rules
2584 which will apply universally to all sites and pages. And then below that,
2585 exceptions to the defined universal policies.
2588 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2590 <title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
2592 Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
2593 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
2594 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
2595 certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
2596 <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
2597 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
2598 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
2599 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
2600 regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
2601 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
2605 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
2606 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
2607 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
2608 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
2612 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2614 <title>How to Edit</title>
2616 The easiest way to edit the <quote>actions</quote> files is with a browser by
2617 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
2618 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2622 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
2629 <title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
2631 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
2632 like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will be discussed later. For now
2633 let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a heading line (often split
2634 up to multiple lines for readability) which consist of a list of actions,
2635 separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces. Below that, there
2636 is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.
2640 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
2641 compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
2642 applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
2643 of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
2644 the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
2645 the effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the
2646 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
2647 and <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> actions).
2652 You can trace this process by visiting <ulink
2653 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
2657 More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
2658 Anatomy of an Action</link>.
2662 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2664 <title>Patterns</title>
2666 Generally, a pattern has the form <literal><domain>/<path></literal>,
2667 where both the <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal>
2668 are optional. (This is why the pattern <literal>/</literal> matches all URLs).
2673 <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
2676 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2677 regardless of which document on that server is requested.
2682 <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
2685 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
2691 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
2694 matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
2695 on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
2700 <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
2703 matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
2704 i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
2709 <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
2712 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
2713 there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
2720 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2721 <sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
2724 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
2725 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
2731 <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
2734 matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
2735 <literal>.example.com</literal>
2740 <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
2743 matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
2744 <literal>www.</literal>
2749 <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
2752 matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
2753 (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
2760 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
2761 themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
2762 stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
2763 any single character, you can define character classes in square
2764 brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
2769 <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2772 matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
2773 <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
2778 <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2781 matches all of the above, and then some.
2786 <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
2789 matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
2790 <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
2795 <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
2798 matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
2799 <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
2800 <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
2801 <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
2809 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2812 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2813 <sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
2816 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
2817 (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
2822 There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
2823 expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
2824 at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
2825 You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
2826 useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
2827 url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
2831 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
2832 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
2833 for the beginning of a line).
2837 Please also note that matching in the path is case
2838 <emphasis>INSENSITIVE</emphasis> by default, but you can switch to case
2839 sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
2840 <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch:
2841 <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match only
2842 documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
2843 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
2849 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2852 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2854 <sect2 id="actions">
2855 <title>Actions</title>
2857 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
2858 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
2859 <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
2860 <quote>+action</quote> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
2861 <quote>+block</quote> means please <quote>block the following URL
2866 Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g.
2867 {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to
2868 which the action applies. There are three classes of actions:
2876 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>on</quote> or
2877 <quote>off</quote>. Examples:
2883 <emphasis>{+name}</emphasis> # enable this action
2884 <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action
2894 Parameterized, e.g. <quote>+/-hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</quote>,
2895 where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
2902 <emphasis>{+name{param}}</emphasis> # enable action and set parameter to <quote>param</quote>
2903 <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable action (<quote>parameter</quote>) can be omitted
2912 <!-- oes, or someone, check this. Re-worded 04/20/02 HB. -->
2913 Multi-value, e.g. <quote>{+/-add-header{Name: value}}</quote> or
2914 <quote>{+/-send-wafer{name=value}}</quote>), where some value needs to be defined
2915 in addition to simply enabling the action. Examples:
2921 <emphasis>{+name{param=value}}</emphasis> # enable action and set <quote>param</quote> to <quote>value</quote>
2922 <emphasis>{-name{param=value}}</emphasis> # remove the parameter <quote>param</quote> completely
2923 <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action totally and remove <application>param</application> too
2934 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
2935 taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
2936 normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
2937 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
2938 files will give a good starting point).
2942 Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
2943 to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
2944 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
2945 multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
2946 Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
2947 <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
2948 files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
2952 <!-- start actions listing -->
2954 The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>actions</quote> are:
2958 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2959 <!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
2960 <!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
2962 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2965 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2967 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
2968 <title><emphasis>+add-header</emphasis></title>
2973 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2975 <para>Multi-value.</para>
2980 <term>Typical uses:</term>
2983 Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
2989 <term>Possible values:</term>
2992 Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
2998 <term>Example usage:</term>
3001 <emphasis>{+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}}</emphasis>
3002 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3011 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
3012 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
3013 <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
3022 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3023 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
3024 <title><emphasis>+block</emphasis></title>
3029 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3031 <para>Boolean.</para>
3036 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3039 Used to block a URL from reaching your browser. The URL may be
3040 anything, but is typically used to block ads or other obnoxious
3047 <term>Possible values:</term>
3054 <term>Example usage:</term>
3057 <emphasis>{+block}</emphasis>
3058 <emphasis>.banners.example.com</emphasis>
3059 <emphasis>.ads.r.us</emphasis>
3068 If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, <application>Privoxy</application>
3069 will intercept the URL and display its special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
3070 instead. If there is sufficient space, a large red banner will appear with
3071 a friendly message about why the page was blocked, and a way to go there
3072 anyway. If there is insufficient space a smaller <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
3073 page will appear without the red banner.
3074 <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html">Click here</ulink>
3075 to view the default blocked HTML page (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running
3076 for this to work as intended!).
3080 A very important exception is if the URL <emphasis>matches both</emphasis>
3081 <quote>+block</quote> and <ulink
3082 url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
3083 then it will be handled by
3084 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
3085 (see below). It is important to understand this process, in order
3086 to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> is able to deal with
3087 ads and other objectionable content.
3090 The <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
3091 action can also perform some of the
3092 same functionality as <quote>+block</quote>, but by virtue of very
3093 different programming techniques, and is most often used for different
3103 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3104 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
3105 <title><emphasis>+deanimate-gifs</emphasis></title>
3110 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3112 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3117 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3120 To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
3126 <term>Possible values:</term>
3129 <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
3135 <term>Example usage:</term>
3138 <emphasis>{+deanimate-gifs{last}}</emphasis>
3139 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3148 De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame.
3149 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
3150 the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
3151 is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
3152 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
3153 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
3154 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
3162 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3163 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
3164 <title><emphasis>+downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
3169 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3171 <para>Boolean.</para>
3176 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3179 <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to
3180 HTTP/1.0 and downgrade the responses as well.
3186 <term>Possible values:</term>
3195 <term>Example usage:</term>
3198 <emphasis>{+downgrade-http-version}</emphasis>
3199 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3208 Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
3209 <application>Privoxy</application> doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is
3210 only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests. This is
3211 an infrequently needed action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only.
3219 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3220 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
3221 <title><emphasis>+fast-redirects</emphasis></title>
3226 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3228 <para>Boolean.</para>
3233 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3236 The <quote>+fast-redirects</quote> action enables interception of
3237 <quote>redirect</quote> requests from one server to another, which
3238 are used to track users.<application>Privoxy</application> can cut off
3239 all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local redirect
3240 back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
3246 <term>Possible values:</term>
3255 <term>Example usage:</term>
3258 <emphasis>{+fast-redirects}</emphasis>
3259 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3268 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
3269 will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a
3270 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
3271 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
3272 <emphasis>http://some.place/some_script?http://some.where-else</emphasis>.
3275 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
3276 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
3277 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
3278 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
3279 browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
3283 This is a normally <quote>on</quote> feature, and often requires exceptions
3284 for sites that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
3293 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3294 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
3295 <title><emphasis>+filter</emphasis></title>
3300 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3302 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3307 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3310 Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the
3311 <filename>default.filter</filename> file to the specified site(s).
3312 <quote>Filtering</quote> can be any modification of the raw
3313 page content, including re-writing or deletion of content.
3319 <term>Possible values:</term>
3322 <quote>+filter</quote> must include the name of one of the section identifiers
3323 from <filename>default.filter</filename> (or whatever
3324 <emphasis>filterfile</emphasis> is specified in <filename>config</filename>).
3330 <term>Example usage (from the current <filename>default.filter</filename>):</term>
3334 <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
3335 <emphasis>+filter{html-annoyances}</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
3340 <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
3341 <emphasis>+filter{js-annoyances}</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
3346 <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
3347 <emphasis>+filter{content-cookies}</emphasis>: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
3352 <anchor id="filter-popups">
3353 <emphasis>+filter{popups}</emphasis>: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
3358 <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
3359 <emphasis>+filter{frameset-borders}</emphasis>: Give frames a border and make them resizable
3364 <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
3365 <emphasis>+filter{webbugs}</emphasis>: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
3370 <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
3371 <emphasis>+filter{refresh-tags}</emphasis>: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)
3376 <anchor id="filter-fun">
3377 <emphasis>+filter{fun}</emphasis>: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
3382 <anchor id="filter-nimda">
3383 <emphasis>+filter{nimda}</emphasis>: Remove Nimda (virus) code.
3388 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
3389 <emphasis>+filter{banners-by-size}</emphasis>: Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)
3394 <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
3395 <emphasis>+filter{shockwave-flash}</emphasis>: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
3400 <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
3401 <emphasis>+filter{crude-parental}</emphasis>: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"
3411 This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge
3412 of regular expressions if you want to <quote>roll your own</quote>.
3413 Filtering operates on a line by line basis throughout the entire page.
3416 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
3417 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
3418 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
3419 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
3420 noticeable on slower connections.
3423 Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
3424 <ulink url="actions-file#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
3425 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall
3426 scheme of things, filtering is one of the first things <quote>Privoxy</quote>
3427 does with a web page. So other most other actions are applied to the
3428 already <quote>filtered</quote> page.
3437 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3438 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
3439 <title><emphasis>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis></title>
3444 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3446 <para>Boolean.</para>
3451 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3454 Block any existing X-Forwarded-for HTTP header, and do not add a new one.
3460 <term>Possible values:</term>
3469 <term>Example usage:</term>
3472 <emphasis>{+hide-forwarded-for-headers}</emphasis>
3473 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3482 It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites.
3491 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3492 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
3493 <title><emphasis>+hide-from-header</emphasis></title>
3498 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3500 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3505 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3508 To block the browser from sending your email address in a <quote>From:</quote>
3515 <term>Possible values:</term>
3518 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
3524 <term>Example usage:</term>
3527 <emphasis>{+hide-from-header{block}}</emphasis>
3528 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3537 The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
3538 (not to be confused with the <ulink
3539 url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> action).
3540 Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to send to the web
3550 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3551 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referer">
3552 <title><emphasis>+hide-referer</emphasis></title>
3553 <anchor id="hide-referrer">
3557 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3559 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3564 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3567 Don't send the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header to the web site.
3568 Or, alternately send a forged header instead.
3574 <term>Possible values:</term>
3577 Prevent the header from being sent with the keyword, <quote>block</quote>.
3578 Or, <quote>forge</quote> a URL to one from the same server as the request.
3579 Or, set to user defined value of your choice.
3585 <term>Example usage:</term>
3588 <emphasis>{+hide-referer{forge}}</emphasis>
3589 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3598 <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
3599 not send images back otherwise.
3602 <quote>+hide-referrer</quote> is an alternate spelling of
3603 <quote>+hide-referer</quote>. It has the exact same parameters, and can be freely
3604 mixed with, <quote>+hide-referer</quote>. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
3605 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
3606 requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
3615 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3616 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
3617 <title><emphasis>+hide-user-agent</emphasis></title>
3622 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3624 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3629 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3632 To change the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> header so web servers can't tell
3633 your browser type. Who's business is it anyway?
3639 <term>Possible values:</term>
3642 Any user defined string.
3648 <term>Example usage:</term>
3651 <emphasis>{+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}}</emphasis>
3652 <emphasis>.msn.com</emphasis>
3661 Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order
3662 to determine how the target browser will respond to various
3663 requests. Use with caution.
3671 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3672 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
3673 <title><emphasis>+handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
3678 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3680 <para>Boolean.</para>
3685 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3688 To define what <application>Privoxy</application> should treat
3689 automatically as an image, and is an important ingredient of how
3696 <term>Possible values:</term>
3705 <term>Example usage:</term>
3708 <emphasis>{+handle-as-image}</emphasis>
3709 <emphasis>/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)</emphasis>
3718 This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is
3719 <quote>+block</quote>ed, in which case a user definable image can
3720 be sent rather than a HTML page. This is integral to the whole concept of
3721 ad blocking: the URL must match <emphasis>both</emphasis> a <ulink
3722 url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> rule,
3723 <emphasis>and</emphasis> <quote>+handle-as-image</quote>.
3725 url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
3726 below for control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.)
3729 There is little reason to change the default definition for this action.
3738 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3739 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
3740 <title><emphasis>+set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
3745 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3747 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3752 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3755 Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with <emphasis>both</emphasis>
3756 <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
3758 url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
3759 e.g an advertisement.
3765 <term>Possible values:</term>
3768 There are four available options: <quote>-set-image-blocker</quote> will send a HTML
3769 <quote>blocked</quote> page, usually resulting in a <quote>broken
3771 <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>blank</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
3772 1x1 transparent GIF image.
3773 <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>pattern</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
3774 checkerboard type pattern (the default). And finally,
3775 <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>http://xyz.com</emphasis>}</quote> will
3776 send a HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the
3777 advantage of the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed
3784 <term>Example usage:</term>
3787 <emphasis>{+set-image-blocker{blank}}</emphasis>
3788 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3797 If you want <emphasis>invisible</emphasis> ads, they need to meet
3798 criteria as matching both <emphasis>images</emphasis> and <emphasis>blocked</emphasis>
3799 actions. And then, <quote>image-blocker</quote> should be set to
3800 <quote>blank</quote> for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as
3801 images in most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to
3802 display. So a frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image.
3803 Forcing an <quote>image</quote> in this situation just will not work
3812 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3813 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
3814 <title><emphasis>+limit-connect</emphasis></title>
3819 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3821 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3826 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3829 By default, <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
3830 requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
3831 <quote>+limit-connect</quote> to disable this altogether, or to allow
3838 <term>Possible values:</term>
3841 Any valid port number, or port number range.
3847 <term>Example usages:</term>
3849 <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
3850 <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
3851 <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
3853 <emphasis>+limit-connect{443}</emphasis> # This is the default and need not be specified.
3854 <emphasis>+limit-connect{80,443}</emphasis> # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
3855 <emphasis>+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-}</emphasis> # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
3864 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
3865 (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy connects
3866 to the server on the specified port, and then short-circuits its
3867 connections to the client <emphasis>and</emphasis> to the remote proxy.
3868 This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
3869 abused as TCP relays very easily.
3872 If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid
3873 CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and
3874 port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and
3878 If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
3887 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3888 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
3889 <title><emphasis>+prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
3894 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3896 <para>Boolean.</para>
3901 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3904 Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data.
3910 <term>Possible values:</term>
3919 <term>Example usage:</term>
3922 <emphasis>{+prevent-compression}</emphasis>
3923 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3932 Some websites do this, which can be a problem for
3933 <application>Privoxy</application>, since
3934 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>,
3935 <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
3937 url="actions-file.html#GIF-DEANIMATE"><quote>+gif-deanimate</quote></ulink>
3938 will not work on compressed data. This will slow down connections to those
3939 websites, though. Default typically is to turn
3940 <quote>prevent-compression</quote> on.
3948 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3949 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
3950 <title><emphasis>+session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
3955 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3957 <para>Boolean.</para>
3962 <term>Typical uses:</term>
3965 Allow cookies for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>.
3971 <term>Possible values:</term>
3980 <term>Example usage (disabling):</term>
3983 <emphasis>{-session-cookies-only}</emphasis>
3984 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
3993 If websites set cookies, <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> will make sure
3994 they are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
3995 profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
3996 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
3997 sites, and is the recommended setting.
4000 <quote>+prevent-*-cookies</quote> actions should be turned off as well (see
4001 below), for <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> to work. Or, else no cookies
4002 will get through at all. For, <quote>persistent</quote> cookies that survive
4003 across browser sessions, see below as well.
4012 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4013 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-reading-cookies">
4014 <title><emphasis>+prevent-reading-cookies</emphasis></title>
4019 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4021 <para>Boolean.</para>
4026 <term>Typical uses:</term>
4029 Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your
4036 <term>Possible values:</term>
4045 <term>Example usage:</term>
4048 <emphasis>{+prevent-reading-cookies}</emphasis>
4049 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
4058 Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-setting-cookies</quote> to
4059 disable cookies completely. Note that
4060 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
4061 requires these to both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache).
4064 For <quote>persistent</quote> cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser
4065 sessions and reboots), all three cookie settings should be <quote>off</quote>
4066 for the specified sites.
4075 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4076 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-setting-cookies">
4077 <title><emphasis>+prevent-setting-cookies</emphasis></title>
4082 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4084 <para>Boolean.</para>
4089 <term>Typical uses:</term>
4092 Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your
4099 <term>Possible values:</term>
4108 <term>Example usage:</term>
4111 <emphasis>{+prevent-setting-cookies}</emphasis>
4112 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
4121 Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-reading-cookies</quote> to
4122 disable cookies completely (see above).
4131 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4132 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popup">
4133 <title><emphasis>+kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popups"></emphasis></title>
4137 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4139 <para>Boolean.</para>
4144 <term>Typical uses:</term>
4147 Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows!
4153 <term>Possible values:</term>
4162 <term>Example usage:</term>
4165 <emphasis>{+kill-popups}</emphasis>
4166 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
4175 <quote>+kill-popups</quote> uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups
4176 that use the <literal>window.open()</literal> function, etc. This is
4177 one of the first actions processed by <application>Privoxy</application>
4178 as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always 100% reliable,
4179 and is supplemented by <quote>+filter{<emphasis>popups</emphasis>}</quote>.
4183 An alternate spelling is <quote>+kill-popup</quote>, which is
4194 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4195 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
4196 <title><emphasis>+send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
4201 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4203 <para>Boolean.</para>
4208 <term>Typical uses:</term>
4211 Sends a cookie for every site stating that you do not accept any copyright
4212 on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you.
4218 <term>Possible values:</term>
4227 <term>Example usage:</term>
4230 <emphasis>{+send-vanilla-wafer}</emphasis>
4231 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
4240 This action only applies if you are using a <filename>jarfile</filename>
4241 for saving cookies. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header and
4242 could conceivably be used to track you.
4251 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4252 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
4253 <title><emphasis>+send-wafer</emphasis></title>
4258 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4260 <para>Multi-value.</para>
4265 <term>Typical uses:</term>
4268 This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie.
4274 <term>Possible values:</term>
4277 User specified cookie name and corresponding value.
4283 <term>Example usage:</term>
4286 <emphasis>{+send-wafer{name=value}}</emphasis>
4287 <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
4296 This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you
4306 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4308 <title>Summary</title>
4310 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
4311 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
4312 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
4313 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
4314 and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
4315 linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
4321 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4322 <sect3 renderas="sect2" id="act-examples">
4323 <title>Sample Actions Files</title>
4325 Remember that the meaning of any of the above references is reversed by preceding
4326 the action with a <quote>-</quote>, in place of the <quote>+</quote>. Also,
4327 that some actions are turned on in the default section of the actions file,
4328 and require little to no additional configuration. These are just <quote>on</quote>.
4332 But, other actions that are turned on in the default section <emphasis>do
4333 typically require</emphasis> exceptions to be listed in the latter sections of
4334 one of our actions file. For instance, by default no URLs are
4335 <quote>blocked</quote> (i.e. in the default definitions of
4336 <filename>default.action</filename>). We need exceptions to this in order to
4337 <emphasis>enable</emphasis> ad blocking in the lower sections. But we need to
4338 be very selective about what we do block. Thus, the default is <quote>off</quote>
4343 Below is a liberally commented sample <filename>default.action</filename> file
4344 to demonstrate how all the pieces come together. And to show how exceptions
4345 to the default policies can be handled. This is followed by a brief
4346 <filename>user.action</filename> with similar examples.
4353 # Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org>
4355 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
4357 for-privoxy-version=3.0
4360 ##########################################################################
4361 # <ulink url="actions-file.html#ALIASES">Aliases</ulink> must be defined *before* they are used. These are
4362 # easier to remember, and can combine several actions into one. Once
4363 # defined they can be used just like any built-in action -- but within
4364 # this file only! Aliases do not require a + or - sign.
4365 ##########################################################################
4367 # Some useful aliases.
4368 # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
4369 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \
4370 -session-cookies-only
4372 # Alias to both block and treat as if an image for ad blocking
4374 +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
4376 # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
4377 fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
4378 -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
4380 # Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies
4381 shop = -filter -prevent-cookies -session-cookies-only
4384 ##########################################################################
4385 # Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match
4386 # all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions that also match, defined below this
4387 # section. We will show all potential actions here whether they are on
4388 # or off. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all
4389 # actions are 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only.
4390 # Actions are enabled if preceded by a '+', otherwise they are disabled
4391 # (unless an alias has been defined without this).
4392 ##########################################################################
4394 <ulink url="actions-file.html#ADD-HEADER">-add-header</ulink> \
4395 <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> \
4396 <ulink url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">-deanimate-gifs</ulink> \
4397 <ulink url="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">-downgrade-http-version</ulink> \
4398 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS">+fast-redirects</ulink> \
4399 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">+filter{html-annoyances}</ulink> \
4400 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">+filter{js-annoyances}</ulink> \
4401 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">-filter{content-cookies}</ulink> \
4402 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> \
4403 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-WEBBUGS">+filter{webbugs}</ulink> \
4404 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">-filter{refresh-tags}</ulink> \
4405 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN">-filter{fun}</ulink> \
4406 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-NIMDA">+filter{nimda}</ulink> \
4407 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">+filter{banners-by-size}</ulink> \
4408 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">-filter{shockwave-flash}</ulink> \
4409 <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">-filter{crude-prental}</ulink> \
4410 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">+hide-forwarded-for-headers</ulink> \
4411 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-FROM-HEADER">+hide-from-header{block}</ulink> \
4412 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-REFERER">-hide-referrer</ulink> \
4413 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT">-hide-user-agent</ulink> \
4414 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">-handle-as-image</ulink> \
4415 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">+set-image-blocker{pattern}</ulink> \
4416 <ulink url="actions-file.html#LIMIT-CONNECT">-limit-connect</ulink> \
4417 <ulink url="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">+prevent-compression</ulink> \
4418 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">-session-cookies-only</ulink> \
4419 <ulink url="actions-file.html#PREVENT-READING-COOKIES">-prevent-reading-cookies</ulink> \
4420 <ulink url="actions-file.html#PREVENT-SETTING-COOKIES">-prevent-setting-cookies</ulink> \
4421 <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> \
4422 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">-send-vanilla-wafer</ulink> \
4423 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SEND-WAFER">-send-wafer</ulink> \
4425 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.
4427 ##########################################################################
4428 # Default behavior is now set. Now we will define some exceptions to our
4429 # default action policies.
4430 ##########################################################################
4432 # These sites are very complex and require very minimal interference.
4433 # We'll disable most actions with our 'fragile' alias:
4435 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
4436 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
4439 # Shopping sites - not as fragile but require some special
4440 # handling. We still want to block ads, and we will allow
4441 # persistant cookies via the 'shop' alias:
4444 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
4449 # These sites require pop-ups too :( We'll combine our 'shop'
4450 # alias with two other actions into one rule to allow all popups.
4451 { shop <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> }
4456 # The 'Fast-redirects' action breaks some sites. Disable this action
4457 # for these known sensitive sites:
4458 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS">-fast-redirects</ulink> }
4460 edit.europe.yahoo.com
4462 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
4463 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
4467 # Define which file types will be treated as images. Important
4469 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">+handle-as-image</ulink> }
4470 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)
4473 # Now lets list some domains that are known ad generators. And
4474 # our alias that we use here will block these as well as force
4475 # them to be treated as images. This combination of actions is
4476 # important for ad blocking. What the browser will show instead is
4477 # determined by the setting of <ulink url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
4481 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
4482 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
4486 ad.*.doubleclick.net
4489 # These will just simply be blocked. They will generate the BLOCKED
4490 # banner page, if matched. Heavy use of wildcards and regular
4491 # expressions in this example. Enable block action:
4492 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
4497 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
4498 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
4502 # The above block section will probably inadvertantly catch some
4503 # sites we DO NOT want blocked via the wildcards and regular expressions.
4504 # Now let's set exceptions to the exceptions so the good guys get better
4505 # treatment. Disable block action:
4506 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
4511 # Let's just trust all .edu top level domains.
4513 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
4514 # We'll need to access to path names containing 'download'
4517 # 'adv' is for globalintersec and means advanced, not advertisement
4518 www.globalintersec.com/adv
4521 # Don't filter *anything* from our friends at sourceforge.
4522 # Notice we don't have to name the individual filter
4523 # identifiers -- we just turn them all off in one fell swoop.
4524 # Disable all filters for this one site:
4525 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER">-filter</ulink> }
4533 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies.
4534 The above would be a reasonable starting point for many situations. Now,
4535 we want to be more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable
4536 to our personal habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined
4537 situations like your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in
4538 <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
4539 actions files and should not be clobbered by upgrades. So any settings here,
4540 will have the last word and over-ride any previously defined actions.
4544 Now a few examples of some things that one might do with a
4545 <filename>user.action</filename> file.
4548 <!-- brief sample user.action here -->
4554 # Sample user.action file.
4556 # Any aliases you want to use need to be re-defined here.
4557 # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
4558 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \
4559 -session-cookies-only
4561 # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
4562 fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
4563 -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
4565 # Allow persistent cookies for a few regular sites that we
4566 # trust via our above alias. These will be saved from one browser session
4567 # to the next. We are explicity turning off any and all cookie handling,
4568 # even though the prevent-*-cookie settings were disabled in our above
4569 # default.action anyway. So cookies from these domains will come through
4571 { -prevent-cookies }
4578 # My ISP uses obnoxious self promoting images on many pages.
4579 # Nuke them :) Note that <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink> need not be specified,
4580 # since all URLs ending in .gif will be tagged as images by the
4581 # general rules in default.action anyway.
4582 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
4583 www.my-isp-example.com/logo[0-9].gif
4585 # Say the site where you do your homebanking needs to open
4586 # popup windows, but you have chosen to kill popups by
4587 # default. This will allow it for your-example-bank.com:
4589 { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> }
4590 .my-example-bank.com
4592 # This site is delicate, and requires kid-glove
4604 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
4607 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4608 <sect2 id="aliases">
4609 <title>Aliases</title>
4611 Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
4612 as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other <quote>actions</quote>.
4613 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in <quote>actions</quote>.
4614 Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, <quote>=</quote>,
4615 <quote>{</quote> or <quote>}</quote>. But please use only <quote>a</quote>-
4616 <quote>z</quote>, <quote>0</quote>-<quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and
4617 <quote>-</quote>. Alias names are not case sensitive, and
4618 <emphasis>must be defined before other actions</emphasis> in the
4619 actions file! And there can only be one set of <quote>aliases</quote>
4620 defined per file. Each actions file may have its own aliases, but they are
4621 only visible within that file. Aliases do not requir a <quote>+</quote> or
4622 <quote>-</quote> sign in front, since they are merely expanded.
4626 Now let's define a few aliases:
4633 # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
4635 +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
4636 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
4637 fragile = -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
4638 shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
4639 +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
4641 # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type
4643 c0 = +prevent-cookies
4644 c1 = -prevent-cookies
4645 #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
4652 Some examples using our <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote>
4653 aliases from above. These would appear in the lower sections of an
4654 actions file as exceptions to the default actions (as defined in the
4662 # These sites are very complex and require
4663 # minimal interference.
4665 .office.microsoft.com
4666 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
4669 # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
4672 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
4675 # These shops require pop-ups also
4685 The <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> aliases are often used for
4686 <quote>problem</quote> sites that require most actions to be disabled
4687 in order to function properly.
4694 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
4698 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
4700 <sect1 id="filter-file">
4701 <title>The Filter File</title>
4703 Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
4704 modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content,
4705 including tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is
4706 oddly enough <filename>default.filter</filename>, located in the config
4711 This is potentially a very powerful feature, and requires knowledge of both
4712 <quote>regular expression</quote> and HTML in order create custom
4713 filters. But, there are a number of useful filters included with
4714 <application>Privoxy</application> for many common situations.
4718 The included example file is divided into sections. Each section begins
4719 with the <literal>FILTER</literal> keyword, followed by the identifier
4720 for that section, e.g. <quote>FILTER: webbugs</quote>. Each section performs
4721 a similar type of filtering, such as <quote>html-annoyances</quote>.
4725 This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in the
4726 target page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a time. Some
4727 examples from the included default <filename>default.filter</filename>:
4731 Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by
4732 deleting such references:
4739 FILTER: html-annoyances
4741 # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and status
4744 s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
4745 s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
4746 s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
4747 s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
4749 # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
4751 s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
4755 #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
4756 #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
4763 Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of <quote>Microsoft</quote> with
4764 <quote>MicroSuck</quote>, and have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
4773 s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
4777 s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BINGO!</b></font>/ig
4784 Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
4791 # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
4794 s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
4801 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4803 <title>The <emphasis>+filter</emphasis> Action</title>
4805 Filters are enabled with the <ulink
4806 url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action from within
4807 one of the actions files. <quote>+filter</quote> requires one parameter, which
4808 should match one of the section identifiers in the filter file itself. Example:
4812 +filter{html-annoyances}
4816 This would activate that particular filter. Similarly, <quote>+filter</quote>
4817 can be turned off for selected sites as:
4818 <quote>-filter{html-annoyances}</quote>. Remember too, all actions are off by
4819 default, unless they are explicity enabled in one of the actions files.
4826 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
4830 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4832 <sect1 id="templates">
4833 <title>Templates</title>
4835 When <application>Privoxy</application> displays one of its internal
4836 pages, such as a <ulink url="http://bogus_404_page.com">404 Not Found error page</ulink>
4837 (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for link to work as
4838 intended), it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these
4839 are located in <filename>/etc/privoxy/templates</filename> by default. These
4840 may be customized, if desired. <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> is used to
4841 control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
4845 <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html">Blocked
4846 (<application>Privoxy</application> needs to be running for page to display)</ulink>
4847 banner page with the bright red top
4848 banner, is called just <quote><filename>blocked</filename></quote>. This
4849 may be customized or replaced with something else if desired.
4854 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
4858 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4860 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
4863 <!-- Include contacting.sgml boilerplate: -->
4865 <!-- end boilerplate -->
4870 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4871 <sect1 id="copyright"><title>Copyright and History</title>
4873 <sect2><title>Copyright</title>
4874 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
4876 <!-- end copyright -->
4879 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
4882 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4884 <sect2 id="history"><title>History</title>
4885 <!-- Include history.sgml: -->
4887 <!-- end history -->
4891 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4892 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
4893 <!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
4895 <!-- end seealso -->
4900 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4901 <sect1 id="appendix"><title>Appendix</title>
4904 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4906 <title>Regular Expressions</title>
4908 <application>Privoxy</application> can use <quote>regular expressions</quote>
4909 in various config files. Assuming support for <quote>pcre</quote> (Perl
4910 Compatible Regular Expressions) is compiled in, which is the default. Such
4911 configuration directives do not require regular expressions, but they can be
4912 used to increase flexibility by matching a pattern with wild-cards against
4917 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
4918 expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
4919 introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
4923 <quote>Regular expressions</quote> is a way of matching one character
4924 expression against another to see if it matches or not. One of the
4925 <quote>expressions</quote> is a literal string of readable characters
4926 (letter, numbers, etc), and the other is a complex string of literal
4927 characters combined with wild-cards, and other special characters, called
4928 meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have special meanings and
4929 are used to build the complex pattern to be matched against. Perl Compatible
4930 Regular Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression language
4931 with backward compatibility.
4935 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
4936 characters when listing files with the <command>dir</command> command in DOS.
4937 <literal>*.*</literal> matches all filenames. The <quote>special</quote>
4938 character here is the asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be
4939 more specific and use <literal>?</literal> to match just individual
4940 characters. So <quote>dir file?.text</quote> would match
4941 <quote>file1.txt</quote>, <quote>file2.txt</quote>, etc. We are pattern
4942 matching, using a similar technique to <quote>regular expressions</quote>!
4946 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
4947 powerful. There are many more <quote>special characters</quote> and ways of
4948 building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones,
4949 and then some examples:
4954 <emphasis>.</emphasis> - Matches any single character, e.g. <quote>a</quote>,
4955 <quote>A</quote>, <quote>4</quote>, <quote>:</quote>, or <quote>@</quote>.
4957 </simplelist></para>
4961 <emphasis>?</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
4964 </simplelist></para>
4968 <emphasis>+</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
4971 </simplelist></para>
4975 <emphasis>*</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
4978 </simplelist></para>
4982 <emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
4983 the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
4984 special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
4985 not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
4986 sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
4987 meta-character meaning of any single character).
4989 </simplelist></para>
4993 <emphasis>[]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
4994 any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
4995 matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
4996 this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
4998 </simplelist></para>
5002 <emphasis>()</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
5003 or multiple sub-expressions.
5005 </simplelist></para>
5009 <emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
5010 <quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
5011 sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
5012 <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
5013 and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
5014 example</quote>, and nothing else.
5016 </simplelist></para>
5020 <emphasis>s/string1/string2/g</emphasis> - This is used to rewrite strings of text.
5021 <quote>string1</quote> is replaced by <quote>string2</quote> in this
5022 example. There must of course be a match on <quote>string1</quote> first.
5024 </simplelist></para>
5027 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
5028 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
5029 list. This is enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may
5030 be more illuminating:
5034 <emphasis><literal>/.*/banners/.*</literal></emphasis> - A simple example
5035 that uses the common combination of <quote>.</quote> and <quote>*</quote> to
5036 denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at all.
5037 So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression pattern
5038 (<quote>.*</quote>) another literal forward slash, the string
5039 <quote>banners</quote>, another forward slash, and lastly another
5040 <quote>.*</quote>. We are building
5041 a directory path here. This will match any file with the path that has a
5042 directory named <quote>banners</quote> in it. The <quote>.*</quote> matches
5043 any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward slashes, so it
5044 might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this could match:
5045 <quote>/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif</quote>, or just
5046 <quote>/banners/annoying.html</quote>, or almost an infinite number of other
5047 possible combinations, just so it has <quote>banners</quote> in the path
5052 A now something a little more complex:
5056 <emphasis><literal>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/</literal></emphasis> -
5057 We have several literal forward slashes again (<quote>/</quote>), so we are
5058 building another expression that is a file path statement. We have another
5059 <quote>.*</quote>, so we are matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so
5060 it matches our expression. The only true literal that <emphasis>must
5061 match</emphasis> our pattern is <application>adv</application>, together with
5062 the forward slashes. What comes after the <quote>adv</quote> string is the
5067 Remember the <quote>?</quote> means the preceding expression (either a
5068 literal character or anything grouped with <quote>(...)</quote> in this case)
5069 can exist or not, since this means either zero or one match. So
5070 <quote>((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))</quote> is optional, as are the
5071 individual sub-expressions: <quote>(er)</quote>,
5072 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, and the <quote>s</quote>. The <quote>|</quote>
5073 means <quote>or</quote>. We have two of those. For instance,
5074 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, can expand to match either <quote>ing</quote>
5075 <emphasis>OR</emphasis> <quote>ements?</quote>. What is being done here, is an
5076 attempt at matching as many variations of <quote>advertisement</quote>, and
5077 similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just <quote>adv</quote>,
5078 or <quote>advert</quote>, or <quote>adverts</quote>, or
5079 <quote>advertising</quote>, or <quote>advertisement</quote>, or
5080 <quote>advertisements</quote>. You get the idea. But it would not match
5081 <quote>advertizements</quote> (with a <quote>z</quote>). We could fix that by
5082 changing our regular expression to:
5083 <quote>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/</quote>, which would then match
5088 <emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
5089 another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
5090 <quote>[]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
5091 shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
5092 saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
5093 means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
5094 expression here is what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit
5095 one through nine. Then, at the end, we have a grouping: <quote>(gif|jpe?g)</quote>.
5096 This includes a <quote>|</quote>, so this needs to match the expression on
5097 either side of that bar character also. A simple <quote>gif</quote> on one side, and the other
5098 side will in turn match either <quote>jpeg</quote> or <quote>jpg</quote>,
5099 since the <quote>?</quote> means the letter <quote>e</quote> is optional and
5100 can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to
5101 match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must include the literal
5102 string <quote>advert</quote>, then one or more digits, and a <quote>.</quote>
5103 (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is escaped
5104 with <quote>\</quote>), and lastly either <quote>gif</quote>, or
5105 <quote>jpeg</quote>, or <quote>jpg</quote>. Some possible matches would
5106 include: <quote>//advert1.jpg</quote>,
5107 <quote>/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif</quote>,
5108 <quote>/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg</quote>. It would not match
5109 <quote>advert1.gif</quote> (no leading slash), or
5110 <quote>/adverts232.jpg</quote> (the expression does not include an
5111 <quote>s</quote>), or <quote>/advert1.jsp</quote> (<quote>jsp</quote> is not
5112 in the expression anywhere).
5116 <emphasis><literal>s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i</literal></emphasis> - This is
5117 a substitution. <quote>MicroSuck</quote> will replace any occurrence of
5118 <quote>microsoft</quote>. The <quote>i</quote> at the end of the expression
5119 means ignore case. The <quote>(?!.com)</quote> means
5120 the match should fail if <quote>microsoft</quote> is followed by
5121 <quote>.com</quote>. In other words, this acts like a <quote>NOT</quote>
5122 modifier. In case this is a hyperlink, we don't want to break it ;-).
5126 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
5127 can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
5128 configuration files, and maybe use this knowledge to customize your own
5129 installation. There is much, much more that can be done with regular
5130 expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you can learn more on
5135 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
5136 <ulink url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>
5141 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
5144 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5146 <title><application>Privoxy</application>'s Internal Pages</title>
5149 Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
5150 web page, it is easy for <application>Privoxy</application> to
5151 trap certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to
5152 <application>Privoxy</application>, and see how it is
5153 configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these
5154 rules and other configuration options, and even turn
5155 <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering off, all with
5161 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access
5162 to <application>Privoxy</application>. Of course,
5163 <application>Privoxy</application> must be running to access these. If
5164 not, you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
5177 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
5181 Alternately, this may be reached at <ulink
5182 url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>, but this
5183 variation may not work as reliably as the above in some configurations.
5189 Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
5190 editing of actions files:
5194 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
5201 Show the source code version numbers:
5205 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>
5212 Show the browser's request headers:
5216 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">http://config.privoxy.org/show-request</ulink>
5223 Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
5227 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
5234 Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, <quote>Privoxy</quote> continues
5235 to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
5239 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
5243 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
5247 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable</ulink>
5252 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable</ulink>
5261 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
5265 <sect3 id="bookmarklets">
5266 <title>Bookmarklets</title>
5268 Below are some <quote>bookmarklets</quote> to allow you to easily access a
5269 <quote>mini</quote> version of some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
5270 special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer, but should work
5271 equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which support
5272 JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not by
5273 clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
5276 To save them, right-click the link and choose <quote>Add to Favorites</quote>
5277 (IE) or <quote>Add Bookmark</quote> (Netscape). You will get a warning that
5278 the bookmark <quote>may not be safe</quote> - just click OK. Then you can run the
5279 Bookmarklet directly from your favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access,
5280 you can put them on the <quote>Links</quote> bar (IE) or the <quote>Personal
5281 Toolbar</quote> (Netscape), and run them with a single click.
5290 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
5297 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
5304 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
5311 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
5317 <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback</ulink>
5327 Credit: The site which gave me the general idea for these bookmarklets is
5328 <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
5329 have more information about bookmarklets.
5338 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5340 <title>Chain of Events</title>
5342 Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
5343 requested by your browser and <application>Privoxy</application> is on duty:
5350 First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
5351 the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
5352 relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
5358 <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
5359 pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
5364 Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
5366 url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> patterns. If
5367 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
5368 <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
5369 is then checked and if it does not match, an
5370 HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match,
5371 an image is returned. The type of image depends on the setting of <ulink
5372 url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
5373 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
5378 Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
5379 <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
5384 If the URL pattern matches the <ulink
5385 url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink> action,
5386 it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
5391 Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
5392 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <ulink
5393 url="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></ulink>,
5394 etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
5400 Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web page and related
5406 First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
5407 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
5408 filtered as deterimed by the
5409 <ulink url="actions-file.html#PREVENT-SETTING-COOKIES"><quote>+prevent-setting-cookies</quote></ulink>,
5410 <ulink url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>,
5411 and <ulink url="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></ulink>
5417 If the <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
5418 action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
5419 response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
5424 If a <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
5426 url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
5427 action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
5428 read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
5429 <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed against the buffered
5430 content. Filters are applied in the order they are specified in the
5431 <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
5432 reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
5433 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
5434 <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
5437 If neither <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
5439 url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
5440 matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
5441 to the client browser as it becomes available.
5446 As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
5447 reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
5448 source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
5449 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
5450 request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
5451 complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
5461 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5462 <sect2 id="actionsanat">
5463 <title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
5466 The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
5467 <ulink url="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>
5468 and <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>filters</quote></ulink>
5469 to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
5470 easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
5471 <emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
5472 doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
5473 is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
5474 the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
5475 <quote>regular expressions</quote> whose consequences are not always
5480 One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
5481 or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
5482 step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
5483 and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!).
5487 <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
5488 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
5489 page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
5490 are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
5494 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
5495 <application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
5496 how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
5497 help with filtering effects (i.e. the <ulink
5498 url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action) from
5499 the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
5500 differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
5501 URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
5502 such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
5503 you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
5504 -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
5505 will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
5506 Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
5511 Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
5512 and look at it one section at a time:
5517 Matches for http://google.com:
5519 --- File standard ---
5520 (no matches in this file)
5522 --- File default ---
5524 { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
5525 -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
5526 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
5527 +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
5528 +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
5529 -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
5530 +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
5531 -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
5534 { -session-cookies-only }
5541 (no matches in this file)
5546 This tells us how we have defined our
5547 <ulink url="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>, and
5548 which ones match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing
5549 is any matches for the <filename>standard.action</filename> file. No hits at
5550 all here on <quote>standard</quote>. Then next is <quote>default</quote>, or
5551 our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line listing,
5552 is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings.
5553 If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the section
5554 just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This will apply to
5555 all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end of the listing
5556 -- <quote>/</quote>.
5560 But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
5561 rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
5562 apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
5563 <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
5564 which was for <ulink
5565 url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
5566 (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
5567 second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
5569 url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink>
5570 action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
5571 dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
5572 sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
5573 <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
5574 defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
5575 file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
5580 Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
5584 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
5585 <application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
5586 to <quote>google.com</quote>:
5594 -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
5595 -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
5596 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
5597 +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
5598 +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
5599 -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
5600 +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
5601 -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
5606 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
5607 <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>.
5611 Now another example, <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>:
5617 { +block +handle-as-image }
5620 { +block +handle-as-image }
5623 { +block +handle-as-image }
5629 We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
5630 matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
5631 which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
5632 <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<ulink
5633 url="actions-file.html#ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></ulink> are defined in
5634 the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
5639 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
5640 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively
5641 would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
5642 though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
5643 URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
5644 is done here -- as both a <ulink
5645 url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
5646 <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
5648 url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>.
5649 The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
5654 One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
5655 This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
5661 Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
5663 { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
5664 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}
5665 +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
5666 +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
5667 +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
5668 +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-setting-cookies
5669 -prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
5672 { +block +handle-as-image }
5678 Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
5679 we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
5680 now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
5681 block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
5682 various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
5694 Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when
5695 making such changes. Or, try using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
5699 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like
5706 { +block +handle-as-image }
5712 That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem
5713 was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
5714 rules in the first section is causing the problem. This would require some
5715 guesswork, and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule.
5716 One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. Try
5717 adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
5725 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
5733 <quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
5734 <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
5735 Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
5748 This would probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
5749 for local site exceptions.
5753 <quote>{fragile}</quote> is an alias that disables most actions. This can be
5754 used as a last resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this
5755 still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by
5756 one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
5765 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
5766 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
5767 Public License as published by the Free Software
5768 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
5769 your option) any later version.
5771 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
5772 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
5773 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
5774 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
5775 License for more details.
5777 The GNU General Public License should be included with
5778 this file. If not, you can view it at
5779 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
5780 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
5781 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
5783 $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
5784 Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
5785 This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
5786 will probably break links elsewhere :(
5788 Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
5789 -Rewrite of Actions File example.
5790 -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
5792 Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
5793 -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
5794 -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
5796 Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
5797 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
5799 Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
5800 -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
5801 -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
5803 Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
5804 More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
5805 Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
5807 Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
5808 Add 'Chain of Events' section.
5810 Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
5811 Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
5813 Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
5814 Added hint for startup on Red Hat
5816 Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
5817 Add AmigaOS install stuff.
5819 Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
5820 Updated OSX installation section
5821 Added a few English tweaks here an there
5823 Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
5824 Re-write actions section.
5826 Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
5827 Fix ugly typo (mine).
5829 Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
5830 Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
5832 Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
5833 Added RPM install detail
5835 Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
5838 Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
5839 Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
5841 Revision 1.80 2002/04/18 10:45:19 oes
5842 Moved text to buildsource.sgml, renamed some filters, details
5844 Revision 1.79 2002/04/18 03:18:06 hal9
5845 Spellcheck, and minor touchups.
5847 Revision 1.78 2002/04/17 18:04:16 oes
5850 Revision 1.77 2002/04/17 13:51:23 oes
5851 Proofreading, part one
5853 Revision 1.76 2002/04/16 04:25:51 hal9
5854 -Added 'Note to Upgraders' and re-ordered the 'Quickstart' section.
5855 -Note about proxy may need requests to re-read config files.
5857 Revision 1.75 2002/04/12 02:08:48 david__schmidt
5858 Remove OS/2 building info... it is already in the developer-manual
5860 Revision 1.74 2002/04/11 00:54:38 hal9
5861 Add small section on submitting actions.
5863 Revision 1.73 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
5866 Revision 1.72 2002/04/10 04:06:19 hal9
5867 Added actions feedback to Bookmarklets section
5869 Revision 1.71 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
5870 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
5872 Revision 1.70 2002/04/08 20:53:56 swa
5875 Revision 1.69 2002/04/06 05:07:29 hal9
5876 -Add privoxy-man-page.sgml, for man page.
5877 -Add authors.sgml for AUTHORS (and p-authors.sgml)
5878 -Reworked various aspects of various docs.
5879 -Added additional comments to sub-docs.
5881 Revision 1.68 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
5882 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
5884 Revision 1.67 2002/04/04 17:27:57 swa
5885 more single file to be included at multiple points. make maintaining easier
5887 Revision 1.66 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
5888 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
5889 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
5890 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
5891 eventually be set by Makefile.
5892 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
5894 Revision 1.65 2002/04/03 19:52:07 swa
5895 enhance squid section due to user suggestion
5897 Revision 1.64 2002/04/03 03:53:43 hal9
5898 A few minor bug fixes, and touch ups. Ready for review.
5900 Revision 1.63 2002/04/01 16:24:49 hal9
5901 Define entities to include boilerplate text. See doc/source/*.
5903 Revision 1.62 2002/03/30 04:15:53 hal9
5904 - Fix privoxy.org/config links.
5905 - Paste in Bookmarklets from Toggle page.
5906 - Move Quickstart nearer top, and minor rework.
5908 Revision 1.61 2002/03/29 01:31:08 hal9
5911 Revision 1.60 2002/03/27 01:57:34 hal9
5912 Added more to Anatomy section.
5914 Revision 1.59 2002/03/27 00:54:33 hal9
5915 Touch up intro for new name.
5917 Revision 1.58 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
5918 we have a new homepage!
5920 Revision 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9
5921 A few minor catch ups with name change.
5923 Revision 1.56 2002/03/24 16:17:06 swa
5924 configure needs to be generated.
5926 Revision 1.55 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
5927 we are too lazy to make a block-built
5928 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
5930 Revision 1.54 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
5931 name change related issue.
5933 Revision 1.53 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
5934 name change. changed filenames.
5936 Revision 1.52 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
5939 Revision 1.51 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
5940 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
5941 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
5942 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
5943 comments and remarks to history untouched.
5945 Revision 1.50 2002/03/23 05:06:21 hal9
5948 Revision 1.49 2002/03/21 17:01:05 hal9
5949 New section in Appendix.
5951 Revision 1.48 2002/03/12 06:33:01 hal9
5952 Catching up to Andreas and re_filterfile changes.
5954 Revision 1.47 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
5955 correct feedback channels
5957 Revision 1.46 2002/03/10 00:51:08 hal9
5958 Added section on JB internal pages in Appendix.
5960 Revision 1.45 2002/03/09 17:43:53 swa
5963 Revision 1.44 2002/03/09 17:08:48 hal9
5964 New section on Jon's actions file editor, and move some stuff around.
5966 Revision 1.43 2002/03/08 00:47:32 hal9
5967 Added imageblock{pattern}.
5969 Revision 1.42 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
5972 Revision 1.41 2002/03/07 16:46:43 hal9
5973 Fix a few markup problems for jade.
5975 Revision 1.40 2002/03/07 16:28:39 swa
5976 provide correct feedback channels
5978 Revision 1.39 2002/03/06 16:19:28 hal9
5979 Note on perceived filtering slowdown per FR.
5981 Revision 1.38 2002/03/05 23:55:14 hal9
5982 Stupid I did it again. Double hyphen in comment breaks jade.
5984 Revision 1.37 2002/03/05 23:53:49 hal9
5985 jade barfs on '- -' embedded in comments. - -user option broke it.
5987 Revision 1.36 2002/03/05 22:53:28 hal9
5988 Add new - - user option.
5990 Revision 1.35 2002/03/05 00:17:27 hal9
5991 Added section on command line options.
5993 Revision 1.34 2002/03/04 19:32:07 oes
5994 Changed default port to 8118
5996 Revision 1.33 2002/03/03 19:46:13 hal9
5997 Emphasis on where/how to report bugs, etc
5999 Revision 1.32 2002/03/03 09:26:06 joergs
6000 AmigaOS changes, config is now loaded from PROGDIR: instead of
6001 AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/ if no configuration file is specified on the
6004 Revision 1.31 2002/03/02 22:45:52 david__schmidt
6007 Revision 1.30 2002/03/02 22:00:14 hal9
6008 Updated 'New Features' list. Ran through spell-checker.
6010 Revision 1.29 2002/03/02 20:34:07 david__schmidt
6011 Update OS/2 build section
6013 Revision 1.28 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
6014 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
6015 will work - no other changes are needed.
6017 Revision 1.27 2002/01/11 14:14:32 hal9
6018 Added a very short section on Templates
6020 Revision 1.26 2002/01/09 20:02:50 hal9
6021 Fix bug re: auto-detect config file changes.
6023 Revision 1.25 2002/01/09 18:20:30 hal9
6024 Touch ups for *.action files.
6026 Revision 1.24 2001/12/02 01:13:42 hal9
6029 Revision 1.23 2001/12/02 00:20:41 hal9
6030 Updates for recent changes.
6032 Revision 1.22 2001/11/05 23:57:51 hal9
6033 Minor update for startup now daemon mode.
6035 Revision 1.21 2001/10/31 21:11:03 hal9
6036 Correct 2 minor errors
6038 Revision 1.18 2001/10/24 18:45:26 hal9
6039 *** empty log message ***
6041 Revision 1.17 2001/10/24 17:10:55 hal9
6042 Catching up with Jon's recent work, and a few other things.
6044 Revision 1.16 2001/10/21 17:19:21 swa
6045 wrong url in documentation
6047 Revision 1.15 2001/10/14 23:46:24 hal9
6048 Various minor changes. Fleshed out SEE ALSO section.
6050 Revision 1.13 2001/10/10 17:28:33 hal9
6053 Revision 1.12 2001/09/28 02:57:04 hal9
6056 Revision 1.11 2001/09/28 02:25:20 hal9
6059 Revision 1.9 2001/09/27 23:50:29 hal9
6060 A few changes. A short section on regular expression in appendix.
6062 Revision 1.8 2001/09/25 00:34:59 hal9
6063 Some additions, and re-arranging.
6065 Revision 1.7 2001/09/24 14:31:36 hal9
6068 Revision 1.6 2001/09/24 14:10:32 hal9
6069 Including David's OS/2 installation instructions.
6071 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:27:40 swa
6074 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
6075 source files for junkbuster documentation
6077 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
6078 first proposal of a structure.
6080 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
6081 docs should have an author.
6083 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
6084 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.
projects / privoxy.git / blob