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9 <!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
10 <!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
11 <!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
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13 <!entity p-version "2.9.15">
14 <!entity p-status "beta">
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16 <!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
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19 <!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
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23 <!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
24 <!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
27 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
30 This file belongs into
31 ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
33 $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes Exp $
35 Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
38 ========================================================================
39 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
40 anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
41 ========================================================================
48 <title>Privoxy User Manual</title>
52 <!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
53 <!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
54 <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by
55 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
59 <pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes Exp $</pubdate>
63 Note: the following should generate a separate page, and a live link to it,
64 all nicely done. But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave
65 commented unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the
66 copyright/license declarations will be in their own sgml.
73 <holder>Privoxy Developers</holder>
76 <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
78 text goes here ........
90 This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
91 If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
92 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
98 The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
100 url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
103 <!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
105 <!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
108 You can find the latest version of the user manual at <ulink
109 url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
110 Please see the <ulink url="contact.html">Contact section</ulink> on how to
111 contact the developers.
115 <!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
121 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
122 <sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
124 This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
125 <application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
126 and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the
127 time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual
128 configuration files. Development of version 3.0 is currently nearing
129 completion, and includes many significant changes and enhancements over
130 earlier versions. The target release date for
131 stable v3.0 is <quote>soon</quote> ;-)]]>.
134 <!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
137 Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
138 documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
139 CVS sources). And there <emphasis>may be</emphasis> bugs, though hopefully
144 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
145 <sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
147 In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
148 features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
149 <application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
150 some of them currently under development]]>:
152 <!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
154 <!-- end boilerplate -->
159 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
162 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
163 <sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
166 <application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
167 packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
168 For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
169 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
174 Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
175 <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
176 will need to remove it. On some platforms, this may be done for you as part
177 of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case
178 <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to
179 you.</emphasis> See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to
180 upgraders</link> section below.
183 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
184 <sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
186 How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
189 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
190 <sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat, SuSE RPMs and Conectiva</title>
193 RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
194 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
195 of configuration files.
199 Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
200 <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
201 need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
202 <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
203 automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
207 If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
208 <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm;</literal>. This
209 will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
213 Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
214 on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
215 Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
216 automatically, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
220 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
221 <sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
223 DEBs can be installed with <literal>dpkg -i
224 privoxy_&p-version;-1.deb</literal>, and will use
225 <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of configuration
230 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
231 <sect3 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
234 Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
235 the installation process. You will find the configuration files
236 in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
237 use the registry of Windows.
241 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
242 <sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX</title>
245 Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
246 untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
251 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
252 <sect3 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
255 First, make sure that no previous installations of
256 <application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
257 <application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
258 system. You can do this by
262 Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will
263 guide you through the installation process. A shadow of the
264 <application>Privoxy</application> executable will be placed in your
265 startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2 starts.
269 The directory you choose to install <application>Privoxy</application>
270 into will contain all of the configuration files.
274 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
275 <sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
277 Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
278 in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
279 double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
281 <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the subdirectory
282 <literal>/Applications/Privoxy.app</literal>.
283 <application>Privoxy</application> will set itself up to start
284 automatically on system bring-up via
285 <literal>/System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
289 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
290 <sect3 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
292 Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
293 All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
294 directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
295 remove this directory.
298 Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
299 <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
300 <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
301 startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
302 <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
303 TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
304 <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
309 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
310 <sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
313 The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
314 is to download the source tarball from our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project
319 If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
320 possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
321 version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
322 CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
323 url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
327 <!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
329 <!-- end boilerplate -->
335 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
337 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
338 <sect1 id="upgradersnote">
339 <title>Note to Upgraders</title>
341 There are very significant changes from earlier
342 <application>Junkbuster</application> versions to the current
343 <application>Privoxy</application>. The number, names, syntax, and
344 purposes of configuration files have substantially changed.
345 <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> configuration
346 files will not migrate, <application>Junkbuster 2.9.x</application>
347 and <application>Privoxy</application> configurations will need to be
348 ported. The functionalities of the old <filename>blockfile</filename>,
349 <filename>cookiefile</filename> and <filename>imagelist</filename>
350 are now combined into the <link linkend="actions-file"><quote>actions
351 files</quote></link>.
352 <filename>default.action</filename>, is the main actions file. Local
353 exceptions should best be put into <filename>user.action</filename>.
356 A <link linkend="filter-file"><quote>filter file</quote></link> (typically
357 <filename>default.filter</filename>) is new as of <application>Privoxy
358 2.9.x</application>, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
359 below). <filename>config</filename> is much the same as before.
362 If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
363 files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
364 When porting personal rules over from the old <filename>blockfile</filename>
365 to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
366 changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
367 recommended to use the new configuration files.
370 A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
378 The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
384 Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
385 important configuration files!
390 <application>Privoxy</application> is controllable with a web browser
391 at the special URL: <ulink
392 url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
393 (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>). Many
394 aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling
395 <application>Privoxy</application>.
400 The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner
401 blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
402 configuration are the <link linkend="actions-file">actions
403 files</link>. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
404 actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
405 should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
410 <!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
411 <!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
412 Some installers may not automatically start
413 <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
421 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
422 <sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
428 If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
429 files. See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">Note to Upgraders</link> Section.
435 Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
436 linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> below for platform specific
443 Advanced users and those who want to offer <application>Privoxy</application>
444 service to more than just their local machine should check the <link
445 linkend="config">main config file</link>, especially the <link
446 linkend="access-control">security-relevant</link> options. These are
453 Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
454 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
455 <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
461 Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
462 HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
463 <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
464 (<application>Junkbuster</application> and earlier versions of
465 <application>Privoxy</application> used port 8000.) See the section <link
466 linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link> below
467 for more details on this.
473 Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
479 A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
480 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
481 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
482 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
485 See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
486 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
487 <![%draft;[ You might also want to look at the <link
488 linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
489 introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
496 If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
497 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
498 <application>Privoxy's</application> behaviour, take a look at the <link
499 linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
500 find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
501 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
502 url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
503 Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Anatomy of an
504 Action</link></quote> has hints how to debug actions that
505 <quote>misbehave</quote>.
511 Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
512 Developers</link> on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
519 Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
527 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
529 <sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
530 <title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
532 NOTE: This section is deliberately redundant for those that don't
533 want to read the whole thing (which is getting lengthy).
536 Ad blocking is but one of <application>Privoxy's</application>
537 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
538 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
541 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
542 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
543 information provided below, though this is highly recommeneded.
546 First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
547 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
548 things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
549 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
550 <quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
551 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
552 not an easy way to eliminate <emphasis>all</emphasis> ads. Either take
553 the easy way and settle for <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads blocked with the
554 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
555 habits and preferences.
558 Secondly, a brief explanation of <application>Privoxy's </application>
559 <quote>actions</quote>. <quote>Actions</quote> in this context, are
560 the directives we use to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to perform
561 some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
562 <application>Privoxy</application> to take some <quote>action</quote>. Each
563 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
564 <application>actions</application> in <application>Privoxy's</application>
565 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <link
566 linkend="actions">Actions</link>, and <link linkend="actions-file">action
567 configuration files</link>, are explained in depth below.
570 Actions are specified in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
571 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
572 can actually be URL type <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> that use
573 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
574 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
577 When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
578 of the sections as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
579 or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
580 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Futhermore, web
581 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
582 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
583 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just a URL
584 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
585 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
590 The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <literal><link
591 linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
592 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>, and
593 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
601 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this action stops
602 any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
603 action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
604 that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
605 communication with the remote server and sends <application>Privoxy</application>'s
606 own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
612 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> -
613 tells <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as an image.
614 <application>Privoxy</application>'s default configuration already does this
615 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
616 is not as easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
617 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image, we can replace
618 it by an image instead of the BLOCKED page, which would only result in a
619 <quote>broken image</quote> icon. There are some limitations to this though. For
620 instance, you can't just brute-force an image substituion for an entire HTML page
628 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> - tells
629 <application>Privoxy</application> what to display in place of an ad image that
630 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
631 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action somewhere in the
632 configuration, <emphasis>and</emphasis>, it must also match an
633 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action.
636 The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
640 <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkboard pattern, so that an ad
641 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
646 <emphasis>blank</emphasis> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
647 This is the so-called <quote>invisible</quote> configuration option.
652 <emphasis>http://<URL></emphasis> - A redirect to any image anywhere
653 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
662 The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
663 the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
664 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
665 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
666 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
667 appropriate <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
668 <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
669 local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
670 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
671 other files. Here you can insert new <quote>actions</quote>, and URLs for ad
672 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
673 <application>Privoxy</application> will detect these changes automatically.
677 A quick and simple step by step example:
685 Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
686 <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote> from the
694 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
699 Find <filename>user.action</filename> in the top section, and click
700 on <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>:
703 <!-- image of editor and actions files selections -->
705 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
708 <imagedata fileref="../images/files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
711 <phrase>Screenshot of Files in Use</phrase>
720 You should have a section with only
721 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> listed under
722 <quote>Actions:</quote>.
723 If not, click a <quote><guibutton>Insert new section below</guibutton></quote>
724 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
725 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button right under the word <quote>Actions:</quote>.
726 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
727 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> near the top, and click
728 in the <quote>Enabled</quote> column, then <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote>
734 Now, in the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> actions section,
735 click the <quote><guibutton>Add</guibutton></quote> button, and paste the URL the
736 browser got from <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote>.
737 Remove the <literal>http://</literal> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
738 <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote> (or
739 <quote><guibutton>OK</guibutton></quote> if in a pop-up window).
744 Now go back to the original page, and press <keycap>SHIFT-Reload</keycap>
745 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
753 This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
754 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
755 site. For a more extensive explanation of <quote>patterns</quote>, and
756 the entire actions concept, see <link linkend="actions-file">the Actions
761 For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
762 to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
763 The ideas explained thererin also apply to the web-based editor.
770 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
773 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
775 <title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
777 Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
778 will want to configure your browser(s) to use
779 <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is
780 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
781 used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done!
785 With <application>Netscape</application> (and
786 <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under <literal>Edit
787 -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy</literal>.
788 For <application>Internet Explorer</application>: <literal>Tools ->
789 Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting</literal>. Then,
790 check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info (Address:
791 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
795 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
796 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
797 are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
798 <application>Privoxy</application>!
802 <application>Privoxy</application> is typically started by specifying the
803 main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
804 file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
805 will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
806 directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
809 <sect2 id="start-redhat">
810 <title>RedHat and Conectiva</title>
812 We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
813 default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its
814 main configuration file.
818 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
823 <sect2 id="start-debian">
824 <title>Debian</title>
826 We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
827 default. It will use the file
828 <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
833 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
838 <sect2 id="start-suse">
841 We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
842 as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
852 <sect2 id="start-windows">
853 <title>Windows</title>
855 Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
856 specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
857 for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
858 automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
862 <sect2 id="start-unices">
863 <title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
865 Example Unix startup command:
869 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
874 <sect2 id="start-os2">
881 <sect2 id="start-macosx">
882 <title>MAX OSX</title>
889 <sect2 id="start-amigaos">
890 <title>AmigaOS</title>
899 See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
903 must find a better place for this paragraph
906 The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
907 point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
908 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
909 where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
910 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
911 such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
915 You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
916 persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
917 default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
918 session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
919 configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
920 to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
921 and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
922 more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
923 case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
927 Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
928 sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
929 url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
931 url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
932 actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
933 popups (explained below).
937 <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
938 the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
939 you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
940 (like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
941 try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
942 Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
943 Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
944 <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
945 requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
949 After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
950 start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
951 preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
952 be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
953 can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
954 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
955 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
956 and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
957 (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
961 In fact, various aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
962 configuration can be viewed from this page, including
963 current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
964 the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
965 to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
966 editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
967 be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
971 If you encounter problems, try loading the page without
972 <application>Privoxy</application>. If that helps, enter the URL where
973 you have the problems into <ulink url="http://p.p/show-url-info">the browser
974 based rule tracing utility</ulink>. See which rules apply and why, and
975 then try turning them off for that site one after the other, until the problem
976 is gone. When you have found the culprit, you might want to turn the rest on
981 If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <ulink
982 url="actions-file.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
983 or even dive deep into the <ulink url="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Appendix
988 If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
989 Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
990 section <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
991 Developers</quote></ulink> below.
996 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
997 <sect2 id="cmdoptions">
998 <title>Command Line Options</title>
1000 <application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
1001 command-line options:
1009 <emphasis>--version</emphasis>
1012 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
1017 <emphasis>--help</emphasis>
1020 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
1025 <emphasis>--no-daemon</emphasis>
1028 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
1029 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
1034 <emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
1038 On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
1039 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> on exit. Failure to create or delete the
1040 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> is non-fatal. If no <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>
1041 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
1046 <emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
1050 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
1051 <emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
1052 privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
1057 <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
1060 If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
1061 <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
1062 <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
1063 where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
1064 full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
1065 <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
1076 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1079 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1080 <sect1 id="configuration"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Configuration</title>
1082 All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
1083 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
1084 Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
1085 also be controlled easily with a web browser.
1089 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1092 <title>Controlling <application>Privoxy</application> with Your Web Browser</title>
1094 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
1095 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1096 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1097 which is a built-in page and works without Internet access.
1098 You will see the following section:
1102 <!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
1105 <bridgehead renderas="sect2">Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
1109 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
1112 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
1115 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
1118 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
1121 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
1129 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
1130 <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, which is where the ad, banner,
1131 cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
1132 <application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
1133 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
1134 file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
1138 <quote>Toggle Privoxy On or Off</quote> is handy for sites that might
1139 have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
1140 it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
1141 causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
1142 to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e.
1143 <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There
1144 is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
1145 that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
1151 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1156 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1158 <sect2 id="confoverview">
1159 <title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
1161 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
1162 <filename>/etc/privoxy/</filename> by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and
1163 AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
1164 <application>Privoxy</application> executable. <![%p-not-stable;[ The name
1165 and number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and is
1166 subject to change as development progresses.]]>
1170 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
1171 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
1172 principle configuration files are:
1180 The <link linkend="config">main configuration file</link> is named <filename>config</filename>
1181 on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
1182 on Windows. This is a required file.
1188 <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>)
1189 is used to define which <quote>actions</quote> relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups,
1190 content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many
1191 exceptions (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
1192 <application>Privoxy</application> to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on
1193 as many websites as possible.
1196 Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
1197 are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
1198 preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
1199 <filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most probably want
1200 to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
1201 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can preserve them across
1202 upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is for
1203 <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
1206 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
1208 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1210 url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>) for the
1211 various actions files.
1217 <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
1218 file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
1219 viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
1220 lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
1221 whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
1229 All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
1230 comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
1231 through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
1232 in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
1233 its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
1234 valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
1239 The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
1240 can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
1241 maximum flexibility.
1245 After making any changes, there is no need to restart
1246 <application>Privoxy</application> in order for the changes to take
1247 effect. <application>Privoxy</application> detects such changes
1248 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
1249 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening address
1250 of <application>Privoxy</application>, these <quote>wake up</quote> requests
1251 must obviously be sent to the <emphasis>old</emphasis> listening address.
1256 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change.
1257 The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this.
1258 Also, what constitutes a <quote>default</quote> setting, may change, so
1259 please check all your configuration files on important issues.
1265 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1268 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
1271 <title>The Main Configuration File</title>
1274 Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
1275 Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2, and <filename>config.txt</filename> on Windows.
1276 Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of
1277 values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For
1285 <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis></literallayout>
1291 Assigns the value <literal>/etc/privoxy</literal> to the option
1292 <literal>confdir</literal> and thus indicates that the configuration
1293 directory is named <quote>/etc/privoxy/</quote>.
1297 All options in the config file except for <literal>confdir</literal> and
1298 <literal>logdir</literal> are optional. Watch out in the below description
1299 for what happens if you leave them unset.
1303 The main config file controls all aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>'s
1304 operation that are not location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter
1305 where you may be surfing).
1309 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1311 <sect2 id="conf-log-loc">
1312 <title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
1315 <application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
1316 other files for additional configuration, help and logging.
1317 This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
1318 where to find those other files.
1322 The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all
1323 configuration files, and write permission to any files that would
1324 be modified, such as log files.
1327 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
1331 <term>Specifies:</term>
1333 <para>The directory where the other configuration files are located</para>
1337 <term>Type of value:</term>
1339 <para>Path name</para>
1343 <term>Default value:</term>
1345 <para>/etc/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
1349 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1351 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
1358 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
1361 When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
1362 per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of <quote>confdir</quote>.
1363 For now, the configuration directory structure is flat, except for
1364 <filename>confdir/templates</filename>, where the HTML templates for CGI
1365 output reside (e.g. <application>Privoxy's</application> 404 error page).
1373 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
1377 <term>Specifies:</term>
1380 The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where <filename>logfile</filename> and
1381 <filename>jarfile</filename> are located)
1386 <term>Type of value:</term>
1388 <para>Path name</para>
1392 <term>Default value:</term>
1394 <para>/var/log/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
1398 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1400 <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
1407 No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
1414 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="actionsfile"><title>
1417 <anchor id="default.action">
1418 <anchor id="standard.action">
1419 <anchor id="user.action">
1420 <!-- Note: slightly modified this section 04/28/02, hal. See NOTE. -->
1423 <term>Specifies:</term>
1426 The <link linkend="actions-file">actions file(s)</link> to use
1431 <term>Type of value:</term>
1433 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal>, without the <literal>.action</literal> suffix</para>
1437 <term>Default values:</term>
1441 <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended</literallayout></msgtext>
1444 <msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
1447 <msgtext><literallayout> user # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
1453 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1456 No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
1464 Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
1467 The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
1468 purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
1469 <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
1470 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
1473 Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done for
1474 ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc.
1475 There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without at
1476 least one actions file.
1483 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
1484 <anchor id="default.filter">
1487 <term>Specifies:</term>
1490 The <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link> to use
1495 <term>Type of value:</term>
1497 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
1501 <term>Default value:</term>
1503 <para>default.filter (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.filter.txt (Windows)</para>
1507 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1510 No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
1511 <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
1512 actions in the actions files are turned neutral.
1520 The <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link> contains content modification
1521 rules that use <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link>. These rules permit
1522 powerful changes on the content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite
1523 JavaScript annoyances, re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some
1524 fun replacing <quote>Microsoft</quote> with <quote>MicroSuck</quote> wherever
1525 it appears on a Web page.
1529 <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
1530 actions rely on the relevant filter (<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>)
1531 to be defined in the filter file!
1534 A pre-defined filter file called <filename>default.filter</filename> that contains
1535 a bunch of handy filters for common problems is included in the distribution.
1536 See the section on the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
1544 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
1548 <term>Specifies:</term>
1556 <term>Type of value:</term>
1558 <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
1562 <term>Default value:</term>
1564 <para>logfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.log (Windows)</para>
1568 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1571 No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (<literal>stderr</literal>).
1579 The windows version will additionally log to the console.
1582 The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
1583 of detail and number of messages are set with the <literal>debug</literal>
1584 option (see below). The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with
1585 <application>Privoxy</application> (e.g., it's not blocking an ad you
1586 think it should block) but in most cases you probably will never look at it.
1589 Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
1590 periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
1591 (see <quote>man cron</quote>). For Red Hat, a <command>logrotate</command>
1592 script has been included.
1595 On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like <quote>/var/log/privoxy.*
1596 +1024k 644 nobody.nogroup</quote> in <filename>/etc/logfiles</filename>, with
1597 the effect that cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the
1598 log, when it exceeds 1M size.
1601 Any log files must be writable by whatever user <application>Privoxy</application>
1602 is being run as (default on UNIX, user id is <quote>privoxy</quote>).
1609 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
1613 <term>Specifies:</term>
1616 The file to store intercepted cookies in
1621 <term>Type of value:</term>
1623 <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
1627 <term>Default value:</term>
1629 <para>jarfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.jar (Windows)</para>
1633 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1636 Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
1644 The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
1651 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
1654 <term>Specifies:</term>
1657 The trust file to use
1662 <term>Type of value:</term>
1664 <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
1668 <term>Default value:</term>
1670 <para><emphasis>Unset (commented out)</emphasis>. When activated: trust (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> trust.txt (Windows)</para>
1674 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1677 The whole trust mechanism is turned off.
1685 The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and should
1686 be used with care. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> recommended for the casual user.
1689 If you specify a trust file, <application>Privoxy</application> will only allow
1690 access to sites that are named in the trustfile.
1691 You can also mark sites as trusted referrers (with <literal>+</literal>), with
1692 the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted, if a link from a
1693 trusted referrer was used.
1694 The link target will then be added to the <quote>trustfile</quote>.
1695 Possible applications include limiting Internet access for children.
1698 If you use <literal>+</literal> operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over time.
1706 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1710 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1712 <sect2 id="local-set-up">
1713 <title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
1716 If you intend to operate <application>Privoxy</application> for more users
1717 than just yourself, it might be a good idea to let them know how to reach
1718 you, what you block and why you do that, your policies, etc.
1721 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="user-manual"><title>user-manual</title>
1724 <term>Specifies:</term>
1727 Location of the <application>Privoxy</application> User Manual.
1732 <term>Type of value:</term>
1734 <para>A fully qualified URI</para>
1738 <term>Default value:</term>
1740 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1744 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1747 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/<replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable>/user-manual/</ulink>
1748 will be used, where <replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable> is the <application>Privoxy</application> version.
1756 The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI pages.
1757 The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary distributions, so you probably want
1758 to set this to a locally installed copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on
1759 a local webserver for all your users and use the corresponding URL here.
1765 Unix, in local filesystem:
1768 <screen>user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
1771 Any platform, on local webserver (called <quote>local-webserver</quote>):
1774 <screen>user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/</screen>
1778 If set, this option should be <emphasis>the first option in the config file</emphasis>, because
1779 it is used while the config file is being read.
1787 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
1791 <term>Specifies:</term>
1794 A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an untrusted page is denied.
1799 <term>Type of value:</term>
1805 <term>Default value:</term>
1807 <para>Two example URL are provided</para>
1811 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1814 No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
1822 The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been
1823 activated. (See <link linkend="trustfile"><emphasis>trustfile</emphasis></link> above.)
1826 If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
1827 documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here.
1828 Use multiple times for multiple URLs.
1831 The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
1832 locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first place!
1839 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
1843 <term>Specifies:</term>
1846 An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
1851 <term>Type of value:</term>
1853 <para>Email address</para>
1857 <term>Default value:</term>
1859 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1863 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1866 No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
1874 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
1875 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
1883 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
1887 <term>Specifies:</term>
1890 A URL to documentation about the local <application>Privoxy</application> setup,
1891 configuration or policies.
1896 <term>Type of value:</term>
1902 <term>Default value:</term>
1904 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
1908 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1911 No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
1919 If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
1920 are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
1924 This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
1932 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1934 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1936 <sect2 id="debugging">
1937 <title>Debugging</title>
1940 These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem.
1941 Note that you might also want to invoke
1942 <application>Privoxy</application> with the <literal>--no-daemon</literal>
1943 command line option when debugging.
1946 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="debug"><title>debug</title>
1950 <term>Specifies:</term>
1953 Key values that determine what information gets logged to the
1954 <link linkend="logfile"><emphasis>logfile</emphasis></link>.
1959 <term>Type of value:</term>
1961 <para>Integer values</para>
1965 <term>Default value:</term>
1967 <para>12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)</para>
1971 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
1974 Nothing gets logged.
1982 The available debug levels are:
1986 debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
1987 debug 2 # show each connection status
1988 debug 4 # show I/O status
1989 debug 8 # show header parsing
1990 debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
1991 debug 32 # debug force feature
1992 debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
1993 debug 128 # debug fast redirects
1994 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
1995 debug 512 # Common Log Format
1996 debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
1997 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
1998 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
2002 To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
2003 multiple <literal>debug</literal> lines.
2006 A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request
2007 as it happens. <emphasis>1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended</emphasis>
2008 so that you will notice when things go wrong. The other levels are probably
2009 only of interest if you are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce
2010 a hell of an output (especially 16).
2014 The reporting of <emphasis>fatal</emphasis> errors (i.e. ones which crash
2015 <application>Privoxy</application>) is always on and cannot be disabled.
2018 If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set <quote>debug
2019 512</quote> <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis> and not enable anything else.
2026 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
2030 <term>Specifies:</term>
2033 Whether to run only one server thread
2038 <term>Type of value:</term>
2040 <para><emphasis>None</emphasis></para>
2044 <term>Default value:</term>
2046 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2050 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2053 Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability to
2054 serve multiple requests simultaneously.
2062 This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never
2063 need to use it. <emphasis>It will drastically reduce performance.</emphasis>
2072 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2074 <sect2 id="access-control">
2075 <title>Access Control and Security</title>
2078 This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects
2079 of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
2082 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
2086 <term>Specifies:</term>
2089 The IP address and TCP port on which <application>Privoxy</application> will
2090 listen for client requests.
2095 <term>Type of value:</term>
2097 <para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
2102 <term>Default value:</term>
2104 <para>127.0.0.1:8118</para>
2108 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2111 Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
2112 home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on the same machine as
2121 You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
2124 If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
2125 serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you
2126 will need to override the default.
2129 If you leave out the IP address, <application>Privoxy</application> will
2130 bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable
2131 from the Internet. In that case, consider using <link
2132 linkend="acls">access control lists</link> (ACL's, see below), and/or
2136 If you open <application>Privoxy</application> to untrusted users, you will
2137 also want to turn off the <literal><link
2138 linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link></literal> and
2139 <literal><link linkend="enable-remote-toggle">enable-remote-toggle</link></literal>
2145 <term>Example:</term>
2148 Suppose you are running <application>Privoxy</application> on
2149 a machine which has the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network
2150 (192.168.0.0) and has another outside connection with a different address.
2151 You want it to serve requests from inside only:
2155 listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
2163 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
2167 <term>Specifies:</term>
2170 Initial state of "toggle" status
2175 <term>Type of value:</term>
2181 <term>Default value:</term>
2187 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2190 Act as if toggled on
2198 If set to 0, <application>Privoxy</application> will start in
2199 <quote>toggled off</quote> mode, i.e. behave like a normal, content-neutral
2200 proxy where all ad blocking, filtering, etc are disabled. See
2201 <literal>enable-remote-toggle</literal> below. This is not really useful
2202 anymore, since toggling is much easier via <ulink
2203 url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">the web interface</ulink> than via
2204 editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
2207 The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
2208 if this option is present.
2216 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
2219 <term>Specifies:</term>
2222 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">web-based toggle
2223 feature</ulink> may be used
2228 <term>Type of value:</term>
2234 <term>Default value:</term>
2240 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2243 The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
2251 When toggled off, <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal,
2252 content-neutral proxy, i.e. it acts as if none of the actions applied to
2256 For the time being, access to the toggle feature can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
2257 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
2258 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
2259 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
2260 toggle it for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>
2261 for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
2264 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
2265 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
2273 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
2276 <term>Specifies:</term>
2279 Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
2280 file editor</ulink> may be used
2285 <term>Type of value:</term>
2291 <term>Default value:</term>
2297 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2300 The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
2308 For the time being, access to the editor can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
2309 controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
2310 so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
2311 <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
2312 modify its configuration for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not
2313 recommended</emphasis> for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
2316 Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
2317 support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
2324 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="acls"><title>
2325 ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
2326 <anchor id="permit-access">
2327 <anchor id="deny-access">
2331 <term>Specifies:</term>
2334 Who can access what.
2339 <term>Type of value:</term>
2342 <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable>]
2343 [<replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable>]]
2346 Where <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable> and
2347 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid
2348 DNS names, and <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> and
2349 <replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable> are subnet masks in CIDR notation, i.e. integer
2350 values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole
2351 destination part are optional.
2356 <term>Default value:</term>
2358 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2362 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2365 Don't restrict access further than implied by <literal>listen-address</literal>
2373 Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
2374 administrators, and <emphasis>are not usually needed by individual users</emphasis>.
2375 For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that
2376 <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost
2377 (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by means of the
2378 <link linkend="listen-address"><emphasis>listen-address</emphasis></link>
2382 Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute
2383 for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic security
2387 Multiple ACL lines are OK.
2388 If any ACLs are specified, then the <application>Privoxy</application>
2389 talks only to IP addresses that match at least one <literal>permit-access</literal> line
2390 and don't match any subsequent <literal>deny-access</literal> line. In other words, the
2391 last match wins, with the default being <literal>deny-access</literal>.
2394 If <application>Privoxy</application> is using a forwarder (see <literal>forward</literal> below)
2395 for a particular destination URL, the <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>
2396 that is examined is the address of the forwarder and <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the address
2397 of the ultimate target. This is necessary because it may be impossible for the local
2398 <application>Privoxy</application> to determine the IP address of the
2399 ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
2402 You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address lookups take
2403 time. All DNS names must resolve! You can <emphasis>not</emphasis> use domain patterns
2404 like <quote>*.org</quote> or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to multiple
2405 IP addresses, only the first one is used.
2408 Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
2409 if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other sites.
2414 <term>Examples:</term>
2417 Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and
2418 <literal>listen-address</literal> are set: <quote>localhost</quote>
2419 is OK. The absence of a <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> implies that
2420 <emphasis>all</emphasis> destination addresses are OK:
2424 permit-access localhost
2428 Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
2429 nothing but www.example.com:
2433 permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
2437 Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
2438 with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
2442 permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
2443 deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
2451 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
2455 <term>Specifies:</term>
2458 Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
2463 <term>Type of value:</term>
2465 <para>Size in Kbytes</para>
2469 <term>Default value:</term>
2475 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2478 Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
2486 For content filtering, i.e. the <literal>+filter</literal> and
2487 <literal>+deanimate-gif</literal> actions, it is necessary that
2488 <application>Privoxy</application> buffers the entire document body.
2489 This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending
2490 data indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
2494 When a document buffer size reaches the <literal>buffer-limit</literal>, it is
2495 flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to
2496 filter the rest of the document is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads
2497 running, which might require up to <literal>buffer-limit</literal> Kbytes
2498 <emphasis>each</emphasis>, unless you have enabled <quote>single-threaded</quote>
2508 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2511 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2513 <sect2 id="forwarding">
2514 <title>Forwarding</title>
2517 This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of
2519 It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
2520 accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains
2521 through an anonymous public proxy (see e.g. <ulink
2522 url="http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm">http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm</ulink>)
2523 Or to use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent
2524 proxy may be necessary because the machine that <application>Privoxy</application>
2525 runs on has no direct Internet access.
2529 Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. <application>Privoxy</application>
2530 supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
2533 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward"><title>forward</title>
2536 <term>Specifies:</term>
2539 To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
2544 <term>Type of value:</term>
2547 <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2548 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2551 Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
2552 chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
2553 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is the address of the parent HTTP proxy
2554 as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a valid DNS name (or <quote>.</quote> to denote
2555 <quote>no forwarding</quote>, and the optional
2556 <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer
2557 values from 1 to 64535
2562 <term>Default value:</term>
2564 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2568 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2571 Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
2579 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
2580 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
2583 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
2588 <term>Examples:</term>
2591 Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
2595 forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
2600 Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
2601 to that ISP's sites:
2605 forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
2606 forward .example-isp.net .
2614 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socks"><title>
2615 forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
2616 <anchor id="forward-socks4">
2617 <anchor id="forward-socks4a">
2621 <term>Specifies:</term>
2624 Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed.
2629 <term>Type of value:</term>
2632 <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2633 <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2634 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
2637 Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
2638 chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
2639 <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> and <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>
2640 are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
2641 may be <quote>.</quote> to denote <quote>no HTTP forwarding</quote>), and the optional
2642 <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
2647 <term>Default value:</term>
2649 <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
2653 <term>Effect if unset:</term>
2656 Don't use SOCKS proxies.
2664 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
2667 The difference between <literal>forward-socks4</literal> and <literal>forward-socks4a</literal>
2668 is that in the SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the SOCKS
2669 server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
2672 If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
2673 forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
2679 <term>Examples:</term>
2682 From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all
2683 <quote>internal</quote> domains, but everything outbound goes through
2684 their ISP's proxy by way of example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to
2689 forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
2690 forward .example.com .
2694 A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
2698 forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
2706 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
2709 If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
2710 only to their subscribers, you can configure multiple <application>Privoxies</application>
2711 which have connections to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that
2712 <emphasis>your</emphasis> users can see the internal content of all ISPs.
2716 Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP connection to
2717 isp-b.net. Both run <application>Privoxy</application>. Their forwarding
2718 configuration can look like this:
2728 forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
2739 forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
2744 Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either
2745 host-a or host-b and be able to browse the internal content
2746 of both isp-a and isp-b.
2750 If you intend to chain <application>Privoxy</application> and
2751 <application>squid</application> locally, then chain as
2752 <literal>browser -> squid -> privoxy</literal> is the recommended way.
2756 Assuming that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>squid</application>
2757 run on the same box, your squid configuration could then look like this:
2762 # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
2763 cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
2765 # Define ACL for protocol FTP
2768 # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
2769 always_direct allow ftp
2771 # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
2772 never_direct allow all</screen>
2776 You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to <application>squid</application>'s address and port.
2777 Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
2784 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2787 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2789 <sect2 id="windows-gui">
2790 <title>Windows GUI Options</title>
2792 <application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
2793 Windows GUI interface:
2796 <anchor id="activity-animation">
2798 If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
2799 <application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
2800 <quote>Privoxy</quote> is active. To turn off, set to 0.
2807 <emphasis>activity-animation 1</emphasis>
2813 <anchor id="log-messages">
2815 If <quote>log-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2816 <application>Privoxy</application> will log messages to the console
2824 <emphasis>log-messages 1</emphasis>
2830 <anchor id="log-buffer-size">
2832 If <quote>log-buffer-size</quote> is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
2833 i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the
2834 console window, will be limited to <quote>log-max-lines</quote> (see below).
2838 Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and
2839 eat up all your memory!
2846 <emphasis>log-buffer-size 1</emphasis>
2852 <anchor id="log-max-lines">
2854 <application>log-max-lines</application> is the maximum number of lines held
2855 in the log buffer. See above.
2862 <emphasis>log-max-lines 200</emphasis>
2868 <anchor id="log-highlight-messages">
2870 If <quote>log-highlight-messages</quote> is set to 1,
2871 <application>Privoxy</application> will highlight portions of the log
2872 messages with a bold-faced font:
2879 <emphasis>log-highlight-messages 1</emphasis>
2885 <anchor id="log-font-name">
2887 The font used in the console window:
2894 <emphasis>log-font-name Comic Sans MS</emphasis>
2900 <anchor id="log-font-size">
2902 Font size used in the console window:
2909 <emphasis>log-font-size 8</emphasis>
2915 <anchor id="show-on-task-bar">
2917 <quote>show-on-task-bar</quote> controls whether or not
2918 <application>Privoxy</application> will appear as a button on the Task bar
2926 <emphasis>show-on-task-bar 0</emphasis>
2932 <anchor id="close-button-minimizes">
2934 If <quote>close-button-minimizes</quote> is set to 1, the Windows close
2935 button will minimize <application>Privoxy</application> instead of closing
2936 the program (close with the exit option on the File menu).
2943 <emphasis>close-button-minimizes 1</emphasis>
2949 <anchor id="hide-console">
2951 The <quote>hide-console</quote> option is specific to the MS-Win console
2952 version of <application>Privoxy</application>. If this option is used,
2953 <application>Privoxy</application> will disconnect from and hide the
2961 #<emphasis>hide-console</emphasis>
2970 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2974 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
2976 <sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
2979 The actions files are used to define what actions
2980 <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determine
2981 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
2982 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
2983 are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application> (as of
2984 version 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
2991 <filename>default.action</filename> - is the primary action file
2992 that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
2993 provide a base level of functionality for
2994 <application>Privoxy's</application> array of features. So it is
2995 a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere.
2996 This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and making
3002 <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
3003 preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
3004 has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
3005 thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
3010 <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor,
3011 to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
3012 in <filename>default.action</filename>. These have increasing levels of
3013 aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no influence on your browsing unless
3014 you select them explicitly in the editor</emphasis>. It is not recommend
3022 The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
3023 file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
3024 can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
3025 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
3029 An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
3030 <quote>aliases</quote> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
3031 <link linkend="aliases">alias section</link> at the top of that file.
3032 Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
3033 sites and pages (be <emphasis>very careful</emphasis> with using such a
3034 universal set in <filename>user.action</filename> or any other actions file after
3035 <filename>default.action</filename>, because it will override the result
3036 from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
3037 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
3038 <filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
3039 with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
3040 personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
3044 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
3045 just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
3046 or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
3047 written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
3048 fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
3052 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3054 <title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
3056 Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
3057 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
3058 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
3059 certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
3060 <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
3061 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
3062 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
3063 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
3064 regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
3065 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
3069 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
3070 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
3071 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
3072 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
3076 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3078 <title>How to Edit</title>
3080 The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
3081 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
3082 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
3083 The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
3084 per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
3085 <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Advanced</quote>.
3089 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
3090 the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
3096 <sect2 id="actions-apply">
3097 <title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
3099 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
3100 like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will
3101 be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
3102 heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
3103 of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
3104 Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.
3108 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
3109 compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
3110 applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
3111 of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
3112 the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
3113 the effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with
3114 a heading line of <literal>{
3115 +<ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</ulink> }</literal>,
3116 then later another one with just <literal>{
3117 +<ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink> }</literal>, resulting
3118 in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply.
3122 You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <ulink
3123 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
3127 More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
3128 Anatomy of an Action</link>.
3132 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3133 <sect2 id="af-patterns">
3134 <title>Patterns</title>
3136 Generally, a pattern has the form <literal><domain>/<path></literal>,
3137 where both the <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal>
3138 are optional. (This is why the pattern <literal>/</literal> matches all URLs).
3143 <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
3146 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
3147 regardless of which document on that server is requested.
3152 <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
3155 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
3161 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
3164 matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
3165 on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
3170 <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
3173 matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
3174 i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
3179 <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
3182 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
3183 there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
3190 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3191 <sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
3194 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
3195 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
3201 <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
3204 matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
3205 <literal>.example.com</literal>
3210 <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
3213 matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
3214 <literal>www.</literal>
3219 <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
3222 matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
3223 (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
3230 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
3231 themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
3232 stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
3233 any single character, you can define character classes in square
3234 brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
3239 <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
3242 matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
3243 <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
3248 <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
3251 matches all of the above, and then some.
3256 <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
3259 matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
3260 <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
3265 <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
3268 matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
3269 <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
3270 <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
3271 <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
3279 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
3282 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3283 <sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
3286 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
3287 (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
3292 There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
3293 expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
3294 at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
3295 You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
3296 useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
3297 url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
3301 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
3302 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
3303 for the beginning of a line).
3307 Please also note that matching in the path is <emphasis>CASE INSENSITIVE</emphasis>
3308 by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
3309 <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch: <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match
3310 only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
3311 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
3317 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
3320 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3322 <sect2 id="actions">
3323 <title>Actions</title>
3325 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
3326 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
3327 <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
3328 <literal>+action</literal> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
3329 <literal>+block</literal> means <quote>please block URLs that match the
3330 following patterns</quote>, and <literal>-block</literal> means <quote>don't
3331 block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <literal>+block</literal>
3332 previously applied.</quote>
3337 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
3338 separated by whitespace, like in
3339 <literal>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</literal>,
3340 followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
3341 Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
3342 of the actions file.
3346 There are three classes of actions:
3353 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
3354 <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
3358 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
3359 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
3362 Example: <literal>+block</literal>
3369 Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
3374 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
3375 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
3376 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
3379 Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
3380 the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
3383 Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</literal>
3389 Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
3390 but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
3391 same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
3392 from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
3393 that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
3394 headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
3398 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
3399 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
3400 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
3401 <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
3404 Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
3405 <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
3413 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
3414 taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
3415 normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
3416 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
3417 files will give a good starting point).
3421 Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
3422 to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
3423 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
3424 multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
3425 Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
3426 <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
3427 files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
3428 one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
3431 <!-- start actions listing -->
3433 The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
3437 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
3438 <!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
3439 <!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
3441 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
3444 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3446 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
3447 <title>add-header</title>
3451 <term>Typical use:</term>
3453 <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
3458 <term>Effect:</term>
3461 Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
3468 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3470 <para>Multi-value.</para>
3475 <term>Parameter:</term>
3478 Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
3479 It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
3489 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
3490 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
3491 <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
3498 <term>Example usage:</term>
3501 <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
3509 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3510 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
3511 <title>block</title>
3515 <term>Typical use:</term>
3517 <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</para>
3522 <term>Effect:</term>
3525 Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not
3526 forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image,
3527 as determined by the <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>
3528 and <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> actions.
3535 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3537 <para>Boolean.</para>
3542 <term>Parameter:</term>
3552 <application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
3553 for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
3554 was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
3555 force feature enabled). The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
3556 screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
3557 if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <application>Privoxy</application>
3558 right now, you can take a look at the
3559 <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
3563 A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
3564 <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
3565 apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
3566 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
3567 (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
3568 if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
3571 It is important to understand this process, in order
3572 to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
3573 ads and other unwanted content.
3576 The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
3577 action can perform a very similar task, by <quote>blocking</quote>
3578 banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
3579 document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
3580 Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
3586 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3589 <screen>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
3590 .nasty-stuff.example.com
3592 {+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
3603 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3604 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
3605 <title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
3609 <term>Typical use:</term>
3612 Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
3618 <term>Effect:</term>
3621 Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
3628 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3630 <para>Boolean.</para>
3635 <term>Parameter:</term>
3647 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies. For
3648 <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies, use
3649 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
3650 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
3653 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3654 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3655 since it would prevent the session cookies from being set.
3661 <term>Example usage:</term>
3664 <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
3672 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3673 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
3674 <title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
3678 <term>Typical use:</term>
3681 Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
3687 <term>Effect:</term>
3690 Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
3697 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3699 <para>Boolean.</para>
3704 <term>Parameter:</term>
3716 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies. For
3717 <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies, use
3718 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
3719 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
3722 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3723 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3724 since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
3730 <term>Example usage:</term>
3733 <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
3742 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3743 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
3744 <title>deanimate-gifs</title>
3748 <term>Typical use:</term>
3750 <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
3755 <term>Effect:</term>
3758 De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
3765 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3767 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3772 <term>Parameter:</term>
3775 <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
3784 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
3785 the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
3786 is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
3787 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
3788 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
3789 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
3792 You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
3793 objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
3800 <term>Example usage:</term>
3803 <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
3810 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3811 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
3812 <title>downgrade-http-version</title>
3816 <term>Typical use:</term>
3818 <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
3823 <term>Effect:</term>
3826 Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
3833 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3835 <para>Boolean.</para>
3840 <term>Parameter:</term>
3852 This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
3853 didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
3854 unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
3855 out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
3856 is a chance you might need this action.
3862 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3865 <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
3866 problem-host.example.com</screen>
3874 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3875 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
3876 <title>fast-redirects</title>
3880 <term>Typical use:</term>
3882 <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</para>
3887 <term>Effect:</term>
3890 Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
3897 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3899 <para>Boolean.</para>
3904 <term>Parameter:</term>
3916 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
3917 will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
3918 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
3919 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
3920 <emphasis>http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</emphasis>.
3923 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
3924 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
3925 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
3926 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
3927 browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
3931 This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
3932 It is likely to break some sites. You should expect to need possibly
3933 many exceptions to this action, if it is enabled by default in
3934 <filename>default.action</filename>. Some sites just don't work without
3941 <term>Example usage:</term>
3944 <screen>{+fast-redirects}</screen>
3953 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3954 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
3955 <title>filter</title>
3959 <term>Typical use:</term>
3961 <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</para>
3966 <term>Effect:</term>
3969 Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action applies, are filtered on-the-fly
3970 through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
3977 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3979 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3984 <term>Parameter:</term>
3987 The name of a filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>
3988 (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>, set by the
3989 <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
3990 option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>)
3999 For your convenience, there are a bunch of pre-defined filters available
4000 in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the example below for
4004 This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <quote>rolling your own</quote>
4005 filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
4008 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
4009 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
4010 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
4011 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
4012 noticeable on slower connections.
4015 At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
4016 documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
4017 would normally be sent compressed, use the
4018 <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
4019 action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
4022 Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
4023 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
4024 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners.
4027 <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly
4034 <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file):</term>
4037 <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
4038 <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</screen>
4041 <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
4042 <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
4045 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
4046 <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)</screen>
4049 <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
4050 <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</screen>
4053 <anchor id="filter-popups">
4054 <screen>+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</screen>
4057 <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
4058 <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
4061 <anchor id="filter-fun">
4062 <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
4065 <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
4066 <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
4069 <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
4070 <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
4073 <anchor id="filter-nimda">
4074 <screen>+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</screen>
4077 <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
4078 <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
4081 <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
4082 <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</screen>
4090 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4091 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
4092 <title>handle-as-image</title>
4096 <term>Typical use:</term>
4098 <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
4103 <term>Effect:</term>
4106 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
4107 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4108 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
4109 page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
4110 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
4111 client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4118 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4120 <para>Boolean.</para>
4125 <term>Parameter:</term>
4137 The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
4138 It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
4142 Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
4143 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
4144 reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
4147 Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (inline) ad
4148 frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
4149 Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
4150 ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
4156 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
4159 <screen># Generic image extensions:
4162 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
4164 # These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
4165 # blocked as images:
4167 {+block +handle-as-image}
4168 some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
4170 # Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
4180 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4181 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
4182 <title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
4186 <term>Typical use:</term>
4188 <para>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</para>
4193 <term>Effect:</term>
4196 Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
4197 and prevents adding a new one.
4204 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4206 <para>Boolean.</para>
4211 <term>Parameter:</term>
4223 It is fairly safe to leave this on.
4226 This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
4227 <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
4228 to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
4229 users sharing the same proxy.
4235 <term>Example usage:</term>
4238 <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
4246 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4247 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
4248 <title>hide-from-header</title>
4252 <term>Typical use:</term>
4254 <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
4259 <term>Effect:</term>
4262 Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
4270 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4272 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4277 <term>Parameter:</term>
4280 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4289 The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
4290 (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
4294 Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
4295 server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
4296 is actually used by a real person.
4299 This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
4300 <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
4306 <term>Example usage:</term>
4309 <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
4310 <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
4318 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4319 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
4320 <title>hide-referrer</title>
4321 <anchor id="hide-referer">
4324 <term>Typical use:</term>
4326 <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
4331 <term>Effect:</term>
4334 Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
4335 or replaces it with a forged one.
4342 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4344 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4349 <term>Parameter:</term>
4353 <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header completely.</para>
4356 <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
4359 <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
4369 <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
4370 not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
4371 content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
4372 by <emphasis>their</emphasis> banners).
4375 <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
4376 <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
4377 substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
4378 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
4379 requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
4385 <term>Example usage:</term>
4388 <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
4389 <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
4397 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4398 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
4399 <title>hide-user-agent</title>
4403 <term>Typical use:</term>
4405 <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
4410 <term>Effect:</term>
4413 Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
4414 in client requests with the specified value.
4421 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4423 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4428 <term>Parameter:</term>
4431 Any user-defined string.
4441 This breaks many web sites that depend on looking at this header in order
4442 to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
4443 way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> a <ulink
4444 url="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml">smart way to do
4449 Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
4450 browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
4451 <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
4452 setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
4453 the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
4454 OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
4455 sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
4456 reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
4457 let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
4458 <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
4459 (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
4462 This action is scheduled for improvement.
4468 <term>Example usage:</term>
4471 <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
4479 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4480 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
4481 <title>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></title>
4485 <term>Typical use:</term>
4487 <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</para>
4492 <term>Effect:</term>
4495 While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
4496 pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
4503 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4505 <para>Boolean.</para>
4510 <term>Parameter:</term>
4522 This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
4523 action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
4524 the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
4525 downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
4527 linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>popups</replaceable>}</literal>
4531 Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
4532 can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
4533 sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
4534 since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
4535 the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
4536 the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over its filter equivalent.
4539 Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
4540 pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
4541 would require artificial intelligence in <application>Privoxy</application>.
4542 If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
4543 <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
4544 one), you might want to use
4546 linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
4552 An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
4560 <term>Example usage:</term>
4562 <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
4569 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4570 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
4571 <title>limit-connect</title>
4575 <term>Typical use:</term>
4577 <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay</para>
4582 <term>Effect:</term>
4585 Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
4592 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4594 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4599 <term>Parameter:</term>
4602 A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
4603 defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
4612 By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
4613 <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
4614 requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
4615 <literal>limit-connect</literal> if more fine-grained control is desired
4616 for some or all destinations.
4619 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
4620 (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
4621 the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
4622 short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
4623 This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
4624 abused as TCP relays very easily.
4627 If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
4628 change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
4634 <term>Example usages:</term>
4636 <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
4637 <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
4638 <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
4640 <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
4641 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
4642 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
4643 +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!)</screen>
4650 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4651 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
4652 <title>prevent-compression</title>
4656 <term>Typical use:</term>
4659 Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
4660 passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s
4666 <term>Effect:</term>
4669 Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
4676 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4678 <para>Boolean.</para>
4683 <term>Parameter:</term>
4695 More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
4696 is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <literal><link
4697 linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
4698 and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions to work,
4699 <application>Privoxy</application> needs access to the uncompressed data.
4700 Unfortunately, <application>Privoxy</application> can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
4701 re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
4702 those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
4705 This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
4706 actions, you will typically want to use <literal>prevent-compression</literal> in conjunction
4710 Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
4711 documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <literal>prevent-compression</literal>
4712 per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
4718 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
4721 <screen># Set default:
4723 {+prevent-compression}
4726 # Make exceptions for ill sites:
4728 {-prevent-compression}
4730 www.pclinuxonline.com</screen>
4739 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4740 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
4741 <title>send-vanilla-wafer</title>
4745 <term>Typical use:</term>
4748 Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
4754 <term>Effect:</term>
4757 Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
4758 on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
4765 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4767 <para>Boolean.</para>
4772 <term>Parameter:</term>
4784 The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
4787 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
4793 <term>Example usage:</term>
4796 <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
4805 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4806 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
4807 <title>send-wafer</title>
4811 <term>Typical use:</term>
4814 Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
4820 <term>Effect:</term>
4823 Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
4830 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4832 <para>Multi-value.</para>
4837 <term>Parameter:</term>
4840 A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
4841 class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
4850 Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
4851 resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
4854 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
4859 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4862 <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
4863 my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
4871 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4872 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
4873 <title>session-cookies-only</title>
4877 <term>Typical use:</term>
4880 Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
4886 <term>Effect:</term>
4889 Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> server headers.
4890 Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions.
4897 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4899 <para>Boolean.</para>
4904 <term>Parameter:</term>
4916 This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
4917 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
4918 websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
4921 Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
4922 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
4923 This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
4924 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
4925 sites, and is the recommended setting.
4928 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
4929 together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
4930 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
4931 will be plainly killed.
4934 Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
4935 field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
4941 <term>Example usage:</term>
4944 <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
4952 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4953 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
4954 <title>set-image-blocker</title>
4958 <term>Typical use:</term>
4960 <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
4965 <term>Effect:</term>
4968 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
4969 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
4970 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
4971 apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
4972 <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
4973 sent as a replacement.
4980 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4982 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4987 <term>Parameter:</term>
4992 <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
4993 decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
4998 <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
4999 completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
5000 images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
5001 has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
5006 <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
5007 send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
5008 to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <quote>file:///</quote> URL).
5011 A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
5012 URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
5013 This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
5014 the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
5015 it over and over again.
5026 The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
5027 class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
5028 either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
5031 There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
5032 used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
5033 Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
5039 <term>Example usage:</term>
5045 <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
5048 Redirect to the BSD devil:
5051 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
5054 Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
5057 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
5065 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5067 <title>Summary</title>
5069 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
5070 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
5071 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
5072 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
5073 and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
5074 linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
5080 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5081 <sect2 id="aliases">
5082 <title>Aliases</title>
5084 Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
5085 as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other actions.
5086 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
5087 Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
5089 <quote>{</quote> and <quote>}</quote>, but we <emphasis>strongly
5090 recommend</emphasis> that you only use <quote>a</quote> to <quote>z</quote>,
5091 <quote>0</quote> to <quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and <quote>-</quote>.
5092 Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
5093 <quote>+</quote> or <quote>-</quote> sign, since they are merely textually
5097 Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <emphasis>must be
5098 defined in a special section at the top of the file!</emphasis>
5099 And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
5100 have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
5104 There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
5105 used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
5106 decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
5107 <quote>shop</quote>, you can later change your policy on shops in
5108 <emphasis>one</emphasis> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
5109 in the actions file where the <quote>shop</quote> alias is used. Calling aliases
5110 by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
5113 Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
5114 <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in web-based action file
5115 editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
5116 them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
5117 but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
5119 This is likely to change in future versions of <application>Privoxy</application>.
5123 Now let's define some aliases...
5128 # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
5130 # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
5131 # must be at the top of the actions file!
5135 # These aliases just save typing later:
5136 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
5138 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
5139 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
5140 block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
5141 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
5143 # These aliases define combinations of actions
5144 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
5146 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
5147 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
5149 # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
5151 c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
5152 c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
5156 ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
5157 actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
5158 up for the <quote>/</quote> pattern):
5163 # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
5164 # user data and require minimal interference to work:
5167 .office.microsoft.com
5168 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
5172 # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
5176 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
5179 # These shops require pop-ups:
5181 {shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}}
5183 .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
5187 Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are often used for
5188 <quote>problem</quote> sites that require some actions to be disabled
5189 in order to function properly.
5193 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5194 <sect2 id="act-examples">
5195 <title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
5197 The above chapters have shown <link linkend="actions-file">which actions files
5198 there are and how they are organized</link>, how actions are <link
5199 linkend="actions">specified</link> and <link linkend="actions-apply">applied
5200 to URLs</link>, how <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> work, and how to
5201 define and use <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link>. Now, let's look at an
5202 example <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>user.action</filename>
5203 file and see how all these pieces come together:
5206 <sect3><title>default.action</title>
5209 Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:
5213 <screen># Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org></screen>
5217 Then, since this is the <filename>default.action</filename> file, the
5218 first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
5219 change or worry about:
5224 ##########################################################################
5225 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
5226 ##########################################################################
5229 for-privoxy-version=3.0</screen>
5233 After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
5234 section from the above <link linkend="aliases">chapter on aliases</link>,
5235 that also explains why and how aliases are used:
5240 ##########################################################################
5242 ##########################################################################
5245 # These aliases just save typing later:
5246 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
5248 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
5249 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
5250 block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
5251 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
5253 # These aliases define combinations of actions
5254 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
5256 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
5257 shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups</screen>
5261 Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
5262 by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <emphasis>all actions
5263 are disabled when matching starts</emphasis>, so we have to explicitly
5264 enable the ones we want.
5268 The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
5269 one pattern, <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, but this pattern
5270 <link linkend="af-patterns">matches all URLs.</link>. Therefore, the
5271 set of actions used in this <quote>default</quote> section <emphasis>will
5272 be applied to all requests as a start</emphasis>. It can be partly or
5273 wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
5274 but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
5279 Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
5280 no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
5281 to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: A <quote>+</quote>
5282 preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
5283 Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
5284 multiple lines with line continuation.
5289 ##########################################################################
5290 # "Defaults" section:
5291 ##########################################################################
5293 -<link linkend="ADD-HEADER">add-header</link> \
5294 -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> \
5295 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> \
5296 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
5297 +<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
5298 -<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
5299 +<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> \
5300 +<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
5301 +<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
5302 -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
5303 +<link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> \
5304 +<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
5305 -<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
5306 -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
5307 +<link linkend="FILTER-NIMDA">filter{nimda}</link> \
5308 +<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
5309 -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
5310 -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</link> \
5311 -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
5312 +<link linkend="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">hide-forwarded-for-headers</link> \
5313 +<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
5314 +<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer{forge}</link> \
5315 -<link linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT">hide-user-agent</link> \
5316 -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> \
5317 -<link linkend="LIMIT-CONNECT">limit-connect</link> \
5318 +<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link> \
5319 -<link linkend="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">send-vanilla-wafer</link> \
5320 -<link linkend="SEND-WAFER">send-wafer</link> \
5321 +<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> \
5322 +<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
5324 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</screen>
5328 The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
5329 the user agent, are part of a <quote>general policy</quote> that applies
5330 universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
5331 like not blocking (which is <emphasis>understandably</emphasis> the
5332 default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
5333 want to block in later sections.
5334 We will also want to make exceptions from our general pop-up-killing,
5335 and use our defined aliases for that.
5339 The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <quote>fragile</quote>
5340 sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
5341 very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
5342 make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
5343 our pre-defined <literal>fragile</literal> alias instead of stating the list
5344 of actions explicitly:
5349 ##########################################################################
5350 # Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
5351 ##########################################################################
5353 # "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
5356 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
5357 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com</screen>
5361 Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
5362 require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
5363 carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:
5372 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
5374 .scan.co.uk</screen>
5378 Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
5379 Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
5380 now. <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/">Mozilla</ulink> users, who
5381 can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
5383 -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> (and
5384 -<literal><link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></literal>) above
5385 and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
5386 action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
5387 chosen in the defaults section:
5392 # These sites require pop-ups too :(
5394 { -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
5397 .deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
5401 The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
5402 action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
5403 it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
5408 { -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> }
5412 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
5413 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
5414 .nytimes.com</screen>
5418 It is important that <application>Privoxy</application> knows which
5419 URLs belong to images, so that <emphasis>if</emphasis> they are to
5420 be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
5421 Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
5422 would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
5423 would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <emphasis>and</emphasis>
5424 information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <literal><link
5425 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action,
5426 and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
5432 ##########################################################################
5434 ##########################################################################
5436 # Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
5437 # blocked further down this file:
5439 { +<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> }
5440 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</screen>
5444 And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
5445 generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
5446 request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
5447 mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
5448 <literal>block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
5449 course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
5450 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
5451 Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
5452 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
5453 action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
5454 <literal>+<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>{pattern}</literal>
5455 action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:
5460 # Known ad generators:
5465 .ad.*.doubleclick.net
5466 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
5467 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
5474 One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
5475 is to block banners. A huge bunch of them are already <quote>blocked</quote>
5476 by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
5477 action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
5478 images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
5479 them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
5480 doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
5481 need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
5482 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
5485 First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
5486 matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
5487 a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
5488 to keep the example short:
5493 ##########################################################################
5494 # Block these fine banners:
5495 ##########################################################################
5496 { <link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link> }
5504 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
5505 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
5507 # Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
5509 .hitbox.com</screen>
5513 You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
5514 servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
5515 in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
5516 generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
5519 But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
5520 to block. The pattern <literal>.*ads.</literal> e.g. catches
5521 <quote>nasty-<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.nasty-corp.com</quote> as intended,
5522 but also <quote>downlo<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.sourcefroge.net</quote> or
5523 <quote><emphasis>ads</emphasis>l.some-provider.net.</quote> So here come some
5524 well-known exceptions to the <literal>+<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
5528 Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
5529 <quote>downloads.sourcefroge.net</quote>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
5530 so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
5531 URL, but just deactivates the <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
5532 action once again. Then it matches <literal>.*ads.</literal>, an exception to the
5533 general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
5534 <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link></literal> applies. And now, it'll match
5535 <literal>.*loads.</literal>, where <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">-block</link></literal>
5536 applies, so (unless it matches <emphasis>again</emphasis> further down) it ends up
5537 with no <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal> action applying.
5542 ##########################################################################
5543 # Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
5544 ##########################################################################
5548 { -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
5549 adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
5550 adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
5551 ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
5552 .edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
5553 .*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
5561 www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
5562 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</screen>
5566 Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
5567 so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
5568 and all paths with <quote>cvs</quote> in them. Note that
5569 <literal>-<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link></literal>
5570 disables <emphasis>all</emphasis> filters in one fell swoop!
5575 # Don't filter code!
5577 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
5579 .sourceforge.net</screen>
5583 The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course more
5584 comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
5589 <sect3><title>user.action</title>
5592 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
5593 which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
5594 you'd maybe want to be more specific and have customized rules that
5595 are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
5596 be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
5597 be placed in <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
5598 actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
5599 defined actions. <filename>user.action</filename> is also a
5600 <emphasis>safe</emphasis> place for your personal settings, since
5601 <filename>default.action</filename> is actively maintained by the
5602 <application>Privoxy</application> developers and you'll probably want
5603 to install updated versions from time to time.
5607 So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
5608 <filename>user.action</filename>:
5612 <!-- brief sample user.action here -->
5616 # My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></screen>
5620 As <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link> are local to the actions
5621 file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
5622 <filename>default.action</filename>, unless you repeat them here:
5627 # (Re-)define aliases for this file:
5630 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
5631 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
5632 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
5633 shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
5634 allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} # (see below)</screen>
5639 Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
5640 you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
5641 to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
5642 <literal>mercy-for-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
5643 that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and
5644 processing of cookies to make them temporary.
5649 { mercy-for-cookies }
5654 .redhat.com</screen>
5658 Your bank needs popups and is allergic to some filter, but you don't
5659 know which, so you disable them all:
5664 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> }
5665 .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
5669 While browsing the web with <application>Privoxy</application> you
5670 noticed some ads that sneaked through, but you were too lazy to
5671 report them through our fine and easy <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>
5672 system, so you have added them here:
5677 { +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
5678 www.a-popular-site.com/some/unobvious/path
5679 another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
5683 Note that, assuming the banners in the above example have regular image
5684 extensions (most do),
5685 <literal>+<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link></literal>
5686 need not be specified, since all URLs ending in these extensions will
5687 already have been tagged as images in the relevant section of
5688 <filename>default.action</filename> by now.
5692 Then you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
5693 but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
5694 were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
5695 you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
5696 -- whoa! -- it worked:
5702 .forbes.com</screen>
5706 You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
5707 but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
5708 don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
5709 update-safe config, once and for all:
5714 { +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
5715 / # For ALL sites!</screen>
5719 Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
5720 to the filters in <filename>default.action</filename> for things that
5721 really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
5722 <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word, these exceptions
5723 won't be valid for the <quote>fun</quote> filtering specified here.
5727 Finally, you might think about how your favourite free websites are
5728 funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
5729 to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
5730 sites that you feel provide value to you:
5742 Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
5743 <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
5744 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>
5750 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
5754 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
5756 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
5758 <sect1 id="filter-file">
5759 <title>The Filter File</title>
5762 All text substitutions that can be invoked through the
5763 <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action
5764 must first be defined in the filter file, which is typically
5765 called <filename>default.filter</filename> and which can be
5766 selected through the <literal>
5767 <link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config
5772 Typical reasons for doing such substitutions are to eliminate
5773 common annoyances in HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
5774 exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
5775 infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
5776 width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
5777 or just to have fun. The possibilities are endless.
5781 Filtering works on any text-based document type, including plain
5782 text, HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
5783 MIME types). Substitutions are made at the source level, so if
5784 you want to <quote>roll your own</quote> filters, you should be
5785 familiar with HTML syntax.
5789 Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
5790 filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
5791 here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with the
5792 <emphasis>keyword</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>, followed by
5793 the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
5794 <emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
5795 come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
5796 text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
5797 should describe what the filter <emphasis>eliminates</emphasis>. The
5798 comment is used in the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
5799 user interface</ulink>.
5803 Once a filter called <replaceable>name</replaceable> has been defined
5804 in the filter file, it can be invoked by using an action of the form
5805 +<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>name</replaceable>}</literal>
5806 in any <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>.
5810 A filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
5815 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
5819 Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that
5820 define what text replacements the filter executes. They are specified
5821 in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
5822 <literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
5823 will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
5824 <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/pcrs.1.html">PCRS man page</ulink>
5825 for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most notably, the non-standard
5826 option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported, which turns the default
5827 to ungreedy matching.
5831 If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at
5832 the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
5833 see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perl.html">Perl
5835 <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlop.html#s-PATTERN-REPLACEMENT-egimosx">the
5836 <literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
5837 url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
5838 expressions</ulink> in general.
5839 The below examples might also help to get you started.
5842 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
5844 <sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
5846 Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> filter. We have already defined
5847 the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
5848 <quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
5853 <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
5857 But wait! Didn't the comment say that <emphasis>all</emphasis> occurrences
5858 of <quote>foo</quote> should be replaced? Our current job will only take
5859 care of the first <quote>foo</quote> on each page. For global substitution,
5860 we'll need to add the <literal>g</literal> option:
5864 <screen>s/foo/bar/g</screen>
5868 Our complete filter now looks like this:
5871 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
5872 s/foo/bar/g</screen>
5876 Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see
5877 a filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
5878 abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
5884 FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
5886 # Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
5888 s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg</screen>
5892 Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses
5893 <literal>|</literal> as the delimiter instead of <literal>/</literal>, because
5894 the pattern contains a forward slash, which would otherwise have to be escaped
5895 by a backslash (<literal>\</literal>).
5899 Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <literal><script.*</literal>
5900 enclosed in parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and <literal>*</literal>
5901 means: <quote>Match an arbitrary number of the element left of myself</quote>, this
5902 matches <quote><script</quote>, followed by <emphasis>any</emphasis> text, i.e.
5903 it matches the whole page, from the start of the first <script> tag.
5907 That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: <literal>document\.referrer</literal>
5908 matches only the exact string <quote>document.referrer</quote>. The dot needed to
5909 be <emphasis>escaped</emphasis>, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its
5910 special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is:
5911 Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including,
5912 the text <quote>document.referrer</quote>, if <emphasis>both</emphasis> are present
5913 in the page (and appear in that order).
5917 But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in parentheses,
5918 is <literal>.*</script></literal>. You already know what <literal>.*</literal>
5919 means, so the whole pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script>
5920 tag in a page to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text
5921 <quote>document.referrer</quote> appears somewhere in between.
5925 This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the parentheses:
5926 The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed in parentheses, will be
5927 remembered and be available through the variables <literal>$1, $2, ...</literal> in
5928 the substitute. The <literal>U</literal> option switches to ungreedy matching, which means
5929 that the first <literal>.*</literal> in the pattern will only <quote>eat up</quote> all
5930 text in between <quote><script</quote> and the <emphasis>first</emphasis> occurrence
5931 of <quote>document.referrer</quote>, and that the second <literal>.*</literal> will
5932 only span the text up to the <emphasis>first</emphasis> <quote></script></quote>
5933 tag. Furthermore, the <literal>s</literal> option says that the match may span
5934 multiple lines in the page, and the <literal>g</literal> option again means that the
5935 substitution is global.
5939 So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
5940 <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
5941 (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
5942 <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
5943 that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
5947 Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
5948 lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
5949 easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
5950 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
5951 the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
5952 This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
5953 (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
5954 Business!"</literal>.
5958 The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
5959 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
5960 <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
5961 since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
5962 string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
5963 information anymore.
5967 We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
5968 this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
5973 # The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
5975 s/window\.status\s*=\s*['"].*?['"]/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
5979 <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
5980 carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
5981 or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
5982 makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
5983 option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
5984 <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>.
5988 So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
5989 strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
5990 (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
5991 real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
5992 descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
5993 you move your mouse over links.
5998 # Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
6000 s/(<body .*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
6005 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
6006 event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
6007 When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
6008 This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
6009 <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
6010 Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
6015 The last example is from the fun department:
6020 FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
6022 # Spice the daily news:
6024 s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
6028 Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
6029 in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
6030 <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
6031 in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being messed, while
6032 still replacing the word everywhere else.
6037 # Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
6039 s* industry[ -]leading \
6041 | award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
6042 | high[ -]performance \
6043 | solutions[ -]based \
6047 *<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
6052 The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
6053 e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
6062 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6066 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6068 <sect1 id="templates">
6069 <title>Templates</title>
6071 All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
6072 <ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
6073 error page</ulink>, the <ulink
6074 url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
6076 and all pages of its <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
6077 user interface</ulink>, are generated from <emphasis>templates</emphasis>.
6078 (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for the above links to work as
6083 These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the <link linkend="confdir">configuration
6084 directory</link> called <filename>templates</filename>. On unixish platforms,
6086 <ulink url="file:///etc/privoxy/templates/"><filename>/etc/privoxy/templates/</filename></ulink>.
6090 The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
6091 or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. You can
6092 edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them.
6093 (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual user</emphasis>). Note that
6094 just like in configuration files, lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are
6095 ignored when the templates are filled in.
6099 The place-holders are of the form <literal>@name@</literal>, and you will
6100 find a list of available symbols, which vary from template to template,
6101 in the comments at the start of each file. Note that these comments are not
6102 always accurate, and that it's probably best to look at the existing HTML
6103 code to find out which symbols are supported and what they are filled in with.
6107 A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole
6108 blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
6109 for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
6110 our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
6111 in in an alpha or beta development stage:
6116 <!-- @if-unstable-start -->
6118 ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
6120 <!-- if-unstable-end@ --></screen>
6124 If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
6125 <literal>@if-unstable-start</literal> and <literal>if-unstable-end@</literal>
6126 will disappear, leaving nothing but an empty comment:
6130 <screen><!-- --></screen>
6134 There's also an if-then-else construct and an <literal>#include</literal>
6135 mechanism, but you'll sure find out if you are inclined to edit the
6140 All templates refer to a style located at
6141 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet"><literal>http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet</literal></ulink>.
6142 This is, of course, locally served by <application>Privoxy</application>
6143 and the source for it can be found and edited in the
6144 <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> template.
6149 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6153 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6155 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
6158 <!-- Include contacting.sgml boilerplate: -->
6160 <!-- end boilerplate -->
6164 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6167 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6168 <sect1 id="copyright"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Copyright, License and History</title>
6170 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
6172 <!-- end copyright -->
6174 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6175 <sect2><title>License</title>
6176 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
6178 <!-- end copyright -->
6180 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6183 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6185 <sect2 id="history"><title>History</title>
6186 <!-- Include history.sgml: -->
6188 <!-- end history -->
6191 <sect2 id="authors"><title>Authors</title>
6192 <!-- Include p-authors.sgml: -->
6194 <!-- end authors -->
6199 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6202 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6203 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
6204 <!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
6206 <!-- end seealso -->
6211 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6212 <sect1 id="appendix"><title>Appendix</title>
6215 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6217 <title>Regular Expressions</title>
6219 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl-style <quote>regular
6220 expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
6221 files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
6222 through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
6223 <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
6227 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
6228 expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
6229 introduction only. A full explanation would require a <ulink
6230 url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/">book</ulink> ;-)
6234 Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be
6235 run against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they
6236 match the string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex)
6237 strings of literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special
6238 characters, called meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have
6239 special meanings and are used to build complex patterns to be matched against.
6240 Perl Compatible Regular Expressions are an especially convenient
6241 <quote>dialect</quote> of the regular expression language.
6245 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
6246 characters when listing files with the <command>dir</command> command in DOS.
6247 <literal>*.*</literal> matches all filenames. The <quote>special</quote>
6248 character here is the asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be
6249 more specific and use <literal>?</literal> to match just individual
6250 characters. So <quote>dir file?.text</quote> would match
6251 <quote>file1.txt</quote>, <quote>file2.txt</quote>, etc. We are pattern
6252 matching, using a similar technique to <quote>regular expressions</quote>!
6256 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
6257 powerful. There are many more <quote>special characters</quote> and ways of
6258 building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones,
6259 and then some examples:
6264 <emphasis>.</emphasis> - Matches any single character, e.g. <quote>a</quote>,
6265 <quote>A</quote>, <quote>4</quote>, <quote>:</quote>, or <quote>@</quote>.
6267 </simplelist></para>
6271 <emphasis>?</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
6274 </simplelist></para>
6278 <emphasis>+</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
6281 </simplelist></para>
6285 <emphasis>*</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
6288 </simplelist></para>
6292 <emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
6293 the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
6294 special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
6295 not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
6296 sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
6297 meta-character meaning of any single character).
6299 </simplelist></para>
6303 <emphasis>[]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
6304 any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
6305 matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
6306 this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
6308 </simplelist></para>
6312 <emphasis>()</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
6313 or multiple sub-expressions.
6315 </simplelist></para>
6319 <emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
6320 <quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
6321 sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
6322 <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
6323 and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
6324 example</quote>, and nothing else.
6326 </simplelist></para>
6329 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
6330 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
6331 list. This is enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may
6332 be more illuminating:
6336 <emphasis><literal>/.*/banners/.*</literal></emphasis> - A simple example
6337 that uses the common combination of <quote>.</quote> and <quote>*</quote> to
6338 denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at all.
6339 So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression pattern
6340 (<quote>.*</quote>) another literal forward slash, the string
6341 <quote>banners</quote>, another forward slash, and lastly another
6342 <quote>.*</quote>. We are building
6343 a directory path here. This will match any file with the path that has a
6344 directory named <quote>banners</quote> in it. The <quote>.*</quote> matches
6345 any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward slashes, so it
6346 might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this could match:
6347 <quote>/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif</quote>, or just
6348 <quote>/banners/annoying.html</quote>, or almost an infinite number of other
6349 possible combinations, just so it has <quote>banners</quote> in the path
6354 A now something a little more complex:
6358 <emphasis><literal>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/</literal></emphasis> -
6359 We have several literal forward slashes again (<quote>/</quote>), so we are
6360 building another expression that is a file path statement. We have another
6361 <quote>.*</quote>, so we are matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so
6362 it matches our expression. The only true literal that <emphasis>must
6363 match</emphasis> our pattern is <application>adv</application>, together with
6364 the forward slashes. What comes after the <quote>adv</quote> string is the
6369 Remember the <quote>?</quote> means the preceding expression (either a
6370 literal character or anything grouped with <quote>(...)</quote> in this case)
6371 can exist or not, since this means either zero or one match. So
6372 <quote>((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))</quote> is optional, as are the
6373 individual sub-expressions: <quote>(er)</quote>,
6374 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, and the <quote>s</quote>. The <quote>|</quote>
6375 means <quote>or</quote>. We have two of those. For instance,
6376 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, can expand to match either <quote>ing</quote>
6377 <emphasis>OR</emphasis> <quote>ements?</quote>. What is being done here, is an
6378 attempt at matching as many variations of <quote>advertisement</quote>, and
6379 similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just <quote>adv</quote>,
6380 or <quote>advert</quote>, or <quote>adverts</quote>, or
6381 <quote>advertising</quote>, or <quote>advertisement</quote>, or
6382 <quote>advertisements</quote>. You get the idea. But it would not match
6383 <quote>advertizements</quote> (with a <quote>z</quote>). We could fix that by
6384 changing our regular expression to:
6385 <quote>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/</quote>, which would then match
6390 <emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
6391 another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
6392 <quote>[]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
6393 shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
6394 saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
6395 means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
6396 expression here is what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit
6397 one through nine. Then, at the end, we have a grouping: <quote>(gif|jpe?g)</quote>.
6398 This includes a <quote>|</quote>, so this needs to match the expression on
6399 either side of that bar character also. A simple <quote>gif</quote> on one side, and the other
6400 side will in turn match either <quote>jpeg</quote> or <quote>jpg</quote>,
6401 since the <quote>?</quote> means the letter <quote>e</quote> is optional and
6402 can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to
6403 match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must include the literal
6404 string <quote>advert</quote>, then one or more digits, and a <quote>.</quote>
6405 (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is escaped
6406 with <quote>\</quote>), and lastly either <quote>gif</quote>, or
6407 <quote>jpeg</quote>, or <quote>jpg</quote>. Some possible matches would
6408 include: <quote>//advert1.jpg</quote>,
6409 <quote>/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif</quote>,
6410 <quote>/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg</quote>. It would not match
6411 <quote>advert1.gif</quote> (no leading slash), or
6412 <quote>/adverts232.jpg</quote> (the expression does not include an
6413 <quote>s</quote>), or <quote>/advert1.jsp</quote> (<quote>jsp</quote> is not
6414 in the expression anywhere).
6418 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
6419 can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
6420 configuration files, and maybe use this knowledge to customize your own
6421 installation. There is much, much more that can be done with regular
6422 expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you can learn more on
6427 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
6428 <ulink url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>
6432 For information on regular expression based substititions and their applications
6433 in filters, please see the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file tutorial</link>
6438 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6441 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6443 <title><application>Privoxy</application>'s Internal Pages</title>
6446 Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
6447 web page, it is easy for <application>Privoxy</application> to
6448 trap certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to
6449 <application>Privoxy</application>, and see how it is
6450 configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these
6451 rules and other configuration options, and even turn
6452 <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering off, all with
6458 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access
6459 to <application>Privoxy</application>. Of course,
6460 <application>Privoxy</application> must be running to access these. If
6461 not, you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
6474 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
6478 There is a shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> (But it
6479 doesn't provide a fallback to a real page, in case the request is not
6480 sent through <application>Privoxy</application>)
6486 Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
6487 editing of actions files:
6491 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
6498 Show the source code version numbers:
6502 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>
6509 Show the browser's request headers:
6513 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">http://config.privoxy.org/show-request</ulink>
6520 Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
6524 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
6531 Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, <quote>Privoxy</quote> continues
6532 to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
6536 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
6540 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
6544 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable</ulink>
6549 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable</ulink>
6558 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
6562 <sect3 id="bookmarklets">
6563 <title>Bookmarklets</title>
6565 Below are some <quote>bookmarklets</quote> to allow you to easily access a
6566 <quote>mini</quote> version of some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
6567 special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer, but should work
6568 equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which support
6569 JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not by
6570 clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
6573 To save them, right-click the link and choose <quote>Add to Favorites</quote>
6574 (IE) or <quote>Add Bookmark</quote> (Netscape). You will get a warning that
6575 the bookmark <quote>may not be safe</quote> - just click OK. Then you can run the
6576 Bookmarklet directly from your favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access,
6577 you can put them on the <quote>Links</quote> bar (IE) or the <quote>Personal
6578 Toolbar</quote> (Netscape), and run them with a single click.
6587 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>
6594 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>
6601 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)
6608 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>
6614 <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions/index.php?url='+escape(location.href),'Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback</ulink>
6619 <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
6626 Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
6627 <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
6628 have more information about bookmarklets.
6637 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6639 <title>Chain of Events</title>
6641 Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
6642 requested by your browser and <application>Privoxy</application> is on duty:
6649 First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
6650 the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
6651 relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
6657 <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
6658 pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
6663 Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
6665 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
6666 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
6667 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
6668 is then checked and if it does not match, an
6669 HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match,
6670 an image is returned. The type of image depends on the setting of <link
6671 linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
6672 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
6677 Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
6678 <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
6683 If the URL pattern matches the <link
6684 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link> action,
6685 it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
6690 Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
6691 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <link
6692 linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></link>,
6693 etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
6699 Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web page and related
6705 First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
6706 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
6707 filtered as deterimed by the
6708 <link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></link>,
6709 <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>,
6710 and <link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></link>
6716 If the <link linkend="KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></link>
6717 action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
6718 response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
6723 If a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
6725 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
6726 action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
6727 read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
6728 <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed against the buffered
6729 content. Filters are applied in the order they are specified in the
6730 <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
6731 reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
6732 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
6733 <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
6736 If neither <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
6738 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
6739 matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
6740 to the client browser as it becomes available.
6745 As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
6746 reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
6747 source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
6748 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
6749 request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
6750 complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
6760 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6761 <sect2 id="actionsanat">
6762 <title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
6765 The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
6766 <link linkend="ACTIONS">actions</link> and <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>
6767 to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
6768 easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
6769 <emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
6770 doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
6771 is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
6772 the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
6773 <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> whose consequences are not
6778 One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
6779 or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
6780 step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
6781 and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!).
6785 <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
6786 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
6787 page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
6788 are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
6792 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
6793 <application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
6794 how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
6795 help with filtering effects (i.e. the <link
6796 linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
6797 the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
6798 differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
6799 URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
6800 such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
6801 you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
6802 -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
6803 will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
6804 Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
6809 Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
6810 and look at it one section at a time:
6815 Matches for http://google.com:
6817 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
6821 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
6822 -crunch-incoming-cookies
6823 +deanimate-gifs{last}
6824 -downgrade-http-version
6828 -filter{shockwave-flash}
6829 -filter{crude-parental}
6830 +filter{html-annoyances}
6831 +filter{js-annoyances}
6832 +filter{content-cookies}
6834 +filter{refresh-tags}
6836 +filter{banners-by-size}
6837 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
6838 +hide-from-header{block}
6839 +hide-referer{forge}
6844 +prevent-compression
6847 +session-cookies-only
6848 +set-image-blocker{pattern} }
6851 { -session-cookies-only }
6857 In file: user.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
6858 (no matches in this file)
6863 This tells us how we have defined our
6864 <link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, and
6865 which ones match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing
6866 is any matches for the <filename>standard.action</filename> file. No hits at
6867 all here on <quote>standard</quote>. Then next is <quote>default</quote>, or
6868 our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line listing,
6869 is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings.
6870 If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the section
6871 just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This will apply to
6872 all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end of the listing
6873 -- <quote>/</quote>.
6877 But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
6878 rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
6879 apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
6880 <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
6882 linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
6883 (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
6884 second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
6886 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
6887 action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
6888 dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
6889 sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
6890 <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
6891 defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
6892 file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
6897 Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
6901 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
6902 <application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
6903 to <quote>google.com</quote>:
6914 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
6915 -crunch-incoming-cookies
6916 +deanimate-gifs{last}
6917 -downgrade-http-version
6921 -filter{shockwave-flash}
6922 -filter{crude-parental}
6923 +filter{html-annoyances}
6924 +filter{js-annoyances}
6925 +filter{content-cookies}
6927 +filter{refresh-tags}
6929 +filter{banners-by-size}
6930 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
6931 +hide-from-header{block}
6932 +hide-referer{forge}
6937 +prevent-compression
6940 -session-cookies-only
6941 +set-image-blocker{pattern}
6946 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
6947 <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>.
6951 Now another example, <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>:
6957 { +block +handle-as-image }
6960 { +block +handle-as-image }
6963 { +block +handle-as-image }
6969 We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
6970 matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
6971 which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
6972 <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<link
6973 linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
6974 the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
6979 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
6980 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively
6981 would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
6982 though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
6983 URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
6984 is done here -- as both a <link
6985 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
6986 <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
6988 linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
6989 The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
6994 One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
6995 This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
7001 Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
7003 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
7007 -crunch-incoming-cookies
7008 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
7010 -downgrade-http-version
7012 +filter{html-annoyances}
7013 +filter{js-annoyances}
7014 +filter{kill-popups}
7017 +filter{banners-by-size}
7020 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
7021 +hide-from-header{block}
7022 +hide-referer{forge}
7026 +prevent-compression
7029 +session-cookies-only
7030 +set-image-blocker{blank} }
7033 { +block +handle-as-image }
7039 Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
7040 we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
7041 now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
7042 block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
7043 various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
7055 Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when
7056 making such changes. Or, try using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
7060 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like
7067 { +block +handle-as-image }
7073 That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem
7074 was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
7075 rules in the first section is causing the problem. This would require some
7076 guesswork, and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule.
7077 One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. Try
7078 adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
7086 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
7094 <quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
7095 <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
7096 Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
7109 This would probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
7110 for local site exceptions.
7114 <quote>{fragile}</quote> is an alias that disables most actions. This can be
7115 used as a last resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this
7116 still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by
7117 one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
7126 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
7127 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
7128 Public License as published by the Free Software
7129 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
7130 your option) any later version.
7132 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
7133 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
7134 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
7135 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
7136 License for more details.
7138 The GNU General Public License should be included with
7139 this file. If not, you can view it at
7140 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
7141 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
7142 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
7144 $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
7145 Revision 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes
7146 - Changed more (all?) references to actions to the
7147 <literal><link> style.
7148 - Small fixes in the actions chapter
7149 - Small clarifications in the quickstart to ad blocking
7150 - Removed <emphasis> from <title>s since the new doc CSS
7151 renders them red (bad in TOC).
7153 Revision 1.120 2002/05/23 19:16:43 roro
7154 Correct Debian specials (installation and startup).
7156 Revision 1.119 2002/05/22 17:17:05 oes
7159 Revision 1.118 2002/05/21 04:54:55 hal9
7160 -New Section: Quickstart to Ad Blocking
7161 -Reformat Actions Anatomy to match new CGI layout
7163 Revision 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes
7164 - Reworked & extended Templates chapter
7165 - Small changes to Regex appendix
7166 - #included authors.sgml into (C) and hist chapter
7168 Revision 1.116 2002/05/17 03:23:46 hal9
7169 Fixing merge conflict in Quickstart section.
7171 Revision 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes
7172 Extended the Filter File chapter & minor fixes
7174 Revision 1.114 2002/05/16 09:42:50 oes
7175 More ulink->link, added some hints to Quickstart section
7177 Revision 1.113 2002/05/15 21:07:25 oes
7178 Extended and further commented the example actions files
7180 Revision 1.112 2002/05/15 03:57:14 hal9
7181 Spell check. A few minor edits here and there for better syntax and
7184 Revision 1.111 2002/05/14 23:01:36 oes
7187 Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes
7188 Restored alphabetical order of actions
7190 Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes
7191 Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs
7193 Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes
7194 Completed proofreading the actions chapter
7196 Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9
7197 Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this
7198 apparently an important distinction for some OS's.
7200 Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
7201 This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
7202 are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
7203 changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
7205 Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
7206 Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
7208 Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa
7211 Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9
7212 -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in.
7213 -Some minor additions to Quickstart.
7215 Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes
7216 Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions
7218 Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9
7219 Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about
7220 Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs.
7222 Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9
7223 Add clarification on differences of new actions files.
7225 Revision 1.99 2002/04/28 16:59:05 swa
7226 more structure in starting section
7228 Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
7229 This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
7230 will probably break links elsewhere :(
7232 Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
7233 -Rewrite of Actions File example.
7234 -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
7236 Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
7237 -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
7238 -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
7240 Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
7241 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
7243 Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
7244 -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
7245 -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
7247 Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
7248 More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
7249 Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
7251 Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
7252 Add 'Chain of Events' section.
7254 Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
7255 Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
7257 Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
7258 Added hint for startup on Red Hat
7260 Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
7261 Add AmigaOS install stuff.
7263 Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
7264 Updated OSX installation section
7265 Added a few English tweaks here an there
7267 Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
7268 Re-write actions section.
7270 Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
7271 Fix ugly typo (mine).
7273 Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
7274 Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
7276 Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
7277 Added RPM install detail
7279 Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
7282 Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
7283 Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
7285 Revision 1.80 2002/04/18 10:45:19 oes
7286 Moved text to buildsource.sgml, renamed some filters, details
7288 Revision 1.79 2002/04/18 03:18:06 hal9
7289 Spellcheck, and minor touchups.
7291 Revision 1.78 2002/04/17 18:04:16 oes
7294 Revision 1.77 2002/04/17 13:51:23 oes
7295 Proofreading, part one
7297 Revision 1.76 2002/04/16 04:25:51 hal9
7298 -Added 'Note to Upgraders' and re-ordered the 'Quickstart' section.
7299 -Note about proxy may need requests to re-read config files.
7301 Revision 1.75 2002/04/12 02:08:48 david__schmidt
7302 Remove OS/2 building info... it is already in the developer-manual
7304 Revision 1.74 2002/04/11 00:54:38 hal9
7305 Add small section on submitting actions.
7307 Revision 1.73 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
7310 Revision 1.72 2002/04/10 04:06:19 hal9
7311 Added actions feedback to Bookmarklets section
7313 Revision 1.71 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
7314 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
7316 Revision 1.70 2002/04/08 20:53:56 swa
7319 Revision 1.69 2002/04/06 05:07:29 hal9
7320 -Add privoxy-man-page.sgml, for man page.
7321 -Add authors.sgml for AUTHORS (and p-authors.sgml)
7322 -Reworked various aspects of various docs.
7323 -Added additional comments to sub-docs.
7325 Revision 1.68 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
7326 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
7328 Revision 1.67 2002/04/04 17:27:57 swa
7329 more single file to be included at multiple points. make maintaining easier
7331 Revision 1.66 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
7332 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
7333 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
7334 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
7335 eventually be set by Makefile.
7336 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
7338 Revision 1.65 2002/04/03 19:52:07 swa
7339 enhance squid section due to user suggestion
7341 Revision 1.64 2002/04/03 03:53:43 hal9
7342 A few minor bug fixes, and touch ups. Ready for review.
7344 Revision 1.63 2002/04/01 16:24:49 hal9
7345 Define entities to include boilerplate text. See doc/source/*.
7347 Revision 1.62 2002/03/30 04:15:53 hal9
7348 - Fix privoxy.org/config links.
7349 - Paste in Bookmarklets from Toggle page.
7350 - Move Quickstart nearer top, and minor rework.
7352 Revision 1.61 2002/03/29 01:31:08 hal9
7355 Revision 1.60 2002/03/27 01:57:34 hal9
7356 Added more to Anatomy section.
7358 Revision 1.59 2002/03/27 00:54:33 hal9
7359 Touch up intro for new name.
7361 Revision 1.58 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
7362 we have a new homepage!
7364 Revision 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9
7365 A few minor catch ups with name change.
7367 Revision 1.56 2002/03/24 16:17:06 swa
7368 configure needs to be generated.
7370 Revision 1.55 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
7371 we are too lazy to make a block-built
7372 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
7374 Revision 1.54 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
7375 name change related issue.
7377 Revision 1.53 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
7378 name change. changed filenames.
7380 Revision 1.52 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
7383 Revision 1.51 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
7384 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
7385 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
7386 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
7387 comments and remarks to history untouched.
7389 Revision 1.50 2002/03/23 05:06:21 hal9
7392 Revision 1.49 2002/03/21 17:01:05 hal9
7393 New section in Appendix.
7395 Revision 1.48 2002/03/12 06:33:01 hal9
7396 Catching up to Andreas and re_filterfile changes.
7398 Revision 1.47 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
7399 correct feedback channels
7401 Revision 1.46 2002/03/10 00:51:08 hal9
7402 Added section on JB internal pages in Appendix.
7404 Revision 1.45 2002/03/09 17:43:53 swa
7407 Revision 1.44 2002/03/09 17:08:48 hal9
7408 New section on Jon's actions file editor, and move some stuff around.
7410 Revision 1.43 2002/03/08 00:47:32 hal9
7411 Added imageblock{pattern}.
7413 Revision 1.42 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
7416 Revision 1.41 2002/03/07 16:46:43 hal9
7417 Fix a few markup problems for jade.
7419 Revision 1.40 2002/03/07 16:28:39 swa
7420 provide correct feedback channels
7422 Revision 1.39 2002/03/06 16:19:28 hal9
7423 Note on perceived filtering slowdown per FR.
7425 Revision 1.38 2002/03/05 23:55:14 hal9
7426 Stupid I did it again. Double hyphen in comment breaks jade.
7428 Revision 1.37 2002/03/05 23:53:49 hal9
7429 jade barfs on '- -' embedded in comments. - -user option broke it.
7431 Revision 1.36 2002/03/05 22:53:28 hal9
7432 Add new - - user option.
7434 Revision 1.35 2002/03/05 00:17:27 hal9
7435 Added section on command line options.
7437 Revision 1.34 2002/03/04 19:32:07 oes
7438 Changed default port to 8118
7440 Revision 1.33 2002/03/03 19:46:13 hal9
7441 Emphasis on where/how to report bugs, etc
7443 Revision 1.32 2002/03/03 09:26:06 joergs
7444 AmigaOS changes, config is now loaded from PROGDIR: instead of
7445 AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/ if no configuration file is specified on the
7448 Revision 1.31 2002/03/02 22:45:52 david__schmidt
7451 Revision 1.30 2002/03/02 22:00:14 hal9
7452 Updated 'New Features' list. Ran through spell-checker.
7454 Revision 1.29 2002/03/02 20:34:07 david__schmidt
7455 Update OS/2 build section
7457 Revision 1.28 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
7458 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
7459 will work - no other changes are needed.
7461 Revision 1.27 2002/01/11 14:14:32 hal9
7462 Added a very short section on Templates
7464 Revision 1.26 2002/01/09 20:02:50 hal9
7465 Fix bug re: auto-detect config file changes.
7467 Revision 1.25 2002/01/09 18:20:30 hal9
7468 Touch ups for *.action files.
7470 Revision 1.24 2001/12/02 01:13:42 hal9
7473 Revision 1.23 2001/12/02 00:20:41 hal9
7474 Updates for recent changes.
7476 Revision 1.22 2001/11/05 23:57:51 hal9
7477 Minor update for startup now daemon mode.
7479 Revision 1.21 2001/10/31 21:11:03 hal9
7480 Correct 2 minor errors
7482 Revision 1.18 2001/10/24 18:45:26 hal9
7483 *** empty log message ***
7485 Revision 1.17 2001/10/24 17:10:55 hal9
7486 Catching up with Jon's recent work, and a few other things.
7488 Revision 1.16 2001/10/21 17:19:21 swa
7489 wrong url in documentation
7491 Revision 1.15 2001/10/14 23:46:24 hal9
7492 Various minor changes. Fleshed out SEE ALSO section.
7494 Revision 1.13 2001/10/10 17:28:33 hal9
7497 Revision 1.12 2001/09/28 02:57:04 hal9
7500 Revision 1.11 2001/09/28 02:25:20 hal9
7503 Revision 1.9 2001/09/27 23:50:29 hal9
7504 A few changes. A short section on regular expression in appendix.
7506 Revision 1.8 2001/09/25 00:34:59 hal9
7507 Some additions, and re-arranging.
7509 Revision 1.7 2001/09/24 14:31:36 hal9
7512 Revision 1.6 2001/09/24 14:10:32 hal9
7513 Including David's OS/2 installation instructions.
7515 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:27:40 swa
7518 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
7519 source files for junkbuster documentation
7521 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
7522 first proposal of a structure.
7524 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
7525 docs should have an author.
7527 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
7528 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.
projects / privoxy.git / blob