5 $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes Exp $
7 The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
10 Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting
11 privacy, filtering web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and
12 removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
13 very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
14 tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
17 Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
19 You can find the latest version of the user manual at http://www.privoxy.org/
20 user-manual/. Please see the Contact section on how to contact the developers.
22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33 2.1.1. Red Hat and SuSE RPMs
36 2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
41 2.2. Building from Source
44 4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
47 5.1. RedHat and Debian
50 5.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others
54 5.8. Command Line Options
56 6. Privoxy Configuration
58 6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
59 6.2. Configuration Files Overview
61 7. The Main Configuration File
63 7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
73 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation
83 7.3.2. single-threaded
85 7.4. Access Control and Security
89 7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
90 7.4.4. enable-edit-actions
91 7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
97 7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
98 7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
100 7.6. Windows GUI Options
104 8.1. Finding the Right Mix
106 8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
109 8.4.1. The Domain Pattern
110 8.4.2. The Path Pattern
116 8.5.3. +deanimate-gifs
117 8.5.4. +downgrade-http-version
118 8.5.5. +fast-redirects
120 8.5.7. +hide-forwarded-for-headers
121 8.5.8. +hide-from-header
123 8.5.10. +hide-user-agent
124 8.5.11. +handle-as-image
125 8.5.12. +set-image-blocker
126 8.5.13. +limit-connect
127 8.5.14. +prevent-compression
128 8.5.15. +session-cookies-only
129 8.5.16. +prevent-reading-cookies
130 8.5.17. +prevent-setting-cookies
132 8.5.19. +send-vanilla-wafer
135 8.5.22. Sample Actions Files
141 9.1. The +filter Action
144 11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
148 11.3. Request new features
149 11.4. Report ads or other filter problems
152 12. Copyright and History
160 14.1. Regular Expressions
161 14.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
165 14.3. Chain of Events
166 14.4. Anatomy of an Action
170 This documentation is included with the current beta version of Privoxy,
171 v.2.9.14, and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference
172 for the time being is still the comments in the source files and in the
173 individual configuration files. Development of version 3.0 is currently nearing
174 completion, and includes many significant changes and enhancements over earlier
175 versions. The target release date for stable v3.0 is "soon" ;-).
177 Since this is a beta version, not all new features are well tested. This
178 documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with CVS
179 sources). And there may be bugs, though hopefully not many!
181 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
185 In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional features of ad and banner
186 blocking and cookie management, Privoxy provides new features, some of them
187 currently under development:
189 * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
190 config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
191 and filter effects. Remote toggling.
193 * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
194 "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-up windows, etc.)
196 * Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and user
197 settings to reside in separate files, so that installing updated actions
198 files won't overwrite idividual user settings.
200 * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
202 * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
203 and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
206 * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
210 * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
212 * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
214 * User-customizable HTML templates for all proxy-generated pages (e.g.
217 * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
219 * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
221 * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
222 configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
224 * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
227 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
231 Privoxy is available both in convenient pre-compiled packages for a wide range
232 of operating systems, and as raw source code. For most users, we recommend
233 using the packages, which can be downloaded from our Privoxy Project Page.
235 Note: If you have a previous Junkbuster or Privoxy installation on your system,
236 you will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part of their
237 installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case be sure to
238 backup your old configuration if it is valuable to you. See the note to
239 upgraders section below.
241 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
245 How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
247 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
249 2.1.1. Red Hat and SuSE RPMs
251 RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-2.9.14-1.rpm, and will use /etc/
252 privoxy for the location of configuration files.
254 Note that on Red Hat, Privoxy will not be automatically started on system boot.
255 You will need to enable that using chkconfig, ntsysv, or similar methods. Note
256 that SuSE will automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
258 If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM: rpm
259 --rebuild privoxy-2.9.14-1.src.rpm;. This will use your locally installed
260 libraries and RPM version.
262 Also note that if you have a Junkbuster RPM installed on your system, you need
263 to remove it first, because the packages conflict. Otherwise, RPM will try to
264 remove Junkbuster automatically, before installing Privoxy.
266 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
272 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
276 Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through the installation
277 process. You will find the configuration files in the same directory as you
278 installed Privoxy in. We do not use the registry of Windows.
280 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
282 2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
284 Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and untar the archive. For the
285 most part, you'll have to figure out where things go. FIXME.
287 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
291 First, make sure that no previous installations of Junkbuster and / or Privoxy
292 are left on your system. You can do this by
294 Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will guide
295 you through the installation process. A shadow of the Privoxy executable will
296 be placed in your startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2
299 The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of the
302 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
306 Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file in the
307 finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then, double-click on
308 the package installer icon and follow the installation process. Privoxy will be
309 installed in the subdirectory /Applications/Privoxy.app. Privoxy will set
310 itself up to start automatically on system bring-up via /System/Library/
311 StartupItems/Privoxy.
313 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
317 Copy and then unpack the lha archive to a suitable location. All necessary
318 files will be installed into Privoxy directory, including all configuration and
319 log files. To uninstall, just remove this directory.
321 Start Privoxy (with RUN <>NIL:) in your startnet script (AmiTCP), in s:
322 user-startup (RoadShow), as startup program in your startup script (Genesis),
323 or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx). Privoxy will automatically quit when
324 you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack
325 may display that Privoxy is still running).
327 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
329 2.2. Building from Source
331 The most convenient way to obtain the Privoxy sources is to download the source
332 tarball from our project page.
334 If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using possibly
335 unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute version
336 directly from the CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS tarball.
338 To build Privoxy from source, autoconf, GNU make (gmake), and, of course, a C
339 compiler like gcc are required.
341 When building from a source tarball (either release version or nightly CVS
342 tarball), first unpack the source:
344 tar xzvf privoxy-2.9.14-beta-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz]
345 cd privoxy-2.9.14-beta
347 For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need CVS installed. Note that
348 sources from CVS are development quality, and may not be stable, or well
349 tested. To download CVS source:
351 cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login
352 cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co current
355 This will create a directory named current/, which will contain the source
358 Then, in either case, to build from unpacked tarball or CVS source:
362 ./configure # (--help to see options)
363 make # (the make from gnu, gmake for *BSD)
365 make -n install # (to see where all the files will go)
366 make install # (to really install)
368 If you have gnu make, you can have the first four steps automatically done for
373 in the freshly downloaded or unpacked source directory.
375 For more detailed instructions on how to build Redhat and SuSE RPMs, Windows
376 self-extracting installers, building on platforms with special requirements
377 etc, please consult the developer manual.
379 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
383 There are very significant changes from earlier Junkbuster versions to the
384 current Privoxy. The number, names, syntax, and purposes of configuration files
385 have substantially changed. Junkbuster 2.0.x configuration files will not
386 migrate, Junkbuster 2.9.x and Privoxy configurations will need to be ported.
387 The functionalities of the old blockfile, cookiefile and imagelist are now
388 combined into the "actions files". default.action, is the main actions file.
389 Local exceptions should best be put into user.action.
391 A "filter file" (typically default.filter) is new as of Privoxy 2.9.x, and
392 provides some of the new sophistication (explained below). config is much the
395 If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config files,
396 and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files. When porting
397 personal rules over from the old blockfile to the new actions files, please
398 note that even the pattern syntax has changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x
399 development versions, it is still recommended to use the new configuration
402 A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
404 * The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
407 * Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any important
410 * Privoxy is controllable with a web browser at the special URL: http://
411 config.privoxy.org/ (Shortcut: http://p.p/). Many aspects of configuration
412 can be done here, including temporarily disabling Privoxy.
414 * The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
415 blocking, and many other aspects of Privoxy configuration is in the actions
416 files. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new actions
417 concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules should
420 * Some installers may not automatically start Privoxy after installation.
422 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
424 4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
426 * If upgrading, please back up any configuration files. See the Note to
429 * Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section for platform specific
432 * Start Privoxy, if the installation program has not done this already. See
433 the section Starting Privoxy.
435 * Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and HTTPS proxy by setting the
436 proxy configuration for address of localhost and port 8118. (Junkbuster and
437 earlier versions of Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting
440 * Flush your browser's caches, to remove any cached ad images.
442 * Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. You may want to customize
443 the user.action file to personalize your new browsing experience. See the
444 Configuration section for more configuration options, and how to further
445 customize your installation.
447 * If you experience problems with sites that "misbehave", see the Anatomy of
448 an Action section in the Appendix.
450 * Please see the section Contacting the Developers on how to report bugs or
451 problems with websites or to get help.
453 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
457 Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you will want to configure your
458 browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost
459 for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is
460 the one configuration step that must be done!
462 With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under Edit -> Preferences ->
463 Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet
464 Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in
465 the appropriate info (Address: localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy
468 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
469 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You are
470 now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using Privoxy!
472 Privoxy is typically started by specifying the main configuration file to be
473 used on the command line. If no configuration file is specified on the command
474 line, Privoxy will look for a file named config in the current directory.
475 Except on Win32 where it will try config.txt.
477 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
479 5.1. RedHat and Debian
481 We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
482 default. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
483 file. FIXME: Debian??
485 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
487 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
491 We use a script. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main
492 configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting your PC.
496 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
500 Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
501 specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named config.txt.
502 Note that Windows will automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
504 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
506 5.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others
508 Example Unix startup command:
510 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
512 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
518 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
524 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
530 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
532 5.8. Command Line Options
534 Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
538 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
542 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
546 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, and
547 don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
551 On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit. Failure
552 to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE option is given, no
553 PID file will be used. Unix only.
555 * --user USER[.GROUP]
557 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of USER, and if
558 included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not sufficient to do
563 If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
564 file named "config" in the current directory (except on Win32 where it will
565 look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full path to avoid confusion. If no
566 config file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
568 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
570 6. Privoxy Configuration
572 All Privoxy configuration is stored in text files. These files can be edited
573 with a text editor. Many important aspects of Privoxy can also be controlled
574 easily with a web browser.
576 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
578 6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
580 Privoxy's user interface can be reached through the special URL http://
581 config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), which is a built-in page and works
582 without Internet access. You will see the following section:
585 ? View & change the current configuration
586 ? View the source code version numbers
587 ? View the request headers.
588 ? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why
589 ? Toggle Privoxy on or off
592 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
593 actions files, which is where the ad, banner, cookie, and URL blocking magic is
594 configured as well as other advanced features of Privoxy. This is an easy way
595 to adjust various aspects of Privoxy configuration. The actions file, and other
596 configuration files, are explained in detail below.
598 "Toggle Privoxy On or Off" is handy for sites that might have problems with
599 your current actions and filters. You can in fact use it as a test to see
600 whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy continues to run as a
601 proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e. Privoxy acts like a
602 normal forwarding proxy. There is even a toggle Bookmarklet offered, so that
603 you can toggle Privoxy with one click from your browser.
605 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
607 6.2. Configuration Files Overview
609 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in /etc/privoxy/
610 by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and AmigaOS these are all in the same
611 directory as the Privoxy executable. The name and number of configuration files
612 has changed from previous versions, and is subject to change as development
615 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though some
616 settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the principle
617 configuration files are:
619 * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and
620 AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows. This is a required file.
622 * default.action (the main actions file) is used to define which "actions"
623 relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, content modification, cookie
624 handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many exceptions
625 (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
626 Privoxy to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on as many
627 websites as possible.
629 Multiple actions files may be defined in config. These are processed in the
630 order they are defined. Local customizations and locally preferred
631 exceptions to the default policies as defined in default.action (which you
632 will most propably want to define sooner or later) are probably best
633 applied in user.action, where you can preserve them across upgrades.
634 standard.action is for Privoxy's internal use.
636 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from http://
637 config.privoxy.org/show-status (Shortcut: http://p.p/show-status) for the
638 various actions files.
640 * default.filter (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw page
641 content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript,
642 and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only
643 pre-defined here; whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
645 All files use the "#" character to denote a comment (the rest of the line will
646 be ignored) and understand line continuation through placing a backslash ("\")
647 as the very last character in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it
648 looses its special function. Placing a # in front of an otherwise valid
649 configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
652 The actions files and default.filter can use Perl style regular expressions for
655 After making any changes, there is no need to restart Privoxy in order for the
656 changes to take effect. Privoxy detects such changes automatically. Note,
657 however, that it may take one or two additional requests for the change to take
658 effect. When changing the listening address of Privoxy, these "wake up"
659 requests must obviously be sent to the old listening address.
661 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change. The
662 below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this. Also, what
663 constitutes a "default" setting, may change, so please check all your
664 configuration files on important issues.
666 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
668 7. The Main Configuration File
670 Again, the main configuration file is named config on Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2,
671 and config.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword
672 followed by a list of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces
673 or tabs). For example:
677 Assigns the value /etc/privoxy to the option confdir and thus indicates that
678 the configuration directory is named "/etc/privoxy/".
680 All options in the config file except for confdir and logdir are optional.
681 Watch out in the below description for what happens if you leave them unset.
683 The main config file controls all aspects of Privoxy's operation that are not
684 location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter where you may be
687 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
689 7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
691 Privoxy can (and normally does) use a number of other files for additional
692 configuration, help and logging. This section of the configuration file tells
693 Privoxy where to find those other files.
695 The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all configuration
696 files, and write permission to any files that would be modified, such as log
699 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
705 The directory where the other configuration files are located
713 /etc/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
721 No trailing "/", please
723 When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
724 per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of "confdir". For now, the
725 configuration directory structure is flat, except for confdir/templates,
726 where the HTML templates for CGI output reside (e.g. Privoxy's 404 error
729 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
735 The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where logfile and jarfile
744 /var/log/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
752 No trailing "/", please
754 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
760 The actions file(s) to use
764 File name, relative to confdir, without the .action suffix
768 standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended
770 default # Main actions file
772 user # User customizations
776 No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
780 Multiple actionsfile lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
782 The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
783 purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the "main" actions
784 file maintained by the developers, and user.action, where you can make your
787 Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done
788 for ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc. There is
789 no point in using Privoxy without at least one actions file.
791 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
797 The filter file to use
801 File name, relative to confdir
805 default.filter (Unix) or default.filter.txt (Windows)
809 No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all +filter{name} actions in
810 the actions files are turned neutral.
814 The "default.filter" file contains content modification rules that use
815 "regular expressions". These rules permit powerful changes on the content
816 of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances,
817 re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun replacing
818 "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web page.
820 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
830 File name, relative to logdir
834 logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows)
838 No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (stderr).
842 The windows version will additionally log to the console.
844 The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
845 of detail and number of messages are set with the debug option (see below).
846 The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with Privoxy (e.g.,
847 it's not blocking an ad you think it should block) but in most cases you
848 probably will never look at it.
850 Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
851 periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
852 (see "man cron"). For Red Hat, a logrotate script has been included.
854 On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like "/var/log/privoxy.* +1024k
855 644 nobody.nogroup" in /etc/logfiles, with the effect that cron.daily will
856 automatically archive, gzip, and empty the log, when it exceeds 1M size.
858 Any log files must be writable by whatever user Privoxy is being run as
859 (default on UNIX, user id is "privoxy").
861 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
867 The file to store intercepted cookies in
871 File name, relative to logdir
875 jarfile (Unix) or privoxy.jar (Windows)
879 Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
883 The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
885 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
891 The trust file to use
895 File name, relative to confdir
899 Unset (commented out). When activated: trust (Unix) or trust.txt (Windows)
903 The whole trust mechanism is turned off.
907 The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and
908 should be used with care. It is NOT recommended for the casual user.
910 If you specify a trust file, Privoxy will only allow access to sites that
911 are named in the trustfile. You can also mark sites as trusted referrers
912 (with +), with the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted,
913 if a link from a trusted referrer was used. The link target will then be
914 added to the "trustfile". Possible applications include limiting Internet
917 If you use + operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over
920 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
922 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation
924 If you intend to operate Privoxy for more users that just yourself, it might be
925 a good idea to let them know how to reach you, what you block and why you do
926 that, your policies etc.
928 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
934 Location of the Privoxy User Manual.
938 A fully qualified URI
946 http://www.privoxy.org/version/user-manual/ will be used, where version is
951 The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI
952 pages. The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary
953 distributions, so you propably want to set this to a locally installed
954 copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on a local webserver
955 for all your users and use the corresponding URL here.
959 Unix, in local filesystem:
961 user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-2.9.14/user-manual/
963 Any platform, on local webserver (called "local-webserver"):
965 user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/
967 +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
969 |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
970 |If set, this option should be the first option in the config |
971 |file, because it is used while the config file is being read. |
972 +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
974 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
976 7.2.2. trust-info-url
980 A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an
981 untrusted page is denied.
989 Two example URL are provided
993 No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
997 The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism
998 has been activated. (See trustfile above.)
1000 If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
1001 documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here. Use
1002 multiple times for multiple URLs.
1004 The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
1005 locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first
1008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1010 7.2.3. admin-address
1014 An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
1026 No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
1030 If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
1031 Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
1033 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1035 7.2.4. proxy-info-url
1039 A URL to documentation about the local Privoxy setup, configuration or
1052 No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user
1057 If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
1058 Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
1060 This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
1062 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1066 These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem. Note that you might
1067 also want to invoke Privoxy with the --no-daemon command line option when
1070 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1076 Key values that determine what information gets logged.
1084 12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)
1088 Nothing gets logged.
1092 The available debug levels are:
1094 debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
1095 debug 2 # show each connection status
1096 debug 4 # show I/O status
1097 debug 8 # show header parsing
1098 debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
1099 debug 32 # debug force feature
1100 debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
1101 debug 128 # debug fast redirects
1102 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
1103 debug 512 # Common Log Format
1104 debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
1105 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
1106 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
1108 To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use multiple
1111 A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request as
1112 it happens. 1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended so that you will notice
1113 when things go wrong. The other levels are probably only of interest if you
1114 are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce a hell of an output
1117 The reporting of fatal errors (i.e. ones which crash Privoxy) is always on
1118 and cannot be disabled.
1120 If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512" ONLY
1121 and not enable anything else.
1123 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1125 7.3.2. single-threaded
1129 Whether to run only one server thread
1141 Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability
1142 to serve multiple requests simultaneously.
1146 This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never need to
1147 use it. It will drastically reduce performance.
1149 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1151 7.4. Access Control and Security
1153 This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects of
1154 Privoxy's configuration.
1156 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1158 7.4.1. listen-address
1162 The IP address and TCP port on which Privoxy will listen for client
1175 Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended
1176 for home users who run Privoxy on the same machine as their browser.
1180 You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
1182 If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
1183 serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well,
1184 you will need to override the default.
1186 If you leave out the IP address, Privoxy will bind to all interfaces
1187 (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable from the Internet. In
1188 that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's) (see "ACLs" below),
1193 Suppose you are running Privoxy on a machine which has the address
1194 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0) and has another
1195 outside connection with a different address. You want it to serve requests
1198 listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
1200 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1206 Initial state of "toggle" status
1218 Act as if toggled on
1222 If set to 0, Privoxy will start in "toggled off" mode, i.e. behave like a
1223 normal, content-neutral proxy. See enable-remote-toggle below. This is not
1224 really useful anymore, since toggling is much easier via the web interface
1225 than via editing the conf file.
1227 The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray if
1228 this option is present.
1230 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1232 7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
1236 Whether or not the web-based toggle feature may be used
1248 The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
1252 When toggled off, Privoxy acts like a normal, content-neutral proxy, i.e.
1253 it acts as if none of the actions applied to any URL.
1255 For the time being, access to the toggle feature can not be controlled
1256 separately by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can
1257 access Privoxy (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can toggle it for all
1258 users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
1261 Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
1262 otherwise this option has no effect.
1264 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1266 7.4.4. enable-edit-actions
1270 Whether or not the web-based actions file editor may be used
1282 The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
1286 For the time being, access to the editor can not be controlled separately
1287 by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can access Privoxy
1288 (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can modify its configuration for all
1289 users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
1292 Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
1293 otherwise this option has no effect.
1295 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1297 7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
1301 Who can access what.
1305 src_addr[/src_masklen] [dst_addr[/dst_masklen]]
1307 Where src_addr and dst_addr are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or
1308 valid DNS names, and src_masklen and dst_masklen are subnet masks in CIDR
1309 notation, i.e. integer values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in
1310 bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole destination part are
1319 Don't restrict access further than implied by listen-address
1323 Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
1324 administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. For a
1325 typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that Privoxy only
1326 listens on the localhost or internal (home) network address by means of the
1327 listen-address option.
1329 Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a
1330 substitute for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic
1331 security weaknesses.
1333 Multiple ACL lines are OK. If any ACLs are specified, then the Privoxy
1334 talks only to IP addresses that match at least one permit-access line and
1335 don't match any subsequent deny-access line. In other words, the last match
1336 wins, with the default being deny-access.
1338 If Privoxy is using a forwarder (see forward below) for a particular
1339 destination URL, the dst_addr that is examined is the address of the
1340 forwarder and NOT the address of the ultimate target. This is necessary
1341 because it may be impossible for the local Privoxy to determine the IP
1342 address of the ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
1344 You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address
1345 lookups take time. All DNS names must resolve! You can not use domain
1346 patterns like "*.org" or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to
1347 multiple IP addresses, only the first one is used.
1349 Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
1350 if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other
1355 Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and listen-address are
1356 set: "localhost" is OK. The absence of a dst_addr implies that all
1357 destination addresses are OK:
1359 permit-access localhost
1361 Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
1362 nothing but www.example.com:
1364 permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
1366 Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
1367 with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access
1368 www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
1370 permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
1371 deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
1373 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1379 Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
1391 Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
1395 For content filtering, i.e. the +filter and +deanimate-gif actions, it is
1396 necessary that Privoxy buffers the entire document body. This can be
1397 potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending data
1398 indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
1401 When a document buffer size reaches the buffer-limit, it is flushed to the
1402 client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter the rest of the document
1403 is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads running, which might
1404 require up to buffer-limit Kbytes each, unless you have enabled
1405 "single-threaded" above.
1407 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1411 This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of multiple
1412 proxies. It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
1413 accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains through an
1414 anonymous public proxy (see e.g. http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm) Or to
1415 use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent proxy may be
1416 necessary because the machine that Privoxy runs on has no direct Internet
1419 Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Privoxy supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS
1422 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1428 To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
1432 target_domain[:port] http_parent[/port]
1434 Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain
1435 matching in the default.action file), http_parent is the address of the
1436 parent HTTP proxy as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a
1437 valid DNS name (or "." to denote "no forwarding", and the optional port
1438 parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
1446 Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
1450 If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
1451 proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
1453 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
1458 Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443
1459 (which it doesn't handle):
1461 forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
1464 Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests to
1467 forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
1468 forward .example-isp.net .
1470 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1472 7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
1476 Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific
1477 requests should be routed.
1481 target_domain[:port] socks_proxy[/port] http_parent[/port]
1483 Where target_domain is a domain name pattern (see the chapter on domain
1484 matching in the default.action file), http_parent and socks_proxy are IP
1485 addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (http_parent may be
1486 "." to denote "no HTTP forwarding"), and the optional port parameters are
1487 TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
1495 Don't use SOCKS proxies.
1499 Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
1502 The difference between forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a is that in the
1503 SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the
1504 SOCKS server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
1506 If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
1507 proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
1512 From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all "internal"
1513 domains, but everything outbound goes through their ISP's proxy by way of
1514 example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to the Internet.
1516 forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
1517 forward .example.com .
1519 A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent
1522 forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
1524 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1526 7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
1528 If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content only to
1529 their subscribers, you can configure multiple Privoxies which have connections
1530 to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that your users
1531 can see the internal content of all ISPs.
1533 Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP
1534 connection to isp-b.net. Both run Privoxy. Their forwarding configuration can
1540 forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
1545 forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
1547 Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either host-a or host-b
1548 and be able to browse the internal content of both isp-a and isp-b.
1550 If you intend to chain Privoxy and squid locally, then chain as browser ->
1551 squid -> privoxy is the recommended way.
1553 Assuming that Privoxy and squid run on the same box, your squid configuration
1554 could then look like this:
1556 # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
1557 cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
1559 # Define ACL for protocol FTP
1562 # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
1563 always_direct allow ftp
1565 # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
1566 never_direct allow all
1568 You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to squid's address
1569 and port. Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult http_port in
1572 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1574 7.6. Windows GUI Options
1576 Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface:
1578 If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate when
1579 "Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
1581 activity-animation 1
1584 If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the console window:
1589 If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the amount
1590 of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console window, will be
1591 limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
1593 Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and eat
1599 log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer. See above.
1604 If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight portions of the
1605 log messages with a bold-faced font:
1607 log-highlight-messages 1
1610 The font used in the console window:
1612 log-font-name Comic Sans MS
1615 Font size used in the console window:
1620 "show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as a button on
1621 the Task bar when minimized:
1626 If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will minimize
1627 Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with the exit option on the File
1630 close-button-minimizes 1
1633 The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of Privoxy.
1634 If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from and hide the command
1640 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1644 The actions files are used to define what actions Privoxy takes for which URLs,
1645 and thus determine how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP
1646 content and transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts
1647 thereof). There are three such files included with Privoxy (as of version
1648 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
1650 * standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various
1651 pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section in
1652 default.action. These have increasing levels of aggressiveness and have no
1653 influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the editor.
1654 It is not recommend to edit this file.
1656 * default.action - is the primary action file that sets the initial values
1657 for all actions. It is intended to provide a base level of functionality
1658 for Privoxy's array of features. So it is a set of broad rules that should
1659 work reasonably well for users everywhere. This is the file that the
1660 developers are keeping updated, and making available to users.
1662 * user.action - is intended to be for local site preferences and exceptions.
1663 As an example, if your ISP or your bank has specific requirements, and need
1664 special handling, this kind of thing should go here. This file will not be
1667 The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
1668 file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these can
1669 all be viewed and edited from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status.
1671 An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use "aliases"
1672 in an actions file, you have to place the (optional) alias section at the top
1673 of that file. Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally
1674 to all sites and pages (be very careful with using such a universal set in
1675 user.action or any other actions file after default.action, because it will
1676 override the result from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
1677 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard user.action as an
1678 appendix to default.action, with the advantage that is a separate file, which
1679 makes preserving your personal settings across Privoxy upgrades easier.
1681 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or just
1682 some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or
1683 rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written
1684 to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and
1685 much more. See below for a complete list of actions.
1687 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1689 8.1. Finding the Right Mix
1691 Note that some actions, like cookie suppression or script disabling, may render
1692 some sites unusable that rely on these techniques to work properly. Finding the
1693 right mix of actions is not always easy and certainly a matter of personal
1694 taste. In general, it can be said that the more "aggressive" your default
1695 settings (in the top section of the actions file) are, the more exceptions for
1696 "trusted" sites you will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill
1697 popup windows per default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for
1698 sites that you regularly use and that require popups for actually useful
1699 content, like maybe your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
1701 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
1702 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
1703 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
1704 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again
1707 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1711 The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by using our
1712 browser-based editor, which can be reached from http://config.privoxy.org/
1713 show-status. The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single
1714 feature on a per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults
1715 like "Cautious", "Medium" or "Advanced".
1717 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit
1718 the the actions files. Look at default.action which is richly commented.
1720 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1722 8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
1724 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections, like the "
1725 alias" sections which will be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on
1726 regular sections: They have a heading line (often split up to multiple lines
1727 for readability) which consist of a list of actions, separated by whitespace
1728 and enclosed in curly braces. Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each
1731 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
1732 compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the
1733 list of applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the
1734 heading of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
1735 the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not, the
1736 effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the "+handle-as-image" and
1739 You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting http://
1740 config.privoxy.org/show-url-info.
1742 More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, Anatomy of an Action.
1744 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1748 Generally, a pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, where both the <domain> and
1749 <path> are optional. (This is why the pattern / matches all URLs).
1753 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to www.example.com,
1754 regardless of which document on that server is requested.
1758 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing / may be
1761 www.example.com/index.html
1763 matches only the single document /index.html on www.example.com.
1767 matches the document /index.html, regardless of the domain, i.e. on any web
1772 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and there
1773 is no top-level domain called .html.
1775 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1777 8.4.1. The Domain Pattern
1779 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the domain
1780 starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end. For example:
1784 matches any domain that ENDS in .example.com
1788 matches any domain that STARTS with www.
1792 matches any domain that CONTAINS .example. (Correctly speaking: It matches
1793 any FQDN that contains example as a domain.)
1795 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
1796 themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: "*" stands for zero
1797 or more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any single character, you can
1798 define character classes in square brackets and all of that can be freely
1803 matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but not
1808 matches all of the above, and then some.
1812 matches www.ipix.com, pictures.epix.com, a.b.c.d.e.upix.com etc.
1814 www[1-9a-ez].example.c*
1816 matches www1.example.com, www4.example.cc, wwwd.example.cy,
1817 wwwz.example.com etc., but not wwww.example.com.
1819 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1821 8.4.2. The Path Pattern
1823 Privoxy uses Perl compatible regular expressions (through the PCRE library) for
1826 There is an Appendix with a brief quick-start into regular expressions, and
1827 full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
1828 at http://www.pcre.org/man.txt. You might also find the Perl man page on
1829 regular expressions (man perlre) useful, which is available on-line at http://
1830 www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html.
1832 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the "/", i.e. it
1833 matches as if it would start with a "^" (regular expression speak for the
1834 beginning of a line).
1836 Please also note that matching in the path is case INSENSITIVE by default, but
1837 you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the "(?
1838 -i)" switch: www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* will match only documents whose
1839 path starts with PaTtErN in exactly this capitalization.
1841 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1845 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
1846 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a "+", and
1847 turned off if preceded with a "-". So a +action means "do that action", e.g.
1848 +block means "please block URLs that match the following patterns", and -block
1849 means "don't block URLs that match the following patterns, even if +block
1850 previously applied."
1852 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces
1853 and separated by whitespace, like in {+some-action -some-other-action
1854 {some-parameter}}, followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which
1855 they apply. Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up
1856 a section of the actions file.
1858 There are three classes of actions:
1860 * Boolean, i.e the action can only be "enabled" or "disabled". Syntax:
1862 +name # enable action name
1863 -name # disable action name
1867 * Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of
1870 +name{param} # enable action and set parameter to param,
1871 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
1872 -name # disable action. The parameter can be omitted
1874 Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized
1875 action, the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are
1878 Example: +hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }
1880 * Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions, but they behave
1881 differently: If the action applies multiple times to the same URL, but with
1882 different parameters, all the parameters from all matches are remembered.
1883 This is used for actions that can be executed for the same request
1884 repeatedly, like adding multiple headers, or filtering through multiple
1887 +name{param} # enable action and add param to the list of parameters
1888 -name{param} # remove the parameter param from the list of parameters
1889 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
1890 -name # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list
1892 Examples: +add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text} and +filter{html-annoyances}
1894 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no "actions" are taken. So in this
1895 case Privoxy would just be a normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You
1896 must specifically enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although
1897 the provided default actions files will give a good starting point).
1899 Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions to any rules
1900 you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or in a file that is
1901 processed later when using multiple actions files). For multi-valued actions,
1902 the actions are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are
1903 processed in the order they are defined in config (the default installation has
1904 three actions files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match
1905 more than one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
1907 The list of valid Privoxy actions are:
1909 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1917 Purpose and typical uses:
1919 Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server. Can be used to confuse
1924 Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
1925 It is recommended that you use the "X-" prefix for custom headers.
1929 {+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}}
1934 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
1935 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
1936 "HTTP headers" are, you definitely don't need to worry about this one.
1938 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1946 Purpose and typical uses:
1948 Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
1949 requests are not forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with
1950 a substitute page or image, as determined by the handle-as-image and
1951 set-image-blocker actions. It is typically used to block ads or other
1961 .banners.example.com
1967 If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, Privoxy will intercept the
1968 URL and display its special "BLOCKED" page instead. If there is sufficient
1969 space, a large red banner will appear with a friendly message about why the
1970 page was blocked, and a way to go there anyway. If there is insufficient
1971 space a smaller "BLOCKED" page will appear without the red banner. Click
1972 here to view the default blocked HTML page (Privoxy must be running for
1973 this to work as intended!).
1975 A very important exception is if the URL matches both "+block" and
1976 "+handle-as-image", then it will be handled by "+set-image-blocker" (see
1977 below). It is important to understand this process, in order to understand
1978 how Privoxy is able to deal with ads and other objectionable content.
1980 The "+filter" action can also perform some of the same functionality as
1981 "+block", but by virtue of very different programming techniques, and is
1982 most often used for different reasons.
1984 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986 8.5.3. +deanimate-gifs
1994 To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
2002 {+deanimate-gifs{last}}
2008 De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame.
2009 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
2010 the option "first" is given, the first frame of the animation is used as
2011 the replacement. If "last" is given, the last frame of the animation is
2012 used instead, which probably makes more sense for most banner animations,
2013 but also has the risk of not showing the entire last frame (if it is only a
2014 delta to an earlier frame).
2016 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018 8.5.4. +downgrade-http-version
2026 "+downgrade-http-version" will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to HTTP/
2027 1.0 and downgrade the responses as well.
2035 {+downgrade-http-version}
2041 Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
2042 Privoxy doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is only partially implemented.
2043 Default is not to downgrade requests. This is an infrequently needed
2044 action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only.
2046 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2048 8.5.5. +fast-redirects
2056 The "+fast-redirects" action enables interception of "redirect" requests
2057 from one server to another, which are used to track users.Privoxy can cut
2058 off all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local
2059 redirect back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
2073 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
2074 will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a
2075 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs resulting
2076 from this scheme typically look like: http://some.place/some_script?http://
2079 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
2080 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
2081 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go to.
2082 Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your browser
2083 ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds the
2086 This is a normally "on" feature, and often requires exceptions for sites
2087 that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
2089 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2099 Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the default.filter
2100 file to the specified site(s). "Filtering" can be any modification of the
2101 raw page content, including re-writing or deletion of content.
2105 "+filter" must include the name of one of the section identifiers from
2106 default.filter (or whatever filterfile is specified in config).
2108 Example usage (from the current default.filter):
2110 +filter{html-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
2112 +filter{js-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
2114 +filter{content-cookies}: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
2116 +filter{popups}: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
2118 +filter{frameset-borders}: Give frames a border and make them resizable
2120 +filter{webbugs}: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user
2123 +filter{refresh-tags}: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand
2126 +filter{fun}: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
2128 +filter{nimda}: Remove Nimda (virus) code.
2130 +filter{banners-by-size}: Kill banners by size (very efficient!)
2132 +filter{shockwave-flash}: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
2134 +filter{crude-parental}: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or
2139 This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge of
2140 regular expressions if you want to "roll your own". Filtering operates on a
2141 line by line basis throughout the entire page.
2143 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to slow
2144 down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has passed
2145 the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way since the
2146 page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more noticeable
2147 on slower connections.
2149 Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the "+block" action, i.e. it
2150 can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall scheme of things,
2151 filtering is one of the first things "Privoxy" does with a web page. So
2152 other most other actions are applied to the already "filtered" page.
2154 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2156 8.5.7. +hide-forwarded-for-headers
2164 Block any existing X-Forwarded-for HTTP header, and do not add a new one.
2172 {+hide-forwarded-for-headers}
2178 It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites.
2180 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2182 8.5.8. +hide-from-header
2190 To block the browser from sending your email address in a "From:" header.
2194 Keyword: "block", or any user defined value.
2198 {+hide-from-header{block}}
2204 The keyword "block" will completely remove the header (not to be confused
2205 with the "+block" action). Alternately, you can specify any value you
2206 prefer to send to the web server.
2208 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2210 8.5.9. +hide-referer
2218 Don't send the "Referer:" (sic) HTTP header to the web site. Or,
2219 alternately send a forged header instead.
2223 Prevent the header from being sent with the keyword, "block". Or, "forge" a
2224 URL to one from the same server as the request. Or, set to user defined
2225 value of your choice.
2229 {+hide-referer{forge}}
2235 "forge" is the preferred option here, since some servers will not send
2236 images back otherwise.
2238 "+hide-referrer" is an alternate spelling of "+hide-referer". It has the
2239 exact same parameters, and can be freely mixed with, "+hide-referer".
2240 ("referrer" is the correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification
2241 has a bug - it requires it to be spelled as "referer".)
2243 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2245 8.5.10. +hide-user-agent
2253 To change the "User-Agent:" header so web servers can't tell your browser
2254 type. Who's business is it anyway?
2258 Any user defined string.
2262 {+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}}
2268 Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order to
2269 determine how the target browser will respond to various requests. Use with
2272 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2274 8.5.11. +handle-as-image
2282 To define what Privoxy should treat automatically as an image, and is an
2283 important ingredient of how ads are handled.
2292 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)
2297 This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is "+block"ed, in which
2298 case a user definable image can be sent rather than a HTML page. This is
2299 integral to the whole concept of ad blocking: the URL must match both a
2300 "+block" rule, and "+handle-as-image". (See "+set-image-blocker" below for
2301 control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.)
2303 There is little reason to change the default definition for this action.
2305 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2307 8.5.12. +set-image-blocker
2315 Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with both "+block" and
2316 "+handle-as-image", e.g an advertisement.
2320 There are four available options: "-set-image-blocker" will send a HTML
2321 "blocked" page, usually resulting in a "broken image" icon.
2322 "+set-image-blocker{blank}" will send a 1x1 transparent GIF image.
2323 "+set-image-blocker{pattern}" will send a checkerboard type pattern (the
2324 default). And finally, "+set-image-blocker{http://xyz.com}" will send a
2325 HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of
2326 the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed up the
2331 {+set-image-blocker{blank}}
2337 If you want invisible ads, they need to meet criteria as matching both
2338 images and blocked actions. And then, "image-blocker" should be set to
2339 "blank" for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as images in
2340 most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to display. So a
2341 frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image. Forcing an
2342 "image" in this situation just will not work reliably.
2344 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2346 8.5.13. +limit-connect
2354 By default, Privoxy only allows HTTP CONNECT requests to port 443 (the
2355 standard, secure HTTPS port). Use "+limit-connect" to disable this
2356 altogether, or to allow more ports.
2360 Any valid port number, or port number range.
2364 +limit-connect{443} #
2365 This is the default and need not be specified.
2366 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
2367 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} #
2368 Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
2373 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
2374 (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy connects
2375 to the server on the specified port, and then short-circuits its
2376 connections to the client and to the remote proxy. This can be a big
2377 security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be abused as TCP relays
2380 If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid
2381 CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and
2382 port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and
2385 If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
2388 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2390 8.5.14. +prevent-compression
2398 Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data.
2406 {+prevent-compression}
2412 Some websites do this, which can be a problem for Privoxy, since "+filter",
2413 "+kill-popups" and "+gif-deanimate" will not work on compressed data. This
2414 will slow down connections to those websites, though. Default typically is
2415 to turn "prevent-compression" on.
2417 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2419 8.5.15. +session-cookies-only
2427 Allow cookies for the current browser session only.
2433 Example usage (disabling):
2435 {-session-cookies-only}
2441 If websites set cookies, "+session-cookies-only" will make sure they are
2442 erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes profiling
2443 cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so that you
2444 can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all sites, and
2445 is the recommended setting.
2447 "+prevent-*-cookies" actions should be turned off as well (see below), for
2448 "+session-cookies-only" to work. Or, else no cookies will get through at
2449 all. For, "persistent" cookies that survive across browser sessions, see
2452 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2454 8.5.16. +prevent-reading-cookies
2462 Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your system.
2470 {+prevent-reading-cookies}
2476 Often used in conjunction with "+prevent-setting-cookies" to disable
2477 cookies completely. Note that "+session-cookies-only" requires these to
2478 both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache).
2480 For "persistent" cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser sessions
2481 and reboots), all three cookie settings should be "off" for the specified
2484 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2486 8.5.17. +prevent-setting-cookies
2494 Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your system.
2502 {+prevent-setting-cookies}
2508 Often used in conjunction with "+prevent-reading-cookies" to disable
2509 cookies completely (see above).
2511 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2513 8.5.18. +kill-popups
2521 Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows!
2535 "+kill-popups" uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups that use the
2536 window.open() function, etc. This is one of the first actions processed by
2537 Privoxy as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always
2538 100% reliable, and is supplemented by "+filter{popups}".
2540 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2542 8.5.19. +send-vanilla-wafer
2550 Sends a cookie for every site stating that you do not accept any copyright
2551 on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you.
2559 {+send-vanilla-wafer}
2565 This action only applies if you are using a jarfile for saving cookies. Of
2566 course, this is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used
2569 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2579 This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie.
2583 User specified cookie name and corresponding value.
2587 {+send-wafer{name=value}}
2593 This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you
2596 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2600 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
2601 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways a site
2602 designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header content, and other
2603 criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules for all
2604 sites. See the Appendix for a brief example on troubleshooting actions.
2606 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2608 8.5.22. Sample Actions Files
2610 Remember that the meaning of any of the above references is reversed by
2611 preceding the action with a "-", in place of the "+". Also, that some actions
2612 are turned on in the default section of the actions file, and require little to
2613 no additional configuration. These are just "on".
2615 But, other actions that are turned on in the default section do typically
2616 require exceptions to be listed in the latter sections of one of our actions
2617 file. For instance, by default no URLs are "blocked" (i.e. in the default
2618 definitions of default.action). We need exceptions to this in order to enable
2619 ad blocking in the lower sections. But we need to be very selective about what
2620 we do block. Thus, the default is "off" for blocking.
2622 Below is a liberally commented sample default.action file to demonstrate how
2623 all the pieces come together. And to show how exceptions to the default
2624 policies can be handled. This is followed by a brief user.action with similar
2627 # Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org>
2629 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
2631 for-privoxy-version=3.0
2634 ##########################################################################
2635 # Aliases must be defined *before* they are used. These are
2636 # easier to remember, and can combine several actions into one. Once
2637 # defined they can be used just like any built-in action -- but within
2638 # this file only! Aliases do not require a + or - sign.
2639 ##########################################################################
2641 # Some useful aliases.
2642 # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
2643 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \
2644 -session-cookies-only
2646 # Alias to both block and treat as if an image for ad blocking
2648 +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
2650 # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
2651 fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
2652 -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
2654 # Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies
2655 shop = -filter -prevent-cookies -session-cookies-only
2658 ##########################################################################
2659 # Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match
2660 # all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions that also match, defined below this
2661 # section. We will show all potential actions here whether they are on
2662 # or off. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all
2663 # actions are 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only.
2664 # Actions are enabled if preceded by a '+', otherwise they are disabled
2665 # (unless an alias has been defined without this).
2666 ##########################################################################
2671 -downgrade-http-version \
2673 +filter{html-annoyances} \
2674 +filter{js-annoyances} \
2675 -filter{content-cookies} \
2678 -filter{refresh-tags} \
2681 +filter{banners-by-size} \
2682 -filter{shockwave-flash} \
2683 -filter{crude-prental} \
2684 +hide-forwarded-for-headers \
2685 +hide-from-header{block} \
2689 +set-image-blocker{pattern} \
2691 +prevent-compression \
2692 -session-cookies-only \
2693 -prevent-reading-cookies \
2694 -prevent-setting-cookies \
2696 -send-vanilla-wafer \
2699 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.
2701 ##########################################################################
2702 # Default behavior is now set. Now we will define some exceptions to our
2703 # default action policies.
2704 ##########################################################################
2706 # These sites are very complex and require very minimal interference.
2707 # We'll disable most actions with our 'fragile' alias:
2709 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
2710 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
2713 # Shopping sites - not as fragile but require some special
2714 # handling. We still want to block ads, and we will allow
2715 # persistant cookies via the 'shop' alias:
2718 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
2723 # These sites require pop-ups too :( We'll combine our 'shop'
2724 # alias with two other actions into one rule to allow all popups.
2725 { shop -kill-popups -filter{popups} }
2730 # The 'Fast-redirects' action breaks some sites. Disable this action
2731 # for these known sensitive sites:
2734 edit.europe.yahoo.com
2736 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
2737 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
2741 # Define which file types will be treated as images. Important
2743 { +handle-as-image }
2744 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)
2747 # Now lets list some domains that are known ad generators. And
2748 # our alias that we use here will block these as well as force
2749 # them to be treated as images. This combination of actions is
2750 # important for ad blocking. What the browser will show instead is
2751 # determined by the setting of "+set-image-blocker"
2755 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
2756 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
2760 ad.*.doubleclick.net
2763 # These will just simply be blocked. They will generate the BLOCKED
2764 # banner page, if matched. Heavy use of wildcards and regular
2765 # expressions in this example. Enable block action:
2771 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
2772 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
2776 # The above block section will probably inadvertantly catch some
2777 # sites we DO NOT want blocked via the wildcards and regular expressions.
2778 # Now let's set exceptions to the exceptions so the good guys get better
2779 # treatment. Disable block action:
2785 # Let's just trust all .edu top level domains.
2787 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
2788 # We'll need to access to path names containing 'download'
2791 # 'adv' is for globalintersec and means advanced, not advertisement
2792 www.globalintersec.com/adv
2795 # Don't filter *anything* from our friends at sourceforge.
2796 # Notice we don't have to name the individual filter
2797 # identifiers -- we just turn them all off in one fell swoop.
2798 # Disable all filters for this one site:
2803 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies. The
2804 above would be a reasonable starting point for many situations. Now, we want to
2805 be more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable to our
2806 personal habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined situations
2807 like your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in user.action, which is
2808 parsed after all other actions files and should not be clobbered by upgrades.
2809 So any settings here, will have the last word and over-ride any previously
2812 Now a few examples of some things that one might do with a user.action file.
2814 # Sample user.action file.
2816 # Any aliases you want to use need to be re-defined here.
2817 # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
2818 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \
2819 -session-cookies-only
2821 # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
2822 fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
2823 -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
2825 # Allow persistent cookies for a few regular sites that we
2826 # trust via our above alias. These will be saved from one browser session
2827 # to the next. We are explicity turning off any and all cookie handling,
2828 # even though the prevent-*-cookie settings were disabled in our above
2829 # default.action anyway. So cookies from these domains will come through
2831 { -prevent-cookies }
2838 # My ISP uses obnoxious self promoting images on many pages.
2839 # Nuke them :) Note that "+handle-as-image" need not be specified,
2840 # since all URLs ending in .gif will be tagged as images by the
2841 # general rules in default.action anyway.
2843 www.my-isp-example.com/logo[0-9].gif
2846 # Say the site where you do your homebanking needs to open
2847 # popup windows, but you have chosen to kill popups by
2848 # default. This will allow it for your-example-bank.com:
2850 { -filter{popups} -kill-popups }
2851 .my-example-bank.com
2854 # This site is delicate, and requires kid-glove
2860 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2864 Custom "actions", known to Privoxy as "aliases", can be defined by combining
2865 other "actions". These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in "actions".
2866 Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, "=", "{" or "}
2867 ". But please use only "a"- "z", "0"-"9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not
2868 case sensitive, and must be defined before other actions in the actions file!
2869 And there can only be one set of "aliases" defined per file. Each actions file
2870 may have its own aliases, but they are only visible within that file. Aliases
2871 do not requir a "+" or "-" sign in front, since they are merely expanded.
2873 Now let's define a few aliases:
2875 # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
2877 +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
2878 -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
2880 -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
2881 shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
2882 +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
2884 # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type
2886 c0 = +prevent-cookies
2887 c1 = -prevent-cookies
2888 #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
2891 Some examples using our "shop" and "fragile" aliases from above. These would
2892 appear in the lower sections of an actions file as exceptions to the default
2893 actions (as defined in the upper section):
2895 # These sites are very complex and require
2896 # minimal interference.
2898 .office.microsoft.com
2899 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
2902 # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
2905 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
2908 # These shops require pop-ups also
2914 The "shop" and "fragile" aliases are often used for "problem" sites that
2915 require most actions to be disabled in order to function properly.
2917 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2921 Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
2922 modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content, including
2923 tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is oddly enough
2924 default.filter, located in the config directory.
2926 This is potentially a very powerful feature, and requires knowledge of both
2927 "regular expression" and HTML in order create custom filters. But, there are a
2928 number of useful filters included with Privoxy for many common situations.
2930 The included example file is divided into sections. Each section begins with
2931 the FILTER keyword, followed by the identifier for that section, e.g. "FILTER:
2932 webbugs". Each section performs a similar type of filtering, such as
2935 This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in the target
2936 page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a time. Some examples
2937 from the included default default.filter:
2939 Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by deleting
2942 FILTER: html-annoyances
2944 # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and status
2947 s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
2948 s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
2949 s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
2950 s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
2952 # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
2954 s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
2958 #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
2959 #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
2962 Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck", and
2963 have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
2967 s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
2971 s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BINGO!</b></
2975 Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
2977 # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
2980 s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1
2981 (\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
2984 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2986 9.1. The +filter Action
2988 Filters are enabled with the "+filter" action from within one of the actions
2989 files. "+filter" requires one parameter, which should match one of the section
2990 identifiers in the filter file itself. Example:
2992 +filter{html-annoyances}
2994 This would activate that particular filter. Similarly, "+filter" can be turned
2995 off for selected sites as: "-filter{html-annoyances}". Remember too, all
2996 actions are off by default, unless they are explicity enabled in one of the
2999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3003 When Privoxy displays one of its internal pages, such as a 404 Not Found error
3004 page (Privoxy must be running for link to work as intended), it uses the
3005 appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these are located in /etc/
3006 privoxy/templates by default. These may be customized, if desired.
3007 cgi-style.css is used to control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
3009 The default Blocked (Privoxy needs to be running for page to display) banner
3010 page with the bright red top banner, is called just "blocked". This may be
3011 customized or replaced with something else if desired.
3013 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3015 11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
3017 We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
3018 note the following sections.
3020 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3024 To get support, use the Sourceforge Support Forum:
3026 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
3028 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3032 To submit bugs, use the Sourceforge Bug Forum:
3034 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
3036 Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
3037 that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are using
3038 your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the
3039 problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest development
3040 snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS sources. Please be
3041 sure to include the Privoxy version, platform, browser, any pertinent log data,
3042 any other relevant details (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to
3045 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3047 11.3. Request new features
3049 To submit ideas on new features, use the Sourceforge feature request forum:
3051 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
3053 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3055 11.4. Report ads or other filter problems
3057 You can also send feedback on websites that Privoxy has problems with. Please
3058 bookmark the following link: "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback". Once you surf
3059 to a page with problems, use the bookmark to send us feedback. We will look
3060 into the issue as soon as possible.
3062 New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
3063 your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
3065 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3069 For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
3071 http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
3073 Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
3074 discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are available,
3075 too. See the page on Sourceforge.
3077 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3079 12. Copyright and History
3083 Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
3084 terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
3085 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
3088 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
3089 WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
3090 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, which
3091 is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite
3092 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
3094 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
3095 this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
3096 Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
3098 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3102 Privoxy is evolved, and derived from, the Internet Junkbuster, with many
3103 improvments and enhancements over the original.
3105 Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters
3106 Corporation, and was released as free open-source software under the GNU GPL.
3107 Stefan Waldherr made many improvements, and started the SourceForge project
3108 Privoxy to rekindle development. There are now several active developers
3109 contributing. The last stable release of Junkbuster was v2.0.2, which has now
3112 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3116 Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
3118 http://www.privoxy.org/, The Privoxy Home page.
3120 http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa, the Project Page for Privoxy on
3123 http://p.p/, access Privoxy from your browser. Alternately, http://
3124 config.privoxy.org may work in some situations where the first does not.
3126 http://p.p/, and select "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback" to submit "misses"
3129 http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
3131 http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
3133 http://privacy.net/analyze/
3135 http://www.squid-cache.org/
3139 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3143 14.1. Regular Expressions
3145 Privoxy can use "regular expressions" in various config files. Assuming support
3146 for "pcre" (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) is compiled in, which is the
3147 default. Such configuration directives do not require regular expressions, but
3148 they can be used to increase flexibility by matching a pattern with wild-cards
3151 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what "regular
3152 expressions" are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
3153 introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
3155 "Regular expressions" is a way of matching one character expression against
3156 another to see if it matches or not. One of the "expressions" is a literal
3157 string of readable characters (letter, numbers, etc), and the other is a
3158 complex string of literal characters combined with wild-cards, and other
3159 special characters, called meta-characters. The "meta-characters" have special
3160 meanings and are used to build the complex pattern to be matched against. Perl
3161 Compatible Regular Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression
3162 language with backward compatibility.
3164 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
3165 characters when listing files with the dir command in DOS. *.* matches all
3166 filenames. The "special" character here is the asterisk which matches any and
3167 all characters. We can be more specific and use ? to match just individual
3168 characters. So "dir file?.text" would match "file1.txt", "file2.txt", etc. We
3169 are pattern matching, using a similar technique to "regular expressions"!
3171 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
3172 powerful. There are many more "special characters" and ways of building complex
3173 patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones, and then some
3176 . - Matches any single character, e.g. "a", "A", "4", ":", or "@".
3178 ? - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE times. Either/
3181 + - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE times.
3183 * - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE times.
3185 \ - The "escape" character denotes that the following character should be taken
3186 literally. This is used where one of the special characters (e.g. ".") needs to
3187 be taken literally and not as a special meta-character. Example: "example
3188 \.com", makes sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded
3189 to its meta-character meaning of any single character).
3191 [] - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if any of the enclosed
3192 characters are encountered. For instance, "[0-9]" matches any numeric digit
3193 (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine this with "+" to match any
3194 digit one of more times: "[0-9]+".
3196 () - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression, or multiple
3199 | - The "bar" character works like an "or" conditional statement. A match is
3200 successful if the sub-expression on either side of "|" matches. As an example:
3201 "/(this|that) example/" uses grouping and the bar character and would match
3202 either "this example" or "that example", and nothing else.
3204 s/string1/string2/g - This is used to rewrite strings of text. "string1" is
3205 replaced by "string2" in this example. There must of course be a match on
3208 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
3209 Privoxy, and is a long way from a definitive list. This is enough to get us
3210 started with a few simple examples which may be more illuminating:
3212 /.*/banners/.* - A simple example that uses the common combination of "." and "
3213 *" to denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at
3214 all. So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression
3215 pattern (".*") another literal forward slash, the string "banners", another
3216 forward slash, and lastly another ".*". We are building a directory path here.
3217 This will match any file with the path that has a directory named "banners" in
3218 it. The ".*" matches any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward
3219 slashes, so it might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this
3220 could match: "/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif", or just "/
3221 banners/annoying.html", or almost an infinite number of other possible
3222 combinations, just so it has "banners" in the path somewhere.
3224 A now something a little more complex:
3226 /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/ - We have several literal forward
3227 slashes again ("/"), so we are building another expression that is a file path
3228 statement. We have another ".*", so we are matching against any conceivable
3229 sub-path, just so it matches our expression. The only true literal that must
3230 match our pattern is adv, together with the forward slashes. What comes after
3231 the "adv" string is the interesting part.
3233 Remember the "?" means the preceding expression (either a literal character or
3234 anything grouped with "(...)" in this case) can exist or not, since this means
3235 either zero or one match. So "((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))" is optional, as
3236 are the individual sub-expressions: "(er)", "(ing|ements?)", and the "s". The "
3237 |" means "or". We have two of those. For instance, "(ing|ements?)", can expand
3238 to match either "ing" OR "ements?". What is being done here, is an attempt at
3239 matching as many variations of "advertisement", and similar, as possible. So
3240 this would expand to match just "adv", or "advert", or "adverts", or
3241 "advertising", or "advertisement", or "advertisements". You get the idea. But
3242 it would not match "advertizements" (with a "z"). We could fix that by changing
3243 our regular expression to: "/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/", which
3244 would then match either spelling.
3246 /.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g) - Again another path statement with forward
3247 slashes. Anything in the square brackets "[]" can be matched. This is using
3248 "0-9" as a shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the
3249 same as saying "0123456789". So any digit matches. The "+" means one or more of
3250 the preceding expression must be included. The preceding expression here is
3251 what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit one through nine.
3252 Then, at the end, we have a grouping: "(gif|jpe?g)". This includes a "|", so
3253 this needs to match the expression on either side of that bar character also. A
3254 simple "gif" on one side, and the other side will in turn match either "jpeg"
3255 or "jpg", since the "?" means the letter "e" is optional and can be matched
3256 once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to match image GIF or
3257 JPEG type image file. It must include the literal string "advert", then one or
3258 more digits, and a "." (which is now a literal, and not a special character,
3259 since it is escaped with "\"), and lastly either "gif", or "jpeg", or "jpg".
3260 Some possible matches would include: "//advert1.jpg", "/nasty/ads/
3261 advert1234.gif", "/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg". It would not match
3262 "advert1.gif" (no leading slash), or "/adverts232.jpg" (the expression does not
3263 include an "s"), or "/advert1.jsp" ("jsp" is not in the expression anywhere).
3265 s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i - This is a substitution. "MicroSuck" will
3266 replace any occurrence of "microsoft". The "i" at the end of the expression
3267 means ignore case. The "(?!.com)" means the match should fail if "microsoft" is
3268 followed by ".com". In other words, this acts like a "NOT" modifier. In case
3269 this is a hyperlink, we don't want to break it ;-).
3271 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
3272 can understand the default Privoxy configuration files, and maybe use this
3273 knowledge to customize your own installation. There is much, much more that can
3274 be done with regular expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you
3275 can learn more on your own :/
3277 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions: http://www.perldoc.com/
3278 perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
3280 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3282 14.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
3284 Since Privoxy proxies each requested web page, it is easy for Privoxy to trap
3285 certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to Privoxy, and see how
3286 it is configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these rules and
3287 other configuration options, and even turn Privoxy's filtering off, all with a
3290 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access to Privoxy.
3291 Of course, Privoxy must be running to access these. If not, you will get a
3292 friendly error message. Internet access is not necessary either.
3294 * Privoxy main page:
3296 http://config.privoxy.org/
3298 Alternately, this may be reached at http://p.p/, but this variation may not
3299 work as reliably as the above in some configurations.
3301 * Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
3302 editing of actions files:
3304 http://config.privoxy.org/show-status
3306 * Show the source code version numbers:
3308 http://config.privoxy.org/show-version
3310 * Show the browser's request headers:
3312 http://config.privoxy.org/show-request
3314 * Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
3316 http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info
3318 * Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, "Privoxy" continues to run, but
3319 only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
3321 http://config.privoxy.org/toggle
3323 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
3325 http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable
3327 http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable
3329 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
3331 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3333 14.2.1. Bookmarklets
3335 Below are some "bookmarklets" to allow you to easily access a "mini" version of
3336 some of Privoxy's special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer,
3337 but should work equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which
3338 support JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not
3339 by clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
3341 To save them, right-click the link and choose "Add to Favorites" (IE) or "Add
3342 Bookmark" (Netscape). You will get a warning that the bookmark "may not be
3343 safe" - just click OK. Then you can run the Bookmarklet directly from your
3344 favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access, you can put them on the "Links"
3345 bar (IE) or the "Personal Toolbar" (Netscape), and run them with a single
3352 * Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
3354 * Privoxy- View Status
3356 * Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback
3358 Credit: The site which gave me the general idea for these bookmarklets is
3359 www.bookmarklets.com. They have more information about bookmarklets.
3361 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3363 14.3. Chain of Events
3365 Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
3366 requested by your browser and Privoxy is on duty:
3368 * First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send the
3369 request to Privoxy, which will in turn, relay the request to the remote web
3370 server after passing the following tests:
3372 * Privoxy traps any request for its own internal CGI pages (e.g http://p.p/)
3373 and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
3375 * Next, Privoxy checks to see if the URL matches any "+block" patterns. If
3376 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be
3377 contacted. "+handle-as-image" is then checked and if it does not match, an
3378 HTML "BLOCKED" page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match, an image is
3379 returned. The type of image depends on the setting of "+set-image-blocker"
3380 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
3382 * Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the trust file, then
3385 * If the URL pattern matches the "+fast-redirects" action, it is then
3386 processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
3388 * Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
3389 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. "+hide-user-agent", etc.),
3390 headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and their
3393 * Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
3394 page and related data).
3396 * First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
3397 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
3398 filtered as deterimed by the "+prevent-setting-cookies",
3399 "+session-cookies-only", and "+downgrade-http-version" actions.
3401 * If the "+kill-popups" action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript
3402 document, the popup-code in the response is filtered on-the-fly as it is
3405 * If a "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" action applies (and the document type
3406 fits the action), the rest of the page is read into memory (up to a
3407 configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from default.filter) are
3408 processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
3409 they are specified in the default.filter file. Animated GIFs, if present,
3410 are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
3411 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by Privoxy
3412 back to your browser.
3414 If neither "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" matches, then Privoxy passes the
3415 raw data through to the client browser as it becomes available.
3417 * As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it reads
3418 and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page source,
3419 e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
3420 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
3421 request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
3422 complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
3424 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3426 14.4. Anatomy of an Action
3428 The way Privoxy applies "actions" and "filters" to any given URL can be
3429 complex, and not always so easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes
3430 we need to be able to see just what Privoxy is doing. Especially, if something
3431 Privoxy is doing is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little
3432 daunting to look at the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend
3433 to be filled with "regular expressions" whose consequences are not always so
3436 One quick test to see if Privoxy is causing a problem or not, is to disable it
3437 temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting step. See the
3438 Bookmarklets section on a quick and easy way to do this (be sure to flush
3441 Privoxy also provides the http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info page that can
3442 show us very specifically how actions are being applied to any given URL. This
3443 is a big help for troubleshooting.
3445 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then Privoxy will tell
3446 us how the current configuration will handle it. This will not help with
3447 filtering effects (i.e. the "+filter" action) from the default.filter file
3448 since this is handled very differently and not so easy to trap! It also will
3449 not tell you about any other URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are
3450 testing. For instance, images such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw
3451 page source of HTML pages. So you will only get info for the actual URL that is
3452 pasted into the prompt area -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about
3453 embedded URLs like ads, you will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use
3454 your browser's "View Page Source" option for this. Or right click on the ad,
3457 Let's try an example, google.com, and look at it one section at a time:
3459 Matches for http://google.com:
3461 --- File standard ---
3462 (no matches in this file)
3464 --- File default ---
3466 { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
3467 -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
3468 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
3469 +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
3470 +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
3471 -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
3472 +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
3473 -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
3476 { -session-cookies-only }
3483 (no matches in this file)
3485 This tells us how we have defined our "actions", and which ones match for our
3486 example, "google.com". The first listing is any matches for the standard.action
3487 file. No hits at all here on "standard". Then next is "default", or our
3488 default.action file. The large, multi-line listing, is how the actions are set
3489 to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings. If you look at your "actions"
3490 file, this would be the section just below the "aliases" section near the top.
3491 This will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
3492 of the listing -- "/".
3494 But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
3495 rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
3496 apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
3497 ".google.com". The first is negating our previous cookie setting, which was for
3498 "+session-cookies-only" (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent
3499 cookies for google. The second turns off any "+fast-redirects" action, allowing
3500 this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading dot here --
3501 ".google.com". This will match any hosts and sub-domains, in the google.com
3502 domain also, such as "www.google.com". So, apparently, we have these two
3503 actions defined somewhere in the lower part of our default.action file, and
3504 "google.com" is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
3506 Then, for our user.action file, we again have no hits.
3508 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
3509 Privoxy is applying all its "actions" to "google.com":
3512 -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
3513 -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
3514 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
3515 +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
3516 +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
3517 -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
3518 +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
3519 -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
3521 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to "fast-redirects"
3522 and "session-cookies-only".
3524 Now another example, "ad.doubleclick.net":
3526 { +block +handle-as-image }
3529 { +block +handle-as-image }
3532 { +block +handle-as-image }
3535 We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is matched
3536 three different times. Each as an "+block +handle-as-image", which is the
3537 expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as: "+imageblock". (
3538 "Aliases" are defined in the first section of the actions file and typically
3539 used to combine more than one action.)
3541 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
3542 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively would
3543 also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys though ;-)
3544 Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious URL to be invisible, it should be
3545 defined as "ad.doubleclick.net" is done here -- as both a "+block" and an
3546 "+handle-as-image". The custom alias "+imageblock" just simplifies the process
3547 and make it more readable.
3549 One last example. Let's try "http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/". This one is
3550 giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
3552 Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
3554 { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
3555 +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}
3556 +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
3557 +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
3558 +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
3559 +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-setting-cookies
3560 -prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
3563 { +block +handle-as-image }
3566 Ooops, the "/adsl/" is matching "/ads"! But we did not want this at all! Now we
3567 see why we get the blank page. We could now add a new action below this that
3568 explicitly does not block ("{-block}") paths with "adsl". There are various
3569 ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
3574 Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when making
3575 such changes. Or, try using Shift+Reload.
3577 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like we did
3580 { +block +handle-as-image }
3583 That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem was.
3584 If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default rules in
3585 the first section is causing the problem. This would require some guesswork,
3586 and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule. One likely
3587 cause would be one of the "{+filter}" actions. Try adding the URL for the site
3588 to one of aliases that turn off "+filter":
3592 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
3597 "{shop}" is an "alias" that expands to "{ -filter -session-cookies-only }". Or
3598 you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
3603 This would probably be most appropriately put in user.action, for local site
3606 "{fragile}" is an alias that disables most actions. This can be used as a last
3607 resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this still does not
3608 work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by one to find
3609 which one(s) is causing the problem.
projects / privoxy.git / blob