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5 <title>Privoxy Man page</title>
6 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../p_web.css">
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18 <b>privoxy</b> [<b>--chroot</b> ] [<b>--config-test</b> ] [<b>--help</b> ] [<b>--no-daemon</b> ]
19 [<b>--pidfile</b> <i>pidfile</i> ] [<b>--pre-chroot-nslookup</b> <i>hostname</i> ] [<b>--user</b>
20 <i>user[.group]</i> ] [<b>--version</b> ] [<i>configfile</i> ]
28 <b>Privoxy</b> may be invoked with the following command line options:
31 Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option,
32 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel
33 pretend to the <b>Privoxy</b> process that the directory tree starts
34 there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact of
35 possible vulnerabilities in <b>Privoxy</b> to the files contained in
39 Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
40 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the
41 configuration files have been successfully loaded.
43 If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
44 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
45 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can
46 currently only be detected at run time).
48 This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
49 "--no-daemon" is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't
52 <b>--help</b> Print brief usage info and exit.
55 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process
56 group leader, don't detach from controlling tty, and do all
59 <b>--pidfile</b> <i>pidfile</i>
60 On startup, write the process ID to <i>pidfile</i>. Delete the <i>pidfile</i>
61 on exit. Failure to create or delete the <i>pidfile</i> is non-fatal.
62 If no <b>--pidfile</b> option is given, no PID file will be used.
64 <b>--pre-chroot-nslookup</b> <i>hostname</i>
65 Initialize the resolver library using <i>hostname</i> before
66 chroot'ing. On some systems this reduces the number of files
67 that must be copied into the chroot tree.
69 <b>--user</b> <i>user[.group]</i>
70 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
71 <i>user</i> and the GID of <i>group</i>, or, if the optional <i>group</i> was not
72 given, the default group of <i>user</i>. Exit if the privileges are not
74 individual needs and tastes. It has application for both stand-alone
75 systems and multi-user networks.
77 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.
79 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest
82 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
84 • https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE
86 • https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
91 <h2>INSTALLATION AND USAGE</h2>
93 Browsers can either be individually configured to use <b>Privoxy</b> as a HTTP
94 proxy (recommended), or <b>Privoxy</b> can be combined with a packet filter to
95 build an intercepting proxy (see <i>config</i>). The default setting is for
96 localhost, on port 8118 (configurable in the main config file). To
97 set the HTTP proxy in Firefox, go through: <b>Tools</b>; <b>Options</b>; <b>General</b>;
98 <b>Connection</b> <b>Settings</b>; <b>Manual</b> <b>Proxy</b> <b>Configuration</b>.
100 For Internet Explorer, go through: <b>Tools</b>; <b>Internet</b> <b>Properties</b>;
101 <b>Connections</b>; <b>LAN</b> <b>Settings</b>.
103 The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise
104 https: URLs will not be proxied. Note: <b>Privoxy</b> can only proxy HTTP and
105 HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols. HTTPS
106 presents some limitations, and not all features will work with HTTPS
109 For other browsers, check the documentation.
114 <h2>CONFIGURATION</h2>
116 <b>Privoxy</b> can be configured with the various configuration files. The
117 default configuration files are: <i>config</i>, <i>default.filter</i>, <i>default.action</i>
118 and <i>default.action</i>. <i>user.action</i> should be used for locally defined
119 exceptions to the default rules in <i>match-all.action</i> and <i>default.action</i>,
120 and <i>user.filter</i> for locally defined filters. These are well commented.
121 On Unix and Unix-like systems, these are located in <i>/etc/privoxy/</i> by
124 <b>Privoxy</b> uses the concept of <b>actions</b> in order to manipulate the data
125 stream between the browser and remote sites. There are various actions
126 available with specific functions for such things as blocking web
127 sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked individually
128 or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs that
129 can be defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is
130 that the user has greatly enhanced control and freedom.
132 The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your web
133 browser at http://config.privoxy.org/ (assuming the configuration
134 <i>/etc/privoxy/user.filter</i>
135 <i>/etc/privoxy/trust</i>
136 <i>/etc/privoxy/templates/*</i>
137 <i>/var/log/privoxy/logfile</i>
139 Various other files should be included, but may vary depending on
140 platform and build configuration. Additional documentation should be
141 included in the local documentation directory.
148 <b>Privoxy</b> terminates on the <b>SIGINT</b> and <b>SIGTERM</b> signals. Log rotation
149 scripts may cause a re-opening of the logfile by sending a <b>SIGHUP</b> to
150 <b>Privoxy</b>. Note that unlike other daemons, <b>Privoxy</b> does not need to be
151 made aware of config file changes by <b>SIGHUP</b> -- it will detect them
152 automatically. Signals other than the ones listed above aren't
153 explicitly handled and result in the default action defined by the
161 This is a beta version of <b>Privoxy</b>. Not all features are well tested.
163 Please see the <i>User</i> <i>Manual</i> on how to contact the developers, for
164 feature requests, reporting problems, and other questions.
171 Other references and sites of interest to <b>Privoxy</b> users:
173 https://www.privoxy.org/, the <b>Privoxy</b> Home page.
175 https://www.privoxy.org/faq/, the <b>Privoxy</b> FAQ.
177 https://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/, the <b>Privoxy</b> developer
180 https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/, the Project Page for <b>Privoxy</b>
183 http://config.privoxy.org/, the web-based user interface. <b>Privoxy</b> must
184 be running for this to work. Shortcut: http://p.p/
186 https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288, to submit
187 ``misses'' and other configuration related suggestions to the
193 <h2>DEVELOPMENT TEAM</h2>
195 Fabian Keil, lead developer
202 <b>Privoxy</b> is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
203 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
204 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the <i>license</i> for details.
208 Privoxy 3.0.25 beta 26 July 2016 <b>PRIVOXY(1)</b>