Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 800). This is the one required configuration that must be done!
With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in the appropriate info (Address: localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a re-reading of all pages and get rid of any ads that may be cached. You are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using Privoxy.
Privoxy is typically started by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line. Example Unix startup command:
# /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config |
An init script is provided for SuSE and Redhat.
For for SuSE: /etc/rc.d/privoxy start
For RedHat: /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named config in the current directory. Except on Win32 where it will try config.txt. If no file is specified on the command line and no default configuration file can be found, Privoxy will fail to start.
The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting point, though may be somewhat aggressive in blocking junk. Most of the per site configuration is done in the "actions" files. These are where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other aspects of Privoxy configuration. There are several such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require persistent cookies, and add these to default.action as needed. By default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser session, until you add them to the configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need to edit default.action and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make more sense to let Privoxy handle this. In which case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
Privoxy is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all 1.1 features are as yet implemented. If browsers that support HTTP/1.1 (like Mozilla or recent versions of I.E.) experience problems, you might try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under Edit -> Preferences -> Debug -> Networking. Or set the "+downgrade" config option in default.action.
After running Privoxy for a while, you can start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site, preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can be customized. "Actions" (as specified in default.action) can be adjusted by pointing your browser to http://p.p/, and then follow the link to "edit the actions list". (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
In fact, various aspects of Privoxy configuration can be viewed from this page, including current configuration parameters, source code version numbers, the browser's request headers, and "actions" that apply to a given URL. In addition to the default.action file editor mentioned above, Privoxy can also be turned "on" and "off" from this page.
If you encounter problems, please verify it is a Privoxy bug, by disabling Privoxy, and then trying the same page. Also, try another browser if possible to eliminate browser or site problems. Before reporting it as a bug, see if there is not a configuration option that is enabled that is causing the page not to load. You can then add an exception for that page or site. For instance, try adding it to the {fragile} section of default.action. This will turn off most actions for this site. For more on troubleshooting problem sites, see the Appendix. If a bug, please report it to the developers (see below).
Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
--version
Print version info and exit, Unix only.
--help
Print a short usage info and exit, Unix only.
--no-daemon
Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
--pidfile FILE
On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit. Failiure to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
--user USER[.GROUP]
After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of USER, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
configfile
If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named "config" in the current directory (except on Win32 where it will look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full path to avoid confusion.