<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
<!entity p-authors SYSTEM "p-authors.sgml">
<!entity config SYSTEM "p-config.sgml">
-<!entity p-version SYSTEM "doc_version.tmp">
-<!entity p-status SYSTEM "doc_status.tmp">
+<!entity p-version "3.0.9">
+<!entity p-status "UNRELEASED">
<!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
-<!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
+<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
<!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
<!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
+<!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
]>
<!--
File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.3 2002/09/26 00:12:17 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.66 2008/03/06 16:33:47 fabiankeil Exp $
- Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+ Copyright (C) 2001-2008 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
See LICENSE.
========================================================================
<subscript>
<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
- <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001 - 2008 by
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.3 2002/09/26 00:12:17 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.66 2008/03/06 16:33:47 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
Hal.
-<copyright>
- <year>2001</year>
- <year>2002</year>
- <holder>Privoxy Developers</holder>
-</copyright>
-
-<legalnotice id="legalnotice">
- <para>
- text goes here ........
- </para>
-</legalnotice>
-->
]]>
<para>
- The <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
+ The <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
install, configure and use <ulink
- url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
+ url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
</para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
<!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
<para>
- You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
+ You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>
Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> on how to
contact the developers.
<para>
This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
<application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
- and is mostly complete at this point.
- Development of version 3.2 is just beginning,
- and will include many significant changes and enhancements over
- earlier versions]]>.
+ and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the
+ time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual
+ configuration files. Development of a new version is currently nearing
+ completion, and includes significant changes and enhancements over
+ earlier versions. ]]>.
</para>
<!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
CVS sources). And there <emphasis>may be</emphasis> bugs, though hopefully
- not many! Please find them!
+ not many!
</para>
]]>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
<para>
- In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
- features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
- <application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
- some of them currently under development]]>:
+ In addition to the core
+ features of ad blocking and
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> management,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> provides many supplemental
+ features<![%p-not-stable;[, some of them currently under development]]>,
+ that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
</para>
<!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
&newfeatures;
</para>
<para>
- Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
- <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
- will need to remove it. On some platforms, this may be done for you as part
- of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case
- <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to
- you.</emphasis> See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to
- upgraders</link> section below.
+ Note:
+ On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
+ found. (See below for your platform). In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup
+ your old configuration if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the <link
+ linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section below.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
</para>
+<!-- XXX: The installation sections should be sorted -->
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs</title>
+<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and Fedora RPMs</title>
<para>
RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
<emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
- <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
-automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+ <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods.
</para>
<para>
Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
- automatically, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ automatically
if found, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
+<sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian and Ubuntu</title>
<para>
- DEBs can be installed with <literal>dpkg -i
- privoxy_&p-version;-1.deb</literal>, and will use
- <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of configuration
- files.
+ DEBs can be installed with <literal>apt-get install privoxy</literal>,
+ and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of
+ configuration files.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
the installation process. You will find the configuration files
- in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
- use the registry of Windows.
+ in the same directory as you installed <application>Privoxy</application> in.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Version 3.0.5 beta introduced full <application>Windows</application> service
+ functionality. On Windows only, the <application>Privoxy</application>
+ program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
+</para>
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Arguments:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ </variablelist>
+ <para>
+ After invoking <application>Privoxy</application> with
+ <command>--install</command>, you will need to bring up the
+ <application>Windows</application> service console to assign the user you
+ want <application>Privoxy</application> to run under, and whether or not you
+ want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
+ <application>Windows</application> services console with the following
+ command: <command>services.msc</command>. If you do not take the manual step
+ of modifying <application>Privoxy's</application> service settings, it will
+ not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
+ actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
+ write to its log and configuration files.
</para>
+
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX</title>
+<sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris <!--, NetBSD, HP-UX--></title>
<para>
Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Mac OSX</title>
-<para>
- Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the file
- from the finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
- Then, double-click on the package installer icon named
- <literal>Privoxy.pkg</literal>
- and follow the installation process.
- <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the folder
- <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal>.
- It will start automatically whenever you start up. To prevent it from
- starting automatically, remove or rename the folder
- <literal>/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
-</para>
+<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Mac OS X</title>
<para>
- To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on
- <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> in the
- <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder.
- Or, type this command in the Terminal:
+ Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the zip file
+ icon from the Finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
+ Then, double-click on the package installer icon and follow the
+ installation process.
</para>
<para>
- <screen>
- /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
- </screen>
+ The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
+ installation (in addition to every time your computer starts up). To
+ prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
+ computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
+ <literal>/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
</para>
<para>
- You will be prompted for the administrator password.
+ To manually start or stop the privoxy service, use the Privoxy Utility
+ for Mac OS X. This application controls the privoxy service (e.g.
+ starting and stopping the service as well as uninstalling the software).
</para>
</sect3>
</para>
</sect3>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 id="installation-tbz"><title>FreeBSD</title>
+
+<para>
+ Privoxy is part of FreeBSD's Ports Collection, you can build and install
+ it with <literal>cd /usr/ports/www/privoxy; make install clean</literal>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If you don't use the ports, you can fetch and install
+ the package with <literal>pkg_add -r privoxy</literal>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ The port skeleton and the package can also be downloaded from the
+ <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">File Release
+ Page</ulink>, but there's no reason to use them unless you're interested in the
+ beta releases which are only available there.
+</para>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect3 id="installattion-gentoo"><title>Gentoo</title>
<para>
<para>
The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
- is to download the source tarball from our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project
+ is to download the source tarball from our
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&package_id=10571">project download
page</ulink>.
</para>
If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
- CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
- url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
+ CVS repository</ulink>.
+<!--
+ deprecated...out of business.
+ or simply download <ulink
+ url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.bz2">the nightly CVS
tarball.</ulink>
+-->
</para>
<!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
</para>
<para>
- In order not to loose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
+ In order not to lose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
to the latest <literal>default.action</literal> file we <emphasis>strongly
- recommend</emphasis> that you use <literal>user.action</literal> for your
- customization of <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
+ recommend</emphasis> that you use <literal>user.action</literal> and
+ <literal>user.filter</literal> for your local
+ customizations of <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
linkend="actions-file">Chapter on actions files</link> for details.
</para>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="upgradersnote">
-<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
+<sect1 id="whatsnew">
+<title>What's New in this Release</title>
<para>
- There are very significant changes from earlier
- <application>Junkbuster</application> versions to the current
- <application>Privoxy</application>. The number, names, syntax, and
- purposes of configuration files have substantially changed.
- <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> configuration
- files will not migrate, <application>Junkbuster 2.9.x</application>
- and <application>Privoxy</application> configurations will need to be
- ported. The functionalities of the old <filename>blockfile</filename>,
- <filename>cookiefile</filename> and <filename>imagelist</filename>
- are now combined into the <link linkend="actions-file"><quote>actions
- files</quote></link>.
- <filename>default.action</filename>, is the main actions file. Local
- exceptions should best be put into <filename>user.action</filename>.
+ There are many improvements and new features since <application>Privoxy 3.0.6</application>, the last stable release:
</para>
+
<para>
- A <link linkend="filter-file"><quote>filter file</quote></link> (typically
- <filename>default.filter</filename>) is new as of <application>Privoxy
- 2.9.x</application>, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
- below). <filename>config</filename> is much the same as before.
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Two new actions <link
+ linkend="server-header-tagger">server-header-tagger</link>
+ and <link
+ linkend="client-header-tagger">client-header-tagger</link>
+ that can be used to create arbitrary <quote>tags</quote>
+ based on client and server headers.
+ These <quote>tags</quote> can then subsequently be used
+ to control the other actions used for the current request,
+ greatly increasing &my-app;'s flexibility and selectivity. See <link
+ linkend="tag-pattern">tag patterns</link> for more information on tags.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Header filtering is done with dedicated header filters now. As a result
+ the actions <quote>filter-client-headers</quote> and <quote>filter-server-headers</quote>
+ that were introduced with <application>Privoxy 3.0.5</application> to apply
+ content filters to the headers have been removed.
+ See the new actions <link
+ linkend="server-header-filter">server-header-filter</link>
+ and <link
+ linkend="client-header-filter">client-header-filter</link> for details.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ There are four new options for the main <filename>config</filename> file:
+ </para>
+
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="allow-cgi-request-crunching">allow-cgi-request-crunching</link>
+ which allows requests for Privoxy's internal CGI pages to be
+ blocked, redirected or (un)trusted like ordinary requests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="split-large-forms">split-large-forms</link>
+ that will work around a browser bug that caused IE6 and IE7 to
+ ignore the Submit button on the Privoxy's edit-actions-for-url CGI
+ page.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="accept-intercepted-requests">accept-intercepted-requests</link>
+ which allows to combine Privoxy with any packet filter to create an
+ intercepting proxy for HTTP/1.1 requests (and for HTTP/1.0 requests
+ with Host header set). This means clients can be forced to use
+ &my-app; even if their proxy settings are configured differently.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="templdir">templdir</link>
+ to designate an alternate location for &my-app;'s
+ locally customized CGI templates so that
+ these are not overwritten during upgrades.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A new command line option <literal>--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname</literal> to
+ initialize the resolver library before chroot'ing. On some systems this
+ reduces the number of files that must be copied into the chroot tree.
+ (Patch provided by Stephen Gildea)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <link
+ linkend="forward-override">forward-override</link> action
+ allows changing of the forwarding settings through the actions files.
+ Combined with tags, this allows to choose the forwarder based on
+ client headers like the <literal>User-Agent</literal>, or the request origin.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <link
+ linkend="redirect">redirect</link> action can now use regular
+ expression substitutions against the original URL.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <application>zlib</application> support is now available as a compile
+ time option to filter compressed content. Patch provided by Wil Mahan.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Improve various filters, and add new ones.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Include support for RFC 3253 so that <filename>Subversion</filename> works
+ with &my-app;. Patch provided by Petr Kadlec.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Logging can be completely turned off by not specifying a logfile directive.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A number of improvements to Privoxy's internal CGI pages, including the
+ use of favicons for error and control pages.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Many bugfixes, memory leaks addressed, code improvements, and logging
+ improvements.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
- If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
- files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
- When porting personal rules over from the old <filename>blockfile</filename>
- to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
- changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
- recommended to use the new configuration files.
+ For a more detailed list of changes please have a look at the ChangeLog.
</para>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
+<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
+
<para>
- A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
+ A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
+ versions of <application>Privoxy</application>:
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
- service (NAS).
+ The recommended way to upgrade &my-app; is to backup your old
+ configuration files, install the new ones, verify that &my-app;
+ is working correctly and finally merge back your changes using
+ <application>diff</application> and maybe <application>patch</application>.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ <para>
+ There are a number of new features in each &my-app; release and
+ most of them have to be explicitly enabled in the configuration
+ files. Old configuration files obviously don't do that and due
+ to syntax changes using old configuration files with a new
+ &my-app; isn't always possible anyway.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
- important configuration files!
+ Note that some installers remove earlier versions completely,
+ including configuration files, therefore you should really save
+ any important configuration files!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ On the other hand, other installers don't overwrite existing configuration
+ files, thinking you will want to do that yourself.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> now only includes the enabled actions.
+ Not all actions as before.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is controllable with a web browser
- at the special URL: <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
- (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>). Many
- aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling
- <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ In the default configuration only fatal errors are logged now.
+ You can change that in the <link linkend="DEBUG">debug section</link>
+ of the configuration file. You may also want to enable more verbose
+ logging until you verified that the new &my-app; version is working
+ as expected.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Three other config file settings are now off by default:
+ <link linkend="enable-remote-toggle">enable-remote-toggle</link>,
+ <link linkend="enable-remote-http-toggle">enable-remote-http-toggle</link>,
+ and <link linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link>.
+ If you use or want these, you will need to explicitly enable them, and
+ be aware of the security issues involved.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The <quote>filter-client-headers</quote> and
+ <quote>filter-server-headers</quote> actions that were introduced with
+ <application>Privoxy 3.0.5</application> to apply content filters to
+ the headers have been removed and replaced with new actions.
+ See the <link
+ linkend="whatsnew">What's New section</link> above.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+
+<!--
<listitem>
+ <para>
+ What constitutes a <quote>default</quote> configuration has changed,
+ and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
+ default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
+ you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
+ There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
+ consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
+ settings as yet (see above).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+-->
+<!--
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The default actions setting is now <literal>Cautious</literal>. Previous
+ releases had a default setting of <literal>Medium</literal>. Experienced
+ users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
+ standards and past practices. See <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>. New users
+ should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The default setting has filtering turned <emphasis>off</emphasis>, which
+ subsequently means that compression is <emphasis>on</emphasis>. Remember
+ that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
+ use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ { +<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{google} +<link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link> }
+ .google.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
+ to turn off compression for all sites in
+ <filename>default.action</filename> (or
+ <filename>user.action</filename>).
+ </para>
+
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
<para>
- The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner
- blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
- configuration are the <link linkend="actions-file">actions
- files</link>. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
- actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
- should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
+ Also, <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> is
+ off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
+ to turn it back on in <filename>user.action</filename> now.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
+
+
<listitem>
<para>
-<!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
-<!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
Some installers may not automatically start
<application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
</para>
</listitem>
+-->
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+
+</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
- files. See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">Note to Upgraders</link> Section.
- </para>
-</listitem>
-
<listitem>
<para>
Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
<listitem>
<para>
Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
- HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ HTTPS (SSL) <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>
+ by setting the proxy configuration for address of
<literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
- (<application>Junkbuster</application> and earlier versions of
- <application>Privoxy</application> used port 8000.) See the section <link
- linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link> below
- for more details on this.
+ <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> activate proxying for <literal>FTP</literal> or
+ any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) unless you intend to prevent your
+ browser from using these protocols.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
+ you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
</para>
</listitem>
A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
- to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
+ to no initial configuration is required in most cases, you may want
+ to enable the
+ <ulink url="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">web-based action editor</ulink> though.
+ Be sure to read the warnings first.
</para>
<para>
See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
- <![%draft;[ You might also want to look at the <link
+ You might also want to look at the <link
linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
- banners.]]>
- </para>
+ banners.
+</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
- <application>Privoxy's</application> behaviour, take a look at the <link
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> behavior, take a look at the <link
linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
- Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Anatomy of an
- Action</link></quote> has hints how to debug actions that
+ Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
+ Action</link></quote> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
<quote>misbehave</quote>.
</para>
</listitem>
+<!--
+ Did anyone test these lately?
+ fk 2007-11-10
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
+ <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
+ personal toolbar.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+-->
+
<listitem>
<para>
Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
- Developers</link> on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+ Developers</link> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
help.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
+ Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
</para>
</listitem>
-
+
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
- things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
+ things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
+ may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
<quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
- such embedded URLs.
+ such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
+ instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
+ server are blocked.
</para>
<para>
- The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <literal><link
+ The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <literal><link
linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
- linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>, and
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>,and
<literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this action stops
- any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
- action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
- that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
- communication with the remote server and sends <application>Privoxy</application>'s
- own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this is perhaps
+ the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
+ This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
+ that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
+ but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
+ stops any communication with the remote server and sends
+ <application>Privoxy</application>'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
+ let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
</para>
</listitem>
</para>
</listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> -
+ sends an empty document instead of <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
+ HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
<listitem>
<para>
<literal><link
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+<para>
+ Advanced users will eventually want to explore &my-app;
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filters</link></literal> as well. Filters
+ are very different from <literal><link
+ linkend="block">blocks</link></literal>.
+ A <quote>block</quote> blocks a site, page, or unwanted contented. Filters
+ are a way of filtering or modifying what is actually on the page. An example
+ filter usage: a text replacement of <quote>no-no</quote> for
+ <quote>nasty-word</quote>. That is a very simple example. This process can be
+ used for ad blocking, but it is more in the realm of advanced usage and has
+ some pitfalls to be wary off.
+</para>
+
<para>
The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
(shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
- is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
- appropriate <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
+ is an internal page, and does not require Internet access.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Note that as of <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.7 beta the
+ action editor is disabled by default. Check the
+ <ulink url="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions
+ section in the configuration file</ulink> to learn why and in which
+ cases it's safe to enable again.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you decided to enable the action editor, select the appropriate
+ <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
<quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
<figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
- <imagedata fileref="../images/files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
+ <imagedata fileref="files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
</para>
+<para>
+ There are also various
+ <link linkend="filter">filters</link> that can be used for ad blocking
+ (filters are a special subset of actions). These
+ fall into the <quote>advanced</quote> usage category, and are explained in
+ depth in later sections.
+</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="startup">
-<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<title>Starting Privoxy</title>
<para>
Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
will want to configure your browser(s) to use
- <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>. The default is
127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
- used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done!
+ used port 8000). This is the one configuration step <emphasis>that must be done
+</emphasis>!
</para>
<para>
Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
<!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
<para>
- <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration (Mozilla)</title>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</title>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
- <imagedata fileref="../images/proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
+ <imagedata fileref="proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
</figure>
</para>
+
+<para>
+ With <application>Firefox</application>, this is typically set under:
+</para>
+
+<literallayout>
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Network</guibutton> -><guibutton>Connection</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Settings</guibutton>
+
+</literallayout>
+
+<para>
+ Or optionally on some platforms:
+</para>
+
+<literallayout>
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
+
+</literallayout>
+
+
<para>
With <application>Netscape</application> (and
<application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under:
</para>
-
+
+
<literallayout>
<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
- <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton> -> <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
+
</literallayout>
<para>
- For <application>Internet Explorer</application>:
+ For <application>Internet Explorer v.5-7</application>:
</para>
<literallayout>
-<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
-<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
- <guibutton>Tools</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Internet Properties</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Connections</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Internet Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connections</guibutton> -> <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
</literallayout>
<para>
Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
(Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
- proxy support too.
+ proxy support too (sometimes labeled <quote>Secure</quote>). Make sure any
+ checkboxes like <quote>Use the same proxy server for all protocols</quote> is
+ <emphasis>UNCHECKED</emphasis>. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
</para>
+ <!-- image of IE Proxy configuration -->
+ <para>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</title>
+ <mediaobject>
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata fileref="proxy2.jpg" format="jpg">
+ </imageobject>
+ <textobject>
+ <phrase>[ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
+ </textobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </figure>
+ </para>
+
+
<para>
After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
- re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
- are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
+ re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
+ any <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
+ if you want <application>Privoxy</application> to manage that. You are now
+ ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
<application>Privoxy</application>!
</para>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is typically started by specifying the
+ <application>Privoxy</application> itself is typically started by specifying the
main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
</para>
<sect2 id="start-redhat">
-<title>Red Hat and Conectiva</title>
+<title>Red Hat and Fedora</title>
<para>
- We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
- default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as
- its main configuration file.
+ A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
+ the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
+ file.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
</screen>
</para>
-</sect2>
-
-<sect2 id="start-debian">
-<title>Debian</title>
<para>
- We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
- default. It will use the file
- <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
- file.
+ Or ...
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
+ # service privoxy start
</screen>
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 id="start-suse">
-<title>SuSE</title>
+<sect2 id="start-debian">
+<title>Debian</title>
<para>
-We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
-as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
-your PC.
+ We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
+ default. It will use the file
+ <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
+ file.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- # rcprivoxy start
+ # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
</screen>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="start-windows">
<title>Windows</title>
<para>
-Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+Click on the &my-app; Icon to start <application>Privoxy</application>. If no configuration file is
specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
- automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
+ automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
+ when installing.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> can run with full Windows service functionality.
+ On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
+ to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
+ <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Windows Installation
+ instructions</link> for details.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="start-macosx">
-<title>Mac OSX</title>
+<title>Mac OS X</title>
+<para>
+ After downloading the privoxy software, unzip the downloaded file by
+ double-clicking on the zip file icon. Then, double-click on the
+ installer package icon and follow the installation process.
+</para>
+<para>
+ The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
+ installation. In addition, the privoxy service will automatically
+ start every time your computer starts up.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
+ computer starts up, remove or rename the folder named
+ /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
+</para>
+<para>
+ A simple application named Privoxy Utility has been created which
+ enables administrators to easily start and stop the privoxy service.
+</para>
+<para>
+ In addition, the Privoxy Utility presents a simple way for
+ administrators to edit the various privoxy config files. A method
+ to uninstall the software is also available.
+</para>
+<para>
+ An administrator username and password must be supplied in order for
+ the Privoxy Utility to perform any of the tasks.
+</para>
<para>
During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
- start automatically when the system restarts. To start Privoxy by hand,
+ start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
double-click on the <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> icon in the
<literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder. Or, type this command
in the Terminal:
<para>
See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
- furher info.
+ further info.
</para>
must find a better place for this paragraph
<para>
Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
- sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
- url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
- <ulink
- url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
- actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
+ sites is the popup-killing (through <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>),
+ because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
popups (explained below).
</para>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
- the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
- you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
+ <application>Privoxy</application> does not support all of the optional HTTP/1.1
+ features yet. In the unlikely event that you experience inexplicable problems
+ with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
(like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
-
</para>
<para>
On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
-
</para>
<para>
After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
<emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>--chroot</emphasis>
</para>
<para>
- If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
- <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
- where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
- full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
+ Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
+ chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
+ process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
+ Unix only.
</para>
- </listitem>
-
- </itemizedlist>
-</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis>--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname</emphasis>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some systems, initializing the
+ resolver library involves reading config files from /etc and/or loading additional shared
+ libraries from /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup before the chroot reduces
+ the number of files that must be copied into the chroot tree.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is not in /etc/hosts but that
+ your local name server (listed in /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion
+ (that is, without having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
+ but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be output.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
+ <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
+ where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
+ full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ On <application>MS Windows</application> only there are two additional
+ command-line options to allow <application>Privoxy</application> to install and
+ run as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>. See the
+<link linkend="installation-pack-win">Window Installation section</link>
+for details.
+</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="configuration"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Configuration</title>
+<sect1 id="configuration"><title>Privoxy Configuration</title>
<para>
All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2>
-<title>Controlling <application>Privoxy</application> with Your Web Browser</title>
+<title>Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
</member>
<member>
- ▪ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/&p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/
+ &p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
</member>
</simplelist>
</msgtext>
your browser.
</para>
+<para>
+ Note that several of the features described above are disabled by default
+ in <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.7 beta and later.
+ Check the
+ <ulink url="config.html">configuration file</ulink> to learn why
+ and in which cases it's safe to enable them again.
+</para>
+
</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most probably want
to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
<filename>user.action</filename>, where you can preserve them across
- upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is for
+ upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is only for
<application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
+ <quote>Filter files</quote> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
- whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> includes various filters made
+ available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
+ others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
+ filter files in <filename>config</filename> as you can with
+ actions files. We suggest <filename>user.filter</filename> for any
+ locally defined filters or customizations.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+<para>
+ The syntax of the configuration and filter files may change between different
+ Privoxy versions, unfortunately some enhancements cost backwards compatibility.
+ <!-- Add link to documentation-->
+</para>
+
<para>
All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
- out" that line.
+ out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
</para>
<para>
- The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
+ The actions files and filter files
can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
maximum flexibility.
</para>
<sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
<para>
- The actions files are used to define what actions
- <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determine
+ The actions files are used to define what <emphasis>actions</emphasis>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
- transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
- are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application>, with
- differing purposes:
-</para>
+ transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
+ There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
+ Each action does something a little different.
+ These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
+ our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
+ their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
+</para>
+<para>
+ There
+ are three action files included with <application>Privoxy</application> with
+ differing purposes:
+ </para>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
provide a base level of functionality for
<application>Privoxy's</application> array of features. So it is
- a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere.
+ a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <link
linkend="installation-keepupdated">making available to users</link>.
+ The user's preferences as set in <filename>standard.action</filename>,
+ e.g. either <literal>Cautious</literal> (the default),
+ <literal>Medium</literal>, or <literal>Advanced</literal> (see
+ below).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor,
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used only by the web based editor
+ at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>,
to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
- in <filename>default.action</filename>. These have increasing levels of
- aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no influence on your browsing unless
- you select them explicitly in the editor</emphasis>. It is not recommend
- to edit this file.
+ in <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Cautious</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Medium</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Advanced</guibutton>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ These have increasing levels of aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no
+ influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
+ editor</emphasis>. A default installation should be pre-set to
+ <literal>Cautious</literal> (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
+ <literal>Medium</literal>). New users should try this for a while before
+ adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
+ the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
+ not working as they should.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button allows you to turn each
+ action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The <guibutton>Cautious</guibutton>
+ button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
+ ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
+ there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
+ <guibutton>Medium</guibutton> button sets the list to a medium level of
+ other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
+ <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> button sets the list to a high level of
+ ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
+ three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
+ lower sections of this internal page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is not recommend to edit the <filename>standard.action</filename> file
+ itself.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> are<!-- different than this table which is out of date -->:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
+ <tgroup cols=4 align=left colsep=1 rowsep=1>
+ <colspec colname=c1>
+ <colspec colname=c2>
+ <colspec colname=c3>
+ <colspec colname=c4>
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Feature</entry>
+ <entry>Cautious</entry>
+ <entry>Medium</entry>
+ <entry>Advanced</entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <!-- <tfoot> -->
+ <!-- <row> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f1</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f2</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f3</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f4</entry> -->
+ <!-- </row> -->
+ <!-- </tfoot> -->
+ <tbody>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-blocking Aggressiveness</entry>
+ <entry>medium</entry>
+ <entry>high</entry>
+ <entry>high</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Privacy Features</entry>
+ <entry>low</entry>
+ <entry>medium</entry>
+ <entry>medium/high</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Cookie handling</entry>
+ <entry>none</entry>
+ <entry>session-only</entry>
+ <entry>kill</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Referer forging</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>HTML taming</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
</para>
+
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
- file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
- can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
+ file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g.
+ <filename>default.action</filename> is typically processed before
+ <filename>user.action</filename>). The content of these can all be viewed and
+ edited from <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
-</para>
+ The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
+ matches a given URL wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
+ (defined in <filename>default.action</filename>),
+ followed by any exceptions (typically also in
+ <filename>default.action</filename>), which are then followed lastly by any
+ local preferences (typically in <emphasis>user</emphasis><filename>.action</filename>).
+ Generally, <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word.
+ </para>
<para>
An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
<filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
- with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
+ with the advantage that it is a separate file, which makes preserving your
personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
</para>
<para>
Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
- just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
+ just some obnoxious URL whose content you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
- written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
+ written to disk), content can be modified, some JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
of actions</link>.
</para>
Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
- certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
+ certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
+ refinements in the configuration. In general, it can be said that the more
<quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
- will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
+ will have to make later. If, for example, you want to crunch all cookies per
default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
- regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
+ regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
</para>
The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
- The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
- per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
- <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Advanced</quote>.
-</para>
+ Note: the config file option <link
+ linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link> must be enabled for
+ this to work. The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single
+ feature on a per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults
+ like <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or
+ <quote>Advanced</quote>. Warning: the <quote>Advanced</quote> setting is more
+ aggressive, and will be more likely to cause problems for some sites.
+ Experienced users only!
+ </para>
<para>
If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
- commented.
+ the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
+ <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly commented with many
+ good examples.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="actions-apply">
-<title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
+<title>How Actions are Applied to Requests</title>
<para>
Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will
be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
- Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.
+ Below that, there is a list of URL and tag patterns, each on a separate line.
</para>
<para>
To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
- compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
- applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
- of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
- the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
- the effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with
- a heading line of <literal>{
+ compared to all URL patterns in each <quote>action file</quote>.
+ Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the request is
+ incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the
+ pattern is located. The same is done again for tags and tag patterns later on.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If multiple applying sections set the same action differently,
+ the last match wins. If not, the effects are aggregated.
+ E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading line of <literal>{
+<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
then later another one with just <literal>{
+<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
- in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply.
+ in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply. And there may well be
+ cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
+ might look like:
</para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ { +<literal>handle-as-image</literal> +<literal>block{Banner ads.}</literal> }
+ # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
+ banners.example.com
+ media.example.com/.*banners
+ .example.com/images/ads/</screen>
+ </para>
+
<para>
- You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <ulink
+ You can trace this process for
URL patterns and any given URL by visiting <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
- Anatomy of an Action</link>.
+ Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
+ Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</link> section.
</para>
</sect2>
<title>Patterns</title>
<para>
As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
- to determine what actions might apply to which sites and pages your browser
- attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild card type
- <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
+ to determine what <emphasis>actions</emphasis> might apply to which sites and
+ pages your browser attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild
+ card type <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
against many similar patterns.
</para>
<para>
- Generally, a <application>Privoxy</application> pattern has the form
+ Generally, an URL pattern has the form
<literal><domain>/<path></literal>, where both the
<literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal> are
optional. (This is why the special <literal>/</literal> pattern matches all
<literal>http://</literal>) should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in
the pattern. This is assumed already!
</para>
+<para>
+ The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
+ the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
+ while the path part uses a more flexible
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions (PCRE)</quote></ulink> based syntax.
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
- regardless of which document on that server is requested.
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
+ this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
+ simple <literal>example.com</literal> is different and would NOT match.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html$</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ matches all the documents on <literal>www.example.com</literal>
+ whose name starts with <literal>/index.html</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html$</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
+ <term><literal>/index.html$</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
- i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
+ i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server anywhere.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
- there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
+ matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
+ there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>. So its
+ a mistake.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
- <literal>.example.com</literal> (e.g. <literal>www.example.com</literal>)
+ matches any domain with first-level domain <literal>com</literal>
+ and second-level domain <literal>example</literal>.
+ For example <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
+ <literal>example.com</literal> and <literal>foo.bar.baz.example.com</literal>.
+ Note that it wouldn't match if the second-level domain was <literal>another-example</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
- <literal>www.</literal>
+ <literal>www.</literal> (It also matches the domain
+ <literal>www</literal> but most of the time that doesn't matter.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
- (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
+ matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>.
+ And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
+ within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
+ speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as
+ a domain.) This might be <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
+ <literal>news.example.de</literal>, or
+ <literal>www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl</literal> for instance. All these
+ cases are matched.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
- themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
- stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
- any single character, you can define character classes in square
- brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
+ themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
+ <quote>*</quote> represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
+ equivalent to the
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax of <quote>.*</quote>),
+ <quote>?</quote> represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
+ regular expression syntax of a simple <quote>.</quote>), and you can define
+ <quote>character classes</quote> in square brackets which is similar to
+ the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
</para>
<variablelist>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
+<para>
+ While flexible, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
+</para>
+
</sect3>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
+ <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible (PCRE)
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax
(through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
- matching the path.
+ matching the path portion (after the slash), and is thus more flexible.
</para>
<para>
at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
- url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
+ url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
<emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
</para>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/.*</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Is equivalent to just <quote>.example.com</quote>, since any documents
+ within that domain are matched with or without the <quote>.*</quote>
+ regular expression. This is redundant
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/.*/index.html$</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Will match any page in the domain of <quote>example.com</quote> that is
+ named <quote>index.html</quote>, and that is part of some path. For
+ example, it matches <quote>www.example.com/testing/index.html</quote> but
+ NOT <quote>www.example.com/index.html</quote> because the regular
+ expression called for at least two <quote>/'s</quote>, thus the path
+ requirement. It also would match
+ <quote>www.example.com/testing/index_html</quote>, because of the
+ special meta-character <quote>.</quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)?index\.html$</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
+ named <quote>index.html</quote> regardless of path which in this case can
+ have one or more <quote>/'s</quote>. And this one must contain exactly
+ <quote>.html</quote> (but does not have to end with that!).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This regular expression will match any path of <quote>example.com</quote>
+ that contains any of the words <quote>ads</quote>, <quote>banner</quote>,
+ <quote>banners</quote> (because of the <quote>?</quote>) or <quote>junk</quote>.
+ The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
+ <quote>.jpg</quote>, <quote>.jpeg</quote>, <quote>.gif</quote> or <quote>.png</quote>. So this
+ one is limited to common image formats.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+<para>
+ There are many, many good examples to be found in <filename>default.action</filename>,
+ and more tutorials below in <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>.
+</para>
+
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 id="tag-pattern"><title>The Tag Pattern</title>
+
+<para>
+ Tag patterns are used to change the applying actions based on the
+ request's tags. Tags can be created with either the
+ <link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-TAGGER">client-header-tagger</link>
+ or the <link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-TAGGER">server-header-tagger</link> action.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Tag patterns have to start with <quote>TAG:</quote>, so &my-app;
+ can tell them apart from URL patterns. Everything after the colon
+ including white space, is interpreted as a regular expression with
+ path pattern syntax, except that tag patterns aren't left-anchored
+ automatically (&my-app; doesn't silently add a <quote>^</quote>,
+ you have to do it yourself if you need it).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ To match all requests that are tagged with <quote>foo</quote>
+ your pattern line should be <quote>TAG:^foo$</quote>,
+ <quote>TAG:foo</quote> would work as well, but it would also
+ match requests whose tags contain <quote>foo</quote> somewhere.
+ <quote>TAG: foo</quote> wouldn't work as it requires white space.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Sections can contain URL and tag patterns at the same time,
+ but tag patterns are checked after the URL patterns and thus
+ always overrule them, even if they are located before the URL patterns.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Once a new tag is added, Privoxy checks right away if it's matched by one
+ of the tag patterns and updates the action settings accordingly. As a result
+ tags can be used to activate other tagger actions, as long as these other
+ taggers look for headers that haven't already be parsed.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ For example you could tag client requests which use the
+ <literal>POST</literal> method,
+ then use this tag to activate another tagger that adds a tag if cookies
+ are sent, and then use a block action based on the cookie tag. This allows
+ the outcome of one action, to be input into a subsequent action. However if
+ you'd reverse the position of the described taggers, and activated the
+ method tagger based on the cookie tagger, no method tags would be created.
+ The method tagger would look for the request line, but at the time
+ the cookie tag is created, the request line has already been parsed.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ While this is a limitation you should be aware of, this kind of
+ indirection is seldom needed anyway and even the example doesn't
+ make too much sense.
+</para>
+
</sect3>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
- There are three classes of actions:
+ Actions fall into three categories:
</para>
<para>
-<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
</para>
<para>
- Example: <literal>+block</literal>
+ Example: <literal>+handle-as-image</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
</para>
<para>
- Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</literal>
+ Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.8.1.4) Gecko/20070602 Firefox/2.0.0.4}</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
- normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
+ normal, non-blocking, non-filtering proxy. You must specifically enable the
privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
files will give a good starting point).
</para>
<para>
- Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
- to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
- in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
- multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
- Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
- <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
- files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
- one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
+ Later defined action sections always over-ride earlier ones of the same type.
+ So exceptions to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
+ as <filename>user.action</filename>). For multi-valued actions, the actions
+ are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are processed in
+ the order they are defined in <filename>config</filename> (the default
+ installation has three actions files). It also quite possible for any given
+ URL to match more than one <quote>pattern</quote> (because of wildcards and
+ regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
+ match wins.
</para>
<!-- start actions listing -->
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</para>
+ <para>Block ads or other unwanted content</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not
- forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image,
- as determined by the <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>
- and <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> actions.
+ Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
+ requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
+ but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
+ the <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>, and
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> actions.
+
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>N/A</para>
+ <para>A block reason that should be given to the user.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
- for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
- was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
- force feature enabled). The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
+ for requests to blocked pages. This page contains the block reason given as
+ parameter, a link to find out why the block action applies, and a click-through
+ to the blocked content (the latter only if the force feature is available and
+ enabled).
+ </para>
+<!--
+This doesn't actually work in all browser configuration and the user probably doesn't care anyway.
+ <para>
+ The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <application>Privoxy</application>
right now, you can take a look at the
<ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
page</ulink>.
</para>
+-->
<para>
A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
<literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
<para>
It is important to understand this process, in order
to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
- ads and other unwanted content.
+ ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
+ upon which various other features depend.
</para>
<para>
The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
<term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
-.nasty-stuff.example.com
-
-{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
-.ad.doubleclick.net
-.ads.r.us</screen>
+ <screen>{+block{No nasty stuff for you.}}
+# Block and replace with "blocked" page
+ .nasty-stuff.example.com
+
+{+block{Doubleclick banners.} +handle-as-image}
+# Block and replace with image
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+ .ads.r.us/banners/
+
+{+block{Layered ads.} +handle-as-empty-document}
+# Block and then ignore
+ adserver.example.net/.*\.js$</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
-<title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-filter">
+<title>client-header-filter</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
+ Rewrite or remove single client headers.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
+ All client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
+ the specified regular expression based substitutions.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ The name of a client-header filter, as defined in one of the
+ <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies. For
- <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies, use
- <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
- Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ Client-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
+ all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
+ you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
+ You can do that by using tags though.
</para>
<para>
- It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
- with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
- since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. See also
- <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Client-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
+ and use their output as input.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If the request URL gets changed, &my-app; will detect that and use the new
+ one. This can be used to rewrite the request destination behind the client's
+ back, for example to specify a Tor exit relay for certain requests.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
+ to learn which client-header filters are available by default, and how to
+ create your own.
</para>
+
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+# Hide Tor exit notation in Host and Referer Headers
+{+client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}}
+/
+ </screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
-<title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-tagger">
+<title>client-header-tagger</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
+ Block requests based on their headers.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
+ Client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
+ the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
+ tag.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ The name of a client-header tagger, as defined in one of the
+ <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies. For
- <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies, use
- <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
- Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ Client-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
+ and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
+ the original.
</para>
<para>
- It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
- with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
- since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
+ Client-header taggers are the first actions that are executed
+ and their tags can be used to control every other action.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+# Tag every request with the User-Agent header
+{+client-header-tagger{user-agent}}
+/
+ </screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
-<title>deanimate-gifs</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="content-type-overwrite">
+<title>content-type-overwrite</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
+ <para>Stop useless download menus from popping up, or change the browser's rendering mode</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
+ Replaces the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
<para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
- </para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
- the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
- is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
- frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
- most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
- last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
+ The <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header is used by the
+ browser to decide what to do with the document. The value of this
+ header can cause the browser to open a download menu instead of
+ displaying the document by itself, even if the document's format is
+ supported by the browser.
</para>
<para>
- You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
- objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
- a GIF.
+ The declared content type can also affect which rendering mode
+ the browser chooses. If XHTML is delivered as <quote>text/html</quote>,
+ many browsers treat it as yet another broken HTML document.
+ If it is send as <quote>application/xml</quote>, browsers with
+ XHTML support will only display it, if the syntax is correct.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
+ <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use &my-app;
+ to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
+ the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
+ If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ You can also go the opposite direction: if your browser prints
+ error messages instead of rendering a document falsely declared
+ as XHTML, you can overwrite the content type with
+ <quote>text/html</quote> and have it rendered as broken HTML document.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ By default <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal> only replaces
+ <quote>Content-Type:</quote> headers that look like some kind of text.
+ If you want to overwrite it unconditionally, you have to combine it with
+ <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>.
+ This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most of the time it's easier to replace this action with a custom
+ <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
+ It allows you to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
+ only replace the content types you aimed at.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Of course you can apply <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal>
+ to a whole site and then make URL based exceptions, but it's a lot
+ more work to get the same precision.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
- </para>
+ <screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
+{ +content-type-overwrite{application/xml} }
+www.example.net/
+
+# but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
+{-content-type-overwrite}
+www.example.net/.*\.css$
+www.example.net/.*style
+</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
-<title>downgrade-http-version</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-client-header">
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<title>crunch-client-header</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
+ <para>Remove a client header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
+ Deletes every header sent by the client that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-<varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
- didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
- unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
- out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
- is a chance you might need this action.
+ This action allows you to block client headers for which no dedicated
+ <application>Privoxy</application> action exists.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will remove every client header that
+ contains the string you supplied as parameter.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
+ use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
+ they contain the same string.
</para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>crunch-client-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
+ If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
+ parts of them, you should use a
+ <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header filter</link></literal>.
+ </para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
-problem-host.example.com</screen>
- </para>
+ <screen># Block the non-existent "Privacy-Violation:" client header
+{ +crunch-client-header{Privacy-Violation:} }
+/
+ </screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
-<title>fast-redirects</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-if-none-match">
+<title>crunch-if-none-match</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</para>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
+ Deletes the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
<para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
N/A
- </para>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
- will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
- parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
- resulting from this scheme typically look like:
- <emphasis>http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</emphasis>.
- </para>
<para>
- Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
- URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
- since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
- to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
- browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
- the advertisers.
+ Removing the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header
+ is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
+ reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote> which
+ would cause the browser to use a cached copy of the page.
</para>
<para>
- This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
- It is likely to break some sites. You should expect to need possibly
- many exceptions to this action, if it is enabled by default in
- <filename>default.action</filename>. Some sites just don't work without
- it.
+ It is also useful to make sure the header isn't used as a cookie
+ replacement (unlikely but possible).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Blocking the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> header shouldn't cause any
+ caching problems, as long as the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> header
+ isn't blocked or missing as well.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
+ and
+ <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>{+fast-redirects}</screen>
- </para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents but don't
+# allow the server to use the revalidation headers for user tracking.
+{+hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
+ +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
+ +crunch-if-none-match}
+/ </screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
-<title>filter</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
+<title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</para>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from setting HTTP cookies on your system
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action
- applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression
- based substitutions.
+ Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The name of a filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>
- (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>, set by the
- <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
- option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>). Filtering
- can be completely disabled without the use of parameters.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
- in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
- a list.
- </para>
- <para>
- This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <quote>rolling your own</quote>
- filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
- </para>
- <para>
- Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
- slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
- passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
- since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
- noticeable on slower connections.
- </para>
- <para>
- The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
- <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
- option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
- default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
- data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
- </para>
- <para>
- Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
- Encrypted SSL data (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either since
- this would violate the integrity of the secure transaction.
- </para>
- <para>
- At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
- documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
- would normally be sent compressed, use the
- <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
- action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
- </para>
- <para>
- Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
- <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
- action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
- works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
- based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
- standardized.
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
+ <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
</para>
<para>
- <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
- improved filters is particularly welcome!
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. See also
+ <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file):</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
- <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
- <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
- <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners based on their size for this page (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
- <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners based on the link they are contained in (experimental)</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
- <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
- <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-popups">
- <screen>+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
- <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-fun">
- <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
- <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
- <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-nimda">
- <screen>+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
- <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
- <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <anchor id="filter-js-events">
- <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (<emphasis>Radically destructive!</emphasis> Only for extra nasty sites) </screen>
+ <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
-<title>handle-as-image</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-server-header">
+<title>crunch-server-header</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
+ <para>Remove a server header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
- If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
- the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
- page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
- linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
- client as a substitute for the blocked content.
+ Deletes every header sent by the server that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
- It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
- be left intact.
+ This action allows you to block server headers for which no dedicated
+ <application>Privoxy</application> action exists. <application>Privoxy</application>
+ will remove every server header that contains the string you supplied as parameter.
</para>
<para>
- Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
- <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
- reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
+ Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
+ use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
+ they contain the same string.
</para>
<para>
- Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
- frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
- Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
- ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
+ <literal>crunch-server-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
+ If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
+ parts of them, you should use a custom
+ <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
</para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen># Generic image extensions:
-#
-{+handle-as-image}
-/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
-
-# These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
-# blocked as images:
-#
-{+block +handle-as-image}
-some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
-
-# Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
-ad.doubleclick.net
-</screen>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Crunch server headers that try to prevent caching
+{ +crunch-server-header{no-cache} }
+/ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
-<title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
+<title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</para>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from reading any HTTP cookies from your system
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
- and prevents adding a new one.
+ Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- It is fairly safe to leave this on.
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
+ <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
</para>
<para>
- This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
- <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
- to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
- users sharing the same proxy.
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
-<title>hide-from-header</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
+<title>deanimate-gifs</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
+ <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
- specified string.
+ De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
<para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
- (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
- action).
- </para>
- <para>
- Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
- server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
- is actually used by a real person.
+ This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
+ the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
+ is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
+ frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
+ most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
+ last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
</para>
<para>
- This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
- <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
+ You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
+ objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
+ a GIF.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
- <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect3>
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
-<title>hide-referrer</title>
-<anchor id="hide-referer">
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
+<title>downgrade-http-version</title>
+
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
+ <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
- or replaces it with a forged one.
+ Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem>
- <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header completely.</para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
- </listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
+<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
- not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
- content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
- by <emphasis>their</emphasis> banners).
+ This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
+ didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
+ unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
+ out there. Not all HTTP/1.1 features and requirements are supported yet,
+ so there is a chance you might need this action.
</para>
- <para>
- <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
- <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
- substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
- correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
- requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
- </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
- <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
- </para>
+ <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
+problem-host.example.com</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
</variablelist>
</sect3>
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
-<title>hide-user-agent</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
+<title>fast-redirects</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
+ <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
- in client requests with the specified value.
+ Detects redirection URLs and redirects the browser without contacting
+ the redirection server first.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
<para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Any user-defined string.
- </para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>simple-check</quote> to just search for the string <quote>http://</quote>
+ to detect redirection URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>check-decoded-url</quote> to decode URLs (if necessary) before searching
+ for redirection URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <warning>
- <para>
- This breaks many web sites that depend on looking at this header in order
- to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
- way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> a <ulink
- url="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml">smart way to do
- that</ulink>!).
- </para>
- </warning>
+ <para>
+ Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
+ will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
+ parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
+ resulting from this scheme typically look like:
+ <quote>http://www.example.org/click-tracker.cgi?target=http%3a//www.example.net/</quote>.
+ </para>
<para>
- Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
- browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
- <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
- setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
- the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
- OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
- sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
- reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
- let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
- <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
- (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
+ Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
+ URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
+ since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
+ to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
+ browser asks the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
+ the advertisers.
</para>
<para>
- This action is scheduled for improvement.
+ This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
+ If it is enabled by default, you will have to create some exceptions to
+ this action. It can lead to failures in several ways:
</para>
- </listitem>
+ <para>
+ Not every URLs with other URLs as parameters is evil.
+ Some sites offer a real service that requires this information to work.
+ For example a validation service needs to know, which document to validate.
+ <literal>fast-redirects</literal> assumes that every URL parameter that
+ looks like another URL is a redirection target, and will always redirect to
+ the last one. Most of the time the assumption is correct, but if it isn't,
+ the user gets redirected anyway.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Another failure occurs if the URL contains other parameters after the URL parameter.
+ The URL:
+ <quote>http://www.example.org/?redirect=http%3a//www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
+ contains the redirection URL <quote>http://www.example.net/</quote>,
+ followed by another parameter. <literal>fast-redirects</literal> doesn't know that
+ and will cause a redirect to <quote>http://www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
+ Depending on the target server configuration, the parameter will be silently ignored
+ or lead to a <quote>page not found</quote> error. You can prevent this problem by
+ first using the <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal> action
+ to remove the last part of the URL, but it requires a little effort.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ To detect a redirection URL, <literal>fast-redirects</literal> only
+ looks for the string <quote>http://</quote>, either in plain text
+ (invalid but often used) or encoded as <quote>http%3a//</quote>.
+ Some sites use their own URL encoding scheme, encrypt the address
+ of the target server or replace it with a database id. In theses cases
+ <literal>fast-redirects</literal> is fooled and the request reaches the
+ redirection server where it probably gets logged.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
+ one.example.com
+
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ another.example.com/testing</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
-<title>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
+<title>filter</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</para>
+ <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
+ do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
- pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
+ All instances of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
+ this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular
+ expression based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
+ are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
+ <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ The name of a content filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>.
+ Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
+ <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
+ option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> is the collection of filters
+ supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
+ in their own file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
</para>
+ <para>
+ When used in its negative form,
+ and without parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> filtering is completely disabled.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
- action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
- the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
- downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
- <literal><link
- linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>popups</replaceable>}</literal>
- does.
+ For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
+ in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
+ a list.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
+ slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
+ passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
+ since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
+ noticeable on slower connections.
</para>
<para>
- Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
- can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
- sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
- since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
- the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
- the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over its filter equivalent.
+ <quote>Rolling your own</quote>
+ filters requires a knowledge of
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions</quote></ulink> and
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"><quote>HTML</quote></ulink>.
+ This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
+ Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
+ <quote>action</quote> is not available.
</para>
<para>
- Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
- pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
- would require artificial intelligence in <application>Privoxy</application>.
- If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
- <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
- one), you might want to use
- <literal><link
- linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
- instead.
+ The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
+ <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
+ option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
+ default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
+ data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
+ (Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
+ (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
+ the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
+ be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
+ by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> exceptions.
</para>
-
- <!--
<para>
- An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
- interchangeable.
+ Compressed content can't be filtered either, unless &my-app;
+ is compiled with zlib support (requires at least &my-app; 3.0.7),
+ in which case &my-app; will decompress the content before filtering
+ it.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you use a &my-app; version without zlib support, but want filtering to work on
+ as much documents as possible, even those that would normally be sent compressed,
+ you must use the <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
+ action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Content filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
+ works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
+ based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
+ standardized.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
+ improved filters is particularly welcome!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
+ predefined filter. There are <link linkend="predefined-filters">more
+ verbose explanations</link> of what these filters do in the <link
+ linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>.
</para>
- -->
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file).
+ See <link linkend="PREDEFINED-FILTERS">the Predefined Filters section</link> for
+ more explanation on each:</term>
<listitem>
- <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-js-events">
+ <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
+ <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
+ <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-unsolicited-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-all-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
+ <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
+ <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-tiny-textforms">
+ <screen>+filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-jumping-windows">
+ <screen>+filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
+ <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-demoronizer">
+ <screen>+filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
+ <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
+ <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies savable</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-fun">
+ <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
+ <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering (demo only)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
+ <screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable a known Internet Explorer bug exploits</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-site-specifics">
+ <screen>+filter{site-specifics} # Custom filters for specific site related problems</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-google">
+ <screen>+filter{google} # Removes text ads and other Google specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-yahoo">
+ <screen>+filter{yahoo} # Removes text ads and other Yahoo specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-msn">
+ <screen>+filter{msn} # Removes text ads and other MSN specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-blogspot">
+ <screen>+filter{blogspot} # Cleans up Blogspot blogs</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-no-ping">
+ <screen>+filter{no-ping} # Removes non-standard ping attributes from anchor and area tags</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
-<title>limit-connect</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="force-text-mode">
+<title>force-text-mode</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay</para>
+ <para>Force <application>Privoxy</application> to treat a document as if it was in some kind of <emphasis>text</emphasis> format. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
- </para>
+ Declares a document as text, even if the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> isn't detected as such.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
- defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
- <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
- requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
- <literal>limit-connect</literal> if more fine-grained control is desired
- for some or all destinations.
+ As explained <literal><link linkend="filter">above</link></literal>,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> tries to only filter files that are
+ in some kind of text format. The same restrictions apply to
+ <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>.
+ <literal>force-text-mode</literal> declares a document as text,
+ without looking at the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> first.
</para>
- <para>
- The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
- (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
- the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
- short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
- This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
- abused as TCP relays very easily.
- </para>
- <para>
- If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
- change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
- </para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
+ with regular expressions can cause file damage.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
- <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
- <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
- <para>
- <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
-+limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
-+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
-+limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!)</screen>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
++force-text-mode
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
-<title>prevent-compression</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward-override">
+<title>forward-override</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
- passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s
- </para>
+ <para>Change the forwarding settings based on User-Agent or request origin</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
- </para>
+ Overrules the forward directives in the configuration file.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>forward .</quote> to use a direct connection without any additional proxies.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>forward 127.0.0.1:8123</quote> to use the HTTP proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 8123.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 .</quote> to use the socks4a proxy listening at
+ 127.0.0.1 port 9050. Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote>
+ to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS resolution) instead, use <quote>forward-socks5</quote>
+ for socks5 connections (with remote DNS resolution).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 proxy.example.org:8000</quote> to use the socks4a proxy
+ listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050 to reach the HTTP proxy listening at proxy.example.org port 8000.
+ Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote> to use a socks4 connection
+ (with local DNS resolution) instead, use <quote>forward-socks5</quote>
+ for socks5 connections (with remote DNS resolution).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
- is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <literal><link
- linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
- and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions to work,
- <application>Privoxy</application> needs access to the uncompressed data.
- Unfortunately, <application>Privoxy</application> can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
- re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
- those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
- </para>
- <para>
- This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
- actions, you will typically want to use <literal>prevent-compression</literal> in conjunction
- with them.
- </para>
- <para>
- Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
- documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <literal>prevent-compression</literal>
- per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
+ This action takes parameters similar to the
+ <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives in the configuration
+ file, but without the URL pattern. It can be used as replacement, but normally it's only
+ used in cases where matching based on the request URL isn't sufficient.
</para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Please read the description for the <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives before
+ using this action. Forwarding to the wrong people will reduce your privacy and increase the
+ chances of man-in-the-middle attacks.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If the ports are missing or invalid, default values will be used. This might change
+ in the future and you shouldn't rely on it. Otherwise incorrect syntax causes Privoxy
+ to exit.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Use the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">show-url-info CGI page</ulink>
+ to verify that your forward settings do what you thought the do.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen># Set default:
-#
-{+prevent-compression}
-/ # Match all sites
-
-# Make exceptions for ill sites:
-#
-{-prevent-compression}
-www.debianhelp.org
-www.pclinuxonline.com</screen>
+ <screen>
+# Always use direct connections for requests previously tagged as
+# <quote>User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0</quote> and make sure
+# resuming downloads continues to work.
+# This way you can continue to use Tor for your normal browsing,
+# without overloading the Tor network with your FreeBSD ports updates
+# or downloads of bigger files like ISOs.
+# Note that HTTP headers are easy to fake and therefore their
+# values are as (un)trustworthy as your clients and users.
+{+forward-override{forward .} \
+ -hide-if-modified-since \
+ -overwrite-last-modified \
+}
+TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2\.0$
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
-<title>send-vanilla-wafer</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-empty-document">
+<title>handle-as-empty-document</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
- </para>
+ <para>Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
- on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
+ If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
+ the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
+ page, or an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
+ The <emphasis>empty</emphasis> document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
+ Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
+ are blocked with <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
+ And of course this action can also be used to eliminate the &my-app;
+ BLOCKED message in frames.
</para>
<para>
- This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ The content type for the empty document can be specified with
+ <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{}</link></literal>,
+ but usually this isn't necessary.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
+ <screen># Block all documents on example.org that end with ".js",
+# but send an empty document instead of the usual HTML message.
+{+block{Blocked JavaScript} +handle-as-empty-document}
+example.org/.*\.js$
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
-<title>send-wafer</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
+<title>handle-as-image</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
- </para>
+ <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they do get blocked</emphasis>, rather than HTML pages)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
+ If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
+ the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
+ page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
+ client as a substitute for the blocked content.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
- class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
- resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
+ The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
+ be left intact.
</para>
<para>
- This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
+ reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
+ frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
+ Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
+ ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
-my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
+ <screen># Generic image extensions:
+#
+{+handle-as-image}
+/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
+
+# These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
+# blocked as images:
+#
+{+block{Nasty banners.} +handle-as-image}
+nasty-banner-server.example.com/junk.cgi\?output=trash
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
-<title>session-cookies-only</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-accept-language">
+<title>hide-accept-language</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
- </para>
+ <para>Pretend to use different language settings.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> server headers.
- Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions.
+ Deletes or replaces the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> HTTP header in client requests.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-<varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
- <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
- websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
+ Faking the browser's language settings can be useful to make a
+ foreign User-Agent set with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-user-agent">hide-user-agent</link></literal>
+ more believable.
</para>
<para>
- Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
- <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
- This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
- that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
- sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ However some sites with content in different languages check the
+ <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> to decide which one to take by default.
+ Sometimes it isn't possible to later switch to another language without
+ changing the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header first.
</para>
<para>
- It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
- together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
- <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
- will be plainly killed.
+ Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
+ <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header to languages you understand,
+ or to languages that aren't wide spread.
</para>
<para>
- Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
- field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
+ Before setting the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header
+ to a rare language, you should consider that it helps to
+ make your requests unique and thus easier to trace.
+ If you don't plan to change this header frequently,
+ you should stick to a common language.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Pretend to use Canadian language settings.
+{+hide-accept-language{en-ca} \
++hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; OpenBSD i386; en-CA; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060628 Firefox/1.5.0.4} \
+}
+/ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
-<title>set-image-blocker</title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-content-disposition">
+<title>hide-content-disposition</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
+ <para>Prevent download menus for content you prefer to view inside the browser.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
- <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
- linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
- apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
- <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
- sent as a replacement.
+ Deletes or replaces the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header set by some servers.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <itemizedlist>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
- decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
- completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
- images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
- has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
- send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
- to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <quote>file:///</quote> URL).
- </para>
- <para>
- A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
- URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
- This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
- the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
- it over and over again.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </itemizedlist>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
- class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
- either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
+ Some servers set the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header for
+ documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
+ The <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header contains the file name
+ the browser is supposed to use by default.
</para>
<para>
- There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
- used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
- Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
+ In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
+ <emphasis>just view</emphasis> the document, without downloading it first,
+ even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Removing the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header helps
+ to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
+ <quote>Content-Type:</quote> header, before they decide if they can
+ display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
+ to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
+ download menus.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is also possible to change the server's file name suggestion
+ to another one, but in most cases it isn't worth the time to set
+ it up.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action will probably be removed in the future,
+ use server-header filters instead.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
+{ -filter \
+ +content-type-overwrite{text/plain}\
+ +hide-content-disposition{block} }
+ .sourceforge.net/tracker/download\.php</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-if-modified-since">
+<title>hide-if-modified-since</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Built-in pattern:
+ Deletes the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> HTTP client header or modifies its value.
</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
<para>
- <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or a user defined value that specifies a range of hours.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Removing this header is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
+ reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the
+ browser to use a cached copy of the page.
</para>
<para>
- Redirect to the BSD devil:
+ Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
+ also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
+ You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
+ <application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
+ subtracting, a positive value adding.
</para>
<para>
- <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
+ Randomizing the value of the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> makes
+ it less likely that the server can use the time as a cookie replacement,
+ but you will run into caching problems if the random range is too high.
</para>
<para>
- Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
+ It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
+ <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
+ handle the greater changes.
</para>
<para>
- <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
+ It is also recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>,
+ otherwise it's more or less pointless.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate but make tracking based on the time less likely.
+{+hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
+ +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
+ +crunch-if-none-match}
+/</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
+<title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Improve privacy by not forwarding the source of the request in the HTTP headers.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ It is safe and recommended to leave this on.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
+<title>hide-from-header</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
+ specified string.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
+ (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
+ server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
+ is actually used by a real person.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
+ <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
+ <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
+<title>hide-referrer</title>
+<anchor id="hide-referer">
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
+ or replaces it with a forged one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>conditional-block</quote> to delete the header completely if the host has changed.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>conditional-forge</quote> to forge the header if the host has changed.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header unconditionally.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal>conditional-block</literal> is the only parameter,
+ that isn't easily detected in the server's log file. If it blocks the
+ referrer, the request will look like the visitor used a bookmark or
+ typed in the address directly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Leaving the referrer unmodified for requests on the same host
+ allows the server owner to see the visitor's <quote>click path</quote>,
+ but in most cases she could also get that information by comparing
+ other parts of the log file: for example the User-Agent if it isn't
+ a very common one, or the user's IP address if it doesn't change between
+ different requests.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Always blocking the referrer, or using a custom one, can lead to
+ failures on servers that check the referrer before they answer any
+ requests, in an attempt to prevent their content from being
+ embedded or linked to elsewhere.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Both <literal>conditional-block</literal> and <literal>forge</literal>
+ will work with referrer checks, as long as content and valid referring page
+ are on the same host. Most of the time that's the case.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
+ <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
+ substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
+ correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
+ requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
+ <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
+<title>hide-user-agent</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Try to conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
+ in client requests with the specified value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Any user-defined string.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ This can lead to problems on web sites that depend on looking at this header in
+ order to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
+ way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the right thing to do: good web sites
+ work browser-independently).
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+ <para>
+ Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
+ browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
+ <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
+ setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
+ the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
+ OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
+ sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
+ reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
+ let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
+ <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
+ (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ More information on known user-agent strings can be found at
+ <ulink url="http://www.user-agents.org/">http://www.user-agents.org/</ulink>
+ and
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="inspect-jpegs">
+<title>inspect-jpegs</title>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Try to protect against a MS buffer over-run in JPEG processing</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Protect against a known exploit
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. JPEG images are one of the most
+ common image types found across the Internet. The exploit as described can
+ allow execution of code on the target system, giving an attacker access
+ to the system in question by merely planting an altered JPEG image, which
+ would have no obvious indications of what lurks inside. This action
+ tries to prevent this exploit if delivered through unencrypted HTTP.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that the exploit mentioned is several years old
+ and it's unlikely that your client is still vulnerable
+ against it. This action may be removed in one of the
+ next releases.
+ </para>
+
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><screen>+inspect-jpegs</screen></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
+<title>limit-connect</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay or disable SSL for untrusted sites</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
+ defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> allows HTTP CONNECT requests to all
+ ports. Use <literal>limit-connect</literal> if fine-grained control
+ is desired for some or all destinations.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
+ (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
+ the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
+ short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
+ This means CONNECT-enabled proxies can be used as TCP relays very easily.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
+ the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent &my-app;'s
+ filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
+ <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
+ <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
+ <para>
+ <screen>+limit-connect{443} # Port 443 is OK.
++limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
++limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
++limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK
++limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS/SSL traffic is allowed</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
+<title>prevent-compression</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
+ passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Removes the Accept-Encoding header which can be used to ask for compressed transfer.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
+ is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But the <literal><link
+ linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> and
+ <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
+ actions need access to the uncompressed data.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ When compiled with zlib support (available since &my-app; 3.0.7), content that should be
+ filtered is decompressed on-the-fly and you don't have to worry about this action.
+ If you are using an older &my-app; version, or one that hasn't been compiled with zlib
+ support, this action can be used to convince the server to send the content uncompressed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most text-based instances compress very well, the size is seldom decreased by less than 50%,
+ for markup-heavy instances like news feeds saving more than 90% of the original size isn't
+ unusual.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Not using compression will therefore slow down the transfer, and you should only
+ enable this action if you really need it. As of &my-app; 3.0.7 it's disabled in all
+ predefined action settings.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
+ documents correctly. Broken PHP applications tend to send an empty document body,
+ some IIS versions only send the beginning of the content. If you enable
+ <literal>prevent-compression</literal> per default, you might want to add
+ exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+# Selectively turn off compression, and enable a filter
+#
+{ +filter{tiny-textforms} +prevent-compression }
+# Match only these sites
+ .google.
+ sourceforge.net
+ sf.net
+
+# Or instead, we could set a universal default:
+#
+{ +prevent-compression }
+ / # Match all sites
+
+# Then maybe make exceptions for broken sites:
+#
+{ -prevent-compression }
+.compusa.com/</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="overwrite-last-modified">
+<title>overwrite-last-modified</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> HTTP server header or modifies its value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ One of the keywords: <quote>block</quote>, <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote>
+ and <quote>randomize</quote>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Removing the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header is useful for filter
+ testing, where you want to force a real reload instead of getting status
+ code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the browser to reuse the old
+ version of the page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <quote>randomize</quote> option overwrites the value of the
+ <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with a randomly chosen time
+ between the original value and the current time. In theory the server
+ could send each document with a different <quote>Last-Modified:</quote>
+ header to track visits without using cookies. <quote>Randomize</quote>
+ makes it impossible and the browser can still revalidate cached documents.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote> overwrites the value of the
+ <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with the current time. You could use
+ this option together with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>
+ to further customize your random range.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The preferred parameter here is <quote>randomize</quote>. It is safe
+ to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
+ If the server sets the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header to the time
+ of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
+ Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>,
+ just to be sure.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is also recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
+{ +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
+ +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
+ +crunch-if-none-match}
+/</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="redirect">
+<title>redirect</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Redirect requests to other sites.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
+ to another location and the browser should get it from there.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ An absolute URL or a single pcrs command.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Requests to which this action applies are answered with a
+ HTTP redirect to URLs of your choosing. The new URL is
+ either provided as parameter, or derived by applying a
+ single pcrs command to the original URL.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action will be ignored if you use it together with
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>.
+ It can be combined with
+ <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link></literal>
+ to redirect to a decoded version of a rewritten URL.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Use this action carefully, make sure not to create redirection loops
+ and be aware that using your own redirects might make it
+ possible to fingerprint your requests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
+{ +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
+ example.com/stylesheet\.css
+
+# Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
+# (relies on the browser accept and forward invalid URLs to &my-app;)
+{ +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
+ a
+
+# Always use the expanded view for Undeadly.org articles
+# (Note the $ at the end of the URL pattern to make sure
+# the request for the rewritten URL isn't redirected as well)
+{+redirect{s@$@&mode=expanded@}}
+undeadly.org/cgi\?action=article&sid=\d*$</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
+<title>send-vanilla-wafer</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
+ on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
+<title>send-wafer</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
+ class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
+ resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
+my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-filter">
+<title>server-header-filter</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Rewrite or remove single server headers.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ All server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly
+ through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The name of a server-header filter, as defined in one of the
+ <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Server-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
+ all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
+ you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
+ You can do that by using tags though.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Server-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
+ and use their output as input.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
+ to learn which server-header filters are available by default, and how to
+ create your own.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+{+server-header-filter{html-to-xml}}
+example.org/xml-instance-that-is-delivered-as-html
+
+{+server-header-filter{xml-to-html}}
+example.org/instance-that-is-delivered-as-xml-but-is-not
+ </screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-tagger">
+<title>server-header-tagger</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enable or disable filters based on the Content-Type header.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
+ the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
+ tag.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The name of a server-header tagger, as defined in one of the
+ <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Server-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
+ and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
+ the original.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Server-header taggers are executed before all other header actions
+ that modify server headers. Their tags can be used to control
+ all of the other server-header actions, the content filters
+ and the crunch actions (<link linkend="redirect">redirect</link>
+ and <link linkend="block">block</link>).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Obviously crunching based on tags created by server-header taggers
+ doesn't prevent the request from showing up in the server's log file.
+ </para>
+
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+# Tag every request with the content type declared by the server
+{+server-header-tagger{content-type}}
+/
+ </screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
+<title>session-cookies-only</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current
+ browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote>
+ server headers. Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and
+ forget them in between sessions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
+ websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
+ <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
+ This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
+ that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
+ sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
+ together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
+ will be plainly killed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
+ field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
+ previously by the browser before starting <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ These would have to be removed manually.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> also uses
+ the <link linkend="filter-content-cookies">content-cookies filter</link>
+ to block some types of cookies. Content cookies are not effected by
+ <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
+<title>set-image-blocker</title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
+ apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
+ <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
+ sent as a replacement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
+ decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
+ completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
+ images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
+ has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
+ send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
+ to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem via <quote>file:///</quote> URL.
+ (But note that not all browsers support redirecting to a local file system).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
+ URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
+ This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
+ the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
+ it over and over again.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
+ class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
+ either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
+ used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
+ Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Built-in pattern:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Redirect to the BSD daemon:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
</sect3>
them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
with it.
- This is likely to change in future versions of <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<para>
# These aliases just save typing later:
# (Note that some already use other aliases!)
#
- +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
- -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
- block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
- mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+ +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ +block-as-image = +block{Blocked image.} +handle-as-image
+ allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
# These aliases define combinations of actions
# that are useful for certain types of sites:
#
- fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
- shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
+ fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link>
+
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link>
# Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
#
{fragile}
.office.microsoft.com
.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
+ # Gmail is really mail.google.com, not gmail.com
+ mail.google.com
# Shopping sites:
# Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
{shop}
.quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .scan.co.uk
+ mybank.example.com
# These shops require pop-ups:
#
- {shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}}
+ {-filter{all-popups} -filter{unsolicited-popups}}
.dabs.com
.overclockers.co.uk</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are often used for
- <quote>problem</quote> sites that require some actions to be disabled
+ Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are typically used for
+ <quote>problem</quote> sites that require more than one action to be disabled
in order to function properly.
</para>
</sect2>
-
+<!--
+hal stop here
+-->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="act-examples">
<title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
</para>
<para>
- <screen># Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org></screen>
+ <screen># Sample default.action file <ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net></screen>
</para>
<para>
##########################################################################
{{alias}}
-# These aliases just save typing later:
-# (Note that some already use other aliases!)
-#
-+crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
--crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
-block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
-mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+ # These aliases just save typing later:
+ # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
+ #
+ +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ +block-as-image = +block{Blocked image.} +handle-as-image
+ mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
-# These aliases define combinations of actions
-# that are useful for certain types of sites:
-#
-fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
-shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups</screen>
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link>
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link></screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
- no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
- to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
+ no need to disable any actions here. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
multiple lines with line continuation.
# "Defaults" section:
##########################################################################
{ \
- -<link linkend="ADD-HEADER">add-header</link> \
- -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> \
- -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> \
- -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
+<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
- -<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
- +<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-NIMDA">filter{nimda}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">filter{banners-by-link}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</link> \
- -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-EVENTS">filter{js-events}</link> \
- -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-IE-EXPLOITS">filter{ie-exploits}</link> \
+<link linkend="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">hide-forwarded-for-headers</link> \
+<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
+<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer{forge}</link> \
- -<link linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT">hide-user-agent</link> \
- -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> \
- -<link linkend="LIMIT-CONNECT">limit-connect</link> \
+<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link> \
- -<link linkend="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">send-vanilla-wafer</link> \
- -<link linkend="SEND-WAFER">send-wafer</link> \
+<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> \
+<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
}
</para>
<para>
- The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
+ The default behavior is now set.
+ <!--
+ This needs rewording, but it can wait for now.
+ fk 2007-11-17
+
+ Note that some actions, like not hiding
the user agent, are part of a <quote>general policy</quote> that applies
universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
like not blocking (which is <emphasis>understandably</emphasis> the
default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
want to block in later sections.
- We will also want to make exceptions from our general pop-up-killing,
- and use our defined aliases for that.
+ -->
</para>
<para>
#
{ fragile }
.office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
-.windowsupdate.microsoft.com</screen>
+.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+mail.google.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
.scan.co.uk</screen>
</para>
+<!-- No longer needed BEGIN OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK
+
<para>
Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
now. <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/">Mozilla</ulink> users, who
can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
safely choose
- -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> (and
- -<literal><link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></literal>) above
+ -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> above
and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
chosen in the defaults section:
<screen>
# These sites require pop-ups too :(
#
-{ -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
+{ -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
.dabs.com
.overclockers.co.uk
.deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
</para>
+ END OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK -->
+
<para>
The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
- <literal>block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
+ <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
+<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
<screen>
# Known ad generators:
#
-{ block-as-image }
+{ +block-as-image }
ar.atwola.com
.ad.doubleclick.net
.ad.*.doubleclick.net
.a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
.a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
bs*.gsanet.com
-bs*.einets.com
.qkimg.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
- is to block banners. A huge bunch of them are already <quote>blocked</quote>
+ is to block banners. Many of these can be <quote>blocked</quote>
by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
<literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
</para>
<para>
- First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
+ First comes many generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
to keep the example short:
##########################################################################
# Block these fine banners:
##########################################################################
-{ <link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link> }
+{ <link linkend="BLOCK">+block{Banner ads.}</link> }
# Generic patterns:
#
</para>
<para>
- You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
+ It's quite remarkable how many advertisers actually call their banner
servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
{ -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
+adobe. # (has nothing to do with ads either)
ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
.edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
.*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
# Don't filter code!
#
{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
-/.*cvs
+/(.*/)?cvs
+bugzilla.
+developer.
+wiki.
.sourceforge.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
- The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course more
+ The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course much more
comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-# My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></screen>
+# My user.action file. <fred@example.com></screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
+# Aliases are local to the file they are defined in.
# (Re-)define aliases for this file:
#
{{alias}}
+#
+# These aliases just save typing later, and the alias names should
+# be self explanatory.
+#
++crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
-mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
-fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
-shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
-allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} # (see below)</screen>
-
+ allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+ allow-popups = -filter{all-popups}
++block-as-image = +block{Blocked as image.} +handle-as-image
+-block-as-image = -block
+
+# These aliases define combinations of actions that are useful for
+# certain types of sites:
+#
+fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referrer
+shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
+
+# Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
+#
+allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}
+
+# Alias for specific file types that are text, but might have conflicting
+# MIME types. We want the browser to force these to be text documents.
+handle-as-text = -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> +-<link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{text/plain}</link> +-<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-CONTENT-DISPOSITION">hide-content-disposition</link></screen>
+
</para>
<para>
Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
- <literal>mercy-for-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
- that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and
- processing of cookies to make them temporary.
+ <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
+ that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and the
+ processing of cookies to make them only temporary.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ allow-all-cookies }
+ sourceforge.net
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable them all:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-{ mercy-for-cookies }
-sunsolve.sun.com
-slashdot.org
-.yahoo.com
-.msdn.microsoft.com
-.redhat.com</screen>
+{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
+ .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Your bank needs popups and is allergic to some filter, but you don't
- know which, so you disable them all:
+ Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> }
-.your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
+# Technical documentation is likely to contain strings that might
+# erroneously get altered by the JavaScript-oriented filters:
+#
+.tldp.org
+/(.*/)?selfhtml/
+
+# And this stupid host sends streaming video with a wrong MIME type,
+# so that Privoxy thinks it is getting HTML and starts filtering:
+#
+stupid-server.example.com/</screen>
</para>
<para>
- While browsing the web with <application>Privoxy</application> you
- noticed some ads that sneaked through, but you were too lazy to
- report them through our fine and easy <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>
- system, so you have added them here:
+ Example of a simple <link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> action. Say you've
+ seen an ad on your favourite page on example.com that you want to get rid of.
+ You have right-clicked the image, selected <quote>copy image location</quote>
+ and pasted the URL below while removing the leading http://, into a
+ <literal>{ +block{} }</literal> section. Note that <literal>{ +handle-as-image
+ }</literal> need not be specified, since all URLs ending in
+ <literal>.gif</literal> will be tagged as images by the general rules as set
+ in default.action anyway:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-{ +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
-www.a-popular-site.com/some/unobvious/path
-another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
+{ +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link>{Nasty ads.} }
+ www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor\.gif
+ another.example.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The URLs of dynamically generated banners, especially from large banner
+ farms, often don't use the well-known image file name extensions, which
+ makes it impossible for <application>Privoxy</application> to guess
+ the file type just by looking at the URL.
+ You can use the <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above for
+ these cases.
+ Note that objects which match this rule but then turn out NOT to be an
+ image are typically rendered as a <quote>broken image</quote> icon by the
+ browser. Use cautiously.
</para>
<para>
- Note that, assuming the banners in the above example have regular image
- extensions (most do),
- <literal>+<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link></literal>
- need not be specified, since all URLs ending in these extensions will
- already have been tagged as images in the relevant section of
- <filename>default.action</filename> by now.
+ <screen>
+{ +block-as-image }
+ .doubleclick.net
+ .fastclick.net
+ /Realmedia/ads/
+ ar.atwola.com/</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Then you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
+ Now you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
- -- whoa! -- it worked:
+ -- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
+ aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
+ good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
+ that is causing the problem or not. We later find other regular sites
+ that misbehave, and add those to our personalized list of troublemakers:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ fragile }
-.forbes.com</screen>
+ .forbes.com
+ webmail.example.com
+ .mybank.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
- but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
- don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
+ but it is disabled in the distributed actions file.
+ So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
update-safe config, once and for all:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
-/ # For ALL sites!</screen>
+ / # For ALL sites!</screen>
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- Finally, you might think about how your favourite free websites are
+ You might also worry about how your favourite free websites are
funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
sites that you feel provide value to you:
<para>
<screen>
{ allow-ads }
-.sourceforge.net
-.slashdot.org
-.osdn.net</screen>
+ .sourceforge.net
+ .slashdot.org
+ .osdn.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
- <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
- <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>
- above.
+ <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
+ <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>, and
+ <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-link">filter{banners-by-link}</link></literal> above.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Invoke another alias here to force an over-ride of the MIME type <literal>
+ application/x-sh</literal> which typically would open a download type
+ dialog. In my case, I want to look at the shell script, and then I can save
+ it should I choose to.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ handle-as-text }
+ /.*\.sh$</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <filename>user.action</filename> is generally the best place to define
+ exceptions and additions to the default policies of
+ <filename>default.action</filename>. Some actions are safe to have their
+ default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
+ <quote>blank</quote> image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for
+ <emphasis>ALL</emphasis> sites. <quote>/</quote> of course matches all URL
+ paths and patterns:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ +<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{blank}</link> }
+/ # ALL sites</screen>
</para>
+
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="filter-file">
-<title>The Filter File</title>
+<title>Filter Files</title>
+
+<para>
+ On-the-fly text substitutions need
+ to be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>. Once defined, they
+ can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ &my-app; supports three different filter actions:
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> to
+ rewrite the content that is send to the client,
+ <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header-filter</link></literal>
+ to rewrite headers that are send by the client, and
+ <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header-filter</link></literal>
+ to rewrite headers that are send by the server.
+</para>
<para>
- All text substitutions that can be invoked through the
- <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action
- must first be defined in the filter file, which is typically
- called <filename>default.filter</filename> and which can be
- selected through the <literal>
- <link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config
- option.
+ &my-app; also supports two tagger actions:
+ <literal><link linkend="client-header-tagger">client-header-tagger</link></literal>
+ and
+ <literal><link linkend="server-header-tagger">server-header-tagger</link></literal>.
+ Taggers and filters use the same syntax in the filter files, the difference
+ is that taggers don't modify the text they are filtering, but use a rewritten
+ version of the filtered text as tag. The tags can then be used to change the
+ applying actions through sections with <link linkend="tag-pattern">tag-patterns</link>.
</para>
+
+<para>
+ Multiple filter files can be defined through the <literal> <link
+ linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config directive. The filters
+ as supplied by the developers are located in
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>. It is recommended that any locally
+ defined or modified filters go in a separately defined file such as
+ <filename>user.filter</filename>.
+ </para>
+
<para>
- Typical reasons for doing such substitutions are to eliminate
- common annoyances in HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
+ Common tasks for content filters are to eliminate common annoyances in
+ HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
- or just to have fun. The possibilities are endless.
+ or just to have fun.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Enabled content filters are applied to any content whose
+ <quote>Content Type</quote> header is recognised as a sign
+ of text-based content, with the exception of <literal>text/plain</literal>.
+ Use the <link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> action
+ to also filter other content.
</para>
<para>
- Filtering works on any text-based document type, including plain
- text, HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
- MIME types). Substitutions are made at the source level, so if
- you want to <quote>roll your own</quote> filters, you should be
- familiar with HTML syntax.
+ Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
+ your own</quote> filters, you should first be familiar with HTML syntax,
+ and, of course, regular expressions.
</para>
<para>
Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
- here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with the
- <emphasis>keyword</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>, followed by
- the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
+ here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with one of the
+ <emphasis>keywords</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>,
+ <literal>CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER:</literal> or <literal>SERVER-HEADER-FILTER:</literal>
+ followed by the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
<emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
</para>
<para>
- A filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
+ Filter definitions start with a header line that contains the filter
+ type, the filter name and the filter description.
+ A content filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
like this:
</para>
in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
<literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
- <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/pcrs.3.html">PCRS man page</ulink>
- for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most notably, the non-standard
- option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported, which turns the default
- to ungreedy matching.
+ PCRS documentation for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most
+ notably, the non-standard option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported,
+ which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
</para>
<para>
- If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at
+ If you are new to
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions</quote></ulink>, you might want to take a look at
the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
- see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perl.html">Perl
+ see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl
manual</ulink> for
- <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlop.html#s-PATTERN-REPLACEMENT-egimosx">the
+ <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html">the
<literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
- url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
+ url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
expressions</ulink> in general.
The below examples might also help to get you started.
</para>
+
<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
<sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
<para>
- Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> filter. We have already defined
+ Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> content filter. We have already defined
the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
<quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
needed:
</para>
<para>
- So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
- <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
- (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
- <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
- that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
+ So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
+ <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
+ (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
+ <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
+ that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
+ lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
+ easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
+ <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
+ the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
+ This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
+ (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
+ Business!"</literal>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
+ <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
+ <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
+ since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
+ string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
+ information anymore.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
+ this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
+#
+s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
+ carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
+ or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
+ makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
+ option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
+ <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
+ a back-reference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
+ with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
+ a back-reference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
+ strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
+ (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
+ real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
+ descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
+ you move your mouse over links.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
+#
+s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Including the
+ <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
+ event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
+ When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
+ This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
+ <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
+ Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
+ case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
+ a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
+ instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
+ <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
+ content does.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The last example is from the fun department:
</para>
<para>
- Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
- lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
- easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
- <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
- the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
- This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
- (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
- Business!"</literal>.
-</para>
+ <screen>
+FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
-<para>
- The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
- <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
- <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
- since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
- string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
- information anymore.
+# Spice the daily news:
+#
+s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
</para>
<para>
- We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
- this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
+ Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
+ in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
+ <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
+ in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
+ still replacing the word everywhere else.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
-# The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
+# Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
#
-s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
+s* industry[ -]leading \
+| cutting[ -]edge \
+| customer[ -]focused \
+| market[ -]driven \
+| award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
+| high[ -]performance \
+| solutions[ -]based \
+| unmatched \
+| unparalleled \
+| unrivalled \
+*<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
+*igx</screen>
</para>
<para>
- <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
- carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
- or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
- makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
- option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
- <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
- a backreference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
- with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
- a backreference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
+ The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
+ e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
</para>
<para>
- So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
- strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
- (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
- real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
- descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
- you move your mouse over links.
+ You get the idea?
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="predefined-filters"><title>The Pre-defined Filters</title>
+
+<!--
+
+ Note each filter is also listed in the +filter action section above. Please
+ keep these listings in sync.
+
+-->
+
+<para>
+The distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file contains a selection of
+pre-defined filters for your convenience:
</para>
-<para>
- <screen>
-# Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
-#
-s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
-</para>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.
+ To that end, it
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
+ with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the <literal><link
+ linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal> action on the content level.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ removes the bindings to the DOM's
+ <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">unload
+ event</ulink> which we feel has no right to exist and is responsible for most <quote>exit consoles</quote>, i.e.
+ nasty windows that pop up when you close another one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
+ full-screen, non-resizeable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Use with caution. This is an aggressive filter, and can break sites that
+ rely heavily on JavaScript.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>js-events</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
+ means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
+ resizing etc, anymore. Use with caution!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
+ many legitimate scripts. It is meant for use only on extra-nasty sites (should you really
+ need to go there).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
+ are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
+ resizeable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
+ scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialog, where they can be intercepted
+ by the
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
+ and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
+ actions. But web sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript
+ to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter disables most HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets
+ cookies. It cannot detect all clever uses of these types of code, so it
+ should not be relied on as an absolute fix. Use it wherever you would also
+ use the cookie crunch actions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>refresh tags</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Disable any refresh tags if the interval is greater than nine seconds (so
+ that redirections done via refresh tags are not destroyed). This is useful
+ for dial-on-demand setups, or for those who find this HTML feature
+ annoying.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>unsolicited-popups</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This filter attempts to prevent only <quote>unsolicited</quote> pop-up
+ windows from opening, yet still allow pop-up windows that the user
+ has explicitly chosen to open. It was added in version 3.0.1,
+ as an improvement over earlier such filters.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
+ function to a dummy function, <literal>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</literal>,
+ during the loading and rendering phase of each HTML page access, and
+ restoring the function afterward.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is recommended only for browsers that cannot perform this function
+ reliably themselves. And be aware that some sites require such windows
+ in order to function normally. Use with caution.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>all-popups</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
+ Note this should be used with even more discretion than the above, since
+ it is more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal
+ usage. Use with caution.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>img-reorder</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
+ <literal>banners-by-size</literal> and <literal>banners-by-link</literal>
+ (see below) filters more effective and should be enabled together with them.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This filter removes image tags purely based on what size they are. Fortunately
+ for us, many ads and banner images tend to conform to certain standardized
+ sizes, which makes this filter quite effective for ad stripping purposes.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
+ but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Recommended only for those who require extreme ad blocking. The default
+ block rules should catch 95+% of all ads <emphasis>without</emphasis> this filter enabled.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>banners-by-link</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is an experimental filter that attempts to kill any banners if
+ their URLs seem to point to known or suspected click trackers. It is currently
+ not of much value and is not recommended for use by default.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>webbugs</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Webbugs are small, invisible images (technically 1X1 GIF images), that
+ are used to track users across websites, and collect information on them.
+ As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
+ browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
+ through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
+ the user ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
+ HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter removes the HTML code that loads such <quote>webbugs</quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>tiny-textforms</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A rather special-purpose filter that can be used to enlarge textareas (those
+ multi-line text boxes in web forms) and turn off hard word wrap in them.
+ It was written for the sourceforge.net tracker system where such boxes are
+ a nuisance, but it can be handy on other sites, too.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>jumping-windows</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
+ neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
+ or behave as intended when using this filter. Use with caution.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Some web designers seem to assume that everyone in the world will view their
+ web sites using the same browser brand and version, screen resolution etc,
+ because only that assumption could explain why they'd use static frame sizes,
+ yet prevent their frames from being resized by the user, should they be too
+ small to show their whole content.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to sites
+ which need it.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>demoronizer</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions (read:
+ violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This can cause those
+ HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant platforms.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
+ It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
+ all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
+ worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if weird garbage characters
+ sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
+ the fly.
+<!--
+ My version of Mozilla (ancient) shows litte square boxes for quote
+ characters, and apostrophes on moronized pages. So many pages have this, I
+ can read them fine now. HB 08/27/06
+-->
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A filter for shockwave haters. As the name suggests, this filter strips code
+ out of web pages that is used to embed shockwave flash objects.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>quicktime-kioskmode</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
+ prevents saving, is disabled.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>fun</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
+ Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A demonstration-only filter that shows how <application>Privoxy</application>
+ can be used to delete web content on a keyword basis.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ An experimental collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
+ code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug, and
+ would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>site-specifics</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't apply
+ anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is a collection of such site-specific cures which should only be applied
+ to the sites they were intended for, which is what the supplied
+ <filename>default.action</filename> file does. Users shouldn't need to change
+ anything regarding this filter.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- Including the
- <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
- event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
- When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
- This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
- <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
- Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
- case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
- a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
- instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
- <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
- content does.
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>google</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A CSS based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation
+ and the toolbar advertisement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>yahoo</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Another CSS based block, this time for Yahoo text ads. And removes
+ a width limitation as well.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- The last example is from the fun department:
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>msn</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Another CSS based block, this time for MSN text ads. And removes
+ tracking URLs, as well as a width limitation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- <screen>
-FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>blogspot</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this one!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter also intentionally removes some navigation stuff and sets the
+ page width to 100%. As a result, some rounded <quote>corners</quote> would
+ appear to early or not at all and as fixing this would require a browser
+ that understands background-size (CSS3), they are removed instead.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-# Spice the daily news:
-#
-s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>xml-to-html</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>html-to-xml</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
- in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
- <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
- in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
- still replacing the word everywhere else.
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>no-ping</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Removes the non-standard <literal>ping</literal> attribute from
+ anchor and area HTML tags.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- <screen>
-# Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
-#
-s* industry[ -]leading \
-| cutting[ -]edge \
-| customer[ -]focused \
-| market[ -]driven \
-| award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
-| high[ -]performance \
-| solutions[ -]based \
-| unmatched \
-| unparalleled \
-| unrivalled \
-*<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
-*igx</screen>
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>hide-tor-exit-notation</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Client-header filter to remove the <command>Tor</command> exit node notation
+ found in Host and Referer headers.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If &my-app; and <command>Tor</command> are chained and &my-app;
+ is configured to use socks4a, one can use <quote>http://www.example.org.foobar.exit/</quote>
+ to access the host <quote>www.example.org</quote> through the
+ <command>Tor</command> exit node <quote>foobar</quote>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ As the HTTP client isn't aware of this notation, it treats the
+ whole string <quote>www.example.org.foobar.exit</quote> as host and uses it
+ for the <quote>Host</quote> and <quote>Referer</quote> headers. From the
+ server's point of view the resulting headers are invalid and can cause problems.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ An invalid <quote>Referer</quote> header can trigger <quote>hot-linking</quote>
+ protections, an invalid <quote>Host</quote> header will make it impossible for
+ the server to find the right vhost (several domains hosted on the same IP address).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This client-header filter removes the <quote>foo.exit</quote> part in those headers
+ to prevent the mentioned problems. Note that it only modifies
+ the HTTP headers, it doesn't make it impossible for the server
+ to detect your <command>Tor</command> exit node based on the IP address
+ the request is coming from.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
- e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
-</para>
+<!--
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+-->
+</variablelist>
-<para>
- You get the idea?
-</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="templates">
-<title>Templates</title>
+<title>Privoxy's Template Files</title>
<para>
All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
<ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
<para>
The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
- or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. You can
- edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them.
- (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual user</emphasis>). Note that
- just like in configuration files, lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are
- ignored when the templates are filled in.
+ or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. It
+ is possible to edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want
+ to customize them. (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual
+ user</emphasis>). Should you create your own custom templates, you should use
+ the <filename>config</filename> setting <link linkend="templdir">templdir</link>
+ to specify an alternate location, so your templates do not get overwritten
+ during upgrades.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that just like in configuration files, lines starting
+ with <literal>#</literal> are ignored when the templates are filled in.
</para>
<para>
blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
- in in an alpha or beta development stage:
+ is in an alpha or beta development stage:
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="copyright"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Copyright, License and History</title>
+<sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
<!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
©right;
expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
+<!--
+ dead 08/27/06
<ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
+-->
+ <application>PCRS</application> libraries.
</para>
<para>
<para><simplelist>
<member>
- <emphasis>[]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
+ <emphasis>[ ]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
<para><simplelist>
<member>
- <emphasis>()</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
+ <emphasis>( )</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
or multiple sub-expressions.
</member>
</simplelist></para>
</para>
<para>
- A now something a little more complex:
+ And now something a little more complex:
</para>
<para>
<para>
<emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
- <quote>[]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
+ <quote>[ ]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
<para>
More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
- <ulink url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>
+ <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2>
-<title><application>Privoxy</application>'s Internal Pages</title>
+<title>Privoxy's Internal Pages</title>
<para>
Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
<listitem>
<para>
- Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, <quote>Privoxy</quote> continues
- to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
+ Toggle Privoxy on or off. This feature can be turned off/on in the main
+ <filename>config</filename> file. When toggled <quote>off</quote>, <quote>Privoxy</quote>
+ continues to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking
+ place:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
-
+<!--
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions/index.php?url='+escape(location.href),'Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
+ -->
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
<sect2 id="chain">
<title>Chain of Events</title>
<para>
- Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
- requested by your browser and <application>Privoxy</application> is on duty:
+ Let's take a quick look at how some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ core features are triggered, and the ensuing sequence of events when a web
+ page is requested by your browser:
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
- pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
+ pages (e.g <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
- is then checked and if it does not match, an
- HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match,
- an image is returned. The type of image depends on the setting of <link
- linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
+ and
+ <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"><quote>+handle-as-empty-document</quote></link>
+ are then checked, and if there is no match, an
+ HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back to the browser. Otherwise, if
+ it does match, an image is returned for the former, and an empty text
+ document for the latter. The type of image would depend on the setting of
+ <link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
(blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
</para>
</listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web page and related
- data).
+ Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
+ page).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- If the <link linkend="KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></link>
- action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
- response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- If a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
+ If any <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
or <link
linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
- <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed against the buffered
- content. Filters are applied in the order they are specified in the
- <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
- reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> and any other filter files) are
+ processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
+ they are specified in one of the filter files. Animated GIFs, if present,
+ are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
<application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
</para>
<para>
- If neither <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
+ If neither a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
or <link
linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
+ As the browser receives the now (possibly filtered) page content, it
reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
- frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
- request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
- complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
+ frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a
+ separate request (this is easily viewable in <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ logs). And each such request is in turn processed just as above. Note that a
+ complex web page will have many, many such embedded URLs. If these
+ secondary requests are to a different server, then quite possibly a very
+ differing set of actions is triggered.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+<para>
+ NOTE: This is somewhat of a simplistic overview of what happens with each URL
+ request. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, we have focused on
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> core features only.
+</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="actionsanat">
-<title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
+<title>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</title>
<para>
The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
- logs is a good idea too.
+ logs is a good idea too. (Note that both the toggle feature and logging are
+ enabled via <filename>config</filename> file settings, and may need to be
+ turned <quote>on</quote>.)
+</para>
+<para>
+ Another easy troubleshooting step to try is if you have done any
+ customization of your installation, revert back to the installed
+ defaults and see if that helps. There are times the developers get complaints
+ about one thing or another, and the problem is more related to a customized
+ configuration issue.
</para>
<para>
how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
help with filtering effects (i.e. the <link
linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
- the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
+ one of the filter files since this is handled very
differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
<para>
Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
- and look at it one section at a time:
+ and look at it one section at a time in a sample configuration (your real
+ configuration may vary):
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- Matches for http://google.com:
+ Matches for http://www.google.com:
In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
-{-add-header
- -block
- -crunch-outgoing-cookies
- -crunch-incoming-cookies
- +deanimate-gifs{last}
- -downgrade-http-version
- +fast-redirects
- -filter{popups}
- -filter{fun}
- -filter{shockwave-flash}
- -filter{crude-parental}
- +filter{html-annoyances}
- +filter{js-annoyances}
- +filter{content-cookies}
- +filter{webbugs}
- +filter{refresh-tags}
- +filter{nimda}
- +filter{banners-by-size}
- +hide-forwarded-for-headers
- +hide-from-header{block}
- +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent
- -handle-as-image
- -kill-popups
- -limit-connect
- +prevent-compression
- -send-vanilla-wafer
- -send-wafer
- +session-cookies-only
- +set-image-blocker{pattern} }
+ {+deanimate-gifs {last}
+ +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
+ +filter {refresh-tags}
+ +filter {img-reorder}
+ +filter {banners-by-size}
+ +filter {webbugs}
+ +filter {jumping-windows}
+ +filter {ie-exploits}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+ +hide-from-header {block}
+ +hide-referrer {forge}
+ +session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker {pattern}
/
-
+
{ -session-cookies-only }
.google.com
</para>
<para>
- This tells us how we have defined our
+ This is telling us how we have defined our
<link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, and
- which ones match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing
- is any matches for the <filename>standard.action</filename> file. No hits at
- all here on <quote>standard</quote>. Then next is <quote>default</quote>, or
- our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line listing,
- is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings.
- If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the section
- just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This will apply to
- all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end of the listing
- -- <quote>/</quote>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
- rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
- apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
- <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
- which was for <link
+ which ones match for our test case, <quote>google.com</quote>.
+ Displayed is all the actions that are available to us. Remember,
+ the <literal>+</literal> sign denotes <quote>on</quote>. <literal>-</literal>
+ denotes <quote>off</quote>. So some are <quote>on</quote> here, but many
+ are <quote>off</quote>. Each example we try may provide a slightly different
+ end result, depending on our configuration directives.
+</para>
+<para>
+ The first listing
+ is for our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line
+ listing, is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default
+ settings. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the
+ section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This
+ will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
+ of the listing -- <quote> / </quote>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ But we have defined additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
+ rules, and then we list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions
+ would apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit
+ matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous
+ cookie setting, which was for <link
linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
- (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
- second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
- <link
+ (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google, at
+ least that is how it is in this example. The second turns
+ <emphasis>off</emphasis> any <link
linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
- <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
- defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
- file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
- sections.
+ <quote>www.google.com</quote> or <quote>mail.google.com</quote>. But it would not
+ match <quote>www.google.de</quote>! So, apparently, we have these two actions
+ defined as exceptions to the general rules at the top somewhere in the lower
+ part of our <filename>default.action</filename> file, and
+ <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
</para>
<para>
Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
+ So there is nothing google-specific that we might have added to our own, local
+ configuration. If there was, those actions would over-rule any actions from
+ previously processed files, such as <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ <filename>user.action</filename> typically has the last word. This is the
+ best place to put hard and fast exceptions,
</para>
<para>
Final results:
- -add-header
- -block
- -crunch-outgoing-cookies
- -crunch-incoming-cookies
- +deanimate-gifs{last}
- -downgrade-http-version
- -fast-redirects
- -filter{popups}
- -filter{fun}
- -filter{shockwave-flash}
- -filter{crude-parental}
- +filter{html-annoyances}
- +filter{js-annoyances}
- +filter{content-cookies}
- +filter{webbugs}
- +filter{refresh-tags}
- +filter{nimda}
- +filter{banners-by-size}
- +hide-forwarded-for-headers
- +hide-from-header{block}
- +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent
- -handle-as-image
- -kill-popups
- -limit-connect
- +prevent-compression
- -send-vanilla-wafer
+ -add-header
+ -block
+ -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
+ -content-type-overwrite
+ -crunch-client-header
+ -crunch-if-none-match
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-server-header
+ +deanimate-gifs {last}
+ -downgrade-http-version
+ -fast-redirects
+ -filter {js-events}
+ -filter {content-cookies}
+ -filter {all-popups}
+ -filter {banners-by-link}
+ -filter {tiny-textforms}
+ -filter {frameset-borders}
+ -filter {demoronizer}
+ -filter {shockwave-flash}
+ -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
+ -filter {fun}
+ -filter {crude-parental}
+ -filter {site-specifics}
+ -filter {js-annoyances}
+ -filter {html-annoyances}
+ +filter {refresh-tags}
+ -filter {unsolicited-popups}
+ +filter {img-reorder}
+ +filter {banners-by-size}
+ +filter {webbugs}
+ +filter {jumping-windows}
+ +filter {ie-exploits}
+ -filter {google}
+ -filter {yahoo}
+ -filter {msn}
+ -filter {blogspot}
+ -filter {no-ping}
+ -force-text-mode
+ -handle-as-empty-document
+ -handle-as-image
+ -hide-accept-language
+ -hide-content-disposition
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+ +hide-from-header {block}
+ -hide-if-modified-since
+ +hide-referrer {forge}
+ -hide-user-agent
+ -inspect-jpegs
+ -limit-connect
+ -overwrite-last-modified
+ -prevent-compression
+ -redirect
+ -send-vanilla-wafer
-send-wafer
- -session-cookies-only
- +set-image-blocker{pattern}
-</screen>
+ -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
+ -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
+ -session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker {pattern} </screen>
</para>
<para>
Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
- <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>.
+ <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
+ which are activated specifically for this site in our configuration,
+ and thus show in the <quote>Final Results</quote>.
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { +block +handle-as-image }
- .ad.doubleclick.net
-
- { +block +handle-as-image }
+ { +block{Domains starts with "ad"} }
ad*.
- { +block +handle-as-image }
- .doubleclick.net
+ { +block{Domain contains "ad"} }
+ .ad.
+
+ { +block{Doubleclick banner server} +handle-as-image }
+ .[a-vx-z]*.doubleclick.net
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
- matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
+ We'll just show the interesting part here - the explicit matches. It is
+ matched three different times. Two <quote>+block{}</quote> sections,
+ and a <quote>+block{} +handle-as-image</quote>,
which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
- <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<link
+ <quote>+block-as-image</quote>. (<link
linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
than one action.)
though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
is done here -- as both a <link
- linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
+ linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block{}</quote></link>
<emphasis>and</emphasis> an
- <link
- linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
- The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
- it more readable.
+ <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
+ The custom alias <quote><literal>+block-as-image</literal></quote> just
+ simplifies the process and make it more readable.
</para>
<para>
- One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
+ One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
+ Matches for http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
{-add-header
- -block
- -crunch-incoming-cookies
- -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -block
+ -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
+ -content-type-overwrite
+ -crunch-client-header
+ -crunch-if-none-match
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-server-header
+deanimate-gifs
-downgrade-http-version
- +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances}
- +filter{js-annoyances}
- +filter{kill-popups}
- +filter{webbugs}
- +filter{nimda}
- +filter{banners-by-size}
- +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun}
+ +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
+ -filter {js-events}
+ -filter {content-cookies}
+ -filter {all-popups}
+ -filter {banners-by-link}
+ -filter {tiny-textforms}
+ -filter {frameset-borders}
+ -filter {demoronizer}
+ -filter {shockwave-flash}
+ -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
+ -filter {fun}
+ -filter {crude-parental}
+ -filter {site-specifics}
+ -filter {js-annoyances}
+ -filter {html-annoyances}
+ +filter {refresh-tags}
+ -filter {unsolicited-popups}
+ +filter {img-reorder}
+ +filter {banners-by-size}
+ +filter {webbugs}
+ +filter {jumping-windows}
+ +filter {ie-exploits}
+ -filter {google}
+ -filter {yahoo}
+ -filter {msn}
+ -filter {blogspot}
+ -filter {no-ping}
+ -force-text-mode
+ -handle-as-empty-document
+ -handle-as-image
+ -hide-accept-language
+ -hide-content-disposition
+hide-forwarded-for-headers
+hide-from-header{block}
+hide-referer{forge}
-hide-user-agent
- -handle-as-image
- +kill-popups
+ -inspect-jpegs
+ -overwrite-last-modified
+prevent-compression
+ -redirect
-send-vanilla-wafer
- -send-wafer
+ -send-wafer
+ -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
+ -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
+session-cookies-only
+set-image-blocker{blank} }
/
- { +block +handle-as-image }
+ { +block{Path contains "ads".} +handle-as-image }
/ads
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
- we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
- now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
- block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
- various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
+ Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote> in our
+ configuration! But we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the
+ blank page. It is actually triggering two different actions here, and
+ the effects are aggregated so that the URL is blocked, and &my-app; is told
+ to treat the block as if it were an image. But this is, of course, all wrong.
+ We could now add a new action below this (or better in our own
+ <filename>user.action</filename> file) that explicitly
+ <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (
+ <link linkend="BLOCK"><quote>{-block}</quote></link>) paths with
+ <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration
+ wins). There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when
- making such changes. Or, try using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
+ Now the page displays ;-)
+ Remember to flush your browser's caches when making these kinds of changes to
+ your configuration to insure that you get a freshly delivered page! Or, try
+ using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { +block +handle-as-image }
+ { +block{Path starts with "ads".} +handle-as-image }
/ads
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem
+ That actually was very helpful and pointed us quickly to where the problem
was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
- rules in the first section is causing the problem. This would require some
- guesswork, and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule.
- One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. These
- tend to be harder to troubleshoot. Try adding the URL for the site to one of
- aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
+ rules in the first section of <filename>default.action</filename> is causing
+ the problem. This would require some guesswork, and maybe a little trial and
+ error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the
+ <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> actions.
+ These tend to be harder to troubleshoot.
+ Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
+ <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- {shop}
+ { shop }
.quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
.jungle.com
</para>
<para>
- <quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
- <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
+ <quote><literal>{ shop }</literal></quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
+ <quote><literal>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</literal></quote>.
Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- {-filter}
+ { -filter }
+ # Disable ALL filter actions for sites in this section
.forbes.com
+ developer.ibm.com
+ localhost
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- This would turn off all filtering for that site. This would probably be most
- appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
- exceptions.
+ This would turn off all filtering for these sites. This is best
+ put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
+ exceptions. Note that when a simple domain pattern is used by itself (without
+ the subsequent path portion), all sub-pages within that domain are included
+ automatically in the scope of the action.
</para>
<para>
Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
- <quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote> rule, which assumes
- that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well most of the time
- since these tend to be standardized).
+<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"><quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote></link>
+ rule, which assumes
+ that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well
+ <emphasis>most of the time</emphasis> since these tend to be standardized).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <quote><literal>{ fragile }</literal></quote> is an alias that disables most
+ actions that are the most likely to cause trouble. This can be used as a
+ last resort for problem sites.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+
+ { fragile }
+ # Handle with care: easy to break
+ mail.google.
+ mybank.example.com</screen>
</para>
+
<para>
- <quote>{fragile}</quote> is an alias that disables most actions. This can be
- used as a last resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this
- still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by
- one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
+ <emphasis>Remember to flush caches!</emphasis> Note that the
+ <literal>mail.google</literal> reference lacks the TLD portion (e.g.
+ <quote>.com</quote>). This will effectively match any TLD with
+ <literal>google</literal> in it, such as <literal>mail.google.de.</literal>,
+ just as an example.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If this still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining
+ actions one by one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
</para>
</sect2>
The GNU General Public License should be included with
this file. If not, you can view it at
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
- or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
- Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
+ USA
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
- Revision 2.3 2002/09/26 00:12:17 hal9
- Additional notes on Privoxy patterns, and filtering vs SSL.
+ Revision 2.66 2008/03/06 16:33:47 fabiankeil
+ If limit-connect isn't used, don't limit CONNECT requests to port 443.
+
+ Revision 2.65 2008/03/04 18:30:40 fabiankeil
+ Remove the treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks action. We now
+ use the "blocked" page for forbidden CONNECT requests by default.
+
+ Revision 2.64 2008/03/01 14:10:28 fabiankeil
+ Use new block syntax. Still needs some polishing.
+
+ Revision 2.63 2008/02/22 05:50:37 markm68k
+ fix merge problem
+
+ Revision 2.62 2008/02/11 11:52:23 hal9
+ Fix entity ... s/&/&
+
+ Revision 2.61 2008/02/11 03:41:47 markm68k
+ more updates for mac os x
+
+ Revision 2.60 2008/02/11 03:40:25 markm68k
+ more updates for mac os x
+
+ Revision 2.59 2008/02/11 00:52:34 markm68k
+ reflect new changes for mac os x
+
+ Revision 2.58 2008/02/03 21:37:40 hal9
+ Apply patch from Mark: s/OSX/OS X/
+
+ Revision 2.57 2008/02/03 19:10:14 fabiankeil
+ Mention forward-socks5.
+
+ Revision 2.56 2008/01/31 19:11:35 fabiankeil
+ Let the +client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation} example apply
+ to all requests as "tainted" Referers aren't limited to exit TLDs.
+
+ Revision 2.55 2008/01/19 21:26:37 hal9
+ Add IE7 to configuration section per Gerry.
+
+ Revision 2.54 2008/01/19 17:52:39 hal9
+ Re-commit to fix various minor issues for new release.
+
+ Revision 2.53 2008/01/19 15:03:05 hal9
+ Doc sources tagged for 3.0.8 release.
+
+ Revision 2.52 2008/01/17 01:49:51 hal9
+ Change copyright notice for docs s/2007/2008/. All these will be rebuilt soon
+ enough.
+
+ Revision 2.51 2007/12/23 16:48:24 fabiankeil
+ Use more precise example descriptions for the mysterious domain patterns.
+
+ Revision 2.50 2007/12/08 12:44:36 fabiankeil
+ - Remove already commented out pre-3.0.7 changes.
+ - Update the "new log defaults" paragraph.
+
+ Revision 2.49 2007/12/06 18:21:55 fabiankeil
+ Update hide-forwarded-for-headers description.
+
+ Revision 2.48 2007/11/24 19:07:17 fabiankeil
+ - Mention request rewriting.
+ - Enable the conditional-forge paragraph.
+ - Minor rewordings.
+
+ Revision 2.47 2007/11/18 14:59:47 fabiankeil
+ A few "Note to Upgraders" updates.
+
+ Revision 2.46 2007/11/17 17:24:44 fabiankeil
+ - Use new action defaults.
+ - Minor fixes and rewordings.
+
+ Revision 2.45 2007/11/16 11:48:46 hal9
+ Fix one typo, and add a couple of small refinements.
+
+ Revision 2.44 2007/11/15 03:30:20 hal9
+ Results of spell check.
+
+ Revision 2.43 2007/11/14 18:45:39 fabiankeil
+ - Mention some more contributors in the "New in this Release" list.
+ - Minor rewordings.
+
+ Revision 2.42 2007/11/12 03:32:40 hal9
+ Updates for "What's New" and "Notes to Upgraders". Various other changes in
+ preparation for new release. User Manual is almost ready.
+
+ Revision 2.41 2007/11/11 16:32:11 hal9
+ This is primarily syncing What's New and Note to Upgraders sections with the many
+ new features and changes (gleaned from memory but mostly from ChangeLog).
+
+ Revision 2.40 2007/11/10 17:10:59 fabiankeil
+ In the first third of the file, mention several times that
+ the action editor is disabled by default in 3.0.7 beta and later.
+
+ Revision 2.39 2007/11/05 02:34:49 hal9
+ Various changes in preparation for the upcoming release. Much yet to be done.
+
+ Revision 2.38 2007/09/22 16:01:42 fabiankeil
+ Update embedded show-url-info output.
+
+ Revision 2.37 2007/08/27 16:09:55 fabiankeil
+ Fix pre-chroot-nslookup description which I failed to
+ copy and paste properly. Reported by Stephen Gildea.
+
+ Revision 2.36 2007/08/26 16:47:14 fabiankeil
+ Add Stephen Gildea's pre-chroot-nslookup patch [#1276666],
+ extensive comments moved to user manual.
+
+ Revision 2.35 2007/08/26 14:59:49 fabiankeil
+ Minor rewordings and fixes.
+
+ Revision 2.34 2007/08/05 15:19:50 fabiankeil
+ - Don't claim HTTP/1.1 compliance.
+ - Use $ in some of the path pattern examples.
+ - Use a hide-user-agent example argument without
+ leading and trailing space.
+ - Make it clear that the cookie actions work with
+ HTTP cookies only.
+ - Rephrase the inspect-jpegs text to underline
+ that it's only meant to protect against a single
+ exploit.
+
+ Revision 2.33 2007/07/27 10:57:35 hal9
+ Add references for user-agent strings for hide-user-agenet
+
+ Revision 2.32 2007/06/07 12:36:22 fabiankeil
+ Apply Roland's 29_usermanual.dpatch to fix a bunch
+ of syntax errors I collected over the last months.
+
+ Revision 2.31 2007/06/02 14:01:37 fabiankeil
+ Start to document forward-override{}.
+
+ Revision 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil
+ - Describe installation for FreeBSD.
+ - Start to document taggers and tag patterns.
+ - Don't confuse devils and daemons.
+
+ Revision 2.29 2007/04/05 11:47:51 fabiankeil
+ Some updates regarding header filtering,
+ handling of compressed content and redirect's
+ support for pcrs commands.
+
+ Revision 2.28 2006/12/10 23:42:48 hal9
+ Fix various typos reported by Adam P. Thanks.
+
+ Revision 2.27 2006/11/14 01:57:47 hal9
+ Dump all docs prior to 3.0.6 release. Various minor changes to faq and user
+ manual.
+
+ Revision 2.26 2006/10/24 11:16:44 hal9
+ Add new filters.
+
+ Revision 2.25 2006/10/18 10:50:33 hal9
+ Add note that since filters are off in Cautious, compression is ON. Turn off
+ compression to make filters work on all sites.
+
+ Revision 2.24 2006/10/03 11:13:54 hal9
+ More references to the new filters. Include html this time around.
+
+ Revision 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9
+ Contains new filter definitions from Fabian, and few other miscellaneous
+ touch-ups.
+
+ Revision 2.22 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
+ Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
+ something changes this should be ready for pending release.
+
+ Revision 2.21 2006/09/20 03:21:36 david__schmidt
+ Just the tiniest tweak. Wafer thin!
+
+ Revision 2.20 2006/09/10 14:53:54 hal9
+ Results of spell check. User manual has some updates to standard.actions file
+ info.
+
+ Revision 2.19 2006/09/08 12:19:02 fabiankeil
+ Adjust hide-if-modified-since example values
+ to reflect the recent changes.
+
+ Revision 2.18 2006/09/08 02:38:57 hal9
+ Various changes:
+ -Fix a number of broken links.
+ -Migrate the new Windows service command line options, and reference as
+ needed.
+ -Rebuild so that can be used with the new "user-manual" config capabilities.
+ -Etc.
+
+ Revision 2.17 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
+ Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
+
+ Revision 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9
+ Various small updates for new actions, filterfiles, etc.
+
+ Revision 2.15 2006/08/30 11:15:22 hal9
+ More work on the new actions, especially filter-*-headers, and What's New
+ section. User Manual is close to final form for 3.0.4 release. Some tinkering
+ and proof reading left to do.
+
+ Revision 2.14 2006/08/29 10:59:36 hal9
+ Add a "Whats New in this release" Section. Further work on multiple filter
+ files, and assorted other minor changes.
+
+ Revision 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9
+ Silence warnings and errors. This should build now. New filters were only
+ stubbed in. More to be done.
+
+ Revision 2.12 2006/08/14 08:40:39 fabiankeil
+ Documented new actions that were part of
+ the "minor Privoxy improvements".
+
+ Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt
+ Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
+ with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.43 2005/05/23 09:59:10 hal9
+ Fix typo 'loose'
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.42 2004/12/04 14:39:57 hal9
+ Fix two minor typos per bug SF report.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.41 2004/03/23 12:58:42 oes
+ Fixed an inaccuracy
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.40 2004/02/27 12:48:49 hal9
+ Add comment re: redirecting to local file system for set-image-blocker may
+ is dependent on browser.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.39 2004/01/30 22:31:40 oes
+ Added a hint re bookmarklets to Quickstart section
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.38 2004/01/30 16:47:51 oes
+ Some minor clarifications
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.37 2004/01/29 22:36:11 hal9
+ Updates for no longer filtering text/plain, and demoronizer default settings,
+ and copyright notice dates.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.36 2003/12/10 02:26:26 hal9
+ Changed the demoronizer filter description.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.35 2003/11/06 13:36:37 oes
+ Updated link to nightly CVS tarball
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.34 2003/06/26 23:50:16 hal9
+ Add a small bit on filtering and problems re: source code being corrupted.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.33 2003/05/08 18:17:33 roro
+ Use apt-get instead of dpkg to install Debian package, which is more
+ solid, uses the correct and most recent Debian version automatically.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.32 2003/04/11 03:13:57 hal9
+ Add small note about only one filterfile (as opposed to multiple actions
+ files).
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.31 2003/03/26 02:03:43 oes
+ Updated hard-coded copyright dates
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.30 2003/03/24 12:58:56 hal9
+ Add new section on Predefined Filters.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.29 2003/03/20 02:45:29 hal9
+ More problems with \-\-chroot causing markup problems :(
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.28 2003/03/19 00:35:24 hal9
+ Manual edit of revision log because 'chroot' (even inside a comment) was
+ causing Docbook to hang here (due to double hyphen and the processor thinking
+ it was a comment).
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.27 2003/03/18 19:37:14 oes
+ s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.26 2003/03/17 16:50:53 oes
+ Added documentation for new chroot option
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.25 2003/03/15 18:36:55 oes
+ Adapted to the new filters
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.24 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
+ Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
+ Add faq on cookies.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.23 2002/10/21 02:32:01 hal9
+ Updates to the user.action examples section. A few new ones.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.22 2002/10/12 00:51:53 hal9
+ Add demoronizer to filter section.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
+ s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.20 2002/10/10 03:49:21 hal9
+ Add notes to session-cookies-only and Quickstart about pre-existing
+ cookies. Also, note content-cookies work differently.
- Revision 2.2 2002/09/05 05:45:30 hal9
- Syncing with 3.0. This should be it for doc sources. Not all builds tested
- yet. No new content, just catching up.
+ Revision 1.123.2.19 2002/09/26 01:25:36 hal9
+ More explanation on Privoxy patterns, more on content-cookies and SSL.
Revision 1.123.2.18 2002/08/22 23:47:58 hal9
Add 'Documentation' to Privoxy Menu shot in Configuration section to match
Spell checked (only one typo this time!).
Revision 1.123.2.16 2002/08/09 19:20:54 david__schmidt
- Update to Mac OSX startup script name
+ Update to Mac OS X startup script name
Revision 1.123.2.15 2002/08/07 17:32:11 oes
Converted some internal links from ulink to link for PDF creation; no content changed
Revision 1.123.2.9 2002/07/11 03:40:28 david__schmidt
- Updated Mac OSX sections due to installation location change
+ Updated Mac OS X sections due to installation location change
Revision 1.123.2.8 2002/06/09 16:36:32 hal9
Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
Ooops missed something from David.
Revision 1.123.2.3 2002/05/27 03:23:17 hal9
- Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and OSX startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
+ Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and Mac OS X startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
That's a wrap, I think.
Revision 1.123.2.2 2002/05/26 19:02:09 hal9
Add AmigaOS install stuff.
Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
- Updated OSX installation section
+ Updated Mac OS X installation section
Added a few English tweaks here an there
Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff