-output is user-manual Using catalogs: /etc/sgml/sgml-docbook-3.1.cat Using
-stylesheet: /usr/share/sgml/docbook/utils-0.6/docbook-utils.dsl#html Working
-on: /home/hal/junkbuster/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml Junkbuster User Manual
-
-By: Junkbuster Developers
-Abstract
-The user manual gives the users
-information on how to install and
-configure Internet Junkbuster. Internet
-Junkbuster is an application that
-provides privacy and security to users
-of the World Wide Web.
-
-You can find the latest version of the
-user manual at http://
-ijbswa.sourceforge.net/user-manual/.
-
-Feel free to send a note to the
-developers at
-ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
-.
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------
+Privoxy 3.0.3 User Manual
-Table of Contents
-Introduction
-Installation
-Junkbuster Configuration
-Quickstart to Using Junkbuster
-Contact the Developers
-Copyright and History
-See also
-Appendix
+[ Copyright © 2001 - 2004 by Privoxy Developers ]
+
+$Id: user-manual.txt,v 1.60.2.7 2004/01/30 23:46:57 oes Exp $
-Introduction
+The User Manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
+Privoxy.
-Internet Junkbuster is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for
-protecting privacy, filtering web page content, managing cookies, controlling
-access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet Junk.
-Junkbuster has a very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit
-individual needs and tastes. Internet Junkbuster has application for both
-stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.
+Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting
+privacy, modifying web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and
+removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
+very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
+tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
+networks.
-This documentation is included with the current development version of Internet
-Junkbuster and is incomplete 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 version 3.0 is currently underway, and
-includes many significant changes and enhancements over earlier verions. The
-target release date for stable v3.0 is December 2001.
+Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
-Since this is a development version, some features are in the process of being
-implemented. This documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result. And
-there are bugs, though hopefully not many!
+You can find the latest version of the User Manual at http://www.privoxy.org/
+user-manual/. Please see the Contact section on how to contact the developers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-New Features
+Table of Contents
+1. Introduction
-In addition to Junkbuster's traditional features of ad and banner blocking and
-cookie management, this is a list of new features currently under development:
+ 1.1. Features
- * Modularized configuration that will allow for system wide settings, and
- individual user settings.
-
- * A browser based GUI configuration utility (not finished).
-
- * Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows (previously available as a
- patch).
-
- * Partial support for HTTP/1.1.
-
- * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
- and generally a more sophisticated configuration syntax over previous
- versions.
-
- * Web page content filtering.
-
- * Multi-threaded.
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+2. Installation
-Installation
+ 2.1. Binary Packages
-Junkbuster is available as raw source code, or pre-compiled binaries. See the
-Junkbuster Home Page for current release info. Junkbuster is also available via
-CVS. This is the recommended approach at this time. But please be aware that
-CVS is constantly changing, and it may break in mysterious ways.
+ 2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs
+ 2.1.2. Debian
+ 2.1.3. Windows
+ 2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
+ 2.1.5. OS/2
+ 2.1.6. Mac OSX
+ 2.1.7. AmigaOS
+ 2.1.8. Gentoo
+
+ 2.2. Building from Source
+ 2.3. Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date
+
+3. Note to Upgraders
+4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking
-Source
+5. Starting Privoxy
-For gzipped tar archives, unpack the source:
+ 5.1. Red Hat and Conectiva
+ 5.2. Debian
+ 5.3. SuSE
+ 5.4. Windows
+ 5.5. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others
+ 5.6. OS/2
+ 5.7. Mac OSX
+ 5.8. AmigaOS
+ 5.9. Gentoo
+ 5.10. Command Line Options
- tar zxvf ijb_source_2.9*
- cd ijb_source_2.9*
-
+6. Privoxy Configuration
-For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need the CVS package installed
-first. To download CVS source:
+ 6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+ 6.2. Configuration Files Overview
- cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login
- cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co current
- cd current
-
+7. The Main Configuration File
-This will create a directory named current/, which will contain the source
-tree.
+ 7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
-Then, in either case, to build from source:
+ 7.1.1. confdir
+ 7.1.2. logdir
+ 7.1.3. actionsfile
+ 7.1.4. filterfile
+ 7.1.5. logfile
+ 7.1.6. jarfile
+ 7.1.7. trustfile
- autoconf #recommended for CVS source
- ./configure
- make
- su
- make install
-
+ 7.2. Local Set-up Documentation
-For Redhat and SuSE Linux RPM packages, see below.
+ 7.2.1. user-manual
+ 7.2.2. trust-info-url
+ 7.2.3. admin-address
+ 7.2.4. proxy-info-url
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 7.3. Debugging
-Red Hat
+ 7.3.1. debug
+ 7.3.2. single-threaded
-To build Redhat RPM packages, install source as above. Then:
+ 7.4. Access Control and Security
- autoconf #recommended for CVS source
- ./configure
- make redhat-dist
-
+ 7.4.1. listen-address
+ 7.4.2. toggle
+ 7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
+ 7.4.4. enable-edit-actions
+ 7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
+ 7.4.6. buffer-limit
-This will create both binary and src RPMs in the usual places. Example:
+ 7.5. Forwarding
- /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686/junkbuster-2.9.8-1.i686.rpm
+ 7.5.1. forward
+ 7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
+ 7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
- /usr/src/redhat/SRPMS/junkbuster-2.9.9-1.src.rpm
+ 7.6. Windows GUI Options
-To install, of course:
+8. Actions Files
- rpm -Uvv /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686/junkbuster-2.9.9-1.i686.rpm
-
+ 8.1. Finding the Right Mix
+ 8.2. How to Edit
+ 8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
+ 8.4. Patterns
-This will place the Junkbuster configuration files in /etc/junkbuster/, and log
-files in /var/log/junkbuster/.
+ 8.4.1. The Domain Pattern
+ 8.4.2. The Path Pattern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 8.5. Actions
+
+ 8.5.1. add-header
+ 8.5.2. block
+ 8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies
+ 8.5.4. crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ 8.5.5. deanimate-gifs
+ 8.5.6. downgrade-http-version
+ 8.5.7. fast-redirects
+ 8.5.8. filter
+ 8.5.9. handle-as-image
+ 8.5.10. hide-forwarded-for-headers
+ 8.5.11. hide-from-header
+ 8.5.12. hide-referrer
+ 8.5.13. hide-user-agent
+ 8.5.14. kill-popups
+ 8.5.15. limit-connect
+ 8.5.16. prevent-compression
+ 8.5.17. send-vanilla-wafer
+ 8.5.18. send-wafer
+ 8.5.19. session-cookies-only
+ 8.5.20. set-image-blocker
+ 8.5.21. Summary
+
+ 8.6. Aliases
+ 8.7. Actions Files Tutorial
+
+ 8.7.1. default.action
+ 8.7.2. user.action
-SuSE
+9. The Filter File
-To build SuSE RPM packages, install source as above. Then:
+ 9.1. Filter File Tutorial
+ 9.2. The Pre-defined Filters
- autoconf #recommended for CVS source
- ./configure
- make suse-dist
-
+10. Templates
+11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
-This will create both binary and src RPMs in the usual places. Example:
+ 11.1. Get Support
+ 11.2. Report Bugs
+ 11.3. Request New Features
+ 11.4. Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems
+ 11.5. Other
- /usr/src/suse/RPMS/i686/junkbuster-2.9.9-1.i686.rpm
+12. Privoxy Copyright, License and History
- /usr/src/suse/SRPMS/junkbuster-2.9.9-1.src.rpm
+ 12.1. License
+ 12.2. History
+ 12.3. Authors
-To install, of course:
+13. See Also
+14. Appendix
- rpm -Uvv /usr/src/suse/RPMS/i686/junkbuster-2.9.9-1.i686.rpm
-
+ 14.1. Regular Expressions
+ 14.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
-This will place the Junkbuster configuration files in /etc/junkbuster/, and log
-files in /var/log/junkbuster/.
+ 14.2.1. Bookmarklets
+
+ 14.3. Chain of Events
+ 14.4. Anatomy of an Action
+
+1. Introduction
+
+This documentation is included with the current stable version of Privoxy,
+v.3.0.3.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-OS/2
+1.1. Features
-The OS/2 version of Junkbuster requires the EMX runtime library to be
-installed. The EMX runtime library is available on the hobbes OS/2 archive,
-among many other locations: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-search?sh=1&button
-=Search&key=emxrt.zip&stype=all&sort=type&dir=%2Fpub%2Fos2%2Fdev%2Femx%2Fv0.9d
+In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional features of ad and banner
+blocking and cookie management, Privoxy provides new features:
-Junkbuster is packaged in a WarpIN self- installing archive. The
-self-installing program will be named depending on the release version,
-something like: ijbos123.exe. In order to install it, simply run this
-executable or double-click on its icon and follow the WarpIN installation
-panels. A shadow of the Junkbuster executable will be placed in your startup
-folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2 starts.
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
+ and filter effects. Remote toggling.
-The directory you choose to install Junkbuster into will contain all of the
-configuration files.
+ * Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
+ "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-up windows, etc.)
-If you would like to build binary images on OS/2 yourself, you will need a
-working EMX/GCC environment, plus several Unix-like tools. The Hobbes OS/2
-archive is a good place to start when building such an environment. A set of
-Unix-like tools named gnupack is located here: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/
-h-search?sh=1&key=gnupack&stype=all&sort=type&dir=%2Fpub%2Fos2%2Fapps
+ * Modularized configuration that allows for standard settings and user
+ settings to reside in separate files, so that installing updated actions
+ files won't overwrite individual user settings.
-Once you have the source code unpacked as above, you can build the binaries
-from the current/ directory:
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
- autoconf
- sh configure
- make
-
+ * Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
+ and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
+ previous versions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
-Windows
+ * GIF de-animation.
-Click-click. (I need help on this. Not a clue here. Also for configuration
-section below. HB.)
+ * Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
-Other
+ * User-customizable HTML templates for all proxy-generated pages (e.g.
+ "blocked" page).
-Some quick notes on other Operating Systems.
+ * Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
-For FreeBSD (and other *BSDs?), the build will need gmake instead of the
-included make. gmake is available from http://www.gnu.org. The rest should be
-the same as above for Linux/Unix.
+ * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
+ configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
-Junkbuster Configuration
+ * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
+ holes fixed.
-For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuraton files are located in /etc/junkbuster
-/ by default. For MS Windows and OS/2, these are all in the same directory as
-the Junkbuster executable. The name and number of configuration files has
-changed from previous versions, and is subject to change as development
-progresses.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point. For the time being,
-there are only three default configuration files (this will change in time):
+2. Installation
- * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, and OS/2,
- and junkbustr.txt on Windows. On Amiga, it is AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/config.
-
- * The actionsfile file is used to define various actions relating to images,
- banners, pop-ups, banners and cookies. There is a CGI based editor for this
- file that can be accessed via http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/. (Still
- under active development.)
-
- * The re_filterfile file can be used to rewrite the raw page content,
- including text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript.
-
-actionsfile and re_filterfile can use Perl style regular expressions for
-maximum flexibility. All files use the "#" character to denote a comment. Such
-lines are not processed by Junkbuster. After making any changes, restart
-Junkbuster in order for the changes to take effect.
+Privoxy is available both in convenient pre-compiled packages for a wide range
+of operating systems, and as raw source code. For most users, we recommend
+using the packages, which can be downloaded from our Privoxy Project Page.
+
+Note: If you have a previous Junkbuster or Privoxy 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 be
+sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to you. See the note to
+upgraders section below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The Main Configuration File
+2.1. Binary Packages
-Again, the main configuration file is named config on Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2,
-and junkbustr.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword
-followed by a list of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces
-or tabs). For example:
+How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
- blockfile blocklist.ini
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Indicates that the blockfile is named "blocklist.ini".
+2.1.1. Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs
-A "#" indicates a comment. Any part of a line following a "#" is ignored,
-except if the "#" is preceded by a "\".
+RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-3.0.3-1.rpm, and will use /etc/
+privoxy for the location of configuration files.
-Thus, by placing a "#" at the start of an existing configuration line, you can
-make it a comment and it will be treated as if it weren't there. This is called
-"commenting out" an option and can be useful to turn off features: If you
-comment out the "logfile" line, junkbuster will not log to a file at all. Watch
-for the "default:" section in each explanation to see what happens if the
-option is left unset (or commented out).
+Note that on Red Hat, Privoxy will not be automatically started on system boot.
+You will need to enable that using chkconfig, ntsysv, or similar methods. Note
+that SuSE will automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Long lines can be continued on the next line by using a "\" as the very last
-character.
+If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM: rpm
+--rebuild privoxy-3.0.3-1.src.rpm. This will use your locally installed
+libraries and RPM version.
-There are various aspects of Junkbuster behavior that can be tuned.
+Also note that if you have a Junkbuster RPM installed on your system, you need
+to remove it first, because the packages conflict. Otherwise, RPM will try to
+remove Junkbuster automatically, before installing Privoxy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Defining Other Configuration Files
+2.1.2. Debian
-Junkbuster can use a number of other files to tell it what ads to block, what
-cookies to accept, etc. This section of the configuration file tells Junkbuster
-where to find all those other files.
+DEBs can be installed with apt-get install privoxy, and will use /etc/privoxy
+for the location of configuration files.
-On Windows, Junkbuster looks for these files in the same directory as the
-executable. On Unix and OS/2, Junkbuster looks for these files in the current
-working directory. In either case, an absolute path name can be used to avoid
-problems.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-When development goes modular and multiuser, the blocker, filter, and per-user
-config will be stored in subdirectories of "confdir". For now, only confdir/
-templates is used for storing HTML templates for CGI results.
+2.1.3. Windows
-The location of the configuration files:
+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.
- confdir /etc/junkbuster # No trailing /, please.
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The directory where all logging (i.e. logfile and jarfile) takes place. No
-trailing "/", please:
+2.1.4. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
- logdir /var/log/junkbuster
-
+Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and untar the archive. For the
+most part, you'll have to figure out where things go.
-Note that all file specifications below are relative to the above two
-directories!
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The "actionsfile" contains patterns to specify the actions to apply to requests
-for each site. Default: Cookies to and from all destinations are filtered.
-Popups are disabled for all sites. All sites are filtered if re_filterfile
-specified. No sites are blocked. An empty image is displayed for filtered ads
-and other images (formerly "tinygif"). The syntax of this file is explained in
-detail below.
+2.1.5. OS/2
- actionsfile actionsfile
-
+First, make sure that no previous installations of Junkbuster and / or Privoxy
+are left on your system. Check that no Junkbuster or Privoxy objects are in
+your startup folder.
-The "re_filterfile" file contains content modification rules. These rules
-permit powerful changes on the content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable
-your favourite JavaScript annoyances, rewrite the actual content, or just have
-some fun replacing "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web
-page. Default: No content modification, or whatever the developers are playing
-with :-/
+Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will guide
+you through the installation process. A shadow of the Privoxy executable will
+be placed in your startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2
+starts.
- re_filterfile re_filterfile
-
+The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of the
+configuration files.
-The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The logfile
-can be useful for tracking down a problem with Junkbuster (e.g., it's not
-blocking an ad you think it should block) but in most cases you probably will
-never look at it.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to periodically
-remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job (see "man cron").
-For Redhat, a logrotate script has been included.
+2.1.6. Mac OSX
-On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like "/var/log/junkbuster.* +1024k
-644 nobody.nogroup" in /etc/logfiles, with the effect that cron.daily will
-automatically archive, gzip, and empty the log, when it exceeds 1M size.
+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 Privoxy.pkg and follow the installation
+process. Privoxy will be installed in the folder /Library/Privoxy. It will
+start automatically whenever you start up. To prevent it from starting
+automatically, remove or rename the folder /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
-Default: Log to the a file named logfile. Comment out to disable logging.
+To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on StartPrivoxy.command in the /Library/
+Privoxy folder. Or, type this command in the Terminal:
- logfile logfile
-
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
-The "jarfile" defines where Junkbuster stores the cookies it intercepts. Note
-that if you use a "jarfile", it may grow quite large. Default: Don't store
-intercepted cookies.
- #jarfile jarfile
-
-If you specify a "trustfile", Junkbuster will only allow access to sites that
-are named in the trustfile. You can also mark sites as trusted referrers, with
-the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted, if a link from a
-trusted referrer was used. The link target will then be added to the
-"trustfile". This is a very restrictive feature that typical users most
-propably want to leave disabled. Default: Disabled, don't use the trust
-mechanism.
+You will be prompted for the administrator password.
- #trustfile trust
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some online
-documentation about your blocking policy and to specify the URL(s) here. They
-will appear on the page that your users receive when they try to access
-untrusted content. Use multiple times for multiple URLs. Default: Don't display
-links on the "untrusted" info page.
+2.1.7. AmigaOS
- trust-info-url http://www.your-site.com/why_we_block.html
- trust-info-url http://www.your-site.com/what_we_allow.html
-
+Copy and then unpack the lha archive to a suitable location. All necessary
+files will be installed into Privoxy directory, including all configuration and
+log files. To uninstall, just remove this directory.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Other Configuration Options
+2.1.8. Gentoo
-This part of the configuration file contains options that control how
-Junkbuster operates.
+Gentoo source packages (Ebuilds) for Privoxy are contained in the Gentoo
+Portage Tree (they are not on the download page, but there is a Gentoo section,
+where you can see when a new Privoxy Version is added to the Portage Tree).
-"Admin-address" should be set to the email address of the proxy administrator.
-It is used in many of the proxy-generated pages. Default: fill@me.in.please.
+Before installing Privoxy under Gentoo just do first emerge rsync to get the
+latest changes from the Portage tree. With emerge privoxy you install the
+latest version.
- #admin-address fill@me.in.please
-
+Configuration files are in /etc/privoxy, the documentation is in /usr/share/doc
+/privoxy-3.0.3 and the Log directory is in /var/log/privoxy.
-"Proxy-info-url" can be set to a URL that contains more info about this
-Junkbuster installation, it's configuration and policies. It is used in many of
-the proxy-generated pages and its use is highly recommended in multi-user
-installations, since your users will want to know why certain content is
-blocked or modified. Default: Don't show a link to online documentation.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- proxy-info-url http://www.your-site.com/proxy.html
-
+2.2. Building from Source
-"Listen-address" specifies the address and port where Junkbuster will listen
-for connections from your Web browser. The default is to listen on the
-localhost port 8000, and this is suitable for most users. (In your web browser,
-under proxy configuration, list the proxy server as "localhost" and the port as
-"8000").
-
-If you already have another service running on port 8000, or if you want to
-serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you
-will need to override the default. The syntax is "listen-address
-[<ip-address>]:<port>". If you leave out the IP adress, junkbuster will bind to
-all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable from the
-internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (acl's) (see
-"aclfile" above).
-
-For example, suppose you are running Junkbuster on a machine which has the
-address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0) and has another
-outside connection with a different address. You want it to serve requests from
-inside only:
-
- listen-address 192.168.0.1:8000
-
+The most convenient way to obtain the Privoxy sources is to download the source
+tarball from our project page.
-If you want it to listen on all addresses (including the outside connection):
+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 the CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS tarball.
- listen-address :8000
-
+To build Privoxy from source, autoconf, GNU make (gmake), and, of course, a C
+compiler like gcc are required.
-If you do this, consider using ACLs (see "aclfile" above). Note: you will need
-to point your browser(s) to the address and port that you have configured here.
-Default: localhost:8000 (127.0.0.1:8000).
-
-The debug option sets the level of debugging information to log in the logfile
-(and to the console in the Windows version). A debug level of 1 is informative
-because it will show you each request as it happens. Higher levels of debug are
-probably only of interest to developers.
-
- debug 1 # GPC = show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
- debug 2 # CONN = show each connection status
- debug 4 # IO = show I/O status
- debug 8 # HDR = show header parsing
- debug 16 # LOG = log all data into the logfile
- debug 32 # FRC = debug force feature
- debug 64 # REF = debug regular expression filter
- debug 128 # = debug fast redirects
- debug 256 # = debug GIF deanimation
- debug 512 # CLF = Common Log Format
- debug 1024 # = debug kill popups
- debug 4096 # INFO = Startup banner and warnings.
- debug 8192 # ERROR = Non-fatal errors
-
-
-It is highly recommended that you enable ERROR reporting (debug 8192), at least
-until the next stable release.
-
-The reporting of FATAL errors (i.e. ones which crash JunkBuster) is always on
-and cannot be disabled.
-
-If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512" ONLY, do
-not enable anything else.
-
-Multiple "debug" directives, are OK - they're logical-OR'd together.
-
- debug 15 # same as setting the first 4 listed above
-
+When building from a source tarball (either release version or nightly CVS
+tarball), first unpack the source:
-Default:
+ tar xzvf privoxy-3.0.3-src* [.tgz or .tar.gz]
+ cd privoxy-3.0.3
- debug 1 # URLs
- debug 4096 # Info
- debug 8192 # Errors - *we highly recommended enabling this*
-
-Junkbuster normally uses "multi-threading", a software technique that permits
-it to handle many different requests simultaneously. In some cases you may wish
-to disable this -- particularly if you're trying to debug a problem. The
-"single-threaded" option forces Junkbuster to handle requests sequentially.
-Default: Multi-threaded mode.
+For retrieving the current CVS sources, you'll need CVS installed. Note that
+sources from CVS are development quality, and may not be stable, or well
+tested. To download CVS source:
- #single-threaded
-
+ cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa login
+ cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ijbswa co current
+ cd current
-"toggle" allows you to temporarily disable all Junkbuster's filtering. Just set
-"toggle 0".
-The Windows version of Junkbuster puts an icon in the system tray, which allows
-you to change this option without having to edit this file. If you right-click
-on that icon (or select the "Options" menu), one choice is "Enable". Clicking
-on enable toggles Junkbuster on and off. This is useful if you want to
-temporarily disable Junkbuster, e.g., to access a site that requires cookies
-which you normally have blocked.
+This will create a directory named current/, which will contain the source
+tree.
-"toggle 1" means Junkbuster runs normally, "toggle 0" means that Junkbuster
-becomes a non-anonymizing non-blocking proxy. Default: 1.
+Then, in either case, to build from unpacked tarball or CVS source:
- toggle 1
-
+ autoheader
+ autoconf
+ ./configure # (--help to see options)
+ make # (the make from gnu, gmake for *BSD)
+ su
+ make -n install # (to see where all the files will go)
+ make install # (to really install)
-For content filtering, i.e. the "+filter" and "+deanimate-gif" actions, it is
-neccessary that Junkbuster buffers up the entire document body. This can be
-potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending data indefinitely
-and wait for your RAM to exhaust.
-The buffer-limit option lets you set the maximum size in Kbytes that each
-buffer may use. When the documents buffer exceeds this size, it is flushed to
-the client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter the rest of it is made.
-Remember that there may multiple threads running, which might require
-increasing the "buffer-limit" Kbytes each, unless you have enabled
-"single-threaded" above.
+If you have gnu make, you can have the first four steps automatically done for
+you by just typing:
- buffer-limit 4069
-
+ make
-To enable the web-based actionsfile editor set enable-edit-actions to 1, or 0
-to disable. Note that you must have compiled JunkBuster with support for this
-feature, otherwise this option has no effect. This internal page can be reached
-at http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/.
-Security note: If this is enabled, anyone who can use the proxy can edit the
-actions file, and their changes will affect all users. For shared proxies, you
-probably want to disable this. Default: enabled.
+in the freshly downloaded or unpacked source directory.
- enable-edit-actions 1
-
+For more detailed instructions on how to build Redhat and SuSE RPMs, Windows
+self-extracting installers, building on platforms with special requirements
+etc, please consult the developer manual.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Allow JunkBuster to be toggled on and off remotely, using your web browser. Set
-"enable-remote-toggle"to 1 to enable, and 0 to disable. Note that you must have
-compiled JunkBuster with support for this feature, otherwise this option has no
-effect.
+2.3. Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date
-Security note: If this is enabled, anyone who can use the proxy can toggle it
-on or off, and their changes will affect all users. For shared proxies, you
-probably want to disable this. Default: enabled.
+As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated
+versions of both the main actions file (as a separate package) and the software
+itself (including the actions file) available for download.
- enable-remote-toggle 1
-
+If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
+Privoxy or the actions file, subscribe to our announce mailing list,
+ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
+
+In order not to loose your personal changes and adjustments when updating to
+the latest default.action file we strongly recommend that you use user.action
+for your customization of Privoxy. See the Chapter on actions files for
+details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Access Control List (ACL)
+3. Note to Upgraders
-Access controls are included at the request of some ISPs and systems
-administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. Please note the
-warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute for a
-firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic security weaknesses.
+There are very significant changes from earlier Junkbuster versions to the
+current Privoxy. The number, names, syntax, and purposes of configuration files
+have substantially changed. Junkbuster 2.0.x configuration files will not
+migrate, Junkbuster 2.9.x and Privoxy configurations will need to be ported.
+The functionalities of the old blockfile, cookiefile and imagelist are now
+combined into the "actions files". default.action, is the main actions file.
+Local exceptions should best be put into user.action.
-If no access settings are specified, the proxy talks to anyone that connects.
-If any access settings file are specified, then the proxy talks only to IP
-addresses permitted somewhere in this file and not denied later in this file.
+A "filter file" (typically default.filter) is new as of Privoxy 2.9.x, and
+provides some of the new sophistication (explained below). config is much the
+same as before.
-Summary -- if using an ACL:
+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 blockfile 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.
-Client must have permission to receive service.
+A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
-LAST match in ACL wins.
+ * The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
+ service (NAS).
-Default behavior is to deny service.
+ * Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any important
+ configuration files!
-The syntax for an entry in the Access Control List is:
+ * Privoxy is controllable with a web browser at the special URL: http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (Shortcut: http://p.p/). Many aspects of configuration
+ can be done here, including temporarily disabling Privoxy.
- ACTION SRC_ADDR[/SRC_MASKLEN] [ DST_ADDR[/DST_MASKLEN] ]
-
+ * The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner
+ blocking, and many other aspects of Privoxy configuration are the actions
+ files. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new actions
+ concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules should
+ go into user.action.
-Where the individual fields are:
+ * Some installers may not automatically start Privoxy after installation.
- ACTION = "permit-access" or "deny-access"
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- SRC_ADDR = client hostname or dotted IP address
- SRC_MASKLEN = number of bits in the subnet mask for the source
+4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy
- DST_ADDR = server or forwarder hostname or dotted IP address
- DST_MASKLEN = number of bits in the subnet mask for the target
-
+ * If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
+ files. See the Note to Upgraders Section.
-The field separator (FS) is whitespace (space or tab).
+ * Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section below for platform specific
+ information.
-IMPORTANT NOTE: If the junkbuster is using a forwarder (see below) or a gateway
-for a particular destination URL, the DST_ADDR that is examined is the address
-of the forwarder or the gateway and NOT the address of the ultimate target.
-This is necessary because it may be impossible for the local Junkbuster to
-determine the address of the ultimate target (that's often what gateways are
-used for).
+ * Advanced users and those who want to offer Privoxy service to more than
+ just their local machine should check the main config file, especially the
+ security-relevant options. These are off by default.
-Here are a few examples to show how the ACL features work:
+ * Start Privoxy, if the installation program has not done this already (may
+ vary according to platform). See the section Starting Privoxy.
-"localhost" is OK -- no DST_ADDR implies that ALL destination addresses are OK:
+ * Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) proxy by setting
+ the proxy configuration for address of 127.0.0.1 and port 8118. (Junkbuster
+ and earlier versions of Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting
+ Privoxy below for more details on this.
- permit-access localhost
-
+ * Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad
+ images. If using Privoxy to manage cookies, you should remove any currently
+ stored cookies too.
-A silly example to illustrate permitting any host on the class-C subnet with
-Junkbuster to go anywhere:
+ * 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.
- permit-access www.junkbusters.com/24
-
+ See the Configuration section for more configuration options, and how to
+ customize your installation.
-Except deny one particular IP address from using it at all:
+ * If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune Privoxy's behaviour, take
+ a look at the actions files. As a quick start, you might find the richly
+ commented examples helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files
+ through the web-based user interface. The Appendix "Anatomy of an Action"
+ has hints how to debug actions that "misbehave".
- deny-access ident.junkbusters.com
-
+ * For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
+ Bookmarklets into your browser's personal toolbar.
-You can also specify an explicit network address and subnet mask. Explicit
-addresses do not have to be resolved to be used.
+ * Please see the section Contacting the Developers on how to report bugs or
+ problems with websites or to get help.
- permit-access 207.153.200.0/24
-
+ * Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
-A subnet mask of 0 matches anything, so the next line permits everyone.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- permit-access 0.0.0.0/0
-
+4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking
+
+Ad blocking is but one of Privoxy's array of features. Many of these features
+are for the technically minded advanced user. But, ad and banner blocking is
+surely common ground for everybody.
+
+This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so you can get up to
+speed quickly without having to read the more extensive information provided
+below, though this is highly recommended.
+
+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 extreme ad free
+browsing, be prepared to deal with more "problem" sites, and to spend more time
+adjusting the configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short,
+there is not an easy way to eliminate all ads. Either take the easy way and
+settle for most ads blocked with the default configuration, or jump in and
+tweak it for your personal surfing habits and preferences.
+
+Secondly, a brief explanation of Privoxy's "actions". "Actions" in this
+context, are the directives we use to tell Privoxy to perform some task
+relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell Privoxy to take some
+"action". Each action has a unique name and function. While there are many
+potential actions in Privoxy's arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking.
+Actions, and action configuration files, are explained in depth below.
+
+Actions are specified in Privoxy's configuration, followed by one or more URLs
+to which the action should apply. URLs can actually be URL type patterns that
+use wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
+actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
+
+When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more of
+the sections as defined in Privoxy's configuration, or not. If so, then Privoxy
+will perform the respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens.
+Furthermore, web pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web
+browser will use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
+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.
+
+The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: block, handle-as-image,
+and set-image-blocker:
+
+ * block - 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
+ Privoxy's own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has
+ happened.
+
+ * handle-as-image - tells Privoxy to treat this URL as an image. Privoxy's
+ default configuration already does this for all common image types (e.g.
+ GIF), but there are many situations where this is not so easy to determine.
+ So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly important for ad
+ blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of some kind, can we
+ replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the Privoxy BLOCKED
+ page (which would only result in a "broken image" icon). There are some
+ limitations to this though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an
+ image substitution for an entire HTML page in most situations.
+
+ * set-image-blocker - tells Privoxy what to display in place of an ad image
+ that has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
+ block action somewhere in the configuration, and, it must also match an
+ handle-as-image action.
+
+ The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
+
+ pattern - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad replacement is obvious.
+ This is the default.
+
+ blank - A very small empty GIF image is displayed. This is the so-called
+ "invisible" configuration option.
+
+ http://<URL> - A redirect to any image anywhere of the user's choosing
+ (advanced usage).
+
+The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
+the special Privoxy editor at http://config.privoxy.org/show-status (shortcut:
+http://p.p/show-status). This is an internal page, and does not require
+Internet access. Select the appropriate "actions" file, and click "Edit". It is
+best to put personal or local preferences in user.action since this is not
+meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
+other files. Here you can insert new "actions", and URLs for ad blocking or
+other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration. Privoxy will
+detect these changes automatically.
+
+A quick and simple step by step example:
+
+ * Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select "Copy Link Location"
+ from the pop-up menu.
+
+ * Set your browser to http://config.privoxy.org/show-status
+
+ * Find user.action in the top section, and click on "Edit":
+
+ Figure 1. Actions Files in Use
+
+ [files-in-u]
+
+ * You should have a section with only block listed under "Actions:". If not,
+ click a "Insert new section below" button, and in the new section that just
+ appeared, click the Edit button right under the word "Actions:". This will
+ bring up a list of all actions. Find block near the top, and click in the
+ "Enabled" column, then "Submit" just below the list.
+
+ * Now, in the block actions section, click the "Add" button, and paste the
+ URL the browser got from "Copy Link Location". Remove the http:// at the
+ beginning of the URL. Then, click "Submit" (or "OK" if in a pop-up window).
+
+ * Now go back to the original page, and press SHIFT-Reload (or flush all
+ browser caches). The image should be gone now.
+
+This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
+wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
+site. For a more extensive explanation of "patterns", and the entire actions
+concept, see the Actions section.
+
+For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want to
+now go to the Actions Files Tutorial. The ideas explained therein also apply to
+the web-based editor.
-Note, you cannot say:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- permit-access .org
-
+5. Starting Privoxy
-to allow all *.org domains. Every IP address listed must resolve fully.
+Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you will want to configure your
+browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is 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!
-An ISP may want to provide a Junkbuster that is accessible by "the world" and
-yet restrict use of some of their private content to hosts on its internal
-network (i.e. its own subscribers). Say, for instance the ISP owns the Class-B
-IP address block 123.124.0.0 (a 16 bit netmask). This is how they could do it:
+Please note that Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not
+work with FTP or other protocols.
- permit-access 0.0.0.0/0 0.0.0.0/0 # other clients can go anywhere
- # with the following exceptions:
-
- deny-access 0.0.0.0/0 123.124.0.0/16 # block all external requests for
- # sites on the ISP's network
+Figure 2. Proxy Configuration (Mozilla)
- permit 0.0.0.0/0 www.my_isp.com # except for the ISP's main
- # web site
+[proxy_setu]
- permit 123.124.0.0/16 0.0.0.0/0 # the ISP's clients can go
- # anywhere
-
+With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under:
-Note that if some hostnames are listed with multiple IP addresses, the primary
-value returned by DNS (via gethostbyname()) is used. Default: Anyone can access
-the proxy.
+ Edit
+ |_
+ Preferences
+ |_
+ Advanced
+ |_
+ Proxies
+ |_
+ HTTP Proxy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+For Internet Explorer:
-Forwarding
+ Tools
+ |_
+ Internet Properties
+ |_
+ Connections
+ |_
+ LAN Settings
-This feature allows chaining of HTTP requests via multiple proxies. It can be
-used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when accessing specific
-domains by routing requests to those domains to a special purpose filtering
-proxy such as lpwa.com. Or to use a caching proxy to speed up browsing.
+Then, check "Use Proxy" and fill in the appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1,
+Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS proxy support too.
-It can also be used in an environment with multiple networks to route requests
-via multiple gateways allowing transparent access to multiple networks without
-having to modify browser configurations.
+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 Privoxy!
-Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Junkbuster SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A. The
-difference is that SOCKS 4A will resolve the target hostname using DNS on the
-SOCKS server, not our local DNS client.
+Privoxy 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, Privoxy will look for a file named config in the current directory.
+Except on Win32 where it will try config.txt.
-The syntax of each line is:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- forward target_domain[:port] http_proxy_host[:port]
- forward-socks4 target_domain[:port] socks_proxy_host[:port] http_proxy_host[:
-port]
- forward-socks4a target_domain[:port] socks_proxy_host[:port] http_proxy_host[:
-port]
-
+5.1. Red Hat and Conectiva
-If http_proxy_host is ".", then requests are not forwarded to a HTTP proxy but
-are made directly to the web servers.
+We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
+default. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
+file.
-Lines are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
+ # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
-There is an implicit line equivalent to the following, which specifies that
-anything not finding a match on the list is to go out without forwarding or
-gateway protocol, like so:
- forward .* . # implicit
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In the following common configuration, everything goes to Lucent's LPWA, except
-SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
+5.2. Debian
- forward .* lpwa.com:8000
- forward :443 .
-
+We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per default. It
+will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration file.
-See the FAQ for instructions on how to automate the login procedure for LPWA.
-Some users have reported difficulties related to LPWA's use of "." as the last
-element of the domain, and have said that this can be fixed with this:
+ # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
- forward lpwa. lpwa.com:8000
-
-(NOTE: the syntax for specifiying target_domain has changed since the previous
-paragraph was written -- it will not work now. More information is welcome.)
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In this fictitious example, everything goes via an ISP's caching proxy, except
-requests to that ISP:
+5.3. SuSE
- forward .* caching.myisp.net:8000
- forward myisp.net .
-
+We use a script. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main
+configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting your PC.
-For the @home network, we're told the forwarding configuration is this:
+ # rcprivoxy start
- forward .* proxy:8080
-
-Also, we're told they insist on getting cookies and JavaScript, so you need to
-add home.com to the cookie file. We consider JavaScript a security risk. Java
-need not be enabled.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In this example direct connections are made to all "internal" domains, but
-everything else goes through Lucent's LPWA by way of the company's SOCKS
-gateway to the Internet.
+5.4. Windows
- forward_socks4 .* lpwa.com:8000 firewall.my_company.com:1080
- forward my_company.com .
-
+Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file named config.txt.
+Note that Windows will automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
-This is how you could set up a site that always uses SOCKS but no forwarders:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- forward_socks4a .* . firewall.my_company.com:1080
-
+5.5. Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others
-An advanced example for network administrators:
+Example Unix startup command:
-If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content to
-their subscribers, you can configure forwarding to pass requests to the
-specific host that's connected to that ISP so that everybody can see all of the
-content on all of the ISPs.
+ # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-This is a bit tricky, but here's an example:
-host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.com. And host-b has a PPP connection to
-isp-b.com. host-a can run a Junkbuster proxy with forwarding like this:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- forward .* .
- forward isp-b.com host-b:8000
-
+5.6. OS/2
-host-b can run a Junkbuster proxy with forwarding like this:
+During installation, Privoxy is configured to start automatically when the
+system restarts. You can start it manually by double-clicking on the Privoxy
+icon in the Privoxy folder.
- forward .* .
- forward isp-a.com host-a:8000
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Now, anyone on the Internet (including users on host-a and host-b) can set
-their browser's proxy to either host-a or host-b and be able to browse the
-content on isp-a or isp-b.
-
-Here's another practical example, for University of Kent at Canterbury students
-with a network connection in their room, who need to use the University's Squid
-web cache.
-
- forward *. ssbcache.ukc.ac.uk:3128 # Use the proxy, except for:
- forward .ukc.ac.uk . # Anything on the same domain as us
- forward * . # Host with no domain specified
- forward 129.12.*.* . # A dotted IP on our /16 network.
- forward 127.*.*.* . # Loopback address
- forward localhost.localdomain . # Loopback address
- forward www.ukc.mirror.ac.uk . # Specific host
-
+5.7. Mac OSX
-If you intend to chain Junkbuster and squid locally, then chain as browser ->
-squid -> junkbuster is the recommended way.
+During installation, Privoxy is configured to start automatically when the
+system restarts. To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on the
+StartPrivoxy.command icon in the /Library/Privoxy folder. Or, type this command
+in the Terminal:
-Your squid configuration could then look like this:
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
- # Define junkbuster as parent cache
-
- cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8000 0 no-query
-
- # Define ACL for protocol FTP
- acl FTP proto FTP
- # Do not forward ACL FTP to junkbuster
- always_direct allow FTP
- # Do not forward ACL CONNECT (https) to junkbuster
- always_direct allow CONNECT
+You will be prompted for the administrator password.
- # Forward the rest to junkbuster
- never_direct allow all
-
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+5.8. AmigaOS
+
+Start Privoxy (with RUN <>NIL:) in your startnet script (AmiTCP), in
+s:user-startup (RoadShow), as startup program in your startup script (Genesis),
+or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx). Privoxy will automatically quit when
+you quit your TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack
+may display that Privoxy is still running).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Windows GUI Options
+5.9. Gentoo
-Junkbuster has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface:
+A script is again used. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main
+configuration file.
-If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Junkbuster icon will animate when
-"Junkbuster" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
+ /etc/init.d/privoxy start
- activity-animation 1
-
-If "log-messages" is set to 1, Junkbuster will log messages to the console
-window:
- log-messages 1
-
+Note that Privoxy is not automatically started at boot time by default. You can
+change this with the rc-update command.
-If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the amount
-of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console window, will be
-limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
+ rc-update add privoxy default
-Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and eat
-up all your memory!
- log-buffer-size 1
-
-log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer. See above.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- log-max-lines 200
-
+5.10. Command Line Options
-If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Junkbuster will highlight portions of
-the log messages with a bold-faced font:
+Privoxy may be invoked with the following command-line options:
- log-highlight-messages 1
-
+ * --version
-The font used in the console window:
+ Print version info and exit. Unix only.
- log-font-name Comic Sans MS
-
+ * --help
-Font size used in the console window:
+ Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
- log-font-size 8
-
+ * --no-daemon
-"show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Junkbuster will appear as a button
-on the Task bar when minimized:
+ Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, and
+ don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
- show-on-task-bar 0
-
+ * --pidfile FILE
-If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will minimize
-Junkbuster instead of closing the program (close with the exit option on the
-File menu).
+ On startup, write the process ID to FILE. Delete the FILE on exit. Failure
+ to create or delete the FILE is non-fatal. If no FILE option is given, no
+ PID file will be used. Unix only.
- close-button-minimizes 1
-
+ * --user USER[.GROUP]
-The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of
-JunkBuster. If this option is used, Junkbuster will disconnect from and hide
-the command console.
+ After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of USER, and if
+ included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not sufficient to do
+ so. Unix only.
- #hide-console
-
+ * --chroot
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option, chroot to that
+ user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the Privoxy process
+ that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in Privoxy to the files contained in
+ that hierarchy. Unix only.
-The Actions File
+ * configfile
-The "actionsfile" is used to define what actions Junkbuster takes, and thus
-determines how images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
-transactions are handled. Images can be anything you want, including ads,
-banners, or just some obnoxious image that you would rather not see. Cookies
-can be accepted or rejected. The default file is in fact named actionsfile.
+ If no configfile is included on the command line, Privoxy will look for a
+ file named "config" in the current directory (except on Win32 where it will
+ look for "config.txt" instead). Specify full path to avoid confusion. If no
+ config file is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
-To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
-compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
-applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated. You can trace this
-process by visiting http://i.j.b/show-url-info.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-There are four types of lines in this file: comments (begin with a "#"
-character), actions, aliases and patterns, all of which are explained below.
+6. Privoxy Configuration
+
+All Privoxy configuration is stored in text files. These files can be edited
+with a text editor. Many important aspects of Privoxy can also be controlled
+easily with a web browser.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-URL Domain and Path Syntax
+6.1. Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
-Generally, a pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, where both the <domain> and
-<path> part are optional. If you only specify a domain part, the "/" can be
-left out:
+Privoxy's user interface can be reached through the special URL http://
+config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), which is a built-in page and works
+without Internet access. You will see the following section:
-www.example.com - is a domain only pattern and will match any request to
-"www.example.com".
+ Privoxy Menu
+ ? View & change the current configuration
+ ? View the source code version numbers
+ ? View the request headers.
+ ? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why
+ ? Toggle Privoxy on or off
+ ? Documentation
-www.example.com/ - means exactly the same.
-www.example.com/index.html - matches only the single document "/index.html" on
-"www.example.com".
+This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
+actions files, which is where the ad, banner, cookie, and URL blocking magic is
+configured as well as other advanced features of Privoxy. This is an easy way
+to adjust various aspects of Privoxy configuration. The actions file, and other
+configuration files, are explained in detail below.
-/index.html - matches the document "/index.html", regardless of the domain.
+"Toggle Privoxy On or Off" is handy for sites that might have problems with
+your current actions and filters. You can in fact use it as a test to see
+whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy continues to run as a
+proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e. Privoxy acts like a
+normal forwarding proxy. There is even a toggle Bookmarklet offered, so that
+you can toggle Privoxy with one click from your browser.
-index.html - matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name
-and there is no top-level domain called ".html".
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the domain
-starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end. For example:
+6.2. Configuration Files Overview
+
+For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in /etc/privoxy/
+by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and AmigaOS these are all in the same
+directory as the Privoxy executable.
+
+The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though some
+settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the principle
+configuration files are:
+
+ * The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and
+ AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows. This is a required file.
+
+ * default.action (the main actions file) is used to define which "actions"
+ relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, content modification, cookie
+ handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many exceptions
+ (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
+ Privoxy to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on as many
+ websites as possible.
+
+ Multiple actions files may be defined in config. These are processed in the
+ order they are defined. Local customizations and locally preferred
+ exceptions to the default policies as defined in default.action (which you
+ will most probably want to define sooner or later) are probably best
+ applied in user.action, where you can preserve them across upgrades.
+ standard.action is for Privoxy's internal use.
+
+ There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from http://
+ config.privoxy.org/show-status (Shortcut: http://p.p/show-status) for the
+ various actions files.
+
+ * default.filter (the filter file) 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.
+ Only one filter file may be defined.
+
+All files use the "#" character to denote a comment (the rest of the line will
+be ignored) and understand line continuation through placing a backslash ("\")
+as the very last character in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it
+looses its special function. Placing a # in front of an otherwise valid
+configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
+out" that line.
+
+The actions files and default.filter can use Perl style regular expressions for
+maximum flexibility.
+
+After making any changes, there is no need to restart Privoxy in order for the
+changes to take effect. Privoxy detects such changes automatically. Note,
+however, that it may take one or two additional requests for the change to take
+effect. When changing the listening address of Privoxy, these "wake up"
+requests must obviously be sent to the old listening address.
-.example.com - matches any domain that ENDS in ".example.com".
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-www. - matches any domain that STARTS with "www".
+7. The Main Configuration File
-Additionally, there are wildcards that you can use in the domain names
-themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wildcards: "*" stands for zero or
-more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any single character. And you can
-define charachter classes in square brackets and they can be freely mixed:
+Again, the main configuration file is named config on Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2,
+and config.txt on Windows. Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword
+followed by a list of values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces
+or tabs). For example:
-ad*.example.com - matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but
-not "sfads.example.com".
+ confdir /etc/privoxy
-*ad*.example.com - matches all of the above, and then some.
+Assigns the value /etc/privoxy to the option confdir and thus indicates that
+the configuration directory is named "/etc/privoxy/".
-.?pix.com - matches "www.ipix.com", "pictures.epix.com", "a.b.c.d.e.upix.com",
-etc.
+All options in the config file except for confdir and logdir are optional.
+Watch out in the below description for what happens if you leave them unset.
-www[1-9a-ez].example.com - matches "www1.example.com", "www4.example.com",
-"wwwd.example.com", "wwwz.example.com", etc., but not "wwww.example.com".
+The main config file controls all aspects of Privoxy's operation that are not
+location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter where you may be
+surfing).
-If Junkbuster was compiled with "pcre" support (default), Perl compatible
-regular expressions can be used. See the pcre/docs/ direcory or "man perlre"
-(also available on http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html) for details.
-A brief discussion of regular expressions is in the Appendix. For instance:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-/.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpe?g - would match a URL from any domain, with any path that
-includes "advert" followed immediately by one or more digits, then a "." and
-ending in either "jpeg" or "jpg". So we match "example.com/ads/advert2.jpg",
-and "www.example.com/ads/banners/advert39.jpeg", but not "www.example.com/ads/
-banners/advert39.gif" (no gifs in the example pattern).
+7.1. Configuration and Log File Locations
-Please note that matching in the path is case INSENSITIVE by default, but you
-can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the "(?-i)"
-switch:
+Privoxy can (and normally does) use a number of other files for additional
+configuration, help and logging. This section of the configuration file tells
+Privoxy where to find those other files.
-www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* - will match only documents whose path starts
-with "PaTtErN" in exactly this capitalization.
+The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all configuration
+files, and write permission to any files that would be modified, such as log
+files and actions files.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Actions
+7.1.1. confdir
-Actions are enabled if preceded with a "+", and disabled if preceded with a
-"-". Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g.
-{+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs to which the action applies. There
-are three classes of actions:
+Specifies:
- * Boolean (e.g. "+/-block"):
-
- {+name} # enable this action
- {-name} # disable this action
-
-
- * Parameterized (e.g. "+/-hide-user-agent"):
-
- {+name{param}} # enable action and set parameter to "param"
- {-name} # disable action
-
-
- * Multi-value (e.g. "{+/-add-header{Name: value}}", "{+/-wafer{name=value}}
- "):
-
- {+name{param}} # enable action and add parameter "param"
- {-name{param}} # remove the parameter "param"
- {-name} # disable this action totally
-
-
-If nothing is specified in this file, no "actions" are taken. So in this case
-JunkBuster would just be a normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You
-must specifically enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although
-the provided default actionsfile file will give a good starting point).
+ The directory where the other configuration files are located
-Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. For multi-valued actions,
-the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+Type of value:
-The list of valid Junkbuster "actions" are:
+ Path name
- * Add the specified HTTP header, which is not checked for validity. You may
- specify this many times to specify many different headers:
-
- +add-header{Name: value}
-
-
- * Block this URL totally.
-
- +block
-
-
- * De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame.
- This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
- the option "first" is given, the first frame of the animation is used as
- the replacement. If "last" is given, the last frame of the animation is
- used instead, which propably 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).
-
- +deanimate-gifs{last}
- +deanimate-gifs{first}
-
-
- * "+downgrade" will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to HTTP/1.0 and
- downgrade the responses as well. Use this action for servers that use HTTP/
- 1.1 protocol features that Junkbuster doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is
- only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests.
-
- +downgrade
-
-
- * Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
- will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a
- parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs resulting
- from this scheme typically look like: http://some.place/some_script?http://
- some.where-else.
-
- Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
- URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browing 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.
-
- The "+fast-redirects" option enables interception of these requests by
- Junkbuster, who will cut off all but the last valid URL in the request and
- send a local redirect back to your browser without contacting the remote
- site.
-
- +fast-redirects
-
-
- * Filter the website through the re_filterfile:
-
- +filter{filename}
-
-
- * Block any existing X-Forwarded-for header, and do not add a new one:
-
- +hide-forwarded
-
-
- * If the browser sends a "From:" header containing your e-mail address, this
- either completely removes the header ("block"), or changes it to the
- specified e-mail address.
-
- +hide-from{block}
- +hide-from{spam@sittingduck.xqq}
-
-
- * Don't send the "Referer:" (sic) header to the web site. You can block it,
- forge a URL to the same server as the request (which is preferred because
- some sites will not send images otherwise) or set it to a constant string
- of your choice.
-
- +hide-referer{block}
- +hide-referer{forge}
- +hide-referer{http://nowhere.com}
-
-
- * Alternative spelling of "+hide-referer". It has the same parameters, and
- can be freely mixed with, "+hide-referer". ("referrer" is the correct
- English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it requires it
- to be spelled "referer".)
-
- +hide-referrer{...}
-
-
- * Change the "User-Agent:" header so web servers can't tell your browser
- type. Warning! This breaks many web sites. Specify the user-agent value you
- want. Example, pretend to be using Netscape on Linux:
-
- +hide-user-agent{Mozilla (X11; I; Linux 2.0.32 i586)}
-
-
- * Treat this URL as an image. This only matters if it's also "+block"ed, in
- which case a "blocked" image can be sent rather than a HTML page. See
- "+image-blocker{}" below for the control over what is actually sent.
-
- +image
-
-
- * Decides what to do with URLs that end up tagged with "{+block +image}".
- There are 4 options. "-image-blocker" will send a HTML "blocked" page,
- usually resulting in a "broken image" icon. "+image-blocker{logo}" will
- send a "JunkBuster" image. "+image-blocker{blank}" will send a 1x1
- transparent GIF image. And finally, "+image-blocker{http://xyz.com}" will
- send a HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the
- advantage of the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed
- up the display.
-
- +image-blocker{logo}
- +image-blocker{blank}
- +image-blocker{http://i.j.b/send-banner}
-
-
- * By default (i.e. in the absence of a "+limit-connect" action), Junkbuster
- will only allow CONNECT requests to port 443, which is the standard port
- for https as a precaution.
-
- The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
- (https:// 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 proxy. This can be a big
- security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be abused as TCP relays
- very easily.
-
- If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid
- CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and
- port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and
- max to 65K):
-
- +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need no be specified.
- +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
- +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100
- #and above 500 are OK.
-
-
- * "+no-compression" prevents the website from compressing the data. Some
- websites do this, which can be a problem for Junkbuster, since "+filter",
- "+no-popup" and "+gif-deanimate" will not work on compressed data. This
- will slow down connections to those websites, though. Default is
- "nocompression" is turned on.
-
- +nocompression
-
-
- * Prevent the website from reading cookies:
-
- +no-cookies-read
-
-
- * Prevent the website from setting cookies:
-
- +no-cookies-set
-
-
- * Filter the website through a built-in filter to disable those obnoxious
- JavaScript pop-up windows via window.open(), etc. The two alternative
- spellings are equivalent.
-
- +no-popup
- +no-popups
-
-
- * This action only applies if you are using a jarfile for saving cookies. It
- sends a cookie to every site stating that you do not accept any copyright
- on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you. Of course, this
- is a (relatively) unique header they could use to track you.
-
- +vanilla-wafer
-
-
- * This allows you to add an arbitrary cookie. It can be specified multiple
- times in order to add as many cookies as you like.
-
- +wafer{name=value}
-
-
-The meaning of any of the above is reversed by preceding the action with a "-",
-in place of the "+".
-
-Some examples:
-
-Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites:
-
- # Turn off all cookies
- { +no-cookies-read }
- { +no-cookies-set }
-
- # Execeptions to the above, sites that need cookies
- { -no-cookies-read }
- { -no-cookies-set }
- .javasoft.com
- .sun.com
- .yahoo.com
- .msdn.microsoft.com
- .redhat.com
-
- # Alternative way of saying the same thing
- {-no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read}
- .sourceforge.net
- .sf.net
-
+Default value:
-Now turn off "fast redirects", and then we allow two exceptions:
+ /etc/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
- # Turn them off!
- {+fast-redirects}
-
- # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
- {-fast-redirects}
- www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
- login.yahoo.com
-
+Effect if unset:
-Turn on page filtering, with one exception for sourceforge:
+ Mandatory
- # Run everything through the default filter file (re_filterfile):
- {+filter}
-
- # But please don't re_filter code from sourceforge!
- {-filter}
- .cvs.sourceforge.net
-
+Notes:
-Now some URLs that we want "blocked", ie we won't see them. Many of these use
-regular expressions that will expand to match multiple URLs:
-
- # Blocklist:
- {+block}
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?ads?[0-9]?(/|[-_.].*|\.(gif|jpe?g))
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?count(er)?(\.cgi|\.dll|\.exe|[?/])
- /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
- /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
- /.*/(sponsor)s?[0-9]?/
- /.*/_?(plain|live)?ads?(-banners)?/
- /.*/abanners/
- /.*/ad(sdna_image|gifs?)/
- /.*/ad(server|stream|juggler)\.(cgi|pl|dll|exe)
- /.*/adbanners/
- /.*/adserver
- /.*/adstream\.cgi
- /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/
- /.*/banner_?ads/
- /.*/banners?/
- /.*/banners?\.cgi/
- /.*/cgi-bin/centralad/getimage
- /.*/images/addver\.gif
- /.*/images/marketing/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /.*/popupads/
- /.*/siteads/
- /.*/sponsor.*\.gif
- /.*/sponsors?[0-9]?/
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpg
- /Media/Images/Adds/
- /ad_images/
- /adimages/
- /.*/ads/
- /bannerfarm/
- /grafikk/annonse/
- /graphics/defaultAd/
- /image\.ng/AdType
- /image\.ng/transactionID
- /images/.*/.*_anim\.gif # alvin brattli
- /ip_img/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /rotateads/
- /rotations/
- /worldnet/ad\.cgi
- /cgi-bin/nph-adclick.exe/
- /.*/Image/BannerAdvertising/
- /.*/ad-bin/
- /.*/adlib/server\.cgi
- /autoads/
-
+ No trailing "/", please
+
+ When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
+ per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of "confdir". For now, the
+ configuration directory structure is flat, except for confdir/templates,
+ where the HTML templates for CGI output reside (e.g. Privoxy's 404 error
+ page).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Aliases
+7.1.2. logdir
-Custom "actions", known to Junkbuster as "aliases", can be defined by combining
-other "actions". These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in "actions".
-Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, "=", "{" or "}
-". But please use only "a"- "z", "0"-"9", "+", and "-". Alias names are not
-case sensitive, and must be defined before anything else in actionsfile! And
-there can only be one set of "aliases" defined.
+Specifies:
-Now let's define a few aliases:
+ The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where logfile and jarfile
+ are located)
- # Useful customer aliases we can use later. These must come first!
- {{alias}}
- +no-cookies = +no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- -no-cookies = -no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- fragile =
- -block -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -no-popups
- shop = -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
- +imageblock = +block +image
-
- #For people who don't like to type too much: ;-)
- c0 = +no-cookies
- c1 = -no-cookies
- c2 = -no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- c3 = +no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
-
+Type of value:
-Some examples using our "shop" and "fragile" aliases from above:
+ Path name
- # These sites are very complex and require
- # minimal interference.
- {fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
- .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
+Default value:
- # Shopping sites - still want to block ads.
- {shop}
- .quietpc.com
- .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .jungle.com
- .scan.co.uk
+ /var/log/privoxy (Unix) or Privoxy installation dir (Windows)
- # These shops require pop-ups
- {shop -no-popups}
- .dabs.com
- .overclockers.co.uk
-
+Effect if unset:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Mandatory
-The Filter File
+Notes:
-The filter file defines what filtering of web pages Junkbuster does. The
-default filter file is re_filterfile, located in the config directory. In this
-file, any document content, whether viewable text or embedded non-visible
-content, can be changed.
+ No trailing "/", please
-This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in the target
-page. Some examples from the included default re_filterfile:
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by deleting
-such references:
+7.1.3. actionsfile
- # The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless buzzwords.
- # Again, check it out on http://www.airport-cgn.de/.
- s/status='.*?';*//ig
-
+Specifies:
-Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck":
+ The actions file(s) to use
- s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
-
+Type of value:
-Kill those auto-refresh tags:
+ File name, relative to confdir, without the .action suffix
- # Kill refresh tags. I like to refresh myself. Manually.
- # check it out on http://www.airport-cgn.de/ and go to the arrivals page.
- #
- s/<meta[^>]*http-equiv[^>]*refresh.*URL=([^>]*?)"?>/<link rev="x-refresh" href
-=$1>/i
- s/<meta[^>]*http-equiv="?page-enter"?[^>]*content=[^>]*>/<!
---no page enter for me-->/i
-
+Default values:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended
-Quickstart to Using Junkbuster
+ default # Main actions file
-Install package, then run and enjoy! Junbuster accepts only one command line
-option -- the configuration file to be used. Example Unix startup command:
+ user # User customizations
-
- # /usr/sbin/junkbuster /etc/junkbuster/config &
-
-
+Effect if unset:
-If no configuration file is specified on the command line, Junkbuster will look
-for a file named config in the current directory. Except on Amiga where it will
-look for AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/config and Win32 where it will try junkbstr.txt.
-If no file is specified on the command line and no default configuration file
-can be found, Junkbuster will fail to start.
+ No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
-Be sure your browser is set to use the proxy which is by default at localhost,
-port 8000. With Netscape (and Mozilla), this can be set under Edit ->
-Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy. For Internet Explorer: Tools
-> Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting. Then, check "Use Proxy"
-and fill in the appropriate info (Address: localhost, Port: 8000). Include if
-HTTPS proxy support too.
+Notes:
-The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
-point, though may be somewhat aggressive in blocking junk. You will probably
-want to keep an eye out for sites that require cookies, and add these to
-actionsfile as needed. By default, most of these will be blocked until you add
-them to the configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you
-will need to edit actionsfile and disable this feature. If you use more than
-one browser, it would make more sense to let Junkbuster handle this. In which
-case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
+ Multiple actionsfile lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
-If a particular site shows problems loading properly, try adding it to the
-{fragile} section of actionsfile. This will turn off most actions for this
-site.
+ The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
+ purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the "main" actions
+ file maintained by the developers, and user.action, where you can make your
+ personal additions.
-HTTP/1.1 support is not fully implemented. If browsers that support HTTP/1.1
-(like Mozilla or recent versions of I.E.) experience problems, you might try to
-force HTTP/1.0 compatiblity. For Mozilla, look under Edit -> Preferences ->
-Debug -> Networking. Or set the "+downgrade" config option in actionsfile.
+ Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done
+ for ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc. There is
+ no point in using Privoxy without at least one actions file.
-After running Junkbuster for a while, you can start to fine tune the
-configuration to suit your personal, or site, preferences and requirements.
-There are many, many aspects that can be customized. "Actions" (from
-actionsfile) can be adjusted by pointing your browser to http://
-ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/, and then follow the link to "edit the actions
-list". (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In fact, various aspects of Junkbuster configuration can be viewed from this
-page, including current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
-the browser's request headers, and "actions" that apply to a given URL. In
-addition to the actionsfile editor mentioned above, Junkbuster can also be
-turned "on" and "off" from this page.
+7.1.4. filterfile
-If you encounter problems, please verify it is a Junkbuster bug, by disabling
-Junkbuster, and then trying the same page. Also, try another browser if
-possible to eliminate browser or site problems. Before reporting it as a bug,
-see if there is not a configuration option that is enabled that is causing the
-page not to load. You can then add an exception for that page or site. If a
-bug, please report it to the developers (see below).
+Specifies:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The filter file to use
-Contact the Developers
+Type of value:
-Feature requests and other questions should be posted to the Feature request
-page at SourceForge. There is also an archive there.
+ File name, relative to confdir
-Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
-discussions can join the appropriate mailing list here. Archives are available
-here too.
+Default value:
-Please report bugs, using the form at Sourceforge. Please try to verify that it
-is a Junkbuster bug, and not a browser or site bug first. Also, check to make
-sure this is not already a known bug.
+ default.filter (Unix) or default.filter.txt (Windows)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Effect if unset:
-Copyright and History
+ No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all +filter{name} actions in
+ the actions files are turned neutral.
-License
+Notes:
-Internet Junkbuster is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
-under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
-Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any
-later version.
+ The filter file contains content modification rules that use regular
+ expressions. These rules permit powerful changes on the content of Web
+ pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances,
+ re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun replacing
+ "Microsoft" with "MicroSuck" wherever it appears on a Web page.
-This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
-WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
-PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, which
-is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite
-330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ The +filter{name} actions rely on the relevant filter (name) to be defined
+ in the filter file!
+
+ A pre-defined filter file called default.filter that contains a bunch of
+ handy filters for common problems is included in the distribution. See the
+ section on the filter action for a list.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-History
+7.1.5. logfile
-Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and JunkBusters
-Corporation, and was released as free open-source software under the GNU GPL.
-Stefan Waldherr made many improvements, and started the SourceForge project to
-rekindle development. The last stable release was v2.0.2, which has now grown
-whiskers ;-).
+Specifies:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The log file to use
-See also
+Type of value:
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa
+ File name, relative to logdir
- http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/
+Default value:
- http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/
+ logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows)
- http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
+Effect if unset:
- http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
+ No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (STDERR).
- http://privacy.net/analyze/
+Notes:
- http://www.squid-cache.org/
+ The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
+ of detail and number of messages are set with the debug option (see below).
+ The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with Privoxy (e.g.,
+ it's not blocking an ad you think it should block) but in most cases you
+ probably will never look at it.
-
+ Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
+ periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
+ (see "man cron"). For Red Hat, a logrotate script has been included.
+
+ On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like "/var/log/privoxy.* +1024k
+ 644 nobody.nogroup" in /etc/logfiles, with the effect that cron.daily will
+ automatically archive, gzip, and empty the log, when it exceeds 1M size.
+
+ Any log files must be writable by whatever user Privoxy is being run as
+ (default on UNIX, user id is "privoxy").
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Appendix
+7.1.6. jarfile
-Regular Expressions
+Specifies:
-Junkbuster can use "regular expressions" in various config files. Assuming
-support for "pcre" (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) is compiled in, which
-is the default. Such configuration directives do not require regular
-expressions, but they can be used to increase flexibility by matching a pattern
-with wildcards against URLs.
+ The file to store intercepted cookies in
-If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what "regular
-expressions" are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to logdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ jarfile (Unix) or privoxy.jar (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.1.7. trustfile
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The trust file to use
+
+Type of value:
+
+ File name, relative to confdir
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset (commented out). When activated: trust (Unix) or trust.txt (Windows)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The entire trust mechanism is turned off.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and
+ should be used with care. It is NOT recommended for the casual user.
+
+ If you specify a trust file, Privoxy will only allow access to sites that
+ are specified in the trustfile. Sites can be listed in one of two ways:
+
+ Prepending a ~ character limits access to this site only (and any sub-paths
+ within this site), e.g. ~www.example.com.
+
+ Or, you can designate sites as trusted referrers, by prepending the name
+ with a + character. The effect is that access to untrusted sites will be
+ granted -- but only if a link from this trusted referrer was used. The link
+ target will then be added to the "trustfile" so that future, direct
+ accesses will be granted. Sites added via this mechanism do not become
+ trusted referrers themselves (i.e. they are added with a ~ designation).
+
+ If you use the + operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over
+ time.
+
+ It is recommended that Privoxy be compiled with the --disable-force,
+ --disable-toggle and --disable-editor options, if this feature is to be
+ used.
+
+ Possible applications include limiting Internet access for children.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2. Local Set-up Documentation
+
+If you intend to operate Privoxy for more users than just yourself, it might be
+a good idea to let them know how to reach you, what you block and why you do
+that, your policies, etc.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2.1. user-manual
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Location of the Privoxy User Manual.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ A fully qualified URI
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ http://www.privoxy.org/version/user-manual/ will be used, where version is
+ the Privoxy version.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI
+ pages. The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary
+ distributions, so you probably want to set this to a locally installed
+ copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on a local webserver
+ for all your users and use the corresponding URL here.
+
+ Examples:
+
+ Unix, in local filesystem:
+
+ user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-3.0.3/user-manual/
+
+
+ Windows, in local filesystem, must use forward slash notation:
+
+ user-manual file:/c:/some-dir/privoxy-3.0.3/user-manual/
+
+
+ Windows, UNC notation (with forward slashes):
+
+ user-manual file://///some-server/some-path/privoxy-3.0.3/user-manual/
+
+
+ Any platform, on local webserver (called "local-webserver"):
+
+ user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/
+
+
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Warning |
+ |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
+ |If set, this option should be the first option in the config |
+ |file, because it is used while the config file is being read. |
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2.2. trust-info-url
+
+Specifies:
+
+ A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an
+ untrusted page is denied.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ URL
+
+Default value:
+
+ Two example URL are provided
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism
+ has been activated. (See trustfile above.)
+
+ If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
+ documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here. Use
+ multiple times for multiple URLs.
+
+ The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
+ locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first
+ place!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2.3. admin-address
+
+Specifies:
+
+ An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Email address
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
+ Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2.4. proxy-info-url
+
+Specifies:
+
+ A URL to documentation about the local Privoxy setup, configuration or
+ policies.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ URL
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user
+ interface.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If both admin-address and proxy-info-url are unset, the whole "Local
+ Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will not be shown.
+
+ This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3. Debugging
+
+These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem. Note that you might
+also want to invoke Privoxy with the --no-daemon command line option when
+debugging.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.1. debug
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Key values that determine what information gets logged to the logfile.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Integer values
+
+Default value:
+
+ 12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Nothing gets logged.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The available debug levels are:
+
+ debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
+ debug 2 # show each connection status
+ debug 4 # show I/O status
+ debug 8 # show header parsing
+ debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
+ debug 32 # debug force feature
+ debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
+ debug 128 # debug fast redirects
+ debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
+ debug 512 # Common Log Format
+ debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
+ debug 2048 # CGI user interface
+ debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
+ debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
+
+
+ To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use multiple
+ debug lines.
+
+ A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request as
+ it happens. 1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended so that you will notice
+ when things go wrong. The other levels are probably only of interest if you
+ are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce a hell of an output
+ (especially 16).
+
+ The reporting of fatal errors (i.e. ones which crash Privoxy) is always on
+ and cannot be disabled.
+
+ If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set "debug 512" ONLY
+ and not enable anything else.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3.2. single-threaded
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether to run only one server thread
+
+Type of value:
+
+ None
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability
+ to serve multiple requests simultaneously.
+
+Notes:
+
+ This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never need to
+ use it. It will drastically reduce performance.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4. Access Control and Security
+
+This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects of
+Privoxy's configuration.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.1. listen-address
+
+Specifies:
+
+ The IP address and TCP port on which Privoxy will listen for client
+ requests.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ [IP-Address]:Port
+
+Default value:
+
+ 127.0.0.1:8118
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended
+ for home users who run Privoxy on the same machine as their browser.
+
+Notes:
+
+ You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
+
+ If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
+ serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well,
+ you will need to override the default.
+
+ If you leave out the IP address, Privoxy will bind to all interfaces
+ (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable from the Internet. In
+ that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's, see below), and/or a
+ firewall.
+
+ If you open Privoxy to untrusted users, you will also want to turn off the
+ enable-edit-actions and enable-remote-toggle options!
+
+Example:
+
+ Suppose you are running Privoxy on a machine which has the address
+ 192.168.0.1 on your local private network (192.168.0.0) and has another
+ outside connection with a different address. You want it to serve requests
+ from inside only:
+
+ listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.2. toggle
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Initial state of "toggle" status
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 1 or 0
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Act as if toggled on
+
+Notes:
+
+ If set to 0, Privoxy will start in "toggled off" mode, i.e. behave like a
+ normal, content-neutral proxy where all ad blocking, filtering, etc are
+ disabled. See enable-remote-toggle below. This is not really useful
+ anymore, since toggling is much easier via the web interface than via
+ editing the conf file.
+
+ The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray if
+ this option is present.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.3. enable-remote-toggle
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether or not the web-based toggle feature may be used
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 0 or 1
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
+
+Notes:
+
+ When toggled off, Privoxy acts like a normal, content-neutral proxy, i.e.
+ it acts as if none of the actions applied to any URL.
+
+ For the time being, access to the toggle feature can not be controlled
+ separately by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can
+ access Privoxy (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can toggle it for all
+ users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
+ untrusted users.
+
+ Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
+ otherwise this option has no effect.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.4. enable-edit-actions
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Whether or not the web-based actions file editor may be used
+
+Type of value:
+
+ 0 or 1
+
+Default value:
+
+ 1
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
+
+Notes:
+
+ For the time being, access to the editor can not be controlled separately
+ by "ACLs" or HTTP authentication, so that everybody who can access Privoxy
+ (see "ACLs" and listen-address above) can modify its configuration for all
+ users. So this option is not recommended for multi-user environments with
+ untrusted users.
+
+ Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature,
+ otherwise this option has no effect.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.5. ACLs: permit-access and deny-access
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Who can access what.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ src_addr[/src_masklen] [dst_addr[/dst_masklen]]
+
+ Where src_addr and dst_addr are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or
+ valid DNS names, and src_masklen and dst_masklen are subnet masks in CIDR
+ notation, i.e. integer values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in
+ bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole destination part are
+ optional.
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't restrict access further than implied by listen-address
+
+Notes:
+
+ Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
+ administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. For a
+ typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that Privoxy only
+ listens on the localhost (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by
+ means of the listen-address option.
+
+ Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a
+ substitute for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic
+ security weaknesses.
+
+ Multiple ACL lines are OK. If any ACLs are specified, then the Privoxy
+ talks only to IP addresses that match at least one permit-access line and
+ don't match any subsequent deny-access line. In other words, the last match
+ wins, with the default being deny-access.
+
+ If Privoxy is using a forwarder (see forward below) for a particular
+ destination URL, the dst_addr that is examined is the address of the
+ forwarder and NOT the address of the ultimate target. This is necessary
+ because it may be impossible for the local Privoxy to determine the IP
+ address of the ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
+
+ You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address
+ lookups take time. All DNS names must resolve! You can not use domain
+ patterns like "*.org" or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to
+ multiple IP addresses, only the first one is used.
+
+ Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
+ if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other
+ sites.
+
+Examples:
+
+ Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and listen-address are
+ set: "localhost" is OK. The absence of a dst_addr implies that all
+ destination addresses are OK:
+
+ permit-access localhost
+
+
+ Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
+ nothing but www.example.com:
+
+ permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
+
+
+ Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
+ with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access
+ www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
+
+ permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
+ deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4.6. buffer-limit
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ Size in Kbytes
+
+Default value:
+
+ 4096
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
+
+Notes:
+
+ For content filtering, i.e. the +filter and +deanimate-gif actions, it is
+ necessary that Privoxy buffers the entire document body. This can be
+ potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending data
+ indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
+ Hence this option.
+
+ When a document buffer size reaches the buffer-limit, it is flushed to the
+ client unfiltered and no further attempt to filter the rest of the document
+ is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads running, which might
+ require up to buffer-limit Kbytes each, unless you have enabled
+ "single-threaded" above.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5. Forwarding
+
+This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of multiple
+proxies. It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
+accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains through an
+anonymous public proxy (see e.g. http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm) Or to
+use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent proxy may be
+necessary because the machine that Privoxy runs on has no direct Internet
+access.
+
+Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. Privoxy supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS
+4A protocols.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5.1. forward
+
+Specifies:
+
+ To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ target_pattern http_parent[:port]
+
+ where target_pattern is a URL pattern that specifies to which requests
+ (i.e. URLs) this forward rule shall apply. Use / to denote "all URLs".
+ http_parent[:port] is the DNS name or IP address of the parent HTTP proxy
+ through which the requests should be forwarded, optionally followed by its
+ listening port (default: 8080). Use a single dot (.) to denote "no
+ forwarding".
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
+
+Notes:
+
+ If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
+ proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
+
+ Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
+ wins.
+
+Examples:
+
+ Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443
+ (which it doesn't handle):
+
+ forward / anon-proxy.example.org:8080
+ forward :443 .
+
+
+ Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests to
+ that ISP's sites:
+
+ forward / caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
+ forward .example-isp.net .
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5.2. forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a
+
+Specifies:
+
+ Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific
+ requests should be routed.
+
+Type of value:
+
+ target_pattern socks_proxy[:port] http_parent[:port]
+
+ where target_pattern is a URL pattern that specifies to which requests
+ (i.e. URLs) this forward rule shall apply. Use / to denote "all URLs".
+ http_parent and socks_proxy are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or
+ valid DNS names (http_parent may be "." to denote "no HTTP forwarding"),
+ and the optional port parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1
+ to 64535
+
+Default value:
+
+ Unset
+
+Effect if unset:
+
+ Don't use SOCKS proxies.
+
+Notes:
+
+ Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match
+ wins.
+
+ The difference between forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a is that in the
+ SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the
+ SOCKS server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
+
+ If http_parent is ".", then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP
+ proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
+ a SOCKS proxy.
+
+Examples:
+
+ From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all "internal"
+ domains, but everything outbound goes through their ISP's proxy by way of
+ example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to the Internet.
+
+ forward-socks4a / socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
+ forward .example.com .
+
+
+ A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent
+ looks like this:
+
+ forward-socks4 / socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.5.3. Advanced Forwarding Examples
+
+If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content only to
+their subscribers, you can configure multiple Privoxies which have connections
+to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that your users
+can see the internal content of all ISPs.
+
+Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP
+connection to isp-b.net. Both run Privoxy. Their forwarding configuration can
+look like this:
+
+host-a:
+
+ forward / .
+ forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
+
+
+host-b:
+
+ forward / .
+ forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
+
+
+Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either host-a or host-b
+and be able to browse the internal content of both isp-a and isp-b.
+
+If you intend to chain Privoxy and squid locally, then chain as browser ->
+squid -> privoxy is the recommended way.
+
+Assuming that Privoxy and squid run on the same box, your squid configuration
+could then look like this:
+
+ # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
+ cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
+
+ # Define ACL for protocol FTP
+ acl ftp proto FTP
+
+ # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
+ always_direct allow ftp
+
+ # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
+ never_direct allow all
+
+
+You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to squid's address
+and port. Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult http_port in
+squid.conf.
+
+You could just as well decide to only forward requests for Windows executables
+through a virus-scanning parent proxy, say, on antivir.example.com, port 8010:
+
+ forward / .
+ forward /.*\.(exe|com|dll|zip)$ antivir.example.com:8010
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.6. Windows GUI Options
+
+Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI interface:
+
+If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate when
+"Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
+
+ activity-animation 1
+
+
+If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the console window:
+
+ log-messages 1
+
+
+If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer, i.e. the amount
+of memory used for the log messages displayed in the console window, will be
+limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
+
+Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and eat
+up all your memory!
+
+ log-buffer-size 1
+
+
+log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log buffer. See above.
+
+ log-max-lines 200
+
+
+If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight portions of the
+log messages with a bold-faced font:
+
+ log-highlight-messages 1
+
+
+The font used in the console window:
+
+ log-font-name Comic Sans MS
+
+
+Font size used in the console window:
+
+ log-font-size 8
+
+
+"show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as a button on
+the Task bar when minimized:
+
+ show-on-task-bar 0
+
+
+If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button will minimize
+Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with the exit option on the File
+menu).
+
+ close-button-minimizes 1
+
+
+The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version of Privoxy.
+If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from and hide the command
+console.
+
+ #hide-console
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8. Actions Files
+
+The actions files are used to define what actions Privoxy takes for which URLs,
+and thus determine 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 Privoxy with differing
+purposes:
+
+ * default.action - is the primary action file that sets the initial values
+ for all actions. It is intended to provide a base level of functionality
+ for Privoxy's array of features. So it is a set of broad rules that should
+ work reasonably well for users everywhere. This is the file that the
+ developers are keeping updated, and making available to users.
+
+ * user.action - is intended to be for local site preferences and exceptions.
+ As an example, if your ISP or your bank has specific requirements, and need
+ special handling, this kind of thing should go here. This file will not be
+ upgraded.
+
+ * standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various
+ pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section in
+ default.action. These have increasing levels of aggressiveness and have no
+ influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the editor.
+ It is not recommend to edit this file.
+
+ The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
+ standard.action are:
+
+ Table 1. Default Configurations
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Feature | Cautious | Medium |Adventuresome|
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Ad-blocking by URL |yes |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Ad-filtering by size |yes |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |GIF de-animation |no |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Referer forging |no |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Cookie handling |none |session-only|kill |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Pop-up killing |unsolicited|unsolicited |all |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Fast redirects |no |no |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |HTML taming |yes |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |JavaScript taming |yes |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Web-bug killing |yes |yes |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Fun text replacements|no |no |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Image tag reordering |no |no |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Ad-filtering by link |no |no |yes |
+ |---------------------+-----------+------------+-------------|
+ |Demoronizer |no |no |yes |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
+file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g. default.action is
+typically process before user.action). The content of these can all be viewed
+and edited from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status.
+
+An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use "aliases"
+in an actions file, you have to place the (optional) alias section at the top
+of that file. Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally
+to all sites and pages (be very careful with using such a universal set in
+user.action or any other actions file after default.action, because it will
+override the result from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
+exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard user.action as an
+appendix to default.action, with the advantage that is a separate file, which
+makes preserving your personal settings across Privoxy upgrades easier.
+
+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 or
+rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written
+to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and
+much more. See below for a complete list of actions.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.1. Finding the Right Mix
+
+Note that some actions, 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 "aggressive" your default
+settings (in the top section of the actions file) are, the more exceptions for
+"trusted" sites you 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 cookies for actually useful
+puposes, like maybe your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
+
+We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
+distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
+things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
+Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again
+:).
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.2. How to Edit
+
+The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by using our
+browser-based editor, which can be reached from http://config.privoxy.org/
+show-status. 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 "Cautious", "Medium" or "Adventuresome". Warning: the "Adventuresome"
+setting is not only more aggressive, but includes settings that are fun and
+subversive, and which some may find of dubious merit!
+
+If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit
+the the actions files. Look at default.action which is richly commented.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs
+
+Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections, like the "
+alias" 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.
+
+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 { +handle-as-image }, then later another one with just { +block },
+resulting in both actions to apply.
+
+You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting http://
+config.privoxy.org/show-url-info.
+
+More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, Anatomy of an Action.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.4. Patterns
+
+As mentioned, Privoxy uses "patterns" to determine what actions might apply to
+which sites and pages your browser attempts to access. These "patterns" use
+wild card type pattern matching to achieve a high degree of flexibility. This
+allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match against many similar
+patterns.
+
+Generally, a Privoxy pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, where both the
+<domain> and <path> are optional. (This is why the special / pattern matches
+all URLs). Note that the protocol portion of the URL pattern (e.g. http://)
+should not be included in the pattern. This is assumed already!
+
+www.example.com/
+
+ is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to www.example.com,
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested.
+
+www.example.com
+
+ means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing / may be
+ omitted.
+
+www.example.com/index.html
+
+ matches only the single document /index.html on www.example.com.
+
+/index.html
+
+ matches the document /index.html, regardless of the domain, i.e. on any web
+ server.
+
+index.html
+
+ matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and there
+ is no top-level domain called .html.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.4.1. The Domain Pattern
+
+The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the domain
+starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end. For example:
+
+.example.com
+
+ matches any domain that ENDS in .example.com
+
+www.
+
+ matches any domain that STARTS with www.
+
+.example.
+
+ matches any domain that CONTAINS .example. (Correctly speaking: It matches
+ any FQDN that contains example as a domain.)
+
+Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
+themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: "*" stands for zero
+or more arbitrary characters, "?" stands for any single character, you can
+define character classes in square brackets and all of that can be freely
+mixed:
+
+ad*.example.com
+
+ matches "adserver.example.com", "ads.example.com", etc but not
+ "sfads.example.com"
+
+*ad*.example.com
+
+ matches all of the above, and then some.
+
+.?pix.com
+
+ matches www.ipix.com, pictures.epix.com, a.b.c.d.e.upix.com etc.
+
+www[1-9a-ez].example.c*
+
+ matches www1.example.com, www4.example.cc, wwwd.example.cy,
+ wwwz.example.com etc., but not wwww.example.com.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.4.2. The Path Pattern
+
+Privoxy uses Perl compatible regular expressions (through the PCRE library) for
+matching the path.
+
+There is an Appendix with a brief quick-start into regular expressions, and
+full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
+at http://www.pcre.org/man.txt. You might also find the Perl man page on
+regular expressions (man perlre) useful, which is available on-line at http://
+www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html.
+
+Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the "/", i.e. it
+matches as if it would start with a "^" (regular expression speak for the
+beginning of a line).
+
+Please also note that matching in the path is CASE INSENSITIVE by default, but
+you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the "(?
+-i)" switch: www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.* will match only documents whose
+path starts with PaTtErN in exactly this capitalization.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5. Actions
+
+All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
+somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a "+", and
+turned off if preceded with a "-". So a +action means "do that action", e.g.
++block means "please block URLs that match the following patterns", and -block
+means "don't block URLs that match the following patterns, even if +block
+previously applied."
+
+Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces
+and separated by whitespace, like in {+some-action -some-other-action
+{some-parameter}}, followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which
+they apply. Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up
+a section of the actions file.
+
+There are three classes of actions:
+
+ * Boolean, i.e the action can only be "enabled" or "disabled". Syntax:
+
+ +name # enable action name
+ -name # disable action name
+
+
+ Example: +block
+
+ * Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of
+ action. Syntax:
+
+ +name{param} # enable action and set parameter to param,
+ # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
+ -name # disable action. The parameter can be omitted
+
+
+ Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized
+ action, the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are
+ simply ignored.
+
+ Example: +hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }
+
+ * Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions, but they behave
+ differently: If the action applies multiple times to the same URL, but with
+ different parameters, all the parameters from all matches are remembered.
+ This is used for actions that can be executed for the same request
+ repeatedly, like adding multiple headers, or filtering through multiple
+ filters. Syntax:
+
+ +name{param} # enable action and add param to the list of parameters
+ -name{param} # remove the parameter param from the list of parameters
+ # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
+ -name # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list
+
+
+ Examples: +add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text} and +filter{html-annoyances}
+
+If nothing is specified in any actions file, no "actions" are taken. So in this
+case Privoxy would just be a normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You
+must specifically enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although
+the provided default actions files will give a good starting point).
+
+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 config (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!
+
+The list of valid Privoxy actions are:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.1. add-header
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Confuse log analysis, custom applications
+
+Effect:
+
+ Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
+
+Type:
+
+ Multi-value.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not
+ checked. It is recommended that you use the "X-" prefix for custom headers.
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
+ headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
+ "HTTP headers" are, you definitely don't need to worry about this one.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.2. block
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Block ads or other obnoxious content
+
+Effect:
+
+ 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 handle-as-image and
+ set-image-blocker actions.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ Privoxy sends a special "BLOCKED" 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 "BLOCKED" 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 Privoxy
+ right now, you can take a look at the "BLOCKED" page.
+
+ A very important exception occurs if both block and handle-as-image, apply
+ to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
+ set-image-blocker (see below) also applies, the type of image will be
+ determined by its parameter, if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is
+ sent.
+
+ It is important to understand this process, in order to understand how
+ Privoxy deals with ads and other unwanted content.
+
+ The filter action can perform a very similar task, by "blocking" banner
+ images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
+ document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
+ Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse
+ the two.
+
+Example usage (section):
+
+ {+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
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes any "Set-Cookie:" HTTP headers from server replies.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action is only concerned with incoming cookies. For outgoing cookies,
+ use crunch-outgoing-cookies. Use both to disable cookies completely.
+
+ It makes no sense at all to use this action in conjunction with the
+ session-cookies-only action, since it would prevent the session cookies
+ from being set. See also filter-content-cookies.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +crunch-incoming-cookies
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.4. crunch-outgoing-cookies
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes any "Cookie:" HTTP headers from client requests.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action is only concerned with outgoing cookies. For incoming cookies,
+ use crunch-incoming-cookies. Use both to disable cookies completely.
+
+ It makes no sense at all to use this action in conjunction with the
+ session-cookies-only action, since it would prevent the session cookies
+ from being read.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +crunch-outgoing-cookies
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.5. deanimate-gifs
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
+
+Effect:
+
+ De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ "last" or "first"
+
+Notes:
+
+ This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
+ the option "first" is given, the first frame of the animation is used as
+ the replacement. If "last" 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).
+
+ 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.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +deanimate-gifs{last}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.6. downgrade-http-version
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1
+
+Effect:
+
+ Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ This is a left-over from the time when Privoxy 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.
+
+Example usage (section):
+
+ {+downgrade-http-version}
+ problem-host.example.com
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.7. fast-redirects
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links
+
+Effect:
+
+ Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ 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: http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?
+ target=http://some.where.else.
+
+ 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.
+
+ 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 default.action.
+ Some sites just don't work without it.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ {+fast-redirects}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.8. filter
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
+ do fun text replacements, etc.
+
+Effect:
+
+ All files of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
+ this action applies, are 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
+ text/plain MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ The name of a filter, as defined in the filter file (typically
+ default.filter, set by the filterfile option in the config file). When used
+ in its negative form, and without parameters, filtering is completely
+ disabled.
+
+Notes:
+
+ 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.
+
+ 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.
+
+ This is very powerful feature, but "rolling your own" filters requires a
+ knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+
+ The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the buffer-limit
+ option in the main config file. The default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this
+ limit is exceeded, the buffered data, and all pending data, is passed
+ through unfiltered.
+
+ Inadequate 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 -filter sections.
+
+ At this time, Privoxy cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed documents. If you
+ want filtering to work on all documents, even those that would normally be
+ sent compressed, use the prevent-compression action in conjunction with
+ filter.
+
+ Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the block 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.
+
+ Feedback with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly
+ welcome!
+
+ The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
+ predefined filter. There are more verbose explanations of what these
+ filters do in the filter file chapter.
+
+Example usage (with filters from the distribution default.filter file). See the
+ Predefined Filters section for more explanation on each:
+
+ +filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+
+
+ +filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites)
+
+
+ +filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse
+
+
+ +filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
+
+
+ +filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)
+
+
+ +filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows
+
+
+ +filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML
+
+
+ +filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective
+
+
+ +filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size
+
+
+ +filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers
+
+
+ +filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
+
+
+ +filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap
+
+
+ +filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves
+
+
+ +filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable
+
+
+ +filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets
+
+
+ +filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
+
+
+ +filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies saveable
+
+
+ +filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
+
+
+ +filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering (demo only)
+
+
+ +filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.9. handle-as-image
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images if they
+ get blocked)
+
+Effect:
+
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as
+ images. If the block action also applies, the presence or absence of this
+ mark decides whether an HTML "blocked" page, or a replacement image (as
+ determined by the set-image-blocker action) will be sent to the client as a
+ substitute for the blocked content.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ The below generic example section is actually part of default.action. It
+ marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and
+ should be left intact.
+
+ Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in
+ conjunction with block, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
+ reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
+
+ 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 handle-as-image in this situation will not
+ replace the ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
+
+Example usage (sections):
+
+ # 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
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.10. hide-forwarded-for-headers
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes any existing "X-Forwarded-for:" HTTP header from client requests,
+ and prevents adding a new one.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ It is fairly safe to leave this on.
+
+ This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate
+ forged "X-Forwarded-for:" 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.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.11. hide-from-header
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes any existing "From:" HTTP header, or replaces it with the specified
+ string.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ Keyword: "block", or any user defined value.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The keyword "block" will completely remove the header (not to be confused
+ with the block action).
+
+ 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 action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send "From:"
+ headers anymore.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +hide-from-header{block}
+
+
+ or
+
+ +hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.12. hide-referrer
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes the "Referer:" (sic) HTTP header from the client request, or
+ replaces it with a forged one.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ + "block" to delete the header completely.
+
+ + "forge" to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are
+ talking to.
+
+ + Any other string to set a user defined referrer.
+
+Notes:
+
+ "forge" 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 their
+ banners).
+
+ hide-referer is an alternate spelling of hide-referrer and the two can be
+ can be freely substituted with each other. ("referrer" is the correct
+ English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it requires it
+ to be spelled as "referer".)
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +hide-referrer{forge}
+
+
+ or
+
+ +hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.13. hide-user-agent
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Conceal your type of browser and client operating system
+
+Effect:
+
+ Replaces the value of the "User-Agent:" HTTP header in client requests with
+ the specified value.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ Any user-defined string.
+
+Notes:
+
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | Warning |
+ |-----------------------------------------------------------------|
+ |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 NOT a smart way to do that!). |
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
+ browsers will access the same Privoxy is not recommended. 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 Mozilla
+ enter, yet forging to a Netscape 6.1 user-agent works just fine. (Must be
+ just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
+
+ This action is scheduled for improvement.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.14. kill-popups
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows (deprecated)
+
+Effect:
+
+ While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens pop-up
+ windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ This action is basically a built-in, hardwired special-purpose filter
+ action, but there are important differences: For kill-popups, the document
+ need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
+ downloading. But kill-popups doesn't catch as many pop-ups as filter
+ {all-popups} does and is not as smart as filter{unsolicited-popups} is.
+
+ 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 filter action, since as soon as one filter applies,
+ the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the
+ advantage of the kill-popups action over its filter equivalent.
+
+ Killing all pop-ups unconditionally is problematic. Many shops and banks
+ rely on pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and the filter
+ {unsolicited-popups} does a fairly good job of catching only the unwanted
+ ones.
+
+ If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
+ really nasty windows that appear when you close an other one), you might
+ want to use filter{js-annoyances} instead.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +kill-popups
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.15. limit-connect
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Prevent abuse of Privoxy as a TCP proxy relay
+
+Effect:
+
+ Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes,
+ with the minimum defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
+
+Notes:
+
+ By default, i.e. if no limit-connect action applies, Privoxy only allows
+ HTTP CONNECT requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
+ limit-connect if more fine-grained control is desired for some or all
+ destinations.
+
+ The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
+ ("https://" 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.
+
+ 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.
+
+Example usages:
+
+ +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!)
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.16. prevent-compression
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be passed
+ through filters
+
+Effect:
+
+ Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which is
+ generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the filter,
+ deanimate-gifs and kill-popups actions to work, Privoxy needs access to the
+ uncompressed data. Unfortunately, Privoxy 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.
+
+ This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any
+ of the above-mentioned actions, you will typically want to use
+ prevent-compression in conjunction with them.
+
+ Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for
+ uncompressed documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you
+ use prevent-compression per default, you'll have to add exceptions for
+ those sites. See the example for how to do that.
+
+Example usage (sections):
+
+ # Set default:
+ #
+ {+prevent-compression}
+ / # Match all sites
+
+ # Make exceptions for ill sites:
+ #
+ {-prevent-compression}
+ www.debianhelp.org
+ www.pclinuxonline.com
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.17. send-vanilla-wafer
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
+
+Effect:
+
+ 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.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be
+ used to track you.
+
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +send-vanilla-wafer
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.18. send-wafer
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless
+ data.
+
+Effect:
+
+ Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
+
+Type:
+
+ Multi-value.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ A string of the form "name=value".
+
+Notes:
+
+ Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same
+ request, resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
+
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+
+Example usage (section):
+
+ {+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
+ my-internal-testing-server.void
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.19. session-cookies-only
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Allow only temporary "session" cookies (for the current browser session
+ only).
+
+Effect:
+
+ Deletes the "expires" field from "Set-Cookie:" server headers. Most
+ browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between
+ sessions.
+
+Type:
+
+ Boolean.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ N/A
+
+Notes:
+
+ This is less strict than crunch-incoming-cookies / crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ and allows you to browse websites that insist or rely on setting cookies,
+ without compromising your privacy too badly.
+
+ Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed
+ by session-cookies-only 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.
+
+ It makes no sense at all to use session-cookies-only together with
+ crunch-incoming-cookies or crunch-outgoing-cookies. If you do, cookies will
+ be plainly killed.
+
+ Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an
+ "expires" field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out
+ to be sure.
+
+ This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
+ previously by the browser before starting Privoxy. These would have to be
+ removed manually.
+
+ Privoxy also uses the content-cookies filter to block some types of
+ cookies. Content cookies are not effected by session-cookies-only.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ +session-cookies-only
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.20. set-image-blocker
+
+Typical use:
+
+ Choose the replacement for blocked images
+
+Effect:
+
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If both block and
+ handle-as-image also apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an
+ image, then the parameter of this action decides what will be sent as a
+ replacement.
+
+Type:
+
+ Parameterized.
+
+Parameter:
+
+ + "pattern" to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is
+ visually decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners
+ were busted.
+
+ + "blank" to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners
+ disappear completely, but makes it hard to detect where Privoxy has
+ blocked images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if
+ Privoxy has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
+
+ + "target-url" to send a redirect to target-url. You can redirect to any
+ image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via "file:///" URL).
+
+ A good application of redirects is to use special Privoxy-built-in
+ URLs, which send the built-in images, as target-url. This has the same
+ visual effect as specifying "blank" or "pattern" in the first place,
+ but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of
+ requesting it over and over again.
+
+Notes:
+
+ The URLs for the built-in images are "http://config.privoxy.org/
+ send-banner?type=type", where type is either "blank" or "pattern".
+
+ There is a third (advanced) type, called "auto". It is NOT to be used in
+ set-image-blocker, but meant for use from filters. Auto will select the
+ type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an
+ image.
+
+Example usage:
+
+ Built-in pattern:
+
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern}
+
+
+ Redirect to the BSD devil:
+
+ +set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}
+
+
+ Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
+
+ +set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.5.21. Summary
+
+Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
+misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways a site
+designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header content, and other
+criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules for all
+sites. See the Appendix for a brief example on troubleshooting actions.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.6. Aliases
+
+Custom "actions", known to Privoxy as "aliases", can be defined by combining
+other actions. These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
+Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab, "=", "{"
+and "}", but we strongly recommend that you only use "a" to "z", "0" to "9",
+"+", and "-". Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start
+with a "+" or "-" sign, since they are merely textually expanded.
+
+Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they must be defined in a
+special section at the top of the file! And there can only be one such section
+per actions file. Each actions file may have its own alias section, and the
+aliases defined in it are only visible within that file.
+
+There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
+used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
+decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called "shop",
+you can later change your policy on shops in one place, and your changes will
+take effect everywhere in the actions file where the "shop" alias is used.
+Calling aliases by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
+
+Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though: Privoxy's
+built-in web-based action file editor honors aliases when reading the actions
+files, but it expands 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
+Privoxy.
+
+Now let's define some aliases...
+
+ # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
+ #
+ # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
+ # must be at the top of the actions file!
+ #
+ {{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 -filter{content-cookies}
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -block -filter -crunch-all-cookies -fast-redirects -hide-referrer -kill-popups
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
+
+ # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
+ #
+ c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
+ c1 = -crunch-all-cookies
+
+
+...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
+actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
+up for the "/" pattern):
+
+ # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
+ # user data and require minimal interference to work:
+ #
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+ .nytimes.com
+
+ # Shopping sites:
+ # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
+ #
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+
+ # These shops require pop-ups:
+ #
+ {shop -kill-popups -filter{all-popups}}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
+
+
+Aliases like "shop" and "fragile" are often used for "problem" sites that
+require some actions to be disabled in order to function properly.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.7. Actions Files Tutorial
+
+The above chapters have shown which actions files there are and how they are
+organized, how actions are specified and applied to URLs, how patterns work,
+and how to define and use aliases. Now, let's look at an example default.action
+and user.action file and see how all these pieces come together:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.7.1. default.action
+
+Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:
+
+# Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org>
+
+
+Then, since this is the default.action file, the first section is a special
+section for internal use that you needn't change or worry about:
+
+##########################################################################
+# Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
+##########################################################################
+
+{{settings}}
+for-privoxy-version=3.0
+
+
+After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example section
+from the above chapter on aliases, that also explains why and how aliases are
+used:
+
+##########################################################################
+# Aliases
+##########################################################################
+{{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 -filter{content-cookies}
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -block -filter -crunch-all-cookies -fast-redirects -hide-referrer -kill-popups
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
+
+
+Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied by URL
+patterns to which they apply. Remember all actions are disabled when matching
+starts, so we have to explicitly enable the ones we want.
+
+The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only one
+pattern, "/", but this pattern matches all URLs. Therefore, the set of actions
+used in this "default" section will be applied to all requests as a start. It
+can be partly or wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or
+in user.action, but it will still be largely responsible for your overall
+browsing experience.
+
+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 "+" preceding the action name
+enables the action, a "-" disables!). Also note how this long line has been
+made more readable by splitting it into multiple lines with line continuation.
+
+##########################################################################
+# "Defaults" section:
+##########################################################################
+ { \
+ -add-header \
+ -block \
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies \
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies \
+ +deanimate-gifs \
+ -downgrade-http-version \
+ +fast-redirects \
+ +filter{js-annoyances} \
+ -filter{js-events} \
+ +filter{html-annoyances} \
+ -filter{content-cookies} \
+ +filter{refresh-tags} \
+ +filter{unsolicited-popups} \
+ -filter{all-popups} \
+ +filter{img-reorder} \
+ +filter{banners-by-size} \
+ -filter{banners-by-link} \
+ +filter{webbugs} \
+ -filter{tiny-textforms} \
+ +filter{jumping-windows} \
+ -filter{frameset-borders} \
+ -filter{demoronizer} \
+ -filter{shockwave-flash} \
+ -filter{quicktime-kioskmode} \
+ -filter{fun} \
+ -filter{crude-parental} \
+ +filter{ie-exploits} \
+ -handle-as-image \
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers \
+ +hide-from-header{block} \
+ +hide-referrer{forge} \
+ -hide-user-agent \
+ -kill-popups \
+ -limit-connect \
+ +prevent-compression \
+ -send-vanilla-wafer \
+ -send-wafer \
+ +session-cookies-only \
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern} \
+ }
+ / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.
+
+
+The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding the
+user agent, are part of a "general policy" that applies universally and won't
+get any exceptions defined later. Other choices, like not blocking (which is
+understandably the default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify
+explicitly what we want to block in later sections.
+
+The first of our specialized sections is concerned with "fragile" sites, i.e.
+sites that require minimum interference, because they are either very complex
+or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that make them
+unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use our
+pre-defined fragile alias instead of stating the list of actions explicitly:
+
+##########################################################################
+# Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
+##########################################################################
+
+# "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
+#
+{ fragile }
+.office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
+.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+
+
+Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically require cookies to log
+in, and pop-up windows for shopping carts or item details. Again, we'll use a
+pre-defined alias:
+
+# Shopping sites:
+#
+{ shop }
+.quietpc.com
+.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+.jungle.com
+.scan.co.uk
+
+
+The fast-redirects action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some
+sites. So disable it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
+
+{ -fast-redirects }
+login.yahoo.com
+edit.*.yahoo.com
+.google.com
+.altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
+.altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
+.nytimes.com
+
+
+It is important that Privoxy knows which URLs belong to images, so that if they
+are to be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
+Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it would destroy
+the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it would feed the
+advertisers (in terms of money and information). We can mark any URL as an
+image with the handle-as-image action, and marking all URLs that end in a known
+image file extension is a good start:
+
+##########################################################################
+# Images:
+##########################################################################
+
+# Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
+# blocked further down this file:
+#
+{ +handle-as-image }
+/.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$
+
+
+And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to generate the
+banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the request is for an image.
+Hence we block them and mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
+block-as-image alias defined above. (We could of course just as well use +block
++handle-as-image here.) Remember that the type of the replacement image is
+chosen by the set-image-blocker action. Since all URLs have matched the default
+section with its +set-image-blocker{pattern} action before, it still applies
+and needn't be repeated:
+
+# Known ad generators:
+#
+{ 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
+
+
+One of the most important jobs of Privoxy is to block banners. A huge bunch of
+them are already "blocked" by the filter{banners-by-size} 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 them anymore, and hence
+they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally doesn't catch all
+banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we need a comprehensive
+list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the block action to them.
+
+First comes a bunch of 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:
+##########################################################################
+{ +block }
+
+# Generic patterns:
+#
+ad*.
+.*ads.
+banner?.
+count*.
+/.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+/(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+
+# Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
+#
+.hitbox.com
+
+
+You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner servers
+ads.company.com, or call the directory in which the banners are stored simply
+"banners". So the above generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
+
+But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want to
+block. The pattern .*ads. e.g. catches "nasty-ads.nasty-corp.com" as intended,
+but also "downloads.sourcefroge.net" or "adsl.some-provider.net." So here come
+some well-known exceptions to the +block section above.
+
+Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
+"downloads.sourcefroge.net": Initially, all actions are deactivated, so it
+wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the URL,
+but just deactivates the block action once again. Then it matches .*ads., an
+exception to the general non-blocking policy, and suddenly +block applies. And
+now, it'll match .*loads., where -block applies, so (unless it matches again
+further down) it ends up with no block action applying.
+
+##########################################################################
+# Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
+##########################################################################
+
+# By domain:
+#
+{ -block }
+adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
+adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
+ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
+.edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
+.*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
+
+# By path:
+#
+/.*loads/
+
+# Site-specific:
+#
+www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
+www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
+
+
+Filtering source code can have nasty side effects, so make an exception for our
+friends at sourceforge.net, and all paths with "cvs" in them. Note that -filter
+disables all filters in one fell swoop!
+
+# Don't filter code!
+#
+{ -filter }
+/.*cvs
+.sourceforge.net
+
+
+The actual default.action is of course more comprehensive, but we hope this
+example made clear how it works.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+8.7.2. user.action
+
+So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies, which
+would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now, you might want to be
+more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable to your personal
+habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined situations like
+your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in user.action, which is parsed
+after all other actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any
+previously defined actions. user.action is also a safe place for your personal
+settings, since default.action is actively maintained by the Privoxy developers
+and you'll probably want to install updated versions from time to time.
+
+So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
+user.action:
+
+# My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com>
+
+
+As aliases are local to the actions file that they are defined in, you can't
+use the ones from default.action, unless you repeat them here:
+
+# 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
+ allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+ allow-popups = -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
++block-as-image = +block +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 -kill-popups
+shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
+
+# Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
+#
+allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}
+
+
+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 allow-all-cookies 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.
+
+{ allow-all-cookies }
+sourceforge.net
+sunsolve.sun.com
+.slashdot.org
+.yahoo.com
+.msdn.microsoft.com
+.redhat.com
+
+
+Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable
+them all:
+
+{ -filter }
+.your-home-banking-site.com
+
+
+Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
+
+# 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/
+
+
+Example of a simple block 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 "copy image location" and pasted the URL below while removing the
+leading http://, into a { +block } section. Note that { +handle-as-image } need
+not be specified, since all URLs ending in .gif will be tagged as images by the
+general rules as set in default.action anyway:
+
+{ +block }
+www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.gif
+another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/
+
+
+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 Privoxy to guess the file type just by looking at the URL. You
+can use the +block-as-image 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 "broken image" icon by the browser. Use cautiously.
+
+{ +block-as-image }
+.doubleclick.net
+/Realmedia/ads/
+ar.atwola.com/
+
+
+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 feedback, so you just used the fragile alias on the site, and --
+whoa! -- it worked. The fragile aliases disables those actions that are most
+likely to break a site. Also, good for testing purposes to see if it is Privoxy
+that is causing the problem or not.
+
+{ fragile }
+.forbes.com
+
+
+You like the "fun" text replacements in default.filter, 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,
+update-safe config, once and for all:
+
+{ +filter{fun} }
+/ # For ALL sites!
+
+
+Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions to the
+filters in default.action for things that really shouldn't be filtered, like
+code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since user.action has the last word, these
+exceptions won't be valid for the "fun" filtering specified here.
+
+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:
+
+{ allow-ads }
+.sourceforge.net
+.slashdot.org
+.osdn.net
+
+
+Note that allow-ads has been aliased to -block, -filter{banners-by-size}, and -
+filter{banners-by-link} above.
+
+user.action is generally the best place to define exceptions and additions to
+the default policies of default.action. Some actions are safe to have their
+default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
+"blank" image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for ALL sites. "/" of
+course matches all URL paths and patterns:
+
+{ +set-image-blocker{blank} }
+/ # ALL sites
+
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+9. The Filter File
+
+All text substitutions that can be invoked through the filter action must first
+be defined in the filter file, which is typically called default.filter and
+which can be selected through the filterfile config option.
+
+Typical reasons for doing such substitutions 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.
+
+Filtering works on any text-based document type, including HTML, JavaScript,
+CSS etc. (all text/* MIME types, except text/plain). Substitutions are made at
+the source level, so if you want to "roll your own" filters, you should be
+familiar with HTML syntax.
+
+Just like the actions files, the filter file is organized in sections, which
+are called filters here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts
+with the keyword FILTER:, followed by the filter's name, and a short (one line)
+description of what it does. Below that line come the jobs, i.e. lines that
+define the actual text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
+should describe what the filter eliminates. The comment is used in the
+web-based user interface.
+
+Once a filter called name has been defined in the filter file, it can be
+invoked by using an action of the form +filter{name} in any actions file.
+
+A filter header line for a filter called "foo" could look like this:
+
+FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
+
+
+Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that define what
+text replacements the filter executes. They are specified in a syntax that
+imitates Perl's s/// operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you will find
+this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the PCRS man page for the
+subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most notably, the non-standard option
+letter U is supported, which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
+
+If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at the
+Appendix on regular expressions, and see the Perl manual for the s///
+operator's syntax and Perl-style regular expressions in general. The below
+examples might also help to get you started.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+9.1. Filter File Tutorial
+
+Now, let's complete our "foo" filter. We have already defined the heading, but
+the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace "foo" with "bar",
+there is only one (trivial) job needed:
+
+s/foo/bar/
+
+
+But wait! Didn't the comment say that all occurrences of "foo" should be
+replaced? Our current job will only take care of the first "foo" on each page.
+For global substitution, we'll need to add the g option:
+
+s/foo/bar/g
+
+
+Our complete filter now looks like this:
+
+FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
+s/foo/bar/g
+
+
+Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see a
+filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
+abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
+
+FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+
+# Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
+#
+s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg
+
+
+Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses |
+as the delimiter instead of /, because the pattern contains a forward slash,
+which would otherwise have to be escaped by a backslash (\).
+
+Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <script.* enclosed in
+parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and * means: "Match an
+arbitrary number of the element left of myself", this matches "<script",
+followed by any text, i.e. it matches the whole page, from the start of the
+first <script> tag.
+
+That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: document\.referrer matches
+only the exact string "document.referrer". The dot needed to be escaped, i.e.
+preceded by a backslash, to take away its special meaning as a joker, and make
+it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is: Match from the start of the
+first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including, the text
+"document.referrer", if both are present in the page (and appear in that
+order).
+
+But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in
+parentheses, is .*</script>. You already know what .* means, so the whole
+pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a page
+to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text "document.referrer"
+appears somewhere in between.
+
+This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the
+parentheses: The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed
+in parentheses, will be remembered and be available through the variables $1,
+$2, ... in the substitute. The U option switches to ungreedy matching, which
+means that the first .* in the pattern will only "eat up" all text in between "
+<script" and the first occurrence of "document.referrer", and that the second
+.* will only span the text up to the first "</script>" tag. Furthermore, the s
+option says that the match may span multiple lines in the page, and the g
+option again means that the substitution is global.
+
+So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
+"document.referrer". Remember the parts of the script from (and including) the
+start tag up to (and excluding) the string "document.referrer" as $1, and the
+part following that string, up to and including the closing tag, as $2.
+
+Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
+lets look at the substitute: $1"Not Your Business!"$2 is easy to read: The text
+remembered as $1, followed by "Not Your Business!" (including the quotation
+marks!), followed by the text remembered as $2. This produces an exact copy of
+the original string, with the middle part (the "document.referrer") replaced by
+"Not Your Business!".
+
+The whole job now reads: Replace "document.referrer" by "Not Your Business!"
+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.
+
+We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but this
+time only point out the constructs of special interest:
+
+# The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
+#
+s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig
+
+
+\s stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline, carriage return, form
+feed), so that \s* means: "zero or more whitespace". The ? in .*? makes this
+matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the U option is not set). The
+['"] construct means: "a single or a double quote". Finally, \1 is a
+backreference to the first parenthesis just like $1 above, with the difference
+that in the pattern, a backslash indicates a backreference, whereas in the
+substitute, it's the dollar.
+
+So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
+strings to the "window.status" 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.
+
+# Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
+#
+s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU
+
+
+Including the OnUnload event binding in the HTML DOM was a CRIME. When I close
+a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta. This job replaces the
+"onunload" attribute in "<body>" tags with the dummy word never. Note that the
+i 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 [^>]* instead of .* to prevent the match from
+exceeding the <body> tag if it doesn't contain "OnUnload", but the page's
+content does.
+
+The last example is from the fun department:
+
+FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
+
+# Spice the daily news:
+#
+s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig
+
+
+Note the (?!\.com) part (a so-called negative lookahead) in the job's pattern,
+which means: Don't match, if the string ".com" appears directly following
+"microsoft" in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being
+trashed, while still replacing the word everywhere else.
+
+# 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
+
+
+The x option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for e.g. the
+liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
+
+You get the idea?
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+9.2. The Pre-defined Filters
+
+The distribution default.filter file contains a selection of pre-defined
+filters for your convenience:
+
+js-annoyances
+
+ The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying
+ JavaScript abuse. To that end, it
+
+ + replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
+ with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the
+ hide-referrer action on the content level.
+
+ + removes the bindings to the DOM's unload event which we feel has no
+ right to exist and is responsible for most "exit consoles", i.e. nasty
+ windows that pop up when you close another one.
+
+ + removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired
+ properties, such as being full-screen, non-resizable, without location,
+ status or menu bar etc.
+
+js-events
+
+ 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.
+
+ We strongly discourage 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).
+
+html-annoyances
+
+ This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
+
+ The BLINK and MARQUEE tags are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser
+ windows will be created as resizable (as of course they should be!), and
+ will have location, scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
+
+content-cookies
+
+ Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialogue, where they can be intercepted by
+ the crunch-incoming-cookies and crunch-outgoing-cookies actions. But web
+ sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript to sneak
+ cookies to the browser on the content level.
+
+ This filter disables HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets cookies.
+ Use it wherever you would also use the cookie crunch actions.
+
+refresh tags
+
+ 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.
+
+unsolicited-popups
+
+ This filter attempts to prevent only "unsolicited" 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.
+
+ Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
+ function to a dummy function during the loading and rendering phase of each
+ HTML page access, and restoring the function afterwards.
+
+all-popups
+
+ Attempt to prevent all pop-up windows from opening. Note this should be
+ used with more discretion than the above, since it is more likely to break
+ some sites that require pop-ups for normal usage. Use with caution.
+
+img-reorder
+
+ This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
+ banners-by-size and banners-by-link (see below) filters more effective and
+ should be enabled together with them.
+
+banners-by-size
+
+ 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.
+
+ 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.
+
+banners-by-link
+
+ 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.
+
+webbugs
+
+ 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 use ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party
+ site. HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email
+ addresses.
+
+ This filter removes the HTML code that loads such "webbugs".
+
+tiny-textforms
+
+ 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.
+
+ It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
+
+jumping-windows
+
+ 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.
+
+frameset-borders
+
+ 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.
+
+ This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to
+ sites which need it.
+
+demoronizer
+
+ Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions
+ (read: violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This causes
+ those HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant
+ platforms.
+
+ 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 wierd garbage characters
+ sometimes appear on some pages.
+
+shockwave-flash
+
+ 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.
+
+quicktime-kioskmode
+
+ Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
+ prevents saving, is disabled.
+
+fun
+
+ Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
+ Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
+
+crude-parental
+
+ A demonstration-only filter that shows how Privoxy can be used to delete
+ web content on a keyword basis.
+
+ie-exploits
+
+ A collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
+ code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
+
+ Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug,
+ and would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
+
+site-specifics
+
+ Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't
+ apply anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
+
+ 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
+ default.action file does. Users shouldn't need to change anything regarding
+ this filter.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+10. Templates
+
+All Privoxy built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the "404 - No Such Domain"
+error page, the "BLOCKED" page and all pages of its web-based user interface,
+are generated from templates. (Privoxy must be running for the above links to
+work as intended.)
+
+These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the configuration directory
+called templates. On Unixish platforms, this is typically /etc/privoxy/
+templates/.
+
+The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called
+symbols or exports), which Privoxy fills at run time. You can edit the
+templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them. (Not
+recommended for the casual user). Note that just like in configuration files,
+lines starting with # are ignored when the templates are filled in.
+
+The place-holders are of the form @name@, and you will find a list of available
+symbols, which vary from template to template, in the comments at the start of
+each file. Note that these comments are not always accurate, and that it's
+probably best to look at the existing HTML code to find out which symbols are
+supported and what they are filled in with.
+
+A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole 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 Privoxy in in an alpha or beta development stage:
+
+<!-- @if-unstable-start -->
+
+ ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
+
+<!-- if-unstable-end@ -->
+
+
+If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
+@if-unstable-start and if-unstable-end@ will disappear, leaving nothing but an
+empty comment:
+
+<!-- -->
+
+
+There's also an if-then-else construct and an #include mechanism, but you'll
+sure find out if you are inclined to edit the templates ;-)
+
+All templates refer to a style located at http://config.privoxy.org/
+send-stylesheet. This is, of course, locally served by Privoxy and the source
+for it can be found and edited in the cgi-style.css template.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its
+configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you
+with the best support:
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.1. Get Support
+
+For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited:
+http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
+
+All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing
+list, where the developers also hang around.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.2. Report Bugs
+
+Please report all bugs only through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/
+tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+
+Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted
+and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form.
+
+Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug
+first. If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.
+The appendix of the user manual also has helpful information on action
+debugging. If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock
+configs to see if the problem is configuration related.
+
+If not using the latest version, chances are that the bug has been found and
+fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to
+upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify your
+bug, but this is not required for reporting.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.3. Request New Features
+
+You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for
+improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/
+tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.4. Report Ads or Other Actions-Related Problems
+
+Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
+blocked, and any other problems relating to the default.action file through our
+actions feedback mechanism located at http://www.privoxy.org/actions/. On this
+page, you will also find a bookmark which will take you back there from any
+troubled site and even pre-fill the form!
+
+New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
+your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and
+available from our the files section of our project page.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+11.5. Other
+
+For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists. Technically
+interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are also
+welcome on the developers list! You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related
+mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?
+group_id=11118.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+12. Privoxy Copyright, License and History
+
+Copyright © 2001 - 2004 by Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+
+Some source code is based on code Copyright © 1997 by Anonymous Coders and
+Junkbusters, Inc. and licensed under the GNU General Public License.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+12.1. License
+
+Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as published by the Free
+Software Foundation.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, which
+is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite
+330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+this program; if not, write to the
+
+ Free Software
+ Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place - Suite 330
+ Boston, MA 02111-1307
+ USA
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+12.2. History
+
+In the beginning, there was the Internet Junkbuster, by Anonymous Coders and
+Junkbusters Corporation. It saved many users a lot of pain in the early days of
+web advertising and user tracking.
+
+But the web, its protocols and standards, and with it, the techniques for
+forcing users to consume ads, give up autonomy over their browsing, and for
+spying on them, kept evolving. Unfortunately, the Internet Junkbuster did not.
+Version 2.0.2, published in 1998, was (and is) the last official release
+available from Junkbusters Corporation. Fortunately, it had been released under
+the GNU GPL, which allowed further development by others.
+
+So Stefan Waldherr started maintaining an improved version of the software, to
+which eventually a number of people contributed patches. It could already
+replace banners with a transparent image, and had a first version of pop-up
+killing, but it was still very closely based on the original, with all its
+limitations, such as the lack of HTTP/1.1 support, flexible per-site
+configuration, or content modification. The last release from this effort was
+version 2.0.2-10, published in 2000.
+
+Then, some developers picked up the thread, and started turning the software
+inside out, upside down, and then reassembled it, adding many new features
+along the way.
+
+The result of this is Privoxy, whose first stable version, 3.0, was released
+August, 2002.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+12.3. Authors
+
+Current Developement Team:
+
+ Hal Burgiss (docs)
+ Andreas Oesterhelt
+ David Schmidt (OS/2, Mac OSX ports)
+
+
+
+Current and Former Project Contributors:
+
+ Johny Agotnes
+ Rodrigo Barbosa (RPM specfiles)
+ Moritz Barsnick
+ Brian Dessent
+ Mattes Dolak
+ Jon Foster
+ Karsten Hopp (Red Hat)
+ Alexander Lazic
+ Daniel Leite
+ Gábor Lipták
+ Adam Lock (Win32)
+ Guy Laroche
+ Haroon Rafique
+ Roland Rosenfeld (Debian)
+ Georg Sauthoff (Gentoo)
+ Thomas Steudten
+ Joerg Strohmayer (Amiga)
+ Rodney Stromlund
+ Sviatoslav Sviridov
+ Sarantis Paskalis
+ Stefan Waldherr
+
+Based in part on code originally developed by:
+
+ Junkbusters Corp.
+ Anonymous Coders
+
+Thanks to the many people who have tested Privoxy, reported bugs, or made
+suggestions. These include (in alphabetical order):
+
+ Ken Arromdee
+ Devin Bayer
+ Reiner Buehl
+ Andrew J. Caines
+ Clifford Caoile
+ Michael T. Davis
+ Brian Dessent
+ Peter E
+ Aaron Hamid
+ Magnus Holmgren
+ Don Libes
+ Paul Lieverse
+ David Mediavilla
+ Oliver Stoeneberg
+ Roberto Ragusa
+ Maynard Riley
+ Bart Schelstraete
+ Darren Wiebe
+ Jamie Zawinski
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+13. See Also
+
+Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/, the Privoxy Home page.
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/faq/, the Privoxy FAQ.
+
+http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/, the Project Page for Privoxy on
+SourceForge.
+
+http://config.privoxy.org/, the web-based user interface. Privoxy must be
+running for this to work. Shortcut: http://p.p/
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/actions/, to submit "misses" to the developers.
+
+http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/ijbswa/contrib/, cool and fun
+ideas from Privoxy users.
+
+http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html, an explanation how cookies are
+used to track web users.
+
+http://www.junkbusters.com/ijb.html, the original Internet Junkbuster.
+
+http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/, Stefan Waldherr's version of Junkbuster,
+from which Privoxy was derived.
+
+http://privacy.net/analyze/, a useful site to check what information about you
+is leaked while you browse the web.
+
+http://www.squid-cache.org/, a very popular caching proxy, which is often used
+together with Privoxy.
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/, the Privoxy developer manual.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+14. Appendix
+
+14.1. Regular Expressions
+
+Privoxy uses Perl-style "regular expressions" in its actions files and filter
+file, through the PCRE and PCRS libraries.
+
+If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what "regular
+expressions" are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
-"Regular expressions" is a way of matching one character expression against
-another to see if it matches or not. One of the "expressions" is a literal
-string of readable characters (letter, numbers, etc), and the other is a
-complex string of literal characters combined with wildcards, and other special
-characters, called metacharacters. The "metacharacters" have special meanings
-and are used to build the complex pattern to be matched against. Perl
-Compatible Regular Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression
-language with backward compatibility.
+Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be run
+against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they match the
+string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex) strings of
+literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special characters,
+called meta-characters. The "meta-characters" have special meanings and are
+used to build complex patterns to be matched against. Perl Compatible Regular
+Expressions are an especially convenient "dialect" of the regular expression
+language.
-To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wildcard
+To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
characters when listing files with the dir command in DOS. *.* matches all
-filenames. The "special" character here is the asterik which matches any and
+filenames. The "special" character here is the asterisk which matches any and
all characters. We can be more specific and use ? to match just individual
characters. So "dir file?.text" would match "file1.txt", "file2.txt", etc. We
are pattern matching, using a similar technique to "regular expressions"!
. - Matches any single character, e.g. "a", "A", "4", ":", or "@".
? - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE times. Either/
-or.
+or.
+ - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE times.
\ - The "escape" character denotes that the following character should be taken
literally. This is used where one of the special characters (e.g. ".") needs to
-be taken literally and not as a special metacharacter.
+be taken literally and not as a special meta-character. Example: "example
+\.com", makes sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded
+to its meta-character meaning of any single character).
-[] - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if any of the enclosed
-characters are encountered.
+[] - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if any of the enclosed
+characters are encountered. For instance, "[0-9]" matches any numeric digit
+(zero through nine). As an example, we can combine this with "+" to match any
+digit one of more times: "[0-9]+".
-() - Pararentheses are used to group a sub-expression, or multiple
-sub-expressions.
+() - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression, or multiple
+sub-expressions.
-| - The "bar" character works like an "or" conditional statement. A match is
-successful if the sub-expression on either side of "|" matches.
-
-s/string1/string2/g - This is used to rewrite strings of text. "string1" is
-replaced by "string2" in this example.
+| - The "bar" character works like an "or" conditional statement. A match is
+successful if the sub-expression on either side of "|" matches. As an example:
+"/(this|that) example/" uses grouping and the bar character and would match
+either "this example" or "that example", and nothing else.
These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
-Junkbuster, and is a long way from a definitive list. This is enough to get us
+Privoxy, and is a long way from a definitive list. This is enough to get us
started with a few simple examples which may be more illuminating:
-/.*/banners/.* - A simple example that uses the common combination of "." and "
-*" to denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at
+/.*/banners/.* - A simple example that uses the common combination of "." and
+"*" to denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at
all. So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression
pattern (".*") another literal forward slash, the string "banners", another
forward slash, and lastly another ".*". We are building a directory path here.
"advert1.gif" (no leading slash), or "/adverts232.jpg" (the expression does not
include an "s"), or "/advert1.jsp" ("jsp" is not in the expression anywhere).
-s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i - This is a substitution. "MicroSuck" will
-replace any occurence of "microsoft". The "i" at the end of the expression
-means ignore case. The "(?!.com)" means the match should fail if "microsoft" is
-followed by ".com". In other words, this acts like a "NOT" modifier. In case
-this is a hyperlink, we don't want to break it ;-).
-
We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
-can understand the default Junkbuster configuration files, and maybe use this
+can understand the default Privoxy configuration files, and maybe use this
knowledge to customize your own installation. There is much, much more that can
be done with regular expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you
can learn more on your own :/
More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions: http://www.perldoc.com/
perl5.6/pod/perlre.html
-Done.
+For information on regular expression based substitutions and their
+applications in filters, please see the filter file tutorial in this manual.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+14.2. Privoxy's Internal Pages
+
+Since Privoxy proxies each requested web page, it is easy for Privoxy to trap
+certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to Privoxy, and see how
+it is configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these rules and
+other configuration options, and even turn Privoxy's filtering off, all with a
+web browser.
+
+The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access to Privoxy.
+Of course, Privoxy must be running to access these. If not, you will get a
+friendly error message. Internet access is not necessary either.
+
+ * Privoxy main page:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/
+
+ There is a shortcut: http://p.p/ (But it doesn't provide a fall-back to a
+ real page, in case the request is not sent through Privoxy)
+
+ * Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-status
+
+ * Show the source code version numbers:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-version
+
+ * Show the browser's request headers:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-request
+
+ * Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info
+
+ * Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, "Privoxy" continues to run, but
+ only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle
+
+ Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable
+
+ http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable
+
+These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+14.2.1. Bookmarklets
+
+Below are some "bookmarklets" to allow you to easily access a "mini" version of
+some of Privoxy's special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer,
+but should work equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which
+support JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not
+by clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
+
+To save them, right-click the link and choose "Add to Favorites" (IE) or "Add
+Bookmark" (Netscape). You will get a warning that the bookmark "may not be
+safe" - just click OK. Then you can run the Bookmarklet directly from your
+favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access, you can put them on the "Links"
+bar (IE) or the "Personal Toolbar" (Netscape), and run them with a single
+click.
+
+ * Privoxy - Enable
+
+ * Privoxy - Disable
+
+ * Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+
+ * Privoxy- View Status
+
+ * Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback
+
+ * Privoxy - Why?
+
+Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
+www.bookmarklets.com. They have more information about bookmarklets.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+14.3. Chain of Events
+
+Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
+requested by your browser and Privoxy is on duty:
+
+ * First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send the
+ request to Privoxy, which will in turn, relay the request to the remote web
+ server after passing the following tests:
+
+ * Privoxy traps any request for its own internal CGI pages (e.g http://p.p/)
+ and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
+
+ * Next, Privoxy checks to see if the URL matches any "+block" patterns. If
+ so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be
+ contacted. "+handle-as-image" is then checked and if it does not match, an
+ HTML "BLOCKED" page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match, an image is
+ returned. The type of image depends on the setting of "+set-image-blocker"
+ (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
+
+ * Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the trust file, then
+ that is done.
+
+ * If the URL pattern matches the "+fast-redirects" action, it is then
+ processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
+
+ * Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
+ of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. "+hide-user-agent", etc.),
+ headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and their
+ parameters.
+
+ * Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
+ page and related data).
+
+ * First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
+ things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
+ filtered as determined by the "+crunch-incoming-cookies",
+ "+session-cookies-only", and "+downgrade-http-version" actions.
+
+ * If the "+kill-popups" 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.
+
+ * If a "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" 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 default.filter) are
+ processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
+ they are specified in the default.filter file. 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 Privoxy
+ back to your browser.
+
+ If neither "+filter" or "+deanimate-gifs" matches, then Privoxy passes the
+ raw data through to the client browser as it becomes available.
+
+ * As the browser receives the now (probably 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.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+14.4. Anatomy of an Action
+
+The way Privoxy applies actions and filters to any given URL can be complex,
+and not always so easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need
+to be able to see just what Privoxy is doing. Especially, if something Privoxy
+is doing is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to
+look at the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled
+with regular expressions whose consequences are not always so obvious.
+
+One quick test to see if Privoxy is causing a problem or not, is to disable it
+temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting step. See the
+Bookmarklets 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.
+
+Privoxy also provides the http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info page that can
+show us very specifically how actions are being applied to any given URL. This
+is a big help for troubleshooting.
+
+First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then Privoxy will tell
+us how the current configuration will handle it. This will not help with
+filtering effects (i.e. the "+filter" action) from the default.filter file
+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 you will only get info for the actual URL that is
+pasted into the prompt area -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about
+embedded URLs like ads, you will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use
+your browser's "View Page Source" option for this. Or right click on the ad,
+and grab the URL.
+
+Let's try an example, google.com, and look at it one section at a time:
+
+ Matches for http://google.com:
+
+ In file: default.action [ View ] [ Edit ]
+
+{-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} }
+/
+
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .google.com
+
+ { -fast-redirects }
+ .google.com
+
+In file: user.action [ View ] [ Edit ]
+(no matches in this file)
+
+
+This tells us how we have defined our "actions", and which ones match for our
+example, "google.com". The first listing is any matches for the standard.action
+file. No hits at all here on "standard". Then next is "default", or our
+default.action 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 "actions"
+file, this would be the section just below the "aliases" section near the top.
+This will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
+of the listing -- "/".
+
+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
+".google.com". The first is negating our previous cookie setting, which was for
+"+session-cookies-only" (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent
+cookies for google. The second turns off any "+fast-redirects" action, allowing
+this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading dot here --
+".google.com". This will match any hosts and sub-domains, in the google.com
+domain also, such as "www.google.com". So, apparently, we have these two
+actions defined somewhere in the lower part of our default.action file, and
+"google.com" is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
+
+Then, for our user.action file, we again have no hits.
+
+And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
+Privoxy is applying all its "actions" to "google.com":
+
+ 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
+ -send-wafer
+ -session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern}
+
+
+Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to "fast-redirects"
+and "session-cookies-only".
+
+Now another example, "ad.doubleclick.net":
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ ad*.
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ .doubleclick.net
+
+
+We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is matched
+three different times. Each as an "+block +handle-as-image", which is the
+expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as: "+imageblock". (
+"Aliases" are defined in the first section of the actions file and typically
+used to combine more than one action.)
+
+Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
+image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively would
+also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys though ;-)
+Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious URL to be invisible, it should be
+defined as "ad.doubleclick.net" is done here -- as both a "+block" and an
+"+handle-as-image". The custom alias "+imageblock" just simplifies the process
+and make it more readable.
+
+One last example. Let's try "http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/". This one is
+giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
+
+ Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
+
+ In file: default.action [ View ] [ Edit ]
+
+ {-add-header
+ -block
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ +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}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers
+ +hide-from-header{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent
+ -handle-as-image
+ +kill-popups
+ +prevent-compression
+ -send-vanilla-wafer
+ -send-wafer
+ +session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker{blank} }
+ /
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+
+
+Ooops, the "/adsl/" is matching "/ads"! 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 not block ("{-block}") paths with "adsl". There are various
+ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
+
+ { -block }
+ /adsl
+
+
+Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when making
+such changes. Or, try using Shift+Reload.
+
+But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like we did
+with:
+
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+
+
+That actually was very telling 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 "{+filter}" actions. These tend to be harder to
+troubleshoot. Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
+"+filter":
+
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .jungle.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+ .forbes.com
+
+
+"{shop}" is an "alias" that expands to "{ -filter -session-cookies-only }". Or
+you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
+
+ {-filter}
+ .forbes.com
+
+
+This would turn off all filtering for that site. This would probably be most
+appropriately put in user.action, for local site exceptions.
+
+Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the "+filter
+{banners-by-size}" rule, which assumes that images of certain sizes are ad
+banners (works well most of the time since these tend to be standardized).
+
+"{fragile}" 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.
+
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff