X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Fp-config.sgml;h=e2946ef19c4dbc0ffea9eabbd011d4c84753ebc5;hp=270e2baa4335e638047170cc74ae64ad572dc82c;hb=100ba4ab71cd6200f12ba086576dc569c277c186;hpb=c9257b900217d4093558af0eadb1fce311ce92cf diff --git a/doc/source/p-config.sgml b/doc/source/p-config.sgml index 270e2baa..e2946ef1 100644 --- a/doc/source/p-config.sgml +++ b/doc/source/p-config.sgml @@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ Purpose : Used with other docs and files only. - $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.9 2006/09/06 11:38:33 fabiankeil Exp $ + $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.52 2009/06/03 18:30:18 fabiankeil Exp $ - Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers + Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/ See LICENSE. ======================================================================== @@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ 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). + where you may be surfing). Like the filter and action files, the config file is + a plain text file and can be modified with a text editor like emacs, vim or + notepad.exe. ]]> @@ -95,10 +97,10 @@ Sample Configuration File for Privoxy v&p-version; - $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.9 2006/09/06 11:38:33 fabiankeil Exp $ + $Id: p-config.sgml,v 2.52 2009/06/03 18:30:18 fabiankeil Exp $ -Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers http://privoxy.org +Copyright (C) 2001-2009 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/ @@ -125,15 +127,21 @@ Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers http://privoxy.org =============== - This file holds the Privoxy configuration. If you modify this - file, you will need to send a couple of requests (of any kind) to the proxy - before any changes take effect. + This file holds Privoxy's main configuration. Privoxy detects + configuration changes automatically, so you don't have to restart it + unless you want to load a different configuration file. - When starting Privoxy on Unix systems, give the name of this - file as an argument. On Windows systems, Privoxy will look for - this file with the name 'config.txt' in the same directory where - Privoxy is installed. + The configuration will be reloaded with the first request after the + change was done, this request itself will still use the old configuration, + though. In other words: it takes two requests before you see the result of + your changes. Requests that are dropped due to ACL don't trigger reloads. + + + When starting Privoxy on Unix systems, give the location of this + file as last argument. On Windows systems, Privoxy will look for + this file with the name 'config.txt' in the current working directory + of the Privoxy process. @@ -160,12 +168,13 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE 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. + This is called "commenting out" an option and can be useful. Removing + the # again is called "uncommenting". - Note that commenting out and option and leaving it at its default + Note that commenting out an option and leaving it at its default are two completely different things! Most options behave very - differently when unset. See the the "Effect if unset" explanation + differently when unset. See the "Effect if unset" explanation in each option's description for details. @@ -232,8 +241,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Privoxy, and 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. + installed copy. Examples: @@ -263,12 +271,13 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE PATH to where the User Manual is located: - +   user-manual  /usr/share/doc/privoxy/user-manual - The User Manual is then available to anyone with access to the proxy, by - following the built-in URL: http://config.privoxy.org/user-manual/ + The User Manual is then available to anyone with access to + Privoxy, by following the built-in URL: + http://config.privoxy.org/user-manual/ (or the shortcut: http://p.p/user-manual/). @@ -331,7 +340,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Default value: - Two example URL are provided + Unset @@ -347,7 +356,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been - activated. (See trustfile above.) + activated. (See trustfile below.) If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line @@ -362,8 +371,8 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE -@@trust-info-url http://www.example.com/why_we_block.html]]> -@@trust-info-url http://www.example.com/what_we_allow.html]]> +@@#trust-info-url http://www.example.com/why_we_block.html]]> +@@#trust-info-url http://www.example.com/what_we_allow.html]]> @@ -375,7 +384,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Specifies: - An email address to reach the proxy administrator. + An email address to reach the Privoxy administrator. @@ -402,7 +411,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE 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. @@ -497,7 +506,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Specifies: - The directory where the other configuration files are located + The directory where the other configuration files are located. @@ -522,8 +531,10 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Notes: - No trailing /, please + No trailing /, please. + @@ -538,6 +550,52 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE @@confdir .]]> + +templdir + + + + Specifies: + + An alternative directory where the templates are loaded from. + + + + Type of value: + + Path name + + + + Default value: + + unset + + + + Effect if unset: + + The templates are assumed to be located in confdir/template. + + + + Notes: + + + Privoxy's original templates are usually + overwritten with each update. Use this option to relocate customized + templates that should be kept. As template variables might change + between updates, you shouldn't expect templates to work with + Privoxy releases other than the one + they were part of, though. + + + + + +@@#templdir .]]> + + logdir @@ -547,8 +605,8 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Specifies: - The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where logfile and - jarfile are located) + The directory where all logging takes place + (i.e. where the logfile is located). @@ -574,7 +632,7 @@ II. FORMAT OF THE CONFIGURATION FILE Notes: - No trailing /, please + No trailing /, please. @@ -604,7 +662,7 @@ actionsfile Type of value: - File name, relative to confdir, without the .action suffix + Complete file name, relative to confdir @@ -612,13 +670,13 @@ actionsfile - standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended + match-all.action # Actions that are applied to all sites and maybe overruled later on. - default # Main actions file + default.action # Main actions file - user # User customizations + user.action # User customizations @@ -627,7 +685,7 @@ actionsfile Effect if unset: - No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying. + No actions are taken at all. More or less neutral proxying. @@ -638,26 +696,35 @@ actionsfile Multiple actionsfile lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended! - The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal - purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the + The default values are default.action, which is the main actions file maintained by the developers, and user.action, where you can make your personal additions. - Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done for + Actions files contain all the per site and per URL configuration for ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc. There is no point in using Privoxy without at least one actions file. + + Note that since Privoxy 3.0.7, the complete filename, including the .action + extension has to be specified. The syntax change was necessary to be consistent + with the other file options and to allow previously forbidden characters. + -@@actionsfile standard # Internal purpose, recommended]]> -@@actionsfile default # Main actions file]]> -@@actionsfile user # User customizations]]> +@@actionsfile match-all.action # Actions that are applied to all sites and maybe overruled later on.]]> +@@actionsfile default.action # Main actions file]]> + +@@actionsfile user.action # User customizations]]> @@ -704,7 +771,7 @@ actionsfile The filter files contain content modification rules that use regular expressions. These rules permit powerful changes on the content of Web pages, and optionally the headers - as well, e.g., you could disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances, + as well, e.g., you could try to disable your favorite JavaScript annoyances, re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some fun playing buzzword bingo with web pages. @@ -754,49 +821,47 @@ actionsfile Default value: - logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows) + Unset (commented out). When activated: logfile (Unix) or privoxy.log (Windows). Effect if unset: - No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (STDERR). + No logfile is written. Notes: - 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. + think it should block) and it can help you to monitor what your browser + is doing. + + + Depending on the debug options below, the logfile may be a privacy risk + if third parties can get access to it. As most users will never look + at it, Privoxy 3.0.7 and later only log fatal + errors by default. + + + For most troubleshooting purposes, you will have to change that, + please refer to the debugging section for details. 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. + (see man cron). For Red Hat based Linux distributions, 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). + is being run as (on Unix, default user id is privoxy). @@ -806,56 +871,6 @@ actionsfile - -jarfile - - - - Specifies: - - - The file to store intercepted cookies in - - - - - Type of value: - - File name, relative to logdir - - - - Default value: - - Unset (commented out). When activated: jarfile (Unix) or privoxy.jar (Windows) - - - - Effect if unset: - - - Intercepted cookies are not stored in a dedicated log file. - - - - - Notes: - - - The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time. - - - If debug 8 (show header parsing) is enabled, cookies are - written to the logfile with the rest of the headers. - - - - - -@@#jarfile jarfile]]> - - - trustfile @@ -863,7 +878,7 @@ actionsfile Specifies: - The trust file to use + The name of the trust file to use @@ -883,7 +898,7 @@ actionsfile Effect if unset: - The entire trust mechanism is turned off. + The entire trust mechanism is disabled. @@ -902,16 +917,19 @@ actionsfile Prepending a ~ character limits access to this site only (and any sub-paths within this site), e.g. - ~www.example.com. + ~www.example.com allows access to + ~www.example.com/features/news.html, etc. 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). + trusted referrer was used to get there. 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). + There is a limit of 512 such entries, after which new entries will not be + made. If you use the + operator in the trust file, it may grow @@ -955,8 +973,7 @@ actionsfile Specifies: - Key values that determine what information gets logged to the - logfile. + Key values that determine what information gets logged. @@ -969,14 +986,14 @@ actionsfile Default value: - 12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages) + 0 (i.e.: only fatal errors (that cause Privoxy to exit) are logged) Effect if unset: - Nothing gets logged. + Default value is used (see above). @@ -988,20 +1005,20 @@ actionsfile - 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 + debug 1 # Log the destination for each request &my-app; let through. See also debug 1024. + debug 2 # show each connection status + debug 4 # show I/O status + debug 8 # show header parsing + debug 16 # log all data written to the network into the logfile + debug 32 # debug force feature + debug 64 # debug regular expression filters + debug 128 # debug redirects + debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation + debug 512 # Common Log Format + debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests &my-app; didn't let through, and the reason why. + debug 2048 # CGI user interface + debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings. + debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors @@ -1010,27 +1027,43 @@ actionsfile 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). + as it happens. 1, 1024, 4096 and 8192 are 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. + &my-app; used to ship with the debug levels recommended above enabled by + default, but due to privacy concerns 3.0.7 and later are configured to + only log fatal errors. + + + If you are used to the more verbose settings, simply enable the debug lines + below again. - If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set debug + If you want to use pure CLF (Common Log Format), you should set debug 512 ONLY and not enable anything else. + + Privoxy has a hard-coded limit for the + length of log messages. If it's reached, messages are logged truncated + and marked with ... [too long, truncated]. + + + Please don't file any support requests without trying to reproduce + the problem with increased debug level first. Once you read the log + messages, you may even be able to solve the problem on your own. + -@@debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request]]> -@@debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings]]> -@@debug 8192 # Errors - *we highly recommended enabling this*]]> +@@#debug 1 # Log the destination for each request &my-app; let through.]]> +@@#debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests &my-app; didn't let through, and the reason why.]]> +@@#debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings]]> +@@#debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors]]> @@ -1042,7 +1075,7 @@ actionsfile Specifies: - Whether to run only one server thread + Whether to run only one server thread. @@ -1071,8 +1104,8 @@ actionsfile Notes: - This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never - need to use it. It will drastically reduce performance. + This option is only there for debugging purposes. + It will drastically reduce performance. @@ -1081,6 +1114,62 @@ actionsfile @@#single-threaded]]> + +hostname + + + + Specifies: + + + The hostname shown on the CGI pages. + + + + + Type of value: + + Text + + + + Default value: + + Unset + + + + Effect if unset: + + + The hostname provided by the operating system is used. + + + + + Notes: + + + On some misconfigured systems resolving the hostname fails or + takes too much time and slows Privoxy down. Setting a fixed hostname + works around the problem. + + + In other circumstances it might be desirable to show a hostname + other than the one returned by the operating system. For example + if the system has several different hostnames and you don't want + to use the first one. + + + Note that Privoxy does not validate the specified hostname value. + + + + + +@@#hostname hostname.example.org]]> + + @@ -1126,9 +1215,9 @@ actionsfile 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. + Bind to 127.0.0.1 (IPv4 localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and + recommended for home users who run Privoxy on + the same machine as their browser. @@ -1143,19 +1232,23 @@ actionsfile serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you will need to override the default. + + IPv6 addresses containing colons have to be quoted by brackets. + If you leave out the IP address, Privoxy will - bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable + bind to all IPv4 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. + a firewall. If the hostname is localhost, Privoxy + will explicitly try to bind to an IPv4 address. For other hostnames it depends + on the operating system which IP version will be used. If you open Privoxy to untrusted users, you will - also want to turn off the enable-edit-actions and enable-remote-toggle - options! @@ -1171,6 +1264,16 @@ actionsfile listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118 + + + + Suppose you are running Privoxy on an + IPv6-capable machine and you want it to listen on the IPv6 address + of the loopback device: + + + + listen-address [::1]:8118 @@ -1218,12 +1321,17 @@ actionsfile 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 + toggled off mode, i.e. mostly behave like a normal, + content-neutral proxy with both ad blocking and content filtering + disabled. See enable-remote-toggle below. + The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray @@ -1258,7 +1366,7 @@ actionsfile Default value: - 1 + 0 @@ -1273,18 +1381,25 @@ actionsfile 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. + When toggled off, Privoxy mostly acts like a normal, + content-neutral proxy, i.e. doesn't block ads or filter content. - For the time being, access to the toggle feature can not be + 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 malicious client side code (e.g Java) is also + capable of using this option. + + + As a lot of Privoxy users don't read + documentation, this feature is disabled by default. + Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect. @@ -1293,7 +1408,7 @@ actionsfile -@@enable-remote-toggle 1]]> +@@enable-remote-toggle 0]]> @@ -1317,7 +1432,7 @@ actionsfile Default value: - 1 + 0 @@ -1338,16 +1453,20 @@ actionsfile the ongoing request, even if it is enabled in one of the action files. - If you are using Privoxy in a - multi-user environment or with untrustworthy clients and want to - enforce filtering, you will have to disable this option, - otherwise you can ignore it. + This feature is disabled by default. If you are using + Privoxy in a environment with trusted clients, + you may enable this feature at your discretion. Note that malicious client + side code (e.g Java) is also capable of using this feature. + + + This option will be removed in future releases as it has been obsoleted + by the more general header taggers. -@@enable-remote-http-toggle 1]]> +@@enable-remote-http-toggle 0]]> @@ -1372,7 +1491,7 @@ actionsfile Default value: - 1 + 0 @@ -1387,12 +1506,22 @@ actionsfile Notes: - For the time being, access to the editor can not be + 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. + modify its configuration for all users. + + + This option is not recommended for environments + with untrusted users and as a lot of Privoxy + users don't read documentation, this feature is disabled by default. + + + Note that malicious client side code (e.g Java) is also + capable of using the actions editor and you shouldn't enable + this options unless you understand the consequences and are + sure your browser is configured correctly. Note that you must have compiled Privoxy with @@ -1402,9 +1531,84 @@ actionsfile -@@enable-edit-actions 1]]> +@@enable-edit-actions 0]]> + + + +enforce-blocks + + + Specifies: + + + Whether the user is allowed to ignore blocks and can go there anyway. + + + + + Type of value: + + + 0 or 1 + + + + + Default value: + + 0 + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Blocks are not enforced. + + + + + Notes: + + + Privoxy is mainly used to block and filter + requests as a service to the user, for example to block ads and other + junk that clogs the pipes. Privoxy's configuration + isn't perfect and sometimes innocent pages are blocked. In this situation it + makes sense to allow the user to enforce the request and have + Privoxy ignore the block. + + + In the default configuration Privoxy's + Blocked page contains a go there anyway + link to adds a special string (the force prefix) to the request URL. + If that link is used, Privoxy will + detect the force prefix, remove it again and let the request pass. + + + Of course Privoxy can also be used to enforce + a network policy. In that case the user obviously should not be able to + bypass any blocks, and that's what the enforce-blocks + option is for. If it's enabled, Privoxy hides + the go there anyway link. If the user adds the force + prefix by hand, it will not be accepted and the circumvention attempt + is logged. + + + + + Examples: + + + enforce-blocks 1 + + + + +@@enforce-blocks 0]]> + ACLs: permit-access and deny-access @@ -1424,23 +1628,41 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access Type of value: - src_addr[/src_masklen] - [dst_addr[/dst_masklen]] + src_addr[:port][/src_masklen] + [dst_addr[:port][/dst_masklen]] Where src_addr and - dst_addr are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid - DNS names, and src_masklen and + dst_addr are IPv4 addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid + DNS names, port is a port + number, 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. + + If your system implements + RFC 3493, then + src_addr and dst_addr can be IPv6 addresses delimeted by + brackets, port can be a number + or a service name, and + src_masklen and + dst_masklen can be a number + from 0 to 128. + Default value: Unset + + If no port is specified, + any port will match. If no src_masklen or + src_masklen is given, the complete IP + address has to match (i.e. 32 bits for IPv4 and 128 bits for IPv6). + @@ -1464,14 +1686,14 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access 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. + Please see the warnings in the FAQ that Privoxy + 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 + If any ACLs are specified, Privoxy only talks + 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. @@ -1489,9 +1711,17 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access like *.org or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to multiple IP addresses, only the first one is used. + + Some systems allows IPv4 client to connect to IPv6 server socket. + Then the client's IPv4 address will be translated by system into + IPv6 address space with special prefix ::ffff:0:0/96 (so called IPv4 + mapped IPv6 address). Privoxy can handle it + and maps such ACL addresses automatically. + 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. + if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other sites + (most sites are). @@ -1511,7 +1741,7 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to - nothing but www.example.com: + nothing but www.example.com (or other domains hosted on the same system): @@ -1520,7 +1750,8 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access 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: + with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access the IP address behind + www.dirty-stuff.example.com: @@ -1528,6 +1759,24 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com + + Allow access from the IPv4 network 192.0.2.0/24 even if listening on + an IPv6 wild card address (not supported on all platforms): + + + + permit-access 192.0.2.0/24 + + + + This is equivalent to the following line even if listening on an + IPv4 address (not supported on all platforms): + + + + permit-access [::ffff:192.0.2.0]/120 + + @@ -1605,13 +1854,20 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access 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. + + + Forwarding can be used to chain Privoxy with a caching proxy to speed + up browsing. Using a parent proxy may also be necessary if the machine + that Privoxy runs on has no direct Internet access. + + + Note that parent proxies can severely decrease your privacy level. + For example a parent proxy could add your IP address to the request + headers and if it's a caching proxy it may add the Etag + header to revalidation requests again, even though you configured Privoxy + to remove it. It may also ignore Privoxy's header time randomization and use the + original values which could be used by the server as cookie replacement + to track your steps between visits. @@ -1642,7 +1898,7 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access 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). + optionally followed by its listening port (default: 8000). Use a single dot (.) to denote no forwarding. @@ -1668,6 +1924,16 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access If http_parent is ., then requests are not forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers. + + http_parent can be a + numerical IPv6 address (if + RFC 3493 is + implemented). To prevent clashes with the port delimiter, the whole IP + address has to be put into brackets. On the other hand a target_pattern containing an IPv6 address + has to be put into angle brackets (normal brackets are reserved for + regular expressions already). + Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins. @@ -1677,11 +1943,11 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access Examples: - Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle): + Everything goes to an example parent proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle): - forward / anon-proxy.example.org:8080 + forward / parent-proxy.example.org:8080 forward :443 . @@ -1691,20 +1957,38 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access - forward / caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000 - forward .example-isp.net . + forward / caching-proxy.isp.example.net:8000 + forward .isp.example.net . - - - - - - - - -forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - + + Parent proxy specified by an IPv6 address: + + + + foward / [2001:DB8::1]:8000 + + + + Suppose your parent proxy doesn't support IPv6: + + + + forward / parent-proxy.example.org:8000 + forward ipv6-server.example.org . + forward <[2-3][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f]:*> . + + + + + + + + + + +forward-socks4, forward-socks4a and forward-socks5 + @@ -1712,7 +1996,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Specifies: - Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed. + Through which SOCKS proxy (and optionally to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed. @@ -1725,13 +2009,16 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a 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 + 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 + port parameters are TCP ports, + i.e. integer values from 1 to 65535 @@ -1760,6 +2047,20 @@ 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. + + With forward-socks5 the DNS resolution will happen on the remote server as well. + + + socks_proxy and + http_parent can be a + numerical IPv6 address (if + RFC 3493 is + implemented). To prevent clashes with the port delimiter, the whole IP + address has to be put into brackets. On the other hand a target_pattern containing an IPv6 address + has to be put into angle brackets (normal brackets are reserved for + regular expressions already). + 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 @@ -1778,7 +2079,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - forward-socks4a / socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080 + forward-socks4a / socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.isp.example.net:8080 forward .example.com . @@ -1792,18 +2093,19 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - To chain Privoxy and Tor, both running on the same system, you should use - the rule: + To chain Privoxy and Tor, both running on the same system, you would use + something like: - forward-socks4 / 127.0.0.1:9050 . + forward-socks5 / 127.0.0.1:9050 . - The public Tor network can't be used to reach your local network, - therefore it's a good idea to make some exceptions: + The public Tor network can't be used to + reach your local network, if you need to access local servers you + therefore might want to make some exceptions: @@ -1815,7 +2117,9 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Unencrypted connections to systems in these address ranges will be as (un)secure as the local network is, but the alternative is that you - can't reach the network at all. + can't reach the local network through Privoxy + at all. Of course this may actually be desired and there is no reason + to make these exceptions if you aren't sure you need them. If you also want to be able to reach servers in your local network by @@ -1845,8 +2149,8 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - 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 + Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.example.net. And host-b has a PPP connection to + isp-b.example.org. Both run Privoxy. Their forwarding configuration can look like this: @@ -1857,7 +2161,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a forward / . - forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118 + forward .isp-b.example.net host-b:8118 @@ -1868,7 +2172,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a forward / . - forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118 + forward .isp-a.example.org host-a:8118 @@ -1880,7 +2184,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a If you intend to chain Privoxy and - squid locally, then chain as + squid locally, then chaining as browser -> squid -> privoxy is the recommended way. @@ -1910,8 +2214,9 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - 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: + You could just as well decide to only forward requests you suspect + of leading to Windows executables through a virus-scanning parent proxy, + say, on antivir.example.com, port 8010: @@ -1951,7 +2256,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Effect if unset: - Forwarded connections are treated like direct connections and no retry attempts are made. + Connections forwarded through other proxies are treated like direct connections and no retry attempts are made. @@ -1960,13 +2265,17 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a forwarded-connect-retries is mainly interesting - for socks4a connections, where Privoxy can't detect why the connections failed. + for socks4a connections, where Privoxy can't detect why the connections failed. The connection might have failed because of a DNS timeout in which case a retry makes sense, but it might also have failed because the server doesn't exist or isn't reachable. In this case the retry will just delay the appearance of Privoxy's error message. - Only use this option, if you are getting many forwarding related error messages, + Note that in the context of this option, forwarded connections includes all connections + that Privoxy forwards through other proxies. This option is not limited to the HTTP CONNECT method. + + + Only use this option, if you are getting lots of forwarding-related error messages that go away when you try again manually. Start with a small value and check Privoxy's logfile from time to time, to see how many retries are usually needed. @@ -1984,6 +2293,502 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a @@forwarded-connect-retries 0]]> + + + +Miscellaneous + +accept-intercepted-requests + + + Specifies: + + + Whether intercepted requests should be treated as valid. + + + + + Type of value: + + + 0 or 1 + + + + + Default value: + + 0 + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Only proxy requests are accepted, intercepted requests are treated as invalid. + + + + + Notes: + + + If you don't trust your clients and want to force them + to use Privoxy, enable this + option and configure your packet filter to redirect outgoing + HTTP connections into Privoxy. + + + Make sure that Privoxy's own requests + aren't redirected as well. Additionally take care that + Privoxy can't intentionally connect + to itself, otherwise you could run into redirection loops if + Privoxy's listening port is reachable + by the outside or an attacker has access to the pages you visit. + + + + + Examples: + + + accept-intercepted-requests 1 + + + + +@@accept-intercepted-requests 0]]> + + +allow-cgi-request-crunching + + + Specifies: + + + Whether requests to Privoxy's CGI pages can be blocked or redirected. + + + + + Type of value: + + + 0 or 1 + + + + + Default value: + + 0 + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Privoxy ignores block and redirect actions for its CGI pages. + + + + + Notes: + + + By default Privoxy ignores block or redirect actions + for its CGI pages. Intercepting these requests can be useful in multi-user + setups to implement fine-grained access control, but it can also render the complete + web interface useless and make debugging problems painful if done without care. + + + Don't enable this option unless you're sure that you really need it. + + + + + Examples: + + + allow-cgi-request-crunching 1 + + + + +@@allow-cgi-request-crunching 0]]> + + +split-large-forms + + + Specifies: + + + Whether the CGI interface should stay compatible with broken HTTP clients. + + + + + Type of value: + + + 0 or 1 + + + + + Default value: + + 0 + + + + Effect if unset: + + + The CGI form generate long GET URLs. + + + + + Notes: + + + Privoxy's CGI forms can lead to + rather long URLs. This isn't a problem as far as the HTTP + standard is concerned, but it can confuse clients with arbitrary + URL length limitations. + + + Enabling split-large-forms causes Privoxy + to divide big forms into smaller ones to keep the URL length down. + It makes editing a lot less convenient and you can no longer + submit all changes at once, but at least it works around this + browser bug. + + + If you don't notice any editing problems, there is no reason + to enable this option, but if one of the submit buttons appears + to be broken, you should give it a try. + + + + + Examples: + + + split-large-forms 1 + + + + +@@split-large-forms 0]]> + + +keep-alive-timeout + + + Specifies: + + + Number of seconds after which an open connection will no longer be reused. + + + + + Type of value: + + + Time in seconds. + + + + + Default value: + + None + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Connections are not kept alive. + + + + + Notes: + + + This option allows clients to keep the connection to &my-app; + alive. If the server supports it, &my-app; will keep + the connection to the server alive as well. Under certain + circumstances this may result in speed-ups. + + + By default, &my-app; will close the connection to the server if + the client connection gets closed, or if the specified timeout + has been reached without a new request coming in. This behaviour + can be changed with the connection-sharing option. + + + This option has no effect if Privoxy + has been compiled without keep-alive support. + + + + + Examples: + + + keep-alive-timeout 300 + + + + +@@keep-alive-timeout 300]]> + + + +connection-sharing + + + Specifies: + + + Whether or not outgoing connections that have been kept alive + should be shared between different incoming connections. + + + + + Type of value: + + + 0 or 1 + + + + + Default value: + + None + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Connections are not shared. + + + + + Notes: + + + This option has no effect if Privoxy + has been compiled without keep-alive support, or if it's disabled. + + + + + Notes: + + + Note that reusing connections doesn't necessary cause speedups. + There are also a few privacy implications you should be aware of. + + + If this option is effective, outgoing connections are shared between + clients (if there are more than one) and closing the browser that initiated + the outgoing connection does no longer affect the connection between &my-app; + and the server unless the client's request hasn't been completed yet. + + + If the outgoing connection is idle, it will not be closed until either + Privoxy's or the server's timeout is reached. + While it's open, the server knows that the system running &my-app; is still + there. + + + If there are more than one client (maybe even belonging to multiple users), + they will be able to reuse each others connections. This is potentially + dangerous in case of authentication schemes like NTLM where only the + connection is authenticated, instead of requiring authentication for + each request. + + + If there is only a single client, and if said client can keep connections + alive on its own, enabling this option has next to no effect. If the client + doesn't support connection keep-alive, enabling this option may make sense + as it allows &my-app; to keep outgoing connections alive even if the client + itself doesn't support it. + + + You should also be aware that enabling this option increases the likelihood + of getting the "No server or forwarder data" error message, especially if you + are using a slow connection to the Internet. + + + This option should only be used by experienced users who + understand the risks and can weight them against the benefits. + + + + + Examples: + + + connection-sharing 1 + + + + +@@#connection-sharing 1]]> + + + +socket-timeout + + + Specifies: + + + Number of seconds after which a socket times out if + no data is received. + + + + + Type of value: + + + Time in seconds. + + + + + Default value: + + None + + + + Effect if unset: + + + A default value of 300 seconds is used. + + + + + Notes: + + + For SOCKS requests the timeout currently doesn't start until + the SOCKS server accepted the request. This will be fixed in + the next release. + + + + + Examples: + + + socket-timeout 300 + + + + +@@socket-timeout 300]]> + + + +max-client-connections + + + Specifies: + + + Maximum number of client connections that will be served. + + + + + Type of value: + + + Positive number. + + + + + Default value: + + None + + + + Effect if unset: + + + Connections are served until a resource limit is reached. + + + + + Notes: + + + &my-app; creates one thread (or process) for every incoming client + connection that isn't rejected based on the access control settings. + + + If the system is powerful enough, &my-app; can theoretically deal with + several hundred (or thousand) connections at the same time, but some + operating systems enforce resource limits by shutting down offending + processes and their default limits may be below the ones &my-app; would + require under heavy load. + + + Configuring &my-app; to enforce a connection limit below the thread + or process limit used by the operating system makes sure this doesn't + happen. Simply increasing the operating system's limit would work too, + but if &my-app; isn't the only application running on the system, + you may actually want to limit the resources used by &my-app;. + + + If &my-app; is only used by a single trusted user, limiting the + number of client connections is probably unnecessary. If there + are multiple possibly untrusted users you probably still want to + additionally use a packet filter to limit the maximal number of + incoming connections per client. Otherwise a malicious user could + intentionally create a high number of connections to prevent other + users from using &my-app;. + + + Obviously using this option only makes sense if you choose a limit + below the one enforced by the operating system. + + + + + Examples: + + + max-client-connections 256 + + + + +@@#max-client-connections 256]]> + + + @@ -2192,7 +2997,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a 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 + Privoxy will disconnect from and hide the command console.