X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Fuser-manual.sgml;h=7fd3f8353d949d61ba563ab0dc5f0f365b7d9021;hp=423e6c3b6424489437fbb8cbb431e22f62eef738;hb=7bbee96637ad3a65a3ef35d37efc7fc059a96e5a;hpb=7cc8a2e93881e34d2695c21c2f302a07f110c5cd;ds=sidebyside
diff --git a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
index 423e6c3b..7fd3f835 100644
--- a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
+++ b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
-
+
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
+Privoxy">
]>
- Copyright &my-copy; 2001 - 2004 by
+ Copyright &my-copy; 2001 - 2007 by
Privoxy Developers
-$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt Exp $
+$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.31 2007/06/02 14:01:37 fabiankeil Exp $
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ Hal.
- You can find the latest version of the User Manual at Privoxy User Manual at http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
Please see the Contact section on how to
contact the developers.
@@ -116,10 +117,9 @@ Hal.
Privoxy, v.&p-version;soon ;-)]]>.
+ configuration files. Development of a new version is currently nearing
+ completion, and includes significant changes and enhancements over
+ earlier versions. ]]>.
@@ -135,10 +135,12 @@ Hal.
Features
- In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional
- features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
- Privoxy provides new features:
+ In addition to the core
+ features of ad blocking and
+ cookie management,
+ Privoxy provides many supplemental
+ features,
+ that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
&newfeatures;
@@ -162,13 +164,11 @@ Hal.
- 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.
+ Note:
+ On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
+ found. (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.
@@ -177,8 +177,10 @@ Hal.
How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
+
+
-Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs
+Red Hat and Fedora RPMs
RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm,
@@ -190,8 +192,7 @@ How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
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.
+ ntsysv, or similar methods.
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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.
+ automatically if found, before installing Privoxy.
@@ -223,12 +224,45 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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.
+ in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in.
+
+
+ Version 3.0.4 introduced full Windows service
+ functionality. On Windows only, the Privoxy
+ program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
+ Privoxy as a service.
+
+
+
+ Arguments:
+
+
+ --install[:service_name]
+
+
+ --uninstall[:service_name]
+
+
+
+
+
+ After invoking Privoxy with
+ --install, you will need to bring up the
+ Windows service console to assign the user you
+ want Privoxy to run under, and whether or not you
+ want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
+ Windows services console with the following
+ command: services.msc. If you do not take the manual step
+ of modifying Privoxy's service settings, it will
+ not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
+ actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
+ write to its log and configuration files.
+
-Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
+Solaris, NetBSD, HP-UX
Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and
@@ -303,6 +337,25 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+FreeBSD
+
+
+ Privoxy is part of FreeBSD's Ports Collection, you can build and install
+ it with cd /usr/ports/www/privoxy; make install clean.
+
+
+ If you don't use the ports, you can fetch and install
+ the package with pkg_add -r privoxy.
+
+
+ The port skeleton and the package can also be downloaded from the
+ File Release
+ Page, but if you're interested in stable releases only you don't
+ gain anything by using them.
+
+
+
Gentoo
@@ -331,7 +384,8 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
The most convenient way to obtain the Privoxy sources
- is to download the source tarball from our project
+ is to download the source tarball from our
+ project download
page.
@@ -339,9 +393,13 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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 .
+
@@ -369,8 +427,9 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
In order not to lose 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 that you use user.action and
+ user.filter for your local
+ customizations of Privoxy. See the Chapter on actions files for details.
@@ -382,76 +441,281 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-
-Note to Upgraders
-
- 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.
-
+
+What's New in this Release
- 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.
+ There are many improvements and new features since Privoxy 3.0.6, the last stable release:
+
- 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.
+
+
+
+ Header filtering can be done with dedicated header filters now. As a result
+ the actions filter-client-headers
and filter-server-headers
+ that were introduced with Privoxy 3.0.5 to apply
+ the content filters to the headers as, well have been removed again.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Note to Upgraders
+
- A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
+ A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
+ versions of Privoxy:
-
- The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
- service (NAS).
+
+ Some installers may remove earlier versions completely, including
+ configuration files. Save any important configuration files!
-
+
- Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
- important configuration files!
+ On the other hand, other installers may not overwrite any existing configuration
+ files, thinking you will want to do that. You may want to manually check
+ your saved files against the newer versions to see if the improvements have
+ merit, or whether there are new options that you may want to consider.
+ There are a number of new features, but most won't be available unless
+ these features are incorporated into your configuration somehow.
-
- 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.
-
-
+
+ See the full documentation on
+ fast-redirects
+ which has changed syntax, and will require adjustments to local configs,
+ such as user.action. You must reference the new
+ syntax:
+
+
+
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ .example.com
+ mybank.com
+ .google.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The jarfile,
+ cookie logger, is off by default now.
+
+
+
+
+ What constitutes a default
configuration has changed,
+ and you may want to review which actions are on
by
+ default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
+ you may have been used to, may now be off
by default.
+ There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
+ consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
+ settings as yet (see above).
+
+
+
+
+
+ The default actions setting is now Cautious. Previous
+ releases had a default setting of Medium. Experienced
+ users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
+ standards and past practices. See
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default. New users
+ should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The default setting has filtering turned off, which
+ subsequently means that compression is on. Remember
+ that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
+ use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
+
+
+
+ { +filter{google} +prevent-compression }
+ .google.
+
+
+ Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
+ to turn off compression for all sites in
+ default.action (or
+ user.action).
+
+
+
+
+
- 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.
+ Also, session-cookies-only is
+ off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
+ to turn it back on in user.action now.
-
+
+
+
@@ -461,22 +725,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+
-Quickstart to Using Privoxy
+Quickstart to Using Privoxy
-
-
- If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
- files. See the Note to Upgraders Section.
-
-
-
Install Privoxy. See the
Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and
- HTTPS (SSL) proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ 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.
+ DO NOT activate proxying for FTP or
+ any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
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.
+ If using Privoxy to manage
+ cookies,
+ you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
@@ -533,31 +792,31 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
See the Configuration section for more
configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
- next section for a quick
introduction to how Privoxy blocks ads and
- banners.]]>
+ banners.
- If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
- Privoxy's behaviour, take a look at the Privoxy's behavior, 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
+ Appendix Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
+ Action
has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
misbehave
.
- For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
+ For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
Bookmarklets into your browser's
personal toolbar.
@@ -566,14 +825,14 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
Please see the section Contacting the
- Developers on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+ Developers on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
help.
- Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
+ Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
@@ -602,7 +861,8 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
- things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
+ things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
+ may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
problem
sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
@@ -615,7 +875,7 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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
+ some task relating to WWW 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
@@ -640,13 +900,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
- such embedded URLs.
+ such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
+ instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
+ server are blocked.
- The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: block, handle-as-image, and
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image,
+ handle-as-empty-document,and
set-image-blocker:
@@ -655,12 +919,14 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
- 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.
+ block - this is perhaps
+ the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
+ This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
+ that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
+ but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
+ stops any communication with the remote server and sends
+ Privoxy's own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
+ let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
@@ -680,6 +946,15 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+
+ handle-as-empty-document -
+ sends an empty document instead of Privoxy's
+ normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
+ HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
+
+
+
Actions Files in Use
-
+
[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]
@@ -820,6 +1095,13 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
to now go to the Actions Files Tutorial.
The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
+
+ There are also various
+ filters that can be used for ad blocking
+ (filters are a special subset of actions). These
+ fall into the advanced
usage category, and are explained in
+ depth in later sections.
+
@@ -830,13 +1112,15 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Starting Privoxy
+Starting Privoxy
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
+ Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
+ 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!
+ used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done
+!
Please note that Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and
@@ -845,10 +1129,11 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-
+
+
+ With Firefox, this is typically set under:
+
+
+
+ Tools -> Options -> General -> Connection Settings -> Manual Proxy Configuration
+
+
+
+
+ Or optionally on some platforms:
+
+
+
+ Edit -> Preferences -> General -> Connection Settings -> Manual Proxy Configuration
+
+
+
+
With Netscape (and
Mozilla), this can be set under:
-
+
+
- Edit
- |_
- Preferences
- |_
- Advanced
- |_
- Proxies
- |_
- HTTP Proxy
+ Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy
+
- For Internet Explorer:
+ For Internet Explorer v.5-6:
-
-
- Tools
- |_
- Internet Properties
- |_
- Connections
- |_
- LAN Settings
+ Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings
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.
+ proxy support too (sometimes labeled Secure
). Make sure any
+ checkboxes like Use the same proxy server for all protocols
is
+ UNCHECKED. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
+
+
+ Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings
+
+
+
+
+
+ [ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]
+
+
+
+
+
+
After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
- re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
- are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
+ re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
+ any cookies,
+ if you want Privoxy to manage that. You are now
+ ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
Privoxy!
- Privoxy is typically started by specifying the
+ Privoxy itself is typically started by specifying the
main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
file is specified on the command line, Privoxy
will look for a file named config in the current
@@ -914,23 +1225,31 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Red Hat and Conectiva
+Red Hat and Fedora
- 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.
+ A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
+ the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
+ file.
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+
+ Or ...
+
+
+
+ # service privoxy start
+
+
Debian
- We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
+ We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
default. It will use the file
/etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
file.
@@ -942,6 +1261,9 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
Windows
-Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+Click on the &my-app; 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.
+ automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
+ when installing.
+
+
+ Privoxy can run with full Windows service functionality.
+ On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
+ to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
+ Windows Installation
+ instructions for details.
@@ -992,7 +1322,7 @@ Example Unix startup command:
Mac OSX
During installation, Privoxy is configured to
- start automatically when the system restarts. To start Privoxy by hand,
+ start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
double-click on the StartPrivoxy.command icon in the
/Library/Privoxy folder. Or, type this command
in the Terminal:
@@ -1210,9 +1540,9 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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
+ chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
- the impact of possible vulnerabilities in Privoxy to the files contained in that hierarchy.
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
Unix only.
@@ -1233,6 +1563,14 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
+
+ On MS Windows only there are two additional
+ command-line options to allow Privoxy to install and
+ run as a service. See the
+Window Installation section
+for details.
+
+
@@ -1241,7 +1579,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
-Privoxy Configuration
+Privoxy Configuration
All Privoxy configuration is stored
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
@@ -1253,7 +1591,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
-Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
Privoxy's user interface can be reached through the special
URL http://config.privoxy.org/
@@ -1285,7 +1623,8 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
▪ Toggle Privoxy on or off
- ▪ Documentation
+ ▪ Documentation
@@ -1366,7 +1705,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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
+ upgrades. standard.action is only for
Privoxy's internal use.
@@ -1381,18 +1720,32 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- default.filter (the filter
+ Filter files
(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.
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
+ default.filter includes various filters made
+ available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
+ others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
+ filter files in config as you can with
+ actions files. We suggest user.filter for any
+ locally defined filters or customizations.
+
+ The syntax of all configuration files has remained the same throughout the
+ 3.x series. There have been enhancements, but no changes that would preclude
+ the use of any configuration file from one version to the next. (There is
+ one exception: +fast-redirects which
+ has enhanced syntax and will require updating any local configs from earlier
+ versions.)
+
+
All files use the #
character to denote a
comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
@@ -1400,11 +1753,11 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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.
+ out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
- The actions files and default.filter
+ The actions files and filter files
can use Perl style regular expressions for
maximum flexibility.
@@ -1451,12 +1804,20 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
Actions Files
- The actions files are used to define what actions
- Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determine
+ The actions files are used to define what actions
+ Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determines
how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
- transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
- are three such files included with Privoxy
- with differing purposes:
+ transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
+ There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
+ Each action does something a little different.
+ These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
+ our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
+ their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
+
+
+ There
+ are three action files included with Privoxy with
+ differing purposes:
@@ -1467,9 +1828,13 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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.
+ a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and making available to users.
+ The user's preferences as set in standard.action,
+ e.g. either Cautious (the default),
+ Medium, or Advanced (see
+ below).
@@ -1482,12 +1847,42 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- standard.action - is used by the web based editor,
+ standard.action - is used only by the web based editor
+ at
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default,
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.
+ in default.action.
+
+
+ Edit Set to Cautious Set to Medium Set to Advanced
+
+
+ These have increasing levels of aggressiveness and have no
+ influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
+ editor. A default installation should be pre-set to
+ Cautious (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
+ Medium). New users should try this for a while before
+ adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
+ the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
+ not working as they should.
+
+
+ The Edit button allows you to turn each
+ action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The Cautious
+ button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
+ ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
+ there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
+ Medium button sets the list to a medium level of
+ other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
+ Advanced button sets the list to a high level of
+ ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
+ three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
+ Edit button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
+ lower sections of this internal page.
+
+
+ It is not recommend to edit the standard.action file
+ itself.
The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
@@ -1505,7 +1900,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
Feature
Cautious
Medium
- Adventuresome
+ Advanced
@@ -1519,31 +1914,37 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- Ad-blocking by URL
- yes
- yes
- yes
+ Ad-blocking Aggressiveness
+ medium
+ high
+ high
Ad-filtering by size
- yes
+ no
yes
yes
- GIF de-animation
+ Ad-filtering by link
+ no
no
- yes
yes
-
- Referer forging
- no
- yes
- yes
+ Pop-up killing
+ blocks only
+ blocks only
+ blocks only
+
+
+
+ Privacy Features
+ low
+ medium
+ medium/high
@@ -1554,69 +1955,56 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- Pop-up killing
- unsolicited
- unsolicited
- all
-
-
-
- Fast redirects
- no
+ Referer forging
no
yes
-
-
-
- HTML taming
- yes
- yes
yes
+
- JavaScript taming
- yes
+ GIF de-animation
+ no
yes
yes
+
- Web-bug killing
- yes
- yes
+ Fast redirects
+ no
+ no
yes
- Fun text replacements
+ HTML taming
no
no
yes
- Image tag reordering
+ JavaScript taming
no
no
yes
- Ad-filtering by link
- no
+ Web-bug killing
no
yes
+ yes
- Demoronizer
+ Image tag reordering
no
no
yes
-
@@ -1629,11 +2017,18 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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
+ default.action is typically processed before
user.action). The content of these can all be viewed and
edited from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status.
-
+ The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
+ matches a given URL, wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
+ (defined in default.action),
+ followed by any exceptions (typically also in
+ default.action), which are then followed lastly by any
+ local preferences (typically in user.action).
+ Generally, user.action has the last word.
+
An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
@@ -1666,12 +2061,13 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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
+ certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
+ refinements in the configuration. In general, it can be said that the more
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
+ regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
@@ -1692,53 +2088,68 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">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!
+ Cautious
, Medium
or Advanced
.
+ Warning: the Advanced
setting is more aggressive, and
+ will be more likely to cause problems for some sites. Experienced users only!
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.
+ the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
+ default.action which is richly commented with many
+ good examples.
-How Actions are Applied to URLs
+How Actions are Applied to Requests
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.
+ Below that, there is a list of URL and tag 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 {
+ compared to all URL patterns in each action file
.
+ Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the request is
+ incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the
+ pattern is located. The same is done again for tags and tag patterns later on.
+
+
+
+ If multiple applying sections set the same action differently,
+ the last match wins. If not, the effects are aggregated.
+ E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading line of {
+handle-as-image },
then later another one with just {
+block }, resulting
- in both actions to apply.
+ in both actions to apply. And there may well be
+ cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
+ might look like:
+
+
+ { +handle-as-image +block }
+ # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
+ banners.example.com
+ media.example.com/.*banners
+ .example.com/images/ads/
+
+
- 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.
+ Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix,
+ Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action section.
@@ -1747,15 +2158,15 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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
+ 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
+ Generally, a URL pattern has the form
<domain>/<path>, where both the
<domain> and <path> are
optional. (This is why the special / pattern matches all
@@ -1763,6 +2174,13 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
http://) should not be included in
the pattern. This is assumed already!
+
+ The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
+ the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
+ while the path part uses a more flexible
+ Regular
+ Expressions (PCRE)
based syntax.
+
@@ -1770,7 +2188,9 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to www.example.com,
- regardless of which document on that server is requested.
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
+ this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
+ simple example.com is different and would NOT match.
@@ -1797,7 +2217,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
matches the document /index.html, regardless of the domain,
- i.e. on any web server.
+ i.e. on any web server anywhere.
@@ -1806,7 +2226,8 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
- there is no top-level domain called .html.
+ there is no top-level domain called .html. So its
+ a mistake.
@@ -1845,8 +2266,14 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
.example.
- matches any domain that CONTAINS .example.
- (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains example as a domain.)
+ matches any domain that CONTAINS .example..
+ And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
+ within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
+ speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains example as
+ a domain.) This might be www.example.com,
+ news.example.de, or
+ www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl for instance. All these
+ cases are matched.
@@ -1854,10 +2281,15 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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:
+ themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
+ *
represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
+ equivalent to the
+ Regular
+ Expression
based syntax of .*
),
+ ?
represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
+ regular expression syntax of a simple .
), and you can define
+ character classes
in square brackets which is similar to
+ the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
@@ -1900,6 +2332,10 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
+
+ While flexible, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
+
+
@@ -1909,9 +2345,11 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
The Path Pattern
- Privoxy uses Perl compatible regular expressions
+ Privoxy uses Perl compatible (PCRE)
+ Regular
+ Expression
based syntax
(through the PCRE library) for
- matching the path.
+ matching the path portion (after the slash), and is thus more flexible.
@@ -1920,7 +2358,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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.
+ url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html.
@@ -1936,6 +2374,132 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
only documents whose path starts with PaTtErN in
exactly this capitalization.
+
+
+
+ .example.com/.*
+
+
+ Is equivalent to just .example.com
, since any documents
+ within that domain are matched with or without the .*
+ regular expression. This is redundant
+
+
+
+
+ .example.com/.*/index.html
+
+
+ Will match any page in the domain of example.com
that is
+ named index.html
, and that is part of some path. For
+ example, it matches www.example.com/testing/index.html
but
+ NOT www.example.com/index.html
because the regular
+ expression called for at least two /'s
, thus the path
+ requirement. It also would match
+ www.example.com/testing/index_html
, because of the
+ special meta-character .
.
+
+
+
+
+ .example.com/(.*/)?index\.html
+
+
+ This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
+ named index.html
regardless of path which in this case can
+ have one or more /'s
. And this one must contain exactly
+ .html
(but does not have to end with that!).
+
+
+
+
+ .example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)
+
+
+ This regular expression will match any path of example.com
+ that contains any of the words ads
, banner
,
+ banners
(because of the ?
) or junk
.
+ The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
+
+
+
+
+ .example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$
+
+
+ This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
+ .jpg
, .jpeg
, .gif
or .png
. So this
+ one is limited to common image formats.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ There are many, many good examples to be found in default.action,
+ and more tutorials below in Appendix on regular expressions.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Tag Pattern
+
+
+ Tag patterns are used to change the applying actions based on the
+ request's tags. Tags can be created with either the
+ client-header-tagger
+ or the server-header-tagger action.
+
+
+
+ Tag patterns have to start with TAG:
, so &my-app;
+ can tell them apart from URL patterns. Everything after the colon
+ including white space, is interpreted as a regular expression with
+ path patterns syntax, except that tag patterns aren't left-anchored
+ automatically (Privoxy doesn't silently add a ^
,
+ you have to do it yourself if you need it).
+
+
+
+ To match all requests that are tagged with foo
+ your pattern line should be TAG:^foo$
,
+ TAG:foo
would work as well, but it would also
+ match requests whose tags contain foo
somewhere.
+
+
+
+ Sections can contain URL and tag patterns at the same time,
+ but tag patterns are checked after the URL patterns and thus
+ always overrule them, even if they are located before the URL patterns.
+
+
+
+ Once a new tag is added, Privoxy checks right away if it's matched by one
+ of the tag patterns and updates the action settings accordingly. As a result
+ tags can be used to activate other tagger actions, as long as these other
+ taggers look for headers that haven't already be parsed.
+
+
+
+ For example you could tag client requests which use the POST method,
+ use this tag to activate another tagger that adds a tag if cookies
+ are send, and then block based on the cookie tag. However if you'd
+ reverse the position of the described taggers, and activated the method
+ tagger based on the cookie tagger, no method tags would be created.
+ The method tagger would look for the request line, but at the time
+ the cookie tag is created the request line has already been parsed.
+
+
+
+ While this is a limitation you should be aware of, this kind of
+ indirection is seldom needed anyway and even the example doesn't
+ make too much sense.
+
+
@@ -1969,7 +2533,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- There are three classes of actions:
+ Actions fall into three categories:
@@ -2046,12 +2610,14 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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!
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
+ as user.action). 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 to match more than one pattern
(because of wildcards and
+ regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
+ match wins.
@@ -2140,7 +2706,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
Typical use:
- Block ads or other obnoxious content
+ Block ads or other unwanted content
@@ -2148,10 +2714,16 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
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.
+ Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
+ requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
+ but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
+ the handle-as-image,
+ set-image-blocker, and
+ handle-as-empty-document actions.
+
@@ -2196,7 +2768,8 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
It is important to understand this process, in order
to understand how Privoxy deals with
- ads and other unwanted content.
+ ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
+ upon which various other features depend.
The filter
@@ -2212,16 +2785,176 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
Example usage (section):
- {+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
-.nasty-stuff.example.com
+ {+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/banners/
+
+{+block +handle-as-empty-document}
+# Block and then ignore
+ adserver.exampleclick.net/.*\.js$
+
+
+
-{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
-.ad.doubleclick.net
-.ads.r.us
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
@@ -2229,6 +2962,9 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
+
content-type-overwrite
@@ -2284,7 +3020,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
- Content-Type: text/html
, you can use Privoxy
+ Content-Type: text/html
, you can use &my-app;
to overwrite it with application/xml
and validate
the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
@@ -2303,10 +3039,9 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
- Most of the time it's easier to enable
- filter-server-headers
- and replace this action with a custom regular expression. It allows you
- to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
+ Most of the time it's easier to replace this action with a custom
+ server-header filter.
+ It allows you to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
only replace the content types you aimed at.
@@ -2322,12 +3057,13 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
# Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
-{+content-type-overwrite {application/xml}}
+{ +content-type-overwrite{application/xml} }
www.example.net/
+
# but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
{-content-type-overwrite}
-www.example.net/*.\.css$
-www.example.net/*.style
+www.example.net/.*\.css$
+www.example.net/.*style
@@ -2338,7 +3074,10 @@ www.example.net/*.style
To detect a redirection URL, fast-redirects only
@@ -2961,10 +3702,12 @@ problem-host.example.com
Example usage:
- +fast-redirects{simple-check}
-
-
- +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}
+
+ { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
+ .example.com
+
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ another.example.com/testing
@@ -2981,7 +3724,8 @@ problem-host.example.com
Typical use:
- Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.
+ Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
+ do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.
@@ -2989,12 +3733,11 @@ problem-host.example.com
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
+ All instances of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
+ this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular
+ expression based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
- text/plain MIME type for all files whose type they
- don't know.)
+ text/plain MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
@@ -3006,17 +3749,23 @@ problem-host.example.com
Parameterized.
-
+
Parameter:
- The name of a filter, as defined in the filter file
- (typically default.filter, set by the
+ The name of a content filter, as defined in the filter file.
+ Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
filterfile
- option in the config file). When used in its negative form,
- and without parameters, filtering is completely disabled.
+ option in the config file.
+ default.filter is the collection of filters
+ supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
+ in their own file, such as user.filter.
+
+ When used in its negative form,
+ and without parameters, all filtering is completely disabled.
+
@@ -3036,8 +3785,14 @@ problem-host.example.com
noticeable on slower connections.
- This is very powerful feature, but rolling your own
- filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+ Rolling your own
+ filters requires a knowledge of
+ Regular
+ Expressions
and
+ HTML
.
+ This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
+ Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
+ action
is not available.
The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
@@ -3047,22 +3802,27 @@ problem-host.example.com
data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
- Inadequate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
+ Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
(Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
(from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
- by defining appropriate -filter sections.
+ by defining appropriate -filter exceptions.
+
+
+ Compressed content can't be filtered either, unless &my-app;
+ is compiled with zlib support (requires at least &my-app; 3.0.7),
+ in which case &my-app; will decompress the content before filtering
+ it.
- 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
+ If you use a &my-app; version without zlib support, but want filtering to work on
+ as much documents as possible, even those that would normally be sent compressed,
+ you must use the prevent-compression
action in conjunction with filter.
- Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
+ Content 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
@@ -3109,11 +3869,11 @@ problem-host.example.com
@@ -3141,7 +3901,7 @@ problem-host.example.com
- +filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable
+ +filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable
@@ -3153,7 +3913,7 @@ problem-host.example.com
- +filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies saveable
+ +filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies savable
@@ -3167,6 +3927,30 @@ problem-host.example.com
+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits
+
+
+ +filter{site-specifics} # Custom filters for specific site related problems
+
+
+
+ +filter{google} # Removes text ads and other Google specific improvements
+
+
+
+ +filter{yahoo} # Removes text ads and other Yahoo specific improvements
+
+
+
+ +filter{msn} # Removes text ads and other MSN specific improvements
+
+
+
+ +filter{blogspot} # Cleans up Blogspot blogs
+
+
+
+ +filter{no-ping} # Removes non-standard ping attributes from anchor and area tags
+
@@ -3176,12 +3960,14 @@ problem-host.example.com
force-text-mode
-
+
Typical use:
- Force Privoxy to treat a document as if it was in some kind of text format.
+ Force Privoxy to treat a document as if it was in some kind of text format.
@@ -3225,7 +4011,7 @@ problem-host.example.com
Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
- with regular expressions can cause file damages.
+ with regular expressions can cause file damage.
@@ -3246,14 +4032,16 @@ problem-host.example.com
-
-handle-as-empty-document
-
+
+forward-override
+
Typical use:
- Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents if they get blocked
+ Change the forwarding settings based on User-Agent or request origin
@@ -3261,11 +4049,125 @@ problem-host.example.com
Effect:
- This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
- If the block action also applies,
- the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML blocked
+ Overrules the forward directives in the configuration files.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Type:
+
+
+ Multi-value.
+
+
+
+
+ Parameter:
+
+
+
+ forward .
to use a direct connection without any additional proxies.
+
+
+
+ forward 127.0.0.1:8123
to use the HTTP proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 8123.
+
+
+
+
+ forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 .
to use the socks4a proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050.
+ Replace forward-socks4a
with forward-socks4
to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS
+ resolution) instead.
+
+
+
+
+ forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 proxy.example.org:8000
to use the socks4a proxy
+ listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050 to reach the HTTP proxy listening at proxy.example.org port 8000.
+ Replace forward-socks4a
with forward-socks4
to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS
+ resolution) instead.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Notes:
+
+
+ This action takes parameters similar to the
+ forward directives in the configuration
+ file, but without the URL pattern. It can be used as replacement, but normally it's only
+ used in cases where matching based on the request URL isn't sufficient.
+
+
+
+ Please read the description for the forward directives before
+ using this action. Forwarding to the wrong people will reduce your privacy and increase the
+ chances of man-in-the-middle attacks.
+
+
+ If the ports are missing or invalid, default values will be used. This might change
+ in the future and you shouldn't rely on it. Otherwise incorrect syntax causes Privoxy
+ to exit.
+
+
+ Use the show-url-info CGI page
+ to verify that your forward settings do what you thought the do.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Example usage:
+
+
+
+# Always use direct connections for requests previously tagged as
+# User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0
and make sure
+# resuming downloads continues to work.
+# This way you can continue to use Tor for your normal browsing,
+# without overloading the Tor network with your FreeBSD ports updates
+# or downloads of bigger files like ISOs.
+{+forward-override{forward .} \
+ -hide-if-modified-since \
+ -overwrite-last-modified \
+}
+TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0$
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+handle-as-empty-document
+
+
+
+ Typical use:
+
+ Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents if they get blocked
+
+
+
+
+ Effect:
+
+
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
+ If the block action also applies,
+ the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML BLOCKED
page, or an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
- The empty
document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
+ The empty document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
@@ -3294,6 +4196,8 @@ problem-host.example.com
Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
are blocked with Privoxy's
default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
+ And of course this action can also be used to eliminate the &my-app;
+ BLOCKED message in frames.
The content type for the empty document can be specified with
@@ -3327,7 +4231,7 @@ example.org/.*\.js$
Typical use:
- Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by imagee if they get blocked)
+ Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images if they do get blocked, rather than HTML pages)
@@ -3412,7 +4316,9 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
hide-accept-language
-
+
Typical use:
@@ -3465,7 +4371,7 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
Accept-Language:
header to languages you understand,
- or to languages that aren't widely spread.
+ or to languages that aren't wide spread.
Before setting the Accept-Language:
header
@@ -3496,7 +4402,9 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
hide-content-disposition
-
+
Typical use:
@@ -3536,20 +4444,20 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
Some servers set the Content-Disposition:
HTTP header for
- documents they assume you want to safe locally before viewing them.
+ documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
The Content-Disposition:
header contains the file name
the browser is supposed to use by default.
- In most browser that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
+ In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
just view the document, without downloading it first,
even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
Removing the Content-Disposition:
header helps
- to prevent this annoyance, but some browser additionally check the
- Content-Type:
header, before they decide if the can
- display a document without saving it first. In these cases you have
+ to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
+ Content-Type:
header, before they decide if they can
+ display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
download menus.
@@ -3566,10 +4474,10 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
# Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
-{-filter\
-+content-type-overwrite {text/plain}\
-+hide-content-disposition {block} }
-.sourceforge.net/tracker/download.php
+{ -filter \
+ +content-type-overwrite{text/plain}\
+ +hide-content-disposition{block} }
+ .sourceforge.net/tracker/download\.php
@@ -3580,7 +4488,9 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
hide-if-modified-since
-
+
Typical use:
@@ -3624,16 +4534,16 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
browser to use a cached copy of the page.
- Instead of removing the header, hide-if-modified-since can
- also add or substract a random amount of time to/from the headers value.
- You specify a range of hours were the random factor should be chosen from and
+ Instead of removing the header, hide-if-modified-since can
+ also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
+ You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
Privoxy does the rest. A negative value means
subtracting, a positive value adding.
Randomizing the value of the If-Modified-Since:
makes
sure it isn't used as a cookie replacement, but you will run into
- caching problems if the random range is to high.
+ caching problems if the random range is too high.
It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
@@ -3652,9 +4562,9 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
# Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
-{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
-+overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
-+crunch-if-none-match}
+{ +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
+ +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
+ +crunch-if-none-match}
/
@@ -3666,7 +4576,9 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
+
+
+inspect-jpegs
+
+
+
+ Typical use:
+
+ To protect against the MS buffer over-run in JPEG processing
+
+
+
+
+ Effect:
+
+
+ Protect against a known exploit
+
+
+
+
+
+ Type:
+
+
+ Boolean.
+
+
+
+
+ Parameter:
+
+
+ N/A
+
+
+
+
+
+ Notes:
+
+
+ See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. JPEG images are one of the most
+ common image types found across the Internet. The exploit as described can
+ allow execution of code on the target system, giving an attacker access
+ to the system in question by merely planting an altered JPEG image, which
+ would have no obvious indications of what lurks inside. This action
+ prevents unwanted intrusion.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Example usage:
+
+ +inspect-jpegs
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
@@ -4062,6 +5041,10 @@ ad.doubleclick.net
linkend="filter">filter{js-annoyances}
instead.
+
+ This action is most appropriate for browsers that don't have any controls
+ for unwanted pop-ups. Not recommended for general usage.
+
overwrite-last-modified
-
+
Typical use:
@@ -4321,17 +5324,179 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
to further customize your random range.
- The preferred parameter here is randomize
. It is safe
- to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
- If the server sets the Last-Modified:
header to the time
- of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
- Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
- hided-if-modified-since,
- just to be sure.
+ The preferred parameter here is randomize
. It is safe
+ to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
+ If the server sets the Last-Modified:
header to the time
+ of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
+ Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
+ hided-if-modified-since,
+ just to be sure.
+
+
+ It is also recommended to use this action together with
+ crunch-if-none-match.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Example usage:
+
+
+ # Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
+{ +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
+ +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
+ +crunch-if-none-match}
+/
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+redirect
+
+
+
+ Typical use:
+
+
+ Redirect requests to other sites.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Effect:
+
+
+ Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
+ to another location and the browser should get it from there.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Type:
+
+
+ Parameterized
+
+
+
+
+ Parameter:
+
+
+ An absolute URL or a single pcrs command.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Notes:
+
+
+ Requests to which this action applies are answered with a
+ HTTP redirect to URLs of your choosing. The new URL is
+ either provided as parameter, or derived by applying a
+ single pcrs command to the original URL.
+
+
+ This action will be ignored if you use it together with
+ block.
+ It can be combined with
+ fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}
+ to redirect to a decoded version of a rewritten URL.
+
+
+ Use this action carefully, make sure not to create redirection loops
+ and be aware that using your own redirects might make it
+ possible to fingerprint your requests.
+
+
+
+
+
+ Example usages:
+
+
+ # Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
+{ +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
+ example.com/stylesheet\.css
+
+# Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
+# (relies on the browser accept and forward invalid URLs to &my-app;)
+{ +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
+ a
+
+# Always use the expanded view for Undeadly.org articles
+# (Note the $ at the end of the URL pattern to make sure
+# the request for the rewritten URL isn't redirected as well)
+{+redirect{s@$@&mode=expanded@}}
+undeadly.org/cgi\?action=article&sid=\d*$
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+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.
- It is also recommended to use this action together with
- crunch-if-none-match.
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
@@ -4339,29 +5504,26 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
Example usage:
-
- # Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
-{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
-+overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
-+crunch-if-none-match}
-/
+
+ +send-vanilla-wafer
+
-
-redirect
+
+send-wafer
Typical use:
- Redirect requests to other sites.
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
@@ -4370,8 +5532,7 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
Effect:
- Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
- to another location and the browser should get it from there.
+ Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
@@ -4380,7 +5541,7 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
Type:
- Parameterized
+ Multi-value.
@@ -4388,7 +5549,8 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
Parameter:
- Any URL.
+ A string of the form name=value
.
@@ -4397,49 +5559,37 @@ www.pclinuxonline.com
Notes:
- This action is useful to replace whole documents with your own
- ones. For that to work, they have to be available on another server.
-
-
- You can do the same by combining the actions
- block,
- handle-as-image and
- set-image-blocker{URL}.
- It doesn't sound right for non-image documents, and that's why this action
- was created.
+ Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
+ resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
- This action will be ignored if you use it together with
- block.
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
-
- Example usage:
+ Example usage (section):
- # Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
-{+redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css}}
-example.com/stylesheet.css
+ {+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
+my-internal-testing-server.void
-
-
-send-vanilla-wafer
+