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35 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="STARTUP" id="STARTUP">5. Starting
37 <p>Before launching <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for the
38 first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use
39 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
40 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target=
41 "_top">proxy</a>. The default is 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy
42 address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
43 configuration step <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">that must
44 be done</i></span>!</p>
45 <p>Please note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can only
46 proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other
49 <a name="AEN712" id="AEN712"></a>
50 <p><b>Figure 2. Proxy Configuration Showing Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and
51 HTTPS (SSL) Settings</b></p>
52 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
53 <p><img src="proxy_setup.jpg"></p>
56 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, this is typically set
58 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
59 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class=
60 "GUIBUTTON">Options</span> -> <span class=
61 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
62 "GUIBUTTON">Network</span> -><span class=
63 "GUIBUTTON">Connection</span> -> <span class=
64 "GUIBUTTON">Settings</span><br></p>
65 <p>Or optionally on some platforms:</p>
66 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
67 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
68 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
69 "GUIBUTTON">General</span> -> <span class=
70 "GUIBUTTON">Connection Settings</span> -> <span class=
71 "GUIBUTTON">Manual Proxy Configuration</span><br></p>
72 <p>With <span class="APPLICATION">Netscape</span> (and <span class=
73 "APPLICATION">Mozilla</span>), this can be set under:</p>
74 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
75 "GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> -> <span class=
76 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> -> <span class=
77 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> -> <span class=
78 "GUIBUTTON">Proxies</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">HTTP
80 <p>For <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer v.5-7</span>:</p>
81 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT"> <span class=
82 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> -> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Internet
83 Options</span> -> <span class=
84 "GUIBUTTON">Connections</span> -> <span class=
85 "GUIBUTTON">LAN Settings</span></p>
86 <p>Then, check <span class="QUOTE">"Use Proxy"</span> and fill in the
87 appropriate info (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL),
88 if you want HTTPS proxy support too (sometimes labeled <span class=
89 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span>). Make sure any checkboxes like <span class=
90 "QUOTE">"Use the same proxy server for all protocols"</span> is
91 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">UNCHECKED</i></span>. You want
92 only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!</p>
94 <a name="AEN757" id="AEN757"></a>
95 <p><b>Figure 3. Proxy Configuration Showing Internet Explorer HTTP and
96 HTTPS (Secure) Settings</b></p>
97 <div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
98 <p><img src="proxy2.jpg"></p>
101 <p>After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force
102 a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached.
103 Remove any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
104 "_top">cookies</a>, if you want <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
105 to manage that. You are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
106 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>!</p>
107 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> itself is typically started
108 by specifying the main configuration file to be used on the command line.
109 If no configuration file is specified on the command line, <span class=
110 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named <tt class=
111 "FILENAME">config</tt> in the current directory. Except on Win32 where it
112 will try <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>.</p>
114 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-DEBIAN" id="START-DEBIAN">5.1.
116 <p>We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts <span class=
117 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon booting per default. It will use the
118 file <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main
119 configuration file.</p>
120 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
123 <pre class="SCREEN"> # /etc/init.d/privoxy start</pre>
129 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-FREEBSD" id="START-FREEBSD">5.2.
130 FreeBSD and ElectroBSD</a></h2>
131 <p>To start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon booting, add
132 "privoxy_enable='YES'" to <tt class="FILENAME">/etc/rc.conf</tt>.
133 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will use <tt class=
134 "FILENAME">/usr/local/etc/privoxy/config</tt> as its main configuration
136 <p>If you installed <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> into a
137 jail, the paths above are relative to the jail root.</p>
138 <p>To start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> manually, run:</p>
139 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
142 <pre class="SCREEN"> # service privoxy onestart</pre>
148 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-WINDOWS" id="START-WINDOWS">5.3.
150 <p>Click on the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> Icon to start
151 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. If no configuration file is
152 specified on the command line, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
153 will look for a file named <tt class="FILENAME">config.txt</tt>. Note
154 that Windows will automatically start <span class=
155 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> when the system starts if you chose that
156 option when installing.</p>
157 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can run with full Windows
158 service functionality. On Windows only, the <span class=
159 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> program has two new command line arguments
160 to install and uninstall <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a
161 service. See the <a href=
162 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Windows Installation
163 instructions</a> for details.</p>
166 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-UNICES" id="START-UNICES">5.4. Generic
167 instructions for Unix derivates (Solaris, NetBSD, HP-UX etc.)</a></h2>
168 <p>Example Unix startup command:</p>
169 <table border="0" bgcolor="#E0E0E0" width="100%">
173 # /usr/sbin/privoxy --user privoxy /etc/privoxy/config</pre>
177 <p>Note that if you installed <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
178 through a package manager, the package will probably contain a
179 platform-specific script or configuration file to start <span class=
180 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> upon boot.</p>
183 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-OS2" id="START-OS2">5.5. OS/2</a></h2>
184 <p>During installation, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
185 configured to start automatically when the system restarts. You can
186 start it manually by double-clicking on the <span class=
187 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> icon in the <span class=
188 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> folder.</p>
191 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="START-MACOSX" id="START-MACOSX">5.6. Mac OS
193 <p>The privoxy service will automatically start after a successful
194 installation (and thereafter every time your computer starts up)
195 however you will need to configure your web browser(s) to use it. To do
196 so, configure them to use a proxy for HTTP and HTTPS at the address
198 <p>To prevent the privoxy service from automatically starting when your
199 computer starts up, remove or rename the file <tt class=
200 "LITERAL">/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.ijbswa.privoxy.plist</tt> (on OS X
201 10.5 and higher) or the folder named <tt class=
202 "LITERAL">/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</tt> (on OS X 10.4
204 <p>To manually start or stop the privoxy service, use the scripts
205 startPrivoxy.sh and stopPrivoxy.sh supplied in /Applications/Privoxy.
206 They must be run from an administrator account, using sudo.</p>
209 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CMDOPTIONS" id="CMDOPTIONS">5.7. Command
210 Line Options</a></h2>
211 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> may be invoked with the
212 following command-line options:</p>
215 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
216 "EMPHASIS">--config-test</i></span></p>
217 <p>Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
218 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the
219 configuration files have been successfully loaded.</p>
220 <p>If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
221 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
222 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can
223 currently only be detected at run time).</p>
224 <p>This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
225 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--no-daemon</i></span>
226 is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't be used.</p>
229 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
230 "EMPHASIS">--version</i></span></p>
231 <p>Print version info and exit. Unix only.</p>
234 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--help</i></span></p>
235 <p>Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.</p>
238 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
239 "EMPHASIS">--no-daemon</i></span></p>
240 <p>Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
241 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.</p>
244 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--pidfile
246 <p>On startup, write the process ID to <span class=
247 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span>. Delete the
248 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> on exit.
249 Failure to create or delete the <span class="emphasis"><i class=
250 "EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> is non-fatal. If no <span class=
251 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">FILE</i></span> option is given, no
252 PID file will be used. Unix only.</p>
255 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user
256 USER[.GROUP]</i></span></p>
257 <p>After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
258 <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">USER</i></span>, and if
259 included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the privileges are not
260 sufficient to do so. Unix only.</p>
263 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
264 "EMPHASIS">--chroot</i></span></p>
265 <p>Before changing to the user ID given in the <span class=
266 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--user</i></span> option, chroot to
267 that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the
268 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> process that the directory
269 tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact
270 of possible vulnerabilities in <span class=
271 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to the files contained in that
272 hierarchy. Unix only.</p>
275 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">--pre-chroot-nslookup
276 hostname</i></span></p>
277 <p>Specifies a hostname (for example www.privoxy.org) to look up
278 before doing a chroot. On some systems, initializing the resolver
279 library involves reading config files from /etc and/or loading
280 additional shared libraries from /lib. On these systems, doing a
281 hostname lookup before the chroot reduces the number of files that
282 must be copied into the chroot tree.</p>
283 <p>For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is
284 not in /etc/hosts but that your local name server (listed in
285 /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion (that is, without
286 having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
287 but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be
291 <p><span class="emphasis"><i class=
292 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span></p>
293 <p>If no <span class="emphasis"><i class=
294 "EMPHASIS">configfile</i></span> is included on the command line,
295 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will look for a file named
296 <span class="QUOTE">"config"</span> in the current directory
297 (except on Win32 where it will look for <span class=
298 "QUOTE">"config.txt"</span> instead). Specify full path to avoid
299 confusion. If no config file is found, <span class=
300 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will fail to start.</p>
303 <p>On <span class="APPLICATION">MS Windows</span> only there are two
304 additional command-line options to allow <span class=
305 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to install and run as a <span class=
306 "emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">service</i></span>. See the <a href=
307 "installation.html#INSTALLATION-PACK-WIN">Window Installation
308 section</a> for details.</p>
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