901 lines
41 KiB
HTML
901 lines
41 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
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"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta name="generator" content=
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"HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 7 December 2008), see www.w3.org">
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<title>Configuration</title>
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content=
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"Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79">
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<link rel="HOME" title="Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions" href=
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"index.html">
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<link rel="PREVIOUS" title="Installation" href="installation.html">
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<link rel="NEXT" title="Miscellaneous" href="misc.html">
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<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="../p_doc.css">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
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<style type="text/css">
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body {
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background-color: #EEEEEE;
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color: #000000;
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}
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:link { color: #0000FF }
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:visited { color: #840084 }
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:active { color: #0000FF }
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a.c4 {font-style: italic}
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span.c3 {font-style: italic}
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table.c2 {background-color: #E0E0E0}
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hr.c1 {text-align: left}
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</style>
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</head>
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<body class="SECT1">
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<div class="NAVHEADER">
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<table summary="Header navigation table" width="100%" border="0"
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cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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<tr>
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<th colspan="3" align="center">Privoxy Frequently Asked
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Questions</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="10%" align="left" valign="bottom"><a href=
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"installation.html" accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
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<td width="80%" align="center" valign="bottom"></td>
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<td width="10%" align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="misc.html"
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accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<hr class="c1" width="100%">
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</div>
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<div class="SECT1">
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<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="CONFIGURATION" id="CONFIGURATION">3.
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Configuration</a></h1>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN369" id="AEN369">3.1. What exactly is an
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<span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> file?</a></h3>
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<p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> utilizes the concept of
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<span class="QUOTE">" <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS" target=
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"_top">actions</a>"</span> that are used to manipulate and control web
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page data. <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html" target=
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"_top">Actions files</a> are where these <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS" target="_top">actions</a>
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that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> could take while
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processing a certain request, are configured. Typically, you would
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define a set of default actions that apply globally to all URLs, then
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add exceptions to these defaults where needed. There is a wide array of
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actions available that give the user a high degree of control and
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flexibility on how to process each and every web page.</p>
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<p>Actions can be defined on a <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS" target="_top">URL
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pattern</a> basis, i.e. for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or
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parts thereof etc. Actions can also be grouped together and then
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applied to requests matching one or more patterns. There are many
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possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example, if
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you are blocking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie"
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target="_top">cookies</a> as one of your default actions, but need to
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accept cookies from a given site, you would need to define an exception
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for this site in one of your actions files, preferably in <tt class=
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"FILENAME">user.action</tt>.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="ACTIONSS" id="ACTIONSS">3.2. The
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<span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> concept confuses me. Please list
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some of these <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>.</a></h3>
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<p>For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
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to the <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html" target="_top">actions
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file chapter</a> in the <a href="../user-manual/index.html" target=
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"_top">User Manual</a>. It includes a <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS" target="_top">list of all
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actions</a> and an <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES" target="_top">actions
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file tutorial</a> to get you started.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN392" id="AEN392">3.3. How are actions
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files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?</a></h3>
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<p>Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be
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edited with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
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<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s user interface with your web
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browser at <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/" target=
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"_top">http://config.privoxy.org/</a> (Shortcut: <a href="http://p.p/"
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target="_top">http://p.p/</a>) and then select <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
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"_top">View & change the current configuration</a>"</span> from the
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menu. Note that this feature must be explicitly enabled in the main
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config file (see <a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS" target=
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"_top">enable-edit-actions</a>).</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN401" id="AEN401">3.4. There are several
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different <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> files. What are the
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differences?</a></h3>
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<p>Please have a look at the <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
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target="_top">the actions chapter</a> in the <a href=
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"../user-manual/index.html" target="_top">User Manual</a> for a
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detailed explanation.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="GETUPDATES" id="GETUPDATES">3.5. Where can I
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get updated Actions Files?</a></h3>
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<p>Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of
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<tt class="FILENAME">default.action</tt> will be made available from
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time to time on the <a href=
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"http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118" target=
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"_top">files section</a> of our <a href=
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"http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/" target="_top">project page</a>.</p>
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<p>If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release
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updates of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> or the actions
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file, <a href=
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"http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/" target=
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"_top">subscribe to our announce mailing list</a>,
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ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NEWCONFIG" id="NEWCONFIG">3.6. Can I use my
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old config files?</a></h3>
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<p>The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained roughly
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the same throughout the 3.x series, but backwards compatibility is not
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guaranteed. Also each release contains updated, <span class=
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"QUOTE">"improved"</span> versions and it is therefore strongly
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recommended to install the newer configuration files and merge back
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your modifications.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="DIFFICULT" id="DIFFICULT">3.7. Why is the
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configuration so complicated?</a></h3>
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<p><span class="QUOTE">"Complicated"</span> is in the eye of the
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beholder. Those that are familiar with some of the underlying concepts,
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such as regular expression syntax, take to it like a fish takes to
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water. Also, software that tries hard to be <span class="QUOTE">"user
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friendly"</span>, often lacks sophistication and flexibility. There is
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always that trade-off there between power vs. easy-of-use. Furthermore,
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anyone is welcome to contribute ideas and implementations to enhance
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<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="YAHOO" id="YAHOO">3.8. How can I make my
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Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</a></h3>
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<p>The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of
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these services. It may, however, make all <a href=
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target="_top">cookies</a>
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temporary, so that your browser will forget your login credentials in
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between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log in
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manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all
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cookie handling for them in the <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt>
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file. An example for yahoo might look like:</p>
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<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
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<tr>
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<td>
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<pre class="SCREEN">
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# Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
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#
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{ -<a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES" target=
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"_top">crunch-incoming-cookies</a> -<a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES" target=
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"_top">crunch-outgoing-cookies</a> -<a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY" target=
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"_top">session-cookies-only</a> }
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.login.yahoo.com
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</pre>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p>These kinds of sites are often quite complex and heavy with <a href=
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript" target="_top">Javascript</a>
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and thus <span class="QUOTE">"fragile"</span>. So if <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">still</span> a problem, we have an <a href=
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"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ALIASES" target="_top">alias</a> just
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for such sticky situations:</p>
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<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
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<tr>
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<td>
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<pre class="SCREEN">
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# Gmail is a _fragile_ site:
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#
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{ <tt class="LITERAL">fragile</tt> }
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# Gmail is ...
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mail.google.com
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</pre>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p>Be sure to flush your browser's caches whenever making these kinds
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of changes, just to make sure the changes <span class=
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"QUOTE">"take"</span>.</p>
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<p>Make sure the domain, host and path are appropriate as well. Your
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browser can tell you where you are specifically and you should use that
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information for your configuration settings. Note that above it is not
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referenced as <tt class="LITERAL">gmail.com</tt>, which is a valid
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domain name.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="CONFIGFILES" id="CONFIGFILES">3.9. What's
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the difference between the <span class="QUOTE">"Cautious"</span>,
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<span class="QUOTE">"Medium"</span> and <span class=
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"QUOTE">"Advanced"</span> defaults?</a></h3>
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<p>Configuring <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not entirely
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trivial. To help you get started, we provide you with three different
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default action <span class="QUOTE">"profiles"</span> in the web based
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actions file editor at <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
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target="_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a>. See the
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<a class="CITETITLE c4" href="../user-manual/actions-file.html" target=
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"_top">User Manual</a> for a list of actions, and how the default
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profiles are set.</p>
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<p>Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
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known popular <span class="QUOTE">"problem"</span> sites are included,
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but in general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more
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exceptions you will have to make later. New users are best to start off
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in <span class="QUOTE">"Cautious"</span> setting. This is safest and
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will have the fewest problems. See the <a class="CITETITLE c4" href=
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"../user-manual/index.html" target="_top">User Manual</a> for a more
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detailed discussion.</p>
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<p>It should be noted that the <span class="QUOTE">"Advanced"</span>
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profile (formerly known as the <span class=
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"QUOTE">"Adventuresome"</span> profile) is more aggressive, and will
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make use of some of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> advanced
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features. Use at your own risk!</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="BROWSECONFIG" id="BROWSECONFIG">3.10. Why
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can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
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security issues?</a></h3>
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<p>It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files
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with their browsers, although the whole <tt class=
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"FILENAME">/etc/privoxy</tt> hierarchy belongs to the user <span class=
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"QUOTE">"privoxy"</span>, with only 644 permissions.</p>
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<p>When you use the browser-based editor, <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> itself is writing to the config files.
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Because <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is running as the user
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<span class="QUOTE">"privoxy"</span>, it can update its own config
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files.</p>
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<p>If you run <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for multiple
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untrusted users (e.g. in a LAN) or aren't entirely in control of your
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own browser, you will probably want to make sure that the web-based
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editor and remote toggle features are <span class="QUOTE">"off"</span>
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by setting <span class="QUOTE">"<tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS" target=
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"_top">enable-edit-actions</a> 0</tt>"</span> and <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE" target=
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"_top">enable-remote-toggle</a> 0</tt>"</span> in the <a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html" target="_top">main configuration
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file</a>.</p>
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<p>As of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 3.0.7 these options
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are disabled by default.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN489" id="AEN489">3.11. What is the
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<tt class="FILENAME">default.filter</tt> file? What is a <span class=
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"QUOTE">"filter"</span>?</a></h3>
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<p>The <a href="../user-manual/filter-file.html" target=
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"_top"><tt class="FILENAME">default.filter</tt></a> file is where
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<span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c3">filters</span> as supplied by the
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developers are defined. Filters are a special subset of actions that
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can be used to modify or remove web page content or headers on the fly.
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Content filters can be applied to <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">anything</span> in the page source, header
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filters can be applied to either server or client headers. Regular
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expressions are used to accomplish this.</p>
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<p>There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common
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annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need
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to use the <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER" target=
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"_top"><tt class="LITERAL">filter</tt> action</a> in one of the actions
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files. Content filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate
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MIME types, but if you know better than Privoxy what should or should
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not be filtered you can filter any content you like.</p>
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<p>Filters should <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c3">not</span> be
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confused with <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target=
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"_top"><tt class="LITERAL">blocks</tt></a>, which is a completely
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different action, and is more typically used to block ads and unwanted
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sites.</p>
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<p>If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look
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at the provided <tt class="FILENAME">default.filter</tt> with a text
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editor and define your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful
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feature, but requires some expertise in both regular expressions and
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HTML/HTTP. You should place any modifications to the default filters,
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or any new ones you create in a separate file, such as <tt class=
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"FILENAME">user.filter</tt>, so they won't be overwritten during
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upgrades. The ability to define multiple filter files in <tt class=
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"FILENAME">config</tt> is a new feature as of v. 3.0.5.</p>
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<p>There is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
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but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the
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included <tt class="FILENAME">default.filter</tt> file with the
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<a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target="_top">web-based
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actions file editor</a>. Note that the custom actions editor must be
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explicitly enabled in the main config file (see <a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS" target=
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"_top">enable-edit-actions</a>).</p>
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<p>If you intend to develop your own filters, you might want to have a
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look at <a href="http://www.fabiankeil.de/sourcecode/pft/" target=
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"_top">Privoxy-Filter-Test</a>.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LANCONFIG" id="LANCONFIG">3.12. How can I
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set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?</a></h3>
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<p>By default, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> only responds
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to requests from <tt class="LITERAL">127.0.0.1</tt> (localhost). To
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have it act as a server for a network, this needs to be changed in the
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<a href="../user-manual/config.html" target="_top">main configuration
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file</a>. Look for the <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS" target=
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"_top">listen-address</a></tt> option, which may be commented out with
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a <span class="QUOTE">"#"</span> symbol. Make sure it is uncommented,
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and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and port number
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to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you wish to run
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<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> on port 8118, this line should
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look like:</p>
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<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
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<tr>
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<td>
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<pre class="SCREEN">
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listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118
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</pre>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p>Save the file, and restart <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>.
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Configure all browsers on the network then to use this address and port
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number.</p>
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<p>Alternately, you can have <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
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listen on all available interfaces:</p>
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<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
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<tr>
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<td>
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<pre class="SCREEN">
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listen-address :8118
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</pre>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<p>And then use <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> <a href=
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"../user-manual/config.html#PERMIT-ACCESS" target=
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"_top">permit-access</a> feature to limit connections. A firewall in
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this situation is recommended as well.</p>
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<p>The above steps should be the same for any TCP network, regardless
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of operating system.</p>
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|
|
<p>If you run <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> on a LAN with
|
|
untrusted users, we recommend that you double-check the <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL" target="_top">access
|
|
control and security</a> options!</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN540" id="AEN540">3.13. Instead of ads,
|
|
now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
|
|
anything.</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the
|
|
<a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER" target=
|
|
"_top"><tt class="LITERAL">set-image-blocker</tt> action</a>. You have
|
|
the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF image (aka
|
|
<span class="QUOTE">"blank"</span>), or a redirect to a custom image of
|
|
your choice. Note that this choice only has effect for images which are
|
|
blocked as images, i.e. whose URLs match both a <tt class=
|
|
"LITERAL"><a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
|
|
target="_top">handle-as-image</a></tt> <span class=
|
|
"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">and</span> <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target="_top">block</a></tt>
|
|
action.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you want to see nothing, then change the <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER" target=
|
|
"_top"><tt class="LITERAL">set-image-blocker</tt> action</a> to
|
|
<span class="QUOTE">"blank"</span>. This can be done by editing the
|
|
<tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt> file, or through the <a href=
|
|
"http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target="_top">web-based actions
|
|
file editor</a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN557" id="AEN557">3.14. Why would anybody
|
|
want to see a checkerboard pattern?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Remember that <a href="general.html#WHATSANAD">telling which image
|
|
is an ad and which isn't</a>, is an educated guess. While we hope that
|
|
the standard configuration is rather smart, it will make occasional
|
|
mistakes. The checkerboard image is visually decent, and it shows you
|
|
where images have been blocked, which can be very helpful in case some
|
|
navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was erroneously blocked. It
|
|
is recommended for new users so they can <span class=
|
|
"QUOTE">"see"</span> what is happening. Some people might also enjoy
|
|
seeing how many banners they <span class=
|
|
"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">don't</span> have to see.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="AEN563" id="AEN563">3.15. I see some images
|
|
being replaced with text instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how
|
|
do I get rid of this?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of
|
|
the page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded
|
|
into (i)frames or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are
|
|
blocked. Being non-images they get replaced by a substitute HTML page
|
|
rather than a substitute image, which wouldn't work out technically,
|
|
since the browser expects and accepts only HTML when it has requested
|
|
an HTML document.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself
|
|
as a miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown
|
|
with a large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to
|
|
it that the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked.
|
|
Clicking the <span class="QUOTE">"See why"</span> link offered in the
|
|
substitute page will show you which rule blocked the page. After
|
|
changing the rule and un-blocking the HTML documents, the browser will
|
|
try to load the actual banner images and the usual image blocking will
|
|
(hopefully!) kick in.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="SRVANY" id="SRVANY">3.16. Can Privoxy run as
|
|
a service on Win2K/NT/XP?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Yes. Version 3.0.5 introduces full <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Windows</span> service functionality. See <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win" target=
|
|
"_top">the <i class="CITETITLE">User Manual</i></a> for details on how
|
|
to install and configure <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a
|
|
service.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Earlier 3.x versions could run as a system service using <b class=
|
|
"COMMAND">srvany.exe</b>. See the discussion at <a href=
|
|
"http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118"
|
|
target=
|
|
"_top">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</a>,
|
|
for details, and a sample configuration.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="OTHERPROXY" id="OTHERPROXY">3.17. How can I
|
|
make Privoxy work with other proxies?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with those of a another proxy,
|
|
for example to cache content. See the <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING" target="_top">forwarding
|
|
chapter</a> in the <a href="../user-manual/index.html" target=
|
|
"_top">User Manual</a> which describes how to do this. If you intend to
|
|
use Privoxy with Tor, please also have a look at <a href=
|
|
"misc.html#TOR">How do I use Privoxy together with Tor</a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="PORT-80" id="PORT-80">3.18. Can I just set
|
|
Privoxy to use port 80 and thus avoid individual browser
|
|
configuration?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special
|
|
kinds of proxies known as <span class="QUOTE">"intercepting"</span>
|
|
proxies (<a href="configuration.html#INTERCEPTING">see below</a>).</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="TRANSPARENT" id="TRANSPARENT">3.19. Can
|
|
Privoxy run as a <span class="QUOTE">"transparent"</span>
|
|
proxy?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The whole idea of Privoxy is to modify client requests and server
|
|
responses in all sorts of ways and therefore it's not a transparent
|
|
proxy as described in <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616"
|
|
target="_top">RFC 2616</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, some people say <span class="QUOTE">"transparent
|
|
proxy"</span> when they mean <span class="QUOTE">"intercepting
|
|
proxy"</span>. If you are one of them, please read the <a href=
|
|
"configuration.html#INTERCEPTING">next entry</a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="INTERCEPTING" id="INTERCEPTING">3.20. Can
|
|
Privoxy run as a <span class="QUOTE">"intercepting"</span>
|
|
proxy?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can't intercept traffic
|
|
itself, but it can handle requests that where intercepted and
|
|
redirected with a packet filter (like <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">PF</span> or <span class="APPLICATION">iptables</span>),
|
|
as long as the <tt class="LITERAL">Host</tt> header is present.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>As the <tt class="LITERAL">Host</tt> header is required by HTTP/1.1
|
|
and as most web sites rely on it anyway, this limitation shouldn't be a
|
|
problem.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Please refer to your packet filter's documentation to learn how to
|
|
intercept and redirect traffic into <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. Afterward you just have to configure
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/config.html#ACCEPT-INTERCEPTED-REQUESTS" target=
|
|
"_top">accept intercepted requests</a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="OUTLOOK" id="OUTLOOK">3.21. How can I
|
|
configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Versions of <span class="APPLICATION">Outlook</span> prior to Office
|
|
2007, use <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer</span> components
|
|
to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded
|
|
in an HTML email. So however you have <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> configured to work with IE, this
|
|
configuration should automatically be shared, at least with older
|
|
version of Internet Explorer.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Starting with Office 2007, Microsoft is instead using the MS-Word
|
|
rendering engine with Outlook. It is unknown whether this can be
|
|
configured to use a proxy.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="OUTLOOK-MORE" id="OUTLOOK-MORE">3.22. How
|
|
can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The short answer is, you can't. <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> has no way of knowing which particular
|
|
application makes a request, so there is no way to distinguish between
|
|
web pages and HTML mail. <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> just
|
|
blindly proxies all requests. In the case of <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Outlook Express</span> (see above), OE uses IE anyway,
|
|
and there is no way for <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to
|
|
ever be able to distinguish between them (nor could any other proxy
|
|
type application for that matter).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including
|
|
privacy and security issues), see <a href=
|
|
"http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118"
|
|
target=
|
|
"_top">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118</a>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="SNEAKY-COOKIES" id="SNEAKY-COOKIES">3.23. I
|
|
sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
|
|
"_top">Cookies</a> can be set in several ways. The classic method is
|
|
via the <tt class="LITERAL">Set-Cookie</tt> HTTP header. This is
|
|
straightforward, and an easy one to manipulate, such as the
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> concept of <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY" target=
|
|
"_top">session-cookies-only</a>. There is also the possibility of using
|
|
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript" target=
|
|
"_top">Javascript</a> to set cookies (<span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> calls these <tt class=
|
|
"LITERAL">content-cookies</tt>). This is trickier because the syntax
|
|
can vary widely, and thus requires a certain amount of guesswork. It is
|
|
not realistic to catch all of these short of disabling Javascript,
|
|
which would break many sites. And lastly, if the cookies are embedded
|
|
in a HTTPS/SSL secure session via Javascript, they are beyond
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> reach.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>All in all, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can help manage
|
|
cookies in general, can help minimize the loss of privacy posed by
|
|
cookies, but can't realistically stop all cookies.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="EVIL-COOKIES" id="EVIL-COOKIES">3.24. Are
|
|
all cookies bad? Why?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>No, in fact there are many beneficial uses of <a href=
|
|
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
|
|
"_top">cookies</a>. Cookies are just a method that browsers can use to
|
|
store data between pages, or between browser sessions. Sometimes there
|
|
is a good reason for this, and the user's life is a bit easier as a
|
|
result. But there is a long history of some websites taking advantage
|
|
of this layer of trust, and using the data they glean from you and your
|
|
browsing habits for their own purposes, and maybe to your potential
|
|
detriment. Such sites are using you and storing their data on your
|
|
system. That is why the privacy conscious watch from whom those cookies
|
|
come, and why they really <span class=
|
|
"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">need</span> to be there.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>See the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie"
|
|
target="_top">Wikipedia cookie definition</a> for more.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="ALLOW-COOKIES" id="ALLOW-COOKIES">3.25. How
|
|
can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default
|
|
behavior is to allow only <span class="QUOTE">"session cookies"</span>,
|
|
which means the cookies only last for the current browser session. This
|
|
eliminates most kinds of abuse related to cookies. But there may be
|
|
cases where you want cookies to last.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed
|
|
unrestricted, both in and out, for <tt class=
|
|
"LITERAL">example.com</tt>:</p>
|
|
|
|
<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<pre class="SCREEN">
|
|
{ -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies -session-cookies-only -filter{content-cookies} }
|
|
.example.com
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>Place the above in <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt>. Note that
|
|
some of these may be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant,
|
|
but there is no harm being explicit in what you want to happen.
|
|
<tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt> includes an alias for this
|
|
situation, called <tt class="LITERAL">allow-all-cookies</tt>.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="MULTIPLES" id="MULTIPLES">3.26. Can I have
|
|
separate configurations for different users?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Each instance of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> has its
|
|
own configuration, including such attributes as the TCP port that it
|
|
listens on. What you can do is run multiple instances of <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, each with a unique <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS" target=
|
|
"_top">listen-address</a> configuration setting, and configuration
|
|
path, and then each of these can have their own configurations. Think
|
|
of it as per-port configuration.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Simple enough for a few users, but for large installations, consider
|
|
having groups of users that might share like configurations.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHITELISTS" id="WHITELISTS">3.27. Can I
|
|
set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of <span class="QUOTE">"good"</span>
|
|
sites?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple
|
|
white-listing. Here's one real easy one:</p>
|
|
|
|
<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<pre class="SCREEN">
|
|
############################################################
|
|
# Blacklist
|
|
############################################################
|
|
{ <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target=
|
|
"_top">+block</a> }
|
|
/ # Block *all* URLs
|
|
|
|
############################################################
|
|
# Whitelist
|
|
############################################################
|
|
{ <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target=
|
|
"_top">-block</a> }
|
|
kids.example.com
|
|
toys.example.com
|
|
games.example.com
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>This allows access to only those three sites by first blocking all
|
|
URLs, and then subsequently allowing three specific exceptions.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Another approach is <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span>
|
|
<tt class="LITERAL">trustfile</tt> concept, which incorporates the
|
|
notion of <span class="QUOTE">"trusted referrers"</span>. See the
|
|
<a href="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE" target="_top">Trust
|
|
documentation</a> for details.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof.
|
|
There are various other configuration options that should be disabled
|
|
(described elsewhere here and in <a href="../user-manual/" target=
|
|
"_top">the User Manual</a>) so that users can't modify their own
|
|
configuration and easily circumvent the whitelist.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NO-ADBLOCK" id="NO-ADBLOCK">3.28. How can I
|
|
turn off ad-blocking?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Ad blocking is achieved through a complex application of various
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/actions-file.html" target="_top">actions</a>. These
|
|
actions are deployed against simple images, banners, flash animations,
|
|
text pages, JavaScript, pop-ups and pop-unders, etc., so its not as
|
|
simple as just turning one or two actions off. The various actions that
|
|
make up <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> ad blocking are
|
|
hard-coded into the default configuration files. It has been assumed
|
|
that everyone using <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is
|
|
interested in this particular feature.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you want to do without this, there are several approaches you can
|
|
take: You can manually undo the many block rules in <tt class=
|
|
"FILENAME">default.action</tt>. Or even easier, just create your own
|
|
<tt class="FILENAME">default.action</tt> file from scratch without the
|
|
many ad blocking rules, and corresponding exceptions. Or lastly, if you
|
|
are not concerned about the additional blocks that are done for privacy
|
|
reasons, you can very easily over-ride <span class=
|
|
"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">all</span> blocking with the following very
|
|
simple rule in your <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt>:</p>
|
|
|
|
<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<pre class="SCREEN">
|
|
# Unblock everybody, everywhere
|
|
{ <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target=
|
|
"_top">-block</a> }
|
|
/ # UN-Block *all* URLs
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>Or even a more comprehensive reversing of various ad related
|
|
actions:</p>
|
|
|
|
<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<pre class="SCREEN">
|
|
# Unblock everybody, everywhere, and turn off appropriate filtering, etc
|
|
{ <a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK" target=
|
|
"_top">-block</a> \
|
|
<a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE" target=
|
|
"_top">-filter{banners-by-size}</a> \
|
|
<a href="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK" target=
|
|
"_top">-filter{banners-by-link}</a> \
|
|
<tt class="LITERAL">allow-popups</tt> \
|
|
}
|
|
/ # UN-Block *all* URLs and allow ads
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>This last <span class="QUOTE">"action"</span> in this compound
|
|
statement, <tt class="LITERAL">allow-popups</tt>, is an <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/actions-file.html#ALIASES" target="_top">alias</a> that
|
|
disables various pop-up blocking features.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="TEMPLATES" id="TEMPLATES">3.29. How can I
|
|
have custom template pages, like the <span class=
|
|
"emphasis EMPHASIS c3">BLOCKED</span> page?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> <span class=
|
|
"QUOTE">"templates"</span> are specialized text files utilized by
|
|
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> for various purposes and can
|
|
easily be modified using any text editor. All the template pages are
|
|
installed in a sub-directory appropriately named: <tt class=
|
|
"FILENAME">templates</tt>. Knowing something about HTML syntax will of
|
|
course be helpful.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Be forewarned that the default templates are subject to being
|
|
overwritten during upgrades. You can, however, create completely new
|
|
templates, place them in another directory and specify the alternate
|
|
path in the main <tt class="FILENAME">config</tt>. For details, have a
|
|
look at the <a href="../user-manual/config.html#templdir" target=
|
|
"_top">templdir</a> option.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="SECT2">
|
|
<h3 class="SECT2"><a name="BLOCKALL" id="BLOCKALL">3.30. How can I
|
|
remove the <span class="QUOTE">"Go There Anyway"</span> link from the
|
|
<span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c3">BLOCKED</span> page?</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>There is more than one way to do it (although Perl is not
|
|
involved).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Editing the BLOCKED template page (see above) may dissuade some
|
|
users, but this method is easily circumvented. Where you need this
|
|
level of control, you might want to build <span class=
|
|
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> from source, and disable various features
|
|
that are available as compile-time options. You should <b class=
|
|
"COMMAND">configure</b> the sources as follows:</p>
|
|
|
|
<table class="c2" border="0" width="100%">
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td>
|
|
<pre class="SCREEN">
|
|
./configure --disable-toggle --disable-editor --disable-force
|
|
</pre>
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>This will create an executable with hard-coded security features so
|
|
that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> does not allow easy
|
|
bypassing of blocked sites, or changing the current configuration via
|
|
any connected user's web browser.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Finally, all of these features can also be toggled on/off via
|
|
options in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> main <a href=
|
|
"../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL" target="_top">config</a>
|
|
file which means you don't have to recompile anything.</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div class="NAVFOOTER">
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<hr class="c1" width="100%">
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<td width="33%" align="left" valign="top"><a href="installation.html"
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accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
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<td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"><a href="index.html"
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accesskey="H">Home</a></td>
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<tr>
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<td width="33%" align="left" valign="top">Installation</td>
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<td width="34%" align="center" valign="top"> </td>
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