1PRIVOXY(1) PRIVOXY(1)
2
6 privoxy - Privacy Enhancing Proxy
7
9 privoxy [--chroot ] [--config-test ] [--help ] [--no-daemon ] [--pid‐
10 file pidfile ] [--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname ] [--user user[.group] ]
11 [--version ] [configfile ]
12
15 Privoxy may be invoked with the following command line options:
16 --chroot
18 Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option,
19 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pre‐
20 tend to the Privoxy process that the directory tree starts
21 there. If set up carefully, this can limit the impact of possi‐
22 ble vulnerabilities in Privoxy to the files contained in that
23 hierarchy.
24 --config-test
26 Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
27 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the config‐
28 uration files have been successfully loaded.
29 If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
31 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
32 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can cur‐
33 rently only be detected at run time).
34 This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
36 "--no-daemon" is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't
37 be used.
38 --help Print brief usage info and exit.
40 --no-daemon
42 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process
43 group leader, don't detach from controlling tty, and do all log‐
44 ging there.
45 --pidfile pidfile
47 On startup, write the process ID to pidfile. Delete the pidfile
48 on exit. Failure to create or delete the pidfile is non-fatal.
49 If no --pidfile option is given, no PID file will be used.
50 --pre-chroot-nslookup hostname
52 Initialize the resolver library using hostname before
53 chroot'ing. On some systems this reduces the number of files
54 that must be copied into the chroot tree.
55 --user user[.group]
57 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
58 user and the GID of group, or, if the optional group was not
59 given, the default group of user. Exit if the privileges are not
60 sufficient to do so.
61 --version
63 Print version info and exit.
64 If the configfile is not specified on the command line, Privoxy
66 will look for a file named config in the current directory. If no con‐
67 figfile is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
68
70 Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities
71 for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, con‐
72 trolling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk.
73 Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit
74 individual needs and tastes. It has application for both stand-alone
75 systems and multi-user networks.
76 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.
78 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest
80 (SPI).
81 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
83 · https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE
85 · https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE
87
89 Browsers can either be individually configured to use Privoxy as a HTTP
90 proxy (recommended), or Privoxy can be combined with a packet filter to
91 build an intercepting proxy (see config). The default setting is for
92 localhost, on port 8118 (configurable in the main config file). To
93 set the HTTP proxy in Firefox, go through: Tools; Options; General;
94 Connection Settings; Manual Proxy Configuration.
95 For Internet Explorer, go through: Tools; Internet Properties; Connec‐
97 tions; LAN Settings.
98 The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise
100 https: URLs will not be proxied. Note: Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and
101 HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols. HTTPS
102 presents some limitations, and not all features will work with HTTPS
103 connections.
104 For other browsers, check the documentation.
106
108 Privoxy can be configured with the various configuration files. The
109 default configuration files are: config, default.filter, default.action
110 and default.action. user.action should be used for locally defined
111 exceptions to the default rules in match-all.action and default.action,
112 and user.filter for locally defined filters. These are well commented.
113 On Unix and Unix-like systems, these are located in /etc/privoxy/ by
114 default.
115 Privoxy uses the concept of actions in order to manipulate the data
117 stream between the browser and remote sites. There are various actions
118 available with specific functions for such things as blocking web
119 sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked individually
120 or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs that
121 can be defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is
122 that the user has greatly enhanced control and freedom.
123 The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your web
125 browser at http://config.privoxy.org/ (assuming the configuration
126 allows it). Privoxy's configuration parameters can also be viewed at
127 the same page. In addition, Privoxy can be toggled on/off. This is an
128 internal page, and does not require Internet access.
129 See the User Manual for a detailed explanation of installation, general
131 usage, all configuration options, new features and notes on upgrading.
132
134 /usr/sbin/privoxy
135 /etc/privoxy/config
136 /etc/privoxy/match-all.action
137 /etc/privoxy/default.action
138 /etc/privoxy/user.action
139 /etc/privoxy/default.filter
140 /etc/privoxy/user.filter
141 /etc/privoxy/trust
142 /etc/privoxy/templates/*
143 /var/log/privoxy/logfile
144 Various other files should be included, but may vary depending on plat‐
146 form and build configuration. Additional documentation should be
147 included in the local documentation directory.
148
150 Privoxy terminates on the SIGINT and SIGTERM signals. Log rotation
151 scripts may cause a re-opening of the logfile by sending a SIGHUP to
152 Privoxy. Note that unlike other daemons, Privoxy does not need to be
153 made aware of config file changes by SIGHUP -- it will detect them
154 automatically. Signals other than the ones listed above aren't explic‐
155 itly handled and result in the default action defined by the operating
156 system.
157
159 Please see the User Manual on how to contact the developers, for fea‐
160 ture requests, reporting problems, and other questions.
161
163 Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
164 https://www.privoxy.org/, the Privoxy Home page.
166 https://www.privoxy.org/faq/, the Privoxy FAQ.
168 https://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/, the Privoxy developer man‐
170 ual.
171 https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/, the Project Page for Privoxy
173 on SourceForge.
174 http://config.privoxy.org/, the web-based user interface. Privoxy must
176 be running for this to work. Shortcut: http://p.p/
177 https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288, to submit
179 ``misses'' and other configuration related suggestions to the develop‐
180 ers.
181
183 Fabian Keil, lead developer
184 David Schmidt
185 Hal Burgiss
186 Lee Rian
187 Roland Rosenfeld
188 Ian Silvester
189
191 COPYRIGHT
192 Copyright (C) 2001-2016 by Privoxy Developers <privoxy-
193 devel@lists.privoxy.org>
194 Some source code is based on code Copyright (C) 1997 by Anonymous
196 Coders and Junkbusters, Inc. and licensed under the GNU General Public
197 License.
198 LICENSE
200 Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
201 under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as pub‐
202 lished by the Free Software Foundation.
203 Privoxy is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
205 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
206 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the license for details.
207Privoxy 3.0.26 26 August 2016 PRIVOXY(1)