1PRIVOXY(8) PRIVOXY(8)
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, ch‐
19 root to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend
20 to the Privoxy process that the directory tree starts there. If
21 set up carefully, this can limit the impact of possible vulnera‐
22 bilities in Privoxy to the files contained in that hierarchy.
23 --config-test
25 Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the
26 listen address. The exit code signals whether or not the config‐
27 uration files have been successfully loaded.
28 If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files
30 is invalid, if it is 0, all the configuration files have been
31 successfully loaded (but may still contain errors that can cur‐
32 rently only be detected at run time).
33 This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with
35 "--no-daemon" is recommended if a configured log file shouldn't
36 be used.
37 --help Print brief usage info and exit.
39 --no-daemon
41 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process
42 group leader, don't detach from controlling tty, and do all log‐
43 ging there.
44 --pidfile pidfile
46 On startup, write the process ID to pidfile. Delete the pidfile
47 on exit. Failure to create or delete the pidfile is non-fatal.
48 If no --pidfile option is given, no PID file will be used.
49 --pre-chroot-nslookup hostname
51 Initialize the resolver library using hostname before ch‐
52 root'ing. On some systems this reduces the number of files that
53 must be copied into the chroot tree.
54 --user user[.group]
56 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
57 user and the GID of group, or, if the optional group was not
58 given, the default group of user. Exit if the privileges are not
59 sufficient to do so.
60 --version
62 Print version info and exit.
63 If the configfile is not specified on the command line, Privoxy
65 will look for a file named config in the current directory. If no con‐
66 figfile is found, Privoxy will fail to start.
67
69 Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities
70 for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, con‐
71 trolling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk.
72 Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit in‐
73 dividual needs and tastes. It has application for both stand-alone
74 systems and multi-user networks.
75 Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later.
77 Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest
79 (SPI).
80 Helping hands and donations are welcome:
82 • https://www.privoxy.org/participate
84 • https://www.privoxy.org/donate
86
88 Browsers can either be individually configured to use Privoxy as a HTTP
89 proxy (recommended), or Privoxy can be combined with a packet filter to
90 build an intercepting proxy (see config). The default setting is for
91 localhost, on port 8118 (configurable in the main config file). To
92 set the HTTP proxy in Firefox, go through: Tools; Options; General;
93 Connection Settings; Manual Proxy Configuration.
94 For Internet Explorer, go through: Tools; Internet Properties; Connec‐
96 tions; LAN Settings.
97 The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise
99 https: URLs will not be proxied. Note: Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and
100 HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with FTP or other protocols. HTTPS
101 presents some limitations, and not all features will work with HTTPS
102 connections.
103 For other browsers, check the documentation.
105
107 Privoxy can be configured with the various configuration files. The de‐
108 fault configuration files are: config, default.filter, default.action
109 and default.action. user.action should be used for locally defined ex‐
110 ceptions to the default rules in match-all.action and default.action,
111 and user.filter for locally defined filters. These are well commented.
112 On Unix and Unix-like systems, these are located in /etc/privoxy/ by
113 default.
114 Privoxy uses the concept of actions in order to manipulate the data
116 stream between the browser and remote sites. There are various actions
117 available with specific functions for such things as blocking web
118 sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked individually
119 or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs that
120 can be defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is
121 that the user has greatly enhanced control and freedom.
122 The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your web
124 browser at http://config.privoxy.org/ (assuming the configuration al‐
125 lows it). Privoxy's configuration parameters can also be viewed at
126 the same page. In addition, Privoxy can be toggled on/off. This is an
127 internal page, and does not require Internet access.
128 See the User Manual for a detailed explanation of installation, general
130 usage, all configuration options, new features and notes on upgrading.
131
133 /usr/sbin/privoxy
134 /etc/privoxy/config
135 /etc/privoxy/match-all.action
136 /etc/privoxy/default.action
137 /etc/privoxy/user.action
138 /etc/privoxy/default.filter
139 /etc/privoxy/user.filter
140 /etc/privoxy/trust
141 /etc/privoxy/templates/*
142 /var/log/privoxy/logfile
143 Various other files should be included, but may vary depending on plat‐
145 form and build configuration. Additional documentation should be in‐
146 cluded in the local documentation directory.
147
149 Privoxy terminates on the SIGINT and SIGTERM signals. Log rotation
150 scripts may cause a re-opening of the logfile by sending a SIGHUP to
151 Privoxy. Note that unlike other daemons, Privoxy does not need to be
152 made aware of config file changes by SIGHUP -- it will detect them au‐
153 tomatically. Signals other than the ones listed above aren't explicitly
154 handled and result in the default action defined by the operating sys‐
155 tem.
156
158 Please see the User Manual on how to contact the developers, for fea‐
159 ture requests, reporting problems, and other questions.
160
162 Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
163 https://www.privoxy.org/, the Privoxy Home page.
165 https://www.privoxy.org/faq/, the Privoxy FAQ.
167 https://www.privoxy.org/developer-manual/, the Privoxy developer man‐
169 ual.
170 https://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/, the Project Page for Privoxy
172 on SourceForge.
173 http://config.privoxy.org/, the web-based user interface. Privoxy must
175 be running for this to work. Shortcut: http://p.p/
176 https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/, to submit
178 ``misses'' and other configuration related suggestions to the develop‐
179 ers.
180
182 Fabian Keil, lead developer
183 David Schmidt
184 Lee Rian
185 Roland Rosenfeld
186 Ian Silvester
187
189 COPYRIGHT
190 Copyright (C) 2001-2023 by Privoxy Developers <privoxy-de‐
191 vel@lists.privoxy.org>
192 Some source code is based on code Copyright (C) 1997 by Anonymous
194 Coders and Junkbusters, Inc.
195 LICENSE
197 Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute and/or modify its source
198 code under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
199 the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the license, or (at
200 your option) any later version.
201 The same is true for Privoxy binaries unless they are linked with a
203 mbed TLS or OpenSSL version that is licensed under the Apache 2.0 li‐
204 cense in which case you can redistribute and/or modify the Privoxy bi‐
205 naries under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
206 by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the license, or
207 (at your option) any later version.
208 Privoxy is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
210 ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
211 FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the license for details.
212Privoxy 3.0.34 05 February 2023 PRIVOXY(8)