Ubuntu Manpage: privoxy - Privacy Enhancing Proxy

NAME

       privoxy - Privacy Enhancing Proxy

SYNOPSIS

       privoxy [--chroot ] [--config-test ] [--help ] [--no-daemon ] [--pidfile pidfile ] [--pre-
       chroot-nslookup hostname ] [--user user[.group] ] [--version ] [configfile ]

OPTIONS

Privoxy may be invoked with the following command line options:

--chroot
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 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.

--config-test
Exit after loading the configuration files before binding to the listen address.
The exit code signals whether or not the configuration files have been successfully
loaded.

If the exit code is 1, at least one of the configuration files is invalid, if it is
0, all the configuration files have been successfully loaded (but may still contain
errors that can currently only be detected at run time).

This option doesn't affect the log setting, combination with "--no-daemon" is
recommended if a configured log file shouldn't be used.

--help Print brief usage info and exit.

--no-daemon
Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group leader, don't
detach from controlling tty, and do all logging there.

--pidfile pidfile
On startup, write the process ID to pidfile. Delete the pidfile on exit. Failure
to create or delete the pidfile is non-fatal. If no --pidfile option is given, no
PID file will be used.

--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname
Initialize the resolver library using hostname before chroot'ing. On some systems
this reduces the number of files that must be copied into the chroot tree.

--user user[.group]
After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of user and the GID of
group, or, if the optional group was not given, the default group of user. Exit if
the privileges are not sufficient to do so.

--version
Print version info and exit.

If the configfile is not specified on the command line, Privoxy will look for a file
named config in the current directory. If no configfile is found, Privoxy will fail to
start.

DESCRIPTION

       Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with  advanced  filtering  capabilities  for  enhancing
       privacy,  modifying  web  page data and HTTP headers, controlling access, and removing ads
       and other obnoxious Internet junk.  Privoxy  has  a  flexible  configuration  and  can  be
       customized  to  suit individual needs and tastes.  It has application for both stand-alone
       systems and multi-user networks.

       Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later.

       Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).

       Helping hands and donations are welcome:

       • https://www.privoxy.org/participate

       • https://www.privoxy.org/donate

INSTALLATION AND USAGE

       Browsers  can  either  be  individually  configured  to  use  Privoxy  as  a  HTTP   proxy
       (recommended),  or  Privoxy  can be combined with a packet filter to build an intercepting
       proxy (see config).  The default setting is  for localhost,  on port   8118  (configurable
       in  the  main config file).  To set the HTTP proxy in Firefox, go through: Tools; Options;
       General; Connection Settings; Manual Proxy Configuration.

       For Internet Explorer, go through: Tools; Internet Properties; Connections; LAN Settings.

       The Secure (SSL) Proxy should also be set to the same values, otherwise https:  URLs  will
       not  be  proxied.  Note: Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and HTTPS traffic. Do not try it with
       FTP or other protocols.  HTTPS presents some limitations, and not all features  will  work
       with HTTPS connections.

       For other browsers, check the documentation.

CONFIGURATION

Privoxy can be configured with the various configuration files. The default configuration
files are: config, default.filter, default.action and default.action. user.action should
be used for locally defined exceptions to the default rules in match-all.action and
default.action, and user.filter for locally defined filters. These are well commented. On
Unix and Unix-like systems, these are located in /etc/privoxy/ by default.

Privoxy uses the concept of actions in order to manipulate the data stream between the
browser and remote sites. There are various actions available with specific functions for
such things as blocking web sites, managing cookies, etc. These actions can be invoked
individually or combined, and used against individual URLs, or groups of URLs that can be
defined using wildcards and regular expressions. The result is that the user has greatly
enhanced control and freedom.

The actions list (ad blocks, etc) can also be configured with your web browser at
http://config.privoxy.org/ (assuming the configuration allows it). Privoxy's
configuration parameters can also be viewed at the same page. In addition, Privoxy can
be toggled on/off. This is an internal page, and does not require Internet access.

See the User Manual for a detailed explanation of installation, general usage, all
configuration options, new features and notes on upgrading.

FILES

        /usr/sbin/privoxy
        /etc/privoxy/config
        /etc/privoxy/match-all.action
        /etc/privoxy/default.action
        /etc/privoxy/user.action
        /etc/privoxy/default.filter
        /etc/privoxy/user.filter
        /etc/privoxy/trust
        /etc/privoxy/templates/*
        /var/log/privoxy/logfile

       Various other files should be included, but may  vary  depending  on  platform  and  build
       configuration.  Additional  documentation  should  be  included in the local documentation
       directory.

SIGNALS

       Privoxy terminates on the SIGINT and SIGTERM signals. Log rotation scripts may cause a re-
       opening  of  the  logfile  by sending a SIGHUP to Privoxy. Note that unlike other daemons,
       Privoxy does not need to be made aware of config file changes by SIGHUP -- it will  detect
       them automatically. Signals other than the ones listed above aren't explicitly handled and
       result in the default action defined by the operating system.

NOTES

       Please see the User Manual on  how  to  contact  the  developers,  for  feature  requests,
       reporting problems, and other questions.

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

        Fabian Keil, lead developer
        David Schmidt
        Lee Rian
        Roland Rosenfeld
        Ian Silvester

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

   COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2001-2023 by Privoxy Developers <privoxy-devel@lists.privoxy.org>

       Some  source code is based on code Copyright (C) 1997 by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters,
       Inc.

   LICENSE
       Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute and/or modify its  source  code  under  the
       terms  of  the  GNU  General  Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation,
       either version 2 of the license, or (at your option) any later version.

       The same is true for Privoxy binaries unless they are linked with a mbed  TLS  or  OpenSSL
       version  that  is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license in which case you can redistribute
       and/or modify the Privoxy binaries under the terms of the GNU General  Public  License  as
       published  by  the  Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the license, or (at your
       option) any later version.

       Privoxy is distributed in the hope that it will  be  useful,  but  WITHOUT  ANY  WARRANTY;
       without  even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
       See the  license for details.