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How to set up a proxy server

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By PC Plus (/author?searchTerm=PC Plus)from PC Plus Issue 296 July 24th 2010
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FreeProxy is a simple way of creating a proxy server to protect your home network
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Corporate networks always have proxy servers, while on
home networks they're often an overlooked form of defence.
But maybe they shouldn't be.
A local proxy server can help to improve the throughput of
your broadband connection, restore order to a troubled
network and add another line of defence against malware
infections.
What are proxies?
'Proxy' means substitute. To the computers on the local
network, a proxy server is a substitute for connecting
directly to the web. There are several different types of
proxy server. For example, a web proxy server keeps copies
of recently accessed web pages on your hard disk.
When you access a page, the proxy serves the cached
version if it's up to date. This is faster than downloading
static files from the site. All internal computers must use the
local web proxy server for it to be effective.
In the settings for your web browser, there's a page to point
it at a proxy server rather than the network's default
gateway. This gateway is usually a router or the computer

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attached to your broadband modem. Some proxy servers
also block content, especially on corporate networks.
You may be tempted to disable the proxy settings in your
browser to view sites your boss would rather you didn't during work hours.
However, to ensure that everyone on the network uses the proxy to access
the internet, system administrators block all access to the internet at their
firewall, except traffic coming from or going to the proxy. So to access
anything outside the local network, you must use the proxy.
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Forcing everyone to use the proxy gives system administrators great control
over what their users can access. The same principle can be used at home
by parents and those simply keen to bolster security.
If you find unexpected access attempts in a firewall's log file from inside a
proxy-protected network, they're probably coming from malware that doesn't
know how to test for a local proxy and has tried to go directly online.
Installing FreeProxy
FreeProxy (or FreeProxy Internet Suite) is a free Windows-based proxy
server that can provide web caching for faster access and is able to block
banned web domains. It works on Windows 7 and should ideally run on its
own computer. The app is available for free from here
(http://www.handcraftedsoftware.org/index.php?
page=4&action=file&file_id=5).
Once downloaded, unzip the file and double-click on the setup application.
When the installation wizard appears, click 'Next' to accept the licence
agreement, the default the destination folder and Start menu folder, then
click 'Install'. When the release notes pop up, click 'Next', then 'Finish'. Click
Start and select 'FreeProxy Control Centre'.
Let's begin by configuring and testing FreeProxy for basic use. Open a
command line and enter ipconfig. Press [Enter] and one or more blocks of
information will appear.
Find the one about the server's Ethernet connection (usually the first one
that appears) and note the IP addresses of the default gateway and DNS
server. First, we need to stop relying on DHCP to provide IP addresses on
demand and use a fixed address instead. This is so other computers on the
network can find the proxy server via its address.
In Windows 7 or Vista, open the Control Panel and click 'Network and
Internet | Network and Sharing Centre'. In Windows 7, click 'Change Adaptor
Settings' in the left-hand pane and double-click the 'Local Area Connection'.
In Vista, click on 'Manage network connections' and double-click on the
'Local Area Connection'.
In XP's Control Panel, double-click 'Network Connections' and then
doubleclick the 'Local Area Connection'. Click 'Properties' and a window will
appear showing the underlying configuration. Double-click the entry in the
protocol list called 'Internet Protocol Version 4 (TVP/Ipv4)'. In XP this is just
called 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)'.
Another subwindow will appear, giving details on how the computer gets its
IP address. Click the radio button marked 'Use the following IP address'.
Your default internet gateway (your router) will usually have the address
192.168.0.1, so enter a different number in the fourth position (192.168.0.2,
for example).
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If you're not sure if this address is already in use, open a command line and
enter ping 192.168.0.2. If the command hangs and then returns a set of
timeouts, the address isn't in use. Next, enter a subnet mask of
255.255.255.0 and the IP address of your default gateway in the
appropriate input boxes.
Select the 'Use the following DNS server addresses' radio button and enter
the IP address of the DNS server you noted down earlier. This is probably
the same device as the default gateway. Click 'OK' and dismiss the parent
windows.
Now we need to make a web browser use the proxy server to access the
internet. On a different networked machine, open Internet Explorer 8 and
click 'Tools | Internet Options'. Click 'LAN settings' in the Connections tab.
In the subwindow, select the tickbox labelled 'Use a proxy server for your
LAN'. Enter the address 192.168.0.2 and change the port number to 8080.
Now click 'OK' and dismiss the parent window, then try to surf to a page. The
proxy isn't running, so the browser will eventually time out.
In the FreeProxy Control Centre, click the 'Start/Stop' button and a window
will appear. To start the proxy server, click the 'Start' button in the Console
Mode pane at the bottom.
Windows Firewall may pop up to tell you that it's blocked the program.
Ensure that the option to allow FreeProxy to communicate on your home
network is selected and click 'Allow Access'. Refresh the page in the
browser by pressing [F5]. It should now load properly.
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Blocking websites
Proxy servers are often used to block content, and FreeProxy does this
admirably via ban lists. Click 'Ban Lists' on the FreeProxy Control Centre
and the Ban List Manager will appear. Click 'New'.
Ban lists are split into several categories. Click 'Add' to add a category and
a window will appear. Enter a name like Do Not Access. You can define an
action the proxy must take when a user tries to access one of the URLs in
the category, such as redirecting the user to an external URL or showing a
custom error page. Select the 'Standard Response' option and click 'Done'.
To add a URL or IP address to the category, click 'Manage Category
Details'. Click 'Add URL/IP' and enter the destination in the input box. If
you're entering a URL, omit the 'http://www' prefix.
When you've finished, press 'Done'. Confirm that you want to save your
changes and enter a filename for the ban list. So that FreeProxy
understands the type of traffic to ban (in this case HTTP), double-click the
default Proxy entry on the main pane of the user interface. Select your LAN
card in the dropdown Local Binding list and then press 'Permissions'. A
subwindow will appear.
Click 'Add Resource' , change the type to 'Ban List URL of IP address' and
press 'Done' on each subwindow to dismiss it.
On the main interface, click 'Options', then click the 'Activate the Ban List?'
tickbox and select the ban list using the file browser below it. Restart the
proxy server and try surfing to a banned site. The browser should load
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nothing, but allow you to surf elsewhere.
Creating error pages
To link an error page you've made to a category in your ban list, open the
list again, click the relevant category and change the redirect response to
'Error Page'.
Click the folder icon and select the error page. Click 'Open' to select it and
'Done' to finish. Click 'Done' in the Ban List window and agree to save the
list if required. Click 'Done' and restart the proxy.
Now try to access the banned web page. Your custom error page should
appear.
To log the domains and IP addresses that any person or program tries to
access from your network, click 'Options'. Click 'Log access data' and the
relevant options will become active. Enter a path and filename for the log file
and leave the report content on 'Forbidden'. This means you'll only record
attempts to access banned content.
Select 'Show full URL' to record the full path to the banned page. Click
'Done', try surfing to a banned URL and inspect the content of the log file.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Liked this? Then check out Upgrading to a Wireless N router: what to
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muzammil 5 days ago
The proxy server worked like the middle man and they pick the data to the client and
then back to the server so the proxy server make a bridge means relationshipProxy
Server List


Reply
oody 7 months ago
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Reply
Mesapotamian 2 years ago
Thanks a lot for this article!


Reply
anteaus 4 years ago
The issue with proxies is that not all websites will work through them. This is especially
true for sites that use 'trick' javascript to link to subpages, etc.
It is also possible for a webserver to tell when proxy lies between the source and the
client, and some will refuse to serve content if that appears to be the case. This is
ostensibly to prevent anonymizing proxies being used to post in forums, etc, but it also
blocks legitimate filtering proxies.
This situation is unfortunate as proxies are a useful form of protection, but it is
increasingly an issue as webdesigners start to use more and more complex code.


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