How To Add Proxy In Linux Command Line
How To Use Proxy On Linux Command Line? – LinuxAndUbuntu
December 7, 2019December 7, 20192 You have heard about a proxy sometimes but what is a proxy and how it works? The proxy provides many functions like anonymous navigation, access to geographically restricted content, or filter some content. Well basically a proxy server is a computer that acts as an intermediate between your PC and the internet and all the traffic looks like the Proxy server did it. For example, If you are using a proxy and you send a request to Google your request is processed by the proxy server then It sends a request to Google. The IP address that Google catches is the IP address of the proxy server and that makes your IP unknown to the Google server. Many Schools or Libraries and other places use proxies to block web pages like Social Networks. You send a request for Facebook then the proxy server filters the ip address for the website and returns a notification that the domain is blocked. In another post we talk about VPN, but What is the difference between a proxy and a VPN? Well, the VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates an encrypted tunnel between the server and your PC, but according to the provider, this can save some registries about your activity. A good VPN provider tries to avoid saving your activity. To use a VPN you must have a VPN client while to use a proxy you only need to do some configurations. Also, you can use a VPN to access to restricted geographic content from services like Netflix, Youtube, and others. But if you want to know more we have an article dedicated to Read – What Is VPN Connection? How to set a proxy? If you want to set a proxy you need to edit the file /etc/environment sudo nano /etc/environment and then put these lines – _proxy=_proxy=ftp_proxy=no_proxy=”localhost, 127. 0. 1, localaddress,. ”
HTTP_PROXY=HTTPS_PROXY=10. 1. 1:3128/
FTP_PROXY=10. 1:3128/
NO_PROXY=”localhost, 127. ” If you also want to use a proxy to apt-get you need to add this lines – Acquire::::proxy “;
Acquire::ftp::proxy “;
Acquire::::proxy “;
Where
_proxy is the system variable that you want to edit
is the IP address of your proxy server and its port If you are scared to the terminal you also can go to the system settings -> network -> network proxy and add your Read – How To Setup VPN In Linux? ConclusionWe hope that the article will be useful to you. A proxy server is a good option if you want to browse anonymously, these days the privacy is something that people don’t care, we are owners of our data and is our obligation to take care of it. To the end of the day, the use of a VPN or a Proxy depends on you and your needs. So there you have it. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Linux Proxy Server Settings – Set Proxy For Command Line
To use a proxy on the Linux command-line, you can set the environment variables _proxy, _proxy or ftp_proxy, depending on the traffic type.
These proxy server settings are used by the almost all Linux command-line utilities, e. g. ftp, wget, curl, ssh, apt-get, yum and others.
If you don’t know yet which proxy server to use, you can take one from the lists of the free public proxy servers at the end of this article.
Cool Tip: Need to improve security of the Linux system? Encrypt DNS traffic and get the protection from DNS spoofing! Read more →
Export Proxy Server Settings
Set these variables to configure Linux proxy server settings for the command-line tools:
$ export _proxy=”PROXY_SERVER:PORT”
$ export ftp_proxy=”PROXY_SERVER:PORT”
If a proxy server requires authentication, set the proxy variables as follows:
$ export _proxy=”USER:PASSWORD@PROXY_SERVER:PORT”
$ export ftp_proxy=”USER:PASSWORD@PROXY_SERVER:PORT”
Special Characters: If your password contains special characters, you must replace them with ASCII codes, for example the at sign @ must be replaced by the%40 code, e. p@ssword = p%40ssword.
Test The Proxy Server From The Linux Command-Line
As only you have configured a proxy it is time to ensure that it works as expected.
First off all it is required to check that the proxy server settings are set in the corresponding proxy variables.
Than it is required to ensure that your public IP address has changed.
Also it would be interesting to measure and compare response time of the remote resources and the Internet speed with and without proxy.
Check the current proxy server settings:
$ env | grep -i proxy
Check your public IP address from the Linux command-line:
$ wget -q -O – \
| sed -e ‘s/. *Current IP Address: //’ -e ‘s/<. *$//'
Compare the difference in the response time with the configured proxy and without it:
$ time wget -q -O - \
Check the Internet download speed through the proxy:
$ wget --output-document=\
/dev/null Unset Linux Proxy Variables
Use the following commands to disable proxy:
$ unset _proxy
$ unset ftp_proxy
Cool Tip: Stay anonymous during port scanning! Use Nmap + Tor + ProxyChains! Safe and easy penetration testing! Read more →
Automate Proxy Server Settings In Linux
If you use the same proxy server settings for the, and ftp traffic, you can use the following commands to set and unset the proxy settings:
$ export {,, ftp}_proxy="PROXY_SERVER:PORT"
$ unset {,, ftp}_proxy
If you use a proxy server often, you can create Bash functions as follows (add to your ~/ file):
# Set Proxy
function setproxy() {
export {,, ftp}_proxy="PROXY_SERVER:PORT"}
# Unset Proxy
function unsetproxy() {
unset {,, ftp}_proxy}
Reload your ~/ file.
$ source ~/
Now use the setproxy and unsetproxy commands to set and unset Linux proxy server settings.
Lists of Free Public Proxy Servers
WARNING: Free public proxy servers can insert your IP address into the headers of requests or sniff your traffic! Don’t use them to transfer sensitive data and do not expect anonymity!
Hide My Ass
Proxy Server List
Anonymous Public Proxy Servers
Daily HTTP Proxies
Cool Tip: Even if you use proxy server, all your DNS queries still go to the name servers of your ISP (Internet Service Provider)! Improve anonymity, by using free public name servers! Read more →
How To Use Proxy Server To Access Internet at Shell Prompt …
I‘m behind a squid proxy server. How do I access internet via proxy server when I use wget, lynx and other utilities from a shell prompt on a Linux or Unix-like systems?
Linux and UNIX-like systems has environment variable called _proxy. It allows you to connect text based session and/or applications via the proxy server. All you need is proxy server IP address (URL) and port values. This variable is almost used by all utilities such as elinks, lynx, wget, curl and others commands.
Tutorial details
Difficulty level Easy Root privileges No Requirements Linux/Unix shell promot Est. reading time 2 mintues
Set _proxy shell variable on Linux/OS X/Unix bash shell
Type the following command to set proxy server:
$ export _proxy=server-ip:port/
$ export _proxy=$ export _proxy=If the proxy server requires a username and password then add these to the URL. For example, to include the username foo and the password bar:
$ export _proxy=foo:bar@server-ip:port/
$ export _proxy=foo:bar@127. 0. 1:3128/
$ export _proxy=
How do I setup proxy variable for all users?
To setup the proxy environment variable as a global variable, open /etc/profile file:
# vi /etc/profile
Add the following information:
export _proxy=OR
export _proxy=
Save and close the file.
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A note about enabling proxy access to a specific user
To enable proxy access for a specific user, add the lines user shell profile. For the default bash shell, the profile is the file. bash_profile. For example, enable proxy access for a specifc user called vivek, type:
$ vi $HOME/. bash_profile
OR
# vi /home/vivek/. bash_profile
Append the following line:
How do I use password protected proxy server using various command line options?
You can simply use wget command as follows:
$ wget –proxy-user=USERNAME –proxy-password=PASSWORD Lynx command has the following syntax:
$ lynx -pauth=USER:PASSWORD Curl command has following syntax:
$ curl –proxy-user user:password
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Frequently Asked Questions about how to add proxy in linux command line
How do I manually set a proxy in Linux?
server:8081 for HTTPS.Open a Terminal window where you need proxy access.Set and export the HTTP_PROXY variable. export HTTP_PROXY=user:[email protected]:8080.Set and export the HTTPS_PROXY variable. … Set and export the NO_PROXY variable to prevent local traffic from being sent to the proxy.Apr 26, 2018
How do I connect to a proxy server in Linux?
Click the “Connections” tab and find “LAN Settings”. Tick the “Use a proxy server for your LAN” checkbox to be able to configure a proxy. Type the IP address (or hostname) of the proxy server in the address field, and the port the proxy is running on in the port field.Oct 18, 2015
How do I manually enter a proxy?
Set up a proxy manuallyOpen Settings.Click Network & Internet. … Click Proxy. … In the Manual Proxy Setup section, set the Use a Proxy Server switch to On.In the Address field, type the IP address.In the Port field, type the port.Click Save; then close the Settings window.
