How To Check Proxy Settings In Linux Command Line
Find Proxy Server using Command Line – Ask Ubuntu
Someone’s set up a proxy on my machine and I want to know what it is. Is there a way to find the proxy server using the command line and not the GUI?
TheWanderer18. 8k12 gold badges47 silver badges63 bronze badges
asked Sep 29 ’16 at 17:01
3
For any system-wide proxy for HTTP, you can check the value of _proxy environment variable:
echo “$_proxy”
For HTTPS:
Similarly, there are ftp_proxy, socks_proxy for serving the exact purpose of their names. There is also all_proxy for setting proxy for all these protocols at once. Just to note, no_proxy unsets proxy for any specific addresses of any (or all) given protocol. Just for sake of completeness, you might want to check the uppercase version of these variables too, although the lowercases are standard for *_proxy environment variables (only environment variables i am aware of that are lowercased).
Note that, these will show any system-wide proxy setting, not application-specific. For example, firefox, or apt can have their own proxy settings irrespective of any global one. Some applications do not honor these variables too (e. g. specific gnome apps use gsettings), so YMMV.
answered Sep 29 ’16 at 17:19
heemaylheemayl84k17 gold badges184 silver badges255 bronze badges
2
Attempt an connection to the outside:
wget
You’ll see something like this as a result:
–2017-06-12 13:02:53– Resolving ()… 172. 217. 11. 142, 2607:f8b0:4002:810::200e
Connecting to ()|172. 142|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 authenticationrequired
Location: [following]
–2017-06-12 13:02:53– Connecting to 192. 168. 254. 99:9090… 401 authenticationrequired
Your proxy server in this case is found after the 302 authentication required.
wjandrea12. 7k4 gold badges41 silver badges86 bronze badges
answered Jun 12 ’17 at 17:04
wilsotcwilsotc2012 silver badges3 bronze badges
In Linux, you can use this to check the proxies defined in the system
env | grep proxy
answered Feb 9 ’18 at 2:23
Kristada673Kristada6734814 silver badges17 bronze badges
1
check the file:
cat /etc/apt/
cat /etc/environment
To Modify contents of file (remove everything from for no proxy and only proxy sentences from environment)!
sudo nano /etc/apt/
sudo nano /etc/environment
answered Sep 29 ’16 at 17:22
minigeekminigeek1, 0137 silver badges13 bronze badges
10
# netstat -na
OR, if you think/guess any proxy server then grep it to confirm,
e. g.
# netstat -na |grep
Melebius10. 1k7 gold badges42 silver badges69 bronze badges
answered Feb 8 ’18 at 8:48
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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 →
Configuring a Global Proxy | Cumulus Linux 4.1 – NVIDIA Documentation …
If you are using the current version of Cumulus Linux, the content on this page may not be up to date. The current version of the documentation is available
here. If you are redirected to the main page of the user guide, then this page may have been renamed; please search for it configure global HTTP and HTTPS proxies in the /etc/profile. d/ directory of Cumulus Linux. To do so, set the _proxy and _proxy variables, which tells the switch the address of the proxy server to use to fetch URLs on the command line. This is useful for programs such as apt/apt-get, curl and wget, which can all use this a terminal, create a new file in the /etc/profile. d/ directory. In the code example below, the file is called, and is created using the text editor mulus@switch:~$ sudo nano /etc/profile. d/
Add a line to the file to configure either an HTTP or an HTTPS proxy, or both:HTTP proxy__proxy=export _proxy
HTTPS proxy__proxy=export _proxy
Create a file in the /etc/apt/ directory and add the following lines to the file for acquiring the HTTP and HTTPS proxies; the example below uses _proxy as the file name:cumulus@switch:~$ sudo nano /etc/apt/
Acquire::::Proxy “;
Add the proxy addresses to /etc/wgetrc; you may have to uncomment the _proxy and _proxy lines:cumulus@switch:~$ sudo nano /etc/wgetrc…
_proxy = _proxy =…
Run the source command, to execute the file in the current environment:cumulus@switch:~$ source /etc/profile. d/
The proxy is now configured. The echo command can be used to confirm aproxy is set up correctly:HTTP proxy:cumulus@switch:~$ echo $_proxy
HTTPS proxy:cumulus@switch:~$ echo $_proxy
Set up an apt package cache
Frequently Asked Questions about how to check proxy settings in linux command line
Where are proxy settings in Linux?
You configure global HTTP and HTTPS proxies in the /etc/profile. d/ directory of Cumulus Linux. To do so, set the http_proxy and https_proxy variables, which tells the switch the address of the proxy server to use to fetch URLs on the command line.
How do you check proxy is enabled in Linux?
Method 1: Start a new shell (xterm), then check the environment variables: % env | grep -i proxy http_proxy=http://172.17.0.130:8080/ ftp_proxy=ftp://172.17.0.130:8080/ all_proxy=socks://172.17.0.130:8080/ … Note that existing shells will not have updated environment variables.Sep 7, 2010
How do I check my proxy settings?
In any Windows version, you can find the proxy settings via the Control Panel on your computer.Click on Start and open the Control Panel. Then click on Internet Options.In the Internet Options, go to Connections > LAN settings.Here you have all the settings that are related to setting up a proxy in Windows.
