How I Set Up A Private Anonymous Proxy
Now that I am living in Europe, I occasionally have the need to appear as if I’m in the U.S. while browsing the web.
For instance, one of the metrics I consider when researching a keyword is the number of advertisements a Google search displays to a U.S. visitor for that keyword. Also, my online bank shows a different login page to those people in Europe than in the U.S., so it’s impossible for me to check my balance unless I appear to be from the States.
Websites like Proxify give you an easy way to browse websites anonymously, but you’d have to be crazy to login to your bank account through their tunnel.
I have the same privacy concerns with Tor and Proxify and with them you’re not guaranteed a U.S. IP address.
So the other day I found myself setting up an anonymous proxy on one of my servers (which is located in the States) to solve my problems.
Here’s exactly what I did, in painstaking detail:
Get a dedicated server
There may be a shared hosting plan that allows you to run a proxy on their server, but I’d be surprised if it exists. If you’re serious about online marketing, you probably already have one or more dedicated servers to host your sites. If not, I recommend signing up at HostGator because they let you go month-to-month instead of forcing you into a year contract.
Download Squid Web Proxy Cache
Squid Web Proxy Cache is an open source web proxy. It’s free, it’s open source, and it works. Need any more convincing?
Upload squid
Use your favorite FTP program to upload squid to your server. So you should have a file called something like squid-2.6.STABLE6.tar.gz. SSH into your server and run the following commands:
%> gunzip squid-2.6.STABLE6.tar.gz
%> tar xf squid-2.6.STABLE6.tar
It doesn’t matter where you unpack the files, squid will install in /usr/local/squid by default, so you can delete your uploaded files once your finished with the installation.
Install squid
After unpacking the files you should have a directory called something like “squid-2.6.STABLE6″. Now just enter these commands:
%> cd squid-2.6.STABLE6
%> ./configure%> make all
%> make install
After each one of those commands, you’ll see a bunch of information getting spit to the screen. That’s normal. Just make sure the last thing you see isn’t an error. If you do see an error, try to address it before moving on to the next step.
Configure Squid
Now that Squid is installed, we have to configure it to be anonymous. Open /usr/local/squid/etc/squid.conf and find the line that reads:
forwarded_for on
Please note that the first character on the line may be a ‘#’. In any case, you need that line to look like:
forwarded_for off
Notice there is no ‘#’ anywhere on the line.
Configure Squid Part 2
Next, we want to configure squid so that it will accept your connection (and only your connection). Open a browser and go to whatismyipaddress.com and write down your IP address. Now, go back and open /usr/local/squid/etc/squid.conf and search for the string:
“And finally deny all other access to this proxy”
Write the following two lines above the line you just found:
acl our_networks src XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX
http_access allow our_networks
Where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address that you wrote down.
Optional Clean Up
If you’re unjustifiably obsessed with disk space like I am, you can delete the .tar.gz that you uploaded and the directory we created in step 3.
Configure your browser
Here’s how I configured Firefox to use the proxy I just set up.
Go to Tools->Options from the menu bar.
Click the General button in the upper left corner of the window that appears.
Click the “Connection Settings…” button.
Change the radio button to “Manual proxy configuration”
In the HTTP Proxy box enter the IP address of your dedicated server. In the Port box, enter 3128.
Click Ok in both boxes, and you’re done!!
To test if you’re proxy configuration is working, go back to whatismyipaddress.com. Now, instead of the IP address you wrote down earlier, it should show your server’s IP.
Congratulations! You can now browse the internet anonymously without having to worry about someone hijacking your proxy server.
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Thanks for this cool post :http://www.wagerank.com/2007/how-i-set-up-a-private-anonymous-proxy/
But,i want to allow all to use the proxy …!
How can i do this ?
Thanks
hmm buying a dedicated server just for getting an anonymous proxy is a littel bit heavy/expensive.
it always depends if what you want to do with it.
if you don´t do any illegal stuff why to use a proxy, or dont use tor or similar systems
if you want to do illegal things maybe it´s not good to use hostgator as your provider
You might wanna also add these to your config files:
header_access Via deny all
header_access Proxy-Connection deny all
header_access X-Forwarded-For deny all
Basically, it hides the fact that you are using a proxy.
2005 ford escape xlt…
ha-rd-po-rn-fu-ck 1092763 Fresh news on 2005 ford escape xlt….
Hey cdc, thanks for the proxy tutorial!
I followed the steps and all seemed to go OK, but I get no connection.
The browser simply does not load.
Any clues?
tykoon
p.s.
I think this:
%> ./configure%> make all
should be this:
%> ./configure
%> make all
it confused me for a while
How do i configure it to support ssl websites ? with shopping carts,
and finally how do i lunch it into the background ?
any idea ?
Hi
I have used the Instructions, but whatsmyip.com is still detecting my proxy due to WIMIA Test.
Is there any way to scape from this test too?
Im looking for your reply