HTTP - Forward Proxy
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Table of Contents
1 - About
A forward proxy
is a server called a proxy that sits on a network level between the client (user) and the destination website.
The proxy
is configured to forward
every a Http request to the destination website, hence the name Forward Proxy
.
In order to get content from the origin server, the client sends a request to the forward proxy
naming the origin server as the target. The proxy then requests the content from the origin server and returns it to the client.
2 - Articles Related
3 - Usage
A typical usage of a forward proxy
is:
- to implement a web cache to reduce network usage.
- to intercept and analyze HTTP traffic: Network - Trace (Capture|Sniffer|Analyzer) Tool (Packet Analysis)
- to anonymize where the request originally came from
- to inject code in the page (Example: browser-sync)
4 - Client Configuration
4.1 - Windows
The client must be specially configured to use the forward proxy to access other sites. Ie the proxy parameters.
Example with Windows:
4.2 - Linux
The configuration of a forward proxy on a Linux server happens with the environment variable http_proxy
or https_proxy
that set the proxy server location.
Example:
export http_proxy=http://proxy.example.com:8080 export https_proxy=https://proxy.example.com:8080