Client Proxy Settings
All modern web browsers let you configure the use of proxies. In fact, many browsers provide multiple ways of configuring proxies, including:
- Manual configuration
You explicitly set a proxy to use.
- Browser preconfiguration
The browser vendor or distributor manually preconfigures the proxy setting of the browser (or any other web client) before delivering it to customers.
- Proxy auto-configuration (PAC)
You provide a URI to a JavaScript proxy auto-configuration (PAC) file; the client fetches the JavaScript file and runs it to decide if it should use a proxy and, if so, which proxy server to use.
- WPAD proxy discovery
Some browsers support the Web Proxy Autodiscovery Protocol (WPAD), which automatically detects a “configuration server” from which the browser can download an auto-configuration file.[7]
Client Proxy Configuration: Manual
Many web clients allow you to configure proxies manually. Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer have convenient support for proxy configuration.
In Netscape Navigator 6, you specify proxies through the menu selection Edit → Preferences → Advanced → Proxies and then selecting the “Manual proxy configuration” radio button.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer 5, you can manually specify proxies from the Tools → Internet Options menu, by selecting a connection, pressing “Settings,” checking the “Use a proxy server” box, and clicking “Advanced.”
Other browsers have different ways of making manual configuration changes, but the ...
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