Web Proxies

Web proxies are often handy for privacy or security reasons, or even required by some organizations.

Windows

Typically OS-level proxy settings can be found by running inetcpl.cpl. For example, Windows Key+R will open a run dialog. Type inetcpl.cpl and select the Connections tab. Settings for the proxy may be found in the LAN settings.

Linux and FreeBSD

An environmental variable controls proxy access.

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy:port

Additionally, in FreeBSD, the following line will make update tools use a web proxy:

export HTTP_PROXY_AUTH="basic:*:username:password"