HTTP - Forward Proxy
Table of Contents
1 - About
A forward proxy is a proxy application that is configured to intercept and forward every internal Http request to an destination website, hence the name Forward Proxy.
The forward proxy sits on a local network between the local client (user) and the external destination website.
Technically, 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 control the leaving traffic (ie provide HTTP access to internal clients that are otherwise restricted by a firewall)
- 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
4 - Type
The proxy can be implemented:
- on a server as a http server
- on the browser via a service worker
5 - Client Configuration for a server proxy
5.1 - Windows
The client must be specially configured to use the forward proxy to access other sites. Ie the proxy parameters.
Example with Windows:
5.2 - 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