Apache: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition

9.3. Setup

The cache directory for the proxy server has to be set up rather carefully with owner webuser and group webgroup, since it will be accessed by that insignificant person (see Chapter 2).

You now have to tell Netscape that you are going to be accessing the Web via a proxy. Click on Edit → Preferences → Advanced → Proxies tab → Manual Proxy Configuration. Click on View and, in the HTTP box, enter the IP address of our proxy, which is on the same network, 192.168.123, as our copy of Netscape:

192.168.123.4

Enter 8000 in the Port box.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer, select View → Options → Connection tab, check the Proxy Server checkbox, then click the Settings button and set up the HTTP proxy as described previously. That is all there is to setting up a real proxy server.

You might want to set up a simulation in order to watch it in action, as we did, before you do the real thing. However, it is not that easy to simulate a proxy server on one desktop, and when we have simulated it, the elements play different roles from those they have supported in demonstrations so far. We end up with four elements:

• Netscape running on a Windows 95 machine. Normally this is a person out there on the Web trying to get at our sales site; now, it simulates a Butterthlies member trying to get out.

• An imaginary firewall.

• A copy of Apache (site: ... / site.proxy/proxy) running on the FreeBSD machine as proxy server to the Butterthlies site.

• Another copy of Apache, also running on FreeBSD ...