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Looking for good open source proxy server software. Preferably for a Windows server based machine.

Need it primarily for testing my applications connectivity in a proxy scenario. So something that is dead easy to setup and configure. The proxy will run locally on my LAN, and I want it to emulate as close as possible the type of proxy you might find in corporate networks, because I'm testing an SOA system.

Will not be used for its real intended purposes, so scalability is not a huge concern.

Thank you

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  • Are you after a proxy to install onto a Windows machine or one that will server said machine, in which case the OS is irrelevant? Jun 28, 2010 at 14:27
  • @John One for windows, purely because I don't have linux expertise, but if you could recommend something that is "very" easy to setup using ubuntu or some other easy linux dist, then I'm all ears.
    – JL.
    Jun 28, 2010 at 15:15
  • Product and service recommendations are off topic per the updated FAQ.
    – sysadmin1138
    Dec 16, 2012 at 15:37

4 Answers 4

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Looking for good open source proxy server software

This is very vague. It might mean a masquerading router, a generic port forwarder, a transparent application proxy (if so what kind?) or a SOCKS proxy, or a smrt-relay MTA.....

Assuming that you mean a web proxy, then squid is the hottest game in town - particularly as it allows you to do all sorts of things with the request before passing it on. There's even a MSWindows port for the unenlightened.

C.

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  • +1 - Squid on Windows is fairly straightforward to setup. You should be able to have a simple HTTP proxy running w/o authentication in a few minutes. Jun 28, 2010 at 18:19
  • yes a web proxy, thank you I will give the windows port a try. Is it easy enough to setup on a linux dist (because I have very little exp with linux), but I've heard Linux does tend to virtualize better?
    – JL.
    Jun 28, 2010 at 19:39
  • Squid, isn't exactly click and install, it involves a bit of work editing config files, moving stuff around, manually creating directories. I really mean "dead easy".
    – JL.
    Jun 29, 2010 at 13:00
  • @JL: Have a look at the first part of the docs here: papercut.com/kb/Main/InstallingAndConfiguringSquidNTProxy Installing Squid and getting it running on Windows is pretty easy if you're not worried about authentication, etc. Jun 30, 2010 at 17:40
  • Squid for windows: squid.diladele.com Nov 26, 2021 at 1:59
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You could try a demo version of ISA; free for 120 days.

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  • This fails the "dead easy to setup and configure" criterion. ;-) Jun 28, 2010 at 20:20
  • What? Windows is just point-and-click. Isn't that what the ads say? Anyone can be a systems administrator according to them. ;^)
    – keith stokes
    Jun 30, 2010 at 1:37
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Squid is a good web proxy to learn. It is also what we use at a client business.

You could download a program like virtual box and setup a virtual machine to run your proxy on. This would allow you to have a whole separate system to tinker with, take snapshots of and not break your windows server while you are playing with it. This would also let you try it out on an OS besides windows (although there is a windows port of squid as well)

Just a thought.

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As others have said, Squid is the way to go but if you have a spare machine, low spec being just fine, there's a very easy way to get Squid and have a decent firewall at the same time. There are several specialised Linux distributions, my personal favourite being Smoothwall, that allow you to turn an old machine into what is effectively a turn-key firewall appliance, complete with Squid proxy and other goodies. Smoothwall in particular is aimed at the Windows user who has little or no Linux experience.

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