How to set a proxy server for connecting to the internet in Lynx?

Question

I am using Lynx on Windows Vista. I need to go through a proxy server to connect to the internet.

I cannot find the option to specify the proxy settings for Lynx :(

Answer 1

I couldn't figure out how to edit my original post nor could I figure out how to reply to your comment. So i am just going to respond with another answer.

There are two common methods for setting windows environment variables:

1. Through the Control Panel
2. Through the Command line

Through the Control Panel

I would follow this link for instructions (its pretty easy): http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/environment_variables.mspx?mfr=true

Through the Command line

To get to the command line Click on:

Start > Run... > Type 'cmd' > Enter

In the new black command line type:

set http_proxy=http://myproxyaddress.com

Hit Enter.

Answer 2

I would make sure your http_proxy environment variable is set BEFORE you open the command line to start lynx.

If your proxy is http://proxy.com then set http_proxy to that.

I only use Windows XP so someone else will have to tell you how to set environment variables in Windows Vista.

I know in XP you go to the DOS prompt (Start>Run>cmd) and then type the command set to see all the environment variables set.

Answer 3

@lazer you can edit the environment variables in Control Panel, System, Advanced, Environment Variables.

To the original question, if your Lynx binary uses a batch file (for the stylesheet etc...) you can set the http proxy in the batch file.

Or set it system wide in the control panel.

I use this with a batch file below to browse TOR with Polipo. It's great when you want to use TOR but don't want to launch your bloat browser or have a slower computer.

@rem $LynxId: lynx.bat,v 1.1 2007/08/01 23:54:17 tom Exp $
@rem Claudio Santambrogio (csant.info)
@ECHO OFF
command /C
set term=vt100
set home=%CD%
set temp=%HOME%\tmp
set lynx_cfg=%HOME%\lynx-demo.cfg
set lynx_lss=%HOME%\opaque.lss
**set http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8118**
%HOME%\lynx.exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5

My batch file to launch TOR + Polipo is below:

cd "\PortableApps\TORBrowser-0.2.3.25\Tor Browser\App"
start tor.exe /min
cd "\PortableApps\polipo-20080907-win32"
start /min polipo.exe -c /PortableApps/polipo-20080907-win32/polipo.conf

My modifications to the polipo.conf file that is used in the above batch file is below:

proxyAddress = "127.0.0.1"
proxyPort = 8118

socksParentProxy = "localhost:9050"
socksProxyType = socks5

The rest of the options are already correct in the default file that comes with the Polipo Proxy. If you want to access the TOR network from all computers on your home LAN, change this parameter from 127.0.0.1 to your LANs ip range:

allowedClients = 127.0.0.1, 192.168.1.0/24