How to configure the squid proxy server

How to configure the squid proxy server in RHEL6/CentOS6

                                          Squid Proxy Server

    Squid is a proxy server for caching and filtering web content . Squid proxy is used by various organisation and internet providers to reduce bandwidth and to increase response time .

Squid proxy service will cache the requested web-content and re-using it for the further request of the same content .

Port No:3128 (default) ,8080

Configuration File: /etc/squid/squid.conf

Required Package:squid

• Install Squid proxy
• Block specific web sites
• Block specific keywords
• Block Specific IP Address
• Allow Full Access to specific IP Address
• Changing squid proxy port number
• Restricting download size

Install Squid proxy:

Step1: Install squid package

#yum install squid* -y

     By default squid configuration file “/etc/squid/squid.conf” will contains recommended minimum configuration and squid caching feature will work without making any changes .

Step2:Restart the squid service

#chkconfig squid on

#service squid restart

Step3:Setup your web browser to access Internet through proxy server on port 3128.

IE : Tools » Internet options »Connections » LAN settings » Choose “Use a proxy server for your LAN” » “Type your Proxy server ip (192.168.1.2 ) and port no 3128”

Firefox : Edit » Preferences » Advanced » Network » Settings » Choose “Manual proxy configuration ” » “Type your Proxy server ip (192.168.1.2 ) and port no 3128”

Step4:Browse some site and check log file

#cat /var/log/squid/access.log

1355301698.350 1991 192.168.1.2 TCP_MISS/200 14330 GET http://5.178.71.5/ - DIRECT/5.178.71.5 text/html

1355301703.927 5413 192.168.1.2 TCP_MISS/304 301 GET http://www.google-analytics.com/ga.js -

Troubleshoot:

If you not able to access the internet through proxy settings, disable the Firewall (IP tables) and SE-Linux settings.

Disable Firewall (IPtables):

#chkconfig iptables off

#service iptables stop

Disable SELinux :

#vim /etc/selinux/config

SELINUX =enforcing replace with “SELINUX=disabled”

Now reboot the system and try to browse.

Configure the squid proxy as Web Filter