The K Desktop Environment

7.7. Proxy Configuration

The Proxies dialog box is invoked with the Menubar Settings->Configure Konqueror...->Proxies option, or with the K menu Preferences->Web Browsing ->Proxies choice.

A "proxy" connection to the Internet is one that is made through another machine, usually a LAN (Local Area Network) server, and can give you improved security by separating the computers connected to the local network from the wide open world of the Internet itself. A proxy server can also cache downloaded files to give you faster access to recent downloads.

Proxy servers are traditionally associated with a local intranet within an organisation, but are now also used by some Cable Network ISPs who connect their customers living near to each other onto a local area network to improve the overall average performance of the cable network.

If you are on a LAN, the proxy is perhaps the only way you can connect to the web, in which case you need to ask your system administrator or ISP for connection details.

  1. To configure Konqueror to work with your proxy server, open the Proxies Configuration dialog box, check Use Proxy and fill the fields according what your system administrator or ISP has told you.

  2. Of course, the proxy shouldn't be used to access a machine on your local network. So, in the No Proxy for: field, type the names of local machines on your network separated by commas. This is usually the domain name of your ISP or your company. For example, if you're on the Ireste school network, you would type ireste.fr, intranet, "intranet" being the machine where the intranet web server is located. This is important if you are on a LAN because the proxy won't find the internal machines.

Note

The Use Cache option in the dialog box is not really a proxy option. It allows you to choose to store (cache) downloaded pages on your local disk so they need not be downloaded again the next time you access them. We advise you to use this option (whether you use a proxy or not) unless you are short of disk space in your home directory.