Https through an http-only proxy

httpsPROXY

My organisation directs all traffic through a proxy. As proxy settings, we are required to use an http proxy setting for both the http_proxy & https_proxy environment variables.

If I set the https_proxy variable to an https version of the same proxy, some programs the use the https_proxy env variable cease to work.

So does this mean that the proxy does not support https connections? What about https websites that load normally in my browser?

Best Answer

Beware when you set http_proxy and https_proxy, normally you should set them at the same URL including the schema part, example:

http_proxy=http://your_proxy:proxy_port
https_proxy=http://your_proxy:proxy_port

Notice that both are in HTTP. That tells you the protocol your proxy uses, not the target website's schema, which can be HTTP or HTTPS, that is not related.

When, using the proxy for connecting to a HTTPS website, the proxy works in TCP mode, and (I'm simplifying here) your TCP connection passes through the proxy carrying encrypted packets from your client to the target website.

So, try setting your https_proxy environment variable the same as your http_proxy and hope you're allowed to use the CONNECT method.

Correct way in new versions of nginx

Turn out my first answer to this question was correct at certain time, but it turned into another pitfall - to stay up to date please check Taxing rewrite pitfalls

I have been corrected by many SE users, so the credit goes to them, but more importantly, here is the correct code:

server {
       listen         80;
       server_name    my.domain.com;
       return         301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
       listen         443 ssl;
       server_name    my.domain.com;
       # add Strict-Transport-Security to prevent man in the middle attacks
       add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000" always; 

       [....]
}

Php – Force all outbound HTTP connections through a proxy

This could be achieved through using iptables / netfilter http://www.netfilter.org/

Best Answer

Related Solutions

NGINX Redirect – How to Rewrite All HTTP Requests to HTTPS While Maintaining Sub-Domain

Correct way in new versions of nginx

Php – Force all outbound HTTP connections through a proxy

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