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4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="SwitchProxy Install Instructions"

5) 
6) <div class="center">
7) 
8) <div class="main-column">
9) 

10) <p>Note: SwitchProxy is no longer the recommended plugin

11) for using Tor with Firefox. <b>Instead, you should use the <a

12) href="https://torbutton.torproject.org/">Torbutton</a>

13) plugin.</b> We will leave the SwitchProxy instructions in place
14) for those who prefer the old (harder) approach or who have more

15) complex needs, such as running Tor on a different computer than
16) Firefox.</p>

17) 

18) <h1>Installing SwitchProxy for <a href="<page index>">Tor</a></h1>
19) <hr />
20) 
21) <p>
22) SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin that makes it easy for you to switch
23) between using a proxy and connecting to websites directly.</p>
24) 
25) <p>In this howto, you'll set up SwitchProxy to let you change
26) between using Tor and a direct connection. We assume you already
27) have Firefox installed and working.</p>
28) 
29) <p>The screenshots here are oriented towards Windows users, but
30) SwitchProxy works anywhere Firefox works. Hopefully everybody else can
31) follow along just fine.</p>
32) 
33) <hr />
34) <a id="zero"></a>
35) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#zero">Step Zero: Download and Install Tor and Privoxy</a></h2>
36) <br />
37) 
38) <p>Before you start, you need to make sure 1) Tor is up and running,
39) 2) Privoxy is up and running, and 3) Privoxy is configured to point
40) to Tor.</p>
41) 
42) <p>Windows users need to do <a

43) href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>#installing">step one</a>

44) of the Windows Tor installation howto, and Mac OS X users need to do <a

45) href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>#installing">step one</a>

46) of OS X Tor installation howto, since our Win32 and OS X packages include
47) Privoxy and configure it already. Linux/BSD/Unix users should do <a

48) href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>#installing">step one</a>
49) and <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>#privoxy">step

50) two</a> of the Unix Tor installation howto.
51) </p>
52) 
53) <hr />
54) <a id="one"></a>
55) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#one">Step One: Download and Install SwitchProxy</a></h2>
56) <br />
57) 
58) <p>SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin, so you need to go through
59) the process of installing a new plugin. First, go to the <a

60) href="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/125">

61) SwitchProxy</a> web page.

62) Turn on JavaScript for now and click "Install Now":</p>
63) 
64) <img alt="switchproxy web page"

65) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-webpage.jpg" />

66) 
67) <p>It will pop up a window asking for permission to install the plugin.
68) Click on the "Install Now" button:
69) </p>
70) 
71) <img alt="firefox plugin warning"

72) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-plugin-starting.jpg" />

73) 
74) <p>Once the installer is finished, you should close all of your Firefox
75) windows and restart Firefox.</p>
76) 
77) <img alt="firefox plugin finished"

78) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-plugin-finished.jpg" />

79) 
80) <hr />
81) <a id="two"></a>
82) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Configure SwitchProxy</a></h2>
83) <br />
84) 
85) <p>When you restart Firefox, you'll notice there's a new toolbar
86) that lets you control your proxies. Now we're going to set up a proxy
87) configuration for Tor. Click on "Add" in the new Proxy toolbar:</p>
88) 
89) <img alt="new toolbar"

90) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-toolbar.jpg" />

91) 
92) <p>It will ask you to select a proxy type. Choose
93) "Standard." (There's also an "anonymous" proxy type that
94) uses an ad hoc set of anonymous proxies out there. You
95) don't want this, because those other "anonymous" proxies <a

96) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#ComparisonProxyAggregators">give

97) you much weaker security than Tor</a>.)
98) </p>
99) 
100) <img alt="standard proxy"

101) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-proxytype.jpg" />

102) 
103) <p>Now it will show you the standard proxy config window for Firefox.
104) Give this configuration a proxy label of "tor". Then fill in "localhost"

105) and "8118" to point the top four protocols to Privoxy, as shown here. (Even

106) though Privoxy doesn't support FTP and Gopher, <a

107) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#FtpProxy">you

108) should set them up anyway</a>.) You should also fill out the socks
109) proxy entry to point directly to Tor ("localhost", "9050", and socks5)
110) to cover protocols besides the first four. Then click "OK":</p>

111) 
112) <img alt="proxy config"

113) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-proxyconfig.jpg" />

114) 
115) <p>Now you've created the "tor" proxy label, but you're not using it yet.
116) Click on the pull-down list and select tor, as shown here:</p>
117) 
118) <img alt="switch to tor"

119) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-switch.jpg" />

120) 
121) <p>Almost done. Click "Apply" to make your change take effect:</p>
122) 
123) <img alt="apply"

124) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-apply.jpg" />

125) 
126) <p>Done! Firefox will reload your current page. In
127) this example screenshot, it reloaded the page and <a

128) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#GoogleLanguage">happened

129) to get a German exit node</a>:</p>
130) 
131) <img alt="german google"

132) src="../img/screenshot-switchproxy-german.jpg" />

133) 
134) <hr />
135) <a id="three"></a>

136) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#three">Step Three: Check if it works</a></h2>

137) <br />
138) 
139) <p>Now Firefox is using Privoxy as an HTTP proxy, Privoxy is using Tor as
140) a socks4a proxy, and Tor is making your connections to the Internet.</p>
141) 
142) <p>In the above example, it was clear that it worked because the web
143) page showed up in a different language. In other cases, though,
144) you'll want to verify that your setup is working. Do

145) <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>#verify">step three</a>

146) of the Windows Tor installation howto, or

147) <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>#verify">step three</a>

148) of the OS X Tor installation howto.</p>
149) 
150) <p>You should be aware of one anonymity gotcha: when you switch from
151) using Tor to a direct connection (or vice versa), by default the page
152) that's currently active will be reloaded through the new proxy setting.
153) So make sure you're on a page that isn't sensitive, before switching.
154) (You can also change this behavior in SwitchProxy's "Options |
155) Preferences" menu.)</p>
156) 
157) <hr />
158) 
159) <p>If you have suggestions for improving this document, please <a

160) href="<page contact>">send them to us</a>. Thanks!</p>