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tor-switchproxy.wml

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#include "head.wmi" TITLE="Tor: SwitchProxy Install Instructions"

<p>Note: SwitchProxy is no longer the recommended plugin
for using Tor with Firefox. <b>Instead, you should use the <a
href="https://torbutton.torproject.org/">Torbutton</a>
plugin.</b> We will leave the SwitchProxy instructions in place
for those who prefer the old (harder) approach or who have more
complex needs, such as running Tor on a different computer than
Firefox.</p>

<h1>Installing SwitchProxy for <a href="<page index>">Tor</a></h1>
<hr />

<p>
SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin that makes it easy for you to switch
between using a proxy and connecting to websites directly.</p>

<p>In this howto, you'll set up SwitchProxy to let you change
between using Tor and a direct connection. We assume you already
have Firefox installed and working.</p>

<p>The screenshots here are oriented towards Windows users, but
SwitchProxy works anywhere Firefox works. Hopefully everybody else can
follow along just fine.</p>

<hr />
<a id="zero"></a>
<h2><a class="anchor" href="#zero">Step Zero: Download and Install Tor and Privoxy</a></h2>
<br />

<p>Before you start, you need to make sure 1) Tor is up and running,
2) Privoxy is up and running, and 3) Privoxy is configured to point
to Tor.</p>

<p>Windows users need to do <a
href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>#installing">step one</a>
of the Windows Tor installation howto, and Mac OS X users need to do <a
href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>#installing">step one</a>
of OS X Tor installation howto, since our Win32 and OS X packages include
Privoxy and configure it already. Linux/BSD/Unix users should do <a
href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>#installing">step one</a>
and <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>#privoxy">step
two</a> of the Unix Tor installation howto.
</p>

<hr />
<a id="one"></a>
<h2><a class="anchor" href="#one">Step One: Download and Install SwitchProxy</a></h2>
<br />

<p>SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin, so you need to go through
the process of installing a new plugin. First, go to the <a
href="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/125">
SwitchProxy</a> web page.
Turn on JavaScript for now and click "Install Now":</p>

<p>It will pop up a window asking for permission to install the plugin.
Click on the "Install Now" button:
</p>

<p>Once the installer is finished, you should close all of your Firefox
windows and restart Firefox.</p>

<hr />
<a id="two"></a>
<h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Configure SwitchProxy</a></h2>
<br />

<p>When you restart Firefox, you'll notice there's a new toolbar
that lets you control your proxies. Now we're going to set up a proxy
configuration for Tor. Click on "Add" in the new Proxy toolbar:</p>

<p>It will ask you to select a proxy type. Choose
"Standard." (There's also an "anonymous" proxy type that
uses an ad hoc set of anonymous proxies out there. You
don't want this, because those other "anonymous" proxies <a
href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#ComparisonProxyAggregators">give
you much weaker security than Tor</a>.)
</p>

<p>Now it will show you the standard proxy config window for Firefox.
Give this configuration a proxy label of "tor". Then fill in "localhost"
and "8118" to point the top four protocols to Privoxy, as shown here. (Even
though Privoxy doesn't support FTP and Gopher, <a
href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#FtpProxy">you
should set them up anyway</a>.) You should also fill out the socks
proxy entry to point directly to Tor ("localhost", "9050", and socks5)
to cover protocols besides the first four. Then click "OK":</p>

<p>Now you've created the "tor" proxy label, but you're not using it yet.
Click on the pull-down list and select tor, as shown here:</p>

<p>Almost done. Click "Apply" to make your change take effect:</p>

<p>Done! Firefox will reload your current page. In
this example screenshot, it reloaded the page and <a
href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#GoogleLanguage">happened
to get a German exit node</a>:</p>

<hr />
<a id="three"></a>
<h2><a class="anchor" href="#three">Step Three: Check if it works</a></h2>
<br />

<p>Now Firefox is using Privoxy as an HTTP proxy, Privoxy is using Tor as
a socks4a proxy, and Tor is making your connections to the Internet.</p>

<p>In the above example, it was clear that it worked because the web
page showed up in a different language. In other cases, though,
you'll want to verify that your setup is working. Do
<a href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>#verify">step three</a>
of the Windows Tor installation howto, or
<a href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>#verify">step three</a>
of the OS X Tor installation howto.</p>

<p>You should be aware of one anonymity gotcha: when you switch from
using Tor to a direct connection (or vice versa), by default the page
that's currently active will be reloaded through the new proxy setting.
So make sure you're on a page that isn't sensitive, before switching.
(You can also change this behavior in SwitchProxy's "Options |
Preferences" menu.)</p>

<hr />

<p>If you have suggestions for improving this document, please <a
href="<page contact>">send them to us</a>. Thanks!</p>

</div>
</div>

#include <foot.wmi>

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