HTTP debugging proxy for Linux and Mac

linux http macos proxy debugging

50,778

Solution 1

You can of course, just use Fiddler on a Windows PC and point the Mac/Linux box at it. http://www.fiddlerbook.com/fiddler/help/hookup.asp#Q-NonWindows

You can also run Fiddler in a Windows or Linux virtual machine on the Mac itself: http://blogs.telerik.com/fiddler/posts/14-01-15/running-fiddler-in-virtualbox-on-mac

Solution 2

Mitmproxy is a useful command-line proxy tool.

It has also an user UI.

From the command line run mitmweb
Set up your app to use a proxy server and point it at http://127.0.0.1:8080
Go to http://127.0.0.1:8081 to see all the requests in the "flow" tab. Very similar to the Google Chrome Console "Network" tab.

Solution 3

Zaproxy, a fork of Paros, is a cross-platform open source debugging proxy and is actively maintained under OWASP.

Solution 4

Charles is $50 as you know, but I find it to be completely worth the money. A ton of features, including SSL support.

FWIW, I've never had it crash on me.

Solution 5

Wireshark won't help you if you have to debug HTTPS requests (unless you can get the encryption keys for both endpoints - see the Wireshark site for details). Firebug and Tamper Data are getting close, but for thorough analysis, I sometimes like to save a recorded session. I'd recommend giving the OWASP Zed Attack Proxy (the successor of Parosproxy, which is no longer actively developed) a try. It is a Java application serving as a http(s) proxy; it provides quite a lot of features and proved to be very helpful to me in the past.

ZAP offers an easy autoconfiguration of Firefox. Bear in mind to do that on a separate (meaning: not for other browsing activities) Firefox profile: In order to intercept https, ZAP will install a new SSL certificate.

View more solutions

50,778

Author by

George V. Reilly

Irish-born software developer, living in Seattle. I've done a lot, from web apps to hypervisors, typography and text editors, terminal emulators and TV shows, performance and usability, 3D graphics and assembly language, high-end servers and 8-bit microcomputers, HTTP kernel driver to CSS debugging—though not all at the same time.

Updated on July 16, 2022

Comments

George V. Reilly almost 2 years

I use the Fiddler proxy to debug all kinds of HTTP issues on Windows. It's great for inspecting headers and responses across multiple pages.

Is there a good HTTP debugging proxy for Mac and Linux? I found Charles, but it's $50 once the trial runs out and it crashed on me. I could use Wireshark, but it's a pain.
- nschum almost 12 years
  
  See also: superuser.com/questions/42813/…
- AdamC over 4 years
  
  These "off-topic" declarations are the bane of stackoverflow.
George V. Reilly over 14 years

Firebug is great and I use it often, but it only tracks HTTP requests for the current page. My question was brought about by debugging a problem with redirects.
George V. Reilly over 14 years

Thanks, Eric, for all the great work you've done with Fiddler. I'll be using that trick in future.
Natalie Adams over 14 years

Ahh that is true, sorry about that. But, yeah if you want to do that Fiddler would be your best bet for a user-friendly "HTTP debugger".
Bruno Bronosky over 11 years

Charles Proxy is a really solid product. I use it, among other purposes, as an HTTP proxy on the my network. Then configure my mobile devices to use my IP address and designated port number as the proxy in the wifi settings.
Huluvu424242 over 9 years

downvote, because i think the correct answer should be a proxy which run directly at linux. So i understand the question.
EricLaw over 9 years

@FunThomas424242 You're confused. Fiddler does run directly on Linux.
Jonathan Hult over 8 years

Now located at GitHub: owasp.org/index.php/ZAP
Radu Simionescu over 7 years

wow Burp is a gem. And its free thanks!