Xubuntu 11.10 Proxy Server Settings

Question

I would like some recommendations for setting up the proxy server settings for Xubuntu 11.10.

I tried searching on Google and I got 2 common results that made use of command line stating that I should put these texts:

export http_proxy="http://server:portnumber"
export https_proxy="http://server:portnumber"
export ftp_proxy="http://server:portnumber"
export HTTP_PROXY="http://server:portnumber"
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://server:portnumber"
export FTP_PROXY="http://server:portnumber"

on...

1) .bashrc file
2) /etc/environment

...therefore, what/where's the best way to put the codes then? Is the .bashrc file a user config or a system-wide config?

Lastly, can a GUI be installed to make such reconfiguration easier for students? I'm actually teaching them how to use Xubuntu (because Ubuntu's having a hard time with our workstations).

Thanks!

Solution 1

As far i know, you only need the first 3 lines:

 export http_proxy="http://server:portnumber"
 export https_proxy="http://server:portnumber"
 export ftp_proxy="http://server:portnumber"

.bashrc is a file in your home directory (~/.bashrc) that contains user specific configuration. You'll use it to configure the proxy for only one user.

If you want the configuration to apply system wide (to all users), put the code in /etc/environment. Note that this requires root access.

Unfortunately, i don't know of any GUI that can be used in xubuntu.

Note: these could also read:

  export http_proxy="http://username:[email protected]:8080" 
  export https_proxy="http://username:[email protected]:8080" 
  export ftp_proxy="http://username:[email protected]:8080" 

in case you need to add the username and password to the proxy server address.

Solution 2

I believe you can also add a "no_proxy" entry for addresses and subnets you know can be accessed without going through the proxy, like so:

export no_proxy="127.0.0.1,localhost,192.168.0.0"