How to open restricted web sites from school / college / company

So you want to access Facebook or use instant messenger from school or work? By connecting to your cable/DSL internet connection from school/work, you can! Here's how:

Web Proxy

If you only need access to restricted web sites from school or work, read this tutorial.

SOCKS Proxy

If you need to access restricted web sites and instant messenger, ftp, or other restricted protocols, read this tutorial (easier for Windows users). or this one (easier for linux/osx/unix users). Both tutorials work for Windows and *nix-based operating systems.

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Let's begin.

1. Download the latest version of Apache httpd from here. Click the "Other files" link to download binaries.
2. Install. For Windows, it's just like any other Windows installation. You'll be prompted for a few things during installation like domain name. You can enter your IP address or, better yet, get a free dynamic domain name at no-ip.com or DynDNS.org. On Windows, you should choose the option to install as a service. Otherwise, you'll have an annoying command-prompt on your desktop when apache runs.
3. Open the file httpd.conf installed by apache. This is the configuration file for the web server. On Windows, the default location is c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf. Comments in the file start with "#".
4. Around line 120, you'll see Listen 8080 or Listen 80. Change this to the port on which you'd like to expose the proxy server. If this proxy server will be running on a residential cable/DSL connection, many ISPs prevent inbound connections on to residential connections on ports 80 and 25 as well as others. To find out which inbound ports your ISP prevents connection to, find the FAQ for your ISP at dslreports.com. Additionally, if you will be connecting to this proxy server from a corporate environment, be aware that some corporate firewalls only permit outbound connections on a few ports to machines outside their firewall. Often outbound ports 21, 23, 80, and 443 are permitted because they are typically used for FTP, telnet, HTTP, and SSL, respectively. 
5. If your IP address is in one of these ranges:
   • 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
   • 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
   • 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255
   you are most likely behind a router using NAT addressing. If so, configure port forwarding on your router to forward the port you chose in the previous step to the NAT'd IP address of the PC which will run apache httpd (e.g., 198.168.x.x).
6. Uncomment the following lines by removing the leading "#"
   LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
   LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so
   LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so
   LoadModule proxy_ftp_module modules/mod_proxy_ftp.so
   
7. Add the following to the end of the file:
   ProxyRequests On
   ProxyVia On
   <Proxy *>
   Order deny,allow
   Deny from all
   Allow from aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
   </Proxy>
   where aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd is the IP address of the remote machine which will connect to your PC. If you omit the green text, you will be running an open proxy. FoxyProxy does not endorse or condone open proxies.
8. Save the file and start apache. On Windows, this is done either from the Start Menu or from the Service Control Panel (if you installed apache httpd as a service).

Caching (optional)

Apache can cache web server responses, such as commonly-used images, to speed things up. HTTPS responses are not cached due to security restrictions. To enable caching, add the following to the end of http.conf:

LoadModule cache_module modules/mod_cache.so
<IfModule mod_cache.c>
# This sets up caching to disk.
# You can setup caching to memory if you prefer.
LoadModule disk_cache_module modules/mod_disk_cache.so
<IfModule mod_disk_cache.c>
CacheRoot c:/temp/cacheroot
CacheEnable disk /
CacheDirLevels 5
CacheDirLength 4
# Read this for info about the above options
# Read this for info on cleaning the cache
</IfModule>

Configuring FoxyProxy to Use Your Proxy

1. Create a new proxy definition by clicking the "Add New Proxy" button on the FoxyProxy Options dialog [screenshot].
2. Enter a name and optionally, notes, on the General tab [screenshot]. For example, under name you might enter "Apache HTTPD" and under notes, "Web proxy running at home"
3. On the Proxy Details tab [screenshot], select "Manual Proxy Configuration". In the HTTP proxy field, enter the IP address of the machine on which you installed Apache httpd. If your ISP periodically changes your IP address (many cable/dsl ISPs do), get a free No-IP or DynDNS account. These services grant you a free domain name; for example, myproxy.bounceme.net. You run client software on your PC which "phones home" to DynDNS/No-IP every 30 minutes, informing them of your current IP address. Note that many modern consumer-oriented routers from Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, etc. have this software built-in so you don't need to run a client on your PC. If you have a domain name instead of an IP address, enter it here.
4. In the port field, enter the port under which you configured Apache httpd to run. This is specified in the c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf file on the Listen xxxx line.
5. Leave all other fields on the Proxy Details tab blank.
6. On the Patterns tab [screenshot], enter patterns which match blocked URLs at your school/place-of-business.
7. Start surfing the web!

Optional

If you would like to

• Configure encryption so all communications between you and your proxy are encrypted (even plain http:// addresses)
• Restrict who can use the proxy not by IP address but by password or digital certificate

then see the stunnel/OpenSSL tutorial.

Other Tutorials