Setting Up an HTTP Proxy Server

HTTP proxy resolves URL requests on behalf of Web clients on your network. This is also known as forward proxy. These requests are cached, if possible, on the proxy server to increase the speed of delivering the same content the next time the same information is requested.

The proxy server can also be set up as an HTTP accelerator (reverse proxy) to accelerate Web server requests from Internet users for your Web servers on your intranet. You can set up a server to be an HTTP proxy server, an HTTP accelerator server, or both.

To set up an HTTP proxy server:

  1. In NetWare Administrator, select the Novell BorderManager 3.8 Setup page for the server.

  2. From the Application Proxy tab, select the HTTP Proxy check box.

  3. Click Details or double-click the HTTP Proxy service.

  4. Click the HTTP tab > specify the number of the HTTP listening port.

    This is the port on which the proxy server listens for incoming URL requests from browser clients. The default is 8080.

    NOTE:  The HTTP proxy listens on interfaces identified as Private or Both, but not on interfaces identified as Public.

  5. Specify your preferences:

    • Ignore Refresh Requests from the Browser: If you select this option, the proxy does not access the Web server for a URL when a user specifies to reload or refresh from the browser. All user requests are filled from the cache.

    • Filter Cookies: If you select this option, the cookie header is not forwarded to the origin server, and pages with the Set-Cookie header are not cached. Enable this option to increase security.

    • Enable Persistent Connections to Browsers: If you select this option, the connection between a browser and a proxy server remains active even if there is no data flow.

    • Enable Persistent Connections to Origin Servers: If you select this option, the connection between the origin server and the proxy remains active even if there is no data flow.

    • Enable or Disable Java Applet Stripping from HTML Files: When enabled, Java* applets are stripped from the HTML file before the file is displayed in the browser window.

  6. Click OK, then click OK again from the Novell BorderManager 3.8 Setup page.

To set up authentication for an HTTP proxy server, refer to Setting Up Proxy Authentication.