How to configure proxy in CentOS 7 and RHEL 7

In this tutorial we see, how to configure proxy in CentOS 7 and RHEL 7. We will also see proxy configuration through command line and yum.conf file. So let start and see proxy configuration in CentOS 7 and RHEL 7.

First of all we should know what is proxy server? So let’s explain it first.

What is Proxy Server

A proxy server intercepts all client requests, and provides responses from its cache or forwards the request to the real server. A client can request some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server and the proxy server evaluates the request as a way to simplify and control its complexity.

Verify proxy on your server before proxy setting

You can verify proxy on your system using echo command, if you have all ready proxy configured on your system. Like below:-

#echo $http_proxy
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see we don’t have any proxy setting on our server in above screen shot.

Proxy Setting through Command line

The http_proxy environment variable is used to specify proxy settings to client programs such as curl and wget. You can see some proxy setting example in below through command line.

Configure proxy without username and password required

We can configure proxy without username and password like below:-

# export http_proxy=http://SERVER:PORT/
[root@urclouds ~]# export http_proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
http://192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above screen shot we have successfully set proxy server with port.

Remove proxy using unset commands

We can also remove proxy with unset command. Like below:-

[root@urclouds ~]# unset http_proxy
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above we have remove proxy through unset proxy commands.

Configure proxy with username and password authentication

You can also configure proxy with username and password authentication like below:-

# export http_proxy=http://USERNAME:PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT/
[root@urclouds ~]# export http_proxy=http://urclouds:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
http://urclouds:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see we have successfully set proxy with username and password in above screen shot.

Configure proxy with domain, username and password required option

We can configure proxy with username/password authentication along with the Domain name. Like below:-

# export http_proxy=http://DOMAIN\\USERNAME:PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT/
[root@urclouds ~]# export http_proxy=http://test\\urclouds:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
http://test\urclouds:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see we have successfully set proxy with domain name username and password in above screen shot.

Special character handling in proxy setting

Literal backslash characters (\) need to be doubled escape them as shown below.

# export http_proxy=http://DOMAIN\\USERNAME:PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT/

If we have a @ symbol in our username and password then we need to add a backslash (\) before the @ you can see example below:-

# export http_proxy=http://DOMAIN\\USERN\@ME:PASSWORD@SERVER:PORT
[root@urclouds ~]# export http_proxy=http://test\\urclouds\@ME:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
http://test\urclouds@ME:abc123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#

or

# export http_proxy=http://DOMAIN\\USERNAME:P\@SSWORD@SERVER:PORT
[root@urclouds ~]# export http_proxy=http://test\\urclouds:abc\@123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]# echo $http_proxy
http://test\urclouds:abc@123@192.168.30.50:80
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see in above screen shot we have successfully set password or username where we have a @ symbol.

Permanently Proxy configuration in CentOS 7  and RHEL 7 (for processes without shell)

We can define the environment variables in /etc/environment file if we want to add a permanent proxy in the CentOS 7 and  RHEL 7. Like below:-

# echo "http_proxy=http://proxy.example.com:80/" > /etc/environment
[root@urclouds ~]# echo "http_proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80/" > /etc/environment
[root@urclouds ~]# cat /etc/environment
http_proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80/
[root@urclouds ~]#

You can see we have successfully added proxy in /etc/environment file in above screen shot.

Note that unlike a shell script in /etc/profile.d described in the next section, the /etc/environment file is NOT a shell script and applies to all processes without a shell.

Configuring proxy for processes with SHELL

For bash and sh users, add the export line given above into a new file called /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh file:

# echo "export http_proxy=http://proxy.example.com:80/" > /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh
[root@urclouds ~]# echo "export http_proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80/" > /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh
[root@urclouds ~]# ls -l /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43 Jan 12 18:00 /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh
[root@urclouds ~]# cat /etc/profile.d/http_proxy.sh
export http_proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80/
[root@urclouds ~]#

Proxy setting for other programs

If we want to use yum program to install package through internet repository or any local repository then we need to set proxy into  /etc/yum.conf. like below:-

[root@urclouds ~]# cat /etc/yum.conf
[main]
cachedir=/var/cache/yum/$basearch/$releasever
keepcache=0
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
exactarch=1
obsoletes=1
gpgcheck=1
plugins=1
installonly_limit=5
bugtracker_url=http://bugs.centos.org/set_project.php?project_id=23&ref=http://bugs.centos.org/bug_report_page.php?category=yum
distroverpkg=centos-release
#  This is the default, if you make this bigger yum won't see if the metadata
# is newer on the remote and so you'll "gain" the bandwidth of not having to
# download the new metadata and "pay" for it by yum not having correct
# information.
#  It is esp. important, to have correct metadata, for distributions like
# Fedora which don't keep old packages around. If you don't like this checking
# interupting your command line usage, it's much better to have something
# manually check the metadata once an hour (yum-updatesd will do this).
# metadata_expire=90m
# PUT YOUR REPOS HERE OR IN separate files named file.repo
# in /etc/yum.repos.d
proxy=http://192.168.30.50:80
proxy_username=urclouds
proxy_password=abc123

[root@urclouds ~]#

Proxy setting in Mozilla browser in CentOS 7 and RHEL 7

First of all click on Applications then click on Firefox web browser. Then your Firefox we browser will be open. Now you have to click open menu on right side top corner. Then you have to select preferences. After that we need to click on Advance then we have to select network and click on setting. After that we can get a windows where we can set proxy. Like below:-

That’s all we have configure proxy in CentOS 7 and RHEL 7 in this tutorial.

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