Web Browser + Proxomitron Reborn + PtronGUI --- A How-To Guide

[Sergiaws]

solved the issue in BNavigator. I removed 360 Chrome explorer due to some issues, then I decided to try other Chromium browsers. Despite that the proxy is properly configured, I still get that message. On some pages I can even bipass it, but not on pages like google.com or twitter.com. I also tried to add the certificates (converted .pem certificates to .pfx) with a provided bat with this code (modified by me)

openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -nodes -config proxcert.cnf -out proxcert.pfx -keyout proxcert.pem

however, no results. I also added these paramethers to chromium executables, (after the path)

--enable-local-file-accesses --allow-insecure-localhost --allow-running-insecure-content

however, there's no result, still receibe that messages.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

45 minutes ago, Sergiaws said:

--enable-local-file-accesses --allow-insecure-localhost --allow-running-insecure-content

You shouldn't need to add these if you have the correct certificate installed.

The certificate that should be added to the operating system's store is called proxcert_certonly.pem

Also, please note that I could not get Proxomitron Reborn to generate a working certifiate from the original proxcert.pem, I had to create an updated proxcert.pem first and then generate a certificate from that updated proxcert.pem.

Edited March 1, 2022 by NotHereToPlayGames

[UCyborg]

On 1/16/2022 at 10:43 AM, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Proxomitron - MSFN - 01-26-2022.zip  ⇦  I suggest this as the best starting point.

This has to be the most bloated config file I've seen for any program using single simple human readable config file. It would take me forever to decipher what the heck they all do.

It seems no rules means it behaves as simple pass-through, so can start from here and just add what I need.

On 1/16/2022 at 10:44 AM, NotHereToPlayGames said:

   

I went with SHA256 option here since it's the first one that no browser that I use complain about.

BTW, any idea if Proxomitron can shows its own certificate warning page if you encounter the page that doesn't have its certificate in order? I figured I can have only certain URLs accessed via Proxomitron using Proxy Auto-Configuration (PAC) file, so can still get the browser itself to see the status of cert on target website (obviously no possibility of filtering on those sites). When I messed with the program few days ago, I remember seeing list of cached certificates on its status page, hence the question.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

20 minutes ago, UCyborg said:

It would take me forever to decipher what the heck they all do.

Yeah, not for everyone.  I've been using Proxomitron since 2004 and it was first released in 1999.  It used to have a following about 8x that of MSFN but "times have changed".

[UCyborg]

Also noticed nobody tested it and put test results of it running under WINE in over a decade, the last are of the final official version by the original author. The program could be useful on other OS.

I'm happy, it helped me access the web app at work on another server with the old rusty Basilisk browser and got the Edge to use local extension repository, so extensions don't update past the versions in there. Can read changelog in peace before updating them while they're installed normally, not via developer mode. Edge ignores my extension updates group policy settings.

Edited March 29, 2022 by UCyborg

[NotHereToPlayGames]

It's the swiss-army knife of web filtering.

It's "too much" for most people.

Most people are happy with NoScript versus actually being able to EDIT the scripts.

Most people are happy with Stylus for editing css.

Most people are happy with Greasmonkey to inject js/css.

Most people are content with blocking cookies versus filtering the contents inside that cookie.

Et cetera.

And only a very tiny handful of folks want one app to do "all of the above".

 

The cipher bit is over my head.  The original Proxomitron was created by Scott Lemon in 1999.  Proxomitron Reborn was created by "amy" a few years ago and it's still in its infancy.

Cloudfare "capchas" cannot be handled by XP + Proxomitron.  Not sure if that can be fixed by "amy" or not.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

FYI - this web site only allows 1.95 MB for attachments and I'm at 1.92 MB.

I will be deleting all attachments in this thread this coming weekend to free up my allocated attachment space.

So if anybody needs the content archived, please do so now, I will not be keeping attachments for anybody that comes along and asks for them "six months from now".

[UCyborg]

I got almost 50 MB since donation. Looks like I've attached mostly images in my earlier days here before I realized it's better to use external hosting. Wanted to migrate them all that are still attachments at some point, but haven't got around to it yet.

For general file sharing, I tend to use Google Drive. I used Dropbox before for that purpose, before I realized one file I shared was too popular and it wouldn't download for people - Dropbox said it's generating too much traffic. Nobody complained though, probably because Dropbox download link wasn't the only one I shared.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

3 hours ago, UCyborg said:

I got almost 50 MB since donation.

I requested an accounting of donations and was denied.  I can not donate to ANY cause where there is no public accounting of funds.

[UCyborg]

GUI limitation, can't input byte limit greater than 32767 for web page filter. Can be edited directly in CFG.

BTW, this topic doesn't strike me as belonging to this sub-forum - it's not a web browser and works on most Windows OS I think, certainly it's not a derivative of other version of the program exclusive to modern OS. Maybe in Web Browsers since it's related to web browsing.

@Dave-H, @Tripredacus, @dencorso ?

[NotHereToPlayGames]

The topic didn't garner the following I thought it would and I already deleted all of the screencaps.  Proxomitron remains a part of my arsenal, but it seems to be "too much" for most folks.

[Tripredacus]

Well the topic got to 13 pages by now, that is a lot better than something that is too much for most people.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Good point.

The only "defect" I see with Proxomitron is on various sites which use Cloudfare captcha fingerprinting, I have to place Proxomitron in bypass for those sites.  Few and far between, but they do exist.

One example  --  https://raybuck.com/firebird-vs-trans-am-history-trivia/

[UCyborg]

I'm unable to get the following rules to work, built-in test shows correct output, but in practice, they just won't budge.

[Patterns]
Name = "Reddit - comments page regex 1"
Active = TRUE
URL = "www.redditstatic.com/desktop2x/CommentsPage.*.js"
Limit = 127300
Match = "/\(\?:reddit\\.com\\/r\\/\)\(\?<subreddit>\[\\w\]\+\)\(\?:\\/comments\\/\)\?\(\?<postId>\[\\w\]\+\)\?/"
Replace = "/\(\?:reddit\\.com\\/r\\/\)\(\[\\w\]\+\)\(\?:\\/comments\\/\)\?\(\[\\w\]\+\)\?/"

Name = "Reddit - comments page regex 2"
Active = TRUE
URL = "www.redditstatic.com/desktop2x/CommentsPage.*.js"
Limit = 127700
Match = "var s;const{subreddit:o,postId:r}=\(null===\(s=t.match\(i\)\)\|\|void 0===s\?void 0:s.groups\)\|\|{};"
Replace = "const s=t.match\(i\),o=null===s\[1\]\?void 0:s\[1\],r=null===s\[2\]\?void 0:s\[2\];"

They're supposed to replace:

/(?:reddit\.com\/r\/)(?<subreddit>[\w]+)(?:\/comments\/)?(?<postId>[\w]+)?/
/(?:reddit\.com\/r\/)([\w]+)(?:\/comments\/)?([\w]+)?/

And:

var s;const{subreddit:o,postId:r}=(null===(s=t.match(i))||void 0===s?void 0:s.groups)||{};
const s=t.match(i),o=null===s[1]?void 0:s[1],r=null===s[2]?void 0:s[2];

1st line is original, 2nd is replacement.

URL to the target file: https://www.redditstatic.com/desktop2x/CommentsPage.c501be48b07ce588906d.js

Edited April 27, 2022 by UCyborg

[NotHereToPlayGames]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:01 AM, UCyborg said:

I'm unable to get the following rules to work, built-in test shows correct output, but in practice, they just won't budge.

Just caught this message.  I'm curious so I'll take a stab later today or so.  My initial hunch is that you have to 'escape' the "=" characters.