Thunderbird thru' a Proxy

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Thunderbird
mailman
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Thunderbird thru' a Proxy

Post by mailman »

Hi

I use a proxy for my internet connections. Let us say the proxy address is 127.0.0.1 port xxxx.
I'm using Mozilla 1.3.xx and I have used exactly the same proxy settings in Mozilla and Mozilla has been working fine for quite some time now (from Mozilla 1.1. days onwards !) with this proxy

However when I use THE SAME proxy settings on Thunderbird (i.e.) in Tools -> Options -> advanced -> (scroll down to the last) and use the SAME proxy + port settings, I get a "timed out" message in Thunderbird

Why ?

I've tried many combinations like
- Proxy on + Mozilla on + T bird on +> mozilla alone works & T bird times out !!
- Proxy on + Mozilla on => Mozilla works
- Proxy on + T bird on (with same proxy settings) => Still T bird times out

However when I use the option "..direct connection to Internet ..", T bird works fine !

any clues on where I am wrong ??

Sorry if this question was already posted

Thanks in advance

mailman

p.s. -
-----------------
1) I am NOT talking about -> Tools -> Options -> account seettings where the mail servers port settings have to be entered. I am talking about using T bird thru a proxy. TIA

2) I suppose the choice of socksV4 Vs SocksV5 affects only the socks proxys and does not affect http or ssl proxies
mscott
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Post by mscott »

Proxy just doesn't seem to be working in thunderbird. I really wish I could figure out why. Unfortunately I don't have access to proxy servers to test this. So I'm in the dark. Is there anyway one can log the network activity to the proxy server? Although from your description, I gather there isn't any activity to look at.

I'm open to ideas for figuring this out. I'm frustrated that I can't hep more 'cause I don't use a proxy server.

Is there some way I can make my router act like a proxy server or something? (waving of the hands)
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mailman
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Post by mailman »

Hi M Sott

Thanks for the quick reply

Some ideas on how you can get proxy servers (to test with T Bird)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Does your ISP provide you a proxy server to browse ? if so you could use that proxy server in T Bird and test

2. If you are using a LAN connection [say from work], you could check using the ultimate ISP's [employer's ISP's] proxy server(s)

3. If none of the above are possible here is a URL with some proxies. I've recommended this URL as I have used it earlier and the site claims a daily update
http://www.samair.ru/proxy/fresh-proxy-list.htm

You will see 100s of them with a Google search though quite a few of the proxies may be old and need testing before use

You may have to test and see if these proxies themselves are working (i.e.) use them in your browser or something like that and then use them on T bird

By the way - if this function is broke in T bird - how do I report this as a Bug ?? Do T bird developers read these forums ?

TIA
mailman
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nilson
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Post by nilson »

mscott is really the only Thunderbird developer. There might be others, but AFAIK, he's the the oly one.
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xidi
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Post by xidi »

I think it doesn't make any sense to test it with an public proxy, the problem is, that the only way i can get into the internet from work is my company's proxy on port 81.
If you enter an public proxy in the program you still connect to your mail account via port 25 and 110....we need a solution, where these 2 ports are routed via port 81.
Don't know if there is ANY chance to make this, afaik the firewall (and company's proxy) has to be configured, to route this right....but in my case they will (of course) not :(
PaulH
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Post by PaulH »

xidi, chances are it's an HTTP proxy, in which case you'll struggle to get POP3/SMTP proxied through it.. HTTP Proxies are generally only for proxying HTTP (and https/ftp but those are generally implemented specially).. The only way (that I'm aware of) to proxy lots of different protocols through one port is using SOCKS (4 or 5)..

If anyone wants info on SOCKS the best place to go for SOCKS info is http://www.socks.permeo.com/ but there are also other implementations such as WinGate, etc..

As far as I know there is already SOCKS support within the mozilla code, so it shouldn't be too hard to get SOCKS support into the POP3/SMTP/IMAP implementations if it's not already there..

Scott, I have access to a SOCKS server so could do some testing if necessary..

Hope that helps

Paul
SuGa
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Post by SuGa »

Hmm.... I don't have a problem with using a Socks5 proxy with Thunderbird :-?
PaulH
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Re: Thunderbird thru' a Proxy

Post by PaulH »

mailman wrote:2) I suppose the choice of socksV4 Vs SocksV5 affects only the socks proxys and does not affect http or ssl proxies

That's correct.. But HTTP and SSL proxies would only be used for HTTP or HTTPS not for POP3/SMTP/IMAP..

Following up from my last post I just set the SOCKS proxy under Tools->Options then Advanced->Connection and Thunderbird does use the SOCKS proxy for POP3 access.. (I checked what it was doing with Ethereal)..

Under Tools->Options->Advanced->Connection my settings were:

Select "Manual proxy configuration"
Leave HTTP and SSL Proxy and Port blank
Set "SOCKS Host:" to be ip/hostname of firewall
Set "Port:" to 1080 (or correct port if not the standard SOCKS port)
Select SOCKS 5 (or 4 if you're running SOCKS4)
I left the "No Proxy for:" as default ("localhost, 127.0.0.1")

Hope that helps..

Paul
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xidi
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Re: Thunderbird thru' a Proxy

Post by xidi »

PaulH wrote:Hope that helps..

Paul

No. But thx for the try.....
mscott
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Post by mscott »

Just to recap...

PaulH has confirmed that SOCKS support is working correctly in thunderbird.

What still doesn't work:

Configuring HTTP and SSL Proxy still doesn't force http requests to go through the specified proxy server.


Did I get that right?
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xidi
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Post by xidi »

yep, exactly!
PaulH
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Post by PaulH »

Hrm.. I just tried setting up my HTTP and SSL proxies to point directly (rather than transparently) at our Squid proxy here, then opened one of my Lockergnome Windows Daily emails and the images, etc were definately requested through the HTTP proxy server..

My conclusion would be that:

SOCKS 4/5 is working and used only for IMAP/SMTP/POP3
HTTP is working and used only for HTTP requests within HTML.
SSL should be working and again only used for HTTPS requests withing HTML. (I haven't been able to test this but judging from the HTTP result I'm willing to stick my neck out on this one ;))

Which would make sense since HTTP proxies wouldn't be able to deal with IMAP/SMTP/POP3..

Paul
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xidi
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no SOCKS

Post by xidi »

So, i've just got the answer from our Admins...no SOCKS Proxy, only HTML for my case....so no chance to get TB running.

But thx for your help!!!
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Post by mscott »

PaulH/xidi, does this mean there isn't a problem with proxy and SOCKS support? All cases worked for you right Paul?
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PaulH
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Post by PaulH »

Scott,

As far as I can tell everything works fine.. The only one I haven't managed to test is SSL for https linked content.. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work based on the rest of it working as I'd expect.. I suspect the confusion has crept in where people think they can use an HTTP proxy for POP3, SMTP, etc..

Maybe it would be worth adding an FAQ entry about proxy settings (if one doesn't already exist)?

Hope that clears it all up,

Paul
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