Configuring Netscape Navigator for Use With Proxy Servers

If there's a firewall between your host and the Internet, and it uses proxy server software, you must configure Netscape Navigator before you can reach external sites. In addition, if you're using SOCKS, you must set up an environment variable before you can get through the firewall. Follow the instructions below depending on what kind of proxy server (TIS(TM) or SOCKS) your firewall uses. If you don't know, contact your firewall's system administrator.

TIS Firewalls

If your firewall uses TIS proxy servers (TIS Internet Firewall Toolkit or Gauntlet(TM)), ask your system administrator for the name and port number of each proxy server you'll be using. (This may include proxies for FTP, Gopher, HTTP, news, and WAIS.) Then select Preferences from the Options menu in Netscape Navigator, and select the Mail and Proxies page from the resulting dialog. Add the proxy names and port numbers to the appropriate fields. Then skip down to "Finishing Up."

SOCKS Firewalls

If your firewall uses the sockd proxy server, the first thing you need to do is find out the IP address of the firewall host (ask your system administrator if you don't know it). Next, set the SOCKS_NS environment variable to that IP address. If you don't know how to set an environment variable, see Chapter 3 of the IRIX(TM) Advanced Site and Server Administration Guide, "User Services" for a fuller description, but here's a brief summary:

First, find out what shell you use by typing

echo $SHELL

on the command line.

If you use the C shell (/bin/csh), add this line to your .cshrc file:

setenv SOCKS_NS firewall_IP_address 

(substituting the firewall's IP address for firewall_IP_address).

If you use the K shell or Bourne shell (/bin/ksh or /bin/sh), add this line to your .profile file:

export SOCKS_NS=firewall_IP_address 

Either way, you'll have to log out and log back in for the change to take effect.

Once you've set the SOCKS_NS environment variable, ask your system administrator for the hostname and port number for sockd. Then select Preferences from the Options menu in Netscape Navigator, and select the Mail and Proxies page from the resulting dialog. Put the SOCKS hostname in the SOCKS Host field, and the port number in the Port field.

Finishing Up (For Any Kind of Proxy Server)

When you're done entering proxy server information, click the OK button. (If you decide not to make changes after all, click Cancel instead.) Be sure to save the changes you've made by selecting Save Options from the Options menu.