How to set up a proxy via bash shell? - macos

Question

I set up a proxy on Mac via System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> Proxies.
Is that possible to do the same programatically via bash shell?

Answer 1

You can put this in your .profile or .bash_profile or run manually on a command line:
export http_proxy=http://proxy.server.com:#aproxy:portnumber
export https_proxy=https://proxy.server.com:#aproxy:portnumber
It's also common to not use the proxy for the local connections
export no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.0/8,*.local

Answer 2

Yes, using the networksetup command. There are separate options for setting different types of proxies (e.g. -setwebproxy, -setsocksfirewallproxy, etc), and you need to know the name of the primary network "service" (e.g. Ethernet, Airport... basically, the names listed in the sidebar of the Network preferences pane). Here's an example:
sudo networksetup -setwebproxy "Ethernet" myproxy.example.com 8000
If you need to figure out the service name, use networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder or networksetup -listallnetworkservices, then parse the list to get the name of the service you want.

Answer 3

I use this script to proxy through my ssh server (not a web proxy).
#!/bin/bash
disable_proxy(){
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxystate Wi-Fi off
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxystate Ethernet off
echo "SOCKS proxy disabled."
}
trap disable_proxy INT
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxy Wi-Fi 127.0.0.1 9999
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxy Ethernet 127.0.0.1 9999
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxystate Wi-Fi on
sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxystate Ethernet on
echo "SOCKS proxy enabled."
echo "Tunneling..."
ssh -ND 9999 000.000.000.000 -p 00000
Change 000.000.000.000 to your own server's IP and 00000 to your own port and you should be able to reuse it with your own ssh server. You can save this script in your home directory named say proxy.
Start it with ./proxy (type your password), use CTRL+C to stop tunnelling.
Start it again and stop with CTRL+C if you forgot to stop tunnelling and next day you are wondering why your internet connection is down.
If you get a broken pipe, just start ./proxy again.