Proxy/network configuration prevents yum and firefox but not konqueror (FC17)

[Don Levey]

So I can't wrap my head around what I might have done to create this
situation, or to back out of it.

I have one machine on my home network that I protect via a squid proxy -
my kids' machine.  Somehow, something I (or they) did created a
situation where I cannot connect externally via Firefox, and cannot
connect to any repository via yum.  However, Konqueror doesn't seem to
respect or use the proxy configuration, and can connect anywhere without
restriction (regardless of the system settings).

I don't think it's truly the proxy itself, though.  I configured another
machine to use it without issue; Firefox and Yum both work without a
hiccup.  What's more, disabling or completely removing the proxy
configuration on the problem PC doesn't seem to alleviate the problem.

I'm not even sure where I should look to gather more diagnostic info;
any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
 -Don

[Don Levey]

On 8/9/2012 15:08, James Wilkinson wrote:
>  Don Levey wrote:
> > I have one machine on my home network that I protect via a squid proxy -
> > my kids' machine.  Somehow, something I (or they) did created a
> > situation where I cannot connect externally via Firefox, and cannot
> > connect to any repository via yum.  However, Konqueror doesn't seem to
> > respect or use the proxy configuration, and can connect anywhere without
> > restriction (regardless of the system settings).
>  
>  and:
> > Correction - Konqueror respects the proxy, and connect without a problem
> > only to those sites permitted by the proxy.
>  
>  How are you specifying the proxy (especially in Firefox?)
>   
James,
I've set the proxy in the Network Settings applet in systemsettings.
I've tried "use system proxy config" and the manual settings, setting
either to the network's squid server.  Either way I don't seem to see
$HTTP_PROXY/$http_proxy in my environment.

I've tried using Firefox in a similar fashion, either to see the system
proxy, or via manual connection.

I don't have anything set in yum.conf for a proxy.

Thanks!
 -Don

[James Wilkinson]

Don Levey wrote:
>  I have one machine on my home network that I protect via a squid
> proxy -
>  my kids' machine.  Somehow, something I (or they) did created a
>  situation where I cannot connect externally via Firefox, and cannot
>  connect to any repository via yum.  However, Konqueror doesn't seem to
>  respect or use the proxy configuration, and can connect anywhere without
>  restriction (regardless of the system settings). 
and:
>  Correction - Konqueror respects the proxy, and connect without a
> problem
>  only to those sites permitted by the proxy. 
How are you specifying the proxy (especially in Firefox?)

It’s possible to do this with http_proxy, HTTP_PROXY, and similar
environment variables. The Gnome 3 Network control panel applet also
allows you to configure the proxy, although I’m not sure if it actually
sets those variables (if you’re using NetworkManager – have you switched
to the old network service recently?).

Both Firefox and Konqueror can be set to use the “system configuration”,
or you can manually set them to use the proxy. (For example, in Firefox
on Linux, Edit menu -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings).

You can also specify a proxy for yum in /etc/yum.conf.

Can you try opening a terminal, and type in
echo $HTTP_PROXY / $http_proxy
If that just returns a /, then your environment variables have got lost
somehow (if they were ever set).

If I was you, I’d configure Firefox manually to keep the kids happy,
then investigate further. You might want to put appropriate environment
variables in /etc/bashrc, although I’m not sure in the days of systemd
how much picks up on that…

Hope this helps,

James.

-- 
E-mail:     james@ |  ... more holes in Internet Explorer than Blackburn,
aprilcottage.co.uk | Lancashire...
                   |     -- http://theinquirer.net/?article=17235

[Don Levey]

On 8/9/2012 10:23, Don Levey wrote:
>  
>  I have one machine on my home network that I protect via a squid proxy -
>  my kids' machine.  Somehow, something I (or they) did created a
>  situation where I cannot connect externally via Firefox, and cannot
>  connect to any repository via yum.  However, Konqueror doesn't seem to
>  respect or use the proxy configuration, and can connect anywhere without
>  restriction (regardless of the system settings).
>   
Correction - Konqueror respects the proxy, and connect without a problem
only to those sites permitted by the proxy.
 -Don