Automatic Proxy

Proxy selection and automatic proxy

As an administrator, you most likely already use a proxy server with a firewall to create a barrier between your organization and the Internet, to cache frequently used content, and to balance server load. Options for configuring and maintaining proxy settings in Internet Explorer 9 on your users' computers include:

  • Specifying proxy servers and proxy bypass lists in the following tools:

    • The Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9.

    • Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 9 Profile Manager after deployment (if you built a custom package using the Corporate version of IEAK 9).

    • Group Policy settings in Internet Explorer Maintenance (IEM).

  • Using the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9 and IEAK Profile Manager, or IEM settings, to point users' browsers to the location of your automatic proxy script.

Note

In an Active Directory environment managed with Group Policy, enabling the Administrative Templates policy setting Disable changing proxy settings locks proxy settings on your users' computers.

Proxy selection and proxy bypass lists

On the Proxy Settings page of the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard 9 (or the Proxy Settings page of IEAK Profile Manager if you installed the Corporate version of IEAK 9), you can enter addresses for the proxy servers that connect your users to the Internet.

If you use Group Policy settings in IEM to configure Internet Explorer 9, you will find a corresponding Proxy Settings page in Internet Explorer Maintenance in Group Policy Object Editor. In the left pane, click Connection, and then in the right pane double-click Proxy Settings to enter your proxy server information.

Using automatic proxy

With automatic proxy, you can:

  • Dynamically configure proxy settings, such as server addresses.

  • Bypass proxy servers based on requests from the browsers on users' computers.

  • Modify proxy settings after deployment.

To enable automatic proxy, you create a separate .wpad, or .pac script file and then copy the file to a server location. Then, you configure the browsers to use the automatic proxy script file, by entering the script URL on the Automatic Browser Configuration page in IEAK 8 tools or IEM.

For more information about setting automatic proxy, see Updating automatic configuration settings.

Note

If you specify a server location for an automatic proxy URL and an automatic configuration .ins file on the Automatic Browser Configuration page, the location of the automatic proxy script file is incorporated into the .ins file.

The automatic proxy script file is executed whenever Internet Explorer 9 makes a network request. Within the script, you can configure multiple proxy servers for each protocol type. If a proxy server connection fails, Internet Explorer 9 automatically attempts to connect to another proxy server that you have specified.

For examples of automatic proxy scripts, see Auto-proxy Configuration (.pac) Script Examples in this deployment guide.

After deployment of your custom package, you can centrally maintain and update your proxy settings by modifying the script at the server location you specified on the Automatic Browser Configuration page. If you need to move the location of your automatic proxy script after deployment, modify the automatic proxy URL on the Automatic Browser Configuration page of IEAK Profile Manager, or in IEM Group Policy settings. Then redeploy the profile.