nio101/auto-proxy

Argos plugin to automatically check intranet/internet connectivity and set proxy settings accordingly.

auto-proxy

Argos plugin to automatically check intranet/internet connectivity and set proxy settings accordingly.

Features

• detects automatically intranet connectivity by pinging a given server (an intranet/corporate proxy, for example).
• switch proxy configuration (env vars, cntlm, git, apt, etç...) accordingly.
• check resulting internet connectivity (basic curl to google.com, plus other optional checks).
• your can easily add your own script to take into account new settings, or dedicated commands.

Requirements

• a linux distribution with GNOME (the latests Ubuntu release, for example).
• Argos shell extension installed and running (see https://github.com/p-e-w/argos).

How it works

What the main bash script does for each iteration:

1. Checks the presence of /tmp/autoproxy_auto/manual_on.flag or /tmp/autoproxy_auto/manual_off.flag to assess the current session's proxy's state: on/off/unknown.

2. Checks for connectivity by pinging the intranet host defined in the settings.

   • if OK => we're on the intranet, and proxy should be set.
   • else, proxy should be removed.

3. To set the proxy, it will run every executable inside the .autoproxy_set_proxy/ subdir

   • to unset the proxy, it will do the same with the .autoproxy_unset_proxy/ subdir
   • example of scripts actions: set env vars in /etc/bash.bashrc, in /etc/apt.conf, etç...
   • after each proxy setting/unsetting, the main script will source /etc/bash.bashrc to refresh its env vars.
   • currents provided scripts will do the following:
     • start/stop cntlm.
     • update /etc/bash.bashrc env vars.
     • update proxy in /etc/apt/apt.conf.
     • update git global http.proxy variable.
     • update alias in /etc/bash.bashrc to run firefox with the proper profile (one for intranet, the other fot internet).
   • you can remove or add any script at will to customize the usage to your needs.

4. Checks for connectivity to some internet server (google.com)

   • if on the intranet, we use a curl command to test connectivity at HTTP level (via proxy) because a ping command (TCP/IP level) wouldn't basically work with an http_proxy.
   • if not on the intranet, we can use a basic ping command.
     • if OK => internet connectivity step 1 is confirmed (through the proxy, or not)
     • if NOK => no intranet nor internet connectivity, the script will show "???" in it's title.

• The status bar label reflects intranet/internet connectivity/status, depending on the zone (intranet or not) and adds an icon and a color to reflect internet connectivity:

  • green + 🚀 if OK
  • orange + ⛔ if NOK

• details are provided within the menu:

  • current proxy status (ON/OFF).
  • cntlm service status.
  • proxy ping (in red if no connectivity).
  • google ping (in red if no connectivity).

• You can easily remove some checks or add your own by modifying the main bash script.

• If you want to modify the script's icon:

  • sudo apt-get install gtk-3-examples
  • run gtk3-icon-browser in terminal and choose an icon.
  • it's name is set in the main bash script using the iconName property.

• ⚠️ Every env variables export are set automatically in /etc/bash.bashrc. The script modifies and sources that script only, so:

  • if settings are present in ~/.bashrc, they will overwrite those settings and the plugin won't be able to properly do its job.
  • when the proxy settings have been modified by the plugin, you should source /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc to refresh any already open terminal/console on your local machine.
    • tip: use alias env_reload='source /etc/bash.bashrc; source ~/.bashrc' in your ~/.bashrc, and juste use env_reload update the env vars.

Configuration & installation

1. Clone or unzip the repository locally.
2. Modify the settings at the beginning of the bash script named autoproxy.r.30s.sh to reflect your proxy configuration.
3. Optional: Rename this script using the proper argos file naming syntax to modify the plugin position and refresh frequency.
4. Optional: Add/remove/modify scripts inside the .autoproxy_set_proxy and the .autoproxy_unset_proxy directories. The executables inside those directories will be run in alphabetical order when the proxy settings must be set/unset. You can write your own scripts, using the variables set at the beginning of autoproxy.r.30s.sh.
5. Use make install to install auto-proxy to your local argo directory (~/.config/argos/) and make it run.

• To temporarily disable the plugin, use argos to edit the plugin script (last command in the plugin menu), and uncomment the corresponding section in the main script header.

Problems?

• To debug any problem, you can go to the argo directory ~/.config/argos/ and manually run autoproxy.r.30s.sh.

Have fun! :)

contact: nio101@outlook.com