Install Squid Proxy Service
Install Squid Proxy Service

Squid Proxy: Definitive Guide Squid Proxy Service

Squid Proxy is a powerful and versatile web proxy that has been in use since the mid-1990s. It is a popular choice for organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises, due to its many features and benefits.

In this article, we will explore the various aspects of Squid Proxy and how it can help improve web performance, reduce bandwidth usage, and enhance security.

Squid Proxy is an open-source caching and forwarding HTTP web proxy that can be used to improve the performance of web servers and reduce bandwidth usage.

It is designed to cache frequently accessed web content, which can be served to users more quickly than if the content had to be retrieved from the original source every time. This results in faster page load times, improved user experience, and reduced server load.

In addition to caching, Squid Proxy also supports a range of other features, including content filtering, access control, and traffic shaping.

These features can be used to enhance security, limit access to certain websites, and prioritize traffic based on bandwidth requirements.

Install Red Hat Squid Proxy

Installing Squid on a Linux-based system is a straightforward process that can be completed in a few simple steps.

sudo yum update
yum install squid
sudo systemctl start squid
sudo systemctl enable squid

Secure Squid Service

Squid is a service and all access to a service on Operating System must be checked and secured.

First, we need to think about what users or groups will have access to manage the squid service, if you need to understand how to manage users and groups on Red Hat read our manual.

SquidProxies

All SquidProxies service settings can be configured on file :

vi /etc/squid/squid.conf

After our service is running with a secure user let’s change the default port, open the squid settings file and change the http_port value to 3160

 http_port 3160

Enforce Squid Security with SELinux

How to Block Specific Ports on Squid Proxy

Block Domains on Squid Proxy

Squid is perfect to block domains on our network. We can build domain blacklists or block an entire TLD.

Read our article in order to understand how squid proxy deals with domain management and blocking.

How to Block Ads on Squid Proxy

Open the squid.conf file and append the configuration:

vi /etc/squid/squid.conf

acl ad-block dstdomain "/etc/squid/ad-block.acl"
http_access deny ad-block

Create a new file called ad-block.acl to populate with our blocking rules.

vi /etc/squid/ad-block.acl

# Block Google ads
googleadservices.com
doubleclick.net
google-analytics.com

# Block Facebook ads
facebook.com
fbcdn.net
fbcdn.com
connect.facebook.net

After apply the configuration restart the Squid service:

sudo systemctl restart squid

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