Set Up Proxy Server

There are several different scripts for setting up proxy sites, such as CGIProxy and PHProxy, but this article will be on how to install Glype, which is a PHP web proxy that outshines the rest.

How to Set Up a Glype Web Proxy Server

Upon downloading the Glype proxy script from the main website, you will find two folders: upload and extras. The upload folder contains all of the files needed to run Glype, and the best part is that you can start using Glype out of the box! You don’t need to configure anything, although it’s highly recommended. And that’s where the extras folder comes in. There are several useful files in there that you could also upload, such as the Privacy Policy and Admin CP. The Admin CP is very useful, and you will learn more about it’s functions later on.

So once you download Glype, upload the files in the upload folder to your host’s root folder (public_html). You can use an FTP program like FileZilla. Now, let’s take a look at the files we just uploaded:

• ‘tmp’ Folder: This folder is empty upon installation, but you should make two new folders inside of it called ‘cache’ and ‘logs’. Make sure to CHMOD those folders to 777 as well. This is where you cache and logs (your temporary files) will go.
• ‘themes’ Folder: This folder contains all of the files that allow your theme to run. If you dig deeper, the three important files are main.php (this is your home page’s template), config.php (you can set global variables in here to use in your theme files), and framedForm.inc.php (this is the coding for the URL form on the proxified pages).
• ‘plugins’ Folder: Plugins are unofficial additions to the Glype code, which help make certain websitse run differently, usually for the better (For example: YouTube does not currently work on Glype 1.1 without the ‘FlowTube’ plugin). You can find a great list of plugins at the Glype Forums.
• ‘includes’ Folder: Last but certainly not least, this folder contains all of the files needed for Glype to work properly. You can edit the settings.php folder manually if you wish, but I don’t recommend this. Instead, upload the admin.php file (see below), and make sure to CHMOD the settings.php file to 777.

In addition to the above folders, you will find the index.php file (main page), the browse.php file (proxified page), and robots.txt page (by default prevents spiders/robots from using your proxy).

Now that we have gone over the contents of the upload folder, here’s a quick rundown of the extras folder. In it, you will find different documents like the disclaimer, terms, and privacy, as well as two files useful for the users, although they are not used often, the cookies.php and edit-browser.php files.

Probably the most important and useful file you will find is the admin.php file. It contains all kinds of options and settings, such as website blacklists, default settings, transfer limits, IP bans, cache/log control, and much more. In my opinion, your Glype installation is INCOMPLETE without the admin.php file. To install it, just upload it to your root directory (public_html) and CHMOD the settings.php file in your ‘includes’ folder to 777.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Glype. You may want to explore your Admin CP settings and change around your theme.