How to set up a proxy to work with CodeTwo software

Problem:

You are unable to establish a LAN or WAN connection required by our software and services when using a proxy.

Solution:

To resolve problems with proxy connections you should understand how they work and what they do. You should also know how to configure proxy settings in your environment and what tools to use to diagnose a connection.

• What is a proxy
• Proxy configuration in Windows Settings
• Proxy configuration in Control Panel
• Diagnosing proxy

What is a proxy

A proxy is a server service that is located “between” the client and the server containing the requested resources. If a proxy server is present, clients do not connect directly to the server when requesting a resource. Instead, they connect to the proxy server acting as an intermediary. The proxy server then processes the request and directs the client to resources.

A forward proxy is usually set up somewhere inside the client organization, processing requests before they are forwarded to external resources. A reverse proxy is set up by other organizations processing requests to access their resources from external clients.

The proxy configuration affects the entire system and has a direct impact on the behavior of our services. If your proxy server is not configured correctly, you may encounter problems with using our software.

Configure a proxy in the Windows Settings app

Proxy configuration in Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and newer systems can be performed automatically or manually using the method below.

• Automatic proxy configuration
• Manual proxy configuration

Automatic proxy configuration

Open the Settings App, go to Network & Internet and select Proxy from the left menu (Fig. 1.).

Fig. 1. Opening the proxy settings in the Settings app.

You can choose to set up the proxy automatically by enabling the Automatically detect settings option (Fig. 2.).

Fig. 2. Allowing Windows to automatically detect proxy settings.

If you received a link to a configuration script, click Use setup script, enter the URL address in the field provided and click Save (Fig. 3.).

Fig. 3. Importing the proxy settings by using a script.

Manual proxy configuration

Enable the Use a proxy server option and enter the IP address and the Port number of the proxy server in the respective fields (Fig. 4.).

Fig. 4. Setting up a proxy manually.

Additionally, you can specify a list of conditions to identify local and web resources which will not use the proxy server. You can use wildcards in this field to make the conditions broader.

If you select the Don’t use the proxy server for local (intranet) addresses option (as shown in Fig. 4.), the proxy servers will be bypassed by requests for local resources.

Configure a proxy in the Control Panel

Proxy configuration in legacy versions of Windows and Windows Server can be performed automatically or manually using the method below.

• Automatic proxy configuration
• Manual proxy configuration

Automatic proxy configuration

Open the Control Panel and navigate to Internet Options. Then, switch to the Connections tab and click the LAN settings button (Fig. 5.).

Fig. 5. Opening the proxy configuration window in the Control Panel.

Select the Automatically detect settings checkbox, as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6. Enabling automatic proxy settings.

Click Ok to save the changes and confirm by clicking Apply in the Internet Properties window.

Manual proxy configuration

Open the Control Panel and navigate to Internet Options. Then, switch to the Connections tab and click the LAN settings button (Fig. 7.).

Fig. 7. Opening the proxy configuration window in the Control Panel.

Select the Use a proxy server for your LAN checkbox. Then enter the IP address and port number in the fields provided, as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Using manual proxy settings.

You can also select to Bypass proxy server for local addresses by selecting the appropriate checkbox.

Diagnosing proxy

To diagnose if the proxy server is configured correctly and allows for uninterrupted flow of data, you can use the tracert command line utility. This will let you trace the route taken by data packets in order to reach their destination. The utility can be used when analyzing routes within the local network as well as when trying to reach resources on the web.

The tracert tool is available in Windows. To use it, follow the steps below:

1. Start the Windows Command Prompt.
2. Run (Fig. 9.):

tracert [target host] 

3. The target host can be either an IP address or a domain.

Fig. 9. Results of running the tracert command.

The tool will now send packets of data and display the responses received from routers along the path they take to the target host. This may take some time depending on the selected target host.

When done, you will have a full a list of host names (if available) or IP addresses of routing devices through which the packets of data have traveled.

You should review the list to identify if the packets have reached their destination. If not, try to identify the point at which they stopped. For example, this may be a proxy server that is not configured correctly to handle your request.