setuptools, ez_setup over http proxy

[yoda]

I've recently configured my network such that I use squid as a http
proxy. I'd now like to be able to use setuptools and ez_setup via this
proxy. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

The most that the setuptools documentation says is
(http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/setuptools):

"....If you are behind an NTLM-based firewall that prevents Python
programs from accessing the net directly, you may wish to first install
and use the APS proxy server, which lets you get past such firewalls in
the same way that your web browser(s) do....."

ps. I'm not sure that this is the right forum for this question. If it
isn't feel free to point me to the right place.

[Jay Parlar]

> I've recently configured my network such that I use squid as a http
> proxy. I'd now like to be able to use setuptools and ez_setup via this
> proxy. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

It should work if you sent the environment variable (in your shell)
'http_proxy' to the address of your proxy. Python's urllib will then be
able to pull it, and everything should magically work.

Something like:

export http_proxy='http://some_squid_server'

> "....If you are behind an NTLM-based firewall that prevents Python
> programs from accessing the net directly, you may wish to first install
> and use the APS proxy server, which lets you get past such firewalls in
> the same way that your web browser(s) do.....

As far as I know, this is only a problem if you're using a particular
proxy server from Microsoft.

> ps. I'm not sure that this is the right forum for this question. If it
> isn't feel free to point me to the right place.

The distutils list would be the more appropriate place for setuptools
questions in general.

Jay P.

[Phillip J. Eby]

yoda wrote:
> I've recently configured my network such that I use squid as a http
> proxy. I'd now like to be able to use setuptools and ez_setup via this
> proxy. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

The key thing is just that Python's urllib module needs to be able to
retrieve web pages and download files. Try pulling up your Python
interpreter and retrieving a page with urllib. If it works, you're
good to go, and no need to bother with anything else.

If it doesn't work, try Jay's suggestions for setting environment
variables, or consult the urllib doc and/or code for more details on
how urllib finds out what proxy to use.

> The most that the setuptools documentation says is
> (http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/setuptools):
>
> "....If you are behind an NTLM-based firewall that prevents Python
> programs from accessing the net directly, you may wish to first install
> and use the APS proxy server, which lets you get past such firewalls in
> the same way that your web browser(s) do....."

Yeah, I mention this because by far the most common cause of problems
for Windows users is that they're behind one of those infernal
NTLM-based firewalls and thus can't use urllib unaided.

> ps. I'm not sure that this is the right forum for this question. If it
> isn't feel free to point me to the right place.

The distutils-sig mailing list is the best place to ensure you get an
answer relatively quickly, since I don't subscribe to this list, just
skim it from time to time.

[ray...@gmail.com]

Hi,

This is really an urllib2 question ...

setup an environment variable "HTTP_PROXY" that points to your proxy
server, of the form:

user:password@server:port

urllib2 doco will probably have more details

Ray Smith

[yoda]

Thanks guys,
Incidentally, I had already tried setting the env variable $http_proxy
but that didn't seem to work.

That being said, I'm moving this discussion to the distutils-SIG
mailing list while I carry out some tests.

Thanks again.

[yoda]

It appears that it was my proxy config that was flakey. setup tools
works like a charm. :$