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Complete Guide to ProxyCat: Building and Operating Tunnel Proxy Pools

ProxyCat is an innovative tunnel proxy pool middleware that transforms short-term proxy IPs into fixed IPs for continuous use. This comprehensive guide covers everything from installation to advanced configuration and operational best practices.

What is ProxyCat?

ProxyCat is an open-source tunnel proxy pool middleware available on GitHub. It converts short-term proxy IPs (lasting 1-60 minutes) into fixed IPs, providing a cost-effective proxy solution for various use cases.

Key Features

  • Multi-Protocol Support: HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS5 protocol support
  • Intelligent Proxy Management: Automatic proxy validation and switching
  • Web UI Interface: Intuitive web management interface
  • Docker Support: Easy container-based deployment
  • Dynamic Configuration: Configuration changes without restart

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

  • OS: Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+), macOS, Windows
  • Python: 3.7 or higher
  • Memory: 512MB RAM
  • Storage: 1GB free space
  • Network: Stable internet connection
  • OS: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
  • Python: 3.9 or higher
  • Memory: 2GB RAM
  • Storage: 5GB SSD
  • Network: 100Mbps or higher

Installation Methods

1. Git Clone and Dependency Installation

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/honmashironeko/ProxyCat.git
cd ProxyCat

# Create Python virtual environment (recommended)
python3 -m venv proxycat_env
source proxycat_env/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
# proxycat_env\Scripts\activate  # Windows

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install using Docker Compose
git clone https://github.com/honmashironeko/ProxyCat.git
cd ProxyCat
docker-compose up -d

3. Configuration Setup

# Copy configuration file
cp config/config.ini.example config/config.ini

# Edit configuration file
nano config/config.ini

Basic Configuration

config.ini Configuration Example

[server]
# Server settings
host = 0.0.0.0
port = 8080
debug = false

[proxy]
# Proxy mode settings
mode = random  # random, order, custom
timeout = 30
retry_count = 3

[auth]
# Authentication settings
enable_auth = false
username = admin
password = password123

[log]
# Log settings
level = INFO
file = logs/proxycat.log

Web UI Usage

1. Web Interface Access

After installation, access the web interface at:

http://localhost:8080

2. Key Features

  • Proxy Status Monitoring: Real-time proxy status checking
  • Configuration Changes: Modify settings through web interface
  • Log Viewing: Real-time log monitoring
  • Statistics Information: Traffic and performance statistics

Advanced Configuration

1. Proxy Pool Configuration

# Proxy pool configuration example
proxy_pool = [
    {
        "type": "http",
        "host": "proxy1.example.com",
        "port": 8080,
        "username": "user1",
        "password": "pass1"
    },
    {
        "type": "socks5",
        "host": "proxy2.example.com", 
        "port": 1080,
        "username": "user2",
        "password": "pass2"
    }
]

2. Automatic Proxy Switching Configuration

[advanced]
# Advanced settings
auto_switch = true
switch_interval = 300  # Switch every 5 minutes
health_check_interval = 60  # Health check every minute
max_failures = 3  # Maximum failure count

3. Security Configuration

[security]
# Security settings
whitelist_enabled = true
whitelist_ips = 192.168.1.0/24,10.0.0.0/8
blacklist_enabled = true
blacklist_ips = 192.168.1.100
rate_limit = 1000  # Requests per minute limit

Production Operations Guide

1. Monitoring Setup

# System resource monitoring
htop
iostat -x 1
netstat -tulpn | grep :8080

2. Log Analysis

# Real-time log monitoring
tail -f logs/proxycat.log

# Error log filtering
grep "ERROR" logs/proxycat.log

# Performance statistics
grep "STATS" logs/proxycat.log | tail -100

3. Backup and Recovery

# Configuration backup
cp -r config/ backup/config_$(date +%Y%m%d)/
cp -r logs/ backup/logs_$(date +%Y%m%d)/

# Database backup (if using database)
mysqldump -u root -p proxycat_db > backup/db_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql

Performance Optimization

1. System Tuning

# Increase network buffer size
echo 'net.core.rmem_max = 16777216' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.core.wmem_max = 16777216' >> /etc/sysctl.conf
sysctl -p

# Increase file descriptor limit
echo '* soft nofile 65536' >> /etc/security/limits.conf
echo '* hard nofile 65536' >> /etc/security/limits.conf

2. Proxy Pool Optimization

# Proxy pool size optimization
OPTIMAL_POOL_SIZE = 10  # Adjust based on concurrent users
HEALTH_CHECK_INTERVAL = 30  # Health check interval
CONNECTION_TIMEOUT = 10  # Connection timeout

Troubleshooting

1. Common Issues

Issue: Proxy connection failure

# Solution
# 1. Check proxy server status
curl -x http://proxy:port http://httpbin.org/ip

# 2. Check firewall settings
sudo ufw status
sudo iptables -L

Issue: Web UI inaccessible

# Solution
# 1. Check port status
netstat -tulpn | grep :8080

# 2. Restart service
docker-compose restart

2. Log Analysis

# Check detailed logs
grep -E "(ERROR|WARNING|CRITICAL)" logs/proxycat.log

# Diagnose performance issues
grep "slow" logs/proxycat.log
grep "timeout" logs/proxycat.log

Security Considerations

1. Network Security

# Firewall configuration
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp  # SSH
sudo ufw allow 8080/tcp  # ProxyCat web UI
sudo ufw deny 8080/tcp from 0.0.0.0/0  # Block external access

2. Authentication Hardening

[auth]
enable_auth = true
username = secure_admin
password = complex_password_123!
session_timeout = 3600
max_login_attempts = 3

Monitoring and Alerting

1. Prometheus Metrics Collection

# prometheus.yml configuration example
scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'proxycat'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:8080']
    metrics_path: '/metrics'
    scrape_interval: 30s

2. Grafana Dashboard

{
  "dashboard": {
    "title": "ProxyCat Monitoring",
    "panels": [
      {
        "title": "Active Proxies",
        "type": "stat",
        "targets": [
          {
            "expr": "proxycat_active_proxies"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Best Practices

1. Proxy Selection Strategy

# Intelligent proxy selection
def select_proxy(proxy_pool, request_type):
    if request_type == "high_bandwidth":
        return select_fastest_proxy(proxy_pool)
    elif request_type == "stealth":
        return select_least_used_proxy(proxy_pool)
    else:
        return select_random_proxy(proxy_pool)

2. Load Balancing

[load_balancing]
# Load balancing configuration
strategy = round_robin  # round_robin, weighted, least_connections
health_check_interval = 30
failover_threshold = 3

3. Rate Limiting

[rate_limiting]
# Rate limiting configuration
requests_per_minute = 1000
burst_limit = 200
per_ip_limit = 100

Conclusion

ProxyCat provides a cost-effective and flexible proxy pool solution. This guide has covered everything from basic installation to advanced operations.

Key Points

  1. Cost Efficiency: Use short-term proxies as fixed IPs
  2. Flexibility: Multiple protocols and configuration options
  3. Scalability: Easy scaling with Docker
  4. Monitoring: Real-time status checking and management

Next Steps

  • Refer to ProxyCat official documentation
  • Share advanced use cases in community forums
  • Implement performance monitoring tools
  • Establish and apply security policies

Build a stable and efficient proxy infrastructure using ProxyCat!

References:

참고