A step by step guide to Authoxy

From what I’ve seen this year on the ITS HelpDesk (@ the University of Otago), there are more and more students having Mac laptops…and I got a fair number of students asking for help with their Skype / Microsoft Messenger. Since the university network is behind a proxy, you need to have some proxy related settings in the software to allow it to go through the proxy. While you can use Adium for the MSN part, its hard to find something to replace the Skype on the Macs. So what can we do about it?

Well…it turns out that there is a software called Authoxy that will solve the proxy problem with software like Skype and Microsoft Messenger (they don’t have any proxy settings in the software) I came to know this software when I was trying to find a solutions to the proxy problem for some software on the Macs, but I failed to do the right settings in the Authoxy to make it work (too lazy to read the manuals…. -_-) Luckily, a student figured it out and showed it to me a few days ago…and I tried it myself…and guess what? It WORKS!!!

Before I talk about the steps to setup the software…you probably want to download it first…so here is their Official website: http://www.hrsoftworks.net

Download Authoxy 3.4: http://www.hrsoftworks.net/downloads/Authoxy3.4.dmg

Here is the description of the software:

If your Internet connection requires you to use a proxy which needs a username and password, Authoxy may be the solution to a seamless Internet experience. Authoxy runs locally as a proxy server to intercept HTTP and HTTPS requests, forwarding them on to your regular proxy with authentication details you define in a System Preference Pane. Such a process is required to use many web services (MacHelp, QuickTime, iTunes) behind a proxy requiring authentication.

Here are the steps to setup the software on your Mac:

Note: The screenshots below are in reduced resolution, you can always click on them to get the actual size of the image

Step 0: First thing first…you need to download the software using the link above and put the file somewhere on your hard drive:

Step 1: Double click on the .dmg file that you have just downloaded and you should get:

Double click on the Authoxy.mpkg

Step 2: Just follow the screen shots below to install the software:

Just type in your password for the computer and click on the OK button:

Click on the Close button to finish the installation:

Step 3: Open up System Preferences:

Step 4: Click on Network:

Step 5: Select your AirPort on the left, and click on the Advanced button:

Step 6: In order for Authoxy to work, we need to set the proxies, let’s click on the proxies tab on the top:

Step 7: Select the Web Proxy (HTTP) on the left and type in “127.0.0.1” for the Web Proxy Server and “8080” for the port number.

Step 8: Select the Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS) on the left and type in “127.0.0.1” for the Web Proxy Server and “8080” for the port number as well.

After you have done that, click on the OK button.

Step 9: Now click on the Apply button so the changes will take effect.

Step 10: Click on the Authoxy icon in the System Preferences:

Step 11: In the Proxy Authentication Details section, type in your university user name and password (or anything equivalent that you use to authenticate when you are behind a proxy). In the Remote Proxy Details section; type in the proxy details. For my university, that would be:

Address of server: proxy.student.otago.ac.nz
Port: 3128

Remember you can click on the screenshots and view them at their actual size

Last but not least, don’t forget to click on the Start Authoxy button on the top left hand corner.

Step 12: Now you can launch your Skype / Microsoft Messenger / and try them out

Are my steps clear enough?

Is this article helpful to you?

What things you did / didn’t like?

Please feel free to leave your comments