global-tunnel

Configures the global
http and
https
agents to use an upstream HTTP proxy.

Works transparently to tunnel modules that use node's default http.request()
method
as well as the popular request module.

Installation

You can install this package by just executing the following:

npm install global-tunnel-ng

Usage

To make all HTTP and HTTPS connections go through an outbound HTTP proxy:

``js
var globalTunnel = require('global-tunnel-ng');

globalTunnel.initialize({
host: '10.0.0.10',
port: 8080,
proxyAuth: 'userId:password', // optional authentication
sockets: 50 // optional pool size for each http and https
});
`

This will use the CONNECT method for HTTPS requests and absolute-URIs for
HTTP requests, which is how many network proxies are configured.

Optionally, to tear-down the global agent and restore node's default global
agents:

`js
globalTunnel.end();
`

Any active connections will be allowed to run to completion, but new
connections will use the default global agents.

Advanced Usage

Options

The complete list of options to globalTunnel.initialize:

- host - the hostname or IP of the HTTP proxy to use
- port - the TCP port to use on that proxy
- connect _(optional)_ controls what protocols use the CONNECT method. It
has three possible values (strings):
- neither - don't use CONNECT; just use absolute URIs
- https - _(the default)_ only use CONNECT for HTTPS requests
- both - use CONNECT for both HTTP and HTTPS requests
- protocol - the protocol that the proxy speaks, either http: or https:.
- proxyAuth - _(optional)_ to authenticate userId:password
- sockets - _(optional)_ maximum number of TCP sockets to use in each pool.
There are two pools: one for HTTP and one for HTTPS. Uses node's default (5)
if falsy.

Variations

Here's a few interesting variations on the basic config.

$3

Another common proxy configuration is one that expects clients to use an
absolute URI for the
Request-URI for all HTTP
and HTTPS requests. This is common for networks that use a proxy for security
scanning and access control.

What does this mean? It means that instead of ...

`http
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com
`

... your proxy expects ...

`http
GET https://example.com/ HTTP/1.1
`

You'll need to specify connect: 'neither' if this is the case. If the proxy
speaks HTTP (i.e. the connection from node --> proxy is not encrypted):

`js
globalTunnel.initialize({
connect: 'neither',
host: '10.0.0.10',
port: 3128
});
`

or, if the proxy speaks HTTPS to your app instead:

`js
globalTunnel.initialize({
connect: 'neither',
protocol: 'https:',
host: '10.0.0.10',
port: 3129
});
`

$3

If the proxy expects you to use the CONNECT method for both HTTP and HTTPS
requests, you'll need the connect: 'both' option.

What does this mean? It means that instead of ...

`http
GET https://example.com/ HTTP/1.1
`

... your proxy expects ...

`http
CONNECT example.com:443 HTTP/1.1
`

Be sure to set the protocol: option based on what protocol the proxy speaks.

`js
globalTunnel.initialize({
connect: 'both',
host: '10.0.0.10',
port: 3130
});
`

$3

_EXPERIMENTAL_

If tunnelling both protocols, you can use different HTTPS client configurations
for the two phases of the connection.

`js
globalTunnel.initialize({
connect: 'both',
protocol: 'https:'
host: '10.0.0.10',
port: 3130,
proxyHttpsOptions: {
// use this config for app -> proxy
},
originHttpsOptions: {
// use this config for proxy -> origin
}
});
`

Auto-Config

If globalTunnel.initialize doesnt receive a configuration as its first parameter the http_proxys and http_proxy environment variables will be used.

If these are missing the npm configurations https-proxy, http-proxy, proxy will be used instead.

If no environment variables or npm configurations are found nothing will be done.

Retrieving proxy URL, parsed config and proxy status

As the module does some extra job determining the proxy (including parsing the environment variables) and does some normalization (like defaulting the protocol to http:) it may be useful to retrieve the proxy URL used by the module.

The property globalTunnel.proxyUrl is the URL-formatted (including the optional basic auth if provided) proxy config currently in use. It is null if the proxy is not currently enabled.

Similarly, the globalTunnel.proxyConfig contains the entire parsed and normalized config.

The property globalTunnel.isProxying contains the information about whether the global proxy is on or off.

Compatibility

Any module that doesn't specify an explicit agent: option to
http.request
will also work with global-tunnel.

The unit tests for this module verify that the popular request
module works with global-tunnel active.

For untested modules, it's recommended that you load and initialize
global-tunnel first. This way, any copies of http.globalAgent will point to
the right thing.

Contributing

If you'd like to contribute to or modify global-tunnel, here's a quick guide
to get you started.

Development Dependencies

- node.js >= 0.10

Set-Up

Download via GitHub and install npm dependencies:

`sh
git clone git@github.com:np-maintain/global-tunnel.git
cd global-tunnel
npm install
`

Testing

Testing is with the mocha framework.
Tests are located in the test/ directory.

To run the tests:

`sh
npm test
``

Support

As this is a hard fork, you may still contact the given contacts below.

Email GoInstant Support or stop by #goinstant on freenode.

For responsible disclosures, email GoInstant Security.

To file a bug or
propose a patch,
please use github directly.

Legal

© 2014 GoInstant Inc., a salesforce.com company

Licensed under the BSD 3-clause license.