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Using Tinyproxy as a Simple Proxy

#linux #networking #tooling #tutorial

This article focuses strictly on setting up and using Tinyproxy—a lightweight HTTP/HTTPS proxy—on Alpine Linux. The goal is to get a minimal proxy running and understand how to use it from another machine or client.

1. Installing Tinyproxy

On Alpine Linux, installation is straightforward:

apk add tinyproxy
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This installs the Tinyproxy service and default configuration files.

2. Basic Configuration

The main configuration file is typically located at:

/etc/tinyproxy/tinyproxy.conf
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At minimum, configure the following:

Port 8080
Listen 0.0.0.0
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What these settings mean

  • Port 8080
    Tinyproxy will listen for incoming proxy connections on port 8080.

  • Listen 0.0.0.0
    Allows connections from any network interface (not just localhost).
    This is required if you want to access the proxy from another machine.

3. Starting Tinyproxy

You have two operational modes depending on your use case.

Option A — Run in foreground (debug mode) 

tinyproxy -d -c /etc/tinyproxy/tinyproxy.conf
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  • -d: Runs in foreground (useful for debugging/logging)
  • -c: Specifies config file

Use this when testing or troubleshooting.

Option B — Run as a background service 

rc-service tinyproxy start
rc-update add tinyproxy
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  • Starts Tinyproxy as a daemon
  • Enables it to launch automatically at boot

4. Using Tinyproxy

Once running, Tinyproxy acts as a standard HTTP proxy.

Example: Using it from a client

If your Tinyproxy server is at:

172.27.59.40:8080
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You can configure tools to use it as a proxy.

Using curl 

curl -x http://172.27.59.40:8080 http://example.com
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Using environment variables 

export http_proxy="http://172.27.59.40:8080"
export https_proxy="http://172.27.59.40:8080"
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Now most CLI tools will route traffic through Tinyproxy.

5. Example: Using Tinyproxy with SSH (via netcat)

Tinyproxy can also proxy TCP connections using the HTTP CONNECT method.

Add this to your SSH config:

Host foomachine
    HostName 1.2.3.4
    ProxyCommand nc -X connect -x 172.27.59.40:8080 %h %p
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Explanation

  • nc -X connect → uses HTTP CONNECT proxy mode
  • -x 172.27.59.40:8080 → specifies the Tinyproxy server
  • %h %p → target host and port

Then connect normally:

ssh foomachine
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The connection will be routed through Tinyproxy.

Summary

Tinyproxy provides:

  • A minimal, lightweight HTTP/HTTPS proxy
  • Simple configuration (port + listen address)

  • Flexible usage:

    • CLI tools (curl, env vars)
    • SSH tunneling via nc
    • General proxy routing

For most use cases, the minimal configuration shown above is sufficient to get a working proxy quickly.

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