Updated March 28, 2023
Definition of Nginx Forward Proxy
Nginx forward proxy is a middleware between the host and the client of the resource which was requested. We can say that the traffic is going through the machine which was additional for getting to the destination. The nginx forward proxy will continuing the request on behalf of the client. At the time when the host server will accept the request then only we can see the IP of the nginx proxy server.
What is Nginx Forward Proxy?
The nginx forward proxy is the downside of forwarding proxy in which they are working on the level of application, so we need to set up a proxy for every application on which we are planning to route traffic. We can mask the location and IP for gaining the access to services which was location restricted. The internal networks which were isolated is needed to connect the resources to the network. We can catch the request by using nginx forward proxy for the specific server content which was used to change the order of resources.
How to use nginx forward proxy Classification?
To use the classification install the ngx http proxy connect module for supporting the method of connecting, for extending the nginx as a forward proxy. The below steps shows how to use an nginx forward proxy classification as follows.
- First, we are building an environment. We are considering ubuntu as an environment. In environment building we are installing the environment first we are installing the nginx on our server. We can install the nginx by using the following command.
apt-get install nginx
2. After installing the nginx server we can check the nginx installed version by using the following command as follows.
nginx –V
3. After installing the nginx server now we are adding the ngx http proxy connect module for the environment which was existing as follows. Below we have already added the module so we have no need to do anything.
4. After adding the module now in this step we are configuring the nginx configuration file as follows.
server {
listen 443;
resolver 10.128.192.101;
proxy_connect;
proxy_connect_allow 443;
proxy_connect_connect_timeout 25s;
proxy_connect_read_timeout 25s;
proxy_connect_send_timeout 25s;
# forward proxy request
location / {
proxy_pass http://$host;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
}
}
5. After configuring the file now we are seeing the application scenario of the http request. The request of a proxy server needs to be established with the tunnel and the proxy server is the common proxy which the client is used. In the below example, we are using a google URL as follows.
Nginx forward proxy Solution
As per the classification at the time of using nginx as the forward proxy and the https proxy the proxy is known as the transmission of transparent proxy. This proxy will not decrypt or perceives the traffic which is the upper layer. The forward proxy solution will be available on layer 7 and layer 4.
- Layer 7 solution – In 1998 when the TLS is not available formally, Netscape is promoted the protocol which was proposed by using the web proxy for tunneling the traffic. The first idea is to use the request of http connect between proxy and client. Connect request is specifying the host and the port which was used to access the client request.
- Layer 4 solution – As the traffic of the upper layer is transmitted transparently, then the nginx server is used to server the proxy for transmission completely transparent into the above TCP and UDP protocols.
Using the stream of nginx as an https traffic proxy at the layer of TCP will lead to the same problem which was we have mentioned. The proxy server will not obtain the name of the target domain which was the client is accessing. This will happens because when the information is obtained at the time of TCP layer is limited to the port and IP address without obtaining any name of the domain.
For obtaining the domain of target for the https traffic, without decrypting the traffic of https. So we can say that the nginx stream is not an l4 proxy. From the version of nginx 1.11, nginx will support the ngx stream ssl preread module. This module will help us to obtain the ALP and SNI from the hello packet for the layer 4 forward proxy. The ability for extracting the SNI from the packet of hello is crucial. It will bring restrictions on another client to use the SNI field in our hello packet at the time of using the SSL and TLS protocol of handshake.
Nginx forward proxy Environment
The nginx forward proxy environment is the basis of whether the proxy will be client transparent. There are two types of client proxy transparent as follows.
- Common proxy – By using a common proxy we can configure the port and address manually into the system variable of the browser. For example at the time of specifying the port and IP address of the squid server.
- Transparent proxy – By using transparent proxy we have no need to settings proxy on to the client. The role of the proxy is transparent. For example Device of a web gateway in a network of enterprises is nothing but a transparent proxy.
The nginx forward proxy environment is the basis of whether the proxy will be https encrypt. There are two types of the https proxy encrypt as follows.
- Tunnel proxy – This proxy is used to transmit the traffic transparently. The tunnel proxy server basically transmits the traffic of https over the TCP transparently. It is not decrypting or perceiving the specific content to the traffic of proxy. The client is performing target server direct interaction.
- Man in middle proxy – This proxy server is used to decrypt the traffic of https and also uses the signed self-certificate for completing the SSL handshake with the client and also will complete the normal interaction with the target server. We can set up two SSL / TLS sessions on to link of the client proxy server.
Conclusion
By using the nginx forward proxy we can masking the location and IP for gaining access to services. Nginx forward proxy will continuing the request on behalf of the client. At the time when the host server will accept the request then only we can see the IP of the nginx proxy server.
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