79893 - [meta] PAC: Proxy Auto Config problems - Mozilla 0.9 and later

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Core :: Networking, defect)

Description

[benc]

PAC has become too popular for the normal bug handling, so I am declaring new
ground rules:

If you have a PAC problem and you are not using mozilla 0.9 or later, do not
report your problem, upgrade to Mozilla 0.9 or later.

If you have a PAC problem with Mozilla 0.9, please see the bug digest I will be
adding below. If it does not seem to match, please post a brief description of
what is wrong. We will either send you to a bug, or create a new bug.

If you have a problem that is already in a bug and you want it fixed, VOTE.
If you have a problem that is already in a bug and you want to rant, post in
then netlib newsgroup.

(If you don't know why I'm saying this, read 53080 and send me a brief summary
of the discussion by email).

Comment 1

[benc]

qa to me.

80363 - MacOS fails.

Comment 2

[Michael Osborne]

Starting with nightly 05112001, mozilla will not start if set to use a proxy pac
file. 05102001 works fine. It appears to get stuck just after loading the
proxy.pac file.

0514200108 segfaults after loading the proxy.pac file. If you set to manual
mozilla loads fine. Setting back to proxy.pac after mozilla loads doesn't crash
but mozilla ignores any authenication response from proxy server. No request for
authentication is presented, just an error saying that authentication is required.

clean profile behavior the same.

Comment 3

[timeless]

*** Bug 80664 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 4

[mozilla]

shouldn't the severity be put to blocker since i can't get the ui of mozilla see 
bug 80664

Comment 5

[benc]

Michael,

Please move your report to a new bug, and look at the aforementioned bug. We'll
work it from there.

Comment 6

[neeti]

-->PAC bugs to Jussi

Comment 7

[benc]

Bug 79371 is the bug for crashes or startup failures. 

Comment 8

[Jussi-Pekka Mantere]

Serge, can you take a look at these PAC issues? Thanks - Jussi-Pekka

Comment 9

[Wout.Mertens]

I cannot get a normal file to work as a PAC script. I was using this feature in
Netscape 4 to configure the proxies in the various places I access with my laptop.
I try to fill in file:///d:/proxy.pac, which works in the browser (it shows me
the file), but which has no success ase the autoproxy URL.
I am using moz 0.9.2, under Win2K.RFE: How about an error message if the PAC can
not be found?

Comment 10

[Chase Tingley]

I've asked [e-mail] to file a separate bug on this.

FWIW, loading PAC via a file:// has worked for me, at least on Linux, though an
alert on failure might be useful.

Comment 11

[Steve Chapel]

When I try to use my company's PAC script, I get this error in the JavaScript
Console:

Error: PrefConfig is not defined
Source File: http://config.mcgraw-hill.com.:11111/CONFIG/autoadmin.cgi
Line: 211

The first three lines of the PAC script are:

* Generated by Netscape Configuration Editor*/

with (PrefConfig) {

Comment 12

[Chase Tingley]

I've split this off into bug 91121.

Comment 13

[Andrew Smith]

Our company's PAC has *never* worked with Mozilla, and I've only just worked out
why. It basically looks like this:

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
	if(isPlainHostName(host))
		return "DIRECT";
	else if(shExpMatch(host, "*.special-internal.com"))
		return "PROXY webproxy";
	else if(shExpMatch(host, "*.normal-internal.com"))
		return "DIRECT";
	else
		return "PROXY webproxy";
}

Mozilla just spins every time it should be hiting the proxy. But it looks fine,
and works under NN4 and IE4/5. Only after reading the PAC spec linked to in bug
91121 did I work out that the "PROXY webproxy" should strictly speaking be
"PROXY webproxy:80" even though 80 is the default HTTP port. I've made this
change to a local copy and it fixes the problem under 0.9.2.

So, either this requires a new bug for backwards/sidewards compatability, or it
needs documenting so the rest of the world can catch up. I don't think the
latter will make Mozilla many friends in the corporate world. :)

Comment 14

[Chase Tingley]

I've spun this off as bug 91630.

Comment 15

[benc]

+ relnote - need to give detailed write up for NS6.1 RTM train.

Comment 16

[benc]

RELNOTE NS 6.1 

I tried to write a draft from the dependecy tree, but it got too messy. I'm
going to tag and relnote each bug locally.

I'll see if the doc writer will post their first draft in this bug if possible.

Comment 17

[Grey Hodge (jX)]

*** Bug 92970 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 18

[jahf]

I reported a bug way back when (27802) about complex PAC files failing to work
in Mozilla. Obviously that was an understatement since at the time they didn't
work at all :)

I've been researching it again and finally came across:

<a
href="http://www.mozilla.org/docs/netlib/pac.html">http://www.mozilla.org/docs/netlib/pac.html</a>

But ... the instructions at the bottom of that page don't seem to work. I don't
know if it is an issue with the document, my implementation of the instructions,
or maybe 0.9.8 broke the instructions. Guidance on where I should go now would
be appreciated as this is my last barrier to giving up Netscape 4.78 (I've given
up on Roaming profiles, which was my other "last barrier").

Steps taken:

1) Installed Mozilla 0.9.8 (Win32 on a Windows 2000 laptop)

2) Read the instructions from:
http://www.mozilla.org/docs/netlib/pac.html

  with the following modifications:
----- originally -----
   2) Copy mozilla/netwerk/base/src/nsProxyAutoConfig.js to
mozilla/dist/bin/components (this step may not be needed if the file is already
installed there!)

   3)Edit the nsProxyAutoConfig.js file in mozilla/dist/bin/components directory
and remove the sample implementation towards the end of the file starting with
the line-

//Sample implementation ...
----- modifications -----

  ... I didn't have a mozilla/dist/bin/nsProxyAutoConfig.js ... I did have
c:\program files\mozilla.org\Mozilla\components\nsProxyAutoConfig.js ... I
assumed they were equatable?

  ... there was no '//Sample implementation ...' in the nsProxyAutoConfig.js
file, so I simply appended my 'FindProxyForURL(url, host)' (text of this
included at the bottom of this entry) function at the bottom of this file.
----- -----

3) As instructed I selected the PAC option under preferrences/advances/proxies

4) restarted Mozilla multiple times, made sure that each time I had truly closed
Mozilla (I'm using quickstart, so I closed the quickstarted process manually).

5) I never saw the '...Registering Proxy Auto Config' message, but then again
unlike under Linux I don't have a nice console to view this on, so it may be
happening.

...

Questions:

a) how can I check under Win32 to see if it has registered the file on loading?

b) should this work on Win32?

c) where should I look next?


...

An example of my PAC file (trimmed down to the needed pieces, it's actually more
complicated and I can post the whole bit if it will help ... this version also
works in Netscape 4.78 so it's a functional example):

function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {
// direct to VPN if using subdomain, otherwise use the proxy
  if (shExpMatch(host.toLowerCase(), "*.(central|corp|west)(|.sun.com)")) {
    return "DIRECT;";
  } else {
	return "PROXY 192.168.34.1:3128;";
  }
}

Comment 19

[[e-mail]]

jahf, those instructions are horribly out of date. They were interim
instructions until real PAC support landed in Summer 2001. If your version of
Mozilla is less than six months old you need only choose Edit/Preferences from
the menu, then expand Advanced, and choose Proxies (just like in NS 4.x) and
configure things there. Please report any bugs you find in a new bug report.

HEY! Please anyone with Mozilla.org write privs receiving this, make those
instructions disappear. Better that users stumble on NS 4.x PAC instructions
from Google (which will work) than that they read Gagan's hacking tips and rip
open Mozilla's guts with a text editor.

Comment 20

[benc]

Bug 128271. I don't know who will own that, I can provide draft content and
technical editing there.

Comment 21

[serge (gone)]

to default owner

Comment 22

[benc]

taking back PAC...

Comment 23

[benc]

Temporarily "futuring" all PAC&SOCKS bugs to clear new-networking queue.

I will review later. (I promise)

If you object, and can make a case for a mozilla 1.0 fix, please reset milestone
to  "--" or email me.

Comment 24

[Stephen P. Morse]

Here's a list of open PAC bugs not included in the depends-on list above.  I 
don't know if you want to add them in or not.

bug 79248
bug 83984
bug 96149
bug 100022
bug 112935
bug 128270
bug 138362
bug 139772

Comment 25

[Stephen P. Morse]

In an effort to see where we stand on PAC issues with regards to the MACH V 
release, I have compiled a list of all open PAC bugs and classified them by 
severity.

IMO, the only ones that should even be considered for the pending MACH V release 
are the first two.  One is a documentation issue and does not affect the product 
build.  The other is a serious lacking in the product.  However the patch is 
non-trivial and has a high risk associated with it.  Therefore it should not be 
taken at this time.


documentation issue:

128270 [e-mail]:  update documentation and remove gagan's notes 


major bugs

 84798 [e-mail]   Failover does not work. 


minor bugs

 78176 new-network-bugs@..  SOCKS return value is not version specific 
 78436 [e-mail]     PAC files need to be displayed (not loaded) 
 79244 new-network-bugs@..  myIPAddress() 
 79248 [e-mail]:  mail folders disappear w/ PAC failures 
 83984 new-network-bugs@..  autoproxy (PAC) should not load at startup 
 86846 new-network-bugs@..  Cannot display alert() in autproxy config file 
 90308 [e-mail]   notify user when PAC can't be loaded (bad url, etc) 
 91121 new-network-bugs@..  "PrefConfig is not defined" 
 96149 [e-mail]   Full URL of proxy required in Moz but not in N4.7
 97605 [e-mail]   PAC execution should not block the UI thread 
100022 new-network-bugs@..  connectn to page refused on startup when PAC enabled
112935 [e-mail]   reload btn obeys proxy settings rather than DIRECT
139772 [e-mail]   HTTP auth support 


enhancements

 79242 [e-mail]   isInNet function needs to support new addressing
 89928 new-network-bugs@..  PAC overhaul (use PAC for everything)
 97607 new-network-bugs@..  PAC2: directive for HTTP version
138362 new-network-bugs@..  using PAC for ad-blocking ([e-mail]'s file) 

Comment 26

[benc]

Absent any marketing feedback, I vote for fixing failover and calling it a day. 

If you want to actually make it workable, you need to do a compatability review
of the functional calls with 4xp. The lack of robust error handling makes
working in this area (esp. testing) quite horrible and time consuming.

If you want to make it usable, there are several major UI problems that need to
be fixed, maybe someone who does a lot of UI could be brought in for quick fixes.

As for QA, who's group do you work for. I don't know if QA officially considers
this a networking feature anymore.

Comment 27

[Peter Trudelle]

Development on this is now owned by the Navigator team, though I'm not aware
that any change in QA ownership goes along with it.

Comment 28

[Christopher Wanko]

I vote for implementing it correctly, along the lines of Netscape 4.7x
functionality.  Clear out the underbrush, knock it out.

Comment 29

[Andrei Boros]

I vote for implementing it correctly, along the lines of Netscape 4.7x
functionality.  Clear out the underbrush, knock it out.

In a related incident to comment #13:

Our proxy.pac file is loaded as:
http://internal.server/path/proxy.pac (pretty generic)

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
    if (dnsDomainIs(host,"internal")) {
        return "DIRECT";
    } else

     if (isInNet(myIpAddress(),"192.168.0.0","255.255.255.0")) {
        return "PROXY proxy1.internal:3128; PROXY proxy2.internal:3128; DIRECT";
     } else
       return "DIRECT";
}

In this file I respect the specs with host:port.

Mozilla 1.2b behaviour:
always uses DIRECT.

Comment 30

[benc]

(we have a PAC failover bug, so please put the technical discussion in bug 84798)

Comment 31

[Michael]

I have a similar problem with Mozilla 1.3(Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 
5.0; en-US; rv:1.3) Gecko/20030312)
At first a part of my proxy.pac file:
----
function FindProxyForURL (url, host)
{
   if ( shExpMatch(url,"http:*") || shExpMatch(url,"ftp:*"))
    {
     return "PROXY xxx.xxx.245.147:8080; PROXY xxx.xxx.247.178:8080; DIRECT";
    }
-----
Instead the xxx are the real IP of my company ;-) .
If the first proxy is up, Mozilla works well. If the first proxy is down, the 
second proxy should answer. But with Mozilla 1.3 it dosn't work 
(displays "Operation timed out when atempting to contact www.bochum.de"). With 
Netcape 7.x and MS Expl6 it works. Both proxy works correctly.
Reproducibility:
Everytime when first proxy is down. 
Any first hint? 

Comment 32

[Andrei Boros]

Comment #31 says Netscape 7.x works with proxy failover. 
Isn't Netscape 7 still based on Mozilla? Then they fixed this in their branch 
(which I'm sure it's older then Mozilla-1.3) while Mozilla still has this bug...

Comment 33

[benc]

To my knowledge, this doesn't work in Mozilla 1.0.0 nor Netscape 7.

I just tested it again and verified w/ a network trace.

Comment 34

[Sascha Schmidt]

I really found a workaround for this problem:

Use your wpad.pac file like this:

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
   if (isResolvable(host)
   {
       <... your stuff ...>
   } else
      return "DIRECT";
}

This works for me... 

Greets
Sascha

Comment 35

[Patrick McManus [:mcmanus]]

tracking bug that is no longer up to date