The EBL Squid Redirector is a lightweight and swift language available across all GNU/Linux and BSD distributions, making it an accessible solution.
Review of EBL Squid Redirector Project:
EBL Squid Redirector is a fast and lightweight language that is available on every GNU/Linux distribution and BSDs. Using this software, querying EBL's server for blacklisted domains and URLs becomes highly convenient. Changes on the blacklist entries are immediately available when they happen, including new entries or category changes. Thus, it’s no longer necessary to worry if your files are updated with the latest release of a big compressed file. For more information on how to use the API, a small document has been provided for user’s convenience.
Although the added delay for the requests is minimum and not even noticeable, using a small cache for the requests ensures that EBL Squid redirector does not impact on the user's system, and the users won't notice any differences. The software installation process is also highly simplified. After extracting the files, run a few commands as the root to complete the installation successfully.
One thing to note is that if you get an error message that the Python installation is invalid and you are unable to open /usr/lib/python2.3/config/Makefile (No such file or directory), you will have to install the python-dev package to proceed with the installation. Use the specified parameters to choose the best location on your file system; the --install-scripts parameter is used to copy the main executable whereas the --install-data parameter is used to copy the configuration file. Preferred locations for these files are /usr/sbin and /etc/squid, respectively. Ensure that the main executable is located in a location listed in the $PATH environment variable.
Next, set up your authentication key by opening the file ebl-redirector.conf with your favorite editor, setting the variable username with the username you registered on EBL. Then run the following command: # ebl-redirector.py -p password 965ef71a909777a969ecec1d21dfde78bc959b1d. The program will print on screen your authentication key, get it and set the variable authkey in ebl-redirector.conf. Ensure that your password is correct; otherwise, the authkey will be wrong. Note that the password is only used to generate the authentication key and is not stored or sent over the network.
The configuration file will be searched on /etc/squid/ebl-redirector.conf by default. However, if you are using a different location for configuration, provide the path using the parameter -c /path/to/config.file. It is crucial to make sure that you have set the logging parameters correctly on the configuration file; otherwise, you will not see any log, and diagnosing problems will be very hard.
For Squid version 2.6, the parameters for configuring redirectors have changed. Although it is similar to the previous version Squid 2.5, this software does not support the new multi-thread protocol for redirectors/rewriters yet. Hence, do not change the parameter url_rewrite_concurrency from its default value of 0. Additionally, make sure to effectively use the cache system, setting it to at least 1000 entries and an expiration time of 4 hours.
For a better user experience, it is fundamental to use the whitelist feature that the redirector offers. Add to the whitelist the most common domains that your users browse. Since users tend to visit the same websites every day, using a whitelist can save a lot of useless queries,
EBL Squid Redirector is a fast and lightweight language that is available on every GNU/Linux distribution and BSDs. Using this software, querying EBL's server for blacklisted domains and URLs becomes highly convenient. Changes on the blacklist entries are immediately available when they happen, including new entries or category changes. Thus, it’s no longer necessary to worry if your files are updated with the latest release of a big compressed file. For more information on how to use the API, a small document has been provided for user’s convenience.
Although the added delay for the requests is minimum and not even noticeable, using a small cache for the requests ensures that EBL Squid redirector does not impact on the user's system, and the users won't notice any differences. The software installation process is also highly simplified. After extracting the files, run a few commands as the root to complete the installation successfully.
One thing to note is that if you get an error message that the Python installation is invalid and you are unable to open /usr/lib/python2.3/config/Makefile (No such file or directory), you will have to install the python-dev package to proceed with the installation. Use the specified parameters to choose the best location on your file system; the --install-scripts parameter is used to copy the main executable whereas the --install-data parameter is used to copy the configuration file. Preferred locations for these files are /usr/sbin and /etc/squid, respectively. Ensure that the main executable is located in a location listed in the $PATH environment variable.
Next, set up your authentication key by opening the file ebl-redirector.conf with your favorite editor, setting the variable username with the username you registered on EBL. Then run the following command: # ebl-redirector.py -p password 965ef71a909777a969ecec1d21dfde78bc959b1d. The program will print on screen your authentication key, get it and set the variable authkey in ebl-redirector.conf. Ensure that your password is correct; otherwise, the authkey will be wrong. Note that the password is only used to generate the authentication key and is not stored or sent over the network.
The configuration file will be searched on /etc/squid/ebl-redirector.conf by default. However, if you are using a different location for configuration, provide the path using the parameter -c /path/to/config.file. It is crucial to make sure that you have set the logging parameters correctly on the configuration file; otherwise, you will not see any log, and diagnosing problems will be very hard.
For Squid version 2.6, the parameters for configuring redirectors have changed. Although it is similar to the previous version Squid 2.5, this software does not support the new multi-thread protocol for redirectors/rewriters yet. Hence, do not change the parameter url_rewrite_concurrency from its default value of 0. Additionally, make sure to effectively use the cache system, setting it to at least 1000 entries and an expiration time of 4 hours.
For a better user experience, it is fundamental to use the whitelist feature that the redirector offers. Add to the whitelist the most common domains that your users browse. Since users tend to visit the same websites every day, using a whitelist can save a lot of useless queries,
What's New
Version 0.1: N/A