Using a Windows VPS as a proxy server

A proxy can be very helpful, it can help you hide your IP address, access blocked websites, speed up surfing, and bypass region restrictions. The down side, proxy sites are slow and and very unstable, they don't support advanced web applications, such as JavaScript, and will be unavailable fairly often. The solution, build your very own proxy server. By using your Windows VPS as a proxy server you will get the best performance and have the most control over the proxy. Setting up your Windows VPS to work as a proxy server is simple, all you need to do is install proxy server software, such as CCProxy, and add a rule to your firewall.

CCproxy is easy-to-use and powerful proxy server software that features powerful account management functions, such as bandwidth control, web and content filtering and time control. But best of all, CCProxy provides a 3-user free version of its proxy server software.

Install CCProxy on the Server

CCProxy Installer

• First thing, download CCProxy here. Save ccproxysetup.exe somewhere, so you can find it later.
• Once its downloaded connect to your VPS, make sure to load the drive where ccproxysetup.exe is saved. If you need help with this you can follow this tutorial, Remote Desktop Connection with Local Resources.
• once successfully connected, open My Computer and locate ccproxysetup.exe, move it to the VPS desktop.
• Run ccproxysetup.exe and follow the on-screen instruction to install CCProxy.

Configuring CCProxy

When the installer is finished you can start configuring CCProxy, and the first thing you will have to do is create a new account.

Account Creation

The Account Manager Window

The Account Creation Window

Open the account manager by clicking on the "Account" button. The first thing you will see is the "Permit Category" Setting this to Permit Only will require anyone trying to connect have the proper authorization.

CCProxy supports several authentication types such as "IP Address", "MAC Address", "User/Password" and some combined auth types as you can see in the drop down. It's recommended to use "User/Password" so that anyone can connect from any computer, with the correct account information. The account is what you will need to make next, click on the "New" button to open the account creation screen.

• Set the desired username and password for the account in the appropriate fields.
• Set the number of connections you want the account to allow at once, leaving it at -1 will allow an unlimited number of connections
• Same with the bandwidth, leaving it at -1 will allow unlimited bandwidth but you can change it if you want.
• You may choose to use a web filter to stop users from accessing certain sites.
• You may choose to use a time schedule to control when users can connect to the proxy.
• When you have finished configuring the account press "OK", you will notice that the user has been added to the list in the account manager.

You can create up to 3 users when using the free version of CCProxy, each one with different rules. When you have created all of the accounts you want you can close the account manager and move on to the next step of configuring CCProxy.

Network Configuration

The Configuration Window

This step might sound difficult but its fairly simple. What you will want to do is open the configuration window by clicking on the "Options" button.

Here you will find a list of all the default ports that will be used for the proxy server, you can change the ports if you need. You will also see "Local IP Address" ensure that auto detect is checked.

Once you have decided upon the ports you want to use, open up the "Advanced" option window and move to the "Networks" tab. Here you will have to uncheck the "Disable External Users" so that you can connect to the proxy from anywhere.

When you have done all that you press "OK" and move on to the next step.

Firewall Configuration

The final step for configuring CCProxy before it can work, is adding some rules to the firewall. For CCProxy to work you will need open the ports it uses. As a default setting, CCProxy uses port 808 and 1080 for HTTP and SOCKS proxy, these two protocols are mostly used. If you want to use other proxy protocol such as FTP and News, you also need to add a rule for these ports as well. If you don't know how to open the ports on your firewall you can follow this tutorial, Firewall - Opening Ports

Connecting to the Proxy Server

You have finally finished configuring CCProxy, the final step is connecting to the proxy server. There are two ways for you to connect to your proxy server, the first requires you to add the proxy server setting inside the browser you are using and the second requires an add-on for your browser.

Adding the proxy server settings is basically the same for all of the major browser, such as IE, Firefox, Chrome, and so on

Connecting with Internet Explorer

Proxy server settings for IE Click "Tools" -> "Internet Options" -> "Connections" -> "LAN Settings" -> select "Use a proxy server for your LAN" -> "Advanced", configure as below.

Connecting with Firefox

Proxy server settings for Firefox Click "Tools" -> "Options" -> "Advanced" -> "Network" -> "Connections" -> "Settings" -> "Manual proxy configuration", configure as below.

Connecting with Google Chrome

Proxy server settings for Chrome "Options" -> "Under the Hood" -> "Network" -> click the "Change proxy settings" button, you will get the "Internet Options" dialog box of IE. The proxy server settings of Chrome is based on IE proxy server settings, so please just consult the IE image.

Connecting with a Proxy Manager

One problem that you will have is that, whenever you want to enable or disable the proxy you will have to go into the browsers proxy settings to turn it on or off. An simpler way to control your proxy server is by using a proxy manager, like FoxyProxy. FoxyProxy is an add-on for Firefox, IE, and Chrome that allows you to store all of your proxy settings, and turn the proxy on and off with only a few clicks. Tutorials for how to install and setup FoxyProxy can be found here.