How to make LWP::Simple use a proxy?

[freak]

How to make LWP::Simple to use a proxy (without LWP::UserAgent) OR what should the script be if LWP::Simple uses an LWP::UserAgent proxy ?

2004-05-05 Edit by jdporter: Changed title from 'Connections'

[sgifford]

This is in the documentation for LWP::Simple:

The user agent created by this module will identify itself as "LWP::Simple/#.##" (where "#.##" is the libwww-perl version number) and will initialize its proxy defaults from the environment (by calling $ua->env_proxy).

and for LWP::UserEgent:

$ua->env_proxy

Load proxy settings from *_proxy environment vari­ables. You might specify proxies like this (sh-syntax):

             gopher_proxy=http://proxy.my.place/
             wais_proxy=http://proxy.my.place/
             no_proxy="localhost,my.domain"
             export gopher_proxy wais_proxy no_proxy

csh or tcsh users should use the "setenv" command to define these environment variables.

On systems with case insensitive environment variables there exists a name clash between the CGI environment variables and the "HTTP_PROXY" environment variable normally picked up by env_proxy(). Because of this "HTTP_PROXY" is not honored for CGI scripts. The "CGI_HTTP_PROXY" environment variable can be used instead.

So you should be able to simply set the appropriate environment variables.

[Tomte]

From the pod of LWP::Simple :

The user agent created by this module will identify itself as "LWP::Simple/#.##" (where "#.##" is the libwww-perl version number) and will initialize its proxy defaults from the environment (by calling $ua->env_proxy).

And accordingly looked up in the pod of LWP::UserAgent (emphasis again mine):

Load proxy settings from *_proxy environment variables. You might specify proxies like this (sh-syntax):

• gopher_proxy=http://proxy.my.place/
• wais_proxy=http://proxy.my.place/
• no_proxy="localhost,my.domain"
• export gopher_proxy wais_proxy no_proxy

csh or tcsh users should use the "setenv" command to define these environment variables.
On systems with case insensitive environment variables there exists a name clash between the CGI environment variables and the "HTTP_PROXY" environment variable normally picked up by env_proxy(). Because of this "HTTP_PROXY" is not honored for CGI scripts. The "CGI_HTTP_PROXY" environment variable can be used instead.

So just set up the environment accordingly, and LWP::Simple DWYM.

[freak]

is there a difference between an LWP::Simple connection and an LWP::UserAgent connection ?

[Tomte]

Yes! LWP::Simple is easier to use ;-P

Again from the pod:

This module is meant for people who want a simplified view of the libwww-perl library. It should also be suitable for one-liners. If you need more control or access to the header fields in the requests sent and responses received, then you should use the full object-oriented interface provided by the "LWP::UserAgent" module.

Meaning: It's a wrapper around LWP::UserAgent, simplifying it's use for simple cases...

[eXile]

From the LWP::Simple manpage:

The user agent created by this module will identify itself as
"LWP::Simple/#.##" (where "#.##" is the libwww-perl version number) an
+d
will initialize its proxy defaults from the environment (by calling
$ua->env_proxy).

I think they mean the HTTP_PROXY environment-variable, so in your script you could set something like:

$ENV{'HTTP_PROXY'}='http://proxy:3128/';

before you create the user agent.