The Squid Proxy Server module
If you want to set up or configure Squid from within Webmin, you will need to use the Squid Proxy Server module, found under the Servers category.
If you have not configured or started Squid on your system before, the cache directory has probably not been set up yet. The module will detect this and display a message like *Your Squid cache directory /var/spool/squid has not been initialized* above the table of icons. To initialize the cache, follow these steps :
If you are unhappy with the displayed cache directory, now is the time to change it.
Follow the instructions in the Adding cache directories section to define your own directories before continuing.
In the as Unix user field enter the name of the user who will own the cache files and who the daemon process will run as.
Typically this will be a special squid user created for the purpose (and the field will default to squid if such a user exists), but in fact any user will do.
I recommend using the Users and Groups module to create a user called squid whose home directory is the cache directory if needed though.
Click the Initialize Cache button.
The Squid configuration will be updated to use your chosen username, and the command squid -z will be run to set up the cache directories.
All output that it produces will be displayed so that you can see how the initialization is progressing.
When the process is complete, return to the module’s main page and the error message should have disappeared.
If Squid is not installed at all on your system (or installed in a different location to the one Webmin expects), an error message like The Squid config file /etc/squid.conf does not exist will appear on the main page instead of the table of icons.
If you really do have it installed, read the *Configuring the Squid Proxy Server module* section for instructions on how to change the paths the module uses.
On the other hand, if it really is not installed you should use the Software Packages module (covered on SoftwarePackages) to install the squid package from your Linux distribution CD or website.
If no such package exists for your operating system, you will need to download, compile and install the latest version of Squid from www.squid-cache.org. As long as you have a compiler installed on your system, this is a relatively simple process with no dependencies.
Once the server is installed, if you want to make use of it in the long term you should arrange to have it started at boot time, using the Bootup and Shutdown module (which chapter 9 explains how to use). All Linux packages include a bootup action script for Squid, although it may be disabled by default thus requiring you to enable it in that module.
Otherwise you will need to create an action that runs a command like =/usr/local/squid/bin/squid -sY=, assuming that you have Squid installed in /usr/local/squid.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
