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Thread ID: 111833 2010-08-13 11:54:00 Squid Proxy Help ryanjames.powell (13554) Press F1
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1127396 2010-08-13 11:54:00 Hi,
I'm sure there must be someone on here with some Squid experience.

I'm trying to set up a Squid proxy server, in conjunction with PaperCut to monitor users' bandwidth use. PaperCut of course requires the Squid log file to contain user authentication data, ie, the user name of the person who made each request. This is where it gets a little foggy for me.

I don't have an Active Directory Domain set up, I am running Windows Home Server Codename Vail at present, which is based on Server 2008 R2 Standard. I want authentication to use the usernames set up on the server for file sharing purposes, that is, the accounts used to authenticate will be SERVER\User_Name. Is it possible to do this, first of all, and how do I go about it?

I have got the Squid proxy up and running already, it's just the authentication part I'm having difficulty understanding, as all the info online seems to relate to AD Domains.

EDIT: The user names and passwords on each of the client machines will be the same as those set up on the server.
ryanjames.powell (13554)
1127397 2010-08-13 12:44:00 linuxdevcenter.com fred_fish (15241)
1127398 2010-08-14 01:39:00 linuxdevcenter.com

I'm not sure that will help as Papercut is Windows only.

I only have experience with squid+papercut on a domain, how many users are going to be using it? is this going to be for a business? or home use?

I have no idea if it will work but if you want to get some trial licences you could get a technet subscription for around $450 that will give you 10 licences for every current version of windows, which would enable you to upgrade to Server enterprise/standard so you could set up a domain.
Deimos (5715)
1127399 2010-08-14 01:59:00 It's only for home use, 5 users. Just toying with the idea of tracking individual users' data use in a flat situation. I don't want a domain. I've sort of figured it out, but have realised that it probably isn't going to work anyway because it's very hard to run things like Steam through a proxy, Squid only really deals with normal web traffic. ryanjames.powell (13554)
1127400 2010-08-14 02:45:00 ...Just toying with the idea of tracking individual users' data use in a flat situation...Have you looked at WebGauge (http://www.webgauge.co.nz/)? That sounds like exactly what you're after, and does an excellent job :thumbs:. Erayd (23)
1127401 2010-08-14 02:49:00 Sorry, the link seemed to have some good info on configuring squid with authentication.
I ignored the bits about paperwhatever. :)

Squid is probably serious overkill for what you want.
What are you running on your router?
You could hand roll some accounting rules for your firewall (iptables?) and have a script to tabulate it.
Or maybe a package like ipfm or darkstat (both are quite light).
fred_fish (15241)
1127402 2010-08-14 04:13:00 Yeah, I kinda wanted the print charging system in the first place, then found that it also did web monitoring, but required a proxy like Squid to do it. I also like the caching that Squid has, as it could speed things up slightly and use a bit less data. I'm not setting up a server just to do this, I already have one for backup/file sharing. ryanjames.powell (13554)
1127403 2010-08-14 04:20:00 Have you looked at WebGauge (http://www.webgauge.co.nz/)? That sounds like exactly what you're after, and does an excellent job :thumbs:.

Yeah, but it isn't free. Anyone know of any free alternatives? Surely there is software where I could use, say, ICS to route all internet traffic on the network through the server, then find out how much of it has come from each user?
ryanjames.powell (13554)
1127404 2010-08-14 11:43:00 Iptables can do it. There are also a few Linux packages around that are intended for usage tracking. Erayd (23)
1127405 2010-08-14 12:33:00 So, basically, not really any solutions for Windows then? Linux is not an option because I will be running this on a Windows Home Server, which I already have other uses for. ryanjames.powell (13554)
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