How to get the proxy IP address

Question

I’m setting up an application that requires knowing the IP address of the current proxy server. How can I retrieve the proxy IP address, and are there any platform-specific commands or code snippets that make this easier? Is there a standard way to detect if a proxy is being used?

Examples of methods for obtaining a proxy IP in different environments would be useful.

Answer 1

Depending on your environment, there are many methods for retrieving the proxy IP address (e.g., operating system, programming language, or network setup). I'll go over common ways to find out if a proxy is being used below, along with how to get the proxy IP address in various situations. Keep in mind that certain techniques can call for particular permissions or administrative rights.

1. Command Line (CLI) Methods

Windows:

• Using netsh (for system-wide proxy):

netsh winhttp show proxy

This command shows the current winhttp proxy settings. If a proxy is set, you'll see the IP address and port.

• Using PowerShell (for more detailed network configuration):

(Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings').ProxyEnable; 
(Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings').ProxyServer

This will indicate if the proxy is enabled and display the proxy server address if set.

Linux/macOS (using Terminal):

Checking Environment Variables:

echo $http_proxy || echo $HTTP_PROXY
echo $https_proxy || echo $HTTPS_PROXY

If set, these will display the proxy URLs (including IP addresses if used instead of domain names).

• Inspecting System Proxy Settings: 

Depending on your desktop environment or distribution, you might use commands like gsettings (for GNOME), dconf, or check the network settings configuration files (e.g., /etc/environment, /etc/profile, or ~/.bashrc).

Example (Python)

You can check environment variables for proxies or use libraries that detect proxies.

import os

# Checking environment variables
print(os.getenv('http_proxy') or os.getenv('HTTP_PROXY'))
print(os.getenv('https_proxy') or os.getenv('HTTPS_PROXY'))

# Using the `requests` library with a URL to detect proxy usage
import requests
response = requests.get('http://httpbin.org/ip')
print(response.json()['origin'])