How to Set Up a Private Proxy Server on Your KVM VPS

Setting up a private proxy server on your KVM VPS is a great way to enhance privacy, control internet access, or bypass geo-restrictions. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of installing and configuring a private HTTP/HTTPS proxy server using Squid — a powerful, flexible, and widely-used caching proxy.


✅ 

Prerequisites

  • KVM VPS from Hosteons
  • Root access to your VPS
  • Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 or CentOS/AlmaLinux 8/9 installed

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Step-by-Step Setup Using Squid Proxy

Step 1: Update System Packages

# For Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# For CentOS/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update -y

Step 2: Install Squid

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install squid -y

# CentOS/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf install squid -y

Step 3: Backup Default Config

sudo cp /etc/squid/squid.conf /etc/squid/squid.conf.backup

Step 4: Configure Squid

Edit the config:

sudo nano /etc/squid/squid.conf

Look for and modify these lines:

http_port 3128

Add this at the top or near ACL section to allow only your IP:

acl allowed_ips src YOUR_IP_HERE
http_access allow allowed_ips
http_access deny all

Replace YOUR_IP_HERE with your real IP. You can get it from https://ipinfo.io


Step 5: Restart Squid

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo systemctl restart squid

# CentOS/AlmaLinux
sudo systemctl restart squid

Step 6: Enable on Boot

sudo systemctl enable squid

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Step 7: Test Your Proxy

Configure your browser or tool to use your VPS IP and port 3128 as the HTTP/HTTPS proxy. You can use websites like https://whatismyipaddress.com to verify your outgoing IP.


🔐 

(Optional) Add Authentication to Your Proxy

To prevent misuse, you can add basic authentication.

  1. Install Apache utils:
sudo apt install apache2-utils -y  # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dnf install httpd-tools -y   # CentOS/AlmaLinux
  1. Create password file and user:
sudo htpasswd -c /etc/squid/passwd proxyuser
  1. Edit squid.conf and add:
auth_param basic program /usr/lib/squid/basic_ncsa_auth /etc/squid/passwd
auth_param basic realm Proxy
acl authenticated proxy_auth REQUIRED
http_access allow authenticated
  1. Restart Squid again.

✅ 

Done!

You now have a fully working private proxy server running on your Hosteons KVM VPS! This setup is lightweight, secure (with IP whitelisting or optional authentication), and suitable for personal or development use.


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