Ubuntu Software Centre can not install packages behind authenticated http proxies when the user does not click on "apply systemwide"

[Corneil du Plessis]

Ubuntu Software Center 1.1.17, Ubuntu 10.04
Ubuntu Software Center 2.1.22.3, Ubuntu 10.10

User should not have to configure env vars to install packages behind a firewall.

See also bug 742564 about proxies for ratings and reviews, and bug 851643 about proxies for get_review_stats_helper.py.

[romkal (romkal)]

Can you at least paste the env variables that you should set to work around this bug? I'm also affected and it would be nice to at least find some temporary solution here.

[Matt Hanyok (matthew-hanyok)]

Just ran into this problem. Synaptic and network sources are configured to use the proxy settings but software center isn't.

Seems to me that when you put the settings in "network proxy preferences" that *everything* should use it, rather than having to configure synaptic and whatever else individually. Doesn't it defeat the purpose of having that preferences panel?

I also noticed that this bug was fixed in 9.10, so the fix seems to have been lost in the transition to 10.04 (see bug 466142).

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

Just upgraded to 10.04 from 9.10, Ubuntu Software Center seems to ignore proxy settings no matter how you set it up.

- network proxy in system preferences is setup and applied globally
- network proxy is manually configured in package manager
- in gnome-terminal, did export http_proxy and ftp_proxy and lanunched software center from the command line

All of these settings seem to be ignored. I can live with this because I usually use package manager rather than software center, but it's annoying nonetheless, especially in business context where squid or other proxy is usually in place.

marcello@ced-desktop:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS
Release: 10.04
Codename: lucid

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Why is it that every program seems to need to implement proxy recognition separately? Because their developers almost always aren't using a proxy, so they naturally forget. aptdaemon, bug 446069. apturl, bug 12609. Deskbar, bug 32770. F-Spot, bug 116796. Synaptic, bug 13661. Update Manager, bug 446552. Even msttcorefonts, bug 56880. Shouldn't this be fixed at the networking library level somehow?

[Matt Hanyok (matthew-hanyok)]

I agree with that sentiment. Having recently used Ubuntu (and opensuse) on a connection that required proxy settings I was surprised to find that the "universal" proxy settings don't seem to apply to very many programs. It seems to me that it defeats the purpose of having a universal proxy setting if you still have to configure multiple programs individually.

[Muriel de Souza Godoi (murielgodoi)]

I still confirm this on Ubuntu 10.10. Proxy issue still is abandoned by several problems.
Software-center version: 2.1.22.3

I think that proxy setting could be set on network-manager each connection has its own proxy settings. So you don't need to set it manually when at work/university or home.

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu maverick (development branch)
Release: 10.10
Codename: maverick

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

It's really annoying that proxy settings are not honored properly across ubuntu software center, package manager and firefox. One would expect that by setting proxy in the system preferences and hitting "apply system wide", that's what would happen. In a business context this small annoyance is going to make ubuntu appear as a "toy" OS, unsuitable for business use.
Also, this bug has hit me since 9.04 (didn't use Ubuntu at $work before). It's about time devs wake up and fix this!

Just so I'm not misunderstood: I love Ubuntu, actually I'm installing it in new machines whenever possible.

[Jan Claeys (janc)]

On Windows and Mac OS X this same issue exists with some programs, but (probably) not in programs installed with the OS by default. I guess there needs to be a test for at least all applications in main to make sure they use the proxy settings...

@MPT: there is not one network library, but several, and maybe some applications even implement (what they need from) HTTP themselves. I'm pretty sure that applications which use libsoup (which includes all applications that use gvfs for HTTP/HTTPS) or libcurl or Python's urllib/urllib2 modules or a similar widely-used high-level library will already work correctly.

But I think that the real problem is that the settings in GNOME only set the proxy for GNOME applications.

[cuby (cuby)]

I cannot connect using "ubuntu software center". I have a proxy with authentication.
Direct connection works well.
I have Ubuntu 10.10 i386 final, up to date.

[cuby (cuby)]

This may be related to bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/empathy/+bug/658445

[3esmit (3esmit)]

This bug report in launchpad should be for all applications that are not respecting the Proxy Settings.
I am trying to organize it, but I am learning how to use launchpad, so apologies if I do something wrong.
-
I still believe in what Muriel de Souza Godoi at #7, the proxy settings should be in network-manager (since this is what a network-manager does). This is the best solution, and it will change proxy settings in the ground layer, so applications would have no option unless use proxy settings.

[Michael Stuart-Matthews (mikesm)]

Just did a fresh install of Ubuntu 10.10 64bit and was unable to connect using the Ubuntu Software Centre. I also had connectivity issues running apt-get update.

Fixed by creating a file at /etc/apt/apt.conf containing the proxy IP:
Acquire::http::Proxy "http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:port/";

[Tynan Rollo (rollot)]

I also had this issue in Ubuntu 10.10 32bit, however I was able to mostly resolve it by modifying my /etc/apt/apt.conf according to zerozone's post in the following link:

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-83401.html

I wasn't able to see any "For Purchase" apps, however I was able to install and update from both the Update Manager and the Ubuntu Software Centre. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to resolve the Empathy issue.

For reference, here is what my apt.conf looks like:

APT::Authentication::TrustCDROM "true";
Acquire::http::proxy "http://domain\username:<email address hidden>:port/";
Acquire::ftp::proxy "http://domain\username:<email address hidden>:port/";
Acquire::https::proxy "http://domain\username:<email address hidden>:port/";

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

The workaround for this bug has been to use Synaptic. But in Ubuntu 11.10, Synaptic will not be shipped by default. People wanting to install Synaptic will be told to install it from USC. But they can't do that if USC can't connect through their proxy. Therefore, I'm promoting this to High importance.

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

This bug might be related to #545134

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

@Marcello Romani
This bug *is* bug 545134. Did you mean to say that this might be related to some other bug (or to post in some other bug saying that it might be related to this)?

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

Sorry, my faoult. In my account's bug list this bug is listed twise, once related to ubuntu software center, the other related to Empathy. I didn't look at the bug ids, and thought they were two different bugs.

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

This is the link I was talking about:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/empathy/+bug/545134

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

Yes, such a duplicate listing is intended behavior of Launchpad, as this bug is currently filed against both the project Empathy and the package software-center in Ubuntu. Such things are occasionally confusing though...

[Marcello Romani (marcello-romani)]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

(The confusing Launchpad behavior is bug 1357. Meanwhile, this bug has nothing to do with Empathy, so I'm marking it Invalid.)

[Michael Vogt (mvo)]

Thanks for your bugreport.

I tried to reproduce this issue today on my oneiric system and installing packages from a proxy work for me.
Here is what I did:
1. open gnome-control-center
2. go the network capplet there
3. add method: manual and proxy "localhost" port 3128 (this is my proxy config)
4. click on "apply system-wide", enter password
5. start software-center
6. navigate to a random package (2vcard in my case)
7. install it
8. verify via /var/log/squid/access.log that its actually fetched from the proxy:
  1317197446.264 206 127.0.0.1 TCP_MISS/200 14717 GET http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/2/2vcard/2vcard_0.5-3_all.deb - DIRECT/91.189.88.46 application/x-debian-package
  1317197465.482 142 127.0.0.1 TCP_MISS/404 481 HEAD http://screenshots.ubuntu.com/screenshot-with-version/2vcard/0.5-3 - DIRECT/91.189.89.31 image/png

So I would like to ask for more information. I see some references to usename/password - is this a problem with authenticated
proxies maybe only?

Please note that setting the proxy systemwide is essential for this to work as the package install service (aptdaemon) runs
as a seperate user then the software-center.

[lophie (lophesuicire)]

Yes. This happends only with HTTP proxies which requires authentication.

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Michael Vogt <email address hidden>wrote:

> Thanks for your bugreport.
>
> I tried to reproduce this issue today on my oneiric system and installing
> packages from a proxy work for me.
> Here is what I did:
> 1. open gnome-control-center
> 2. go the network capplet there
> 3. add method: manual and proxy "localhost" port 3128 (this is my proxy
> config)
> 4. click on "apply system-wide", enter password
> 5. start software-center
> 6. navigate to a random package (2vcard in my case)
> 7. install it
> 8. verify via /var/log/squid/access.log that its actually fetched from the
> proxy:
> 1317197446.264 206 127.0.0.1 TCP_MISS/200 14717 GET
> http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/2/2vcard/2vcard_0.5-3_all.deb- DIRECT/
> 91.189.88.46 application/x-debian-package
> 1317197465.482 142 127.0.0.1 TCP_MISS/404 481 HEAD
> http://screenshots.ubuntu.com/screenshot-with-version/2vcard/0.5-3 -
> DIRECT/91.189.89.31 image/png
>
> So I would like to ask for more information. I see some references to
> usename/password - is this a problem with authenticated
> proxies maybe only?
>
> Please note that setting the proxy systemwide is essential for this to work
> as the package install service (aptdaemon) runs
> as a seperate user then the software-center.
>
>
> ** Changed in: software-center (Ubuntu)
> Status: Triaged => Incomplete
>
> ** Summary changed:
>
> - Ubuntu Software Centre ignores system and apt Proxy settings
> + Ubuntu Software Centre can not install packages behind certain proxy
> configs
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (533105).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/545134
>
> Title:
> Ubuntu Software Centre can not install packages behind certain proxy
> configs
>
> Status in Chat app, and Telepathy user interface:
> Invalid
> Status in “software-center” package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Ubuntu Software Center 1.1.17, Ubuntu 10.04
> Ubuntu Software Center 2.1.22.3, Ubuntu 10.10
>
> User should not have to configure env vars to install packages behind
> a firewall.
>
> See also bug 742564 about proxies for ratings and reviews, and bug
> 851643 about proxies for get_review_stats_helper.py.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/empathy/+bug/545134/+subscriptions
>

[lophie (lophesuicire)]

Yes Michael, The bug is "specifically" for http proxies which require authentication. If the proxy does not require it then the problem would be not clicking on "Apply system wide".

[alfredo (alacis)]

Confirm it happens for my desktop PC here in my work office which is behind a proxy which requires authentication.

Synaptic Package Manager works fine.

So --- this is the PERFECT reason *NOT* to 'upgrade' from 11.04 !

Because in post 15 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/software-center/+bug/545134/comments/15 , Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) wrote:

"The workaround for this bug has been to use Synaptic. But in Ubuntu 11.10, Synaptic will not be shipped by default."

WHO DECIDES THIS STUFF, ANYWAY?

Doesn't anybody do any QA?, where one of the tick-boxes should be "Will it work in the same environments as Synaptic Package manager?"

(This is really about LAZINESS, and being non-caring.)

[alfredo (alacis)]

In addition to this, you can't file a bug from Software Centre because ...

Three dramatic chords: Dah, dah, da-a-ah!

... it won't file the bug through a proxy!

("Our plan is working, master!" said Igor.)

[Kiren Pillay (kirenpillay1)]

I am running into the same issue. There should be one proxy setting system-wide. Also the system-wide proxy settings doesn't include an ignore list, a definite necessity when behind a proxy.

I think in addition, the system proxy manager (in 10.04 if memory serves, had the ability to store settings for multiple locations. Useful as I work in three locations each with different proxy settings)

[Thomas Malone (k1t)]

I can confirm that this is still a problem in 12.04. Go to Network Settings -> Network Proxy and then enter my settings... apt doesn't pick up the proxy, and the Software Center doesn't work. Have to manually enter settings in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d to get any joy (works fine after that). Firefox and Chromium both appear to respect the system wide proxy -- kinda ironic that such a core part of Ubuntu doesn't.

[Nick Tait (nickthetait)]

Bump #29. Experiencing the same problem in 12.10. I followed http://askubuntu.com/a/110876/133566 as a workaround.

I agree with #5. "Apply System Wide" button is misleading. Until proxy functionality is handled at the correct layer, this button should say something else or add a text box with more explanation.

Would it be possible to give developers a way to automatically test with a simulated proxy?