gnome-network-properties does not set apt proxy correctly

[JP Meijers]

Binary package hint: gnome-control-center

Ubuntu version:
Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS and
Ubuntu maverick (development branch)

Package version:
Lucid: 1:2.30.1-0ubuntu1
Maverick: 1:2.31.91-0ubuntu1

How to replicate:
Go to System -> Preferences -> Network Proxy (or gnome-network-properties)
Manual, Use same for all protocols, proxy.sun.ac.za port 3128
Ignored hosts: *.sun.ac.za and 146.232.0.0/16
Apply Sytem-wide
Restart computer

Part 1:
run: sudo aptitude update
w/h: apt tries to use the proxy to connect to the ubuntu repository at ftp://ftp.sun.ac.za/
w/s/h: apt should obey the ignored hosts and connect directly to this server
workaround: comment out "Acquire::ftp::proxy "ftp://proxy.sun.ac.za:3128";" in /etc/apt/apt.conf. Then apt connects directly to ALL ftp servers.

Part 2: (after workaround has been applied)
sudo aptitude install flashplugin-installer
w/h: apt calls wget, which on its turn tries to download the flashplugin from http://archive.canonical.com directly, without using the proxy server.
w/s/h: wget, which is called by apt, should obey the proxy rules set "system-wide" in gnome-network-properties.
workaround: running a transparent proxy on another computer through which the traffic is routed. Or "sudo killall wget" a lot of times and let the install fail.
The same happens when installing ttf-mscorefonts-installer, which is also called by wine and ubuntu-restricted-extras.

This bug is present since 10.04 and affects all users on networks behind proxy servers. This includes university networks.

Bug also affects:
aptitude
apt-get
software-center
wget

This bug can be classified as a security vulnerability as access to update-repositories might be blocked (part 1).

[dazza5000 (darran-kelinske)]

I am thinking possibly related to 251811. I wonder if this is for certain a problem with gnome-network-properties or possibly related to aptitude, apt-get, software-center... not using the proxies that are defined

[JP Meijers (jpm)]

In Part1, it is clear that gnome-network-properties writes the proxy configuration to the /etc/apt/apt.conf file. This is correct, but the "Ignored Hosts" is not written to this file. Therefore I see at least Part1 as a bug in gnome-network-properties.

251811 might be ralated to Part2.

[Alexander Heitmann (alexheitmann)]

Here is my analysis:

apt-get, etc. uses the environment variables, unless apt.conf overrides them. Using gnome-network-properties, only the proxy is stored in apt.conf, without the exceptions. Automatic proxies are not stored at all.

Synaptic, etc. does not pass proxy settings (the sudo call does not preserve the environment), and so wget does not know about the proxy and tries to connect directly.

Without the apt.conf, when sudo suing and setting environment variables, apt-get works correctly for all cases.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Thanks for the report, it has been some time without any response or feedback in this bug report and we are wondering if this is still an issue for you with the latest release of Ubuntu the Natty Narwhal, May you please test with that version and comment back if you're still having or not the issue? Please have a look at http://www.ubuntu.com/download to know how to install that version. Thanks in advance and sorry for the late response.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for gnome-control-center (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]