Proxy Settings for Github Plugin

[Gerhard Pollak-Diener]

Windows XP(build 2600, Service Pack 3), 32bit.

Version: Kicad 4.0.2-stable, release build.
wxWidgets 3.0.2 Unicode and Boost 1.59.0

Other operating systems not tested.

The proxy setting of the system is not used by Cvpcb when loading footprints from github.

If Cvpcb is opened, modules (footprints) should be loaded from github.

Expected behavior: Cvpcb opens and shows modules.

Current behavior: Cvpcb takes about 30 seconds and then shows an error Message:
IO_ERROR:
from C:/Jenkins/workspace/windows-kicad-msys2-stable/src/kicad-4.0.2/pcbnew/github/github_plugin.cpp : remote_get_zip() : line 584

I tried to set the proxy in the local .gitconfig of my account with no effect (Didn't know if this file used by the GHPLUGIN).
In my opinion the proxy should be set explicitly in github_plugin.cpp, either taking the system proxy setting or a dedicated proxy setting from the kicad gui (which is not available at the moment).

[xzcvczx (xzcvczx)]

fetching proxy settings is not going to be a simple process as neither libcurl nor wxwidgets provide this functionality, It may be restricted to having to either be set explicitly or on unix platforms it could use the https_proxy environment variable to make it easier for the user, But i don't think there is anything similar on windows.

[Giorgio (giorgio-t)]

I've same problems in Linux. Could you please be more detailed on how to use https_proxy environment?

OpenMandriva Lx3, 64 bit, KDE.

[Giorgio (giorgio-t)]

Made a mistake, distribution involved is OpenMandriva LX but it seems impossible change distribution.

[Eldar Khayrullin (eldar)]

Related https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1670698

[Giorgio (giorgio-t)]

Not clear at all on how to use https_proxy environment.

[PeterPall (peterpall)]

The problem is: As long as kicad doesn't know how to use a proxy the program is not of much use in a corporate environment => I would rate this problem higher than "wishlist".

[PeterPall (peterpall)]

Somewhere in the internet I have found the info that the following works:

git config --global http.proxy http://YOUR_PROXY_USERNAME:<email address hidden>:8080

[Wayne Stambaugh (stambaughw)]

This will solve your problem. Using the github plugin is not the same
as using git directly. The github plugin was not designed to be used
with a proxy and I doubt that it ever will. Your best bet would be to
use git directly to clone all of the KiCad footprint libraries locally
and change your global footprint library table using the provided
template for local footprint libraries:

https://github.com/KiCad/kicad-library/blob/master/template/fp-lib-table.for-pretty

On 8/8/2017 8:25 AM, PeterPall wrote:
> Somewhere in the internet I have found the info that the following
> works:
>
> git config --global http.proxy
> http://YOUR_PROXY_USERNAME:<email address hidden>:8080
>

[PeterPall (peterpall)]

Another way would be perhaps not to use git at all but to download the raw data directly from the github homepage: Github provides us with a way to do that. Looking at the code and the http communications I am quite convinced that git itself does allow to get the file in plaintext (or near plaintext) over the network, too, as kicad seems to do that.

[Rene Poeschl (poeschlr)]

The impact of this "bug" will be reduced in version 5 as the github plugin will no longer be usable for the official library anyway. (All libs in one repo.)

This means in v5 only personal libs could use the github plugin. (Assuming kicad will be compiled with support for the github plugin.)

[Wayne Stambaugh (stambaughw)]

@Rene, the change to use locally installed libraries will only effect
new users. For users that already have kicad installed, kicad will
continue to use their existing footprint library table until they change
it to use the new installed libraries. The "old" github libraries will
not be removed so they will continue to be available for users but they
will not longer be maintained.

On 2/13/2018 1:46 PM, Rene Poeschl wrote:
> The impact of this "bug" will be reduced in version 5 as the github
> plugin will no longer be usable for the official library anyway. (All
> libs in one repo.)
>
> This means in v5 only personal libs could use the github plugin.
> (Assuming kicad will be compiled with support for the github plugin.)
>

[Nick Østergaard (nickoe)]

So in other words, we won't prioritize proxy support in the current from of the github plugin. Maybe in the future if it is reworked as a proper git plugin.