#54 SafeExamBrowser 2.1.3 on Windows 10 does not use the system proxy settings when configured to use system proxy

[Deepak Vasa]

I have installed v 2.1.3 of SEB on my Windows 10 desktop and configured the SEB config tool to point to www.google.com and ensured that the SEB config is set to use the System proxy settings.

In the internet options I have entered my proxy server details under the manual proxy settings and saved the changes. I am using CCProxy and set it to allow only (basic) authenticated users.

When I use Chrome or Edge browsers I get a prompt to enter the authentication details for my proxy. However when I use Safe Exam Browser I do not get any prompts for authentication and the SEB tries to go to the internet and ignores the proxy server completly.

Can you please let me know if there's any other steps that I need to take to force SEB to use my proxy server? Can you please investigate why SEB is unable to use the system proxy settings?

Many thanks

[Deepak Vasa]

Here's some clarification on what I meant when "SEB tries to go to the internet":

On my machine I installed CCProxy and configured Internet Options to use CCProxy as my authenticated proxy server. However apps that do not honour the system proxy settings can still go to Internet as there is no firewall block as the CC Proxy is installed on my local machine itself.

So when I tested SEB, it was able to go to Internet as it ignored the proxy server settings. Chrome and Edge browser would honour the system proxy settings and show the authentication prompt.

[Daniel Schneider]

As the manual states, currently only proxies without authentication are supported in SEB. This apparently also applies to system proxy settings, either because the SEB browser would need to display the authentication dialog or SEB is blocking the dialog displayed by the system. Or does your proxy software display the dialog? In the latter case you could try to allow the proxy software as a permitted application.

I just tested SEB 2.1.3 on Windows 10 with a proxy which displays an authentication dialog in the browser window (as long as the system isn't authenticated yet in the proxy) and that works as expected with the setting "use system proxy settings".

Btw., the SEB for Windows embedded browser is based on Mozilla Gecko as Firefox. What happens when you use Firefox with your software proxy (and you also set Firefox to use system proxy settings)?

In SEB 2.2 this known limitation won't exist anymore, we implemented authentication support for proxies which works at least with basic auth. Maybe you can test your proxy software then again (the current testing preview build of SEB 2.2 doesn't yet contain this feature, I'll post here when we'll have a working version).

[Deepak Vasa]

Hi Daniel,

Many thanks for responding to my query. Please find my comments below.

As the manual states, currently only proxies without authentication are supported in SEB. This apparently also applies to system proxy settings, either because the SEB browser would need to display the authentication dialog or SEB is blocking the dialog displayed by the system. Or does your proxy software display the dialog? In the latter case you could try to allow the proxy software as a permitted application.

In my test environment, Chrome/Edge/Firefox all show an authentication prompt to my proxy server (CCProxy). Only SEB fails to show the authentication prompt. However when I enter the proxy details in the SEB Config tool then the authentication prompt appears in the SEB browser.

I also tried allowing CCProxy as a permitted application and this did not have any affect.

I just tested SEB 2.1.3 on Windows 10 with a proxy which displays an authentication dialog in the browser window (as long as the system isn't authenticated yet in the proxy) and that works as expected with the setting "use system proxy settings".

In my case with CCProxy SEB did not prompt me for authentication when it is set to "use system proxy settings".

Btw., the SEB for Windows embedded browser is based on Mozilla Gecko as Firefox. What happens when you use Firefox with your software proxy (and you also set Firefox to use system proxy settings)?

I installed the latest version of Firefox (48.0) and as soon as I opened Firefox it showed me an authentication prompt. Firefox's default proxy settings is set to 'USe system proxy settings'.

In SEB 2.2 this known limitation won't exist anymore, we implemented authentication support for proxies which works at least with basic auth. Maybe you can test your proxy software then again (the current testing preview build of SEB 2.2 doesn't yet contain this feature, I'll post here when we'll have a working version).

Can you please let me know the indicative timelines for the release of SEB 2.2

Many thanks,

Deepak

[Daniel Schneider]

Hi Deepak,

I requested our (external) browser developer to clarify the proxy authentication issue, I'll let you know when I have more information.

The timelines for SEB 2.2 currently are really only indicative, I hope to release a new preview/testing build with the proxy changes in the next couple of weeks, but it depends on the availability of our (also external) Windows developer. The final release should happen in Q3, but it depends on testing results as there are many changes in this version (might takes us until October or November in the worst case).

Daniel

[Deepak Vasa]

Many thanks Daniel for the update.

[Daniel Schneider]

SEB 2.2 is released now, and we hope it solves this issue, therefore we're closing it. Please let us know in case you still observe the issue with SEB 2.2.