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Git Proxy Setup

Learn to configure Git for proxy server access. This guide covers setup for clone, push, and pull commands through your proxy.

Git proxy setup involves configuring Git's http.proxy and https.proxy settings, or leveraging environment variables like HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY, or using ProxyCommand within SSH configurations for SSH-based Git operations, to route traffic through an intermediary server.

Understanding Git Proxy Requirements

Corporate firewalls, network security policies, or restricted internet access often necessitate routing Git traffic through a proxy server. This applies to operations such as git clone, git fetch, git pull, and git push. The configuration method depends on the Git URL protocol: https:// (or http://) uses HTTP/HTTPS proxies, while ssh:// (or git@) uses SSH-specific proxy methods.

HTTP/HTTPS Git Proxy Configuration

For Git repositories accessed via https:// or http:// URLs, Git utilizes HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings.

Git Configuration Method (git config)

This is the recommended method for configuring HTTP/HTTPS proxies for Git. Settings can be global (for all repositories) or specific to a single repository.

Global Configuration

To configure a proxy globally for all Git repositories on a system:

# For HTTP proxy (e.g., for https://github.com URLs through an http proxy)
git config --global http.proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

# For HTTPS proxy (e.g., for https://github.com URLs through an https proxy)
# Note: Often an HTTPS proxy is configured similarly to an HTTP proxy,
# but traffic is explicitly tunneled.
git config --global https.proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

If the proxy requires authentication:

git config --global http.proxy http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080
git config --global https.proxy http://username:password@proxy.example.com:8080

For security, instead of embedding the password directly in the URL, Git can prompt for credentials or retrieve them from a credential helper. Omitting the password will cause Git to prompt for it.

Per-Repository Configuration

To configure a proxy for a specific repository, navigate to the repository's root directory and omit the --global flag:

cd /path/to/my/repo
git config http.proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080
git config https.proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

These settings will be stored in the .git/config file of that repository.

Disabling Proxy for Specific Hosts

To bypass the proxy for certain domains (e.g., internal Git servers), use http.noProxy:

git config --global http.noProxy "localhost,127.0.0.1,*.internal.com"

Multiple hosts can be comma-separated.

SSL Certificate Verification

In corporate environments using transparent or intercepting proxies (MITM proxies), Git's SSL certificate verification may fail due to the proxy presenting its own certificate instead of the origin server's.

To address this, configure Git to trust the corporate root CA certificate:

git config --global http.sslCAInfo /path/to/corporate/ca-cert.pem

Alternatively, and not recommended for production environments due to security risks, SSL verification can be disabled:

git config --global http.sslVerify false

This bypasses certificate validation, making connections vulnerable to actual man-in-the-middle attacks. Use this only for temporary debugging or in controlled, isolated environments.

Environment Variables

Command-line tools, including curl (which Git often uses for HTTP/HTTPS transfers), typically respect HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY environment variables. These variables provide a system-wide or session-wide proxy setting that applications can inherit.

# For HTTP proxy
export HTTP_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:8080"
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:8080" # Often the same for HTTPS traffic tunneling

# For SOCKS proxy
export ALL_PROXY="socks5://proxy.example.com:1080"

# Exclude specific hosts from proxy
export NO_PROXY="localhost,127.0.0.1,*.internal.com"

Note that Git's http.proxy and https.proxy configurations take precedence over these environment variables for Git's own HTTP/HTTPS operations. Environment variables are useful when git config is not explicitly set, or for other tools interacting with Git.

Comparison: git config vs. Environment Variables

Feature git config http.proxy / https.proxy HTTP_PROXY / HTTPS_PROXY Environment Variables
Scope Git-specific (global or per-repository) System-wide or session-wide for applications respecting them
Precedence Higher for Git operations; overrides environment variables. Lower for Git; acts as a fallback or for other tools.
Persistence Persistent across sessions (stored in .gitconfig or .git/config). Non-persistent by default; requires adding to shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc) for persistence.
Authentication Supports username:password@ in URL, or prompts for credentials. Supports username:password@ in URL.
Flexibility Granular control per Git repository. Broader impact on all applications respecting the variables.

SSH Git Proxy Configuration

For Git repositories accessed via ssh:// or git@ URLs, the proxy setup is managed through the SSH client configuration, specifically using the ProxyCommand directive in ~/.ssh/config. Standard HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings (e.g., http.proxy) do not affect SSH connections.

Using ~/.ssh/config with ProxyCommand

The ProxyCommand tells SSH to establish a connection to the target host (%h) and port (%p) by first routing it through an external command, typically a proxy client.

Prerequisites

  • netcat (nc): For basic TCP tunneling and SOCKS proxies.
  • corkscrew or connect-proxy: For tunneling SSH through HTTP/HTTPS proxies that require authentication.

HTTP/HTTPS Proxy Tunneling

If your proxy is an HTTP/HTTPS proxy, you can use corkscrew or connect-proxy.

  1. Install corkscrew or connect-proxy (if not already present).

    • On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install corkscrew
    • On macOS (with Homebrew): brew install corkscrew
    • connect-proxy is often part of openssh or available separately.

  2. Edit ~/.ssh/config:
    Create or modify ~/.ssh/config with the following:

    ```ssh
    Host github.com
    ProxyCommand corkscrew proxy.example.com 8080 %h %p
    # If proxy requires authentication:
    # ProxyCommand corkscrew proxy.example.com 8080 %h %p /path/to/proxy_auth_file

    Host gitlab.com
    ProxyCommand corkscrew proxy.example.com 8080 %h %p

    Or for all hosts

    Host *
    ProxyCommand corkscrew proxy.example.com 8080 %h %p
    `` Replaceproxy.example.comand8080with your proxy's address and port. The/path/to/proxy_auth_fileshould containusername:passwordon a single line. Ensure this file has restrictive permissions (e.g.,chmod 600`).

SOCKS Proxy Tunneling

If your proxy is a SOCKS proxy, use netcat (nc) with the -X option:

  1. Ensure netcat is installed. It's usually pre-installed on most Unix-like systems.

  2. Edit ~/.ssh/config:

    ```ssh
    Host github.com
    ProxyCommand nc -X 5 -x proxy.example.com:1080 %h %p

    Host gitlab.com
    ProxyCommand nc -X 5 -x proxy.example.com:1080 %h %p

    Or for all hosts

    Host *
    ProxyCommand nc -X 5 -x proxy.example.com:1080 %h %p
    `` Replaceproxy.example.comand1080with your SOCKS proxy's address and port. *-X 5: Specifies SOCKS version 5. Use-X 4for SOCKS version 4. *-x`: Specifies the proxy address and port.

Authentication for SOCKS Proxy

Some netcat versions (nc from OpenBSD, often default on Linux) support SOCKS proxy authentication. For example:

Host *
    ProxyCommand nc -X 5 -x user:password@proxy.example.com:1080 %h %p

Consult your netcat version's man page for specific authentication syntax and capabilities.

Verifying Proxy Setup

After configuring the proxy, verify that Git operations are routing correctly.

For HTTP/HTTPS Git Operations

Check your Git configuration:

git config --global --get http.proxy
git config --global --get https.proxy
git config --global --get http.noProxy

Perform a git clone or git fetch operation on an HTTPS repository:

git clone https://github.com/git/git.git

If the proxy is working, the connection should succeed. Network monitoring tools can confirm traffic routing.

For SSH Git Operations

Test your SSH connection verbosely:

ssh -vT git@github.com

Look for output indicating ProxyCommand execution. For example:

debug1: Executing proxy command: exec corkscrew proxy.example.com 8080 github.com 22

Then, attempt a Git operation:

git clone git@github.com:git/git.git

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • Incorrect Proxy Address or Port: Double-check the proxy server's IP address or hostname and the designated port.
  • Authentication Failure: Verify proxy username and password. For git config, ensure credentials are correct or that a credential helper is configured. For ProxyCommand, ensure the authentication file or embedded credentials are correct.
  • SSL Certificate Issues (https://): If you encounter SSL certificate problem: self signed certificate in certificate chain errors, your corporate proxy might be performing SSL inspection. Configure http.sslCAInfo with your corporate root CA certificate, or, as a last resort, temporarily set http.sslVerify false for debugging (not recommended for production).
  • Firewall Blocks: Ensure that your local firewall (if any) and the corporate firewall allow outgoing connections to the proxy server on its specified port. The proxy server itself must also allow connections to Git hosting services.
  • ProxyCommand Helper Not Found (ssh://): If ProxyCommand fails with "command not found," ensure netcat, corkscrew, or connect-proxy is installed and its executable path is in your system's PATH environment variable. Specify the full path to the executable if necessary (e.g., ProxyCommand /usr/bin/corkscrew ...).
  • Proxy Bypassed: If git config http.noProxy is too broad, or if environment variables are set incorrectly, Git might attempt a direct connection. Verify noProxy settings.
  • Proxy Timeout: Long-running operations might time out if the proxy has aggressive timeout settings. This is usually a server-side configuration issue.
Auto-update: 04.03.2026
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