Pidgin through proxy in Windows

If you are looking for instructions for Linux, go here.

If you're at a place where your favorite IM protocol is blocked, this might help you use it anyway. The IM software I'll be setting it up with is Pidgin, which is open source and supports many different protocols.

Here is how you do it:

• First you need to download and install Tor:
  
  1. Download Tor here.
     
     
  2. Run the installer, and choose to install only Tor and Vidalia when asked. (You can use the other programs for anonymous web-surfing and alike, but I won't cover that in this guide)
     
     
  3. At the end of the installation process choose to run the installed components.
     
     
  4. Dont close the black cmd window when it appears.
     
     
  5. Tor is now installed, but you will have to start Vidalia manually before trying to connect to your account through Tor in pidgin.
     
     
• Then download and install pidgin:
  
  1. Download pidgin from here.
     
     
  2. Install it. The installations should be pretty straight forward.
     
     
• Do this when you create your account to connect through Tor:
  
  1. Go to the "Advanced" tab.
     
     
  2. Under "Proxy Options" and "Proxy type", choose "SOCKS 5".
     
     
  3. In the "Host" field fill in "127.0.0.1".
     
     
  4. In the "Port" field fill in "9050".

Now whenever you connect to one of the accounts set up, they will connect through Tor. Remember, connecting through Tor will take longer than logging in normally, so be patient. Also remember to start Vidalia, and let Tor get some time to connect before logging in.

Pidgin through proxy in Linux

If you are looking for instructions for Windows, go here.

First of all, this also works if you are using Gaim.

Have you ever been to a place(school, work etc.) where you were unable to use your IM software because of some administrator that blocked it. Well, I have, and I have also found a way around it. I am using Pidgin as my IM program, which supports many different IM protocols.

Here is how you do it:

• First you need to download Tor from the terminal:
  For Ubuntu:
  # sudo apt-get install tor
  Others:
  Visit tor's website to get packages for your ditribution. Although, you should have tor in your package system.
  
  
• Now you just need to configure pidgin to connect through Tor:
  
  
• Whenever you create a new account in pidgin, go to the "Advanced" tab.
  
  
• Under "Proxy Options" and "Proxy type", you choose "SOCKS 5".
  
  
• In the "Host" field type in "127.0.0.1", and set the "Port" to "9050".
  
  

This should work with most of the IM protocols, although I haven't tested all of them. The login time will probably also be a while longer than normal, but just be patient