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Using proxy servers for checks

Proxy servers are available in the Professional plan and above.

What is a Proxy server?

A Proxy server is a server application that acts as an intermediary between the serving site and the requesting client. When the client sends a web request, the request goes to the proxy server first. The proxy server then makes the web request on the client’s behalf, collects the response from the web server, and forwards the web page data to the client so that it can see the page in its own browser.

Why use Proxy servers for Distill cloud checks?

Monitors are checked in the Distill cloud using a pool of datacentre IPs. These are a shared pool of IPs that are used by all the subscribers of Distill. These IPs are mostly from the US region.

Following are a few cases when you may need to use Proxy servers for Distill cloud checks:

  1. When a website is blocking requests from datacentre IPs.
  2. When a website needs to be accessed from a particular region.

How to use the Proxy server to monitor webpage changes?

To use proxies provided by Distill, follow these steps:

  1. Click “Edit Options” on your monitor to go to the Options page.
  2. Click “Open webpage selector”.
  3. When you click on “Proxy - Shared Pool”, you will see a dropdown with the list of proxies you can choose from. You can select the desired Proxy and save.
steps to add proxy to a webpage monitor

How to manage proxies and add new proxy?

The provision to add custom proxy is available in Flexi and Enterprise plans.

You can either access the Proxy page by clicking on “Manage Proxies” as shown in the image above. Or, you can navigate to the Proxy server list from the Proxy page by following the below steps:

  1. Open your Watchlist from the Web app and click on the hamburger button ☰ as shown below.
  2. Click on “Proxies”.
steps to manage proxy from watchlist
  1. This will open the Proxy page. You can click on “Add New Proxy” to add your own Proxy server for checks.
steps to manage proxy from watchlist
  1. A pop-up opens where you will have to add a name to your proxy and proceed to add a proxy that authenticates using username and password.
steps to add new proxy

The format should be: username:password@address:port. For example: alpha:bravo@my-proxy-host:9000

  1. Click “Save”.

Proxy plan and pricing details

Proxy servers are available in the Professional plan and above. You can check the available proxies for your plan at https://monitor.distill.io/#/w/0/proxies/. The provision to add custom proxy is available in Flexi and Enterprise plans.

You will also be able to see the pricing details for the proxies on the proxy page. The cost of using a proxy is accounted for as checks in the account. If a proxy’s cost is N, 1 check using that proxy will be counted as N checks. For example, using the “Residential - US” proxy will consume 7 checks for each single monitor check.

How to handle EPROXY error?

EPROXY error occurs when the proxy server is not able to connect to the remote server you’re monitoring. This happens when the default proxy server’s IP / location is blocked by the remote server. When you encounter this error, try using a different proxy server for the webpage monitor.

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