Secure Internet and SaaS Access (ZIA)
Identifying the PAC File on a Device Using Browsers
Zscaler recommends that you install a PAC file for each user to ensure coverage outside the corporate network. When a PAC file is configured on a user's browser, it instructs the browser to forward traffic to a proxy server.
There are methods you can use to identify the PAC file configured on a user's device. For example, you can take traffic captures and check the PAC file requests, or check the registry entry for the PAC file configured.
The following sections include information for browser-specific methods. These features belong to the browsers and are not related to Zscaler.
- Google Chrome
If your user is using Google Chrome, do the following:
The browser version used in this example is Google Chrome 96.0.4664.45.
- Enter chrome://net-export/ into the address bar.
- In the Options menu, make sure Strip private information is selected, then click Start Logging to Disk.
- In the Save As window, click Save to save the log as a JSON file.
- Click Stop Logging.
- Click Show File.
- Open the saved JSON file and search for the keyword
proxySettings
.
You see the URL of the PAC file configured to the user's browser, similar to the following example:
Close"proxySettings":{"effective":{"pac_url":"http://pac.zscalerbeta.net/zscalerbeta.net/proxy.pac"}, "original":{"pac_url":"http://pac.zscalerbeta.net/zscalerbeta.net/proxy.pac"}}
- Internet Explorer
If your user is using Internet Explorer, do the following:
The browser version used in this example is Internet Explorer 11.0.9600.17905.
- Click the Gear icon to open the Tools menu. Then click Internet options.
- In the Internet Options window, click Connections, then LAN Settings.
- In the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings window, the URL of the PAC file configured to the user's browser appears in the Address field under Use automatic configuration script.
- Mozilla Firefox
If your user is using Mozilla Firefox, do the following:
The browser version used in this example is Mozilla Firefox 44.0.2.
- Enter about:config into the address bar.
- Click I'll be careful, I promise!
- In the Search field, enter the word "proxy." The URL of the PAC file configured to the user's browser appears in the value of network.proxy.autoconfig_url.
- Opera
If your user is using Opera, do the following:
The browser version used in this example is Opera 36.0.
- Click Menu, then click Settings.
- Click Browser, then navigate to Network. Click Change Proxy Settings.
- In the Internet Properties window, click LAN settings.
- In the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings window, the URL of the PAC file configured to the user's browser appears in the Address field under Use automatic configuration script.
- Safari
If your user is using Safari, do the following:
The browser version used in this example is Safari 11.0.3 (13604.5.6).
- Open Safari, open the Safari menu, then click Preferences....
The Preferences window appears.
- Click Advanced.
The Advanced tab appears.
- Go to Proxies and click Change Settings....
The Network window appears.
- Select Automatic Proxy Configuration and you see any PAC file addresses being used.
To learn how to configure your browser to use a PAC file, see: