Mac OS X 10.4: Bypassing a proxy server

Some networks require that you send your Internet requests through a proxy server. You do this by configuring the Proxies section of the Network preference pane (from the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, click Network, and click the Proxies tab). However, you may have a need to route some traffic the normal way, bypassing the proxy.

If the need arises, you can do this by entering information in the "Bypass proxy settings for these Hosts & Domains" field that's found in the same pane. You can enter one of five entry types to tell Mac OS X what traffic you want to bypass the proxy:

• A subdomain or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of a target server, such as "server1.apple.com" or "store.apple.com"
• The specific IP address of a server, such as "17.254.0.91"
• A domain name, such as "apple.com"
  Note: This will bypass only for "apple.com", not for any subdomains such as "store.apple.com".
• An entire website, including all subdomains, such as "*.apple.com"
• A range of IP addresses, such as "10.0.1.*" or "10.0.1/24"
  Note: Typing 10.0.1.* will bypass the proxy for any IP address that starts with 10.0.1.x. Entering 10.0.1/24 will work in the same way but uses a 24-bit subnet mask.