Setting a Proxy Server for the Workspot Windows Agent and Enterprise Connector

This article applies if your company requires that a proxy be used for all outgoing HTTPS connections. Without setting up the proxy as described below, Workspot Agent and Workspot Enterprise Connector will report they are unable to contact Workspot Control and will not be able to to their jobs.

Background

The Workspot Windows Agent runs as a Windows system service. When a proxy server is required on a customer’s site, Windows is often configured for users but not system services. This can prevent the Workspot Agent from registering the device with Workspot Control.

The Workspot Enterprise Connector is also a Windows service with similar requirements.

Solution

This article describes how to declare a Windows proxy for use with the Workspot Agent or Workspot Enterprise Connector.

There are two basic approaches:

  1. Using netsh to set the proxy key from admin-mode cmd window.

  2. Copying the correct user-level proxy registry key to the system-level key.

Once you have the proxy set correctly, you can export the system-level registry settings or run the netsh command to propagate the settings to other devices.

Using netsh for Proxy Settings

You can use the standard Windows netsh.exe command to set the proxy settings. See Microsoft’s set proxy documentation for full details.

  1. Open an CMD window in Administrator mode

  2. Run netsh.exe using the following syntax, which explicitly sets an HTTP and an HTTPS proxy, which do not have to be the same proxy server:

netsh winhttp set proxy proxy-server="http=HttpProxy:HttpPort;HttpsProxy:HttpsPort” bypass-list=”HostsList

  • “http=”: Specify the IP address and port of both your HTTP and HTTPS proxies even if they are the same proxy.

  • “bypass-list” is optional and specifies hosts or networks that should go directly, bypassing the proxy.

For example:

netsh winhttp set proxy proxy-server=”10.160.0.12:3128;10.160.0.15:808” bypass-list="localhost,169.254.0.0/16,*.contonso.com"

Copying the Proxy Settings from the Register

On a Windows device that already has the proxy settings correctly configured, you can see the settings in the registry at:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\WinHttpSettings

You can then manually copy these values into the system-level proxy settings at:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\WinHttpSettings

Checking the Registry Value

Both methods set the value at 

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\WinHttpSettings

If you examine the key with “Edit Binary Value,” you should see the ASCII results in the right-hand column:

Exporting the Registry Value

If you select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\WinHttpSettings key and then “File .. Export,” you can save the values to a .reg file for use on other devices, perhaps through a GPO or, with Agent, an Agent configuration script.

Conclusion

With the proxy set correctly, the Workspot Agent and Enterprise should be able to connect with Workspot Control and install and operate normally.