I am using debian etch

while trying to load squid,

CP:/home/sunil# /etc/init.d/squid start
Starting Squid HTTP proxy: squid* Creating squid spool directory structure
FATAL: Could not determine fully qualified hostname. Please set 'visible_hostname'

Squid Cache (Version 2.6.STABLE5): Terminated abnormally.
CPU Usage: 0.020 seconds = 0.012 user + 0.008 sys
Maximum Resident Size: 0 KB
Page faults with physical i/o: 0
/etc/init.d/squid: line 74: 2805 Aborted $DAEMON -z
FATAL: Could not determine fully qualified hostname. Please set 'visible_hostname'

Squid Cache (Version 2.6.STABLE5): Terminated abnormally.
CPU Usage: 0.024 seconds = 0.012 user + 0.012 sys
Maximum Resident Size: 0 KB
Page faults with physical i/o: 0
/etc/init.d/squid: line 74: 2807 Aborted start-stop-daemon --quiet --start --pidfile $PIDFILE --chuid $CHUID --exec $DAEMON -- $SQUID_ARGS </dev/null
failed!

as it is saying, you have to set the fqdn. possibly first set your hostname in /etc/sysconfig/network then in your squid.conf file put;
visible_hostname whatever_name.domain.com

1 members found this post helpful.

Yes

that was the problem! it worked


One more doubt- I have configured this as proxy server for other windows machines in this network. The gateway machine is another windows machine(one with 2 ethernet machine connecting the broadband to the local network).
Should I implement proxy server on the machines with 2 interfaces ?

Can I prevent virus attackes to a particular machine by restricting that machines to a trusted site?

You will need two interfaces for your system to work as proxy. And as far as virus attacks are concerned, there are lot of other means of transmitting and infecting systems with virus than just internet. Proxy server is mainly used for internet sharing and filtering and not virus protection. Using proxy server in your network will not guarantee virus protection. You will need a good AV.