# WaybackProxy

WaybackProxy is a HTTP proxy that sends all requests through the [Internet Archive Wayback Machine](http://web.archive.org) and [OoCities](http://www.oocities.org), returning the original retro-browser-friendly markup.

![1999 Google viewed on Internet Explorer 4.0 on Windows 95](http://i.imgur.com/tXsLc6O.png)

## Setup

1. Edit `config.py` to your liking
2. Start `waybackproxy.py`
3. Set up your retro browser:
	* If your browser supports proxy auto-configuration, set the auto-configuration URL to `http://ip:port/proxy.pac` where `ip` is the IP of the system running WaybackProxy and `port` is the proxy's port (8888 by default).
	* If proxy auto-configuration is not supported or fails to work, set the browser to use an HTTP proxy at that IP and port instead.
	* Transparent proxying is also supported for advanced users. No configuration to WaybackProxy itself is required. In transparent mode, client machines must be pointed at a dummy DNS server so they can find the proxy; `dnsmasq -A "/#/ip"` is a good choice.
4. Try it out! You can edit most settings that are in `config.py` by browsing to http://web.archive.org while on the proxy, although you must edit `config.py` to make them permanent.
5. Press Ctrl+C to stop

## Known issues and limitations

* The Wayback Machine itself is not 100% reliable. Known issues include:
  * Pages newer than the specified date (setting a specific YYYYMMDD date instead of a wider YYYYMM or YYYY helps with that);
  * Random broken images;
  * Strange 404 errors caused by bad server responses or incorrect URL capitalization at archival time;
  * Infinite redirect loops;
  * Server errors when it's having a bad day.
* WaybackProxy will work around some redirection scripts (example: `http://example.com/redirect?to=http://...`) which are not archived by the Wayback Machine, but the destination URLs might not be archived as well.
* WaybackProxy is not a generic proxy. The POST and CONNECT methods are not implemented.

## Other links

* [Donate to the Internet Archive](https://archive.org/donate/), they need your help to keep the Wayback Machine and its petabytes upon petabytes of data available to everyone at no cost.
* [Check out 86Box](https://86box.github.io/), the emulator I use for testing WaybackProxy on older browsers.