As hpcfactor.com contributors find new and clever ways to get legacy machines on-line, rendering https sites remains an issue. Retro Proxy, despite its determined lack of instruction, turns https to http. You may not be able to post to hpcfactor.com and other https sites, but you can certainly explore them, and news sites such as cnn.com and npr.org are at last accessible.
[This how-to operates on the assumption that you already have a working internet connection on the DOS machine]
Here's the set-up to turn 64-bit Windows 10 into a Retro Proxy server:
Software needed: git, node, yarn, and Retro Proxy
git =
https://git-scm.com/downloads
node =
https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/how-to-install-yarn-on-windows/
yarn =
https://github.com/yarnpkg/yarn/releases/download/v1.22.15/yarn-1.22...
Retro Proxy =
https://github.com/DrKylstein/retro-proxy
Install git, node, and yarn, using their defaults, but ignore any prompts to install extra software/dependencies
(extras can be as much as 3gb and are not needed
).
Use git to download Retro Proxy. In Windows cmd:
git clone https://github.com/DrKylstein/retro-proxy.git
Then:
cd retro-proxy
copy example.env .env
From there, edit the new .env and put in the Windows IP address found with ipconfig. The default port is 3000. Save.
Back in cmd:
cd retro-proxy
yarn start
I ignored yarn's complaint of being outdated, but if yarn declares itself missing entirely, try this:
cd retro-proxy
yarn install
In DOS:
set http_proxy=windows.ip.address:3000
From there, your DOS browser should get you where you want, and in the cmd window, you can track your DOS browsing history. Closing the cmd window will shut down the proxy server.
Jake